Acanthio was shown to a room that had a bath and some clean clothing. Martinus said they kept rooms ready for any Windmaster needing a place to clean up or sleep. The room was large in comparison to the cabins they had on the ship and anything he had used as a room in the past. There was a shelf with a few books that he couldn’t even begin to understand. The bathtub near the middle of the room was sitting upon a thick carpet. There was a cord going from the tub into the wall. A bed against another wall that appeared to be filled with actual down.
Thio didn’t know how much time he would have but sleeping in a bed was appealing. He walked over to the bed and started to crawl in when he remembered his current state. He went over to the tub and proceeded to get clean. The warm water surprised him, though he thought he had heard of the captain and Windmasters on the Vol Mortem having the same type of bathtubs. The thought about his old crew and the ship suddenly made him feel as if the weight that was upon his shoulders decided to press down instead on his chest. When will they know if the ship survived the fight?
Once clean, he got out and got dressed in the clothing that was set aside for him. The shirt and pants were a little big but soft. Now that the grime and dirt was washed off of him he sat down upon the bed. It was really soft and as he laid down upon it enveloped him like a cocoon. He laid back and closed his eyes trying to relax. His mind wouldn’t stop running through different scenarios. What if Ele’s family just comes and gets her and leaves him here to face a constable? What if the Vol Mortem is destroyed and there is no record of him being employed? What if a war has already started and they are stuck here? What if Ele lies to everyone and gets Thio placed in jail? Thio laughed a little at the last outlandish thought. He figured they would be brought back to Ascalon, and if the Vol Mortem survived, he would be back on there in no time and flying again. Perhaps a nice dinner of thanks for saving the daughter of a high family.
A nice dinner sounded good. A small part of Thio wondered what Ele wanted. They had gotten along well during their brief time together. While he had little in the way of interactions with G’Aeris, she so far had treated him well. When he looked into her eyes, he couldn’t believe she was being false. This led to the growth of something Thio had not felt in a while: hope. Not the type of surviving the night or being able to eat but hope in his future. He truly felt that their few days together had forged a friendship that could continue once they got back to Ascalon. Perhaps they could be assigned to the same ship…
Thio’s thoughts were overtaken by darkness as he fell asleep. The softness of the bed was forgotten as he started to relax. The darkness of his mind was broken by dreams full of hope and possibilities. He was sitting in a chair, just getting ready to eat a large meal, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to look at the person interrupting his meal, and that was when he woke up.
“Thio? Thio, wake up,” Ele said as she stood next to his bed, gently shaking his shoulder. She must have cleaned up as she no longer had the dirt smudges on her face or arms. A loose-fitting shirt and pants similar in style to his had replaced the ragged clothing she had worn this morning. Still on her left hip was the little leather pouch which looked cleaner, too. When the leather pouch was dirty, it was a dark brown, which her dirty hair had matched. With both cleaned up, their shade of brown still matched. Thio must have been staring at her and her soft brown eyes a little too long as she poked him in the shoulder and said, “Thio, a ship will be here in an hour to take us to Ascalon.”
“Ok,” Thio replied as he sat up from the soft bed. It took a moment as every time he pressed down somewhere to push himself up his hand went deep into the bed. He had to grab a hold of the side and push up from there to free himself from the engulfing piece of furniture. Once he was out of the bed he looked back at it. “I miss my cot,” he commented as getting out of bed was difficult enough, even worse when the bed fights to keep you in it. His struggle with the bed must have gone unnoticed by Ele as she was now standing by the door.
“Bruno has prepared some bread and cheese that we can eat on our way to the dock,” Ele informed him as she opened the door. She smiled as she looked at him, “Just wait till you meet my Papa. He is the nicest man you will ever meet.” Then she disappeared through the door. Thio hurried over to where his things were and gathered them up in a bundle, carefully placing his knife and sheath in his boot. Hopefully, they would let him keep the clothes, but if not, his outfit would be good as new with a cleaning and some stitching. He hurried after Ele through the dimly lit hallway. While he did not see her, he heard Bruno’s voice but couldn’t make it out.
“…if they are not around when you need one?” Bruno was saying as Thio got close enough to make out the words. Bruno was standing in the sitting room holding a plate of cheese and bread to Ele and Martinus. Bruno must have seen him out of the corner of his eye as he looked directly at Thio and sneered a little. “I hope you didn’t get dirt all over the bed and chairs.” Then he turned a little so the plate was between him and Thio.
