; [ORP] Castle Campbell, the Return

Skylar stood the edge of the cobblestone pier, ignoring the bustling crowd and unwanted retinue of armed guards behind her. She hadn’t quite grown used to their presence.

They sometimes did not approve of her idea of ‘fun’, which occasionally included a midnight excursion on horseback… Phrases like ‘not proper behavior’ and ‘just like your brother’ tended to pop up after those adventures. The thought made Skylar smile. She loved her brother to distraction.

The deep blue silk of her gown shimmered faintly in the bright sun; in part due to the nature of the fabric itself and also because of the silver threading running throughout the fabric. Skylar’s cascade of long blonde hair fell freely down her back, save the few elaborately braided locks that swept the hair away from her face.

Skylar’s mismatched colored eyes watched the ship and its crew disembarking eagerly, looking for Aqueron’s own halo of golden hair that would signal his and his wife’s arrival.

They had not seen one another for some time; not since she sailed over to beautiful but wet Ireland to attend her clan-mate’s funeral. She’d never met the woman herself but that was one of the few times she remembered seeing tears in her brother’s eyes.

But that was neither here nor there. Aqueron was home!

And she would finally get to meet Sheridan. After growing up with two brothers, Skylar very much looked forward to a sister (if a bit belated and tied not by blood). One of her biggest regrets was that she hadn’t been there at the wedding. She sincerely hoped Aqueron and Sheridan saw fit to forgive her.

Growing impatient, Skylar threw dignity to the wind and rose up onto her toes, trying to get a better view.

Oh for Jah's sake just...grrr. Aqueron growled at the sailors that puttered about the ship trying to look their best and not be called to do any actual work. How many men need to swab the decks anyhow? Two of them were trying to get a large trunk off the ship and down the gangplank but neither wanted to go down backwards, that is until the angry Scotsman shoved them aside and took the chest himself. Lifting it above his head he rested it against one shoulder and made it across the plank in three steps then let the trunk fall off his shoulder onto some other boxes.

Walking back up the plank to take Sheridan's hand and help her down he grabbed the slightly stunned sailors by the collar and hurled them into the waves lapping against the side of the ship. There was a smirk on his lips as he took her hand. Welcome home. Skylar was supposed to be here to greet them and by all accounts was here, she just might not be right in front of them. He bent and scooped Sheridan up in his arms and carried her the first few steps onto fry land before setting her down and giving her a quick kiss. My sister has a golden crown of hair like yours love, and I am very curious as to see who is taller as you two have never met.

Waving to James and Collin he signaled them to finish preparing their belongings, after which they would be free to enjoy themselves with the local drink, and lasses of course. After all it had been a year since they were back home, back in Scotland. Spotting Skylar took less time than he thought though it was not her hair that he noticed but the stark difference of the dirty harbor and her bright blue dress. Very nice, he thought, I wonder how much it was.

Skylar! Sister!
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CLAN CAMPBELL CHIEF - EMPEROR OF THE WEST

Normally Sheridan had better sea legs, but these days it did not take much for her stomach to roll like the waves. The trip had been hard and to her disappointment she had needed to spend much of it below deck, laying down.

When they finally made port, Sheridan was greatly relieved but her stomach did not abate and she felt an uncomfortable lurch as Aqueron carried her onto land. After he kissed her, he was already on the lookout for his sister, and seemed to miss her distressed state. Perhaps he thought once she was on land that the feeling would pass, but it seemed she would not have such luck, at least for now.

My dear, I will need to lay down soon. I still feel very weak and my stomach seems to believe it's still on the boat.

At that moment Aqueron spotted his sister and called to her. Sheridan followed Aqueron's gaze and managed to smile at the young woman, albeit a bit weakly, as she clung to Aqueron for support.
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Skylar smiled so brightly when she finally saw Aqueron and Sheridan appear that it made her cheeks hurt. It was all she could do stay where she was and not cause any more chaos with the unloading process; her brother was doing that very well all by himself. She had to bite her lower lip to keep from laughing out loud when Aqueron hauled the two sailors into the water. He always did have a rather direct way of dealing with people who bothered him…

Fleetingly she wondered if perhaps that was the reason she hadn’t any serious suitors. Skylar narrowed her eyes a bit. They’d have to talk about that later.

The thought left her mind is quickly as it came when the pair made it onto solid ground and Aqueron hailed her. She closed the distance between them in a few strides and embraced her brother, albeit awkwardly, not wanting to invade Sheridan’s space.

“It is so good to have you home. You’ve been away far too long,” she told him and then she pulled away and turned her attention to the obviously unwell Sheridan.

Aqueron seemed not to have noticed. She very seriously considered stamping on his toes for it.

Men.

Instead she sighed and offered the woman a sympathetic smile. “Hello, Sheridan. I am Skylar. You must be exhausted, having come all that way with this oblivious brother of mine.” Skylar flicked her brother a slightly accusing look. “For now let us skip the pleasantries. Once we get home there will be plenty of time to get to know one another. Shall we?”

Skylar's remark made Sheridan grin as she squeezed Aqueron's arm. I am pleased to meet you as well, Skylar. Aqueron has told me much about you during our journey. It's wonderful to finally meet you. She paused as she looked up at Aqueron then back to Skylar. Don't be too hard on him. He was very attentive while we were on the ship. I believe he was just anxious to finally be on land and of course to finally see you again!

Rest on something that wasn't moving sounded like a very good idea just then and Sheridan nodded in agreement when Skylar suggested they leave the dock. Hopefully they wouldn't have far to go.
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