Private Tales The Wrong Kind of Ship

[Finn]

Blue eyes were as wide as the twin moons. But she found herself nodding at his question. Fingers flexed at her sides. The Naga had come close to backhanding her...or worse. But Ivar had been there before he could get his reptilian paws on the inventor.

She frowned, looking at his arm, the blood dripping down from where the creature's fangs had impaled him.

"You're not okay," fingers reached out, gently to the outside of the wounds on his arm. "Can you make it back to my ship?" She wasn't a healer but she had basic medical supplies there.

"And you came back for me," she observed quietly.

 

[Ivar]

"I am fine." Ivar said as he drew himself up.

The wounds were bad, he would give her that, but not beyond what he could hold himself up with. Back home they called him a Berserker. A warrior that could fight long past when they were supposed to fall. It was a quality that many envied.

In the Tundra, war was often the way. "Well enough to walk."

That much he was confident in.

"My father taught me honor." He said quietly as he explained, his head somewhat woozy. "Wouldn't have been right to leave."

 

[Finn]

"Come on," a hesitant touch at his elbow. "You're bleeding." And she didn't know if others from the gang would come to find their master and most of their fellows dead. She walked back out the gangway they'd dragged her in on and hurried along the docks back through the market and to her small ship.

She made sure not to move too quickly or put too much space between herself and Ivar.

"You are," she hesitated as she looked up at him. "Very good with fighting." It was clear that part of him scared her. Even though...she was thankful for it. For what he'd done.

 

[Ivar]

He nodded his head."Well, it's just about the only thing I can do."

That wasn't entirely true of course. He was a survivor. His father had trained him how to live in the wilds of the Tundra. He could make it most anywhere, traipse through jungles, plains, mountains. That was what he had been built for.

At least that was what he told himself.

"It's not something." He frowned, pausing for a moment as they stepped outside. "It's not something I always enjoy."

Ivar said finally.

He could fight, kill, but he did not always want to. Not until he had to.

 

[Finn]

Quiet eyes studied him. She could tell he meant what he said and that was good enough for the petite inventor. They made it back to her ship without interruption or trouble. Back across that little gangway. She ushered him inside her small cabin and found a chair for him to sit on.

He and her barely fit inside her private and enclosed space. His knees would be up against the small workspace inside. His back very much against a wall plastered with hand-drawn maps of the world. Ones she'd drawn during her travels, aerial views taken from the skies.

At least, on clear days.

There were rows of bolted shelves along the walls. Next to plants also growing in secured pots. Finn went to one of the drawers and opened it up, taking out some ointment and some bandages. She squeezed so she stood just in front of him in the small space that was left in the cabin.

"Here. Let me see your arm. Did you get hurt anywhere else?"

 

[Ivar]

"My ribs." He told her plainly, not even wincing as she grasped his arm to take a closer look at the wound.

Ivar hardly seemed to be bothered whenever his injuries were shifted, his face remaining mostly impassive even as the blood continued to pool. The tiny space she had squeezed him into was rather uncomfortable, but he stayed put as she tended to him.

"It'll be alright." He assured her. "I heal fast enough."

Another 'blessing'.

Lips thinned for a brief moment as he looked up at her. "You should make sure to stash the rest of your...gems where they won't be found."

In fact it was probably best if they left sooner rather than later.

 

[Finn]

She began cleaning his wounds. Then putting on some of the salve and finally the bandage from her small supplies.

"Heal fast?" The girl looked up at him. She still had to look up even though he was sitting. "Is it magic?" She had to move away from him if it was. Had to make sure he wasn't within her nullifying space. A curse and a gift.

"And I don't think it was the gems they were after," she admitted quietly.

 

[Ivar]

"Nope." Ivar had no magic, as far as he knew. All he had was the luck of the draw.He stretched slightly within the tight space.

Some thought that Berserkers were born of Giant blood, but Ivar was fairly sure that wasn't true. Both of his parents had been ordinary humans of the Tundra, or so he believed. There had always been something more to his father, though just what he wasn't sure.

Nor did he entirely care to find out. "Just me."

He shrugged.

"Well that's news to me." Ivar told her. "The Orcs just wanted the gems."

Had it been two separate groups?

