Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » Promises of gold, bad luck and more gold (1x1)

Hansel looked distressed."I'm glad we charged in this place when we did. Not to worry, milady. You're safe now." He looked over at Bender, who seemed to be regaining his posture."Are you okay, friend?" The knight asked. Bender looked at the man with a piercing gaze."I just lost me arm, lad! Do I look 'okay' to ya?" He was rather annoyed by his uselessness, and had a hard time expressing his gratitude.

The pirate limped over to his mechanical arm and attempted to pick it up. But he was even too weak for that. Out of pure annoyance he kicked the thing angrily."Bugger it all!"

The knight didn't flinch from his rage, though. He understood this was not the most amazing of experiences. "Allow me, sir. Is your ride nearby?" He asked as he picked the heavy thing up. Bender nodded."Aye. It's down the hill from 'ere."

As the knight left, Bender looked for the corpse of one of the bandits who held his items, which he found rather quickly. The giant bald woman was hardly recognizable, but Bender's iconic sword and pistol were unmistakably his. He picked his tools up and walked over to Stevie with her knife."You okay, lass? Did ya find the fragment?"

Stevie sat down and rested. Not that she was especially spent, but being frightened the way she had and shoved into confrontation like that caused a bit of an adrenaline rush. Now that it was dying down, her limbs began to ache. She could deal with that more than the burning, but still she wished to sit.

When Bender threw his little fit, the Halfling remained quiet and simply observed. Hell, she'd even try to keep her eyes from contacting him so not to irritate him further. When he finally went to address her after Hansel had left. She retrieved her knife from him and gave him a very forced smile, thankful but still trying to make sense of this whole thing.

"Yeah," she answered blandly. "I'm ok. Arm hurts real bad. Glad that man didn't ask much questions, though. And yeah." She dug in her pocket to pull out the fragment, pushing the crystal deeper into the pocket so it wouldn't accidentally fall out. She didn't want to show Bender right now. It might be best if that waited. Stevie held out the fragment to him and waited for him to snatch it.

"Glad yer ok, too," she commented.

After taking the fragment, the old man could finally smile again, even if it was only slightly."Good. At least I didn' lose me arm fer nothin'. Well done, lass. I couldn' 've done it without ya." He said as he patted her back."I ain't got nothin' on me to heal burns, but once we're on me ship, I'll get someone ta take o' them." Bender's throat was blazing red as well, though not as badly burned as Stevie's.

Meanwhile, the farmers in the background was rounding up all the bandits they had caught and left alive. Among them was Sar, though she didn't look distressed at all, even though some of the farmers spat on her and kept shouting she was a witch. She didn't even flinch when one of the other knights ordered some farmers to gather wood so she may be burned. A younger child had dropped her pitchfork and carried the puppy that was in the same room as Sar and Stevie were. By the looks of it, the pup had been instantly adopted.

Soon, Bender started moving again and left these strange caverns behind. The knights got their glory, the farmers their safety, and the duo their fragment. But Bender just wanted to get back to his ship. The old man walked rather wobbly. the new shift of weight was something he wasn't used to.

Back in the cart, Hansel waited for them."I've stored your arm in the back of your cart, sir. I.. am sorry for your loss. I wish I knew of someone who could re-attach it, but sadly mechanisms aren't my strong suit." The Tiefling offered. Bender nodded."That's fine, lad. Thanks for comin' when ya did. I don' think we'd have made it out alive without yer angry mob." Hansel made a short bow."Protect and serve, it's what we do. Safe journey, my friends. Now if you'll excuse, we have some heretics to burn."

Soon, the cart would be back on the road. The trip to the port wouldn't take long now. Behind the pair, a large fire burned, though luckily they were far enough not to hear any screams.

