PARAGON

Paragon breathed in the fresh morning air as she felt Travis stir. The sun had risen a few hours ago, and Horizon's sunrise song had filled her with joy and hope of a new day. The liveship was a bit excited to resume her ocean travels but wanted to remain in port for at least one more day.

Even if Myrrlen did not come back before Paragon departed port, she was content. She had brought several people to a new, safe place. Also, her hold was full of a few new wares provided by the queen, even some new barrels of fresh water and magic items to sell. After the Stellans unloaded the previous day, she had reabsorbed all the hammocks and other constructions she had made for the Stellans and no longer felt critically low on materials.

She still wouldn't mind a snack, and she currently craved rope more than anything. However, she was not going to cannibalize any of the ships around her. They were still functioning vessels, and many of them lacked the seasoning of fragmentary material she scavenged from the ocean.

"Good morning." Paragon purred as Travis emerged onto the deck.

"Good morning." The liveship's captain echoed as he climbed up to the figurehead's perch. "Has Myrllen come by yet?"

"No, and if he doesn't, then that's his choice," she smiled at him.

Travis slowly nodded and stroked Paragon's silver scales as he looked at the natural patterns in the cliff face that surrounded the port. After a pause, he smiled at the figurehead. "I'm going to head into the port and try one of the local restaurants." With a small pat, he moved to leave.

"Is this because my cooking is not as good as theirs?" Paragon teased.

"No, I'm supporting local businesses," he assured, then hesitated, "but that could be part of it. Though I enjoy your food, even you admit your skills are limited." Travis gently soothed her with caring pat.

Paragon waved with a paw as Travis walked down the gangplank, but once he disappeared into one of the tunnels that led to the surface, she settled herself on the ship's bow and took in her surroundings.

Many languages echoed off the cliff walls from all the continents, which matched the many different people all brought together by the life of the ocean. With her magic, she understood every word that reached her ears. A small smile formed on her snout as she listened to the various crews harmoniously work on the multitude of other sailing vessels around her. The ocean is a beautiful melting pot of people and cultures. Paragon closed her eyes and smiled to herself as a cool breeze blew in from the sea.

A sea serpent swam beneath her hull, then climbed onto the dock next to her. He carried a few stone tablets in two of his six paws, then nearly jumped out of his scales as he noticed Paragon's serpentine figure. After he secured the tablets in his arms, he looked up to the silver figurehead. "Oh, hello," his startled countenance slowly faded into a more friendly, almost fatherly demeanor. "Did you get permission to bask up there, little one?"

Paragon opened her eyes, revealing the star sapphires that served as the figurehead's sight. She immediately noticed his startled expression. "Sorry," she quickly apologized. "I'm afraid I'm not a sea serpent, I'm a liveship, I can't leave my hull. " She carefully smiled and tried ti to be friendly to the sea serpent. Her figurehead was modeled after the same species as the young male standing in front of her. However, he was the size of a full adult at easily three times Paragon's size. Paragon's proportions were like that of an adult, but her size was that of a juvenile.

The sea serpent raised his head so he could see her at eye level. "I've heard of liveships, but never one modeled after a sea serpent. And you're so realistic and beautiful! I've only heard of painted humans or mermaids on liveships."

"You flatter me," Paragon would have blushed if her wooden form allowed it, "thank you for your kind words."

He smiled and nodded to her. "If I ever see you during my travels, I will be sure to say hello."

"I'm looking forward to it." Paragon waved to the sea serpent as he crossed the dockyard and disappeared into the tunnels that led up to the city. She smiled to herself as she enjoyed the tropical breeze and the sounds of the harbor: the creaking of wooden planks, the calls of sailors, the occasional twang of an old bell, and the melodious tones of sea shanties from all across the world.

She looked up to the sky and smiled to herself, then closed her eyes as she enjoyed the atmosphere, nearly losing herself in old memories. She could nearly feel Captain Starport's presence sitting next to her, stroking her neck as they enjoyed the ocean together. Paragon gazed up to the sky. She knew that one of the stars in the sky was her captain who would always watch over her even when the light of day obscured the stars. And she always had his memories to keep her company.

