Part 9
Arrivals
The reunion of Summergale and her former second mate Mcginnis, was a cause of much celebration and backslapping. They met aboard Captain Mcginnis new ship the 'Rising Dawn'. A further surprise revealed that nearly all of the ponies aboard were members of her former crew. Mcginnis gathered the few newcomers, and introduced him to his former captain.
"Lads, this is the one I tole ye about. Fiercest, strongest, bravest, Flutterpony in all the seas. Saved me life on three separate occasions." And with a mock aside he says, "And put it at risk on seven!" The crew laughs heartily.
The next few hours are spent swapping stories, and wild tales. Keil very much out of his element, perched himself on a barrel, and listened quietly.
"By the sky stallion," he thought to himself. If half these stories are true, I've just boarded ship with some of the most dangerously insane ponies on the face of Equestria!"
In this he was mistaken though... ALL of their stories had been true...
All too soon the former shipmates had caught themselves up on gossip. They then proceeded to while away the remaining hours until dusk passing Keil around... literally.
A none too gentle push, and Keil was propelled into the hooves of Captain Mcginnis. "This?" He says incredulously. "This is the son of Boots Brightwing?! But he's so soft, and... citified!" The captain laughs, pushing Keil into the embrace of the first mate.
"Oh, I don't know," she croons, flashing him a wicked smile, one that is missing more than one tooth. "I think he could GROW on me." She cackles, pushing him down the chain of Boot's former shipmates. Each of them adding a comment, none of them complimentary, until Keil finally reaches the end of the line, to find himself shoved into the arms of Summergale.
"Oh Keil." She says her eyes downcast. "Ta think ye'd bring down the standin o' the best first mate in all o' Equestria. The shame yer ma would feel! Well, there's nothing for it then. There's only one way I can see ta restore yer family name, an prove the blood o' Boots Brightwing runs in yer veins. Are we in agreement captain?" Summergale yells over her shoulder.
"Aye". He says. "Will you do the honors?"
"Delighted." Summergale says with an ominous grin. "Keil Brightwing, I hereby formerly shanghai you into the crew of the Rising Dawn. Welcome aboard Cabin colt Keil!"
Keil quickly found that the title 'cabin colt' was NOT an honorary one. The captain wasted no time in setting Keil a list of duties, none of which were remotely pleasant. The first of which was the often cliched, swabbing the deck. Which Keil quickly found to be a misnomer. One did not actually 'swab' a deck. No, instead one got down on their knees and scrubbed. And scrubbed, and scrubbed some more. Then he was allowed to inch backward a few precious steps, and repeat the process, until the entire deck was cleaned. Normally this task was handled by several ponies, but it seemed that they were all assigned other tasks when it was Keil's turn. He quickly found this to be a trend in what ever tasks he was assigned for the day.
After a particularly fun afternoon of cleaning out the honey pots, he calmly broached the subject with Summergale.
"What in the name of the sky stallion is going on here!" He roared, safely behind the closed door of Summergale's cabin. "I didn't come on this trip with you to be placed in indentured servitude!"
"Oh?" Summergale responds calmly. "And what exactly DID ye expect?"
"I don't know. Sea, sky, sea shanties, rum, an exotic port or two." What I didn't expect is slave labor!" he yells collapsing in a chair. "I have callouses on my callouses! My knees are scraped raw. I'm near starved to death. And I stink of brine and dead fish!"
"Aye, all that is true. For the last seven days ye have worked a ship like a real cabin colt. Just like I did. An yer mom, an Captain Mcginnis, and every other member o' this crew." Summergale says coming up beside him. "We all started our lives aboard ship exactly where you are now. Now some ponies can take it. And thems the ones that stay on after they come back to their home ports. An some ponies can't. An there's no shame in that. Every pony has their own special place in this world. Yer ma an me decided ta see whether or not ye had the makings of a sailor pony. So for the rest of the voyage, expect no better than what ye got so far." At the bleak look Keil gave Summergale, her expression softened. "Ah Keil, don't take it so hard. Like I said. Yer ma an me both survived it. An there are a few benefits as well."
"Such as?" Keil replied moodily.
Summergale turns her full length mirror to face where Keil is sitting.
"Stand up a minute and come here." Keil moves to join her in front of the mirror. "Now tell me what ye see. An before yer yap spouts something along the lines o' 'one very sorry pony', remember I can always give ya some REAL work tomorrow."
