[Warrick] Bumblebee II: A Sequel

[Quio]

41st of Vhalar, Arc 716 AV
morning

They had been grounded for a day, and now it was time to figure out how to get the jacadon --Si'tony-- safely onto the Blackheart in order to transport her back to Andaris.

"Good luck with that," Quio muttered to himself as he eyed the wily creature, holding the fishing net bunched in his hands. Beside him, Hart was looking with worry between the net and the jacadon. It made sense to net her, if only to tie down her wings and make her more manageable-- but a net of this size cost 40gn, and they couldn't easily afford to lose it. What if Si'tony just tore right through?

Not for the first time, the Yludih muttered a choice swear or two under his breath in anticipation.

It had been a long day trial-last, spent mostly building up supplies. If they were to have a jacadon on their ship they were betting on keeping her well fed and relatively happy. So they had fished the trial away yesterday and collected gallon after gallon of ocean water to boil down to salt, before salting and smoking their fishing catches to keep them from spoiling on the journey home. The amount of fish they'd been able to gather and prepare in a day wasn't nearly enough to feed the jacadon the whole trip back, but they could fish off and on during the journey as well, giving her something fresher to snack on.

They had also collected plenty of firewood and large stones for heating --Si'tony seemed to like hot stones to lie next to-- and what seaweed they could, drying the former and the latter out in the sun during the periods of good weather before inevitably it again began to rain. They'd set out the tarp, too, collecting rainwater to funnel into their buckets before hauling the filled buckets back to the Blackheart and putting the fresh water in supply barrels on the ship. Before supplementing their supplies, they hadn't had a lot of extra water to spare for the little dragon. Now, if they were careful about the amounts they gave her, they should have just enough.

So yes, it had been a busy trial yesterday, but though the work had been hard it had also been peaceful. There hadn't been any dragon wrestling, so Quio's sore back and crystals seemed to be healing up. Though he did have one hell of a bruise between his shoulder blades.

Now Yludih and seaborn glanced at each other and Aeon, facing Si'tony-- who stared at them in stony silence, flicking her tail. Quio grimaced and asked, "So is this how we want to do this?" Holding up the net and indicating they would ensnare Si'tony with it. "Maybe one of us could distract her, or give her food or something, and the others could throw the net over her quickly? Try to pin her wings?"

As if the dragon had understood him she flexed her claws in the soft sand, digging furrows in the ground and giving out a low rumble. Probably she could sense their nervousness. Hart, beside him, shook his head.

"I can't believe we're doing this."

"Me neither," Quio answered, "But I don't see how else we're going to get her on the boat."

"Speaking in Rakahi"
"Speaking in Common"
"Speaking in Ulehi"

[Aeon]

It had been an interesting experience for the skyrider, that was certain, since he had never actually stayed out in the open like that for longer than one trial. Sure, there were several times he camped out with the Iron Hand, but they were either completely full on supplies or the camps didn't last long enough for Aeon to experience such hardships of gathering all sorts of different supplies.

Fishing, that wasn't exactly new to the young sergeant, but he hadn't ever done it himself, not in this amount at least. They were stockpiling fish for a jacadon and three people, hence the excessive amounts of fishing. Gathering rocks and firewood, that was easy for the boy, he'd done that a million times over, without issues, but what truly intrigued him,, and what he hadn't done before, was gathering the rain water from the tarps. At first, Aeon's mind was blown with the brilliance and intelligence that Quio must have had to come up with something like that, until he figured out that that was what his father was doing back on the farm, just not with tarps, and not so visibly.

And all of that in just one trial, the skyrider never thought it possible to accomplish so much in so little time. They were almost ready for the journey back to Andaris, but there was one key detail the young sergeant had forgotten. The jacadon was still way too big to just lead it onto the boat like a dog. If it would follow like one, that is. The scales of the beast appeared brighter and more in detail ever since they gave her the seaweed, which meant it must have worked. It was now relaxing in the same spot as per usual, at least until the seaborn said the idea out loud. Jacadon were smart, and some even claimed they could understand the basics of Common, and Aeon had no doubts that Si'tony understood the fact that they wanted to bind her.

