Memories Of Ice
Northan

The Wild Rose came in to land at Northan, the dwellings in the town were carved out from the rocks, snow was floating down but the townsfolk paid no mind. Rather than cars driving around, the people of Northan preferred to use horses, not wanting to rely overly much on technology.

As the airship landed on the airpad, the town leader walked out to the pad wearing a long brown coat. The hatch to the airship's hold opened and Roisin and Ariel walked out, the town leader smiled as he noticed Roisin.

"Ah! I remember you, Rosie, was it?" The man smiled as he shook Roisin's hand and hugged her.

"Oh, I didn't think you'd recognise me, it's been well over a decade" Roisin smiled as she hugged back. "Oh, and it's Roisin" She added, with a smile.

"I never forget a face" The man smiled as he pulled away. "I can't believe how much older you are now" He added.

"Thanks Dean" Roisin laughed.

"You know what I meant" Dean chuckled, he then looked at Ariel, and his face dropped. "Why is she here?" Dean asked.

"You know her?" Roisin asked.

"Of course I know her, this town may be remote, but I know the former Crown Princess of Aranei when I see her..." Dean shook his head.

"I'm not with Aranei any more, I stand with Roisin, and Ishtall" Ariel bowed her head.

"If Roisin vouches for you..." Dean said as he looked at Roisin.

"I do, she's one of my most trusted friends" Roisin smiled.

"Okay then, in that case, welcome to Northan" Dean smiled.

"Thank you, Sir" Ariel smiled, as Anya walked from the ship.

"What can I do for you all?" Dean asked.

"We just need to refuel and resupply before we head out" Roisin explained.

"Of course" Dean nodded, as he motioned over to some workers to resupply and refuel the ship. "May I ask, is your business related to those Droid things that have started showing up?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, we aim to go to the ruins of Raryst and see if there is some way to shut them down, or break their programming" Roisin explained.

"Good, I hate the things, machines pretending to be human" Dean shook his head. Anya looked over and frowned.

"Well, actually, they are sentient, some of them" Roisin responded.

"Like I said, they're just machines" Dean shrugged. Roisin sighed and frowned. Anya stormed over to the group.

"Droids are sentient, and they do have feelings" Anya growled.

"They're Crystech spies, technology gone too far" Dean frowned.

"How would you know, you live in some crappy little backwater town. I doubt you've ever even seen a fridge, you know nothing about Droids..." Anya shouted, the townsfolk were now looking at her.

"Roisin, please, stop your friend from making a scene" Dean said, ignoring Anya.

"No, I won't" Roisin shrugged. Anya walked right up to Dean.

"I'm a Droid" She said, then grinned.

"I knew there was something off about you..." Dean shook his head, he backed away and looked over to the workers. "Take back the supplies, we're not lending a hand to Crystech puppets" He shouted as he walked away. The workmen went to take back stock, but Ashe and Wes stood in their way. Dean looked turned around and looked at Roisin.

"You disappoint me, Roisin" Dean frowned.

"No, Dean, you are the disappointing one. Growing up, I thought that you were a good person, I thought that you did what was right... now I see you for what you are" Roisin sighed.

"And what is that?" Dean asked.

"A bigot" Roisin said, as she turned and walked back to the airship with Anya and Ariel.

"Fine..." Dean shouted, Roisin turned to look at Dean. "You can resupply, but as soon as you have, I want you to leave, and never come back" He stated.

"Fine by me" Roisin nodded as she walked back aboard The Wild Rose. The workmen resumed their task of restocking the ship, as Roisin and Anya headed to the observation deck.

As they walked into the observation deck and sat down, Anya sighed deeply.

"I'm so sorry, Ros" She frowned.

"What for?" Roisin asked.

"For causing trouble..." Anya said as she looked out of the viewscreen at the snow mountain peaks.

"You didn't cause trouble though" Roisin smiled.

"I nearly cost us the supplies because I had a go at that man..." Anya said.

"Sometimes, Anya, you have to stand up for something, or someone, even if it means that you will lose old friends" Roisin smiled. "If they don't agree and turn their back on you, they were never truly your friend" She added.

Anya smiled, then chuckled slightly.

"What?" Roisin asked, confused.

"Since when did you become so wise?" Anya asked, laughing.

"I've always been wise, me" Roisin smirked. "I just have trouble putting it into words, like 90% of the time" She chuckled. Anya smiled then hugged Roisin.

"Thank you, for being my friend" Anya said as she hugged Roisin tightly. Roisin hugged back and looked out of the window.

Once the airship was restocked, it promptly left the town of Northan and headed off, on the long journey back to Raryst.