Private Welcome Home

[Mahsain Roshan]

The feel of the wooden gangway under her feet, the smell of the salty air, the chatter and laughter from the crowds, the snap of the multicolored pendants, everything that she missed about Kharsaga. Being a navigator meant that she was away from home more often than not. Those of the floating city needed navigators if they wished to be able to return to this conglomeration of vessels, some who'd been a part of the city for so long that it was unlikely they would ever be separated again. Over the generations the flotilla had grown with it's people. Everything was still seaworthy, technically, but the vessels actually used to explore the world were tied up along the perimeter. Yet one day, they might too become a more permanent part of the floating city.

Kharsaga was home and it would always have that welcoming feeling, would always induce a longing to see it again when she was away and would always be there for her to return to. Voices called out greeting, welcomes, as she over the pathways, climbing ropes and rigging as needed to take the quicker paths. She waved back and shouted her own greetings. Mahsain was in search of someone. Those at the docks had said that Anemone was back as well and the Deva was eager to find her friend. It had been too long since they'd served on the same vessel, partly Mahsain's fault since she'd forgone a permanent contract as most other Navigator's did. It meant she often jumped between vessels, but there was something that she was looking for. She just didn't know what it was that she was after, there was just that feeling.

There was a spot in the floating city that Anemone liked to go. The highest place in the city, where the sea breeze wasn't hindered and it felt like you could touch the sky. It took a little effort to get up there, using the various pathways, but eventually she got to the spot. "I knew that I'd find you here." Mahsain said with a joyful lilt of her voice, as she swung herself up onto the platform where her friend sat looking out at the horizon.​

 

[Anemone]

What was once a crow’s nest creaked and waned upon the flotilla that made up their glorious city. And Anemone’s legs dangled from its highest point. It was here she meditated, though her eyes were open. It was a certain sort of seeing, one the Tempestarii held dear. In one breath she could see and feel all of the hustle below, and all of the currents of the skies above. And in this particular moment she felt a shift in the air around her.

She blinked. It was nothing preternatural that keened her to her visitor, the familiar scent alone was enough. And the voice that followed.

“I knew I would find you here.”

“That you have,” she replied, stoically, with the smallest of smiles betrayed upon her lips. And as Mahsain sat beside her she fell from her trance, reaching out to touch her shoulder. “My apologies, I was meditating, off in my own little world, where things are much different than here.” Here, in the present, where all one could feel was what surrounded them, and not the endless expanse of sea and sky. “I see that the clouds saw you well? Were they as pleasant as the ones that grace us now?” She pointed outward excitedly to giant puffy clouds on the horizon. “Tell me, I want to hear all about your journey!” Anemone went from that single moment a high priestess of the sea to a dear friend.

 

[Mahsain Roshan]

The Deva sat down with a heavy plop on the wooden platform next to Nemmy, the broad smile still wrapped across her face. Nemmy had always been fairly sparse with showing her emotion, Mahsain always thought it was something taught among the Tempestarii. As if the emotions of the storm weaver would affect the weather, so they always remained calm and collected lest the weather react. She'd never asked if that was true, feeling that such a question would just be rude. However, because of the other woman's temperment, Mahsain had gotten quite good at reading the little changes in her friend. The slight quirk of the lips that showed she was happy.

"The clouds were kind and the stars spoke true." The navigator replied, her feet swinging back and forth over the edge of the platform. "It was pretty boring really." She said with a laugh as she laid back on the platform staring up at the fluffy clouds in question. "It was just a merchant ship traveling between White Port and the Deadlands. Provided a good bit of pay though. The Deadlands are always in desperate need of basic supplies like food."

"The pilot of the ship was a Kharsagan too. You'd like him." She said. He had been a bubbly Deva. A good pilot. One that she could see herself working with again. "He was very competent. If I ever end up as part of a permanent crew, he'd be perfect as the pilot." She said thoughtfully. It was normal for a navigator to have a more permanent assignment, but Mahsain was breaking that tradition at the moment while she searched for that thing that was driving her to explore the greater world. She still didn't know for what she was looking, she just knew that it was out there. Somewhere.

