Elise handed the heavy chunk back to Ruby and nodded, “Absolutely. You’ve already made a connection that no one else bothered trying to. They thought I should have just melted it into usable chunks to pay my debts.”
“I think that would have been a bad idea.” Ruby showed Elise the lines again, “You’ve been looking at this all wrong. These things, I believe are contour lines. It is a retively new way to chart and record elevation.” She tapped on the pte, “Most of our charts don’t have them yet, I only know because I saw some of the new maps in Kissamos a few months ago.” Ruby walked her fingers between the lines. “This looks like a lower area that climbs up a hill.” Ruby showed Elise how the lines spread out and then got close, “The closer the lines the more steep the section.” Ruby handed the treasure back to Elise and pulled on her dress. “Is the person you got this from still in town?”
Elise shook her head, “I don’t even remember what the guy looks like.” She grabbed Ruby’s hand and sat her back on the bed. “I wasn’t done, missy.” Resuming her intent to leave her mark on the Ruby, Elise tied two more braids and made sure the ties looked like little pretty bows. “Let’s see you hide in a crowd with all these bright colors in your hair.” Elise giggled and pointed at the map. “There seems to be a compass-looking thing on it.” Elise pointed to a little arrow in the corner. “I don’t know much about that sort of thing.”
Ruby turned the metal in her hand for different perspectives, and finally smiled. “It isn’t quite an ‘X’ but that is certainly marking a pce on what I am guessing is a steep hill.” She set the puzzle piece aside. “Without a starting point, doing anything is pointless.”
“Um, Ruby?” Elise inquired, “Could those lines being so close be a cliff face?”
Recalling the vague details of how the new technology worked, Ruby shrugged. “I guess it could be, it is rather steep and the lines seem to become almost nothing at the bottom. Why?”
Having finished another set of ten tiny rows, Elise pulled Ruby off the bed and to the other side of her home, then pointed out of the window. “Just over that big hill is a huge cliff face, curved like the harbor. It’s called ‘First Landing’ since that is where the others tried to set up Alexandria at first. They couldn’t get a reliable path up the cliff, so they scouted down a little further and settled here.”
“Too convenient.” Ruby tapped on her chin. “You up for a little adventure, Elise? I figure we can go up there and check it out, if it’s nothing we can have a great picnic.”
Elise walked to her closet and donned a simple robe and tied it across her thin frame. “As my lovely Ruby…my pirate…my one-eyed hazel princess…I am not cut out for that sort of thing. I would be too scared of running into say a giant scorpion or something.” She walked over and hugged Ruby, “You check it out, I trust you.” She handed the map to Ruby. “If you find something, You can have my half to..” She snickered and kissed Ruby’s cheek, “...buy my freedom or something.” Elise watched as Ruby gathered her things, slipped on her rum-scented boots and headed for the door. “You be careful and come back to me, Ruby.” Elise grabbed Ruby’s hand, “Please come back to me, Ruby.”
Fshing her beautiful smile, Ruby kissed Elise and winked. “Those kisses are worth an absolute fortune, treasure them while I’m gone.” Excited for her first real treasure hunt, Ruby gave Elise one final hug and dashed out, headed for the inn.
Making record time to her room, Ruby passed Khalid with a wave and headed to her room. Once inside, she quickly tossed her dress on the floor and suddenly regretted not having her old clothes to pad her armor. “Shit. Shit. Shit! Mercy mermaids…” Ruby cursed herself aloud and decided that her dress would become a casualty to her dagger. Slicing through the fine silk, Ruby made a quick set of undergarments that tied snuggly to her hourgss figure, a small shirt that was nearly a tunic then used the remaining strips of cloth to wrap her legs much like a mummy.
-That will do. Khalid will send out orders if I ask him. Good!-
Donning her armor, Ruby knew she was ready when she strapped her rapier and dagger to her hip. Heading downstairs, Ruby considered all the clothing she’d need for the next week and rushed down the stairs, the excitement in her voice apparent. “Khalid.” Ruby addressed the innkeeper politely, with a smile.
“How can I assist, Miss Ruby?” Khalid responded.
