Vasilia moved through the dock stealthily as she made her way to her transport over to Sol City. It was going to be a new set of opportunities for her and a chance to make new acquaintances and contacts on the other side of the sea. The sister of Lunala requested she take up a position there to gather information for them.

She gracefully came to the wharf of a large transporter ferry. It was nothing fancy and although she could stomach most journeys, her sea legs were not particular strong. A little precariously she made her way onto the boat, her boots struggling to find much grip on the gang plank. The wooden flooring was wet and slippery.

Once aboard she made small talk with the captain and provided the small fee for passage and made her way below into the hold of the vessel. She had been told her accommodation would be spartan and that her presence generally was unwelcome. She'd have to careful as this particular ferry held crew that did not take kindly to women. Either way she had her blades and would need to keep a watchful eye. Downstairs in the hold she found a small part laid out for herself with some large sacks of dried grains. It was going to be a long journey she thought as she sat down and pondered the bits of information she had about Sol City. The Hood character in particular was on the list of her priorities to find.

As she lay back uncomfortably she wondered whether the captain she had befriended might let her share his much more comfier and private accommodation. She wondered how she might arrange that to ease her passage to Sol City. Her fingers danced over her the knees of her stocking clad legs wondering how she might seduce the captain. She also took one of her blades out, if seduction failed, there were always other methods he thought.

One of the small cargo holds of the ferry rocked back and forth as the ship departed. Even ships made for transporting passengers had to hold food and water for the journey, but sometimes they also held deliveries sent for wherever the ship was heading. It was convenient and economical. What wasn't convenient or economical was the small, fuzzy creature currently eating some of that cargo meant to be delivered to a tavern in Sol City that was expecting a large supply of fruits and vegetables that had been grown fresh in Moonveil Village. They weren't expecting a stowaway to have been hiding in the cart as it was loaded onto the ship.

Hylltywyll sat in the dark room, his eyes perfectly able to see despite the lack of light, and munched on some apples and grapes while lying atop the crates. Once he had finished, and tossed the cores and stems off to be found who knows when by the cleaning crew, he stood up and stretched before looking around at whatever else the cargo hold had to offer. There was nothing very shiny down here, most of the cargo being from a village of farmers and herbalists, but he might find something to peak his interest if he looked elsewhere.

He slipped through the dark hold to the door and leaped up to the handle, pulling it down with his weight. The door opened slowly and he made his way out, silent, odorless, and a nearly invisible shadow, into the dimly lit halls of the ship's lower decks.

---

One With the Shadows
Shadow Sight
Pass Without a Trace

Vasilia sat there bored, contemplating the better accommodation above and thought it might be time to make her move on the captain before they set sail. She had already planted the seed in their first exchange above deck. Without much hesitation she stood up and made sure she was presentable. She took a little perfume from her pack and sprayed it onto herself. Then she moved back down the hallway to the other end.

As she moved she heard a handle pull down somewhere ahead and she wondered what was there. Her elf ears heard nothing, but handles didn't pull themselves down. She moved to the side of the hallway into the shadowed side of the hold. It was dark and she tried to look for any disturbance. She wondered she she'd been followed perhaps.

Above she could hear the roars and singing of a few drunken sailors which prevented her from hearing much inside the hold itself. If there was someone or something there it was completely hidden. She slowly eased up and wondered whether it might have just been a dodgy handle.

Hylltywyll walked down the hallway and saw a woman standing there, staring in his direction, but it was clear she couldn't see the Fairy. She just looked down the hall he was coming from. He wasn't concerned. Actually, this could be fun.

With the woman still standing there glancing down the hall, he walked over the another door and leapt up onto the handle. To the woman, it looked like the handle had just turned itself and the door swung open, into the small room on its own. Maybe she would think this boat was haunted? It was a prank he had pulled on someone before.

He looked around the room he had just swung into and saw nothing much of interest. Some sacks of potatoes, some coils of extra rope. Nothing he could steal or wanted to eat. Oh well, the real fun would be messing with the woman. He hoped she'd enter the room so he could slam the door behind her. That really got to people.

