Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

As scientific expeditions go, this is relatively easy and definitely interesting. With the new engine the airship maneuvers more easily and the longer range means they can explore far into the sea. They’re already further into the Great Sea than any airship has been. Barnes hasn’t been out this far on a sea vessel but is familiar enough with the charts.

Cel and their engineers have a chart pinned to the bulkhead outside the engine room and update the ship’s path morning and evening. They are constantly tinkering with something, proposing different flight paths and maneuvers to test a slight change to the rigging, a new adjustment to the steering. A traditional surface chart is tacked nearby so they can navigate to the various dots and specks that are islands raised more or less above the surface, of more or less interest to the expedition.

Cel’s other job is to boss the scientists. It’s the same job really, since most of the tinkers have a scientific field as well. Cel isn’t much of a taskmaster, since they are susceptible as any of them to jotting down the latest wind speed readings, then taking apart the anemometer and putting it back together so it’s more efficient or more elegant.

Barnes spends most of his duty time at the helm until they reach the first island group. Then they let the ship circle slowly while they take turns in flight, spiraling down onto the bits of land. Anything important they’ll note on the map, alert the next ship with a mandate for cartography. For now they do quick surveys, one of the scientists taking note whether the beaches are sandy or rocky, whether there’s much vegetation or just a little, a few times volcanic activity, a few others huge colonies of seabirds.

The first seabirds are the source of some excitement. Luckily it’s Barnek and not one of the smaller escorts on that foray. When the angry gulls boil shrieking off their rock, ka swoops underneath the scientist, and with a few beats of kar powerful wings lifts khem out of reach. It isn’t lost on Barnek that the scientist is part of the group who theorized back in the city they’d find nothing out here but bare rocks. When ka turns back, that curl is in the corner of his smile.

It’s in the second island group that they notice wreckage on the shore of one of the islands, flat and rocky. Barnek and Celiq are on a rare turn together, uncommon but not accidental. It’s the end of the day, the end of kheir shift, and khey hope for a smooth beach with a quiet lagoon for a swim and some lazing. From the air the water around the island seems shallow, the shadows of fish visible as khey spiral down. Khey angle downward faster, enticed by the prospect of fresh fish and some time alone together.

Barnek strikes straight into the shallow water as Celiq lands on the shore, tik-tiking encouragement. Barnek gets very lucky, snags a fish with both feet, talons digging deep, the fish not big enough to drag kar under. With a splash Cel is standing in the shallows, and when Barnek drops the fish above the waterline Cel takes one long step to grab it.

Barnek skims over the ground, flying inland about two ship's lengths before banking around to try for another fish. As ka turns, something catches kar eye, something so incongruous it almost doesn’t register.

It’s a shoe. It’s two shoes, two buckle boots, two familiar boots. Barnek is so startled ka misjudges the distance to the ground and lands hard, stumbling and falling flat on the rocky ground. He stands up fast, brushes himself off as he walks back to the boots.

“Carter!” he yells.

Cel jogs up next to him. “Are you all right? I saw you hit the ground, I’ve never seen you fall like that. Are you hurt?” Cel still has the fish in one hand, looks at Barnes intently. He shades his eyes, looking west, inland, into the afternoon sun.

“It’s Carter,” he says. “I think Carter is here.”

“Oh honey,” says Cel. They put their arm across his shoulders, fish and all. “How could Carter be here, on a bit of rock in the middle of the ocean?”

“Fuck if I know,” says Barnes. He points down. “But those are his boots, I’d swear to it.” He rubs at his hip absently as he walks further inland, up a low rise that on this part of this flat island is the highest vantage point, then wipes his eyes. “Carter!” he yells again.

“Hey,” says a quiet voice behind Cel, and they yelp in surprise, almost fall as they spin around. They have their arms around Carter in the next moment, press their face into the top of his head. “It’s you! It’s really you, out in the middle of the ocean, oh we thought you were gone. It’s been a year, almost, with no word, and he misses you so much. We both do. It’s you!” Carter hugs back, looks past Cel at Barnes, Barnes who sits down suddenly on the low outcropping, pale and wide-eyed.

Carter presses his face into Cel’s chest and squeezes hard, then pushes gently at Cel’s shoulders, extricating himself from their long arms. He walks, barefoot, drops to his haunches next to Barnes and tips into him just as Barnes gets his arms up to catch him, to pull him close. Carter winds his arms around Barnes’ neck and presses his face against his collarbone, Barnes’ face buried in his hair, rocking gently, reunited two thousand miles from home.

