The three of them were back outside at the tree within the hour, Rive letting Seren know that they’d left and the captain deciding to wait until she felt safer. They could have continued talking inside the ship, but she needed to see the clouds around them and not feel the walls closing in on her.
“What happened to my clothes?” asked Seren. All the laundry she’d hung up was missing, and for a few seconds, all she could imagine was them cutting the line and letting everything drift away. Honestly, with how worried she’d been about being found out, it’s what she would have done.
“Rive told me to take them down before your dad recognized anything.” Vachlan pointed to the laundry basket. “It’s all still wet, sorry.”
“That’s fine,” she replied, smiling at the navigator. “I’d rather celebrate my continued freedom hanging it back up than be caught and heading home. Rive’s right, though. We can’t go to Wavemeet now, not since they’ll be there looking for me.”
“We still need a place that’s big enough to form a guild, so…south? To Shark’s Cove?”
“As long as it’s not Wavemeet.” Seren took a deep breath and let it out as slowly as possible. “That was terrifying.”
“What, exactly, happened?” asked Vachlan, looking between the two of them. “I feel I haven’t heard the entire story.”
“Thanks for pretending I was the captain,” Rive said, shaking their head. “I know there wasn’t much warning about that.”
“In a nutshell,” began Seren, “I ran away from home, stole this ship, and I don’t want to go back. Ever.”
“What she’s not saying,” added Rive as they put an arm around her shoulder, “is that the person who used to live in this airship is dead. We don’t know when or why, but Seren didn’t kill them. The family that so lovingly wants her back is her dad, who you met outside when he came aboard, and her father, a charmer. He’s used his abilities to keep Seren under his thumb all her life. Both of her parents are looking for her so they can imprison her again on the island she once thought was home. Inside, I asked what they would do to the captain and his answer was ‘talk and punish,’ so…”
Vachlan turned to Seren, her eyes wide and watery. “That’s… That’s quite the story. And now I feel my own wasn’t so bad.”
“Don’t trauma compare,” muttered Seren, wiping away a few leaky tears. She’d never thought or heard about her life in quite those words. “We don’t need a contest of whose life is worse.”
“Not mine,” Rive said cheerfully, leaning forward to ruffle both Seren’s hair and Vachlan’s feathers. “So, it’s decided? Shark’s Cove?”
“We don’t have a choice. It’s either that, find a new place, or continue on and hope we don’t run into either of my parents.” Seren moved away from Rive and tried to flatten her hair. “Also, is it normal for people to coat weapons in poison?”
“...no.” Rive shook their head. “That’s normally used for when you really hate a person and want them to be in pain before they die, or if you simply need them dead. Like an assassination.”
“My parents are farmers on an island I can’t locate on a map,” said Seren, holding her head in her hands. “Why would anyone want to attack them? They have nothing worth stealing, and they’ve done nothing to piss those kinds of people off.”
“Mistaken identity?”
“Maybe you don’t know them as well as you think?”
Both Rive and Seren turned to Vachlan.
“I mean, what do you actually know about your parents? I knew Tairdi until xe did things I thought were out of character, and then I found out xe had been hiding a cold, calculating spirit. Maybe they have a past they’ve been hiding from you?”
“They’re farmers? I mean, I don’t know what they would even have done that would deserve this type of response.”
“I’m still leaning toward mistaken identity,” interjected Rive. “Somewhere, someone heard their names, stormed the island, and that’s the end.”
“Okay.” Vachlan nodded. “That might be easy enough to check when we land. What are their names?”
Seren opened her mouth to answer, then slowly shut it again. “Huh. I, um… actually don’t know their first names.”
Rive looked at her in shock, but the expression on Vachlan’s was smug, as if she’d already perceived what Seren was going to say.
“I mean, my last name is Affoill, and I heard everyone always calling them Mr. Affoill, but I don’t remember anyone using their first names.”
“That’s weird. I know the full names of all my parents, even some of my grandparents. And especially all my siblings.”
“I knew my family, even if they hated each other.”
“They’ve told me stories,” continued Seren. “Tales about their family members, but I’m remembering them and there’s nothing in there about names.”
“...huh.” Rive rubbed their chin. “That’s odd.”
“What?”
“I just realized that he never told me his first name, either. Captain Affoill, and the entire time he was here, he talked about himself and his husband. Nothing personal, no names… Not unless he was talking about Seren.”
