The Winds of Change (Cecilia, 2nd)

"It makes the ship go really fast in the dark, or at least at night time," Julia admits knowingly. "Goes wooooosh. It's really weird to look outside when it's on,"


"I've never seen the clouds from above before, or the sun so close," Dell murmurs softly, leaning even closer to the window. "It's like I could reach out and touch it... if I only had a chance."
 
"And burn your hand at the same time." Cecilia grins at Dell. "It is very pretty." She adds in agreement.


Turning back to Julia, she beams. "I'm going to have to look now that you've said that."
 
Dell jerks her hand back suddenly, giving a momentary flicker of suspicion crossing her face. "Reach beyond your limits and get burned for your troubles..."


"Isn't there a parable about that?" intones Helmine softly, more to Dell than to you.


There's a spate of vigorous nodding from Julia. "'Course! But you're gonna hafta wait, 'cause the Cap'n only turns it on if we're in a hurry,"


She purses her lips in thoughtful concentration as she considers this. "Though that's half the time anyways, so you won't hafta wait long,"


"Say, Ju, you mind taking our guests elsewhere?" says Ku suddenly.


"Oh, okay!" chimes the young girl, beaming at you as she grabs your hand. "Come on, I'll show you some of the cool stuff on board!"
 
Cecilia laughs softy, letting Julia lead the way.


"Okay! Thank you for letting us look around up here, Ku." Cecilia adds, nodding to him politely as she's tugged to the door.
 
There's a wave from Ku, and that's the last your see of him as you make your way into the corridor.


"I'd show you Snow's room, 'cause it's really cool in there, but she doesn't like to be bugged when she's in, and she said she'd make me take one of her kinda baths if she found me in there again, but we can check the cargo hold and talk to mister Mirkwood if he's feeling up to it, or we can go to the galley to talk to Bolas and some of the other guys 'cause they like playing games and stuff with me, or we can go down to the engines 'cause it's nice and warm and noisy and Joro is funny!" recounts Julia breathlessly. She beams up to you in that manner often used by young children, idly swinging her arms and tugging at your hand.


"I'm beginning to assume that this child doesn't have any need for breathing in," murmurs Helmine snidely, cold tongue flicking at your chin.


"She's certainly... impressive," adds Dell in quiet agreement. "She could turn talking into a sport..."
 
Cecilia smiles, reaching her free hand up to pet Helmine. "She's excited is all. We're as new to her and this ship and its crew are to us."


"From the sounds of it, the galley might be a fun place to try. It sounds like we'll meet more new people there too." She added to Julia, beaming back at her cheerfully. "Lead the way!"
 
Julia skips the rest of the way back to the galley. With the ship now up in the air proper and the majority of the starting duties done, the galley now has a fair number of crewmates, meeting up to play games, eat, or simply converse.


"Hey!" chimes the child, waving wildly as she scurries across the foyer. "Hey Bolas! I got some new friends!"


A scruffy looking man with a bandana across his forehead looks up from a card game with a gaptoothed smile.


"Why hello there littl' miss," he answers, looking from her to you and your compatriots. "These seem like some in'trestin' new folks,"
 
Cecilia smiles at him cheerfully. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Cecilia Arrington and these are my companions, Dell and Helmine." She gestures to them respectively as she speaks before continuing. "Julia is bringing us around the ship and helping us to get to know the crew."
 
"Aha," he chuckles, placing his cards face down as he turns towards the group. "You' the new hire the Cap'n brough' on, aincha?"


"She been trea'in' ya righ' littl' miss?" continues the sailor, grinning at the wee girl.


Jlia nods vigorously.


"Tha's good. I'm Crof' Bolas, ma'am. Jus' a humble sailor," finishes Bolas, inclining his head.
 
"I think I'm more a passenger than a new hire, Mr. Bolas." Cecilia smiles. "Of course, should the need arise I would be happy to try and be of help, however I'm afraid my knowledge of the workings of a ship is limited. This is the first time I've been away from Arrington Tower properly so meeting everyone and learning about it is simply fascinating to me."
 
Bolas just chuckles again.


"I'm sure th' Cap'n'll put ya through yer paces, don' you worry 'bout tha'," he tells you. "How long'd th' las' one las'?"


Julia nods thoughtfully, rubbing her chin.


"A week? I think? She just got very upset and threw all sortsa stuff and said words n' stuff that Ku said I wasn' supposed to repeat..."
 
