[014] OOM - Aboard the Free Ship, Perdita
May. 15th, 2007 12:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Tristran finds himself thinking of everything at the top of the spire of cloud he sits upon. There is a sense of perspective, sitting here. Everything is so simple, so...straight-forward, so...small from up here.
His stomach growls and he can't help but think that while adventures are well and good, there is certainly a lot to be said for regular meals and freedom from pain, like the pain he feels right now. He wishes he had his rucksack, or somehow they could open some mysterious door to Milliways again, if only so he could get something to eat. He doesn't need anything elaborate. He'll even take a plain loaf of bread. His hand throbs with heat and pain, and he wishes there were something he could do to stop it, but it's useless, no matter what he thinks.
Still, he is grateful to be alive with the wind in his hair and the fantastic view spread out before him, so wide he could never fully take it all in. The sky is so blue, so different from the way he might have viewed it from earth, and everything felt different to him from all the way up here. There is a sense of nowness.
Most of all, it is terribly quiet in a peaceful sort of way and it makes him want to ... disturb it. Just because. Standing upon the cloud spire, he calls out, "Halloo!" several times, belting it out as loudly as he can. It feels strangely exhilerating.
He wants to laugh. He wants to feel that pulse of adrenaline run through him and act like a fool. And when he does, he feels ... free. It's a nice sort of feeling, even if he does it by himself (not that he isn't used to doing things by himself, as that was what his childhood mostly consisted of). As he clambers down the length of the spire to return to the 'ground', his footing slips and he falls at least ten feet, landing shortly after into the misty softness of the cloud.
And then he laughs quietly to himself.
His stomach growls and he can't help but think that while adventures are well and good, there is certainly a lot to be said for regular meals and freedom from pain, like the pain he feels right now. He wishes he had his rucksack, or somehow they could open some mysterious door to Milliways again, if only so he could get something to eat. He doesn't need anything elaborate. He'll even take a plain loaf of bread. His hand throbs with heat and pain, and he wishes there were something he could do to stop it, but it's useless, no matter what he thinks.
Still, he is grateful to be alive with the wind in his hair and the fantastic view spread out before him, so wide he could never fully take it all in. The sky is so blue, so different from the way he might have viewed it from earth, and everything felt different to him from all the way up here. There is a sense of nowness.
Most of all, it is terribly quiet in a peaceful sort of way and it makes him want to ... disturb it. Just because. Standing upon the cloud spire, he calls out, "Halloo!" several times, belting it out as loudly as he can. It feels strangely exhilerating.
He wants to laugh. He wants to feel that pulse of adrenaline run through him and act like a fool. And when he does, he feels ... free. It's a nice sort of feeling, even if he does it by himself (not that he isn't used to doing things by himself, as that was what his childhood mostly consisted of). As he clambers down the length of the spire to return to the 'ground', his footing slips and he falls at least ten feet, landing shortly after into the misty softness of the cloud.
And then he laughs quietly to himself.
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Date: 2007-05-15 05:44 am (UTC)"You could be the first," he encourages her, and is even half-tempted to take her hands. But he refrains. "You have to believe. Otherwise it will never happen."
Positivity is the key!
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Date: 2007-05-15 05:57 am (UTC)He can't just leave her alone to sulk, can he?
Her arms cross stubbornly and she frowns in a manner that is decidedly uncondusive to his 'sharing the joy' plan, "It doesn't matter if I believe it or not, that's just the way things are."
And it is.
Doesn't matter how much he grins at her like that, it's not going to change anything. He wants to get rid of her and settle down with his perfect pastry-wife and she can't go home. (Not that her sisters wouldn't laugh at her if she did.) So there.
A quiet mumble, changing the subject, "How's your hand?"
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Date: 2007-05-15 02:42 pm (UTC)"Hurts," he answers with a shrug. He gestures to her broken leg. "How's your leg?"
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Date: 2007-05-15 05:42 pm (UTC)They don't really have the best track record so far.
"Hurts," she echoes, and it really only started to once she began paying attention to it again. "But not as badly as it did before."
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Date: 2007-05-15 08:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-15 08:58 pm (UTC)There is a voice coming from somewhere far above them (and Tristran can now notice that a light shadow appears to have cast itself over him and the star).
"Ahoy down there! Parties in need of assistance?"
The ship -- as it is a ship -- glints gold in the sunlight, its sails billowing in the wind in a lively sort of manner. It lowers itself slightly and a man's face appears over the side.
"Was that you, young feller-me-lad, a-leaping and cavorting just now?" His face is rough, and he sports a moustache.
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Date: 2007-05-15 09:01 pm (UTC)The cloud is beginning to be temperamental -- who knows how much longer they will be able to stay atop it before it dissipates?
