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Survivor00
Star
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2009
Heavenspire â?? 1876
3:30 PM
The mid-afternoon bell rang once from the Town Hallâ??s clocktower, the baritone chime echoing over the desert settlement of Heavenspire. The townâ??s namesake came from the towering plug of obsidian rock that dominated over the town, casting most of it in shadow. The solidified guts of an ancient volcano, the ore-rich soil surrounding the Heavenspire had brought about a bountiful mining industry, elevating the town to a lofty position of wealth. It had become a central hub for the Atlovian Desert, which meant that nearly every train from Port Barister to Orion City ran through here.
Curtis Whittaker sighed in relief as the shade from a passing skyship washed over him, sparing him from the sun's burning wrath for at least a few moments. Cracking open an eye, he gazed up at the droning vehicle as it floated by, trailing massive plumes of steam and coal smoke. He wondered absently where it was heading or where it came from. But soon, it passed and he was subject to the blazing heat of the sun once again. He tipped up the brim of his hat with a finger, glancing around the crowd that trekked through the center of town. Nobody had been paying attention to him as he reclined next to the Train Station, figuring he was just another drifter brat from one of the outlying settlements.
They were just as common as the locals here, kids aged from 15 through 18, carrying little more than the clothes on their backs and whatever possessions they could carry with them, trying to escape the homestead lifestyle. Theyâ??d hop trains to wherever they could get, sometimes theyâ??d sell whatever they had for a ticket, even fewer would be lucky enough to find someone with a sense of generosity to buy them a ticket. Most just tried to hop aboard a freight car before the train got moving too fast, and prayed they didnâ??t trip over the rail. Curtis certainly fit the description of a drifter brat, but he had an ace up his sleeve that nobody else had.
Her name was Triss.
Heâ??d stumbled across Triss when he was a hair short of 16, up on Jenkinâ??s Mesa near his familyâ??s homestead. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen â?? a dragoness, her scales the color of sandstone, with rich, turquoise eyes, warming herself in the desert sun. He must have stood there, dumbstruck, for ten minutes before she spoke to him. He didnâ??t know how he could understand her â?? but he could. She told him not to be afraid, that she wasnâ??t going to eat him despite his interruption of her rest. He still wasnâ??t quite sure why, but theyâ??d been damn near inseparable after that.
Turned out, having a dragon of any kind was a blessing â?? you could fly farther and move faster than any horse could run, and the best of them could even beat a Swengel 4-10-4 locomotive going at full throttle. But his timing and fortune couldnâ??t have been more off â?? the age of the skyships had just begun. They could fly farther than any dragon without stopping, and carry more cargo than any locomotive. They were the new champions of the sky â?? and those with dragons suddenly found themselves without jobs. And for Curtis, who had left his homestead with Triss, they found themselves with nothing. No home to return to, no food to eat â?? well, Triss could hunt, but...this wasnâ??t the life he promised her to convince her to come with himâ?¦
So they had turned to thieving to get by.
It had been small stuff at first, swiping food from a stall when no one was looking, maybe the occasional barrel of supplies, or a ranch hand might find himself with one less Longhorn in the morning. It was mostly stuff to get them from one day to the next, and adventurous enough to keep them in good spirits. He had discovered Trissâ??s ability to transmorph into a human form during this time. And while it made hiding out after a theft easier, it made it harder on him to keep focus. She wasâ?¦mighty easy on the eyes in that form, and the bond they shared justâ?¦
Eventually, they had started moving up the stealing ladder â?? her swooping down from the sky to topple a stagecoach, or her posing as a â??helplessâ?? girl, or a whorehouse gal to lure travelers until they didnâ??t know what kind of trouble they had stumbled into. And once the deed was done, she could just fly off again over the mountains, and the law would never find them.
Today, they had moved up a step further â?? a train. Robbing a train was no easy task; most trains carried an armed guard nowadays, and getting an Iron Horse to stop in her tracks was damn near impossible unless you blew or blocked the tracks. Him and Triss didnâ??t have those kind of supplies, nor were their morals corrupted enough where they could accept killing innocent people, se heâ??d come up with another plan. Theyâ??d both rob the train from the inside, and would bail when the train reached the Oseer Gorge. Trissâ??s draconian form was large and strong enough to carry both him and whatever loot they grabbed from the train. He just hoped they would have enough time for him to fix her saddle before the guards knew what was going on.
The roaring whistle of the locomotive echoed over the town, and Curtis stood to his feet, brushing off the duster jacket he wore, retreating into the shade over to the side of the station. He reached down and pulled away some loosened planks, making a gap just large enough for him to squeeze between the fence and the side of the building. He replaced the planks as best he could, crouching as he crept towards the station platform. He couldnâ??t board the passenger car â?? thereâ??d be no way he could get to the baggage car from there. But he was going to serve as the distraction that would help Triss slip out.
The massive, twin-funneled locomotive rumbled past, slowing on the way into the station, dirty smoke rushing up from the smokestacks. With a hiss of brakes setting in, the locomotive rumbled to a stop, and he set off, darting over between two of the cars, clamoring over the coupling to the far side of the train.
