"Now, what breed are you, dear?" Doctor Newbury asked as he scribbled notes onto a piece of parchment he had resting on a barrel.

"Sylvan," Shanku said as she balanced on a deck rail.

"Where are the Sylvans from?" Doctor Newbury asked. "Be careful there."

"North of here, the Nyre forest," Shanku said absently as she walked to the shrouds.

"Interesting. I've been there many times and never seen one of your kind before," remarked Doctor Newbury.

"We hide," Shanku stated with a finger in the air matter-of-factly as she dangled from the shrouds with her other hand.

"How did you end up down here?" asked Doctor Newbury.

"Left the Nyre, met Dai. Went to Wynfall, left in the spring. Met Rhett, came to port Tephras," said Shanku. She slipped her legs through the shrouds and then dangled upside down from her knees.

"Why?"

"Headrush... Er, Wanderlust," Shanku mumbled as the pressure built up in her head. She became too dizzy and inadvertently let go of the shrouds with her knees, which resulted in her crashing down to the deck.

"Perhaps that is enough for today..." Doctor Newbury said slowly.

"Owie..." came the weak reply. She shook her head and seemed recovered. She pointed a scrawny arm at the doctor from her position flat on her back. "So what are you doing out here, Doctor Newbury?"

"I am the medical doctor of this ship. Have been ever since I finished my apprenticeship when I was a younger man," Doctor Newbury said proudly and raised a finger in the air. "And I conduct studies on people and creatures I meet."

"What kinda creatures?" Shanku asked.

"Any I meet. Goblins and faefolk mostly. Occasionally a dwarf or centaur," he said as he counted them off on his fingers. Then he put a fist to his chin thoughtfully. "Even saw a mermaid once. She nearly crashed the ship."

He turned to face Shanku. "Of your kind, I've only met the ones in the ports of Mruha and I've heard rumor of one that sails with pirates. But I didn't know there were actually some that lived outside of the ports away from the sea!"

"Well, there's two kinds in L'aernth that I know of," Shanku said as she sat cross-legged. "Us Sylvans, and the Plains. I'm not aware of any seafaring kurach."

"Interesting..." Doctor Newbury looked at her thoughtfully for a moment before gathering up his pen and parchment. "You're free to explore the ship now. I have some work to do."

Shanku watched him go below deck to his quarters. She looked curiously behind her. The deck was broad, had a few barrels of water to the sides with empty ones nearby to catch fresh rainwater, and between the three masts were two grated openings leading to the cargo hold. She strolled past these to the open door of the kitchen. Shelves and cabinets and counters lined the room and it smelled positively delightful. There was a man at one of the counters in the white shirt with short, loose sleeves and grey breeches the crew often wore. He was clean shaven and had a white bandana tied around his head. He was chopping a fish into slices.

"Can I help?" Shanku asked as she stepped beside him.

"Ya can peel them taters if ya don't cut yerself," he gestured with the slimy knife to a pile of potatoes below the counter. He went back to preparing the fish. "So, you're doc's new pet, eh?"

"I'm not a 'pet', but he is looking after me. Name's Shanku Ravenwing," Shanku said grumpily as she reached into a basket for a potato.

"Jeffrey Templeton, ship cook!" Templeton introduced himself.

"Where will you cook at?" Shanku looked around the room. Nothing was in there but the cabinets, drawers, shelves, and counters.

"No cookin' in this room. Stove's at the prow in a sand pit. Don't need the wind blowin' a possible fire through the whole ship, after all," Templeton nodded.

"Makes sense. What's for dinner?" Shanku asked eagerly.

"Fish an' taters!" Templeton beamed and held the fish up by the tail.

"Yum!" Shanku grinned.

"That's 'bout all your kind eats, eh? Fruit, fish, and clams? And sometimes a dog?" he grinned.

"Nah. Back home it was all roast deer and goat," Shanku said as she begin to peel the potato. "Or other critters. But never dogs or cats. Fellow predators aren't very tasty."

"Strange. the ones I see usually eat snails, mussels, and other stuff outta the water," he said casually as he finished chopping the fish. "I prefer fish and shellfish. Much better than snails."

"Ew..." Shanku winced. She slid off the counter and went back on deck. "I'm out."