"I hate to say it, but there's no better solution. I'm not gonna be very useful with the net, so I'll be a distraction." Saying that, the skyrider considered just how was he going to distract it. It would be easier than tossing a net with only one hand at least, so that was a start. So far, Si'tony didn't take the fish straight out of someone's hand, but perhaps if he threw the fish slightly away from her. What if she wasn't hungry? What would Gaspard do? Aeon asked himself, as he thought about the smiling face of his employer at the Lodge. Gaspard would've smiled and said it would all work out, then threw some fancy schmancy jacadon sweet at her, and it all would've worked out. Except for the fact that Aeon didn't gave the fancy schmancy jacadon sweet. Or did he?

"This'll only take a bit, I know what I'm doing." The sergeant said, as if he was reminding himself that he had no idea what he was doing. Quickly grabbing one of the salty fish, and a bowl, Aeon raced to the water only to fill the bowl with the sea water. Within trills, he found himself above the fire that they were going to extinguish in just a few bits, boiling the water in the bowl, while the fish rested on the ground. Salt, they like salt, there's salt in sea water, I just need to remove the water, simple, right? He once again said to himself, this time within his mind, only to give himself some reassurance.

It did only take a couple of bits for the water to be completely turned into steam, while the salt remained at the bottom of the bowl, then, the skyrider went with the fish all across the salty bottom of the bowl, which was very hard to do with just one hand. The salt wouldn't stick to the fish for long, since it had not reason to, but it would at least be enough to attract the attention of the jacadon for a few trills.

"Jacadon like salt, I bet she'll smell it and take the bait, and then you net her." Something was rushing through Aeon's blood, adrenaline, perhaps, even though there was no danger involved, he still felt pumped to be doing stuff like that, stuff that required some thinking, and strategy. Hopefully this strategy would work. Net her, he skyrider went back to his words, only to chuckle internally. Net her, he thought again, right before he moved in towards the juvenile beast.

"Extra double salty fish, you want it, don't you?" He said, while trying to lure Si'tony into dropping her guard with the fish. One single fish. Would she even take the bait for one single fish? Well, apparently, the jacadon weren't as smart as Aeon would've presumed, as the green-winged creature moved towards him with caution. Just a few more feet, just a little bit longer, and it'd drop its guard, hopefully, most likely. Now it was all up to the seaborn to take the perfect moment to net her, since, if they failed, who knew if she would take any bait ever again, or if she would even trust them to be around her, and Aeon wasn't ready for another round of jacadon wrestling.

[Quio]

So the net it would be. If there had been a equivalent gesture, Quio would have taken that moment to cross himself. As it was, he muttered a short prayer to
U'frek-- Sea father, protect your creatures. Let this go well.

Then he tensed, preparing himself, and waited for Aeon's cue.

Of course, that didn't mean the boy was going to do anything remotely like what Quio thought was going to happen.

We're already stocked up, the Yludih wanted to tell him, mystified as the boy boiled water down to salt and began scrubbing one of the final fish in it. Hart looked over, just as puzzled, but when Quio opened his mouth to ask what the hell he was doing, Hart simply caught his eye and shook his head. And then, when Aeon was ready, the seaborn stepped forward.

Leaving Aeon to explain. "Oh, salt," the false-Biqaj said, sort of impressed, and filed away the knowledge.

Now. It was really time to do this.

Si'tony was not stupid. She knew something was going on, though she didn't know what. She shifted in the sand when Aeon came closer, speaking to her, holding out the salted fish. Quio saw her nostrils flare, and her tongue flicked out, though he didn't know if she could taste the treat on the air.

Whether or not she could, Aeon had certainly gotten her attention. She fixed her eyes on him, and opened her mouth as if to spit whitefire-- but of course it was an empty threat, they had been careful yesterday. As long as they fed her fish in her water, she had to swallow it all down to her stomach, not to the organ that held water inside her that Aeon had called a waterskin. Thankfully, she was empty of steam.

