The Unmanned Ship (Sir, Citrine)

[Sable Baggywrinkle]

6 Fall, 511 AV Kicking the sail out, the Sparkle swerved suddenly to port and Sable cast a mischievous grin across the short expanse of ruffled water to Misty’s captain. Sirroco had brought his ship to a halt a safe distance from a series of stalwart bluffs. He balanced precariously at the edge of the deck, performing some manner of work on something out of sight. The Sparkle headed straight for him, but he didn’t seem to notice. Fun taken out of the game, a mildly petulant frown twisted those mirthful lips and the disappointed woman whipped the sail back around, bearing down on the tiller. The highly maneuverable ship reared starboard and lurched to a significantly diminished momentum. It drifted parallel to its counterpart, but the sizable wave it had kicked up continued on with steady intent. With a smack, the water hit the ship, and, having been attracted by the noise, Sable looked over just in time to see Sirroco’s boat lift. Perhaps she would get some amusement out of this after all. Sirroco was balanced rather delicately there on the outer rail. Even watching with anticipation, she had to take care of her own ship. Leaping forward to take care of the sail, liquid res dribbled from fingertips to roll with unnatural intent to trickle overboard. Flaring out in a long wire following the shape of the ship’s side, she lifted it from mingling with its natural salty friend. As it lifted, the water followed, creating a dense barrier just strong enough to drain the ship of any last inertia when the Sparkle hit. Liquid exploded out from the impact, control lost. But, it had accomplished its duty and Sable whistled her way over to toss out the anchor. And that’s when she noticed the reason for Sirroco’s halt. A casinor, definitely Svefra, was tucked away in a peaceful little cove. This was why she kept the lad around! So attentive and responsible. Intrigued, and more than a little excited, Sable rushed through the last measures to take care of the Sparkle and darted for the grapple pole. This next maneuver was a highly technical one. Carefully, the pole must be deployed to bring the ships together close enough to allow for easy trekking from one to the other. The part that took finesse was accomplishing the docking without the boats hitting one another and bouncing out of control. Sable reached out, using all of her considerable length to hook Misty and start drawing her over. And then she had to pause to make sure that Sirroco was actually on the boat and not frolicking between them. Silly boy, he would probably use the excuse of that wave to jump in.

[Sirroco]

The fisherman indeed was pre-occupied with the casinor he had just spotted in the cove not far from the Baggywrinkle's boats. Sirroco, typically, would have known better than to leave his back turned to the Sparkle, or more precisely, the casinor's spry pilot. So rapt was he in attempting to identify the pod owning the nearby ship that he was unaware of the Sparkle's maneuvers or the wave it sent careening towards the Misty. The wooden craft heaved upon the swell, stealing the man's balance for a moment. But the Svefra was a seafarer, and it took but a instant's thought, and the shadow of the pod's second boat in the corner of his eye, to assess the situation. Sable, the saucy lia, surely sent the wake at him with deliberate cheek. Not to be out pranked, Sirroco feigned foundering and lunged overboard into the briny water on the far side of the Misty, propelling himself down and under the casinor's hull. With his practiced lung swelled with oxygen, the man continued his submerged path under the hull of the Sparkle as well, surfacing on the outer side of the boat. The Baggywrinkle man knew Sable would be focused on grappling the Misty and drawing her aside. Finding the handholds along the Sparkle's side, Sirroco heaved himself up the vessel's side to slip surreptitiously over the gunwhale and onto the deck. From there, he saw the tall blonde working the hook to draw the boats together. The man padded across the planks to stand behind the preoccupied sailor. Dripping seawater and folding his arms across his chest, Sirroco spoke up. "If you ever pull a stunt like that again, you will find your undergarments lining my tavan's bed." Of course, the man spoke with a huge grin on his face, which carried in his playful tone. "Did you see the casinor? I can't tell who's it is."