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Whisper eyed the water and instead of using the gangplank to get up to the ship, she spread her wings and flew the distance instead. She had no intentions of even chancing a fall into the water.

"This way," Galion beckoned for the others to follow him, moving across the deck and towards a door in the foresection of the ship.

The ship was not terribly large, but it was a fair size. The deck was about thirty feet across, and the ship, bow to stern, probably measured about one hundred feet. There were three masts: one in the center of the ship, and a small one at the bow, and a very small one at the stern. The sails were furled at the moment, waiting until the moment they would be needed to propel the ship forward.

The foredeck was raised, and in the wall between it and the main deck was a door, and it was there that Galion took the group, leading them down into what usually would have been the captain's quarters. There was a double bed in there, and a cabinet, a desk, and a dresser. Galion motioned towards the wall. "Just toss your bags there," he told them, "you won't be staying on board overnight anyways. Once you've got everything stowed, you can help with the loading."

"I'll stay here with Senka," Whisper muttered darkly under her breath, hopping up onto the bed. She curled up and ruffled her wings, making herself comfortable - or at least, she looked comfortable, though there was a look in her eye that suggested she wasn't as content as she appeared.

"Poor Whisper," Rhea smiled, setting her own bags down with everyone else's. "We'll be back, Whisper, don't worry."

Earendil dropped his bags next to the others, then stepped back so that Shiro, Kaito and Ura could do the same. Once everyone's bags were stowed, Earendil looked over at Lin. "I guess it's time to start helping with the loading," he nodded at her. "Let's go."

It took a few hours to get the ships fully loaded, and by the time it was finished, the sun had appeared and had risen into the sky. Storm and Starr appeared about halfway through the loading, but since they were so small, and not really able to help a lot with the lifting and carrying, they kept the cats company in the captain's quarters.

At last, the docks were clear, and Roydon announced that they were ready to go.

"You might want to go inside for now," Arwen told the group as Roydon and the crew set about setting sail. "It's going to be crazy for a while."

Shiro ducked as several elves walked past them, heading for the various masts. "That sounds like a plan to me," he quipped, heading for the captain's quarters.

"I'd like to stay on deck and watch, if I may," Rhea spoke up. "Is there a safe place?"

Arwen pointed up at the fore deck. "Up there, right at the bow," she told her. "Watch out though, you'll catch the most sun there but won't feel it from the wind. Make sure you don't burn."

"I'll stay with you two," Earendil decided, following after Lin and Rhea. The three nekos on the other hand decided that they would go inside and nap for a bit. They hadn't slept much the night before either, after all, and they wanted to be awake for when they were needed again.

Earendil led Rhea and Lin up to the fore deck and up to the bow.

"You know," Earendil commented as they watched everyone preparing the boat to sail, "it's kind of chaotic, when you have no idea what anyone's doing ..."

Rhea smiled. "I'm sure we'll learn soon enough what's going on," she murmured.

For all the chaos, though, it seemed as though it took quite a while for the ship to begin to move forward. The sails were unfurled and filled immediately with the wind, but even so it took the ships such a while to gain any forward momentum that it took Rhea a moment to realize that they had even started to move.

"And now," she grinned at Lin, "we're finally actually truly on our way."

Earendil was leaning against the edge of the ship, facing into the wind, his eyes closed, letting the breeze blow through his hair. He felt Lin's gaze on the back of his head, though, and he turned around and smiled at her warmly. "It feels so good to finally be on our way," he murmured over the sound of the water rippling away from the boat.

Rhea breathed deeply and exhaled slowly. She liked the feel of the boat ... even though it was breezier than on land, it was still somehow comforting to feel the gentle rocking of the planks beneath her feet.