ONE OF THESE DAYS
Chapter 4: Against the Wind
~13 Aevum Illuminationis~
The Elemental Plane of Minerals was often described as one of the most inhospitable in all the universe. Nothing grew here, save for crystals, some of which seemed to appear overnight (when night was available). Water was sparse as well, the only real source being the undrinkable stuff to be found in the river Styx which wound a meandering path through the plane before moving on to the Elemental Plane of Ooze.
That's not to say that the plane itself was bereft of life. Elementals called this place home, as did many, more exotic creatures. Woe betide the careless traveler who failed to recognize the signs that they were entering the territory of one of the many kilotrot long worms which tunneled here. Travelers themselves were seldom seen on the plane, it being one of the universe's better kept secrets.
This was especially true in this part of the plane, where it bordered the Elemental Plane of Positive Energy. The sky in this part never saw night, and glowed with a golden hue. A bright, round object shone in the sky, and was often mistaken for a sun, but the truth was much stranger than something so innocuous.
Two figures slowly emerged over the horizon. Quadrupeds they were, though both also sported a pair of feathery wings. It felt to them as if they had been walking for an eternity, but thanks to the near limitless energy reserves provided by their close proximity to the Positive Energy Plane, they felt like they could go on for another eternity. Even so, they both were exhausted mentally from the terrain and lack of variation or others to whom they could talk. Sure, they had each other, but they had run out of things to talk about eons ago, so now they just kept quiet to avoid getting on each other's nerves... mostly.
“What about here?”
Twilight suppressed a sigh and kept sweeping the ground with the magical, eye-shaped sensor that floated before her face. “Nay, dear friend. As I hath said to thee, I shall be sure to inform thee of any-” She stopped as her sensor caught sight of the edge of that for which they had been searching for so long. To make sure it wasn't another false positive reading.
Nyx, however, wasn't quite so patient. “Did you find one?”
Twilight turned to her with a smile. “Aye, it is so. A shard of euclase the likes of which I hath ne'er seen!” She stood on her hind legs and grabbed Nyx's forepaws with her own forehooves, pulling her into a capering dance. “Oh frabjous day! La, la, la! La, la, la! La, la, la, la, la, la!”
Nyx happily joined in her dance and silly song until both collapsed to the ground in a fit of laughter. When both had regained their composure, she said, “I suppose we'd better get digging. I dunno about you, but I can't wait to get home again and take a bath.”
Twilight turned to her with a weary smile. “Verily. Yon sun doth work o'er much, methinks.”
“Silly filly!” Nyx replied with a laugh. “That's no sun! T'is the Positive Energy Plane!” From a pouch on her side, she produced two shovels which could not have fit in such a small container. “Now let's get cracking. Let's yoink this crystal before the locals are on us like white on rice.”
Grabbing a shovel in her magic, Twilight shook her head as she stuck it in the dirt and pulled out a ten cubic hoof block of dirt. “I know not of what thou speakest, but I shall work like ne'er afore if it allows us to return with all due haste.”
They worked quickly thanks to the enchanted shovels Nyx had brought, but in silence. It didn't take long before a large enough spur of the light blue crystal was uncovered. The spur was easily a hundred hooves long, but appeared to be a small part of a much more titanic crystal that went well beyond the sight of Twilight's sensor. A faint glow could be seen emanating from it, bathing them both in a pale blue light. Digging complete, they rested a moment and admired the crystal. “She's a right beauty, eh?”
“A shame you'll never get to use it, then.”
Both of them whirled around and looked up out of the pit they had dug to see a bipedal skeleton looking down on them. His once rich robes were now a flowing tatters, and the bone staff he held in one rotted, skeletal hand appeared to be made of the spine of a rather large creature and topped with a unicorn's skull. Beside him stood a dragon in a similar state as he, with barely any flesh left hanging from gnarled bones. Both had red glowing eyes. The biped motioned with his staff for them to step aside. “Now move aside like good little living things, and I'll be sure to turn you both into something pleasant. Perhaps ghasts? Or would you prefer something insubstantial?”
Nyx and Twilight looked to each other and smirked. “Would you care to field this one, Twi? I'm afraid I left my Holy Avenger at home.”
“T'would be my pleasure, Nyx.” Twilight replied with a small bow. With barely a thought, Twilight's horn lit up and shot a purple beam at both undead, but to no seeming effect.
