Fate - First Reply Finn's Fantastic Airship Service

[Finn]

The very slight young women full of awkward angles and limbs twisted her thin lips into a frown as she looked at the printed advertisement. They added the word 'Fantastic.' That was too much pressure. What if her services were only mediocre at best?

Adjusting her glasses, she put the paper down and climbed over the side of her small transporter ship. Her airship. She'd been short on gold lately and needed to take a few jobs. And while she preferred keeping her nose in the clouds away from most folk, she'd just have to suck it up for some coin. Not seeing anyone coming down the road yet, she took another turn around her ship, carefully checking the ropes and gears. Clammy palms wiped on her pants, a half-glare up toward the blistering sun above.

 

[Garrod Arlette]

Garrod looked at the flyer stuck to the kiosk with a slim nail. Finn's Fantastic Airship Service. He grabbed it and yanked it off, a bit of paper tearing as part of the nail's tax, and read the fine print.


"Now, that seems like a quick way to get out of dodge," He smiled impishly to himself, and stuffed the flyer in a pouch on his belt.

The monster hunter made his way to the specified location, his large pack slung over his shoulder, and his great-sword resting on the other side of his back, handle poking out about his head. He wore his armor and gauntlet, and had an extra something secured to the small of his back. A case made of fine wood, with an intricate lock that kept it shut. A series of wheels with little glyphs etched into them, fine and delicate work.


He would arrive at the specified location, and would find a young woman going over a stocky looking ship. It reminded him of a wagon, if only stranger. "Scuse me," he started, and pulled out the advert, quick to unfold it and wave it as if it were a ticket. "You the fantastic Finn?"

 

[Finn]

Heat that went beyond the summer sun overhead warmed her face. Her paler skin giving her away every time. Blue eyes traveled up his form. He was a formidable looking someone. Then again, most folk next to her smaller, skinny, and short frame were.

"It's just Finn," she finally found her voice. It cracked a little. Stepping out of the rigging, she inched forward, much like a nervous mouse.

"Where do you need to go? I also require half of the payment up front. The other half when we land." Skinny-shoulders squared. The little inventor trying to look intimidating like Talus taught her.

 

[Garrod Arlette]

Garrod eyed the young woman, noted the hints at nervousness. "What's your going rate anyway?" he asked, and stepped closer as he eyed the ship, walked about it in a wide and deliberate circle, as if he were still making up his mind.

He noted the rigging with a nod, and lines that hung from its... bladder? Air skin? Bag, he would call it an air bag. It all seemed tied down nicely, neatly. if his time on sea going vessels was worth anything. Probably not, but she didn't need to know that. "Need to make it out of Dairiada territory and all the way to Elbion," he added, and found her from across the bow of the proud little ship. "Can't give you half if I don't know how much half is, now can I?" He said with an easy smile.

You trust this... thing? Belephus asked nervously from within his jewel. Fool. You are mortal, and human at that. You are not meant to sail the skies.

 

[Finn]

Finn fidgeted as he paced, appraising her ship. Her ship. And she was never one who liked staying on the ground much. It made her...nervous. Aaaaand he had to ask about going to the one place - the last place - she wanted to return to.

"Elbion?" Voice squeaked.

Throat cleared. Thin shoulders squared. "Um. Not a problem. You'll be dropped in the outskirts of course. I don't like her being seen by the masses," thumb hooked over her shoulder to indicate her ship.

"And that'll be twenty gold pieces. Ten now. Ten upon arrival. And NO FIGHTING while on-board." She straightened her glasses on the bridge of her nose. "That's a rule." Moving to the sides of the ship she began the unanchoring process. Then scrambled up a rope ladder on one of the sides. Head peaked back out above the warrior.

"Well? You still interested?"

 

[Garrod Arlette]

Garrod quirked a brow, as she adjusted her lenses, and her bright blue eyes fixed on him with a freezing authority. She moved off, and he cleared his throat, free from her arresting gaze. He scratched at his chin with clawed tips of his armored hand as he listened to her.

She asked if he was still interested, already heads and shoulders above him on the ladder. That was... impressive.

"Twenty gold, huh?" he repeated, and followed her up the rope ladder. it swayed and moved with each of his steps. His eye went wide with worry, and his heart nearly skipped a beat at the motion. Afraid to fall off, he scrambled up quick. Ugly, and jerky, definitely not as easily as the captain had made it look.

