Clarissa wasn't at all sure what she was expecting from the Child's reclusive navigator. From Anita's unhelpful warnings, Yannick could be anything from a toddler to a wild man from one of the lost islands. Her trepidation held her arms stiff, and she struggled to even knock on the door.

Her first attempt was barely loud enough for her own ears. She grit her teeth and knocked again, and this time her fist made a satisfying thud against the metal door.

"Y-yes?" Someone asked from the other side of the door. Surprisingly, the voice that spoke was young, and carried a tone that struck Clarissa as rather formal.

It was a tone that reminded her of the captain.

"Leslie asked me to bring you lunch, mister, uh, Yannick," Clarissa stumbled over her words, hesitation and uncertainty making her clumsy.

"Oh. Uh, who are you?" the voice asked.

"My name is Clarissa. I'm a passenger." Clarissa hesitated at the door. "May I come in?"

"I, no. No, please don't," the voice stammered, the speech staccatic and halting, as if Yannick was deciding how to respond mid-sentence.

"Oh," Clarissa said. Confused and frustrated, she looked at the plate and then back at the door. "Would it be better if I left the plate at the door and left?"

"No. Please, just, I'm sorry," the voice trailed off. Clarissa opened her mouth to respond, but stopped when something tapped her on the shoulder.

She turned and saw Captain Locklear standing right behind her. The captain wasn't looking at her; his eyes were fixed on the door. But there was a sad smile on his face, and he wasn't wearing the weapons Clarissa had always seen him with. "Yannick, it's Vincent. May I come in?"

"Captain!" the voice on the other side of the door exclaimed. Yannick's shout was followed by the hard clapping of feet on the metal floor, slowly getting louder with each step.

"Clarissa, would you move back about six feet? Yannick often needs more space and time than most to acclimate to the unfamiliar," Captain Locklear asked. His voice was as gentle as it was when he had apologized, and there was genuine sorrow in his eyes.

Clarissa nodded and complied, taking three tiny steps backward. The door groaned noisily, and swung open slowly, until there was enough room that a head appeared in the space. Clarissa couldn't see much of whoever it was beneath a wild mop of curly brown hair. "Captain, someone was here, at the door. Said she was a passenger."

"Passenger is an inadequate description, though not inaccurate," Captain Locklear replied softly. "May I introduce her?"

"Oh, uh..."

"As in all things, Yannick, your prerogative will be respected," the captain said formally, with his hand over his heart.

"Then yes, sir. It would be rude to do otherwise, wouldn't it?"

"A minor incivility. One a charitable heart would happily overlook."

"Nevertheless, sir."

"Very well," Captain Locklear said, and he took a step to the side and held out his hand towards her. "Yannick, this is Clarissa. Ward of the Monastery, our charge and fellow crew-member for the duration of our voyage to the Shield."

The captain pushed the door open, past Yannick, who flinched as if he were about to hide behind the door again. Clarissa was surprised to see that Yannick was young, perhaps even her own age. Thin and wispy, his curly hair nearly a mane that passed down below his neck, with eyes busily darting about, Clarissa suspected he would be quite tall if he weren't so hunched over.

"Clarissa, this is Yannick. Navigator of the Ravens' Child."

"Hi," Clarissa said, and she waved a small wave with her free hand.

"Yannick, may I come in?" the captain asked. "There might be some complications with our course I'd like you to evaluate."

"Oh, of course, Captain!" Yannick said excitedly, quickly stepping aside. Despite the now open path, Clarissa held her ground.

The captain gave her a grin and a small nod of approval. "Would you be willing to admit Clarissa? She has your lunch and seeing something of your work would be an experience. Even for someone from the Monastery."

Yannick frowned, stared down at the floor a moment, but eventually nodded his head. "She can, she can come in."

The captain stepped inside with slow, short steps, as if he were trying to avoid disturbing even the air in the room. Clarissa followed his example and stepped inside with the plate carefully clutched in two hands.

Yannick's cabin was less a room and more an exhibit, with fantastical devices and books on prominent display wherever there was wall space to hang or shelve them. Several telescopes hung on a rack, arranged from longest to shortest. There were six different bookshelves, and a quick glance at each revealed to Clarissa they were arranged by topic, with a deliberate and distinctly academic focus.

The middle of the room was dominated by a massive desk, strewn with measuring equipment resting on top of a map nearly as long as Clarissa was tall. And on the side of that desk was a strange device; dozens of tiny metal arms with strings attached, like the frame of a stage puppet, each holding a small glass ball in the air like a floating ornament.

"Yannick, would you identify a spot for Clarissa to set your lunch? It wouldn't do to make her hold it longer than necessary," the captain asked.

Yannick nodded quickly and dashed over to the desk. He took a corner of the map and folded it over, exposing a corner of the desk. "Here, right here, it's a good spot," he said, and stepped back.

Clarissa smiled. "Thank you," she said, trying to match the captain's quiet tone and gentle mannerisms. She set the plate down so that it made as little noise as possible, then stepped back to give Yannick some space.

"No, no. Thank you. You did everything," Yannick insisted, before he turned back to the device on the desk. He pointed to one of the glass balls, and frowned for a moment, before he turned back to the captain. "Sir," he said, "you're wondering if we can pass ahead of the ruins?"

The captain smiled. "Sharp as ever. We're making good time, and right now we have room to push the ship harder than we are, especially with Tonya at the helm for when we reach the whirlwind. I find myself wondering if and how much I need to tease out of the Child to make it ahead of the Ruins."

"Right," Yannick said, and he squinted at the device on the desk, taking notes with a charcoal stick directly onto the map.

