broad horizons

Eden

Having never left Stormbreak in all her twenty-two years, Eden approached the Skyport with a jumble of excitement and ambivalence. No, of course she wasn't nervous. Who would suggest such a thing? It was only that she was being cautious, and realistic about the difficulty of exploring new places with nobody except Lorin by her side. He, of course, was off collecting supplies they would need until they found lodging in Torchline (which he tried to convince her to do, but she had come out of that fight victorious, of course). So her task was to secure transport for them.

Eden could probably have flown, but her brother's shift was wingless. And if she was a relieved about that fact, it had nothing to do with the seasonal winds making flight at this elevation difficult for such a tiny bird.

The dock was busy, and many of the people bustling by looked twice at her. She didn't mind. Her hair and her youth and the fact that she was presently alone were all bound to catch attention. The young woman drank it all in with her chin high and half a smug smile tugging at her lips.

Near the Peregrine's impressive berth, one man stood still where others did not, and he seemed to have a kind of presence about him which inclined Eden to ask him for directions.

"Excuse me." Eden raised her voice above the wind and distant shouts from sailors of the skies. "Can you tell me where to find the captain of this vessel?"

Someone carrying a heavy crate bumped against her shoulder, knocking her travel sack to the dock with a hard thump, and she afforded the offender a glare.

I don't want to be anything
other than what I've been trying to be lately

No one had ever accused Tal of having a commanding presence before, and if they had he would have peered at them suspiciously, wondering what con they were trying to pull. The young man with his brown skin and shaggy black hair was taking a break from prepping the Peregrine for her next flight, standing on the dock of the berth next to his and admiring the fall of the larger vessel's sails as the sailors scampered through the rigging, checking for wear and tear on the canvas.

It was a bustling, noisy day and he almost didn't hear the polite voice from behind or realize it was aimed at him until he felt the thud of a bag hitting the deck beside him. Turning to see what was amiss he realized she had, in fact, been addressing him and he scowled after the sailor who had bumped into her. "Hey! Watch where you're goin'!" he yelled after the man, earning a good-natured cursing in return. With a shake of his head he bent to retrieve the young woman's pack and took a better look at her--

Freezing when he saw the head of wild red curls. "Uh... if you're lookin' for Captain Kline, she's prob'ly down at the portmaster's office," he stammered, reaching up to rub at the back of his neck uncomfortably as he straightened and held out the bag. "She doesn't usually take passengers, though, if that's what you're lookin' for. What d'you need?"

Eden

Eden's scowl twisted up into a vindicated grin as the man she was talking to told off her offender. "Yeah, back at you!" she called in response to the cursing, but she found a laugh in her tone. This whole atmosphere screamed of a new kind of camaraderie than any she'd experienced before. It lifted her spirits -- not that they needed much lifting. (If the family shop failed, could Eden be a part of this world? Later she'd entertain daydreams of sailing the skies, hoisting the sails and manning the rudders, or whatever any of that was called.)

Like any polite person would do, the stranger before her collected her dropped satchel, and she thought well of him for it. Did he seem nervous? Was he one of the superstitious sailors who thought it bad luck to bring women on board? (Was that even a real thing, or something she'd only read in fiction books?) But no, the captain appeared to be a woman, so that probably wasn't it.

"That is what I'm after, I'm afraid. Thank you," the redhead added, slinging the strap of her bag over her shoulder again. "But if she 'usually' doesn't take passengers, that means I have a chance, right? Maybe a higher chance with a nice bottle of wine or a box of chocolates?" Hopefully that would do the trick, because if the cost of passage was much steeper, Eden and Lorin would be stuck on this floating island forever. She cocked her head slightly, almost birdishly, at the man. "I'm Eden, by the way." Her eyebrow raised in a non-verbal, And you are...?

I don't want to be anything
other than what I've been trying to be lately

So she wasn't that polite. Tal's scowl lightened a bit as the girl - young woman? - yelled back at the sailor, but her resemblance to someone he'd once embarrassed himself in front of was--

Well, it wasn't that similar, now that he was looking closer. The curly red hair, sure, but the face - the eyes - weren't so familiar after all. He exhaled slowly and gave a noncommittal shrug at her questions. "Mebbe," he agreed cautiously. "She's gettin' ready t'make the run t'the Hollowed Grounds, an' her hold is usually pretty full on that leg. Kline doesn't like chocolates much, but there're some wines I've seen her drink..." He trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck one more time before letting his hand fall to his side. Her sudden introduction prodded his own lacking manners and he winced before sticking his hand out.

"Oh! Sorry, I'm Tal. Talyson Seawright, courier an' captain o' the Peregrine." He straightened up and nodded to the berth that was mostly hidden behind the larger vessel. The prow of a much smaller ship peeked out from behind the taller hull like an overshadowed younger sibling; a stylized bird in flight with backswept wings was just visible, ornamenting the wood. "Which way are y'headed?"