The lich laughed at her. “Is that the best you can do? I'll admit, splitting up your dispelling effect like that was a neat trick, but one I learned eons ago. In any case, it didn't-” A roar of pain from his draconic companions silenced him, and he turned to see it writhing on the ground, thrashing as the positive energy from the golden ball above rained down on him. Foul-smelling, black smoke began to rise from the undead dragon and evaporated into the air. Two more beams, this time green struck both undead, and this time, the lich looked worried. “What did you do, you stupid horse?” he shouted at her.
Twilight smirked at him and flew out of the hole to land a few paces away from him. “Hark ye well, foul wretch. I hath dispell'd thy abjurations protecting thee and thy companion from the purifying light of the realm above us.” The lich looked down to find that his own rotting flesh was smoldering, slowly being eaten away by the healing energy of the plane above them. “My second spell sever'd thy connection to the astral. Thou shalt not be leaving this plane with such ease.”
The lich roared and pointed at her, shooting a beam of black energy at her. Unafraid, she let the beam strike her fully in the chest, where it dissipated harmlessly. “Hast thou forgotten where thou standeth? Such enervations will avail thee not. Thy weaknesses however, hath been laid bare.” A beam of white energy shot from her horn, striking the lich squarely in the back who had turned to flee.
With a scream of pain, he flew a dozen hooves, landing in a heap. Muttering a quick spell, he lifted off the ground and flew away with all due speed. The bone dragon he left behind had ceased all struggles, becoming so weak, that it could only look at Twilight as she stood over it's fleshless skull. She gazed down at the pitiful creature before her with sadness. “Alas, I am certs that thou hadst ne'er intend'd to end thy existence so. We shalt make thy end swift.”
Twilight readied a spell to end the creature's suffering, when Nyx landed next to her and laid a paw on her shoulder. “Whoa there, missy! Forgot where we are already?” Twilight just looked at her in confusion. With a paw, the sphinx pointed towards the sky. “Not only is positive energy bad for undead like liches, but it's also good for the living. That's why we had to walk here instead of just fly over. Go too high, and boom! Every atom in our body achieves its highest potential instantaneously, and while that's an inconvenience for immortals like us, it would make this trip that much longer.”
With a smile, Twilight shook her head. “Verily, thou art my rock, dear Nyx. Is't possible for the plane to heal such a state?”
Nyx suppressed a shudder of delight at the compliment. “'Course it is! As long as the soul is still attached to the body, it will begin healing once all the negative energy is driven out. In fact, the closer we get him to the source, the faster it will happen.” They looked at each other uncertainly.
“Dare we?” Twilight asked tremulously.
“Nyx leaned forward and looked her in the eye with a deadly serious expression. “My dear, how can we not?” Twilight nodded, and they grew in size until they were both equal to the bone dragon. They carefully picked up the creature, grunting not from its weight, but from the unnatural cold that seemed to suck up all the warmth of any living being who touched it. Together, they flew straight up into the sky. Immediately, all the aches and little pains that they had suffered over the years vanished, healed by the power of the plane. Both of them felt stronger and more powerful than ever. They could feel their bodies filling with the life-giving energy. It felt like they could fly to the ends of the universe and back again in the blink of an eye. The burden they carried in their forelimbs felt negligible in comparison to the weights they could lift, the barriers they could shatter, the magics they could cast. Nothing was impossible for them.
”I hath secured him! Return to the ground at once! Quickly, before ye art o'ercome by the energies!”
The voice in their heads snapped them back to themselves, and without hesitation, they flew back down. They could feel the build up of excess energy begging for release. The need to use the energy was so powerful it hurt like trying to push a mountain through the eye of a needle. By the time both of them reached the ground, the pain was physically overwhelming. They collapsed, white light shining from their eyes and mouths, and sparks hot enough to melt stone on contact spurted from Twilight's horn. Lacking any such easy, natural form of release, Nyx simply writhed on the ground, claws gouging deep furrows in the rocky soil.
A golden dragon almost two kilotrots in length landed near them and folded her massive feathered wings, creating a minor windstorm as she did. With great care, she placed the purple dragon in her claws on the ground and walked over to the immortals, shrinking as she went. When she was about their size, she stood next to them, careful not to get close to Twilight's sparking horn. She placed a foreclaw on each of their heads and took a deep breath before channeling the excess energies into herself. She felt them collect in her gullet to the point of overflowing, and released them in a gout of flame straight up that seemed to stretch on forever.
