Complete Ilmea's Lament Welcome aboard, head engineer!

[Lily]

The old ship was gently swaying along with the waves, close to the abandoned beach. Atop it, a single girl sat on the bow sprit, legs swinging and cheeks pressed in and supported by her hands. A single sigh escaped past her lips as she looked around. It wouldn't take an expert to see that her vessel was barely sea-worthy. Even the anchor did not currently function, explaining why the entire ship was slowly moving instead of staying still.

"Gotta get a crew to fix it, huh…"

It was quite the conundrum. Charlotte figured that with a ship, she could impress some stray souls into joining her. But now, she was getting the feeling that the opposite would be true - she needed some crew members to help her fix the shape and make it capable of withstanding the sea. But how could she find someone who'd be impressed by such a hunk of rotting wood?

"Maybe this was a dumb idea…"

A brief moment of weakness and self-doubt, but she soon shook her head and hopped up onto her own feet. It was a majestic view from her position, the wind almost taking her hat off from her head. There was no way she would just give up here! She, too, had people she wanted to impress. She just… needed *someone* to help get things started!

@Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

What Ronja was doing in an abandoned island? Well, as usual, the girl wasn't exactly the greatest at fuel management, getting herself flying with all her energy to an island, only to drop inactive for dozens and dozens of minutes until she finally managed to move again, with her mana partially recharged thanks to her emergency mode.

With recovered energy, Ronja could start plotting her next steps, which probably would involve flying to another island, falling into emergency recharge mode once again, and eventually getting to a mainland by brute forcing her way through.

Efficient? Probably not. Worked? Yeah.

But before she could even go deep in details about how to get there in her mind, Ronja soon found herself looking at big ship. A godsend, to be honest.

"Oooh-" Ronja beamed, not noticing the owner of the ship at first.

"Ooooooooh-!" Ronja blinked surprised, knocking the wooden surface twice as she approached it.

@Charlotte Ann Marie

 

[Lily]

Knock. One of Charlotte's fluffy ears twitched briefly. Knock knock. The sound was definitely coming from down below! Just as the girl was getting her spirit back up and stretching, she heard the strange knocking and got herself into a bit of an alerted state. Quickly running across the deck to the side where she heard the sound from, she would grab the hilt of her sword and look over. To her surprise, she saw… a person? Knees-deep in the seawater, just knocking on the side of the wooden vessel.

"Who in blazes— I mean—! Oi! What scurvy dog are ye?! Tryin' to scuttle me ship while it be in disrepair?!"

Right after she finished, the girl subtly pumped her fist, very pleased with her pirate speech. It was something she was regularly practicing, though she sometimes still slipped. There was surprisingly quite a bit to learn, but at least she had plenty of time to do so. Especially since she already did all the repairs she could do by herself - patching up holes and the like.

@Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

With her heart nearly jumping out of her mouth, Ronja staggered and flailed her hands when someone suddenly yelled at her, squeaking and looking up at the girl that had just made her presence clear. "Wh-What?! R-Ronja isn't a dog, Ronja is Ronja!" She protested, taking three steps away from the ship and looking at the spot she was knocking before looking up again.

"She isn't trying to scuttle your ship, miss! She promises! She thought this was abandoned, in the state it is-" Ronja admitted, soon noticing that she had just slipped some really rude words.

"N-No! She means... She didn't know it was actually broken, she thought it was... Uh... Design choices! Or something!" Ronja said, raising her finger and looking at the other girl with a troubled expression.

She really hoped she wasn't going to get in trouble because of it, her energy was way too low to run away.

@Charlotte Ann Marie

 

[Lily]

It didn't take much more than just one look to figure out that the new arrival really did not mean anything bad. She was so panicked; even a fly would look more threatening in comparison. Still, insulting one's ship really was nothing short of disrespectful. Even if Charlotte couldn't disagree with the assessment either. Mentally defeated, she slumped over the railing and let out a sigh.

"Design choices me arse. The ship be in disrepair, unable to sail… but a captain… must cherish her ship nonetheless. She be a family!"

Maybe she was getting a bit too riled up. After all, it was just a ship. But it was also her first and only ship, and she worked pretty hard to acquire it. Even if the transfer of ownership was not exactly… legal. But then again, she aspired to become a pirate, so who would care?

"Bah, whatever. Leave me to me despair, ye scurvy dog. The captain needs some time to wallow in this woeful predicament… can't even fix the ship by meself."

@Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

Ronja looked at the girl, noticing the sighs and the slumps, the expressions on her face that yelled 'defeated'. Ronja couldn't help but feel a tightness in her chest, glancing at the ship and then back at the owner. Leaving her be would be kind of mean, wouldn't it? After all, what she would do if she couldn't make her ship move? Stay abandoned here forever?

