Open Post: Treat

[sporesprouter]

Now that the latest burst of activity has actually settled into something like calm for a few days, Tress has settled into a temporary project. In fairness, most of the temporary project took place the previous day in the out of the way kitchen that she had previously commandeered small appliances from. But today requires a bit more wandering.

So she is currently in the process of going around various at least semi-frequented common rooms leaving trays of both nut and honey balls and chocolate coconut balls. Next to each room's tray, she sets down a small card that says in careful handwriting, 'It's been a tough week. Help yourself!'

She's not putting a whole lot of fanfare into the process, but she's also not being particularly secretive about it, so she's easy enough to find throughout.

Comments

[sporesprouter]

"Well, the crew was thrilled, so she managed to rein it in enough, probably just to keep up morale. The other ship fired a surrender flare and the crew was about to board when the seethe stopped. Now that we didn't have the advantage of mobility, the other ship took the chance of firing at us. They got a good hole in the side of the ship. Crow immediately managed to shoot and kill their cannonmaster, but then she ordered Ann and me belowdecks to patch the hole before the stilling stopped. Keep in mind, I had only really just gotten somewhat familiar with my quarters. I hadn't really worked with the spores yet."

[az_fell]

"Oh no, after all that and you still took the hit!" Aziraphale's reaction is one of genuine dismay. He really is getting quite invested in this story. "How did it go, then, with patching the hole? Did your spores cooperate with you?"

[sporesprouter]

"Well, I got my tools... after Ann pointed out to me what the tools actually were, because Weev worked with different ones than I'd seen the sprouter on the Oot's Dream use. And then I got to use them for the first time on a ladder. It... well, it wasn't a perfect patch? I was still in the middle of it when the seethe was starting up again so I had to rush a bit, and one of my tools got stuck in it, but it held."

[az_fell]

"Considering the circumstances, I'd say that's still a fair accomplishment." Resolve weakened by the enjoyment of the story, Aziraphale sneaks one more chocolate coconut ball and pops it tidily into his mouth.

[sporesprouter]

"Oh, I'm glad it worked. What would have happened to all of us if it didn't is..." She shakes her head. "Anyway, we got back up to the deck where Crow was just ordering everyone to board, swords ready. Thankfully, that's the job of the helmswoman, so Salay stopped it immediately. They just went to get the bounty, but... well, that's when I found out why the crew was so scared of Crow.

"One of the crewmembers on the other ship aimed his gun at her. Crow was the only person who didn't just freeze in place. Instead, she took her own gun... and shot herself in the head."

[az_fell]

"Oh my," says Aziraphale. He blinks at her. This is interesting, because he's far less certain where this detail is going than he's been for most of the details shared in her story thus far. "Please, go on."

[sporesprouter]

"Vines sprouted out of her face and caught the bullet. It turns out that Crow is something called a spore-eater. From how Ulaam described it... it's like she's infected by the moon, and the infection protects her from anything that tries to pierce her skin."

[az_fell]

"How interesting." Aziraphale cocks his head to one side, trying to picture what Tress is describing. It's certainly striking. "Gruesome, but very useful for her purposes."

[sporesprouter]

"Useful, but only to a point. She had to keep drinking water, because the disease leeches it from you, it's painful, progressive, and fatal. She was actively looking for a cure. That's why she wanted to induce the crew to sail the Crimson."

[az_fell]

Aziraphale makes a mild, disgusted face at this, like he's just sniffed the milk carton to determine whether its contents are still good and come up with an unsatisfactory answer. "And how did that go for her?"

[sporesprouter]

"We'll get there soon enough. Anyway, Salay managed to get it in her head that I was secretly an assassin..."

[az_fell]

Aziraphale pauses. He squints. "With all due respect, my dear, you?"

[sporesprouter]

"That's what I thought. But apparently because I supposedly wasn't afraid of spores, she figured out I'd switched the cannonballs, didn't leave the ship when I could have, and kept insisting I wasn't secretly an assassin..."

[az_fell]

Aziraphale has to laugh at that, if fondly enough. "If insisting that you're not an assassin is proof that you are an assassin, that makes that nearly an impossible accusation to properly dodge."

[sporesprouter]

"Well, it would have been kind of simple, really. A King's Mask, which is what she thought I was specifically, can't say they're one. So if I'd said I was... But even if I liked lying, she just seemed so hopeful I'd be able to help get rid of Crow, and I didn't want to disappoint her."

[az_fell]

"Understandable. So you went ahead and let them operate under this assumption for a while, then."

[sporesprouter]

She nods. "I felt bad about it, though. But anyway, she invited me to a secret meeting she was going to have with Ann and Fort, and asked me to bring the cannonballs I'd found. I still wanted to know why, though. So I... I did some more eavesdropping. And found out that Crow wanted to sail into the Crimson Sea because the dragon that lived there would probably be able to cure her."

[az_fell]

"The dragon!" Aziraphale makes a face of surprised delight. He has a newfound fondness for dragons. "I don't imagine this dragon is as kind as our friend Temeraire here."

[sporesprouter]

"Not as kind as Temeraire, no. But that's coming up shortly. Anyway, at the meeting, they independently came up with the idea to try to divert to the Crimson Sea to be out of the way of ships, so no more would get sunk. But they thought Crow would never go for it. I told them I thought I could get her to do it. They... well, they thought I was a secret assassin, so they managed to believe me."

She shrugs. "So then I went to Crow and told her I wanted to sail the Midnight, to rescue someone from the Sorceress. She laughed at me and told me the crew would never agree to it. So I said, but maybe we could start smaller, with the Crimson, just to work our way up. Obviously I knew that's what she actually wanted, but she told me that she thought the crew would never agree to that... I offered to try and convince them..."

[az_fell]

Aziraphale laughs yet again. "That was very, very clever of you. Perhaps you'd make a good secret assassin after all."

[sporesprouter]

"I'd probably have to be a little more murderous for that. And by a little, I mean at all."

[az_fell]

"Details, details." Aziraphale smiles at her, though. "Regardless, that was a clever gambit."

[sporesprouter]

"Well, it was until I found out something from talking to Ulaam. The dragon in question didn't exactly do favors. He makes trades, and the only thing he was really interested in trading for was servants... who, since his lair is under the sea, aren't afraid of spores."

[az_fell]

"Admittedly, Temeraire is uncommonly kind for a dragon -- if any of the legends are to be believed. Most are rather greedy, so I suppose this makes some sense." Aziraphale pauses and darts a curious glance at Tress. "Were you truly unafraid of spores by this point, though?"

[sporesprouter]

"Of course not. But Crow thought I was."