A Hard Landing (2/2)

It farted out more smoke, and a few more parts on it started moving.

“Mend,”Threadbare said, encouraged.

The device stuttered, and a belt ripped free of it and snapped past his head, whipping his left ear neatly off.

“Hum,” Threadbare said.

The wind pressed harder against the hull, and everything groaned. Screams from up top seemed to indicate that they were falling faster.

“Mend,” Threadbare said, patting his head and reattaching his ear. Giving up on the (somewhat) still-working engine, he focused on trying to match the debris on the floor to the non-functional engines, repairing them a bit at a time.

It wasn't easy. And the ship shuddered in a quite alarming manner whenever he managed to get one of the engines online again. But he managed.

INT+1

Congratulations! By working with advanced technology under stressful conditions, you have unlocked the Tinker job! Do you want to be a Tinker at this time? Y/N?

Threadbare paused.

This might not actually be a bad idea. Celia was a Tinker, and he was pretending to be Celia. Furthermore, the pirates didn't seem to have too many people who could work with the engines. Given that the airship was rather important to their survival, it would increase the odds of getting through this without too much death.

“Yes,” he spoke, and his last crafting job slot filled, as he gained yet more skills.

You are now a level 1 Tinker!

DEX+1

INT+1

You have learned the Improvised Tool Skill!

Your Improvised Tool Skill is now level 1!

You have learned the Tinkering Skill!

Your Tinkering Skill is now level 1!

He had just enough time to look around and feel good about what he'd done, when the airship gave a bump, and the hull cracked and groaned alarmingly. Then everything scraped and shook and shuddered, nearly sending him tumbling. Threadbare staggered backward and grabbed ahold of the doorframe, looking around to see if the ship was crashing and collapsing in on itself, for that's what it felt like.

Planks groaned and buckled, and the grinding noise rose, but the hull held together. And as Threadbare stood braced, the shuddering slowed and stopped.

Threadbare would have breathed a sigh of relief if he'd had lungs. But as it was, he knew that his troubles were by no means done. They were only getting started.

He needed a focus, and time to think. He needed answers, and he'd have to be very careful about what questions he asked.

And he needed allies.

Almost as if on cue, he heard a small voice whisper behind him. “Hello!”

He turned, looked through the doorway to where a small stuffed fox had crept down the stairs, crouching in the shadows and gathering the shawl that had been sewn into it around himself. He knew this fox. He should, for he had made him, a few years back. And though he had made many golems, granted sapience to hundreds, he remembered all of their faces, and all of their names. He would have been a bad father, otherwise.

“Renny,” Threadbare said, stepping forward and giving the golem a big hug. “We didn't have time to talk earlier.”

“I'm not sure we do now,” Renny said, muzzle darting around between Threadbare and the top of the stairwell. “They'll be coming to check on you soon. You're going to have to pretend to be Miss Cecelia for a while, if everything goes right.”

“To what end?”

“Well... somebody hired them to kidnap you. Her, I mean. At some point they're going to try to hand you... her... over to them. That's the thing that Chase couldn't find out, was who hired them. We need to know that, so we can stop them!”

Threadbare considered.

“And then what?”

“What?”

“If they hand me over to their employer, what happens then?”

“Well... I don't know.”

“Do they know?”

“I don't think so.”

“So how do we stop them?”

“I don't know, really,” Renny's tail drooped. “Chase said we would have to play it by ear.”

“Well,” Threadbare said, wiggling his own ears. “We have four of them between us, so I suppose we can give that a try.”

Renny laughed, then gave him a final squeeze. “It's good to see you again, Mister Threadbare Sir. I'm going to have to go hide now, though. But don't be afraid, I'll be as close as I can.”

“I'm not afraid,” Threadbare said, letting him go and turning his head as the voices above him got closer, and feet slapped against the stairs. “But I'm glad you're here with me.”