Another Adventure

The sun shone over the coast of Hargeon City, gleaming light reflecting off the deep blue sea, which stretched out further than the eye could see. Seagulls in their various local species congregated and filled the air with their calls, some closer to honks, others more akin to a crying cat. Waves crashing against the reinforced walls of the city's port filled the air with relaxing white noise. It was an excellent day for a cruise, and the port sure knew it. A massive luxury ship was docked at the pier, labelled in big impact font on the side in all capital letters:


Many people had gathered for this occasion, most of them were particularly wealthy folks from around Fiore. The stench of aristocracy filled the air, even if they tried to hide it visually with their swimsuits and 'casual' attire so stereotypical of vacationers. See, there was something unmistakable when it came to rich people and their perfume. Normal people were content to save money and buy something that smells 'nice', which was well and good, but a rich person's perfume was just as much a cover for their human stink as it was a status symbol. It doesn't smell 'good', it smells 'expensive'.

Of course, one doesn't really gather that difference without being raised around the expensive stuff or having a very sharp nose. It doesn't hurt to have both either. Take for example Vance Saylor, a notable huntsman from the smalltime magic guild Noir Melodia. His eyes were never functional, but his family was quite rich thanks to their beast hunting enterprise. His senses developed around the finer luxuries in life, so of course he knew what expensive perfume was, more so than most people who wear them, in fact. The relatively young big game hunter happened to be present for this cruise, having purchased himself a handful of tickets a while back. Why? He was in a great mood after taking down a big monster, and he had a proportionate paycheck to match.

He asked around the guild hall if anybody had wanted to accompany him, but he got turned down pretty much unanimously by everyone. Always such busybodies over there, not that he was much different. It seemed that his life consisted entirely of hunting, partying, rinse repeat. He saw no need to accumulate personal wealth if he wasn't gonna spend it all, and as an outdoorsman, practical concerns like housing and groceries rarely crossed his mind. Nevertheless, he was always sure to splurge a little bit just to make sure everyone else was having a good time too. After all, people aught to be happy.

The huntsman sat atop a tall wooden post on the outskirts of the crowd who had been boarding and buying tickets. He was listening to all the conversations, heartbeats, and breathing of the people, detecting who might be in need of ticket to ride. Perhaps the process might have been impressive if not a little creepy, but the intentions were pure enough that he never considered it. The same tactic he used while hunting was serviceable in most fields, it seemed.

How many tickets had he given away? Hard to say, they're really lightweight and he wasn't really thinking about it. How many did he have left? Just two. One for himself and one for some other lucky soon-to-be cruisegoer. Just a hint of dejection was all he needed, and with the tickets finally sold out it was only a matter of time.

The last call for boarding the ship was fast approaching: Another Adventure awaited, but perhaps not for much longer.

"Cmon, Aphi! Get up, get up, let's go, let's goo!~" Seika shook the black cat insistently, her mouth set in a slight frown as she realized her companion was still solidly sleeping. "Oh my god, you've been sleeping for like, how long now? Five hours? Gah! Why won't you wake up, Aphi pleease, today is the day we're supposed to go on that cruise and-"

"I'm up! So shut up!" The flame bubble spirit spat, surprise, bubbles out of her mouth and at Seika's face as she howled to consciousness. "Can you quit your yowling and simmer down for a bit? How are you even this excited for a cruise? Don't you remember what happened last time we were anywhere near water?" Shrugging off the negativity, Seika picked up a nearby fluffy dust pillow and began dancing around the room with it. "I don't care!~ This time's gonna be much better. No drowning, no shipwrecks, no nothing involved! Plus, I met you in the water, so, it's not all that bad." The feline sent Seika a dubious look, under which the mage crumbled just a tad bit. A few more seconds of direct eye contact, which quickly turned into Seika braving the brute force of Aphelia's scathing gaze, broke her down. "Okay, it was a terrible experience! But, don't worry Aphi! I have this one all planned out. I researched it thoroughly yesterday-"

"Wait, what do you mean, yesterday?" Seika beamed at her familiar without a trace of guilt or concern. "I mean that last evening I looked up everything possible about Another Adventure! And it's supposed to be one of the best luxury cruise liners in all of Fiore! So I really don't think there's anything to worry about, Aphi! Come on!~" With that, she heaved the cat out of bed, barely sparing a wince when she heard the sheets Aphi was clinging to rip apart. "To the teleporter!" She half sang, half yelled out like a war cry.

When they made their way to the docks, Seika found herself gaping at the crowds that had gathered, either to board, themselves, or to see off family or friends that would be traveling aboard. "Woah, so cool~" she waved cheerfully to what looked like a noblewoman in an extremely large gown that poofed out and had several sashes of some silky, but thick and stiff material. "Aphi, look at that!" she pointed at a pair of young men who were barely three or four meters away and appeared to be sitting on stacks of luggage. "I think I just saw that statue move. I wonder if the other one does, too?" With a slightly pinched expression, the cat put her paw on Seika's arm before jerking it down back to her side. "Shh. Stop pointing at people, that's rude," she hissed in a low, discreet voice. Seika blinked rapidly for a few seconds before realizing that indeed, those statues had been real people, and she had been well within hearing distance.

