The shadow in the sky descended, casting both Robin and May into shadow. The ship was blackened to silhouette by the sun, heightening the tension they already felt. Neither of the two moved, though, the hope they felt bubbling inside them outweighing the fear.

The ship finally landed in the water next to them, sending a flood of water washing over the smaller vessel, forcing the two occupants to cling to the railing. They both stared at it, the water forgotten. Opal was luckily sitting on the side of the mast, giving herself the appearance of a strangely-shaped pink flag, and was unaffected by the sudden flood of water.

The ship was massive, looming over the gunboat like the gunboat had loomed over the speedboat (which they were still towing, having partially hauled it aboard the stern with a winch). The frame of the ship was formed from wood, but the wood looked like it had been carved (or grown) to give it the appearance of rippling muscle beneath the surface of scaled skin. The wood was a dark green, the color of swamp water at dusk. It had six holes on the side that could only be for cannons, though they were all close.

The ship was easily fifty meters long, if not more, forcing both of the stunned viewers to step back to see the bow and stern. The bow had a massive bone spike extending out from under the bowsprit, curving down slightly towards the water, much like the wing of a kaiju-sized bat. The stern appeared to have some sort of captain’s quarters, with two portholes roughly half a meter wide. The portholes were covered by what appeared to be shaped green glass ringed by some kind of dark silver metal, and did not appear to be transparent enough to actually see through.

Robin turned to May, who was still staring in awe at the new ship.

“I am going aboard.”

May beat him to the punch, snapping a webline to the wooden railing of the ship and gliding up it. Robin rolled his eyes and jumped into the water, diving as deep as he could. He turned around near the bottom and raced to the top, leaping from the water to the top of the deck, overshooting by several meters. He landed with a thump, wincing slightly.

I really need to work on that. It is a useful boarding technique, and I am likely going to be doing a fair amount of that in the near future.

The deck was immaculate in a “fresh off the showroom floor” sense, giving the ship an almost museum-like atmosphere. The masts were raised, the green cloth bundled tightly, and all the ropes were perfectly coiled and in place.

It was too… perfect.

May did not seem to think so, however, as she was already opening the captain’s quarters. Robin headed in that direction, curious what additional treasures might be aboard the dragon ship.

* * *

The answer turned out to be a disappointing nothing. The ship did not even have furniture! There were no cannons, no tables, no barrels, absolutely nothing aside from the main components of the ship. There was not even any extra rope!

May was taking it far worse than Robin.

“If we find any abandoned houses on the way, we’re taking their beds. And their tables. And their chairs...”

Robin nodded along, munching on the fish he had snatched from the ocean for their dinner. They had explored the unsettlingly empty ship for a while before they decided to catch some fish for their dinner. He had dove into the water to catch a fish rather than use a pole, and because May could not breathe underwater, this was the first real time they had an opportunity to speak.

Neither one of them had brought up the main issue in front of them, knowing that… it was somewhat insurmountable.

How could they hope to pilot this thing?

Robin grabbed the second-to-last piece of fish from the small fire they had assembled on top of flat stones taken from the shore and hopped up, mumbling to May through his mouthful of fish. They were bony little things, and May was not particularly skilled at preparing water-borne animals.

“Mm g’nna go walk arr’nd.”

May nodded, slowly chewing her own fish. She picked a small bone from her mouth and tossed it over the edge of the ship, staring at the fire. Robin left her to her musings, and ambled his way over the somewhat bare deck, taking his time as he finished the small fish. When he finished it entirely, he threw the bones over the edge of the ship, and headed up to the main deck, taking the stairs six at a time in quick leaps.

The main deck was fairly bare, just as the rest of the ship had been… but it had the wheel.

Robin glanced back down at May. She was still sitting by the fire.

Good.

He approached the wheel slowly, taking it in. It was as tall as he was and about as wide as his outstretched arms. It was far too big for him to use, but…

He wanted to try it anyway. They were not moving, and if he only turned it towards the sea, there definitely could not be any problems, right…?

Robin had convinced himself. He glanced down at May again, confirming that she was still by the fire, and stepped forward to the wheel.

He reached out and grabbed it by the spokes, savoring the moment. As he applied pressure to the wheel to begin slowly turning it, a deep coldness began to seep into his fingers, and he let go of the wood with a gasp. The coldness faded immediately, not lingering like normal coldness, and the sudden lack of sensation was almost shocking by itself. If not for the increased bodily awareness from the Peak Human titles, he might have thought his hand had actually been damaged.

It was also distinctly familiar.

Robin reached back out and slowly touched the wheel again. The coldness returned, but this time, he was prepared for it, and recognized it for what it was. He began to pour his MANA into it, feeling it lessen. The coldness became mere emptiness and then, slowly, like a flower opening up in front of the sun, Robin felt the emptiness dissipate.

Where the emptiness had been was something butting against his willpower, a bundle of energy that, again, was a familiar sensation to him. He focused his mind, allowing his will to part and step aside for the mental signal, and felt it connect to him.

Unlike when Opal’s evolution had absorbed his extra Motes and MANA, or when he had first noticed the bundle of energy in his mind that represented his connection to her, however, this was something that was entirely beyond his capability to truly master or understand, and worse, the ship knew it.

The bundle of energy vibrated in his mind, and Robin found his thoughts actually shaken from his head. He dropped to his knees, moaning, as the worst migraine he had ever experienced rolled over his brain, the Peak Human titles making him far too aware of exactly what inside his skull was hurting and where.

The vibration instantly lessened, become more of roar comparable to standing on the middle of an uncongested six-lane highway during rush hour.

Horrible, but tolerable. Robin stood back up, holding up a reassuring hand to May, who had suddenly materialized beside him, the webtrail she had used still taut from her former position by the fire.

“I think… I think it is trying to talk to me.”

May nodded silently, and slowly steeled her face, the concern hardening into watchfulness.

Robin focused on the mental roar and willed it to lower itself in volume.

To his great relief, it did, and while it was still loud, he found that it was intelligible now.

WILL THY OWN WAVES

Robin frowned.

What the heck does that mean? Do I need to will the ship to move?

Robin wrapped both hands around a spoke of the wheel and willed it to move forward.

He had not been expecting it to move, and so when it lurched forward, smashing over and through the gunboat with no more difficulty than it did the water, he was sent hurtling backwards, slamming into the railing.

Groaning, he sat up and moved back to the wheel, grabbing it and willing the ship to stop, slowly.

The ship did as he requested, slowly coming to a stop. Robin stopped for a moment to catch his breath, glaring at May as she smiled excitedly.

“We don’t need a crew! This thing is the best! Good job scuttling the old boat, too. I mean, you could have warned me we were about to go, but... still! Great job!”

Robin nodded absently at her compliments. He had gotten a notification right after they had begun to move, and scanned it now, a sardonic grin blossoming on his face as he absorbed the details.

“I just got a quest. I think we are going to be seeing the other ships sooner than we might have expected..”