"Paragon?"

Paragon nearly fell off the bowsprit as she opened her eyes with a start. "Yes?" She quickly looked down to the docks.

Myrllen smiled a bit to the liveship. "Hey Paragon," he slowly managed, his voice ringing with nervousness.

"Hello Myrrlen," Paragon gently smiled to him, "are you enjoying your stay in Havenous so far?"

"The city is wonderful, I still can't believe this is all real. The queen is even funding our village to be built, no strings attached." He briefly looked down at his feet. "I still struggle to believe this is real, I keep expecting there to be some clause and there are none." He looked up at Paragon's face. "So, thank you."

"It was my pleasure, I live to help people." The liveship smiled softly

Myrllen closed his eyes as he slowly inhaled the fresh ocean air, then met Paragon's eyes. "And," he exhaled, "and I want to join your crew. I want to help people like you helped my family and everyone else."

Paragon briefly froze in surprise, then jumped off the bowsprit and ran down the side of the hull, her tail continuously attached to the ship. "You want to join!?" Her eyes sparkled more than usual in her excitement and a grin covered her snout.

Myrllen stepped back as Paragon stood on the dock, his eyes wide.

Paragon hesitated and her claws dug into the wooden planking of the docks. She could feel the wood's relative newness and correlating sturdiness. She subtly fixed a few weakening planks and pilings far down the dock where ships had bumped into them too many times. "Sorry, I started you." She slowly took a step back, releasing the dock without leaving a trace of her claws in the wood. "We can just talk on deck." She began to turn, but Myrllen gently put a hand on the side of her neck. Paragon's fears near melted away at his gentle touch.

"Sorry, I didn't realize you could come down here, I thought you had to say on the decks." Myrllen looked up at the bowsprit.

"As long as I am attached somewhere to the ship, I can go anywhere." The liveship gestured to her tail. "My tail is my preferred attachment point, but I can change it." She placed her frontmost left paw on the white hull of her ship, then freed her tail and showed the young Stellan her wooden tail fins.

Myrllen looked at the white-painted planks of the hull, but there was no sign Paragon's tail had ever been attached.

While she had her paw attached to the wall, she summoned a pouch of gold from her stores and pulled it out as she returned her tail to its normal place dandling over the side of the ship. The cloth bag seemed to ripple slightly like a ghost passing through a wall as Paragon pulled it from the planks. She smiled at Myrllen as he stood, mesmerized at the feat of magic. "Here is your first month's wages."

Myrllen blinked in shock. "But you already gave me money back in Kerbi, and I haven't even started yet."

"I pay in advance, and think of the earlier money as a signing bonus." Paragon smiled at the young Stellan as she held the bad in an open paw. "That money was my thanks for you even thinking about my offer."

"Still, I can't accept both." Myrllen frowned slightly and tried to push Paragon's extended paw away. "Paragon, this is too much."

"Please accept it." Paragon gently smiled. "Maybe use it to buy something for yourself, like more clothes?"

Myrllen blinked, then shook his head. "Queen Horizon is already paying for everything we could ever need, including clothes. There's nothing I need to buy, there's nothing I want right now that I need money for."

"Even if you just give it to your family, please, keep it." Paragon gently smiled. "I would like you to have it."

"There's no convincing you to keep it, is there?" Myrllen sighed, then looked up to Paragon's grinning face and shook his head. "Fine, I'll accept it."

Paragon squeed in delight and wrapped both pairs of her front arms around him in a big hug. "Welcome aboard!" She smiled happily, her infectious happiness making Myrllen chuckle softly before he returned the gesture. I have a second member of the crew! I've never had multiple members before!

"Did I miss something?" Travis's voice immediately gathered the liveship's attention as she released Myrllen. He had a bundle of stained and tattered sailcloth wrapped with a thick fraying rope thrown over his shoulder.

