"All right, boys! You know the drill!" Aenwyn's voice rang out gleefully over the deck where the crew had assembled. "Our mission starts the moment we meet up with Zérèn, and I want this ship ready for battle before then." She paused, smirking briefly. "Let's not give the old man a chance to say we slowed him down, you hear?"

The crew shouted, "Aye, aye!" and cheered in agreement until Aenwyn raised her hand and called for silence.

"Now then. We don't know the exact nature of whatever job he has in store for us, so we will prepare all of our equipment... just in case." She paused for a moment, glancing up as if going through a mental checklist, then started giving out orders. "Myrin, Nina, and Morwen, make sure all pistols on board are loaded and that ammunition is available on deck... Caio, get your explosives ready... Sergius, make sure all swords and daggers are sharp and ready for use... Mao and Sarjeon, string the bows and make sure everyone has enough arrows… Tyrvoril, inspect the shields, make sure they still hold up... Terry and Nerikas, get the galley ready in case we have any cuts and bruises that need your tender treatment... and Vivi, get up in the mast and keep a look out—we don't want any surprises today." She hesitated for a second as everyone set out to carry out their tasks, then turned to a pair of elf twins that had come aboard two days ago as they passed E'harius—they were from the assassins' guild and were good friends of Captain Aenwyn, having fought alongside the crew of the Ajdaha many times before. "Kharis and Ardreth... you do whatever it is you do. We may need your skill if there is any fighting involved."

Vivi, who wasn't particularly interested in what exactly Kharis and Ardreth did, turned away and scurried up the mast, all the way up into the little crow's nest. She sat there a while, glancing at the Onyx on the horizon every once in a while—she had many memories of Zérèn's old ship, but her mind started to drift to more recent events... including their close call yesterday.

"Ahoy there!" Aenwyn's cheerful voice snapped her out of her musings as it rang out unexpectedly close to her ear.

"Captain Aenwyn?" she asked, turning to look at the old elf perched on the ladder leading into the crow's nest. "Is something wrong?"

Aenwyn chuckled lightly. "Not at all. I just wanted to see if I could catch a glimpse of the old man's ship; these old eyes aren't as sharp as they used to be, you know." She paused, casting Vivi a searching glance. "Besides... I got the feeling you could use some friendly conversation."

"I suppose." Vivi smiled despite herself—the captain wasn't necessarily wrong, and she had long since learned not to question how Aenwyn knew the things she knew. "We going to catch up with them soon?" she asked, not sure what else to say.

"I figure we'll catch them in about ten, maybe fifteen minutes, perhaps?" Aenwyn chuckled. "Impatient, are we?"

Vivi leaned herself back against the railing behind Aenwyn. "Aren't you?" She said lightly.

"Impatient?" Aenwyn made a noise that sounded like something between a laugh and a snort of indignation. "I'd like to think not. I, for one, don't miss Zérèn that much."

Vivi gave a lighthearted chuckle, and then the smile on her lips disappeared for a second. "I guess... it's less about being impatient than just... wanting things to turn out okay."

Aenwyn sighed, turning around to smile warmly towards Vivi. "Are you worried?"

Vivi exhaled through her nose and shrugged her shoulders half-heartedly. "I'm always worried when I don't know what I'm getting myself into." She paused, taking a breath. "Owen and I had too close of a call back in Sheo Caelora... we could both just as well be lying dead in an alley instead of being here."

"Well... you're here, aren't you?" Aenwyn reached out, ruffling Vivi's hair with a slim but weathered hand. "Sure feels like it."

A wide smile grew on Vivi's face. "Yeah, I guess so." She chuckled, watching Aenwyn pull her hand away. "But what if things had gone wrong?" She paused. "Bullets were whizzing around our ears... what if one was just a few inches to the left? And we were cornered by that tincap... what if Myrin hadn't shown up at just the right time? What if..." She looked away—this wasn't what they usually talked about, but she had been chewing on it and somehow felt like it needed to be spoken to someone who might understand.

Aenwyn shrugged lightly. "Well, the simple answer is: you'd be dead." She smiled again and turned back to gaze out across the abyss. "But that's not what you were asking, was it?"

"No," Vivi said softly, keeping her gaze on the Onyx. "Just that... a few inches to the left, a few seconds later... and everything could change."

"Everything always changes, dear," Aenwyn mused. She glanced back again, looking for a moment at Vivi with sad eyes. "You don't have to put yourself in front of bullets if you don't want to. I don't know if Zérèn has drummed anything else into your head—but on my ship, everyone has a choice."

Vivi chuckled lightly. "Sure, it's a choice, but it seems pretty drab working for my wage in a field." She gave a sideways smirk to Aenwyn.

"That's the catch, isn't it?" Aenwyn replied, returning the smirk. "You know... I did consider settling down. Just work up a bit of money as an honest merchant, then spend my days in the sunny Uyalon countryside. I'm not as young as I look, you know; maybe it would be nice to just take it easy..." She paused, casting Vivi an impish glance and breaking into a grin. "But where's the fun in that?"

"Exactly," Vivi agreed, and they shared a short laugh before it died and Vivi turned to look out at the Onyx once again.