Yashin & Jiyu's Ultimate Adventure!

Island of Solitude [28]

Wytherspear was quite the hidden city. But there was, of course, an area for galactic vehicles to come in and out of the city. They called the main exit, 'The Dock'. 

It was huge but not many people were entering the city... but that didn't matter, given the squad's intent to leave. ''Ta-da! There she is! The one... THE ONLY!~'' Meredith started to boastfully show off her ship. It was a lot like a pirate's ship that they used on the open ocean many years ago. Meredith then continued, almost screaming it, ''My Ship, THE S.S SHORA! All aboard laddy's and lasses, because the captain is back!'' She jumps on, with a huge smile on her face, excited to get back behind the wooden steering wheel.

When everyone had finally got on and was ready to depart from the Dock, Meredith pushed some buttons on the side of the wheel, and in doing so, had caused the ship to move in two ways. First off, the ship hovered and below it had started spurting out water particles that most likely helped it to move. The second was a large force field that shined a bright white as it wrapped around the ship, to which the force field went invisible after being set up. As always, the Wytherspear fog was thick but not as bad as before which made sense since this was the prime exit. The blackish grey fog mixed with the starry morning skies as the S.S. Shora hovered higher and higher, moving forward, leaving a short trail of water particles. The fade from dark grey to dark purple, to a lighter purple. Once more, stars had dotted the sky, twinkling in unison. 

Just like when she was on the GalacticArc for the first time, Jiyu rushed over to the side of the Shora, being fascinated by the infinite galaxy around them. ''Hey, Jiyu!'' Linette was heard approaching the blonde cat as she jumped but then gave her a smile. ''Hey, Linette! Crazy being on this kinda ship, right? I thought they were all trashed ages ago.'' Jiyu joked, making conversation. Linette chuckled as she nodded, with an ''Mhm!''. Linette sighed, and asked her, ''Hey... Jiyu? Remember when you were flirting with the bouncer at Club Hunni?'' Jiyu tilted her head, confused by the question. Her fluffy yellow tail wrapped around her waist in instinct as she replied, ''Yeah, I remember. But why are you bringing that up?'', ''Well, I just wanna confirm real quick... when you said 'this kitty swings both ways' - that means you're openly bi, right?'' Linette asked, nervously. ''Yeah, Which as you might already know, means I like ladies and guys. Preferenced towards ladies more though... eheh, Anyways, Why did you wanna know?'' Jiyu laughed to herself for a second before Linette replied. Almost struggling to get her words out, she spoke in a quiet tone, ''Well... I grew up not really thinking about dating the same gender. Especially since I was almost forced into marriage. But after recent events... I think I don't like guys. Like, at all. But it's the opposite for girls... you know? I guess I was just hoping you could give me some advice or something like that... Sorry.'' Linette apologised for rambling but Jiyu didn't care. In fact, she was happy for Linette. ''Hey, don't be sorry! That kinda thing is hard to realise about yourself! Especially for someone who goes through all those princess expectations. I'm sure you're happy to be away from home, in that regard. We can be whoever we want when we're travelling like this!'' Jiyu smiled as her tailed swivelled away from her waist and started to sway, happily. Linette noticed and held back a laugh as she blurted out, ''Aha-! Thanks, Jiyu. And yeah, being a royale sucks at times. But even so... I miss home.'' Linette leaned on the edge, resting her eyes and reminiscing. 

Suddenly, Pico skipped over to them, followed by Akarui as Pico exclaimed, ''Hey, look! That planet over there in the distance is Cloakskyne!''. They looked over and Jiyu's eyes sparkled. Akarui then asked both Jiyu and Pico, ''Do you two miss home at all?'', Pico then replied with a shrug, ''Well, Kind of. I miss the GalacticArc... and I'm worried in case my instructor thinks that I'm dead. But other than that? Nah, It's been fun.'' Pico finished as the three looked at Jiyu, waiting for her to answer as well. She decided to not say what she said the previous night to Yashin, and instead just have a simple answer. ''Similiar to Pico, I'm worried about my brother... eheh, But I've met some really cool people on this adventure!'' Jiyu finished with a chuckle as the other three laughed and smiled too. They continued to talk and joke around for a while.

Meanwhile, with Yashin, Seiko and Meredith. 

Meredith was still focusing on the skies and the wheel. But she was also answering some questions that Yashin and Seiko had about their next destination. ''So we're going to Nahrahka Island, right? What can you tell us about it?'' Seiko excitedly asked. Meredith smiled and started explaining, ''Nahrahka Island is the Island Paradise nation. If you want a perfect vacation then Nahrahka is the way to go! Its leader is Lady Guiz'qao. Don't let the name fool you! His most iconic title is 'His Majesty, The Queen'. Guiz'qao goes by he/him but feminine titles. I've also already contacted him and he replied this morning! His personal butler will escort us from the docks when we arrive and we'll be given three cabins which we can split between us all. Oh! And like Wytherspear is known for its crime and discrimination, Nahrahka is more so known for its peaceful nature and tranquillity. That's just about all I can say at the moment... You'll just have to see it for yourselves!'' Meredith finished with a smile as Seiko had gotten hyped up, as did Yashin, who answered another question. ''What's the community like?'', by this time, Seiko had joined the others and brung them some drinks he brought onboard. 

''The community? Well... I suppose it is different from what I've seen in other nations. Three clans reside in Nahrahka Island. Other than Lady Guiz'qao, they're the most highly respected. Let's see... there's Hadowaku which prioritises construction, and Shosha which is the most competitive, and finally, there's Wakusei which is best known for their awesome fighters! I heard the most famous swordsman from that clan recently passed away too, so the heir is in charge for a while!'' Meredith chuckled slightly, still focusing on her surroundings. 

Finally, they had finished talking and everyone was just doing their own things, sharing information, talking, joking, and two were even playing a game. While they did that, the famous Bard Captain, Meredith Hendrix, started singing one of the lesser-known songs that she knew.

''Over the hills, across the path, is where I thought I wouldn't last,

But then one great sunny day, a claymore swung down, clung to a lass, 

She was brave and tall, kind and strong, hero to all and second to none,

But then she said she had to go, I asked everywhere and well, nobody knows,

I remember when she left, ran in a flash, 

Never saw her again, but damn did she save my ass...''

Meredith's singing was mesmerizing. It had half the squad staring at her in awe, having the song stuck in their heads for the next few hours.

Yashin's gaze was broken, as she then decided to ask, ''Did you write that one too?'', to which Meredith replies, ''Do you always ask so many questions? I'm kidding! But no, it was written by an old friend of mine... he never got to finish it, haha!'' Meredith laughed off as Yashin let out a giggle.

''Nahrahka Island, here we come!'' Yashin exclaims with an even wider smile than before as Jiyu leaned back, letting her legs stretch out in front of her. Excitedly, she added...

''To Paradise!''