Rather than being ashamed, though, she simply turned around and skipped directly up to them. "Hello Misters! You were sitting so still, I thought you were fake for a moment," she laughed, an honest, genuine sort of sound, and then went on, "But, anyway, I was wondering if I could take your picture? You're just so cool, y'see, and..." She went on for a few more breaths before one of the men motioned to get on with it, and then after the picture was snapped and done they turned towards each other, away from her essentially, and began what seemed to be a private conversation.

Before the girl could interrupt them any further, Aphelia dragged her away by hooking a claw through the fabric of her leggings and marching off in a very determined fashion. "Ah! Wait, Aphi! The tickets are the other way, I think- ohh," the cat brought them to a stop in front of what was clearly a set of ticket sales booths, and Seika leaned down to pat the feline on the head. "Wow, you're so smart, Aphi! How'd you know to go this way?" The spirit cast her an exasperated glance before turning her head away and assuming a haughty expression, or at least as haughty as she could appear in a cat's body.

A few minutes later, though, Seika could be seen stepping away from the booths with Aphi curled up in her arms. Anyone nearby could hear her talking to the pet, confusion evident in her voice. "I thought you could reserve tickets? I don't know why they were all gone?" She sat down with the familiar underneath a tree, on a half-wall of large, well-worn logs. "Idiot, you dragged me out here only to tell me you can't get a ticket? You said there was five star meals for animal companions... I've been lied to," the feline sighed before yawning in disgruntlement.

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The sun beaming down on his face had been acting as a sort of meditative focus for Vance as he sat in wait, listening to and analyzing the surrounding area. Each person had their own sort of audible rhythm, if you listened close enough. But more important was the words they spoke. Many people felt many things, but those who could speak in line with their emotions were pure. Maybe that's why he never got tired of spreading cheer. Alternatively, perhaps he was just always looking to make a scene, but if that were the case, maybe he'd spread his name around a little.

It wasn't too much longer that he'd sat in waiting before his last act of blatant charity came chiming into his audio canals. A young girl and her talking animal companion of some sort, who arrived late after misunderstanding how the cruise runs reservations or something. Vance always found it to be better to buy things as soon as possible, so that he definitely had them and they weren't going to disappear from underneath him. Since he could always work for more income, the idea of running out of money didn't scare him.

"Showtime~"

The silver-green huntsman would descend from his perch in pursuit of the young lady whose voice projected dismay. It wasn't hard to track her down, since she was one of very, very few people who had brought along a magical beast of any sort. Vance's sniffer was pretty much geared towards finding magical beasts, so she may as well have painted her body with bullseyes. Though perhaps that would have helped a lot less, seeing as the hunter in question lacked sight.

Underneath a tree, on a stack of logs. It was oak, as were the logs she sat on. A shady section of the port for people to take breaks under to get away from the beating sun. A picnic table wasn't too far away judging by the faint aroma of food long past. In this location, was a quarry, somebody who was sad that aught to not be instead. His voice was the first thing to be manifest nearby, though his body was apparently there the whole time as he spoke, "Yo! You look sad. Did ya miss out on the available last-minute tickets, by chance?"

His voice was a rough tenor, like the sort a cool 'big bro' might have. Vance waited a beat in case they had some immediate response, but otherwise was convinced well enough on his own information gathering he'd hit the nail on the head. "Well, I happen to have too many tickets here. See? I have two, but on my own, I'm just one guy," he would say in open rhetoric, showing off his two tickets, holding one in each hand, a shark-toothed smile across his face the whole time.

He would chuckle briefly and present the ticket in his right hand to the young lady and her... spirit of some sort by the smell. "Consider it your lucky day, young miss. One cruise aboard the Another Adventure, all expenses paid, of course, for you and your pet. Keep that chin up and have a wonderful vacation. People aught to be happy, y'know~" he would spiel out like a saleman peddling snake oil.

Sure, he didn't look or sound the most trustworthy, but that much didn't matter. Nor did it help that he would easily disappear around the corner and into the crowd to board the ship the very second he finished talking or after she took the ticket he offered her. Not a word of 'your welcome' or any other strings attached. Vance may, in fact, have been a genuinely nice guy, trying to make peoples' day.

Without much ceremony, he was handing in his final ticket, boarding the cruise ship, ready to relax on Another Adventure with the rest of the partygoers. The man at the boarding stop took his ticket and punched a hole in it with this nifty little gadget and handed it back, telling him to keep it, in case of a ticket check later. This must have served as their anti-stowaway measure, or at least some form of reassurance for the passengers that no suspicious characters were knowingly let on board.

It wouldn't take much for a stowaway to steal on of these punched tickets, since one of the biggest attractions was an on-deck swimming pool, where ladies would leave their purses off to the side and forget their worries. Vance figured it wouldn't matter, since it was a big ship, so many that the reassurance was only to assuage certain types of people who 'wouldn't be caught dead' on a vacation with people below the poverty line, even on accident.

On board the ship's deck, many people were ambling around idly, chatting with other cruisegoers. It was a bit of a chore for him to map out a path through this cluster of people, especially chatty people, but once he'd made it into the cabin, he was able to hear himself think for a mercy. The biggest problem he faced at this very moment was that the ticket had his room number on it, and he couldn't read. "Agh... They could have put some braile on this darn thing..." he complained to nobody in particular. Things got somewhat complicated pretty quick, it seemed.

