P Enter Draco

Timeline: about an hour since Dirges happened
OOC: i hope this is ok

A ship exited FTL, sending sensors to react to the ship’s presence. It approached the Abyssal Rose being used by Lady Nora and the Heinrich group. Possibly panicking the ship's crew until the new arrival sent a transmission. “Abyssal Rose, this is pilot Walker of the shuttle…. Big… Butt..” There was a dramatic sigh” please do not comment, but I have a…. Lady Silvana, desiring to come aboard with her companion. Do we have permission to dock?” The straight-faced pilot had transmitted and waited for the reply.

In the passenger compartment, an excited girl was shaking with glee at not only seeing her big sister once more, but introducing her to her new and first best friend. She glanced over to her half-demon friend, who had her eyes closed, having rested them for the trip. Unlike Silvana, Draco was very calm as she usually was. Even if the fact that she had a new friend wasn’t a big deal to her, Draco had seen it was to Silvana and thinking that it couldn’t hurt to meet new people (actually as a way to make sure Silvana got to her sister safely) Draco chose to come along.

“Big Butt? Really? Well I guess that at least rules out terrorists, they were a lot more….. Exuberant with their names. Tell them they’re clear to dock in the hangar, and please escort the passengers here.”, Came Nora’s reply as she sat with Heinrich, Gale, and Asteri drinking tea with biscuits in her private lounge. Being her home away from home, she basically had all the amenities of a home aboard her ship where the captain’s quarters would be.

The ship was half a gift from daddy, and half a gift from her uncles, but had been equally thoughtful and generous. She gave a sigh as she mulled that name over, thinking of only a few people who had such a sense of humor, and would come visit her. “Seems my half sister has come to visit. Please forgive Silvana, she’s a bit eccentric, as much as I love her.”

Heinrich gave a semi-smile as he sipped some of the offered tea, a biscuit in hand, already half dipped in his drink. “I see…. She sounds like a bit of a live wire, and free spirited. I hope she is as sweet and as kind as you are Nora, something your father has yet to come up with an explanation for.”, came his casual reply, enjoying the relaxation with the girls after their stressful exit from the planet below.

Gale had been idly touching upon the fringes of the ship's systems, not opting to take away from the pilots on board (even if she could have pointed out a few things they could have done to make their flight a little more efficient and faster), so simply satisfied herself with seeing what little goodies the ship had, when the sensor pinged on a ship approaching during a lull in the flight path between wormhole jumps the ship was making.

She watched the oncoming message with interest, and nearly laughed at the name. Dropping out enough to rejoin the group, she looked over at Nora and Heinrich as they spoke, and quirked an eyebrow. "A family friend I take it?"

Asteri was fairly subdued as she offered her own input: “Well, thankfully it’s not more people sent after me…” She shook her head suddenly, resuming her bright demeanor. “Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter much now, now that we’re off of Andraeste!”

The door to the lounge opened as Roland walked in, standing by Nora, arms behind his back. “Sensors report no other ships in the vicinity, as far as the Rose can tell anyway, M’lady.”

The Pilot grateful for no comment skillfully piloted the shuttle into the ship and the passengers were soon off the shuttle. As per Lady Nora’s request, Silvana and her companion were escorted to the Lounge, though when the doors opened, a streak that was Silvana ran through and towards her favorite big sister. “Siiiiiiiiiiiiiisssssss!” Silvana jumped to sort of tackle hug her sister, but there was a sudden field around Silvana that slowed her speed and made it more manageable for Nora. “Sis! I missed ya, been a while since we last spoke- uh, hang on, this is kinda slow… Draco!” Draco was the next to enter with her arm up and focus on Silvana. “Sorry, I was worried you’d hurt your sister, though I know that wouldn’t be your intention,” Draco replied.

Indeed, had Silvana been allowed to go at her original pace, she might have knocked Nora over causing pain as well as injury. Silvana wouldn’t want that, but sometimes, as Nora had told the others before their arrival, Silvana was a bit eccentric.

Silvana landed on the ground in front of her sister, and she hugged her happily. Her attention went to the others. “Hiya Roro! Hiya cute Fox girl, cool Dragon lady! And Heinie! ” she greeted happily before hopping back to Draco’s side. “Sis! Everyone, this is Draco! Draco Murakinos! She’s my new best friend! ” She said happily as beside her the red-eyed girl bowed as a sign of respect. ” Greetings my Lady, my Lord, seriously cute Kitsune, and cool Vaigarin of the noble Bahum family” Besides her there was a gasp of ‘oh yeah’ as Silvana remembered the name of Gale’s race, thanks to Draco.

Like Silvana, Draco also had a tail, but unlike Silvana’s, Draco’s was different, shorter perhaps, and also demonic.

