Horizon's Edge

Prologue: The Captain Picks Up a Stray

The rain drizzled down in a gloomy grey curtain, not heavy enough to form actual droplets but more than sufficient to soak him down to his chilly bones.

He pulled his tattered jacket more tightly around his shoulders in a fruitless effort to retain some heat, but his shivers failed to abate. Glaring at the sky, he shuffled as quietly and quickly as he could manage to the underside of a bridge. It was hardly a shelter, but it was better than having nothing over his head at all.

He sank to the ground, his back against the brick wall. The temperature continued to drop; he could almost see his breath already, and had no way of drying himself. He coughed a humorless laugh.

"Hah, no way...After all this, it ends here...?"

The sound of clicking boots wiped the bitter smile from his face and his heartbeat skipped. Had they found him already?! No, it was too soon, it was impossible, right? Hadn't he been careful enough? The footsteps grew closer. He shrank against the wall, hoping, praying that he was wrong, that it wouldn't come to what he feared. His eyes squeezed shut, as if not being able to see his fate would cause it to pass him by...

"Hey, kid. You look like a drowned mutt! D'you wanna come on an adventure with me?"

"...Huh?"

The voice was not the deep, oily creak of a guard, but instead a lilting woman's voice with a trace of an accent he couldn't place. One eye cracked cautiously open to confirm.

Yes, she stood directly before him, her long coat and scarf wet from the rain and her leather boots flecked with mud. She had a kind, if plain, face framed by shoulder-length brown hair. Though she was not tall, she seemed to tower over him, staring down with mischievous mismatched eyes.

To him, she was beautiful.

It took him a moment to actually hear what she said. "An...adventure?"

She beamed at his response. "Yep! I'm about to take off on a journey of a lifetime, but I need a crew! You'll do. Come with me! It'll be so much fun!" She energetically propositioned him, and the next thing he knew she had grabbed him by the elbow and was dragging him through the city toward the airship docks.

"Wha...wait a second," he finally found his voice to argue. "Where is this journey to? More to the point, who are you?"

She halted as suddenly as she had set off, though she did not release his arm. As she faced him, her one brown and one shockingly silver eye glistened in the hissing gas-lights lining the street. With an ear-to-ear grin, she told him, "I have no idea! Makes it more fun, right? I'm the captain of the Monty, First-class A-grade pilot, Captain Amy Krane. Nice to meet you!"

His mind was reeling. All he could do was mumble in response, "Ah, I'm Leon...nice to meet you too."

And he let himself be led away into the night.