Time passed quickly with Isa’s training and Alexandria’s research. Of course she wasn’t much closer to figuring out what to do about her issue. However Isa’s progress was amazing. She could now shoot a few fireballs out of her hands at a bit. The zipper to the suit was also down past her waist now. She could also engulf both her arms all the way up to the shoulders in her flames. Moral was high on that point which kept Alexandria happy for the most part.

Tyra stayed up in the crow’s nest only coming down to get food and go to the bathroom. She wanted to make sure they were not being followed. There was also the matter of keeping an eye out for their flagship since that would give Alexandria something else to smile about. They should be able to see the flagship soon since the boundary for the island was coming up.

Isa sat on the deck cross legged breathing in and out deeply. Her control over the fire was so improved you could see the fire rise and fall with her breathing. She was excited to meet the other crew members. Never having any friends growing up really upset her and this was a chance to change that. Hopefully they liked her and everyone was able to get along for the most part.

Alexandria cleaned up the table since she had been working on it for a few days. She didn’t want to be stuck in the cabin away from Isa and Tyra so she did all her work on the deck. Once they meet up with everyone else she would have to move all this stuff to her main cabin on the flagship anyway.

Everything was put away as she stood up to move to the bow of the ship. Alexandria wasn’t able to make it there before hearing a familiar sound. She looked up into the sky to see V coming down to land on her shoulder. V shrieked at her moving back and forth on her shoulder. “Well, where the hell have you been?” Alexandria continued to walk to the bow of the boat spotting her flagship not far in front of them.

Tyra looked through the scope of her rifle to see Lyric at the helm of the flagship. Moving along the deck she also spotted Eve and Valentina. “It would seem everyone is alright. Would you like me to move the ship alongside so we can tether it?” Tyra asked, calling down to Alexandria from the crow’s nest.

Alexandria was ecstatic to hear that everyone was alright. “Yeah, let's get to them quickly. We have a lot to discuss and then an island to assault.” She reached up and gave V a pat on her head. It was an interesting feeling since Alexandria hadn’t done that not even after V saved her life.

Tyra jumped down from the crow’s nest heading for the rudder to make sure the transition was smooth. It was going to be interesting seeing the reactions from the other crew members when they met Isa. Of course Alexandria made her choice and there was no changing her mind on that.

Lyric glanced out of the corner of her eye to see her small ship sailing towards them. She could see Alexandria standing with V at the bow of the ship. Tyra must be at the rudder since she wasn’t up in the crow’s nest. There was another woman sitting on the deck who Lyric didn’t recognize. “They made it back safely everyone but there seems to be a third woman on board the ship.”

Both Eve and Valentina moved towards the side of the ship peering out at the small ship making its way towards them. They could clearly see Alexandria with V perched on her shoulder. Sure enough there was another person sitting on the deck.

Eve let out an exasperated sigh pulling a knife from her vest. “If she is a prisoner I am going to be the one to kill her.” She flipped the knife in her hand and had a devious smile painted on her face.

Valentina rolled her eyes at Eve. There was no way they would bring someone who was a prisoner all the way back to the flagship while in the middle of not one but two missions right? “Why would they do that when we are conducting important missions? Even if it was a prisoner, why would you kill them?” Valentina didn’t have an official weapon yet but she might consider one if she was an executioner.

Eve slid closer to Valentina whispering in her ear. “Well because I would make it memorable.”

The feeling of Eve’s breath in Valentina’s ear made her shiver from both disgust and excitement. She was going to respond but the small ship had reached them which meant answers were forthcoming.

Lyric secured the helm running over to the side of the ship tossing down the tether line to Alexandria. She too was interested in what that third person was doing on the ship with them. Lyric hoped it was something important or maybe it was a new crew member. Where in the hell could they have picked her up from? Lyric’s eyes went wide as she dropped the rope ladder for Alexandria and the others to climb aboard.

Alexandria made her way up the rope ladder with V still on her shoulder. This was going to be an interesting conversation since they all most likely already spotted Isa. There was also the possibility that Lyric had already figured out what was going on. Alexandria hoped that wasn’t the case. Even when Lyric was being her cheery self, getting those eyes boring into her soul was nerve racking.

Tyra made sure the ship was secure and followed suit right behind Alexandria and V. She was ready for the show to begin. This would be one of the few times she wouldn’t go immediately to the crows nest to relax. There was too much about to happen to miss even a single second.