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Total Word Count: 2,322

"Ehh? I would never lie to you, Aphi! It's not lying if I didn't know!" She protested sincerely, pouting as she stroked one of the feline's ears affectionately. "That's not how lies work, stupid," the cat groaned, but she said nothing more and allowed herself to be patted into a more subdued state. As she absentmindedly ran her fingers through Aphelia's coat, Seika closed her eyes and began to think about food. After all, she was getting to be rather hungry, having gone through the teleporter, which consumed energy proportionate to the distance traveled. It also didn't help that she hadn't eaten breakfast on account of being so excited to get to the docks. Now thinking solely of banana milk and miniature fudge striped biscuits, Seika chewed on her lip thoughtfully. There wasn't likely to be any of her favorite snacks at shops near the docks, but it was a good try to just go and see anyway, since-

"Ahhh!" She yelped as a strange voice interrupted her musings suddenly, shocking Seika out of her pensive state. "Y-you scared me! Um.. I look sad? I am sad! Well, not really sad, but kind of, cause... yeah! How did you know?" She peppered words in as he asked her a question, her eyes still closed since she was slightly scared of opening them for some reason. What if there was a killer fire monster that was casually asking her questions when it had just murdered the entire dock full of people? So, for this reason, Seika kept her eyes securely shut as she tapped a finger against her chin. "Ah... you have too many tickets? Wow! That's the opposite of how I am, I don't have any!" She compared their two situations and nodded in understanding when the stranger said that he was just one guy. Well, either it was a young, male killer flame spirit, or she was talking to something more human. But it didn't hurt to keep her mind open; it would be terrible to get burned later.

But oh, she was super curious about what he looked like! Tentatively, Seika cracked open her eyes. When nothing seemed to immediately attack her, she opened the fully and was faced with what looked to be a young man, with dark clothes and rather pale hair. He was smiling in a dangerous looking way, but she didn't feel particularly threatened. "Oh, you look nice!" She blurted out, surprise evident in her voice, if barely. "Ohh, I see what you mean... oh, you have a really nice laugh, Mister!" She chimed in response to his chuckle; he sounded friendly, and... what was he doing? His hand... there was a ticket in his hand! Curiously, she tried to meet his eyes only to realize that they were out of sight. Um... could he see her? She waved slowly in front of her face before blinking in surprise and slowly reaching out to take the ticket from his hand. "Thank you, Mister, that's really very kind of you. It really is my lucky day! You're so nice, honest! I will have a wonderful vacation, for sure, so, you better too, alright?" Seika clapped in excitement before waving the ticket in front of Aphelia. "Aphi, look! We can get on the cruise!" Bored, the feline looked away. "Yeah, I was here when he handed it to you," she deadpanned.

When Seika looked back at the stranger, he had already disappeared. She frowned ever so slightly, a crinkle appearing between her eyebrows, before she shrugged it off and got up with a quick brush off of all of her clothes. Rid of any pesky wood splinters or leaves, the girl made her way farther down the docks, towards the cruise ship itself. "Aphi, we can board now! Isn't it exciting?" She chirped happily, only to be whapped across the face by the cat's tail. "No," the companion grumbled, despite the small smile that was twitching on her muzzle at the idea of getting on a cruise liner and being able to live in luxury for the duration of the trip. "Ehh? But I can see your smile, Aphi! Are you lying to me again?" Seika poked her friend with a petulant finger, and the spirit made a hissing noise of discomfort before leaping away, her tail twisting in agitation. "Take a hint, for God's sake, Seika. We better go board before they leave without us." With that, she sniffed and raised her head high, trotting away towards the boarding area.

"Ehh? They can't do that, can they? And what hint, Aphi? Aphi? Wait, come back here! Don't leave without me! I have the ticket, hey, get back here!" Once she realized she was talking to the empty air, Seika looked around and saw the feline strolling away from her seemingly unbothered. She chased after her quickly but screeched to a halt when Aphelia hopped onto the stairs that went up to the ship. A man had held out an arm in front of her, preventing her from following the cat. How come Aphelia could just walk on, and she couldn't? Huffing in aggravation, Seika held up her ticket to the man; he calmly took it and punched it before handing it back to the girl, who had been impatiently but unconsciously tapping her foot the entire time. Still, despite her anxiousness to follow Aphelia onto the cruise liner, she tossed him a smile and a bright, "Thank you!" before hurrying after the cat.

Meanwhile, Aphelia was doing her best to stay far away from her pesky magic mate. 'I need to find a place to hide,' she thought to herself, her ears down as she focused on sight and searching for a perfect spot. All of a sudden, she perked up as a distinct scent drifted towards her. It was the dapper man from earlier! Surprised to run into him so soon on her journey to escape from Seika, the feline took a closer look at their surroundings. It seemed that she had run into the maze of cabins and rooms; there were a few people milling about, but most seemed to be talking to each other or solely focused on arriving to their destination. Her interest piqued not only by the tail end of his words that she managed to catch but also by the way the man seemed to be standing- his body language showed he was at least slightly peeved- Aphelia trotted up to him.

"Did you say braile? Are you blind, perhaps?" she asked him curiously. "This room is number 162," she added helpfully, in case he indeed could not read it.

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It was always nice to be complimented on his looks. It made it worth the accessories he was used to wearing, and scent-coding his wardrobe so he could have a fashion sense at all. He couldn't see the young girl's smile, but he could feel it radiating as she took the ticket, and her kind words definitely didn't hurt. "Heh, thanks, maybe we'll see each other on board," he would tack on. Of course, with every act of charity there were two sorts: The kind to vanish before gratitude was given, and the kind who only did it for the gratitude. Vance made sure he was gone before she could thank him completely, like a ghost in the wind.

