Rift Chronicles

Rift Chronicles Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Destination Blancville

The last of the passengers boarded the airship, and once everyone was onboard, a flight attendant started to go over some basic instructions. Raff paid keen attention, unlike many of the passengers. They were to remain in their seats during take off and when they came in for a landing. They were shown where the exits were in case of an emergency, as well as what to do during a landing on open water.

Shortly after they had been given all those instructions, a voice came over the speaker. "Hello, this is your captain speaking. I wanted to let you know we will take off soon, so please remain seated. And thank you for flying Hyghwind Air."

The airship itself wasn't the most roomy. There was a center aisle to walk up and down. The ship sat thirty passengers, with rows of two seats on each side of the aisle. The seats themselves were cushioned but were so close together that some of the larger passengers were squished in and looked a bit uncomfortable. That being the case, there were still two empty seats. The inside wall of the ship was wood paneled and had a porthole window for each row. At the back of the airship was a door, and above it was a sign that read Observation Deck. The floor itself was carpeted. Besides the restroom, there didn't appear to be anything else of note.

Raff felt a strange sensation in her stomach as the airship started to lift off of the ground. Then she heard a loud sound coming from outside the craft. As she looked through a porthole window outside, she saw large propellers begin to turn faster and faster. The people, buildings, and other airships that were on the ground grew smaller as they rose higher into the sky. This was it; she was actually flying like a bird in the sky.

Raff was about to strike up a conversation about how exciting it was to fly for the first time with the woman seated next to her. The woman was a Barugen, a race of people known for their pig snouts instead of noses. They were typically a bit shorter than humans and were very stockily built. But then she noticed that the woman had put something into her ears and had fallen asleep already. A few minutes later, the flight attendant said, "You are free to roam around the cabin and observation deck. Watch your step."

Raff decided to go to the observation deck. She unbuckled her seatbelt and managed to squeeze past the sleeping woman, who only snored loudly in response. Raff went out through the back door and saw that a few other passengers were already there. In opposite fashion of the interior, the observation deck had a wood-paneled floor. Forming a perimeter was a half-wall about three feet high, and sitting on that was a glass dome. This allowed everyone to see in any direction they wanted without the risk of falling overboard. Raff felt a little nervous looking at the world below, but seeing clouds on eye level filled her with a sense of wonder. She edged closer to the glass, trying to get a better view while wondering what the clouds felt like.

She was so enthralled by her surroundings that it took her several moments to take any note of the other passengers on deck. There were a total of five others, and she tried to place each of their races from what she had read. One was a Barugen male with a large pack on his back who was currently taking pictures with his camera. Then there was a Shuravari woman sipping a cup of hot tea while leaning on the entrance wall. Chatting over in the corner was a human couple that paid little mind to the others around them. Finally, there was the silver-haired boy from earlier blowing some bubbles from his gum while looking a bit bored.

The Barugen asked the boy, "Excuse me, kiddo, could you take my picture for me?"

The boy sucked in the bubble he was blowing and shrugged. "Sure."

"Great," said the Barugen as he handed over his camera and posed against the glass dome. The boy clicked a button and handed the camera back to the man.