Lilaethan, maiden world, named after the Eldar maiden goddess of fortune, Lileath. Once barren rock, the Eldar before the Fall touched these worlds with seeds and life that transformed the worlds into homes for future generations. However, after the Fall many were lost and left unclaimed.
Within these planets are not just the hopes for settling again, but also possible technologies and the wisdom of old before the Eldar spiraled into darkness. Thus the maiden worlds are hunted for, their hope for the future making their namesake proud. Small ships like the Valainthir, with small crews plod their way through the galaxy in hopes of finding these treasures.
The miracle of life and how it had sustained itself had been studied for millennia, scientists of old and new constantly observing and maintaining notes for future generations. Aledel, however, was far from a scientist.
Though her eyes were pressed to the microscope and her eyes were registering the cells in the slide, the young eldar's mind was far from the sketch she was supposed to be adding to the bottom of her mother's neat notes.
"You're daydreaming, again, aren't you, Child?" Her mother's voice cut in, causing her daughter to jump and dragging the young one's focus back to the ship and the task at hand. "You cannot fool me just by daydreaming INTO the eyepiece. Your silent pen gives you away." She said with a sigh, not looking up from her work.
"Sorry, Mother." Aledel grunted and started to add another cell to the cluster she had been working on for what felt like hours. When she had confided in her mother that one day she might take of up the Path of the Artist this was not what she expected to result from it. This notepad was not even woven by a bonesinger unlike her actual sketch pad and art pens, and the lack of ability to literally pour herself into the sketch made it just a dull chore.
"Where was your mind wandering this time?" Mother asked, looking into a microscope of her own.
"Nowhere really, I am just tired." The young one replied with a sigh, just trying to get the damnable job done so she could go before her shift on the bridge.
"Your father and I heard you up and moving about this morning. What in Isha's name were you doing?"
Aledel shrugged and started shading. "I was going through some of the guardian sword forms. But I really have no skill for them."
"If you believe that you never will be." Mother said, looking up and meeting her daughter's eyes. "Trying believing in yourself, trust your mind and body to remember and stop thinking on it so much."
For a long moment Aledel held the gaze, feeling her mother's kindness even through her frustration. "Thank you, Momma." When a couple of more heartbeats passed, her mother opened her mouth to say something but Aledel beat her to it. "I know, back to work."
Unfortunately the sketch look much longer than expected without the flow of her normal drawings and Aledel was forced to go straight to her shift on the bridge. As she walked, she tugged on the jacket of her uniform. The firm blue material did fill her with a small sense of pride as it shifted to fit her better. Although they were long and far from the craftworld, the Alaitocii colors were still prominent throughout the ship.
The bridge duties were broken down into three main shifts: The first was the primary bridge crew with all of the senior members as well as the captain. Although little happened while floating around in open space, it was during first shifts that most of the exercises and practices were done. The second shift had its own crew that would assist the primary officers when something big happened such as hostile encounters. But for the most part second shift were being trained to eventually take the jobs of the primary crew when they stepped off the Path of the Mariner. Lastly there was the third shift, when absolutely nothing happened. The entire job of the third officers was to make sure that the ship did not run into a rogue asteroid and to keep an eye out for threats.
Aledel Silverwing was the third communications officer, with Sereklain as the second and Aledel's father being the first and primary. Aledel had spent just about her entire life on the ship, but Sereklain had joined not all that long ago. He was a little older than her and their attraction to one another was undeniable.
As she stepped onto the bridge, he pulled himself up and out of the 'comms and scanner' well and smiled at her. She touched his hand in greeting. "I am here to relieve you, Sereklain."
With a smile that stirred her veins he simply answered. "I am relieved." And departed.
Chewing her tongue in self control she tossed her bag down into the comms well. The well lit up in recognition of her and her mind effortlessly synced in with the systems,grabbed her sketch pad to keep her hands busy and settled in for a long night of nothing. Without a doubt, the scanners that she would tend to would be dead all night long.
Valainthir was a fine ship with a strong circuit that mostly ran itself. Aledel considered the small ship her home and had very rarely actually been on Alaitoc. Her mother and father were Mariners on the ship when she was conceived and the ship had taken them all the way back to the craftworld to give her mother a safe place to deliver the rare miracle of an Eldar child. But shortly after the child was born, the Silverwings got right back on the ship and dove back out into the void.
About two decades ago, they had stopped back by the craftworld to re-supply and pick up a couple of new crew members, which was when Sereklain had come aboard. Though very young, he had shown great talent and was quickly promoted to an empty second officer position. Aledel had barely been off the path of the child at the time. Despite her movement into adulthood, the crew had all helped raise her and although Sereklain was not all that much older than her, he mostly escaped being called "Child" by every other set of lips.
"Still nothing?" a voice cut through her thoughts and into her ears. The young one whirled around, setting her idol sketch aside.
"Sereklain. Shouldn't you be going to bed?" She asked, glancing at the chrono. Apparently two hours had passed.
"I could not sleep. I see you have been reading and sketching." He said gesturing to an abandoned dataslate and sketchpad as he slid into the well beside her.
Aledel willed her blood not to pool into her cheeks and tucked a strand of hair behind her tapered ear. "You're not supposed to be up here. It is not your shift." She heartlessly scolded despite his higher rank. Although it was not like the Third Lt was even on the bridge to say something about it and no one else had come out of their pods to look.