He managed to make it over the edge of the railing, and his boots swung over and clunked onto the deck. "Twenty gold," he said with certainty, and a quick nod, eye still looking over the height he had just traversed, and his hand was sifting through a pouch at his belt, the soft clink of coins heard coming. "Sounds like the right price for inside the city," he added, confidence restored.

He pulled a string of coins, a fine twine wrapped around each twinkling piece, a measure to ease transactions and prevent pick pockets. "Eighteen sounds like a fairer price for the outskirts," he finished, and let the ten pieces of gold clink in his open palm, tink by warm soft tink. "Ten now, eight when we land," he winked at her as he offered the first payment.

 

[Finn]

She looked at him closely. Judging his weight with that armor of his. She'd need extra wood for the fire to keep the heat up more than she usually had it. Good thing she was already well supplied.

"Deal," she finally said and quickly pocketed the coins he offered.

"Should be able to reach the outskirts of the city in two days if we have the wind." She looked over her shoulder at the windvane on one of the starboard attachments. "Three if we don't."

Long, slender fingers flexed at her sides.

"Okay, so head is that way," she pointed to the prow. It was nestled just beneath the nose of the ship. Thumb jerked over her shoulder at the small, enclosed cabin. "You'll find two strung up hammocks in there as well as a small table for eating." It was an open space with windows on starboard and port sides. Shelves lined the back wall inside, full of built in shelves that kept all her little plants well anchored during rough skies. She also had a closed cupboard space bolted into the wall that held her small assortment of plates, cups, silverware, teas, and dried goods. She even had a water tank set-up beneath the cabin that would last them a good week before they'd need to resupply.

It was clever engineering.

A steering wheel sat on the platform above the cabin. Fire stoking station just behind that, would fill up the canvas of the balloon that would take them up. "Mind giving me a hand with getting the fire stoked?"

 

[Garrod Arlette]

"Two days?" Garrod said, unable to hide the thrill in his voice. "That really is something," the trip would've lasted triple that, if not two weeks or more by wagon, longer if by foot. Not even by sea would the time be cut so short.

His excitement, however, was cut short as the captain cut a look across her shoulder, he followed her eye up, but found his gaze pulled down by small movements, then toward where she gestured, the prow. She was quick, and efficient, and his head swam a little as it tried to keep up. He had been on ships before, but, he was on an airship now. And they were already in the air! Technically. Her hand cut again, and her thumb pointed at the accommodations.

Wide eyed, Garrod nodded. "Right," he replied. and was starting to make his way to the cabin to let off his things when she asked for some help. "Ye-yeah! I'll be right there," he added. Quick steps took him into the cabins, and he appreciated the compact, yet roomy feel of the shelter. A clever mind had made clever work. He let down his pack and rested his tall sword against the wall, and started to remove his gauntlet as his eye noticed the group of little plants secured upon the shelves. "Huh," he huhed.

Don't you dare take me off! Belephus shouted. What if I fall out? Hmm? Who will save you then?

Garrod huffed, and undid the last few straps, and slipped his arm out of the leather sleeve that was like a second skin to his right arm.

Tie me down at least! The demon in the jewel demanded. His venom smoke voice hissing fainter in Garrod's mind.

Still, he made sure to put him square under the weight of his pack, nice and stuffed in a corner. A little lighter without his gauntlet, he flexed his hand and made out of the Cabin, and up the stairs. "The fire, you said?" he asked, his eye searching the floor, only to find the stove-like station, flames crackling happily as smoke billowed up into the balloon. Wide eyed, he stood for a moment. "Fantastic," he said, smile wide across his face. "And that is what holds us up?" he asked, forgetting her request as he looked for the captain, a youthful twinkle in his eye.

 

[Finn]

If Finn knew she had some demon stowaway onboard, she definitely would've charged a little extra. But that was neither here nor there. "Yup," she called down to him, wiping the back of her arm across her moistened brow. Thin strands of dirty-blonde hair shifting in the breeze that was in their favor.

She stoked the fire, working as efficiently as her small, little muscles could.