Keil snaps his jaw shut and looks at his reflection. And is surprised at the pony staring back at him. He was looking good. Real good. Starvation rations had melted off his remaining 'baby fat' and seven days of nonstop manual labor from dawn till dusk had toned his muscles, and even added to them a little bit.
Summergale noticed his reaction. "Aye," she says, "I suppose by the time we return ta port I'll have ta be giving Harmony a curfew." At the blush that crept across Keil's face she adds, "a very EARLY curfew." Which only causes him to blush more.
Keil's spirits improved after that. His workload didn't lessen, but as his attitude improved, the crew started giving him bits of advice on how to do things more efficiently, or when it was okay to shave corners. Unfortunately, as he warmed to the crew, and they to him, it wasn't too long before the crew decided that he was a good enough sport to be brought into the war.
"The what now?" Keil asked as they were sitting down at mess.
"Oh Keil," the second mate said leaning in close. "There's been a war going on ever since we set sail. A war behind the scenes. Every pony for themselves, no quarter. And I'll bet ye weren't even aware of it."
"N-no. No I wasn't. What is this war all about? Who started it? Who's fighting it?" He asks, darting glances all around.
"Who started it? Who started it? Yer MOM started it boyo!"
"What?!" Keil replied incredulously.
"Aye," the second mate replied. Twas near twenty years ago. A Friday if I remember. We'd just taken aboard a cargo of banananas."
"Um, I think you went one nana too far there." Keil interjects.
"Aye, that happens. I can start ta say the word just fine, I just have a wee bit o' trouble knowin where ta stop. So anyways, we just got the banananananas stowed in the hold. An Boots was doin the count. When all of a sudden one o' them big ole black tarantulas comes scuttling out of the pile. Well Boots, she ain't a feared o' no spider, she puts her heel down on its head and kills it on the spot. But then she has herself an idea. So she takes the critter, all quiet like, an sneaks into the captains cabin where Summergale is sleepin off a cider binge from the night before. She pulls back the covers an snuggles the hairy little critter right onto Summergale's chest, hauls back up the covers, an sneaks out of the room.
Keils eyes widen with shocked understanding. "But, um, Auntie Summergale has a... thing about spiders."
"Aye lad! An now ye know where she got it from! Not half an hour later a scream that literally knocked planks off the cabin walls erupts, and that poor spider, as well as the cabin door were blasted clean across the deck. From the wreckage of the doorway the captain hauls herself upright. Eyes glaring bloody murder. An there rollin on the deck, tears streaming down her cheeks is Boots. Now normally crossing the captain is considered ta be a fancy, round about way ta commit suicide. But since it was her best friend. The captain was quite reserved about it. She just picked Boots off the deck, slammed her into the main mast, stares into her eyes, an says, 'ALRIGHT BOOTS BLOODY BRIGHTWING! THIS IS WAR!' And from that day since, it's been on.
"Been on?" Keil says, not quite getting it.
"Aye ye codfish. Been on! The crew started gravitating ta either Boot's side or Summergale's and the prank wars start up every time we leave port. We eventually decided on a scoring system based on originality, an style. But we also award points if ye can figure out a prank before it happens, an turn the tables. Things can get pretty elaborate after a few years on board. Some crew mates spend half there pay on shore leave gathering supplies before they set sail again."
"You ponies are all insane." Keil says unthinkingly.
"Oh aye lad, of course we are! Ye just NOW figured that out? An I should take the time ta mention that you, being the SON of Boots Brightwing, are o' course automatically on her team. That would be the team that is on the OPPOSITE side of Summergale's.
"Oh God's no!" Keil says, finally getting it.
"Oh God's yes!" The first mate cackles. "An one thing more. Now that ye know about it, yer state of grace has ended. Welcome to the war Keil!" And with that she trots away laughing.
Pinky Pie has now edged her way to the front of the group. Sitting on the floor in front of the viewer. Discord, who was about to forward through the next few weeks of mayhem, decides to resume play for all the highlights. For the next few minutes Pinky's eyes are filled with images of bugs of every type inserted into soups, stews and drinks, sometimes noticed, sometimes not. Eels in boots, both live, dead and electric. Buckets of various liquids perched above doors, squid ink in the rum, which supposedly increased it's flavor. And one actual, honest to goodness, pie in the face. Which sent Pinky into fits of laughter. But the last one Discord showed, was for Keil, the last straw.
