SOLO III
Demon World
Part 037
Captain Split takes the wheel. He turns the
ship away from the island. As it comes around it leans hard to
the port, picking up a strong wind. It leaves a wake behind it,
and ocean swells start slaping against the prow. The astral
dragons are flying along outside the front of the ship. There is
a school of flying fish leaping before the bow wave and skimming along
the surface of the water. The fish are tiny, with little wing
like fins.
Physically Cookpot comes over to Gail and Ada,
edging out some other crewmen who are starting to gather around
them. "Come with me, we'll get you some Quarters, and
cothes." He leads them to a door in the wall of the aft
deck. The aft deck is 2 meters higher than the rest of the
ship. This door is on the right side. Most of the crew are
headed to the door on the left side.
Cookpot leads Gail and Ada down a steep wooden stair
with polished round railings to a narrow hallway. It runs left
and right and is very narrow. To the left it turns to the right,
or toward the back of the ship. In the other direction it runs to
the starboard side of the ship and ends at a porthole. Along the
corridor are three doors. He ignores them, goes to the left and
turns the corner.
Now the corridor goes to the back of the ship ending
in a fancy door with engravings of gargoyles on it. Six of
them. Four at the corners and two on either side of the
middle. On the left side of the walkway are four more normal
doors. He Opens the second one.
Inside is a largish room with a slightly curved
outter wall and two portholes. The right wall is a little shorter
than the left wall. There are two sets of bunks in here, and a table
fixed to the floor in the middle. On either side of the door are
vanities and stools. They are bare with round mirrors fixed to
the walls, but there is a basin with a large pitcher on each one.
The bunks are built into the center of the left and right walls.
Inboard and outboard of each pair of bunks is a trunk set on the
floor. Four in all. "Use the trunks for clothes, they are
water tight." He says.
Under the portholes against the far wall, the curved
wall, is a long bench. The seat has seams separating four
sections. Each one a little more curved than the next to fit the
ouside wall. He walks over to the bench and lifts up a wooden
section of the seat revealing a storage area. "Here is some more
storage, and some more practical clothing." He drops the seat
with a thunk. "You might find some working clothes in the other
seats, not sure."
He turns, faces them and smiles
appologetically. "Everyone is going to sleep on deck tonight,
even the captain." The smile gets bigger and more strained.
"You don't have to, but you might want to. They're clearing out
the galley now. See, now that we have the stuff, it's time to
start cookin up some gunpowder, and well..." The smile fades to a
frown. Then the smile reappears. "It smells really
bad. And it takes a week."
He walks over to some trunks at the foot of the bunk
beads. "You can stow your personal stuff in these. We'll be
having our last hot meal on the deck tonight. After that it'll be
cold stew till the powder is finished." He rubs his chin.
"Oh, and if it rains, everyone usually crowds into the Anchor room to
sleep. Anyway..." He hesitates a moment then heads for the
door. "I'll be in the galley if you need me." And he leaves.
Ada and Gail start looking through the
clothing. It's all female and there is a wide variety of sizes
and styles. But most is practical. A silky red blouse with
billowing sleves right up to the tight cuffs. A blue sleeveless
shirt that crosses over the front and ties off in the back. A
white leather vest that laces up the front. A large pile of
scarves and bandanas. There are paints and trousers. Bell
bottom and straight legged, canvas, linen, and leather that are varied
in the basic colors. Leather's are the only thing that is white
though.
In another window seat Gail finds shoes. From
the frivolous to the practical. Extended toe that curls up to a
pair of small bells. Kneehigh calf skin boots, mocasins,
slippers, shoes with raised heels, big and heavy boots, elegant
sandals, and such. There is even a chest of frilly see through
night clothes made of silks. The one missing color is green.
They start mixing and matching different
peices. Looking for the right combination of fit, freedom of
movement, and color. While doing this another part of their minds
take the astral dragons for a look around.
All three dragons fly up to a great height.
The chain of islands is behind the boat. Radiating from an island
crator just north of the dragon island are the roads of fire. The
crator island is the center of a spiderweb that is made of flame and
lays over the ocean. Long snaky trails of burning oil lay on top
of the water. These rivers of fire trail off over the
horizon. Mostly to the east, but some to the north, and one
striking out due west. The ship is sailing south and away from
these hazards to navagation.
Uncle's dragon speaks. "The mistress of the
ship will visit you soon. Don't let her touch you. She may
be mildly insulted, but she will be more inclined to trade us off the
ship if she is. She will want to find out if you know magic, so
use any excuse to cast a minor spell. If she thinks you don't
know magic, she won't trade us, she'll have us sold like cattle.
Yes. And one more thing. The most important one.
Agree with everything she says. Dissagreeing with even one
comment can get us thrown over board."
Uncle's dragon races off to the south. "I'm
going to scout ahead and see what may be waiting for us." Gail
and Ada send their dragons into the Captains chamber to spy on The
mistress. But it is empty. She isn't there.
Back in the cabin Gail and Ada hear a knock at the
door. They have just finished getting dressed ang Gail moves to
open it. The door swings into the room before she gets there and
the lady strides in. She is wearing a green bikinni with frilly
see throughs over it. Around her waist is a heavy leather belt
and it has eight small bottles hanging from it. They each have a
cork in them and bounce off her hips as she walks. "Girls, call
me Lisa, and welcome aboard." She moves straight to Gail as if to
hug her.
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