Stevie smiled a little. "Thanks," she replied. Even just dipping it in cool water would probably feel good. She was able to see Sar walk along with those folk, which made her only try to make eye contact and smile for reassurance, but really she felt awful. The lady seemed pretty nice and knowing she was going to burn alive really made the halfling feel bad. She decided to use that guilt to make sure that the crystal was well-protected, though. No sense not keeping her promise over something like that.

As Bender began to move, so did Stevie. She didn't really like moving her arm, but if she had to she would. The climb down wasn't a fun one, mainly because she just wanted to be on the ground already. Once in the cart, though, she slumped back in her spot and allowed herself to fall limp. Relaxation time! Hansel was watched as he spoke to Bender, but she didn't seem too happy about him casually announcing he was going to burn some heretics. Instead of saying anything, she turned her head away and looked straight ahead and tried not to think about it. Instead, her thoughts were on Bender's ship! She was going to see it! That was pretty exciting after all. Since Steve was slumped over and her head was below the top of the backrest, she luckily did not see the flames. Perhaps that was for the best, though.

After a few hours, the sun was rising in the distance. If Bender still had two arms, he'd nudge Stevie awake if she was sleeping. Instead he bumped his foot against her leg."Here we are, lass. Fossler's port." He pronounced. The cart was a short distance away, but the entire port could be easily viewed. It was a small place, with more emphasis on space for boats to stay rather than having many living quarters. Most of these buildings were inns and stores. Hardly anyone but the keepers lived here, which gave the place the feeling it was rather small, but judging from the amount of boats that were docked, this was not the case.

At least fifty ships were docked here, and the little town was bustling with activity from crewmembers of all races.

Bender soon stopped in front of a large frigate."Finally home, lass. The 'Undying Maiden' this was once called. 'Till I took over 'n called it 'The Moneymaker'. Fitting, ain't it?"

The Moneymaker was a gigantic frigate with an almost serpentine look. It had two rows of cannons, one below deck and one above. Each cannon was tweaked with iron sights for better aim. The wood was a mixture of dark oak en lighter yew woods with steel patches here and there where the ship had endured damage from nasty storms and the like. Most notable were the sails, though. They all had a copper color, which fit very well with the color this ship had.

At the front of the ship there was still proof this was once the 'Undying Maiden'. A mermaid hung from the tip of the ship, though her face was unrecognizable, as the crew had pulled a potato sack over her head and tied it around her neck. Someone even drew a silly face over it.

A walking plank was lowered as Bender lowered himself from the cart. From the plank walked two figures.

One was a Dwarf. He was a very broad man and looked very pirate-like indeed. He had a mop of thick red hair and a large beard that had been tucked in between his belt. His nose was on the large side and his eyes on the small. His mouth wasn't visible through his beard. Unlike most Dwarves, though, the man didn't adorn his beard with anything. He wore a black shirt and fitting pants as well as two pistols that had been tucked in between the belt. His left leg was a copper peg with a round disk that served as a foot. Finally, on his shoulder was a large green parrot.

The second figure was one completely shrouded. He wore a loose dark brown leather outfit and hid his face behind a wide white scarf. He couldn't hide his long snow white hair, though, neither his coal black skin and pointed ears. This was a Drow, and one armed to the teeth. He wore two bandoleers littered with throwing knives and wore two scimitars as well from his belt. The Drow's eyes were blood red with cat-like pupils.

"Cap'n!" The Dwarf shouted out with his arms open, but he quickly closed them once he saw Bender lost an arm."Ya look like horse dung, cap." He laughed."Did ya finally remove yer arm?" Bender shook his head."Good ol' Eli'Syn saw to that." The Dwarf scratched his hair."Well, I can try 'n fix it if ya like." Bender shook his head again."I'll have time for me arm later, lad. I want ya ta meet me partner. Show her 'round the place a lil'. Tell her who to trust 'n who not. Ambras, yer with me, get me arm in me cabin. 'N warn Hooke ta set sail. I won't be comin' out o' me cabin any time soon." With that, he looked at Stevie one more time before heading up the plank."She's under my protection, I won't have any o' yer pranks on her, got it?"

