Floating islands lush with greenery sailed past them. Their airborne boat flying close enough that they could see the wildlife of the forests.

Small critters, similar to squirrels and other rodents, jumped from island to island, floating across the void in between with the help of their stretchy skin which slowed their fall to a smooth glide.

“Hey look Yuri, that one looks a lot like you”

Helgi pointed toward a small rodent that glided towards them, landing right in front of Helgi.

“How does that look anything like me.Your rat face looks way more similar to it than anything about me”

Yuri answered off-handedly.

“I didn’t mean how it looked, but how it acted”

Looking closer she noticed that Helgi was softly rubbing the little creature behind its ears while it comfortably snuggled close to his hand.

“What are you- what are you implying..” Her eyes narrowed at Helgi.

“Now, Yuri, don’t get tempted into a fight. This ship is unstable as it is”

Hikaru rubbed Yuri’s head, making her instantly relax her muscles.

(nn..Hikaru is really good at head massages..)

She thought to herself while breathing out contently.

Slightly opening her eyes, she noticed Helgi grinning at her.

“H-huh?” She looked from the grinning Helgi to Hikaru, who had his hand resting on her head while looking at her curiously.

(I-it doesn’t look like a head massage to other people…!)

Realising this while growing flustered, she turned her head away from Hikaru and Helgi, so as to cover her blush.

(...So embarrassing...So..Helgi implied..that i was being..petted..?)

Her head shook in denial.

(No,No. That can’t be true. It’s just Helgi teasing. I’m sure it’s just a normal head massage. Otherwise why would Hikaru do it. Yes. Of course. Damn you Helgi for trying to confuse me.)

[https://kalbobzone.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/air-balloon-trip-sketch.jpg]

She turned her head back toward Helgi, her eyes glaring daggers.

“Gal’s and lad’s, we are arrivin now!”

Ahab yelled out, despite him being right next to them.

“We can hear you..don’t yell!”

Yuri complained. Her spat with Helgi put aside for now.

“Aye, sorry, i tend to get overexcited when i see land”

He apologised.

“There’s been land all around us the whole time.. anyway.”

She shook her head and leaned slightly over the edge of the ship. Looking ahead.

Ahead of them was an island bigger than the small forested ones they had come across up to now. This was an island that could likely fit hundreds of thousands of people, and that is if they each had their own individual houses.

Despite this entire country of floating islands existing inside a hollowed out mountain, all the buildings on the islands, were curiously made of wood. There wasn’t a single speck of stone or metal to be seen. Even the tall towers were all made of wood, which made Yuri curious over how they didn’t topple over with the island being in constant motion.

“How come none of the houses are made of bricks..?”

Yuri asked their captain for this trip.

“Hm? Where would we get ourselves sum rocks yah think?”

“What do you mean? You’re surrounded by a mountain and you have islands everywhere..?”

She was dumbfounded as to why these people would use such flimsy material that could easily burn down such a densely populated city.

“Is it because it would be too heavy to float..?”

“No yah fool, our islands can take the weight of a hundred more islands on top!”

“It’s because your supply of rock is limited, while your supply of wood is renewable.”

Helgi nodded understandingly.

“Ayeh. Yer smart lad. if we dug up our islands, we’d have nowhere to live. And if we dug up our mountain..”

“You would no longer have an all mighty wall protecting you.”

Hikaru finished his sentence for him.

“Yer correct, we are just fine with our wooden houses, thank yah very much. Our wall does our protectin, and we aint got no nasty weather other than rain. Our houses have stood for thousands of years, and we like it that way, it’s tradition lass, tradition!”

Ahab was so outspoken that he almost crashed the airship into the island while parking. Nudging it enough for everyone to almost fall sideways.

“Now we’ve arrived, i’ll be stayin here for a few days, so if yah need a ride around, you come to me. Aint no one with a fairer price round here than kind Ahab. Kindest in the land!”

