Open The Bilge In The Bucket Under His Wing

[Silvertongue Songfox]

“Oh, my Uncle Chokra!” Silvertongue nodded. “Yes, of course I know him. Is he looking for me?” Silvertongue looked past Corda and Berchar, scanning the docks.

“I could have sworn I told him the name of the tavern I was staying at… did he ask you two for help?” Silvertongue turned back to the two beasts before him. “He’s not too worried, is he? I’d hate to make him worry.”

 

[Corda LaConte / Cordan LeConte]

Corda frowned at the new information. Chokra already knew where Silvertongue was? But then why had he gone searching for his nephew as if he hadn't? "Sir," she asked, keeping her voice quiet, "is there anyone else in your family who might be searching for you? The beast we encountered claimed to be your uncle, but he seemed to have no idea where you were." She glanced to Berchar, checking for his reaction to this strange development.

 

[Silvertongue Songfox]

"Sir?" Silvertongue asked with a chuckle. "Oh, Sir!" Silvertongue repeated in a posh mock voice, before letting out a hearty laugh. "Please! You needn't call me Sir! Just call me Silvertongue. When we become friends, you can call me Silvie." He smiled, before Corda's question gave him pause. "Well... my father... he, um... passed away. And I haven't seen my mother in a very long time." He explained softly. "The only other beast that I can think of is my father-in-law... but that's a different beast entirely."

He seemed very troubled. "I can assure you, if the beast you met claimed to be my Uncle Chokra, then it is him. Please, I do appreciate what concern you beasts have for me, but my Uncle... as off-putting as he may be... I know he means well. I'm not surprised he forgot where I was staying. He takes to the drink more often than not."

Silvertongue's eyes flicked to the ground, the smile wiped from his face. It was the truth. But not the whole truth.

 

[Berchar Fleetfoot]

Berchar looked to the vixen with concerned bemusement. If this had all been a misunderstanding and news of the todd’s uncle welcome tidings then there was no harm done: the best possible outcome would have happened. It was tempting to leave things there. After all, any guilt was assuaged on his and Corda’s part, so why not walk away?

He wanted to. He almost did. Something still bothered him though, and seeing the vixen’s equal uncertainty followed so soon by Silvertongue’s sobering expression bolstered his gut instinct.

“If I may,” Berchar replied gently, “your uncle seemed…quite the character. Not only did he get involved in a bar fight, but he seemed very intent on finding you…to a degree. Once we offered to help find you, he seemed to, ah, lose some urgency. Was he always known for being eccentric? Myself and my friend were simply…concerned.”

 

[Corda LaConte / Cordan LeConte]

Corda nodded her agreement as Berchar voiced what had been nagging at her. "If he was worried about finding you," she remarked, "it vanished the moment we were on the case. We were a little worried he might be a bounty hunter posing as your uncle." She smiled ruefully, but the expression was a bit tight. "That's somewhat paranoid of us... isn't it?"

 

[Silvertongue Songfox]

"A bounty hunter?" Silvertongue asked with an eyebrow raised. "I'm- I'm fairly certain I don't have a bounty on my head. Nor am I wanted for any sort of crime. I will apologize for my uncle's eccentric behavior. He is a pirate after all." Silvertongue dropped this bombshell on them as casually as one might bring up the weather. "Though... I suppose he took care not to mention that. Whoops." He looked a bit sheepishly between the two.

 

[Corda LaConte / Cordan LeConte]

Corda almost didn't notice the lede as Silvertongue buried it with a sly trick. When the word finally caught up to her, her eyes widened, and she glanced to Berchar incredulously. "A pirate? An actual pirate? As in a lawless bandit of the seas - one prone to murder, pillage, and rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrravishing?" The mortification on her face warred with the blush of embarrassment. She didn't want to imagine living on a ship captained by such a beast; after all, she was a refined young vixen, and certainly didn't think about such things, nor pour over certain chapters in some of the more interesting paperback novels her mother had given her.

 

[Berchar Fleetfoot]

Gnawing on a claw anxiously as he listened, Berchar’s long ears at first stood stiff with alarm at the mention of this Chokra being pirate – then reddened with Corda’s colourful description. Some part of him felt scandalised; another fondly recalled his sisters giggling over such topics in the study on a long summer’s afternoon.

