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"Trail mix, actually," Arwen replied apologetically. "It's got apples, pears, some peach, bit of strawberry ... but it's all mixed together. I won't take offense if you pick through your bowl, though, I know everyone has their preferences. And I'm sorry but if you're thirsty there's only water to drink ... again, it's all been stowed on other caravels."

She laughed softly. "Trust me, on the Zephyr we'll have a good variety of quality food."

Despite the fact that there was not much variety of food, there was plenty of it, and by the time Arwen finally cleaned up there wasn't a single person on the ship who could claim that they were still hungry.

After eating, Andarien had gone outside to let his Ponyta out, and was letting it walk around. Even he knew it wasn't safe to let it run on the ship - between its speed and its incredibly hard hooves, it just wasn't safe. But it was getting some exercise, which was better than nothing.

Eon was chasing after the Ponyta, and Andarien was encouraging it to practice its tackles and headbutts on Ponyta. The Ponyta was fast, but occasionally Eon would make contact with a leg.

All in all it was a pretty uneventful trip, and just as the sun's last rays were fading over the horizon, the fleet arrived at the Zephyr.

Being as the caravel that the travelers were on was the ship that also had Roydon, they were the first to arrive and unload.

"Passengers first," he grinned. "Grab your bags, and Arwen will show you all where you'll be bunking. Unfortunately, there's not much privacy ... big as this ship is, there are a lot more of us on this voyage than we've had before, so some of the rooms will be a bit crowded."

"Osh, they won't be crowded," Arwen chided her husband, stepping forward to lead the way, "but they'll be full. Come on, all of you, this way."

She beckoned for them all to follow her, and as soon as the gangplank was set between the two ships, she led the way from the caravel over to the enormous galleon.

As Miyuki predicted, Earendil and Lin did have the privacy of their own cabin, as did the other married couples. Aravah of course went with her parents, seeing as she was so young, but aside from that the married couples were on their own.

After that, Shiro and Kaito were given a room together, as were Feng, Ryu and Naida; Alassëa and Wren; Jasmine and Brooke; River and Aranxia; and Adarien, Amalirahc and Jess.

At last, only Lancaeriel and Miyuki were left.

"I'm really sorry about this," Arwen apologized as she led the two to the final remaining cabin. "I did try to put people together who were more or less the same age or had some kind of relationship ..."

"Oh, I don't mind," Lancaeriel smiled gently, reassuring Arwen in her soft voice. "Besides, now Miyuki won't have to track me down when she wants lessons."

She smiled at Miyuki.

Arwen smiled and opened the door to the last cabin for the two of them. "This is yours, then."

It was dark inside, too dark to see, but Lancaeriel cupped her hands together and, with a twisting motion that was reminiscent of the motion Aragost had taught to Adanedhel so many decades before, brought into existence an orb of light. It started small, and slowly she adjusted its size and brightness so that it lit up the room without being too bright.

The bunks were one above the other, and a ladder was carved into one of the posts that held up the side of the upper bunk. There were two desks in the room, and one large wardrobe. Aside from that, there was one simple circular window, which was covered with a shutter, fastened shut at the moment.

"Cozy," was all Lancaeriel murmured as she stepped into the room. She looked around for a moment, then set the glowing orb on one of the desks. With that done, she turned to Miyuki and asked, "Would you prefer the top or bottom bunk?"

Lancaeriel smiled and set her bag on the floor. "It's one of the simpler magics," she replied, kneeling next to her bag. She opened it up and began to pull things out, unpacking some clothes and books.

"I don't know your cousin Miyu, but it is very similar to your father's magic," she explained softly. "At least, insomuch as it is of the same source. If you would like, I can teach it to you ... tomorrow."

She smiled over her shoulder at Miyuki as she began to hang some clothes in the wardrobe. "I'm afraid that tonight, all I'd like to do is unpack a few things and head straight to bed. If you're not ready to sleep, don't feel you have to on my account - I can sleep quite fine with light or noise."

Besides, the crew were going to be unloading the caravels for quite a while, and that alone would make enough noise.

Lancaeriel had not slept well that night, and had left the cabin hours before the sun came up so that she would not disturb Miyuki. Now she was standing at the bow of the ship, her hair blowing in the wind, a blanket wrapped like a shawl around her shoulder.

Jess and River were kicking a ball back and forth in the middle of the deck. It was clear that River had been practicing since their trip around the Four Lands: the ball was going more or less where she wanted it to go, at least most of the time. Jess was as skilled as ever, the ball sticking almost magnetically to his feet when he wanted it to, and going exactly where he wanted it to go when he kicked it.

Amalirahc could be seen on the bridge, next to the ship's wheel, where Roydon was making an adjustment to their course. At the angle where Miyuki was standing, facing into the sun, Amalirahc was little more than a black silhouette, though the sun shone on his pure white hair; and Roydon was only slightly clearer than his grandson.

At the port side rail of the ship, Arthael stood, leaning with both arms on the railing and facing the ocean. She was motionless, aside from the ocean breeze that ruffled through her hair.

Jess was the first one to spot the two coming towards them, and he smiled and waved. Without losing his concentration, he kicked the ball to River. As he kicked it, though, River turned to see who he was waving at, and while she was waving her own greeting, the ball bounced off the top of her foot and kept right on going.

"Uh oh, grab it!" she shouted at anyone in hearing range, panicking as she saw the ball heading towards the side of the ship. The space between the spindles of the rail was more than large enough for the ball to slip through. She started running after it, trying to catch it before it went overboard.