Chapter 6: Onwards We Must Voyage --------------------------------- Kain woke up as a strange man was kneeling over a somewhat groggy Cecil. "Only a few minor cuts and bruises," he said. "A good bleeding should take care of that. Now for your friend." He turned to Kain. "I see you're awake! Let me introduce myself. I am Jim-Bob Allen, town barber. I also double as dentist and surgeon. Now let me look at your leg." He knelt down over his leg and proceeded to examine the injury. It was bleeding rather badly, and Kain was beginning to feel a bit light-headed. The "surgeon" continued to poke his wound in what seemed to be the most painful places he could find. "Hmm... it'll have to come off," he concluded. "WHAT!" Cecil, a bit more alert, exclaimed. He had pushed his way through the swarm of curious Nikeans to attend to his friend, only to find this "doctor" already there. "I think NOT! Cure three!" Kain's and Cecil's wounds all healed. "Well, fine then... deny me all my fun..." Jim-Bob muttered as he wandered off. Just then a young, exotic-looking woman came up behind Cecil and wrapped her arms around him. "You look just fine to me..." she said in a sexy voice. This made Cecil a _tad_ uncomfortable. "Don't mind him, he'd call for an axe while treating a paper cut. Him and his bleedings. You'd wonder what he does with all that blood..." she smiled alluringly. Her target was rapidly turning a brilliant shade of crimson. "What were you doing fighting off those... _evil_... people all by your little old selves? You're SOOOOO brave! Would you like to stay at my place tonight? It's a lot cheaper than the inn..." "I'm...afraid I'll have to... pass up your offer.... I'm married," replied an extremely confused Paladin, his voice infused with bewilderment and disgust. For some unknown reason, this statement made Kain uncomfortable and depressed. He pushed further thoughts on the subject back, to be considered when he could remember more about his past. "What a shame," she pouted. "The invitation's still open, though..." 'He has such sexy white hair... mmmm... just like that Setzer... mmmm... Setzer...' The woman's thoughts turned elsewhere, a great relief to Cecil. * * * * The two returned to the village. with the rest of its curious inhabitants following close behind. They got rooms at the inn and made their plans about what they should do next. As neither were particularly familiar with the landscape, they decided they should go about acquiring a map, then pick a destination. They got directions from the innkeeper to a nearby map shop, to which they proceeded. "Excuse me, sir," Kain addressed the shopkeeper. "We were wondering what you might have in terms of world maps..." "Just a minute," the man replied. "I'll see what I've got... There's this one... no, it's of the world _before_ it was destroyed... Ah! Here's one. They're hard to come by, so they're expensive..." "Oh... right... money...", Kain whispered to himself. The man heard him anyways. Cecil hit his forehead and released a quiet sigh of frustration. "You mean you don't have any money! How do you expect to pay for this? What else have you got?" Kain looked at Cecil, as he owned nothing but the clothes he was wearing, and they were not in the best condition. All he seemed to have was his armor and his sword, but selling these for a map would be simply out of the question. The merchant, however, saw something else. "Hey! What are those?" He grabbed a handful of the knight's hair and pulled out what looked to be a gem of sorts. "It must be worth something... How many of these do you have?" Cecil was confused. 'Where was that from?' he wondered. Then it struck him. It was that spell the girl had used... He found some more stones in his hair, with which to pay the cartographer, who happily accepted them, believing they must be _extremely_ valuable. * * * * After washing dishes to pay for their lunch, having used all the gems to pay for the map, the pair checked out the dock. They eventually found a boat that seemed to be preparing to depart. "Pardon us," began Cecil to a man who was apparently loading crates of some sort. "We were wondering if you could tell us..." "Um... were going to Jidoor to _not_ deliver supplies to the secret Returner base planning to overthrow the Figaran empire. Really, honest, we're not... D'OH... I wasn't supposed to say that..." The dock worker interrupted to deliver his speech, so well prepared, then proceeded to bang his head on the side of the boat when he realised what he had said. "Thank you... very much!" Kain replied as he and Cecil backed away slowly, eyeing the man and wondering how old the meat on his lunch that day had been. "Well, at least we know where this boat is heading, and if there is a resistance force base of sorts, then Jidoor seems a good a place as any to start..." Cecil told Kain as they searched for someone a little more in touch with reality. Soon after they came across a person who seemed to be the first mate. He was talking to bunch of the village boys and smoking a pipe. The young people backed off as our two heroes approached. "Arr sirs, how kin I help ya today? Arr.." he addressed them. 'What a strange dialect', thought Kain. "We were wondering if we might book passage on your ship?" inquired Cecil. "We understand that your destination is Jidoor." "Arr.. I can't see how that would be a problem, lads, but how do ya plan ta pay, Arr.." "We would be willing to work for our passage," replied Kain, "We have no money, but my friend is an excellent healer, and I'm sure I could handle any physical labour you might require..." "Arr... Right then, boys, we have a deal." He shook both of their hands. He then turned to address to a collection of young men he had been speaking to before. "Arr... it seem we have found ourselves a new cabin boy or two... the position's closed. Try again next trip, me boys..." Several whines of disappointment could be heard. Numerous echoes of "But I really wanted to be a cabin boy..." were voiced. 'Oh Gods,' Kain thought to himself. 'What have we gotten into here...'