"I don't know where he came from," Soren shouted up at the Walloxa, before Ivern could ask. His friend leaned over the bulwark, looking utterly shocked. Soren still felt shocked, even after the fight and the swim and the ride in the Waterborne. But his shock had sort of settled. It helped, probably, that he was used to Tanden shocking him.

"He needs attention," Soren continued.

"Right." Ivern blinked, and with that, he was back in action. The mystery of Tanden's appearance momentarily pushed aside. "Roan! We need a line!"

Roan appeared a moment later with a coil of rope. He tossed it down to Soren, who carefully tied it around Tanden's chest, under his arms. Then he hoisted Tanden up as high as he could, while Roan and Ivern pulled him up. As soon as the men had lifted Tanden over the bulwark, Soren scrambled to climb up the side of the Walloxa.

Ivern was on one knee, gingerly lifting the edge of the tunic wrapped around Tanden's waist. "It's a lot of blood, but I don't think he'll be leaving us." Ivern looked up. "I'll step up, if you want to see to him."

Soren was tempted, and he knew Ivern could handle the crew, but he also knew that he had to act like the Walloxa's captain. There was too much to do. "Take care of him."

"And your arm?"

"After."

Ivern nodded and waved at a few nearby sailors to join him. Gently, the three men picked Tanden up and Ivern guided them to the captain's quarters. Soren stood on the deck, watching them go. It wasn't until the door closed and Tanden was out of sight, that he managed to drag his focus away.

Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Ara swing himself over the bulwark. Assured that the Waterborne was taken care of, Soren briskly started for the quarterdeck. "Roan, report."

Roan fell in behind him. "We lost one, and a few injuries. We got the Walloxa off 'fore she took much damage, though. Oh, 'nd Naros came over with three others, talkin' 'bout surrenderin' themselves to Jerios. We tossed them below fo' now."

"Good." Soren ascended the last step. "Jerios?"

"All good, Captain," Jerios said. Soren could see the unasked question in his gaze, but Jerios resisted the urge to ask. "Elorie's opponent fled, but the ship wasn't in good condition. Kija signalled for her to come back. The Navirians seem to have taken their ship." He gestured.

Soren looked. The Navirian ship and the largest pirate ship were floating side by side. There were no sounds of battle. Elorie's ship was heading back towards them. Toliver's ship was gone, with just flotsam and bodies marking the place she had gone down. The air still smelled like smoke.

"So. What are we doing next?" Jerios asked. "The Navirians?"

With a heavy sigh, Soren ran his hand over his face. "Aye. But, we should check for survivors first."

"We can send the Waterborne over, Cap'n," Roan said. "'Nd we can flag Elorie down t' help. But you need t' talk t' the Navirians."

"I know." Soren dropped his hand. He was really starting the feel the wound on his arm, now that the immediately threat of the fight and drowning had waned. The Navirians were a different kind of challenge. A Tanden kind of challenge. "All right. Kija, signal Elorie to assist the Waterborne. And see if Kurias or one of the other Navirians knows how to signal the warship. I'll—"

His vision went dark, and the ship swayed under his feet. Soren felt arms catch him. "Right, Cap'n," Roan said. "Let us handle all that. You need to rest, mate."

Soren was too tired to argue.

***

He didn't have long to rest. He retreated to the captain's quarters to watch Ivern carefully clean and bandage Tanden's wound, then to endure Ivern doing the same to his arm. Ara fussed over him, wiping blood from his hands and face, slipping a new tunic over his head, and giving him water. Soren's exhaustion was held at bay by his nerves. He felt a little like he had before talking to the Xaoto coastguard. It was one thing to command his own crew, and by extension Elorie's. But facing off against navy sailors was much more intimidating, even though he knew the Navirians were on his side.

As the Walloxa glided beside the warship and her captured pirate ship, Soren stood on the deck. He felt marginally better in his new tunic, and with his injured arm bandaged and bound against his chest. Ivern stood on one side, and Kurias was nearby in case he was needed for translating. The Navirian sailors they had rescued were also on deck.

Ivern called for the anchor to be dropped. Soren allowed himself a moment of pride as his men hurried to obey. The Walloxa settled perfectly next to the much bigger warship. Soren looked up at her.

"Kurias, what's her name?"

It took the young man a moment to find the name painted on the side of the ship. "Illiasa. In Teltish... Huntress."

"Thank you." Soren took a deep breath. He had decided on the traditional Crelan greeting. "Ahoy, Illiasa! I ask permission to come aboard and meet your captain!"

A woman leaned over the bulwark above them. Her reply not only came in Teltish, but it was almost the proper Crelan response. "Granted, Crelan. How many?"

"Just myself and my first mate. I can bring a translator if need be."

"No need," she replied, before disappearing from sight.