“Thank you for the hospitality,” Thio said as soon as he entered the room. He was facing Bruno as he said this but couldn’t see Bruno’s reaction as the plate was in the way. The plate was at eye level so all he saw was little mounds of bread and triangles of cheese. He reached up and snagged a piece of each to eat. Alternating a piece of cheese in his mouth then a piece of bread he chewed quickly.
The silence was broken a few minutes later by Martinus clearing his throat. “Eletheria, if the wind brings you here again I hope you may at least have supper.” Martinus bowed a little towards Ele as he said this. He then looked at Thio and nodded his head, “Master Acanthio, I pray the task of jumping off a perfectly good airship is not one you have to repeat in the future. If you find yourself back here, I would be more than happy to hear more tales of you falling for a beautiful woman.” Martinus smiled as he said this and Thio felt his cheeks redden. Lucky for Thio, the light was dim, so his was not as easily visible. Ele’s blush filled her cheeks and even her nose turned a little red.
“Thank you again, I hope my star will guide me here again.” Thio bowed again, and they went towards the door. Soon they were back outside with Thio closing the door behind them. While he was certain he had heard Bruno say something after he had exited, he chose to ignore it. There were more important things to consider than someone’s irrational dislike for him. The sun had retreated and allowed night to blanket the town. The lights along the streets and hanging from the fronts of buildings lit their way. Up above in the night sky, Thio saw his star still glowing brightly. It was bright enough that he was able to see it over the lights of the town.
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The airship was visible from a mile away. At least the lights were visible from a mile out. Thio would have thought it was a star or something else except there were multiple lights on it that moved together. The pattern of a light on the starboard and port side, then one on the bottom and one at the top of the forecastle, were familiar. While Thio did not know every ship in the G’Aeris fleet, his hopes were lifted a little. Looking at Ele, he wasn’t sure if she had any idea, so he kept his mouth shut as the ship got closer.
It was easy to tell once Ele figured out which type of ship it was and her squeal of delight cut the silence of the evening. This smiled but still did not say anything, as there could be other ships that looked like this one. The light on the top of the forecastle lit up the jib, and the sails that hung on the front of the ship looked familiar. It had two pontoons to the starboard and port side held to the main ship by narrow bridges. The ship did not have all its sails out but there were many reasons for that. Thio pondered if the wind was heavier at ten thousand feet or if there was another reason. Still, he kept silent cause if he was wrong and that ship was not the Vol Mortem, he could possibly get Ele’s hopes up and then watch them crushed. It was tough enough to contain his own emotions as he considered telling his crew mates about the little adventure.
“IT’S THE VOL MORTEM!” Ele shouted and started jumping and hugging Thio. She kept jumping, which made her hugging Thio difficult, but she did not let go. After a minute, she stopped jumping but still held onto Thio tightly. Ele was looking at Thio with a smile and their faces leaned in close, a shout from the ship interrupted the moment and they both turned to look up. The ship was now close enough to make out the identifying markers. A skull painted in white on the front with wings that stretched across each side. The ship was still a good hundred feet above and in front of them. As it started to lower Thio realized they were standing on the landing platform.
“Ele, should we move off the platform?” This said as he tried taking a step backward. Ele still held onto him so he didn’t move as he did not want to break her hold. Ele holding onto him felt nice and the excitement of being able to return to a normal life still filled him. “Ele!” he said again, this time a bit louder, though it wasn’t needed as the airship didn’t make a lot of noise. Just the occasional flap of a sail, shouts from sailors giving orders, and the creaking of the wood.
“It’s Sal, Thio! He came to get us!” Ele yelled in delight and released her hold upon Thio. From the front of the Vol Mortem a figure stood on top of the forecastle. He stepped back and out of sight for a moment, then reappeared, this time moving faster as he ran and jumped off the front of the ship. He fell for a brief amount of time until the wings of a glider pack extended from behind him. He flew down to the dock and landed in front of Ele. Now that he was close Thio could see he was holding a glider pack in front of him. While Thio did not have much interaction with the tall man he overheard conversations and knew that even off ship Sal was a man of power and pull.
