The Great Escape

I had time to think during all those months in the sky. To think about a great escape plan of course.
While living among the pirates, I could observe them and make for myself a pretty good idea of their qualities and flaws.

For example, they enjoyed drinking. A lot. Alcohol I mean, no water, it would make them rust, as Davy-Three-Ears was saying. But I could not use that to my advantage because most of them could stand it and keep drinking all night long without getting into this blurry phase where pink twin air krakens would be flying all around the ship.

Another point was their greediness. The more they stole, the more they wanted, and sharing was always a tense moment, when everyone was eying their neighbour to make sure they wouldn't get a bigger portion of the plunder than themselves. This, maybe, could be used against them.

Stemming from that, lots of them were very short-tempered and quick to draw a pistol or a sword as an argument against their opponent in a verbal fight. And usually, that was resulting in a death or two as they were all quite good shots. You would think it meant that the crew was slowly getting thinner, but some new recruits were regularly acquired during the raids, and even though they were not as skilled as their predecessors, they would soon be going through a sped-up training to keep the high standard.

I was also considered as a new recruit, eighteen months ago, but the Captain had big plans for me. I was the smallest on board and had proven my ability to sneak around unseen (well almost), and this made him think I would be more useful during special raids on highly protected buildings into which one could enter only through spyholes of some sort or tiny sewer plugs.
I did go on a few raids like that, and my role was to get in, disengage the security system and unlock the main door to let the others in, without getting caught. I would also do the look-out on other missions, hidden in a bush nearby.

I know what you think, that I could have escaped a thousand times while being left alone during those raids. But what you don't know is that the Captain was a clever brigand. He may have spared my life, but he was no fool and knew I would take the first occasion to run away. He had noticed Flynn perking from my pocket and understood how much I cared about him. He had taken him as a hostage on the grounds that he would be happier to stay in his cabin with his own falcon pet, assuring he would make sure they did not fight.

I was tied up, could not leave Flynn behind even if I had a chance to get off the ship.
 That complicated the matter a bit, but I was not giving up hopes yet. I would need to craft my plan more carefully and maybe count on Chance to give me a little help.

That help came a few days later under the shape of a sea pirates' ship.

Sir Hawker (the Captain made us call him "Sir", even though he definitely did not deserve that title) enjoyed nothing more than coming upon sea pirates ships to cast fear and terror on the unsuspecting crew. He believed that the huge shadow drawn by his airship onto its sea-bound counterpart was a last sight every sailor would be happy to die with. He also claimed that it was their duty somehow, to assist natural evolution by destroying the less adapted pirates, for the air riders were the ultimate step in piracy.
Thus, after hearing reports of a pirates ship cruising beneath us, he got naturally overjoyed and started shouting orders to prepare for the fight. All the men jumped on their feet straight away and ran merrily towards their post, as they loved their Captain and were happy when he was.

Soon enough, the airship was diving down onto the floating vessel, canons loaded and ready to fire. For the occasion, the Captain had even offered me a beautifully carved dagger "to finish off the wounded" he said with a toothy grin. I noted, though, that he did not entrust me with a firing weapon. I guess that is how he became a Captain. By flattering his men, giving them an important role, but cautiously enough not to give them too much power. That is what I would do anyway! Others would say he became a Captain by killing all of those who disagreed with him. Well, that was probably the case too...


Anyway, thanks to Sir Hawker's glorious mood, I now owned a blade, and to top it all, I had learnt that we were actually flying above the Vernian Sea, New Babbage strong as ever waiting for me to cross the water between us. Thousands of ideas began to take shape in my mind as to how I could use this weapon to cut open a road to freedom, but I had the time to develop none of them for a loud "bang" resonated suddenly, followed by a dangerous swaying of the airship.
Everyone was sent rolling onto the deck, and I could hear the Captain cursing harshly. The ship down there had shot their cannons right at us, even before we could do it ourselves.
For the first time in his life, Sir Hawker was being challenged with fierce resistance from one of his preys.

Another "bang", and the airship was sent quickly sinking right onto its opponent without anything we could do to stop it. I could see pirates sliding down the deck and falling over board, screaming, or being rolled over by cannons that were not tied up correctly and were giving a hand to gravity by gathering at the bow of the ship.
I did slide too, but could find a pole to cling to and I managed to climb on it, tightening my grip in foresight of the shock that would shake the ship when we would reach the sea.

