[color=lightgray][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/67cmA6b.png[/img][/center][hr]
Location: The Bridge of the [i]Stormrider[/i]
Mentions: Scratch / Val[@Apex Sunburn]
Interactions: [url=https://i.imgur.com/ayufbBc.png]First Mate Duren Reiss[/url],  [url=https://imgur.com/hMvyml8]Chief Deck Officer Callandra Venn[/url][hr]

The wind was strong at altitude today. A clean current from the south kept the [i]Stormrider[/i] humming like a songbird, her elemental ring pulsing with steady arcs of red and orange light as she soared through cloud and sunlight alike.

Captain Jovik Cindralis stood at the fore end of the helm, one hand on the polished wood of the wheel, the other flicking through airspeed and altitude dials built into the arcane console. His white hair was swept back, catching the light just so as it moved in perfect, effortless disarray. The sun kissed the fine trim of his officer’s coat, gold embroidery tracing sharp lines across his broad shoulders. His green eyes, keen and [i]impossible to lie to[/i], scanned the horizon like they always did: calm, calculating, unbothered.

They were but a day away from Sharn. No storms, no dragons, no bullshit.

Yet.

[color=BDB76B]"Starboard drag on the aileron three looks a little lazy,"[/color] came a voice from behind. [color=BDB76B]"Pullin’ left by a hair."[/color]

[color=2F8C99]"I’ve got it,"[/color] Jovik murmured. He shifted the wheel slightly, muttering a short Draconic word under his breath. The elemental ring responded instantly...wobble corrected.

[url=https://i.imgur.com/ayufbBc.png]First Mate Duren Reiss[/url] stepped up beside him, arms crossed, half-squinting into the wind. Scarred, stocky, and carrying the vibe of a cantankerous warrior. He wore a red bandana tied tight around his shaved head and had the kind of gravel voice that came from war cries and bad whisky.

[color=BDB76B]"By the way, Captain...you know we’ve got a godsdamn Karrnathi general in the mess right now? Just sittin’ there. Eating our food. Like he didn’t spend twenty years sending undead after us in the Wroat campaign."[/color]

Jovik didn’t look at him. Just adjusted a flow stabilizer rune and replied dryly, [color=2F8C99]"[i]Former general[/i]. And it’s not our food. He's passenger, which means he paid for his meals."[/color]

Duren let out a long, annoyed breath. [color=BDB76B]"Doesn’t sit right, Cap. Feels like lettin’ a pyromancer nap in a hay barn. You remember what those bastards did. The smells. The screams. All the boys and girls we left in the mud. And now I gotta smile at one like we’re trading sky-pear punch recipes?"[/color]

[color=2F8C99]"Wind’s shifting,"[/color] Jovik said instead. [color=2F8C99]"Roll pitch three degrees to port, up one on vertical lift fin. We’re catching an airstream."[/color]

Duren obeyed without missing a beat, hands moving over the secondary controls like a pianist playing from muscle memory. [color=BDB76B]"You didn’t answer me."[/color]

[color=2F8C99]"I did,"[/color] the captain replied. [color=2F8C99]"The war’s over. You don’t like it? Maybe I don't like how it all turned out either. But clinging to the hate that fueled it is how it starts again."[/color]

Duren gave a bitter chuckle. [color=BDB76B]"You sound like my therapist. If I had one. Which I don’t. Because I kill problems, I don’t talk to them."[/color]

[color=2F8C99]"Try it sometime."[/color]

[color=BDB76B]"I’d rather arm wrestle a lich."[/color]

Jovik finally glanced his way. That damned smile. The one that turned barmaids to poets and smugglers to loyalists.

Duren groaned. [color=BDB76B]"You’re probably right. As always. Doesn’t mean I’m listenin’, but you’re right."[/color]

They fell into a practiced silence, the only sound the whirring of the arcane core and the rhythmic hum of elemental fire in motion. The ship swam like a shark through the sky, graceful and deadly.

A light tap of boots against the deck announced a third voice.

[color=C84E74]"Captain?"[/color] It was [url=https://imgur.com/hMvyml8]Chief Deck Officer Callandra Venn[/url]...sharp-featured, brown-haired, and unflinchingly competent. [color=C84E74]"We’re getting some anomalous readings from the cargo hold. Energy flux in a small radius...not dangerous levels, but enough to trigger a core ping."[/color]

Jovik tilted his head, thoughtful. [color=2F8C99]"Send Engineer Airresh to investigate."[/color]

Callandra hesitated. [color=C84E74]"Sir, Scratch is on his break. But...I can go find him, if you want."[/color]

[color=2F8C99]"Please do. And let him know I owe him something fermented for the trouble. Maybe even an extra lunch break, if he's feeling greedy."[/color]

Duren snorted. [color=BDB76B]"What about the girl? She's not allowed in the hold anymore. Shouldn't be allowed onboard at all in my [i]humble[/i] opinion."[/color]

Jovik’s lips curled again, just slightly. [color=2F8C99]"We both know that if Scratch is going, Val’s going. I’ve stopped wasting time trying to keep water from falling downhill. Can't run from your shadow."[/color]

Callandra gave a sly nod. [color=C84E74]"I’ll make sure Airresh is with her the whole time. Should keep things from catching fire."[/color]

[color=2F8C99]"Much appreciated,"[/color] the captain replied, already returning his focus to the heading readout.

Callandra turned and left, and after another brief period of that same practiced silence, Duren spoke up again, quieter this time.

[color=BDB76B]"…Are you sure we can’t have a ship rule about necromancers? Like… toss ’em overboard. No trial, no fuss."[/color]

Jovik just smiled and shook his head...then adjusted the altitude ring by a quarter degree.

The [i]Stormrider[/i] kept flying like she was born to chase the sun.[/color]