Evander’s reaction was expected, albeit quite thankfully muted. She thought the grip lasted longer than necessary, but that was understandable. She pulled hers back first to lay back in her lap.

Silence. For a moment Solia thought all might actually be well. Then the dreaded question came. She couldn’t blame him, in fact to expect nothing from the inquisitive minds of people, in retrospect, seemed cruel. It was their want to know, and their right.

A man interrupted him, and Solia might have prayed thanks to Mother Ocean. He was mountainous in height, casting a shadow over their table that Solia welcomed. He seemed vexed, angry even, and it was a difficult impulse to reign in not asking him if he was alright. The fact that his outburst with the table of children had easily reached Evander and herself made it a bit easier. Clearly he had some connection with the fleeing boy, maybe as a mentor, maybe even familial. Regardless, it grieved her to see this man, whom she understood to be Chief Talu himself, berate the boy.

Nonetheless, he posed them questions, and she felt again that winding discomfort in preparing to answer.

And then Evander answered for her.

She’d lowered her head already, but tried to spy him from beneath her hood anyway. He didn’t seem upset, or afraid. Perhaps a bit quickened having to interject for her, but otherwise…

Solia nodded along with Evander’s answer, but readily took the opportunity to say nothing.

"And how do you suggest we get on? The beach doesn't have many places to hide except..."

Marea's gaze fell upon the crates they were loading, just staring at them as she continued, "...the boxes."

Terhikki studied the signature Marina had given her.

"...huh...that's my name...alright." She folded the contract and slid it into her pack safely. She seemed to be about to say something, before her attention was grabbed by Bron Cirrus and his declarations. She listened in, absorbing his words. When he concluded his speech, she looked to Marina and weighed her 'partner' in her gaze.

"We've both got diving experience. Can you climb?"

Terhikki gestured to her expansive array of climbing gear as if that explained the question.

"And if so, which path would you prefer to take? If we climb I can take the lead on that route and blaze a trail for ya, if we dive I'll let you take the lead and watch your back."

Evander returned a polite nod to the Chief as he was handed a contract, quickly skimming through it. "Aye, I like to think I'm not the worst around.", he noted in reply to the Chief's comment on his ability at the helm. In truth, he was particularly skilled, though he would never be one to tell you himself.

His attention was drawn to the reward offered on the contract. Five-hundred shelma, and the rights to keep any artifacts found. It wasn't much by any means - though he still found it peculiar that another would so readily offer up any potential gain from the expedition. It was one of the many questions Evander now had for Solia, and he was itching to get answers. His chance would have to wait, however, for only moments after he had signed the contract a new arrival made themselves known in the Sunken Shepherd.

Introducing themselves as Bron Cirrus, it quickly became clear that this was the man leading the expedition. He offered them some general instructions, and provided those assembled with the use of his ship, The Skullfish. Suddenly things became all the more real for Evander, and he was reminded of similar 'briefings' he'd been a part of in the earlier years of his diving career. That seemed a long time ago, now.

After Bron finished addressing the crowd, and the assembled divers in the tavern began speaking amongst themselves once more, Evander finally found himself and Solia with some degree of privacy. He took a few seconds to say anything, noticing that Solia had returned to her previous position - head down, and hood hiding most of her facial features. He wasn't quite sure where to go from here - and it was clear that she wasn't either. Should he ask her what he had planned to only moments ago? Suddenly, it did not feel like quite the time.

"So..."

Evander allowed for a break after the first word - deciding finally in his mind whether to continue where they left off, or to begin anew.

Lifting his tone with a hint of enthusiasm for the adventure that lay ahead, Evander broke their silence. "... Well, I don't know about you, but I haven't gone on an expedition in years. I can dive, and I've done it before, though it may take me a while to get back into it. Whatever we decide to do, dive or climb, I'll follow your lead." He left a slight pause, before adding, "I trust your judgement."

He wasn't quite sure where they stood, or indeed even what she was, but if there was one thing Evander had trusted throughout his life, it was his gut. And it told him that he'd found a partner.

Solia was not sure when the silent accord had been struck between them, if it had, but the gratefulness she felt for Evander’s reaction was only cemented further as he went on considering their strategy. He had, in a rather singular manner by her experience, deduced and accepted her nature at once. It was a remarkably kind gesture for a stranger, and one she hoped could be repaid with the potential rewards before them.

Her gratitude compelled her to insist on his preference for their approach, but reason reigned her in. There was in fact much for her to consider now, between the two options.

