The ship was much more calm now that they were on the ground. "Is everybody alright?" Nightshade asked with a groan. She found it hard to speak after the crash landing had thrusted her into the wheel. Wood was not the softest of materials to be thrown into with significant force.

Max groaned and picked himself up. The Meowth had been thrown into the ship's railing by the crash. "C-captain... permission to do a head count?" He asked.

"Granted." Nightshade answered. She leaned against the wheel and looked at the ship's rotors. The Drachenkin used two zeppelin-style balloons and six rudimentary rotors to keep afloat. The entire process hinged on a steam engine that fed hot air to both the rotor mechanisms and the balloons. The balloons were by far the most important components for flight since hot air was so light. The rotors only offered a little lift, but that lift made up for what the balloons could not achieve, plus they were responsible for the ship's mobility. They were notorious for breaking down, with at least one rotor mechanism needing repair after every flight. It was very new technology and very much a prototype. They could get along without one of them, maybe even two in a pinch. Four of the rotors had snapped off in the fog, and at a glance Nightshade could tell that least two of the rotor mechanisms were badly damaged.

A feeling of pain started to overwhelm Nightshade. Their ship had crashed! What were they going to do? The Drachenkin was her life. For two years, this ship and its crew had been everything to her. Could they even repair her after such a disaster with the engine?

Her first mate called to her. "Captain! All hands are accounted for!" Max exclaimed. "The mounts have landed, as well!"

Nightshade briefly put her worries aside. "Good." She replied. Thinking about it, Nightshade figured they could probably repair the ship. This wasn't the first time it had crashed. Even though this was their most disasterous crash yet, there was probably was something they could do to fix the problem at hand.

Another problem had to be addressed, Nightshade realized. They had crash landed near a town. Having seen the town from above, Nightshade knew the town was fairly large and probably had a thick population. Sooner or later (and most likely sooner), they would encounter the citizens. "Listen up, everybody!" Nightshade shouted, calling her crew to order. "We just had a major disaster befall us, but let's not have that be the end of us. We are currently stuck in a town known as Andalusst. As of now, we don't have the freedom that being sky pirates normally brings us. At any time, we could be captured. We need to be cautious." She paused before adding "we need to look innocent."

The crew immediately began to voice their concern. The Drachenkin Raiders, the crew members responsible for flying down to loot valueble targets during raids, had particularly noteworthy concerns. "But how long before they figure out who we are? We're legends! Surely they'll have heard about us!" One of the raiders, a Grovyle named Bethany, asked.

Nightshade had to think about this for a moment. "I doubt that will be a problem. You'll recall that we haven't been attempting raids in this region for reason of lack of valueables. We aren't their enemies, so why should they assume us so?"

"They may have heard about us from other merchants!" Another raider, a Clefable named Landon, exclaimed. "Those blabbermouths are always gossiping about trouble, and we're no exception!"

Before Nightshade could think of a reply, a crewmember shouted and pointed out somebody leaving the town, approaching the ship. She scowled and called for Max to get a spyglass for her. The cat was quick to follow her orders. Nightshade looked through the spyglass to see a Swampert racing towards The Drachenkin. The stranger wore leather gloves and a wide brimmed hat, as well as a strange amulet that looked valueable.

"Remember, everybody. Act natural. We have done nothing wrong." Nightshade said to the crew. As an afterthought, she ordered the raiders to go and hide anything that might give away their identity as pirates.

A few minutes later, the Swampert reached the ship. "Permission to come aboard?" He exclaimed to them.

"Granted!" Nightshade shouted to him. She ordered a crew member to throw a rope to him. As heavy as the giant walking mud fish was, he was able to climb onto the ship. He tipped his hat in greetings as Nightshade approached him. In this situation, the giant was cause for intimidation. "And to whom do I owe the pleasure?" Nightshade asked.

"Luke's the name!" He exclaimed, grabbing Nightshade's paw and gently shaking it, taking care to avoid puncturing his gloves with the claws. "I saw your ship come crashing down! It was pretty terrifying stuff. I've never seen anything like this before."