The Drow nodded."Sure, make me your pack mule, why don't you? And I thought Hooke was a pain in me arse." He sighed as he went to the cart.

The Dwarf offered his hand to the Halfling."Bender's favorite, are ya? Me name's Norin Redbeard. 'N this 'ere handsome fella is Mister Pickle." The green parrot cawed at the sound of his name."Pickles." It suddenly screeched.

Stevie would more than likely fall asleep. She wasn't used to such events, even after the battle with the orcs, so it really took a toll on her. Plus it'd probably be best to sleep through that consistent burning in her arm rather than endure it. That stuff burns forever! At least when she was nudged awake, her attention was immediately stolen by the landscape, giving her no time to focus entirely on her arm.

"Oh wow, lookit all the ships!" she mused. "Very fittin'!" As they walked aboard, she kept close to Bender's side. There were a lot of people he knew that she didn't, and that made her a little uncomfortable. Not unnaturally so, as it would with a lot of people, but she was still uncomfortable. The Halfling's head rotated back and forth between both Bender and the person he was talking to at the time.

Everything that was said between everyone made Stevie feel less and less like Sar was correct in what she said about Bender. There really was nothing to worry about! Now she walked with Norin around the ship, having just learned his name as well as his parrot's. She snickered at it, finding it a little amusing that it needed to say its own name.

"I'm Steve (or Stevie) Ruggles. Whatever ya like." Being referred to as Steve wasn't too different than her normal name, so she really didn't mind it. "Is the ship leavin' soon 'r somethin'?" Was she excited? Hell to the yes. She couldn't recall being on a ship before. She hoped to the gods she wouldn't get sick, though.

"Right about so, lass." The dwarf spoke."We've been docked for far too bloody long if ya ask me. But the captain's word is law, I s'pose." He said as he lead the girl on board."Now, the captain wants me ta tell ya who not to trust and so forth. Well, that ain't a difficult task. Don't trust any o' us." Norin laughed."We're pirates. Deceit's in our blood. I'll instead introduce ya to the people who actually matter 'round 'ere. Ambras ya already met, the Drow o' the ship. He's a racist basterd, he is. If he likes ya, he'll insult ya as much as possible. If he doesn't like ya, he'll stay quiet 'n plot ta throw ya overboard."

A lot of what looked to be like sailor boys and girls were on board. They looked quite alike, there was little to distinguish them from one another. Most wore blue shirts, but one didn't. A very tall and skinny person who wore a red one with a rope that acted as a belt. He was crawling down from the crow's nest."That fella we call Rat." Norin said. He did indeed look like a ratty person with his faint little mustache and short brown hair tucked in his black bandanna."He's known ta be a snitch, and out o' all the new dogs 'ere he smells the worst. Best stay away from him. Bender only keeps 'im 'round because he's bloody nimble."

In between the mixture of humans and elves came a more monstrous figure now. A Lizard with dark red scales and large scream colored fins on the back of his neck. His armor was made out of boiled leather and had many chains tied to it."Oh, this guy's name's Solst. He's a Firescale, so watch out he don' accidentally breathes fire on ya. Besides that, he ain't so bad. Don' speak the common tongue, though." The Lizard walked closer to the pair after having heard Norin's introduction, even barely understood it."We're not dragons, Dwarf. We have control over our gift. And if you were to learn Elven we might actually be able to speak. He spoke in the Elvish tongue. Stevie might have understood it if she spoke the same language.

Stevie listened intently, trying her hardest to make a decent impression but it wound up making her seem stiff. Though when he began to joke about who to trust, she felt a little less on-the-spot and relaxed. Even cracked a grin! "Racist to everyone? Or just anyone that's not a Drow?"

"Ya mean like a thief? Eh, I ain't got nothin' worth stealin'." No, yeah you do, remember? That tiny crystal Sar gave you. But then again, who would want that? Well, probably someone who thinks it's a precious gemstone or something. So yes, perhaps it would be best to avoid this Rat fellow after all.