Soren turned to Ivern, about to say something when a different voice shouted from above.

"Soren!"

His head whipped around. "Jale?" There she was, leaning over the bulwark so far it looked like she might fall. Relief flooded through him, even though, given half a moment to think about it, he could have guessed she was nearby. Together, she and Tanden would have been unstoppable.

The dignity he was going for was swiftly forgotten. The entire time the Illiasa's crew was getting a gangway ready, Soren and Jale called to each other, sharing disjointed bits of information about their journeys. As soon as the gangway was in place, Jale pushed past the Navirian captain to run down it. She nearly leapt into Soren's arms.

It shot pain through the slice on Soren's arm, but he didn't care as he wrapped his good arm around her and lifted her off her feet. In her excitement, she was speaking quickly in Tallenese, but Soren didn't need to understand the words to understand the sentiment.

It wasn't until he heard someone inviting him to the Illiasa that Soren lowered Jale back to her feet and took a step back. Jale let him go.

"Do you have him?" she asked.

Soren nodded his head towards the captain's quarters. "He's with Ara."

"Ara?" Jale's smile grew. "He's alive?" She rushed around Soren and took a brief moment to greet Ivern before disappearing into the captain's quarters. Her excited Tallenese was audible from the deck.

Soren tried to salvage some decorum as he walked up the gangway. He stepped onto the Illiasa's deck with Ivern close behind. An imposing woman stood nearby, flanked by two of her own sailors. His eyes drifted over her for a moment, taking in her red jacket and the large feather in her hat. It seemed impractical, and he doubted she had worn it during the fight.

Then, he remembered the proper etiquette. "Thank you for inviting me aboard, Captain—"

"Sylvaine," she said. "Are you the husband? He implied that you were dead. I did not realize that by 'took', he meant that you had joined the pirates."

That caught Soren off guard. He didn't even realize that his mouth had dropped open until he started to answer her. "I'm... not a pirate. He thought I was dead. I'm Soren. Captain Soren."

"Your ship is a pirate ship."

"I commandeered the Walloxa," Soren said. He tried to brush the husband comment aside, but it was difficult. Just as it was difficult to stand around, having this meeting, when all he wanted to do was lay down beside Tanden and sleep. "We took her, because the pirates burned our ship and tried to sell the crew into slavery on Alvara's southern coast. We've been travelling north since, hoping to come across the pirates who attacked us. We found a Navirian wreck just a week ago, and rescued five of the crew. It was all we could do."

Captain Sylvaine nodded. "Thank you. Is the other ship also under your command?"

"Her captain and I had the same goals," Soren said. "We will probably part ways soon, but for now, aye."

"And what purpose did you have, in coming to speak with me?" Sylvaine asked. "As much as my crew appreciated your help, I'm not sure what we have to discuss. You may have chased the pirates into our waters, but you can't claim this one as your prize. You burned down your prize."

Soren shook his head. "No, I only wanted to clear the air. I'm planning on continuing to Zianna, and I don't want to raise any suspicions. Alvarian ships rarely come this far north. I know what we look like."

"Ah." Sylvaine exchanged a glance with the woman on her left. Maybe her first mate. "You want a letter of passage. Your—" Her gaze darted up at the Walloxa's mast. "Makeshift flag is not quite convincing enough. Are you authorized to use the West Draulin flag?"

Soren imagined Lord Tandrael having him arrested for illegally flying the flag. No, technically he wasn't authorized, but that didn't matter. "We're a West Draulin Navy crew," he said, instead of getting into the details of it all. "This was an unusual situation."

"Fair enough," Sylvaine said, lifting her right shoulder in a shrug. "It is not my job to enforce nautical laws on Ziannan ships. If you wait a moment, we will prepare your letter of passage. The Navirians you rescued are welcome to come aboard. We'll take any pirates you captured, as well. As they are in our waters." She spoke to the woman on her left in Navirian, then said something else to the woman on her right. They both walked away. The one Soren thought was probably the first mate headed towards the captain's quarters, while the other hopped on the gangway and walked down to the Walloxa.

From their place on the higher deck, Soren and Sylvaine could both see as Kurias stepped forward to meet the woman. They exchanged a few words, then Kurias gestured towards the rescued Navirians.

"He's one of yours?" Sylvaine asked casually. "And your helmsman... Deoran?"

Soren nodded. "We have crewmembers from multiple countries."

"Well, that explains Jale and this boy."

"This—" Soren glanced over in time to see her gesture towards a young man who was standing nearby. Soren had no idea who he was. He had warm brown skin, similar to Ara but just different enough that he didn't look Morcean. He wore his dark hair in a long braid over his shoulder. It wasn't that unique of a style, really, but somehow it looked different. Soren couldn't quite understand how or why. But, he understood that for Sylvaine to lump the young man in with Jale and Tanden, he must have been a companion of theirs. So he tried not to look too confused.

