Princess of the Sky

ULION

THE ARDENT, sailing through open skies, blared with a thunderous horn its farewells toward Civetia's capital city Civet. Ulion, who stood on the on the uppermost deck of the airship, felt the familiar pang of home sickness he did every time he made this trip. He could be gone for a week, a month, a year... no telling.

He stood, arms crossed, brown hair rippling up against the calm wind. Civet, way in the distance, sat like a monster, thousands of metal and stone dwellings protruding out from the mountainside divided by five levels walled off from one another. Furthest away from the outer sectors, the kingdom's palace stood towering above all else, gleaming in the sunlight. A monumental feat of architecture, the sight never seemed to get old for him. Other airships docked and undocked with various ports, blared their own horns, and soon a bell went off from the palace's outermost tower signaling the middle hour of the day.

He wiggled his wrist, his sleeve slinking down as he checked his watch. That's the time, he thought.

Tapping his foot against the metal flooring, Ulion decided to make the most of his sightseeing while he still could; there was work to be done, and he was counting on someone being there to make him do it. Clouds rolled by, right beside him sometimes, and airships flashed their lights at each other to make certain no one was on a collision course with one another.

The peace lasted... for a little bit.

And there came Tatiana to shatter it into little pieces.

"Ulion?"

The boy of seventeen swung around. That was it. "Shit."

"Shit's right." Tatiana stood out of an open hatch, brown eyes glinting. "Damn it brother..." She sighed, letting a gloved hand fall onto deck. "It's dangerous for you to be up here. You should know that by now."

"It's not like I'm going to fall off the railing." Walking over to the ship's edge, he leaned over it. Down below: countless mountains and canyons, the staple Civetian landscape. "Look," he said confidently. "See? I'm fine."

His sister grimaced. "But if something were to happen—"

"Out here in Civetian controlled territory? Come on, we just left port and the wind's as calm as ever." He smiled, feeling dizzied as he backed away from the edge. "Nothing's going to happen. So stop worrying, alright?"

"I know, but," she shook her head, "It's just..."

He glanced to either side of himself. "It's what?"

"It's been three years, and it still seems like only a day ago we lost our father to that aether storm."

"Tatiana..."

She clenched a fist, a tear escaping her eye. "And mother was destroyed."

"She'll always have us though."

She glanced up, scowling. "You're right. And I'm going to make sure of that."

He raised a brow.

"So do what you're supposed to do," she said simply. "Don't fuck around this time."

"I'm sorr—"

"And..." She pounded the deck once. "And stop having to make me come up here... every, fucking, day. Let this voyage be different—"

She paused, stumbling on her words.

"Stop having to have me leave my post every watch change, damn it!"

In an instant, Tatiana disappeared down the hatch, slamming shut the lid with such force Ulion could have sworn the ship shook for a moment.

He sat sadly, gazing out into the sky. Had it really been that long? And should have he felt sad for forgetting him so quickly? He thought it the healthy thing to do, to move on. Yet Tatiana couldn't go a week without his mentioning.

He took a deep breath. "Time to go and see Pilot," he said quietly.

Moving toward the same hatch Tatiana had went down, Ulion pried it open with both his hands as he went down into it, shutting the hatch with a creak followed by a resonant clank. He slid down its ladder as swiftly as he possibly could, his gloved hands grinding up against the metal handlebars. Hitting the floor with a thump, he looked ahead and was met with a hallway lit with gas lamps on either side. When inside the belly of the beast—or any beast for that matter—one could always hear its stomach churning; the Ardent hummed lowly, its engine running strong, and all the going-ons were made apparent by the various creaks and moans the ship let out. These sounds comforted him, a warm and fuzzy feeling.

He traversed the hall, opening several similarly creaky doors along the way to his destination. Pilot wouldn't wait for long. After several minutes of moving down to the residential deck, Ulion, fiddling with a lock and key for a moment, entered Tatiana's quarters.

"Woof!"

There came a dog, a small defender breed with a stout body and a pudgy nose: Pilot. However, Pilot was fat, probably about as fat as he was ever going to get in his lifetime, as Ulion, being his newest caretaker due to Tatiana's constant presence on the bridge, wouldn't allow the pooch to eat himself to death any longer.

"All of Tatiana's babying really made you a piece of work huh?" He bit his lip. "Could almost mistake you for a grave boar from a distance."

Pilot rolled onto his back, or rather he tried several times, looking like a flopping fish before finally doing so.

"You know how this goes." Ulion smirked. "Half the portion you usually get. And after you eat, a nice walk through the residential deck, yeah?"

"Ruff!"

"Thought you'd agree," he said.

Walking through Tatiana's quarters, Ulion took care not to disturb any of her possessions. As the captain's quarters, it was quite extravagant, being triple the size of a normal crew member's room (where even then, two people would be taking up space inside it). Along the far wall, overlooking the back of the airship—engine faintly resonating—a fireplace sat with embers still alight, small sparks crackling. Mounted above were various decorations from the Civetian kingdom, some awarded by his Highness King Petrus himself.

The Gray Falcon, the Stalwart Runner, the Kingdom Defender. Father's decorations, Ulion thought. Of course she won't forget if she has these in plain sight all the time.

He stared at them, awestruck.

He took one down, setting it aside. It was the Kingdom Defender. Father had gotten it after docking with and repairing a critically damaged Civetian Man-o-War over the course of one month near the border of Candia, a separatist kingdom that had gained its independence fifteen years ago. Suffice to say, relations have never been stable, both Civetia and Candia constantly at each others throat for one reason or another.

Soon, after some waiting and deliberating, he took another down, and then another, until finally they were all gone and set on father's old woodwork table... All gone except for Tatiana's, the Aspect of Mercy, because she was the one that got everyone out alive during father's disastrous voyage ending in his death. Tatiana had set it beside father's awards like garbage, almost out of view, as though she had no place above the fireplace. Handling the award carefully, Ulion centered it, making sure that all who'd enter would be in viewing range of one the greatest honors attainable.

"There we go," he said proudly. "This is Tatiana's ship now, not father's. So she'd best start acting like it, right Pilot?"

Pilot, who'd been chasing his tail (which looked more like a nub, to be frank), stopped to make a comment. "Woof!"

Ulion grinned. "See, even a stupid mutt like you gets it," he said lovingly, rubbing the defender's belly. "Anyway, it's grub time."

Pilot barked, liking the sound of that.