Syko woke with a sour taste in his mouth, to the sound of someone pounding on his door.

Thump, thump, thump.

Thump, thump, thump.

Syko slumped to the door, wrapping the sheet around himself.

He turned the handle, which had been pulled closed at some point, and peeked at the quartermaster hulking outside the door. He held a set of clothes out to Syko, who snaked an arm out to grab them.

This set of clothes was shabbier than the last, still damp over the chair. The brown pants were baggier, with several pockets and a string on each ankle that he synched around his boot. The cream shirt was simple cotton but the sleeves only came to his elbow. 

Another knock on the door. 

Thump, thump.

Syko opened the door and plodded up the stairs behind the quartermaster. He stopped outside the stained glass cabin doors, knocked politely, then entered.

"The apothecary is here Captain."

"Thank you Sedrick." Kay'la replied.

She was sitting at the table in a chair padded with blankets.

"Please join me." She gestured to the chair. 

As Syko approached a small bell rang from below. Kay'la stood and turned to the wall. Syko stopped behind his chair.

He watched as she slid open a panel and a dumbwaiter produced food from the galley. She set two bowls of fish stew on the table and invited Syko again to sit.

She'd changed into baggy cotton pants and a wool sweater. Her hair had been freed from its tousled braid and hung in waves around her face. Her expression was serious across the table. She stirred her soup but didn't take a bite. Syko kept his hands beneath the table.

"It's eight days to our next port. Are you going to try something like this every day?"

Syko looked down at his fish stew calculating what to say. Was she looking for an apology?

"Thank you," he said hesitantly, "for saving me."

"Why did you jump off the boat if you can't swim?" The question had a playful tone.

Syko looked at her, "I...didn't really think about it."

She tilted her head to the side, "Are you going to do something like that again?"

"I have no where to go," He looked down at his bowl, "it's not like I can swim away."

"You're lucky you didn't break anything jumping from that height." She took a bite of her stew and Syko stirred his. 

"You said I'd be working for you," Syko probed, "what are my duties?" 

"Simple medicinal tasks." She took another bite of soup, "There are a lot of ways to get hurt on a ship like this and I need my crew in top shape. You'll hold a daily sick call, treat what you can and dispense remedies as needed. You'll also take on a position as my personal clerk and apothecary. Usually you'd report to the quartermaster but in this position you'll answer directly to me."

She spoke slowly and clearly, laying out everything he was responsible for. He wouldn't just oversee medical treatment, he was part of the crew now and was also in charge of checking the fresh water stores, mending sails, and assisting with cleaning duties. Syko listened stoically, taking everything in.

"I need supplies." his mind was focused only on the practical.

Kay'la reached beneath the blankets draping her chair and pulled out his satchel tossing it onto the chair between them. Syko jumped as he heard everything clink loudly. He stared at it but didn't move to touch it.

"Do you have enough in this bag to last us until we make port?"

"I'd have to check."

She gestured towards the bag. Syko went through it carefully. On the surface it looked the same but someone had unrolled his rune cloth and folded it back up, and his knife was missing. He folded it closed and set it next to his chair.

"It would be, if I had everything but it seems like some materials are missing."

"I'm not inclined to give you a weapon after the stunt you pulled."

"It's not a weapon," Syko protested.

"Can you work without it?"

"On small injuries but-"

"Then you can earn it back."

Syko hung his head. All that hard earned coin just to have it pilfered by a pirate. He slumped back into his chair and wolfed down a mouth full of stew. 

"You seem remarkably calm for the gravity of the situation."

"Eight days doesn't seem that long." Syko muttered between bites.

"It's eight days to port," Kay'la chuckled, "but that's only a resupply stop. We'll be traveling longer than that."

"How much longer? Where are we going?"

"My patron is a man of...exotic tastes, so we must travel to exotic lands."

That sounded like a fancy way to say she  had no idea where they were going.

"I know this situation is less than ideal," she said pulling her keys off her belt, "but I really do need your help."

She placed a single key between them. "When we brought you on board you were quite adamant you didn't want to be locked in a room. Have you ever been imprisoned?"

"No, why?" he said stirring his soup again. Did she think he was a criminal?

"Usually folks who don't like being locked up have been locked up before."

Syko didn't say anything.

"This is the key to your cabin. As long as you fulfill your duties and don't cause trouble I see no reason why you shouldn't have free rein. I told you before, I don't intend to keep you prisoner on board." 

He made no move for it. Kay'la finished her soup and set the bowl to the side. When she looked away Syko snaked his hand across the table and slid the key up the sleeve of his shirt.

"How long have you been an apothecary?" Kay'la asked.

Syko slurped up his last bite of soup. "It's a bit late to doubts my skills."

"I don't. I'm done with business, I'd like to get to know you."

"There's not much to know. My master took me in when I was very young. He taught me the art." 