Asteri blinked at their greetings, before she giggled nervously. She muttered quietly to herself, “Cute! Hehe~”

Obviously, they had spotted her glorious tails. Thankfully, she had managed to get them brushed when they started flying, and when Nora put her down. That was one of the first things she did when she sat down- she was absolutely tired of having burrs in her tails ever since that stupid explosion. However…

She still had no idea who these newcomers were. She scooted over to Heinrich, and whispered to him: “Who are these two?”

“Silvana is Nora’s sister, and my cousin, as for her friend. She is a daughter to one of the heads of the Mining Guild. Never met her though before today.”, came Heinrich’s quiet answer to Asteri, before sitting up properly again. “It’s good to see you too Silvy, and a pleasure to make your acquaintance Miss Murakinos.”

“I would have been perfectly fine, augmentations and all that. Now what pray tell, is the reason you have come, and without even an email, or call in advance. If you had missed us even 30 minutes later, we would have already jumped on our way towards the capital Silvana! I love you sis, but please give heads up before heading over. We just left a close call incident.” Nora was only lightly chastising her younger sister of course, but she would have hated to have heard later that she had been left behind. It’s not something she would have liked to have been partially responsible for.

Draco nodded with understanding as she soon realized that with augments, Nora would have been fine. She bowed her head to Heinrich, since he was a noble. She might have been called a queen at her school before she joined the university, that did not make her a real one, thus she must show respect. However, the words Nora was saying caused her concern. A close call, she wasn’t sure if she liked the sound of that, neither she liked hearing that they hadn’t been expecting them but that’s probably due to Silvana’s eccentricities.

Silvana, free of Draco’s magic, hugged her elder sister happily, and then looked up at her. “Draco thinks it might not be a big deal, but I wanted to introduce you to my first best friend forever! She’s so humble, you’re an important person in my life so I wanted to introduce you to her first before I introduced her to daddy and mommy.” She said “And I see new friends of Heinies, so more frie-wait, close call incident? What do you mean? ” She asked, growing concerned and serious.

Draco had moved over to Gale, hoping to get a chance to talk to her, though the sisters' conversation had her attention.

Gale looked over as Draco settled in next to her. She quirked an eyebrow and wondered what was to come of this. After all, it seemed unlikely that she was going to be a subject of discussion since it looked like Nora and Heinrich had enough on their hands with Silvana. She was just the tag along at the moment after all.

Roland smiled at Silvana’s entrance. It was easy to forget that beneath that bundle of adorableness, was a killing machine. He stepped forward, entering the conversation as he said, “A group of some sort hired a mercenary crew, the Iron Company, under false pretenses to take Lady Asteri, believing Lord Heinrich and Lady Galestrix to be kidnappers. Thankfully, the situation was handled without fatalities or injuries.”

“Heinies?” Asteri snickered, as she elbowed Belmes. “Do we need to get you a diaper, poster boy?” At that, Asteri chuckled a bit, before softening her cheeky smile as she grinned so hard, her eyes were forced shut. That all promptly disappeared, however, upon hearing the knight- Roland, his name was?

A deep flush went over her face, and she promptly popped her head into the cockpit, asking him in a flustered tone: “Do I really look like a princess or noblewoman to you!?” She flicked a tail in his direction. “I don’t think a noblewoman would go to conventions on a daily basis just to play Arcana: The Calling!” At that, she pouted at him.

But she then added in a slightly more conspiratorial tone: “Besides. Everyone knows a princess has a knight.” At that, she stuck out a tongue at Roland. “You’re obviously not my knight.”

“As of a short while ago, things were handled anyways. I don’t have the details, but I was assured that the culprit was eliminated. So let’s get back to your friend, and how about you introduce her more to my quests.”, Nora offered as she pulled Silvana up into a more proper hugging position. “And you as well.”

Heinrich simply leaned back in his chair casually, looking both women over in detail, mainly Draco as she was the closest. Both were almost polar opposites, being calm and wild in their demeanors respectfully. Draco seemed normal enough at a glance, and Silvana stuck out more with her strange appearance. Perhaps he should take time to go visit uncle and see just what he had been up to at Charon station.

Roland raised his eyebrow at Asteri’s indignation. “I assure you that I meant no offense. It’s just standard issue as a Knight to refer to everyone as such. I shall endeavour to refer to you differently Ma’am.” He paused, and smiled as if remembering something. “Although I was unaware that nobles could not go to conventions. Quite sad, isn’t it m’Lady? Seems we must cancel our Saturday arrangements.”

Silvana processes what she had been told in her mind by her sister, and gone was the serious expression and back was the big smiling happy Silvana. Since the situation was dealt with, she needn’t deal with it on her own. Asteri was cute, and clearly, Nora was friendly with her, as was Heinrich, so that was all fine with her. She was all smiles as she brought Draco to stand beside her. “Alright! Ahem! Everyone, this is Draco Murakinos, daughter of Secunda Major Branch Head Securo Murakinos, and club owner Cabana!”, she said, and her grin widened only because she was so proud.

“She's also known as the Astral Queen of the Obsidian Royal Academy’s division of Magic in Prazoa, Astral Academy.” She said amid a gasp beside her as the humble Draco would prefer that she not talk about her other title, which wasn’t a true status, more like a nickname given to her by the other students.