"If you're worried about falling off, we can tie a lead line around your waist?" She offered, not really reading his expression right. She figured anyone up in one of these would probably be nervous. She knew Talus had been the first time he'd gone up.

 

[Garrod Arlette]

The breeze was nice. Even if he wasn't, "Oh, right," he said said and motioned for the bellows pump, "I can take over," he offered, a little embarrassed he had delayed for so long. if she let him, he'd take over the work. Trying to match the rhythm he'd seen her muster with the contraption as she had worked up a sweat. "Not," he said with some effort as his arms worked the contraption, he felt the hot rush of air flow out from the fire chamber with each motion, watched the wood crackle and burn. Heard it hiss and pop. He smiled wide, despite the effort. "As easy as you made it look!" but, it did get easier the more pumps he got in.

"I'm i'm alright, thanks," he said as he felt his muscles warm with the work. "Ain't too afraid of heights to be honest, and I rather like the wind," not that that really had anything to do with it. But it was true. "The wobble of the ladder, well," he smiled a little, and sweat began to run down the side of his face from the wash of the fire. "Just wasn't real used to that i guess."

 

[Finn]

A smile lit up her face.

"Most folk aren't," she admitted. used to the ladder. Heights. Her ship. "Thank you," she took to the wheel as the balloon filled up and ever so slowly, the ship began to lift off the ground. And once it lifted, things went faster as they rose quickly. The wheel adjusted sails with the wind and soon enough they weren't just rising but moving forward in a very specific heading. Skimming just above the treetops.

Rising and moving forward.

"You're almost there," she called over her bony-shoulder. "After this would you like some tea?"

 

[Garrod Arlette]

"You're-" he grunted between pumps of air and swells of fire. "Very much welcome," hard as the work was, there was an undeniable look of excitement on the man's face. For all his travels and adventures, he'd never really had an experience like this. His body, worked and worked, and the flames grew and grew. He could hear the roar and hiss of the hot air rising. The strange stretch of the balloon guts as they swelled and stretched. He was not sure how it all came together, but it made a very strange sense to his mind. More sense to his body.

After all, he had ridden the currents of magicked gales, and used gouts of flame to speed along a swing of his sword. The two elements, so different, yet so strangely related. Now, on this ship, made to ride the very winds, he tended to the flames, and those hungry devils that danced in the heart of this station, well, they lifted them up.

The whole ship seemed to lurch forward, wooden floor solid beneath his feet, but his brain seemed to very much feel just how much nothing actually held it all up. A strange sense of buoyancy, while he himself felt no lighter, as he might while adrift in a pool of water, or catching a strong gust.

The captain called out to him, as he went on about his work. He still tried to find the right rhythm to the movement. Felt awkward, and jerky. "Tea-" he said between grunts. "Sounds lovely!" he added, not missing a beat. He was glad to feel the wind kiss his skin, and wick away some of the sweat that was starting to bead upon his brow. "You made this-" he laughed, "All of this look so easy, you know!" he pumped and pumped. "I'd say i feel almost tricked, but i'm more impressed than anything else!"

Had they made it? Had his efforts set the ship adrift? His green eye twinkled with excitement, and his teeth shown in happy grin.

"You know," he said, still working the bellow pump as he looked up at the windswept captain. "I think I'm finally getting this part down at least,"

 

[Finn]

She smiled a shy, timid smile. Craftsman hands full of blisters locked in their heading on the wheel. They were high enough now, she wouldn't have to worry about them hitting any trees and the first mountain range was still several leagues away. They'd be high enough then.

"If you keep it up I might have to hire you part-time," she joked into the wind.

Satisfied that they were stable, she stepped back from the wheel. "Good work," she said quietly, blue eyes tracking quickly over the rewards of his labor. Easing around him, she took the small set of stairs back down to the main deck and opened the door to the cabin, walking with purposeful footsteps to the back shelving area where she kept all her tea and mugs.

"What kind of tea guy are you?" Her voice called out.

 

[Garrod Arlette]

The air felt colder already, a constant rush across his face, already chilling the sweat run down his brow and racing through his rough-kempt hair. Still, the crackle of fire and the swell of the flame sounded sweet and felt sweeter, tired as his arms were from such a new form of work.

