Arius' Journey to Avangard!: Chapter 1 | Prompt #2 (The Races)

"Next stop: Soujel!" The airship captain's announcement rang out, alerting Arius and the rest of the passengers of stopping very soon. What Soujel was all about had only been a mystery to him. A silent hope flickered as he glanced at a few of the passengers from the side of the ship. They were not nearly as cold or as rigid as many back home. 

'Oh, please. If anything were to happen because of my presence, it would have happened by now.' He thought, reassuring himself as he continued to explore the ship for a few minutes. There didn't seem to be any sign of Camille anywhere. 'She can't be too far.' Arius then added in his mind. As he attempted to remember, the memories of getting here were fuzzy. 

He remembered home, a long and arduous fight to get out of that blasted tower, a long chase, and then a flash of light. Surely he hadn't woken up here. One minute, he was home. The next, he was somewhere in the skies. 'Maybe she began to look for me up there.' Arius thought again, eyeing the clouds.

He took his focus away from the sky as the footsteps of a crewmember passed him by. He looked over, seeing someone in red and gold regalia. The oufit appeared to have the ship's insignia on it as well. 

"Excuse me, sorry to interrupt, but you work for the crew, correct?" Arius asked. The crew member gave him a quizzical look and nodded.

"Aye. I work on this here ship. If you have a pressing matter, I suggest an appointment with the captain." He replied.

"I don't know if that's necessary." Arius responded, "I'm only looking for a potential passenger. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and a silver necklace like mine." The gold of Arius' necklace only made the crew member appear more confused, if not a little agitated.

"If she had her jewelry out on full display like you do, then she's probably been robbed and thrown overboard." Noting the sudden change in Arius' expression, the crew member laughed. "I only kid, but unfortunately I have not seen her. If you both are refugees or adventurers like most of the others here, then she probably ended up on another one of our ships. We're a whole fleet, you know." 

"You haven't actually seen her outside the ship or anything, right?" Arius questioned in response, still worried of the possibility she may have actually gone overboard, "She can walk on clouds no-problem, but not forever." 

"Please, it's as I've said. I kid. If we had seen her overboard, we would have sailed straight to her." The crew member answered, "It's a violation to be in the way of airships like that, anyway." 

Another announcement seemed to cut their conversation short. It was time to disembark. After a brief goodbye, Arius stepped foot in Soujel and began his search for Camille. The aircity was as busy and bustling as ever. For a moment, all worry seemed to fade as he took in the sights and had a look around. The technology he saw fascinated him more and more. Drawn by the sound of engines, Arius' adventure would continue to the other side of town, near the outskirts. 

There, he saw much smaller airships, more suited for one person. They traveled at a blazing speed on what appeared to be a designated course in the clouds. He watched as some drifted to the starting line, and shot forward once a countdown ended and an alarm rang out. The race would end, with the winner receiving applause and congratulations. Arius watched a moment as the winner removed her helmet, revealing silvery blonde hair.
'Camille?' 

As she turned, it was clearer that it was not Camille, with her hair shorter and her eyes a different color entirely. Growing worried again, Arius sought to continue the search for real. Yet as he was leaving, another race began and a loud bang could be heard. He whipped around, only to see that one of the ships had caught fire. Luckily, a few that were present appeared to manifest the element of water, which was used to create a light rain that put out the fire. It seemed the sails and mast were damaged, but the overall structure was still sound enough for flight. 

From the races to putting out the fire, a man appeared to be overseeing the entire operation. It seemed the racer operating the skyship was taken out of the race for what seemed to be minor injuries. Regardless, it was clear they were all now short a racer. For a brief second, the same man had looked up at the forming crowd and caught sight of Arius. Once things seemed under control shortly after, he did a half-lap via airship to approach the crowd, soon to be face-to-face with Arius. 
"Quite a show, huh? Maybe you'd be interested in joining us! We could use the extra racer." 

"What? Goodness, no- I don't think I could pilot these things. I'm new here in town, and am looking for someone." Ari replied, "Why not someone else?" 

"Don't be silly, these things are easy to get the hang of." The man replied, "Besides, the winner gets to take home the whole pot. I don't know anybody who would sneeze at some extra money." It seemed he had a point. Arius was in a strange place, pretty much on his own right now. He wasn't even sure they'd take their home's currency.