The humble magic-user simply waved to the others. “I’m honored to meet you all, ” she said before Silvana spoke again. “As for me, I am Silvana, the younger sister of the greatest big sis ever- Nora! I’m the half-sister, technically, but I don’t like making that distinction since Nora has always been nice to me.” She hugged Nora with happiness.

“And yes, she is like that. All the time.” Roland deadpanned, smirking at Silvana’s antics. With a shrug, he said, “You get used to it.”

Draco nodded at what Roland had said “Yes, he’s right; it was surprising how used to it I got.” She said, before adding” as for the title..” Here, she sighed. “In school, I paid a lot of attention and focus on my magical studies and people noticed it... It didn’t help that my mother was a demon of high ranking... She has taught me a lot of magic, ” she said, preferring to show where her skill came from.

She then turned her attention to Gale. “I apologize if this is uncomfortable for you and your species, but how high can you fly? “ She asked Gale, turning her focus on the winged woman.

Silvana then spoke up, ”I’m hungry, and since the ship is gonna go, mind if we join and have something to eat?” Draco nodded in agreement “I have to admit, I’d like to spend more time getting to know you all if that’s alright.”

Gale shrugged. "Depends on who you ask. Some of us don't, some of us can get some decent altitude. Myself? I can fly, unassisted, about... 7 kilometers. Though I could go higher, the air of Sirris II is too thin for more than long glides." She said in response to the question about how high she could fly.

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Nora decided to retire so that she could rest as she gave her crew their orders. Meanwhile, Roland was asked to lead the others down to the mess on the lower deck. Heinrich kept in tow as their new friends accompanied them, and the woman known to them now as Draco asked her questions to Gale.

Personally, the crown prince was just happy to be returning home, and to his quarters at the palace, as this trip had been so much more complicated than anticipated. From what was meant to be a simple investigation, to a plot of treason and intrigue among those with power. For once, he wished for just a simple trip, and a task that didn’t push the poor scholar well beyond his comfortable skill set. They would still have a couple days of FTL travel, but even here on the ship, it felt like the level of rest he desired was not present. Not to say his cousin had not fitted her ship with all the amenities one could want, but it was still a militant ship in design and function at the end of the day.

As they arrived in the mess, he didn’t think anyone wanted to go waiting in line for meal pack trays. “Alright, so what does everyone want off the menu? I’ll do the tray run, if you guys want to find us a table,” he said even as he looked around at the surprisingly well decorated mess lounge and galley, there even somehow being booths with carpeting and leather seats. If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought Nora was flaunting wealth, but in fact knew full well that it was her father’s doing.

“Please sir, allow me. You are guests here.” interjected Roland, as he once again played the part of custodian. “You’re all in luck, we’ve recently restocked our kitchen so all of today’s grub will be fresh.”

As Draco listened to what Gale had answered to her question about her wings, the half-demon found herself fascinated by it. She further found herself interested to know that she could fly unassisted for 7 kilometers. Though she knew that wasn’t as much as miles, she knew that it was still very far and very impressive. Her attention turned to Silvana as she mentioned being hungry, causing her to smile as it always seemed to her that Silvana was always hungry, then again she might be bored.

Unfortunately, she didn’t have another question to ask Gale, so she turned to follow the group to the mess area. As she took in the sight of the new room, she saw its grandeur and thought it seemed like the Mining Guild’s Capital Yacht ship. A lot of money went to both ships, though one was a gift from a sister to a sister. She wondered with how close Nora and Silvana were whether or not it was Silvana the one that had given her the ship or perhaps their father.

She didn’t know what their father did, but with Nora being a Noble, she thought he might be related. When Heinrich mentioned letting him know what they want to eat, Roland interjected since they were guests that he should do it. She turned to make her way to the booth “pork cutlet if you have them.”’’ She said simply as she sat down.

Silvana grinned as they had finally arrived in the mess hall. She thought the place looked neat and that her sister had a great decorative sense. Though she realized it could have been their father who decorated. She had grinned when Heinrich offered to go on a tray, run for them, and it widened as Roland spoke. “My favorite dish, Roro! Ultra omega sundae blaster with chocolate sprinkles!- Or, wait, should probably have something meat-related… Ok, a heavy protein meal, anything you can think of!” She said before scurrying to sit.

Asteri tilted her head at Silvana, shaking her head and idly speaking: “I don’t think I should have a sundae or ice cream myself; too long of a trip…” However, her eyes soon lit up, and she turned to face Heinrich, fists on her hips, mock serious expression on her face. “Borgar, please.” She couldn’t keep the expression up as she broke out into a giggle. “If possible, bacon and cheese added onto it, with ketchup and mayo, but no mustard. Mustard’s too bitter.” Asteri then looked back and forth, before her confident appearance fell away, and she tentatively asked: “So, uh, where should we sit?”