Trigger Warning: Child Abuse

“Thank you! Thank you! Your speed and professionalism in this matter is exemplary!” Dr. Alford Sneed was a mousy man overseeing the work at the small factory—the goal of their latest delivery. He rubbed his hands together repeatedly, scratching his head on occasion. Navi wondered if Jaehyun could also see the resemblance to a rodent.

The factory in question was set up in an old manor several miles outside of Valor Town. It was quite isolated. From what they could see, there were less than thirty workers on the premises. She shook off the feeling of oddness, accepting the envelope with their pay.

“We are deeply, deeply, deeply indebted to you.”

“We deliver,” Navi nodded, glad to have stated her piece.

“And you’re very welcome.” Jaehyun maintained a pleasant look on his face. Internally, the man’s twitchy repetitiveness was starting to wear on him. He was looking forward to being back in the air. “We’ll be on our way then.”

While they spoke, they watched other men from the factory unload the True North. They refused all offers of help, stating that a modicum of secrecy must be maintained for their business. The crew of the North had shrugged off the oddity. It did not take them long to unload their cargo and disappear into the house. Sneed stood with Captain Park and watched them go.

“Actually, I have another job for you” he said suddenly. “A little job—a tiny one—and I am more than happy to pay upfront, if you would be so kind.”

Jaehyun and Navi exchanged a look. “That depends on the job,” he said hesitantly.

“Not much! Not much! Merely helping dispose of some excess from the labs. We don’t have a safe disposal readily available and it can’t be entrusted to the regular rubbish workers—oh no! Could you drop something off at the Fibula Crevasse? That’s it! See? Simple! And it would pay handsomely—three times as much as this job, yes!”

Navi narrowed her eyes. Unofficial jobs were risky. Unless one knew the job giver, there was always a chance for things to go wrong with illegal shipments, gang wars, black magic or some other unsavory factors. “What risk will it pose to the ship and crew?”

“None whatsoever! None whatsoever!” he waved his hands frenetically. “Everything is neutralized. You’ll be safe as houses—oh, yes!”

“May we see this cargo?” Jaehyun asked, frowning a little. Navi nodded. It was best to see what they would be taking.

Instead of heading through the main entrance, the mousy doctor led them to a heavily bolted servant’s door hidden on the side of the house. Inside was a simple mudroom filled with boxes. The door leading into the main part of the house was across the room and securely locked from the inside. Navi stepped close to the pilot, catching his eye. He nodded, confirming he had noted how isolated this room was. This job could not be that easy, right?

_____________________________

There! A noise. It sounded like a door opening nearby. Maybe now someone would find her. She listened—not that she had much of a choice.

"These are all the boxes that need to go," a squeaky man's voice spoke out. "All of it must be destroyed.” Destroyed? “None of it is to be repurposed as it is not safe for reuse, do you understand?"

"What a waste," a woman's voice answered amidst the sounds of boxes being opened. “There is a lot of good material here."

"The items have been warped by some chemist experiments. I wouldn't trust a one of it," the man sniffed. "They are safe to handle.” There came the sound of rattling and shaking. “We just need to get it out of here, so we can make some room for other things."

The moments stretched on with only the sounds of boxes being inspected/opened breaking the quiet. "All right. We’ll take on your job." The woman answered. "I’ll get my crew to load it."

She listened carefully. The newcomers had left. She could feel the squeaky man was still there.

As though summoned, she heard his voice close to her hiding place. “I’m sorry—so sorry—for this. I’m sorry that there is nothing more I can do for you. Please, please, please think kindly of me whatever else happens after this. I never wanted to be involved—oh, no! I just don’t know what else to try.”

“You knew I was here? And you still get someone else to kill me?!?” she screamed in her head, outraged. “How dare you?!? What did I ever do to deserve this?” She struggled to make a sound, a movement—anything! This was not fair! She heard him step away and new footfalls arrive.

She willed her jaw to open so she could alert them to her presence but not a muscle would move. "SCREAM!" she shouted to her frozen body. If she could have, she would have cried in frustration.