But not empty of spite.

All it took was for the Skyrider to get just a bit too close and she was lunging. She seemed to have built up her strength since her drowning in the drink; now she moved much faster, mouth springing open full of teeth like a shark, and snapped them down uncomfortably close to Aeon's good arm. It seemed to have only been a warning bite; now she drew herself up, trying again to breathe steam--

And Quio and Hart ran around either side of her, hauling the net, and tangled her up.

Wings immediately tried to burst free, the jacadon snarling and thrashing, and the net was weighted, but not nearly enough to hold her down on its own. Nearby Jack was going crazy barking, and Yanaqi put herself in front of Si'tony, snarling just as loudly, trying to get the dragon to back down. Meanwhile Hart and Quio were doing everything they could to hold on and keep her pinned down until once more she wore out her strength--

Though whether or not their strength would last for so long, neither of them knew. It was to be a battle of endurance.

Thankfully, the jacadon they had caught was a juvenile. Not a baby, exactly, but little more. They could do it. If they just held on--

Quio was covered in sand, grunting as his fingers lost feeling, tangled in the weave of the net.

Si'tony was letting out a strangled noise of rage and fear, sort of like a hiss, sort of like a roar, and he realized she was desperately trying to breathe steam on them, though there was no steam to give--

And eventually, though he was panting and shaking with exertion, she gave in enough --just enough-- to let them swoop down on her and force her wings to her sides, before wrapping and pinning the net firm around her body.

"Everyone, quick!" Quio said then, and Yanaqi was already ahead of him, barking at Jack and racing into the water to paddle towards the ship. He grabbed a double handful of netting and began to heave, pulling the jacadon along in the sand.

"Aeon!" Hart called, and shrugged out of his jacket, handing it over to the Skyrider. "Wrap her eyes! And hold her head, if you can!" Because even as they pulled her towards the water, Si'tony was flailing head and tail, dragging her claws, fighting them with every step. If she got her head turned around enough to bite one of them--

Well, that might be that. A bad wound, out this far from a city, with nothing to treat it but hope and saltwater--

"Aeon, be careful!" Quio called, and struggled to pull the jacadon faster towards the sea.

They just needed to get her into the water and pull her to the side of the ship. There, they'd be able to wrap ropes around her and pull her quickly aboard.

But first, they needed not to get bit.

"Speaking in Rakahi"
"Speaking in Common"
"Speaking in Ulehi"

[Aeon]

Several times did Aeon think how stupid the whole idea was, considering he could’ve gotten burned down to ash, or had his only hand bitten off if the circumstances were just slightly different. If they had done one thing differently, even the smallest of things, he might’ve been killed by the young Jacadon, but fortunately for the skyrider, he was still alive as the net encircled the mighty flying creature. Fear sure was there, but just like before, Aeon did not let it control him.

There wasn’t much to be done now, since the pair of Biqaj seemed to know, at least enough, what they were doing. Perhaps if one of them lost the handle on Si’tony, he’d need to jump in, but so far so good, or so it looked. They were nearing the shining surface of the calm water. The waves which suggested a storm had passed, luckily for the trio, as bringing a struggling Jacadon onto a boat with that kind of sea would’ve been impossible.

Finally, there was a job for the young sergeant to do, and he’d do it gladly, instead of just standing there waiting for something to happen. He only nodded at Hart, to let the biqaj know he was understood, before covering the mighty beast’s face with the coat. That coat was doomed, Aeon thought as he put his weight over it, trying to suppress sudden movements of the Jacadon’s head.

She did not like having something block her mouth, and her eyes. As they pulled Si’tony towards the water, she pushed her head, along with Aeon, left and right repeatedly, hoping to get rid of the piece of leather that was blocking her. It was quite clear, she had tried breathing steam several times, and luckily for the skyrider, who once more would’ve been burned down if it wasn’t for the biqaj’s idea, she couldn’t. Still, even without whitefire, the strength with which she forced Aeon in several different directions was immense, and the young man’s boots left a clear trace in the sand where he was pulled.

