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Figure we can use the same thread for both? Jask and Lyra first and then after Jask goes to see Toad and Lonan.

His arrival came in the early morning, where he had finished his final stretch towards home in the cover of darkness. It also helped that, for whatever reason, he had lost his shadow after Myrhris nearly lost its existence. He came swiftly this way. No run in with another loner be it friend or foe, as the bard was far over ready to return to the Howff. He missed the comfort of his old cot, the loud rambunctiousness of the inn folk, playing uncle to his captain's kids and he even missed toying with the captain herself.

Swaying himself forward towards the entryway with exhaustion and a yawn, the door creaked as Jaskier slowly pushed it open and slipped inside. All was quiet. For those who kept themselves up into the late hours and early mornings, early risers were few and far in between. But there, up on the balcony, two pale green eyes glowed back at him in the dim lighting.

Captain?

He didn't know.

Until now she'd clung to some subconscious hope that he had come across Mal and the girls on their journey, and the crew had simply joined together for convenience. As if the Bard had such powers.

He carried no lost whelps or partners in tow.

Jaskier. She greeted, more circumspect than was generally her custom with those of rapport. Ye've returned.

Aye. He answered with a sharp bark, low enough however not to wake the likely many still sleeping residents and whatever guests currently made camp in their rooms.

Taking a few paces after using a back leg to close the door behind him, he sat lazily at the foot of the stairs as he looked up to her. A bit in a mood maybe? But it was early after all.

Enjoyed the open road, but its not quite the same without the Hail Mary. Miss the spray of the sea, miss the crew. He could give or take some, but Bonnie, Zhenyi and the wild dog pup he enjoyed. And fuck do my feet hurt!

Her lip tugged into a smile, since she owed one for the banter and a surly captain was liable to raise resentment if it was the only mien she could offer.

The sea she missed. Saltspray and dolphins cresting the waves. Climbing ratlines. Traveling by stars.

The crew? Had been a means to an end. She'd never let herself feel close to them, not truly. Any one could have been a knife in her back as easily as she could be one in theirs.

She'd spent most of her life like that, until Mal put the little maggots in her belly, and she'd ended up with four screaming brats at her teats. They'd become her world, somewhere along the way. Everything else, even the Howff, was meant to secure them safe passage through the horrors of living.

Now two were gone. And Toad had been sick, again, and Lyra felt the scarcity of medicine keenly. What did being captain matter, if she couldn't protect them?

Jaskier didn't know the storm of her mind. But she couldn't truly share his nostalgia, and irritation prickled secretly under the practiced smile.

She had to keep smiling. Maybe she couldn't keep the ones she loved safe as a captain. But if she gave the others reason to displace her, she'd be putting them at risk, and that was still worse.

Heard tell o' a ship beached past the marshes. What do ye reckon' odds o' it bein' salvaged are? Lyra bantered, moving to descend the stairs. Keen eyes looked Jaskier over for signs of wear. The road had weathered him, to be sure. Given him a rugged charm she imagined would bring up his stage appeal.

But had he been successful? 'ow was yer journey? Did ye meet any of our own along the way?

Out there east of Jakten mountains, you meaning? His ears perked with curiosity and although he was fairly certain not much could be done with some wrecked who-knows-how-old ship, just the idea of visiting sounded rather nice. Feeling her old wood under his paws, the creak of it as the waves Lapped against it. If he could stand on its haul and lift his muzzle to the wind… maybe he could just imagine what once was - and end up feeling worse off all the same, he figured.

Jaskier brushed a paw over his dirty old scarf about his neck. Ah, nothing quite close. None worth picking up along the way. First met some royals in an old castle northeast of here. Eastrenhold, they say. The tunnel there took me to the desert lands south. Met a group Dusk wolves at the oasis, another that lived on the sand dunes. Was able to circle back to Jakten to see how they were fairing and another pack is settling in the mountains just next to them. Not sure all what will stick. The bard said with a lazy shrug.

And from the quietness of the inn, he felt nothing had come of it just yet. That old ship, He murmured on then, Something worth checking out one day…. Could take the kids along. Seems only right they learn of it. He spoke as he knew he'd come to check up on the rowdy bunch soon enough. Perhaps certain tales were best left untold, but Jaskier could offer many else. Besides, if they had come to this land here, they could just as easily one day teleport to another and maybe there they might find themselves sailing the seas proper again!

