I was the new girl on the Prima and I got a lot of attention when I first arrived. I was shown about the airship countless times by sailors eager to help the newbie.

The captain of the Prima was far younger than the one on the Blackbird. Only the first streaks of gray were beginning to show themselves in his blond hair and wrinkles were not to be seen on his aristocratic face. He wasn't a tough taskmaster but the sailors were extremely loyal to him and they didn't need someone looming over their shoulders to force them to work.

I was assigned to work under the navigator. The captain said that a pretty face like mine was of far better use up out of the dusky old engine rooms. To this day I'm not sure if it was a joke or not. I tried to be a good pupil, though navigation was not my cup of tea. I think I became proficient at it.

The Prima was a much larger airship than the Blackbird and it was more frequently used to transport people. This was something new for me as well, because the only people the Blackbird transported were the crew and a few people invited on by the captain.

We were forced to wear our uniforms when we had ShinRa personnel on board. Yes, we had uniforms. They were black jackets with starched collars and pants. Underneath we were permitted to wear a white shirt of our choosing as long as it was not visible beneath the jacket.

I discovered that it was a pain to have to work in that and I understood why it was not enforced when there were no passengers. We wore what we wanted to most of the time, though the working conditions created a dress code of their own. Whatever we wore had to be easy to move in and not easily caught on things.

Despite my inhibitions about working with passengers from ShinRa on the Prima, which was fast becoming my home, I worked hard. It became clear that I was admired amongst the crew because of my fighting skills. We'd run into some trouble once and I was the only one to get out without a scratch. After that they set up a sparring club during my off hours so that they could learn to fight from me.

Just over a year after I joined the Prima I was promoted to Lieutenant. The rank was completely unofficial. The captains were the ones to assign rank on their ships and they did not get permission from ShinRa to do so. It didn't bother ShinRa much so they shrugged it off. Who cared what the sailors called themselves? They were the only ones to create captains after all, and that was really what mattered to them.

We picked up a small group of Turks from Midgar sometime around my twenty-second birthday. It was about two years since I'd joined the Prima's crew. I was irritated that I had to spend my birthday with a bunch of hateful Turks on board. I became a bit more aggressive when I was sparring and one sailor got hurt. I promised myself I wouldn't spar again until the Turks were gone.

I was watching the view from a window on one of my breaks when I noticed there was someone behind me. I tried to ignore the person because I wasn't going to let them take away the pleasure of my favourite pass time.

"I never noticed how pretty the view can be," the person behind me said in a half-mocking tone. I turned to see a Turk. I curled my lip and was going to say something insulting but he spoke first. "Oh, Miss Waitress, it's you. I never did get your name. You're a... What does that symbol on your jacket mean? I've forgotten."

"Shut it, Turk," I grumbled, vaguely remembering that his name had started with a V. I doubted very much that the Turk was that talkative amongst the other Turks; he was purposely bothering me. I didn't know what I'd done to deserve that, but it was getting on my nerves. I pushed past him and began walking away. To my utter horror, he began to follow me.

"It's Veld," he told me. "And your name?"

"Thorne," I told him, hoping he'd be satisfied and leave me alone.

"Thorne?" he repeated. "I heard there was some sort of club on this airship."

"You're not going to find it," I told him.

"I was just hoping I could use that to pass the time until I can get off this piece of tin," Veld said amicably.

"Watch it," I growled at him. "That's my home you're talking about."

"It's a very nice piece of tin," he said with a laugh. "So, will you show me where it is?"

"Sure, but I don't think they'll let you in," I warned.

"Doesn't matter, watching is fine with me," Veld assured me. I sighed.

"All right then, follow me."

When we arrived there everyone seemed happy to see me. Mathe the young sailor whom I'd injured, walked up to me with a huge grin on his face waving his hand. The wrist was in a brace. I winced.

"Aw, c'mon Lieutenant, I don't hold it against you," he said. "It's all in the nature of fighting."

Of course it was and I was wondering how I managed not to lose my job over that. Veld began to laugh, almost hysterically. Everyone stared.

"Yes," I told them all in a loud voice. "I have a leech with a blue suit attached to my back. I have come under threat of having all the energy drained from my body by said leech to show him our sparring circle...or club, whichever you prefer to call it."

It was at least an hour and a half later when Veld stood. He took off his jacket.

"I think I know how this works," he said. "I challenge Lieutenant Thorne." I stared at him in disbelief while the others stared at me, perhaps wondering what I'd done to get on the Turk's bad side that way. The answer was: nothing more than anyone else, he was just picking on me for some reason.

Anyone on board an airship knew the unspoken code. You must never show a Turk kindness of any sort but should they try to attack, turn tail and flee. Fighting a Turk was widely known as suicide. They were the elite after all. I was doomed; the situation did not allow me to back out. The one thought running through my head was: At least he's not allowed to kill me on the airship.

I stood up, nearly shaking, and took off my own uniform jacket.

"Don't worry," Veld told me. "I'll go easy on you."

"Don't insult me," I replied. "Kill me if you can."

With those words I stepped up to fight a Turk.