Jessica's Island Adventure

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Myrna noticed Jessica as soon as she walked into the mess hall. She took the towel and led Jessica to a wooden table that was built into the wall so that it wouldn't move when waves rocked the ship. The table top had indentations in it to help stabilize cups and plates as well. Myrna brought over a warm bowl of some kind of beef and vegetable stew.

"Be careful now. It's hot" Myrna warned. She got herself a bowl of soup, sat down across from Jessica and began to eat. After a few minutes she asked, "Is thar anything else yull be needin' dear?"

As Myrna took the towel, she said "I didn't know what to do with the soap or the water..." trailing off, in a Japanese fashion.

She eagerly took a spoonful of the stew as it was set in front of her, blowing on it until it was all her patience could take, and put it in her mouth. It was still hot, and she made a further fool of her self by sucking in cooler air through pursed lips to further cool it down. After she swallowed, "This is delicious! Thank you so much!" Then, she began to devour it, slowly, trying to make sure it was cool enough to eat before she ate it.
"Do you have any water? Or something else to drink?" she responded to Myrna's question.

Myrna left and reappeared holding a wooden cup. If Jessica tastes it, she will taste oranges with something else she can't recognize.

"It might naw be tha best parin' for the stew but it's good fer ya. Ya won't catch scurvy." Myrna explained.

"Would ya like sum mo' or do ya think yer ready ter see the Cap'n again?"

Jessica took the cup eagerly, hoping that the "something else" wasn't alcoholic.

"Well, as the Captain may very well have me killed after I meet with him," she said, trying to sound as joking as possible, using the joke to both hide her real concerns and her embarrassment at wanting more food, "could I have just a little more?"

(Either way, after that she will be ready to go see the captain)

Myrna chuckled and brought Jess another dish. "Oi, don't worry about the Cap'n. He may seem a little stern on the outside but 'e's got a gud 'eart. 'E's been through a lot 'e 'as. 'E does what 'e must."

When Jessica has finished her second bowl, Myrna leads her back to Captain Fabion's cabin. They take a different route this time and take a staircase that leads them straight to the cabin without ever going above deck.

Myrna knocks softly at the door.

"Enter." Fabion calls sounding almost bored.

Myrna pulls the door open and motions for Jessica to enter. She however retreats back down the stairs leaving Jessica and the captain alone.

The captain now stood gazing out a window that looked over the prow of the boat. If Jessica is observant, she will notice that Fabion has changed his outfit (this one looks warmer) and that big blocks of ice are now floating past the outside of the ship.

Without looking at her Fabion speaks, "If our hospitality has not been lacking, I was hoping that you might entertain my questions now, Lady Jessica. From whence do you come and what circumstances have brought you aboard my ship this day?"

Jessica tried to surreptitiously clear out any chunks of food that may have gotten stuck in her braces as she followed Myrna to the captain's cabin. She swallowed as Myrna left her and this flamboyant man all alone.

"The hospitality has been wonderful," she said, still nervous, despite Myrna's reassurances. "I... don't want to lie to you, captain, but I'm sure my answers will sound crazy. Please... just don't feed me to sharks or something..." she said, scared to begin her tale.
"I, uh, I'm from Richland, WA.... United States (she added after a moment's thought) I'm going to school in Utah, though. Today I met a man, who I think his name is Martin? He looked really familiar, but I have no idea how or from where I know him... Anyway," she rambled on, and her way of speaking was not nearly as elegant as the captain's. This simply made her as nervous as ever. "He took me into an elevator, said something weird, and then... I', not sure exactly what happened, but we sort of dissolved? Then the next thing I know we're flying through space and stars and this crazy Crow-lady appears." She bit her lip, shuddering reflexively at the memory or her voice. "Her crow attacked Martin and he disappeared into a black hole. Then she dropped me into the middle of the ocean. Mika-- the naiad who brought me to your ship-- showed up and brought me here." She ended her story, tensing her toes as she waited for his reaction.
"I know it's an inconvenience, sir, but... in all honesty I'm still quite partial to being alive... and... well... I'd really appreciate it if you would help me stay that way..."

Phabion turned to face her, repressing a smile. He hadn't understood half what she had said. What on earth could an elevator be? He could however tell from her reaction that she was being sincere with her response.

"Stay alive you say? Well I was rather hoping we could make sport of you and feed you to the sharks or taryens thus warning the naiads that my vessels are no place to leave their friends." he spoke evenly but his smile made it evident that he was being sarcastic.

"You are of course more than welcome aboard my vessel Lady Jessica. However, I fear that you have happened upon a very difficult voyage. This fleet is traveling to the End. It is our hope that there we may find some remedy for the troubles that beset our people on Hinder. It will be a long and difficult journey and it is not certain if we will succeed or even live to see our failure." Phabion paused and looked out the window before continuing.

"As I said my lady, you are more than welcome to stay but it may be better for us to part with you on one of the other isles we will pass on our way to the end. Scut, Postern, and Last all lie between us and the end. If you have any desire to go to one of them, we will take you there. The decision is yours."

Jessica gulped. The smile on Fabion's face looked like he was joking, but then again, it might also be with malice. But his next statement reassured her.

