He followed the cloaked mare through the crowded streets hastily moving towards the dockyards. There were many times when, should they cross a rather crowded street, he would lose her amongst the sea of individuals moving to and fro, luckily she was always easy enough to spot standing in an alleyway or somewhere else where the crowds did not hinder his view. They passed through some of the same alleys he had taken when searching for the tavern from the market square, even having passed the quaint little bakery that emitted the nostalgic smell of freshly baked bread. Eventually, he found himself being led through an unfamiliar section of the city, and while the building style themselves changed none, he recognized none of the roads or the shops. But Aryanne assured him they were heading the right way, so he simply readjusted the sacks over his shoulder and continued on, his makeshift hood and neck cover kept him from being called out directly in this new sector.

They made it with good time the section of the harbor where their ship was docked and waiting. He honestly found his interest peaked when Aryanne had told him the ship had a crew of griffons. He liked griffons more than ponies, he always found he could relate to them much more. They lacked magic outright and relied on mechanical devices and engineering for their needs, they were industrialized and war-like, their culture largely relatable to the kingdoms of old and were highly religious and prayed to many gods. They enjoyed good food and were not afraid to fight to protect their kin and country. He can honestly say the time he had spent in the Empire was pleasant to say the least, even if it was short. Though to say he would take them over his own people would be a sin.

They found the docks and made to search for their vessel, many eyes on them as they did so. There were guards everywhere, but none of them stopped Aryanne or himself as they moved along the piers. They eventually came upon the Talos, now, he didn't know much about ships, especially those from the age of sail like this one, but he could tell that this ship was rather official just by looking at it.

The hull was reinforced by plates of hammered out steel fastened to the wood underneath and painted blue, he counted perhaps two decks, all sporting at least ten gun-ports. The three masts rose high into the sky above, their grey sails hung about waiting to catch the wind, the colors of the Empire and the Imperial Navy fluttering atop the crow's nest. Many griffons mewed about the main deck, flying about making adjustments to ropes that seemingly to him had purposes unknown, or swabbed the deck and prepped supplies in preparation for their voyage, which looked to be nearly ready to set forth.

"This is it." Aryanne said, "Let's go before we're left behind."

They moved down the pier towards the docked frigate passing many other ships of various types and functions and their crews along the way, most of them pony. Standing beside the gangplank was a grey feathered and tan-furred mariner dressed in light steel armor, a kettle helmet atop his hawk head, a sword at his side. He also carried a long and rather primitive looking gun slung on his back. The griffon moved towards them as they approached.

"What business do you have here?" He asked, his voice gruff.

He didn't respond. Aryanne simply pulled their papers out and handed them to the marine. He spent a long time looking them over, often this eyes glanced to him as he hid under his hood, but he cared not.

"Everything looks to be in the proper order." He folded the papers up in his talons and handed them to Aryanne, "Sorry for the delay Miss, the Captain is in no mood for counterfeiters and stowaways, please, let me welcome you aboard the Talos. As you are to be sailing with us these coming weeks, I would recommend, as I have our other passengers, to speak with the Captain or his First-mate, they will give you a tour of the ship and where you will be bunking. Let me not keep you." His entire rabble was directed towards the white pony before him rather than Emil.

"Thank you, come Emil," Aryanne said, he shrugged the supplies on his shoulders and followed the mare, the griffon marine nodding his presence, his eye on him even as the tall human passed.

They crossed the gangplank and hopped down unto the deck. They stood there for some time, watching the uniformed griffons move about and often eyeing them while working. Emil immediately recognized the style, black with gold trim. Just like the griffons at the tavern...

"We might have some potential trouble soon." He whispered down into Aryanne's ear.

She looked up at him, "Then we'll deal with it when the time comes, if it's about what I assume it is, but we are already here, no excuse to leave now."

Emil simply nodded, a hand on his sword under his coat.

Soon a rather finely uniformed young griffon approached them, "Ah, you must be the last remaining passengers. Good, now we can haul anchor and get this girl moving." He stuck out his talon, "My name is Peck Dawnaway, I am the Captain's First-mate. He will be pleased to know you have finally arrived."

Aryanne shook his talon, "Yes, we wish we could have arrived sooner, but, we ran into some, complications..." She glared at Emil.