It was almost a full minute before the fire died out and the dragon gratefully sucked in a lungful of air. She looked down to see Twilight and Nyx looking up at her. “What hast ye learned?”
“We acted as was meet. We wouldst do so again if called upon so,” Twilight replied.
Nyx rolled onto her stomach, then to her paws, before shaking the dust from her pelt and shirt. “More importantly, where've you been, Sal? We went looking for you, but your acolytes said you left and may never return.”
Salanshandaraen looked away, a hard gleam in her eyes. “Aye, thy question bites shrewdly, though not without merit. Ye knowest of the Dragonking?” They nodded at her question. “He... he hath been slain. I hath been sent in pursuit of the dissembling, ill-bred, sheep biting cur. Sadly, I fear I shall be so for some time. The sow bellied mongrel is quite adept at obfuscation.
Twilight nuzzled the dragon in sympathy, while Nyx said, “Well, that certainly clears up a few things about what's going on back home. If the Dragonking is dead, that's sure to throw the clans into chaos. But why send you after the killer? Weren't you his favored councilor?”
“Aye. Methinks t'is the reason of the quest,” Sal replied. “Pray, what art ye doing hence? Some arcane study?”
Twilight shook her head. “Nay, we come a-excavating. We sought for and found a crystal necessary for our works, hoe'er, we ran afoul of a lich. He had ensorcel'd yon drake into servitude. After seeing him to his heels, we thought to resurrect the poor creature.”
Sal's head jerked up with a start. “A lich? Here? Pray, whence didst the cur flee?”
Nyx pointed towards the horizon. “Thataway. Twilight wounded, and dimensionally locked him, but there's no telling-” The sphinx had to stop speaking as the great golden dragon took to the air. “How can she fly so high here? The positive energy should have made her explode by now.”
“Hast thou forgot'n?” Twilight asked as she led her back to the prone dragon they had rescued. “She is a priestess, righteous of heart. Channeling such energies is her trade.”
Nyx shook her head. “But still. We're talking about... never mind. Let's see to our new friend and get our crystal back home. An arcaneficarum won't make herself, you know.”
“Sooth,” Twilight replied with a nod.
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( . .)
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~2015 Aevum Illuminationis~
Leaning back in his chair, the earth pony chewed on a stalk of grass and looked over Knightengale once more, as if examining something distasteful. The light gray mare was used to such scrutiny, especially from figures of authority like the sheriff across the desk from her. Aganippe weren't very well understood, which translated to not very trusted, unlike their pegasi cousins, but at least were still considered ponies... barely. Were it not for the grace and open acceptance from Princess Luna, they likely wouldn't even have that much.
The sheriff moved the stalk of grass to one side and lobbed a gobbet of saliva at the spittoon next to his desk without even looking at it. “So why aren't you in the Night Guard? I thought you all went in for that 'service to the Lady' and all that,” he asked, obviously prepared to not believe the answer.
Knightengale took a deep breath and sighed. She'd heard plenty of that sort of question as well. She couldn't blame them for asking, not really. Few ponies ever see an aganippe outside of the Night Guard, and fewer still ever see their townships built in the caverns scattered across Equestria. She felt they could be excused for their ignorance, so long as it didn't become prejudice. However, she could see already that this would be one such authority figure who would become problematic, and while she didn't want to give him any reason to suspect her of wrongdoing, she had a rough few days, and was at the end of her tether. “Personal reasons,” she replied in a terse, yet lilting voice.
The sheriff's narrow gaze narrowed even further and he slowly nodded. “I'm sure,” he muttered loud enough for both of them to hear. Knightengale flicked an ear at him, but her face remained impassive. The sheriff actually smiled, but it contained no mirth. “So why'd you leave your roost? I thought your kind mostly stuck together.”
The door to the sheriff's office slammed open just then, and a large earth pony mare walked in. She easily stood a head taller than either of the building's other two occupants, as if the shock of orange hair on her head was not eye catching enough. She hung a muddy green poncho on a peg near the door and shook out the water from her mane. “Och! It's coming doon in buckets oot thar! Soom stallion y'are, sending a wee, delicate lass like m'self oot in that doopour.” She walked over to them, and sat on the corner of his desk, making it creak ominously with her weight. “Well, na'. D'ye want my report na', Tin Star, or do I have time to wet me whistle?”
