"Whoa!" A man suddenly put a hand in front of her, glaring her down for a few moments. It was obvious he was one of the crew members, sporting a unique tailored trench coat that had been cut at knee-length, along with a loose vest and trousers with a pair of boots to complete the look. "Where do you think you're going, miss?"

Eva stopped in her tracks, slowly moving aside so the hand wasn't right in her face and gave an uneasy smile to the man, pulling out a boarding pass. "See? I want to board this ship." She felt pretty confident she'd get on, but she was a bit curious as to why the man had assumed why she wasn't allowed. Maybe it was something to do with the ship, but she hadn't really bothered to ask. However thinking back on it, the ticket master had given her a very particular look that made her feel odd.

The crew member snatched the pass from her hand in a gruff manner and scanned it over carefully. After a few anxious moments, he slowly presented it back to her with a scoff. "You've got to be kidding... are you sure you want to board this one?" he asked, but continued without letting her get a word in. "This trip isn't for little girls-" Eva liked being called lots of pet names, but she felt insulted and especially by a man. "-we're traveling for at least four weeks straight to the west. Also, if you didn't know, we have one of those half-breeds on here.. part dragon, y'see? A dark dragon at that. You better be sure about this.."

She had to admit the mention of a half-dragon did give her a slight pause, but it wasn't so much in fear like the man had hoped. It was more curiosity and intrigue that caused her to think for a moment. Looking back up at the man, she just gave him a friendly smirk and shrugged her shoulders. "You don't get to meet half-dragons everyday!" She didn't stay long enough to catch the man's confused expression before boarding and looking at wonder over the ship itself. It was a pretty shiny blue, as if all the metal had been colored to match the ship's name - Sapphire. The other parts were made out of hard wood and silver, giving to a very regal look about it, but it didn't trick her for a moment. She knew below deck was the roaring of a steam boiler, the sparks of electricity, and the pulsing of mana crystals - what she wouldn't of done to just see it in person!

Wondering around to the front slowly, her eyes eventually left the pristine shine of the airship and caught the image of something black. The creature was a bit taller than she imagined, tail, horns, and a pair of wings to complete the whole picture, giving way to the very obvious truth. Eva took a few more steps and bit her lip, though she tried as much as she could not to stare. It was a female half-dragon, which made it even more interesting to examine how she was built, her eyes sparkling with wonder. After a few hard long moments, she forced herself to look away and walk to the railing to lean over. She figured she'd have plenty of time to see the half-breed up close and didn't want to seem too quirky or rude, instead looking over the water the ship was floating on currently. Soon, when they took off, she'd be looking at seas of clouds instead of an ocean.

There was a tingle down her spine that gave Serendi pause. Waiting for the ship to weigh anchor and take to the skies, she had perched herself neatly on a silver-enameled railing, her long legs and sinuous tail draping precariously over the side towards the distant blue-green surf. Though perhaps not so precariously, owing to the presence of bat-like wings folded causally at her back.

The hour was still early, the sun rising in the east over the city, and the black-scaled woman was taking refuge from the brightness in the shade of the airship's forecastle. At mid-day she would likely retreat into the dim interior, sequestering herself in the pitifully tiny cabin that she had hired for the month-long journey.

But for now, excitement and a sense of adventure was palpable in the air, and not just because of the static hum tingling along the slender bones of her wings. The charged crystal mech-engine deep in the belly of the Drakkar-class ship was like a distant hum that the shadow-weaver could hear with her blood rather than her frilled ears. Her sister, an extraordinarily talented fire-mage, had once told her that riding on an airship felt to her as though her fangs might vibrate right out of her head. If there was a time in her life that Serendi was thankful her arcane abilities were only mild, it was now.

Yet, the tingle she felt along her spine that made her black tail give a little twitch was not due to the thrum of the engines below. She was being watched, and the half-dragon turned to observe a young human woman who was, in turn, watching her. Serendi matched the young woman's stare, her own eyes a smokey, silvery gray and slitted like a cat's, unblinking and reserved. Serendi's skin, where it wasn't brushed with tiny black scales, was a wraithlike grey. A pair of bold black horns sprouted from her forehead and swept back around her temples, framing the frill-like ears on the sides of her face. Apart from these obvious inhuman features, the woman was basically humanoid in shape, garbed in a dark, travel-worn cloak and a corseted vest over tight black breeches. A variety of pouches and leather cases hiding various implements were strapped neatly to her body, as though she preferred to store none of her belongings out of her sight. Or rather, if she felt the need to be prepared for...something.