She’d seen Gullspire on her way in—a monolith in its own right, but she had spent decades traversing a spire many times its height. Not so long ago she would have leapt at the opportunity to scale Gullspire on aether wings. It would have been simple, quick. Now, however, she doubted her engine could manage to get her even a fraction of the way up, assuming she could even get off of the ground. She was not necessarily opposed to climbing, she could still climb the rock, given tools sturdy enough to support her. What concerned her was falling. With how heavy she was, reacting quick enough to any sudden problems was unlikely, and if she did fall, her body posed a terrible danger to any below her, and of course the ship itself. Supposing she took the time to separate herself from the group and climb away from the ship, they gained safety at the expense of time, and they might as well climb without her then anyway.

Despite all of this, the other option, somehow, appealed to her even less. As if in insult to Aruth’s nature, Father had designed his children to inhabit the skies, and not the oceans. True, they had plunged themselves beneath the waves to rescue sinking crews and precious cargo, and Solia could recall a sister who herself had come to prefer the water, but these were exceptions to a rule: Maelstrom’s angels belonged in the air.

And this, Solia knew, was simply an excuse. Any other time, she would have thrown herself into the sea without even a moment’s hesitation if called to do so. She could walk the bed of the ocean for days, or weeks. She had done just that when Maelstrom fell, drudged through reef and weed under the crushing silence of Mother Ocean’s forgotten depths. In a dark which drowned the light before it reached her.

Before father, when aether golems and angels were tied to their creator’s lives, the angels who passed on were buried in the deep, at the base of the island which was the Spire’s base. Solia had never seen it before she’d been cast down there. What is it that could rest at the base of Gullspire? She wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

But then she considered Evander, as she ought to have instead, anyway. He claimed not to have been on a dive in years, but he had experience with it. She wasn’t sure if he had any climbing, but her cursory knowledge of the Frozen Sea had her doubting there were many structures like Gullspire to practice on.

“As it stands,” she said, finally. “I...sink, much more reliably than I scale rock. It would be simplest, and I think safest for everyone if I were in the water instead. Of course I won’t impose a decision on you. If you find yourself more comfortable in a climbing harness than a diving suit as of late, I will readily accompany you in the climb.”

Terhikki giggles at Marina's statements.

"Agreed. Either way I'm at your back, so don't worry about a thing." She gives the violet haired imperial a thumbs up- seemingly her favorite gesture of expression. "Also, just between you and me..."

she leans forward onto the table, resting her elbows on it to leverage herself further forward a bit until she was halfway laying on the table to get closer to Marina and whisper.

"If that lad ends up on our ship, I won't call him a stowaway. I've got a feeling he took our offer to heart." She winked and tapped the side of her nose, before righting her posture in the seat and stretching her arms out behind her back, letting out a groan of satisfaction. "Alright. I'm game. Let's get out there and see this ship they're talking about and see what kinda crew we're gonna end up with."

---

---

'Well, if I'm gonna get myself into this Gullspire Rock business - which I am, no questions asked, then I'd better get myself into high gear! ... And if I'm gonna do that, then... Uh, where do I go? Usually I'd go to a guild hall, but I'm not sure if this place even has those. Maybe I'll go check out the tavern and ask around... and drink, of course! That's what a tavern's for.'

Eliza's eyes darted through the area like that of a hawk's, and before long, her gaze shifted onto that of a building off in the distance, entitled 'The Sunken Shepherd', a name which she felt would befit a tavern quite well. But she didn't dally on this for too long - she had a tavern to check out. Or, maybe it wasn't a tavern, and she was making quite the blunder. It certainly was quite the possibility. Not letting this stop her for too long, Eliza then began to make her way towards The Sunken Shepherd, weaving (albeit poorly, to her chagrin) throughout the crowds of people who were flocking onto the island by the dozen. It was like stepping through a minefield, though only slightly less lethal - and a whole lot noisier.

Some of the people Eliza bumped into weren't exactly thrilled, choosing to voice their distaste quite clearly. Eliza chose to held her tongue, which wasn't such an easy task - she thought it'd be best not to cause trouble. She'd only been on Windward Island for not even a day, so causing some strife already wouldn't be ideal. Though, it'd certainly be impressive but not in a good way. Eventually, though, Eliza managed to reach the tavern in one piece, so that was all fine and dandy.