Tin Star poked her in the side with a hoof, which caused the large mare to yelp and hop off his desk. “You're on the job, Deputy Ricochet. No drinking.” He could see her winding up for a good whine, but headed her off. “I want you to get Miss Knightengale here set up with a room at the Way Inn. Young Miss Kitten Kaboodle was kind enough to set her up there for a week until she can get back on her hooves and out of town.”
“Who said I was going anywhere?” Knightengale asked calmly.
The sheriff stared at her hard. “Until she can get back on her hooves and out of town,” he said through clenched teeth.
Ricochet grabbed Knightengale by a foreleg and led her over to the door. “Come on, ya barmy mare. Let's goo afore ya talk yourself int'a cell.” They paused at the door long enough to pull on a couple of ponchos, then walked out into the rain. As they trudged through the downpour, Ricochet said, “Dinna mind that prat. Soom ponies get elected sheriff, an' they go a little toys in th' attic, y'ken?”
“Seen it too many times, myself,” Knightengale replied with a nod. “Give the wrong pony a little power, and suddenly they're next in line to the throne.”
“Aye, jus' lie that!” Ricochet laughed. “I like you, cuttie. You're nae can o'piss like th'other aganippe I met.”
The aganippe in question looked up at her in surprise. “You've met others like me?”
“Aye,” Ricochet replied. “I'll tell ya all aboot it over a pint.”
Knightengale arched an eyebrow at her and smirked. “”I thought you were on the job?” she asked.
“Aye, wall, I won't tell if ye won't,” the tall deputy replied with a wink. Both mares laughed as they walked in to the local dive.
(\ /)
( . .)
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Knightengale contemplated the whiskey in her tumbler as she slowly spun it on the table with her hooves. The inn's saloon had long since cleared of all other but herself, the bartender, and one lone, passed out stallion at another table. She watched as the liquid threatened to slosh out of the glass to join the other stains on the wood, but never quite made it. With a sigh, she asked herself, How did it come to this? Stranded in some no name town, no money, no prospects. No friends... She drained the last of her drink, and brought the glass to the bar. She nodded goodnight to the light green unicorn behind it, and was about to go upstairs to her room, when she noticed a “Help Wanted” sign placed against the mirror behind the barkeep.
She walked back to the bar and pointing towards the sign, asked, “What sort of help are you looking for?”
The bartender looked her over, noting the muscle tone under her coat despite her delicate-looking build. “Security, mostly. Why, you interested?”
Knightengale shrugged. “Well, I do need a job. Maybe temporary, maybe not. Depends on how long the sheriff can stand me being here.”
With a roll of her eyes, the bartender spat on the sawdust covered floor, and used her magic to start cleaning some glasses with a dirty rag. “Tin Star's a teetotaler. I could care less what he thinks. The only reason any of the fights in here get stopped is because Rico practically lives here. 'Course, half those fights she starts, but at least they end faster. You got any experience?”
“I spent most of my foalhood training for the Night Guard,” she replied, flexing one bat-like wing and folding it back.
“Yeah, I noticed you were one of them bat ponies,” the barkeep said casually.
Knightengale moved like lightning, and was behind the bar before the unicorn could blink. She picked her up and slammed her once against the wall, causing all the glassware to rattle musically. “You better watch your mouth, hornhead. That's aganippe to you, not “bat pony.”
The unicorn smiled. “Speed, strength, and restrained violence. You're hired.” Knightengale let her down slowly in confusion. “Sorry about the slur, but I needed to see if you really had what it took to bounce. I got nothing against aganippe. Even had a few who used to come in all the time when they were with the Frontier Guard. Name's Wormwood,” she said, holding out a hoof.
Taking the hoof, she shook it. “Knightengale. With a 'K',” she added when she saw the unicorn about to say something. That was something else she had gotten used to saying over the years. She mentally thanked her parents once more for giving her a name so easily misconstrued.
Wormwood had to think a moment before catching her meaning. “Parents too clever for your own good, eh? Welcome to my world. Spent the first ten years of my life thinking I was going to be some kind of worm farmer, or something.” She shook her head ruefully with a smile. “The things I used to do to earn my cutie mark.”
