DTT:Origins 16: The Voyage...

I am quite a flawed dragoness. I can't deny it. I'm impulsive, I eat too much, I'm often naive and I can have a foul temper sometimes. But I do like to believe I have a moral centre. While this is a good thing, it is something which controls me, not me it. As such, doing things which aren't morally right, but are necessary do end up gnawing at me...

...And so it came to be. Sitting among cannonballs was not a comfortable, but eventually, the ship was at sea, and I snuck among the rest of the passengers and immediately came along a sense of guilt. I was tresspassing. The crew appeared to be dragons, draconians, and argonians, my bretheren.

I went to find a member of the crew. The person I found was a dragon, tending to the rigging.
"Excuse me sir." I spoke. "C-can you show me to the captain? I need to see him, it's important."
He paused, and looked at me.
"Of course boy. Come with me." he umped down from the rigging, and lead me up to a set of double doors; he knocked, and they opened, to show an argonian, dressed in fine clothes and a hat.
"What is it now Spretson?" The argonian asked, not in an angry tone, but more a tired and stressed one.
"This young child wishes to speak with you, he says it's important."
He looked at me, paused for a few seconds, and nodded. "Ok Spretson, bring him in." He spoke, returning to his quarters.
"Now, the Captain Sails-Many-Shores is a good man, boy." Spretson told me. "You behave yourself in there. Be polite, and be sure to always call him Captain Shores, he likes that name, and he will help you with your problem." And then, I was inside the study of the Captain.
"Tell me young dragonchild." Sails-Many-Shores spoke. "What is your name? For I don't believe I saw you boarding the ship."
My blood froze. He already knew! My mouth was dry as I spoke, shaking slightly. "D-Ddraigtanto, sir." I spoke.
"Ddraigtanto... Hmmmm..." He walked slowly over to a book, opened it, and flicked through a few pages, before turning back to me, before he could speak, I spoke.
"I, I couldn't hide anymore sir." I spoke sadly. "I'm a stowaway, I snuk onto your ship, and hid among the cannonballs, by pretending I... Well, I pretended I was with the children of one of the families, who your guard thought were my siblings... When, the truth is, I desperately need to get to Avalar, and I need to get away from my father, and I'll do anything if you let me stay on this voyage, because I'm trying to get to the Dragon Temple."
He stopped, more curious than angry. He finished looking through his book. Definately no Ddraigtanto was listed in the ship's documents.
"So, you are an orphan?"
"Not really, sir." I spoke. "My father, he's a terrible man sir. He beat me and my mother, and... I just had to get away. She and I tried to run away, but, he caught her, but I escaped. I can't go back sir. I just can't!"
"Calm yourself boy." Captain Shores instructed, calmly but firmly. "This whole ship is a dragon trafficing service. The ferries for our kind which are run by the humans are extortionate and provide poor quality lodging, which corall our kind like cattle... My boy, I would be happy to sail you to the Homeland, but, I am not pleased that you snuk aboard my ship..." He paused, pondering. "...I'll let you sail aboard the ship. BUT, I want something in return. The other passangers are sleeping in their own quarters. you have no such luxery I am aware of. I will ferry you to Avalar, but in return, I want you to work 6 hours a day aboard the ship, and you will sleep with the crew. They are all dragonkind, and will treat you well. You will also be provided food and drink, but I ask for you to contribute to this service somehow, for all the others paid with money, will you pay with your sweat, and hard work?"
I felt like I had gotten off very lightly. Sure, I'd just escaped from a place where I was forced to work like an animal, but I was given a choice here, and I knew I had something at the end of this.
"I would be happy to work for you, captain. It would be a pleasure." I nodded. "I'll start immediately, if you only give me a job, sir."
He smiled. "Good attitude. You're young, and the Mankind would have you doing something dangerous no doubt, but I see that there's a value in a dragon like you, so, I'm going to assign you to be the assistant of the ship's cook. You will do as he asks, be it cutting vegitables, preparing meat, cleaning the pans, peeling, or whatever he has for you to do." He sat at his desk, and wrote out a letter with a quill and ink. "Give this to Meatsaw, it'll explain everything." He saw my look of unease at the name. "Don't worry boy!" He grinned. "Meatsaw might play the big man, but he's harmless. We call him that because he used to work as a butcher's apprentice back in the Fang."
"The Fang?" I asked.
"You don't know? That's the city of Warfang. The Dragon City. Ask him about it and he'll have a story to tell, but you best not keep him waiting."
I nodded. "Thank you again, I shan't let you down." I thanked the argonian, and left, with a job to do, but more importantly, my morality intact. It helped nobody if I reached the Temple via shameful means...