In two days the Fool’s Errand passed northwesternly out of the rippling wilds into the first footsteps of the Great Abalone Sky. Whorls and pockets of cloud were common here, the wind broken up and striated and the clouds as well. This was, I began to realize, because of the floating rocks everywhere irregularly. At first there were just little dots, little pebbles, but as we proceeded they became proper isles, but floating.

  Many carried with them clouds and had their own microbiomes. On the third evening we passed a floating isle starboard glistening with a pristine tiny lake. I was seated topdeck, fishing aimlessly with the rod that I didn’t even have the proficiency for.

  “Wanna do some rockfishing?” Val asked in crackling static through her flight suit.

  “I don’t have the proficiency!” I tried to protest.

  “You just pull them out of the little crevices they live in. Come on, Daniel!”

  I didn’t need much persuading. We flew out in the whipping wind, the sky orange and crystal, over to the little lake isle. There, waist-deep in water Val reached an exosuited hand down and came up with a shelled clam creature. It was not that different than the clam that Ms. Cloud had given me back at Aeven that Brufo had brined in the kitchen.

  She waded around looking for others.

  I hovered above the water. I could see them down there. The water reflection looked like the skin of a fish.

  “So how do you eat the shell dudes anyways? You eat them right?”

  “Abalone? There are all kinds out here, but they’re basically shelled creatures like clams. They’re tasty though. Back in Melpompne they would cook them in spices and sugar and butter…mmm…”

  She fell quiet.

  “Sounds really good,” I offered.

  I had been eyeing an abalone or what I hoped was an abalone through the water’s reflections of twilight. I looked up at Val’s face through the visor of the flight suit. If I got one of these, I’d soak my clothes, or…

  “You know, I could have just carried you over here you know.”

  Val tittered as she unearthed another abalone, squirming and crimson-white. “I would get all gross then!”

  I landed beside the lake and undressed to just undergarments. The evening light was fading quickly. I left my clothes folded and plunged into the water.

  [Scavenger’s Eye: scanning]

  [Night Hunter: active]

  The lake lit up with skillgaze. Unfortunately I recalled that unless I was proficient I probably would not get the Night Hunter bonus to fishing. I had spent a good portion of my time these first three days in the Fool’s Errand’s library, looking into what my next Skill should be, as well as trying to understand what I even had going on under the hood.

  I wriggled and swam around. [Tech Appraiser] triggered on an old rusted white square thing, pretty big around like a barrel, informing me it was a [Floating Anchor], which could be anchored anywhere calm. Ok, well too big to grab, but what about an abalone?! I looked around more then sputtered to the surface, treading water. This, this swimming really reminded me of home more than a lot of the airship stuff.

  “All that and you didn’t get one!?”

  “There’s a [Floating Anchor] down there.”

  “Those…are pretty valuable I think. I know we don’t have one, never have. Even if it’s not working it might be worth to salvage it.”

  “It’s pretty massive.”

  I saw Val grin from within the flight suit. “Don’t worry. I’ve got metal muscles.”

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  She splashed over to where I indicated, shivering in my skivvies, then lifted the barrel-shapped rusted apparatus from the clear water. Algae and a few frogs dripped out as Val shook it.

  “Can you grab those two abalone Daniel?”

  She blasted thrusters and flew off. I tarried to redress myself then followed with the shellfish in hand.

  After we returned and I tossed the abalone into the brine tank that Brufo had going on, I took some time in the shower and sauna to myself. I returned to my room wearing a towel intending to change into the same thing I always wore because it was pretty much my only set of clothes. Val was on her bed kicking her feet and reading a book with a red cover.

  In my room Wilia sat on my bed with one of her suitcases beside her. When I entered she smiled.

  “Daniel! I saw you go into the shower, and I…well, you need to change your clothes. This is a suitcase full of my father’s clothes here. Why don’t I leave and you can go through it and take a few things?”

  I nodded dumbly. Would they even fit me?

  “If you use some, it will make me happy, and I’m sure father would rather have his clothes used too!”

  “Isn’t he coming back though?”

  “Father? No, I don’t think he wants to. Whatever he is doing in the wood here, he seems quite happy to let us be.”

  “Gaze too long into the abyss,” I said.

  “What? What did you see down there?”

  “It’s just something someone said in a book in my world.”

  “Weywyrd’s heart is a sea of darkness. That’s what most people think anyway.”

  “Maybe someday I’ll fly down and take a look,” I said flippantly.

  Wilia rose and made to leave, but turned back in the door. “By the way, what’s up with that abandoned boba shop on the second floor?”

  “Oh, that?” I thought back. “Grover harpoon. It’s a bit of a long story, but…”

  I paused, considering I hadn’t looked in there since Reed’s renovations had taken root.

  “Well it’s probably all fixed up now huh?”

  “Not just fixed up. Father made some…rather interesting design choices. I’ll speak to the captain about it sometime. Good night, Daniel.”

  “Good night Wilia.”

  I selected a few items, silken shirts with nature-inspired patterns and flowing harem pants and two long robes. I removed the moss kitten from the suitcase where he had snuggled, then packed the clothes I’d taken into my drawers and set the suitcase by the door. I began to drift off.

  Lancie sprang into being, and knelt on the floor in her accustomed vigil. The moss kitten jumped down from the bed and curled up in her lap.

  The next morning after another delicious breakfast catered by the two on-board chefs, I was in the library looking through the scattered skill-related books I’d found when someone tugged on the sleeve of my white silk shirt patterned with grasses.

  “Oh, Kola Junior? What’s this?”

  The flying monkey passed me a note which simply read Drifting shoals ahead. Come to the Navigation Room ~Lorlux.

  “You’d better be careful or else they’re gonna start calling you Lorlux Junior,” I warned him and went to see what the captain wanted.

  He was sitting conversing with Wilia. They both turned as I arrived.

  “Oh good, Daniel. I’ve a job for you and Wilia this morning. We’re coming on a patch of drifting shoals--” Lorlux noticed my blank expression and added, “--large floating islands, and I’d like for you to do your Driften Waker stuff and carry Wilia ahead so she can nuke some of them. She, as a [Red Chef], has acquired a wind skill [Cyclone Fry] that could prove very useful to keep things out of our way.”

  “What about Val?” I blurted.

  “Val?” Lorlux croaked. “She’ll be on deck in flight suit, if anything gets past you two she’s the last line of defense. Those things don’t have unlimited missiles you know.”

  The captain pointed out the window at the approaching shadows low in the sky. Then he hopped up to the helm, bypassing the ladder entirely.

  “How’s this gonna work?” I asked Wilia.

  “Just don’t touch my frying pan and you won’t get burned!”

  “All right. So I can fly and punch, but not much else.”

  “I noticed that,” the teal-haired girl said dryly. “I’ve got a few tricks. The thing about the [Red Chef] is we’re all pretty different. We get our powers from what we can defeat. Did you see that thing I did when we killed the Heartwood Tyrant? Well, I got a special Skill from when your…weapon girl…killed him.”

  “Is that how you got [Cyclone Fry]?”

  “Exactly. I went on a supply run to Lonelyport and we got chased by Grovers into an upper stratum biome called the Orchard of Suns. It’s weird up there, and bright. There were some carnivorous fire birds, and when we killed the boss I got it.”

  “Who’s we?”

  “My old crew,” Wilia said sadly, but did not elaborate.

  It was not the time to ask her more. We had just arrived topdeck, and I grabbed her carrying her in front of me and flew off.

  The sky was clear overhead, but clouds roiled up at the edges of the sky.