Picking up the quill, Ruby jotted down the clothes she needed. “I even added my size, which I am swearing you to secrecy.” She winked and pced two gold crowns on the small desk. “You are free to keep whatever is left over, just make sure I have adequate dresses and normal clothing, if you please.”
Looking over the short list of items, Khalid nodded and pocketed the two gold. “Think nothing of it, Ma’am. You will have an array of bright dresses and normal street clothing when you get back this evening. Have a nice afternoon, Miss Ruby.”
With the sun overhead, Ruby estimated she had about six hours of daylight left to do her exploring. Making her way through the merchant section of town, the pirate both bought and palmed the things she felt she needed in case the day trip went longer than she expected. By the time she was finished stealing and buying, Ruby had a compass, a few pieces of chalk, a couple of skins full of water and some food that could st her a day or two. Upon leaving the merchant square, Ruby borrowed a little glowing rock from a performer who used it to shine a light on himself.
-I’ll return it ter. He won’t miss it, and I’ll be able to see in the dark.-
After asking a few guards for directions to the cliffs, Ruby exited the walls of safety and into the desert and light grassnd that enveloped Alexandria. While the sun beat down relentlessly on the hot red and yellow sand, the matching hot breeze made the short trek almost intolerable thanks to the dust that wisped over Ruby’s bare cheeks. Recalling that some of her dress was still in her pack, she stopped and pulled out a rge strip of orange silk then tucked it into the colr of her leather and fashioned a hood for protection.
-I had to pick bck for my armor? I am going to sweat to death out here. Reminder to self, go when the sun is waning.-
Noting that the Mediterranean was off to her right and the open desert to her left, she opened her compass and oriented herself. “Water to the north, lots of sand and death to the south. I am headed east and Alexandria is on my west. Got it.” Ruby talked to herself as the wind picked up.
It took another hour of trudging through the sweltering heat before she reached the summit where the cliffs had been cut into a quarter moon where the water smashed against the nd over thousands of years. Ruby unpacked the gold puzzle-tablet and walked to the edge of the cliff then turned the metal until the semi-circle matched what was printed on the gold. “Mercy mermaids! It’s real.” She followed the edge until she reached where the arrow was pointing. “Okay, now what?” Ruby muttered impatiently. “There’s nothing but sand here. Shit.”
Reality dawned on the pirate that whatever could have been here was likely scavenged by the locals years before.
-Then why make the map?-
Ruby walked back to the edge of the cliffs and looked down, and an idea hit her.
-What if the arrow is pointing to something below?-
Standing up and brushing the coarse sand off of her armor, Ruby smiled and figured out a fast way to the bottom.
-One good wave and lots of good luck should be sufficient.-
Backing up a good twenty feet, Ruby took a couple of breaths and ran as fast as she could then jumped off the cliff. A rush of air tore off her makeshift hood and freed her cornrows to float in the wind as she fell rapidly towards the open bay. Waiting until her feet were close to the water, Ruby took a deep breath in and hit the water. Thankful that she was able to hold her breath after the impact, Ruby waited for the initial rush to stop forcing her down. Struggling with the weight of her armor and pack, Ruby barely managed to break the surface of the choppy water before a wave came by and pushed her towards the rocky shore. Tumbling head over heels through the wave, Ruby used her arms and protected her head until she was able to take another breath. Another wave and push towards shore, allowed the lucky pirate to feel the rocks under her feet. Pnting herself the best she could, Ruby stood up and stumbled to the shore and colpsed on her back.
-What the hell were you thinking?-
Instinctively she felt her hip and found her dagger right where she’d strapped it, but her rapier had somehow been torn off and cimed by the sea. “Payment for your mercy, thank you.” Ruby huffed and began checking herself for injuries. Thankfully she wasn’t hurt too badly, with the worst part being a sprained ankle along with a knot on her face that was already turning purple.
Once she had the strength to sit up, Ruby pulled off her armored boot and wrapped strips of her dress tightly around her ankle. “That should do it.” Ruby convinced herself as she forced her swollen foot back into the boot. Happy that she still retained the puzzle piece, Ruby stood up and turned the shape around until she matched the contours once more. When she followed the arrow this time, she was stopped by the unyielding cliff face. Inspecting the rocks further, Ruby’s hazel eye caught a glimmer that wasn’t part of the normal rock formation.