'I came here for a nice break, but it looks like I'm getting roped back into diving... it's like, destiny or something.' Eliza mulled with a hand to her chin, as she stood outside the tavern for a brief moment. 'Anyways, I could really go for a drink right about now. But, I don't have any clue what they sell here. I just hope it's some good stuff...!' Forcing the tavern doors open, Eliza caught sight of a fair few people mingling in the bar. There wasn't a doubt in her mind that some of them were divers - so it'd be worth asking them about the whole situation with Gullspire Rock.

But it seemed like luck was on Eliza's side, because she'd walked in at the perfect time. A voice rung out throughout the room, coming from a man equipped with goggles. This man gave Eliza the impression of a very, very experienced diver... because boy, did it sound like he knew what he was talking about. He spoke of sending out two teams - a climbing and diving team. Eliza felt she'd be more suited to a diving team - feeling as if there was more potential of coming across interesting artifacts and the like... though, as it turned out, some structures could be accessed from the land, so climbing wouldn't be so bad.

And, once again, Eliza heard a mention of what truly intrigued her about the whole situation. Ancient machinery. An unnatural storm. Both of them were, simply put... mysterious. Enigmatic. And the Rebargo family had always been drawn to such mysteries. Familiar questions raced through Eliza's head. What kind of ancient machinery can just cause a storm? What kind of people made it? How advanced were they? The situation brought so many questions, yet the orange-haired lady, Eliza Rebargo, sought the answers.

'And I'm gonna find those answers. Leaving stuff like that unfound... it's just not my style. I'm tagging into this diving operation, hell or high water... these mysteries are practically calling my name to solve them.' Eliza then recalled a piece of information that was spoken by the likely experienced man with the goggles. He said something about partners.

'Oh... cripe. I... I guess I don't have one of those, do I?' Eliza scratched her head. 'I mean, I guess I've got my shield and my sword? But... somehow, I think that doesn't count. Well, anyways... I'm sure it'll be fine, right? I don't need no partner, 'cause I'm Eliza Rebargo... I'll be Rebar-going on this trip no matter what! That's my policy. At least, for now...'

"No, no." Evander waved a hand dismissively at the suggestion put forward by Solia, offering instead a friendly smile as he agreed. "Diving it is. It will be good to get back in the water again."

He was content with the decision, for while he had not dived in a good number of years, he couldn't well remember the last time he ever had to properly climb something. The Frozen Sea had tall glaciers and mountains of ice, certainly, but he had never been one to go adventuring to the top. He left that to the vagabond tribes that roamed the frozen wastes. For him, life was always a more settled affair.

Relaxing in the chair, now that all was settled, Evander still wasn't sure how he was going to approach the question of what exactly his new partner was, what her capabilities were, and what she was even doing at Windward Island in the first place. He trusted her - but these were questions burning on his mind, even if were capable of masking it.

Standing, he surveyed the tavern quickly. It was true - most of those assembled seemed to have already found themselves partners or smaller groups to work in. He found it all rather odd that they were working towards the same end-goal, but would ultimately become rivals if some ancient treasure was found. Not that he especially cared for all that, anyway - in fact he had little to no use for treasure, and wasn't planning on robbing his partner of any reward, regardless of their deal.

Turning his attention to Solia once more, who had remained sitting patiently for the few seconds he had been standing, he remarked, "I suppose we ought to head down to this ship. The Skullfish, was it?" He shrugged slightly, not especially bothered by the name, "...and get to meet our fellow adventurers who've answered the call. Though, on that note - I never did get to ask why you're here." His curiosity had finally gotten the better of him, though he had at the very least opted to ask one of the less invasive questions.

Softening his tone, and curling the corners of his lips into a genuine and soft smile, so as not to appear as though he asked with anything other than unalloyed curiosity, he added, "I mean, I know that you're here to help... but, why Windward Island?".

Angling himself to face the harbor below, he waited patiently for Solia to join him, so that they may make their way to the ship that awaited them and continue their discussion.

Solia considered the rest of the tavern as Evander asked his questions. With Bron’s speech concluded, many of the diver patrons seemed to be dispersing from the pavilion, and regathering in a march towards the docks. She waited just a few moments longer before rising herself, and letting Evander take the lead onward—partially for the slowness of her steps. Even still, it was a few moments more before she’d answer, an awkwardness that did not escape her, but was all the same unavoidable.

What could she say to him? Could she bare to this stranger the true reason for her arrival here? Admit to him that the tides had washed her ashore as thoughtlessly as driftwood? No, certainly not, but all the same it seemed unfair to mislead him.

’It isn’t the time.’ She assured herself. ’That is all.’

When she did break her silence, it was with a glance to either side. Her voice was quiet, and again she measured her words carefully.