"What of you? Do you plan on leaving the flotilla anytime soon?"​

 

[Anemone]

"And the stars spoke true," Anemone smiled, closing her eyes. "They always do," she whispered just loud enough to be heard. The wind made wisps of the loose strands of her hair in reply. She opened her eyes from her small reverence, her pupils shrinking as the sunlight of the world met them to reveal a bustling city below, the purity in feeling of being one with the wind and the sea giving way to the creaking of gangplanks and people talking all too loudly far below where her feet hung over the ledge of the nest.

"You have taken a liking to this helmsman?" Her voice lilted with joy and teasing as she turned to see Mahsain. "Dreams of sailing to distant lands together, have you?" She let off of it for a moment, her eyes tracing the Deva's response, though her lips curled in almost laughter. "Anysea, I think a permanent place on a ship is meant for you, you were always to adventure away from this place." It needn't be said between either of them, Kharsaga was a hard place to live. There was piracy, thievery, scoundrels from every corner of the world. Growing up here had never been easy, and to boot a child of the flotilla was born with the sea alone upon every horizon, as they rose and waned adrift with only makeshift boards between tied boats to call home. Of course Anemone, or anyone, would dream of, long for, the world across those many seas.

"My place is here," she smiled to Mahsain. But the question, such similar longing, had already taken root upon her thoughts. She had been offered to sail with a ship rather recently, to guide them through a rather raptuous storm season. At the time she had waved them away, her services were to this city. But. But what if? A quirk of doubt shone in her eyes. "But who knows what fate holds?" Asked the reader of the wind itself.

 

[Mahsain Roshan]

Mahsain reached out to push at her friend lightly. "Don't tease. A good ship needs a good crew. A competent crew. A bad crew is always having to be replaced. A good crew is family." She didn't have any romantic designs on this particular pilot. Just that he was good crew, which to a navigator was more important even than romance.

"This is home. For sure. But you aren't trapped to stay here. Get out into the world and experience something other than the flotilla!" The navigator almost scolded. They were Kharsagan, what value did that even hold if one stayed stuck to the flotilla like a barnacle. Yet the change in her voice had the deva pushing herself up to get a better look at her friend's face. "Oh! What's this you are actually considering it? Do you already have a ship in mind? Perhaps dreaming of sailing to distant lands with your own ruggedly handsome, or strikingly beautiful, Captain?" It was her turn to tease.

"Oh tell me Nemmy! Tell me!" She asked eager. She half thought to be sure to offer her services as navigator to the ship in question, but it was better for her friend to get some experience without an anxiously hovering friend nearby. She'd be alright.​

 

[Anemone]

"Who said anything about feeling trapped?" She shot back. "I have ever been able to come and go as I please!" Her offense was a feint of course, playful words with an old friend. She crooked a small smile just for emphasis. "But if you must know, I do have plans." Anemone kicked her feet as they hung over the edge of the crow's nest. Her shoulders raised in excitement as she took in a deep breath. "The Vagrant Breeze, it is a ship bound for the mainland. Diminutive little boat, you won't have heard of it, and its captain is by no means desirable." She laughed at that. And the prospect of 'a ruggedly handsome, or strikingly beautiful, captain' as a concept itself. What needs of a captain had she, when the winds themselves heeded her very command?

"But anysea, enough about my ambitions," Anemone smirked, "What plans have you while you are home? Surely you have time for a bite and a drink?" She tried to maintain her haughty countenance, but her eyes showed longing to catch up with a dearest friend.

 

[Mahsain Roshan]

"Oh! With a name like the Vagrant Breeze then you are sure for a smooth sailing. Sad about the undesirable Captain." She said with a teasing grin as she looked over at her friend who showed excitement at the prospect of leaving the flotilla. Mahsain was proud of her, proud of Nemmy for taking this step. Finally. She'd only been trying to convince her to for years.

"A drink to celebrate my friend's first trip off the flotilla! Absolutely!" Mahsain nearly leapt to her feet, reaching down to pull Nemmy to hers. "What are you feeling? Something more spicy? Or Noodles?" She asked entwining her fingers with that of the Tempestarii and pulling her back down the path taking the various rigging pathways with practiced leaps, using the tension and angle to land on her feet with ease.​

 

[Anemone]

"A drink and a spicy noodle it is, then!" She laughed, they both knew just the place! Nemmy let herself be led down the path for but a small while, sharing her excitement with her friend. But as Mahsain danced along the gangplanks and pathways...

