The Bird of Paradise flew through the clear sky, quietly sailing in the smooth winds, making her way to Alba without any trouble. Valerie stood at the ship's stern, leaning over the railing and watching the earth move slowly by. This was her favorite time of the day- light winds, a sunny afternoon, and not a cloud in the sky to block the view. She smiled while soaking up the warm rays, able to finally relax after last night's chaos. She actually loved chaos and all of the flashy and eruptive battles that came with it, but it was nice to have a break every once in a while. She couldn't wait to let loose in Alba and celebrate a successful mission.

A slight glint in the corner of her eye just managed to register her attention. She turned her head lazily, her brows furrowing when she saw a brown speck in the sky far behind them. It was hard to tell, but it looked like it was moving pretty quickly.

"Hey, Ren," she called to her partner.

"What?" Ren's voice came behind her. He laid on the raised quarterdeck with his hands folded underneath his head, relaxing under the shade of the mainsail.

"Toss me your spyglass." Ren reached over and grabbed his small, dull gold spyglass that he took from Gideon, and lobbed it across the ship, watching it arc out of his immediate view.

"See a dragon?" Valerie caught it reflexively, not looking behind her. The spyglass softly clicked as she elongated it, and pointed it toward the distant speck.

"Looks like a ship." Ren, mildly interested, rose stiffly from his comfortable position, taking his time in standing up and leaping off the quarterdeck to join Valerie in her discovery. He waited beside her as she peered through the spyglass. "It looks like Horse Face's guys. Can't be, right?" That's what she called Tennington. Valerie thought his name was too long and he wasn't worth her time to get it right. She passed the spyglass off to Ren and he squinted into it.

"Looks like it." He smiled at the discovery, "They just don't give up, do they?"

"Do you think the ship can handle it?" she asked worriedly.

"This piece of junk can withstand anything. I'll go tell Crowe." He handed the spyglass back over to Valerie and started walking to the bridge. She continued to watch the small ship.

More often than not, Gideon would be the one flying the Paradise, while Crowe would lock himself in his captain's cabin for hours on end, experimenting with new spells he would find on their travels. Due to his anal nature and his past experience in flying an extensive variety of airships, Gideon was the only person that Crowe would allow to fly his Paradise. But with Gideon resting in his cabin, Crowe was the one at the helm, keeping particular attention on the control panel's dials and meters. He pressed down on the orange button for the engine room intercom and addressed his engineer.

"Jas, how're the hydraulics faring?" After a pause, the receiver popped and Jasper's voice came in, ruffled by static.

"No problems so far, everything looks stable. Don't know how long that'll last though, so don't get any dumb ideas. Pushing her too much might cause a rupture."

"I'll see what I can manage."

"I mean it, Crowe," he warned.

"Don't worry, Jasper. We're halfway there, nothing's going to happen." Crowe knocked twice on the wooden ship wheel.

"It better not." With that mild threat from Jasper, the intercom crackled and the conversation ended. Crowe wasn't worried about the airship- she's been in worse condition before- Jasper's just meticulous and deliberate when it comes to his work. It's made him an exceptional engineer, but also quite the worrywart.

"Hey Crowe." Crowe's attention turned to the deck door, where Ren stood leaning on the metal frame. "Got something you'd want to see."

Crowe followed Ren to the back of the ship, where Valerie still stood watching the faraway ship through the spyglass, getting ever nearer.

"What is it?" He called to her as he approached.

"We've got a tail and it's gaining on us. Looks like the Horse Guy’s men. I'm surprised they survived." She hands the spyglass to Crowe, who cut in front of her to get a good look at the airship.

"He had a Canary," Crowe grumbled.

"What's a Canary?"

"It's a type of auxiliary ship- small, easy to maneuver, not to mention fancy. It's not very outstanding as an airship, except for how it's stored."

"Stored?"

"As you know, the skies are dangerous- one false move and you could fall out of the sky. So what if you had an airship in your back pocket for emergencies? Or in this case, an airship in a bottle."