"Really?" Nightshade asked. It was a passing remark, but that last comment made her wonder if he'd heard about The Drachenkin before. "Well, I would say our ship is unique. It's the only one of its kind, the first and only airship in the world. Welcome aboard The Drachenkin!" Nightshade was used to boasting about her ship, but a second after she'd said the name she realized it might have been a mistake to admit the airship's name, in case the Swampert did recognize it.

"Drachenkin, eh? That's a fancy name!" Luke replied, giving her a warm smile. "It sounds regal, like the kind of ship a queen would command! You are the captain here, yes?"

Relief flooded into Nightshade. This Pokemon was oblivious, and if he was one to represent then this town was oblivious to their identity as well. "I am indeed the captain. If you wish to come into my quarters, we can make further discussions."

"Certainly, ma'am." Luke replied, giving her another friendly grin. They marched up the stairs to Nightshade's door, but she paused and had the Swampert wait outside while she cleaned up. In truth, Nightshade was putting away maps and other pieces of evidence to their piracy. Luckily she only had to put away a few maps and other things. She even decided to leave her weapons and other treasures up with the excuse that they were collected from adventures and exploration. When Nightshade finally let the big fish inside, he marveled at the regal decore. "My my, I wasn't very far off when I said this ship was regal-sounding. It's regal looking as well."

"I appreciate the thought." She said, taking a seat and offering Luke a chair. She paused as Luke sat down, wondering if the chair would support him. It didn't break upon his weight being put down on it, so at least she wouldn't lose a chair. "Tell me about yourself. Are you connected to any leadership in this town?"

"Well, I was hoping you'd tell me about yourself, but if you insist!" Luke said. "I'm actually a leader of a major guild called the Explorers. We currently command somewhere in the region of seven hundred members! Or at least, that's what it was last time I checked. We've not been having much time to do head counts since the last opperation we had going on! You see..." Luke started to babble on about a strange dungeon beneath the earth connecting this town to another, Geoda City. He also rambled about the possibility of exploration and trade, before going off on a tangent about a giant golem attacking the city and finally to random-odd happenings in the town. This Swampert was far too talkative.

"Enough!" Nightshade exclaimed, bringing his rambling to a halt. "Let me be the first to say I understand the difficulties of leadership you must face with recent developments, but I am not exactly here for the sake of exploration. I just wanted to learn what I needed to know to get along in this town. In case you haven't noticed, we're stuck here indefinitely until our flight mechanisms can be repaired."

Luke paused, having realized he was speaking about things he shouldn't. "Oh, my apologies." He said. "But before anything else, can you tell me about yourself? Your ship must be used for wonderous things!"

Nightshade smirked. "You have no idea." She remarked, laughing internally at the irony of his statement. Luke's long monologue about dungeoneering had given her the opportunity to formulate her story. "My name is Carola." Nightshade said, using her real name as opposed to the name she preferred to go by, in case her name would give away their identity. You could say we're explorers as well, to an extent. We go from town to town and perform deeds like capturing criminals and rescuing lost explorers. We're also treasure hunters. In short, we do whatever we can to make a living with this airship."

The shine in Luke's eyes made Nightshade sure he believed her lie. "Cool!" Luke exclaimed. "It must be so much fun flying an airship like this!"

Again, Nightshade smirked. "Believe me, it's nothing short of stressful. Anything could happen, like the crash we just had."

Luke stood up and gave her another warm smile. "Well, if you need help repairing your ship then let me know! We can arrange just about anything! The Explorers Guild loves helping others, especially for charity."

If they were to get help from the locals for repairing the ship, then they could probably be back in the air within a few weeks, if not days. "Well, I'll have a talk with my engineers and we'll figure out what components we need to repair the Drachenkin. It'll be a while before she can fly again, without a doubt. It's nice to meet you, my friend." She held out her claws to shake again, and Luke accepted the gesture.