"Hah," he laughed small, still catching what breath he had lost, and he let go of the bellow pump, and looked over at the Captain as she took in the fire and wove around him, nimble like. "Not the worst offer I've been made," he said easy as he looked on and followed her down the stairs, slowing to a stop once the view caught full in his eye.

An expanse of green rose up around them, swelled ahead of them, and spread far and wide across the field. The jewel like sparkle of sun across distant lakes, the stone-grey-blue of mountains far on the horizon, and the great expanse of blue and white. "Woah," he could not help but say, half way down the small set of stairs.

The Captain asked what sort of tea he would like.

Garrod pulled his eye away, lips wearing a happy curl as he entered the small cabin, "Got anything dark and spicy?" he saw her at the cabinet, smirked. "If you have any type of cream and some honey well, consider me your newest crewmember," he stepped toward his belongings, fingers undoing the buckles and straps that kept his armor fitted tightly onto his hips. Each click and clack of the belts brought him one step closer to being rid of his metal shell.

 

[Finn]

Finn surveyed her impressive tea rack. "Sure. I've got a chair and tiger-spice. Should do the trick." She'd glance over at her passenger in confirmation before plucking it from the stack. For herself, she picked a citrus-sun flavor. Walking over to the small sink area, she began filling the kettle before setting it on the burner.

A glance out the cabin's window that was over the sink.

A happy little sigh left her lips.

Never got old. At least for her. And that was saying something considering she basically lived in the skies these days. Wingless and a sky-dweller.

As she rummaged around the small kitchen space, if Garrod had any magic or magical items, he'd notice a sudden void around Finn. Depending on how close she was to him or them. As if magic couldn't exist around her.

 

[Garrod Arlette]

I don't like that one, Garrod, you keep her far away from me!

Garrod heard his demon faintly whisper into his mind. His gaze slid down to regard the relic, stark in its bone white carapace-like design, all jagged and sharp. And why is that I wonder. He thought with a smirk, and looked away, toward the captain as his fingers went back to the work of undoing ties and belts until he could pull the the dark steel gauntlet from his left hand, "Tiger spice," he said with good humor, and slip the loosened cuirass up and over his head. "Sounds nice,"

He placed the armor down with a soft clunk. The rest of his kit came undone piece by piece as the young woman rummaged through the cabinets. Clank for clank, the sounds bounced off the wooden walls of the cabin as the air rushed through. It was oddly calming as it mixed with that sensation still in his head. His mind still knew that there was not but air beneath them and the wood of the ship. Yet he had heard running water. Fancy that.

Like a freshly molted crab, Garrod must've looked soft, almost raw without his armor. Sweat had his cream colored tunic stick to his wide frame, and he realized how hot he felt, having worked the fires with all that gear on. Only now did the rush of the wind truly cool him off, hitting his skin and the moisture his under layer had caught.

He made for the table and the chair, but stopped to admire the small green plants. Raised a finger to their foliage, and felt the curl at the tip of one of the broad leaves. "You put a lot of care into this, ship," he said easily. Turned toward her again as she stared out the window. The creaks and groans of the vessel as it cut through the air. The bubbling of tea. Then, as he pulled one chair out in welcome, and sat himself in the other, it came clear. The feeling of emptiness that seemed to swirl, no, almost push out from the woman's lithe and slender form.

An absence of the magical energies most mortals carried in them, even if they had no connection to it."You," his brow knit together, one brow arched up in confusion. "Did you build all this yourself?" Without magic.

 

[Finn]

A careful pour of the tea into one cup. The tiger spice carefully set in the tin. Finn slid it on the table in front of him, trying not to let her eyes catch on the way his damp shirt hug across his torso. She focused, instead, on pouring her own tea, then gingerly sitting down across from the passenger.

A small puff of air across the rim as the steam curled lazily upward before being swept by the breeze that made its way through the cabin. "It's my home," she said quietly in answer to his comment about the care of the place.

"Not completely alone," sky-blue eyes lifted meeting his own curious gaze. "There are some dwarves along the spine that I'm good friends with. They helped with some of the more...complicated machinery." She'd designed it all, they'd helped her to forge and build it.

"Do you always travel alone?" She had to wonder where his connections lay.