 

[Finn]

Bony shoulders shrugged as she backed up, putting back the rest of her meager medical supplies.

"I don't know why anyone wouldn't want those as well." She said quietly, the brushed her hands together. "All done. You've got an impression healing metabolism." Keen eyes had noticed the wounds that were fresh seemed to already be sealing up on their own.

"Do you need to rest or think you can continue helping me with the repairs? Probably a good idea for us to get airborn as soon as possible."

 

[Ivar]

Ivar grunted, attempting to stand. "I'll be al-"

The words died on his tongue as he half fell back onto the cot that he had been sitting on. His head felt somewhat woozy.

"Alright." Ivar added, his eyes closing for a while.

He could heal faster than most, could stand in battle longer than many men, but there was a limit to what he could do. The northman wasn't some sort of god that could keep going for days on end. He was running on empty.

His body taxed. "Maybe."

Ivar said quietly.

 

[Finn]

A frown on her small lips.

"Just rest. Stay here. You just took up half my med supplies anyway, can't afford to give you more." She tried for humor. And she really could afford to give him more. She had those gems.

Squeezing around his knees, she opened the cabin door and disappeared. She needed to take inventory of the supplies and then start the work. "Please don't pass out. I don't think I could lift you up."

 

[Ivar]

Ivar chuckled. "No I don't think you could either."

His head was still swimming, though he wasn't entirely sure if it was the fight or somehting else. Slowly he leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

It wouldn't take long for him to recover, at least he thought it wouldn't take long. Lips thinned for a brief moment and he looked down at the wounds.

How many times had he nearly died now? How many times had he almost given his life?

Is this what his father would have wanted? Was he proud? The question was a hard one to answer.

 

[Finn]

I at would find that when he stirred again, the swaying of the water was replaced by a rocking of a different sort. If he looked out the small porthole of her Cabin, he’d see white, fluffy clouds pass them. And if he came out to the deck, he’d see the seas and land far below them.

Finn at the wheel.

The parched balloon working and up, lit by the hot air beneath it. Sails out, guiding their speed and direction.

 

[Ivar]

Ivar didn't look out the window.

He didn't even feel the change in the ship.

The Barbarian was tired, exhausted. He had tried to boast to Finn about how strong he was, how long he could stand and fight, but when she'd left the cabin a wave of tiredness had struck him like a thick wall. It was not long before he tumbled onto the bed.

Whether he wanted it or not his eyes fell shut.

Despite his wounds, despite all the hurt and pain, Ivar simply fell asleep upon Finn's bed. He was simply too exhausted to stay awake. Thus, when they floated into the air and took off, Ivar was already passed out.

 

[Finn]

They were airborn and headed toward the continent. Finn had been working since they'd escaped. She'd only checked on Ivar's slumbering form once, then gone back to man the ship. Setting the rigging and the wheel in an autopilot of sorts, she finally went toward her strung up hammock, since Ivar was taking up most of the cabin, and fell asleep.

Her hammock swung to the gentle breeze of the Easterly wind.

 

[Ivar]

Ivar snapped awake.

He wasn't sure if it was a dream of the unfamiliar swaying of the wind, but his eyes pulled open with the aching of his wounds. A small groan escaped his lips, hand coming up over his ribs as he held his side with a spike of pain.

"Fuck me." He whispered quietly, lips thinning as he drew in a breath.

The pain wasn't the most he'd experienced, but it was certainly unpleasant. A breath filled his lungs, and slowly he pulled himself up.

He glanced towards Finn in her hammock, smiling at the girl before he dragged himself out of bed and stepped towards the door. A child like wonderment swept over his face as he saw what was around him. Not the sea, but the sky.

The reaches of the stars.

His breath swept from him, utterly taken away by the sight before him.

 

[Finn]

A little while after the giant awoke, Finn stirred herself. Sky-blue eyes cracked opened and a skinny arm stretched over her head, a yawn stretching her mouth-wide. She looked to the bed he'd used, finding it empty. Sitting up, she swung her legs over the hammock and stood, going to open the cabin door.

"You're awake," she observed quietly. "And haven't fallen off the railing. Good. Welcome to my airship." A small smile as she stood in the cabin's doorway. "Want any tea?"