The shock did happen and was a violent one. The bow of the airship cut deep into the seaship, creating huge splinters all around, and  drilling a hole in the other side, through which water came flooding in. Our ship then broke in the middle, its bow still pinned up to the other one, and its stern falling backwards on the sea pirates' ship's own stern in a mess of flying pieces of wood and metal.
I was on the stern part and could see Sir Hawker sliding down the bow part to land smoothly onto the deck of the other ship, a pistol in each hand, ready to meet the sea pirates who were approaching. Nobody was paying attention to me, they were all too busy fighting, and I took the chance.

I ran in direction of the Captain's cabin, which luckily was located on the stern, and slammed the door open. Scanning quickly the room, I spotted Flynn, curled up against the bars of a little cage secured by a chain hanging from the ceiling, Sir Hawker's falcon standing right outside the opposite edge of the cage and eying him with interest.
I hurried towards the chest of drawers they were installed on and waved my dagger in front of me to scare off the bird of prey. He stared at me, his golden eye challenging me, but backed off a little when I cut the air right before him. Flynn was now jumping up and down in his cage, chattering excitedly, while I tried to open the lock with the tip of my knife. It did not resist long to my recently achieved skills and I could soon cuddle my little squirrel under the disapproving glance of the Captain's falcon.

When I got out of the cabin, Flynn hiding in the little bag hanging from my belt, there were flames everywhere. I could hear screaming and gunshots on the deck below us, but all of it was smothered by the roaring noise of the progressing fire.
I darted back inside to pick up a piece of fabric that I held in front of my nose and mouth before running through the smoke,  my left hand clutching my dagger. I jumped over the bodies and barrels, eyes blinking from fire-induced tears, trying to find my way in the middle of the chaos.
My idea was to find a raft of some sort and jump into the sea before getting killed by the fire or a pirate. I eventually managed to reach the bottom ship, slaloming around the obstacles, avoiding the fights, but my run was suddenly interrupted. Two of the masts had fallen either side of me, gigantic flames engulfing them, and in front of me, the deck was taken into a storm of whirling brands, making it impossible for me to go on. The spot was becoming very dangerous to stay in and I was wondering how to find a way around it.

- This way! A voice called from behind me.
I turned abruptly to notice a lean silhouette beckoning me over through the suffocating smoke. I did not really have time to think twice and I started into that direction, hoping I was not heading right into another trap.
The silhouette revealed to be a cabin boy, just a few years older than me, certainly coming from the sea pirates ship. We did not have the time to talk as everything was crumbling down around us, and I followed him through a maze of burning crates and ropes hanging across our way until we reached the ship's rail. He grabbed a barrel, miraculously spared by the flames, and threw it overboard before jumping after it. I climbed up the rail and looked down. The sea was not as far as I had thought, the ship having sunk quite a bit already, but I was dreading the maritime depths and it took the cry of warning the teen gave me to glance above my shoulder and dive before a scruffy pirate could catch me.

Upon entering into contact with the water, I closed my eyes, pinching my nose, and then paddled hard to come back to the surface and take a deep breath, spitting to get rid of  the strong salty taste on my tongue. Still kicking to stay afloat, I reached swiftly for the little bag on my side and released a coughing Flynn to perch him on my shoulder.
- Here, the pirate boy said, holding onto one side of the barrel he had thrown into the sea.
I wrapped my arms around the opposite side of it, right in time for a big wave to take birth from the sinking ship and carry us with speed far away from the disaster, before leaving us bopping on top of calmer wavelets.

- Well, that one wasn't my fault... I muttered, clinging to the floating barrel while both ships were disappearing into the blaze, painting dusk into warm tones of scarlet and brass.
- What did you say? Asked the boy, tearing himself from the contemplation of the wreck to look at me.
- Oh, nothing important, I replied. What's important is, what are we gonna do now? I underscored, looking at the water surrounding us.

- There is a small island we just passed by with the ship, he informed me, his eyes scanning the sealine behind me. It must not be very far from where we are. Let's just swim into that direction and hopefully we'll find it.

