Looking at the imposing stature of the capitain, Isa noticed the long glance towards her, but luckily they did not seem to be late.  A relieved sigh escaped her lips.<br/>The capitain was holding a shield, and even though Isa couldnt hear what was going on, half through lip reading and half through the motions, she understood the message.<br/><br/>Spacing out a little, Isa felt a little bit nostalgic, watching the capitain. Even though it hadnt been that long that she was member of the crew, she felt like it was an eternity already.<br/><br/>The time when she first saw that imposing figure she was not better off than a beggar, with no future, accompanied by her two survivor companions. A pack of street rats in a corner, waiting for merciful people to pick them off to bring them to "the Village"<br/><br/>Drifting off,  the girl didnt really pay attention to the capitains explanations...<br/><br/><div style="background-color:#111111; border:1px solid black; margin:10px 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px;"><span style="color: #aaaaaa"><br/><span style="font-weight: bold"><div style="text-align: center;">***</div></span><br/>Isa watched the ship leaving.<br/><br/>A tingle of regret emerged in her heart. The ones on the ship, which brought them to this station, would not hire her. Who wants to hire a dumb and deaf idiot? Even if she could not hear it, she could read their lips. She gripped her fists tightly and looked around to see her two companions. Dirty, ripped clothes, and exhausted, malnutritioned faces. She did not look any better. Besides maybe the worn out uniform top she got to cover her right side. "Its unsightly, dont show it. Why could she imagine the voices of the disdainful people in her head now, that she could not hear them? Weren't warriors scars a proof of their pride?<br/>The two girls that survived with her together, would they have made it out alone? Would she have died if not for the two of them being her ears? She was feeling the vibrations of a ship landing and starting, and other things, but her world was now forever a silent one. She missed the noise already. A tingle of fear mixed to the regret. If she had known... she sighed.<br/>She probably still would have taken the same path. Ships connected her to her brother. Her hands gripped on the dagger like knife in her pocket. Dagatz' memento.<br/><br/>Feeling a gaze, she discovered a woman in capitains uniform arriving towards them. <span style="font-style: italic">~Why would a capitain bother to pick us up? what about the crew? ~</span> she wondered inwardly, but only nudged the two girls, to focus their attention on the majestic figure that unhurriedly paced towards them.<br/>The vibration she had felt just now must have been the new ship to Vaetta. Unwillingly, she bit her lip, and a stubborn look appeared in her eyes. She did not want to go, but she had no choice. For now the best Idea is to take her two companions to safety.<br/></span><br/><span style="font-weight: bold"><div style="text-align: center;">~~~</div></span><br/><br/><span style="color: #4000FF">The girls had been lucky. Lucky to survive what had happened to them, and lucky Alfhild Eriksson was in a good mood the day she had picked them up.<br/>At first, Alfhild had grumbled at the idea of carrying passengers. It wasn't their usual job, and not in her repertoire. She wasn't a hostess, a transport for the weak and feeble. Of course, Kri had convinced her otherwise. Who else could move the stubborn, bull-headed and -sized woman to change her mind? We're heading to The Village anyway, Kri had said, and besides, they won't cause any trouble. Look at them! He had been right, naturally, and Alfhild had eventually opened up to the new company.<br/>Now it was time to bid them farewell. She watched them as they walked away, through the great carved hall of the landing hangar and into a side passage. It was a shame, what had happened to the one with the tea-coloured hair. She moved with a grace and beauty until someone touched her, then she shattered with surprise and fear. She only hoped that the Village doctors could help her. As Alfhild turned to go back to the inner parts of her beloved ship, she didn't notice a small figure jump on to the rising entrance ramp behind her.<br/><br/>A mighty leap it was.</span><br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold"><div style="text-align: center;">~~~</div></span><br/><br/><span style="color: #aaaaaa">She did not try the conventional method of getting hired this time. Washed and clothed properly in old clothes. With a determined face, she somehow managed to bypass the guards, to get back on the ship that just got back to Vaetta. She left a letter for her parents with the two girls. Mother may cry, but Father will understand. She nodded and clenched her fists tightly.<br/><br/>[...]<br/><br/>Why was she hiding in the capitains closet again? Right. So she could get hired. So the capitain had no choice but at least to give her a try, before they landed again. If she got kicked out she would try to sneak on the next ship.<br/>Her mouth practised the words she had not spoken for a long time, just mouthing them, but not getting any voice out. <span style="font-style: italic">"I want to get hired on this ship." "I want to get hired on this ship."</span><br/>After what seemed to be an eternity, she felt the typical vibrations of setting in motion. Some butterflies were flapping their wings somewhere in her stomach, as a sparkle of excitement emerged in her silvery eyes.<br/>Now to wait for the capitain to come back...