Oddly enough, Stevie did know a little Elvish. Not the entire language, but enough to communicate very simply. Because her mother had learned the language, she'd often give her little fun lessons on how to speak it, probably because she knew it may be useful later on in life or some such bull. So when the lizard man approached and spoke, it took her a short moment, but after piecing together some missing words, she started to chuckle.

"Maybe you both should learn bits of each others' language," she said, then repeated a very simple version of that sentence in Elvish for the Firescale's to hear. She seemed to have some trouble with it at first, but the more she'd use it the more she'd be comfortable with speaking it.

Norin just laughed."Learn the tongue o' a sissy prissy lil' Elf? Why not put me 'n Mr. Pickle in a fancy dress while yer at it?" While the parrot repeated "pickles" a few times, Solst looked impressed. He slowed down his speech so Stevie might comprehend better."Linguistic, aren't we? Nice to finally speak to someone who isn't Ambras. Come to me with issues. You'll find me to be a favorable ally." With that, the Firescale went on with his business.

As he left, the door to the bowels of the ship opened and a tall, imposing figure walked through, easily mistaken to be Bender at first glance. He stood as tall and broad as the captain, but he was clearly an Orc. His square jaw, dark green skin and tall fangs spoke enough. One eye was covered by a black eyepatch, while his other eye was light blue and could pierce a man's soul. His long and shaggy hair flows over his pointy ears and barely reaches past his neck. He also wore a long brown overcoat and a highborn shirt of what seemed to be red velvet. His black trousers were made of silk by the looks of them. and his boots were adorned with feathers. For an Orc he certainly looked highborn. On his back was a musket, and his right hand had been replaced by a bronze hook, looking similar to Norin's peg."Norin!" He boomed."I told you to get rid of your stinkin' bird! The bloody thing craps all over my files!"

Norin just laughed."Mr. Pickle don' need ta go anymore, Hooke. Bender O' Iron Will's back in charge now." He smirked. Hooke just sighed."The old man's lost his arm, you know? You think he's still capable of handling a crew of gull droppings like these?"

"It's not his arm I follow, Hooke. It's that devious mind o' his. Ya best be careful with what yer sayin', pal. Someone might just take it the wrong way 'n think there's a mutiny commin'." Hooke ignored him and walked closer to Stevie."Who's this street rat? Some bastard daughter of yours, Norin?"

Steve huffed a little, but kept that smile. "It'd be better 'n tryin' to figure out what he says for as long as ya know 'im, at least," she said to Norin. To the Firescale, she smiled especially wide at, mainly because he spoke slower for her and that was nice. "I will, thank you!" she replied.

However! Despite the Firescales not intimidating her, there was one individual that scared the pee out of her. And that was that orc. Hooke he said?

"Hooke," she muttered aloud. "Oh, is that the one people seem annoyed with?" she whispered. Well, other than Norin, just the Drow seemed playfully annoyed with him when speaking to Bender. Though when she heard the orc speak of Bender like that, the halfling frowned and tried to gather up the courage to take up for him, too.

"He's capable of handlin' anythin'! Not just any old man could fend off dozens of angry orcs or... or... a mob of angry farmers and knights and... yeah! He didn't even complain once. With his arm ripped off 'n tired from the road 'n battle, he took his time to greet those who greeted him 'n began settin' things in motion before he focused on gettin' his arm back on and restin' up!" Jeeze, reel it in, Steve. We know you're upset, but damn.

Though now that the distance was closed and the street rat question was asked, she took a step or two back because AHHH ORC! "I ain't his kid. I'm Stevie...," she replied, confidence draining with each syllable until it was gone.