“Yeah yeah, sure Ahab. See you around”

They left the captain with an uncommitted reply and headed into the city.

The inside of the city was completely different than what they were used to.

Everything was made of anything other than stone and metals. The houses were wood, the windows were wood. The signs were of wood and paper. Even the lanterns which usually were made of glass or metal to not burn, were made of feathers that seemed slick with oil, which were likely preventing it from catching fire.

The people as well, didn’t wear any kind of metals or stones on them, without exception. Which meant that none wore any sort of traditional jewlery associated with wealth. They instead wore jewelry made of intricately woven cloth. So intricate that each one seemed to be completely unique from the other.

The few guards they saw while walking in, all wore traditional weapons, a spear and a sword. But they had  not even a hint of metal. The spear was completely wooden, essentially being a sharp stick.

While the swords they bore were made of some sort of layered paper, that seemed to be eternally frozen with unknown magic. The freezing of the layered paper, making it stiff and hard, presumably enough so that it was able to cut through people's flesh.

“So interesting...all of these workarounds and creations that wouldn’t have been discovered if they had just resorted to using minerals..It’s always interesting what isolated communities come up with to get past their limitations.”

Observing everything with fascinated eyes, Helgi’s learned background showed itself in his observations.

“Indeed, they have had thousands of years to advance their alternate arts of craft. Yet it’s somehow disappointing to see that absolutely nothing has changed since my last visit here.”

Hikaru breathed in and out slowly while shaking his head.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Wow! Look at all these things! Ice swords.! why is everything made of feathers?  ohhh swirly pattern armband! cool, and even the floor is made of wooden bricks! Isn’t that cool?! Everything here is so elegant and pretty”

Yuri was running around excitedly, not paying attention to their conversation. Her white dress fluttering around her like the wings of a bird. Her joyful and excited expression was bright enough to outshine the plentiful lanterns around her.

Hikaru didn’t agree with her about everything being elegant and pretty. Compared to Yuri, everything around her seemed dull and rough. The softness of her features, the bright light that always shone in her eyes, her warm smile. Even the way she moved when she hopped around excitedly. It somehow seemed...precise and beautiful to him.

“-ikaru, hey Hikaru!”

He was awakened from his slight transfixion by Helgi’s voice.

(What am i even thinking. This is not like me. I shouldn’t have these thoughts.)

Blinking his eyes repeatedly to make the image of Yuri disappear. He turned toward Helgi.

“Like i was asking, what do you mean nothing changed?”

Helgi asked again.

“Mhm. look around you. You are far better than me at reading people.”

“What are you talking about..?”

But following his suggestion, Helgi stopped looking at all the interesting things around him. Instead focusing on the much less interesting people. He immediately knew what Hikaru was talking about.

Ugh..outsiders, why do they even let them in. Isn’t that what the wall is there for.

Dear me..is that girl wearing a glove of...metal? How utterly disgusting..! Who would let her do such a thing?

That man..his sword..did you see? It’s made of metal. What kind of decent human being would use the sacred earth which supports us..to take someone else's life..

Excuse me guard..are these people really allowed here..?

“Of course..isolated societies are always wary of outsiders..how could i have forgotten about that”

Helgi slapped his forehead in realisation.

“Ahab’s claim of being the kindest might actually be true in this case”

“Wary is a kind way to put it. When i first visited here, i found it very difficult to get any work done, due to the various restrictions..official and unofficial that were made against outsiders. I don’t want Yuri to be subjected to that treatment..”

Hikaru glanced back at Yuri, who was observing some uncomfortable people from an overly close distance with eyes glittering of curiosity.

“Hikaru. She’s a world famous criminal. She’s been handling criticism harsher than just some outsider hatred, don’t underestimate Yuri”

Patting Hikaru’s shoulder with a slightly condescending look, Helgi smiled.