She nodded regarding the location ship, but her attention affixed plainly to Jaskier's report. Easternhold. Dusk. Jakten No promises or handshakes, not even a particular confidence. Doubly disappointing, now, when she was desperate for eyes and ears in all places.

The kids. Lonán could not walk without trouble and frost would be upon them soon enough. The boy might hide his ailments well. She was his mother, and a cutthroat besides who's trade relied upon reading subtle tells. Would it benefit him to see a lost inheritance? To weaken him on a great journey for nostalgia's sake?

And crooked-leg Toad — she'd not made it to Tianlong's summons in the best of conditions. She ailed doubly from weak breathing, illness flared sharply without warning. How easily Lyra could have lost a third!

There's news ye ought t'be wise to on our part, as well. The Captain broached quietly. Sorry she kept to herself. But anger, displeasure, they were easy to wear. Mal took Newt an' Frog out fer a lark. Weeks past. Not been back, no word sent. No scent t'follow. The truth of what that meant she held self-evident.

Toad's been laid up wit' an affliction o'lung. She's recoverin' in body, but 'er spirits is flaggin'. She reckons Da an' 'er sister's left 'er behind. Lyra wasn't sure which fate was worse to let the maggot believe in.

She was reminded again of grating sensations: of utter unpreparedness to be a parent. Now she sailed that ship alone through the storm.

We needed allies. Judgement simmered, a shark testing the waters. (Easier to be angry that Jaskier hadn't brought twenty-odd strangers barreling down her door than to face all the rest she was so helpless to avert or belay.)

It was not at all good, in the sense of the state of things since Jaskier had been gone. While Jaskier was ignorantly trying to think up ways of how he might take the lot of pups on some ‘great adventure’ despite their obvious ailments, Lyra was spilling the beans about Mal going off on a bit of an adventure already with two of his pups, the healthier of the four, yet hadn't heard nor seen of em in weeks.

Jaskier's ears immediately swept back, a lump forming in his throat. Where did he say he was heading? Surely Mal had mentioned where he was taking the pups around to and already Jaskier was thinking of how he might try to pull himself together quickly enough that he could head back out and look for them, but Toad was sick and felt abandoned and the pit in his stomach only seemed to get deeper.

Surrounded by a whole lot of good-doers, I'm afraid… Allies. No, they lot of pirates likely wouldn't make allies out of noble kings and queens, saintly and honorable knights and emperors and pharaohs who wouldn't be caught seen gallivanting with the likes of them. Yet Jaskier still held onto the idea that if they ended up needing someone to do their dirty work, they knew where to look.

Think I ‘ought to check on them… He murmured, taking a few steps up the flight of stairs.

She scoffed. Jaskier still had hope. She kept none for herself. Trainin'. Huntin'. We tracked 'em till they vanished int'thin air, near enough. Was a sneaky Amádan, but not that sneaky.

Lips curled into a snarl, she shook her head, Do-gooders, feh. Like that rat-bastard Lancaster? No sech fuckin' thing. Only delusionals or sneaks wrappin' vice in a few more layers. Nate Ronan's face flashed across her mind briefly, the man she'd killed who saved her life, and then vanished like a fairytale himself. She brushed it aside.

Kids'll be glad t'see ye. Lyra diverted instead, motioning for him to follow her up to the sickbed.

She pushed open the door to see Toad already sat up straight in the bed, butterfly ears perked high with a curious hope.

Vanished.

There wouldn't have been any particular reason for Mal to take the two girls and simply just book it. As far as Jaskier was concerned he pretty much had it made. He was fucking the Captain, plus he was a Boss in his own right around this gig. He had some good pups about him and a literal roof over his head. So what had happened to him?

You don't suppose… His words trailed off, a paw pad wiping over the dust on the floor boards. Maybe he and the other kids had indeed, vanished. Just so easily as they had appeared in this world, perhaps they had now vanished from it.

Quickly pushing these ill thoughts aside (the best he could anyway) he padded up the stairs after Lyra and peered into the threshold of the doorway as she pushes it open. Toad was already there on the bed at attention, pointed ears upright and eyes sparkling. Lonan next to perk, with a smile on his face. Well hello there you two! Uncle Jask is back!