It was her turn to understand only half of what was said. Hinder? The End? Last? "Oh..." she said, in response. Then, after a moment "I'm afraid I don't know anything about... those places. Actually, I don't even know where I am." She tucked a strand of wet hair behind her ear. As it was drying without any guidance, her cowlicks were drying into ridiculous curls around her temples. The rest of her hair, she was sure, was a frizzy, slightly waving, mess.

"Uhm, I don't know how much help I could be, but you did save my life. I'd like to do something for you, if I can..."

"Don't know anything about those places..." Fabion repeated. "Something strange is going on here. Some deeper magic is involved in all this..."

"There is a seer on Scut. Perhaps there we can each get the answers we are looking for. Perhaps then you can decide whether you wish to stay on the isle or take your journey with us."

"For the meantime, you may have free reign of the ship. Myrna will show you to the sleeping quarters when you are tired. You already know where the galley is if you get hungry. Or you may just want to meet the crew and our passengers. They can show you around and answer your questions. I have other business to attend to but before I go, is there anything else I can do for you?"

Jessica nodded. "A seer," she repeated, thoughtful. "I think... maybe I should try and find the guy who brought me here. He knew my name, and he's bound to have a reason for bringing me here." Inside, she thought, Magic?! but of course, it only made sense. If naiad's and strange sea creatures and crazy crow-lady and dissolving through space existed, why shouldn't magic?

Still, her head was spinning a little from all this information.

"No, sir," she said, bowing to him, "You've done more than enough already. Really, thank you so much."

"We should reach Scut tomorrow afternoon." Fabion told her before exiting the cabin with her.

They emerge on deck. Fabion bids her farewell.

Jessica is now alone on deck. She sees: the helmsman, two men fishing off the back of the boat, a woman in the crow's nest and the stairs leading back under the deck.

Jessica had a lot to take in; a lot to think about. She debated taking a nap, she was pretty tired, but it was nearing sunset (I THINK??) and she thought it would be better wait. It's not like she had her phone to set an alarm. That had been in her purse, which she had discarded, along with her back-pack, lightning fast when she thought she was going to drown in the ocean.

She learned against the rail alongside the boat, and stared out at the sea, watching the occasional iceberg as the sailed past it. Her mind was mulling over the many things Fabion had said. What was The End? What was there? What troubles were happening in Hinder? Where WAS Hinder?

Her mind moved to more general, though still important questions. Where was HERE? Was it really magic that brought her to this strange place? Was it another world? Was she crazy? If this was real, why was she brought here?

Her emotions were in turmoil. Part of her was screaming that there was no way this was real. She was going crazy, she was dreaming, or SOMETHING, but this could NOT be real. In stark contrast to that, the other part was strangely calm. It felt right, real, that she should be here. There was even a tinge of excitement. A world of fantasy and adventure? How many times had she wished to be sucked into one?

And that was what seemed to have happened.

Jessica moved to the stairs (I'm guessing the ship will have stairs somewhere??) and sat on one. By now, her mind was alert, but her body was still tired. She sat for a long while, breathing deeply to calm her mind and relax her body.

She had a feeling that more strange things were going to happen. Probably a lot of them. Probably very fast. She could be scared and confused and skeptical about them all, or she could choose to accept it. Maybe even enjoy it. She decided to, as much as she could, choose the latter option.

With this decided, she stood, quickly, clenching her fists and pulling them to her waist. "Yoshi!" she said, giving herself energy and enthusiasm, "Iku zo!"

She walked to the end of the boat where the men where fishing. "Hi!" She said, in as perky a voice as she could manage, "My name's Jessica. What are you fishing for?" she extended her hand in greeting. She had fished a lot with her dad as a child. She quite enjoyed fishing. And after getting a bit introduced to these characters, she wanted to ask them some of the questions that were banging around inside her skull.

((IT IS SO LONG I AM SORRY!!!))

The two men looked at Jessica as she joined their group. One of them gave her a wide grin (revealing several missing teeth). The other gave her a grumpy nod. Both were old men, probably old enough to be one of Jessica's grandfathers.

The grinning one reached out to shake Jessica's hand and said, "I'm Fin and that there's Reef. You must be Jessica. Gossip travels fast on a ship. Everyone will know you by now."

Fin began to make some adjustments to his pole (his line is not yet in the water) as he continued, "We're bottle fishing. It's not very common even among sea folk. Basically, you put something in a bottle, toss it in, give it some time and you get something different back. I've never quite figured it out but then again, I don't like to ask too many questions. Be it Lady Luck, Fate or the Great Sea Mother herself, whatever you put in the bottle will be swapped for something else. Here, let me show ya."

Fin picked up a small bottle that was sitting at his side. It contained a small blue beta fish. He tied it to the line and dropped it into the sea.



After about 10 minutes, Fin reels the bottle back in. It now held a larger green and white koi fish. He dumped it into a bucket filled with water. "I've had a lot of these today. Reef's been getting all the fun ones." (If Jessica looks into the bucket, she will see several other koi fish).



"Would you like to give it a try Miss Jessica?" Fin asked holding the pole out to her.

