Chapter 2: Tristan

Chapter 2: Tristan

Tristan Verne was the ship’s captain, and therefore he was in charge of the ship left to him from his father.

At that moment, standing on the highest look out point of the ship, the wind whipping his hair, his father and even his crew were the last thing he thought about. It was the type of clear, beautiful day that occurred infrequently, and he normally would want them to occur infrequently. Sky pirates caught lightning, so normally they would want weather to be full of thunderstorms, so they could catch lightning and make money. Lately, though, the weather had been so full of thunderstorms that catching lightning had become a daily activity. This made Tristan recognize he was not in the sky pirate business to harvest lightning. He was in it for the thrill, because as he was recognizing, he was a born adventurer. He lived for each day, never regretting the last and never pondering the next. He would usually go off course onto an interesting island so he can have an epic battle with a female villan and end up using his lips as his best weapon.

He prided himself in his sharp wit (which he used to lead his crew properly) and strength. He was ruggedly handsome, but acted like he thought he was a beast and not a beauty. Any woman would love him for that. If Tristan could find a girl who did not find him attractive for the fact he was a sky pirate or just naturally handsome, he would easily fall in love her. Any man on his crew would say Tristan is his hero, mentor and savior, despite the fact Tristan did not feel like a hero.

Tristan was eighteen, compared to the average age of about twenty-five in his crewmates. This was due to the fact his father owned the vessel originally in Ottawa. Before he died, his father sold the ship to some people he knew in Toronto. When Tristan was about fourteen,  he decided to work for the people who had bought the ship, and try to get it back. The capitain decided to let him pay it off. For everything he would get paid for, he got the satisfaction he was one paycheck closer to owning his father’s ship. In two years he had worked it off.

In two more years he was already bored with it. In all reality, the interesting and exciting parts for Tristan was not catching lightning, but rather, going on extra excursions and missons. It was all he ever cared about, and it wasn’t even his job to care. When he thought about this it made him realize that there was only one time that he truly loved sky pirating.

It was a rainy night on the Sky Maiden. It was Tristan’s first time on a sky ship while the rain, thunder and lightning boomed against the ceiling, like gunfire. He hadn’t even been out on the Sky Maiden when it was drizzling, and this night was close to a hurricane.

Tristan’s father ran into Tristan’s room. “Tristan! Do you want to see me work?” Mr. Verne asked.

“No, Father. It is scary outside. I am afraid of lightning.” Tristan answered.

“Afraid of lightning? Blasephemy! I know my son and my son can catch lightning with his father.” Mr. Verne responded.

“But I am afraid!” Tristan defended.

“You will have to face your fears someday. Why not today?”

“I’m not ready!”

“Well, I am putting my foot down then. You are going and that is final.” Mr. Verne responded.

Tristan reluctantly put on his rubber rain boots and raincoat and followed his father outside.

He felt like he was on a batllefield. The raindrops were bullets, dropping against his face, with the sounds of thunder bombs dropping in the background. Then there was the enemy that needed to be captured- the lightning.

“You hold the cup in one hand and the cap in the other!” He exclaimed, handing Tristan the cup. It was made of glass and at the bottom was aluminum. The top was aluminum too. “On a night like tonight, you just keep the jar out and ready to catch! You can let some water get inside, it is a good conductor! ”

The bait was the aluminum. The trap was set. Young Tristan heard the thunder of another lightning bolt. Another came, almost concurrently. Tristan saw the enemy on his camp. The bullets were flying in his face, so he couldn’t see very well and the sound of bombs made it hard to hear, but the enemy took the bait, and Tristan deployed his trap.

He slammed the lightning jar shut. He peered though it, watching as the little light bounced up and down, the rain still going as hard and as fast as ever. It was all worth it to see that beautiful piece of nature become bottled up, like when a child catches a butterfly.

Tristan was proud of himself at the time, but as he grew older, he started to ponder if free things are put out into the world to be captured, or to be let free. This made him think about why he was capturing the freest light and bottling it up to be sold.

He knew even more that this wasn’t right for him at all. He was in search of his crew to let them know the news, and only the steering person was working.

He thought as he scoured the ship, “Of course when I want to land they all sleep. They always sleep. They don’t do anything. Honest to God I need a new crew. I am no longer the mystified eight-year-old I once was. I need to go into town, get an adventuring license and go do something worthwhile. I want excitement and fun. I need to adventure as my main job.”

He found his crew, unsurprisingly all in their beds at noon.

Tristan bellowed, “Get up you sloths!” All startled awake. “Now you will all land this ship with me. I am quitting lightning catching for adventuring.”

“But sir you don’t have a…” One started.

“A license? I am a captain of a lightning catcher squad. They would give me the world on a silver platter.” Tristan interrupted. The crewmates dispersed. Tristan went behind the wheel (the wheel person took a nap). The majestic wings of the Sky Maiden spread out to allow for a majestic vehicle to descend onto the earth.

Tristan exited the ship with his motorcycle, destined to find his destiny in a small town. He passed miles of farmland on his motorcycle. He also recognized the town’s shape was somewhat circular, and since the houses were in front of the farmland, the more he went in the more industrial it would get. This was true.

Tristan’s motorcycle was very unique. It could not only run off of solar energy, it could run off of the windmill that would pop out in the back if Tristan pressed the wind button, it could run off manual power, or it could run off of the power he very infrequently used. This power was gas. Tristan never believed in exploiting what nature left us in fossil fuels to fuel things when there are more efficient ways.

It was made from brass, there was intricate detail in the way he manipulated the metal to cover the parts, but look like it was part of the gears and gadgets to make it work. Tristan did this all by himself when he was sixteen when he was on sky leave.

It was a bright, beautiful day so Tristan used his solar power. It was nice to Tristan, though it didn’t change his look in the slightest. He still wore his off-white button down shirt, brown leather jacket (the only animal skin he would ever wear) and jeans that weren’t too tight or too loose. His shoes looked like leather, but were actually animal-friendly.

His hair that matched the jacket was longer than it normally was. It was about half way down his neck. His facial hair had grown out a bit too. He normally kept up with his shaving, but he liked to keep it scruffy. He was not the more feminine look of the clean-shaven look or the fully manly man beard look.

His eyes were a warm blue. His skin was very tanned, but he was white beneath it all. He worked out frequently and had the muscles to prove it.

Tristan wanted an adventure and would stop at nothing to get one.