Ok, so this took ridiculously long to get on here, and I'm very sorry about that. Life has once again intervened and prevented my writing for a while.
So, here goes… review anyone?
Corrin led the group up to the ship. He had almost been able to tune out the chattering girl out, and was very pleased that he could do that, after all, if he could tune Emily out, and possibly even forget she was there, then the trip would go a lot smoother.
Emily followed Corrin to the ship. She had been asking Jared question after question, trying to find out more about this strange land, what the ship was, where they were, and where they were going. So far, Jared's answers were less than satisfactory, and they left her with more questions. Emily had nearly forgotten about Corrin, except that a glimpse of the back of his head was all the reminder she needed about his slur. If she could forget about him, the trip would be very wonderful.
Jared tried to answer Emily's questions, but with the limited knowledge that he had, along with the stories Corrin had told him, it was growing increasingly difficult to answer them. And he knew that she had about a million new questions for every one that he answered. And her new questions were ones that he couldn't answer. Jared also knew that Emily was angry at Corrin, which was why she was peppering him with questions instead of Corrin. Emily had a reason to be angry though. If there was one thing she hated, it was people saying she was useless because she was a girl. Jared wasn't one hundred percent sure what Corrin was feeling about his bringing Emily, but there was certainty frustration there. Emily was distracting him too much for him to really make certain.
The group rounded a corner on the docks, and there lay the ship. Named 'Starcatcher', it was massive against the small fishing boats. But this was no fishing boat. This was a lightning catcher, a moderate sized ship by other ships of its kind, but here it dominated the harbor with an intimidating bulk. Emily had an inkling that Corrin might be right after all, this ship was dangerous.
The nets of the ship weren't folded all the way into their sheaths; they were half extended, letting the men climbing on them to clean them, just as if the metal ropes were made of harmless fiber. Emily asked a question before she could stop herself.
"Why aren't the men getting electrocuted?"
Corrin's resolve to ignore Emily was broken when Jared answered with a referral to him.
"Corrin? Could you answer her? I don't know the answer to this one."
Corrin turned and met Jared's eyes. They were pleading with him to answer Emily's question, and laughing at him at the same time. Corrin remembered a story Jared had told him about Emily. Emily had asked him a question that he was unable to answer. The girl had them spent almost the entire day asking everyone the question until she got an answer. Now Corrin was on the receiving end of her persistence.
"The men don't get electrocuted because there isn't enough electricity in the air to shock them. And even if there was, the men are wearing suits made of nonconductive material. So, no electrocution."
Emily thought over his answer, and asked another question.
"What are the nets made of?"
'More questions?' Corrin thought. He answered her though.
"They are made of a strong, but light-weight metal from southern Stronghold."
"Why are the men cleaning them?" Emily asked.
Corrin answered, starting to get annoyed at the non-stop questioning. "Because everything needs to be cleaned once in a while. More specifically though, it's the start of storm season."
"Why"
Then that the lightning will be more pure."
"Oh…" Emily paused. Corrin was hoping that she was done asking him questions.
"What's that got to do with anything?" Hope was gone.
"So that it will fetch a higher price at the market." Corrin was annoyed.
"You can sell lightning?" Emily asked, incredulous, her quarrel with Corrin forgotten on the quest for information about things unknown to her.
Corrin was short and to the point. "Obviously."
"But what can you use it for?" Yet another question. Corrin found an opportunity to shut her up.
"What is lightning?" answer question with question, she will have to answer now.
"Energy. But what…" Emily caught her mistake and blushed slightly. "let me rephrase that-"
"No" Corrin cut her off.
"What?"
"No I will not let you rephrase your question. No more question games. It's time to load the ship." Corrin checked to see if everyone was there. To the crew he said, "you all know what to do", to Jared and Emily he said "Jared, you and your sister can follow me to the poop deck."
This time it was Jared who asked the question. "What are we doing there?"
"You two will watch, and I will go over the list of supplies and see if we have everything we need for this trip." Corrin smiled, as if he had a private joke. "Actually, if you get bored, there is a length of rope that you can untangle and pile up. Might as well be useful." He laughed then, and bounded up the gang plank.
Emily followed up behind him carefully. She had never been on a lightning ship, and not being able to see the sky because of the balloon, was strange. On deck, she craned her neck up to look at it. Upon closer inspection, the balloon seemed not to be made of canvas, but a flexible metal, that was gleaming dully. Emily decided to store the question away for later.
Jared had followed Corrin to the deck too, but wasn't looking at the balloon. He was going through Emily's bag, and found that she had packed the same things that he had, a knife, two pairs of clothing, and some coins(she had lost her staff in the struggle with the sailors in green). Why didn't she pack anything else? Jared hadn't packed much, because he knew that Corrin was getting sea things for him, which was what the coins were for. Jared also remembered that when Corrin had told him the list of things that he was getting for Jared, he had said that he was getting an extra pair of everything, why was that? Did Corrin and Emily meet? Or was Corrin banking on the fact that Emily would find out about their meetings and come with Jared? Jared shook his head. This was getting really complicated for such a simple sounding venture.
Emily stopped looking at the balloon floating above them and glanced at Jared. He had her bag. She reached over and took it from him. "Where should the bags go 'Captain'?" she asked Corrin in a slightly mocking tone.
This was a dilemma. Corrin had no idea where to put a girl. She couldn't stay in the crew's quarter, that was utterly and completely out of the question. At the same time, she couldn't sleep in his cabin either, that would just cause more trouble and be extremely awkward. So unless Jared gave up his cabin… Corrin shot Jared a pleading glance and saw that Jared had been thinking along the same lines.
Jared spoke first, breaking the pause of silent thinking. "Corrin, would it be fine if I gave Emily my cabin and shared with someone else?"
"That would be perfect. You can bunk in my cabin. It's ridiculously large for one person anyway." Corrin replied, grateful that Jared had come up with the same solution. "We can put your bags into the respective cabins later, right now we are finishing loading."