Chapter Text

Cel walks over to the outcropping, shading their eyes, looking up and turning slowly to locate the ship. Their vest has pockets but they carry just some essentials, a couple of flares, a notebook, string. After extensive trial and error they know exactly how much they can put in the pockets of the vest before it becomes an issue in flight, not so much actually in flight but when khey land and overbalance and careen into a wall or tumble off a sill. They take out the spyglass that collapses into a tube the size of their finger and pull on both ends to extend it, put it up to their eye and try to bring the ship into view. As they move the spyglass back and forth, something catches in their vision, something close, over the tiny island between where they are and the shore.

They close the eye that’s behind the spyglass and adjust their regular goggles, flipping down one of the lenses and swivelling their head slowly across the horizon to the south.

Barnes and Carter have been talking softly but have gone silent, watching them. Carter scrambles up from Barnes’ lap and goes over to his boots, sitting on the ground and pulling them on.

“What do you see, Cel?” asks Barnes.

“Probably gulls. No, terns, there’s a colony not far from here,” says Carter, buckling his boots and standing up. “Look that way, you can probably see them.” He points in the direction opposite to where Cel is looking.

“I don’t think so, Carter,” says Cel. “We’ve seen an awful lot of seabirds lately and what I saw? Definitely not a tern. Or a gull, or a booby. Too small.” Cel hasn’t changed where they’re looking, moving the spyglass back and forth.

Carter is shifting from foot to foot, opens his mouth, closes it, opens it again. “Cel?”

“Mmm, almost have it.”

Barnes watches Carter as Carter stares at Cel, just manages to stay quiet when he sees him blink. Not blink, blinkk, a pale other-eyelid closing quickly over the eye he can see from this side, an eye that is definitely a brighter gold then it was a year ago.

“Cel, I know what it is. What they are. Come sit down, you’re so tall, they won’t come.”

Cel walks over, still looking to the south. “What’s here, Carter?”

Carter stands with his arms crossed, ducks his head.

“It’s not a what, is it Carter?”

Carter shakes his head, looking at the ground.

Barnes keeps going. “The question is who’s here, and they’re new to flight, aren’t they?”

Carter’s head whips around and he’s staring at Barnes, his eyes definitely more hawklike now. “Why would you say that?”

“It’s a game, isn’t it, your shoes? Something distinctive to find from the air. Like we did, at first.”

Carter nods, laughing ruefully. “Not much else you could say is distinctive around here. Tried rocks but the color doesn’t work, even with kheir eyes.”

“Kheir eyes? Not kar, kheir, how many?” asks Cel, lowering themself to sit next to Barnes, still facing south.

“Seven.”

“Seven!”

“There are seven other people here? How do you eat? Where did they--” Barnes sets his hand gently on Cel’s arm and they stop, looking from Carter to him and back.

“They, I had to take them with me, from where I was, they were prisoners.”

“In Japan?” Cel asks.

Carter looks back at them, eyes narrowed. “Yes, actually, how did you know?”

“Based on where we are right now and the fact you must have wrecked here, with the currents and such, you must have been in Japan.”

Carter looks to Barnes, eyebrows raised.

Barnes smiles, that quirk in the corner of his mouth. “Yes, they really are that clever. Give them a few minutes with your wreckage and they’ll tell you how long ago, too.”

Cel reaches for Barnes’ hand, looks from his face back to Carter. “And, and, when we hadn’t heard anything for six months, Barnes put on his uniform and went to the offices and pounded on some doors and someone finally said you were on a mission in Japan. That as far as they could tell you weren’t coming back.”

“Bastards,” says Carter softly. “I mean, they were right, but they shouldn’t have said that to you.”

“Another day, if you don’t mind,” says Barnes. “Who are these prisoners, and what prison?”

“Kobolds. They’re kobolds.”

Chapter Text

“Kobolds!”

Barnes keeps tight hold of Cel’s hand as they shout and start to stand up. They glance at his raised eyebrows and sink back down.

“Carter, kobolds, really, are you sure?”

“Sure I’m sure, and you can ask them yourself.”

“I can--” Cel starts, then stops, looks at Barnes, back at Carter.

“You can ask them. They’re people, they can talk.”

Cel pushes their hands through their hair. “I’m going to meet kobolds.”

“That’s gotta be a hell of a story,” says Barnes.

Carter’s expression is bleak. “It was awful in every possible fucking way, as you can guess since the near certainty of dying in the middle of the ocean was the better choice.”

“What about flight? How did that happen?”

“Can we talk about this later? They’ve been hiding for a long time and the sun will set soon.”

“Sure, of course. Kobolds.” Cel shakes their head. “What should we do?”

“Just sit there.”