The main cabin of the Another Adventure was still somewhat littered with people, though compared to the main deck where people had amassed to wave to the send off party on the pier, it was downright roomy. So of course, it wouldn't be difficult to spot a 6ft tall guy with silver-green hair in a top hat in this low density. Unless he was trying not to be found, but in all honesty, Vance hadn't been paying any mind to the circumstances, instead trying to figure out how to read his ticket. Maybe if he held it up to his face really closely, some miracle would happen and he'd cure his blindness to read a single number. Wishful thinking.

Instead he was accosted by a familiar scent, though the lack of proper vital noises was more familiar, both were quite recent in memory. The voice helped too, he guessed. "Oh hey, you're that girl's pet ghost, right?" he would verify in his friendly manner of speaking. He tried to laugh off how blatantly his blindness had been stonewalling him, tossing in a, "Yeah, though I kinda hate when it's this obvious, y'know?"

When the number was tossed in his direction casually, he would ruffle his hair a bit with a headscratch, "Heh. Thanks. Once I find my room I can leave something of mine there and find it again with no problem. I know it's asking much from a stranger, let alone somebody else's—" he sniffed the air over his feline conversational partner intently, "—flame spirit? But if you could help me find it, I'd be mighty grateful."

When it came to identifying magic beasts by scent, Vance was like one of the most well-paid wine snob equivalents. If somebody gave him time he could probably smell what the last thing she ate was and how long ago it had been. It also helped that he wasn't being distracted by the visual identity of 'black cat'. In fact, his blindness (more particularly, his refined reliance on his other senses) had proven to be a boon in his hunter-tracker escapades a little more often than it had proven a hindrance. Not being fooled by one's eyes was almost more important a trait than having them.

Of course, he was totally braced for denial, especially since the spirit in question likely didn't trust him as far as she could throw him. Who just shows up and gives out tickets? Him apparently, and then he just gets lost on the cruise within minutes. Forests at least maintained a variety of smells that he could use to navigate and track, this cruise ship lacked any distinct odors due to a well-paid and loyal cleaning crew, so having to navigate by sound alone while folks were making the cabin into a veritable echo chamber was going to throw off his equilibrium.

The blind huntsman would smile regardless of the answer, if positive, because he was happy he got some help without having to bother the crew, who were likely busy with launch operations; and if negative, a more wry smile of understanding. Not everyone was comfortable with doing things for strangers, especially if it might take a little longer than an instant. There were a lot of bad strangers in the world, and hell if Vance didn't look like one.

Word Count: 674
Total Word Count: 4,107

Seika burst through the people milling about, her expression frantic and her pace usnteady as she scoured the deck for Aphelia. There was no real way to keep track of the feline; the mage could tap into their link to check out where she was, especially in relation to Seika's own location, but there was no guarantee that going straight in that direction could help her reach that spot. Cruise ships and other structures such as them often had complicated designs that meant wandering around willy nilly, even knowing the end destination, could result in getting hopelessly lost. She wasn't in the mood to hit a bunch of dead ends. In fact, Seika was in a hurry to find Aphelia, that much was true, but she found herself being diverted by a swimming pool she passed. Lying around the perimeter were guests that seemed to be having an absolutely lovely time, sunbathing or just relaxing under the shade of nearby umbrellas. She took a step away from the direction of Aphelia's unconscious pull, and then another, and then another, until eventually Seika had her feet in the water and was splashing around and kicking water at other patrons. Despite her fear of the ocean itself, she was entranced by water now and always had been.

While her human companion was busy lollygagging around the ship, or more accurately, (though Aphelia would never admit it) searching for her escapee cat, the flame bubble spirit was busy observing the possibly blind stranger for a response. Her ears pricked up as he suddenly spoke, laughing in accompaniment to his words even as another emotion leaked through. Aphelia couldn't be distracted from deciphering his expression, although his hairstyle and manner of dressing was making it rather hard to read physical cues. Furthermore, when he dubbed her to be a "pet ghost," Aphelia barely restrained herself from snorting in derision. Still, she remained alert to his situation. "Any normal being would hate it," she finally said before padding a little bit closer and taking a seat nearby him. She peered around his body to check that there seemed to be nobody deliberately lingering in the corridor. As it was so, Aphelia licked her right front paw as she looked up at the stranger with faint interest, watching his reaction to her words and the room number she had provided.

"No problem," she offered easily as she watched him mess with his hair with one hand before tossing her a short and simple thank you. He described his situation a bit briefly, or at least, what could be his situation soon: namely, he could track his way back to his room (whenever he did manage to find it) so long as he left something of his. Perhaps the man worked with magical signatures or just was a splendid tracker of some other sort. Aphelia was interested, but not overly so. To be polite nonetheless, she listened carefully as he spoke further. It seemed that this man needed help, and she was hardly busy. Hiding from Seika only consumed a small fraction of her energy, as that girl was wildly hopeless at following trails despite their innate link that functioned essentially like a magnet or magical compass pointing to each other.