Well, kiddish rivalry never goes away, does it? "Race you!" She shifted slowly to the very edge of the gangplank, her bare toes folding over the wood of its edge. They were at least sixty hands over hands up above the bottom-most deck. Three stories. "Don't give me that face, you had better be running if you wish for a chance." Anemone stepped off of the railless platform, falling so very quickly from view.

 

[Mahsain Roshan]

Mahsain laughed at the words of her friend. Of course the obvious choice would be spicy noodles. The best of both suggestions. The navigator was already party down the rigging when Anemone shouted Race you! from the nest above. The deva's blue eyes glanced up at her friend standing on the edge of the platforming knowing what was about to come. So very like Nemmy.
"That's cheating!" She shouted as her friend zipped by, falling without panic.

The moon-blessed woman continued her running bounce down the various rope paths. Feet stepping in exactly the right spots to get the quickest forward momentum without stumbling or getting stuck. Yet still, how could she beat a freefall and trusting in the very wind to catch you. The best she could do was to take a short cut. Landing with both feet on the knot of the rigging, she let the ropes launch her onto the roof of a nearby building. The alley's were narrow and crowded. What better way to avoid them than the open path of the roof tops.

A grin on her lips, the tips of her teeth peeking out, Mahsain raced along the ridges of the thatched roofs and the flat roofs of the old ships making her way to the noodle house that they had often frequented together.​

 

[Anemone]

Anemone landed with the grace of a feather, wisps of wind beneath her as she lowered her bare feet to the deck below. She giggled, the last she saw was Mahsain's gasp and her exclamation that she was cheating! There was no cheating, not one when could command the very winds beneath her feet. But, the woman felt guilty all the same. "Fine then," she mumbled to herself and rested her back against a post, crossing her bare toes over one another. "I will let you catch up."

She had to admit that Mahsain scrambling down the nets to just reach the thatched roofs had been amusing. But her friend was ever quick on her feet. Anemone could blink and she would be gone! But the Tempestarii chose her blinks well, catching her... well not her but the shake of a metal roof above her, it's song ringing out as the pitter patter of Deva feet ran across it.

"Very well then," she chose to not be the tortoise to this woman's hare. And broke off with a start, leaping over stalls, propelling herself with her magic. She reached out and her palm touched an elderly woman's head as she shuddered and the Tempestarii flew above her. The sprinting girl so smartly navigated the flotilla, as if, of course, she knew her home! And where their haunt would be!

"W-wait...I... cannot gain on her, I am not catching up," she muttered. And she landed in the front entrance of the bar on her knees, with quite the graceful slide along wooden planks. Staring up at Mahsain. "O-okay," she caught her breath. "Y-you win."

 

[Mahsain Roshan]

While the Tempestarii was fast as the winds when she wanted to be, Mahsain had an advantage of her own. The sun and the stars sang to her, teaching her their paths and while pathfinding, navigating was normally reserved for guiding ships on the seas that didn't mean it was only for that. Her feet traced a path that only she could see. Leaping and racing across roofs, knowing where to place her feet so she didn't slide, didn't fall. Leaping from the roof, she landed on her feet, her tail helping to keep her balance as she turned just as Anemone slid to a stop in front of her.

The navigator gave her friend a giant grin, hands on her hips as Nemmy named her the winner of this race. The two friends had been challenging each other for as long as they had known each other and it was never clear really who the winner was. One match Mahsain would come on top, the other the Tempestarii. The blue-haired Deva reached a hand down to her friend and once grasped pulled the other girl to her feet.

"Better luck next time Nemmy." She teased as she slung her arm around the other girl's shoulders leading the way into the Spicy Noodle shop. The delicious smell and joyful atmosphere greeted them instantly. Various Kharsagans waving to the pair. Navigators and Tempestarii were both respected individuals in the sea-borne culture. Mahsain spotted a table near the large open air window and pulled her friend toward it. Taking a seat on a stool on one side.​

 

[Anemone]

She took Mahsain's hand, her cheeks burning a dark aqua as she lifted to her feet. "Next time," she repeated in a spot of an awkward choke of just two words. And then Mahsain's arm was over her shoulder! The Tempestarii froze for a small moment in panic. But, just keep swimming, she repeated to herself as they entered the noodle shop. When they entered, a navigator and a Tempestarii under her arm, sailors took notice. And so Nemmy raised her hand, slowly and half-heartedly in greeting.

