Their ship was one in a group of merchant boats headed for Aberdeen; laden with exotic goods such as silk, spices and tea. Christanne had managed to scrounge a deal up with the finicky captain for their passage. For 3 quarts of a resin-based potion that Sebastian had concocted, guaranteed to repel water from whatever it covered, they would be taken to Aberdeen and back without difficulty.

Christanne and Sebastian walked along the wharf, dragging their heavy trunks behind them.

"How much further to the ship?", Sebastian inquired, panting slightly.

"Not much further now," she replied briskly.

The two walked in silence for a while. Christanne pulled her scarf tighter around her neck, and shove her gloved hand into the pocket of the long coat she was wearing.

"That's it up there," she said, Jerking her head in the direction of a great deal of noise and the silhouette of a boat.

"Carefully, carefully now," a grating voice said, "I SAID CAREFULLY! THOSE GOODS ARE WORTH MORE THAN YOU, RATBAGS!!!"

"Lovely bunch, aren't they," Sebastian said dryly, his voice dripping with disgust.

"Come on," Christanne said, walking closer to the shouts and enraged mumbling from the abused workers. She coughed.

"Excuse me," she said, "We-"

But the man continued shouting and paid no attention whatsoever to the woman attempting to grab his attention.

"Excuse me," she said, a tone louder, "I need to-"

Still, he paid no heed to her.

"EXCUSE ME," she roared.

Instantly, the crowd shut up and looked in the direction of the fuming figure. Sebastian stared at her, highly shocked.

"It's a necessary skill to have, being a teacher," she said quickly to him, noticing his expression.

"Right! We need to speak with whoever is in charge of this, er, institution."

"You mean ol' Jack?" someone piped up, "He's in his quarters. We'll take your things, you can speak to 'im while we load this sorry vessel up."

"Why's the lady wearing britches?" one of the other men asked, "It's right improper! Anyways, it's bad luck to have a woman on a ship, everyone knows that!"

"Do you want our money or no?" Christanne said icily. The gathered group began muttering.

"Good. Then I shall wear whatever I please." She smoothed down the grey pants and marched up the gangplank after Sebastian.

************

They came to a small door covered in snow. Sebastian rapped it firmly with a gloved hand.

"Who's there?" came the muffled response through the door.

"Sebastian Wright, concerning the passage of me and my-" he paused "colleague."

"Come in, come in"

They stepped into the warmth of the Captain's quarters, the abrupt change of temperature causing their skin to ache.

"First off," the Captain John said, "you have something for me."

"Yes," Sebastian replied, "3 quarts of the water repelling elixir, as agreed." He pulled several flasks from inside the leather satchel he had been carrying. the captain's eyes lit up.

"Guaranteed," Sebastian continued, "To keep whatever it is covering dry, at the bottom of the sea for a century."

"Good, good. Your quarters are on the second lowest deck. Welcome aboard the Silk Specter."

************

A/N: Hooray hooray! Another chappie down! I'm so happy on where this is going and how it's going so far! Thank you so much for your votes and reads! If you've really been enjoying this story, please vote on it! You guys are awesome!

Sylvia! Holy shoot this drawing is good! It's the Wharf Scene!