Evening finds Willow back in her own sickbed in her own sickbay on board the Merryweather. Thorn and Burr aren't to be seen, hidden away somewhere deeper on the ship – no doubt put there just in the nick of time so that Willow's escorts from the Gutenburg Hospital wouldn't see them while wheeling her in. As souvenirs of her adventure in Gutenburg, Willow has her left arm and her right foot in casts, several bandages covering comparably minor wounds, and – courtesy of the authorities – a pair of wooden crutches leaning against the wall right next to the bed, and a little cog-shaped copper medal framed by oxidized green copper laurels, and suspended from a short blue-and-purple ribbon pinned to Willow's new shirt. (The old one had been torn up and bloodied by the impact with the cliff face and then the skid down its surface to the ledge that Willow was found on.)

She also has a black cap (much like the one Commissar Brueggel wore) that some old squinty-eyed Cervani with wooden teeth put on her head (after ruffling her hair like he thought she was a cub) during her brief stay in the hospital sickroom. Since the Cervani only spoke Bosch, and he somehow conveyed the sense of having one gear short of a clock, it's unclear whether the hat is a standard gift to Skreeks who knock pirates off of steam trains.

Willow's moment of rest is interrupted as the door to the sickroom bursts open, letting in a harried-looking Jupani, Captain Merryweather.

By his expression, it looks like his mood isn't living up to his name just now. "What in Sinai were you doing? The Watch was all in a stir, searching all of the airships for any 'contraband' … and it's only a stroke of luck that they got distracted by one of them Commissars and missed our ship entirely. Do you realize just how much trouble we could have been in if they'd found anything? And you … getting into these fights all the time! Why, you're using up most of the supplies just patching yourself up all the time!"

The rat pulls herself up. "And I buy most of my supplies with my own money!" she snaps back. "And it wasn't luck that they skipped your ship, I'll have you know."

The wolf looks momentarily thrown off by the fact about who buys the supplies, but he focuses instead on the second comment. "Oh yes? Well! Are you saying it was because of a bad smell that they chose to skip over us, eh?"

"Bah. Do you even have any idea how I got banged up? Do you figure me for one of Whitehead's types who pick fights just so he can have scars to brag to the dock-wenches?" Willow pulls her newly awarded hat down over her ears. "I did the local authorities a FAVOR by helping them take down a pirate they've been after for years. Once most of them know that it was a member of this ship that did it, they'll probably never bother you again."

The wolf raises an eyebrow. "You mean … " He pauses, the gears working in his head. He opens his mouth and points toward the window … but then he closes it again. He holds up his hand in a punctuating gesture, opening his jaw once more to say something … but then he lets that die, too.

His eyes are focused on the medal pinned to the rat's jerkin. He bites his lip.

"Yeah – it was me. And I'll thank you not to spread the news around either, as I'd rather not have Weatherwax's kids hunting after me." She leans back on her cot. "And don't ask me why I did it, because you'll probably be better off not knowing."

The wolf shakes his finger a bit, then turns his head toward the door and loudly proclaims, "I'm glad we came to an understanding, and that you won't ever let it happen again!" He straightens his uniform, nods his head and goes to the door.

Smirking, Willow pulls off the hat and twirls it on one finger. "At least it was my left arm that ended up getting broken. Thank fires for small favors."

It's not well organized for someone with crutches to move around. It's just dandy, though, for those with wings – and most of the guards here are Korvs, though there are some burly Khattas, humans and Cervani around to help deal with unruly prisoners.

The rat hobbles along as best as she can, wincing whenever her foot-cast manages to bump against a step or a stone in the floor. She's left her medal at home, but decided to keep the hat for now. Currently all it does is keep most of her mass of black hair hidden away. She eyes the cells and prisoners dwelling in them, thinking about how easily she could have ended up in one not so long ago.

As she passes one cell, she hears the distinctive sound of clicking bangles. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see a Korv huddled in the cell, sulking in a corner, with large bangles hanging from her wing-claw wrists. Evidently, the guards deemed them not to pose any possible use as weapons or tools for trying to break out.

Willow looks at the front of the cell and tries to figure out how far a Korv's arm can stretch out through the bars. She carefully eases herself down on the floor just outside of that grabbing line and sets her crutches down behind her. "Ahem," she announces herself.

The crow turns to look up at the rat. There doesn't seem to be any glint of recognition in those eyes. "Yah?" the crow scrawks. "Ya ist vanting in here, too? Plenty of oter cells vor you to be rottink in, ya?"

"Nope. I just came to get a look at you." The Skreek carefully massages the cast on her left arm. "And to ask a couple of questions, should you feel like indulging me."

The Korv moves closer to the bars, her ink feathers looking a hazy gray in the dim light in comparison to the shadows. "Haff all te lookinks you vant. If you vant answers … " She cocks her head to one side. "I vantink to know what I gettinks for my trouble, ya?"