Hooke only grinned, and Norin had an amused look in his face as well."Oh, I see, you're not Norin's kid, you're the captain's little cheerleader." Hooke scoffed."Keep that tongue of yours in your mouth if you want to keep it, little rat. Accidents occur often at sea." He vaguely threatened the Halfling. He gave another disdaining look at Norin and Mr. Pickle before walking off to the wheel, which he had the command over."Get the anchor back up, mongrels! Captain's back in charge, and he says we set sail!"

Norin patted Stevie on her back."Daring little girl, ain't ya? That'll make ya many friends. I'll make sure to pass yer words on to Bender. Heck, he might even give you a bed that ain't infested with fleas." Norin laughed as he lead her down inside the ship."Don' mind ol' Hooke. He's an honest man. Too honest if ya ask me. Thinks he's better than us.". The stairs were very broad for being part of a ship. Down one level was the mess hall, which was shared with two more rows of cannons and the resting bunks for the males. The huge and long table in the middle of the area was hammered down to the floor so during fights the thing wouldn't squish a whole group of unfortunate cannoneers. The male bunks were in the far back in a room of their own.

"There's three more folk ya should know o'. Well, two o' them actually, but Bugface's a creepy one, 'n I don' want her ta soil yer pants." Norin said."One o' them we call Red. He's probably asleep right now. He's in charge o' a lot o' things. For one he's responsible for all that happens below deck. Second he also has control over the armory and third, he cooks. Lots o' responsibilities fer a mute. I want ya to go see 'im after dinner for a gun. Yer lil' knife's all well 'n good, but it won't protect ya when the enemy's bombardin' us from afar."

The second person stood out. He sat at the long table, reading a book. A short elf and rather tanned. His hair was mid-long and he had a stern, scarred face. The most notable about him was his long staff with a large crystal on top of it, similar looking to that which Stevie carried around, only much bigger. He wore black robes with red dyed wool trimmings around his sleeves and collar. His legs and feet were hidden by the great robe."Hom over there's Helin, but he prefers to be called Fantasm. He was a noble, once. Heh, to be born so high 'n to drop so low because o' a failed magical experiment, I call that irony." Norin smirked. Fantasm's eyes looked over at the pair, but quickly returned to his book."Bender trusts that one when it comes to matters about magic. He ain't very talkative, but for an Elf, he's alright."

Stevie grew rather pink in the face. Cheerleader? Maybe she should've kept quiet.... However, his reaction was much more tame than she thought it would be, and this was relieving. The Halfling sighed and relaxed a little, smiling up to Norin. Well, at least she knew she'd need to be a little ballsy to get along well enough here. Being timid would probably get her bullied.

"Oh, I dun care if it's bug-ridden or just a clump of hay on the wood - I'm sure I'll sleep sound in anythin'." And this was probably true, too, since she had a relatively easy time sleeping in the wagon. When Norin mentioned Bugface, the girl brightened up and she interrupted him with, "Bugface!" She forgot all about the Ettercap! "Is she here?"

Steve grew quiet to let him finish talking. So there was a mute man named Red, who she'd need to see after dinner for a gun. And there was Fantasm, an elf, who used magic and carried a large crystal on his staff similar to the tiny one she had. She supposed it was some sort of magical catalyst or something. But since magic made her uneasy, she decided to stay away from him. No offense to him, she just really wasn't comfortable with magic.

Suddenly, she remembered the part about needing a gun. The small creature looked to her hands and then back up to Norin, feeling a little unsure about herself. She realized now that by coming along, there could be more trouble ahead. That, and she could be doing much more illegal things than just stealing bread from a bakery. What if she actually had to use the gun? She shook her head of those thoughts. "I dunno how to use a gun," she said rather bluntly.

Norin looked surprised."Ya know Bugface? That explains why she kept shouting Bender 'n Fidget were comin'. Fidget was a Halfling just like yerself, only he came from some snow capped world. Bugface seemed to like the fellow." Of course, Norin didn't realize Stevie was being called Fidget just because she was a Halfling as well."Well, if ya go downstairs you'll get to the women's quarters, right next to the kitchen area 'n the storage area. Try not to go in the storage area, the towerin' walls o' boxes can really get a person lost."

