Iale, Angel and Lacey had enjoyed a decent day's sleep, taking turns captaining the "borrowed" Dockmaster's steamboat, the Bandolier. True, Iale had slept with one eye open, her dagger clenched in her tiny fist; no need to let your guard down, even if you are playing buddy-buddy with your old nemesis.

Rested and fed, Iale took her turn at the helm, steering the boat down the wide river. The rhythmic churning of the wheels felt unnatural, as she was used to the lapping of ocean waves and the crying of seagulls more than this landlubberly mode of travel, but truthfully, she was in a good mood. They were on their way to Vienda on a promising lead, and soon she might see Joe Billows again. She would be sure to clock him a good one around the ears for abandoning her, of course...

Iale began to whistle an old sea chanty while she steered.

Angel had slept during her first "off" shift, but now she sat in a secluded area of the ship and meditated. She had taken the advice of several people to heart and began refinding the magic within her. Living was easy, she had had plenty of opportunity to use it, but Physical was hard coming. She sat cross-legged with a grimmoire in her lap and she worked on breathing exercises and tried to put the mona to memory.

Lacey leaned against the rail of the little steamer, staring off into nothing. She was dreaming. About the Lady. Her towering steel hull, her smooth shiny wheel, her broiler room. The pink dressed blonde sighed wistfully. Oh how she missed her already. Pushing away from the railing, she walked over to Angel and squatted down beside her.

"What are ye doin' Red?"

Angel rubbed her forehead and sighed, the sun was just about to disappear and the artificial light was giving her a headache as she tried to reacquaint herself with monite. "Eh, not much, Blondie. Just trying to decipher this chicken scratch. I haven't had need to read one of these in a while," she said motioning to her grimmoire, "but things tell me I may have need of a few spells soon."

Lacey turned her head to read part of the grimoire sideways. It looked very intricate and interesting, but she didn't know what it said or meant. Reaching out, she patted Angel on the shoulder.

"I'm sure ye'll do just fine. Ent you gollies sort o'...naturally good at this stuff?" She made, what seemed to her, a magical sort of gesture to emphasize her words.

"What's your story Red, I know yer a sky-pirate, but ye be so comfortable with humans. Most o' the gollies I've met seem t' have more interest with goop stuck on their shoes than with me race." She dropped down to sit comfortably beside Angel.

"Isn't that a story worth the telling..." Angel chuckled to herself. "It is far too soon for me to be giving you my life's story, but suffice to say, I gave up on magic a long time ago." Turning away from Lacey slightly, Angel lifted her blouse to show the small of her back. There the symbol of a Passive was tattooed. "I had this done to commemorate the event. I said that if ever a problem arose that my wit and guns couldn't get me out of, then I deserved to die."

Turning back to the girl, she closed her grimmoire and sighed. "But I guess I'm getting old. The world has changed from when I said those words." Angel looked around at the night sky and shook her head. Soon, everyone would remember her name. Soon, everyone would remember the Pirate Queen.

Lacey nodded, raising a quizical eyebrow. She knew that tattoo, it was a passive tattoo. Obviously Angel had some issues she had dealt with.



The blonde pirate ran a thumb over her bottom lip, pondering those words.

"Ne'er get yerself int' a corner if ye can help it. Ye might have some issues in the past with yer magics, but yer limiting yerself. Bein' self reliant is good an' all Red, but if ye got a card up yer sleeve then use it. Ye wouldn't hold out on usin' an ace in a game of poker would ye?" She stood and smiled at the galdor, in what she felt was a friendly way, then sauntered over to Iale.

"How long t' go then DuPont? I am bored of the trees already. Too...bushy." She frowned disapprovingly at the bank of the river.

"Aye," said Iale sympathetically, "uncanny and unnatural, trees. Enough to give pause to the roughest dogs after a while. I say another house before we reach the harbor, lassie. Kick up yer boots and relax. Ol' Reggie's got a mighty selection of rum in the hold." She hiccuped - presumably, she was speaking from experience.

Lacey rubbed her hands together.

"Arr! Now that IS a good thing. Excuse me, I've got an obligation t' make sure this said rum is up t' proper standards." She then dissapeared, almost as if she had poofed from existence, but the clinking sound of bottles from the hold was enough to prove she was still around. A muffled voice sounded.