Finally, the sergeant felt cold around his legs, as his boots started sinking in the wet sand beneath the salty water. Just a couple more feet, he kept reminding himself, as small waves splashed around him each time the Jacadon dragged him along with her head. The pressure on the net was suddenly way smaller as one of the men went up the ship to get the ropes required to bring the beast aboard. An amazing time to strike, Si’tony must’ve thought, as her wings once again attempted at spreading through the net, unsuccessfully. Her front legs, however, were much more successful as she jumped briefly out of the water, pulling Aeon along with her. The real cold began as his soaked shirt made contact with the chilly Vhalar air.

Fortunately, yet unfortunately, he was returned to the water just as quickly, as the net pulled the Jacadon back down. Si’tony’s landing was, however, way lighter than the skyrider’s, since the young man flew back into the sea without much to stop him, and briefly lost contact with the coat that guarded the three from getting bitten.

All he could hope was that the ropes were already connected and the biqaj had already began pulling the creature up towards the boat by that time, as the crazy amounts of adrenaline hadn’t allowed Aeon to look around and observe the environment much. And after several trills underwater, the boy managed to catch his breath, and the first thing he would’ve tried to look at was the Jacadon, in hopes that him messing up hadn’t caused much damage to his travel mates.

[Quio]

By the time the jacket came off the jacadon's head, Quio had already grabbed Jack out of the water and slithered up the ship's rope ladder. On board, he found Yanaqi already on deck-- yet he hadn't carried her up, so how had she gotten up? She must have turned human and climbed up without any of them noticing before turning back into a dog. He wanted to berate her for that, but it would have to wait. Instead, he dropped Jack to the deck and ran to get the ropes they needed.

There would have been no way for Quio to pull the jacadon up all by himself if not for the lines and pulleys that were usually used to draw up a dinghy. They didn't currently have such a lifeboat, and thus the winches were free to use for lifting any heavy items they needed on board-- usually barrels of water and the like. In a pinch, however, they could be used to lift a baby dragon.

Below Quio heard some splashing, and Hart let out a short yell. The Yludih didn't need more motivation.

He drew the rigging to the starboard side, threading the line into all the correct places, and then leapt off the boat straight back into the water, the free end of the rope in one hand.

Si'tony had her head free, and with her head free they were all in danger. He didn't know if she had gulped up any water to use for steam; even as he watched, Hart leapt forward and grabbed the dragon by the face, wrapping his arms around her snout to keep her mouth sealed shut. Immediately she began to buck her head left and right, trying to dislodge him. If she figured out she could force him underwater, she might ending up drowning the seaborn.

Not good.

Meanwhile, Aeon had gone under, and Quio struggled to fish for him with one hand while clinging to the jacadon with the other. She lashed out at him in the water, fighting his hold, but she was still wrapped in the net and couldn't seem to struggle free.

Yet.

Finally Aeon resurfaced, and Quio pushed him towards the rope ladder, yelling out to "Climb!" before ducking underwater himself. He still had the rope; now he swam downwards and under, winding it around the jacadon's middle, knowing that if he wrapped it only around her neck she would strangle. He bobbed up on the other side--

Just in time for one of Si'tony's wings to rip free of the fishing net, thwacking him hard on the top of the head.

Dazed, the Yludih slipped back underwater.

He was aware he was floating when he should have been swimming. He and the rope were all tangled up. He floated a moment more, disoriented, before his body began to kick again. Pain worked its way, belated, through his head, and Quio thrashed for a moment before reorienting himself. He may have swallowed some water; he didn't know.

He broke the surface, coughing and wheezing, and saw Hart still wrestling with Si'tony's head. Her wing swung down once more and nearly hooked Quio in the shoulder. It was only luck that saved him. A particularly large wave hit them and rocked Si'tony off balance. Her claws dug into the water next to his body, instead of into his flesh.

His head was stinging something fierce, but right now there was no time for anything but action. Quio sorted out the tangle of rope as best he could and looped it once around the angry dragon's neck before tossing it over her back and diving underwater.