Carter faces south, raises his head and whistles, long and loud. Barnes and Cel face the same way, watch, keep still.

They see the first one a few seconds later, a speck, then another, then the rest in a loose formation. It’s difficult to tell how far away khey are, seems khey should take longer to arrive but khey are smaller and closer, arrive in less than a minute. Carter has dropped to his haunches, waits for khem to land nearby in not quite a semicircle. Khey look back and forth with their red eyes from Carter to Barnes and Cel, then to each other.

“They are friends,” says Carter to the group. “As unlikely as that sounds, I know them from before and I trust them.”

A couple of the hawks ruffle kheir wings, then settle.

“They want to meet you. Nothing bad is going to happen.”

Cel waves at them. “Hi there, I’m Cel, I am very excited to meet you.”

“No need to take turns this time. Kyou should all come down,” says Carter. “Kyou will all want to be part of this.” He jerks his chin up and the hawks are airborne in seconds, none of the awkwardness or heaviness of the larger hawks they’re used to seeing, accustomed to being.

“Khey’re so fast,” says Barnes, turning his head to watch them spiral up and around. “The way khey fly together is amazing.” The spiral unwinds into a line, and khey land, not in a group on the ground at Carter’s feet this time but changing, stepping out about a boat’s length away. As they land they move close together, one at the front of a wedge-shaped formation very similar to the way khey flew.

They’re reddish, the tips of horns and spine ridges coppery in the sunlight. They stand about two feet tall, with tails about the same length. To Cel, they look like a cross between alligators and iguanas and basilisk lizards. To Barnes, they look like tiny dragons, dragons that are ready to fight, ready to do serious damage with claws on hands and feet. “Don’t move, Cel,” he says quietly.

“Yeah,” says Carter. He looks over at them, a little sheepishly. “I should have said. They are really tough. So wait.”

The kobold in front steps forward and the two just behind stay close. They stop well out of arm's reach, look from Carter to them and back.

“Skraak,” says Carter. “This is Cel.” Cel nods, waves again. “This is Barnes.” Barnes nods, takes the chance to shift sideways, trying to get his feet under him and more space between himself and Cel in case he has to react quickly. He’d have a better chance in flight, actually, for quickness and comparative size but there’s no time.

“Hello Cel,” says the one in front, touches their claws together in front, bows. “Skraak.” Their voice is quiet but clear, pitched about the same as Carter’s but with a different timbre to it.

Cel sits up straighter, bows back. “That’s your name? Skraak? Skraak. Nice to meet you.”

Skraak’s eyes have been flicking over to Barnes during Cel’s greeting.

“Barnes,” says Skraak, bows quickly and raises their hands, palms front. “We are not planning an attack.”

Barnes nods, shifts back to sitting from the crouch he’s maneuvered into. “Hello Skraak,” he says with more of a bow. “Good, because that would be trouble.”

Barnes looks to Carter, back to Skraak. “I’m even more interested in the story.”

“Skraak, do you want the others to introduce themselves?” Carter is gentle in a way they haven’t heard before, careful.

Skraak steps to the side and each of the others step forward, bow, and say their names. Cel and Barnes bow back, repeat the names. Skraak and the others rearrange into the wedge shape again, look to Carter.

Carter looks at Cel and Barnes, crosses his arms. “Now what? Where’s your ship, behind one of the bigger islands?”

Cel looks up and around, then points. “Up there.”

Carter follows the direction they’re pointing. “Huh. My turn to be astonished I guess. Airship?”

“Very first one to get anywhere near this far,” says Cel, grinning proudly. “And the first one with me in charge.”

“Guess I missed a lot.” He takes a step, sways.

Barnes stands up and goes to Carter, puts an arm around him. “What?” Up close he can see how pale Carter is under the tan.

Carter leans into Barnes. “I spend most of the time changed,” he says. “Not used to having this much body, it’s tiring. I’m so hungry.” With Barnes to lean against and the initial excitement over, Carter is obviously exhausted.

“What if we bring the ship closer, and we can get some supplies, and tomorrow figure it out,” says Cel, standing up.

The kobolds take a couple of steps back as a group, manage to be further from Cel and closer to Carter where he leans against Barnes.

“Yeh, that’s good. I’ll stay here, if you don’t mind, until the ship is closer.” He pauses, starts again. “Wait. You stay.” Cel walks over, wraps their arms around Carter from the back, leans down and kisses Barnes’ cheek.

“You go, helmsman, I’ll stay.”

“That’s it exactly, I can get it closest. Where should the ship be? Not close enough to see them, I say.”

“There’s a cave,” says Carter, eyes closed. “Near the wreckage. Nearish.”

