Chapter Two Hundred and Fifty-Nine - Ironclad Hugs

“Do you have everything?” Amaryllis asked. Only her head was poking into my room, the rest of her not visible since she was leaning in from the corridor.

I looked at my backpack and nodded. “I think so. I guess I’ll be travelling light, huh?”

I had my best clothes on, armour atop that, and my spade was waiting for me by the door. My bag was nearly empty though. A few books for the flight, some spare clothes, including the suit I’d worn at that ball, some tea-making supplies, and a couple of hats. My captain-ing hat, my top-hat from that one dungeon, and my turtle helmet that was currently sitting on my head. That was it.

“Travelling light is fine,” Amaryllis replied. “We might do some shopping while out in the capital.”

I glanced up. “I thought we were going to be doing diplomatic stuff?”

“Of course we are,” Amaryllis said with an eye roll. “But that won’t take up the entire time that we’re there. Our mission is important, yes, but for the most part it boils down to delivering a few messages to the right ears. Perhaps offering a few bribes and a bit of proof here and there.”

“We’re not going to be bribing people, are we?” I asked.

“Oh, not that kind of bribe,” Amaryllis said with a wave of her wing. “But I can make promises on behalf of my family. There’s a lot to be gained from trade between Sylphfree and the Nesting Mountains, trade that would very much be lost in the case of a war.”

“That makes sense. Make the merchants want to avoid fighting because fighting would mean making less money.”

“Exactly,” Amaryllis said. She stepped into my room fully. She had all of her adventuring gear on, with her dagger strapped by her hip and her feathers looking freshly preened. “I’m ready to head out whenever you are.”

I nodded and stuffed a blanket into my pack. Getting caught without a blanket, or at least a towel, would be terribly silly. “I’m ready too!” I picked up my turtle-shell hat from next to the door and wiggled my ears into the helm’s ear-holes. It always made my fur go the wrong way when I put that on.

Amaryllis and I peeked into Awen’s room while I rubbed my ears straight. “Hey Awen,” I said.

The mechanic looked up to me from the floor. She was on her knees next to an open duffle bag filled with all sorts of tools and knick-knacks that looked like they were on the heavier side.

At least it meant she was finally picking up her room. So many loose things were probably a hazard if we did any maneuvering.

“Oh, awa, hi,” she said. “I’m nearly done?”

“Did you pack anything other than tools?” Amaryllis asked.

Awen looked down at her bag, then blinked. “Oh, I guess I’ll need another bag for clothing and toiletries.”

“I guess I can help,” I said as I stepped in, careful not to place a foot on anything sharp-looking. “Do you have a second bag?”

“Yes, here,” Awen said. She found a backpack in one of her drawers, under to even more tools, and set it on the ground next to me.

“Right!” I said. “You’ll want some formal wear, maybe that pretty dress from the ball? And some everyday stuff. Your armour, of course, in case of adventuring. Don’t forget to bring enough underthings too. One for each day, plus one more in case of emergencies.”

“B-Broccoli!” Awen whined.

“Oh, right, I guess I can just use Cleaning magic if anything happens.”

“That’s not what I meant, Broc,” Awen groused. She pouted at me, and I couldn’t help but grab her and give her a hug. What did I do to deserve so many cute friends?

“Come on, let’s pack up the rest and head out, I don’t think we’re risking being late, but it’s only polite to arrive early.”

“I’m certain they would wait for us,” Amaryllis said. “Though this is a sylph transport. They might be a little anal about punctuality.”

"Some people are like that,” I agreed.

We finished packing up Awen’s things in a jiffy, then climbed back to the top deck. The rest of the crew was there waiting for us. Clive was the first to step up. “Captain.”

“Clive,” I said. “You’re in charge of the Beaver while we’re off. Keep him in tip-top if you can. Just do your best!”

“Aye aye, captain,” Clive said. “We’ll be done patching him up to new in a day or two at most. Lady Albatross left us with plenty of resources, if we need ‘em.”

“Well done then,” I said. I spread my arms wide, and the old harpy chuckled as he accepted the hug.

Next were Steve and Gordon, both of them saluting easily as I approached. “Have a safe trip, ma’am,” Steve said.

“You’ll have to tell us what the capital is like, once you’re back,” Gordon replied.

“I’ll try to remember to grab souvenirs!” I said. “Hugs?”

My hugging Proficiency was getting so much experience today!

The Scallywags were next, all three of them standing together. Joe looked a bit sour, but that was par for the course. The other two looked just fine. “You three keep safe, alright?” I asked. “And if you find better work around here, at least stick around so that I can give you even more hugs when I return, alright?”

More hugs were had!

Then it was down to the very last--but most important--member of the crew. “Did you want to come with us?” I asked Orange.

