Irwin's Journey - The Cardsmith

"Good job! Now, pour the red and yellow spices in and keep stirring," Boohm ordered.

Zender was looking at the massive, new cauldron, stirring with the ladle, also new. Both were bought by Boohm himself during their last stop. Zender was pressing his left hand against the cauldron's bottom, his silver hand and lower arm seeming to glow from within like molten metal.

Irwin was leaning against the entrance of the kitchen, watching as Boohm tutored Zender on the details of creating some spicy meat stew based on a recipe Boohm knew. They had entered the Chaotic Corridors three weeks ago, and by now, Boohm was happy enough with Zender's progress to allow him to prepare their evening meal.

"Good, good," Boohm hummed. "Wait till the bubbles appear in the center, even when you stir slowly. That's when you know it's done!"

Zender nodded, and a few moments later, he removed his hand, which rapidly cooled, the red turning to its usual silvery pale flesh.

Maybe I should start collecting metallic cards to bring back home, Irwin thought as he rubbed his shaven chin. He'd broken three knives already and, in the end, had to buy a much more expensive one created by a carded-crafter. It had a few miniature runes on the blade that pulled in minute bits of ambient soulforce to keep its edge. Not that it would remain perfect forever, but it should last for a few years. At the steep price of nearly a thousand soulshards, it had better.

"Alright, now keep stirring it till it stops bubbling, then place the lid on, and we can eat in twenty minutes," Boohm said, padding Zender on his back. "You did great, boy!"

Zender was staring anxiously at the pot, still stirring, and only when he finally placed the lid as instructed did he seem to lose some of his stress.

"I'll get the rest," Irwin said.

An hour later, they were all leaning back, the pot nearly half empty due to a heroic effort of Irwin and Boohm, who had both eaten as much as three normal grown men.

"Greldo, can we play hide and seek again?" Earila asked, eyes glittering.

Irwin shared a smile with Rindiri. She had left the ship hovering in a narrow strip with Coal guarding from the shadows in case anything happened so they could eat together.

Over the last few weeks, and ever since she'd gotten her fourth card, she'd slowly gone from a quiet, somewhat fearful girl into what Irwin thought was more normal for her age. Although she still seemed somewhat cool around her mother, she'd finally begun accepting her guidance, and the atmosphere on the ship was calm and homey.

Boohm, unable to go outside, had begun cooking more elaborate creations while trying to practice his singing. The first was far more appreciated by the others than the latter, as he somehow seemed physically incapable of holding a tune.

Greldo hummed, his burning silver eyes, an indication his soullake, were close to full narrowing.

"We can… but only if you promise not to go above deck again!"

Earila snorted, crossing her arms and faking a scowl. "Bah, that was only one time, and you didn't stipulate I couldn't go up the deck!"

Irwin held back a snort at the girl's use of words she'd started picking up from her mother.

"Well…" Greldo said before vanishing from his chair and reappearing in the door opening. "Let's see how much you've improved then!"

Earila vanished from her spot, replaced by a small translucent blue Fearit. She reappeared at the door opening only to find Greldo already gone.

"I'll find you!" she shouted while six Fearits shot away from her, running through the ship. A moment later, she and the Fearits were gone.

"I'll go back up," Rindiri said, getting up and smiling at Zender. "Zender, you did great. Thank you for the meal."

Zender's eyes gleamed.

Rindiri left, while Zender almost skipped after her, heading to the empty hull to practice his sword and whip fighting.

Irwin looked at Boohm, who began cleaning up the dishes without as much as a complaint. He could go back to practicing, but he was starting to get more than a little bored of it. Without an instrument, all he could do was sing, and he'd found out that a lot of the music on the Galadin music sheets was meant for some string-based instrument. He was able to fake or mimic it somewhat, but the end result wasn't going to be exactly right, and that meant he couldn't really use them for card reforging yet. Although most card reforging could do with rough hums because they required being forced along paths, the Galadin songs seemed more based on finesse.

Deciding he hadn't really talked with Boohm after they began their journey, he leaned back.

