Dragoniers

Ship And Crew

He had the crew, asside from workers keeping the ship in the air, come to the mess hall. He then led me there so I could meet them. As we entered everyone seemed a little surprised to see me in tow. They really didn't think I'd come, I guess.

"I wanted everyone to meet our guest. He hasn't decided to join us, but he will be riding along with us for a little while," he said.

"Hello, I'm Zion. Thank you for letting me ride along with you," I said and bowed slightly.

"Took you long enough, Kid. We were gonna take off without you. Your lucky we couldn't leave without Mitch," a woman said. I recognized her voice from earlier. So this was Ellena.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't actually planning on coming, but changed my mind at the last minute. Thank you for waiting," I said.

"Well you made it onboard, that's all that counts. I'm Harden, nice to meet yah," one of the other guys said, "Glad you decided to come."

"Yeah, Kid, it's good to see you again," another woman said. She was one of the ones who I had talked to last time they were around. "Sorry about your Dad, I hope you get to find out what happened. I'm Aria by the way," I nodded and thanked her. I'm hoping I do too.

"Glad to have you aboard, we could use the extra hands while your here," Another guy said.

"This is Valis, he's the head of the maintenance crew," Mitch said. I nodded

"I don't know much about this ship or what you do, but I will do my best to help," I replied. After all I didn't expect to get a ride for free or not help out.

"Just try to stay out of the way and not fall overboard if we get a dragon sighting. That's the last trouble we need," another guy said, "I'm Jordan by the way, the Dragon expert." That seemed to be most of the crew. There was one more woman who seemed to be very quiet. She didn't introduce herself or say anything.

"Oh, that there is Lana, she's our ships chef and resident Dragon butcher. She doesn't talk much," Harden said catching where my gaze was. Mitch said he'd introduce me to the engine room crew later on, but said he'd show me around the ship.

Everyone went back to work and I followed Mitch. The Mess Hall seemed to be the biggest room, probably since that is where the crew gathers. Everywhere else seemed quite a bit cramped. Even the Captain's Bridge seemed a lot smaller than I was expecting.

He then led me to the deck. Its was super windy and it sent a chill up my spine. Cold. He said I'd get used to it and said this is where they work from when it's time for a dragon hunt. As I looked around the deck I realized this is why the rest of the ship seemed so cramped. The deck was huge and it had to be in order for them to get their jobs done.

"Kid, I know you are really in a hurry to find your Dad and I do have to warn you it might be a while before we touch down again. I hope you can be patient with us. You see there are a lot of cities that don't allow Dragoniers to touch down or do business. We might refuel before anything else so," I cut him off.

"I understand and I considered that when I came to the ship. I am in a hurry, but It's been three years. So I didn't even know where to start or which direction to go. The Mayor actually came to me as I was getting ready to leave and made me realize I couldn't do this all on my own. That's what ultimately made me decide to join you guys. I'm sorry if I'm not much help though.  But I don't expect to sit around and do nothing either," I said.

"I'm sure you will do just fine. We won't make you do anything crazy, for now you can just help out with the cleaning. That would be more than enough, but it won't be easy, It's a lot of work," he said and I nodded. That's fine with me.

"I've been meaning to ask you, are you the ships captain?" I asked and he laughed saying yes he was. He then said we'd better head back in and get out of the cold. It was time for lunch and then he'd take me to my quarters. Later he'll take me to the machine room to meet the rest of the crew.

"They aren't going to come for lunch? When are they able to take a break?" I asked surprised.

"They have their own quarters down below and Lana brings their lunch to them. They switch out in shifts to rest. They have to be ready in case something goes wrong, so you will rarely see them on the main floor or the deck unless they have to repair something," he said. I nodded, that made sense.

As we were making our way back to the door a sudden gust of wind caused the ship to shift. We both lost our footing and I managed to grab onto one of their machines. I noticed Mitch try to grab onto something too, but the wire snapped and he slid over the side. Swearing I looked around quick and spotted a rope.

When I managed to get to Mitch he was hanging onto the side of the ship. I tied the rope tightly to a railing bar by the stairs then tossed the rope down to where Mitch was. Mitch picking up on it grabbed the rope as it swing past him. He and I both worked together to pull him up. Once he was up we both breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well that was unexpected and completely embarrassing. Lets not mention this to the others," he mumbled after catching his breath. I just nodded in response trying to catch my own breath. That was terrifying. "Lets go get lunch, after that I'm starving," Mitch said bouncing back from the shock of what happened. I sighed and nodded glad to get off the deck after all that. Besides, I was pretty hungry myself.

Once back inside and the door closed behind us I relaxed a little more. He led me back to the Mess Hall and told me to go get some food and pointed towards the food counter. He pulled out his own lunch and headed to sit down. I did what everyone else was doing and grabbed a tray. Once it was my turn I told Lana what I wanted from the array of food she had set out. As she was putting it on my tray she paused and stared at me.

"You have great potential to be an amazing Dragonier," Was all she said, finished filling my tray, and moved onto the next person - who also looked as surprised as I was. Everyone seemed a little shocked.

"You can't be serious, Lana, you think this little kid could possibly be a Dragonier," Jordan said coming up behind me.

"I said what I said," Lana replied, turned red, and went silently back to work. I moved around Jordan and went to sit with Mitch. I don't care at all about what either of them said, I don't want to be a Dragonier, at least not right now. My only goal right now is to find out what happened to my Dad. I'll figure out what I want to do after I achieve that goal first.

Still, even saying that in my head, I also couldn't forget how it felt to save Mitch and how hearing her words made me feel a little bit hopeful. My Dad would probably be really pissed if he knew I was here right now, let alone the thought of me becoming a Dragonier myself. After what he went through with Mom I doubted he'd even want to see another Dragonier.