“Someone will meet you at the wreck,” says Skraak.

Barnes kisses the top of Carter’s head, makes sure Cel has his weight, steps up onto the outcropping. “Let’s see if I can get into the air without embarrassing myself. It’s been a while since I didn’t have something to jump off.” He looks around, then steps back off the rock, takes one more step back. “Back soon,” he says, then takes the two steps to the top of the outcropping and leaps, arms going up, then wings coming down, no wasted motion as ka beats upward, path curving toward where Cel pointed at the airship.

Cel and Carter sigh at the same time, then laugh together. “Never get tired of that. What a brute,” Carter says, leans his head on Cel’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, I’m just--”

“It’s all right, Cel says, keeps their arms around him. “Skraak, can you, or one of the group, lead the way?”

The kobolds take the lead, spreading out, Cel and Carter walking slowly, Carter recovering a bit as they go.

“Will you hide them, Cel?” says Carter. “We have to protect them. Nobody knows they’re people, just pictures in stories.”

“Don’t worry,” says Cel. “We will figure it out. We’ll get some rest, talk about it tomorrow.”

By the time they make it to the shore where the wreck is, the airship is visibly closer. Within another half hour it’s looming a half mile down the beach, sinking slowly toward the ground.

Cel helps Carter sit on a chunk of rock near the cave and sprints toward the ship, waving their arms.

“That’s far enough, don’t touch down, don’t touch down,” they yell. Then they yell up at people who are yelling down, and ropes are tossed down and fastened to rocks.

Someone comes to the rail and tosses two packs and a large bundle over the side. Barnes jumps over the side, changing for the space of a few wingbeats and landing, stepping out right next to Cel. Cel laughs, smacks his shoulder. They each pick up an end of the large bundle and one of the packs, make their way up the beach and inland to the cave.

Carter is folded over himself, a couple of the kobolds sitting next to his feet. As they come closer he lifts his head. “Is there a bottle in one of those packs? To say I need a drink might be the greatest understatement of the year.”

“Yes Carter, there’s a bottle, and food. Didn’t know what kobolds eat, so we have potatoes and bread and sausages and eggs.”

“As long as it’s not fish. I will never eat another fish.”

The large bundle is a tarp and rope and poles. The kobolds follow Cel as they set up the canopy and pull out cooking gear from one of the packs and soon they are all chatting, Cel asking about the island and rainwater they collected and how they like flying.

Barnes sits with Carter, munching on hardtack and passing a bottle back and forth. Carter coughs at the first sip, laughing as he splutters. “Sad. That’s sad.”

The rest of the evening passes quietly, the brilliant sunset stretched across the horizon. The airship is far enough down the beach that none of the others see the kobolds yet, not until they have a plan.

Barnes looks into the tiny cave, sees the chunks of driftwood piled in the center. “Perches?” he asks.

“Yeah,” Carter says, his face no longer pale, voice stronger. “The only way we fit and also stay warm is to change. Interested to know if I can even sleep lying down.”

Soon after dinner the kobolds take a few steps into the dark, kheir soft small wingbeats returning in a few minutes. Khey land at the cave mouth, hop and adjust until khey are in a bunch on the perches.

Under the canopy Carter flops down on the blankets, stretches luxuriously, rolls over and seems to be asleep in a moment, right in the middle.

Barnes smiles at him, fond and worried. “We could have been too late,” he says.

Cel lies down on Carter's other side. “At least we didn’t have to go all the way to Japan,” they say.

“That might be another trip,” says Barnes grimly. “Maybe not for a civilian ship.”

“Another time for that discussion. We need to know the story first.”

“Yeh.” Barnes pushes up on one arm, leans over Carter to kiss Cel. “Must be quite a story.”

“Glad we found him.”

Barnes slides his arm under Carter’s shoulders, shifts him to lie on his chest. Cel shifts closer, their arm over Carter resting on Barnes’ hip, and they are all three pressed together.

The next morning they pack everything up and Barnes and Cel carry it all back down to the airship. Carter and the kobolds take flight, wait until everything has been taken on board. Khey fly toward the ship, circling until khey see the open porthole, Cel beckoning. It’s a big enough window that khey all swoop in without incident. There’s a corner of one of the holds that has a door and will do as a temporary cabin for Carter and the kobolds. It will take a week to get back, less if they get lucky with winds.

Carter stands at the porthole as the engine revs back up to full power and the airship rises. Barnes puts his arms around him and they watch the island get smaller and then disappear into the distance.

“Thanks for saving me. For not giving up on me.”

“Thanks for staying alive.”

Carter turns in his arms and they stand close, breathing together, for a long time.