Keil came storming out onto the deck. "Really? REALLY?! ALL of you decided to put a live squid into my bed ON THE SAME NIGHT?!"
The crew mates began to look at each other in surprise. Then they all burst out laughing. Keil red faced is now throwing squid one after another out onto the deck, muttering to himself. "Barking mad, every last one of them... sucker marks in places Harmony will never understand...oh I'll get them...I'll get them all, just you wait."
From the wheel Captain Mcginnis, and Summergale watch in amusem*nt.
"I think your side may win this time." The captain says with a smile.
'Perhaps," Summergale replies, "but the boy is young, an there's still the trip back, he may turn it around, ye never know." She says smiling in return. "But those clouds on the horizon are no joke. Looks ta me like two separate storms heading for each other."
"Aye." the captain replies. They seem to be almost stalled though. What do ye think, would we have enough time ta make it through em?"
Summergale flies up to the crows nest and takes out her spyglass. She studies the storm fronts for a few moments and flies back down.
"Aye." she says. "If we fly full sail day an night, and stay a tight course, we should be on the other side of em before things get too rough."
"My thoughts as well. I'll have em batten things down and stow gear below deck ta be on the safe side. But as long as we keep a weather eye, we should be fine."
For the rest of the day a mutually agreed upon cease fire ensued. Partially due to storm preparations, and partially due to Keil still stomping about in a rage. He still went about his duties, and to his credit performed them with diligence, but inside his thoughts were only of revenge. "What can I do?" He kept thinking to himself. "It has to be big, has to get them all at the same time, but what? What can you do on a ship that they won't see coming?" It was then, as Keil was scrubbing the deck beneath the wheel that he rose up at the wrong moment and whacked his head on the wheel pegs themselves. He looked up expecting to see the wheel master laughing at him, but he was nowhere to be seen and the wheel was held on course by lanyards. Minutes later the wheel master came into view. "You don't hold the ship on course yourself?" Keil asks.
"Oh aye lad. If there be weather, or a tricky bit o' navigatin. But on a calm sea, for a steady course, I just rig up a bit o' lanyard, so I can get a bit o' other work done.
An idea begins to form in Keil's mind. "And do you expect a steady course for awhile?" He asks, trying to sound nonchalant.
"Aye, for the next few days at least. The captain wants a steady course to avoid those wee squalls near the horizon. Nothing to get excited about," the wheel master says, not wanting to alarm the young pony. "Just not wantin ta get wet if we don't have to."
"Well," Keil replies. "I can understand that." he says, going back to his scrubbing. "Indeed" he thinks to himself, "it'd be terrible to wake up to sudden downpour. Maybe the storm is even big enough for a crack of lightning or two, even though it doesn't look like much from here. At the very least there should be enough rain to keep Auntie Summergale stuck inside for the duration. Flutterponies HATE getting their wings wet."
That evening, as soon as the wheel master lashes the wheel and heads off to his bunk, Keil sneaks on deck, unlashes the wheel, and stands there thinking. "I have no idea how far I need to turn this thing." He thinks to himself. He experimentally turns the wheel two pegs to the right. He watches the horizon and sees the last fading light slowly veer to the left."Hmm" he thinks to himself as he eases the wheel back two pegs to the left. "So I want to turn the wheel until the ship is pointed where I want it to go, then straighten the wheel back out so it will go straight. Seems simple enough, but I need to do it now while there is still light to see." And with that Keil maneuvers the ship in the last dying light, to head toward the center of the storm on the right side of the ship. He then lashes the wheel back the way it was, and returns to this bunk. "This, he thinks to himself, "is going to be good."
"THIS IS VERY, VERY BAD!" the voice of Summergale roars, waking Keil from his sleep.
"HOW IN THE NAME OF THE GODS DID WE GET THIS FAR OFF COURSE WHEEL MASTER?" Summergale shouts over the roar of the wind.
"I-I" the wheel master stammers, "I can't explain it. We were on a steady course, last evening. I lashed the wheel tight, the wind was at our backs. We should have ran straight and true right between the storms. Could one of the storms made a sudden turn?
"WE HAVE NO WAY OF KNOWIN. I CAN'T SEE A BLOODY THING THROUGH THIS RAIN. THERE'S NO TELLIN HOW DEEP WE ARE IN IT, OR WHERE WE ARE. HOWS THE CAPTAIN?"