"I suppose it couldn't hurt to try." Arius replied, trying to hide the hesitation in his voice, "Tell me what you know." 

From there, Arius was brought to a sort-of garage. It was a large, warehouse type of building able to keep airships protected from the elements. It also doubled as a repair area and breakroom for the other racers. Near to that, was an even smaller practice track, where Arius would spend some hours learning the ropes of controlling an airship. 

"Left pedal accelerates and the right pedal brings you to a stop. You've also got the wheel for turning and a lever on the back that allows you to steer. DO NOT let go of that lever unless you want the wind to blow you off course." 

The instructions seemed simple enough. With some test races under his belt, time of a grand evening race would begin. Arius would be among the other racers at the starting line. It was then he caught a glimpse of the same woman from before. The one who'd won the race prior. 
"Don't think because you're new that I'll go easy on you. Don't get in my way, and don't crash." With that, she placed her helmet over her head. The countdown would begin, and soon enough, airships were speeding down the track at blazing speeds. Despite a somewhat rocky start, Arius managed to pick up in speed and make up the lost time. The race would be several laps before a winner was declared. 

All seemed well until the end of the race, when a sudden force jolted beside the airship he was using. It was then Arius realized that the previous winner's ship had collided with his, with both ships now stuck in a jostle. Steering one way or the other could easily cause the other ship to speed off course.

"What did I tell you?" The previous winner yelled, with the visor of her helmet now up. "I told you to stay out of my way. Slow down, and then you can drive however you want!"

"Why would I slow down now!?" Arius retorted, "I'm just as close to winning this as you!" 

"That's the problem!" She snapped back, attempting to jerk her own airship away from Arius' ship. Though the screeching of metal convinced her not to go through with it fully just yet. "People always bet against the newbies. Do you know how long it'll take for us to recover and hold another race?"

"Well, then you all should have thought twice before trying to use me to make more money!" 

In retaliation to Arius' words, she flipped her visor back down over her face, before speeding up her airship even more. It was clear she was stepping on the pedal as hard as she could, as steam began to emit from the airship's pipes like a geyser. In that moment, the speed was enough to rip herself out of the jostle, leaving Arius' ship to begin losing control.

"ARIUS!" It was then that time felt slower, as Arius heard the familiar voice shouting his name. His eyes wide with fear and surprise, he saw fear and surprise staring right back in a much bluer hue. In the audience, stood Camille. 

In a moment of determination, Arius quickly slammed a foot on the break, causing the airship to drift a bit. Though before completely stopping, he'd let up his foot and accelerate again, trying to pick up speed as quickly as possible while still regaining control. In a flash, the race was over, but who had won? Murmurs of a tie rushed through the crowd. 

"And the winner is: Cora Zoves!" 

Arius' eyes widened again in pure shock. When the announcement rang out, Camille rushed over and gripped Arius in a hug. 
"I'm so sorry I wasn't here sooner. I tried to find you but I was a day late and-" 

"Don't worry about it. I managed okay. Plus, I still got second place. Not bad for my first time driving one of these things." Arius replied softly, "Bigger question; who in the world is Cora? Is she actually.. related?" 

As Cora received her prize, she had watched the exchange between Arius and Camille. She appeared just as shocked as they did when seeing Camille. Upon hearing her name from Arius, she approached the couple. 
"Look, if I had known that you were- If I-" She stammered, shaking her head. "I'm sorry. Camille and I are cousins. I left our kingdom not long after you guys did, and started to make a living racing here. If you had won, it would have thrown a wrench in everything for awhile. I had no idea you and Camille knew each other." 

"I saw what you did." Camille spat, "You were trying to play dirty. You should know more than anyone that kind of behavior is no different from my father's - the very same reason we all left." 

"I know. Nothing I say will undo what has been done, but.." Cora then reached into the racing trophy, and pulled out a small sack full of gold, "I'm sure you both could use the money. I only wanted to make sure this place stayed running." Hesitant, Arius grabbed the bag full of gold, and nodded. 

"I'll forgive you, on the condition that you find something more ethical to do before the others start betting against you, too." Arius said.

Cora chuckled. "I have quite a while before that happens, but I'll keep your suggestion in mind." She answered, "Oh, and by the way, you might want to make sure you're actually together when you try to go through portals next time. Y'know, hold hands or something. That way, you won't be separated like you were today. Trust me, I learned the hard way."