Rose woke with a jump, startling the posh unicorn and burly minotaur sitting next to her, breathing heavily. Chessur snapped his head towards her, with a concerned look on his face. "Sweet Elysium, what's wrong?" He asked softly, the light of the evening sun barely illuminating his face.
Rose grunted as she pushed herself into a sitting position. "Ain't nothin'. Just a stupid dream." She said gruffly, before reaching a hoof to where a sack of hard tack had been the previous night... only to grasp at nothing. She looked towards Gavin and spotted her sack of biscuits, now empty, sitting in his lap. She grumbled before conjuring another sack from the back of the cart.
Chessur frowned at her dismissal. "It couldn't have been 'Nothing', otherwise you wouldn't have woken up because of it. You only achieved..." his speech tapered off, as he fiddled with his coat before bringing out a pocket watch with a hoof. "7 hours of sleep! You were up all night you stupid mare! Go back to bed!" he whispered loudly, before holding a hoof up to his lips, and then gesturing to his left side. Aquila was curled up as best she could, using her wing as a makeshift blanket.
Rose nodded, before curling up much the same. Sleep soon claimed her, despite the lingering foreboding feeling she possessed.
5 Days later
They had, after nearly a week of relatively peaceful travel, arrived at Hafenstadt. Over the remaining days, she learned that the Gryphon's name was Chyrp. The reasoning behind the name was, in his words, "That me parents weren't creative in the slightest.". So, the group had shared other such stories from their childhoods. An incident with a hornet's nest for Chessur, and Gavin apparently never learned fire was hot until he was in his teenage years. Aquila shared stories from her time in the Royal Guard, including a rather humorous tale wherein a thief had called for the guard after his stolen goods were, ironically, stolen from him.
Hafenstadt wasn't notable in any immediate way. Buildings with thatched roofs, a short wall, and a large harbor. It was only once you entered the city proper that you realized what made this place special. Music was a constant in the city, various bards and bands played and sang across the city, each of their voices being added to the ambient chorus. There was a tavern every few blocks, and a bar every 10. No building rose above 4 stories, the tallest of which was the City Hall. It was the only building lacking the seemingly requisite thatch roof, instead having proper shingling.
As the group arrived to the dockyards, they gazed at the commotion and ruckus caused by the various crews and worksponies struggling to get all of their things in order in an expedient manner, shouting and cursing filling the air as they walked hastily towards the airship docks. Noticeably larger than the normal docks, their hulls bobbing lightly in the water as the gasbags held them up.
As they arrived at a gold embroidered hull, the magnificent mahogany having a glossy finish. the gasbag was just as ostentatious, with various floral designs stitched into the fabric, the flag of Equestria on each side of the gasbag. As the group walked up a ramp onto the deck, Chessur cleared his throat before speaking.
"Well my friends, It shall be a week before we are able to leave. I must take care of affairs and clear our departure with customs, and we of course must rest after our travels." He summoned four pouches, each jingling with coin, before tossing them to each of the group. "Find a comfortable inn and I will send for you when we are ready to depart. Don't spend it all too quickly you hear?" He finished with a laugh, before walking into what Rose assumed was the Captain's quarters.
As the group walked down the ramp and into the the harbor, Rose spied a sign off to her right and poked Chyrp with a magical jab. "Oi mate, see what I see over there?" She asked, gesturing towards the sign.
He looked over her and at the sign before a grin crossed his beak. "'Drinking contest, 9 P.M'. Rosey, I'll drink you under the table!" he said with a laugh.
Rose scoffed at that. "Oh fuck off, I bet you 10 Aviars right now that I'll beat yer arse. Double or nothing, if I have to." She held a bent hoof out.
Chyrp regarded her warily for a moment, before slowly grasping the hoof in a talon while looking Rose in the eye. Right as he finished grasping the hoof she pulled him in and whispered in his ear.
"You don't know what you're gettin' into mate. I was in the navy for four years." She hissed with a grin, before whispering much softer. "You'll get a prize if ye win though, how bout that?".
Chyrp's cheeks flushed, before he coughed into his fist. "Oh fine you crazy mare. Don't say I didn't warn you!" He said loudly as he walked off, Gavin having just put his head in his hands at the display, and Aquila holding back laughter as she tailed after Chyrp
"He is so bloody oblivious it is killing me." He said with a grumble. Rose chuckled at the comment, before speaking.
