It's nearly noon when Cain and Misha come downstairs hand in hand. Despite having just left the shower with freshly styled hair and dressed in a cute outfit of a black skirt and pink blouse, the Dark Apostle still looks somehow flustered and disheveled, as if the chaos in her mind has taken on a physical appearance.
Beside her, Cain is in casual shorts and a tank top with deck shoes on, the collection of tattoos on his form visible. These don't seem to be battle scenes, and they must not be of Misha since she's okay with them, so Nila looks more closely, finding that his colorful upper arms are covered in a nautical theme today. Koi and Dragons playing in the water. The tattoos on his lower arms are faded to black and gray, showing a variety of land-based monsters.
"Good of you two to join us. The provisioner got a hold of Arial; everything is packed and ready, along with some spare parts he thought we needed. We couldn't contact either of you, but fortunately, the Companions can answer your messages." Nila greets the pair as they come down the stairs.
All the Companions are there, as well as Mythryll, who is giving Misha a curious look. Her friend said they would talk about their relationship last night, but it must have gone unexpectedly well if she's still jelly legged and flustered at noon. But the details can wait until later; that's not the breakfast table, or lunch table, in this case, talk.
"Sorry for the delay; we had a bit of a late night. Have we all got what we need?" Cain answers with a smile.
"All ready and raring to go. A long sea voyage is my time to shine." Nila confirms, and Vala gives her a dirty look.
"We couldn't be behind schedule if we tried. That salt-loving Elf has checked our preparations at least ten times since midnight." The Demon grumbles. Nila must have interrupted her reading.
"Sorry to keep everyone waiting. But now that we're all here let's get fed and get going." Cain cuts off Vala's grumbling before it becomes an argument between the Companions.
Lunch is a rushed process of sandwiches and coffee, as Nila did her best to run everyone out the door so they could get to the sailing part of the day already. As they're coming out of the Assah Beach house, though, Cain notices that there are quite a few of them going. It's just him, Misha, and Mythryll, but with twelve additional Companions, as Evangeline has released all her clones created by the belt he wears.
"Alright, first up. Everyone but Nila, please merge. I'm not going to make you sail the ship, and we don't need a dozen bodies for everyone to enjoy the trip. Nila, I will make you sail the ship, and I'll Summon you a few crew members once we're at the Queen Rose."
That brings their party size back under control at nine members. Both the provisioner and Arial are waiting for them when they arrive at the pier, the Dragon holding a parcel with a small tag on it.
"Since you're stopping in at the Capital in Landis, I'll send this with you. It's for their youngest Princess, who will be having her coming of age birthday in just a few months. Show your Duke Title, and they should let you in with a plus one and no complaints, but if they don't, you can give it to the Knight Commander." Arial instructs, passing over the parcel.
"That works for me. The Capital sounded like a great place, so we planned to stay there a while. Thanks for all the hard work, both of you. But we're running behind since I slept in, so I hope you understand if we don't make this a long goodbye."
With a round of hugs for Arial and a shake of hands, and the payment for the provisioner, they turn and board the Queen Rose, ignoring the scattered commentary by other crews about her appearance. Cain calls for the First Mate and the Wind Mage from the Wave Rider Crew that they sailed with in Behar and was about to call for some random crew when he decided to use Puppets instead.
They're level 18 now, sturdy and fast enough to work the sails, and they don't need to be dismissed if he needs summons for other purposes. He brings out four of them in somewhat regular clothing and signals for Nila to start giving orders. The Puppets obey instantly, able to understand the intentions and not just the Captain's words as fellow summons of Cain's. They push the ship free of the pier after releasing the lines and hoist the sails with relative grace.
It's not as smooth as having high-level agility type summons or ones with advanced actual sailing skills, but their Apprentice 1 skill gets the sails up in order and trimmed adequately with minimal shouting from the helm. The First Mate thinks it's hilarious, calling out corrections when their lack of skill hinders them, while the wind mage keeps silent until it's time to begin channeling her spells.
They're soon underway, with steady winds and a following wave sending them silently gliding along.
"It's incredible. Nothing but open ocean as far as I can see." Misha sighs, snuggling into Cain's arms as he stands by the helm wheel.
"We will be headed further out this time since we're not stopping at Behar. I want to get well wide of any possible shoreline ambushes since we've got a faster ship than anyone but another Wind Rider, and they shouldn't attack us." Nila says, indicating a path to the Northeast and away from shore.
"It's all you, captain. You know where we're going, and it's going to be a few days before we get to our first stop." Cain gives Nila a nod and moves to sit on the curved bench with their casters.
"Big plans for the day, Mythryll?" Misha asks with a smile at the Elf, who is pulling out a large towel from her inventory.
"Yes, I'm going to lay right here, on the sunny side of the mast and work on my tan. I spent a long time finding just the right outfits for this trip, and I'm not letting a single one go to waste." The right outfit turns out to be a dark green string bikini, which she changes into before stretching out in the sun with a sigh.
"We're in the middle of the ocean, nobody to bother us, and nothing to do but relax. Welcome to day one of our vacations." Cain agrees, pulling out a hammock to string between the masts. It's bound to be more comfortable than the deck, and his tan doesn't matter; he can alter his skin tone with a thought.
While most of the Companions head below decks, Misha joins Mythryll in her tanning spot, giving the Elf a perfect chance to ask questions without being overheard.
"Did you guys talk? How did it go?" Mythryll whispers.
"Amazing, incredible, better than I could have ever hoped," Misha whispers back, showing off a pair of thin gold bracelets in the shape of a serpent biting its tail. The eyes are rubies, and the word 'Cain' in a heart is carved behind the heads.
"I'm so glad for you. Those are beautiful. I know this world doesn't do wedding rings, but something to show your bond is important." If only she knew how ironic her words were, as these bracelets are part of the set of jewelry Misha accepted from Cain last night and can change forms to be precisely that, though Cain preferred them to be decorative jewelry.
The rest of the [Succubus Devotion Ring] is currently hidden, invisible to the eye, but Misha can still feel its presence.
Misha changes into a small black bathing suit similar to what Mythryll is wearing, and Cain looks over from his hammock with a hungry look in his eye.
"Need a hand doing your back?" He asks in a suggestive voice, and Misha giggles.
"I would love it. But maybe you should do Mythryll first; she's so fair that she's likely to burn before I'm all lotioned up."
"Allow me to lend a hand then. Avoiding sunburn is important." Comes a gentle voice from the back of the ship. The second copy of Nila has come down from the mast now that they're away from the rocks and has a bottle of suntan lotion with her.
The way she is rubbing the suntan lotion into Mythryll's skin is very similar to the sensual way Cain is applying it to Misha. The latter isn't sure if it's intentional mimicry but has to turn her head to hide her smirk when the Elf gives a soft moan before catching herself and turning it into a cough. For her part, Misha does her best to hide any noise she might be making as Cain massages the lotion on.
At this rate, it will be a very long trip in only the very best ways.