When he called her a flame spirit, and one belonging to somebody no less, Aphelia's tail twitched, but she made no other movement. It wasn't a terrible guess, and he had fine senses if he could even perceive that much without any formal information given. "I'm willing to assist you," Aphelia told him before standing up on all four paws and stretching briefly. While she wasn't likely to bring it up, he had in fact given them a free ticket, and the feline was nothing if not appreciative of gifts. Judging by the man's smile at her response, he was at least pretending to be happy to have the help. Aphelia understood the bitterness that came with relying on others at times like this, but she wouldn't be surprised if this do-gooder insisted on having no such feelings. "What is your room number?" She asked clearly, if a bit curtly. Despite her insistence on escaping Seika's grabby hands and overenthusiastic attitude, their separation was causing Aphelia unrest.

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Vance's facial expression lightened up when the cat told him that she was willing to offer assistance. "Ah really? Thanks a ton~" he would say casually though clearly full of gratitude. This flame spirit sure was a pal. Who said magic beast hunters couldn't get along with magic beasts? Probably nobody, but the irony was not lost on him.

After listening to the padding of her paws against the hardwood of the main cabin's flooring, he finally grasped that she was a cat, judging by her gait. Domestically sized and everything. Were he not distracted by his inability to read, he may have recognized that detail earlier. A flame spirit in a feline form, seemed like a potent combination, from a mystical standpoint. Not as potent as, say, a phoenix, but nonetheless a good form and function spread.

The cat asked him his number and he would stall out a moment, before looking at his ticket. He had been sure she'd read it a moment ago, but perhaps there was another number in the vicinity. Vance was a bit afraid to verify aloud for fear of sounding dense, instead vocalizing the ever so common white noise of processing thoughts, "Uhhh..." After he took a beat to consider it, he knelt down and showed the hole-punched ticket he still held in his hands to the spirit cat. The ticket said 489, so the cabin was to be on the fourth floor, hopefully.

A cruise ship like this was almost unrealistically big, thanks to the variety of magical lacrima and the advances in shipbuilding architecture. It was sort of like a hotel on the sea, an ocean liner class cruise ship for a more civilized era. Vance himself even only understood that the ship was huge, not to the scale it presented him. It was designed with the memory of the sea monster which wrecked Hargeon not enough years ago, so that if such a monster were to attack the ship it might stand a fighting chance. Of course, size didn't mean enough in combat, firepower did, and there didn't appear to be enough weapons to back up the big game this ship inevitably talks. Not that Vance had even payed that any mind.

With the cat escorting him they came to a nifty doodad probably drawn out from ancient ruins of advanced civilizations called an 'elevator', which was a vertically moving platform that could take them to a new level of the ship without needing to climb the dreaded stairs. There were some others getting on, so there was somebody else to read and push buttons for them. Vance, potentially knowing his room number by now would hold up four digits with his right hand silently, and heard a button get pressed. The elevator felt terribly slow. Everyone else got off at the second floor, and that only left the fourth floor.

He whispered to the feline companion, "Is this the floor?" The door closed without him moving and it carried him upwards still. He regretted not taking the stair so he could keep track of the floors he'd ascended. Hearing nobody was around he took the time to ask some questions, "So... what's a powerful spirit like you doing hanging around us mortals? Asides from the cruise, that is. Heh. Did the girl form a pact with you or something?" Friendly conversation drawn from a strange angle, which was exactly the sort of guy Vance had been showing himself to be. "I mean, normally when I'm looking for spirits I usually either gotta delve pretty far away from civilization, or at least find a haunted house or something, y'know? Wait. Is this cruise ship haunted already?" the silver-green huntsman would muse over his analysis somewhat, though he was still interested in the actual reasons.

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Total Words: 5,452

Aphelia didn't bother to respond to the man's thank you, instead giving him a curt nod and assuming he might be able to perceive the movement. If he couldn't, it was of no consequence to Aphelia She waited patiently for him to tell her his room number; after a few moments of silence, Aphelia's concern spiked. Right as she was about to suggest he give her his ticket to read, he seemed to come to some conclusion since he brought himself down to eye level with her and showed her what was written there. "489," she read off before flicking her tail and starting in the opposite direction of the way they had came. There was bound to be some sort of staircase at the end of the hallway.

Reaching the end of said corridor actually revealed the presence of two elevators. Aphelia was mildly surprised but pleased. Though she knew Seika preferred taking the stairs for quite a few reasons, not all of them sensible, the feline was lazy and would rather not climb three or four flights of stairs if avoidable. In the end, she was guiding this blind individual as well, and stairs could be troublesome for him, too.

It seemed like he already knew how elevators worked, judging by how he held up four fingers to politely request the others in the elevator to push the button for the fourth floor. That was a relief; despite Aphelia's pride in her status as a magical creature, she had no desire to reveal herself to random citizens and potentially cause panic if they were skittish of magic. As the elevator stopped on the second floor, Aphelia felt a breath of relief leave her at the sight of every single other patron leaving (besides the blind stranger and herself of course). Still, she said nothing of her relaxation at the loss of their additional company, preferring to travel in silence until words were necessary. When the man asked if it was the correct floor on the second stop, she answered shortly, "No, this is the third floor." He didn't move, so presumably he understood.

Unfortunately for the antisocial feline, the blind man seemed to want to talk, for some reason or another. It was easier to get distracted that way, but she supposed it couldn't hurt to try to reassure him a bit with conversation. After all, it was likely unnerving to not be able to navigate one's own way. "I am travelling with the girl, yes. We have a bond," she agreed and explained briefly. "I doubt the ship is haunted," Aphelia further replied, not bothering to address his description of spirits and where to find them. There were different types of spirits, and she avoided contact with most of them, since they were often troublesome to deal with. "Perhaps you should introduce yourself," she suggested, considering how the man apparently was trying to be friendly and get to know her in a way. "My name is Aphelia, and the girl you saw earlier is Seika."