Back on the beast's other side, he found he had the rope wrapped around Si'tony's neck and body, and they would have to hope that it would hold. He fumbled to tie a hasty knot, then splashed back over to the side of the ship. Struggling to get himself up the rope ladder. Quio flopped back on deck, spitting out a mouthful of sea water, and then slipped and slid his way clumsily over to the side of the ship.

He grabbed the other end of the rope and pulled.

There was a commotion in the water below and Hart let out another shout. Quio couldn't see what had happened; all he could do was try to brace his feet and pull. Slowly the dragon began to rise up out of the waves, and then suddenly Hart was beside him, dripping wet and with a small cut staining his cheek. He grabbed the rope to help Quio heave. Together they hauled Si'tony up.

"Someone pull her in!" Quio gasped. He could barely see what was going on. There was water --no, was it blood?-- in his eyes. Was his head bleeding? They had pulled her high enough up, so that the jacadon now dangled near the ship's rail. All they would have to do was pull her over the side and let go of the ropes, and the dragon would be tangled up in ropes and net on the ship's deck.

For better or worse, she would be stuck on the Blackheart with them.

"Speaking in Rakahi"
"Speaking in Common"
"Speaking in Ulehi"

[Aeon]

Climb! Aeon heard Quio say, as he snorted a good amount of sea water just through his nose. Si'tony was still not handled, and yet there didn't appear to be anything he could do while still in the water. He needed to climb up, perhaps from up there he'd be able to do something. Anything. Climbing the rope ladder was a tougher task than ever, since dropping from one was usually done with one move, and now Aeon was required to use two hands. He still managed to barely hold on with his left arm, just in time to jump up and grab the rope with his right hand, and repeated this painfully long process until he was up on the deck, and out of breath.

As he got back to his feet after several moments of restoring air to his lungs, the skyrider noticed Quio floating in the water, as if his body had lost all the life within it, but before he could say, or even shout, anything, the biqaj was back up and about, like he hadn't just been knocked nearly unconscious underwater. He must have been an expert swimmer, with arcs of experience, Aeon thought, but then again, it wouldn't have been an unlikely story, after what Hart told him just a trial ago. A biqaj was expected to know the sea better than anyone, right?

Not long after, Quio was on deck along with the sergeant, and he had brought the rope with him. A job, once more, for the boy. "You alright Ruq?" Aeon said, as he was truly worried that the amount of seawater the man had swallowed would've affected him worse than it had already. Perhaps seawater is like poison? You grow an immunity after a while? He doubted it was the case, but what other logical explanation could there be?

Grabbing the rope behind Quio, the scarred skyrider was now pulling along with the biqaj, in hopes of adding whatever strength he could manage with the one hand, to the strength the seaman had already given into pulling the Jacadon up onto the deck. They seemed to be getting closer to actually succeeding, but Aeon didn't know for sure, since the edge of the boat was just out of reach. Then again, Hart's shouts indicated that something was happening, whether it was good or bad, well, the Seven only knew.

Hart was now on the deck with them, suggesting that Si'tony had been pulled as far up as possible. He seemed exhausted, just like Quio, and so it was up to the one-handed man to pull the winged beast that could spit steam onto the wooden boat. Not very reassuring, but it needed to be done, so Aeon took the final few steps as fast as possible, reaching the entangled mess that was the mighty creature. He managed to tangle himself within her ropes too, but only his left, handless arm, while with his right hand he grabbed a hold of the net that still relatively restricted the Jacadon's movements. And he pulled. As hard as he could, while also letting out a growl-like sound from the sharp pain that rose on his arms. He wasn't letting go. No, not for the love of the Immortals, he wasn't letting go. And finally, after a few number of trills, the back legs of the beast reached the edge of the boat, and the pain he was feeling because of pulling the Jacadon up was now gone. Aeon stumbled backwards several feet, before falling to his butt in an attempt to recuperate from what had just happened.