- Which direction? I asked, raising my eyebrows.

- Oh, there it is! He exclaimed. I can see it. Look!

I turned my head and squinted but it was hard to distinguish anything in the growing darkness.

- I'll take your word on it, I declared, glancing back at him.

After a few dozen of minutes that seemed to last hours, paddling with our legs, the barrel held in front of us like a buoy, we finally reached the shore of the small island.

 The beach was of sand, and we both stayed laying there for a while, exhausted, the waves coming to die at our feet.

Suddenly, a loud explosion noise made us jerk up from our rest to see the blazing sky and sea speckled with flying pieces of ships. The fire had certainly reached the cannon powder storeroom. It was even surprising that it did not happen earlier. Startled, Flynn had jumped on my shoulder and was now hiding in my hair, curled up against my neck. His fur was wet and it made me realize that I was frozen stiff.

- I'll look for wood, the teen said, getting up on his feet. We can light a fire then.

I nodded, bracing myself while the cold air on my humid skin was sending shivers down my spine.

It did not take long until the young cabin's boy came back from the edge of the forest lining the beach with a few logs rested on his forearms. Just long enough for me to wander around and collect some dry-looking high herbs covering a dune nearby.

He crouched on the sand and installed the logs in a pile, spreading my herbs beneath it, before taking a look around. I reached for the little bag hung on the side of my belt and brought a small metal box out.

- You're looking for that? I suggested, handing him over the box.

He glanced at me, perplexed.

- You've got matches in there?

- Yep! I affirmed. That's a special box, they shouldn't be damp inside.

The boy's face lightened up and he took the box.

- That's pretty handy!

I smiled, watching him open the box and picking up a match from inside :

- Yes, it's proven quite useful of late.

He lit up the match and approached it carefully to the dry herbs he had placed beneath the logs, protecting the flame against the wind with his other cup-shaped hand. The fire grew quickly and soon the logs were burning, producing a much appreciated wave of heat in the surrounding area. I sat close to it, Flynn perched on my shoulder, and glanced at my companion.

I could see him better now, in the light of the fire. He was a tall and rather skinny teen, about fifteen years old, and was wearing a big tricorn hat on top of his messy brown hair. His eyes were of a deep green, and freckles were sprinkled about his straight nose and pale cheeks.

- So, what's your name anyway? He enquired, looking at me.

- I'm Myrtil, and that one is Flynn, I introduced my squirrel and I.

The boy grinned :

- He's called Flynn? Well I'm called Fly. Well met critter!

Flynn answered with a serie of clicking sounds while enthusiastically waving his bushy tail.

- He likes you, I observed, slightly surprised.

- Of course, he does, Fly bragged. I'm very likeable.

He glanced at me :

- I remember having a sibling somewhere, who would be 'bout your age I gather. But she was a girl.

- So am I, I replied calmly.

I was used to being mistaken with a boy and did not always bother correcting my interlocutor's assertion, but this time, for some reason, I felt like it.

- Are you?

The lad looked puzzled.

- You should comb that hair of yours and wear a dress if you don't want people to think you're a boy.

- I don't really care what people think, I shrugged.

- Alright, Fly grinned. Though you'd get more luck at begging if people think you are a girl. Blond curls are also an advantage, and blue eyes of course, but you've got none of those.

He leaned backwards and squinted, as if he wanted to take a wider glance at me.

- Yeh, he concluded with a serious face. You look like some kind of small wild animal. I wonder how you managed to survive on the streets all those years.

- Well I did, I replied between gritted teeth, anger slowly rising from within. I've got lots of friends and we all look out for each other. You don't have many friends, do you?

Fly chuckled :

- Calm down, fierce girl, I was just kidding. I do have a friend, but only the one.

I looked up at him, ashamed to have let myself getting upset by what he was saying.

- You've got two now, I stated with a smile.

The boy smiled back to me.

- I've got a friend who is just like that, I admitted after thinking a bit about what he had said. Long blond hair and blue eyes. All the ladies of New Babbage swoon when he passes by.

Fly laughed again.

- It can be a blessing or a curse. You know, you're right not to let people know you're a girl. Most of the time it's far from being a good thing in this world.