"Wanna find a blacksmith mate? I need my sword repaired. She's got a few nicks in her, and her polish has seen better days." She said, unsheathing the saber slightly to prove her point. The once gleaming steel was now a faded, dull gray.
Gavin winced before nodding in agreement. "Aye. My axe has seen better days as well. I think the Artisans district is somewhere..." he trailed off, searching the sky, before spotting whatever he had been looking for and pointing in that general direction. "That way!"
Rose raised an eyebrow warily, but followed nonetheless. "How in the blazes do ye know where we're goin' just by looking at the sky?" She asked, trying to spot... whatever he had seen.
Gavin chuckled before replying. "I've worked in a forge most of my life. You learn to spot smoke incredibly easily. Find the largest plumes, you find the forges." He rumbled out, stopping and picking Rose up by her barrel and running towards the presumed location of the blacksmith.
"Oi le- let me down ya twat! I can run with me own four legs!" Rose protested, having been brought along for a very unexpected and very bumpy ride.
Gavin laughed as he weaved through the crowd. "Not fast enough!", sliding to a stop in front of a small brick building with a stone roof, he set Rose down. A weathered, worn sign hung out front. Ash's Forge.
Rose huffed. "We could have just as easily walked.". As the pair walked towards the door, they heard a huff from their left. A portly Gryphon chick, with sharp black feathers and dark grey fur sat to a side-section of the building they'd missed.
"Welcome to my forge. The name's Ash. What can I do you for?" She asked cheerily, or rather, as cheerily as she could. Her voice taking on the likeness of the prelude to an avalanche.
Gavin coughed into his hand. "We were looking to get some of our equipment repaired. Perhaps purchase some polish, if you have any to spare".
Ash nodded, walking up to the pair, a limp apparent in her left hind leg. She held a claw out to Rose, beckoning for her to hand over her weapon. Rose, begrudgingly, complied.
Unsheathing the blade as best she could, Ash gave it a once over. "Tch. Typical Ranger's blade. You lot don't reinforce em enough." She hobbled over to the forge, setting the sword off to the side before searching various boxes for materials.
Rose scoffed at the bird's dismissal. "We make do with what we can get. That sword's gotten me through the entirety of the war."
Ash visibly rolled her eyes. "Aye, that don't mean you can't do better. I'll fix your damned blade up, don't you worry none. It'll run you 50 Aviars."
Rose's eyes nearly bulged out of her head. "50?! For what?!"
The stout chick chuckled, waving Rose and Gavin over before retrieving an ingot from a hidden compartment. "You see this beaut? Pure mithril. You'll not need any maintenance for years.".
Gavin, having only seen the precious metal once in his life, just nodded dumbly in response before setting his axe upon the same table as Rose's Sabre. Ash, setting the ingot upon the table, proceeded to push the two out of her workshop. "Now git. It'll be done within a week." She said gruffly, before setting off to work.
Rose just looked up to Gavin. "Want to go get some grub?". Gavin looked at her as if she had just said the earth was a turtle.
"You seriously don't care that the lass just has mithril layin' around her shop?!" He nearly shouted.
Rose just snorted. "If she fixes up my blade, and she fixes it up good, I don't care none. What say we go to that tavern we saw earlier?"
Gavin just sighed before nodding, the pair taking the scenic route through to the building. The color palate was surprisingly diverse, the monotonous beige and gray being broken by colorful and vibrant reds and blues. Various bakeries and stalls lined the streets, selling goods ranging from simple foods to extravagant trinkets and baubles. Nearly every species under the sun were hawking their wares to those who cared to listen and browse.
The party of two made it to the tavern after a short time, now seeing the establishment's name. The Dragon's Flagon sat upon a metal sign, with a faux gold outline. An image of a red teenage dragon with a large flagon sat under the stylized lettering, breathing a gout of fire.
Rose was the first to walk in, and both familiar and exotic aromas consumed her senses. Fine ales and wines, the scent of various stews, and the scent of all sorts of beings wafted into her nose. A range of species filled the bar, all drinking, and a grand majority either dancing, gambling, or singing. Parrots, Abyssinians, Diamond Dogs, and even a few younger Dragons.