"Aw! Dupont! Ye could have left at least some o' that Mugroba Rum! Ooh! Bastia White Rum? Why not!"

Iale cackled. "Arrr, I can't help it! Me life's so full of woe, who's to blame me for takin' to the drink?"

She glanced back to where Angel sat, studying her grimoire. "Ahoy, Red, got any voo in that book o' yers what'll make this bucket move a little faster? The light's dyin' quicker than..." She searched her mental pirate terminology lexicon for an appropriate metaphor, but nothing stuck out. "...anythin'," she finished, lamely.

Angel laughed and stuffed the book into her pack as she rose. "It just so happens, you are in luck. That type of magic just happens to be my specialty!"

Moving toward the center of the steamboat near Iale, the woman took a deep breath and began chanting in monite. As she chanted she moved her hands pointed out in front of her and brought them back as though she were swimming. It was the Hydrosmosis spell, and using it in this fashion she attempted to make the water around the ship move in the direction they were heading, thus increasing their speed.

For a moment, nothing happened. Nothing at all. The mona hummed quietly, as though surprised, but the hum became louder. The water around the boat began to spin in small eddies, rocking the boat.

The air on Angel's tongue turned bitter then sweet then chilli-hot. She'd been away quite some time, like a prodigal child returned to family that hadn't ever been expecting her to leave, let alone return. There was anger in their buzz, bitterness...

Suddenly the surface water around the boat calmed, gained direction, sped up as fast as the mona could willingly manage. The Bandolier began to pick up speed. The mona felt like laughter and starlight in Angels veins, singing through her body and leaving her muscles tired and weak. Her knees gave and she hit the deck, still upright, arms still moving. It was like finding something loved and long forgotten.

The Bandolier raced on.

Lacey staggered between the crates of rum, keeping a careful hold on the bottle of clear white fluid she had been drinking. Something was going on. Half jogging, half staggering, she got to the ladder and climbed up, standing on the deck.

"What the clock?" She said slowly, looked at Angel with a raised eyebrow.



"Woah!" She yelled, staggering backwards and grabbing the railing for support. Her eyes were wide and she looked around as the horrible leafy scenery sped past them. Turning, she regained her balance and came over to Angel, kneeling beside her.

"Ye okay thare Red?" She said softly.

As the mona around her bit back in their displeasure, Angel continued to chant and move her arms. She had expected this, although not at this magnitude. Even as weakness seeped into her muscles she continued the necessary motions and kept her mind latched on the words.

As Lacy approached her, Angel realized that she was on her knees. Fleetingly, the woman realized that her blonde companion had asked her if she was alright. She nodded briefly, not daring to stop speaking the monite, lest she lose her tentative grip on the spell. Her arms continued to swim through the air, and though they burned, it was a good sensation.

Iale let out a gleeful cackle, cat-calling and punching the air.

"Wooohoo! Now that's more like it!" she cried, clambering up on the rail and watching the waves of water pass them by while steering casually with her feet. "Never been one for voo myself, but y'carn't deny it's clockin' useful, eh Lovey?"

Lacey stood, taking a swig of the white rum.

"Yar, it's showin' its benefits now, that's fer sure! Much more fun when it's bein' used fer ye, not against ye." Walking over, she lept up to stand on the railing, hanging off a line of rigging. Looking down the river, she could see pins of light at the very end. Gesturing with the bottle, she pointed it out to Iale.

"Civilization! Land ho!"

"About clocking time!" she said, hopping down from the wheel and giving it a big spin to steer the boat towards port.

The sun had dipped below the horizon at this point, and the sky was a milky royal blue, speckled with stars. Iale thought wistfully of the clear skies on the ocean; with the light from Vienda obscuring the darkness, she could scarcely make out any constellations.

"Ah, Vienda," she sighed. "Never thought I'd see ye again..."

As they drew close to the sparkling capital, Angel let her hands fall with a sigh, completing the spell and releasing the mona from their kind agreement. "Oh, Vienda, never wanted to see ya again. May you burn to ashes." It had been quite some time she had set foot into this city, and not for the first time, she thanked her lucky stars that the seventen thought she was dead.