Irwin's Journey - The Cardsmith

Irwin looked from a short distance away as Zender knocked on the door to an old, dilapidated building. The boy had said his presence might startle his mother.

They were as far from the docks as he had been, and all of the buildings here were old and poorly maintained, covered in thick layers of fungus.

Zender was waiting with his arms crossed before his chest as a shout came from the building. A few moments later, the door swung open, and a short, stocky woman with purple hair, a stern face, and burning silver eyes stood in the door opening.

"What do you want, Zender? We were sleeping, and I told you I don't have any-"

Irwin saw her sharp eyes focus on him. Her hands flashed almost faster than he could catch, and she moved in a single fluid motion, stepping around Zender. A narrow blade of purplish crystal appeared in her hand, pointed at Irwin. At the same time, a soft rustling sound came from above him. He barely stopped himself from looking up, instead keeping his sights on her. As fast as she moved, he'd lose track of her if she wanted to do anything.

"Who are you?" she snapped.

The gleam in her eyes and the way she moved told Irwin that she was ready to fight him if she deemed it necessary.

Better get ready to calm her if needed, he thought, before realizing something.

He had no way of taking her down without hurting her if she decided to attack him! The best he could try was to trip her and place a big hammer on her to keep her down, but from the way she was moving, he wondered if he would be able to catch her. That, or use his sweltering skill to surround her in steam and knock her out that way.

"Calm down, Rindiri," Zender shouted as he jumped after her. "He's a captain looking for a crew!"

The woman's eyes narrowed, and she stepped back after a few more precarious seconds. The blade vanished from her hand, and Irwin heard something fly away above him. This time, he caught a few tiny shadows moving toward the roof of the building behind Zender's mother, Rindiri.

Zender whispered with his mother for a few moments, then beckoned him closer.

Irwin slowly walked towards them, making sure not to make any quick hand gestures. The woman seemed as easily startled as a rabbit, and he had no interest in fighting her and potentially destroying this section of the town. Two steps away, he towered over her, and she snorted as she had to crane her head to look up at him.

"You are a captain?" she asked.

"Perhaps. I'm the leader of an explorers group, and we have a ship," Irwin said calmly.

Rindiri inspected him, and she slowly seemed to relax. "You are not from around here."

"We are not. We arrived only a few hours ago," Irwin said, looking around and wondering if they were going to stay and discuss things outside.

"Alright… well, you had better come in so we can speak then," Rindiri said, seeming to pick up on his look. She scanned the surroundings, then looked at her door and sighed. "Please don't break anything?"

"I'll be careful," Irwin said, unable to keep a grin from his face.

Rindiri nodded, and she turned back to the building and walked inside. As she passed Zender, she stroked his shoulder.

"Good job."

Irwin saw a wide smile appear on the boy's face.

A few moments later, he was standing inside a single-room home. There was a kitchen to one side, a simple table and some chairs at the wall, and what looked like a training area in the middle. Three beds were attached to the furthest wall, stacked atop each other, and a young woman lay on the top one, looking at him.

"Ib, come and greet the captain," Rindiri snapped.

The woman snorted, slung her legs over the edge, and jumped off before walking towards them. As she closed in, Irwin saw her eyes widen as she had to look further up to keep seeing his face.

"You're big," she said before turning to Zender. "Hey, little brother, where did you find this giant?"

"Have you forgotten my name again?" Zender snapped, glaring at her.

"What do you expect? There's sixty of you, and you all look the same," Ib said, shaking her head helplessly.

"Enough! Don't make us look bad in front of a potential employer," Rindiri said, sounding more tired than angry. She motioned to the chairs, then grimaced. "I'd love to offer you a seat, but I'm not sure they will hold your weight," she muttered.

Irwin took one look at the chairs and knew she was right. They would snap into bits if he sat down.

"It's fine," he said as he moved toward the table. With a little focus, he summoned a massive, short-handled hammer, placing it down beside the table. The ground creaked slightly as he sat down on it.

"Interesting, a card to summon chairs," Ib said, shaking her head and looking less than impressed.

Rindiri and Zender ignored her as they sat opposite Irwin, so he decided to do the same.

"So, let's get right to it," Rindiri said. "If Zender brought you here, that means you need a navigator and probably want said navigator to join your explorers' group. Let me guess, the others all declined at that last part?"

Irwin looked between Rindiri and Zender, suddenly seeing the resemblance. Their eyes, even if they had different colors, had the same sharpness as they were observing him.

Guess it's not surprising as he's her son, he thought.

"Yes," he said. "We are going to explore the furthest regions and need a navigator we can trust."

"And you come to a Yuurindi?" Rindiri exclaimed, astonished.

Ib was staring at him, her bored look gone and replaced by one of disbelief.