The silent exchange of looks did not last long, though Serendi's face turned to follow Eva's progress as the curly-haired girl moved to the rail and looked over into the water. Not long after, the gangplank was raised and the already-bustling activity on the upper deck seemed to intensify. The ship was a smaller vessel, primarily a long-range cargo ship, and the chartered journey did not take passengers into account. Being so, Serendi had anticipated the rather boorish behaviour of the crew, who had been selected for their brawn rather than their charm. A broken-horned minotaur with a scarred and mangy pelt of fur hurried by with a rough shipping cask on each shoulder, and it was only by virtue of her practiced grace that Serendi was able to side-step him to avoid being knocked over the railing. Irritated at having to dodge the beast, the half-dragon's eyes narrowed at his broad back and there was a faint growl in her throat in wordless response. But the creature was already past her, leering, a lewd smirk on his bovine snout at Eva until he had passed her by as well.

"You'd best stay out of the way, ladies," a sailor advised, addressing both of them simply because they were standing near enough to both be included. It was the same man who had thrust his hand in Eva's face when she arrived. Though Serendi noticed the slight sarcastic quip in his tone, as though not convinced that a half-breed could, indeed, be called a lady. "We'll be under way in a moment and it won't do to have either of you underfoot while the lads work, no matter how you managed to get a pass to come aboard."

"I would have hoped that an esteemed vessel such as this one could attract a crew with enough sense to avoid trampling people across the deck," the half-dragon replied, her tone smooth and scathing at the same time, her lips curved into a scornful smile. "Apparently I was mistaken."

Even as she traded glares with the ship's bosun, his comment made her wonder about Eva, and how someone who was dressed so proper would come to be on this ship. She suspected that money had secured the pass, leaving her to wonder at the why.

If Eva had heard the man's warning she had chosen not to show it, because instead of spinning around or replying or even turning her head to the side, she kept her focus on the water below for noticeable moments afterwards. The man that had given the warning shrugged off the dragon's reply and scoffed softly at the little girl looking off the side before wandering away - he was gentlemen-like enough to give a warning but he didn't have time to babysit either of them. After all, he was less concerned about his few passengers and more so for the cargo that needed to make it within time or he wouldn't get his full payment.

The princess on the other hand continued to stare for only a moment more and likely when Serendi was just about to leave or tap her on the shoulder, she seemed to spring to life and as if out of nowhere, came a notebook flying into her hands. It was like a magic trick, keeping that sort of book hidden under a dress or it might've been actual magic, it's regal red skin giving way to the obviousness that she was with plenty of money. She started to write something down and then as quickly as the notebook appeared, it was gone, giving pause to wonder what the small flare had been all about. Most would've called her odd or quirky or maybe even a bit daft, but she didn't seem to mind any shot glares and glances she got from the crew as they passed her by.

Biting her lip, her eyes wandered over the deck of the ship - it seemed Eva was in her own little world at the moment until she finally spun towards the cabin's entrance and looked back up at the half-dragon. She figured it might've been interesting, looking and observing from the other side, because out of all the men and creatures aboard she was most curious about the black-scaled woman. Eva gave her a small, polite, curious smile, perhaps even mistakenly casting herself in a mysterious light of sorts before she hugged her stomach and put her head down a little. Promptly, she began to make her way inside the cabin until she took a sudden turn towards another door.

At this point, Eva wasn't sure if the dragon was watching or even cared, but she had a mission... and she had a talent that she wasn't so proud of. She easily stayed out of the way of the men and stood near the door that lead to the engine room until just the right moment. Besides the few men giving her crude, greedy glances, she was mostly ignored - in fact she knew that even those glares were at a minimum. She didn't present herself as an authority figure and certainly not like a sex figure, making her the little strange object on the boat instead more than anything. She was interesting enough to glance at, but they had more important things to do to get ready - everyone always had more important things to do and that was her 'talent.' Being ignored. Eva figured she might as might use of it as she quickly slipped inside the door without anyone noticing (to her knowledge).