3:30 PM
The mid-afternoon bell rang once from the Town Hallâ??s clocktower, the baritone chime echoing over the desert settlement of Heavenspire. The townâ??s namesake came from the towering plug of obsidian rock that dominated over the town, casting most of it in shadow. The solidified guts of an ancient volcano, the ore-rich soil surrounding the Heavenspire had brought about a bountiful mining industry, elevating the town to a lofty position of wealth. It had become a central hub for the Atlovian Desert, which meant that nearly every train from Port Barister to Orion City ran through here.
Curtis Whittaker sighed in relief as the shade from a passing skyship washed over him, sparing him from the sun's burning wrath for at least a few moments. Cracking open an eye, he gazed up at the droning vehicle as it floated by, trailing massive plumes of steam and coal smoke. He wondered absently where it was heading or where it came from. But soon, it passed and he was subject to the blazing heat of the sun once again. He tipped up the brim of his hat with a finger, glancing around the crowd that trekked through the center of town. Nobody had been paying attention to him as he reclined next to the Train Station, figuring he was just another drifter brat from one of the outlying settlements.
They were just as common as the locals here, kids aged from 15 through 18, carrying little more than the clothes on their backs and whatever possessions they could carry with them, trying to escape the homestead lifestyle. Theyâ??d hop trains to wherever they could get, sometimes theyâ??d sell whatever they had for a ticket, even fewer would be lucky enough to find someone with a sense of generosity to buy them a ticket. Most just tried to hop aboard a freight car before the train got moving too fast, and prayed they didnâ??t trip over the rail. Curtis certainly fit the description of a drifter brat, but he had an ace up his sleeve that nobody else had.
Her name was Triss.
Heâ??d stumbled across Triss when he was a hair short of 16, up on Jenkinâ??s Mesa near his familyâ??s homestead. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen â?? a dragoness, her scales the color of sandstone, with rich, turquoise eyes, warming herself in the desert sun. He must have stood there, dumbstruck, for ten minutes before she spoke to him. He didnâ??t know how he could understand her â?? but he could. She told him not to be afraid, that she wasnâ??t going to eat him despite his interruption of her rest. He still wasnâ??t quite sure why, but theyâ??d been damn near inseparable after that.
Turned out, having a dragon of any kind was a blessing â?? you could fly farther and move faster than any horse could run, and the best of them could even beat a Swengel 4-10-4 locomotive going at full throttle. But his timing and fortune couldnâ??t have been more off â?? the age of the skyships had just begun. They could fly farther than any dragon without stopping, and carry more cargo than any locomotive. They were the new champions of the sky â?? and those with dragons suddenly found themselves without jobs. And for Curtis, who had left his homestead with Triss, they found themselves with nothing. No home to return to, no food to eat â?? well, Triss could hunt, but...this wasnâ??t the life he promised her to convince her to come with himâ?¦
So they had turned to thieving to get by.
It had been small stuff at first, swiping food from a stall when no one was looking, maybe the occasional barrel of supplies, or a ranch hand might find himself with one less Longhorn in the morning. It was mostly stuff to get them from one day to the next, and adventurous enough to keep them in good spirits. He had discovered Trissâ??s ability to transmorph into a human form during this time. And while it made hiding out after a theft easier, it made it harder on him to keep focus. She wasâ?¦mighty easy on the eyes in that form, and the bond they shared justâ?¦
Eventually, they had started moving up the stealing ladder â?? her swooping down from the sky to topple a stagecoach, or her posing as a â??helplessâ?? girl, or a whorehouse gal to lure travelers until they didnâ??t know what kind of trouble they had stumbled into. And once the deed was done, she could just fly off again over the mountains, and the law would never find them.
Today, they had moved up a step further â?? a train. Robbing a train was no easy task; most trains carried an armed guard nowadays, and getting an Iron Horse to stop in her tracks was damn near impossible unless you blew or blocked the tracks. Him and Triss didnâ??t have those kind of supplies, nor were their morals corrupted enough where they could accept killing innocent people, se heâ??d come up with another plan. Theyâ??d both rob the train from the inside, and would bail when the train reached the Oseer Gorge. Trissâ??s draconian form was large and strong enough to carry both him and whatever loot they grabbed from the train. He just hoped they would have enough time for him to fix her saddle before the guards knew what was going on.
The roaring whistle of the locomotive echoed over the town, and Curtis stood to his feet, brushing off the duster jacket he wore, retreating into the shade over to the side of the station. He reached down and pulled away some loosened planks, making a gap just large enough for him to squeeze between the fence and the side of the building. He replaced the planks as best he could, crouching as he crept towards the station platform. He couldnâ??t board the passenger car â?? thereâ??d be no way he could get to the baggage car from there. But he was going to serve as the distraction that would help Triss slip out.
The massive, twin-funneled locomotive rumbled past, slowing on the way into the station, dirty smoke rushing up from the smokestacks. With a hiss of brakes setting in, the locomotive rumbled to a stop, and he set off, darting over between two of the cars, clamoring over the coupling to the far side of the train.