"Still recovering. He took a nasty hit to the noggin when that first wave hit." For all intents and purposes, you are the captain!" the wheel master yells back.
Keil had been listening to the exchange from the other side of his cabin door. He instantly realized that his prank had gone disastrously wrong. "I have to do something." He thinks to himself, "maybe if I can remember how many pegs I turned the wheel?" He starts to open the cabin door, but it's ripped out of his hoof by the force of the wind. Staggering on deck, he tries to make his way to Summergale, and the wheel master. Summergale, her wings tucked beneath the folds of an oiled leather poncho is shouting orders at various ponies, trying to draw in the sails before they are shredded by the winds. The wheel master is fighting in vain to try to hold the wheel steady, Keil can see the remains of four snapped lanyards dangling from the wheel. Summergale notices Keil, just as the yardarm breaks free and begins to swing across the deck.
"KEIL!" she screams as the yardarm catches the surprised pony full in the chest flinging him off the ship and out into the sea.
All the ponies present in Discord's sitting room are now on the edge of their seats. No one has said a word as the terrifying tableau plays out before them. Had any pony happened to glance toward Discord, they would have noticed an air of almost calm indifference. Those that did would infer (correctly), that he had viewed these events before, enough times so that the sight of them no longer roused his excitement. But no pony looked his way, so they couldn't see the sad resignation on his face.
Summergale acted without thinking as soon as she saw Keil go overboard. She ran to the rail, threw off he poncho and flew from the deck. The wind and the waves had already carried the ship away from where Keil had splashed down. Summergale frantically searched the waves for any sign of the young Pegasus, and was almost about to give up when she caught sight of him bobbing on a wave. She flew over him and saw that he was still conscious.
"It's all my fault!" Keil sobbed, "All my fault."
"Don't be daft ye ninny-hammer. Ye had no way o' knowing that yard was swingin around."
'N-not that..." Keil began before a wave cut him off."
"Stow it!" Summergale yelled. "Now raise yer hooves so I can get hold." Keil raised his front hooves and Summergale caught hold of them as Keil rose on a swell, then as the swell went down she flew upwards pulling him from the sea. She turned toward the retreating ship, as her heart sank.
"Keil me lad. I got bad news, and good news. The bad news is, the ship is too far away, an moving too fast under sail for us to catch up with her."
Keil, barely conscious from the battering of the waves asks weakly, "What's the good news?"
"Ah well, the good news is sorta the bad news as well." Summergale says casting a calculating eye at the ship. "I got a way ta get ya back to the ship. Ye wont like it. I won't like it. And we'll only have one shot at it, in a heavy storm, with churning waves." Keil nods weakly. Alright. When I say now, I want ye ta spread yer wings wide as you can, so they can catch as much air as possible. And lock em in place. And I mean TIGHT. This WILL hurt. Oh and one more thing. Tell Justice...well, tell him that I'm sorry."
"What?" Keil said alarm clearing his head.
But at that point Summergale threw him into the air and shouted "NOW!"
Keil spread his wings out as far as he could and locked them as tightly as he was able. He was facing the ship, so he was unable to see what happened next.
The ponies in Discords sitting room stared at the projection in shock.
What... What are we seeing?" Celestial finally asks.
"Flutterpony magic," Discord replies a mixture of sadness and awe in his voice. That is my mom's 'Utter Flutter'. On the screen the ponies look on in amazement as the delicate wings of Summergale create an immensely powerful gale force wind that propels the frightened Keil like a rocket into the billowing sails of the far distant ship.
"What is she doing now?" Twilight asks.
"She knows the ship is too far away to reach, and her wings aren't like a Pegasus, she doesn't have much time until they will be too soaked for even her to fly. Fortunately her 'Utter Flutter' dried them sufficiently for her to try to fly straight up in the hopes of getting above the storm.
Summergale draws deep and ragged breaths as she forces her wings to keep flapping. The weight of the water on them has begun to increase as she ascends into the rain filled clouds. Finally after what seems like an eternity she breaks through the cloud barrier into a calm star filled sky. She shakes herself vigorously, dislodging as much water as she can. As she ponders her situation.
"Why doesn't she just rest on a cloud bank" Rainbow Dash asks.
"She's not a Pegasus, Rainbow," Discord explains. "Different species."
