((Postdated 6 turns: Matti- 15, Finbar- 13))

Matti held tightly to the narrow rigging leading to the top of the main mast, moving her hands and feet, one by one, up the rungs of the ladder. The captain had ordered her to 'go make sure that damn brat isn't sleeping on the job' and then jabbed a finger up at the crow's nest. She'd never been this far in the rigging before. So far she'd mostly been working with the navigator, the benefit of her Holder's education meaning she had a much stronger math foundation than most of the sailors on the ship. Still, she was just an apprentice. She did everything from scrubbing the deck to aiding the cook. This was just one more job. Nothing to be scared of...

If anyone asked her, she'd say her hand were shaking from the cold. An icy wind blew through the ropes, causing the ladder to twist and sway. Finally, she made it to the top of the ropes, her hands reaching eagerly for the relative stability of the Crow's Nest. Just don't look down.

The 'damn brat' the captain mentioned was indeed sleeping. At least she assumed that's who he was. A blonde haired boy, a little younger than herself, was lying curled around the mast on the round wooden platform. Clambering up from the ropes, Matti pulled herself into the safety of the wooden walls, though there wasn't much room. "Hey! You're not supposed to be sleeping up here." she said, nudging his leg with her foot.

Rousing slowly, the lookout pushed himself up on his arms and gave her what seemed like an annoyed look, something she wasn’t expecting from the one just caught sleeping on the job! Getting annoyed herself now, she was close to snapping at him when she stopped and took a breath instead. Ladies didn't snap.

Anyway, something wasn't quite right here. She'd never seen this boy before, not at meals or in lessons or anywhere on deck. And she'd never heard anyone talk about a lookout before. "How long have you been up here?" she asked. The boy lifted his shoulders, saying nothing. "Didn’t they send anyone to relieve you?" He shook his head.

"How do they expect you stay on guard all the time if they don't even give you time off to sleep?" Scooting back against the wall, the boy shrugged a second time, though he looked like he wasn't really listening to her. Well, it was a rhetorical question anyway. "Hmmm." Matti frowned. She had a feeling she knew what was going on here. She'd go and sort this out..

She paused part way down the ladder, looking at the boy curiously. "Can you not talk or do you just not like me?" she asked, mostly to herself. The boy said nothing. Matti sighed. "Fine. Wait here. I'll be right back.."