Chapter Six

Wake-Ups and Shake-Ups

'I hate flying...' Sabre mentally groaned, rolling over and wrinkling the tarp she had pulled over herself last night. 'Better go give those gears to Mom...'

BZZZZZG!

With a start, Sabre sat up, horrified. Looking around frantically, she saw she was on an airship. Letting out a breathe of relief, she realized that she and her brother, Arbez, must have fallen asleep while working on one of their parents's airships. A rustle from near Sabre's feet seemed to have comfirmed this guess.

"Arbez?" she called softly, moving to grab the tarp and pull it away. There was someone asleep at her feet, all right, but it wasn't her brother.

It was a blonde haired man wearing a jugglers' hat...

Said man was curled up like a cat, holding onto Sabre's boot (He must have yanked it off.) as if it were a stuffed animal a toddler might cherish. His head was leaning against Sabre's other foot (Boot still intact, thankfully.) and she was disgusted to find that he was drooling on her fine leather footware.

So, it hadn't beena dream. This wasn't good, not at all.

With a jerk of her foot that caused the magician's head to thump against the deck, Sabre stood up, utterly repulsed.

"Mmmhmph...chicken stock..." Malvern murmured, snuggling closer to Sabre's left boot.

"It'll take a lot more than that to wake him up." a drawling voice said, breaking through the crisp, morning air. Sabre's attention was immediately drawn to the left side of the ship, where Kanist lay, her head in her hands, leaning on her elbows. She didn't look at all comfortable-Bristol's arm was thrown over her, his head laying right next to her side. It was her obvious fear of his fin jabbing into her neck that stopped her from pushing him off and standing up.

"That big jolt must have knocked us all cold; here's the result right in front of you. Not very pretty, is it?" she jabbed her thumb over her shoulder, indicating Bristol, and then pointed at Malvern. "I've been awake for hours. It was so boring waiting for one of you to wake up, you all sleep like rocks." She squirmed, looking uncomfortable, and winced as Bristol let out a rather loud snore and his fin shifted. "Now...Can you get this lummox off o' me? His fin keeps poking my shoulder."

Sabre glared at the younger girl. Call her a rock, will she? Perhaps she'd just leave them there...

"I'm waiting, Sob-Ree." Kanist mocked, a sneer on her face. Sabre barred her teeth, but, at the other girl's murderous expression, walked over to her and her accidental captor. Reaching down towards Bristol's arm, grumbling, her ears perked up at the sound of...footsteps? She shrugged it off as an echo and left it at that.

"Just move his arm, I can do the rest." Kanist muttered, squirming impatiently. Grabbing the Ipswitch's arm and lifting it up, Kanist rolled to the right and slammed directly into an old brass cannon. "Oww..."

Sabre grinned ('Haha. Pwned.' she thought gleefully.), dropped Bristol's arm carelessly, for her affection for him stood at 'negative four', and he awoke with a start. His arm roamed the spot where Kanist once lay and murmured drowzily "Where'z mm..."

"Kanist doll?" Kanist finished for him, almost shrilly, for she was rubbing her shoulder where she had rammed into the cannon. Bristol woke fully then, and was on his knees whipping his head from side to side looking for his blunderbuss in an instant. "Where's my-"

"Looking for this?" said a voice, its tone bitter. Sabre froze. That wasn't Malvern's voice...it was...

...Vaan Trasphers' once cheerful clerk. He didn't look even remotefully cheerful now, for his eyes were blazing behind his horn-rimmed glasses, and his hair seemed to stand on end. Bristol's gun was poised in his hands, but looked a bit too heavy for the man's scrawny arms. "Care to explain, Miss?"

---

Ian Vaan Traspher had been having a good day. His parents, Leslie and Ace Vaan Traspher, were happily vacationing in the far away city of Elbontreah, and he had recieved a jovial letter from his younger sister, Petralis, moments before Ebling and his kid sister had walked in, accompanied by some Ipswitch and a woman he could have sworn he had seen before.

Ebling had gone on with his usual entrance--saying 'Vaan Traspher', smirking, and putting on an expression of annoying smugness. Ian followed suit, sneering and clenching his fists, while they stared at each other. After what seemed like an hour (Though it surely couldn't have been more than a few minutes.), Kanist had stepped in (He was on speaking terms with her--they quite enjoyed mocking her older brother.) and said something about wanting a map. Well, the only thing he had to sell in the shop was a map that had already been reserved: it was for Constable Rykard, and it would have been a great honor to deliver it himself.

Unfortunately, the stars were against poor, little Ian Vaan Traspher. Sure, everything seemed to be going great, with Kanist smiling and asking about the map, while the other woman kept glancing at it out of the corner of her eye. He soon recognized her: her scowl was striking. Sabrena Lin Shiradin, the thief responsible for the disappearence of the Scroll of Raluger. (Not that he cared much-he wasn't an Cloud Castle engineer, he was a mapmaker.)

