Rune-Smith: The Airship I

Why they had to move in the dead of night was confusing, it didn't make Asd feel important, instead he was very worried. It was a feeling at the back of his neck, one that kept on nagging at him that something was wrong. Mona had disconnected his mana interface from the academy's network, scaring Asd which how much pull she had in the academy. The moment she did that Asd felt as if someone or something had looked away and let go of him. Even Gaia had confirmed that they were no longer connected to the network. Mona had said his interface would shut down in a few hours since it was not connected to a network, and that he should use that time on the airship they were boarding to pick his [Rune-Smith] class.

But the feeling of things being incredibly wrong was so overwhelming, especially when Professor Mona had forbidden Rhea from coming along, stating that she was still a student and couldn't leave the academy's premises for an extended amount of time without a good reason. She could get expelled, and Rhea had fiercely argued and only stood down when Asd convinced her too. He didn't want to admit it, but he was scared, he felt even less in control of his own life than when he was still a slave. He felt as if the whole world knew something that he didn't, and it downright scared the crap out of him, so as he walked towards the fifty-meter-long and twenty-meter-tall airship that was parked on the academy's grounds, he felt as if he was heading to his execution, and his inner lion was surprisingly silent.

They had become closer, so close that Asd couldn't tell a different from themselves anymore, one mind but still separate entities. But he was silent, probably not deigning the current situation worth his time and wan ting Asd to grow a pair and deal with what was right in front of him. Asd sighed as he looked up at the airship, its dull brown bronze hull seemed to glint in the night as tubes of glowing green and blue liquid ran across its frame horizontally. It was single decked with a few windows on its side, there was a folded wing on its side with its massive sail was folded on its single mast. The airship was two small for a crow's nest, but it seemed sturdy enough.

The engines were at the rear with a massive propeller sleeping silently while two smaller propellers underneath it spins furiously. There was a massive triple barreled cannon at the front of the ship that gleamed silver, with a couple of three ballista lining the port side, and another three on the port side. There was a swarthy heavyset man with a metallic arm ending in two claws holding a cigar to his mouth waiting for them. the scowl on his face showed that he didn't really like waiting, or the environment, or perhaps he didn't like anything at all.

"Captain Jones, sorry for keeping you waiting, we can depart now." Professor Mona said to him with her signature fake smile, the captain snorted before turning to walk up a plank onto the airship without saying anything to the rest of them.

Asd and professor Mona followed him up the plank and onto the ship proper as Asd stepped of the grounds of the academy that had been his home for the past three months after he was freed. He didn't know when he would be back, but he knew for sure that this was just another prison, the power he gained here didn't offset the fact that even in freedom… he was nothing more than a slave, and he didn't need chains or a magical lock in his body to show that, his search for true freedom still continues.

"All hands on deck! Weigh anchors! And start primary engines! Set course north-east, I want to be halfway to our destination by high noon tomorrow! All passengers below deck please." The captain, looking as if saying please had murdered his entire family.

The ship was a good twenty meters wide and quite a marvel for Asd. It was the perfect amalgamation of wood, metal and magic as he was able to see runes at certain part s of the ship doing their job to keep it afloat. The moment the ship took off, Asd felt his stomach flip upside down, his legs shook for a few moments as he tried to get his balance, which wasn't too hard to do on account on being Were, cats always had good balance. But their ascent was rapid and it made Asd queasy as he held onto the side of the ship and peered down, almost losing the contents of his stomach at the sheer height they had covered in a few seconds. He was not a proper sailor, but he was sure ascending as fast they did wasn't proper, but then again it was not his place to say anything as the academy rapidly receded in the distance looking nothing more than a speck in the distance.

"This way Asd, we wouldn't want to get in their way would we? Our cabins should already be set up and it's the dead of night. We will be traveling for a while so you have enough time to admire the ship and feeling of flying. But for now a young man such as yourself needs rest, you are a growing boy after all. Plus, you must still be exhausted from your advancement to first circle mage so come along."

Asd nodded as he followed her down a set of stairs into the lower deck. He was pale and feeling sick, he might be balanced, but he didn't have the thing they called sea legs… or was it air legs seeing as they were in the sky now. It was hard to tell, but his first time on an airship was rapidly turning out to be a bust. They were in a narrow hallway about two men wide, pipes, wires and tubes ran perpendicular on the room to the back of the ship and in and out of the walls. There were doors every three meters and two of them on the right side had tiny light fixtures above them that showed green.

"Take one of those rooms Asd and get comfortable. I'll be next door in case you need anything or have any question you need to ask. Have a goodnight." Without saying anything else she opened the door to one of the rooms and went it, making sure to shut it tight behind her. For a moment Asd contemplated going into the other room or heading around the ship to see just what made it tick. But a wave of nausea quickly removed that plan from his head as he shakily got up to his feet and went into the second room, heading straight for the bunk bed with a groan and closed his eyes, trying to ignore tupsy turvy movements of his stomach, while let the dull hum and vibration of the airship calm him to a deep sleep.