[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/250324/b71cf5ab5cebec9b4e857200f7c42a8b.png[/img]

[img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/250324/dc185f5e06aa08f3af9fbb79b4040da5.png[/img]

[color=EBA536][b]Location:[/b][/color] [color=E579FF]Top Deck >> Cargo Hold[/color]
[color=E579FF][b]Race:[/b][/color] [color=EBA536]Dark Elf[/color] & [color=E579FF]Human[/color]
[color=E579FF][b]Class:[/b][/color] [color=EBA536]Artificer[/color] & [color=E579FF]Rogue[/color]
[color=EBA536][b]Interactions:[/b][/color] [@Princess] Callendra; [@Helo] Ezekiel
[color=E579FF][b]Mentions:[/b][/color] 
[color=EBA536][b]Equipment:[/b][/color]
[hider]
[color=EBA536][b]Scratch[/b][/color]
Medical bag
Tinkerer's kit
Arcane spindlelock (shortened) musket
Spindlelock pistols x2
Hand axes x2
[color=E579FF][b]Val[/b][/color]
First-aid bag
Tinkerer's kit
Spindlelock pistols x2
Steel daggers x2[/hider][color=E579FF][b]Attire:[/b][/color]
[hider]
[color=EBA536][b]Scratch[/b][/color]
Dark brown, knee-length coat
Black waistbelt
Grey button-up shirt
Dark brown trousers
Heavy leather boots
[color=E579FF][b]Val[/b][/color]
Off-white shirt
Red ribbon tied around left arm
Brown hooded coat
Brown trousers
Leather boots
Goggles on her head[/hider][color=EBA536][b]Gold:[/b][/color] 80
[color=E579FF][b]Injuries:[/b][/color]
[hider]
[color=EBA536][b]Scratch[/b][/color]
NA
[color=E579FF][b]Val[/b][/color]
NA[/hider]
[/center]

[color=C84E74][i]“Please, I’m made of sterner stuff than that. Unlike some people who claim they’re four-fifty but complain like they’re ancient.”[/i][/color]

Dry words, controlled voice; defiant eyes, flushed cheeks. A miniscule, almost imperceptible, smirk tugged on Scaerthrynne’s lips. Callendra had quite the reaction to his remark. Had he touched a nerve? Perhaps trodden upon something she’d rather keep hidden? Regardless, it was interesting, and he scribbled a note in his mind to investigate further should he have the time, or opportunity, in future. 

But for now, he had work to do.

[color=EBA536]“I could just be two-fifty, and I’d still be ancient compared to most of you,”[/color] he replied with a wry laugh. [color=EBA536]“And I’ve heard humans talk about watching their health at the youthful age of fifty, or even forty. I’d like to think that I’ve earned the right to complain about some things.”[/color]

Leaving the exchange at that, he gave Vallena a slight nod. The girl nodded back with an eager smile. The two of them then followed Callendra away from the bar, and deeper into the bowels of the airship.

Scaerthrynne stayed about a half-dozen steps behind the Chief Deck Officer, mainly so that he could keep an eye on Vallena. The girl skipped and bounded her way between the two adults, her large eyes taking in everything around her, even though she’d likely seen everything at least a thousand times before. The few passengers she twirled around and slipped past, and the many who had to get out of her way, could easily be forgiven for believing her to be a child on their first passage by airship. 

[color=EBA536]“Careful, Val,”[/color] the dark elf called out, more half-heartedly than not, as she almost ran into a lady. A chuckle breathed through his lips, and he shook his head. Vallena was still just a child; she could be allowed some degree of good-hearted wildness outside of her work.

And he had to admit, her childish wonder, and her seemingly inexhaustible pool of energy was…

Well, it was quite a thing. Sometimes a bad thing, but in this case, it was a refreshing thing.

The deeper they ventured into the Stormrider, however, and the farther they left gleaming fixtures and idle chatter behind, in favour of tarnished brass and mechanical humming, the more cautious and timid Vallena became. She clutched her bandaged arm close to her chest, her eyes gazing at the hissing pipes snaking along the ceiling and running down the walls, as she kept herself close to Scaerthrynne. [color=E579FF]“There’s really hot steam in them.”[/color] Her whispered words were loud within such close confines.

[color=EBA536]“That, they do,”[/color] Scaerthrynne replied and patted her on the head. [color=EBA536]“That’s why I keep telling you to be very, very careful when you’re here, not that you listen.”[/color]

Vallena scratched her wound over her sleeve and bandages. [color=E579FF]“I’ll be careful from now on, Scratch.”[/color]

[color=EBA536]“We’ll see about that,”[/color] the dark elf replied with a smirk. [color=EBA536]“I wonder what it’ll be next time. A leg? Your face?”[/color]

[color=E579FF]“It’ll be nothing!”[/color] Vallena protested with a whine. [color=E579FF]“Then I’ll prove to you that I do listen! And you’ll be so, so proud of me, just you wait, Scratch!”[/color]

Scaerthrynne chuckled. [color=EBA536]“You know what, Val? I just might, if that ever happens.”[/color]

He swept his gaze over the walls, ceilings, fixtures, just about everything as they walked. Not a single rune or stretch of arcane circuitry, no matter how small or short, passed his notice. All seemed to be in order, as they should be. The air was getting cooler, and the airship’s hum sounded just right. Every runic array was arranged correctly, their individual runes glowing and pulsing healthily. None of the arcane circuits seemed to be broken, or close to breaking. That was satisfactory. Scaerthrynne could never be too careful with this airship – state-of-the-art and brand-new, to him, also came with state-of-the-art and brand-new problems. 