So Kanist talked him into serving them drinks (He could trust her! They were practically neighbors, with his family's shop only a block away from Ebling Manor and Kanist visited so often...), and as Ian was in the back, smiling to himself and reaching for the fine porcelain tea cups, what should he hear but the breaking of a priceless glass case? (And more priceless gold engraved porcelain soon after, as he lost hold of the cups' handles after hearing the sickening crash.).

He had no time to alert the Ipswitch Eliteguards he knew were huddled together in a group blocks away (He knew so as he had fetched a fine box of oil paints only a few hours earlier from that district.), and he certainly could not (And would never.) scream himself hoarse until someone came running. But these...ah...hoodlums were getting away with Constable Rykard's map, one that the fine artisans of Jakuru had slaved over for days on end, wanting the leader of the Kindeltsu, the greatest city in all of Nekorr, to have the finest map that could be offered!

So he did the only thing he could think of; he ran after them, his chest burning and his oversized jacket making sweat in the sweltering heat as his boot clad feet clopped against the cobblestone streets. He had reached his hands desperately in front of him, nearly grabbing hold of that ridiculous cape of Ebling's and stopping them from racing up the ramp leading to a grand looking airship, engravings wrought on the silver sheen of the metal, the contiuous groan of gears echoing up from below the freshly swabbed deck.

But, as such it was, he saw Miss Shiradin grab the airship's wheel and loose her footing in her haste, jerking the big wheel wildly and tossing everyone not clutching anything off their feet, including Ian himself. They did not seem to notice him, as he lost his voice and slid into a pile of large blue tarps, the Ipswitch's blunderbuss careening very near the edge of the ship and instead being tossed into the mapmaker's lap as Miss Shiradin jerked the wheel again, clutching it for dear life as the airship righted itself. Ebling was soon clutching her feet, his face buried in her heels, and his jugglers' hat lobsided.

The Ipswitch had one arm wrapped around Kanist, and her feet were hanging out of one of the cannon holes; she would have fallen through had the Eliteguard not been holding onto her. With another great shudder, the airship left the port, bucking wildly once more. Ian saw Miss Shiradin collapse onto the deck, where she didn't move, with Ebling still clinging to her boots; he wasn't moving, either. The airship was flying very fast now, and as a soft wind turned the ship's wheel once more, the ship turned right suddenly, and Ian's knees left the deck, the tarps flying out from under him as he slammed into the ship's side and saw no more.

---

"So we needed it, you see?"

"No, I don't see! I can now quite see that what they say is true! A great big thief, you are!"

"No, Ian, she isn't. That's the point. And she was just trying to prove that she wasn't."

"I really don't see how stealing is a way to prove you're not a thief."

"He's got a point there..."

"I honestly don't care! I was buying cogs, for the star's sakes, not pillaging your city!"

"Oi, cogs? Is that your alibi? Let's see 'em, then."

"Here! Not to mention I got totally jipped by the vendor. Seventeen platinum Cabelles each for these!"

"What do you expect? The people of Kindeltsu have higher standards than those of Teck-"

"We are not here to discuss the economy!"

"Umm...excuse me."

The high pitched, girly voice interrupted the five debators, who looked up from where they were arguing next to the ship's wheel. Peeking up from the step ladder leading to a lower portion of the ship's deck was a red headed young girl carrying a pool cue, wearing an expression of rapt confusion. A glowering, portly face was looking over her bony shoulder.

Everyone froze, Ian's mouth open in mid-scream and Sabre's hand on his collar, looking just about ready to throttle him. Malvern scratched the back of his head nervously and made an awkward sounding 'Heh heh' sound.

"We could not help but overhear your conversation," the red haired girl continued, finishing her ascent up the deck's steps and holding her pool cue in her hands behind her back so that she looked even more nervous than Malvern.

"...is it true?" The owner of the glowering face behind her pushed her aside to reveal a thickset man in soot covered overalls. "Are you aware you've just made off with the Constable's airship? Have you any idea what kind of grief you're going to cause in Kindeltsu?"

Making a imaginary 'yes!' movement with her hands, Sabre stared back at him in a failing attempt to appear innocent. The man kept glaring from behind the thick bangs that hung in his eyes.

Leaning against the cheery red oak of the airship's railing clutching her pool cue uncertainly, the red haired girl asked "So...are you really the Sabrena Lin Shiradin?"

After clenching her teeth and rolling her eyes with the thought of 'Word sure travels fast in that city.', Sabre nodded.

Plunging a pale hand into her green, tea stained apron, the girl held out a crumpled paper, shrugging. "They were everywhere, really. T'was hard not to run into one."

"Heh, must have taken up a lot of ink..." said Malvern, managing a weak laugh. Bristol, who was standing right beside him, whacked him lightly with his blunderbuss and the magician shut up immediately.

"How did you get here?" Sabre asked, cocking her head to the side slightly. The glowering man huffed and stood up straighter. "I could be asking you the same thing, Miss Shiradin. But seeing as how I've already heard you tell him," he gestured to Ian, "I suppose we could tell you. Could."

Sabre, feeling stunned, just crossed her arms and nodded at him.

"You see," the girl leaning against the railing piped up, "I was delivering tea here to Rob and all, since Constable Rykard is one of my father's clients, and then we were thrown off of our feet by the ship jerking." she looked at Sabre. "Was that you stealing the ship, there? Because if it was, you're absolutely terrible at steering. I was thrown every which way!"

