45 Vol 1. pt. 45 Patch 8.0: How to Train Your Crew (1/2)
Satisfied with the progress that Serra and Cassiel have made, Fenrir lets Morven and his crew have the fishing spot for their own practice. Fenrir didn't get any worthwhile practice himself, but there's plenty of time before the tournament to come back.
”So, what did you two think?” Fenrir asks the girls.
”Was fun,” Serra says with a thumbs-up.
”It… was better than I thought it would be,” Cassiel admits.
”I'm glad you two enjoyed it,” Fenrir says. He's good at telling when people are being genuine or not, and he doesn't detect any falsities in their statements. They genuinely enjoyed themselves and he couldn't be happier about it. As cheesy as it makes him feel, knowing that they're finding fun in fishing is the most fun he's had in this game thus far.
The Shoebill is docked back into its ”guest parking” spot.
There is commotion on the docks as a girl with bright orange hair runs around harassing various crews along the pier.
”Come on! Need an engineer? I'll do it for free!” the girl shouts, offering herself to everybody she sees. ”You there! Let me – ah! Where are you going? Why are you runnin' from me?!” she chases after a frightened man for a short while before getting distracted by somebody else. ”You there! Lookin' for an engineer? I'll – wait! Why does everybody keep runnin' from me!?” she shouts, chasing after three men all escaping together. ”Somebody let me join their damn crew for the tournament!”
”I… think we should leave before she sees us,” Cassiel suggests. Serra expresses her agreement by tugging on Fenrir's shirt.
Yet, he doesn't budge. When the girls look at him, they see a man who looks like he just got an idea.
The two girls look at each other. They have a bad feeling about this.
The orange-haired girl spins around and happens to make eye contact with Fenrir.
She charges straight at him with starry eyes. ”You there! Need an engineer?! I'll do it for free! Just let me work on your ship!” she shouts at Fenrir.
”You there!” Fenrir shouts, pointing at the girl running straight toward him. ”Need a crew? You can join ours for free! Just work on our ship.”
If there are two things that Fenrir can easily recognize, they are: one, when somebody is trying their best to accomplish something while nobody gives them a chance; and two, the type of person who has a few screws loose and it probably dangerous to keep around but ingenious. Fenrir has worked with many people just like her before.
”Really? Do you mean it?! Are you sure?! I mean, I'll work on any ship, but I can't believe you'll actually take me!” the girl shouts.
Cassiel and Serra feel like this is moving way too fast. They want to interject, but they trust in Fenrir's judgment for now.
”I do! But first, you have to tell me why everybody is so afraid of you,” Fenrir says.
”Because every ship I've been on has sunk because it couldn't keep up with me.”
Cassiel and Serra both turn to look at Fenrir. There's no way that he would agree to having her, right?
”I see,” he says. Serra and Cassiel are relieved to see him being serious about this. ”Welcome aboard The Shoebill!”
Serra and Cassiel turn to see the orange-haired girl's expression from being rejected, rightfully so – wait, what did he just say?
”You – you can't seriously be taking her, can you? Didn't you just hear what she said? She said she's sunk every ship she's ever been on, and she doesn't even sound guilty about it!” Cassiel shouts.
”She said it's because the ships couldn't handle her. The Shoebill can handle anybody and anything,” Fenrir explains.
”The Shoebill is just a small ship we stole from some nobodies! It's already in bad condition!”
”What's your name?” Fenrir asks the orange-haired girl.
”Strism, Tabitha Strism!” Tabitha says.
”Can you fix our girl up and make her better than all of these other ships, Tabitha?”
”If I can't, nobody can!”
”See?” Fenrir asks, looking at Cassiel. ”Tabitha here can help us out.”
”You have no idea who she is! We have no idea if we can trust her! What if she messes everything up? What if she breaks something or steals our ship?!” Cassiel questions, feeling like the only logical person here right now.
Rock walks up to Tabitha's feet and sniffs her.
Tabitha crouches down and pets Rock's head with a huge smile on her lips. ”This puppy is adorable! I've never seen one made out of rock before! This game is somethin', ain't it?”
Rock licks Tabitha's hand and nuzzles against her.
”If Rock likes her then she's okay,” Serra says.
”Be nice to our newest crewmember, Cass Cass,” Fenrir says, poking her side. The unexpected poke causes Cassiel to make a surprisingly girly squeak.
Fenrir, Serra, Rock, and Tabitha all look at Cassiel.
”I will kill you all if you say anything,” Cassiel threatens.
”I won't say nothin' if you let me join,” Tabitha says.
”Deal.”
”Great!” Fenrir exclaims. ”We're just one crewmember short now. By the way, Tabitha, what does an engineer even do in this game?”
”Well, I fix your ship up, keep her runnin' well, make some modifications – that sort of stuff! I used to work with the scholars, but our group got fired for causin' some trouble. We got replaced by those half-goblin things up there runnin' the place now,” Tabitha explains.
”What sort of trouble did you cause?”
”Nothin' much. We just kinda blew up some of the city, but they repaired it in no time!”