“W-well, I certainly wouldn’t know anything about ravishing,” he mumbled, coughing awkwardly before hastening to continue, “but…Well. He rather was worried about you becoming, what was it…apprehended by pirates?” His nose twitched, unease setting back in as panicked thoughts began to rise. “You don’t think…he’s in trouble with other pirates, do you? You might become, uhm...leverage.”

 

[Silvertongue Songfox]

Silvertongue sighed heavily. "It's a very long, very complicated story. I don't want to discuss it here." Silvertongue leaned down to collect what meager earnings he had gained from his work today. "Care to join me at one of the local restaurants? I could go for something to eat."

 

[Corda LaConte / Cordan LeConte]

Corda nodded, looking about and squinting to try to make out any of the blurred lights at the end of the dock, trying to discern which ones were restaurants or taverns. She'd always been better at seeing things up close than far away; it wasn't that she was blind or couldn't tell in broad strokes of color what things were, just that fine detail was lost. "Does anything in that direction appeal to you?" she inquired, gesturing at one collection of dark squarish shapes with various yellow and orange blobs that might be windows into brightly-lit rooms.

 

[Berchar Fleetfoot]

Long and complicated though the story purported to be, Silvertongue’s answer was evidence enough of one thing: their instincts had been worth following. Far though the truth may yet prove from their assumptions, Berchar felt some relief to know that he and Corda had not elected to ignore their concerns. Clearly there was a tale to be heard.

The mention of food caused the jerboa’s long ears to twitch; he was ever fond of a good meal, and though his budget rarely stretched to indulgences tonight seemed as good an occasion as any to enjoy something hot. Standing on tip-paw, he squinted after the direction Corda was looking. “Can’t say I know much about the places in this area,” he confessed, “but I’m hardly choosy. Lead on: a meal sounds perfect.”

 

[Silvertongue Songfox]

Silvertongue didn't have a preference, he just ducked into the first restaurant that wasn't overly crowded. Finding a secluded table in a dark corner, he lead his new companions there. Sitting down, he sighed heavily and looked at the both of them. "My uncle Chokra is a pirate. It's true. My father was one too, and his father before him."

Silvertongue was ashamed to admit it, but these two had- supposedly- met his uncle. Which meant the truth would have come out regardless. "I myself grew up on a pirate ship, with my mother. It was not as glamourous as you may think. We struggled as a family."

He took off his hat, looking at it fondly. "This fancy outfit, Mother worked so hard to get it for me. I was the best dressed beast on the ship..." He smiled ruefully. "Even if all the other beasts ridiculed my appearance..."

He sat his hat back on his head. "Two years ago, the Captain planned a raid on a seaside fortress. My father was his second in command. He advised against it, but the Captain insisted. It went poorly. My father..." Silvertongue swallowed. "He passed. And I fled from the battle. I left Mother behind. I didn't wish too, but I was certain I was going to be killed too. I knew that Uncle Chokra would keep her safe, but I still feel guilty about it, all these years later."

 

[Corda LaConte / Cordan LeConte]

Corda listened closely to the fox's narrative, trying to piece together where exactly the story was heading and how it explained the involvement of the pirate. "So," the vixen inquired, picking up the menu and perusing it in an attempt to stave off the waitress coming their way, "your uncle is trying to find you because you fled? Do you think he is trying to kill you?"

 

[Berchar Fleetfoot]

Ears and tail folded neatly so as to take up as little space inside the restaurant, Berchar listened in silent fascination. Pirates had rarely been a concern of his, so rarely had he spent time at sea, but that did not mean the threat had never been made obvious: this gentlefox was walking a tightrope. Dangerous stuff.

He did not express as such in words, but the jerboa’s eyes softened with empathy to hear of Silvertongue’s remorse for fleeing. Poor beast: he knew well enough how the need for survival could get its claws in a soul. He wondered briefly of his own mother and how she might be faring. Such a thought was swiftly discarded: he did not want to consider the very real possibility that she had met an unfortunate end.