"I've wanted to ask you something for a while. Why didn't you slot cards to help you resist the cold? I know another Onyxian who seems pretty alright in resisting the cold."

Boohm looked up, eyebrow raised above his silver eyes. "You know another Onyxian? You'll have to tell me that story sometime! But for me, I got an interesting card when I was younger. It was the basis of full body armor, so during my young years, I just focused on that. When I finally finished it and created my heartcard, I found out just how hard it was to fill my soullake."

"You don't have a soulcard?" Irwin asked, surprised. He'd expected Boohm to be building his second or third soulcard by now.

"I do!" Boohm said, stepping aside and into the clear area between the kitchen and the tables. With a flash of silvery light, his entire body was suddenly covered in an angular armor. Two round metal clubs sat in his hands, short, dangerous spikes on the ends.

Boohm turned around before pulling his soulcarded armor back and continuing cleaning the dishes.

"The thing is, after I got this, I realized there wasn't actually that much use for it in my own world. Or any of the central worlds, really. So, I decided to become a mercenary, but I soon found that I had no useful skills."

Irwin hummed, starting to realize where this was going.

"Because of the temperature in the central area, I focused on getting six cards that would make me useful aboard a ship! I can create a concussive blast a few hundred feet away to take down enemy sails and-" he raised a hand, and a dome-sized barrier appeared above his hand. "- create a barrier to block most normal attacks."

Boohm sighed, rubbing his bald head and spreading bubbly, soapy water across it without seeming to care.

"It was easy enough to join a merchant vessel as a guard… but when we exited the central region, the temperature plummeted. Well, I don't think I've got to explain that they weren't happy to find their hired mercenary couldn't stay on the deck to actually defend them!"

Irwin grimaced.

"No. Did they-"

"Dump me on the nearest planet? Definitely. That was-" Boohm counted his fingers. "- almost ten years ago. I tried staying on a world for a bit, but that was as boring as back home. Then I tried having a shop, but I got into trouble with the local merchants. After that, I joined a mercenary crew that investigated portals in case they were desert, volcano, or anything else hot. Finally, a few years ago, I realized things were going nowhere, and I decided to get the cards to fill this." He thudded his chest. "I'd need to return home."

"After you succeed, will you return back out again?" Irwin asked, curious.

"If I can get cards to finally get rid of this stupid weakness, probably," Boohm said, looking up with sparkling eyes. "So, if you feel generous and want to gift me a load of cards just like you did Greldo, that would save me a trip back home!"

Irwin blinked at the incredible audacity of Boohm to just ask someone to gift them enough cards to fill their soullake. Noticing the gleam of humor in Boohm's eyes, he knew the other was just toying with him.

"Well…" Irwin said as he tapped the table and raised an eyebrow. "How about this? I'll think on it!"

Boohm laughed uproariously before focusing back on the dishes. "That'd be awesome!" he said.

Irwin grinned as he got up and walked towards his own cabin. As he did, he realized he was actually seriously thinking about it.

Let's see what types of cards he has first, he thought.

Weeks continued to pass by as the crew of The Sonata lived in relative calm. The temperature dropped from cold to freezing, and by then, they had started calling The Chaotic Corridors the Boring Corridors.

Finally, almost five weeks after they had gone in, Rindiri said they were closing in on the exit.

Irwin and Greldo began switching places on the prow, more than ready to see something else than energy barriers with darkness and massive nebulae behind them.

--

You'gyn looked at the young Ignitzion walking across a massive stone dock.

One soulcard, emerald rank, he thought absently. Fire… who would have guessed? No metal, too many weaknesses.

Bored out of his metal mind, You'gyn moved away from one of the small windows. He strained his metal wings and flew his reasonable bulk through the top floor of the main guard tower. Tiny streams of lava leaked from a beautifully crafted bubble basin down the side of an onyx sheet and into a small lake. Hanging in the yellow gas collecting on the ceiling, he took a deep, unnecessary 'breath', feeling the toxic gas harmlessly fill his mouth.