"I've not smuggled a hacksaw in my cast if that's what you're hoping." Willow hunches down. "How much does your trouble cost? A full pipe? A few coins? I'm fresh out of jewels, I'm afraid."

"A full pipe voult do," answers the crow, after a moment's pondering.

Obligingly the rat pulls out her smoking pipe and packs it firmly with a wad of slightly damp tobacco. She stuffs a pair of matches in the center and then slides it towards the Korv. "From Abu-Dhabi. Their stock is pretty smooth, not as bitter as the Chronotopian stuff."

The edges of the crow's beat turn up, and she greedily grabs the pipe, plucking out the matches with her other wing-claw. With a single swipe, she lights one of the matches off of a bangle, then lights the pipe … casting the dead match to the floor and stuffing the other match into a pocket for later. She takes a leisurely draw on the pipe, then exhales a large puff of smoke into the cell.

"Loosen your tongue any? and before you ask, no… I ain't with the Watch. Just consider me to be someone with an infatuation for pirate lore." Willow taps at her nose, sniffing the odor of smoke in the air intermingled with the scents of the other prisoners.

"Listenink," chuffs the crow, expelling a couple of streams of smoke through her nostrils and out of the mouth of her beak.

Willow swallows and licks her top lip nervously. "All right. For starters… what's your name?"

The Korv smiles and shakes her wingclaws, making a slight cacophony. "Bangle," she caws. "Guten tag, herr Skreek. And vhat ist your name?"

"Foxfire," the Skreek responds. "How long have you been with Weatherwax?"

The Korv pauses, clucking to herself. "Guessink maybe fifteen years, ya?" She caw-laughs. "Lonk time! Han't been in der penitentiary before. But Weatherwax be gettink me out soon enough. He always does for goot crew, ya?" She takes another draw off of the pipe.

( So she joined up after I did. No wonder she's familiar. ) The rat taps at her cast with a blunt claw-tip. "I was actually surprised to hear that name. I'd heard that his ship had gotten taken out awhile ago. Of course, I've been out of the loop for a while… You're not the only one who's been in jail." She winks, trying to hide her feelings.

The crow caw-laughs. "Eh … ya … that wast very bad … " She looks at the ceiling. "Very bad, ya. Lost the virst Bloody Shekel. Za BOOM." She laughs weakly, then takes another draw on the pipe. "But dat vast lonk ago. Captain Weatherwax ist gut at gettink new ships."

"So how did he make it through alive? You must have lost a lot of crewmembers." Willow pulls a leaf out of her pouch and chews on it – something to make the throb in her limbs fade away.

The Korv shrugs. "Most of tem. Us vit vings, ve haff a gut chance to make it to te grount, ya?" She flaps her wings, then frowns as she shakes out a bit of the tobacco in the process. She hurriedly goes back to sucking on the pipe as if to make up for the wasted ashes.

Willow pulls out her tobacco pouch and rolls it around in her palm. "And since when did Skreeks have wings?"

The Korv looks back at Willow. "Der Captain vast very lucky. Der Captain alvays is."

"Was he just born that way, or did he have some kind of good luck charm?" The rat wears half a smirk, but part of her is still curious.

"Born tat vay," says the Korv. "Kissed by Dagh in te cradle, ya? Lucky until he get old and borink, and Dagh choose another." The Korv caw-laughs, smoke escaping from her beak in a large puff. "Beh. Who knows?"

Willow shivers slightly at the mention of Dagh. "Right. So how did you end up in his crew?"

The crow looks thoughtful. "I was a bad egg from te start, ya? Fater'ed by some gut fer nuttin' pirate Korv who come to port." She winks. "Ist guessink it ist in my blood. Better'n stealink shiny pieces from der Cathedral of Gears for ta King of Urchins."

"I can believe it." Willow swallows. "When I was in the slammer back on Rephidim, I heard someone mention a Skreek crewmember on your ship by the name of Sawtooth. Is he still with you?"

The Korv ponders this. "Sawtooth … Sawtooth." She snaps a wing-claw. "Ya! Ya, I so barely remember her. A Skreek, ya… Neh … Tat vas before da BOOM. She vast … paf … gone in ta ship, like most of ta lant-bount."

( So they never even knew I lived through it. Heh… All that looking over my shoulder and hiding from anyone who looked like a pirate, for nothing. ) Willow suppresses a grin. "So if you can share this without fearing a hole in your neck… Where's the real Bloody Shekel hidden? Here in Chronotopia?"

The Korv laughs. "Clear on der oter side of Chronotopia! Vas goink to fly it out after ta big heist in Blitzheim."

"Impressive. Your captain sounds like a sneaky fellow." The Skreek grins. "What was it that you heisted?"