After his explenation, Norin went back up the stairs. Downstairs the women's quarters were easily found, as they were right next to the staircase that led to the bottom of the ship. These stairs were much smaller than the ones that lead up to the deck. The place was much darker as well. Oil lamps hanging from the ceiling lit this place up, and it was the same with the women's bunks. A few girls ran out screaming for the stairs when a large, potbellied creature walked out of the doorway."No food?" A familiar voice asked as she eyed the pirate women running away.

Stevie smiled and nodded. "Yeh. She saved our skins a lil while back. If it weren't for her we prolly woulda got real hurt." And by real hurt, she really meant "probably would've died."

After the explanation, the Halfling trailed downstairs to the women's quarters. She wasn't too sure what to do down there because she was only supposed to talk to a certain someone after dinner, but she didn't want to rush that by sitting in the kitchen area, staring at the people cooking or what have you. Instead of staying clueless forever, she heard a familiar voice. Yea, sure, she was a terrifying creature to look at, but she was such a sweetheart. Stevie could deal with her looks.

"Wow, I thought pirate women were supposed to be gutsy...?" she muttered to herself, absolutely bewildered.

"Bugface?" she called, her grin stretching even wider.

"Fidget!" Bugface screeched."Fidget live! Syn no kill Fidget!" The creature didn't run up to Stevie to hug her or anything like that. It probably didn't know of the significance of such an action. Not all that many pirates on the ship hugged either."Come, come! Bed inside! Fidget sleep underneath Bugface!"

Inside, the female bunks were tight knit bunk beds, and rather small as well. Bugfacehad her bed in the top corner, made out of her own web. Stevie's bed had dark blankets and a bright white matress, filled with something soft, though rather bulgy as well."Red dwarf happy to see Bugface. Said I could repair sails. Also scare feces out of people. Don't know what that means." Right as she said that, the ship rocked a bit. Finally it was moving. The treasure hunt upon the sea had begun!

"I think she woulda...," she mumbled, looking down to her arm. It still hurt quite a bit, but luckily there was so much going on that she was, for the most part, distracted. When Bugface told Fidge-- er, Stevie, where she'd be sleeping, a sudden thought overcame her. No one would mess with her! She was on Bender's good side, made the acquaintance of a Firescale, and had a rather intimidating friend.

Maybe there was little to worry about after all? Suddenly, the Halfling began to feel like the hardest part was over and it was smooth sailing from here. Pun unintended.

"Hahah, Bugface that means yer allowed to scare people till- eh, yanno what? Nevermind. Prolly not a good idea." The rocking ship hadn't bothered her balance a whole lot while it was docked. But now that it did so an exceptional amount, indicating they were moving, the Halfling wasn't so sure if her balance would remain decent. Or that her food would remain in her stomach.

Bugface looked as confused as ever. She seemingly had no problems with the rocking of the ship and crawled to her corner. But then a bell rang."Grub!" A voice yelled. Bugface jumped from her corner as quickly as she got in it."Fidget! Food! Hungry? Red cooks well." The bug creeped her way to the stairs to the mid deck.

As soon as she got there, the place was getting crowded with pirates, waiting for the pots to get on table. And they quickly did, even before everyone was seating on their seat. From the deck below came a giant of a man. He was in fact so big he was easily mistaken for a Half-giant. His long red hair revealed who he was.

Red was a barrel chested man. He was incredibly muscled and refused to wear a shirt. All he wore were torn linnen trousers and a rope to keep the pants up. In his gigantic hands he carried an even bigger pot, which had enough stew in it to feed an army. The man's face was shaven clean. He could have been quite handsome, if not for his rather big and flat nose. That thing saw a lot of abuse.

