Clatters rang out from the kitchen as Gus prepared the tea he had promised. Roy took a look at the walls that lined the room, or more accurately the bookshelves set against the walls. There didn't seem to be a break in the lines of literature that sat, slight dust covering the tops. Though still interested in the shelves, Roy instead busied himself taking tools out from his pack. A thin sheen of water covered all of them, so he pulled a still-damp cloth from his pocket.

After two tools had been dried, Kaela glanced over and saw a slight frown on his face. At this point, all the cloth seemed to be doing was moving the water around, not truly drying them. She hesitated a moment before speaking, "If you would like, I can get you a dry cloth?"

Roy seemed to jump slightly, but quickly met her eye with a faint smile. He nodded, relief fairly clear on his face. Kaela stood from the armchair, striding toward the kitchen where Gus had disappeared. She returned a few moments later, the promised dry cloth in hand. Roy took the offered cloth with a wide smile and an energetic nod.

It was somewhat silent once more as Roy resumed his work. Looking over the objects in his hands, she couldn't help but wonder what the tools were used for. They were all oddly shaped and she hadn't seen anything like them before now. Not one to sit in curiosity, she opened her mouth to speak. No sooner had she drawn breath, the thought struck her that he couldn't answer.

Hearing the intake of breath, Roy had looked up from his work. Catching his eyes, she smiled sheepishly, almost seeming embarrassed. Understanding flashed across his eyes, and he held his hands apart helplessly.

"Kinda awkward now, huh?" Kaela scratched her cheek as if trying to peel away the heat she felt rising in her cheeks. Roy just shrugged noncommittally, now mindlessly wiping the cloth against the metal. "I wish I had a way I could understand you..." She trailed off thoughtfully. Roy simply placed a thin metal instrument with an oddly pointed tip on the table. Kaela thought it could almost be a weapon if not for only being able to stab, plus the handle being shaped different from any weapon she had seen.

Roy had time to dry off another two tools before Gus walked in with a tea pot and three cups, as well as some honey. Kaela mumbled her thanks while Roy simply nodded in acceptance. He seemed to regard the translucent red liquid with an odd expression.

He set the tool in his hands to the side for a moment and made some quick gestures. Gus, catching the deliberate motions, smiled slightly. It was obvious Roy was moving his hands more slowly than he could, having realized Gus wasn't very fluent in the language of motion.

"This is the tea I mentioned. You take hot water and pour it on dried leaves, flowers, or fruit. The water draws out the flavor of the plants to create a flavorful drink." As Gus had explained the drink, Roy had picked it up and sniffed it slightly. Smelling the wonderfully aromatic scent, he took a sip of the steaming liquid with small trepidation. His face scrunched up slightly.

Gus let out a hearty laugh. "It can be a bit bitter at times, that's why I have the honey." Kaela had already taken a spoonful of the viscous sweetener, stirring it into her own cup before taking a sip. Roy looked unsure, as he raised his hands then hesitated.

"Honey," Gus began, making a sign with his hand near his mouth, "Is a sweet fluid made by bees and other living beings. Try some in your tea." Kaela, watching Gus, made note of the motion he made.

Roy reached for the honey and stirred it into the tea as he had seen Kaela do. Taking a sip of the tea again, he blinked in surprise as a smile spread across his face. He nodded and made a signal with one hand.

"You're welcome," With that simple reply, Kaela assumed, correctly, that the sign was for giving thanks. "Now then, Roy, how is it you came to fall into the ocean?"

With a soft clink, Roy set the teacup down. Kaela watched as, for what seemed like eternity to her roused curiosity, he shaped his hands in several shapes. Every now and then he seemed to hesitate on something before moving his hands again, trying to recall signs that he didn't use often.

Once he lowered his hands and took a sip of his tea, Kaela turned to Gus. "What did he say?" Gus, seeing the glimmer of excitement in her eye, chuckled slightly.