Though Thio knew that it was Sal standing there in front of them, and that there was no danger, he was unable to stop himself from stepping in front of Ele as if to protect her. This move surprised him as well as everyone else. Luckily, no one seemed to notice or realize the look on his face was also surprise. Sal set the pack he was holding to the side as he appeared to ponder Thio’s action. Ele put her hand on Thio’s shoulder and gently pulled back. Thio took the hint and moved out of the way. Ele ran forward and hugged Sal tightly. Sal held her gently, then let go; once Ele also let go, he reached down to grab the pack and handed it to Ele.
“People are waiting in Ascalon for your return, Eletheria,” Sal then looked at Thio. “Also, they wish to thank you, sailor…” he paused as if trying to recall a name.
“Acanthio, or Thio to his friends. I owe Thio my life several times over for helping me survive,” Ele interjected and appeared to impress upon Sal how pivotal he was in returning her alive.
“Acanthio,” Sal started then took a small step towards Thio. He then knelt down on one knee and continued, “aside from whatever the family may owe you, know that if you need anything from me speak and it will be done.” Thio was dumbfounded and couldn’t think of anything to say as he stared there at Sal kneeling in front of him.
“Um, okay, thank you,” Thio was finally able to say as a bewildered look overtook his face. Sal stood up and helped Ele secure the pack to her back. While they were doing this, he whispered a question to her and she stole a glance to Thio and nodded.
“I will see you two on the ship,” Sal said as he took a step back and lifted off the dock. The graceful way he ascended to the ship seemed as if he was born with the pack on him. Thio, a bit confused, looked at the rising form and then Ele.
“I will take us up,” Ele said, seeming to understand his confusion. When Thio still looked at her, she said, “Don’t worry; I can do it. We are not falling, so you do not have to worry about breaking the glider.”
Thio stepped forward and they embraced in a tight hug. Ele kissed him on the forehead and whispered, “Trust me,” as she started lifting them up. For a moment, it didn’t seem like anything was happening and then Thio felt the ground leave his feet. Panic filled him briefly but he maintained his grip around Ele. While he was unsure how it worked, Ele was able to manipulate the wings and steer them up to the ship. Once they landed upon the deck Thio saw there was a small group of the crew standing around. Normally, the crew never stood around doing nothing, but when Thio released Ele and turned to look at them, he saw their smiles. They started to clap and cheer for him. Thio felt like cheering and joined in with them until he noticed that some crew members cheering for him were wearing bandages and slings. There were also several clues about the deck of the ship telling the battle was hard fought but the ship survived.
Several bits of railing was obviously newly installed, the coloring of the wood much lighter in color than the older repeatedly stained parts. Thio admired the patchwork all around the ship where you could tell which part was the oldest by how dark it had become over the years from sweat, blood, and wood stain.
Sal came over to them without his glider. He led Ele to the Windmaster cabins. The deck master, Petrus, came over to Thio and clapped him on the shoulder.
“Good job, lad, now we are heading back to Ascalon and will be flying fast…” Petrus started to say but Thio interrupted him.
“I’ll get right to my duties, I have rested,” Thio immediately replied. He knew the deck master didn’t like anyone who avoided work.
“Good lad, but Sal would fry my bones if I had you work,” Petrus replied. You are off rotation for the next week, and then you will return to your duties if the captain or Windmaster sees fit.”
“Sir, I’ve been doing nothing for the past few days, couldn’t I help?” Thio hated the idea of his friends and crew mates having to do more work while he did nothing.
“Good man, but no you are ordered to do nothing,” Petrus replied in a stern and final tone. He also leaned in to whisper into Thio’s ear, “What you did was good, but remember, in a week, things will be back to normal. So, don’t make demands and stay out of people’s way.” Thio nodded and understood what Petrus meant. Once things died down, he would still be a sailor with the rest of them and Ele would be a Windmistress. Thio’s heart sank as he realized her family would probably assign her to a different ship. The best he will probably get is a few week’s pay, some new clothes, and a chance to rub elbows with the affluent. The fact that Petrus was trying to warn him of possible disappointment made Thio realize how much the deck master cared.
“Thank you, deck master, I will stay out of the way.” Thio headed towards where his cot was located with the crew. Petrus cleared his throat and pointed to the guest cabin built into the forecastle, next to the captain’s. The shocked look on Thio’s face must have been easily readable as Petrus nodded his head and pointed. Thio headed to the guest cabin to waste more time as they flew to Ascalon. In the guest cabin was another one of those horribly soft beds, Thio took the blankets off the bed and made a small sleeping space on the floor. He then fell asleep to the gentle rocking of the airship.