After another two seasons of preparation, the expedition was finally ready to set out. The ship that was built for this trip was completely unlike all the other ships in the harbor. Where the other ships all fell into two general types with their own shape, this ship was vastly different.
The first thing Aiko had noticed when she arrived at the start of the spring thaw, was that this ship had far too many of the poles sticking out all over the place. Where the smaller fishing ships all had one pole sticking up near the front and the bigger coastal ships had two poles in line with the ship where they hung the big tarps, this ship had seven or eight and some of them were even sticking out at angles over the water.
Aiko wasn’t sure what the function of any of the poles or sticks or ropes was but she could clearly tell that this ship used magic to move in some way. She could feel the lines of magic and in certain areas of the hull she could even see it etched into the surface of the ship.
The three books had all been copied and there were three copies of each on the ship as well as general knowledge on a dozen other subjects. They had stores of food that she knew was packed in magic containers to keep it fresh. There were seeds and other things packed away in various parts of the ship. They had been told that the ship needed a certain weight to operate and she had helped pack every spare crevice with possibly useful things.
She had gotten the Premier to fund the orphanage indefinitely and he liked the kids so much he ordered one built in each town and in the capitol city of Safeharbor. That was one less thing she would have to worry about. Speaking of worrying, the shipsmaster was saying it was time to get on the ship.
At first, the crew of the ship only put up two of the big tarps on the poles in the middle of the ship but that was apparently only to get the ship away from the harbor. As the sun started to get higher in the sky and the harbor was barely a speck on the horizon behind them, the crew started pulling out a lot more tarps and tying them to the poles.
Aiko watched with fascination as the crew pulled ropes one way and tarps went the other. Tarps were tied from several spots on the biggest poles in the center and then strung the other way from the poles in the front. There were even big tarps sticking out to the sides over the edge of the water.
At some point, a signal was given and several magic apparatuses were activated. Suddenly, the ship that was going about as fast as a leisurely jog, lurched up from the water and started moving at a pace that the giant riding birds would have a hard time keeping up with.
Aiko looked around to see what had changed and found a pair of glowing blue rings of magic passing under the ship from poles hanging over the side of the ship. She ran over to the edge to get a better look and saw that the bands barely dipped into the water under the ship and that water was going by a lot faster than she thought it was.
Aiko didn’t get long to gawk because soon one of the crew came over and asked her not to get too close to the edge because they might not be able to turn around and find her before she drown if she fell over the edge. She resolutely decided that she much preferred the middle of the ship.
Later, she discovered a pair of tubes on the back that were drawing wind into them and pushing it out the back to make the ship go even faster. The crew were only too happy to tell her all about the ship and how it worked. Late that first night, Aiko lay awake in her hammock, reading the Nautialis Compendicus which had gotten a lot more interesting with a real example to go off of.
Six days later, the ship was moving along at the usual pace when suddenly there was a commotion. The crew were clustered on either side of the ship pointing and chattering so Aiko set down her copy of Introduction To Magic Fundamentals and went over to see what the fuss was about.
There were big gray fish jumping out of the water beside the ship! There were probably ten or more of them between both sides and sometimes they were making this strange sound when they jumped. Aiko marveled at the strange things for a little while, they were mesmerizing but eventually she got bored with them.
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The next day the crew rushed to the railings again and Aiko thought that the fish were back and ignored them. Suddenly, the ship lurched and began slowing down and lowering into the water. She ran over to the railing and what she saw astounded her.
Swimming in rings around the ship were people with the upper half of a humanoid and the lower half of a long fish! There were a lot of them too. The crew were all gawking because the vast majority of them were men and the vast majority of the fish-people were women, as evidenced by their naked upper bodies.
Aiko had heard many of the crew talking about her and imagining what it would be like to sleep with someone who was less than a quarter their size. At least, they made those comments until Brass caught them and set them straight on what would happen if he ever heard them speculate those things about her again. Suddenly, Aiko was hearing all of the worst thoughts the crew had pent up directed towards the women circling the ship.
Aiko was about to have a panic attack about what the fish-people were thinking about what they were hearing when she caught a snippet of conversation from the water. Two of the fish women were speculating if the men on the ship could be coaxed into the water where they could have some fun. Aiko looked between the two groups incredulously.
Only, when she did, she realized something. The people on the boat didn’t act like they had heard the women. When she considered it, the men were definitely being loud enough for the women to hear so why would they keep pondering each-other’s intent.
Coming to a sudden realization, Aiko jumped up onto the rail and scrabbled along it till she was in front of Menk and Zeyn. “Guys, listen. What do you hear?”
Menk: “Oh come on. They’re just talking. The crew aren’t going to start dragging a bunch of fish women aboard and…”
Zeyn: “I think she gets the idea! Look, It’s harmless but if you want me to stop it.”
Aiko: “No, I mean from the women in the water? Do you hear them talking? I don’t think you need to worry about the crew.”
Zeyn: “Hear them talking? I hear a bunch of whistling and clicking noises but are you saying that is them talking?”
Aiko: “Whistling and clicking? Wait, Let me see if I can call one over. Doesn’t this ship have an area made for these people?”
Menk: “Yeah, the whole bottom level of the ship lets water in and there is a ramp on either side at the back that goes down into the water. The ship holds a bunch of water even when it’s moving fast up over the top of the water. You’re saying that that is actually made for these people?”
A short walk later, Aiko, Menk, Zeyn, and a curious group of the crew were standing only a hand’s width above the water in the back of the boat. There were many of the fish-people watching them and chattering about what they might be doing. Aiko pointed at a stout-looking woman not too far from the back railing and began. “You there. Would you mind coming over and talking with us?”
There was a collective gasp from both the people on the boat and the fish-people in the water. Suddenly all eyes were on her and she wished she had kept reading instead.
Zeyn: “Aiko… Did, did you just speak fish?”
Aiko: “What do you mean? What did it sound like I said? I just asked the big woman there if she would come over and talk with us.”
Menk: “It sounded to me like you were trying to lure a bird to land on your head. You were whistling and clicking like they are… were.”
Zeyn: “I think you freaked them out just as much as you did us! You can really speak fish eh? That is going to be really handy.”
Aiko suddenly remembered her status sheet and looked at it again. Sitting right there in one of the little lines in her vision was the word Omniglot. The description read that she could speak, read, and write any language. She almost devolved into a shaking, panicking mess as the memory of the great goddess speaking to them from out of fire hit her out of nowhere. She had all but forgotten about that happening in the elven village. Only Brass’s firm, reassuring grip on her shoulder snapped her out of it.
Aiko looked wide-eyed up at her friends and the crew. “I’m… I… When the goddess spoke to everyone about the system, she said she would leave the gift of speech with some. I-I got that skill. I’m a chosen of the goddess!”
Brass looked at Aiko curiously. “I always thought you knew. When the first year was over, I lost the ability to understand everyone and I depended on you to understand everybody. Then there were the goblin children. If you hadn’t been there, nobody would have believed they were anything but monsters. You were the only one that could talk to them at first, love. I always knew you were special.”
The rest of the day was spent forming lasting relationships between the crew and the Mrrrrkt. Aiko ended up just calling them Mer for the convenience of the crew. Aiko did very little meaningful translation that first day. When it was fully understood that both sides wanted mostly the same thing, Aiko bowed out of the negotiations and the waist-deep perpetually-flooded hold of the ship suddenly got a lot noisier. On the upside, at least her lover was aboard.