Seren stood up and brushed a leaf away from her hair. “Vachlan, can you catch up with their ship?!”
“Of course. Why?”
“Be ready to fly like the wind when I get back.” She could feel Rive and Vachlan watching her as she sprinted inside the shell and snatched the pencil and her favorite book from the shelf. Flipping through the pages, Seren underlined some passages, doodled in other areas, and last, wrote her name on the inside of the cover.
“I’ll miss you,” she whispered. “Keep father company, okay?”
Then the pencil was thrown back on the desk as she ran outside to Vachlan, and shoved the book at her claw before she could second guess herself. “Take this and fly it to him. When you give it over, mention that Captain Serri checked the book after he left and found Seren’s name in there, along with what looked like notes, places where she might have wanted to go. The captain must—and you have to convince him of this!—must know his name so they can get in touch with him again if they find the missing daughter.”
“Understood.” Vachlan nodded and clacked her beak. “One name coming right up!”
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
She hopped to the edge of the landing pad, spread her wings, and took off. Rive and Seren followed her dark shadow until the clouds swallowed her up.
“My book...” Seren could feel the tears welling up at the thought of losing one of her favorite books. Sure, she still had the second copy, but that one had been through so much with her.
“Think about it this way,” said Rive, stepping forward to give her a hug. “You have a copy that will remind you of the time spent on the ship with us, and if your parents ever manage to take you back, you’ll see your book again.”
“I just...” She sniffed. “I have so many memories with that book.”
“And you’ll make fresh memories with us.” They squeezed her again, then stepped back and cast the net out for Vachlan. “Also, that was a smart thing to do.”
“Hopefully, we’ll get my dad’s first name.”
Rive laughed, and she turned to them.
“My thoughts were beyond Vachlan getting us the information, I trust that she’ll return with it.” They flashed her a smile. “I’m just hoping they’re connected to something big. If their names are too common, that won’t help.”
“True…If all that happened was them being ostracized by a local community, we’d never find out why. Then again, if that was actually an assassin, then it’d have had to have been something big.”
“Or they pissed off someone with money.” Rive shrugged. “You good staying out here? I want to start a project in the engine room, something we’ll be able to use for a quick burst of energy when we need it.”
“I’ll stay here. I’ve got to put my laundry back up, anyway.”
“Find me when Vachlan comes back. I’m really curious now.”
Seren nodded, then watched them walk off, then turned her attention to the laundry. “I guess it’s a good thing I only brought a few extra clothes. And at least the line’s still up in the branches.”
Her first mate must have thought that it would either be unnoticed, or dismissed as insignificant. For now, the place was sufficient. It might take a while for everything to dry under the leaves, but with three people it wasn’t so bad. A fourth person would have them stretched too thin and they would need…
“Well, space,” she said to herself, snagging the basket and pulling it to where she could grab things and flip them over the line. “Or steal another ship.”
That last part made her laugh. “All I wanted to do was see a bit more of the world, and now I’m the captain of a stolen ship thinking about adding another.”
A skirt followed the shirt. “I mean, it’s letting me see places I wouldn’t have seen otherwise, so I guess it’s working the way it should.”
Seren paused, leaning against the tree. “But what the hell is going on with my parents? And when did this all start?”
Several things that had happened before she’d left, obviously, but she couldn’t see how they were all connected. Had the attackers snuck onto the island with the ship? It really wasn’t built for transporting people, but if they were dealing with assassins, how many did a person actually hire at one time?
If it was because of the ship, that meant the attacks happened after she’d left, probably on the same day... but didn’t her father just now seeking healing help mean it happened recently, like yesterday? Or was he poisoned when she stole the ship and it was hitting him hard now?
Also, why her father and not her dad? Was that on purpose, or an accident? As a master charmer, he was the most dangerous, but her dad, being a master of air, wasn’t someone to simply walk past. Both men would be fearful to fight.
A thud came from the side, and she saw Vachlan out of the corner of her eyes.
“He took your book, and I got a name!” She hopped closer to the tree. “Trath!”
Trath. Seren wrinkled her nose at the mouth movements she made. The sound almost connected with her image of him. It was perfect in one way since it was a soft word for the softer of her parents, and he’d always been the one to comfort her after a hard day. ‘T’ wasn’t the letter she’d use for him, though…maybe a rounder “D” or a soft “G.”