The cat looked up to me. At some point, she’d gone from being a spirit kitten to being a spirit... teen? Young cat? Whatever the next step was. She was about as tall as my knee when standing up on her hind-legs, which she didn’t do often enough.

Orange looked up to me, then stood and did a figure-eight around my ankles. “Oh! You do want to come! Well then, is there anything you want to bring? I don’t know if you have any toys or anything. Actually, we should get you some toys, shouldn’t we?”

Orange pounced up and installed herself on my shoulder, tail tapping the shoulder opposite the one she was resting on. I scratched her tummy fluff while she was there.

“Okay,” I said before turning around. I glanced around the Beaver. It might be a few days before I got to see him again. “We’ll see you all super soon,” I declared.

The four of us jumped off the Beaver and landed onto the dock. Orange cuddled closer so that she wouldn’t bounce off with the motion. The docks were lively and filled with people moving about. A few ships had arrived recently, and they were being unloaded by teams of dockworkers while freight was being shifted about, ready to head out once the newly arrived vessels took off again.

Our destination was all of three ships over from the Beaver.

Her name (or at least I think the ship was a girl-ship) was the Little Atlas, but she wasn’t all that little.

From bow to stern the Little Atlas was twice as long as the Beaver Cleaver and almost as wide.

Unlike the Beaver the ship didn’t have a very ship-like appearance. She was a lot boxier, with a prow that was angular and a hull that seemed to be entirely made of steel plates riveted in place.

Amaryllis, Awen and I moved out of the way of a group of sylphs pushing a cart loaded with boxes freshly transferred off of the Little Atlas. We waited for the coast to be clear before stepping up to the ship. There were a few planks set up to allow people to cross over, and one of those had the person that I figured had to be the captain.

She was a sylph that I suspect was on the shorter side, only coming up to my chest, but her captain’s hat more than made up for it. It was a very nice, stately hat, a bicorn with a few smaller feathers on the side and a nice badge pinned to the other.

“Hello!” I called out with a wave that I hoped was properly jaunty.

The captain looked up from some papers she was flipping through and looked our way. She said something to one of her crew then stepped over and folded her arms at the small of her back. “Greetings. May I help you?” she asked.

“Yes ma’am,” I said. “I’m Captain Broccoli Bunch, and these are my companions. We have a, uh, charter onboard your ship today.” I glanced to the side, just to make sure the name on the side of the ship was right. It did say the Little Atlas in big bun-high letters.

“Ah, I see. Yes, I received word about your arrival,” the captain said as she pulled out her papers and checked through them. “A little early, but better than late. It says here you would be four? Including a... Paladin?”

“That’s probably Bastion, he’s a bit busy, I think. I haven’t seen him since yesterday afternoon, but I doubt he’ll be late, that’s just not like him.”

“I see. I’m Captain Risa Galebane, of the Snapdragon Transportation consortium. It’s a pleasure to meet a fellow captain.” She extended a hand to shake, and I leaned forwards to grab it. She had a good grip.

“I’m still very new to the job, so I’d love to hear any advice you have,” I said. Also, she had the coolest name for an airship captain. Way better than “Bunch.”

“I’d love to share a meal, perhaps once we’ve taken off,” Captain Galebane said.

“So, permission to come aboard?” I asked.

“Granted,” she replied, a slight smile twitching up the corners of her lips before she gestured back onto the ship.

We climbed aboard, and I couldn’t help but stare around. There was a balloon overhead, one that was nearly as large as the ship itself. There had to be a lot of gravity generators on board to compensate for the small size of the balloon. The ship didn’t have as many sails as the Beaver, but it did have a lot more propellers. Two on the side, one at the front in a large housing, and a large one at the rear.

“Interesting design,” Amaryllis commented. “I think we experimented with multi-prop configurations like this before, but we never found it all that efficient.”

“The gearing must be so complicated,” Awen said. “Unless they have multiple engines, which would bring a whole host of other problems along.”

“I can imagine,” I said.

Someone ran up to us, a younger sylph who bowed before us. “Hello, and welcome aboard the Little Atlas. Can I assist you with your things? I’ll be showing you to the guest quarters.”

“Sure,” I said. “That would be really nice of you.”

Awen handed him her dufflebag, which was the only non-backpack bag we had. He hugged it close, then with a grunt of effort, led us to the rear of the ship where a door was placed under the quarterdeck. We went down a level and past a large cargo hold, parts of the ceiling set aside to make room for packages being lifted out by the ship’s crew.

The quarters we had were at the very front of the ship, a small section behind a door with a little living area and some rooms to the sides. They were smaller even than the rooms aboard the Beaver, barely more than a bed and a door, but they’d do for the trip.

“Thank you,” I said. “I think we’re going to have a great flight.”

***