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"I think I've changed my mind," Kaito nodded. "The manor is like a shack compared to this."

He peered over the edge of the ship to see how far away the water was. He shuddered. "Worse than the high dive," he murmured. "Has to be at least ... what, sixty feet?"

Leyenda laughed. "Seventy five. And yes, I would very much advise against jumping. While it wouldn't kill you, it would certainly knock all the air out of your lungs and leave you suffocating without even being underwater."

She motioned for them all to follow her. "This way," she told them, moving towards the bow of the ship. "Our living quarters are all under the foredeck, the crew is aft. It gives us a bit of privacy."

The deck was littered with crates, and there were dozens of elves bustling about. Leyenda weaved in and out of them, heading towards the door in the foredeck, and though they had boarded the ship from the middle, it took them a while to get there. The ship was simply massive.

In the door was a hallway with two doors on each side.

"This is where Mother and Papa will be," Leyenda told them, rapping softly on the first door on the right, "and Celeb will have the quarters across from them. I'll have the quarters on the far starboard side, and the far port quarters is for Storm and Starr. They came with Mother on the second caravel, so they'll be here as soon as the first one is out of the way."

She motioned for them to follow her to the far end of the hall, where there was a set of stairs. "Come on, your quarters are all down here."

Leyenda smiled proudly as she led the group down the steps. "It took four years," she told them, "and I was able to help for the last half year. There has never been a ship built of this proportion before ... of its type, yes, but not of this size. In essence, it is a palace on water." She laughed. "And the cost shows it. She cost a fortune to build!"

Rhea blinked at her. "A fortune?"

Leyenda rubbed the back of her neck. "A king's ransom?" she substituted. "That's a bit closer."

Leyenda turned and walked backwards, grinning at Lin. "Just who do you think our family is?" she laughed. "Earendil was one of the largest donors, but Mother and Papa paid for much of it. Also, the business, some traders ... King Estel and Queen Lothiriel donated as well, they said that if we do find other lands out there, it could be for the benefit of the entire Four Lands - I assume she meant trade-wise. Ninako also paid for some of it, and in return we will bring her some of whatever we might find. Not to mention, Earendil isn't here only for pleasure - part of his job will be to map out the lands that we find, so whatever land we find, we might be there for quite a while."

"Which is why I was so grateful to get that bag from you, Lin," the prince smiled warmly at his friend. "I could never have brought all of my instruments otherwise."

"I hope there's some bookshelves in our room," Shiro murmured softly as they reached the second level. "I brought a few ..."

Kaito coughed. "Half a room's worth from the library," he muttered under his breath.

Shiro looked indignant. "I need them," he said firmly. "They're essential for my studies." He shrugged. "Whatever we may find."

Leyenda giggled and led them to the first door on the port side. "Here's your quarters, Shiro, Kaito and Ura. We thought you three might like to bunk together, being as you're so close and all."

It was an enormous room, with the largest wall full of shelves (as Shiro had hoped), two bunks, one atop the other, on the far wall, and a single bed just beside it. There were three dressers and two desks built in, and a chair for each desk, each of them bolted to the floor so that they would not move around in case of swells.

All three nekos filed into the room and looked around, their eyes filled with amazement. "It couldn't be more perfect," Shiro purred. "Thank you, Leyenda."

Leyenda giggled. "Only the best."

Leyenda giggled. "On your last visit, Kaito made it clear just what kind of person Shiro was. It wasn't hard to guess what would please him. And the size is just because there's three of them in there, unfortunately none of the other quarters are as big."

She left the nekos to unpack their things, and motioned for the others to follow her out of the room. "Here," she said, showing them to the room directly across the hall, "is Earendil's quarters."

The room was about half the size of the nekos' room, but that made sense, since he would be staying in there alone. Like the first room, there was a set of bunks, one atop the other, built into the back wall, and there was a bookshelf (albeit a small one) as well, but his desk was large, made specially for his cartography instruments.

"We had no idea if someone extra might be coming along, so we did put in the extra bunk," Leyenda explained as the prince entered the room and looked around.

"It's lovely," Earendil grinned. "I could ask for no more."

Leyenda smiled. "Good. Then it's time for Rhea and Lin."

Whisper was still following the group, but she was keeping very quiet. It was obvious that she still didn't like the idea of the ship, but even she would admit that this ship was a lot better than those little ones they had taken here. This one was almost like a house, very solid.

"Here," Leyenda led them to the last room in the hall. "This is your room."

It was bigger than Earendil's room, but smaller than the nekos', because they had known for several years that Rhea would be joining them. There were the two bunks in there as well, one above the other, two dressers, and two desks. There was also a cabinet built into one wall with a glass front. It went from ceiling to floor, and was about four feet wide and one foot deep.

"For your weapons," Leyenda nodded at the display case. "Rhea, I know you said you have a staff, it would be in closer reach there than in your bag. Lin, I don't know what weapons you have, but again, if they're in closer reach, it is better. We don't expect trouble, but you never know."

Leyenda smiled. "Then I'll let you girls unpack for now, and then you can come and find me up on deck."

And with that, she turned and left again.

Rhea smiled at Lin. "Would you like the top or bottom bunk?" she asked, motioning towards the beds.