Though intending to keep his mouth shut, Berchar couldn’t resist adding his own opinion. “He seemed a gentlemanly sort, but…he did fight with quite the ferocity. Even if he wasn’t trying to harm you, would you want to go back?”

 

[Silvertongue Songfox]

"He's family. He isn't trying to kill me." Silvertongue said firmly, though his eyes betrayed uncertainty now that the seed of doubt had been planted within his mind. "Even if he is, he's the only beast who knows where my mother is. Even if he intends to betray me, I have no choice but to meet him. What sort of beast would I be if I left my own mother to such a fate? I can barely sleep at night as it is. I fear I'd never be able to get a good night's rest again, so painfully would the guilt eat away at my conscience."

 

[Corda LaConte / Cordan LeConte]

Corda leaned forward, contemplating how to handle this. She supposed she could try to persuade Silvertongue not to fall into the trap, but he seemed determined to rescue his mother, no matter what. That wasn't something Corda could help with... but she knew someone who could.

"I'm going to go get my brother," she advised Silvertongue. "He's... a little clueless at times, but I promise he means well. When you see him, you'll know him immediately, I promise; just tell him that you need his help for a rescue mission, and I swear he'll help you, alright?"

She got up from the table and hurried away, looking for the back hallway that led out to the outhouse. There were a pair of foxes already back there, their tongues more intertwined than their limbs, and Corda looked away hurriedly to instead fish about in her bag for her brother's outfit. The male of the pair noticed her, and his voice called over, "Yer welcome t' join us, sweet'eart. More th' merrier." Feeling a small flush more of disgust at the audacity of the beast than of any actual interest, Corda instead pulled out her brother's doublet and pulled it over her chest, then stripped herself of her skirt to replace it in the bag. "Oh." The todd's voice immediately turned to disgust. "Yer one a' 'em. Pervert."

Unfortunately for him, Corda had already placed her brother's hat upon her head and went to sleep, so when Cordan awoke, the latter was the first word he heard. Immediately he seized his rapier and drew it, leveling it at the todd. "You dare to insult my sister, you rapscallion?" he challenged, the tip of the blade hovering at the beast's throat. "You dare to impugn upon her honor?"

The todd and vixen both looked stunned, and were clearly reconsidering their environment. "N-no offense mean' mate," the todd stammered, his paw trying to pull at his partner's shoulder to back them toward the door. "We 're jus' leavin'."

"That is right, retreat, you cur," Cordan scoffed, sheathing his blade and straightening his doublet. "Only a coward mocks a femme." He turned and left the hall, looking around to see what had gotten his sister to trade places.

It took him a few seconds to spot Berchar and Silvertongue, but the moment he did, Cordan's eyes lit up. He bounded over to their table, enthusiastically patting Berchar on the back. "You found the lad! Well done, Berchy," he congratulated the jerboa as he sat. He leaned across the table to offer his paw to Silvertongue. "Cordan LeConte, at your service, Mr. Songfox, and at your uncle's, or at least soon to be, once I join his crew and sail for adventure. So glad to finally meet you."

 

[Berchar Fleetfoot]

Resting his chin on both paws, there was little disguising the pain and guilt which suffused his features as he listened. What sort of beast would one be, indeed. He knew he’d been too young to really grasp the severity of the civil war when he’d been packed up off to the Academy without a say in the matter, but for years now he had been running in ignorance of what had become of the family. His stomach churned to think of the reality, and though he knew this Silvertongue could not be blamed for not knowing the jerboa felt hot and sick. They could all be dead or worse, and I abandoned them. Just like the army.

Corda’s departure made him increasingly uneasy, though he reassured himself it would be temporary. In the meantime he flashed the well-dressed todd a nervous smile. How to best prepare the younger beast for their new companion’s…behaviour? “I, uhm, I beg your indulgence with Corda and Cordan,” he started. “I’ve not long known them, but they seem to behave as though two beasts in one body. They’ve been nothing but kind to me, so I haven’t pressed them on it.”

Sure enough Cordan was back in no time at all and with no recollection of the prior hours. The jerboa tensed anxiously, quick to intercede before he could put his paw in his mouth. “Oh, Cordan – well, funny enough we were just talking about Chokra and all isn’t quite as it seemed. It sounds like a rescue might be in order instead.”