"He said that he had been trying to fix an object on the ship when the line keeping him attached was cut and he drifted here."

"A ship? But why were you in that flying contraption then?" Kaela's confusion grew.

As Roy made his signs, Kaela saw Gus widen his eyes from her peripheral vision. She looked at Gus as the signs ceased.

"You don't possibly mean that," there was faint hesitation before Gus continued, "your ship was in the sky?"

Incredulity came over Kaela's face. In the sky? Looking at Roy, she saw a simple nod of affirmation. Gus stood excitedly, scanning the shelves of books for something. "Surely you're joking Roy. I haven't ever seen a ship flying through the sky, and I think I would notice something like that!"

Seeing Gus was still rifling through his shelves, Roy just gave a slight shrug with an embarrassed look on his face. He rubbed the back of his neck a little. Suddenly, a giant thunk resounded as a book was dropped unceremoniously on the table, causing a clatter as the porcelain they were drinking from settled from the force.

"I had always thought this was no more than a legend, but my master always insisted that this was history." He breathed excitedly as he flipped through pages worn with time and use. "Here, is this the type of ship you are talking about, Roy?"

Kaela examined the picture, an oval with long poles sticking from the top and various places around the object. A small caption under the sketch labeled it a flying ship. She dimly noticed Roy nodding as she read the small passage about it.

The invention of this ship is due to our curiosity as humans. Never before have we seen a self-sustaining electric spell, but with this it is only a matter of time before more breakthroughs. Such is the power of a curious mind.

A self-sustaining spell couldn't exist, could it? Kaela had never heard of such a thing, yet here it was written in a book Gus had told her was the history of the continent. She was brought back to reality as she noticed Roy moving his hand into her line of sight, pointing at one of the long poles.

"Those were the objects you were trying to fix?" Gus looked like a twelve-year-old, despite the wrinkles on his aged face. "What do they do?"

Kaela wished Gus was a better interpreter, so she could actually understand Roy, instead of guessing what he had said. Speaking of, Roy was making more signs with his hands, and Kaela watched with frustration and desire to know.

Beating Gus before he could say anything, she asked him what Roy had said. "He said that the..." He looked to Roy, and the boy used one hand to make several more shapes. "Propeller?" A nod from Roy. "He said the propeller lifts the ship into the air."

"How does it continue without stopping?" Kaela asked the question this time, wanting to know more about the self-sustaining spell.

There was a patient wait as Roy finished moving his hands and Kaela looked pointedly at Gus. "A what?" Not quite what she expected, but she noticed Roy frown in concentration as he moved one hand again. She recognized two or three of the hand shapes from a few moments earlier. Was he spelling out the word?

"A generator?" A nod of confirmation. "So a generator creates an electric current that spins the propellers which lifts the ship into the air, am I getting that correct?"

Once more Roy nodded his head, a small smile on his face. Kaela was incredulous at this point. "You're kidding me right? This sounds like some fairy tale my parents would read to me."

After scratching his neck once more in embarrassment, Roy raised his hands and made several gestures, in that slow deliberate manner that she had grown used to seeing. "He states that when he fell he didn't expect to find a place that was so green and stretched for such a long way. This world seems like a fantasy to him as well."

She drew breath to respond, but before she could get a word out, a thundering knock on the door had all three of them jumping out of their skin in surprise.

/\

Well here is the fourth chapter of my novel. I honestly had to hold myself from writing more, I enjoy this so much. With how motivated I am, I'm hoping to get the next chapter most of the way done today, since I already want to go ahead now. In any case, with college starting, I'm more motivated in general, so it shouldn't be too hard update! For now...

RQ: Without the repercussion of experiencing the injury, what would be the one thing you would like to know how it feels? All the pain, difficulty of recovery, the entirety, just in your memory but not physically experienced.

Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter, and are enjoying the story in general. If you did, maybe let me know? In any case, I'd better get going, I still have some homework for Calc 3 to do...

-Nicky~