[fieldbox=Voyager of the Skies, Brown, solid]
Unfortunately for the purple-haired Heiress, her strangely adorable cheek-pinching attempt bore no results, Agatha was far too exhausted, not even an earthquake could wake her up at the moment. While she might say otherwise, it was better for her to spend the march towards the docks in slumber, she'd need every bit of energy if she was to commandeer a ragtag crew unfit for sailing in normal circumstances.
Embarked on a Mauritania-owned vessel, Agatha was placed on the bed in the captain's quarters rightfully claimed by Lyra, still sleeping soundly. Tulian had graciously took care of her unconscious form, removing her ruined robe, cleaning her body, and wrapped her in warm cloak before tucking her back onto the bed. The comforts were doing their work to speed up her recovery. Later in the day, the twintailed brunette stirred.
"N-nnngh..." Fair eyelids fluttered open, her right hand reached up to hold her forehead,
"U-ugh... W-where...?" She took a short moment to get her bearings, one of the first things Agatha noticed was the distinctive smell of wood and sea air, reminding her of her sailing days before airships became a thing.
Sitting up, Agatha surveyed her surroundings, she quickly concluded she's inside the Captain's personal quarters, that'd obviously imply she was onboard a sailing water vessel. So... They survuved, the Beast was really vanquished.
"Heh..." Chuckling once in great relief, Agatha took a deep breath then climbed down the bed, her heart raised high. Whisking away her cloak, Agatha picked her clothes for the day from a cupboard, leather with belt buckles, simple and fitting enough. Spotting the fruits and beef jerkies on the table, she settled herself for a fulfilling meal. Well-rested, clothed, and full, Agatha stepped out of the room, the crew would need their Captain.
Immediately, she went to work on gathering all necessary information about the ship, its crew, and other important tidbits. Right, this ship was owned by the Mauritanians, Lyra was the acting Captain as of the moment, the crews were composed of the escapees, and currently, they were sailing... No, drifting to wherever the wind would take them. Not an ideal consition as one might expect, but not exactly disastrous either, she could fix this. After checking up on Elaina by asking an ex-slave elf assigned to doctor duty, Agatha made her way to the Bridge, only to encounter Tulian and... the raven-haired Astopolian Knight, the former trying to comfort the latter who looked obviously half-dead, clutching a torn flag pole.
"..." The implication was clear as day, the older Knight didn't survive. Agatha wished she could say something, comfort the girl, praise the heroic self-sacrificial deed of her sister. However, she wasn't likely going to listen, Tulian was already there, and Agatha had important priorities. The brunette did give an ackowledging nod at Tulian as their eyes met before she continued on her way.
---
Agatha arrived at the bridge just in time to see Araki assisting Lyra in turning the ship's wheel.
"Hey there, you two. Sorry for sleeping in." The sailor announced her presence,
"So, you guys had everything set up for sail, nice." Assuming she was the only one here with formal nautical training, it was quite commendable really,
"But I did hear we are not actually sailing, simply drifting in open sea, heh, obviously that's no good. Now, let me see..." Agatha was about to examine the charts and maps when an unknown vessel approached from the horizon.
"Hmmm?" Alerted, the brunette searched for a spyglass only to have Lyra procured it first. Even without the instrument however, the starking flag of the foreign vessel stood visible, red background with a white bird of prey carrying a crown as its symbol, ringing a bell in Agatha's head from her many experiences with cultures and nations.
"Sandakken... What are they doing here?" She raised an eyebrow, dispalying one's flag so boldly like that clearly conveyed that particular ship sailed on behalf of their militaristic nation, unlike the privateering Lughanta. An envoy? Most likely, but for what? Last time she heard, the island nation was rife with internal conflicts and wanted nothing to do with outsiders. They also shared two things with Astopolians, love for glory and hatred for Talze Uterans.
If they decided to leave them alone, Agatha'd have no qualms with them, but of course, things were never that simple. The warship decided to give chase after the mail cargo vessel.
"Tch..." Agatha gritted her teeth, if they turned out hostile, it'd be a battle they couldn't win, outclassed, outgunned, and most likely outnumbered, the Mauritania vessel was at the mercy of Sandakken's talons.
"Lyra, we can't outrun them, not with this 'crew', it'll just make us suspicious." Seeing the normally calm and composed Lyra fiddling around with the signal book was entertaininf, but now was not the time,
"Don't bother with that, they are a proud warrior race, best course of action is to confront them directly, show them who we are, our status, and our name." Agatha was about to volunteer, but... decided to just accompany Lyra, this was Mauritanian ship after all.
The two ships came side-by-side, Agatha stood at Lyra's side, examining the other party. Dressed in fine uniform and armed, burly men,
except for one dark-haired girl with crimson eyes, yet her intimidating presence wad equal - if not more - than the men around her. Huh... reminding Agatha of a certain deceased Knightess, only less 'holy' and more 'primal'. Whoever she was, obviously she wasn't someone one should take lightly, as with the rest of their crew. Briefly turning her head at Lyra, Agatha was quite impressed really, the purple-haired girl might think herself as an awkward asocial person, but the way her words flowed from her small lips, how she exerted her influence and authority even when on the 'losing' side, and how she summarized their whole ordeal in simple sentences, all combined into one elegant package of an influential Heiress.
A torrent of questions came from the short-fused female Sandekken, whether it was through coincidence or their mutual trait, Agatha stepped forward to answer the young woman, brown against red,
"Yes, utter destruction of Yuimas. Casualties... far too many. Well, as you can see, we are among - if not the only - survivors of the calamity. The Rift Beast was vanquished as far as we're concerned, but with great cost."
As for thr Captain's offer, it was Lyra's decision in the end, but Agatha whispered to her,
"Lyra, with the amount of supplies and current condition, I can have us arrive safely at the nearest port on our own, but... your call, this is your ship." She smiled,
"Captain Lyra."
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