Aralynn awoke to a soft knock on her door. "Aralynn? Are you awake?"
Aralynn rose sleepily. Her right shoulder, hand and wing were all slightly sore- she probably had slept on them weird.
"Yes… who is it?" She yawned and stretched, looking out the porthole. The sky was dimming and there were already some stars out.
"It's Perona… Captain Celran says that it's time for mess. Oh, and this time we'll be eating outside on the main deck- he set up a small lounge area after setting the ship to hover."
"Oh- alright. I'm coming." Aralynn stood and had the presence of mind to reach for her revolver, rapier, and Objection. She was about to reach for her cloak when-
When did I- ??? Her lace up shirt was undone and it sagged around her shoulders. Confused, she quickly laced it back up and looked at the tangled bedsheets. Did something happen last night? I'm sure it was nothing…
Aralynn shrugged it off and loaded five rounds into Objection and closed the bolt- she couldn't be too careful. She slipped on her cloak. Then, tugging on her black gloves and boots, she opened the door.
Perona stood there, regal as ever. "... Are you alright now?" Perona asked, avoiding Aralynn's eyes.
"Sorry?" Aralyn closed the door behind her.
"Earlier. You seemed a bit…" Perona trailed off vaguely.
"When, and what did I seem?"
Perona paused a bit, as if to choose between two courses of action before continuing. "With the inspector. You seemed like you really hated them."
Aralynn made an 'o' with her lips. "Yes, I'm fine now. I just have some history with the empire."
The two started walking down the narrow hallways towards the door that let upwards to the main deck. "You talked about pillaging towns and losing squads… did you perhaps have friends or family in the army?"
That made Aralynn freeze. "I…" she halted and turned to Perona. Aralynn quite honestly wanted to tell Perona the truth then and there, but she couldn't find the trust to. Besides, Perona probably had a skill that could pick apart lies for the truth, like Aralynn's comprehension. Aralynn clenched one gloved hand. "Something of the sort."
Luckily, as far as Aralynn could tell, Perona's eyes remained the same, indicating that she hadn't used a skill. Or was it that she'd already used a skill and Aralynn simply hadn't noticed?
Either way, Perona met Aralynn's eyes with her own that glistened in the dim light. "My condolences." Even without comprehension, Aralynn knew that she meant it.
"It's alright," Aralynn said.
"Still," Perona said softly, "I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault."
The duo walked in a comfortable, accepting silence before emerging from below the deck onto the main deck. Aralynn could see that the Blue Locust 2's crew and the rest of their party was already set up with benches and stools surrounding a magical fire that burned on nothing. On top of the fire sat the large pot from before.
Seeing the two approach, Amon waved. Aralynn noticed that besides him was a large barrel with a handle and many taps. Derrick sat beside him, wearing a set of casual brown lace ups and slacks, which appeared to be Grango's. They fit almost perfectly. Derrick waved as well.
"Well, well, well. Look who it is. If it isn't the gun ladies." Celran joked.
"Okay. For the last time, one, I didn't know that our cannonballs were enchanted, and two, I don't seem to recall seeing your sorry ass when we were fighting the inspectors." Perona retorted, jabbing at the captain with her pointer finger.
"I was just joking," Celran laughed. "Sit, sit."
The two sat down on a bench and grabbed bowls. Kursk, the steward, ladled out what appeared to be chowder made from the leftover sky barnacles with diced cubes of salted vegetables. The sweet aroma wafted through the air, and Aralynn and Perona grabbed biscuits to spoon the thick soup with.
Celran watched the two of them eat. "I must thank you, though. Seriously." He sighed and took a swig from his mug. "I never actually expected inspectors to arrive, and for you to fend them off so easily, no less. I also must apologize; I'm a heavy sleeper. Before the sun rises and my internal clock kicks in, I'm out like a light. So… Thank you. Upon arrival, I'll get some extra gold arranged for your troubles. For now, though, eat, drink, and be merry! We successfully fended off the inspectors."
Perona cheered while Aralynn nodded, nibbling on her biscuit and taking sips of her chowder.
Derrick patted the barrel with the multiple taps. "Ms. Bird, Ms. Silver hair. What can Derrick get you?"
Bird? Silver hair? Oh, he must be referring to me and Perona, Aralynn thought. She stared at the barrel. "Uhm… just water is fine. Sorry, but what is that?"
"Mead, please, Derrick. Thank you!" Perona handed Derrick her mug and he opened one of the taps, and a honey-coloured flowed into the container. He handed it back to Perona with a nod.
Perona turned back to Aralynn. "It was one of our spoils. Derrick found it on the imperial ship."
"Even though I went to rest, I could've sworn that I would have seen a barrel of that size," Aralynn remarked.
Perona then motioned to what appeared to be a circle of runes carved into the top. "It can shrink for easy transportation. It even has a ring, like a lamp, though I'll probably just stuff it into my pack later on."
"Oh. I see. What else did we get?"
Amon chimed in. "About another 1000 gold. We were going to distribute it later. We also got a pair of these crystal balls that can transfer light. Think of the surveillance orbs that... Cyren talked about." Aralynn could tell that Amon was about to say the words 'devil's hand casino' but stopped himself.
"Other than that, we also got some healing potions. Perona's holding on to them for now, since it looks like she's become our dedicated healer as well."
"I see."
"Oh, and you fight very well, by the way. Grango and I had to try our best against that one guy- though, to be fair, it did seem as if he was tougher than the others. You were practically toying with the inspector you were facing." Amon swigged from his mug. "Ah… that hits the spot. Do you mind if I get another, Derrick?"