Luckily, he tried again and was able to drink the water. He was recovering quickly. He was only stunned temporarily. "Oh, thank God! You are all right! You should let me steer from now on, and you can add more wood when we need it and rest in between." I convinced him.
He looked a little sheepish to need to rest. He was the one to steer us into the storm, and he saw how I had rescued us. That had to hurt his alpha male pride a bit! Either way, he conceded that I was the better captain, and he stayed towards the back for the rest of the trip.
We made our way over the ocean in about 3 weeks. It was hard, and we both got tired of flying. I cannot even imagine what sailing would be like for 6 months straight! We switched off shifts to sleep, eat, and go to the bathroom, but I steered most of the time. After he got zapped, I jokingly called him Zap instead of Zed. He strongly opposed the nickname!
It was fun to tease him, but I did not want to push it too far. I knew that he had been hurt and did not want to keep reliving the incident, so I let it go. He was lucky that he did not have any serious issues or aftereffects. He was sore for a few days afterward, but he was in decent shape, so he was able to bounce back quickly.
I almost jumped for joy and wept when I finally saw the shoreline of Annalaias! I knew that we still had a way to go before we reached the Kanta mountains, but we needed to stop in the next village we could find to rest and restock supplies.
Plus, we desperately needed to bathe and wash our clothes! I had a few changes of clothes, but it was not enough! I used to shower daily, or at least every other day. I had never gone this long without a shower! My hair felt greasy, my skin was grimy, and my clothes smelled and felt dirty! I did not want to show up in Ilmir looking like a vagabond! Technically, I was a homeless drifter now, but I still had my jewels and trinkets to make money.
Zed suggested we go north to the capital of Annalaias, but I did not want to waste time. We were supposed to head southwest. I was sure there would be another village or town before the mountains.
It took a few hours, but we spotted a town that looked much better than the first village where we met in Lancri. I found a big enough field to land the balloon and managed a slightly softer landing than last time. When I got out of the basket, I almost fell to the ground to kiss it, but luckily, I remembered that I was not alone and stopped myself! Zed followed me and helped me stake the balloon down.
Time to act like a dignified young lady, even though we are dirty. They are probably used to people traveling and showing up like homeless wanderers. I thought to myself to distract myself from the curious gazes of the townspeople. We went to the first inn that I saw, and I got us 2 rooms next to each other. I didn't want to share a room with Zed, but I wanted him to stay close for protection. He seemed to agree with his silent nod.
We went to our own rooms, and I ordered two hot baths with scented soaps and bath salts. I miss the nice spa soaps from my world. Maybe I can recreate some when I get to Kanta. I tried to cheer myself at the thought of my favorite things from my previous life.
Zed bathed and changed quickly. He sent our clothes to be laundered. I had used a ruby to pay for our visit, so we had a lot of credit! The look on the face of the innkeeper was priceless! He knew the nobles in town and offered to sell the ruby and give me the coins for a small fee. I had agreed, since it would save me the time and hassle.
It would be good to have coins to spend instead of spending all of my jewels. I had a few left, and I was sure that I could afford the journey to Kanta with the rest and have plenty left over. I wasn't worried about money, which was nice. This journey would have been a lot more difficult if I had to worry about financing it myself, like Abby had when she had to work three different jobs to pay for her trip.
I guess that I got lucky that this body's mother had left her with the jewels, and her brother ignored her enough not to notice. I'm sure the trinkets and gadgets will also come in handy, but I'm not sure how. I didn't even know what they did, but maybe they will be useful to an engineer. I hoped that the thing I brought with me would inspire the minds of the Kanta to invent new things.
I plan to live in the Kanta region, and want to make it as comfortable as possible. I remember the book talking about how cold it gets in the winter. As a native Californian, I did not have much experience with snow, other than the stories my cousin told me about snowboarding. I had tried it once, but couldn't get it. I fell down once while practicing on the bunny slope, and it hurt so much that I decided to hang out inside the lounge instead and drink hot chocolate.
Katie and I had that in common! We both loved hot chocolate. I didn't hate tea, like she did, but I might grow to hate it if I had to drink too much. One or two cups a day is enough for me. Also, I agreed with Marisa, variety is key!