Eden

The people were always the part of her parents' business - well, her business now, partially - which interested her the most. Eden liked collecting eyebrow movements and lip twitches like puzzle pieces in order to see the big picture. That wasn't to say she was great at it (yet) or that she could use her conclusions to make a great sale (yet), but she took in the man's movements as if, given time and exposure, she might make something of them. That neck rubbing was notable, and if she had to venture a guess, it meant he didn't fancy her chances with Captain Kline to be very good at all.

"Oh! she started. A captain in his own right? Not of the ship she'd been gunning for, sure, but what did that matter as long as she got where she needed to go? She wasn't sure the Hallowed Grounds was a destination on her list anyhow, at least not right away.

Eden accepted his handshake with a firm grip like her father taught her, and bent to eye the Peregrine, smaller but no less impressive for its size. "That's a fine ship, Tal," she voiced, feigning all the confidence of someone who knew if it was, indeed, a fine ship. She used the name he gave first, wondering if she should add her own surname to introductions in the future and if it would make her sound more impressive. "Is there room for two? My brother will be along at some point. We're trying to get to Torchline? But anywhere will do as long as it's not here, really."

I don't want to be anything
other than what I've been trying to be lately

At Eden's obvious curiosity Tal led the way around the dock to the other side of the larger ship, bringing the Peregrine into view. She was a neat, trim little cutter with a single main mast and her sails currently furled. She gleamed from a recent cleaning, her lines simple but almost too perfect to be entirely natural.

Oh, and there was a great lump of white scales snoring lightly atop the cabin's roof.

"Thanks," Tal took Eden's compliment at face value, his scowl finally disappearing as he looked over his ship with fondness and pride. "Don't let her size fool you. She's a smooth ride, an' a swift one." Her next words brought the furrow back between his brows, however, and he chewed at his lower lip.

"Um. Not as such, no. She can only fit two... me an' one passenger. An' the dragon, o'course," he added, gesturing to the companion happily sacked out on the roof. "But she doesn't spend much time aboard while we're travelin'." Enough to rest and eat and get scratches and love when the ship hove to for the night. "But we are headin' t'Torchline on our way back t'Halo. If you're in a hurry I could take you an' your brother could catch another ship later? Or vice versa." He shrugged, not knowing Eden's circumstances.

Then the wording she'd used hit and Tal narrowed his pale eyes, looking her over with a hint of wariness. "Say, you're not in any trouble, are you?"

Eden

At the very least, the presence of the creature slumbering atop the ship proved Eden's words to be true enough. Regardless of the ship's size or splendor, Tal's face nearly shone at he gazed upon the dragon-topped vessel. She liked seeing in folks what they were passionate about. People with passion were people worth knowing, in her indisputable opinion.

Good news and bad news; the Peregrine traveled to Torchline, but with limited space. Well, she and her brother had the capability to inhabit very little space at all. Her lips pursed as she contemplated how she'd talk Lorin into being the one to shift for the journey, because it surely wasn't going to be herself, even if she was the smaller of the two.

Suspicion laced Talyson's tone and his words, interrupting her thoughts. Eden looked at him in genuine surprise.

"Oh! Only the normal, trying to keep a business afloat kind of way." Any other meaning her previous words could have imparted had not even occurred to her. "I just meant, since everywhere else isn't floating in the sky, it's probably easier to get around once you're down there." She smiled a bit sheepishly, tugging at one of her curls until it was taut and then releasing it to bounce against her cheek. "Would you have room for one passenger, one dragon, and a rabbit?" Lorin, the blink hare, would have scowled at her for the diminutive. But he wasn't here, so... "We'll pay for two people though, of course." Hopefully it didn't empty their pockets too completely.

I don't want to be anything
other than what I've been trying to be lately

He wasn't about to help a criminal flee the region, but Eden's easy answer soothed the courier's ruffled feathers and he relaxed again, accepting her explanation at face value. At her description of the land below, however, a crooked grin tugged at his lips. "Guess y'really haven't been out much since the War, huh?" He reached up to run his fingers back through his hair as he gave his head a little shake. "Half o'Torchline's floatin' in the sky, too, an' the other half is islands. Half the Hollowed Grounds an' most o' the Greatwood is more or less underwater, for that matter. An' Halo would be, 'cept all its water is mostly frozen." He chuckled. "Tween th'Draig, th'Climb, an' th'swamp, you'll be takin' airships or seaships one way or t'other in all your other travelin', too." What had once been one continent largely traversible on foot was no more since the War had broken the regions apart into large islands.

But she could figure that out later, when the time came. For now, the question was Torchline: how many, and how much.

He considered her offer with a furrowed brow, glancing back to Boreal and weighing the risks. "Could do," he agreed slowly. 'Long as Boreal knows th'rabbit's really a people she should leave 'im alone." It was always awkward when his companion tried to eat his cargo, much less his passengers!

It was tempting to accept the full payment, for that matter, but Tal's pride wouldn't let him and besides, business was doing well enough that he didn't need to gouge. "Mmm... one an' a half," he countered. "Is that all you're bringin'?" He nodded to the pack slung over Eden's shoulder.

---

The deal was soon concluded to both parties' approval, and before long the Peregrine was under way towards the island paradise, blissfully unaware of what the future held in store for Torchline, and all of Caido beyond.

~fin~