"Then, Captain!" Ronja called, resting a hand on her chest.

"Why don't you let Ronja take a look at your ship?" She suggested, taking a deep breath for a moment.

"Allow Ronja to figure out what is wrong with it. After all, it isn't in the best condition, but Ronja can figure something out... She has the masteries necessary to work on it, especially with her advanced investigation mode." She tapped her temples, with her eyes clicking and retracing like a camera lens.

"Ronja promises to cause no harm to your ship, and you can tell her to stop whenever you wish!" She said, firmly.

@Charlotte Ann Marie

 

[Lily]

Now Ronja's done it. Calling Charlotte a 'captain' was the last thing a person should do if they wished their life to remain calm and peaceful. But there was no going back now! The fox had heard it and nearly doubled over as she scrambled to get herself back onto her two feet, straight and narrow. Her fingers dug into the half-rotten railing before it was as if stars had lit up in her eyes.

"Ye... ye wish to become part of the crew to take care of the ship? Ye do, right... right?!"

she almost couldn't believe her luck. WIthout wasthing any time, the girl would perform several gestrues and the water surrounding the ship suddenly moved, It formed a staircase leading straight up to the deck before the water would freeze, offering a stable staircase that, surprisingly, was not slippery at all.

"C-come up, then! I will show ye around me ship! Oooh, we can make her sail again!"

The captain's excitement for this development was obvious. Though there was clearly much work to be done, given the state of the ship at the moment.

@Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

Be part of the crew?!

Ronja blinked at the sudden turn of events. Being part of the crew was a bit of an overstatement, since the Magia only wished to help the sad captain out with the ship.

The other's excitement, however, made it pretty hard for Ronja to correct her. And she smiled awkwardly at first, but then she stared impressed at the show off skills. "Ooh, you are good at this." Ronja complimented, looking at the stairs and frowning.

Her eyes flickered, with the investigation mode popping up to show the properties of the stairs before finally mustering the courage to step on it.

The lack of 'slippering' made Ronja surprised, but she quickly got used to the deal, climbing it up and finally getting on board. With a sigh, she looked up at the girl. "Well, it is nice to meet you, Captain. Ronja's name is Ronja Bubblyfoot." She introduced herself, offering a hand and resting the other on her chest for emphasis.

"Do you know what is troubling your ship?" Ronja asked.

@Charlotte Ann Marie

 

[Lily]

Charlotte awaited the other girl's climb eagerly, both of her hands resting on her sides. It might have taken a moment longer than she expected, but as Ronja climbed, the white fox would almost dance around her in happiness. After all, as far as she knew, she had her first official member! Well... aside from Delice, but it was almost hard to count her, considering the fae would do just about anything Charlotte asked of her. As soon as the hand was offered, she'd shake it vigorously with a grin on her face.

"Charlotte Ann Marie! Remember it, me hearty!"

But when it came down to explaining why the ship was in such a bad shape, the beastfolk could only look around with a more saddened smile, even her ears drooping down briefly. Technically none of this was her fault, yet she was the captain now, so she felt almost ashamed for the ship's state. Once repaired, she would have to make sure this never happened again!

"The previous owner cared not for her health! No repairs, no maintenance, she fell into disrepair, the poor girl. Got'er like so... gotta repair her somehow!!"

@Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

"Charlotte! That's a lovely name-" Ronja clasped her hands together, with her camera len eyes retracting and clicking twice while focused on Charlotte before returning to normal.

The saddened expressions of the fox girl nearly parted Ronja's heart, despite her weird way to be, it was clear that she just wanted to have fun conquering the seven seas and being a pirate she couldn't be in the real world.

"Never repaired? That's real bad, Ronja won't stand for this!" She said firmly, having a fierce expression on her eyes.

"We will do a big workover on this big gal. You and Ronja will do the greatest of works, and this ship will be shining new!" She exclaimed.

"Ronja has never worked on a real ship before. But she has worked on a lot of miniatures in her arts and crafts." She huffed, proud of her work. "Let's check the ship and decide what to do."

@Charlotte Ann Marie

 

[Lily]

The fox was almost about to correct Ronja in that she should address her as 'Captain Charlotte' now that she was part of her crew! But witnessing the magia's enthusiasm for the task of repairing this vessel, she just couldn't bring herself, else she could spoil the mood. She very much wanted to get this ship fixed. It took a lot of effort to acquire it in the first place, as well as a good deal of luck. If this one were to rot away, she wasn't sure if she could easily obtain another with her currently limited funds.