 

[Garrod Arlette]

A tin cup slid toward him, and he caught it in his hand. The breeze that blew through the cabin set his rogue tufts of hair a wave and a stir, he nodded, hearing her share her truth. "Fantastic," he said with a smile as her eyes met his one, "Doesn't do you justice, Captain Finn," he gave a gentle nod of the head and drank from his cup, his rough-cut hair settling in a mess about his brow. He stopped his sip and puffed a breath up to do away with the sticky strands of white.

Another nod met her elaboration and he set his gaze on the little comforts she constructed. "Naturally," he smiled. "Can't do everything alone," a hint of solemn sadness there in his chest. A whisper, too familiar, at the edges of his mind. But he pushed the voice away.

"No," he said as he took another sip of the spicy tea. "Not always," he added as the tin parted from his lips, and tendrils of steam swirled about his face. "From time to time I work with parties, on the rare occasion I pick up a longer termed contract," he leaned back in his chair, uncomfortable talking so much about himself. His eye pulled further away from her, set back to his gear piled so hastily in a corner of the cozy cabin. "But I guess I tend to have trouble sticking around in one place for too long," his eye set on the strange gauntlet, a moment too long before he looked back at the captain.

"You mentioned friends," he took a long sip from his cup. Savoring it. Then lazily looked around the cabin as the sounds of the pressurized heat gurgled and pushed through the pipes, and the wind rushed through the room and against the windows. A calming squall of sounds. "From the Spine no less," He'd worked with Spine-born dwarves a time or two. "How'd that come about, if you don't mind my askin'?" he laughed a little at his own vaguery, and leaned back over the table, in to listen better to Finn. "The friendship I mean, though I guess I wouldn't mind hearin' more about the ship too,"

 

[Finn]

It was clear that Finn was...very uncomfortable with all of this. She didn't do small talk very well. She barely did any kind of talk well. The young woman was awkward and self-conscious. She would prefer to be tinkering with her gadgets all day. Alone.

Sadly, those things didn't pay the bills.

And even though she might be all odd-angles and limbs. Socially awkward. And truly nerdy. Folk had a way of still becoming her friend. And even if it made her uncomfortable, for that, she was a little bit grateful.

"I ran across someone injured in the Spine. Picked him up and he helped me along the way. Just kind of ran across the dwarves." Thin shoulders shrugged and she sipped some of her tea, avoiding the man's gaze who sat across from her. "I dunno, we just started talking about what we both loved. I'm sure you know dwarves are master-craftsmen. At least this group we ran into were. So we just kind of swapped stories about things we made or wanted to make."

Her blue eyes flickered to where his gaze went. The gauntlet. "Speaking of craftsmanship. Mind if I take a look at that?"

 

[Garrod Arlette]

"Fast friends with fast minds. Never bad to run with folk so copacetic," Garrod smiled small and to himself. Rare were companions so agreeable. Rarer still to have such friendships result in something so spectacular. "Built yourselves an airship," he muttered with some wonder in his voice.

Garrod leaned back and brought the tea to his lips. The steam wafted up, the smell still tickling his nose. He drank it in and watched her eyes turn toward his pile of equipment. He followed her eyes, traced their line of sight and fell on That.

A green crescent cracked through the black glass of his mind. The breaks like jagged teeth in a grin. Then it was gone. Nothing left but the pale gleam of the demon's jewel. Like the reflection of the moon across the clear sheen of a fresh molted grub.

If the captain stared at it, then maybe she would feel the pull of something unspoken. Or maybe she would just see an opalescent jewel, transfixed in a bone white metal that almost looked alive. Like the carapace of some creature, just biding its time.

"That?" he asked, the ease of his voice tensing some. "You mean-" he stopped himself from calling it by name. "The gauntlet?" he closed his eye and huffed, cup still about his mouth. Warmth emanating from the tea. "I'd rather you not, all things considered," he drank in the last of the tea. Let it down with a small clack. "No offense, captain," he smiled. "But I gotta keep some of my secrets," he got up and moved to the wash basin with his cup. "How does this thing get water, anyhow?" he asked as he stood by the bowl.

Finn

 

[Finn]

The only thing she felt was a small sense of revulsion. Not from her. From the gauntlet. As if it knew what her presence would mean. To make any magic users or magic in general void.

Finally, her blue eyes moved away from its shiny surface. “I’m not offended,” she muttered. Took another sip of tea then stood. A small smile curled on her thin lips. A shrug of her shoulders at his question.