Seika was fuzzy. She... felt fuzzy. It was unclear how and under what circumstances this had happened, or what brought it on, but suddenly the world was blurry and everything seemed to be tilting to one side. "W-woah..." she blinked rapidly, but the fogginess failed to clear up. "Is Earthland rotating?" She asked blankly as her arms pinwheeled at her sides. There came faint murmuring from what seemed like another dimension, but seeing as Seika was far off of that plane of existence at the moment, she payed the voices no heed. "Where's Aphi?" She croaked out before passing out. Around her, other passengers looked on, with whispers travelling among themselves as a staff hovered over the girl, worriedly checking her pulse before turning to the bystanders near the scene and asking if anyone knew what had happened.

Meanwhile, Aphelia's ears suddenly twitched as she registered Seika's loss of consciousness. Speaking of Seika, she seemed to be getting into trouble. It was no matter to the spirit, since she was sure the irritating mage would be just fine. In fact, the delay would probably allow Aphelia even more time to put distance between the two of them. For now, she would play guide dog without complaint.

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Vance was not really enjoying this moving room. He hated the feeling of his weight being pressed against the ground as the elevator went up, and he wasn't a fan of all outside audio and olfactory queues being cut off. This was why he decided to try an keep a bit of noise running. Better to have too much noise than none at all in his opinion.

The feline flame spirit seemed not to like talking a whole lot, but since they were alone for the time being, she seemed to oblige him his curiosities and answered his question. The cat and the girl shared a bond, and he would respect that. To him, though, it meant that the girl was a mage. He hadn't suspected a young lady like her possessed that kind of magic, as opposed to a typical pet-type contract. He pondered slightly regarding the sort of life she may have lived to get there. He didn't bring it up though.

Instead, the cat pried into his identity, first sharing her own and that of her contractor. "I'm Vance, a mage from Noir Melodia. I specialize in magic beasts, in case you couldn't guess. It's a pleasure to meet ya, Aphelia," he acquiesced with barely contained gusto, unafraid to share his identity. Noir Melodia was a smalltime guild which almost nobody asides those exceptionally interested in the capabilities of handicapped mages may have heard of. Vance himself was a bit more well known around the beast hunting community, but obviously he was nobody particularly special.

The guild mark on his neck was partially visible past the collar of his jacket, like a peak of black outlined in green peeking over the concealment, but he didn't really plan on flashing it to people who weren't terribly interested. After all, he wasn't a member of some bigshot guild with tons of clout or anything, it wasn't a big deal.

The elevator lurched to a stop, churning his stomach somewhat, but Vance got over it, and spoke, "This had gotta be it right?" Of course, it was the fourth floor, so they were bound to go off and find his room. It wasn't a terribly long walk, and the signs were easy enough to use for navigation. Vance counted his footsteps in his head to keep himself oriented, while he continued the conversation. "So what coaxed you into contracting with Seika, if that's not too personal of me to ask," he'd inquire, sort of expecting that one to be shot down. In the case of his expectations being met, and his question turned aside, he would ask a different question, "Alright then, what's your favorite kind of fish to eat?" A much easier and more innocuous question, though he definitely planned to use it later if he could, provided it got answered.

It wouldn't be long before they arrived at the room numbered '489', and once confirmed, the huntsman would open his door. The room was surprisingly large for a single, it had a window with a view, air conditioning, everything a vacationer could want, really. He would approach his window without closing the door, and open it up wide, letting in the cool sea breeze and all the scents from outside the window. He could see, but not with his eyes: His nose and ears were perfectly suitable means for local analysis. From up here, he would be able to experience the sights and sounds properly without bumping into everyone.

He noticed an empty vase on the bedside table and blurted out, "Ah, perfect!" before he pulled out a very special-looking flower. It was white, with a small, thin bulb of petals and a ring of larger petals on the outside, and yellow stamen. He would give it a quick sniff, to verify he had the right flower and placed it in the vase, letting it lean against the lip. A perfect fit, all things considered.

He could smell this flower from miles away, though it required a good deal of practice since the flower was allegedly 'scentless'. In actuality, it was a pungent null aroma, which animals could smell but people had difficulty detecting. Once they could, though, it was unmistakable, like a different flavor of air. It was unique and people didn't like them that much, so it was a perfect marker for his room.

"Thanks so much, again, for helping me find my room, Aphelia. I'd probably be bumbling around like a fool on the first floor looking for a room whose number I don't know without you. Haha!" he would thank, laughing a hearty, genuine laugh at his own theoretical expense. "If you wanna hang out for a while I'd be glad to entertain company, or if you need anything else, I can find my way back later and help."