"Well, I can at least tell which direction I'm going. A shame I have no idea where I'm comin at it from. Doesn't help that all there is, is storm as far as the eye can see." She thinks to herself. "Well, all I can do is all I can do. The Hannibis islands were westward o' where we were supposed ta be before we tried to avoid the storm. All I can do is hope I'm not too far off course." And with that she heads westward.
Hours pass and Summergale is struggling to remain aloft. The storm below her is still raging on, and there is still no end of it in sight. Fatigue from the constant unrelenting flight has been a constant pull against her wings, and her strength begins to fade.
"That's it." She thought to herself, "I just can't fly any longer." And with that she began to spiral downwards from above the clouds. Her wings were spread wide to slow her descent, but she had no real hope of surviving a fall from this height. "Even if I struck water, at this speed it would be like hitting bricks," she thought, as she began passing through the clouds. "Ah well, any regrets? Well, not knocking Keil upside the head, that's one. Hmm, nowhere near enough 'private time' with Justice, and I never did find out what was in that green bott-" Summergale's musings were interrupted as her fall was suddenly slowed, it was as if she was suddenly falling through thick mud, but nothing was there! Then, just as suddenly, she was through whatever it was, and her speed began to increase again. By now she was through the clouds and could see of all things, land beneath her. "By the sky stallion," she thought, "if it had only been water, I might have slowed down enough to survive! I can only hope whatever I land on is really, really soft!"
"This is not good." The goat like being thought to himself as he ran panicky through the forest. "Oh Sorrow, Sorrow, Sorrow, over a thousand years you managed to survive, and now you meet your end at the fangs of a dumb beast. I could just weep." Threshing sounds can be heard fast approaching through the underbrush. "Right then, time enough for weeping later... if there is a later. This forest is NOT my friend, I need to make it to-" and suddenly the entire landscape shifted and he found himself out on a beach fast approaching the ocean. "Thank the sky stallion, for once a shift worked in MY favor. Now if I can get airborne before..." But at that moment a thick silken cord snared one of his hind legs, dragging him painfully to the ground. Sorrow managed to roll onto his back in time to see a huge, hairy, giant spider begin to slowly pull him towards itself. Its fangs dripping venom.
'Well this is it." he thought to himself. 'Any regrets? GODS YES! MY ENTIRE LIFE!" He mentally screamed at himself. As the spider pulled him within striking distance. Sorrow closed his eyes, not wanting to see the end that was quickly approaching. Which is a shame, because had he seen what happened next, he might have decided it was worth living up until now, just to see the look of horror across the spider know as Desire's face.
Just as the spider, had begun to ready his fangs to strike, he detected a thrumming through the web attached to his preys leg. A high pitched keening sound could just barley be perceived, which was causing the webbing to vibrate. Looking around he could detect no source. That is, until he looked up. This gave his primitive mind just enough time to register something akin to "WHAT THE..." Before being splattered by a Flutterpony impacting at speed.
Cries of "EWWWWW", echoed throughout Discord's sitting room.
Sorrow finally open his eyes when he heard a loud splattering sound. Then he closed them, blinked a few times, and rubbed them for good measure. His mind rapidly began processing the facts that A. He wasn't dead, B. The spider known as Desire most definitely WAS dead, and C. Apparently, against all odds and belief, some new creature had flew down at great speed and saved him, killing the spider in the process. And what a creature it was! It seemed to be mostly material. And so little Chaos. How could it even move? And that thing it had hanging from its waist. It was full of Order! Even the belt it was attached to was lousy with it. Ugh. So distasteful, and yet the creature didn't seemed bothered by it at all! What was going on here?
"Well, if it wanted me dead, it would've just let Desire do it." Sorrow mused. "And it doesn't seem interested in eating me, or him for that matter. I wonder..." "Um, excuse me. He said aloud, "Are you going to eat that?" Sorrow asked the stranger.
Summergale's first thought upon landing, was surprise that she was able to have thoughts after landing. "By the Sky Stallion", she thought to herself. "I'm still alive!" Hah, wait till I tell the boys THIS story. Fallin from miles above the clouds, and still livin ta tell the tale!" It was then that she became aware of what had broken her fall. "Blarg! What is, I mean was, this thing? Gahh! Was this a spider? By the Gods, it WAS some great huge spider! Ye mean ta tell me my life was saved because I landed on the grandaddy of all spiders?! EWW!" She thought, as she extricated herself. Suddenly a voice comes from over her shoulder. "Um, excuse me. Are you going to eat that?"