“I mean, what are you even getting concerned about now, rather than being concerned that she would be harassed for being a famous criminal? Aren’t you starting to get a little overprotective?”

“Perhaps..but this hatred toward outsiders is often displayed against women in a...sexual manner.”

His eyes brimming with concern, Hikaru looked at Helgi.

Helgi’s face instantly became serious.

“We need to get her away from these people.”

“Indeed.” Hikaru agreed.

Both looking back at Yuri, they found her annoying a couple of well dressed men, who were visibly annoyed at Yuri’s proximity.

“Hey, hey! Do you know where the closest inn is? Also what’s that you’re wearing, ohh a hidden frozen dagger! Cool, you know i have a dagger too, but it’s metal and not frozen-”

They were too late. Yuri was already bombarding some locals with questions, not noticing or maybe not caring about their displeased faces.

Eventually one of the men snapped at Yuri.

“Listen here you god damned harlot! I don’t care about you, I’m not going to answer any of your questions! Now get the hell away from me before i bend you over and-”

Before he finished his sentence, two fists flew into his face, smashing his nose and jaw in.

“Wasn’t he very rude, Hikaru? he sure was, what a bastard!”

Helgi and Hikaru pulled back their bloody fists.

“Indeed he was, we should go find an inn now.”

Yuri was pulled away from the now unconscious man and dragged into another street. All the while she looked at the both of them with confused blinking eyes.

“Mm…?”

--

“Alright what’s our next course of action?”

Helgi asked, sitting down at a table of the completely empty inn. Rarely anyone used inns, unless they visited from the floating islands near the edges.

He put down a tray of food and drinks in front of Hikaru and Yuri.

“What are our priorities? Yuri, you said you wanted to find this mystery Beast?”

Hikaru looked at Yuri.

“Hmm..well yeah. I would like that. But i also want to find the relic..you said before that if we go for the relic first we might have to leave this city..country..? island place.”

She began eating what Helgi had brought. Nodding at how delicious her strange fried meat was.

“Indeed. If we decide to go for the beast as well, then that should be our first target.”

Hikaru said.

“But wouldn’t that be shifting our priorities in a bad way? What if we end up pissing off this entire country because they didn’t like us looking into this beast, or something similar”

Helgi shook his head and took a drink of his beer.

“Then..how about we don’t act on anything yet. What we need first is information, like always. So let’s try and find out some information about both if there is a relic and if there is any beast and where they might be”

Yuri suggested while stuffing her cheeks.

“That seems wise” Hikaru nodded.

“Who should go for what?” Helgi asked.

“Hmm...Since Hikaru already knows the weird captain..i guess he can go find information on the beast..and since Helgi is good at talking to people..Helgi should try and find rumours or information about the relic by doing what he does best”

Satisfied with her choices, Yuri took a big swig of her beer, washing down her food and drink in one swift go.

“Hah..delicious. The food here is great!”

“What about you?”Helgi asked.

“Oh. Hm..i guess i should go along with someone..” Yuri rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

“Yuri can come with me.” Both Helgi and Hikaru said at the time.

“No, with me.” They said once again in unison.

Hikaru narrowed his eyes, while Helgi smirked slightly.

“Alright alright, since you both seem worried about being lonely, i can just go one day with Hikaru and one day with Helgi. Fair?”

She asked.

They both nodded and began eating.

“Heh..you guys are like children, good thing you have me to make sure you behave”

Yuri puffed her chest proudly.

Both Hikaru and Helgi almost choked on their food with a laugh, startling Yuri.

“Huh? Why’d you guys laugh? What was funny?” She inquired.

“Nothing Yuri”

“Nothing notable Yuri”

They both answered.

“Oh come onnn, tell meee”

“You had a nose hair sticking out” Helgi lied.

“Eh! Really?”

Covering her nose, she rubbed it slightly out of sight while blushing slightly.

“Is it gone?”

“Nope, still there”

Yuri continued rubbing her nose embarrassingly, while the other two let out an amused sigh.