His left arm was still too close to Si'tony's mouth for his liking, so he quickly got back to his feet in an attempt to remove the ropes that bound him to the animal. Then, as he came closer, a hiss, no, a roar, or something in between, came from the Jacadon's mouth as she attempted once more to breathe the bone-melting fire at him. Thanks to the lucky circumstances, she was too young, or too deprived of seawater, to do it, and all that came out of her mouth was a little bit of hot air. They managed it. They did it, they actually pulled a Jacadon onto a boat.

"I bet nobody would ever believe me that this happened." Aeon said as a small trickster's smile came up to his ruined face, and he blinked a couple more times with the one hazel eye he still had remaining. He wasn't sure he believed it either. Of all the bat-poop crazy stuff that had happened in his life recently, like facing a monster made by the Immortals, or facing another kind of monsters made by the Immortals, or meeting the actual Immortals in person, pulling a Jacadon onto a boat must have been the craziest.

[Quio]

"They'll believe you," Hart said, with a weak smile of his own. "As long as we get her back to Andaris with all of us in one piece." He laughed, a short, relieved sound, which soon broke off as Quio stumbled down to his knees on the ship's deck.

The Yludih wasn't feeling nearly as good as the other two. The dragon was on board, that was all that mattered; but now that the battle was over, his body had given up the fight. He went down to hands and knees and coughed, then gagged, recognizing that it was getting harder and harder to breathe. Something was wrong. His chest felt tight. And cold. All he could think was he was drowning --there had been cases of drowning after the fact, it was called dry drowning-- but how could he drown at all? He was Yludih--

That didn't stop the tightness in his chest, the pain, making it hard to breathe. He didn't need to breathe and right now he didn't want to, but if he stopped now Aeon would most definitely notice. He forced his body to continue.

"Ruq? Ruq?" Hart was saying, hauling on his arm as if trying to get him up, and the Yludih tried to fend him off. "I'm alright," he coughed out, but nonetheless he felt Hart's hands touching his back, then the top of his head. He looked over and Hart's fingers were wet with silver blood. Biqaj blood.

"It's not deep," he heard Hart say, maybe to Aeon, "It's not as bad as it looks. Head wounds just bleed a lot." But he sounded worried.

"I'm alright," Quio insisted again, hand to his chest, struggling to get back to his feet.

"You're pale," Hart said. "And your breathing doesn't sound right. Maybe you should--"

"I'll rest," Quio agreed.

As soon as he stood he felt faint. Shit. This was not what they needed. Get it together.

And then suddenly it dawned on him what was wrong.

Yludih couldn't drown because they didn't need air to breathe. That was true. But that meant any water he'd swallowed would go down to his heartstone, instead. And no matter how powerful an organ, the heartstone couldn't burn water. Depending on how much water he'd swallowed, he didn't know-- could he put his heart out? Like a doused fire?

A weakened heart would explain the tightness in his chest, the pain, the faintness. He needed to fuel the asterism and needed it now.

"Yeah, I think I'm going to go rest," he said to the others, blinking past the false blood and dizziness, and stumbled his way to the ship's hatch.

"Ruq--" Hart protested, beginning to follow, but the Yludih stopped him.

"Watch Si'tony," he said, and then he was gone, below decks. Searching for the best fuel he knew. Alcohol.

---

Above deck, Hart lingered for a moment longer, before turning to Aeon. "He'll... be okay," he said, reassuring. Then more briskly, "And besides, he's right. We need to figure out where Si'tony is going to go." They couldn't leave her on the deck wherever she wanted, because they needed to be able to use the deck for sailing the ship. That meant--

"The cockpit," he said, and pointed. Most of the deck was flat, but near the stern the flat expanse of deck gave way to a double-tiered cockpit, the top level of which was used as a cabin, the bottom level of which contained the helm. They needed the bottom level to steer the ship, so they'd have to get Si'tony up to the top--

But that wouldn't be too hard, he thought. There was a stair that led to the second tier. They just needed to shepherd her up the stairs and into the cabin. She would probably be happier, there, he reasoned. It would be out of the elements and it would be a space all to herself.