Could this just not? She screamed internally.

But, finally they found a nice little nook overlooking the sea and she was let go to sit on her own stool. She took a moment to breathe. "So the noodles are a bit up to whatever the chef is feeling today, so we just say we want a bowl" Mahsain would be aware, of course, but Nemmy was speaking out of a need to just... speak. But there was little to do of a menu. While Kharsaga was by all rights a major port city, it was goods for those in power and not for thee. "But drinks are another matter, I am thinking bubbly wine and fruit juice?" Winds! She prayed. And she needed to be properly three sheets to them after having this lovely... she choked, stopping her thoughts.

 

[Mahsain Roshan]

Mahsain hardly noticed the inquisitive looks as those in the restaurant turned to look at the two women entering, both important members within Kharsagan society. Navigator and Tempestarii, one that directed the ships that they depended, the other that directed the skies. The navigator stood on her toes, looking around before finding the table in question and dragging Nemmy to it.

They both settled onto a stool. Mahsain rested her elbow on the table and her chin in her hand as she glanced around, waiting for someone to come and serve the table. "Oh that does sound perfect. I do love fruity drinks!" She said her eyes lighting up, extremely unaware that Nemmy was so anxious. The navigator often had problems with such things, perhaps due to the way she tended to look at the world. It wasn't often that such things caught her attention unless directly.

It wasn't too long after they were seated that the waitress came over taking their orders and then returning with the drinks. The deva sipped at hers, one with tropical fruits mixed with the wine and she sighed appreciatively. "This was the best idea Nemmy. I'm glad we decided to do this." She said as her head tilted in her hand and she gave a bright smile. Who knew when the next time they'd have the opportunity to eat together like this. Especially with Nemmy taking her first job off the flotilla and her own trips haphazardly scheduled.

 

[Anemone]

Anemone's heart fluttered, and she had a complete loss for words. Instead she knelt her lips down to the straw that would draw from it her liquid courage. How Mahsain moved, how her eyes lit, winds, it was intoxicating even before she took her first sip.

She shook her head, trying to play it nonchalant and such, as if she was not just pulled from her knees before the bar's entrance. "So I am thinking fried calamari, Roan makes the best in town!" She waved to the hefty man behind the kitchen, who simply nodded back, careful in his duties with his cleaver. "Maybe some seaweed with a ginger sauce?" She said, shaking off her nervousness. They were friends, that was all, so why did her face feel so warm staring into those blue eyes?

Nemmy had forgotten her straw completely and took a big swig of her drink in its coconut cup. "So do you really want to be the navigator for this ship?" she asked, with a noted hesitation in her voice. "Kharsagan sailors may be the best in the world, but they are still the worst," the words 'if you get my meaning' hung in the air. "A woman of your talents could do so much better." She awaited, pre-loaded, her counter attack. Her friend, who she knew so well, would surely ask the same of her. But things for Anemone were very much different, and a secret she had never spoken, not even to her bestest of friends.

 

[Mahsain Roshan]

"Yes to both!" She exclaimed excitedly. "We're celebrating after all! This is your first ship!" Mahsain took a moment to look over at Nemmy noticing the red tinge around her cheeks and ears and she tilted her head. "Are you feeling okay? You're looking a bit warm." She lifted her hand and placed her palm across her friend's forehead as if looking for a fever. Not feeling any, she gave a shrug. "Or maybe you just drank a lot of that fruity drink already." She said with a laugh as she leaned back on her stool.

Mahsain sipped at her drink through the straw. "Shouldn't I be asking you that question? You're the one about to embark on your first vessel!" She reached across the table again, laying a hand on Nemmy's. "Don't worry so much. The stars will always lead me true and the winds will led you. Trust in yourself Nemmy." She flashed another smile. Moments later two bowls of noodles were placed in front of them, the steam wafting from them carrying a sharp spicy smell that made her wiggle happily in her seat as she picked up her chopsticks.

"Oh this smells delicious." She praised before taking a mouth full of the noodles with a slurp. "My contract though is simple. Just the one ship out. I'll find something else once I'm back to the mainland. I have no desire to stick with a Kharsagan ship moving back and forth along the same path." It wasn't that she disliked being with a Kharsagan crew, they were often the best and most trustworthy crew in her opinion. However, she wanted adventure, something new. She wouldn't find new by signing with the same crew long term.