TRAVIS
Travis gripped the railing and watched the approaching town as the ship slowly slipped into the harbor. The noon sun shone down on the glimmering blue water and was warm on Travis's skin despite the cool northern air.

Over the few days of traveling, Travis felt his bond with Paragon intensify, but he was unsure of its full extent. Thankfully, Paragon taught him how to sequester her thoughts from his mind. Now, Paragon's consciousness remained as a distant feeling unless one of them needed to say something to the other.

Just as Queen Horizon said, Paragon calmed with Travis's continued presence. Her thoughts now flowed like a tranquil river in her mental background instead of randomly like flashes of lightning in pure darkness. Though she still had crazed moments, her calm happiness made her excellent company.

He briefly mentally checked on the ship. He felt Paragon's excitement as she carefully slipped into the harbor, mentally noting rocks and other possible obstacles hidden under the greenish waters. After a deep breath, Travis slid the ship's thoughts back out of the forefront of his mind and focused on the land.

Snow-covered mountains obscured in a slight haze, and a large glacier slowly flowed to the sea east of the harbor. The sprawling city west of the glacier consisted entirely of sod buildings, no taller than three stories.

Though it took some convincing, Travis had talked Paragon into arriving at the slow pace of average ships, unlike her arrival at the docks at the shipyard. They still crossed the seas at Paragon's typical speed, but Travis did not desire to cause the town any panic. However, it amazed the human how the liveship crossed the same distance in a few days that most ships took weeks or months to cover.

Travis pretended to raise the sails as Paragon slipped into an empty docking station designated for oncoming trade ships. Once she arrived, Travis gathered a few ropes and threw them to the dockhands waiting to aid the docking vessel. With the lines secured to stone posts, Travis dropped the gangplank onto place.

Travis subconsciously checked his pockets for his trade papers as he walked down to the earthen dock where a man in a long black coat lined in gold trim. Based on the crest on his black hat, Travis suspected the person was one of the harbormasters. At first glance, he and the workers appeared to be humans, but their silver eyes and pointed ears were evidence to the contrary.

"Hello, sir," Travis nodded to the bluish-skinned man.

"Where is the captain of this ship?" The harbormaster raised an eyebrow as he looked over the greenhorn sailor.

Travis ignored Paragon's disgust at the man's assumption and produced the identification papers provided by Queen Horizon. "I am the captain of Paragon, sir." He offered his travel log, license, and travel papers.

The port master accepted the papers and raised an eyebrow, then produced a stamp and added the city's mark next to Havenous's crest in the travel log "Welcome to Drae, Captain Woodgrain; please report to the trade office with a record of goods aboard your vessel and what you will be trading during your visit."

Travis nodded at his last name and accepted the papers. He preferred his first name but acknowledged the use of his last name. "Thank you, sir."

The harbormaster nodded, then walked down the dock with the dockworkers in tow. As he walked away, Travis looked at the statuesque figurehead.

"You can do this," Paragon promised telepathically. "After we pay the docking fees and taxes, then we can arrange trading with one of the merchant families. I suggest the Krisinger Family, that was who Captain Starport typically traded with."

Travis inhaled slightly, then walked towards the trade office and entered the door. Two government workers stat behind desks with lines in front of them. Immediately, Travis felt as if he did not belong. The cream-wallpapered room contained many burly men who seemed to dwarf him, even though they were about the same height. Many of the bearded captains had scars or patched clothing; Travis's face was unscarred, his clothes were new.

As he stepped into the back of the line, Paragon sent him wordless encouragement. Though he received a few odd glances from the older men, Travis thankfully traversed the line without incident.

The worker looked up to Travis with half-lidded eyes as the young captain stepped up to the counter. However, the desk worker blinked in surprise as he read over Travis's papers. He didn't comment and looked up to Travis "Your docking fees and taxes total to twenty-three ecnuos of gold." The government official placed a few weights on a balanced scale.

Travis pulled out a magic coin pouch Paragon provided, then reached in and placed the desired weight in gold on the scale, just like he saw his father do with merchants.

The blue-skinned worker took the coins, then stamped Travis's travel log with Drae's symbol. "Welcome to Drae." He passed Travis's papers back to him, then added Paragon to the count of arrived ships.

"See, that wasn't so hard." Paragon laughed a bit as Travis tucked his papers and money into the inner pockets of his coat.

Travis resisted shaking his head and smiled a bit. "Thank you," he nodded and slightly waved as he exited the building and began to walk back to Paragon. "All right, miss high-and-mighty, where can I find the Krisinger Family?"

"I already scribed a note for you to sign and send to them, explaining everything." When she sensed a slight annoyance rising in the back of the sailor's mind, she quickly responded, "I'm sorry, I got a little excited and acted presumptuously. I thought it would be better to send a letter than show up at their door unannounced."

Travis sighed as slightly as he walked up the gangplank and stepped onto Paragon's deck. He looked to the figurehead, but she remained still under the warm light of day. "I assume the letter is in my room?"

Paragon mentally nodded, though her physical form didn't move.

When Travis entered the captain's quarters, he found the two-page letter on his desk. As he read over the papers, he marveled at Paragon's flowing handwriting, then pondered how Paragon could write.

"Like this," words briefly appeared on the top of the page, then magically replaced with "magic," surrounded by small sparkles. Travis snorted with laughter as the star-surrounded word faded from the paper.

"Very funny," Travis remarked, then slightly grinned as he felt Paragon's joy and internal laughter.

With a grin still on his face, Travis read over the letter. In layman's terms, the papers introduced him as the inheritor and captain of Paragon. Then it explained that while looking through old ship logs, he discovered the ship's trading history with the Krisinger Family and wished to continue it. The fancy flowery note finished with space for Travis's signature with "Captain of Paragon" beneath it.

Travis chuckled as he scribbled his name in the space, then folded the stiff parchment with a trifold. He sealed the note shut with a bit of wax, then looked up. "So how do we get this to them?"

"There should be a messenger office in the market. If you give them a bit of gold, they should be willing to deliver it." Travis could feel the liveship's rising excitement and her struggle to contain it as the human stood to his feet. "You can buy anything you want in the market while you're there."

Travis mentally chuckled as he exited the ship and walked down the earthen docks to the bustling market. Most inhabitants were the blue-skinned native race. However, a few other species were scattered around, both as vendors and as customers. The shipwright's son marveled at the variety of beautiful items and exotic foods for sale. Travis mentally noted things both for personal use and trading purposes.

I'll look at wares after I visit the messenger office, Travis promised himself as he followed the signs to the sod building. It looked similar to the others, except it had stones lining the foundation.

There was no line inside, so Travis calmly approached the front counter, though the person behind it seemed board. "Where are you delivering?"

"The Krisinger Family," Travis smiled a bit at the worker as he placed the sealed letter on the counter along with a few pieces of gold.

The bored worker took the gold and letter as he droned, "where shall we send the possible response?"

"The white ship, Paragon, we will be in the port for at least two days." Travis calmly replied.

"It will be swiftly delivered." The desk worker spoke as if his job required him to say it.

Travis smiled and nodded, then waved to the worker as he exited the building. He continued to distantly feel Paragon's excitement, as well as his excitement as he began to wander the market.

Author note!
I hope I didn't miss any italics or anything, I'm currently locked out of Wattpad on my computer, so I can't magically copy all of my italics. I'll fix it another time. It's not that I didn't sign in properly, it's that I physically can't sign in because all the buttons to do so aren't clickable.

Oh well. Short chapter but I hope you enjoy!