His eyeless gaze focused on the massive, custom-made stone pedestal.

"Damn rustbuckets," he muttered. "I'll find a prospective smith to bind to! Send me all the way to this stupid guardpost, will you? One day, I'll bond and break the rank three barrier!"

If the stone pedestal could have heard or talked, it would have probably told him to shut up already, as he'd muttered the same sentences thousands, if not tens of thousands of times already.

You'gyn wouldn't have cared if it did and continued mumbling some more curses directed at his cousins.

A few moments later, his boredom caught up with him again, and he rushed to another of the lookout windows. He landed on the edge, staring down at the towering stone town below.

Softfleshed humans, rock-skinned Onyxians, and fiery Ignitzians moved about their daily business, probably as bored as he was. Why wouldn't they be? There was nothing to do but wait for someone to move out of the narrow corridor. Many were covered in a layer of flame or some form of gas to protect themselves from the cold, but he knew all of them and their cards, and there wasn't a single one with the potential to be a cardsmith.

Well, not with the potential to be a good enough one that he would bond with one.

You'gyn hesitated, then flew down into the coldness of Portal Corridor, circled around the outside wall, and landed on the edge of the roof. Three hundred and fifty-one feet away -he knew, as he'd counted it multiple times- was the only narrow corridor leading out of this otherwise boring sidebranch. Behind it was the Chaotic Corridor, an aptly named web of narrow corridors set in the near-perpetual cold with occasional deep frost regions.

It's been a month. There should be something arriving soon, he thought.

He ignored the fact that he had thought the same thing the previous day, and the day before, and many before that. Instead, he gazed at the opening, willing a ship to appear. One with someone that either still had some free slots or had a heartcard suitable to become a cardsmith.

He hummed softly as he sat there, glaring at the energy barrier surrounding the hole, barely large enough for a good escort vessel.

I wonder if Father still hasn't forgiven me, he thought angrily. He knew he'd made some mistakes, but he still felt it wasn't all his fault. Glau'hest had been the one to suggest the contest! Besides, those stupid Hestolgron brats had way less potential than he had!

His angry, swirling thoughts were interrupted as he saw movement in the exit.

"Finally!" You'gyn shouted just as a soft gong rang out from below.

He flew back into his room, then down the tube and towards the tower's central guardroom. Four people surrounded a large crystal slab in the center, while two others stood at the large window overseeing the portal corridor. One of them turned around as You'gyn flew down in a rustle of metal wings fluttering.

"Honorable You'gyn! A small scout vessel has exited the Corridor, and-"

"I saw," You'gyn said, interrupting Bernwald, the captain of his guard.

The grizzled, middle-aged human that had tried many times to sway him to teach him smithing, even suggesting he would focus his second heartcard and soulcard fully on card forging if You'gyn would be willing to bond with him. The fool didn't seem to understand that it was the first soulcard that determined the final skill of a cardsmith. Even if that hadn't been the case, Bernwald's ability to sense the ambient soulforce and the resonance of cards was so poor even the best soulcards wouldn't have helped him become more than an average cardsmith, if even that.

"Do we have a record of the vessel?"

"Yes, my lord. It's called The Surtin and was last reported as stolen during an excursion to the outer leaves."

One of Bernwald's men turned around. "The Razor is heading there to intercept and guide them to the dock."

You'gyn couldn't stop a grin from appearing on his flat metal face.

"I'm heading to The Razor to personally take over," You'gyn said as he flew forward, out of the window and into the cold. Someone shouted something behind him, but he ignored that.

Maybe there's someone useful on the ship, and otherwise, it might just be interesting!

--

Irwin stood on the prow as Rindiri maneuvered The Sonata through the sharp turn, hoping to finally see the exit from the frozen mazelike area that they had moved through for the last.

"Finally," he said, letting out a relieved sigh as he saw the massive stone tower, surrounded by a town atop a forty-foot rocky outcrop. It signaled the end of their five-week journey through the Chaotic Corridors.

"I suggest we take another route if we head back," Greldo said. "As fun as this was, I hope to never see those boring, narrow corridors ever again."