"You're kidding." Valerie's eyes sparkled. "An airship in a bottle?! That's what that is? Why don't we have one?!"

"Do you have fifty million Qin?" Valerie's jaw dropped at the outrageous number. "It takes an excessive amount of magic to shrink an airship, and if it's too large, the magic won't hold. It's a delicate mixture." Crowe frowned. "With that much money at his disposal, it's no surprise he didn't go down with his Frigate."

"All this for a little treasure," Valerie mused.

"I've never burned fifty million Qin before," Ren commented with a smile. Crowe smirked.

"Wait, do we have to kill it?" Valerie looked horrified. "Why can't we just steal it and sell it? Or use it ourselves?"

"It'd cost a fortune to have it re-shrunk. It's not worth it." Crowe turned around and started for the bridge.

“Aww…” Valerie made a sad face. “Just imagine all the bowls of curry I could’ve bought with that money.” Ren patted her shoulder.

“Bet you a bowl you can’t sink it before me,” he challenged.

“Only one? Someone’s worried he’s gonna lose.”

They follow Crowe back to the bridge, Ren leading the way and Valerie following. Crowe approached the helm once more, considering his options.

"So what's the plan then, Captain?" Ren asked. Before Crowe could respond, the ship's radio popped to life, but it wasn't Jasper's intercom. The sounds came from the radio communications device used to broadcast to nearby airships, and the pretentious voice that blasted through the speakers amidst a background of static made the crew cringe.

"Hello, hello?" The male voice's greeting stressed with a thinly veiled contempt. "Paradise, I know you know who this is, so let's not bother with unnecessary formalities and get straight to the point." It was unmistakably Tennington.

"That's why I enjoyed wrecking his ship so much," Ren scoffed.

"You have something of mine, I want it back. You destroyed my ship, I want compensation. But we both know that last part won't happen, so I'll settle for my treasure back in my hands." Crowe smirked at the vain man's demands and reached for the radio.

"What audacity, demanding things from me while flitting about in a Canary. If you have that much money, just buy yourself a new treasure. I would love to hear how exactly you plan to take it from us."

"Crowe," Tennington spat. "It's only been a few days since I've met your acquaintance, and yet, you have become the absolute bane of my existence! My life has fallen to tragedy all because of you!" Valerie and Ren couldn't help but laugh hysterically at his complaining. It was sad how relentless he was about the matter.

"Now let's not be dramatic," Crowe taunted with a large smile in his face. Tennington had no chance- and Crowe enjoyed every minute of it.

"Unfortunately, it seems I must resort to such dramatics to grab your attention."

"Sounds fun, shall I meet you on your ship for round two? Mind if I bring some friends? We love a good party."

"Oh, but one of your friends has already arrived," he said ominously. Crowe looked back to Valerie and Ren, who were equally as confused. Three out of the five crew members were in the bridge, Jasper was in the engine room as always, and Gideon was held up in bed. They didn't have any other 'friends.'

"The last time I checked, we weren't friends," Crowe responded.

"Not me, you pirate! I'm disappointed, I never thought of you as one to abandon a crew mate. She is pretty plain, though, quite uninteresting-- your Joan."

"Joan?" Crowe said to himself incredulously.

"The doctor?" Ren looked astounded.

"If you want her back safely, I suggest you return the treasure to me. Otherwise, she will face dire consequences on your behalf. Maybe I should take a page out of your book and let her... walk the plank?" Tennington cackled at his own joke.

Crowe couldn't believe it. How did Tennington know Joan? Was he in town watching? Did he send out scouts? Did he kidnap her? Does he really have Joan? A flurry of questions rushed through Crowe's head. If he really does have Joan... The corner of Crowe's mouth twitched upward.

"Crowe, what do we do?" Valerie asked concernedly. They looked to their captain for answers as Tennington finished his broadcast.

"Think about it," he declared. "You don't have much time to make a decision."