Aria Melbourne
Oblivious to the meanings of Lucas’s retort about a couple, Aria replied with a baffled innocence, “Couple?” She was quickly interrupted by Ryder, who was quick to take the offensive. Without anything becoming of Ryder’s attack, her attention was redirected as the chef pulled something from his satchel. Aria’s eyes lit up with a naïve excitement, when Ryder showed her the fabled spice he had been going on and on about since he had first picked up word of it. She loved Ryder’s cooking, and was ever so eager to try it. Trotting obediently behind him, Aria too, joined most of the others in the kitchen.
The young elfling was hardly aware of the commotion going on around her, instead, she sat with her chin resting in her hands, watching the cook at work, and absorbing the wafting scent of spice that radiated from the pot. After a few moments the crew’s first mate entered, with the same authority the young one had come to admire. Following suit was another unfamiliar face, in addition to the one she had first scene upon coming into the room. Aria hopped to her feet, peeking around Jericho’s body with a curious glance. Almost predictively, Jericho introduced the cabin girl to the meek stranger, and gave her a simple enough task. Show him around.
“Yes sir, Mr. Ironheart.” She said with a salute.
Aria quickly clenched her fingers around the robed one’s hand, and over-eagerly yanked him out of the room, “My name is Aria. Aria Melbourne. But you already knew that didn’t you. Jericho has trusted me with the responsibility to show you around, so I guess that means you are my apprentice or something. You are going to love it here, I know I sure do even though Archer can be a bit of a – “ Her voice trailed off as she caught glimpse of something she interpreted as amazing. An undead dog, rematerialized. Living, breathing, right before her very eyes.
When Iris gave her the okay, she lunged at it. What would she do? Go in for the casual pet, or full throttle maul it, tack it, and ride it around the ship like a horse? The possibilities were endless. Squealing with in pleasantry, she had almost forgot entirely about her duty when Archer met up with the two, giving her an almost unpleasant look. The captain only had to utter one sentence for Aria to understand his meaning:
“We are meeting.”
Aria couldn’t hide the pout after Archer had disappeared down the corridor, “I suppose we had better do as he says.” Aria glanced at Iris, this time noticing another fanciful creature perched on his shoulder., and it was decided. She could grow to like this mage.
Archer Bishop
In his final moments of solitude, Archer dug through his cabinets for a flask of his own private scotch and an accompanying glass, both of which he set on the desk before him. Pouring burgundy waterfalls into the cup, his eyes glazed over with an all to familiar sadness. With a motion of his wrist, he rotated the liquid contemplatively. Should things go awry, he would be responsible for the death of upwards of ten crewmembers. It was a fitting death for a pirate captain is to go down with his ship, and Archer felt like he had been cheated his death long ago. But was it really fair to put a group of strangers in peril? Of course, they should have known the expense when they enlisted, so he quickly dismissed his guilt when he heard a gentle knock on the door. Downing his glass, Archer called, “Come on in.” He choked, stowing the bottle away. The crowd of people flooded into the confined room. He gestured at seats that were surrounding an elongated table in the center of the room. Once everyone had become situated, Archer finally addressed the assembly.
“For the three of you who don’t know: my name is Archer Bishop. This is the Satan’s Serpent, and you, are now on a journey to the fabled city in the sky, Utopia. I’m happy to report, Jericho and I had some success in Noxia, turns out in order to move forward, we must first retrace our steps. Redvale, is our current destination.” Archer gestured to a large tapestry that documented the layout of the world, hanging on the wall above his desk. His finger landed smack dab on Redvale, and traced along it’s landmarks accordingly, “Once we disembark, we will traverse the jungle and head straight to these ancient ruins, no funny business. Ms. Navigator, I leave that you will get us there without fail. I heard through the grapevine that within these ruins, lies a key to mastering the Great Abyss. As those of you who are familiar with RedVale know, we must keep a watchful eye out for the ruthless natives that are said to inhabit the island. Rumors, do not surface without reason. Be on your guard.” His eyes scanned the room, to see which were still on him. For the most part, they seemed to have absorbed his hasty explanation “I will explain more in detail the nature of our mission when we arrive. That being said, let’s set sail.”
‘Set sail’ was a term Archer used to command everyone to their posts: lift the anchor from the floating island below, throw coals into the engine, start the propellers; the basics. As everyone flooded out of the dining room, Archer directed his attention to the stowaway, who had been suspiciously missing from the meeting. Unlike Iris and the navigator, who had joined on his accord, she He was still skeptic of her motives, though the crew seemed to have taken a liking to her. With the exception of his First Mate.
Archer followed the crew out of the room, but rather than to the deck, he navigated his way back to the kitchen where he remembered to have last seen her.