Chapter 82: Work!
"Where's Banella?"
Tosha shrugged, not meeting the fae's eye. In their week on The Comet, Banella had not turned up once to help out around the ship. Tosha had held her tongue, though she had to admit she was getting increasingly infuriated at the broody wildclaw. Still, getting upset would do nothing but turn Banella against her, so she continued to swab the decks and do her part.
"Unbelievable." Amaryllis shook her head and let out a laugh. "Absolutely unbelievable. And Cloud has done nothing about it? Of course he hasn't."
"I'm sorry-"
"No, don't apologize. This has nothing to do with you. You've been amazing, pulling twice the work, but I'm not going to let her exploit you like that. You deserve a break. It's time for Banella to do some work for a change." Amaryllis said, growing angrier as she went on.
"I really don't think-"
"What? Is she holding your hostage against your will?"
"Not exactly but-"
"Then she can get off of her lazy backside and give you a break. Go! Shoo! Enjoy yourself! You deserve it!" Amaryllis fluttered towards Tosha, trying to push her along.
"But-"
"Just go!" Amaryllis was hitting Tosha with her wings now. "Go! Go! Go! Leave this to me!"
"Alright! Alright!" Tosha said, dropping her rags into the soapy water and backing away. "Thank you!"
"Hey, as much as I don't like Cloud picking up his strays, I recognize a good worker when I see one, and I don't want a good worker being exploited."
Banella seethed as hot soapy water ran down her arms. With a thunk, she dropped the rag on the ship deck and used her feet to rub it along the wood.
"You missed a spot." Amaryllis yawned, perched on a rail and watching Banella's every move. Banella glowered at her. "It's funny how you think those glares will do anything." Amaryllis smirked. "They don't work on me."
Banella didn't respond, just pushed all of her anger into cleaning the deck. She tried to ignore the annoying fae. She would pay for this. She would turn the little pipsqueak into an annoying character in her next play, that would show her.
"You've really never done a days work in your life, have you? It shows. " Amaryllis fluttered down to inspect Banella's work more closely. "Do you pay people to do it for you or do you manipulate them into being your slaves?"
"I don't have slaves." Banella shot back through gritted teeth.
"Really? Then Tosha is just doing you a kindness then." Amaryllis sat herself on Banella's shoulder, spreading her wings to steady herself against the wildclaw's attempts to shake her off. "You know, more dragons would like you if you actually did something to show you cared for them. It's no surprise you're on your own brooding in that dusty theatre of yours."
"What do you know about my life?" Banella growled.
"Only what I've heard. Working on a trade ship lends its way to a lot of gossip." Amaryllis said.
"Oh yeah, and what do the rumors say about me?" Banella asked, stopping to drench the rag once more.
"Oh I've heard a lot. They say that you used to have a grand past, but you've grown so shriveled and bitter that you aren't worth all the hype." Amaryllis admitted. "They say your plays are halfway decent though, that's something. I bit over-dramatic and predictable, but somedragons like that."
"Do you hate me?" Banella asked.
"You? No. I couldn't care less about you and your personal life. But I won't have dragons getting away with letting someone else do all their work, not on my ship." Amaryllis said. "You know, you can't push people too hard and take advantage of them. Even the kindest dragon will snap under pressure."
"Yeah, well what to you know." Banella muttered under her breath. She couldn't wait to be off this ship.
Tosha had taken a seat at the bow of the ship, admiring The Sea of a Thousand Current below them. She had to admit, she was getting a bit bored of only looking at water, but there was still something captivating about being so high up.
"Mind if I join you?" Tosha turned around to see Cloud approaching her.
"Go ahead!"
"How are you finding the trip?" Cloud asked.
"It's nice, though I can't say I have the best traveling companion. I'm just trying to make the most of it, see what I can learn." Tosha admitted.
"I would hate for any of my passengers to be unhappy." Cloud told her. "If I can do anything at all for you, please let me know."
"Thank you, your kindness is admirable." Tosha said with a smile. "How do you do it? I've seen it at the stops we've made in the Ashfall Wastes and here in the Sea of a Thousand Currents. No matter how difficult someone is being, you always seem so kind and patient with them. How do you do it?"
Cloud shrugged. "I just never assume it's personal. A lot of dragons have a lot going on under the surface, everyone has a whole life within that no one truly sees. I figure there's a lot of dragons who already have to deal with a lot of nastiness, so why add to it? Besides, kindness is better for business."
Tosha smiled. "I wish I had your patience. I've been trying so hard for so long to please Banella, but I keep almost messing it up because she treats me like dirt and that infuriates me."
Cloud gave her a sad smile. "I mean it certainly helps that I only have to deal with difficult dragons for an afternoon or two, my job doesn't exactly let me stick around any one place very long. But kindness doesn't necessarily mean you don't get angry or frustrated or upset, it just means you choose to not let them dragon you down to your level. Kindness is a choice, it comes to very few dragons naturally."
"I'm just tired of Banella walking all over me." Tosha sighed. "I really don't know why I keep putting up with it. I've spent the past two years of my life living in the back of her theatre for what? All this hard work, all this patience, it hasn't gotten me anywhere!"
"Maybe it's time for something new then." Cloud suggested.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, if you aren't happy where you are, why stay?" Cloud went on. "Is gaining Banella's approval the only way to achieve your dreams?"
"No, I guess not."
"Then why not go somewhere else and try something new? Because something I've learned is there are some dragons you can never fully please, and you shouldn't be living a life trying to please other dragons, that's not healthy."
"Maybe you're right." Tosha said, staring out over the ocean with new eyes. What was keeping her in Windkeep Tower? The world was hers for the taking. She could go anywhere. So what did she really want out of life?
Guess what I'm back on track with this! After a doubtful period yesterday in terms of where this story is going, I've put a lot of thought into this and am now once again excited to tell this story! Expect a lot of updates from here on out!