"Myrllen is going to join us!" Paragon grinned, then paused as she sniffed the delicious scent of the aged cloth and rope. It was rather large too, the roughly cylindrical shape was two feet in diameter and probably three feet long. She focused on Travis again to keep her mind off the temptation of the materials. "What do you have there?"

"Some fishermen were going to throw this out." Travis chuckled softly, then took the delicious-smelling bundle off his shoulder and offered it to Paragon, "Don't let anyone say that I don't take care of you."

The figurehead widened her eyes at the gesture, then eagerly but gently grabbed the gift in her mouth before she quickly scampered up to her favorite spot on the bowsprit. As she sat down and happily bit into her gift, she listened to her captain and mage talk.

"What was that foul-smelling thing?" Myrllen said, and Paragon could tell just by his voice that his expression was slightly contorted, probably in slight disgust. "It stank and looked pretty gross."

"To Paragon, that probably smelled a fine meal." Travis spoke, "I know it seems weird, but for her to make things like hammocks or repair herself, Paragon uses materials she's consumed to make them a part of her. She keeps some materials magically stored like a non-magical ship would keep extra rope, sails, and wood for repairs."

There was a pause as Paragon took another bite and nearly purred as a memory of an old fishing boat washed through her mind and told her where to find a nice school of greenfin cod. "But couldn't you get her new materials? Wouldn't those be better?"

"It's less about the age and quality and more about the material itself. Also, Paragon prefers old, worn materials because she somehow gains memories from the things she eats. I don't know how rope and wood and metal has much memory beyond its shape, but Paragon can glean a lot more than what seems possible." Travis paused as if taking a moment to shake his head. "Everything I've ever seen her make has been high quality to the point of near perfection, so I don't worry about it too much, I just do what I can to make her happy."

Paragon blinked as she felt them look up at her, then glanced down to Travis's smiling face and Myrllen's more skeptical countenance. She blinked and ate the fiber of rope that was dangling from her jaw, then waved a bit.

Travis chuckled a bit. "Good?" He called up to her.

Paragon happily nodded, her tail tip wagging slightly. "It's delicious!" She happily took another big bite of her meal.

Travis smiled and nodded, then put a hand on Myrllen's shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll get used to her quirks pretty quickly. Are there any belongings you need to retrieve or anything in town you need to do? We're not leaving until morning."

Myrllen shook his head. "Is there any magical thing I need to do to be a member of the crew since this is a magic ship?"

"I did to become captain, but that is a Paragon question...." Travis glanced up at the figurehead.

Paragon looked down to them at the mention of her name, then swallowed. "Oh! There is! You distracted me!" She smiled. "Come up here and I'll explain everything!" As they walked around the dock and up the gangplank, Paragon happily took another bite out of her delicious sailcloth and rope wrap.

After they climbed onto the foredeck, Paragon swallowed and reluctantly put the second half of her treat to the side as they approached. I will finish it in just a moment. The liveship smiled to Myrllen and held out one of her paws.

Myrllen blinked, then understood and placed his hand in her open paw, a slightly nervous expression on his face.

Paragon put a paw on top of his hand. "Welcome aboard, Mage Myrllen." She focused on his presence and allowed her energy to flow through the Stellan's body.

Myrllen jumped back in shock and looked at his palm, but it was the same hand he had known his entire life.

"I created a connection between us," Paragon soothingly said. "It's not as powerful as the one I have with Travis, but yours you can break anytime you want. That way you can go leave the crew whenever you want." She nervously watched his reaction.

"I... I can feel you..." Myrllen paused, "I can feel your presence, your emotions; you're nervous." He looked at the figurehead's face, then gently reached out and stroked the top of Paragon's head. "I'm glad to be a member of your crew." He smiled as he felt Paragon's thorough joy.

Author Notes!

What do you think of Myrllen's choice? Would you make the same choice?