--

“Should we go directly to Ahab, or ask around first..?”

Yuri asked Hikaru as they walked out the inn.

“I doubt there is anything more Ahab can provide which i haven’t already heard from his father..but let us do that first anyway. We will have to talk to him eventually anyway”

With this decided, they headed toward the port where Ahab had let them off earlier.

“Didn’t think you’d be needin me services so soon”

Ahab remarked once he saw them from the distance, continuing to polish his ship.

“Slightly different services actually. We came to ask if your father had told you anything else about the beast?”

Hikaru stood in front of Ahab while Yuri sat down on the edge of the airship.

“Anythin else..? Well i don’t quite remember..what’s this bout anyway?”

Ceasing his polishing, Ahab stood up and cracked his back loudly.

“Rejoice Ahab, we’re going to prove your father wasn’t lying!”

Yuri stood up on the airship and pointed a finger at Ahab dramatically.

“Why would yuh go chasin after mists..?”

Ahab seemed suspicious.

“Well we aren’t doing it for free, you’re going to help us, and whatever we find there that isn’t the monster, is ours”

Yuri set up the terms for Ahab, who looked at her in contemplation.

“I knew there was sumthin different about yuh lot..yer after the monsters treasures arent you”

Ahab nodded understandingly.

“Alright, i will accept those terms of yours lass, i don’t need much other than to prove that my pappy wasn’t crazy”

“Alright~ So, do you have any clue where your father found the monster?”

She asked.

“Yah mean other than straight down..? Hm..i wouldn’t know..he never told me. But maybe he wrote it somewhere on his old ship..”

Ahab scratched his grey hair.

“His old ship? I thought he sold all of his ships to buy new ones?”

Hikaru was surprised at this unexpected action of the man he knew to be nothing more than a swindler.

“Aye. He wanted to keep the ship from his journey, to prove it to everyone. Of course, one old ship aint enough to prove nothin. We can go look at it now if yah want?”

Ahab offered.

“Show us the way, captain!”

Yuri saluted and jumped down from the airship, her dress flapping dangerously close to exposing what she wore beneath it.

Hikaru averted his eyes while coughing slightly.

“Oh no lass, we aint goin to walk, my home’s not on this island. Get on the ship. And no the ride aint free.”

--

Meanwhile..in a much darker and more intimate place, on the other side of the island.

“Oh dear..i didn’t know outsiders were so..interesting..”

A finely dressed woman was leaned over just a bit too close to the person beside her.

Sitting next to her, Helgi was pouring another drink in their mugs while smiling.

“Well, i never stay in one place too long, so i guess even among the outsiders, i’m a bit of a rarity”

“You know..when you approached me earlier, i thought i was going to have yell for the guards..I’m glad i didn’t..”

She leaned up against him while sipping her drink.

“I just couldn’t resist. One look and i was stricken. i had to have you close, if getting arrested by some guards was the price, then so be it.”

Helgi softly brushed her hair.

What he said wasn’t a lie. Not fully at least. Once he got a look at her, he knew he had to get close to her before she got away. Although his reasons were different to what she believed. The first thing he noticed about her wasn’t her, but what she was wearing.

“You are just..the sweetest. No one has ever been interested in me this much before you know?”

“I’m fighting to contain myself being this close to you..”

He looked into her eyes, the look in her eyes told him all he needed to know.

“Then...let’s head up..to my room..shall we..?”

She slowly stood up with Helgi, clinging close to him.

He had one arm wrapped around her, lightly twisting a small badge on her clothes while they headed off together.

A badge that looked very similar to what someone of a high ranking in either the army, or the police force would wear.

(Good thing Yuri wasn’t with me on the first day, i doubt she would have wanted to help me with this)

Helgi laughed in his mind and squeezed the woman closer to him.

(Now let’s see what you spill out in the heat of the night shall we..?)