Lyric walks into the main cabin to find many different things scattered around the room. There are weapons, jewelry, and even technology that hasn't been around for over a century. She can't pick up everything and bring it out since she has the crate full of maps. Those are more important right now more than anything in that room. Hearing the gunshot from outside letting out a small giggle. "Are we going to be upgrading ships already?" That question echoed around the room for a bit until she heard Alexandria's voice. There would be plenty of time to go through everything once the ship was fully in their control.
Walking out onto the deck and across the ramp to see the body of the man lifeless. Moving around the body placing the crate in front of Alexandria. "I found all these maps. There is one that I have never seen before. It could be a part of the world entirely unexplored. Only the region was named." Alexandria's eyes lit up at the news. That was the major point of everything that had been done up until now for her at least. Looking down at the crate then up at the rolled up map in Lyrics hand.
"What do you say? We get everything inside first and then figure out what we want to do with the new ship. Also lets get both these bodies stored. I want the man frozen if you can swing that. I want to figure out more about the blood." Lyric nodded, picking up his body and bringing it below deck. Alexandria picked up the crate walking into her cabin sitting it one on the table where the map from the first ship lay. It was going to be interesting how everything moved forward from now on. There were so many things to consider now. Also more enemies than she would care to count.
They now had three ships to work with one that was filled with treasure. Finding a large settlement would be the first thing to do. Figuring out the lay of the world and getting more information would be useful. There was no time to play around and finding more crew members was at the top of the list. Eve was still a thought in her mind. Once they settled everything with all the new cargo she was going to find her. Lyric walked into the room laying the rolled map on the table. "Our man is stored safely below deck. What is our next move? We have three ships with one loaded to the brim with cargo."
Alexandria wrinkled her nose moving the rolled up map to the side. As much as she wanted to inspect it they needed to find a place to go. The cargo needed to be sifted through anything that could be returned should be saved. Everything else was going to be traded or used to improve the ships. "We have three crew members and three ships. A fleet is starting to form but we don't have the numbers to fully utilize it. Do you know of any settlements we can go visit to trade and find crew members?" Alexandria cracked her neck a few times letting out a tired sigh. A bath would be nice along with some food. She also needed to do her journal entries since there was a ton of information to process.
A thud echoed behind them as Tyra walked into the room leaning her rifle up against the wall. Letting out a soft chuckle walking up to the desk. "It is not going to be that easy to offload all this stuff. There are items aboard that ship that are priceless. Plus once the walled city doesn't hear back they will come looking for it. Only this time it won't be a few people with a handful of guards. They will send multiple ships." Of course Alexandria knew Tyra was correct. However there was no way they could just let all that treasure go. There had to be a way. She would fight just about anyone to cash in on this score.
Lyric looked over the map in front of them tracing her finger along the different lines etched into the paper. There were a few scattered settlements around but none that would be able to handle the volume of treasure they had acquired. The only other settlement that could handle it was a few days' trip from here due west. However that place had a strong pirate crew that would take anything they wanted. They were not ready for a challenge like that just yet. She needed to answer the question though since leaving Alexandria hanging wasn't an option.
A giggled escaped her lips rubbing her hands together. "What do you say we locate the nearest island? We can stash the things we are not going to use right now along with one of the ships. That way we can hit all the smaller settlements without drawing too much attention." Lyric was proud of her idea and hoped the others would go along with it. Of course storing one of the ships was a risk since there was a chance a hunter could steal it.
A silence came into the room as Alexandria mulled over the idea in her head. It did have merit and could allow them the chance to find other crew members. She only wanted people with strong abilities that added something. There were not going to be any free rides here. They also needed to find someone to do blood work on the man now decomposing in the cargo bay. Looking down at the map marking the settlement they had left a day ago. In the area around them she counted four settlements with a few isolated islands that could serve the purpose of a stash area.
"Alright there is something to that idea. The most important thing is to find a suitable island. We can't take the chance of running into anyone else. The treasure needs to be in a cave or buried. If there is a hidden cove then we could hide one of the ships. What do you think Tyra?" Alexandria was warming up to the idea however she wanted everyone to throw in their opinion. She wasn't going to run this crew without everyone putting in their input even if it wasn't used.
