The Lore Wain and Her Nephew Pt. 16

Clef carefully picked the lock on the cage. Cynthia felt as though she should stop them, however, she knew Captain Sealen wouldn't be as kind once he had no more use for the ridgerunner. As a result, she didn't interfere with their escape. Once the cage was unlocked, Clef slowly opened the door and whispered to Zarabean, "Get Echo and let's get out of here." Zarabean nodded to Clef before gently picking up Echo. He did a double take with the bottle of milk that was beside the cushion before deciding to take it. "They did give it to Echo after all." Zarabean thought to himself as he left the cage with Echo and bottle in his arms. Clef led Zarabean back over to the edge of the ship. Cynthia hesitated a moment, looking back at the sleeping stranders before carefully moving over to Clef and the others. "Wait, I want to come too." Clef looked at Cy with confusion, "Isn't your family on board?" "No, sir... I haven't seen them for a very long time. Please let me join you, the crew will probably be cruel to me once they see I've let you all escape..." Cynthia had tears in her eyes just thinking about remaining on the ship. Whatever the strander-pirates had done to her clearly affected her. Clef saw the look in Cy's eyes and sighed, "Come on, before someone sees us." He said as he carefully helped everyone climb down a rope back into the rowboat below. Celeste waited in the rowboat anxiously, hoping Clef hadn't gotten himself into trouble. Once she saw Zarabean lowering the rope with Echo, she felt such a big weight fall of her shoulders. Zarabean handed Echo back to Celeste once he entered the boat. "He's been sleeping. They didn't hurt him." He whispered before handing Celeste the bottle of milk. "This is for when he wakes." Celeste looked at Zarabean with thankful eyes before putting Echo back in his sling, "Thank you so much, Zarabean." She said quietly before laying her eyes on the deep scratch on Zarabean's arm. "What happened there??" "That was me... I'm terribly sorry." Cy responded as Clef helped her aboard. Clef had carried her down the rope himself because he was concerned she would fall. "They threatened to throw me in..." She looked down at her talons and sighed with remorse. "I can't swim..." Clef eased himself into the boat and looked at Cynthia's talons a moment before getting to rowing. "Everyone be quiet until we're a safe distance." He whispered. Once they made it a far enough distance away, Celeste asked Zarabean, "Did you happen to hear anything about what they were planning?" "Not at all... The Captain's lips were sealed." Zarabean replied straight faced. Cynthia suddenly broke out in laughter. The company looked at her. Cy laughed for a moment before realizing no one else was laughing with her, "... Wasn't that a joke?" "What makes it a joke?" Clef asked with a raised eyebrow. "The Captain's name is Sealen Silver-eye... I thought Zarabean was making a joke..." Cynthia became rather sheepish upon realizing it wasn't meant to be funny. Zarabean hesitated before patting Cy on the shoulder, "Though, it was nice to hear you laugh... You haven't smiled since Zarabean met you." "Wait, THE Captain Sealen Silver-eye?!" Clef exclaimed in shock, causing Echo to wake up in a fuss. Celeste gently rocked Echo, "Shhh, it's okay, Echo. I'm here." Echo locked eyes with his aunt and seemed to calm just from that. He hadn't seen her since he was taken and frankly, he was happy to see her. Celeste looked at Clef, "What about this Silver-eye??" "... I knew him personally a long time ago." Clef answered solemnly with a long pause following it, "He's not the type you want to get involved with." "He's definitely not what he makes himself out to be..." Cy muttered before looking at Zarabean, "He tried bribing your friend with fruit." Celeste and Clef looked over at Zarabean. Cy wasn't sure what the two of them were thinking but she didn't want them to get the wrong idea, "But! He refused the fruit!" Celeste looked at Cynthia with a smile, "It's alright, I know he didn't. I never doubted him." Zarabean appeared to adore Celeste's response because huge grin came across his face. "Thank you, Celeste." "No need to thank me, Bean." Celeste carefully gave the ridgerunner a hug. "You've always been a loyal friend." Cynthia smiled upon seeing their interaction, "I could only dream of having a friend like that..." Zarabean looked back at Cy curiously, "Is Zarabean your friend?" "Oh, if... if Zarabean wants to be." Cy responded, seeming a bit unsure. "That's good because I already thought we were." Zarabean softly smiled at Cynthia. Cy smiled meekly back. Celeste grinned to see Zarabean being so accepting to someone who had hurt him. She knew that was such a rare occurrence among humans to forgive but among ridgerunners? It never happened. The trust was never restored. Clef, on the other hand, was silent as he rowed the boat back to their ship. Something weighed on his mind about Captain Sealen Silver-eye and his hearty criminal crew. Something wasn't right.