“I believe…fate, could be thanked, in part. Fate, and the wind.”

She might have left it there, had she not immediately doubted the answer anyway. It donned on her then that no one had ever asked her why she helped people. In fact she doubted any angel or golem had been asked such a question before. No one asked ships why they sailed, nor fish why they swam, or the sun why it set. They simply did. It was nature.

That did not seem to her like a satisfactory answer either, though.

“The wind…” she began again, less tempered and more recovering. “Carries sound quite…naturally. And I believe no sound carries as swiftly or as potently as desperation. I suppose you could say I am attuned to it. I heard Windward Island’s call. I answered.”

Sufficient, perhaps, though she dared not dwell on it much longer, lest this answer became incomprehensible to her as well. She opted instead to hurry past it.

“But you—“ she went on. “A former diver, now helming the ship of a…conman, you mentioned? I find myself caught between wondering why you’ve been above the waves for so long, and what drives a northlander to be as far away from his home waters as Mother Ocean can possibly allow. You seem eager enough to dive again, so I don’t imagine you’ve any lack for skill or nerve. It is a curious thing—”

She stopped herself, realizing her eyes had turned back to the ground in contemplation of her own questions. She felt silly.

“I’m sorry, I believe I might have begun to ramble. I don’t mean to overstep with my questions. Especially after you…” She drifted, recalling that, when people were lost for direction as she was, they often coughed, or grunted. She could perhaps mimic these sounds, but without lungs they would likely have fallen flat. “After your own…generous questions.

Marea tailed closely behind Marlowe, almost constantly looking around as she stayed low and silent. As reached their stop, the girl looked to the young man. Even now, she maintained her usual composure in this stressful situation. Speaking lowly, her tone carried a similar serious weight as though her adoptive father were speaking through her.

"I made a promise to see you fulfill your dreams. Doing this might infuriate everyone on the island, but it is a worthwhile trade that they will one day understand."

As the young blonde's actions left the docks unguarded, Marea pressed on. Moving with purpose, her blue-hair tailed behind her as she quickly began to head up the ramp and onto the ship.

Letting Marlowe take the lead for descending into the ship, Marea followed extremely close behind. Placing a hand on the boy's shoulder, she firmly held onto him as she trailed less than a foot behind him.

Once the unfortunate engineer spoke, her entire body tensed up for a moment and her grip tightened. But, as Marlowe continued forwards, the girl seemed to relax and continue on with him until they reached the large, tucked-away box.

After he cleared it out, she returned the nod and moved up to try and clamber inside while still leaving him some room among the container's numerous contents. We'll be fine. We will be okay. This plan is going to go off without a hitch. Though, what will we do once the ship arrives? How will we even be able to tell?

Terhikki walked alongside Marina in...well, from their short time together what Terhikki walked in could be considered 'silence'. She kept fidgeting and making small sounds, pointing at one person or another and showing tangible signs of excitement. She refrained from engaging in any conversations or attempting to flag down more potential 'crew mates' as she had before, due to her not wanting to bog down the process any further.

She had 'Violet', and she felt certain that wasn't the last she had seen of Marlow and Marea. However, she couldn't help but assess the group of people gathered at the Skullfish. She was incredibly aware of her surroundings, and as the group gathered once more and a closeness was presented... Well, Terhikki couldn't avoid catching a glimpse of Evander fully.

"...Oof, he's..." She giggled to herself a bit. "Also from the frozen sea, aye. He'd be a good one." She said vaguely, and with Evander in her sights she also let her gaze fall on Solia; the woman she'd gotten that weird vibe from before. Her eyes narrowed a bit, but she dismissed it with a wave of the hand as she turned her focus back to Marina and the task on hand. She listened to Bron's words, once more allowing him to explain everything fully, before she jumped up and down once or twice in excitement. She then grabbed Marina's hand and moved forward to rush aboard the ship, anxious to get a feel for the vessel.

"C'mon! This is so cool!"

Terhikki swung her empty hand up in front of her face and frowned a bit as Marina spoke.

"Y-You wh-" She pouted as redness filled her cheeks. "Hey! I don- Whatever." She huffed, watching Marina walk ahead of her. She placed her hands on her hips as she tried to will the redness out of her face. She would have to learn to handle these kinds of comments, it'd seem. She grumbled to herself as she began to follow behind Marina.

"...Run to bed...pff...I'm not even tired..." She mumbled, trying to use the innocent interpretation to cool her cheeks off. "...I miss the ice." she groaned, rolling her eyes as she sped up to walk alongside Marina once more.