"Wonderful! Ye gonna be rewarded... er... somehow! For yer efforts! With me, I shall show ye the ins and outs!"

Beckoning Ronja, Charlotte would enthusiastically lead her all around. The captain's quarters (that looked no better than a janitor's closet right now) the inner chambers, even the brig where she herself was held for a brief while during her 'acquisition' of the ship. Aside from the rot and several obvious holes, thankfully above water, it was also obvious that water was getting trapped inside of the structure.

"Mmm... so much might gotta be done... where in the seven seas do we even begin..?"

@Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

Ronja giggled slightly, shrugging. "Ronja doesn't need any reward. She is fine with just helping you out, Captain." She smiled, following the happy fox around and honestly being a bit happy about it herself. Her eyes shifted around, trying to spot the troubles the wooden structure held, and how she could fix them.

How she would fix it was the best question, but with summon, alchemy, arcanamancy, and magitech together, the limits were just one's imagination.

When she was introduced to the captain's quarters, Ronja crossed her arms and stared at the situation with a concerned expression, pondering for a moment before starting to voice out the options: "Ronja suggests using some alchemicals to get rid of the rotting process... She can provide it with ease. As for the broken spots? She is sure that as long as we can have some planks, we can try to get them fixed. She will use her arcanamancy and alchemy to try and merge it together with the current wood, so it won't look bad." She turned around to look at Charlotte.

"The water... We will remove it manually. But you could say we already have ways to solve most of the main problems of the ship."

@Charlotte Ann Marie

 

[Lily]

Considering the kind of life Charlotte had lived, the girl had absolutely no idea how to fix anything, especially not a large pirate ship. It was quite the relief then when Ronja proved herself to know what she was talking about. Granted, it would likely be easy to fool someone like Charlotte, given her lack of expertise in the area… but there didn't seem to be a chance of that happening here.

"Oooh, as expected of the head engineer! Ye do be good at this! I'll help too, with the water!"

That seemed like one of the few things the beastfolk could help with. Having hydromancy as one of her masteries would allow her to control the water inside of the structure, leading it out. She had already demonstrated a good deal of control over the element when she made stairs to the ship's deck for Ronja. Doing something like pushing stray water out of the empty spaces between wooden beams and walls honestly seemed like a child's play.

She would have even already done so herself, if she wasn't so distracted by the sheer amount of problems all around. But now that there was a concrete plan and list of things that needed addressing, it all felt much more manageable! Nodding alongside that idea, the white fox would pump her fist with a grin.

"I will begin here then! Ye can go ahead and start fixin' her up in yer own way while I get all of the water out~!"

@Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

Ronja scratched the back of her head, smiling a bit sheepish. "Hehe... Head engineer? That is too much, Captain. Ronja doesn't have a degree or anything..." She admitted with rosy cheeks.

Wait, the head engineer? Suddenly that sounded more like a title or a role than a profession, which made Ronja pause and frown for a moment, but soon she gave it no more thought. The other girl was so happy that Ronja could simply ignore all that, especially with the hydromantic skill shown off, which made Ronja wide her eyes open.

"Woaah! You are really good at this!" She beamed, rubbing her hands and approaching the spots that needed some solution to the rotting problem and the creaks.

Reaching for her UI Inventory, Ronja materialized some alchemy kits, quickly filling them with alchemicals by using summon magic, and mixing them accordingly before she had bottles of a funny-looking substance, silvery colored and bubbly.

She used a piece of cloth to calmly apply it to the wood, brushing it gently and making it look shiny like it has just been varnished.

@Charlotte Ann Marie

 

[Lily]

Pirates were rarely an educated bunch, so Ronja was much better than any Lander pirate that could join them, even without any kind of degree. Hell, common sense might have been more than some of them had in their heads! That said, as Charlotte directed the water to slowly leave every nook and cranny of the ship, she observed Ronja from the corner of her eye. It was nice to have someone who was so enthusiastic about the whole ordeal and even appreciating the captain's skill.

"Hehe, this much is nothing! All of the water will be back in the sea in no time at all!"

There wasn't that much to begin with, so the process was quick relatively swiftly. Once the fox was done, she would curiously walk over to her new head of engineering to see what she was doing. Alechemy - it seemed quite interesting and versatile, perhaps more so than any other mastery the game had to offer. Especially after she managed to easily make a solution that started dealing with the ship's condition.

"Ooh, amazing! She'll look brand new like this! C-cloth, more cloth! Captain can do this much as well!"

@Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

Peeking at Charlotte's waterworks, Ronja hummed slightly, watching how the other simply swayed the water out of the ship, and thinking it was fairly impressive no matter what the other said.