"Eat that? Does he mean the-" Summergale thinks as she fights down her gag reflex. As she turns however, all thoughts of the spider are gone. Before her, being held aloft by small bat-like wings, is the scruffiest, most bedraggled goat she has ever seen. "S'cuse me, I've just been through quite a fall. Did you just by any chance ask me..."
"If you were going to eat that? Yes I did. Are you?" The goat asks, mistaking Summergale's silence for contemplation. "Tell you what. If you let me have it, not only will I NOT try to eat you, but I'll do my best to help you in whatever endeavor brought you to this God's Forsaken place. That's a fair deal eh? C'mon, please..." the creature begs.
"Did I land on my head?" Summergale thinks. And did this scrawny little thing just magnanimously offer NOT to eat me? Really? Heh! On the other hand, I could use some help getting me bearings, and Goddess knows I don't want the spider." "Okay little goat...bat... critter. I'll accept your offer. One spider, for helping me out... Oh, and not eating me." Summergale adds with a smile.
DEAL!" The creature yells, and without preamble begins to vigorously devour the remains of the giant spider, even as Summergale steps quickly out of them.
Many of the pony's in Discord's sitting room, have begun to make various gagging sounds.
Except for Twilight, who begins to pepper Discord with questions. "What were those crunchy bits he just ate?"
"Spinnerets" Discord replies in a dull monotone, as ponies retch around them.
"And that?" Twilight asks,
"Venom sac." Discord replies. More retching sounds.
"And what is that?" Twilight inquires.
"It was a male spider," Discord replies deadpan, snapping his clawed hand without looking up, causing two empty buckets to appear in front of Shining Armor, and Spike. Buckets that didn't remain empty for very long.
"And that?" Twilight begins, before Fluttershy grabs the remote and shouts,
"Enough!" as she speeds through the remaining 30 minutes of gastric horror. 'Husband Dear" she says as she finally hits the pause button. "You just made me watch a scruffy goat with bat wings, devour a giant hairy spider."
"Hairy MALE spider," Twilight interjects, but quickly becomes subdued from the glare Fluttershy shoots her.
"Yes," Discord responds. "But it was an important part of the story, an-"
"Make it gone from my head!" she interrupts.
"Sweetheart," Discord begins.
"MAKE... IT... GONE... FROM... MY... HEAD!" Fluttershy repeats, staring him in the eye.
"Yes dear," Discord says with a sigh, and raises his claw to snap.
"Um, I'll take some of that!" Shining Armor says, still bent over his bucket.
"Me... too," Spike adds weakly.
"Fine, fine," Discord says somewhat moodily. "Anyone else?" he says, co*cking an eyebrow toward Twilight.
She glances up at him for a moment. "I'm fine," she replies. Then goes back to scribbling notes on a napkin.
Rainbow Dash slowly raises a hoof, as several ponies look her way. "And can you make it so they don't remember I asked?" she inquires.
"Fine," Discord responds snapping his claws.
A moment passes before Fluttershy asks, "Wasn't there a spider there a moment ago?"
"it's gone dear," Discord responds in a soft voice.
Fluttershy pauses a moment. "One of THOSE things?" she asks.
"Yes. Don't worry, all gone."
"I see. Thank you dear." Fluttershy replies, and promptly forgets all about it.
"This sort of thing happen often?" Twilight inquires.
"Every now and then. Sometimes she sees things, that she'd rather not have to remember. She helps a LOT of animals during the course of a week. Discord says, pride evident in his voice. "More than once, she's had to watch me do it to myself." He says as he un-pauses the remote.
Summergale had waited patiently for the strange goat thing to finish his meal. She used the time to get her bearings as best she could, and take stock of her surroundings. As far as she could see there seemed to be one continuous beach going from horizon to horizon, with nothing on it except her, and this goat thing. The sea was as calm as glass. No birds were in the sky, nor did even the smallest hint of ocean breeze reach her senses.
The goat creature in question had finally finished the last scrap of spider, and came over to Summergale. "Terribly sorry. That was very crass of me, but I haven't eaten in over a hundred years, and was practically starving! Still that's no excuse for being rude. Allow me to introduce myself.
Sorrow, Elemental of Chaos... at your service!"
