410 Flying Ships (1/2)
Flagship Fury
A knock on the door woke Sherene from her nap. She yawned and stretched and teasingly poked the cheeks of Kaga who was sprawled next to her. Takao answered the door and soon appeared next to Sherene.
”My lady,” Takao said. ”The Islanders appeared to have found a strange... shipwreck on the island here.”
”Lord Dijon is inviting you up to the top to take a look,” Takao relayed the messenger's words. ”He is on the top waiting for you.”
”Oh...” Sherene frowned. ”A strange wreck? Alright, tell the messenger we will be up shortly!”
Takao nodded and left when Sherene started to pinched the cheeks of Kaga to wake her up, ”Hey, you sleepy head! Wake up!”
”Noo.... my 'bur girls'... Don't... steal... my 'bur girls'...” Kaga mumbled while chewing a corner of the blanket. ”Nyaaa...”
Sherene rolled her eyes in exasperation at the beast girl and shook her wildly, ”Wake up!”
Kaga finally woke up and rubbed her sleepy eyes, ”Where's my 'bur girls'?
”Rub your saliva off...” Sherene laughed at the confused looking beast girl. ”Go wash your face and get changed!”
”Huh?” Kaga blinked her eyes and yawned while Takao dragged her off the bed. ”Waaa?”
They finally left the cabin after changing and appeared at the top deck. The warm sun was a pleasant change from the couple days of cold stormy weather. Dijon stood aloof at the side of the ship and waved them over when he spotted their appearance.
”Greetings, Lord Dijon,” The girls gave a curtsy to Dijon who impatiently gestured towards the horizon and hands a Haven made binoculars over to Sherene.
”Take a look,” Dijon said in a serious tone. His expression was grim as he stood there eyeing the tiny figures moving about the wreck. ”Is that one of your ships?”
Sherene adjusted the binoculars and shook her head, ”No... I don't recognize it. We don't have ships like that...”
Despite the wreck was half beached on the sand, she could spot a few features, like the pointy prow of the ship, the unknown barrels like protrusions on both sides and spars that dangle out at an angle from the sides.
”Are there any survivors?” Sherene asked as she handed over the pair of binoculars to the eager Kaga hopping on the side.
”Yes,” Dijon turned and looked deeply into the eyes of Sherene as if trying to find any falsehood in her words. He looked away after a short moment and said. ”We are bringing them on board.”
Sherene sighed and she placed her hand on Dijon's arm, ”What is making you so worried?”
”I was hoping that ship belongs to you,” Dijon said. ”But I don't think you would lie to us, your allies, right?”
Sherene shook her head, ”No, there is no point to lie to you.”
”Than, that's the thing...” Dijon rubbed his beard. ”I am feeling unease. I have never seen such a vessel before in my life, not counting those steel ships of yours.”
”I have no idea where it came from,” Dijon said. ”And I have a bad feeling about this...”
”Look!” Kaga suddenly cried. ”They found survivors!”
Dijon turned back and observed his crew bringing some survivors out from the wreck in silence. After a while, the rowboat returned with an additional four passengers on board and they quickly carried on board while the ship's healer fussed over them.
Sherene watched from a short distance, thinking about Dijon's words. She eyed the clothing of the four and found them strange, foreign in fact.
”They are severely dehydrated and weak from lack of food,” The healer reported. ”Also they are showing signs of gum rot!”
”Do what you can to heal them,” Dijon ordered. ”When any one of them is awake and able to speak, I want to know immediately!”
”Yes, Fleet Master!” The healer bowed and gestured to his assistants to carry the sick down into the hold.
”I will like to see the wreck,” Sherene suddenly said. ”Can you arrange a boat for me?”
Kaga and Takao both protested immediately, ”It is too dangerous for you to climb up and down! What happens if you get injured? Your b-”
Sherene raised a hand to put a stop to the two girls, ”I will be fine. I just want to take a look and snap a few pictures!”
”Are you sure?” Dijon asked. ”The boat is ready to go anytime if you take a look.”
Sherene nodded. Thankfully she was wearing jeans, allowing her to climb over the side of the ship easily. She hopped on board the rowboat with the two beast girls including Dijon who decided to follow along.
After the rowboat landed on the sandy beach, they had to walk a short distance to reach the other side of the island where the wreck was laid on its side. A couple of Dijon sailors were rummaging through the ship and they saluted Dijon when he climbed on board. ”Found anything of use or clues of this ship's originals?”
”We found several tomes and these...” The senior sailor gestured to a pouch on the side together with a small pile of tomes.
Dijon picked up one of the tomes and filled through the pages and frowned when he looked at the foreign scribbles. He handed it over to Sherene, ”Is this some language you know?”
Sherene took the book and glanced through its contents before she shook her head. ”No... I never saw this language before!”
While Sherene was checking the books, Kaga took out a camera which was a gift and started snapping pictures of the wreck. ”What is this?”