"Oh—"

He was spared from having to say more when the Navirian first mate returned, holding a folded piece of paper and a quill. Sylvaine accepted both and flattered the paper out on the bulwark in order to scrawl out a signature at the bottom. She handed back the quill and held up the paper, letting it flutter in the wind for a moment to dry.

"If any Navirian ship flags you down, you can show them this," she said. Briskly, she folded it and held it out.

Soren was reaching for it when movement at the end of the gangway pulled everyone's attention.

"Wait!" Tanden was climbing up towards them. He didn't look well. His face was pale and he walked with a pronounced limp. But he acted like he wasn't injured when he hopped onto the Illiasa's deck.

Acting like he wasn't injured didn't mean he wasn't, however, and Soren stepped forward just in time to catch his arm and keep him upright. He shot a look at Jale, who was following close behind.

"He insisted." She slipped around behind Tanden and went to join the mysterious young man. Ara, who had also been frantically following Tanden up the gangway, hesitated and didn't take the final step onto the deck.

Sylvaine folded her arms over her chest. The letter of passage was still held gently between two fingers, but she paid it no mind. Her relatively friendly demeanor shifted into something Soren immediately recognized as exasperation.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I know." Tanden pushed Soren a step back. Soren moved far enough to give him the dignity of standing on his own, but stayed close enough to catch him if he fell. "I told you you wouldn't have to see me ever again. That's one of the last things I remember with perfect clarity, to be entirely honest."

"You don't remember your husband?"

Soren wasn't sure if he'd ever heard anyone speak to Tanden so dryly before. He must have really annoyed her.

"Yes. I do." Tanden flashed him a grin that almost looked confident. "Of course I do. I just haven't figured out how he got here. Regardless." He swayed as he turned. "I was just given a very brief description of this fight, and I have a... suggestion, with regards to the Exhun."

"It's at the bottom of the ocean," Sylvaine said.

"Yes. However, I believe the Navirian navy claims that sunken pirate ships are still worth money, albeit not as much as captured vessels. As long as somebody of authority can vouch that the ship did go down."

Sylvaine raised an eyebrow. "I'm not a dishonest woman. I was not going to claim the sunken ship as my own prize."

"No, of course not." Tanden's voice petered out with a hiss, and he pressed his hand against his bound wound. For a moment, everyone was silent, until he continued. "I wasn't implying that you would. I'm simply inquiring about who is allowed to claim a pirate prize. And given that my crew took down the Exhun, I think we should be allowed to ask for the monetary reward. If someone of authority..."

Soren expected Sylvaine to refuse. He didn't expect her to roll her eyes and smirk. "I can't stop you from petitioning for the reward."

This time, Tanden's grin was more genuine. More charming. More him. "But will you vouch for me?"

"I'll be honest if asked," Sylvaine said.

"Excellent." Tanden clapped his hands together. "In that case, we'll head for Navire. And I'll put in a good word about you picking me up in Moatt, for whatever that's worth. And we'll take this." Tanden plucked the letter from her hand. "I doubt we'll need it, but just in case."

"So, we'll meet again in Navire," Sylvaine said. She gave the gangway a meaningful look.

"It's been a pleasure, Captain Sylvaine." Tanden said. He turned to the gangway, and suddenly he seemed to deflate. As if whatever energy he had gathered had fled at the thought of stepping up onto the narrow piece of wood.

Soren stepped forward and pulled Tanden's arm over his shoulders. "Come on."

They let Jale and the young man go first, and Ivern followed behind as they carefully walked together down the gangway. Roan met them at the bottom, and stepped forward to take Tanden's weight.

"So, what's the plan, Cap'n?" he asked.

"We need to talk to Elorie," Soren said.

"We're going to Navire," Tanden said, as the exact same time.

An awkward stillness spread over the small group. Multiple eyes darted between Tanden and Soren. Soren didn't know what to say. For months he had wished for Tanden's leadership, but Tanden was in no shape to take over.

Tanden broke the silence, his voice quiet and his gaze locked on the blood that was seeping through his bandage. "My mistake. I defer to you, Soren. Roan, I need to lie down."

Roan glanced at Soren, and he nodded. As Roan helped Tanden cross the deck, Soren exhaled deeply. He was keenly aware of Ivern, Jale, Ara and the new young man's gazes.

Soren swallowed. "Once he's better, we'll—"

Ivern clapped him on the shoulder. "You could both be our captains, in a way."

"No." Soren looked at him. "No. Of all of his titles, that one means the most to him. I won't take it away. I don't want to. The Wanderlust is his."

"But," Ivern said. Soren could hear the caution in his voice. "The Walloxa is yours."