"Definitely," Irwin said, slightly distracted as he looked at a large vessel flying towards them.

Its steel gray sails were like sharp triangles. Large swirls of soulforce rippled away from them while he saw a few dozen people moving about on the deck.

"Rindiri, any idea what they want?" he shouted.

"No. Usually, we just go and dock to report who we are and where we are going," she shouted.

"Great. Get ready," Irwin said, looking at Greldo, who was examining the ship.

The ship, easily three times as long and twice as wide as The Sonta, approached them head-on before slowing. A booming voice came from the prow, where Irwin saw a large person in full armor.

"To The Surtin, slow down and be ready to be boarded!"

Irwin sighed. "I hope this doesn't have anything to do with that tracking rune we removed."

"Rindiri, do as they say!" he shouted before realizing they were already slowing down.

When they stopped, the large ship stopped slightly beside and above them, and four figures jumped down. One of them glowed a soft blue, and the group slowly levitated down. A fist-sized and very familiar-looking thing flew beside them.

Is that-

'Damnit, what is that little brat doing here?! Whatever, Irwin, don't tell them I'm here for any reason!'

"Why?" Irwin whispered, ignoring Greldo's surprised look.

'That's You'gyn, an annoying little punk that knows who I am. I'd rather arrive on Granvox without anyone knowing I'm arriving so I can talk with my Progenitor,' Ambraz hissed while Irwin felt him appear in his soulscape.

Irwin didn't have time to respond as the group of four heavily armored figures landed on the deck while a silvery gray Granvil hovered before them. He had a wide grin on his face.

"Look at that!" he shouted, flying forward and circling around Irwin, then around Greldo, who had been standing in the doorway of the cabin. "Two! For fifty years, nothing, and then two on one ship! Finally!"

'Damnit, he is still not bound? We are in trouble!'

The Granvil shot towards Irwin and stopped two feet from his face. The four armored figures remained quiet.

"I am commander You'gyn of the Chaotic Corridor outpost! Tell me, who is the captain of this stolen vessel?"

Irwin was momentarily stunned, and then his mind started racing.

The original owner of The Sonata registered it as stolen?

He took a deep breath, then crossed his arms. "This ship, The Sonata, was taken by us from a group of Galub Raiders that captured it near Sesnanser. I am Irwin, the current captain."

As he spoke, Rindiri made her way to them, a stoic look on her face.

"That's what you say," the Ganvil said, making a tsking sound that Irwin had never heard Ambraz do. "For all I know, you are the raider. Whether or not this is the case, this ship is registered as The Surtin by the Casnar Merchant group, thus it is their property, and we are hereby taking it-"

"By the Merchant and Mercenary agreement signed on Dimarintsia by both guilds, a ship retrieved by an official mercenary group is to be returned by them to the Merchant group. No third party is allowed to interfere," Rindiri stated, interrupting the Ganvil as she stepped forward. "We are the Giards Rangers, and we will be returning this ship for payment or keeping it. We are well within the allotted one-year period."

Irwin felt a massive surge or relief.

You'gyn flew towards Rindiri, his metal lips compressed in a scowl.

"And you are?" he snapped.

"The second in command of this vessel," Rindiri said cooly.

You'gyn hissed, then flew back a bit. "We will need to validate this information," he said.

"Lord You'gyn, what they say is-" one of the men behind him began.

"We will validate it!" You'gyn shouted angrily, interrupting the man. "Until we do, you are to follow us to dock where this vessel will be bound until… well until I say otherwise!"

Irwin shared a look with Rindiri, who frowned and then shook her head as if saying she had no idea what was happening.

'This annoying punk hasn't changed one bit! He sees something he wants and will do anything to get it!' Ambraz hissed inside Irwin's soulscape. 'He is probably stuck at rank three and still has not bound to any smith, meaning he is looking at you and… Zender for that!'

As Irwin was listening to Ambraz, one of the three men walked up to their helm. Irwin didn't know what to do, but one look at the ship above them told him that resisting was probably going to be troublesome.

