Voyage of the Silver Treader

| 1 | The Passenger

- ⥽ ◯ ⥼ -

Jesse's heart shattered when the announcement played over the speakers. The only way to DeiganLupus was on the Riperton trade ship, and now that it was lost at sea, how was he supposed to get there?

He should have known something like this would happen, though; it was just his luck. First, the man he thought he'd marry rejected him without a moment's hesitation, and now he wasn't going to make it to the Grey Moon Ceremony. Maybe he just wasn't supposed to find his mate.

With a despondent stare, he stood amidst the ocean of rushing people as they shoved and charged by. Despite the fact that the world was twenty-five years into a catastrophic war, nobody seemed afraid anymore. Businessmen scurried past nattering about where their next profit was coming from, and the only thing every group of vacationing teenagers appeared to be worried about was whether they'd get a tan this time of year.

Then again, Jesse could be overthinking. It was probably the only thing he was good at. The Nosferatu had done an amazing job protecting people like him for four consecutive years; maybe it was time that he calmed down—everyone else evidently had.

With a hopeless sigh, he navigated his way through the tsunami of people and found somewhere to sit. He slumped onto the bench and placed his suitcase beside him, and as he stared at the large glass windows of the Solitudinem Docks, he sunk a little deeper into despair. Maybe he shouldn't have left his pack; maybe the things his mother said had some truth to them. He was foolish, wasn't he? He was miles from home, following a strange feeling on a whim. He had no real plan; he didn't even know how he was supposed to get back.

The sound of an argument snatched his attention. He turned his head towards the commotion and saw a very red-faced, uppity-looking man. He argued with a dockworker, flailing his arms and insisting that his business meeting was more important than a missing ship.

"I don't care what it costs!" he exclaimed. "Get me on the next ship to Riperton!"

The flustered young dockworker twiddled his fingers nervously. "I-I'm sorry, sir, but there really isn't—"

"Are there actually any brain cells in that skull of yours?! There are seven vessels out there—I've seen them with my own two eyes! Surely one of them has to be passing by!"

With a conflicted frown, the dockworker shrugged. "I-I don't know where they're going. I just clean the floors."

"Then who would know?!" he demanded impatiently.

The dockworker pointed to a ticket booth.

Jesse watched the businessman storm through the crowd and towards the booth. He focused on his voice and listened to him have the same loud conversation with the woman behind the window; he raged about how the ship he'd bought a seat on was lost at sea, and after a heated back and forth, the woman gave in and told him that she could trade his seat for one on a galleon bound for Ascela but stopping at DeiganLupus. The woman gave him his ticket, and he walked off with a victorious look on his face.

If he could trade his ticket, could Jesse? He had to try. He wanted to get to that ceremony; he wasn't ready to give in yet. So, he grabbed his suitcase and hurried over to the ticket booth.

"Can I help you?" the windswept woman asked.

"I, uh...I was supposed to be on the Abigail, but—"

"She's lost at sea, sir. Sorry—"

"Yeah, but I just saw that guy trade his ticket for—"

The woman let out a breathy sigh. "Name?"

Jesse stuttered, "Uh...J-Jesse...Redwood."