Cloudsea - The Chronicle of Alice Van Vaugen

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Good. We have a majority consensus then. Limbs down please. I wish I had the time to figure out WHY you're all here- but I'm going to make do with giving you orders. Jude?

. . .

Jude nervously shuffled. That was... weird. Right? Alice was pretty sure that was weird. Ever since she busted into her own room and started ordering people around... Hm. Oh well.

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You're allowed to speak now.

O-oh. Uh- Yes, Ah- ... Captain?

If you please. Can I ask you to go with Viss to the engine room? She'll help you with general operation until you can convince her that you are proficient in the engine to be left to operate it alone.

Ah- Yeah. Absolutely. I understand this thing runs on steam pressure using elemental converter stones... probably to drive high efficiency harmonics? - I uh- I took a quick peek around earlier...

Fantastic. Sounds like you won't need a lot of time to settle in. After that, Viss, you'll join up with Katie, Sebastian and Earl.

I presume you'll have us doing some menial, meaningless, boring labor to keep us busy and out of sight?

Alice looked blankly at Katie. Katie looked back with the same empty expression. She couldn't tell if Katie was being genuine with that question, or just try to start an argument. Probably both.

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You need a place to stay. There are makeshift bunk quarters in the combat hold, but I suspect they won't be furnished well, if at all. I want you and Sebastian to help Viss and Earl take an accurate reading of our supplies in cargo, then make sure you're familiar with both the operation of our rotary broadside cannons, as well as the mountable rotary rifle kept in the cargo. I'm lead to believe through the notes that Jude gave me previously that you're an expert in nearly everything that uses black powder...

I AM an expert in EVERYTHING black powder related-

Then I have nothing to worry about. When you're done with the cargo and combat holds, you're free to wander the ship. Any questions?

Yeah. What exactly did the vote decide?

Nothing really. Three of you voted one way, three of you voted the other, and we don't even know WHERE this enemy is, so-

*SQWRK* THEN WHY DID YOU EVEN ASK US--!?

Because I wanted to know how you felt about the situation, while also gauging your ability to take orders. Without knowledge as to the location of our hunter, Qhen is going to take us slowly Sphereward. We're going to skirt outer settlements, looking for information regarding any odd sightings, as well as supplies. Either we'll get a lead, or we'll at least hopefully catch sight of them before they're upon us. Then we fight. Any further complaints, Katie?

Her beak clicked loudly and angrily, and Katie looked like she wanted to say something, when Sebastian reached over and gently touched her on the back of a hand. Katie closed her eyes and ruffled her feathers with a sigh.

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... No. Thank you for answering my questions. C'mon, Seb. Earl. Let's get started. The sooner we're done, the sooner I can break my cards out.

You realize none of us have anything to gamble right now, right?

Gambling isn't just about winning things from people! It's about having fun! A distraction! Besides- I have a bag of jewels- Fake jewels, mind you- that I won off some idiot a while back. They'll be good enough.

. . . You're really just addicted to the thrill aren't you, my dear?

*hissss* don't talk like that in public where others can hear you, idiot.

Katie, Seb and Earl left the room. Jude stood there and shuffled her feet for a moment, took a deep breath, and looked at Viss, indicating the door. Viss nodded and she opened the door for Jude, and they wandered away, talking quietly about the ship.

Which left Alice alone with her thoughts. Well. Sort of alone. She was aware of the thing she only could refer to as 'the hum of the universe'. It was always there. Watching? Listening? . . .She flopped backwards onto her bed.

She made a mental note. If she could get a bigger ship? Meeting room. Or they need to start using the Qhen's room because she was starting to get a little tired with waking up and finding people had been keeping an eye on her.

Then again, Alice was pretty sure that wouldn't stop Qhen or Viss from making sure at least one of them was keeping an eye on her. Hopefully they weren't losing sleep over that particular duty. Maybe what she really needed was a privacy room. Maybe she could fold her voidspace in such a way that-

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Oh. Right. I completely forgot about the people back home. ... Was that still home? I'd like to check in on them, but I feel like it would endanger them if-

Didn't you-

ACK!

. . .

HI! QHEN?

. . .Hello. Yes.

. . .

Alice stared at Qhen, having pulled her blankets back to make a fort of them between herself and Qhen.

Qhen scratched the side of their face idly, then adjusted the neck of their shirt. The hood was down but Alice caught the edges of the blood cape fluttering behind them every so gently, despite the lack of a breeze. Guess that's just something you can do when your cloak is alive. They had gotten better at that.

. . .Alice was a little jealous, really.

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Uh, what were you saying, Qhen?

You were talking about the old crew, back on the island, Right?

Yeah... I wanted to see how they were doing. It feels like it's been forever.

Alic- Captain, it's been- maybe, a week. Or two.

You can call me Alice, you know.

It would set a bad example for the rest of the crew, Captain.

. . . You... could call me Alice when you're in my room?

That would be even more inappropriate, captain.

Alice closed her eyes. She took a deep breath. Right. Qhen was right. She just got done having a sass-off with Katie. She needs to be better at this captain business.

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Head up and start bringing us inner sphere-ward. Get someone to help you read the map and locate the closest settlement and... I'll figure out something by then. Alright?

Absolutely, Captain.

Qhen saluted casually and walked out. Alice sat and thought. She thought about how hard it would be to get information on any of these islands. She mentally put together a chart.

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They had maybe... three days? Until Alice's darkness would supposedly come for her. Presuming it didn't just appear out of nowhere, they'd probably have a few more days to make preparations after that.

In terms of gathering information and supplies...

Earl was too conspicuous.
Jude was too conspicuous.
Seb was too conspicuous.
Katie was too conspicuous-

---

Alice gritted her teeth and rubbed the sides of her head. Okay. Fine. Let's just not care about drawing attention to ourselves. Provided we live past an encounter with this horrible thing that sends her into panic attacks...

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Three days plus change. Let's say they could make one island a day.

As far as gathering information and supplies...

Earl would probably be good for getting information, but he could NOT be trusted to gather supplies on his own.

Judith probably would... hit on some girls and make a fool of herself, but could probably be trusted with a shopping list?

Katie is NOT allowed to gather supplies or information alone. The gambling thing is probably an addiction and a hazard...

Seb could probably get information OR supplies alone, but with anybody else, would just draw so much attention...

And she isn't even considering Qhen and Viss.

She just has no idea how they would all interact individually.

So... She just sends two out for any particular task.

Two go for information, two go for supplies, two stay on the ship with her for conversation and to help make sense of things....

That could work. Just don't send the same two out to do the same job twice in a row? Ugh. Did this make sense to you guys? Can you help her fill the blanks in here? Maybe some words of encouragement? She's been hearing nothing but a lot of fuzz lately and she's starting to get worried you're not actually real and she's going crazy.

The next island is a small farming village, on the absolute edge of imperial territory. Almost nobody comes out here except trading ships, and usually they have their own protection, instead of relying on the imperial sphere to protect them.


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