She listened to the sounds of heavy equipment being moved. The sounds of industry continued around her, getting closer every few minutes. She had nothing better to do, so she timed their movements. The pattern indicated that they were carrying items elsewhere.

After five of these trips, someone finally touched her box. The sounds of his hands searching for a grip were almost deafening after so much quiet. She struggled to make herself heard. Her box suddenly shifted and, with it, her paralyzed body. She fell backwards. Something started clicking and whirring behind her. It distracted her for a second, but she realized that she could finally make a sound!

"Hello?" Her voice! Had it always been so high-pitched? She did not care. She could talk. It was glorious! “Please help me!” The clicking she heard in the background suddenly stopped. Outside in the darkness, all sounds stopped. Did she lose her ability to hear too?

"Did you hear someone?" a young man's voice finally asked.

"I spoke," she tried to say, but her voice would not emerge again.

"You're imagining things, Joe," the woman outside said as she moved some metal objects (based on the sounds). "Just get that on the ship."

"…Okay."

Her world shook again, but her mouth refused to budge. That did not stop her from trying to get her words out the entire way. After a short and shaky journey, she was place down none too gently. There came that clicking noise and with it her voice returned.

"Don’t—!" The clicking stopped along with her voice.

She heard the man named Joseph jump.

"Hello?" he asked. "Is someone here?"

The silence was deafening.

"Maybe I am hearing things…" he muttered to himself, and left her screaming silently alone in the darkness.

__________________________

“Why do the vents have to be down there?” Jethro complained. “That just looks crude!”

“Well, you are not messing up the artistry of my fish. Besides,” Navi glanced back at the airship. “Most of the time you’ll be working in the air, so no one is really going to notice that much.”

The two were disembarking to finish their next delivery. The smiths had completed their workroom in the rear of the fish. Navi had designed the True North to vent excess steam through the “gills” of the fish and designed the ventilation for the smiths to exits the fish’s posterior. It was this adjustment that caused the big smith’s latest complaint.

“But someone’ll notice! I’ll know that it looks like yer fish is poopin’!”

“That’s just too bad.”

The big man continued to grumble about fish crap as he and Joe carried some of the boxes down. Navi and Jaehyun wheeled the rest on a cart. This next delivery found them in a small city called Jerpin. The city had a sparse airfield but was connected via the train line.

This third delivery had whisked them far away from the threat of Desen in Valor Town. This delivery was also speed-based in the mountains to the South. The True North was constantly breaking records for speed and gaining more attention with every delivery. Case in point, an extraordinarily thin man in spectacles was waiting for them at the end of the docks. Navi took one look at his plain clothes and the camera slung at his side, then pulled her scarf over her head. A reporter. His air of expectancy gave it away. She slid out of sight while Jaehyun slowed to a stop for the man.

“Do I have the honor of speaking to the Captain of the True North?” he asked, raising a notepad and a pencil.

“Yes. Who is asking?” The pilot distractedly watched the mechanic disappear into the crowd.

“Lucky Dupree from the Imperial Times. We run one of the largest newspapers in the Empire. You’ve heard of us, no doubt?”

Jaehyun refocused on the thin man. Everyone had heard of the Imperial Times. It was one of the best ways to get the news from the furthest corners of the Empire. Jaehyun knew that dealing with this paper could make or break a reputation. He also knew that Navi wanted this reputation for the North. She had yet to say why she needed this reputation.

“Of course! How can I help you? We deliver, as you know.” Jaehyun put on his most charming smile.

Dupree laughed in appreciation. “I’ll say! So…” He raised his pen and pad. “Are you available for a brief interview?”

                                                ___________________________

Navi strode through the market, glad to be away from the reporter. Eyes were turning to the True North now. She planned to keep them there. A sharp voice rose above the clamor of the marketplace, interrupting her thoughts.

"You lazy good for nothing! Pay attention to when I'm talking to you!"

