Chapter Four Hundred and Sixty-Seven - Bright the Next Morning, With Noisy Commotion

I realized pretty soon after leaving Booksie's place (Rhawr had arrived, and they were going to start breakfast together, so we took off) that getting the Beaver prepared to go in half a day was... somewhat ambitious.

It wasn't impossible, of course, but there was a lot of work to do.

Awen gave me a very flat look when I broke the news, and that made me cringe both internally and externally. I had just dumped a heap of work onto her, which wasn't a very friendly thing to do. But I promised that I'd do everything I could to help!

That probably didn't make up for it, so I promised myself I'd find a way to reward Awen as well as I could! She'd get double hug-rations from here on out, at a bare minimum!

We got back to the ship, and immediately jumped to work. We kind of expected to have a couple of weeks to work on the Beaver while attending the marriage, so suddenly having to depart in less than twenty-four hours was really putting a strain on things.

Still, I had the best crew and the best friends, and we got to work as soon as we arrived, which helped.

Steve and Gordon checked the rigging , replacing worn lines with the Scallywag's help. The balloons that needed patching got their patches done up by some professionals that Amaryllis hired from the docks, and we got a team of carpenters working on the railings that Cholondee had squished.

It was going to cost a pretty penny, a lot more than if we just did all of the work ourselves, but it was probably worth it.

Carpenters had skills that let them work faster and made their results much tougher and better-looking. We might have to hire someone to go over the rest of the rails, because they'd added little scrollwork and pretty carvings all over. Now we had one section that looked better than the rest.

At least, it did until Desiree and I attacked it with some freshly-purchased paints. The shops didn't have the same paints as what the Beaver had before, but they did have this very, very bright green that I thought was particularly eye-catching, so I covered the new railings in a layer of that.

Amaryllis didn't like it, she said it made the whole ship look like it belongs in a circus, but circuses were fun and happy places, so really I didn't see the downside.

I nipped away that evening with Joe and Calamity to pick up some supplies. I was pretty sure we wouldn't be in charge of feeding Rhawrexdee on the trip over, but it couldn't hurt to stock up a little more heavily than usual, just in case.

When we returned, there was a crew finishing up the refuelling and Awen was coming out of the engine compartment, her clothes covered in a splattering of oil and grease. "Everything that's supposed to move is lubricated, everything that isn't is nailed down. I think we're ready to go."

"Oh, well done!" I cheered before giving her a thank-you hug. Then I Cleaned both of us off, because... well, she was a bit sticky. Awen was supposed to smell like oil and metal, that's just the scent that I associated with my best friend, but that didn't mean she had to be covered in it.

With everything looking pretty good for the moment, I stepped out and bounced over to the nearest restaurant and ordered a little feast to go. I returned a few coins lighter carrying a couple of large sacks filled with all sorts of yummy-smelling goodies.

I felt a little bad for the last few workers picking up after themselves on the Beaver. They all perked up and sniffed at the scent of warm food, but they were heading out, and didn't seem to want to intrude on our little mini-party.

We ate, chatted, and drank, interspersed with some storytelling and lots of laughter to spice the evening. Then it was off to bed, because the next day was going to be busy.

And it was! I awoke at the crack of dawn, used the washroom, got dressed up, then picked out the only friends that were already awake (Caprica and Calamity!) to head out and see if Booksie was ready to go.

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Fortunately, she was!

We arrived to find Booksie tugging on a tight leather jacket with what looked like metal inserts around the midriff. "Come in! Come in," she said as she opened the door. "I was just getting ready."

"Hi!" I said before waiting long enough for her to get the coat on. Then it was hug time. "Is that armour?"

"Of a sort," she replied. "I ran out last night and bought a few things. This is something I picked up. It's meant to be riding armour, for hunters and the like. It's not too heavy, which is nice. Oh, and it's padded on the inside, and very warm."

She opened the jacket to reveal that the interior was lined with some sort of fuzzy fur. I ran my hand over it and 'oohed' appropriately at the softness. It had little metal inserts that I could feel as I touched it, but they were spaced so that they overlapped and didn't restrict her motion.

"I got new pants and boots too," Booksie said with a nod. "I, ah, visited an armoury for a weapon, but after talking to the owner for a while, he suggested... well, this." Booksie wandered over to a desk then returned with a weapon... of a sort.

It was a club. Not just a simple chunk of heavy wood, but a properly sculpted club, with iron bands around the head and a comfortable looking leather grip. It even had a large sheath with little holes for the tiny spikes on the end of the club to fit into.

"That does look kind of scary," I said.

"I suppose. I wanted a sword, but the owner had me swing one around and told me that my form was terrible and that I was liable to cut myself more than any monsters," Booksie replied. She raised the club, then swung it up and down a few times. It swooshed very satisfyingly. "I guess anyone can bash someone's head in, even if you've got no training."

"Well, this took a turn for the worse," Caprica said. "If you don't mind, I think I'd like to at least spar with you a little on the trip over. You might not have time to pick up anything past the very basics, but at least you'll be less of a liability."

"A liability?" Booksie asked.

She turned towards Caprica, and her club trailed with her, clunking against a shelf. "Yes, a liability," Caprica repeated.

"Don't worry about it!" I said. "We'll have a couple of days to train! I had less than that before I tried my first dungeon, and I was all alone too!"

Calamity mostly seemed to think the sight of Booksie and her bonk-stick was funny, at least until we volunteered him (as the only boy) to help carry Booksie's stuff.

She was mostly travelling light, but she still brought a very full backpack and some luggage. They were loaded with a few changes of clothes, a heap of books to read, and her pillow. We headed back to the Beaver taking our time even though we were planning on leaving fairly early in the morning

The docks were starting to become very active by the time we reached them. The day Booksie had been taken, there was a full stop and no ship was allowed to dock or leave, and even though some time had passed since, there still seemed to be a bit of backlog from the delay. It was probably going to even itself out soon enough, but still, it meant that the Port Royal docks were super busy by the time we reached the Beaver and climbed aboard.

"I'll show you to my cabin. Ah, that is, if you don't mind sharing?"

"I don't mind," Booksie said. "Does the ship have enough of them?"

"We should! We're trying to convince Caprica and Amaryllis to double up to free up another room, but it's a little tricky." I shook my head. I never thought the day would come that my airship was too small for all the friends I had.

Would I need a bigger one?

No, I couldn't abandon the Beaver like that.

So we just needed a third ship!

Admiral Bunch of the Friendship Fleet... there was a nice ring to that.

Once Booksie's stuff was stowed away, we returned to the top deck and started to prepare to set sail. Soon enough, we'd be heading out west, towards Awen's home country, and more adventure!

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