“No offense G. But gotta keep some of my secrets.” Her own eyes widened in surprise at her boldness. Feeling suddenly more socially awkward than normal, she scurried out of the cabin and back into the deck.

 

[Garrod Arlette]

He glanced over his shoulder, part of him worried she would see something new. Something he already knew was there, within that opalescent shell. A story for later, perhaps. If later ever found them.

But, she hurried out instead, and the air that seemed to be so still around her suddenly rushed with the familiar swirl and twist and spark that he always seemed to swim in.

Keep that one away from me, Garrod, you hear me? The demon in the gauntlet hissed, and the monster hunter could swear that he could see its pale green eye narrow in an anger and disgust that was oh so feline.

Curious. The monster hunter thought. And stared back at the sink pan.

"And curious-er," he said softly to himself. He saw a knob, and gave it a twist. A gurgle and hiss and slight rattle, and water came gushing out before it turned into a steady stream. "Amazing," he said breathless, and bent low to get a better look at the contraption. How the water just... poured out. He followed the metal tube, saw it ended. Then his eye looked down into the drain hole. "Huh," he sounded, and then washed the cup.

When he emerged from the cabin, after washing his cup and placing it neatly mouth down on the counter, he did so free of metal and leathers, and enjoyed the rush of cold wind that wicked what sticky sweat still lingered on his frame. His eye looked for the captain.

"Anything I can help you with, Captain?" he called out as he took a few aimless steps toward the prow of the ship. His eye, ever hungry for every detail it could find, scanned about the rigging, and the tie downs, and the rope ladders that lead up to the great billowing bladder that kept them all afloat. "Promise I won't go pryin into too many more of your secrets," he said with an easy smirk, and stopped to look out at the rolling scenery.

He still couldn't quite believe he was flaying.

 

[Finn]

She stood at the wheel. Skinny-arms with some muscle formed beneath flexed along ink that curled across her sun-kissed skin. Sun-kissed still managing to be pale. A paradox like much of who she was. Some things just didn't make sense.

A shy glance down at him.

"It'll be dark soon. Probably good to have someone take the first watch. You up for it?"

She was a whole lot of caffeine shy of wanting to stay awake for the graveyard shift. And if he was volunteering, she'd certainly take him up on it. Most nights she just took the chance when she was traveling alone. But tonight? Tonight she didn't have to take that chance.

Good to have someone on watch. Never knew when they'd come upon a storm or dragons, or elves riding eagles or something even worse.

 

[Garrod Arlette]

"First watch?" he repeated, and looked back up at the Captain. Tall upon her station, lithe hands about the pegs of her wheel. He smiled some and gave her a short nod. "Aye aye, Captain Finn," he teased with a snap of salute. He stepped up the stairs and moved towards her and the helm.

All it took was one step closer to her for him to feel it again. The stillness. A certain stir and roil that ever simmered beneath his skin just seemed to... stop. Instead there was calmness now. Foreign to him. He blinked as he looked her over once more. This captain Finn.

Just as extraordinarily ordinary as she had been before. Save the wind sounded all the sweeter in his ears, and the crackle of the fire from the stove ebbed all the warmer.

"Anything," he began slowly as took another step toward her, and stopped some feet behind her. His gaze fell to her hands, and his eye watched as her nimble fingers worked the wheel so deftly. Sure and doubtless as she made small adjustments as the wind shifted their ship, and its whole frame creaked and groaned as ropes strained against heated balloon.

He cleared his throat, some, to remind himself to go on. "Anything I should know?" he asked as his eye cast out to the horizon.

 

[Finn]

A glance over her shoulder, windswept hair only being kept in check by the bandana she wore. And she had to wonder again what he was staring at. Was her bandana on straight?

She swallowed.

"Come take a look," she motioned. The sky was already getting darker and darker. The deck lit by the glowing fires of the billows, above. A shuffling step to the side and she'd motion for where his hands should go on the wheel. Then a quick point toward the anchored compass heading.

"See that needle? Keep it as close to this heading as you can. The wood and fire should last us a few more days but you might need to stoke it a bit once or twice on watch. Otherwise, just keep an eye out for building storm clouds. Or violent things in the skies."

Her face remained completely serious as she said the last part.