The crow caws, "Sometink big in Blitzheim, once ve voult be gettink tere." The bird shrugs. "Maybe ve shoult steal Great Gretchen herself?" She starts caw-laughing at this.

"Aww. Didn't he give you the slightest hint?" Willow drops the tobacco bag and lets it swing back and forth like a pendulum under her fingers. "I'll give you the whole bag if you let me in on it as well as some painkillers to take the edge off the guards bopping you around."

The crow's eyes widen at the prospect. "Giff me it, unt I vill tell you all tat I know." As if to reassure herself, she caws, "But, of course, Captain Weatherwax voult be done vif it by now. He ist probably already on te vay back to bust us out of here by now."

"Deal." Willow pulls a few more of the reddish leaves from her herb pouch and puts them in the leather bag, then tosses the whole thing to the edge of the cell. "I'll let you keep the pipe, too. It's just a cheap thing I bought in Rephidim. Easily replaced."

A Cervani guard walks up right about now, muttering something vaguely apologetic in his language, as he stoops down to slide a tray laden with some pasty-looking gruel, overcooked bread, and a cup of water through a slot in the bottom of the cell door.

The rat coughs loudly, and scrabbles for one of her crutches, faking a spasm. "Ow! My leg! This damp is murder on it." She tries to stagger to her feet and seems to be doing a really rotten job of it. ( Stash the stuff, bird! Stash it! )

The Korv hastily makes use of the distraction, hiding everything in her jerkin.

The guard just backs off from the rat, saying something else unintelligible, and hurries back from whence he came, without even bothering to look into the cell again.

"Um… Do you have any idea what he said, Bangle?" Willow leans on one of her crutches.

The crow looks up. "Uh? Eh … rude one … called you a dirty foreigner on ta wrong side of ta cell door." She hastily pulls out the pipe, patting her jerkin. "Ach! Must find te better hidink place, ya?" She then shuffles over to the tray, a pointed Korvite tongue tracing the edge of her beak. "Ah … about time. Any roat … Ist te biggest steal yet. Sometink magical. Big time unter guard by te Tsar."

"Glad to see that things aren't any different in other countries. Seems like a rat is a rat anywhere I go." Willow steadies herself. "What kind of magical? It sounds like it's something impressive for your captain to brave the Tsar."

The crow sticks her beak into the mush, getting a good chunk of it, then rears her head back, choking it down noisily. "Glk glk glk gawk … " She then wipes her beak with a wing, and answers, "Somethink big for tese vacko Sylvanians. Sometink tat voult bring der Captain even more gut luck, he sait. *KAW!*"

"Oh come on. Is it a charm? A necklace? A book?" Willow puts her hand in her pocket and pulls out a book of matches. "That tobacco won't do much beyond fill your belly unless you can light that pipe, you know."

"Ist from … " The Korv lowers her voice, and caws, "Bosch." She straightens out again. "Ist a crystal thingie. From te very heart of Bosch."

The crow jerks her head down as soon as she realizes she's said Bosch a second time without whispering.

The rat arches an eyebrow. "Dangerous stuff to be playing with. How is he so sure it'll help him and not turn him into one of those mutated Bosch beasties?"

The Korv shrugs. "Der Captain knows about tese tings. Der crystal ist for dese vackos who vant to … " The Korv gets a puzzled look on her face … then coughs. "Gulk." She clutches her wing-claws to her throat.

"Oh of all the… " Willow limps to the edge of the cell and stretches her arm through the bars. "Come here quick! I've popped lumps out of folks before."

The Korv looks at Willow with wild – scared – eyes … and struggles to reach the bars. Strangling noises issue from her throat, and her neck muscles – what can be discerned of them under feathers – look to be unnaturally tight.

"Blast it… Relax before you kill yourself!" The rat reaches out and tries to grab at the Korv. "Hey! Someone help!!"

A human guard turns to look in the direction of the Skreek, and starts to walk this way … though not with great urgency.

The Korv slips on the tray, and falls just short of the Skreek's reach through the bars. Her neck muscles tighten all the more…

The rat's grip on the bars tighten. "The food… but… " Willow's mind races, knowing that she has precious little time and even less in the way of options. She finally resorts to what she hopes is an insult that might bring the guard running a little faster by playing on any bit of patriotism he might have. She rips the Chronotopian hat from her head, throws it to the ground and spits on it. "That's what I think if your little outfit here. Now hurry your hairless keister over here and unlock this cell!"

The human grimaces, and storms over there all the faster. "Ach! Vat ist this? How dare you – " He breaks off when he sees the strangling Korv. He turns around and barks at another guard an order. The Cervani pulls open a cabinet and draws out a ring of keys, and starts to rush over…

The Korv lets out a strangled hiss, and her wing-claws seem to be losing their strength, though the neck muscles don't relent in the least bit.