She quietly closed it behind her and waited for a moment or two, to see if one of the member's would come in after yelling at her to not be where she belonged. No one did and she smiled softly to herself, relaxing as she climbed the stairs down. She was far from some expert thief or spy, but she supposed maybe in another life she could've mastered the skill somehow, the thought giving her another small smile. As she came to the bottom of the stairs, it became a bit more obvious why the door wasn't being as guarded as she figured. A long hallway before her had several metal doors and as she walked down it, they read things like mess hall, clinic, barracks, and so on. She bit down on her lip softly as she approached the engine room. Looking both ways, she took in a deep breathe, her focus entirely on the door. She hoped no one was inside guarding it... hoping that she'd get time to study and examine all of the machinery. It was like entering a candy store for the first time after reading about it your whole life. She wanted to savor the moment.

An attempt to touch or speak to Eva was not forth-coming. The half-dragon's attention flicked back and forth between the sailors who were too busy securing cargo and readying the Sapphire for her voyage. As the lean, reclusive woman leaned her hip against the railing, she began to play a mental game that helped pass the time. In her line of work there was a lot of waiting. Waiting for guards to pass, waiting for a mark to arrive, waiting for the delivery of her money. The game was simple. She would look at a person and try to guess to the best of her ability how she would strike if they were a mark. What valuables could she see, and what might they be concealing in their clothes? How would she escape them? How would she fight them? It was a grim or even morbid contemplation, but she liked to think that it kept her sharp, helped her avoid attachments.

Serendi was in the process of wondering if an angular bulge in the back pocket of a particularly rude-looking sailor was a cigar case or a shard-powered pistol when a flash of something bright red caught her attention. Tilting her horned head slowly, she watched Eva scribble something down in a book, a journal more likely, and then tuck it away again. It was curious that Serendi hadn't noticed the hidden object before. The Game still on her mind, she couldn't help turn those thoughts on Eva. She suspected that apart from the arrogant boatswain, the human girl was likely the only other person on deck carrying an unwise amount of money. She looked like a girl from a wealthy family. Perhaps she would find jewelry on her. She suspected the girl would be easy to rob, likely too shocked by the act to put up much of a fight, too demure of personality to make much fuss, and she didn't look like she had any kind of martial skill. It was all guesswork, and as usual the shadow-weaver didn't expect to ever have a chance to discover if her assumptions were correct.

Not that she actually intended to do any such thing, though the callous mindset was reflected in her silver eyes. Her black eyebrow twitched up as Eva passed her by, but she did not follow her or comment. A few moments later there was a barely perceptible whine and the constant thrum of energy from belowdecks tripled.

They were under way at last, drifting out on the salty waves until they were clear of the docks. The blue and silver sails stretched tautly above filled with wind and the deck gave a forward lurch, a shift that was repeated a moment later as the vessel began to rise. Water glittered and streamed from the hull back down to the surface of the sea as the Sapphire took to the skies, a marvel of wind-power and the combined might of magic and clockwork engineering.

Serendi reached up to curl her fingers around a single rope of the rigging, looking out across the horizon as it sank below the railings, replaced by fluffy white clouds.

Down in the stuffy darkness, hot and full of the repetitive clunks and whirrs and steamy blastings of the ship's workings, Eva had yet to be discovered. Voices muttured secretively through a vent into a neighbouring room, partially obscurred by the noise of the engines.

"...dangerous this time of year."

"The Kingfisher never made it to port. I hard it was pirates..."

"...it was a bad idea to take on so much cargo. And two women...that's bad luck!"

"Well, only one woman. The other one is nothing but a dragon-bitch..."

There was a reason that the engines were not being watched during the launch. The crew in charge with such a task were loitering, gossiping like fish-wives at a market.

The princess' ears perked at the voices she heard, tilting her head sideways to better make them out, though the comments made her scoffed slightly. Women, being bad luck? Sure, Eva wasn't exactly armed or really good with weapons or guns, but that didn't exactly make her helpless or some damsel in distress. Not to mention, it didn't matter who the other woman was - she didn't deserve that sort of disrespect, that was, unless she was actually a bitch - someone who was mean and spiteful, then maybe. Eva didn't know her well enough to condone her being called such names though and huffed.