</span><br/><span style="font-weight: bold"><div style="text-align: center;">~~~</div></span><br/><br/><span style="color: #4000FF">Alfhild shook her head, mane of hair tossing and untangling from a long sparring session with Ragna. Her body was covered in a heavy sweat under her layers of armour. All she could think of was sleep. She would miss Kole's mighty meal, but he lids were so heavy she feared she would drop unconscious in her soup like a fool.<br/>Pulling off her bracers, shin guards, and breastplate, Alfhild wiped herself with a rag. The Viking and Valdoon armour mixture, often called Valking, was much lighter than traditional armour, but was still a relief to take off. She prepared to toss it into the closet in a very untidy, Alfhild-like fashion, when it open.<br/></span><br/><span style="font-weight: bold"><div style="text-align: center;">~~~</div></span><br/><span style="color: #aaaaaa">Swallowing her saliva once or twice, she opened the closet door and stepped outside, in a bit of a soldier like manner.<br/>But before she could say a thing an attack followed up. Frantically, but swiftly she dodged and tried again to say something, but her throat dried up.<br/>The small room did not give a lot space to maneuver, and if she got hit, she would be a goner... So she used her slim body to squeeze in where she could, and most often it would be the floor, ducking and rolling past the capitain.<br/>Dodging repeatedly, but not attacking was hard. Finally she directed the fist that almost got her away, and in a smooth but elegant movement emerging at the capitains' back, her breathing a little ragged.<br/><span style="font-style: italic">"I.. I.."</span> her voice was probably really croaked and she could not adjust the loudness. <span style="font-weight: bold">"I want to get hired"</span> she tried again and hoped that it did come out right.</span><br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold"><div style="text-align: center;">~~~</div></span><br/><br/><span style="color: #4000FF">Alfhild's heart dropped to the bottom of the universe. How the hell did someone get on her ship? Her fevered brain didn't consider the possibility of the intruder being an ally. Nobody was stupid enough to enter her room without permission. She swung viciously, but with little control. In her blind rage, she heard a faint thump as the intruder hit the ground and rolled between her legs. I'm a dead woman, Alfhild thought, cursing, killed in my own quarters. She prepared to turn before she heard an unusual voice.<br/>"I WANT TO GET HIRED," a feminine voice boomed. My, was it loud. Alfhild lifted her hands to her ears, spinning. The situation was so absurd, she began to laugh.<br/>When Alhild saw who it was, the laughing ceased.<br/>It was the deaf girl, the girl with the tea-coloured hair. Isa, was it? How had she gotten on the ship? Alfhild composed herself as much as she could, which was difficult, being no longer fully armoured, disheveled from training, and thoroughly confused.<br/><span style="font-style: italic">"First, how did you get on my ship, secondly, why are you in my quarters, and thirdly, why in Helheim didn't you ask in the more conventional way?" </span>Alfhild hoped she didn't look too menacing. Actually, she didn't care. This was her damn ship, her damn room, and the girl should be afraid.</span><br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">***</div></div><br/><br/>Awkwardly scratching her head, as she remembered, Isas memories of the follow up vere blurry, as she glanced onto the capitain out of the corner of her eyes... She had gotten an earful that time, even being deaf.<br/>She had showed no fear towards the woman though or cowered, just answered her questions calmly... something along the lines of:<br/><span style="font-style: italic">"I jumped aboard.".."Mixed into the hustle and bustle when the ship set sail." "Picked the door lock of the cabin and locked it again.." "Nobody wants to hire a deaf soldier." </span><br/>- it had been her grasping at straws  like a drowning person after all, so there was no need to hide anything. Honestly, she had put her life on the line, preparing to be thrown off the ship if things went bad enough.<br/><br/>But somehow, much to her surprise the capitain did hire her in the end. Watching the capitain explaining the training, she grew competitive. The memories of their fight in the room reminded her of the days when she was still a mainly combative crewmember.<br/><br/>She would probably never reach the capitains level in terms of power, but as for manoevring, that was a whole other topic.<br/><br/>Still, she would gladly challenge Alfhild anytime, even though she obviously would lose this time, but Isa disliked it being infront of everyones eyes.<br/>And since the whole crew had been gathered, the Jack-of-all-Rabbits tucked in a strand of hair that fell in front of her eyes and suppressed her ambitious ideas, as she finally averted her eyes from the mighty powerful stature of the capitain.<br/><br/>Also, there was this image in her head charging at the capitains mountain like countenance, bouncing off of her, again and again.<br/>She shook her head slightly.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">~I gotta work hard.~ </span><br/><br/>Sweeping the room with her eyes, she noticed most people already paired up, and grabbed the person next to her, which was roughly in her weight class, and seemed to try to stand around passively, waiting for something to happen.<br/><br/>Fiske.<br/><br/>Tugging on one of his sleeves, the girl pointed to an inconspicious corner of the room. She would rather stand out in an actual fight rather than practise, so she picked a corner in between rowdy and loud crew members to ward off attentious glances.