With a matching smile, Knightengale nodded. “I can relate. So, when do I start?”
Wormwood nodded her head towards the passed out stallion at the bar. “How about now? I'll give you half pay for today if you help me deal with him, then you can officially start tomorrow afternoon. Pay's twenty bits a day, less food, drink and rent.”
Knightengale nodded and twisted her head, causing her neck to crack loudly. “Sounds good to me. So, where do I leave him? Front stoop? Back alley?”
“Nah, this one's special,” Wormwood replied. “When he passes out here- which is almost every night these days- we let him sleep in the pantry.”
“Relative?”
“Uncle,” the green mare replied sadly. “He helped me get this bar, laid out a lot of bits for me too.” She grunted as she carefully tipped the stallion onto Knightengale's back. “I try to look out for him, make sure he has someplace safe to sleep it off.” Leading them through the kitchens, she opened a door, and Knightengale saw a nest made of sacks of potatoes already set up with a blanket and pillow nearby. With surprising ease, the light gray aganippe eased him onto the sacks before Wormwood covered him with the blanket. “Thanks for your help. He's not that heavy, but trying to do that all by myself is a real pain.”
Knightengale shrugged it off. “Hey, it's family, right?”
(\ /)
( . .)
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The sound of a bird singing at her window was just too loud to ignore any longer. It's cheerfulness would be enough to make her cringe, even were it not so early in the day. Knightengale rolled over to face the open window, removing the pillow from around her ears, and let loose a burst of ultrasonic noise, sending the bird flying off for more friendly skies. The mare took a little more pleasure in that than she really intended, but that same bird had been serenading her every late morning for the past week straight, and turnabout was fair play as far as she was concerned.
With a great yawn that threatened to pop her jaw out of joint, she rose from her bed and stretched. Spotting the clock on the wall, she noted the time. Eleven? Well, it's better than yesterday, at least. Got seven whole hours of sleep this time. She walked over to the metal mirror hanging next to the window and did her best to tame her bed mane without a brush. Ugh. Guess I'll send one of the squirts shopping for me. Can't go on like this for much longer. I have an image to maintain, after all.
More or less presentable, she walked down the stairs to her job, stopping along the way to send one of the foals that hung around the inn/saloon in hopes of earning some bits for running errands out to buy her a brush. Taking a seat at a table, she greeted the regulars, most of whom just nodded to her. Ricochet came over from her seat at the bar and took the chair across from her. “Wall, g'morning to you, sunshine. I was beginning to think I'd have to send oot a sarch party for ya.”
“You mean you were worried you'd have to abandon your cider before it was finished, don't you?” Knightengale shot back.
Ricochet brought a hoof up to her heart in mock pain, but was careful enough to not spill her drink. “Och! Ya wound me to th' quick!” She turned towards the bar and loudly said, “Ya hear these roadapples, Wormwood? Ya gonna let her speak soo to your best coostomer?”
“Second best,” Wormwood replied, taking time from cleaning a glass to point at her uncle, who raised a mug towards the mares. The rest of the saloon gave a chuckle, and a barmaid set down a bowl of fried potatoes and fruit along with a mug of (non-alcoholic) cider in front of the aganippe.
Knightengale nodded towards her, saying, “Thank you, Short Order.”
Ricochet noted the gray mare's eyes watching the barmaid walk back to the bar and lightly kicked her under the table. “Not cheating on me with th' help, are ye?” she asked playfully.
Swallowing the mouthful she had already spooned in, Knightengale replied, “Nothing wrong with looking. Besides, cheating implies we have something deeper than friendship, Rico.”
“Ya mean that night o'carousing meant naught to ya? Och, Knighty, ya sure know how to wound a gal.” Just to emphasize her point, the earth pony clasped both hooves to her heart and made a kissyface at her.
Not one to miss an opportunity, Knightengale lobbed a spoonful of blueberries at the larger mare, scoring a direct hit on the lips, and causing her to sputter in surprise. In a near perfect imitation of the earth pony's Cowadonian accent, she said, “Thar's plenty mar where that came from ya blatherskite. Na' get ye gone afar the sheriff drags your daft rump away.”
Licking the blueberry juice off her face and popping one into her mouth, Ricochet stood with a smile. “Och, ya smooth talker.” As she walked to the door, she looked over her shoulder and said, “Mark me words, that rump will be mine, Knighty.” Before leaving, she gave a daring flick of her tail, allowing Knightengale a peek at something pink underneath, nearly causing her to choke on her potatoes.
