Caspian X | at the stables, in the bar

[the_seafarer]

It has been some time since his last sojourn here at the end of the Universe, but when Caspian enters from his cabin on the Princess Royal, the place looks quite the same as ever. 

A few new faces, and the lack of some old ones, but that same warm feeling is as present as he recalls.

And it's spring – better still. Moments after he arrives, he makes his way to the stables, where he spends a good deal of time cosseting his old friends. Who is managing the place now, he's not certain, but the horses and creatures seem well cared for. It gives him a pang to see Susan Allgood's once bustling stables so quiet and still, though, and he makes himself a promise that he'll come back more frequently to care for them as they deserve.

The horses he turns out, letting them stretch their legs in the warm spring sun as they frolic around the paddocks. Once they're set, he turns his attention to the problem of the Hope, waiting patiently in the stall where he'd set her to winter. The little boat needs plenty of work, but it'll be hard work to move it out into the fresh air by himself. He draws open the stable doors as wide as they can go, then begins setting wooden rollers on the ground.

Later, towards the evening, he may be found at the bar proper, a cup of tea at hand as he pens a letter.

... it is passing strange, to look about this place and not see those I expect. It feels rather as though they are simply just out of the corner of my eye, waiting for me to look at them so they can tease me for my long absence. And, of course, it is not the same without my raven girl, wind in her hair and the spring sun shining down upon her. The wildflowers are blooming, Marian. I wish you were here to see them.

Do come say hello.

Comments

[old_monster]

"No, it's a trick of the qi," Ye Baiyi says. "Not quite as magical as the cultivators' qiankun sleeves, but it follows the same principle."

[the_seafarer]

Caspian follows very little of this, but he does so with the tranquility of one who has had his worldview aggressively expanded multiple times. "Convenient, that," he observes, then tips his head toward the rollers.

"Could I trouble you to move the rollers while I push? It worked beautifully just now. I'm quite sure we could get her to that spot rather quickly."

[old_monster]

"Absolutely no problem," Ye Baiyi says, picking up the next roller without even putting away the drink.

[the_seafarer]

"Excellent. And I shall happily repay your efforts with another tea, if you like," Caspian says, pleased. He pushes the boat forward.

"Or with a sail, once she's in the water, if you enjoy that sort of thing."

[old_monster]

"I haven't been in a small boat for a long time," Ye Baiyi says. "Might be fun."

[the_seafarer]

"Happy to oblige whenever you like," Caspian tells him, as they near the place he'd indicated. "Though it will likely take several weeks before she's ready to go into the water."

[old_monster]

"What is wrong with her?" Ye Baiyi asks.

It looks just like a boat to him.

[the_seafarer]

"Oh nothing's wrong," Caspian tells the man. "But wood swells, and cracks, and requires regular maintenance. She may look perfectly watertight now, but leak below the waterline. The sails need to be checked over and patched, the lines likewise, and the hull painted once any repairs are complete."

They bring the boat to the proper spot and Caspian unclips the tarp from over the cockpit. Inside, a sail bag sits tucked against a carved wooden rudder and tiller.

[old_monster]

"How can you tell what needs replacing?" Ye Baiyi asks, curious.

[the_seafarer]

"I built this boat with my own two hands," Caspian tells him, running his hand meditatively over the gunwale and the line of painted ivy, once brightly green and now rather faded, which adorns it. "And over the years I've gotten rather good at spotting what needs fixing. See that, there?"

He points to a dark line in the wood near the bottom of the cockpit. "There's a crack that will need fixing. And – "

His fingers catch lightly on the wood of the brightwork. "This needs to be sanded down and re-varnished."

[old_monster]

"You know her the way a fighting smith knows his swords," Ye Baiyi says, impressed. He reaches over his shoulder and touches the hilt of his actual sword, almost reassuringly.

[the_seafarer]

Caspian straightens and studies what he can see of the sword. It's quite large, and of clearly a different style altogether than his own, safely tucked away back on the Princess Royal.

"That is quite a sword," he observes. "I've never seen anything like it."

[old_monster]

Ye Baiyi takes it out and shows it to him. The blade is broad, long and heavy; the sword seems almost too large for its owner.

"This is Longbei, the Dragon's Back," he says. "My friend Rong Changqing made it for himself, and I took it for myself after his death."

[the_seafarer]

"I see," Caspian murmurs, thinking of Rhindon kept in pride of place at Cair Paravel.

"It's marvelous. You keep it beautifully."

[old_monster]

"Anything else, and I would face his wrath in the next life," Ye Baiyi chuckles. "But no, even though my own sword he made me is very different, I have adapted my fighting style to Longbei and the considerable oomph it packs."

[the_seafarer]

"I imagine it packs quite a lot," Caspian says, admiring. "It looks terribly heavy. I wish Gimli the dwarf were here still; he would be fascinated to study it."

[old_monster]

"Who was he?" Ye Baiyi asks.

[the_seafarer]

"A friend," Caspian tells him. "A dwarf from a world not unlike mine, and a master of all things metal and forged. He could make the most exquisitely delicate jewelry and the stoutest of weapons. He forged my own sword, as a matter of fact."

He shakes his head. "But he's been gone from this place for... oh, years, now."

[old_monster]

"How long have you been coming here?" Ye Baiyi asks.

[the_seafarer]

"Oh! Goodness knows," Caspian says, leaning back against the boat and folding his arms as he looks out over the lake. "Years, certainly. Though it has been a long while since my last visit."

He glances over at the other man. "And you? Have you been here long?"

[old_monster]

"A out a year, as people count time her," Ye Baiyi shrugs. "At home, less time passed, because I have been just staying and eating for long stretches of time."