The griffon nodded and made to shake Emil's hand, which he did if only briefly, "Yes well, shit happens—as they say." He turned to a griffon sailor rummaging through a crate, "You! Go inform the Captain that the final passengers have arrived and that we are ready to set sail on his command!" The sailor saluted and moved across the deck into the Captain's quarters. "Now then," He tipped his cap, "Let me give you two the tour of the ship and see you to your room." He led them to the well down into the lower decks and they started down.

They moved down into the first deck and passed through what seemed to be the first gun deck, large crates of ball and shot scattered about. "Don't mind the cannon, and please, don't pester their crews about such things, in fact, don't pester the crew at all, especially when they are trying to carry out their orders, same for the Captain. If you need something, find a marine or even myself, I'll be happy to help you, and they will tolerate you. Just… don't mess with the sailors." They moved down along the corridor into what looked to be a small kitchen and mess room, "Just to clarify, this is a griffon ship, meat will be served at every meal, breakfast, lunch, and supper. If you get hungry between these meals, ask the cook about getting you some hard-bread, we have barrels of it to serve as rations and for emergencies." They moved past the mess room and into a small storage space and descended down into the second deck. This area was the quarters, many trunks and rows of hammocks lined the walls, a few griffons lazed about, the night crew.

He rounded on them, "The bottom deck is storage, you are not allowed down there, no passengers are." He squinted his eyes, "If we catch you down there, you will see Imperial justice." He led them to the back of the quarter, where they found a little area blocked off by a door. "One last thing, don't wander the decks at night, we need a clear deck then." They entered.

Inside was a corridor that led to four separate rooms. They were led to the last one on the right, inside were two well-off cot beds and trunks, a desk for writing, and another door off to the right. A closed porthole let little light in through it's seems.

"Not the coziest of places, but I'm sure you would come to prefer this over sleeping with the crew," Dawnaway said to them as he entered the room and opened the extra door, revealing a small bathroom, simply a toilet and bath. "Running water is something many of the griffons on this ship here wish they had."

They came back into the small hall, "There are five other passengers with us, all ponies. Feel free to socialize with them. If you need anything, or have any questions. As I said before, find one of the guards or myself." He opened the hall door, "We will be setting sail in a few, I would get settled if I were you two." He closed the door and left Emil and the mare standing in the doorway of their small room. They looked to each other and disappeared behind the door.

The ship had set its course not long after they were taken in and was now rocking gently in the waves, they stayed in the cabin well into the night to settle in. They were called for supper not long ago, and Emil and his pony companion were currently making may up the decks towards the cook's kitchen. There were crew-griffons everywhere, eyeing them as they ate their own meals in their hammocks or over a game of cards. Emil wore his large overcoat and his tarp hood covered his head. Anyone that noticed his skin under the cloak, if any actually did, didn't call him out.

They reached the mess room, a small open space, barely bigger than the cabin they were given, merely a place for the crew to mingle before obtaining their portion of grub, and took in line as they waited for their turn at the pots. Many griffons eyed them from afar or briefly glance at them before turning back to their own conversations.

They did not have to wait long, soon enough there was a fairly large, brawny griffon handing them some bowls of hot stew.

"You want meat, pony?" He asked, indifferent.

She glanced at Emil, then nodded.

The griffon reached below the table where the pots were set and tugged to reveal a thin slice of jerky before her and slopped it into the wooden bowl. "Thank you." She said before moving off down the line.

"What about you?" He turned to Emil.

Emil nodded simply.

The griffon grunted, "You two ain't much for chat are you." He gave Emil his slice of dried meat and ushered him down the line.

They made it back to their cabin without much hassle and ate in silence. The stew was decent for simply being a mixture of broth, peas, and carrot, and when Emil tugged on his jerky, the other piece he revived from Aryanne sat in his bowl, he found it to be pretty damn good, pork, salted before dried, with ever a hint of game.

"Boar jerky." He said more to himself as he looked over the thin slice.