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"I would say finding a place like my island would be the best choice. You might think having an island with trees and other living things would help but that is wrong. People will flock to those places. However a dead looking place with sharp rocks screams stay away." She looked over the map, a soft chuckle escaping her lips pointing to a small island not too far from them. "This would be a suitable place if the illustration is accurate. Only one place to get on the island and no vegetation."
Lyric had yet to say anything, still tracing her finger along the map. Her idea was well received now she just needed to find an island to suit their needs. Tyra seemed to have a suitable choice. However with only one way to disembark that would make hiding a ship a bit difficult. There had to be another island or maybe just going back to Tyra's old island was the best choice.
"The island should have two ways to disembark so that we could hide the ship more effectively. We could also go back to your island for now until we find a better place." Lyric knew going back to Tyra's island would be a bit backwards. However if they could protect everything they just gained it was worth the price. She continued to search the map making sure they checked every island that wasn't occupied.
"Whatever we decide to do, it must be done quickly. We can't stay out here in open water with three ships for long. Pirates, hunters, and more guards could pass through here at any moment. So what do you want to do captain?" Tyra asked walking back to the door to grab her rifle. She was right and they were not prepared to fight anyone else at the moment. It was time to make a choice and move forward accordingly.
"How about we go check out the island Tyra suggested. It may be the better choice to divide the goods and ship on two different islands. That way we don't run the risk of losing everything in one shot. After that we will move to the nearest settlement." Both Lyric and Tyra nodded in agreement. Tyra bowed her head as she left the cabin headed for the crows nest to rest a bit.
Lyric sat down in the chair across from Alexandria. She was glad that everything was starting to come together. A soft giggled escaped her lips. "Everything is moving quickly forward. When are you going to unfold that map and take a look at it?" She was curious to see what Alexandria thought about it. Even though she spent most of her life in a facility her knowledge about the world was pretty extensive. Of course Lyric's experiences were far greater for the moment at least.
Tapping a finger on the folded map looking around the room for a moment. Alexandria didn't want to open up that map yet since she had not even scratched the surface of the ones in front of her. Plus there was the crate not sitting on the other end of the table. Wrinkling her nose looking up at Lyric. "We need to focus on this area first. If we go into a completely different place with how we are now might end this journey too soon. Plus I still have many other islands to name along with animals to add to my shifting arsenal."
A smile crossed Lyric's face. "Well that is a great way to think about it. Do you want me to get us ready to move or is there anything else you want to discuss?" There was a lot to do now that they had to tow another ship. That wasn't going to be easy but thankfully that island wasn't too far away from them. Now at least they had cannons in order to defend themselves from attacking ships.
"No, go and get everything ready first. We can talk more after everything is moving forward. I will work on picking which settlements we will hit first." Lyric nodded, making her way outside to get everything setup. Alexandria set up her quill pen and inkwell. She started marking the four settlements that looked like they would be good to trade with. Hopefully the island they were going to was good enough to stash some of the cargo.
A thought did cross her mind that moving with this many ships at least for the moment would be a good shield against enemies. Once they were able to store the cargo and decide which ship to moor until they gained more crew members. She made the marks on the settlements placing the quill pen over the inkwell. Pulling the crate of maps over to her. It was time to start hanging everything up around the cabin. This was going to be a fun project.
It didn't take her too long to get all the maps aside from the one Lyric had singled out. She now needed to do some journal entries. There was a ton to put down. Hearing the sounds outside of Lyric moving lines around and feeling the ship shift on the water indicating they were getting ready to move. Placing her journal on the table opening it up to a blank page. Dipping the quill into the ink she started to write everything that had happened in the past few days.
There was a splash outside, most likely the body of the dead woman. She had been stripped of everything on her person. For some reason she didn't seem to have an ability. That didn't matter however since at the moment Alexandria had no use for blood that could possibly cure them. Flipping to the next page she continued to write a smile crept onto her face enjoying the small moment of peace.
Lyric popped her head into the cabin knocking softly on the door. "We are on our way. Is there anything else you want done before I get to cooking?" Letting out an exasperated sigh looking up at her. "No go get the food ready. We want to keep our strength up. No telling what the fuck we are going to run into at these next settlements."