contentwithoutcommand | First Tackle : written

First Tackle : written

[David has had... three days. He's taken three days living with his sister to sort out where he is and what's going on. Which, as far as he can tell, is all very vague.

Of course, a woman like Faith can't be expected to have any sort of reckoning of points of longitude and latitude, and he doesn't have the tools required yet to shoot the sun to take his own calculations. He is most certainly not in England or the West Indies, though. Of that much, he can be certain.

The Journal is his biggest contemplation. He's watched it, these last few days. He doesn't understand most of it, but he has seen how it can used to address letters and even speeches to the general population. How the latter works, he doesn't know. Really, how it works in general is a mystery, but he understands the written form best.

There's no telling who will read what he writes as he finally takes up a pen, so he's careful with his wording. Around him are about twenty sheets on which he's practiced before committing himself to this.]

The fourth of May.

[No location, he doesn't grasp that well enough yet to make that distinction.]

To whom it may concern:

[There may be an admiral or commodore or post-captain in this strange place, but he can't be sure, so a more general heading will have to do.]

I arrived here on the first of May. After making a basic of study of the area, I proceeded to the north where I found a village. It is the only one according to local information. I established a residence and read what is provided by way of documentation. I have since collected my possessions that have arrived: my uniform, my pocketwatch, and my telescope.

My ship is lost, my crew unaccounted for, and the fleet far out of range of communication. I write this dispatch in the hope that it might be received by someone in a position to answer it.

I am, most respectfully, your servant,

D Long, commander of His Majesty's Sloop Hornet, R. N.

[The strangest dispatch he has ever written, David thinks, but it will do. It might also give him some indication if there are any brother officers here, if any of his crew or squadron have suffered the same fate.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

If it helps you any, you're the one who's lost. Not your ship.

[One thing confirmed: Nothing special needs to be done. Simply writing in the book does, in fact, send it to, presumably, every book like it in the place.

It's good to be sure of, at least.

The small glance at what he presumes is the person replying lets him know where to start with a response.]

Given the circumstances, Miss, I feel it might be one and the same.

[Whether it's his ship that's lost, him that's taken prisoner... It all means he's been taken out of command, his ship gone, and that is a reason for court martial right there.]

Not really. Time will pass for you here, but when you get back your ship will jbe just right when and where you left it.

[That was, in her opinion, the most important part of any greeting to a New Feather, and the one that most frequently got left out.]

[It sounds ludicrous to him. But, then, so do the wings on his back. Or that he's having a written conversation in a book.]

I see. Thank you very much, Miss. I will bear that in mind.

No problem.

[ a simple scrawled word: ] LONG?

[Glance at the picture. Male. That means:]

Yes. Commander David Long.

[...Until he has an idea of rank and social standing, he's not adding on the "sir."]

Relation to a Miss Faith Long?

[ as an afterthought: ] MJR R. SHARPE

[ as ever, his writing is slow and poorly formed. ]

[A major. Roughly equivalent rank, so he'll keep that in mind.]

I do have a sister by that name here. Are you acquainted with her?

[The slow, scrawling letters don't really bother him. He's not totally used to deciphering such writing, but he's had plenty of men on his ships throughout the years that can't read or write or have varying skill levels of it that, well, he can make allowances for it.]

Met her when she first arrived. She told me about you.

[ hmm. tap tap tap. ] She knows you're here?

She does, Major. She's been very helpful in getting me settled in.

[And very vague about her social circles, but it has a short time since he arrived. However, the older brother will remain suspicious for now.]

Good. ~~Cirk~~Circumstances aside, I assume she was relieved to see you.

I believe she was.

[...Without discussing the complications that arose from discussing, between them, things that had or hadn't happened. All far too strange for him to understand yet.]

It's good to be here, knowing she is. [He'd rather be here to look after her than have her here alone, that's certain.]

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