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Chapter 1 – An Unusual Favor

Rafi crept down the alleyway cautiously, all senses stretching as far as they could to distinguish every possible detail of his dark surroundings. The moon had slipped behind a cloud as he made his way to The Dancing Pebble, a calm, intellectual bar where there were few drunks besides the locals, who mostly remained at their seats, sipping a beer quietly and eavesdropping on nearby conversations. The only downside was the terrain one had to cross to get there, especially at night; shadowy alleyways and potential ambush points littered the path relentlessly, and Rafi, not yet considered a local, remained on his guard at all times in these parts.

As he reached an intersection, he felt the wind kick up suddenly, rattling bits of trash across the hard dirt. He paused at the corner of the nearest building, glancing back and forth down either side of the street, sniffing the air for the smell of blood and listening for the slightest sound. A muffled thud followed by a heavy grunt drew his attention toward the dead end on the right, and, somewhat against his will, he moved in that direction, stopping with his lean body pressed up against the wall as several local drunks and their hapless victim came into view.

The thought that no one had yet seen him and the possibility that he could slip away quietly had only briefly crossed his mind when the wind picked up a second time, throwing the clouds away from the moon and revealing the sight in front of him in a pale glow. The drunks had not yet recognized his presence, but the man in the center locked eyes with him immediately, just before taking a hard punch in the gut that sent him doubling over to his knees. ‘William…’

Rafi’s mind went to work immediately; somehow he knew that he needed to get William out of this, and keep the both of them alive. Summoning up every ounce of his untrained StoryTelling ability he possessed and fervently hoping that they would fail to notice the fact that he definitely didn’t look the part, Rafi leaned back in his best imitation of a sailor posture and called out in his best sailor drawl, “Hey, now, boys, that’s me ship-mate ye’ve got thar!” That first comment was all he needed to immerse himself in his new character, and memories of adventures with his good ship-mate Rig suddenly flooded into his imagination.

The men exchanged a quick, confused glance, then laughed at him. The thickest, burliest of them all shouted back, still chuckling at the comment. “This ‘un ain’t no sailor!” He gave a still kneeling William a swift kick in the side that sent him sprawling face-first into the dirt. “He’s been cheatin’ us at dice games for years now! And I think it’s time fer a little payback.” He raised his foot as if about ready to slam it into William’s spine.

Rafi caught his attention with a wave of his hand, and the man paused. “Ah, I see what this is all about. Have you been gamblin’ again Rig?”

William coughed out an unintelligible grunt.

At Will’s response, the drunks exchanged glances with each other and began to look down at Will as though they were seeing him for the first time. Rafi could tell that his StoryTelling was doing its magic, and he’d nearly gotten them convinced. “Well, I guess he innit in much of a position to talk, now is ‘e? I tell ye, he gets in ‘ter trouble ever’ time we dock in real towns. Always gets the locals all riled up when he cheats at dice. Even werse with cards.” He paused for a moment for effect, judging by the enraptured expressions on the drunks faces that they were now seeing both Rafi and Will as sailors, complete with the best sailor costumes Rafi could conjure up in his imagination. “But I won’t bore ye all with a sailor’s tales just now. Let me pay fer yer troubles and we be on our way.”

Silence hung over the group for a moment as they glanced about at each other, seemingly ignoring William’s prone body. The shortest and scrawniest of the bunch eyed Rafi hopefully, and stuttered out a hesitant question. “You - you have – stories?”

“All sailors have stories, mate. After bein’ at sea for months on end ye better have something ter say for it! Say…” Again Rafi paused for effect. “You genterman look like ye could use a good tale. Hows about we take me mate, here, and get us some drinks, and I’ll tell ye all about some good sailin’ adventures.”

Not waiting for a cue from the others, he broke the circle they had formed around William and knelt in the dirt next to him. He bent down low to William’s ear, breaking character only long enough to encourage the fighter to get on his feet. “Let me repay the favor,” he finished quietly as he helped William rise to his knees, then ostentatiously grunted, “A’right, Rig, up yer go,” as he slung one of William’s arms across his shoulders and one of his own around the other man’s waist, and lifted with all his strength. William rose with him, and stood dazedly behind him as Rafi jovially asked, “Which way ter the bar, mates?”

Rafi bought the first round of drinks to appease the drunks’ rapidly waning annoyance with the sailor called Rig, who, after they got a good look at him in the light, only bore a mere resemblance to the man they had a real bone to pick with, William. To take the heat off of William, Rafi kept the conversation animated and his audience interested with the tales he told of his and Rig’s adventures at sea, like the time they defeated a ship full of Gyps that had cast a spell on the entire crew to keep them asleep, and the time he and Rig had single-handedly defended their ship from raiders while the rest of the crew had gone to town...

His stories wore on late into the night, and he only had time for very brief moments of concern for William in his current state. William had begun to nod off some time ago, which Rafi had jokingly chalked up to too much good beer that night, but now the events of the night began to catch up with Rafi as well. He begged a goodnight with a final round of beers, helped William to his feet, and both exited the bar, Rafi with a loud call of thanks to the owner in his last moments as a sailor.

Returning to his normal personality, he pulled William around the back of the establishment, where the latter leaned up against the wall. He couldn’t see William’s face well now, but he’d had a pretty good look at it inside; split lip and an already swelling black eye, and his torso had to have quite a few bruises as well. “How bad are you hurt?”

“ ‘m arright,” William replied, his speech slurring with weariness and drink. He pushed himself upright as if to prove the point, but clutched at his ribs as he stood hunched over, gritting his teeth against the pain.

Rafi frowned with conflicting emotions; as much as he wanted to get rid of William, he couldn’t just save him from drowning only to leave him on the beach to starve. “All right, let’s just get you home.”

William shook his head and mumbled a brief thanks before turning away from Rafi and limping down a perpendicular road. The StoryTeller waited in confusion until the other had left his line of sight, and headed home himself, ready to climb into bed after the exhausting events of the night.