Aboard the Albatross

Jay remembered her training. It was rigorous. It drained every last bit of brightness and optimism from her, replacing it with responsibility and intellect. So, while Chip seemed to always be goofing off, and Gillion seemed to be always messing up, Jay was in the right. She compliantly followed where destiny pointed.

So almost every morning, she instinctively woke at 4:00, just like she had during training. Upon seeing the dark sky, hearing the sloshing of the ocean mixing with Chip's snoring and Gillion's sleep-muttering, Jay could go back to sleep until 6. 

Jay was the navigator, meaning she woke up the earliest. She didn't really mind it; she was past childishly complaining about superficial things like 'wake up times' and 'sleep deprivation'. The only thing she really needed was the Albatross coffee machine. The coffee tasted a little tangy - suspiciously orangey.

The crew would be heading to a training ground to retrieve a trinket Jay had left there during her training days. 

The stupidest part was why they were retrieving the trinket. The conversation had started while Jay was teaching Gillion how to make pretzels. Dough clumped up in every corner of the kitchen, all over Gillion but not at all on Jay. They both watched patiently as Pretzel finished mixing the dough.

"She's taking a bit lon-"

"Shh. You'll disrupt her focus."

"Gill, we have a whisk."

"Pretzel must become one with her namesake. "

Jay intently watched Pretzel attempt to knead the dough, throwing around bits of dough.

"You know, back at one of the training camps I visited when I was with the navy, they had this really shiny whisk. It'd spin on its own, like really really fast. It was pretty much a weapon."

Gillion scoffed. "Sure Jay."

"What, don't you believe me?"

"I've seen many strange items during my time on the overseas, but that doesn't seem very realistic, Jay."

"No, I saw it. It was very real and cool."

"It's not, you made it up."

"You should have seen the cafeteria there, it was huge! They were whipping up pretzels like crazy people."

"Crazy people like you who hallucinate impossible items."

Jay's expression grew darker as they continued arguing. Finally, she turned and left for the mast.

"Where are you going?"

"To plot a course to that cool whisk."

When Jay told Chip that she and Gillion were leaving to the training grounds, Chip was initially surprised. He'd have hoped they'd pull him along for an adventure, roughhousing together like they usually did, but in the end, he decided that since he'd already had his own solo adventure in Allport, he'd stay in bed.

Jay and Gillion struck at night-fall. The guard that was supposed to be protecting the training barracks had dosed off, gun in hand, still slumped against a gate. 

Jay held her breath and snuck past the gate, into the barracks. She nearly tripped on her way over, but steadied herself before she woke the guard. She stared at Gillion, waiting for him to follow. Gillion sucked in air before slowly tiptoeing over. As he walked, his armor clanked against itself.  He suddenly tripped, right at the feet of the guard.

The guard drowsily awoke at this.

"Sick costume man."

"Yeah, we've been working hard on it." Jay stared at Gillion, hoping he'd play along with her lie.

"My name is Gillion Tidestrider, Champion of the Unde-." Jay elbowed him.

"Yup, incredible costume, I know. We're scheduled for a meeting with some students sometime soon. D'you know anything about where we're supposed to stay, or anything like that?"

"Yeah man, of course! Just head all the way up there, take a left, straight, right, and look for the guest tent, which is where you'll stay." He leaned on his sword. "The guest tent is nice, I'm jealous. Everyone's going to be excited that we have a show coming up."

"That's nice." Jay avoided outright saying that she didn't want the guest tent to look anything like a real navy barrack. She couldn't go back to the navy, not after her treachery, and especially not as a pirate. The thought of sleeping in a barrack again disgusted her. "We'll just be on our way then."

As they walked away, Gillion was careful not to make any sound. 

Jay scanned the barracks, silently recalling the location of the cafeteria. She dragged Gillion around, quietly muttering about how Gillion would hate to see how right she was about the whisk. As they walked, Jay somehow began to sense a question forming in the triton.

"Hey, Jay... I kind of wanted to ask you something."

"Yeah, shoot." Jay didn't stop moving. Gillion noticed that her wings had been painted black so that she could use them for additional cover.

"It's just... It's kind of weird. We're sneaking into a navy base! I'd expect this behavior from Chip or myself, but I wouldn't... I'm sorry if it'd be rude to ask, but it's kind of weird to see you being so... childish, for lack of better words."

Jay clenched her fist a little at this. "Gill," She turned, with a soldiers posture and grace, but suddenly her lopsided bangs, sunburnt face, and pirate smirk were visible too.  "I'm a pirate now! I mean, after all the picking up after you and Chip, I get to have fun too! It's different now. I guess I'm still trying to find the difference between 'Jay Ferin the navy spy', and 'Jay Ferin the co-captain of the Albatross'. I'm allowed to tinker and cry and laugh. And I'm allowed to risk everything for a stupid whisk."

She noticed Gillion's soft smile. She doubled over warmly giggling. "We're out in arguably the most dangerous place we could be in looking for a stupid whisk."

She spontaneously grabbed his wrist and started running off again. Gillion looked at her grip fondly, reminded of Edyn's grasp. As he ran, he thought of his time in the undersea. The Ancients didn't like it when he talked, laughed, or cried. They didn't like it when he was hurt. They loathed when he used magic for his own gain. But that was the Champion of the Undersea, and Hero of the Deep. Now Gillion couldn't shut up, and he laughed. He still couldn't cry, but he was working on that. 

They took a right into a large tent and entered the cafeteria. It was almost the same as when Jay last saw it, save for some changes in furniture. She stealthily climbed into the kitchen and began her search. After a moment of opening cupboards, Jay found the whisk.  Her navigator skills aided her in finding the tool. She silently slipped away, dragging Gillion out of the camp. They slipped past the sleeping guard, weaseled their way through a forest that surrounded the camp, and boarded the Albatross.

As they began to sail away, Jay pulled the whisk out of her bag and presented it to Gillion. She grinned widely and a little menacingly, much like when she joined their 'honour duel' and beat the crap out of them. Gillian held the whisk up and pressed a little button on the side, making the whisk come to a sputtering, sluggish start. Jay sighed and took the whisk back.

"I guess it's broken now."

"But you can fix it. You're a tinker-er. Tinkerist? Whatever its called."

Jay smiled softly, and for a second she was reminded of how when Ava would encourage her to tinker. She turned the whisk in her hands.

Chip suddenly busted through the door. "You made us sail all the way over here for a stupid whisk that doesn't even work?!?!?"