 

[Ivar]

"Yes." Ivar said groggily, frowning for a moment as he reached up and rubbed a hand over his face.

To say that he was amazed would have been a complete understatement. The sight before him was unreal, breath taking. He had never been afraid of heights before, but as he looked down at the sea below them he couldn't help but take a step back.

This all felt...unnatural."H-how?'

He asked.

"How did you manage this?" It seemed utterly impossible.

 

[Finn]

"Well," a smile beamed on her face. Hands fell to her bony hips. "Science," she proclaimed as she puffed up her chest. Shoulder shrugged and her hands fell from her hips. "I'll show you." A hand rubbed at the back of her neck awkwardly. "Well, or try to."

That smile never quite left her thin lips.

She'd step over to the fire well and show him how it worked. The mechanisms she and the master dwarves had forged. The way the air had to flow just right. The material of the balloon above and the levers that would steer them so they weren't at the mercy of the winds.

"....and that's mostly it. About as much as I can explain, at least. There was a time before I met with the dwarves and I was just at the mercy of the wind. But that was okay. I just wanted to travel so it didn't matter but at least now I can control where I go. So I guess...where do you want me to take you?"

 

[Ivar]

It was a good question.

He could not go back home, not yet, and he wouldn't put Finn in danger by having her travel to the Tundra anyway. The Blightlands were not ideal, and so...a frown touched his lips, hand reaching up to run through his hair. "South."

It was a very general direction given what lay to the south of Teth. Most of the continent of Liadain could still be found there, everything east of the Spine.

"A city there, doesn't matter which." A shrug rolled over his shoulder. "I've never been to these lands, you would know better than me."

He would find something somewhere, he always did.

 

[Finn]

Well, she certainly wasn't going to suggest Elbion. She was still wanted there by the mages. Lips pressed together as she thought, disappearing back into the dabin to put on some hot water and sift through the herbs for some tea.

Blonde-haired head popped back out a moment later.

"How about Alliria? Huge trading city. Close to a portal stone too in case you change your mind and want to go somewhere else. Not really sure what you're after." She'd disappear again but she would be able to hear his response as she poured the bubbling water into a tea cup.

 

[Ivar]

He shrugged. "Sounds good as any options I might have."

Alliria.

It seemed almost familiar, as if ringing some bell in the back of his mind, but the truth was he couldn't quite recall. If it was a trade city it was possible some of their merchants had made it to Kjos at one point or another.

His own town was one of trade after all.

"What else do you know about it?" Ivar asked, genuine curiosity in his voice. "It's not like Teth is it?"

 

[Finn]

"No," head shook, a small smile on her face. She'd be able to land in the outskirts near the city and even then, she wouldn't have to worry about those that might see an airship, even though they were rare. "It's many times the size of Teth. Much larger, more diverse. Built up with trade all across the land. I suppose it's as diverse as Teth. Not just humans. Orcs, elves, and other species freely trade there."

Clutching her mug of tea, she went back on the deck, sighing happily in the sun and wind. "We'll have about a few day's journey to get there from here. Have to cross over the spine. But I've done it before. We should be okay."

She might even stop back at the dwarves that had helped her and Talus before. Hopefully the dragons wouldn't bother them.

 

[Ivar]

He shrugged his shoulders. "Sounds lovely."

A smile broke out over his face.

"City of opportunity, if nothing else." Plus, if things went well he probably wouldn't get shanked in between the ribs. He was sure there was probably some sort of criminal element, but he could deal with some of that.

Lips thinned for a moment as she mentioned the spine, a shiver rolling up his back as he remembered the sight of those mountains from the Blight.

"At least if the crash." He mused. "I can deal with the cold."

The mountains weren't a problem. Just what lay before them.

 

[Finn]

“Hey,” Finn gave him a stern look above the rim of her cup. “There will be no crash talk on this ship. It’s bad luck.”

Giving the northerner a wink, she strode over to the wheel and took it up, keeping their heading while reading a series of mechanical instruments on the side with a compass. She was one who was confident in the air. Walked sure footed among the winds.

This. This was her realm. And she was actually the ruler of another.

“Tea is inside if you want some. Don’t touch the plants.”