Biting her lip, she quickly opened the door to the engine room and slipped inside, her mind now dividing between two possibilities; exploring the system laid out before her and trying to figure out the realistic probability of running into pirates. The majestic view of engines themselves gave her pause though. Honestly, it had never been a complicated system, though the safeties in place were probably the hardest to really follow. Still, it was simple; throw mana-infused coal into a furnace which then heated a steam boiler, then wait for the steam pressure to build and begin turning the turbines, which in turn rotated a magical lined silver ring around the engine crystals. With the conduction of the metal spinning around them, the crystals would begin to pulse, giving the real life and energy to the rest of the ship in the form of mana, letting lights light up, stoves get hot, and propelling the entire ship upwards into the sky. It was taking mechanical energy and converting it into magical, the ratio being roughly one joule to a ten joules.

Besides all the theory behind it all, there was another reason she enjoyed magitech so much - it wasn't messy. It might have seemed like a girly thing to be worried about, especially for someone who wanted to get into this type of engineering, but it was just one of Eva's pet peves. It was strange to realize how clean and neat magically infused items were though, given that mana was drawn from the air and magically-attuned minerals were as natural (though perhaps not common) as a bush or a tomato plant. She walked over to the pile of mana-infused coal and grabbed one, looking over how the mana shell kept all of it in place - even the coal dust to maximize the efficiency of the fuel. Infusing anything, even coal, was tricky and often expensive so it was good that once the crystals started pulsing, you didn't need the steam turbine anymore as they drew mana for additional fuel after the initial jump start.

Eva spun around on her heels for a moment and sighed. Should she really be worried about pirates though? Realistically? It was always a possibility, but she wasn't sure what she could do besides perhaps booby-trap rooms. She didn't exactly feel comfortable doing that because if she did, what happened if a crew member came by and triggered it all? Biting her lip again, she took a seat on one of the chairs surrounding a table - probably there for when members had to watch the engines but also wanted to play cards. She supposed she could start building some easy to setup trap with a shard-powered pistol or something, but didn't really have the materials handy. Eva had only packed away her notebook, some fair amount of money, and a wardrobe. She looked down to fiddle with her magitech ring, housing four compartments of mini pocket dimensions, much like bags of holding - her own idea though she needed to commission it's construction. Her thoughts suddenly soured though, sighing as she hoped she really didn't have to deal with pirates. There was no telling what they'd do to her... maybe she should've been smarter about the ship she chose to board.

Some time passed before Eva drew in a large breath and lifted herself back up. She couldn't stay in here forever and had gotten her fill of actually seeing the equipment up close. Perhaps later she would really climb up close and examine the machinery to see how it was specifically designed. However for now, she wanted to go back to her room and start settling down. It only took her a few minutes before she was in the hallway that lead to all the guest rooms and she gave pause as she noticed someone coming from the opposite stairway...

The expansive view of the greenish water of the inland sea was a delight. Serendi hadn't journeyed by airship much in the past, and never to such a distant destination. Generally the trips were only a few days from one large city in the empire to another, and most of the time she had smuggled herself aboard and didn't have the luxury of lingering on the deck to feel the wind in her long black hair. It was a slightly different experience, flying through the air with her boots firm on the wooden deck rather than powering herself through the skies on her own two wings.

Even so, she had her fill of the sight of the distant ground as soon as it became obscurred by a layer of fluffy clouds. The sun was only climbing higher, and the brilliant whiteness was a bit too much. Turning her mind to the job she had been hired to do, she decided that it would be prudent to make the best of the long weeks on the ship and do some planning.

Turning from the railing, her black boots and innately soft steps carried her through a hatch-way into the relative dimness belowdecks. The narrow corridor was lit by the soft glow of evenly-spaced lamps on the wall closest to the center of the ship. On the opposite wall, and slightly more rarely spaced were round portholes offering that same view of white and blue.

Serendi turned a corner towards the section of the ship that housed the cabins. Knowing her room was only a few doors down, she shrugged her cloak off her shoulders, her black wings springing free from the confines to stretch as much as they could in the cramped space. The long bones were thin and as black as her hair, though the membranes hanging loosely between them were a transluscent grey-purple. Her long tail had a short frill of the same soft, thin web traveling down its length. She gave it a flick as she reached her door, producing a key from one of the many secret pockets of her clothes, but just before she let it slide into the keyhole, she paused, sensing someone near.