There was the sound of a slap and a sharp cry--that of a child. She spun around, looking for the source of the source. There was another sharp slap and the child cried again. Nobody seemed to notice. She honed in on the location: Jerpin Valley Orphanage.

Before she thought too hard about it, Navi had pushed open the wrought iron gates and stepped into the dirty yard. Grimy faces were lined up at the windows watching the confrontation was taking place. In front of the building a large, red-faced woman was raising her hand to strike a small girl.

"Stop that!" Navi grabbed the woman’s hand, twisting her around behind her back. “Leave her alone!” She twisted harder, so that the woman yelped.

"Unhand me!" the woman screeched. Navi released her as she straightened her dingy clothes. "I runs a respectable place 'ere. They don' work, they don' eat. This 'un lives to sleep. Always 'iding in corners and catchin' forty winks soon as me back's turned. I'm plum fed up wid 'her. If I don't make her an ensample then every whelp will be running wild behind me back and I'm not havin' it!" She lunged for the girl again, but Navi tripped her, sending the woman sprawling.

"You will not touch her again!" her voice was low and dangerous. "Get me her papers. She's coming with me."

The woman glared at the mechanic with animosity in her eyes. “That’s 3 gold for her.”

Navi’s stomach was churning. Disgusting! “You get 1 gold and to keep your arm in once piece!” She threw the coin into the dust. The woman had to scramble to find it. “Now get me her papers!”

Without another word, the woman tucked the coin into her bodice as she attempted to regain her dignity. She glowered at Navi and the girl, then stomped off towards the house. The faces in the windows disappeared.

"Are you all right?" Navi pulled the girl up and dusted her off. She was starting to shake now. The adrenaline that had fueled her fury had quickly dissolved and now she was at a loss with this child looking at her. What was she supposed to do with her?

The girl in question was from Kitua. She had a round, brown face and thin, bone-straight, brown hair hacked so that it was roughly chin-length. A well-worn, oversized newsboy cap kept falling into her large, brown eyes. She wore the trappings of a little boy and a greatcoat tied to her tiny frame via a doubled leather belt. She looked like a fawn—all limbs and huge eyes.

"Thank 'ee, mum," the girl smiled shyly.

"I am Navi Sitara. What's your name?"

"Casey Landervitz.” The girl pushed the cap out of her eyes. “And this is Faffy!" From her belt, the girl pulled up a stuffed bunny. "Meet our new friend, Navi!"

Navi took the toy with interest. It was a battered, gray, felt rabbit with ears that perked up on wires. The eyes were curiously red buttons. The stuffed toy was expressionless, but Navi could sense that there was a very watchful presence behind that neutral expression. Why did the bunny allow his mistress to be mistreated so?

“It is good to meet you, Faffy,” she spoke very seriously. “My name is Navilene Sitara and I will be taking care of your mistress. No harm will come to her if I can help it. I ask that you not harm my ship or my people. New faces will be introduced to you as soon as possible.”

She waited, still holding the stuffed bunny. It looked back at her unblinking.

Casey smiled, “I think he likes you. He said he will abide by your rules.”

Navi let out the deep breath she had been holding. “I am glad. Um, do you want…some new clothes?"

"Do I, mum?” Casey’s already large doe eyes got impossibly larger. “Thank you, mum!” The smile lit her face like the sun bursting through the clouds. “Can I keep the hat and the coat? They belonged to my father. It's all I have left."

"Sure." Navi looked up in time to see a shower of papers flutter across the yard.

"There's her papers! And good riddance to you!" the woman shrieked, slamming the window above them.

Navi was stunned, glancing down at Casey. The girl had fallen asleep, curled in a ball at her feet. "Uh… Casey?" she nudged the girl. She did not wake. Navi sighed and set about gathering up the records. "Jaehyun will love this," she thought, lifting the girl onto her back. She glanced back at the house to see small faces peeping out the windows.

“I’ll be back for you,” she quietly promised.

She checked the yard for any stray documents, hoisted the little girl up and walked out the gate.