Irwin frowned. "Yes? Why? Are Yuurindi not trustworthy?"

Ib burst out laughing, and Zender glared at her. Rindiri just calmly stared at Irwin.

"You don't know a lot about Yuurindi?" she asked.

Irwin shook his head. "I've never seen one of you until I met Zender."

"That's remarkable but explains a lot," Rindiri said. "Well, let's get this out of the way then. It's better that you find out before someone tells you after we join you and you end up tossing us overboard."

A growing worry made Irwin wonder if he'd made a mistake coming here.

"What do you know about us?" Rindiri asked.

"Zender told me you have dozens to a hundred children in a single go," Irwin said as he shrugged. "That's about it."

Ib, who had barely managed to calm down, burst out in laughter again, tears running down her face.

She's starting to get on my nerves, Irwin thought, forcing himself not to glare at the young woman.

"Ib, either you stop it, or you can go outside and search for a job for tomorrow," Rindiri snapped.

To Irwin's astonishment, Ib wiped her face, got up, and walked to the door.

"Sure," she said in between grins. "This is going to end up the same as the other times anyway, so I'll see you tomorrow!"

With a smirk, she exited the building, slamming the door behind her with more power than was required.

Irwin looked at the door, then at Rindiri, who was shaking her head sadly.

"Sorry about that. My daughter, for all her potential, is still young."

Irwin didn't respond to that, but he couldn't help but look at Zender, who had been quietly waiting and was now shaking his head in a near copy of his mother as he glared at the door. He was younger than Ib was... wasn't he?

"It's alright. Now, let's quicken this up a bit," he said. "Give me the shortest version, please?"

Rindiri blinked, frowned, then turned to Zender.

"You're better at this," she said, waving at Zender.

Irwin saw Zender's eyes light up before the boy looked at the table for a moment, seeming to collect his thoughts.

"Our world shattered, and we haven't found a new one," he said slowly. "Due to how fast we can multiply, the other species don't like us, and no Yuurindi females are allowed on their worlds. We've spread out across all…" Zender hesitated as he looked at Irwin. Then she shrugged. "Well, I guess not all, but at least across most of the known Portal Gallery. Anyway, we are searching for a new world. The problem is that worlds are rarer than perfect Diamond cards and Ruby-ranked smiths. Even after searching for a hundred years, we still haven't found one."

Irwin felt his skin crawl. An entire species of people had been searching for a world and hadn't found one in a hundred years?

Then what chance do we have? he thought as he glared at the table.

He had known that finding new worlds on the Portal Gallery was a big thing and involved the search efforts of an immense amount of carded. Even then, from what he had thought, many were still found. Had he been mistaken? Had Gelwin's existence lulled him into a false sense of surety that they would find one easily?

"It's alright," Rindiri said calmly, her voice dull. "You can leave. I'm sure you will find another navigator."

Irwin blinked, looking at her in surprise. "What? Why?" he asked, confused.

"I could see it in your eyes just now," Rindiri said calmly. "You don't want to have us around, and-"

"Charbullshit," Irwin snapped. "My own world is-" he stopped mid-sentence.

The sudden realization of the magnitude of his task had made him angry, and he'd almost reacted it out on Rindiri. Worse, he'd almost told her their world was on the cusp of shattering. He took a deep breath and began again, recalling the fake story they had to uphold.

"You're not the only ones who have lost their world," he said as calmly as he could. "Our world shattered only recently."

He saw that Zender was gaping at him while Rindiri was quietly observing him.

After a few moments, the older woman let out a gentle sigh.

"I'm sorry. Although worlds shatter every year, I'd never imagined yours was one of the more recent ones. What I was trying to say, poorly it seems, is that if we do find a world, I'll be going through that portal and carve out a corner of that world for my people. I have only laid two clutches, so I will likely be able to do one more if I'm lucky. I'll also not accept my people being banned from that world."

Irwin hesitated.

"And this is why most explorers don't take my people along," she said with a tight smile. "Unless it's under stringent contracts, which I'll not be agreeing to this time."

"I see," Irwin said as he looked away from her and focused on the table, trying to figure out what to do.

He had previously thought they would find multiple worlds, but how likely was that in hindsight? What if they found only one, and it was exactly what he needed for the people of Giard? How would his people feel about sharing their world?

He almost jumped in the air as Ambraz vibrated softly against his leg. A quick look showed that Rindiri was still calmly looking at him, and he wondered what she would have thought of his jerk.

It doesn't matter, he decided. Instead, the vibration had left him slightly confused. Was it meant to tell him he should accept them, or-

Or I can just ask him, he thought, feeling like slapping himself on the head. They didn't have a lot of time, but there was definitely enough to wait a day or even two.