I glanced at him, unsure of what he meant. His mood had seemed to darken and his gaze was lost in thoughts.

- That friend of mine I told you about, he started in a soft tone, she is a proper girl. A grown woman even now. She does have the blue eyes and curly hair, but I'd rather have her ugly and happy than pretty and...

He paused and clenched his fists.

- I hate what she's become. Even though she didn't really have the choice.

- You always have the choice, I replied instinctively. A good friend of mine told me that once...

- I wish you were right, Fly muttered, turning towards me, but you don't know what you're talking about.

I tilted my head, observing him in silence while he was brooding, eyes fixed upon the fire, light and shadow fighting gracefully about his face.

- Will you tell me, then? I eventually asked, my patience having reached its limits.

Fly broke from his contemplation of the dancing flames and looked up at me hesitantly.

- Why not... he shrugged. You might as well know. But I'll have to start the story a while back for you to understand it fully.

I looked up at the starry night sky and then beyond the fire, towards the dark sea, across which New Babbage was still standing after escaping once more one of those horrible fates that seemed to rain on her every so often.

- I am in no hurry, I assured. I've been away for more than a year, a few more hours won't make any difference. We'll have time in the morning to figure out a way to sail back to the City.

The boy nodded thoughtfully.

- Very well then, he sighed. Here's my story.

 

Myrtil in the Sky with Sunstones

Eighteen bloody months in the sky... And Old Ones know how many more to come.

Everything had gone perfectly. I had managed to sneak into the morning airship departing from Steelhead without being seen, and had found a comfortable hideout in a corner of the food storage. I didn't think the trip would last more than one week, maybe one week and a half at the most, even if the ship seemed to be quite slow. I assumed it was loaded with heavy cargo ; didn't really have the chance to check exactly what.