Reef meanwhile has been reading a book. If Jessica looks, the title says, "Enchanted Oceanic Fish".

Jessica was fascinated "Sugo~i!" she said, without realizing it was Japanese. "That's amazing!! Do you always get different fish? Do you always use fish as bait?" She ooh'd and aah'd over the fish in the bucket.

She grinned, extremely excited at the prospect of trying out this new brand of fishing "I'd love too, thank you." She took the rod, and the bottle, peering inside. "I wonder if the fish change... or if they just swim out and new ones swim in... Or if the bait is eaten by the other fish," she laughed. "So, what now?" She asked, excited fro this magical-type fishing.

Fin picked up another bottle containing a tiny fish and tied it to the pole so Jessica could cast.



(Speeding things up we assume that you do cast).

"Well technically, it can be whatever you want in the bottle. It's not always fish that turn up in the bottle either. You usually catch something that you need or that you're looking for. Reef and I want to catch fish so we catch fish." Fin told her.

Reef sat his open book on the deck next to Jessica and reeled in his own bottle. The bottle contained four beautiful fish.





Fin moaned jealously. "Reef has all the luck."

Reef handed the bottle to fin so he could take a closer look. Fin pointed at one of the fish and said, "See that little one? That's probably the catch of the day. You can just see the magic coming off of it!"



Fin returned the bottle to Reef who put the fish into separate containers. Fin picked up Reef's book and said, "Reef draws sketches of all the magical fish he catches. His own little encyclopedia."

Fin flips through several pages before handing the book back to Reef. Jessica catches glimpses of the following pictures should she have been looking at the book.
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About this time, Jessica feels a tug on her line.

"Magic fish?" She repeated, awed. "What... kind of magic do they have?" she asked, peering into the different buckets. They were all so weird, and interesting fish. She looked over Fin's shoulder as he flipped through the pages. THe pictures she saw were of some frightening, and incredible, fishies. Man, I dunno what I'd do if I brought in one of those! she thought.

Just then, the rod started to bounce. "Ah! I think I have one!" She cried, and started to reel in the line............!!

"Practically every type of magic. They always surprise ya." Fin began but got distracted by the movement on Jessica's line.

"Gently, gently now. You don't want to break the bottle." Reef finally spoke.

Jessica reels in the bottle. It now seems to be filled with a smoke. The smoke slowly dissipates to reveal...



...a black crow's feather.

Jessica reeled it in carefully, anticipation building. Finally, they pulled up the bottle and...!

"A.. Feather?" She said, tilting her head in confusion. "What does that mean?"

Fin shrugged, "Like I said before you usually pull out what you need or what you're looking for. You tell us what it means."

"You can always try another bottle. Just take the feather out and put something else it." Reef muttered. He was now juggling a glass ball containing the small magical fish he had just caught.

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"What a need... tte]/i]?" She (uncorked?) the bottle, and after wiggling her finger around in the neck for a minute, finally managing to pull it out. She held it up, examining it in the light. [i]Why would I need this? she wondered.

Then, suddenly, an image of a black-crow and its mistress flashed through her vision. She shuddered. "Her cloak was made of crow feathers..." she muttered, remembering.

Reef watched Jessica examine the feather, "Sometimes you get better results if you put something personal inside. You know a piece of jewelery, something you've worn or owned or even just a bit of hair or something. Maybe whatever you pull out next will help you better understand the feather."

The grumpy old man seemed to be warming up to her.

"Something personal..." She had earrings on, but they were her favorite pair... But maybe that would make it even better. She unpinned one of her earrings "Should I use both?" She asked Reef.

(If he suggests it, she will use both pairs. If he doesn't, she will use only one. And thus cast into the ocean)

"Two items give will get you two items back." Reef dropped the earrings in the bottle with a small 'ping' and dropped the bottle in the water for Jessica.

After several minutes of waiting, Jessica feels another tug on the line.

Assuming she reels it in:
The bottle is gone. In it's place is a small metal box about a foot long and 6 inches deep.


(minus the clock thing on top and it should have a handle for convenient carrying)

The box is lighter than it looks. There is also a small necklace hooked around the handle of the box. Dangling at its end is a small key that bears the same gear design as the box.



Fin looks at the box eagerly, "That's likely a magic box. There's no telling what could be inside!"

Jessica stroked the box slowly, tracing the design on the outside. She also admired the key-liked necklace. The key looked like it might fit into the box.

"A magic box." she repeated. Usually she would have wanted to open it right away, but for some reason she felt a bit apprehensive about it. This was something she needed, or something she wanted. She had traded in her pair of prized earrings for it. It seemed logical, in a magical sense, that the box would be quite important. And with that import came a certain amount of fear.

"Should I open it?" She asked Reef. In all honesty, she felt safe with him and Fin. They were older, and knew this world far better than she did.

Reef just shrugged.

Fin looked thoughtful and said, "Well now, that's up to you. Magic is a powerful thing. You never know what might happen. But I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I'm mighty curious to see what's in there."

The two old men watch Jessica to see what her decision will be.

(Ha ha. Jessica doesn't trust me. Are you scared?)