Every single meal on the Feather was plain rice, just as it'd been for the past six years. Breakfast, lunch and dinner, white rice -- that's all she had on board. She almost considered starving until she discovered how to make sticky rice. It was more appetizing, and she taught herself how to eat it with chopsticks. It was a little skill the locals on the eastern side of the world showed her in exchange for an ex-miner's emerald. 

She spent days at a time fantasizing about food. It was a good way to forget all she had in the cellar below were sacks upon sacks of rice, among other things like sugar and kegs of water and wine. The wine was her favourite, it was a gift from a British farmer living on the coastline. He had extra, and tossed it into their rice trade for a few more chipped gems. It was evident how much his farm struggled to make ends meet, and she tossed a couple more rubies on the table before she departed. 

It was an interesting life to lead, living on an airship. It meant months of living close to the sun. Sometimes it was lonely, but she knew her safety was assured in the sky, and she enjoyed her freedom of adventure. She was her own person, free to sail the world. 

Captain Avis Cassell, sole operator of the H.S. Red Feather. Yeah, it was a nice title, but the ship was such a clunker she didn't think much of it. However, putting time into the maintenance of the Feather certainly brought a sense of pride; it could withstand anything the sky threw at them. The ship hadn't quit on her yet, even after years of sky travel. 

The Feather was beautiful (albeit rusty), its hull standing at 14 feet and extending almost twice that in length. The hull was a mix of steel and copper with small, circular glass windows decorated with huge gears. Three large balloons gave the ship most of its flight, draped with a tight netting mesh that came down in ropes that connected to various key points along the railing. Four steel windmill propellers extended from the sides of the ship's hull, the two forward ones smaller than the back. Most noticeable on the ship was its large fin rudder at the back, extending a few metres out and splayed with several rods of copper with red leather webbing (it was the rudder's design that gave the ship it's name.) 

Behind the hand-crafted wheel, the back of the ship was raised an extra level with two sets of stairs along the railing that led down to the main deck. Underneath the wheel platform was the Captain's Quarters, closed off with double doors. A copper, hollowed-out mast rose up from the main deck, stopping just underneath the opening of the middle balloon. It gave a continuous flow of hot air to all three balloons from the steam engine below. A steel grating between the wheel and the mast opened to the lower deck where Avis put all her goods. 

With a satisfied smile Avis leaned on the starboard's steel railing, looking out at the vast blue ocean spanning in all directions below them. The hiss of steam accompanied her all her life, and this was no exception. But, up here in the clouds, she welcomed it. The Feather, even if she considered it a clunker, was quite dear to her heart.

The Captain was an excellent navigator, but even she could draw little sense from the coordinates she uncovered on land. Regardless, they supposedly led to paradise and Avis took what she could get. Out in the endless blue their success hung on a sliver of a dream, even if her entire being was invested in that dream. 

Tirelessly the Feather continued their journey forward.