I was just napping, rocked by the regular buzzing of the machines, when suddenly the ship stopped completely, as if bumping violently into something, sending Flynn, Rupert and I rolling across the storage room to go crashing upside down into a pile of crates.
"What the hell was that..." I muttered while brushing the dust off my clothes, fearing we had met some kind of giant Air Kraken.
Flynn scurried back into my jacket's pocket, his pointy ears and fluffy red tail laying low, showing that he was just as concerned as I was. I carefully collected Rupert, my second carrier pigeon, and installed him into the vast pocket on the other side of my jacket.
I was going to climb up out of my hiding hole, when a growing sound of screams and shootings inspired me to freeze on the spot.
Something was obviously happening on the upper deck. Something I might not actually want to be involved in.
I fought with myself for a few minutes, and finally my dangerous tendency to curiosity took over and led me to climb up the ladder and open slightly the hatch door.
At first, I only saw feet. Big dusty, soothy, bloody boots right before my eyes. I slowly looked up along the blue puffy trousers and the red jacket and noticed with a gasp of horror that a huge sword and two holsters on each side were hanging from the large leather belt wrapped around the pirate's waist. The ambient noise was quite loud, and he seemed to be pretty absorbed into aiming at running people with the pistols he had in both hands, so I decided to take the risk of opening the hatch door a bit more, to have a better appreciation of the situation.
 I would not have recognized the ship even if I had seen it by daylight before. The deck was covered in laying bodies with streams of blood dripping from their open wounds and filthy bearded pirates neglectfully stepping right onto them to get a better shot at new victims. The sailors were falling like flies that would have been smashed down by a giant hand and I was starting to get slightly worried about what would become of my two little friends and I if the bloodthirsty sky pirates came to find my hiding place...
 Carefully, I climbed back down the ladder and closed quietly the hatch door behind me, then stood in the middle of the stock room and looked around. Apart from crates of food and barrels of alcohol and water, there was not much in there that could help me putting together a brilliant escape plan. At this moment, I wished my friends were with me. It was always easier when several minds were together and we managed to come up with great ideas even in the most desperate of situations.
Suddenly, an image of Triky appeared in front of my eyes. Triky with his pointy nosed mask and sparkly mischievous eyes, a cheeky smile on his lips and a bottle lightened with fire in his hand. And then I knew what I had to do.
 I decidedly walked towards a big barrel full of apples and started emptying it, throwing the fruits away until they were rolling all over the place. I then lifted the empty barrel and put it back down at the bottom of the ladder. Flynn had jumped off my pocket and while he was making the most of the laying apples, I turned towards the pile of smaller barrels of alcohol. I took hold of one and worked on the lid with my knife to weaken it. After this patient preparation, I could give a kick with my heel to smash it open and then carefully installed it inside the barrel I had just emptied. I then rummaged into my pockets to bring a small rusted metal box outside.
"Come on, Flynn!" I urged my squirrel while opening the box to pick up one of the matches.
The little rodent left the half-eaten apple behind him and jumped back into my coat's pocket, after climbing his way along my leg.
I rolled my sleeves up my arms and set to lift again the big barrel to bring it to the top of the ladder, rung after rung. That was no easy business I tell you, but somehow I did manage in the end, and found myself right under the hatch door, ready to open it and push the barrel outside.
I gathered the match I had set behind my ear and, after a fond thought for Triky, I struck it against the barrel's side and dropped it inside the alcohol. The sudden flame that rose was big enough, but the fire didn't venture yet outside of the bigger barrel and I hurriedly pushed the whole thing with all my strength against the hatch door to force it open and send the tricked barrel rolling on the main deck.
Luckily, the pirates were too busy to notice anything, and I could see my little firebomb stopping right in front of the pilot's cabin, flames escaping from the opening and starting to lick their surroundings.
When the fire began to embrace the door of the cabin, catching every little piece of wood that happened to be around, someone eventually noticed it and shouted : "FIRE!".
This triggered a big messy blur of pirates running towards the blaze to try and smother it, to no avail. The flames only grew higher and larger, dancing on the cabin's roof and climbing along the ropes, getting dangerously close to the balloon. Triky would have been very pleased indeed.
While I was admiring the inferno, the pirates were gathering everything they could and carrying it onto their own ship, seemingly ready to abandon the one they had attacked to its fate. That was my chance to leave as well. In the panic, nobody would pay attention to me.
After a bit of careful look out, I was sure that they were all too busy, and I quickly lifted the hatch door to dart out and run towards the edge of the burning ship, jumping onto the pirate's one without taking time to think about the fall I would have made if I had missed that jump. Once on the other side, I hurried towards a dark corner behind a pile of crates and kicked the rat that was hiding there to take its place.
Then I allowed myself to catch my breath.
Risking a glance through the wall of crates, I saw the pirates transferring the cargo from the Steelhead ship to their own. Some of them were storing it very close to where I was hiding and a few stones fell out of the crates, rolling behind them and stopping their course against my shoes. I picked one up and examined it with curiosity. This one was oblong, quite transparent with a hint of pinkish yellow. I pocketed it, shushing Flynn's cry of indignation to have to share his living-room with a piece of rock, and took another glance between the crates to see what was happening.
The flames had eventually caught the fabric of the balloon and the pirates had cut off all of the ropes attaching both ships together. Some of the men were pushing against the side of the burning cargo-ship with long sticks to get away quicker. The buzzing sound got progressively louder, and the pirates' ship swiftly moved away from its dying prey. I could almost see nothing of it but flames, engulfing the deck.
Suddenly, a loud bang resonated and the balloon disappeared behind a wall of red flames, the whole ship crumbling to pieces that were regularly falling down, soon followed by the main block, which whirled down into the sea with most of its cargo of sunstones.


So there I was. Hiding on the sky pirates of the North Pass' ship. Heading to some unknown destination.
Well, this did not last very long of course. They soon discovered my hiding place and while I was sure they would kill me at once, it seems that I was lucky enough to escape that fate. Their boss was happy with the cargo of sunstones and did not suspect the role I had played in their hasty retreat. Apparently he thought they were in need of a ship's boy and that I could be that one.

And this lasted until now. Eighteen bloody months rubbing the deck, giving a hand to the cook and occasionally being part of raids. Seems like I'm a good thief and they won't let me go. I guess living on the streets of New Babbage helped me to gain a skill or two.
Anyway, I sent Rupert to warn my friends that I was safe and alive, even if in the hands of sky pirates, but that they should not worry because I would find a way to escape eventually.