She glanced up sharply and saw that Eva was coming towards her from the other end of the hall. The half-dragon assumed that the human was going to her own cabin, but she recalled how her expression had been more curious than disgustedly shocked when they had first come face to face, and gave a somewhat uncharacteristic nod. "Hello."

Eva slowly walked towards her room as the dragoness made her way down towards her own, though she kept an interested gaze on the black woman. Noting how tall she was, the shape of her tail and wings, the way she walked and fiddled gracefully with her fingers as she approached the door. She was quite fascinated and focused, so when she saw Serendi snap her attention to her, she almost jumped. She didn't expect the half-breed to even notice her, but now she was pausing at her door saying hello. At first Eva just stared at her then after a moment, she shook herself from the surprise and replied with a shy, "hello." She could feel her cheeks suddenly growing warm, sure she was blushing as she nervously turned to her own door and fumbled for her key.

Finally with a steady hand, she slipped the key inside the lock and looked over at Serendi again, unable to stop her curiousity. The dragoness was still watching her, causing her to smile bashfully before biting her lip softly. She wasn't entirely sure where the courage had come from, but she had felt a sudden need to introduce herself and say something, as if not would mean she'd never get the chance again. "Um.. I'm Eva.. I guess we're the only two women on here, huh?" Again, she paused, wondering what had gotten into herself, but it was too late to turn back now.

She slowly turned the key and let the door crack up slightly before letting her hand find her other wrist as she tried to find more words. "I, uh.. heard some of the men.. talking about pirate attacks, so.." She shrugged, sighing slightly. "Just.. so you know. I know it's not the best introduction..." Rubbing her wrist nervously, she half-turned towards her room and gave another sweet smile. "Sorry - I'm probably keeping you. So, I'll just.." she finished saying, nodding slightly to her own room. She stood for a moment longer, curious and somehow wanting the half-dragon to respond in some way - hopefully in a friendly way.

Serendi watched Eva stammer and ramble on with an impassive stare, one of her dark eyebrows creeping up towards her horns as the shorter woman continued to talk. There was a barely-perceptible swish as her thin, dark tail gave a flick in the air behind her legs.

"...yes. We are the only two passengers and I don't think any of the crew is female." It seemed somewhat callous to leave it at that, especially in the face of Eva's seeming desperation to fill time with words. "...I suppose it's pretty standard for airship crews to be mostly men."

Somewhere in the midst of their awkward conversation Serendi eased her door open silently and tossed her cloak across onto the narrow bunk. She was eager to enjoy to solitude of the itty bitty cabin, and gave a slight snort at the talk of pirates. "Any ship sailing across the wildlands is at risk for pirates, but they tend to go for larger ships with more cargo." She didn't seem concerned, though that was because she knew that if she came up against a buccaneer crew she would have a few surprises in store for them if they tried to bother her.

With a shrug of her wings she disappeared into her bunk and shut the door with a neat 'snick' as the lock latched in place.

'Figured,' Eva thought to herself as her shoulders slumped, watching Serendi's door close. She rolled her eyes, mostly at herself, for having even bothered trying. Quickly, she slipped into her room and closed the door, locking it as if to keep her embarrassment from ever reaching the outside world. Spinning around, Eva went to sit on her makeshift bed and turned her ring to the slot for clothing and paused again in a moment of thought. 'Of course the pirate thing wouldn't bug her. She's part dragon, after all... she probably thinks I'm just this silly girl like all the other people on this ship...' Her head tilted slightly as she dropped her gaze across the floor. 'Are they wrong?'

After a moment of self-reflection, she patted her palms together as a few dresses literally popped themselves from the ring into her hand. She stood back up and went about hanging all of her clothing for the long trip, until she had a small wardrobe of about 6 different dresses. She figured she didn't need a ton when she had the smith of the ring add a slew of convenient magics, like cleaning objects as they went in and out of the ring. It didn't seem very feminine of her to use cheap tricks to wash clothes, but it was the best way to travel or more specifically - run away.

Eva then decided that there wasn't much else to do at the moment and her mind was too fatigued to really sit in the engine room taking notes or exploring the order of operations. She had been tired since the night she left her castle and this was the first time she had time to actually sit back and relax. So she took the opportunity to lay down on the bed and close her eyes, letting the world slowly slip away from her.