"It was," he answers loudly. "And I think we are in need of assistance, yes."
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Date: 2007-05-15 09:41 pm (UTC)That just figures in some grand, cosmic sense of irony where the world really does enjoy laughing at her far too much.
Tristran's going to be insufferable.
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Date: 2007-05-15 09:44 pm (UTC)"Right-ho," he calls. "Get ready to grab the ladder, then."
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Date: 2007-05-16 12:54 am (UTC)It is then that he realizes that there is probably going to be a problem with the climbing of ladders...
"I'm afraid my friend has a broken leg," he calls out, "and I've hurt my hand. I don't think either of us can climb a ladder."
Useless bunch, aren't they?
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Date: 2007-05-16 12:56 am (UTC)A short moment later, there is the sound of a command being shouted to someone, and then a long rope ladder suddenly spills over the side of the ship, reaching the two travelers.
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Date: 2007-05-16 01:28 am (UTC)The star, on the other hand, rewards him with a wry grin and sits up, holding out her hands expectantly.
You know, kind of like they've done this before.
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Date: 2007-05-16 02:24 am (UTC)"You go first," he tells her. "And hold on tight."
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Date: 2007-05-16 02:31 am (UTC)She quirks an eyebrow and very nearly yelps as the wind picks up and sends the ladder spinning slowly, fingers catching at his sleeve and attempting to retain some semblance of dignity.
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Date: 2007-05-16 02:34 am (UTC)The call continues - "Haul! Haul! Haul! Haul!" - each shout signaling another upward pull and a fresh set of spinning.
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Date: 2007-05-16 02:59 am (UTC)He hooks the elbow of his burned hand into one of the rungs while the other hand holds tightly to the rope and closes his eyes.
A moment later, Yvaine is helped aboard. Tristran, on the other hand, helps himself, stumbling over the railing and into the wooden deck.
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Date: 2007-05-16 03:02 am (UTC)"Welcome aboard," he says, glancing between Tristran, then Yvaine. "This is the Free Ship Perdita, bound on a lightning-hunting expedition." He takes a bow, then straightens before letting out a cough. "Captain Johannes Alberic, at your service."
He doesn't let either of them say a word before he takes in a breath and shouts: "Meggot! Meggot! Blast you, where are you? Over here! Passengers in need of attention. There lad, Meggot'll see to your hand." He gestures to Tristran's burnt hand, then glances in Yvaine's direction before looking back at Tristran. "We eat at six bells. You shall sit at my table."
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Date: 2007-05-16 03:18 am (UTC)He is pulled into a cabin where the woman spends a few minutes smearing a thick, green ointment onto his hand before sending him back on his way.
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Date: 2007-05-16 03:41 am (UTC)Still, the table quickly fills with Meggot, the captain and five other crew members sitting around it, all content with letting Captain Alberic do the talking with an ale-pot in one hand and a pipe in the other (when it isn't shoveling food into his mouth).
The food is wonderful. He eats as much as he can stomache, relishing the soup (full of scrumptious steamed vegetables), and the sweetest, chilled water he's ever had the pleasure of tasting.
Conversation goes by with neither of them asking questions about their personal lives (as Tristran would not feel comfortable to answer anything and so he did not volunteer).
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Date: 2007-05-16 03:56 am (UTC)She listens eagerly to the hum of voices and the Captain's stories are far better than half of the ones that her sisters have told her. This might be because they are real, but that is of little matter. They are fascinating all the same.
She finds herself grinning rather widely as she is led to her cabin - borrowed from Meggot, who will be taking a hammock despite her urgings to the contrary (She can be polite on occasion, hard as it is to believe.) - and she lays back on the bed, even more pleased with her new clothes. (Also borrowed from Meggot.)
Things are looking pretty up at the moment. It's surprisingly nice.
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Date: 2007-05-16 04:11 am (UTC)Once Tristran is alone in his cabin, he finds himself growing bored quite quickly. He wonders whether Yvaine is all right -- he had barely spoken a single word to her throughout dinner -- and whether she's comfortable. After all, her leg must be bothering her still, and it will take a bit of effort to get into a comfortable position.
Perhaps...maybe it wouldn't be so bad just to check.
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Date: 2007-05-16 04:23 am (UTC)The door, one might note, is also rather open.
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Date: 2007-05-16 04:47 am (UTC)But he is here for a reason, and before any of the crew members find him loitering by the star's cabin, he clears his throat and enters her room, standing close to the door frame.
"Hullo."
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Date: 2007-05-16 04:54 am (UTC)She doesn't exactly stop smiling either, "Hello."
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Date: 2007-05-16 04:58 am (UTC)"Are you all right?"
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