"That doesn't sound very good. What was her task on the ship?" Cecilia asks curiously, surprised someone would act in such a manner.
 
"She was assistant to th' Cap'n, tak'n from noble stock, much like yerself," replies Bolas, rubbing his chin.


"She was rally polite, but really rude too," mumbles Julia thoughtfully. "She was mean to Ku and me in the beginning, but then she was really nice, but she never was nice to Bolas and everyone else, and she hated Joro-"


Behind her, Bolas makes a face at the mention of Joro, part thousand yard stare, part wartime flashback, and part extreme discomfort.


"-but yeah, she was nice to me, but I don't think she really meant it and stuff,"
 
Cecilia nods. "Well if I'm to help out, I hope I'll be more approachable and useful at least." Her eyes flick to Bolas's expression when Joro is mentioned, only getting all the more curious. "What was the lady's name, out of curiosity?" She adds to Julia.
 
"Uhhh..." mumbles Julia, only for Bolas to speak up.


"Lady Darcy of Killene," he replies with careful enunciation, before shrugging. "Though tha's been over a year 'r two pas' now. Since then, ain' been no-one but yerself,"


"Th' Cap'n's fierce prickly, and he ain' go' time fer dilly dally," advises the sailor. "Jus' keep doin' whatever 'twas tha' go' him intrested 'n ya in th' firs' place, n' ye should be fine,"
 
"I will certainly keep that in mind, Mr. Bolas." She inclines her head politely, smiling. "I'll endeavor not to dilly dally either. However, I did hear from Julia that this is where to go to play games on occasion. What kind of games do you play?" She gestures to the cards.
 
Bolas looks somewhat abashed, chuckling slightly.


"Gamblin' mos'ly ma'am," he admits, looking away. "I'd no' stain' th' reputation o' a fine lady like yerself with rumors a' cards..."
 
"Ah, I see." Cecilia laughed. "Well if you do play any card games without bets, I would be happy to join in. I did promise to be on my best behaviour for this trip unfortunately." She jokes.
 
Over the next few weeks, time passes in that strange manner, each day slow to arrive, but happens quickly and all at once. It's so... noisy. Gone are the chill, echoing stone corridors of the Spire, the cold silence that hung in their depths like a pall. On the Ivory Fang, it's never quiet. There's always the hum of the engines, the thud of footsteps in floors above and below, the gurgle of coolant through pipes, the murmur of voices.


Urteal is a hard taskmaster. He expects you to be present to most of his work, whether that be plotting courses across the Stormcircle, meeting with Imperial Patrols or Spire Customs, or checking the goods manifest. Nothing is trusted to you. You are expected the observe, learn, and be silent, nothing else. Should you stray from the Dellebron's expectations, you're met not with a harsh word nor a raised hand, but a cold, disappointed stare reminiscent of your father.


Dell spends most of her time training with Snow. You see little of what they do together, but you see the bruises clearly enough, as well as the sounds of scuffle at odd hours in the morning. Dell says nothing of it, she simply smiles cheerily amidst the yawns, twitching at loud sounds.


Helmine is left in your chambers during the day, and spends her time with you sulking.


There's little time outside of your expected duties to fraternise, though Julia is always bright and chirpy in the morning galley, cleaning up and serving plates. Ku is considerably less talkative, generally drinking strong black coffee, or sleeping in the bridge. Bolas is always ready with a smile and an apple, though he's still unwilling to play cards with you. Of the mysterious Joro, you've seen or heard nothing, and no one besides Julia likes talking about her.


Soon however, a Spire grows in the distance. Irkalla Spire, the first of your planned stops between here and Cree Spire.
 
The last few weeks had been hard on them all to adjust but shadowing Urteal was still giving her a lot to learn and pick-up and she was getting used to the routine. She worried somewhat for Dell training with Snow but her friend didn't seem to be complaining about it, just worn out. Understandable really. Helmine... well teaching the golem some ways to entertain herself was being met with varying success and failure. What did you give an ice-snake to do in a small room all day?


Cecila was enjoying free time on the deck with Helmine and Dell when the Spire came into view. She moved quickly to the closest point where she could get a good view, smiling. Her first time at another Spire! She couldn't wait to see what Irkalla was like and it would be so nice to get off the ship into wider spaces for a little while.
 
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