"Sorry Kiki," he muttered, because that area was usually where Yanaqi slept. Nearby, the giant dog took her eyes off the jacadon a moment to give him a long, cold look.

He shrugged apologetically. "But maybe we could take a short break first?" he asked, eyeing Si'tony himself. The little creature had pressed herself to the ship's railing, head held high and teeth bared as she breathed out a low, menacing hiss. He was worried she might climb over the side and make a break for it. Good thing she was tangled in all that stuff, or she might have already leapt overboard.

Better to wait and take a small break, or better to just get it over with? He didn't know. He was a sailor, not a Skyrider.

"Unless you think we should move her now, while she's tired?" he asked Aeon, the expert amongst them.

If either of them did want to take a short break and wanted to check on Quio, the Yludih would have found his bunk below deck, along with a small bottle of rum that he was carefully nursing.

OOC: You heard it here first, folks! The Yludih cure-all is alcohol!

All joking aside, there's a lot of speculation when it comes to writing a Yludih. I think it makes sense that Quio would react this way to 'inhaling' too much water. So let's hope it seems legit!

"Speaking in Rakahi"
"Speaking in Common"
"Speaking in Ulehi"

[Aeon]

Finding happiness in the bottle just got a whole new meaning Also, sorry for the wait, and Happy Holidays!

Aeon chuckled as Hart talked, considering keeping the Jacadon on the boat must be a way easier task than getting it on it in the first place. The smile he had was gone rather soon, however, as Quio showed once more he was feeling quite unwell. If the skyrider had to guess, it would've been due to the amounts of salt water he drank, but both of the biqaj didn't seem to agree with that thought. Odd.

And Aeon appeared to be wrong, once Hart checked out his companion. The biqaj must've hit his head on the edge of the boat or on the Jacadon while underwater, or something similar. Hopefully Hart knew what he was talking about, and hopefully he was right about head injuries. There weren't many similar cases in the sergeant's past, or otherwise he might've been able to help somehow. He hated that feeling, when he's just sitting there, watching someone in pain, especially because he messed up, and it was his fault the biqaj was experiencing this.

And then he was gone, Quio had stumbled his way down below deck, away from Aeon's sight, making the guilt the boy felt relatively ease. It still was hard, knowing that because he wasn't strong enough, a friend of his had to pay. He'll be alright, he'll come back in a break completely alright, the skyrider kept reassuring himself, as his gaze wondered from the mighty flying beast over to the endless horizon of blue, that made the sea and the sky collapse into each other. It was a completely normal sight, except in Aeon's mind, it was something extraordinary.

The young sergeant nodded at Hart's suggestion, even though he basically had no idea why the cockpit was suggested. He knew very little about boats, and much less about animals on boats. He simply presumed animals didn't like being on boats, simply because of the lack of nature, but he could've been wrong. Hart didn't seem to think like Aeon, and Hart knew way more about boats, and surely more about animals on them, so he was most likely right. The cockpit it is, he agreed within his mind.

"I say we rest first, it was a hard enough task bringing her to the deck. Besides, it'll be easier once Ruq's feeling better. And as long as we feed her well, I doubt she'll try to get away. She didn't back on the shore." The skyrider reminded himself, as one more, this time voiced, reassurance. That being said, he knew he might have made a mistake by letting Si'tony recover her strength, or he might not have. Aeon simply didn't have enough experience to know if he made the correct choice, but he did what he thought was right, and as far as he was taught, by some men, not all, that was what mattered.

"You might also want to go and check up on Ruq, he looked worse than you described, I'll watch our animal companions." The boy smiled as he got up, turning towards the biqaj who was still on deck with him. What could possibly happen with two dogs and a Jacadon? Watching them all for a break or so wouldn't be that hard a job, would it? And even if it would, Quio and Hart deserved some alone time, since they haven't had it since sailing from Andaris, or so Aeon presumed.

OOC: We can end it here if you'd like, and go on in the next one, or we can do more in this thread. It's really your choice