Isa walked up to the rope ladder stopping at the bottom. She wasn’t sure what was going to happen once she was up on deck. Alexandria told her not to worry that everything was going to be alright. She also said to stay here until Alexandria called her up to meet everyone.

Alexandria climbed over the edge of the ship greeting everyone with a smile. “It is good to see everyone is safe. The mission to retrieve my shift data was a success. There was a secondary mission I didn’t tell anyone about. I am sure you all have seen the results of that mission.” She looked over at Lyric who was giving her those eyes she was thinking of before. Which meant she must have figured it out even before Alexandria had made it up the ladder.

Eve and Valentina exchanged looks not saying a word since it would seem Lyric had everything under control by her stare alone. Eve put her knife away since it seemed that the person waiting in the ship wasn’t a prisoner after all which was a bit of a shame.

Valentina was glad to hear that there was possibly a new crew member. Even though Alexandria hadn’t said it outright yet the message was pretty clear that is who the third person was. She was making so many new friends it was overwhelming but in a very good way.

V shrieked into the silence since no one had said a word after Alexandria spoke. It was a bit unnerving that not even Lyric had opened up to say anything yet. Alexandria was glad V was there for once since at least her shrieking broke up the silence which was starting to get a bit overwhelming.

“You could’ve at least let us know what you were planning on doing. If something happened because you were going to get someone else, how the hell were we supposed to know what to do?” Lyric had finally started talking and it wasn’t pleasant. Of course she could have said worse but she wanted to at least hear Alexandria’s side of the story.

Alexandria winced a bit from the slight scolding she had received from Lyric. It wasn’t as bad as she thought it was going to be. However, that didn’t mean it was over either. “I made the choice to do this because I bonded with the person I had a cell next to. Of course it was only through tapping on the walls since we couldn’t talk any other way. I felt bad for leaving her there and I wasn’t about to go there and not free her.” She paused for a moment taking a breath since there was so much to say. “I didn’t say anything to anyone because we needed to start the conquest which meant everyone needed to be focused. Do you think any of you could’ve focused knowing I was planning a prison break and rescue?”

There was a silence that drifted around the deck. Alexandria had made a really solid point. Doing any kind of mission was stressful enough and made keeping focus difficult. If you added another factor onto that it could shake some people enough that mistakes could be made. Alexandria just wanted to make sure she was taking the most risk since as captain it was her job to protect her crew.

Tyra didn’t have anything to add to the conversation. She had her moment to say her piece back when she first saw Isa. It was time for the others to say what they wanted or needed to say. Of course she was now one hundred percent behind Alexandria’s choice especially after that comment she just made to everyone.

A small giggle escaped Lyric’s lips. She was not sure how to answer that question since it really put everything she was going to say into a garbage bin. This was another reason why Alexandria was the perfect person to be captain. “Well, like I said from the beginning there is no one else better to be our captain than you Alexandria. I may not like the way you went about it but I understand the reasoning behind it. Are we going to meet this person or are you going to keep them hidden?”

Alexandria was glad Lyric wasn’t going to continue her verbal onslaught. She was right of course it was time to bring Isa up to meet everyone. Looking down from the ship she motioned for Isa to come on up the ladder.

Isa took in a deep breath and was very nervous now that it was time to meet everyone. She climbed the rope ladder slowly keeping her breathing in check. It was weird for her to feel this emotion with the suit still on. The zipper was only down to the middle of her chest so if she did get too emotional she had a failsafe just in case.

She made it over the ladder stepping onto the deck. Isa gave everyone a very small smile coupled with a wave. Her hands were glowing a bit from the excitement and she wanted to show off her powers if just a little bit.

Alexandria saw the glow as Isa waved. It was good to see she was already showing off. “So everyone this is Isa. Her body contains fire and with a bit more practice she could do just about anything with it. Please treat her with respect and we can all get along very well.”

Lyric was the first person to move forward since she always enjoyed meeting new people. She extended her hand a soft giggle escaping her lips. “It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Lyric and I am the person that navigates around here.” She looks down at Isa’s hand which is currently glowing. The warmth felt comforting and friendly which made her smile even bigger.

Another member had joined the crew and she was a fireball in every sense of the word. A challenge faced the larger crew of taking down their first big island. Hopefully with the addition of Isa there was smooth sailing up ahead.