He smirked, his almond eyes twinkling with mischief. "And you are going to stop me from being here, yes?"
"No." she grunted her eyes meeting his before tearing them away. "If you came to tease me did you at least bring me something good to read?"
"I did not, but I did bring these." He said, producing two crystal bottles of amber liquid. "Honey mead."
With a gasp, Aledel straightened in her chair and looked around wildly. Her alarm must have alerted one of the others, because she received a mental prod, inquiring if all was well. She assured her crewmate that nothing was amiss and severed her mind mostly from the system. "We can get into SO much trouble." She hissed.
"Do you see the captain anywhere?" he asked, those stupid eyes glittering with mischief again.
"No, but the third officer could be here any moment!" she protested, trying not to get shrill.
"Then we had better drink quickly then, yes?" he asked with a grin.
Aledel looked at him forlorn, unable to understand his behavior when Sereklain started to laugh. It became quickly evident this entire meeting had been a joke and he had been trying not to laugh the entire time. Agitated she gave him a shove in the shoulder. "You are such a twit at times. I will meet you after my shift." She huffed.
He shrugged, still smiling. "I am sorry. But you are so quick to assume things I could not resist." He said, touching her hand in apology.
Although it was impossible to remain angry about it, she sniffed slightly. "Alright. I forgive you. Meet me in lounge 4A after my shift if you wake up in time, yes? Now go to sleep and stop distracting me. My job at watching the empty scanners is very important."
He smiled at her and slipped out of the well. "I will see you in a couple of hours." He said with a wink, then vanished from sight.
Lounge 4A was rather thinly decorated and had just a couple of blue and gold chairs, as well as a bench and a table. Sereklain was sitting on the bench, obviously lost in thought when Aledel arrived. "Hey, so where did you get these?" she asked, gesturing at his feet where the two bottles sat.
He looked puzzled by her question. "The galley. Have you not seen them?"
"I have seen them, I guess. But I have never partaken in any expect at gatherings." She said, easing down on the bench beside him.
"Then consider this a mini-gathering." He said, popping open one and taking a drink.
"What are we celebrating?" she asked, picking up the other bottle and running it through her long fingers.
"What else? The fact that there is absolutely nothing out here. I came to this ship thinking that we would make a great discovery but there seems to be no plan but to wander. That makes up hardly better than outcasts."
"Do not say that. I do not think that is the case at all. I am sure that there are maiden worlds undiscovered in this area…." She bit her lip. "…. We are just having a hard time finding them."
"I have no doubt they exist, but we are never going to located them plodding around at sub-light speeds." He said, taking another drink.
"It is better than sitting on the craftworld and praying that the Farseers will pick up on something. Besides, you are a second officer." Aledel said, taking off her uniform jacket and laying it in her lap before picking up her bottle to fiddle with it again. "You could ask why we are traveling at this speed."
Sereklain scowled slightly. "It is not my place to question the captain."
They sat in silence for a moment before Sereklain pointed at her bottle. "Why not open it?"
"I think I shall save it for another time. I'll have a sip of yours if you don't mind." She said lightly.
"Suit yourself, but we are well supplied on it." He handed the bottle over and she took a drink.
"But we could run out at some point. I can save it for such a time. Thank you for thinking of me. That was very kind of you." She said, setting the bottle in her bag.
"Next time I will just bring you a book, yes?" he said with a grin.
"Yes! What else am I supposed to do for eight hours?" she mirrored his grin.
"Watch the radar?" he suggested.
"I watch it mentally quite well, thank you. Nothing has gotten past me yet!"
"Except the foresight to bring a book." He laughed.
"Oh nothing ever happens on third." She said, with an exaggerated sigh.
"Nothing ever happens on second either." He pointed out.
Aledel plucked a fuzz off his sleeve. "Primary crew gets all the fun."
"No, I don't think they do either. I don't think any of us do." He said evenly.
With a smile Aledel stood up and picked up her bag. "I need to go to bed. Mother wants me in the lab again tomorrow. Try not to envy me. Thank you again, Sereklain." She said, kissing him on the forehead.
Color ran into his face and he tucked a strand of her auburn hair behind her ear, sending a wave of desire through her. "Goodnight." He whispered.
Author's Notes::
Hello all! This is my first publish on FF so bear with me while I figure the formatting out!
******I realize this chapter isn't very exciting, but I felt like if I didn't cut it off from the next part that it would be too much at once. Even if you were bored on this one, I encourage you to move on to Chapter2 as that is where the story rapidly picks up.*******
I've edited this several times but am notorious for overlooking mistakes over and over. My primary editor is on strike for some reason. (He's not in the mood.) So I've had a friend look over it as well. He managed to catch what I missed. Hopefully it has all been caught but I humbly apologize is something was missed. ~The woes of a dyslexic wannabe writer~
Also, thank you to Ben who has been helping me along with this whole thing from the beginning and thanks to Jeff as well for bringing some of the later characters to life and helping with plots.
Added notes later:
Hey! Thanks for all of the support everyone! I'm flattered how well this is doing and it is all thanks to you guys! (Reviews are welcome! So long as they are kind or constructive!) :)