He focused on Rindiri, who was still quietly waiting.

"I can't answer this for all of my people, so I'll need to talk with the rest. Come to my ship tomorrow morning, and I'll have an answer for you," he said as he rose and unsummoned the hammer.

Rindiri nodded, but he could see from how she looked at him that she didn't expect much. He could understand why, after everything she had told him, but there wasn't much he could do about that.

"Sure," she said as she rose, looking up at him.

They looked at each other uncomfortably, then Irwin shrugged and walked to the door. He was surprised to see Zender follow him, and as they walked outside, the boy turned to his mother, bowed slightly, and then followed Irwin.

"See you tomorrow," Irwin said.

"Sure," Rindiri said as she closed the door.

Irwin caught Zender staring at him as they continued back and finally had enough of it.

"Ask," he said.

"How likely do you think it is that you will accept her in your crew?" Zender asked immediately.

"Can't say yet," Irwin said.

"And me?" Zender asked, not seeming all that surprised by the answer.

"I'll let you know tomorrow," Irwin said.

Hopefully.

--

A long while later, Irwin knocked on the door of the inn room that they had rented.

"Come in, Irwin!" Greldo shouted from inside.

Irwin smiled, pushed open the door, and stepped inside a room with beds on the left and a few low, old chairs on the right. Daubutim sat in a chair while Greldo and Bendi lay on beds, all three looking at him.

Seeing their new crew member, Irwin decided that he'd need to make him leave if he was to talk with Daubutim, Greldo, and Ambraz.

"So, how did it go?" Greldo asked. "Are we going from just the three of us to five in one day?"

"I'm not sure yet," Irwin said as he walked to the table and took a look at the chairs. None of them looked strong enough for him to sit without breaking into pieces. With a sigh, he summoned a hammer again and sat on that. Then he turned to Bendi and Greldo. He shared a look with Greldo and decided he'd have to fill his friend in later.

"Greldo, can you take Bendi down for a drink? I need to discuss something with Daubutim."

Greldo raised a bushy eyebrow and slowly rose from his bed, letting out an incredibly fake groan.

"Sure, go down and have some drinks at your expense? I can do that!" he said, sticking out a hand.

Bendi was quietly observing everything.

Irwin barked a laugh and got out the bag with his soulshards, removing a large one and tossing it to Greldo.

"Say, boss, think you can spare me one too?" Bendi asked with a wide grin.

"Greldo will pay for one of your drinks," Irwin said before turning to Daubutim.

There was some annoyed grumbling, but then Bendi and Greldo walked out.

He waited till the door closed, then some more to give them enough time to leave.

"We need to get one of those runes that stop the sounds from passing in and out of a room," he said as he looked around.

"Those are very expensive and can't be moved," Daubutim said. "There are only very few carded that can make them, and we will unlikely find one here."

"A shame," Irwin muttered before tapping his pocket.

"Finally!"

Ambraz's muted voice came from his pocket as he felt the anvil struggle his way out. A moment later, Ambraz flitted up and landed on the table.

"Do you have any idea how stuffy it gets in there?"

"More stuffy than the training world you were locked up in for... how long again?" Irwin asked with a mock grin.

"Ugh! Don't remind me, you brat," Ambraz said. A smirk covered the metallic surface. "Let me guess, you want to know why I was trying to warn you?"

"No, I wanted to know if you were hungry," Irwin said, adding as much sarcasm to his words as he could.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny!" Ambraz snapped. "Well, I'll be the better one here and tell you anyway!"

Irwin couldn't help being curious, but Ambraz remained quiet and smirking.

It took Irwin a few moments before he caught on. "Fine, fine. Please enlighten us," he said.

"I will! Just because the others don't know how to find a portal to a world here doesn't mean you can't," Ambraz said. "If it was as difficult as they all make it out to be, how do you think we found thousands of worlds and even more farming and smithing ones?"

Irwin shrugged. "No idea."

"Wait. Kid… do you even know how to find a portal to a previously undiscovered world?" Ambraz asked, his previous humor turned to disbelief.

Irwin shook his head before looking at Daubutim. "No, but I'm pretty sure Daubutim does."

"I do," Daubutim said calmly.

"Bah," Ambraz snapped. "What would you have done if Daubutim had gotten hurt on the way here? Or gotten stuck in one of his weird states?"

Irwin looked at Ambraz, knowing the anvil was right. He really should start thinking about more than just how to reforge cards and use them to kill things.

Like learning the sheet music, he thought, recalling another thing he'd have to do in the near future.

"I have everything that is required written down in a small journal in my backpack," Daubutim said calmly. "I'm sure Irwin wouldn't have thrown out my pack without at least looking it through if I'd have come across an untimely end."

