Dauntless: A Silent Return

It was almost exactly halfway between midnight and dawn when Whisper of Evening Wind slipped over the railing of the ship and dropped into its shadow. She studied the automaton on the poopdeck for a brief moment, but it was turned away from her. Three quick, silent strides and she dropped down into the upper hold, about half of which had been converted to rooms for crew and passengers. She paused a moment to listen, let her whiskers wait for movements in the air, and sensed nothing; what light there was spilled from beneath the cloth covering one of the glow-rods. 

She ghosted her way around the edges of the hold, checking doorways and glancing down halls. The Aarakocra barbarian was either still and silent in his bed, or -- more likely gone. She remembered the sound of his snoring. Kara was asleep in her room, and from the smaller, piping breath behind that door it seemed the Galbra might be as well. The other girls had decided to stick it out, it seemed. That might help. 

The other Aarakocra, the nimble one, was also asleep;  that was good. She meant to keep it that way. Likewise for the charming halfling; awake, she would be a danger. Better that she remained asleep. Whisper hadn't dared to check on the Captain; that one was prone to late nights, and his automaton might have reacted badly if it saw her. 

Most interesting of all was the fact that after these several weeks, the gnome was still with them. Had something gone wrong in the Capital? Did he still have the Amulet? How much had she missed, in making her inquiries here?

She padded further down the hall, to her old room. The door was locked, but it took only a little work to change that. She slipped inside and locked the door behind her, then set her pack in the drawer beneath the bunk and latched it shut. There, now. Nothing to give herself away. 

The bed was even still made. Galbra's work, most like, and it made her smile. She settled under the covers and waited for the ship to depart.