Speaking of abuse, Red had a whole lot of strange scars. One of them were shackle marks around his pulses and ankles, which shows he was once a slave, and his master was very unkind to him. Anyone else would think these were prison scars, but on his chest was a name tattood. It said 'Property Of Marshall Winsor.' It was barely readable, though, as the man had carved through his flesh multiple times to cross out the tattoo, signifying he was free once more. Albeit without a tongue.

Once everyone was seated, they all drew their own bowl and spoon. Hey! No one told Stevie to bring her own dishes! Someone would come to her rescue though."Hey, new chick. Over here." Rat called with an almost evil looking grin, flailing around a spare bowl and spoon."Come sit with me."

It was noticable neither Norin, Bender nor Hooke were at the table. The only familiar faces here were Fantasm, Rat, Solst and Bugface, who'm only the bravest folk dared look at.

The Halfling found it hard not to be excited when Bugface was. She was generally an excited girl, but lately she was pretty mellowed out. Probably because of how tired she was. Stevie tried to keep up, but was stumbling everywhere because of the ship's movement. Her hands traced along the wall, so that helped out a good bit, but at times she'd stumble to the side and have to switch walls. In areas where there wasn't much to use as support, she rather ridiculously paraded about like a drunk man dizzy from spinning in circles.

She sat next to Bugface, but soon realized everyone had their own dishes... and she did not. Why hadn't anyone told her? She frowned. This meant she'd probably not be able to eat, or she'd have to ask if she could use someone else's bowl when they were done. The Halfling heard someone speak to her, though, and she looked up and over to him. SPARE DISHES AAAEEEIII! Just as quickly as the Halfling had sat down, she got up and rushed over to him, yes falling over between point A and B, but she managed to get there quickly enough. What was this man's name again? She had a lot of names thrown at her.

"Why you want me to sit with you? Not complainin'! I think it's nice." Shut up, Stevie. She looked at her lap, obviously thinking her wording was crap, but didn't bother fixing it. Her eyes would glance up every now and again to the spare bowl and spoon. Do want.

Rat grinned as he handed the Halfling her bowl and spoon and called for the stew to pass by their seat."Lass, you ain't got sea legs by the looks of it." He sounded like an ironic bully, though that was just his voice."I just wanted to get to know you a lil'." He grinned.

"Ya see, they call me Rat, though I'd really appreciate if they'd name me after a more honorable animal. Every new member gets nicknamed after vermin, and then they raise in status! I've been here five years 'n I'm still stuck with Rat, for god's sake." He complained."Yet you don' get a nickname. Word 'round the ship is yer Bender's kid. I'd rather be called Fox or Wolf 'r something, but I guess I'm stuck with Rat. 'n rats are known to be everywhere. So that's what I intend to do on t his ship. I'll figure out the truth about everyone and everything. I'll begin with you, lass. Who are you?"

Stevie thanked him for the bowl and stared down into it. She glanced back up to him when he mentioned she didn't have sea legs, and she nodded with a tidbit of laughter. "Yeah, I ain't never been on a ship before. At least I ain't seasick!" Then again, it just started and the waters weren't too turbulent.

Nicknames? She supposed she didn't have one. She was called Lass a lot, but that's different. That's just a small honorific of sorts. "Oh, no! I'm not his kid. I'm not even a kid...," she muttered. "I found 'im in a tavern one day and wouldn't quit buggin' him. Saw he had a map!"

A moment of silence passed before she decided to speak again. "And rats are neat creatures, too. I like 'em. So dun look at it as a bad thing, I guess."

When he asked who she was, she looked at her bowl again and shrugged. "Stevie Ruggles. That's all. I ain't got no grand story to tell 'r nothin'. I'm just a Halfling with an itch to travel."

She didn't mind talking about herself, she was just sad there wasn't much to tell. She walked out of her home early on because it wasn't a very happy environment, but it wasn't completely awful either. Truthfully, her life's been sort of dull until she met Bender.