Parallel park.

There have been times you've been far above ground with Castle Phoenix below you, namely back when you were still learning to properly utilize your Bunny Hop ability, though this is something else entirely. Nestled up in the Pecho Peaks rests a border of tall dark stone with a castle against the back wall. Within is like a flower pot of many colours, weaved between by curving streets like ivory snakes. The road which leads down through the valley of hills towards and past Crystal Lake is slowly being turned from crude dirt to paved cobblestone. You can even make out the coastal village of Gobiidae to the east.

"Furl the sails!" you call out. "Get ready to land! I think I can see the dock below us. Tom, run to the other side. We'll call out directions to Eva."

Nervously, Eva squeezes the wheel and takes a stuttering breath in through her nose. She nods.

With Thomas on the port side and you on starboard, you raise the Sending Stone to your mouth and speak. "Is everything ready down there?"

It's Laira's voice on the other side. "It should be. Bring it down slow... W-Wow. It's so big and impressive. I never thought I'd lay my eyes on a flying ship before. You'll have to tell us all about how you got it once you've landed."

It's a slow, nerve-wracking process for certain. You call out directions as best you can with the help of Tom, though you're all trying to drift an airship down to a specific target as individuals who have never even landed such a vehicle in the normal way before. You trust in Laira's craftsmanship though, and Eva is focused at the helm. A bead of sweat rolls down your forehead as you pass near the outer walls, nearly scraping the hull over the edge of the stone, but you're almost there. Just a little bit more. You lick your drying lips and continue to call out, "A little farther right! Slower, slower," and the like.

Amara comes up beside you and dabs a soft cloth to your sweating skin. Her smile brightens your heart, and bolsters your resolve, like a Bless without mana. Then you turn to see Niki peering off the same railing you're at, though down on the deck farther towards the bow, as she shouts, "If I gotta, I'll go down there and catch it myself!"

You take in a sharp breath and clench your teeth. "I think we're gonna overshoot it just a little!"

"I-I--" Eva tries to speak.

"You're fine!" you call back to her. "Keep what you're doing. It's perfect."

Peony hustles to the back of the ship with Alice quickly following behind her, still garbed in your armour.

The dryad throws out her arms. "I can help!" And when she does, the trees below almost seem to reach up with opened arms. Branches creak and stretch, and vines coil up towards the hull like sentient ropes. Though it isn't much compared to the size of the vessel, Peony uses her connection to all things flora to grapple a section of the boat and begin tugging it backwards.

Next you hear the sound of thudding footfalls. Zazra the oni is nearly twenty feet tall. It's still a reach for her, though she utilizes Peony's ropes to aid in pulling it back until her hands can nearly grasp the bottom.

Then lastly, Vyzia sprints to and leaps off the bow like an Olympic diver. As she falls, her body shines and shifts to change to something so large that her claws hit the ground long before her body ever would have otherwise. Once a naked woman, now a mighty red dragon, Vyzia roars out across Castle Phoenix as her tail hits the ground with the booming crash of a thunderbolt. She turns and reaches up, standing on her hind legs, to grapple the front of the airship and **** it back into place.

At last, it stops.

The ship has been parked perfectly into a bracket of wooden beams and metal braces. It barely flinches to the massive weight placed upon it. A moment passes before it all sinks in, but once the crew realizes their success, they begin to laugh. Everybody cheeks and enjoys their victory and safe return. Ropes are cast off the sides, and slowly everybody returns their feet to solid ground, even Anyana, whose barrel is hoisted down in the arms of Zazra.

Alice, once again undressed from your armour, holds it out to you neatly folded in her arms.

You take it, though your weary sweating body opts not to garb itself in a suit of extraplanar hide and magic wood. It feels much better to be in your clothes alone. Before you can place it down, Yin comes up to you and takes it with a smiling nod. She vanishes into a plume of black smoke immediately.

Though when she returns, which is almost instantly, she throws her arms around you and buries her head into your chest.

"I'm so glad you're home, Master."

You place a hand firmly against the back of her soft black hair and runs your fingers through it. "And I'm glad to be home."

Bek the dwarf sprints over with an excited grin and shine in his eyes. "Kyle! Kyle!" He takes a moment to catch his breath. "You gotta tell us about your adventure. Damn, look at this fucking thing. You come back in a flying boat? And is that... a red dragon?!"

Eyes turn to the scaled beast still standing nearby. Her crimson eyes scan over the residents of Castle Phoenix in a contemplative silence.

Lady Nyllia Tesgella joins behind him. "He is likely weary from his travels. Perhaps we should allow him rest before he explains."

"That's true!" comes the voice of Lalarin, garbed in casual wear and not her favourite spandex. "... B-But I also really want to know."

You chuckle and shake your head. "I suppose a little story-time will help everybody relax, especially with all these new folk behind me."