Word Count: 805
Total Words: 6,971

Noir Melodia. Aphelia was unfamiliar with the location, although she supposed she was hardly familiar with any places in Fiore aside from the major towns. To think of it, Noir Melodia could be more than just an area or birthplace. There was the possibility of a clan, or a guild, or any kind of organization as well. Alternatively, his people could call themselves that, like some kind of race, but judging by the name that was more unlikely than other options. "You as well, Vance," Aphelia said politely in response to his claim that it was a pleasure to meet her. Oh, please. Aphelia knew that she was rather prickly and mostly lazy. Perhaps he was simply trying to be kind, or more likely, utilizing flattery to try and influence her opinion of him. Either way, she was put off a little bit by his obvious enthusiasm. While some people were eager to share their identities, she found there was nothing to be excited about. Especially in this case; Vance had said that he specialized in magic beasts, which was both off putting and a cause for caution. It was possible that he had approached Seika for the purpose of interacting, if indirectly, with her. Aphelia could only hope that it wasn't a mistake to leave the more public area and be alone with this mage whose abilities were largely unclear as of now.

Her thoughts were disrupted by the slight rattling of the elevator. Apparently, they had reached their stop, as the doors opened; after double checking that the number above the buttons indicated their stop was the fourth floor, Aphelia swiftly stepped out of the lift. "Yes, this is the stop," she replied, but the feline doubted it was necessary. Surely he would have felt her magic signature, scent- whatever method he used to recognize her presence earlier- leave the tiny enclosed room.

Now off of the elevator, she paused briefly to take a look at the corridors. On the left there were two plaques indicating that rooms numbered 400-450 were to the left, while 451-498 were to the right. Aphelia mused for a moment internally on the possible reasons 499 didn't exist, but it was no real curiosity to her. Quickly, she turned her head to face the correct direction and then set off at a semi brisk pace, trusting that Vance would follow her. On the right side, doors were numbered evenly, while the odd rooms appeared to be on the left. It was her guess that the mysteriously missing number 499 had likely just been unable to fit. As the two continued to move along, Aphelia also realized how enormous the ship was. Despite the grand size of the majority of cruise liners, this one seemed to be enhanced even further; the rooms were somewhat spread out, rather than doors being right next to each other. Suites must be well furnished. At least they would sleep comfortably on this foolhardy venture, the cat reflected, still a bit peeved at Seika for dragging her on this journey. The five star meals for animal companions had better be worth it.

Vance spoke up, disrupting her thoughts. Undoubtedly, he was either grasping for straws on what to say to make pleasant conversation, or he simply wanted information for some purpose or another, since the question he asked was of course too personal. "It was a matter of circumstance," she brushed off the inquiry, but he persisted, this time asking something more bearable, if trivial. "I don't eat fish," Aphelia said bluntly, but a few beats later, she conceded, "I would say the most... agreeable... form of sustenance, for me, is lynx or elk meat, with pancakes a close second." That was more information than necessary, but she would humor him in his attempts to pass time during the long walk to his room. "What is your favorite food?" She decided not to mention anything of soap, although the spirit was quite fond of eating small soaps or drinking liquid detergent.

At last, they arrived at Room 489, and Aphelia put her paw to the correct door. "Here we are," she said smoothly, trying not to let impatience creep into her voice. Despite her shallow distaste for Seika, she couldn't help but be slightly concerned for the girl considering she still had yet to wake up. Nonetheless, she followed Vance inside until she was just within the room. It was indeed a nice place; while smaller than she had expected for the generous amount of room between doors, it had plenty of space. Vance did something strange involving putting a flower on the bed side table as Aphelia watched with narrowed, but not quite suspicious eyes.

"You're welcome," the cat said stiffly as he thanked her again. There was no shame in requiring assistance at difficult times, and while she would prefer to stick to herself, there were a few things special about the situation. Firstly, she couldn't deny someone in need who had previously helped her out. The man... no, Vance, had given her stupid bond mate a ticket after she had failed to procure one on her own. Secondly, he was blind, and Aphelia understood the feeling of embarrassment that came from struggling in front of others. She would have felt like she belonged on the bottom of a sewage tank leaving him to try to look for his room number on a ship full of strangers. "I will take my leave for now, but perhaps we will meet again later," she allowed, acknowledging the possibility of another interaction with him despite the largeness of the ship and the multitude of passengers.

Just then, a booming voice resounded through the cruise liner, crackling slightly at the beginning. "All aboard Another Adventure! We are departing in ten minutes! Please ensure you have not forgotten any important belongings, as we will not be returning to port until Sunday." He read it off again in a few more languages. Today was Monday, which meant that they would not be back in Hargeon Town until nearly a week had passed. What a waste of time, Aphelia thought, a bit irritated at Seika for the late notice and the failure to take into account the loss of income from not working for the duration of the trip. Slipping out of the room and around the door frame, Aphelia continued to head farther down the hallway until she reached the stairs. At that point, she teleported herself back down to the main deck. There was no reason to walk or feign normalcy considering no other passengers were around.

4463 Words, 8077 Total

It was pretty obvious that the social niceties of mortals were not in line with Aphelia's preferences. In fact, it was the fact that the feline tolerated them at all that intrigued Vance the most. One could say that the only reason he kept asking questions was because she kept answering them. Of course, at a manageable rate, because he wasn't some over excited puppy who was just glad to be making new friends or whatever. In fact, taking advantage of the civility if a magic beast to get friendship out of pity would absolutely leave the worst taste in his mouth. Still, it helped clear the air.