Vasilia's eyes swiftly followed the movement of a handle that seemed to turn all by itself. What was this? What kind of trickery. Unlike a lot of her fellow kin, she was a person who only believed what she saw. She did not believe in haunted vessels or ghosts, however this tested her. The doors here seemed to open all by themselves.



She instinctively drew one of her sharp daggers out and slowly crept up to the door to see if anyone else was inside. She couldn't hear anything, but her training in stealth had taught her that some people and some creatures could avoid being heard or seen entirely if they chose. This could be a test.



Then she slowly entered the room, but wedged her boot against the door. There was nothing inside the room at all. Her eyes scanned it and nothing could get past. It was at these times she wish she had magic. There was nothing and no one there. Her heeled boot tapped the floor impatiently as she wondered why she was wasting her time chasing imaginary ghosts. She let out an annoyed sigh as she put her blade away on the back of her skirt. 

Hylltywyll let out a silent annoyed sigh as he saw her not entering the room fully, keeping a boot in the door. He couldn't slam the door behind her like this. His plan was foiled and his fun was ruined. He'd just have to do something else. It didn't take long for him to hatch a new plan. He watched her put her dagger on her back and smiled.

He wanted to steal that dagger. He just had to follow and wait for a good opportunity. When she was sitting, or would be standing still for a while. It'd be difficult to remove from its sheath unnoticed if she was walking, but he could do it easily so long as she was still for a moment. Following behind her should be easy. She hadn't seen him in the little storage room at all. She clearly didn't have any abilities that would let her detect the nearly undetectable little Fairy. He was quite proud of his stealth abilities. They'd greatly improved since the time he'd been spotted by an annoying Goblin.

He watched and waited for the woman to leave so he could stalk behind, waiting for his opportunity to steal the dagger.

Vasilia gave one last cursory glance over the room and she felt satisfied that no one was there, maybe it was a side effect of preparing to go on a long voyage she thought. She now turned her heel and left the room behind her as she went to move to grab her pack. She did not fancy staying down here overnight with all the strange movements. It didn't feel right, not when a much larger cabin awaited her upstairs.

She climbed her way up the steps and back onto the main deck. She spotted the captain making his way back to his cabin, this was perfect she thought. Checking no one was watching her she went over to the door of his cabin and knocked. She quickly brushed her hair back and elongated her right leg gently. It wasn't long before the bearded captain opened the door and his eyes lit up in surprise at her.

“I see the ships almost underway...” she said with a lustful glance.

“Indeed miss, the lads know what there up to and will cast away soon...I usually leave that bit to them...I don't like seeing the land behind me when I'm sailing off” he said in a joyful tone.

“...so you'll be relaxing for a while?” she asked playful as she curled her hair with her right hand.

“I might very well...would you like that tour of the captains quarters I promised you early on the gang plank?” he asked her as she toyed with his gaze.

“That sounds like your inviting me for a drink?” she mused eagerly.

“Of course...” he said as he stood back to the side and let her enter.

“How spacious...” she said as she entered. He closed the door behind her and smiled.

It was a large cabin with a king sized bed. Plenty of space for a man of his captivating ability. He went over to a cabinet and pulled out a bottle of red wine, dusty, but obviously a high quality vintage.

Hylltywyll followed behind the woman up to the main deck. He was a bit annoyed that she went up there, the sun was still high in the sky and the deck was brightly lit. He was much more comfortable in the dim halls below, but he had already set his sights on the dagger and didn't want to give up his prize so easily. He scurried from shadow to shadow, behind barrels and crates that had yet to be lowered down into the cargo hold.

He followed until she stood outside a door that a man had just entered. Now seemed like the perfect opportunity. Maybe his only opportunity if she was about to go into the room with the bearded man. He crept along, close to the wall of the cabin in the slim bit of shade. The door opened and she began to speak with him. Hylltywyll silently reached up and carefully pulled the dagger from its sheath before slipping away. The man and the woman both disappeared into the cabin, the door closing behind them.