Clenching her fists and thinking some rather unpleasant words to describe the tea girl, Sabre smiled tersely at her and looked at 'Rob', as she had called him. He shrugged, still looking stony faced. "What she said." He strode forward towards the airship builder, and glared down at her. "You'll be dropping us off in-" he glanced at the direction the ship was heading, "-in Jakuru, and you'll give yourselves up to the authorities as well for stealing this ship."

Just as Sabre had took a step back towards the others and opened her mouth to say "No...I don't think I will...", someone had laid a hand on her shoulder and strode up to Rob, looking down at him with a mock-warm expression.

"You misunderstand our goal, Sir," Malvern began pleasantly, as Sabre watched, not believing it. Then she remembered what he was. "We're going to Relggum's Peak in this vessel, and nothing you can say will change that, mkay? Dear Sabrena here is innocent, you see?"

"She's stolen both Constable Rykard's map and his airship! Looks to me as if she's a theif!" Rob huffed, pointing at Sabre.

"Well, yes, that's true," said Malvern, as he stared disdainly at the others over his shoulder, "but we prefer the term 'borrowing without the permission or knowledge of the other person' instead of 'stealing'."

"It's still stealing!"

"Do you know who I am?" Malvern said suddenly, his tone growing cold.

"An idiot in a cape and ridiculous hat?" replied Rob, his face growing red.

"Close enough! I am Malvern Ebling, magician extraordinaire!" Malvern said, flinging out his cape with a flourish and pointing to himself.

"You couldn't make the grass grow!" Ian called from where he was standing, while Bristol smacked him with his blunderbuss.

Malvern barred his teeth at both the mapmaker and the mechanic. With another flourish, he was holding a notebook and a writing utensil, and saying "Oh, I'm taking names now."

"That's Robert Vera, for you!" Rob huffed, turning away and stalking off towards the door opposite where they were standing.

The tea girl, who had remained silent this entire time, suddenly waved her hand around and said, "Oh, oh! I'm Lithlana Eurelle! Put me down, please! I wanna go on an adventure, too!"

With a final stoke of a pen, Malvern finished and looked at Lithlana with a heart-melting smile, saying "Thank you, Lithy." as he did so.

And, somewhere deep within the dark and musty recesses of Sabre's mind, something clicked.

---

"It's not here."

"What?"

"It's. Not. HERE."

"What are you talking about?"

"Relggum's Peak! It's not on here!"

"Are you kidding me?"

After the fiasco with the sudden appearence of Rob and Lithlana, Sabre had spread out the map they had gone to so much trouble to retrieve on a table in the ship's central cabin.

And now she was nearly tearing out her dark hair in agravation.

"Are you kidding me?" repeated Kanist, a look of pure shock on her lightly freckled face.

Bristol, Malvern, and Kanist turned in unison to glare at Ian. The mapmaker threw up his hands to shield himself from any oncoming attacks he knew were imminent.

"Are you telling me this map was never finished?" Bristol asked, glaring down at the aforementioned piece of paper. Sabre nodded solumnly, not tearing her eyes away from the map.

Bristol rounded on Ian, his fists clenched. Lithlana stood back with a look of polite confusion.

"And why did you have an unfinished map on display?" the Ipswitch demanded angrily, while the mapmaker adjusted his horn-rimmed glasses and smirked slighly. 'Haha! One up for me!' he thought, before his expression changed to one not unlike the tea girl's.

"And how was I supposed to know?" he said softly, feigning innocence. Bristol's glower became all the more pronounced, as did the magician's and his sister's. Sabre had taken to lightly tapping her forehead against the table's surface, denying that the map wasn't finished and silently hoping that the tiny dot labled 'Relggum's Peak' would appear as soon as she raised her head again.

Now, Kanist Ebling was a smart girl, and knew exactly where Relggum's Peak was located, but didn't speak out for fear of being...ah...questioned. That, and she found great amusement in seeing Sabrena Lin Shiradin suffer. So, instead of speaking, she moved over to stare down at the map, feeling slightly betrayed by Ian's mapmaking skills and expertise, and offered a suspensful substitute.

"You could steal another one, you know..."

Everyone looked up, including Sabre, who was indeed frustrated to see that the little dot had not appeared. She huffed and squinted her eyes in the direction of the magician's little sister, saying "And where do we find one that's finished? If this big, important," she shot a look at Ian,"one isn't finished, where are we going to find one that is?"

"Well..." Kanist began, sitting down on another of the table's chairs and clasping her hands together, "If you're not against 'stealing' another Treasure (You're already well known for it, you know...), then we could just steal the Map of Thorus, Jakuru's Treasure!" she finished brightly, smiling around at them all.

The effect was tremendous.

Everyone gasped. Bristol quickly gained a look equivalent to a broken mirror, revolved on the spot, and fainted.

Sabre just smirked and leered at Malvern (who was white as a sheet and looked scared as he noticed her looking at him), her mind already coming up with a brilliant plan to infliltrate and pilfer...