Kay'la stood and put their bowls back into the dumbwaiter, ringing the bell again.

"Was your master a good teacher?"

"Every lesson was memorable." Syko muttered gravely.

There was pause between them, and Kay'la's question took on a more inquisitive tone.

"A runesmith all your life. You must have a high magical affinity."

"I guess."

"Is runework difficult?"

"All magic takes a toll on the body, but runework is designed to be easy to practice."

"Do you know any other magic?"

"No."

A lie, or a half truth at best. He'd read books on wylde magic but he'd only practiced it once and it nearly killed him.

"What sort toll does it take."

"It's nothing too serious," Syko picked at a knot in the table top, "it compounds over time. Most runesmiths start to feel the effects in their joints and muscles. It's been described as a calcifying feeling, the body becomes stiff and movement is painful. Or some people develop severe headaches, and in extreme cases the user can suffer profuse bleeding."

"Why does that happen?" She had a pained expression on her face.

"It's just the nature of runework. It just happens when you do it?"

"But how does it work?" 

"Would you like a demonstration?"

She nodded vigorously and leaned forward to see what he was pulling out of his bag.

In front of him he placed a painted ceramic bowl etched with runes and a short tine of antler with a crystal embeded in the end.

He left the bowl and blew out a candle, placing it on an empty patch of floor. 

Kay'la stood and crossed her arms, standing just outside his periphery.

Narrating his actions, Syko raised the antler and began.

"You have to know what you want to do before you do it. For example, if I want to light a candle you have to use the rune for fire," he traced lines into the air, leaving a shimmering residue, "but not just fire, fire under control, ignition." Syko finished the rune and a bolt of light snapped towards the wick reigniting it's soft glow. 

"You can use them another way." He stood and set the candle back on the table.

Kay'la remained standing with her arms crossed.

"This one needs materials, it's used to infuse things with certain elements."

"What kind of materials?"

"Usually herbs or liquids."

Kay'ls moved across the room to a cupboard and brought him a tin. When he opened it the smell was intensely floral with an undertone of earth. The smell clouded his senses yet he couldn't help going in for another whiff. 

"What is it?" Syko asked.

"It's Fortunei," she said slyly, "it's the flower of a plant that grows on the tallest peak of the Shattered Mountain."

Syko had never heard of the plant, and he'd read a lot about plants. He looked back at the tin and studied the waxy brown petals of the flowers.

"Are sure that's what this is?"

"Do you think it's something else?"

This was a test, it had to be. But he didn't know what to do. What if he told her the wrong thing. What was he even supposed to do with it if he didn't know what it was. He wasn't interested in performing in some little game of hers.

"Whatever you want me to imbue needs to be edible. And knowing what it is goes a long way in amplifying it's abilities, or imbuing it with more. That's the purpose of this," he set the tin down and picked up the bowl, "you put something like a strong medicinal herb in here and use the runes to amplify what it can already do."

Syko put the bowl down and Kay'la stepped closer.

"And what about this?" She picked up the antler tine.

"It's my wand," Syko replied 

"It's kind of short."

"Size doesn't really make a difference with this kind of thing."

She giggled but he didn't really know why.

"So what does make a difference?" 

"The stones you use," he gestured to the bright blue crystal at the end. "They can act as focal points and reduce some of the tax on the runesmith, but ultimately what makes the most difference is individual skill."

Kay'la took another step toward him and ran her finger around the lip of the bowl. She smelled like wood and sea water. He looked down at his feet abruptly. 

"I'm sorry I jump overboard." he breathed, his heart pounding in his chest.

Kay'la took her hand off the bowl but didn't look at him. 

"You already apologized," her tone was soothing, "I forgive you. Are you going to do that again?"

Syko shook his head, "I was just scared. I am scared." 

"Of what?" 

"Why am I here? Why me?" 

"Someone told me you could help me. Will you help me Syko?" 

He shook his head again still confused, "Someone told you? Have you been spying on me?

But who, he knew all his patrons and hadn't had any new customers besides- "The boy."

Syko looked at Kay'la. She had been staring at him now but he couldn't meet her eye.

"What do you want with me?" Syko slumped back down into his chair.

"I told you," she said, "I need your help. I've seen your skill. I know your training."

They shared a look before she continued. "I need someone of your skill that no one is going to miss."

Someone no one would miss, she had that part right. The only person who paid attention to him had left long ago.

Syko sat dejected looking toward the door. Seven bells rang out across the deck.

Kay'la stood again, "It's late, you should return to your cabin. Breakfast is at first bell, you'll hold sick call at second bell."

She walked towards the door as Syko gathered his things in his satchel.

"Sleep well." she closed the door behind him.

Syko picked his way across the creaky deck and down the steps as sailors slept all around him. Snores and groans covered his footsteps as he unlocked his door. Slipping into his cabin Syko dropped his satchel on the table and flopped onto bed, tossing and turning himself to sleep.