Having left Gavin behind, Rose happily hopped upon an empty stool at the main bar. The bar tender was a portly earth pony stallion. He had a seafoam green coat, and a similarly colored mane, shocked with white. He raised an eyebrow to Rose before speaking with a weary, exhausted tone. "What can I get you?" He asked, cleaning a glass dirtied with whiskey.
Rose floated a few Aviars from her pouch on to the counter. "Just get me a Shiremare's Coffee, extra whiskey and sugar, go light on the cream. How much would it cost me to get a room for a week here?" She asked, blowing a bit of her mane away from her eyes.
The Barcolt began gathering the various components to her drink with practiced ease, and replied with a bit of strain in his voice. "35 Aviars, 5 a night. 20 bits, 3 a night. Breakfast will run you 5 Aviars, or 1 Bit." He finished Rose's drink, and slid it down the bar towards her. Rose caught it in her telekinesis with ease. "Drinking contest is in a half hour. Flag me down if you want to participate."
Rose nodded eagerly. "Aye, I bet a friend I could drink him under the table. Sign me up!" She raised her glass to her lips, the cream giving her face a bit of impromptu decoration as she sipped the warm, comforting concoction. The whiskey was a tad on the weak side for her tastes, but she wasn't trying to get properly shitfaced yet, so she couldn't complain. As she licked the cream off of her lips and set her drink down, she felt her ear flick as a weight settled in to the stool next to her. She glanced over, and the now familiar face of Chyrp sat next to her.
Later
The hour had passed, the two of them nice and properly drunk. Rose fared much better than Chyrp, due to her impressive Equine constitution, but the pair were still feeling the alcohol's effects regardless. As the two idly chatted, the band began playing a very familiar tune, and their eyes brightened.
As the two wandered over to the dance floor, Chyrp began to sing while settling into the motions of a schuhplattler,
"Ach komm du schöne bring den Wein zu mir.
Bring den Wein zu mir ich verdurste hier!
Ach komm du Schöne bring den Wein zu mir.
Denn mir ist nach Wein und Weib."
And Rose followed, step dancing in unison with her partner.
"Ich schenk dir ein nur wenn du tanzt mit mir.
Wenn du tanzt mit mir dann komm ich zu dir.
Ich schenk dir ein nur wenn du tanzt mit mir.
Dann bekommst du Wein und Weib!"
And as one circled the other, the next verse followed.
"Oh komm du Schöne auf den Tisch hinauf
Auf den Tisch hinauf komm wir tanzen drauf
Oh komm du Schöne auf den Tisch hinauf
Denn es soll jeder sehn!"
Chyrp gave a bow, as Rose played her part.
"Ich komm hinauf für einen Kuss von dir
Einen Kuss von dir ja denn wünsch ich mir
Ich komm hinauf für einen Kuss von dir
Will ich oben bei dir stehn."
And both holding eachother's hoof and claw, they sang in unison.
"Die Sünde lockt und das Fleisch ist schwach so wird es immer sein.
Die Nacht ist jung und der Teufel lacht komm wir schenken uns jetzt ein!"
The two suddenly rocketed away from eachother, beginning their dance anew as Chyrp sang once more.
"Und später Schöne teil das Bett mit mir.
Teil das bett mit mir dass ich frier.
Und später Schöne teil das Bett mit mir.
Es soll nicht dein Schaden sein!"
Rose gave a much deeper bow to Chyrp's previous gesture, gazing up at him while singing.
"Doch nur wenn du heut keine andre küsst.
Keine andre küsst wenn treu mir bist.
Doch nur wenn du heut keine andre küsst.
Sonst schläfst du wohl allein!"
And shooting up from the ground, Held the gryphon low as they both sang their final verse.
"Die Sünde lockt und das Fleisch ist schwach so wird es immer sein.
Die Nacht ist jung und der Teufel lacht komm wir schenken uns jetzt ein!"
As the song came to close, Rose helped the young bird to his paws before gesturing towards the stairs. "Come on lad, I think that's enough excitement for today.", giving him a subtle wink before trotting cheerily towards the stairs.
Chyrp blinked, before grinning. "Guess I got my reward either way!", before darting after Rose.