Maybe Ambraz can talk some sense into him, he thought. Sadly, that meant going along with You'gyn. It was too dangerous to show him here because there would be too many people making the link with him being a smith. Although he definitely wanted to head to the Smith Guild at some point in the future, he wanted it to be on his own volition, not because he was captured and brought there.

"Fine. We need to figure out where the Cesnar Merchant group is, and perhaps we can locate them here," he said.

Another idea poked its head up, but he held it back for now. If need be, we can say we are heading to Granvox, he thought. But he'd have to discuss that with Ambraz first.

"Good," You'gyn said as he hovered closer to him. "So, why don't you tell me a bit about yourself? Is that silver guy over there your son or something?"

Irwin's mouth fell open as he stared at the Ganvil, barely believing what he had said.

"No… he is a Yuurindi," he said slowly. "And I'm like the Fiz'rin."

"Really? I've never met a real-life Yuurindi before," You'gyn said, flying over to Zender, then to Rindiri. "Are you one too?"

'Don't let him trick you. His Progenitor will have told him all about the different races,' Ambraz shouted in his mind. 'He's trying to make you drop your guard!"

"I am," Rindiri said slowly.

"Really! Well, that means we are going to have to get that sorted. Can't just have you roaming around the central worlds unsupervised," You'gyn said, sounding far too happy.

The trip to the tower's large dock took only a short while, but when they finally arrived, Irwin was more than a little done with You'gyn. He kept asking him questions about his cards. At some point, he flew to Zender and began grilling the boy on what he had planned for his final two slots and if he'd ever thought about hammers or resonance-enhancing cards.

"Now! You'll be brought to our inn, where you will remain while we try to verify your claims," You'gyn shouted as he swirled around. "I'll be finding you later today to ask a few more questions."

Seeming almost singing for joy, the Ganvil flew up along the tower, vanishing within moments.

Irwin sighed, then looked at one of the guards. He was human and had dropped his full armor when it became clear Irwin and the others weren't going to resist or cause trouble.

"Don't ask," he said with a grunt. "I have never seen him like this. Anyway, let's go. I'll get you settled in the inn."

"Alright, but our cook will have to stay here," Irwin said.

Boohm had not shown himself, mostly because he couldn't stand the chill that was still in the air.

"All of you will have to come along," the guard said.

"He's an Onyxian and can't stand this temperature," Irwin said. "So, unless you have some way to get him there?"

The guard seemed ready to disagree, then stopped. He looked up at the tower with a frown, then sighed and turned to one of the others. "Jaalk, you will stay here to make sure nothing funny happens."

The other guard nodded and then headed to the helm.

"Captain, if you could tell your cook what is going on and that he is to stay inside at all times, that would make life a lot easier for all of us."

"I'll be right back," Irwin said as he walked to the cabin.

He was slightly surprised that the guard just let him go alone. Boohm stood before the stairs, looking at him worriedly.

"Now what?" he asked in a surprising whisper.

Irwin stared at him for a moment, shocked that he was even capable of it.

"What?" Boohm hissed. "I can whisper, it's just… annoying!"

Irwin shook the surprise away and walked down the stairs.

"We are going to have to see if we can fix this," he said. "I've got a few ideas, and if we have to, there's a final resort we can take."

He walked to his cabin and quickly gathered the few things he didn't care to leave lying around. Stuffing them in his coat, he looked around, then turned, closed the door, and looked at Boohm.

"I don't think we are going to be in trouble, but just in case… can you stand the temperature outside if needed?"

Boohm looked at him, seemingly trying to figure out what he was going to say after. Then he nodded. "I can for a short while."

"Good," Irwin said. "Then, if you hear any trouble outside, go up and clear the deck if you can. Until then, remain below deck."

Boohm quietly looked at him, then slowly smiled. "Sure. You can count on me, captain!"

Irwin smirked, then walked back up. Everyone was waiting for him, seemingly ready to head out.

"He won't cause any trouble," Irwin said.

"I'd hope not," the guard muttered. "Follow me!"