#dragon scribe

@higekihigure

Blackthorne followed the teens gaze, nodding proudly. “Aye, we’re one of the top trappers in the region. We ‘ave traps fer every breed an’ cages for all sizes.“ She gave Lavi a hearty pat on the back and gestured him forward with a gentle push. “Lets get ye acquainted with the ship, kent ‘ave ye fallin inta one of the cages now kin we?” she chuckles. She skirts around a criss-crossing of metal bars at the center of the ship as growls and hollow echoes seemed to wail from it. “Don’ mind them, they get a bit cranky when we’re late fer their feedin’ time.” —————————-

Blackthorne began with the upper deck, explaining the various weapons, nets and chains - as well as chores - that sat laid out before them on the massive galleon; answering any questions he had along the way. Any she could not answer, or felt would take too much time, she directed to other members of the crew - introducing him in the process, but directing him along; those questions would have to wait. Once she was sure he understood everything on deck, she led him to one of the doorways on either side of the steps leading to officer and captains quarters as well as the helm. There was no door, to speak of, just a decent into darkness that eventually became tinged with the welcoming flicker of lanterns. Below deck smelled of people marinating in their own fluids mingled with hay  and tinged with the scent of dragons. Scorched tables sat haphazardly on one side of the room, men and women drinking and talking loudly in varied accents as they enjoyed their break. Rows of dragon-hide hammocks and bunks adorned the other side of the room, people, as well as medium sized dragons, napping in a few of them, despite it being noon. Small canons were secured along the ports. Dragon hide seemed to be a common-theme upon this ship, from covering the masts and pillars in a protective layer, to adorning the men and women who bustled around them, even to rugs that were nailed to the floors beneath them.

A fledgling Deadly Nadder ran past them dragging a large fish with it, from somewhere above deck foreign cursing could be heard, but Blackthorne did not stop.

There was a deck they breezed through reserved solely for stores of food and even livestock This floor needed no explanation, but Blackthorne showed him the various rooms of ingriedients before moving on to the next. She lead the new recruit to another door, one covered in dragonhide, heat wafted from it like a furnace and with it, the smell of fish and dragon dung. Squawks and yowls drifted up in an endless cacophony to greet them. Descending the stairs was much like descending into hell, the heat and noise only getting worse the closer to the light they got. This floor had likely once been a guests floor, but now cages - much like various sized prison cells, lined the walls and filled the space. Dragon hide covered the walls from ceiling to floor boards in patches. In the cages paced various dragons from terrible terrors to Stingers. “We keep the bigger ones down below.” Blackthorne stated as she opened some ports, letting in the sea breeze. She smiled, satisfied as some of the cries died down. “Wanna see ‘em?”

                                     🐰 [[[♠] ⅩℒⅠⅩ [♥]]] 🐰

Lavi nodded his head faintly at the declaration that Blackthorne’s crew were some of the best trappers of the local area. So he had heard, and so he’d gone to investigate. The size of her ship lent well to her claims.

His eye wanders curiously to the deck beams at the sounds echoing from below, and Tatsui uncurls herself slightly from his neck to arch and peer inward, flicking her tongue curiously.

He clicks his own tongue and rests a hand under her belly and guide her to settle back around his neck, petting warm scales, and follows Blackthorne at his own leisurely pace. Still, with his longer legs its easy enough to keep up.

He laughs a bit under his breath, humming contemplation at her words about falling into cages

❝  No, I suppose we can’t. Though I like to think I know my way well enough around them.  ❞ He gives Tatsui a soft, idle belly scratch before falling silent, paying keen attention to everything Blackthorne chooses to show and speak of, and more importantly, the small things that she doesn’t.

That wasn’t to say she wasn’t at the very least informative if not outright hospitable, answering a good many of his curiosities, and he found it both odd and telling that she was so comfortable with talking so freely about the secrets of her trade. Confidence, perhaps. Not thinking less of him, maybe, but thinking much of herself and having little fear of true competition.

Its risky, but still at least somewhat commendable. From what he can see, such confidence isn’t mere bravado, and she has a large crew backing her. If any problems arise, she has more than just a little bit of back-up. Something he’ll definitely have to keep in mind and respect.

He noted with one sharp eye that much of the items below deck were made from the skins and parts of dragons. Dragon hide seemed the most common theme. Most prominent was the stink of Man, and Lavi was dare to say he hadn’t yet grown used to the pungent stink of Westerners.

He at least had the sense not to wrinkle his nose or make a face, only sniffing faintly and swiping the underside of his nose. More tolerable was the ting of smoke, charred wood, and dragon musk.

He noted that some of the dragons aboard the lower deck were free to roam, likely tamed, and the tables, walls, and other odd corners bore the marks of at least a dozen stray blasts long ago put out.

He dodged slightly aside when the young Nadder came racing through, and seeing as Blackthorne hardly gave it a glance, he’d hazard this to be a normal occurrence. That, in its own small way, was somewhat of an uplifting, even promising thought, that there was at least some sense of coexistence with dragons among these trappers.

He could not say that of all that he’d come across before.

Passing through the store room, he made note of the ingredients Blackthorne mentioned in passing, some familiar and others entirely foreign, nodding his head as he mentally catalogued them all to memory. They might come in handy later, depending on how long he chose to stick around and make use of himself.

Descending into the lower decks, he noticed the rise in temperature straight away, and the loud din of dragon voices soon after. Tatsui once more partially uncoiled herself and bobbed upright like an arched snake, flicking her tongue with interest.

By the time Blackthorne got around to opening one of the port hatches to let cooler air in, his brow was faintly dotted with sweat and the sudden chill made him shiver just a bit. The breeze was nice, and from the quieting sounds of the dragons he guessed they felt the same relief.

He nodded his head at her with a meek smile, looking very interested.