He smiled at his prize. It was a nice dagger. He wondered when she might notice it was gone. He half wanted to sneak into the room so he could see her reaction to finding it missing, but decided he shouldn't. He should go back to the lower decks where he could sneak around much more easily. He started to make his way back to the stairs, moving from shadow to shadow like he'd done before.

As he was hidden in the shadow of a barrel, the barrel was suddenly lifted off the deck by a burly man he hadn't noticed there. With the shadow removed, he was exposed in the sunlight. He stood still, him and the man making eye contact, locked in a silent standoff. Suddenly, the man screamed and dropped the barrel.

"It's some rat! A huge, ugly, mutant rat!" he screamed in a much higher pitch than the Fairy expected for someone so large.

Wow, rude. Hylltywyll thought as the man ran away, drawing the attention of just about everyone on the deck.

As they were enjoying a glass of delicious red wine the Captain then heard some commotion outside. There was some yelling. She looked at him teasingly, but he sighed. “Can these fools not complete a simple cast off without a problem!” he said as he put his glass down. “You stay here my lovely lady...I'll be right back” he added as he then left the room to go outside and see what the yelling was about. She was secretly relieved...the thought of having to share time in the room was not particular something she desired. 

The captain shut the door and as soon as he did Vasilia fell back to relax on the comfy bed. That was was she had come for. She could easily fall asleep before he came back. As she snuggled into the pillows and got comfortable she reached back to place the dagger she had earlier under her pillow. Then some shock came onto her face as it was not where it should be, in fact it was not there at all. Had someone managed to slip her dagger off her in-between the lower deck and the upper deck.

She stood up...indeed...that must not have been a ghost after all. She was annoyed and frustrated...finally a soft bed to lie in and she now have to go and reclaim her dagger.

At this very same time the captain was berating his men “I don't want to hear anymore about a mutant rat, get this ship moving!” he yelled.

As he yelled she slipped back out the room and heard all the deckhand murmuring mutant rat...that was curious. Perhaps she was not the only traveler aboard. She moved stealthily back below deck and remained in the shadows. If there was something down here, she would wait for it to come back. She hid in the shadows and watched the main corridor. That dagger was hers.

Hylltywyll had run away when he had been discovered, but he honestly wondered how he had ended up here. He stood beneath a table in a well furnished room. There was a very large, comfortable bed in the middle of the wall opposite the door. In the middle of another was an ornate desk with maps and navigation tools scattered on top of it. In the middle of the opposite wall from the desk was a fancy cabinet that the bearded man was now putting a wine bottle back into.

He had a sad, slightly annoyed look on his face. The woman he had entered here with had disappeared while he was dealing with some nonsense about a mutant rat, and now he was all alone again. What a disappointment. He sat down at the table and finished his glass of wine as well as the glass that was left abandoned on the table he had poured for her. He let out a sigh.

"Honestly, what nonsense. A mutant rat... Honestly..." he complained to no one, leaning back in his chair. He thought about getting that unfinished wine bottle back out again and finishing it himself, but he had his work to do as the captain of the ship. He couldn't go getting wasted just because one lady left him alone.

While the captain moped, Hylltywyll started moving around the room. The room was dimly lit, probably because the captain had wanted a bit of mood lighting, so it was easy for him to go unnoticed. He snuck over to the desk and snatched a compass off of it while the captain wasn't looking, busy emptying a glass of wine. He had a smile on his face. It looked like there should be a lot of trinkets and treasures to steal in this room.

Vasilia sleeked through the shadows, but didn't see anything or hear anything. There was a chance the thing which took her dagger was still in that room. She pushed her palm against her head, how could she be so silly. Why didn't she check that room first before coming back down to the bottom. She took one last look around, but saw no sign of the dagger. She might have to find it tomorrow, so it was possible one of the crew might have lifted it off her when she moved among them on her way to the Captain's room.

She made her way back up and knocked on the captain door before entering.

“Captain...you haven't seen my dagger by any chance have you?” she said to him as she closed the door behind her. She seemed frustrated.

“Not here I'm afraid. Where did you disappear off to?” he said looking around.

“Just for some air...my sea legs have never been too good...anyway, I'm sure it will turn up...” she said, trying to put on a brave face.