His question regarding how their bond had formed was deflected, as he'd expected: Brushed off like it was nothing, not even worth talking about. That didn't bother him any. What did bother him was how absolutely speciesist he sounded when he asked her what her favorite fish was. It only occurred to him after the fact that Aphelia was likely only 'using' the form of a cat, as she was a spirit, there wasn't expressly any material holding her in that shape, as he recalled. Just because she 'was' a cat didn't mean she abided by the stereotypes of felines. He strongly considered punching himself in the face for it, but passed the thought up because Aphelia wasn't exactly mad about it herself. Vance tried to make it a point to not get mad for people, especially nobody he knew could get mad for themselves.

Lynx and Elk were pretty specific meat choices. She and the girl must have either known a pretty well-off butcher, lived in a northern corner of Fiore, or perhaps it was just a coincidence. Vance couldn't really think on this because the question did get turned on him quite quickly. He humm quietly to himself as if thinking back on all the food he's eaten in his life. It didn't take him long to decide. "Well, in Magnolia, there's this little diner on the outskirts of town that you can only access through a door down a flight of stairs in an alleyway on the side of the building. I went there once, trying to spy for crooks I was hired to round up, but instead I was treated to some of the best stew I've had in my life," he gushed properly. His face flushed and his lips curled into an eat to ear grin remembering the flavor of that stew. He'd definitely been on the lookout since that day for mission that took him to Magnolia so he could get some more of that stew, but to no avail. 'One day...' he promised himself again.

Once he'd made it to his room, openned his window, and set up his marker, he offered her to stick around and talk. That, obviously, would never have worked and he knew it, but he had this habit of being friendly with anybody and everybody. Under these social circumstances there was little to suspect of him, just a guy being friendly. On missions where he needed to direct his hunting skills and take out a dark guild, he was a great deal more menacing because of it.

Aphelia prepared to trot off, saying that they may meet again, "Maybe. 'Til then. Send Seika my regards!" His sentence was almost cut off by the overhead announcement just about blowing out his eardrums, sending out the last call to board up with all their luggage. They would be leaving port soon and not coming back til Sunday, almost a week from this day. Pretty long cruise, but nothing special. He paid good money for all those tickets, after all. Aphelia would leave his room after this, likely going to make sure her contractor was actually on board. He would listen to the paws tapping away down the hallway, and after a suitable distance, closing his door quietly.

He would lean out his open window and smell the ocean air one more time. He had a whole week of vacationing to do here, on Another Adventure. Well, it was time to get used to his room so he didn't have to think too much about walking around it at night.

Word Count: 707
Total Words: 8784

Down here, things were considerably more chaotic. Aphelia winced at the loudness; it was the clamor of a hundred voices talking at once, their murmurs and whispers filling the air and becoming a loud rumble. She wouldn't have been quite as bothered by it if not for the fact that entering the mess of noise pollution felt jarring after the quietness of the upper hallways. Now, where had Seika ran off to? Or rather, probably been carried off to, judging by how according to their link, she was still unconscious. Aphelia tested the air around her before wrinkling her nose at the mess of scents and auras that flooded into her senses. That wouldn't work. Opting instead to focus on Seika's distinctive spiritual essence, the feline tracked her slowly to the center of the second story main deck. Instead of bothering to teleport up, since she was trying to conserve magical power lest the usage slow Seika's revival rate at all, the cat headed back towards the stairs. The mage was such a bother, but it couldn't be helped.

On the stairs itself, it was quite crowded; people bumped into each other left and right. Much to Aphelia's amusement, she saw a woman slip someone's wallet out of their purse before snatching one from someone else's back pocket. Even on a wealthy cruise such as this one, there were scum. Probably more so than if it were an ordinary boat ride, honestly; the uber rich were better targets at certain times, since they had more to lose without noticing it. Aphelia personally would be cautious about stealing from people who could inflict nasty and powerful vengeance, but to each their own. She successfully made it up the single flight of stairs with her tail only almost being stepped on, though luckily (for the individual in question) the person had managed to watch out before actually doing so. Otherwise, it would have been painful- the events that would ensue.

Judging by the way that the crowd flowed on the second floor, the main deck was probably to the right; it seemed like most people were heading away from the common areas and looking for their rooms, now that the ship had set off. It was hard to believe that Aphelia had missed the entire take off of the vessel, but as so many passengers were leaving, done with watching the spectacle and murmuring amongst themselves, she knew she had. Funny how worrying made the time pass by; the more concerned she became and the more she wanted to find Seika quickly, the more time each action took. With a small breath, the cat hurried to her right. Much to her chagrin, it turned out there was a lounge there, on very low balcony, overlooking- oh! Aphelia immediately jumped off of the balcony, inciting a shriek from a woman who had been sitting on a couch next to the railing. She dove into the water in the middle of the main deck pool, cringing as her fur was soaked with water. Eyes stinging with chlorine, Aphelia swam to the side and dragged herself out, dripping. Still, she couldn't bring herself to care how silly she looked at the moment. Seika was lying on a poolside chair, her eyes closed and her head tilted slightly to the left. Aphelia jumped up onto the chair and lay down, a bit spitefully, across Seika's stomach, uncaring if she got the girl's clothes damp. Her fur was in a worse state.

Nobody dared to approach the cat that had thrown itself off of the miniature mezzanine balcony instead of taking the half flight of stairs that was literally right next to the lounge view. Most feared for their life, judging by the fire that was burning in the feline's eyes, but some were more concerned about the safety of the girl the cat was lying on top of. It felt possible that she could be scratched or attacked if the duo was approached. Aphelia was extremely happy with the results of her actions, despite her distaste for looking bedraggled.

5146 Words, 9467 Total