"Have fun! Come visit me again!" Templeton called cheerfully after her.

I hope I never learn anything that nasty again. Beetles, yes. Slugs, no! Shanku stuck her tongue out and laid her ears back at the thought of eating slugs and snails. She looked curiously up at the white sails billowing out above her. On the highest mast there was a basket. I wonder what's up there?

Shanku crouched and jumped up. She beat her wings laboriously against the wind and slowly made her way up to the basket. She kept close to the mast to guide herself with her claws. She gripped the edges of the basket and pulled herself up to a perch. She found another man up here! He had brown hair down past his shoulders, his loose white shirt had long sleeves, and he wore the expected grey pants.

"You're the stowaway, eh?" he asked her cheerfully when she landed.

"Yup!" Shanku nodded and added uneasily. "Although, everybody else thinks I'm a pet."

"Are you?" he asked simply.

"No way!" Shanku exclaimed.

"You're welcome to be my pet," he laughed and leaned back against with his elbows resting on the rail.

Shanku hrmphed indignantly.

"Is this your first time on a ship?" he asked.

"Yup," Shanku nodded.

"You have good balance," he nodded to her perching on the edge. "Might be the bird thing."

"Perhaps..." Shanku said slowly as she eyed her wings. "Is this your first year too?"

"Fifteenth," he said. "You'll be here for several weeks. Best to get acquainted with the crew as soon as possible."

"Will do," Shanku saluted him and allowed herself to fall backwards off the edge. She glided back down to the deck and landed with a thump on a barrel.

Whitten glanced up from his mopping for a moment. "You're not so scary," he grumbled and went back to mopping the deck.

"I coulda told ya that," Shanku huffed and sat more comfortably on the barrel. "Whatcha doin'?"

"Moppin' the deck," Whitten said boredly.

"Housework?" Shanku asked timidly and pulled her wings and knees together. Many memories resurfaced of Mrs. Birchfield having her help mop the floors.

"Tch," he scoffed and sneered over his shoulder at her. "Man's work."

"I've done it," Shanku crossed her arms over her chest. "It can't be that manly."

"Then do it again, would ye?" Whitten laughed and tossed the mop at her. Shanku squawked and tried to keep her balance after the mop handle bopped her on the head.

Down below in the captain's chambers, Doctor Newbury was having an audience with the captain.

"Why is there another of those things on my ship?" Captain Morgan asked sternly. His hands were folded before his chin and he was leaned forward with his elbows on his desk. His light brown hair was pulled neatly together in the back. His tidy blue jacket was pressed, with big cuffs and shiny brass buttons, and his white pants showed not a speck of dirt.

"A good question," Doctor Newbury said as he stroked his chin. "I do believe she stowed aboard the ship at Port Tephras out of sheer curiousity for searfaring vessels."

"No more pets, Doctor Newbury," Captain Morgan said firmly. "Put her out when we dock."

"But she isn't native to Mruha!" Doctor Newbury threw his hands out to his side. "She wouldn't be able to survive."

"Then let her swim home," Captain Morgan said as he gave the doctor a cold look.

"She's just a child! Probably no family," Doctor Newbury pleaded.

"Probably ate them," Captain Morgan said flatly.

"That was a one time incident!" Doctor Newbury shook his finger at the captain.

"I miss my dog, Doctor," the captain growled.

"I told you not to cut that kurach's rations," Doctor Newbury chided as folded his hands behind his back.

"Shoulda cut his throat instead," the captain grumbled. He closed his eyes and held the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "Why do you want this thing?"

"Valuable study! A breed thought extinct! A piece of history thought lost!" the doctor said excitedly.

"But will she be a danger to the men?" the captain asked.

"No, she's too young to be much of a threat," the doctor shook his head.

"She will be if she acts like a gully hen," the captain warned.

"I shall see to it that she is better than that," the doctor frowned.

"If she harms them, so help me..." the captain trailed off and dismissed the doctor.

Above deck, Shanku was doing just that.

"Mop yer own deck, ya swab!" she growled as she brought the end of the mop crashing down on Whitten's head. Whitten glared at her through the strands of the mop head as she flew off.

"Lazy brute," they grumbled in unison.