Before long, the three of them reached the entrance to the cargo hold. [color=C84E74][i]“Here we are.”[/i][/color] Was that unease on Calldnera’s face, when she turned to face him? Or just general discomfort? Vallena didn’t seem to notice a thing, but Scaerthrynne certainly did. [color=C84E74][i]“The cargo hold – whatever triggered the ping should be just beyond this door.”[/i][/color]

Well, whatever it was that he thought he saw, it could wait.

[color=EBA536]“Let’s get this over with then,”[/color] Scaerthrynne said and approached the door. He did, however, pause to give Callendra a pat on the shoulder, similar to what he did to Vallena whenever the girl felt nervous. [color=EBA536]“I wouldn’t worry, Venn. It’s nothing we can’t handle. Probably. I’ll go first, then Val, and then you just follow behind us and make sure the girl doesn’t touch anything she shouldn’t.”[/color]

[color=E579FF]“I promise I’ll try not to!”[/color] Vallena piped up, perhaps a little unhelpfully.

Scaerthrynne sighed and shook his head. He said nothing else as he quickly manipulated the runes in just the right way to momentarily dispel the wards, and unlocked the heavy latch. Metal ground loudly against metal, ending with a sonorous thud. Putting his weight into it, and grunting, Scaerthrynne pushed the door open. Its hinges squealed, and its bottom edge scraped against the grated flooring. [color=EBA536]“Venn, close it behind us,”[/color] he said as he stepped into the cargo hold.

This part of the ship was dimly-lit at the best of times – all of its lights far overhead, and had been set flush into the walls and ceilings to maximise space – but when it was fully loaded with crates, barrels, and other odds-and-ends, it was practically a shadowed forest of wood and brass. Voices, distant and muffled, came around corners and floated above stacked goods. More like than not, they were from workers checking on items that needed a little more care, or crew members hiding away for a quick break. 

[color=E579FF]“Oh, I think I know the way!”[/color] Vallena’s cheery voice seemed out-of-place here.

[color=EBA536]“Right,”[/color] Scaerthrynne said dryly. [color=EBA536]“You did come down here without permission, didn’t you?”[/color]

Vallena giggled nervously, but still confidently stepped in front of him. [color=E579FF]“W-Well, yes, but hey! It’s great that I did, now that we’re here, right?”[/color] She looked at Scaerthrynne with an expectant look. He couldn’t deny that, and so he nodded. Vallena smiled brightly. [color=E579FF]“It’s really, really confusing down here, but I explored around a lot! Just follow me. I think I probably can find our way around!”[/color]

[color=EBA536]“Make sure you don’t get too far ahead of us, Val,”[/color] was all Scaerthrynne managed to say before she sped off down a narrow corridor defined by stacks of crates on either side. 

The darkness didn’t seem to bother her at all, and neither did the claustrophobic nature of this place. She led Scaerthrynne and Callendra through the maze of cargo, the pitter-patter of her footsteps, and her calls sometimes all that told the two adults where she was. Scaerthrynne wasn’t too concerned, however. If she could handle herself down here, on her own, when nobody even knew she was here, then surely she was capable of looking after herself now. All the same, however, Scaerthrynne kept a close eye on everything he passed, and everything ahead of her, whenever she was within sight. 

A frown came over his face. Nothing seemed out-of-place, nothing seemed abnormal. The climate control system was in proper working order, if the cooling air on his face was anything to go by, and that would be the first to go had anyone messed with the runic arrays or arcane circuitry down here. The lights would be the next to fail, but a quick glance at the walls and ceiling told him that they were all working. Neither were there any strange sounds – aside from echoing murmurs of crew, and ambient hums of engines, he heard nothing else. No strange whispers, no odd–

[color=E579FF]“Oh, hello again,[/color] [color=FEE300]mister Eyepatch[/color][color=E579FF]!”[/color] Vallena’s voice came around the corner. [color=E579FF]“What’re you–”[/color]

Then, she screamed. [color=E579FF]“Scratch? Scratch!”[/color]

Scaerthrynne reacted in an instant. He dashed forward, skidding around the corner with one pistol already half-drawn. “Val, get back!” He shouted, but didn’t wait for her to reply before grabbing her by the shoulder and pulling her behind him. A surge of energy raced through his blood; his head throbbed with the beating of his heart. All he could feel was Vallena’s grip on his trousers, and her shivers against him. 

There, in front of him, and standing over a pair of visibly tortured people, chained together, was the man in white from earlier. The very same one who’d been so eager to help the boy with the broken arm. 

Scaerthrynne clicked his tongue. He should have known. It was always the ones who appeared the nicest who were into the weirdest, strangest things. 

[color=E579FF]“What’re you doing, Eyepatch?”[/color] Vallena cried. [color=E579FF]“What happened to them? What’s going–”[/color]

[color=EBA536]“Val, quiet,”[/color] Scaerthrynne said sternly, not a hint of levity in his voice. The girl whimpered, pressing herself closer to him. He reached for her shoulder, but his eyes remained fixed on the floating object between the bound people, the array of runes inscribed all over it, and the shadowy wisps that curled from it, that linked with the chains and coiled around them. The dark elf hissed through his teeth. He’d seen something like it before. Not the exact same set-up, but close enough to know it for what it was.

[color=EBA536]“You, the one Val calls Eyepatch,”[/color] he said to the white-clad man. [color=EBA536]“Listen very, [i]very[/i] closely. I honestly don’t know what you’re doing, or what’s going on, but unless you really, [i]really[/i] want to meet whichever Gods you believe in today, don’t touch anything. Touch those chains, or just make them twitch, and we’re all going to have a very, very bad time.”[/color]

He swallowed, then turned to look at Callendra. [color=EBA536]“And Venn,”[/color] he continued. [color=EBA536]“I need you to stay calm. Go up to the bridge, find the Captain. Tell him not to worry, but we have a bomb aboard.”[/color]