AN:
Very quick update today, I want to finish the crew so that I can continue with the actual plot, my excuses if it seems rushed.
Later that day, when the storm was slowly fading, and the light outside slowly made way for the inevitable darkness of night, we find ourselves on the docks of Hopeless. Most of the airships were still grounded in the hangers, for the weather was too unforgiving for flight at the moment, other airships were securely tied by thick pieced of rope to the side of the docks, low enough to not get caught in the winds that roamed that night. Lights burned inside the cabins of the airships, for most of the crew were sheltering from the infernal weather, some were standing on the deck, using the giant balloon above them to shield them from the rain.
One specific airship was tied to the west side of the docks, it was a relatively new one, made for a specific task. On the side it read "The lost.". The airship was of simple design, one big balloon, of which the hull of the ship was suspended, and 2 longs small ones, which were solidly placed on the sides of the hull. Instead of the usual main engine and 2 steering engines this ship was equipped with 2 sets of steering engines, granting it great speed and mobility. On the deck we can spot a one handed man walking around the ship, tinkering with the small howitzer on the front. With one hand he held the gun in place and his other hand stopped halfway his lower arm, from there it became a piece of sturdy oak wood and out of there came a pipe wrench. This wasn't the only prosthetic that the man carried, next to a assortment of attachments for his hand he also had a wooden peg leg. He was singing some old viking song about a mace and a wife.
He turned around when he heard someone walk onto the plank of the ship, he saw one of his crew members walk up to him. "Any news?" he asked the young man. "W-Well, y-you s-see G-G-Gobber" The boy began, the old man was quickly getting annoyed with the stuttering boy. "Spit it out Fishlegs!" He yelled. "I man come up to me today and asked if I was one of those Berkians looking for 'Her'." Gobbers mood was immediately better. "What did he tell you lad?" He asked. "W-Well, I told him yes, and t-then he just told me to b-back off if I knew what was good for me." Gobber was disappointed to say the least, it sounded like a promising at first, but it was probably another bounty hunter or something. Most of them luckily know that the chief want her alive and well, most of them. "What did that man look like Fish?" He asked. "He wore a old trench coat, and, eem, he had a leather satchel, and, oh he carried a rifle on his back, one with a spyglass on it." The young boy answered. Then came the voice of one of the Thorson twins. "It's called a scope you nitwit." The female one said. "And we met him too, he was awesome! He showed us this scar on his neck in the form of a V!" Gobber froze on the spot, the description fitted perfectly, mysterious gunner, a scoped rifle, the old trench coat, it was him, the lad who sank a battleship 5 years ago and then fled execution with a dragon. What would he be doing looking for her?
His thought were interrupted by Aster who was dragging a frightened Snotloud. "Found this one hiding in a outhouse after some ghost talked to him." Aster said. Snotloud quickly defended her honor. "I tell you it's real, it was the ghost of that mysterious gunman." "Shut it Snot. Now have y'all been approached by this figure?" Gobber asked. The groups started nodding in unison. "Great, we'll just have to hope our paths don't cross again." He told his crew. "Weather forecast tells us that its clearing up tomorrow, we'll be setting sail again." The group of seven were standing on the front of the ship, they were talking about their next strategy. Meanwhile on the back of the ship, near the middle pair of steering engines, a small dark figure was walking silently over the deck. She slowly made her way towards the group, carefully sticking to the shadows so she wouldn't be seen, once she got close enough that the sound of the weather no longer masked the talking crew she listened carefully. They were discussing strategies and tasks. Who checked the engines, who manned the different guns, who was on steering duty, that sort of thing, to her disappointment she didn't hear anything about their next stop. And unlike most commanders, the one-legged man carried the plans with him at all time.
"Scheiße." She muttered under her breath, she did notice that they were tense, probably because of Ray's little chat with them, but they never spoke about their next stop. At least she knew that they would set sail tomorrow, since it was mentioned numerous times, and that they had a quite fast shit, for one of the twins kept boasting about it. "So they rely on speed huh?" She whispered to herself. "That's useful information." With that she started on her infiltration. She sneaked towards the back of the ship and vaulted over the side, she hung herself from the edge and move towards the docks, once in a good position she pushed herself off the ship and gracefully landed on the wooden docks. A lightning strike briefly illuminated her, showing her long black hair which was quickly hid in her dark grey cloak, if one was to stand in front of her they would notice the dark grey clothes with the brown paints, ending in a solid pair of leather boots. She quickly set off towards the beach. As she darted through the town she used the cover of night to her advantage, she was a master of the shadows and it wasn't hard for her to jump from roof to roof or dart between alleys. She reached the beach next to the harbor in no-time, there she formed a whistle with her fingers and blew on it. In mere seconds a giant dragon arose from the water. This Seashocker looked at her with both heads, before lowering itself so she could stand on them, the dragon was quite big, bigger than any of the other dragons they had, that was also the reason that this dragon usually slept away from the ship, in lakes or in the sea. She climbed on its back and quickly set off. The large dragon uses its wings as oars and paddles through the water with speed that no boat would dare to match. Looking back she can see the coastal town of Hopeless shrink in the distance, it the docks being overlooked by the commercial district, and that being overlooked by large steel producing factories, Emitting clouds of black into the already dark sky.
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She arrived back at their airship a bit after midnight. She noticed that Ray had already returned because his Skrill lying on the exhaust vent together with Shriek, meanwhile she saw toothless hanging from one of the steel pipes that carried hot air towards the balloon. Everyone was already asleep, they were also setting sail later that day so she also went to sleep, the dragons could guard the ship. She hugged her dragon, before walking over to the cabin to slumber down into her hammock. Her dragon descended towards the water and rested on the bottom of the seas below.
Tomorrow would be a day of travel and probably combat, there she would be able to make her name bigger, in the end, everyone would be scared of the swift attacks of Sithera Shadow.
That was, if she managed to not agree with one of Rays stupid bets to see how long he'd survive without backup.
AN:
A shorter chapter introducing you to the last member of the crew, for now. :D
It's mainly so short because I have a party to attend to and I wanted to finish the crew so that I can continue with the actual story.
Take care everyone!