Willow starts digging through her pouch, searching for the vial of antidote that she used against the horrib venom. "HURRY! If she croaks, I'll sick Brueggel on you!"

The Cervani finally gets over, and fumbles with the keys, trying each one in sequence, blathering something to the human guard as he does so.

"You'd think you wanted her to die, antler-head," the rat snaps at the Cervani as she keeps digging around. ( Muscle relaxant, muscle relaxant… )

*CLATCH* The cell door pops open. The human rushes in and grabs the Korv, holding her down – His inclination seems to be first to make sure she doesn't make a break for it.

Willow stumbles in right after as well as her broken limbs can manage. "I'm a doctor," she chitters and pulls out a vial of liquid. She pours a large portion of it into the Korv's beak and then pulls out one of her knives. "She might not be able to swallow. I have to make sure she gets some of the antidote into her bloodstream now." And she pours the remaining liquid over the knife.

The Cervani instinctively reaches for his weapon, looking confused, but the human barks an order at him, and the stag stays his hand.

The Korv is now lying still, offering no resistance…

Nodding, the rat draws the edge of the knife against the Korv's neck, tracing a six inch slash down the feathers while the Skreek tries to work as much of the medicine into the wound as possible. "Someone gave her poisoned food. Find out where that plate came from!" She drops and puts an ear to the Korv's chest. ( Please… I didn't even get to see Weatherwax die. She didn't do much wrong except to be stupid enough to fall in love with him. I can't fault her for that, since I did the same thing. )

The human translates this for the guard, kicking at the upturned bowl of gruel. The Cervani salutes, and rushes out, sounding the alarm to the other guards.

For a long, too long moment … nothing happens … but then the muscles slowly relax. Still, the bird is now bleeding about the throat … and she's still not breathing.

A quick feel of the pulse and listening to the chest, however, reveals the presence of a heartbeat.

The rat hands the human guard a handful of gauze. "Hold this on her neck where it's bleeding. It'll coagulate in a little bit." She grabs the tip of the Korv's beak and pinches most of it shut, blowing into the tip like she would a goofy-looking trumpet.

As the human guard holds the gauze to the neck, the bird's chest rises … then the Korv spews out a spray of air and droplets of blood – still in the land of the living, even if in such dire condition, it seems.

The rat wipes the Korv's blood from the side of her face. "I want to see Brueggel. And have someone check on the rest of the pirates. Bangle isn't going anywhere."

A white Skreek just then wanders up. "Hoy! Thought I smelled blood. Hey, Willow – Looks like yer busy … but the Cap'n sent me to call for ya. Calling aboard, settin' sail for new places!"

He eyes what's left of the gruel on the floor. "Hey … ya gonna finish that?"

"It's poisoned," Willow says flatly. "How much until we set sail?"

The human glances at the white rat, then replies, "We'll have Brueggel called for."

Whitehead hmms. "I'll pass. Uh … Well, right off, really. I'm headin' back now." And with that, he walks off.

The rat looks to the human. "What's your name? I want to remember it in case I hear that Bangle died of another 'accident'."

"Gustav," replies the human. "Hans Gustav." He frowns.

"If you have a doctor here, call them. And if you actually care about your job, then watch anyone who comes near Bangle like an Aquilan." Willow drags herself out of the cell and picks her hat up, wiping it against her shirt. "Is your meal server a Cervani?"

"Nien," replies Hans. "Dolph is a human, same as me."

The rat replaces her hat and replaces it back on her head. "I'm sorry for insulting you, Hans. But I'm not too sure who to trust in all of this. The one who I saw give Bangle her tray was a Cervani." She drags herself up to her feet and rests on her crutches.

At last, an elder Khatta comes to the door, holding a medicine bag. He rushes in and drops to the side of the Korv, taking her pulse and examining the wound on her neck. He starts talking to the human. The human points at the spilled gruel, clutches his throat, then points at Willow.

The rat just nods, "I used horrib venom treated with cageroot sap on the wound. The sap keeps it from doing anymore than making her relax, although it may be a day or so before Bangle's able to move properly. After this she probably needs the rest."

The Khatta nods, apparently knowing enough of Rephidim Standard – or else recognizing the names of the components mentioned, to be able to fill in the gaps. The human gives a translation nonetheless.

"I leave her in your hands. Now if you'll excuse me, I have an airship to catch." Willow grips the handles of her crutches and starts to hobble off.

The Skreek's shoulders ache as she exits the prison. She manages to hail a carriage to take her the rest of the way from there, and spares herself a little pain. On the ride back, her mind wanders from thoughts of her pirate days to her present adventures. Visions of demons, black Khattas, magical books, and Skreeks plunging from cliffs focus in and out in her mind. Still, she manages a smile. She's alive, the hostages on the train are alive, Bangle is alive, and Weatherwax is dead. The victories bring comfort of sorts… for now.