When the Captain approached, looking fairly impressed herself, Ronja couldn't help but feel even more cheerful.

Ronja giggled heartily at Charlotte, perking up slightly. "You are too adorable, Captain!" She cheered, taking the alchemical she had just made and offering to the beastfolk. "Here, it is easy to use, just apply it to the cloth and rub it on the wood." She said, making the gesture herself, slowly so the other could understand it.

"It is just circling movements. And it can't be too rough!" She added, pausing and waiting for the other to try and do it, watching carefully to see if she would make any mistakes.

A good captain should learn how to clean their own ship too, after all!

@Charlotte Ann Marie

 

[Lily]

When Ronja called Charlotte adorable, the fox girl suddenly paused before pouting. While she did like praise, and being called adorable or cute did make her happy, it wasn't exactly what she aspired to be right now. She wasn't the sensitive type, so she didn't cate that much, but she had to make sure her crew knew what was up!

"A-adorable? Pirates aren't adorable! They are cool and fearsome, and so am I, as a newly appointed pirate captain!"

Actually, did she at any point make it clear to the magia that she was intending on becoming a pirate? Well, she knew now so hopefully there was no issue to be had with it. Either way, the fox readily snatched the solution from Ronja's hand and started mimicking the gesture to get the interior looking a bit better.

"Mhm, this is much better! Going pretty slow though. Maybe I should go elsewhere, or start cleaning the outside."

She was rather acrobatic, so she had no issue tying a rope to herself and hanging herself over the ship's side and scrubbing it down to make it all good and sparkly. She just had to make sure she had enough of the miraculous alchemical substance!

@Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

"Adorably cool and fearsome!" Ronja teased Charlotte, perhaps unintentionally, when she retorted about pirates not being cute. Unfortunately for the Captain, in Ronja's standards she would be already failing at not looking adorable by just existing, no matter how many fake beards, hand hooks or 'yarrs' she decided to pull out.

"Divide and conquer? That is a good strategy, Captain." Ronja nodded in approval, looking at Charlotte when she started her acrobatic moves, making Ronja wide her eyes open in surprise.

"Ooh-- Ronja gotta step it up too." She huffed, inspired by Charlotte and snapping her fingers.

"Aid-lings! Come forth!" Ronja called, and small propelling automatons were suddenly summoned out of her pockers, taking flight like a swarm and spraying the alchemical on as many surfaces as they could, and rubbing it with an inbuilt sponge they had in an appendage.

Ronja grinned satisfied, the more hands they had, the quicker would be the clean up!

@Charlotte Ann Marie

 

[Lily]

Charlotte wasn't exactly 'pleased' with Ronja's characterization, but she left it be. It was best to not butt heads with someone who was helping her fix up the ship, for free even. As long as this alchemical substance didn't turn out to be something secretly malicious, cleaning the food at the start but then eating it alive later on, she would be nothing but pleasant to Ronja! Or so she figured. That said, she stared at the magia blankly after all of the drones were summoned.

"Y-you were planning to use those from the start, right?"

Surely the other girl didn't pull the bots out just now only because of some perceived competition? It would have taken the two of them ages to fully fix the ship without such help, so the snow fox could only hope that Ronja was always planning on using this ability instead of having the two slave away all day long on just one part of the repair process.

But with the help from the bots, everything went much faster and smoother! Sure, it was still a couple or so hours, but the wood was looking as good as new by the end of it all! Along with the water out of the ship's insides, that was two pressing problems gone. The only pressing problem that remained were things not fixed by the alchemical solution - namely holes in the lower part of the ship that threatened to sink the whole vessel if bigger waves were to arrive.

@Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

Ronja looked at Charlotte with a puzzled expression. "Of course?! Do you really think Ronja would rub alchemicals through all the ship without any assistance? Ronja is a Magia, but she gets tired too" She giggled.

"She just needed to make sure these alchemicals are actually safe. Imagine if they ended up melting the wood instead, if Ronja sent her automatons to spray it through all the ship, it would become dust in a matter of a minute." Ronja grimaced at the idea, knowing that the next thing that would happen to her if she angered a pirate, was getting tied to an anchor and thrown into the sea. Which... Being a Magia, it probably didn't matter?

She couldn't know, she never had to bother about drowning in this game.

The automatons continued to propel around the ship, spraying everything and within time, the ship was starting to look shiny as new... Well, at least superficially, there were still a lot of things to do, like fixing holes and organizing everything that was a mess.

"Phew... At least with this, the rot will be gone, which is the biggest structural issue, in Ronja's opinion."

@Charlotte Ann Marie