I'm sure I will...

Tricks from the Past

This was on Hallow's Eve.

Everything was quiet in Steelhead. I had spent the week asking people around, trying to find Margo December, with no luck.
Tired and hungry, I had decided to find a place to spend the night, as it was getting dark. I would resume my quest later. I approached the entrance of the tunnels, not far from the city centre, thinking it would make a good hideout to sleep quietly.
The tunnels were looking quite dark and eerie in the night, and I hesitated.
A sound resonated in the silence, like the cry of an owl, startling me. I was ready to turn back and head towards the deserted city centre, when a huge fireball of flame lit up the entrance of the tunnel, splashing up and around the arch, like a firebomb going off. Blown away by the explosion, I fell on the side, in the grass.
The flames were already flickering away, but the atmosphere was filled with smoke, rising from the ground, and between two fits of cough, I spotted a smothered shape at the tunnel entrance.
"What... what was that?" I stuttered, while squinting to distinguish the tunnel entrance.
Slowly, the smoke cleared out, to reveal a short human shape, dressed in urchin clothes and wearing a big bakerboy hat. As he stepped forward towards me, I noticed his bare feet, and, looking up to his face, I recognized the black mask with a pointy beak that was covering it.
My heart missed a beat.
I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Him? Him! Right in front of me!
"T... T..." I hiccuped.
 "Are you ok?" asked the boy. "What you doing in the mud?"
Suddenly, all the feelings that had been building up during those last two years exploded inside me and I ran to him to hug him, shouting his name.
"TRIKY!!!!"


"Hey wotchit!!'" he screamed, as I was smothering him. "You missed me then?"
My eyes were blurred with happy tears. I stepped back from him but still holding onto his arm to make sure he would not disappear again.
"Not a bit, you idiot!", I replied, sweeping away the humidity in my eyes with the back of my free hand. "How on Earth is that possible???? How are you here???"
 Triky stepped back, his cheeky grin changing to a smile of thoughtful adult demeanor.
"I dont know, I... She... All I know is that I'm allowed one hour with you. A gift... I guess it's important somehow."
 "One hour?" I repeated, arching an eyebrow. "That's not much!" I glanced at him, suddenly concerned. "Do you mean that you are a kind of... ghost?"
But Tricky was already darting off towards the town centre, giggling. He turned to shout back: "I GUESS THAT'S WHY THEY CALL IT THE WITCHING HOUR!"
"Dammit!" I muttered before running after him as fast as I could. "WAIT FOR ME!!!"
 "COME ON I WONNA BURN SOMETHING!" he shouted back.
 I couldn't help a smirk, remembering all the things that had been burnt in the past when Triky was around.
We spent the next half hour running around town, me mostly trying to stop him from burning stuff, and laughing as he was knocking on doors before running away, but in the end, we somehow found ourselves near the watermill and decided to take a break and sit by the riverside.
The moon was out and full, lighting up the river side in silver light.
I put a hand on Triky's shoulder and gave him a serious look. "Now we need to talk."

"Talk?", he replied, "What about? Arnt you having fun? Did you see the look on that guy's face when his cat ran in with its tail on fire... PFFT hahaha... i crack myself up."
I couldn't help smiling at the thought, but tried to recompose my serious face. "That was very funny and we had a really great time, but time alas is going quickly and you will soon disappear again... I would like you to tell me what you remember, what happened before you met me in front of this tunnel. You were saying "she" gave you one hour back here. Do you know who that is?"
" Oh man, ..." sighed Triky..."I dunno, it was just a feeling. I just woke up and that's the feeling i had."
I stayed quiet a few moments, to observe him closely, before asking :
"There is something else... Triky, do you remember Willard Steamweaver?"
Triky reacted at once : "But that's my name, how did you know my name?"
 "Because I met you when you were an old man." I explained.
" No one calls me Willard, thats a duffuss name", he stated.
"I couldn't agree more", I nodded.
Triky frowned slightly : "Myrtil you are being strange, what's wrong with you?"
I sighed. "I would like to just play all day like you, but my friends' lives are in danger. The whole of Babbage town is in danger. And I think you could stop that, just by telling me something, but I don't know what..."
 Triky paused for a moment. "This is like a dream, I'm not dreaming am I, you say I'm a ghost?"
I tilted my head , looking at him sadly, before slowly nodding. "Yes, I think you are... You must be... "
"Two years ago, you see", I continued quietly, "Willard, your other half, came back from the moon and found you. You were reunited, and you died together... I thought I would never see you again..."
"This is Hallow's Eve, and here you are, but just for one hour..." I finished, my voice trembling.
"I dont remember" said Triky softly, "but now I feel something else...I miss you, and I miss other people. I can't remember them but I miss them so much... I didn't want to go... but I had to?"
I shook my head : "No, no you didn't want to go and I don't think you HAD to! This Willard, HE wanted to die, and the only way he had to was to take you with him..."
I tried to fight back the need to cry again. "Everyone misses you Triky. I miss you every day. Every day I regret not having managed to stop that..."

