[crow]

"... I'm not sure this is a good idea," Rinh'a said, looking uneasily at the ferry skipper. His tail was curled against one leg, ears held uneasily back. "I don't think we've ever dealt with ghosts before."

If he expected Nokai to be swayed with those words, however, he was sadly mistaken. "We fought gods and came out alive," Nokai said with a shrug. "What's a ghost or two? Isn't that right, Baby?"

The diminutive, completely naked Lalafell gave Nokai a thumbs up. "Ghosts can kiss my ass," he said, grinning.

[crow]

"Great, we're all in agreement then," Nokai said.

Rinh'a sighed. He knew that it was probably inevitable, and he had never been one to turn down the request of someone in need himself, but he wished they could be a little less... headlong about all this. "What about Severien?" he said, a last plaintive attempt to hold off what he was fast beginning to see as an inevitability. "Shouldn't we wait for him?"

"Sev's off on some sort of field study," Nokai said, shaking his head.

[crow]

"You know how it is. It might be ages before he comes back, and I doubt we're going to have that kind of time to waste."

Rinh'a's ears drooped in defeat. "I suppose you're right," he said.

Nokai scratched at his head. "Look, I don't like going in without him either, but we'll be fine. We've still got three of us, and Baby can heal in a pinch if things get hairy." Nokai glanced at the Lalafell as he spoke, only to find that Baby had wandered off.

[crow]

The Lalafell had somehow climbed up to the top of a precariously tall stack of crates, and was moments away from jumping off.

Rinh'a stared, but neither of them made a move to stop him. They both knew better by now. 'Baby' liked almost nothing better than to climb up to a high place and leap from it. With the heights he'd jumped from, he ought to have died many times over, and yet, somehow he always emerged unscathed. It was one of his many, many unusual qualities.

[crow]

The rest of them had learned not to question most of the things he did anymore, for their own sanity if nothing else. Well, with the possible exception of Severien, who may in fact not have noticed how strange their companion was, so absorbed was he with other things on his mind.

"I guess you're right," Rinh'a said, but the fluffed state of his tail betrayed his lingering unease. Still, he didn't protest any further when Nokai approached the ferry skipper and availed the man of their situation.

[crow]

Rinh'a stood back for the exchange. He suspected that the skipper might warn them about the Isle's reputation, and he'd had quite enough of that to last him quite a while. From his vantage point further down along the docks, he could see the man laugh right in Nokai's face. Nokai, smiling and nonplussed, showed him a writ that they had received earlier, and the man's tune quickly changed.

Moments later, Nokai was motioning for Rinh'a to join him. 'Baby' was already running to board the ship.

[crow]

Rinh'a tried not to drag his heels, but he was still the last one on board in the end. As he boarded, Nokai joined him at his side. "I don't know about you, but I love it when they insult me," he said. "Though at least this one shut up right quick when I showed him the papers."

"Did he say anything useful?" Rinh'a asked halfheartedly.

"No more than what we've been hearing. Ghosts this, dead men that, everything's haunted and you'd be a fool for looking twice at that patch of sand."

[crow]

"Ah," said Rinh'a.

"Say," Nokai said, arching a brow as he peered down at Rinh'a. "What's got you so spooked anyway? Not really scared of ghosts, are you?"

"W-Well..." Rinh'a had to resist the urge to grab his tail in his hands and wring it between them. "I mean, it's just... They come up out of nowhere. And the howling..." A shudder went through his spine. It wasn't actually the first time they'd gone to someplace haunted, but his memories of their last encounter weren't exactly pleasant.

[crow]

"Ah, it's the Manor that's eating your tail, is it?" said Nokai. He looked a little admonished at that, at least. None of them had anticipated what the creatures within had been capable of, but nevertheless, it had been Nokai who had been responsible for leading them through the place, and Rinh'a who had suffered the consequences of his mistake. "Well... I'll make sure to keep a better eye out this time."

Rinh'a shook his head. "It's not... Well, maybe it is, a little."

[crow]

He could still feel the sick terror of it running through his veins if he tried. But he closed his eyes and shook his head, chasing away the thought. "I've always been scared of ghosts, ever since I was young. My father wasn't especially sympathetic," Rinh'a said with a grimace. "He liked to tell tales, and he liked it even better to send me hiding under the covers with one."

"He did, did he?" said Nokai. "I have to say, I can see where he's coming from." Chuckling, he ruffled Rinh'a's hair.

[Wild Pet Found]

[crow]

That got a surprised look out of Rinh'a, which quickly turned into a pout. "I'm not a kid, Nokai," he said.

"Yeah, yeah." Nokai just ruffled his hair harder, wearing an infuriating smirk the whole time. Rinh'a sighed, and tried to ignore him, only reaching up to smooth his hair back out when Nokai finally stopped.

He was so preoccupied with that that for a moment, he didn't see what Nokai had stopped for. Then he turned around and saw that Baby was gone.

[crow]

"Oh for the love of---" Nokai was muttering, running up to the opposite side of the ferry and peering overboard. Before Rinh'a could do the same, Nokai had already jumped into the water. When Rinh'a reached the side he'd dove off of, Nokai was already clambering back onto the ferry, lifting a limp Baby by the back of his... shorts.

"What have I told you about 'yeeting'?!" Nokai said, shaking Baby for good measure.

"That it's fun for the whole family?" Baby replied, apparently completely remorseless.

[crow]

Nokai had no words for that, only glaring. Under the force of his gaze, even Baby balked a little, and changed tack. "I can't help it," he said, holding up his hands in a little shrug. "The void. It calls to me."

Rinh'a frowned at Baby's choice of words, and glanced at Nokai. Nokai was the one who had been travelling with Baby the longest, and who knew him best. Baby wasn't really talking about being tempted by the forces of darkness, was he?

[crow]

Or was there maybe something in the water? There had been stories of sirens mixed in with the stories about ghosts, and having seen one of his companions just try to throw himself overboard, Rinh'a was beginning to wonder if that was the more credible story.

"Don't worry," said Nokai with a sigh. "He says this about every garbage chute we come across."

"I just want to lie in the trash where I belong, Flip Phone," Baby whispered. "Let me find the peace I deserve."

[crow]

It was really hard to tell if he was joking or not. Not much that came out of Baby's mouth made sense, and so far he had been a good ally in battle, even if he was sometimes a wild card factor or a loose cannon. But no one knew where he came from, not even Nokai, or why he did... well, most of the things he did, period.

And then there was his weird nicknames, but that was such a drop in the bucket compared to everything else that none of them questioned it.