Winter had grown boring on land for him, so he had taken to his ships, leaving the palace to join his men on a routine patrol of the waters. Oliver had enjoyed the companionship of his sailors and the challenges of a tumultuous winter sea but the journey had been uneventful, still boring. Merchant ships had grown used to the patrols and would have their manifests and crews ready for inspections without many headaches.

Those wishing not to be inspected avoided the Island of Clairval for the most part, giving Oliver even less entertainment than he had been having on land. Finally, they had returned back around the south end of the island, near to completing the complete circle of the island without any sort of excitement.

And like every other day, this day had dawned grey and threatening the cold, heavy rain that weighed one down . The winds were acting up and he had ordered the sails lowered when they were far enough from land. The currents they would sail in would not bring them any closer to shore, knowing he would waste time and energy fighting the winds and getting nowhere in weather like this.

He had just yelled at his first mate to change the watch and allow the men above deck to warm up when a shadow passed overhead, larger than any bird he remembered. Looking up into the sky for a sign of what had flown above, he heard a yell of fear from his man on watch. It was only moments before something large, with a wingspan that encompassed nearly ten feet, landed shakily on the bow.

Oliver drew his sword and ordered his archers to the ready when... the... person... stood and turned in his direction, leaving him looking directly at Verana. A very tired and wet Verana, with a very large pair of wings. Rainbow wings. He swore, violently, sheathing his blade and ordering his men to stand down as he strode across the deck. As he approached, he watched her brace her feet against the movement of the deck like a person who had never been onboard a ship, those wings spreading out, as if to assist in balance.

"Lady Veranandein?" he asked carefully, drawing her gaze, and finally a curt nod, "you... you can fly now."

She gave him a blunt look before her expression softened into a tired smile, shaking her head, "apparently not well enough. I'm sorry... I am stuck teaching myself, and did not realize... the wind stopped cooperating."

He glanced upwards, raising a brow, then glancing back to her. "Well. No wonder. These winds aren't cooperating with anyone today. The Sea is a fickle mistress. I would venture that you should wait until the winter season is over to fly out over her, at least until you've got it down pat."

"Your ship... it won't stop moving." She made it to a railing and gripped it with one hand, bracing against the movement, with a look of exhaustion and confusion on her features.

"Yes, its in the ocean... " He paused before grinning widely in amusement. Oliver had no trouble keeping his balance, the deck wasn't moving that much today and it amused him to be on firmer ground than the Feysha for once. "You've never been on the ocean before, have you?"

She glared at him and his amusement, shaking her head. "I was almost in the ocean, if I hadn't found your ship. But no. I just saw it for the first time this winter. I only just now understand what you meant by the Wild in it."

"Oh, Lady, you don't even know the half of it, this is gentle, sheltered by land." He grinned, but seeing her soaked and shivering gave him pause. It seemed the Feysha did not waterproof their clothing, or believe in wearing much more in the colder months than in the summer. "Can... I mean, we have to wait for a while to see if the wind dies down. You can warm up in my cabin, if you can fit..."

"Fit?" She followed his gaze to her wings, before blushing and nodding, and then they folded tightly to her back to look like nothing more than a long cloak."Sorry, I've started to learn to use them as balance. They're heavier than you'd imagine"

"No apologies, Lady. None at all." He continued to grin and slowly led her across the deck and down a set of stairs, taking her into his fore cabin, which served as an office of sorts.

He motioned to a chair by the fireplace that was burning happily. "It is a pleasure to see you again. Last time I saw you, we weren't entirely sure you would survive. Sit, warm up, I was just about to have lunch. If the wind dies down, there's a harbour down the way, we'll sail in there, and you'll probably have an easier time making it back home once you're inland again."

Verana sat down, gratefully, picking a smaller, less comfortable chair and straddling it backwards. The seat allowed her wings to unfurl slightly, drying in the warmth of the cabin, watching him curiously. "You aren't even a little off-put by the fact that I have wings?"

Oliver thought about it for a moment as he sat down, leaning back into this chair as a couple kitchen crew entered, putting down trays of food for the both of them, bowing and leaving. He answered only once they were alone again. "Well, its not like you were human to begin with. I'm curious. How did you get them?"

"I always had them." She shrugged, pausing when she saw his confusion. Verana glanced to the fire, before continuing. "I didn't know about them either. Hard to really figure that one out, I know. But there had been binding magic put on them, on me. As if they were not there. They wanted me raised more comfortably as Feysha and whomever my mother's people were, they believed I needed to be raised as Feysha, not them. So I was left with my father, who wasn't allowed to tell me he was my father, because the Council believed that would distract me too much from my purpose."

"They take a lot of liberties." He said softly, eating as she spoke and using the distraction of his food to ponder what she had said. "So what's next for you? I know the plan was for you to maybe drop by the Capitol, to see what happens when the yearly trading courts open up. But now I can imagine you might want to take to the winds and find the other half of who you are? Or even just explore the world. Those things on your back when you learn to use them, they could be your freedom."

Verana shook her head, glancing to him, then back to her fire. "Your ships. You have some that you own, just yours, right?"

Oliver nodded, motioning to the cabin they were in, "This is mine. I sail it under Clairval's colours, but she's mine."

"So you could technically, refuse your title of Admiral, give it over to someone else and sail anywhere you want. Freedom." She looked up at him then and the look in her eyes matched the feeling in his heart. The yearning for it, but understanding that so much more was needed from him, that freedom wasn't an easy thing to take.

"I get it." He sighed softly, running a hand through his hair, offering a shrug. "Still, it could be worse. I can still sail, I have loyal friends, and a home when I weary."

Verana nodded at that, offering him a careful smile. "I have lived my entire life without them, all my mother's people could do for me, is possibly help me figure out this flying thing. But according to my Path, eventually I'll meet them. My fight will take me further than protecting this island. The threat isn't as simple as those men who attacked the King and Council."

"Of course not. You and the Feysha were able to handle them much too easily for the threat to be as simple as that." He drawled, shaking his head and giving her a look, "from the Sight, what we saw when you two were fighting. The darkness that turned men evil, the thing they were really fleeing from."

She sighed and looked into the flames. "Sometimes I wish I could just have a simple path, like teaching fighters... or weaving music... wouldn't that be peaceful."

Oliver chuckled, "yes, maybe for a moment or two, but then it would be boring, and what would you use your wings for, if not for fighting?"

He grinned as she smiled to him, enjoying the light moment until she lapsed into silence. They both finished their lunch in silence and then sat drying in the warmth of the cabin. Finally Oliver stood, offering her a bow, "rest here, Lady. When the winds have changed, I'll bring you into port and get you to land safely."