This time, Irwin knew he wasn't the only one looking at his friend in surprised awe. Even Ambraz was quiet, his metallic mouth hanging open in shock. They snapped shut a moment later, and Ambraz harrumphed.

"Right, well, good to see one of you is prepared. Anyway, portals resonate just like cards do, and to find them, someone has to sense them."

Irwin's eyes widened as he realized the implications. "So the sensitivity I get-"

"Will allow you to detect portals from much further than usual. Yes."

"So, why don't they send cardsmiths out here to find worlds... if…" Irwin fell quiet as he realized the answer to his question. "Because it's dangerous, and they have no reason to," he muttered.

"Exactly," Ambraz said. "Though if all we know is true, you'd be following in the steps of those before you nicely."

Irwin cocked his head as he looked at Ambraz. "Are you saying that-"

Daubutim snapped his fingers, and Irwin looked up to see his friend shake his head. "Some things are best left unsaid."

So Ambraz is implying that the Galadin sent out cardsmiths to find worlds long ago, Irwin thought as he looked at the anvil. "How do you know this?" he asked.

"Legends," Ambraz said before scraping his throat. "Anyway, I would just accept Rindiri as your navigator. She is better than anyone that a new explorers group could normally afford, and the only reason she's even thinking about joining us is because nobody else will take her."

"Why not?" Irwin asked, surprised.

"Because she will need to bring that irritating daughter of hers, Ib," Ambraz said with an annoyed sigh.

Irwin shared a look with Daubutim, who looked as confused as he felt.

"Ambraz, care to explain?"

"Well, Yuurindi are pretty well known. They believe their children that age the quickest have the best genes, so those are the ones that are given the most attention. From what I could get, Ib is close to perfect by their standards," Ambraz said, sounding more excited than Irwin had heard him, except for when he was talking about cards.

To Irwin's annoyance, that also meant that Ambraz continued talking about the details of the Yuurindin for a good ten minutes before finally stopping.

Irwin was leaning on the table, rubbing his head. He'd barely caught anything except for the first bit, and if it hadn't been for Daubutim looking very interested, he'd have told Ambraz to stop long ago.

"Great… and you still think it's a good idea to bring her along?" he asked.

"The daughter? No. But the mother has some very interesting cards," Ambraz replied. "I've been watching the people you met, and compared to them, she will end up speeding up our chances. By a lot!"

Irwin closed his eyes, putting his head on the slightly groaning table.

"Fine," he muttered. "And what about those sail-cleaners?"

"Just take them along," Daubutim suddenly said.

Irwin looked at his friend in suprise.

"With all of her children there, she will be extra motivated," Daubutim said calmly.

"And the fact that we are taking children into dangerous territory?" Irwin asked both of them.

"Well," Daubutim said softly. "Do you recall what Bendi was talking about on the ship?"

It took Irwin a moment to recall that Bendi had spoken about some sort of danger.

"Yes, something about us having to get away," he said. "So what did it end up being?"

"I'll keep it short, but from what I have understood, the Nyzir and, to a lesser extent, the Galubs are building up a force to attack Sesnansor Harbor. It's unclear why. Xi'balak has offered to take us to the spot where the crashed ships should be while at the same time scouting the region. After that, I think we should leave and let them deal with it. It's too great of a risk, but if the Galubs, or worse the Nyzir, attack this place-"

"It would be safe for Zender and the others to come with us, at least for a while," Irwin added.

"Exactly," Daubutim said. "My father would call this a win-win situation."

Irwin hesitated for only a little while before nodding. "Okay, let's do that then. When does Xi'balak want to go out?"

"First thing tomorrow," Daubutim said.

"Makes sense," Irwin muttered as he thought a bit more. "Then let's tell Rindiri, Zender, and those two sisters of his the good news tomorrow. We can have them join our group so they know it's no trick, and Rindiri can guard the ship. She looked capable."

"More than capable," Ambraz said. "Her heartcard felt like it was pretty close to full. It wouldn't surprise me if she were turning soulcarded soon!"

Right, there's that, Irwin thought.

As he thought of his collection of compatible cards, he knew it was about time to absorb them. Ambraz had told him his heartcard needed to stabilize before he started growing it, but that was weeks ago. With some luck, it should be stable by now.

"I'll go and see what Greldo is doing, then I think it's time to rest," he said as he got up. "Do you want to come for a drink?"

Daubutim hesitated, then shook his head. "No. My mind has started clogging again… I'll go and sleep early tonight."

"Alright, we will try not to wake you," Irwin said as he walked to the exit.

"Don't bother, I'll wake even if you sneak in," Daubutim said.

Irwin shrugged and closed the door.

Let's see what type of drinks they have here, he thought as he walked away.