Clarissa took the chance to look around again, and inspect the room a little more closely. The first thing that caught her eye was actually the frame that housed the telescopes. It wasn't just an open hook holding the glasses in place; it was a full frame that held it from above and below, with a simple latch to secure it. The nearby bookshelves had a small lip in front of the books, both slightly above and slightly below.

Yannick's bed, a single slat barely larger than her own cot, had the same sleeping bag with arm holes. Also like her own bed, the bag was tied in four places to the cot.

Realizing something, she looked back at the door, her gaze tracing over the heavy metal door with the sealing latch. "This ship, it was built to travel where the air is thin," she whispered to himself.

Captain Locklear looked up from the desk and gave her a wry smile with a raised eyebrow. "Took you longer than I expected. What finally gave it away?"

"It was Yannick's books, honestly. The shelf secures books from the top as well as the bottom. As if he needed to keep them from floating away," Clarissa said. "You can travel in the far skies, even where the air is thin."

"How else could we get you to the Shield?" the captain asked.

"Captain," Yannick said warily.

"Yannick, she's a ward of the Monastery, and she's heading there along with the box. Reckon we're the only two people between the Core and the end of the sky she can talk to about these secrets," the captain said.

"Right. That was part of her introduction. I didn't let the implications sink in. Sorry Captain."

"Think nothing of it. But you're confident we can get ahead of the Ruins without running the engines hard? Tinker will be happy to hear that."

"Confident, Captain. The winds we're riding here," Yannick pointed around one of the largest glass balls on that strange device. "They're the same winds twisting the Ruins away from us. They'll cross our course half a day after we pass. And Idlewind will be close to Simmerwaste."

"And both will be fairly close to the shield," the Captain said, as he pointed at one of the models. Unlike the others, which were glass balls, this one looked like some kind of building scaffolding with a large disc attached to it. "If we take a berth at Idlewind, could we slingshot the lifeboat to the shield?"

Yannick nodded excitedly. "Yes, yes we could, we definitely could. Would save days, save fuel, get us to our next job sooner. I can't, can't work on the calculations to launch the lifeboat, not until we're closer. Sorry, sir."

"Don't be. This is excellent news," Captain Locklear said.

"I'm sorry," Clarissa interjected, and she pointed at the device on the desk. "But is that a moving map of the isles?"

"Just the largest ones," Yannick said proudly. He pointed to the ball in the middle, and Clarissa's eyes followed his finger until she read 'The Core' on the small globe. "The small islands follow the currents, they don't help shape it. Not like Volante, Olencia or Calmoor."

Clarissa stared at the model for a moment longer, her eyes fixed on the furthest object from the core. The strangely shaped object was fully twice as far from the core as all the other islands put together, and though she couldn't be certain, she was willing to swear that unlike the islands, the shield wasn't moving.

"Which way is the sun?" Clarissa asked. "I can't see a mark for that anywhere on the model."

"There's no need. None at all. The Shield is always facing it, between us and the sun," Yannick said.

"So that's the shield," Clarissa whispered to herself. She leaned over on the table to get a closer look, but a hand on her shoulder, gentle but firm, steered her upright again.

"Yannick, Clarissa and I should get back to work. Thank you again for accommodating this odd little intrusion," the captain said, and he turned to leave.

Clarissa smiled and held out her hand. "It was lovely to meet you, Yannick."

Yannick smiled awkwardly, but kept his distance and his hands at his sides. "Uh, yes. Thank you for lunch. I like, like Leslie's cooking."

Clarissa followed the captain out the door and waited for him as he shut it with the same gentle reverence he showed around Yannick. It wasn't until the door was comfortably shut before the relative irreverence returned to his gait.

"Did you eat?" Captain Locklear asked. He started to march down the hall, and Clarissa had to jog to keep pace.

"Uh, yes. I did, sir," Clarissa replied. "Leslie's going to make me fat before we reach the shield."

"That's always a hazard with his cooking," the captain said. He stopped halfway down the hall and turned to her with a question. "What are your impressions of Yannick?"

"He," Clarissa began to say, but trailed off, unsure of how to respond. "He's well, odd. Very anxious, though he seems comfortable around you, sir."

"That rapport we have has taken over two years to develop. His entire time aboard the Child," the captain said, and he scowled. "Two years without a single day of shore leave. Without an evening at a bar, shopping at a market, wandering a library, or living a life beyond his studies. You're the first stranger he's met in eight months."

"That seems rather sad," Clarissa said.

"It's a far cry better than his life before. Begging on the streets, a victim to every vagrant cruelty small people looking to feel big for a moment. I'm actually surprised he took to you as well as he did," Captain Locklear said. He frowned then and looked up.

"You have something else for me to do?" Clarissa asked hesitantly.

"Reckon I do, at that," the captain replied. "Go dress warmly, there are some extra supplies in a closet at the lower observation window, just below the bridge. Scarf, hat, goggles, and gloves. I'll have Anita meet you there, to fit you with a harness. You're going to the top deck to keep Leslie company. He's on watch, but he has a bad habit of doing maintenance at the same time. Another set of ears might be needed. I'm not expecting any trouble, but this part of Volante has a pirate problem the Volante Navy doesn't bother to stomp on."

"They don't? Why not?" Clarissa asked.

"Makes the routes they do protect more valuable. Which makes the tolls they charge more palatable," the captain smirked. "Remember to dress warmly."

The captain began to walk away, but snapped his fingers and turned around. "Figured our why the ship's named 'Ravens' Child' yet?"

Clarissa could only shake her head, still at a loss about where to even begin that particular assignment.