The Making of a Rogue, Part I

Early Summer

Ravendori heard a man shout behind her as she ran down the ship’s boarding plank in the dark and jumped the last few feet to the dock.

“Thief! Get him!”

She ran past one seaman carrying a large soft bundle on his shoulder. The second man had no burden and she ran right into him with a shove, knocking him on his backside with the impact. He fell with a grunt, too stunned to make a grab for her.

“Stop him!”

Ravendori looked up just in time to see a third shape looming up in front of her. His feet spread, the man held his arms wide to catch her. He stood shorter than her, a very bad sign. Had he been larger, he might not move too fast.

Darting left, Ravendori launched herself, diving off the side of the dock, taking no time to assess the distance to the black water below or if anything floated there. She hit the cold surface with a telling splash, the sack she held nearly wrenched from her fist. Plunging beneath, she turned upwards, attempting to halt the momentum downward. Once stable, she turned and swam underwater toward the open ocean with one hand in front. Though her elven eyes could see better than most, she kept them closed. Nothing could be seen down here.

An unnatural wave of water pushed her sideways, the force of it washing around her and she opened her eyes on instinct. Her sight met blackness within more black.

Shark?

Ravendori pushed the notion of being eaten aside, hoping the sharks found scraps thrown off the ships more enticing than her. Already committed, she could only swim the same as they did.

Shouts above were too muted to hear the words, but she could hear feet hitting the boards as they ran to the side of the dock, the vibrations transferred from the wood to the water. Reaching left, her hand met up with the barnacled side of a piling, the sharp edges cutting into her fingers and palm. She moved around the right side and swam forward before coming up beneath the dock inch by inch. As soon as her nose cleared she breathed in, resisting the urge to gasp in air through her mouth. Water ebb and swell forced her toward the piling, but she pushed away with her booted foot.

“Where is he? Do you see him?”

Ravendori recognized the captain’s deep guttural voice. She’d been listening to his booming commands for three days.

“I can’t see nothin’ in the dark, capt’n.”

“Find him,” he growled. “He stole our gold. We’ll all be out our share.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but clamped it shut. She did no such thing! The wicked man meant to use her as a scapegoat for his thievery. How very clever.

“But Mr. Forstair—”

“He’ll have to get over it,” the captain said, cutting off his crewman. “Damn little beggars. I told him already I wouldn’t pay out of my own pockets for thieves or pirates. He’ll take his loss, same as the rest of us.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Ho there! What’s the problem?”

Ravendori looked upwards, though she could see nothing through the dark wide boards.

“Stowaway,” said the captain.

“He took our gold,” the crewman stated. “Jumped right in the water here.”

“A stowaway, you say?”

“Aye,” the captain replied, “though I doubt we’ll catch him at night.”

“Where’re you coming from?” the man asked. From the sounds of clinking metal, she imagined him to be a Stormwind City guard on dock patrol.

“Auberdine on the Darkshore.”

“Hmm. Do you have a description? He’ll have to come ashore quick or be eaten.”

With her hand stinging and no doubt bleeding, Ravendori knew the truth of his words.

“I didn’t see enough. Dark clothing, a night elf by the ears I saw, probably a young one, too. Not so tall as a full grown male.”

Ravendori reached up to her head, feeling the wet strands of her hair. No cap after that dive. She bit her lip. Her white hair would shine like a beacon, even at night, if she swam out from under the boards.

“I’ll station men along the entire wharf for a few hours. We’ll see how he fares with that.”

“Good, good,” the captain said.

Not good for her. No way could she explain the truth of it, and even if she could, they would not believe her over the captain’s word. Either way, they would make her pay for ship fare, which she could not do.

The guard whistled. “Bring some lanterns over here!”

Ravendori couldn’t sink any lower and keep her head above the waterline. Time to move. Shimmying out of her shirtsleeves, she pulled her shirt up until only her face protruded from the neck hole. With slow sweeping movements she swam beneath the men toward the shore, pushing off from pilings with her foot when the water threatened to slam her into one. Once all the guards knew to look for her, she’d have a harder time getting across the harbor into the city. At least they assumed she was a boy. All she had to do now was dry out and be girlish.

Easy enough.

Near shore, the pier system grew thicker and she worked her way around toward the right. The last piling supported by cross bracers stood a few feet from a small grassy area. She slogged through the water and pulled herself up on a bracer until she could sit hunched down. A few people crossed overhead here and there, but she heard no guards at all.

Despite the warmth of the air, Ravendori shivered as the breeze blew through the pilings. The wind ruffled the fringes of her hair and shirt, much like it disturbed the feathers of the pigeons cooing a few feet away. The birds were safe from predators underneath the decking and so was she. At least she hoped so.

This wasn’t the first time she had cuddled up with pigeons and rats, nor would it be the last. Without any coin, she couldn’t pay for a room and looking the way she did, all the gold in the world might not be enough to let her stay in a decent establishment.

Ravendori struggled to open the wet leather pack without dropping it in the ocean. She pulled out a water soaked cloth wrapped around a lump. Accuse her of stealing food and she’d confess. Gold? No. Though, if she had the opportunity, she would take it. Just a little.

As the cloth came off, soggy bread fell on her lap and she pushed it off into the water. The chunk of hard cheese, though mushy on the outside, fared a bit better. She scraped it off and sniffed it. Seemed okay. She nibbled a corner and after swallowing, bit off a larger piece.

Nothing seemed familiar here, though she’d been told by the matrons that her mother had lived in Stormwind City. She remembered this place no better than she remembered her mother. Just as well. Everything she knew…

Ravendori looked out from under the dock skirt toward the inky sea, the distant horizon indistinguishable in all the blue-black of night. The past was the past.

Tomorrow would be better.