The next day, Emil stood running his palm along his, now, hairless cheeks and chin where he had shaved off the hairs that were growing there. His reflection stared back at him from his small mirror that was leaned upon the small shelf installed over the wash basin that counted as a sink, his knife and a small bottle of grooming lube rested on its rim. He sighed and cleaned the basin and drained the foamy water within and watched it swirl down.

Taking up his things and exiting the bathroom he was met with the chill of a cool ocean breeze that blew in gently through the open porthole to his right at the back of the cabin. His uniform was laid upon the white sheets of his bunk along with many of his other personals. Their supplies had been stowed away in their trunks and under their bunks away from peering eyes, and, from what he knew, none of the crew suspected him nor his companion of anything.

The fact that he was human was hard to hide however, he had been confronted by many griffons on the ship about his being. He had yet to met any of the other passengers, or even the Captain for that matter. But, he really could care less, the fewer people that approached him, or came down to the cabins to bother him, the better.

Such was the reason for his grunt as the door was met with a few reps from beyond it. He looked to it and waited for any sign that it was Aryanne who was knocking, when her voice didn't demand he open the door and or throw a threat his way he made for the door slowly and unproved the latch and peaked the door open, just enough for him to eye his visitor. He had flicked the safety off his pistol on the march to the door, and held it firmly against his thigh.

"Yes?" He spoke gruffly.

Beyond the door was a young sailor griffon clad in a uniform that he hadn't seen before. It was of a violet purple with gold trimmings, and the griffon's feathers were clean and slicked back atop his head, a simple sword hung at his side. "The Captain calls on seeing your presence." The boy asked.

He raised a brow at the griffon, "What for?"

The griffon's confidence seemed to dwindle slightly at the tone of his voice, but stood straight and regained his posture not a second later, "He told me not why, just that I am to fetch you."

Emil pecked out to look down the short hall, the door to it closed, but saw nothing but the small griffon. "Alright." He stated simply.

The boy smiled, "Let us post haste, the Captain is a patience griffon, but he has a short temper."

"Let me get my things." Emil said before shutting the door. He dressed himself as formally as he could, which meant ditching the makeshift hood, the greatcoat could stay however. He equipped his sword and holstered his pistol to his side. Now, with his crusher's cap atop his head, he opened the door once again to see the young griffon still there waiting.

"Let's go." He told him. The boy was a bit taken back as seeing the human for the first time in full, he was certainly much different from the minotaurs of the North.

"Yes, lets." The griffon replied.

They made their way through the decks, griffons looking at them, some curious of the duo, some seemed to be sneering at the griffon lad, but most were watching Emil as he marched along behind the boy. They soon found themselves on the deck, the salty wind of the sea filling their nostrils and beating against their faces. The sun was bright out, high in the sky.

They made their way to the large cabin at the end of the ship, and Emil could pick out Dawnaway at the helm. Strangely enough, the First-Mate was responsible for keeping the ship's course, rather than the Captain himself, Emil always found the fact strange. They came before the cabin door, the insignia of the Empire etched into it, and a plaque that read, 'Captain's Quarters' shinned etched into the brass.

"Wait here," The boy told him, "I will inform the Captain that you are here." He knocked thrice then opened the door and peaked in, saying words muffled by the thick wooden door. When he brought his head back out, he opened the door and motioned him in.

The first thing Emil noticed was the heavy stench of pipe tobacco in the room, a luxury much too expensive to import to Equestria, that and it's ban in many major Equestrian cities. Nonetheless, it was a smell that had Emil's head swimming with nostalgia of his time in the Empire, and before all this back in Germany.

Stocked on the walls and lining the floors were a mighty assortment of things: jars, barrels, books, roping, old flags, small novelties and knick-knacks, it was a jumbled mess. Certainly not something Emil was expecting of a Captain meant to be representing the Griffon Empire. That's when he saw the Captain himself, and his neutral facade was replaced with one of bewilderment.

"Mikal?"

The finely uniformed griffon turned away from the larger observant window to face the human, the feathers on his body a matte grey, and his fur a golden tan, both dulled with age. His tired eyes looked upon Emil, and they seemed to regain some of their lost life at the sight of the tall, uniformed human, even a small arch formed at the end of his beak.

"Emil, good to see you again."

Author's Note

Part One of a much longer chapter that I will be posting in segments. Sorry for the long wait, as always.