“...now where were we? Sounded like you have a gremlin on board” she said be musingly as she took back her glass of wine and sat next to him. 

“Oh no..I doubt it...just stupid sailors being silly" he said. 

Hylltywyll saw that the woman he'd stolen the dagger from had returned. He spied from underneath the captain's desk as the two sat down to drink at the table. He wasn't sure if he should try to leave or if he could do something to mess with her, maybe even mess with both of them. He brought out the dagger and looked at it.Maybe there was something fun he could do.

He crept up to the back of the captain's chair where his coat was hanging, silently stalking through the dimly lit interior of the cabin. He was glad this captain didn't seem to mind it a bit dark, the curtains on the windows drawn. Only a few lamps lit the room just enough to see. He slipped the dagger into a deep pocket of the captain's coat.

Let's see how she reacts to seeing that the captain stole her dagger, or at least thinks he did, the little Fairy thought to himself with a wide grin as he snuck away and hid underneath the large bed.

It felt a little strange thought Vasilia that things were happening aboard this ship all at the same time. She took a drink of wine as the captain looked at some of his charts on the table. She came up behind and took a look at them as well. The room was very dimly lit.

“Will it be a smooth voyage?” she asked him as her finger trailed over the map.

“It should be smooth enough...” he replied playfully drawing a line through the chart.

Navigation had never been her strongest area, so probably best to leave that to him. As she looked down she saw his coat and a pointed spike in the bottom. Impossible! How could he have taken her dagger.

She bent down and pulled out the blade.

“Strange what things people keep in their pockets?” she said.

“What are you doing? Where did you get that from?” he said, raising his voice a little.

“or other people's things for that matter?” she said in a sly voice as her finger when to her own lips to try to calm the captain. Her eyes shuffled to both sides.

“...I should gut you like a pig right now!” she yelled, in an almost dramatic fashion.

“Vas...what are you...” he tried to say as her finger went over his lip.

Now her elf ears listened in for any reaction in the room. If something was there, perhaps it might make a sound...a giggle...

Hylltywyll did, in fact, giggle quite a lot, but their shadowy magics prevented any of the sound from travelling past their lips. He watched with glee as the woman had taken the bait he'd set, reveling in the chaos he'd caused. He wondered what her plan after this could possibly be. He craved chaos and loved causing problems, but he wasn't a fool. He knew if he was in her position, killing the captain was a bad idea. People would want to find who did it and she wouldn't be able to leave the boat once it set sail. She'd almost definitely be caught. And if she abandoned the boat, she'd have to find a new ride to wherever she was going. Threatening this man was impulsive and reckless and he loved to see it. He didn't get himself into trouble he couldn't get out of, and he wasn't sure the woman could get out of this. If she could, he wanted to see how.

He wanted a better view. Under the bed was a good hiding spot, but not a great place to watch the show. He crawled out from under the bed and leapt onto the table. He picked up one of the still partially full wine glasses, making it disappear into the shadows with him, and took a sip. He grimaced and looked at the glass with disgust. How could people possibly enjoy drinking this stuff? It tasted foul to the little Fairy. He poured the wine onto the floor, the liquid seeming to just appear out of thin air to anyone but him, and hid the cup in his fur. A new trinket for his collection.

Her ears listened, but there was silence...had her intuition failed. Maybe this captain had really stolen her blade after?! Her mind raced through the options furiously. She was as frustrated as the captain.

“Vas...put the blade down now...if you kill me the crew will come in and throw you overboard” he said as her eyes flashed to one side. The captain couldn't understand what was wrong with her. He hadn't taken the dagger.

“There is something...” she said as she removed the blade and looked to liquid appearing out of thin air behind them. They both stared in awe and her mind raced to the only possibility...something invisible to the naked eye was in the room.

“What?” said the captain with shock.

“There is something here hidden...wine doesn't simply pour out of nowhere...ceil this room off now!” she said to him quickly as she slammed the windows shut and he went for the door to lock it. If there was something in here it wouldn't be escaping quickly out of any of the exits.