“I asked about his husband’s name, too, saying that I would wish him healing and happiness, but my religion requires knowing the full name of the person.”
“You got it?!”
“No, that’s when he looked a little closer at me and shook his head no.”
“Did he say why?”
“Not to me, but to himself, which I could catch on the wind right before I flew out of range.” She puffed up a bit, proud that she’d come back with more information. “I’ve already put all of us in enough danger.”
Seren wanted to go back and strangle her dad. “That’s it? What danger?! Ugh, should I be worried about assassins too?”
Vachlan shrugged. “I mean, there’s danger in everything, and probably even more when we finally make our first guild level, so it’s always good to make sure you’re looking out for yourself. Other than that, though... It would be helpful to know what exactly you need to look out for.”
“Right! It’s stupid to worry most about drowning when your ship is high in the sky.” Seren took up the basket, stepping over to where Rive had thrown the net. She began pulling it in and coiling it at the bottom so it wouldn’t knot. “Trath. Well, at least we have a name to start with. Trath Affoill. Maybe a captain, maybe not.”
“What are we going to do about meals and food while on ship?” asked Vachlan, her words followed by a slight thudding sound.
“Hungry?” Seren stopped hauling the net in and looked. “Am I seeing a bottle in there?”
“Flying takes a lot out of a woman, so if I can have some meat, dried or salted, that would be good. And yes, that’s a glass bottle.”
“A glass bottle in the clouds... How the hell does it end up here? It should sink.” Seren picked it up and examined it. “There’s paper inside.”
“Maybe it’s a message?”
“I wish I knew more about cloudlarking.” Seren pulled up the rest of the net, put the bottle on top of it, then picked up the basket. “Supposedly it’s easy, just fish things out of clouds, but the more I think about it, the more my head hurts. Same thing with capturing lightning? How does that work? Honestly, making sure you get something to eat inside is one of the easier things for the day.”
“Thanks.” Seren moved inside and Vachlan followed her. “It’s not my kitchen anymore, so it doesn’t feel right just taking food.”
“I want to say eat when you need to, but I’m not sure how much food you need when you’re flying around much more than before.”
Seren sat on the bed as Vachlan rummaged through the kitchen, looking for wherever Rive had hidden the food.
“What do you think is in here?”
“A note, like you said.” Vachlan let out a whoop of happiness when she found the bag of jerky. Then a noise that Seren could only think of as a grumpy bird snort. “It’s tied.”
Ahhhh... and if she used both claws to try untying the bag, then she’d be wrestling on the floor with it.
“Trade you,” offered Seren, holding out the bottle. “I can’t get the top to pop out, but you should be able to hook it with your claw.”
“Done.”
They swapped items, and within a few seconds, Seren was giving back the bag of food and Vachlan was handing her the opened bottle.
“We’re going to have to make sure you can open everything here,” muttered Seren, filing that thought away in her brain. That wasn’t what she’d thought she’d need to figure out when flying a ship. She flipped the bottle over and let the paper slide out.
Writing this note is the remains of Silver Drizzle, Spring Mist faction. As of this writing, we’ve been stuck longer than a year and most of us have given up hope. There’s fresh water and food, no tools to make a raft, and strong currents preventing us from swimming. If you find this, please help.
We don’t know our coordinates, but we had set off from Douard Ridge and capsized soon after, so we should be in the area. I’ve tied one of our shirts around the tallest tree to aid you. May the winds be kinder to you than they were to us. Khy.
“We need to help them!”
“If they’re even still alive,” Vachlan pointed out. “Is the letter dated? Or is there anything on the bottle?”
Seren checked both sides and tried to see if the date had been hidden in a corner. The bottle they’d found the note in was no better, a simple lightly tinted purple glass with no stamp of sale on it, and if there had been paper around the sides that was long gone. “Nothing.”
“It could have been written years ago. Who knows how long it’s been waiting for someone to find it?”
“Or they could have written it last week!” Seren argued, clenching the paper in her hand. “Isn’t it our duty to find and rescue anyone who needs it?”
“Is it? I didn’t realize that was our mission.” Wings fluttered in enough of a flurry that a few feathers dropped off and fell onto the landing. “I thought we were going to Shark’s Cove to form a guild and find someone who can enlarge this ship?”
Seren pressed her lips firmly together. Vachlan was correct, but…people needed to help each other. What if it was them writing this note? Wouldn’t they want someone who would find them?