"Everything has its time and place", said Tricky with a half cocked smile. "Don't be upset for me, where ever it is that I am... It feels nice, I don't feel alone."
I looked up at him, trying to find out what he was really thinking. "I... just wish it didn't happen, I don't know why it had to..."
I could not fight it any longer and started to sob silently, my shoulders going up and down, uncontrollably : "It is just so hard to lose a friend..."
I let those words die in the silence of the night.
"But..." I tried to smile, wiping my tears with the back of my hand. "But I am happy if you feel nice where you are. Just never forget that you will never be alone."
 Triky smiled. "Dont be sad Myrtil, you can't change the past because the truth is you live now, right now, and right now today you and I, we had fun, because when we are together we have fun, and everytime we ever meet, we will have fun. And in the future we will have fun and burn stuff, that's if we meet in the future, because I don't know if where I am now future exists, it's all a dream to me Myrtil, it's all a dream."
 As he was talking, the meaning of his words was slowly penetrating my mind, and starting to lift me out of my sadness.
I smiled back to him spontaneously and nodded softly: "You are right Triky, we will always have fun, wherever, whenever... Everytime you are here. And I am sure I will see you again, even if it is in a dream."
Triky paused, suddenly looking distant. "My time now is almost over... I can feel her."
I put a hand on his shoulder in reflex, as if to keep him back from "her".
"Wait, let me see if..." Triky lifted his hand up to his face. And for the first time, he removed his mask.

 His face was very pale, with rose red lips, a small round button nose between two pitch black eyes, from within which sparkled the brightest unnatural light.
Triky leaned close to my face, innocently peering into my eyes before whispering "Look."
My own eyes widened and it was as if I was under a spell, unable to move away from his look.

As I was looking deep into Triky's eyes, my gaze went further than I ever thought possible. I felt strange, but calm, while traveling into his eyes, from the darkness towards the light. The closer I got, the brighter the light was, until it broke up into smaller globes of light. My gaze traveled closer and closer to one of the globes, to the point where I could see within the floating ball of light, what looked like a small unborn child. All around me were other globes of light, and an overall sense of calm. A sense of female compassion.
I felt like all sadness and angst had vanished, to be replaced by serenity.
Then I heard his voice surrounding me. Triky's voice, soft and loving :
"There is a time and a place for everything Myrtil, but you still got choices, the future is not set in stone."
And with a gasp, the lights lifted and I found myself alone by the river side.

I stayed sitting there for a while, thinking about it all, over and over. I knew those globes of light, I had seen them before. I smiled to the moon. After two years of confused mourning, I had eventually seen Triky again. I had been able to tell him how much I missed him, how guilty I felt for not preventing what had happened. And he had brought peace in my heart at last.

 Finally rising up on my feet, I walked towards the tree my pigeon had elected as a temporary home and called softly, waking the bird from his sleep : "I have a job for you, Bob."
Dipping into my pocket, my hand found a piece of paper and a small pencil, and I scribbled a few words before rolling the paper into a really tiny tube. The pigeon stepped onto my open palm, and I installed the roll of parchment inside the small metal canister attached to his leg. "Here, bring that to the others!"
Bob took off and my eyes followed his little silhouette, growing smaller and smaller against the full moon.
I smiled again.
Tomorrow at dawn, the first airship departing for New Babbage will have a stowaway.