Renevere Mars: Part Two

Episode 16: John-Bastards

They patrolled on the lake for quite some time, enough that Ren could feel her energy regenerate nearly to full. She had learned about herself that she could regenerate about a quarter of her energy back in an hour of rest, given the right conditions (well fed, hydrated, not injured, decently slept). This was about average, though admittedly she had less energy stores than most people, so in reality it was probably a bit slow. Nevertheless, as she sat, cross-armed and agitated on the fisherman's bench, she felt confident the strain on her reserve had been all but completely replenished.

Ren was, however, starting to feel the drag of exhaustion from sitting so long. Despite her full energy reserve, her body still wanted to be sleeping by now. It was probably cresting well into early morning and it seemed impossible to imagine that they had left Ossilith that same day. Trish appeared in the doorway, long silky hair shining in the moonlight. How she kept it down without feeling like it was in the way was a mystery to Ren.

"We've found them," Trish said low, drawing Ren up to her feet and out of the cabin. From the bow of the boat she could make out what everyone was looking at, a vessel with a billowing train of smoke coming from it's engine as it chugged along, black and severe looking compared to the almost cartoonish shape of the little fisherman's boat they sat upon. Flying from the pole at the back of their ship was a black flag with a red fish. As they drew slowly closer it became clear that the ship was moving at a fast clip, and though it didn't appear they had spotted the approaching boat with all its lights shut off, they no doubt would if they got close enough. They would then easily evade the fishing boat, if spotted.

Duren hopped up onto the railing, crouching with ease. The others seemed to ready themselves as if they knew what was about to happen.

"Trish and Ren, stay here," Duren said. "Heath with me." That was all he needed to say before both of them were leaping gracefully off the side of the boat and running. Running over the surface of the choppy water with ease and incredible speed until they were nothing but black beads approaching the ship.

Ren knew Duren's decision to leave her and Trish behind was not based on gender. Ren could not have hoped to cross that water as expertly, and certainly not as fast, and doing so would have depleted her energy reserve considerably. Uneven and moving surfaces were the most difficult to walk on with energy. Water, particularly rolling waves such as this lake, required by far expert level energy control. So he had left her behind so as not to humiliate her, or maybe just not to drain her energy which they might need to interrogate the pirates, and he had left Trish back to babysit. Then again, though Trish was probably far more experienced in battle than Ren, it wasn't her specialty. Trish was an expert tracker and master of deceptive arts, but not as strong of a fighter as Heath and Duren.

As Ren watched, one, two, now four black beads spill from the ship onto the water and begin to dart around the water beside. As the fishing boat drew nearer to the now stationary ship, the details became clearer. Duren and Heath fought against four adversaries, Heath's sword glinting in the moonlight and clanging against enemy blocks or armor. Spouts of water erupted from the enemy in brilliant displays of power. These might be thugs, but they were far more skilled than Ren would have expected from fighters without traditional training in the arts of cha use.

The fishing boat continued to venture closer, and the separate battles became clearer though they were happening at lightning speed. Heath was facing one of the John's with his massive sword and using his water elemental preference to block the water blasts from the John expertly. Duren had his hands full with three of them. Two of them kept failing to land water-based attacks on him, but the continuous movement kept him on the defensive. Suddenly a sheath of ice formed on the surface of the water and reached up to swallow Duren's foot before he could escape it. He used knives to block the ones thrown at him in quick, clanging succession.