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( . .)
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Later that night, Knightengale sat at her post, a stool next to the bar, but out of the customers' way. From this position, she was able to keep an eye on the room itself as well as the door. The day had been benign enough, with only Kitten Kaboodle coming in just after noon to see how she was doing. She tried to refuse it, but Knightengale finally persuaded the smaller pegasus to take back the money she had given to house the aganippe. It wasn't until she had said, “I always repay my debts.” that Kitten finally relented.
Wormwood had commented as she cleaned down the bar for the fourth time about the desolation. “A little unusual for this time of day. Usually we get in at least a few travelers,” she said with affected nonchalance. Her uncle had said nothing, but looked at the clock above the bar and grunted with a frown.
Business seemed to pick up as the day wore on, and the shops closed for the day, and farmers came in from the fields. Wormwood was soon too busy to remark upon the sudden slowdown earlier, but the event stuck with Knightengale, especially the stallion's reaction. It was this in mind that she watched the crowd for troublemakers, but so far, the only disturbance was a card game that got out of hoof when one of the gamblers tried to proposition Short Order. A stern glare from Knightengale and a quick flash of her fangs calmed the situation down rather quickly, however.
Everypony for the most part behaved themselves, but for the past few days, there had been an undercurrent of tension. More stories from travelers about attacks from griffons, minotaurs, and even diamond dogs had been circulating more and more of late, causing people to flock towards the churches to pray for safety, and then to the saloons to drink away their worries. Even Ricochet seemed subdued and fretful.
It was into this sort of tension came the trouble. As soon as the grim pegasus stepped into the saloon, everypony went dead silent. He was dressed in the light armor of a royal messenger, and carried with him a satchel stuffed with papers, and without preamble walked up to a post near the door, nailing a sheet to it. He turned to face the room, and from the red eyes and dried tracks on his cheeks, everypony could see that he had been crying recently. He swallowed hard, cleared his throat and said, “At dawn today, the airship Solaris was attacked. A combined force of griffons and dragons brought her down. Only a hoofful of ponies were able to make good their escape. As of this time, we are unaware of the condition of any other survivors, but we must assume the worst. The Princesses are asking for any able-bodied ponies to volunteer for military service. A recruiter will be here by tomorrow afternoon to accept any who wish to join. That is all.”
With that, he turned and left. The silence was so complete that they could hear his wing flaps as he took off. Ricochet walked up and read the posting, but found nothing the messenger hadn't already said. Ponies started to murmur amongst themselves, but now, instead of just an undercurrent of fear, it was more pronounced, even palpable.
Seeing that this kind of emotion would do the nopony any good, Knightengale did the only thing she could think of. With a flap of her wings, she alighted onto the bar, instantly gathering everypony's attention, and causing the room to go silent once more. With a clear, unwavering voice, she began to sing.
I thought I heard the old mare say,
“Leave her Bonny, leave her.”
Tomorrow ye will get your pay,
and it's time for us to leave her.
Leave her Bonny, leave her!
Oh, leave her Bonny, leave her!
For the voyage is long, and the winds don't blow,
and it's time for us to leave her.
Oh the wind was foul, and the sea ran high,
A few of the patrons began singing the refrain along with Knightengale now, lead by Wormwood's uncle.
”Leave her Bonny, leave her!”
She shipped it green and none went by,
and it's time for us to leave her.
Leave her Bonny, leave her!
Oh, leave her Bonny, leave her!
For the voyage is long, and the winds don't blow,
and it's time for us to leave her.
By the second line, all the patrons were joining in the sad song.
I hate to sail on this rotten tub,
“Leave her Bonny, leave her!”
No grog allowed and rotten grub,
and it's time for us to leave her.
Leave her Bonny, leave her!
Oh, leave her Bonny, leave her!
For the voyage is long, and the winds don't blow,
and it's time for us to leave her.
We swear by rote for want of more,
“Leave her Bonny, leave her!”
But now we're through, so we'll go ashore,
and it's time for us to leave her.
Leave her Bonny, leave her!
Oh, leave her Bonny, leave her!
For the voyage is long, and the winds don't blow,
and it's time for us to leave her.
By the end of the final line, there wasn't a dry eye in the house.