The concentrated worry on her face was burrowing wrinkles into her skin, her mind still unable to make such a weighty decision.

"Lilly Langdon's girl, ay'?"

Goosebumps rose all about her skin, getting the eerie feeling that only was reminiscent of encountering a ghostly shadow. Taking in a quick inhale and turning her face toward the hunched figure she held in her breath. It figures that the one time she manages to be virtually alone on this ship, this man would find her.

Perhaps it was her own fault, for the sweet smelling odor pouring from the oven was her doing, and he seem quite pleased with it.But, wait... Snapping to her senses she finally realized what he had just said.

"You know... my mother?" Her tongue pressed against the corner of her darkly painted lips as her brows arched into an inquisitive angle. When he spoke of partaking in a slice of her baking loaf of gypsy bread it bothered her, the bread was to be a gift broken between her and Cas. But... for some reason, she could only nod in agreement to what sounded to her like an order from the old man. This was surely unsettling, the way his presence brought her to bite at her tongue.

She held onto the counter as he peered toward the oven, Deryn was still very eager to hear how he knew of her mother, Lilly. Who are you...?

At first, the elf only half-listened, her attention split between the sweet-things scattered in the box on her lap and the annoyed woman towering over her. A thwap regained her attention momentarily, however, and brought Cas' eyes straight back up to Thana with a small, annoyed frown as she listened.

The medic's words took a hard left turn after she'd paused, veering into dangerous territory. Cas' jaw tightened, her hand lowering to set her current candy back into its paper-wrapping place. Her hand moved automatically towards the revolver at her side, unclasping the leather over the handle and placing her small hand on its hilt. But as Thana's threat wound its way on, Cas' eyes found themselves wandering in the direction of Fortinbras and Barasa speaking higher up and across the deck. Hesitation found it's mark.

Lifting her chin first before straightening her legs to lift herself, the elf tucked the box of candies under her left arm. Letting her right hand rest on the handle of the revolver a few more moments--only to make a point, she assured herself--she then let it slide off and dangle.

"I can't fathom any of you, but fine. Threaten me again, though? Do it out of the captain's sight," she hissed as her neck's muscles tightened and thin hands flexed. Ill-earned prize tucked under her arm, she began to head off in the direction of either the kitchens or the scholar--wasn't quite sure which, but both were calling to her at the moment.

Sniff. Damn him, whatever she was cooking smelled good. Nostrils stayed flared, eyes on the oven, flicking his gaze up unsurprised at her nod. Hand reaching behind him to scratch lazily at his lower back, the old man could only give her a toothy--surprisingly so, for his age--grin.

You know my mother. "Who doesn't?" he countered, insinuation shot at random. Well, he hadn't pressed anyone's buttons for a while. Couldn't blame him for scratching that itch once in a while.

Thana seems moderately satisfied with the elf's response. She had expected to be threatened in kind...elves would be elves after all. She watched the short little thing meander off with her candy tucked away. Behind the dark skinned woman, Abida mouths the word "Sorry" to the elf, making a face and shrugging behind the back of her mother- as if she too doesn't understand the big deal.

Rubbing a long finger between her eyebrows, Thana turns her attention back to her child. She stares at the girl for a long moment as she tries to rub out the knot between her brows. Inhaling she closes her eyes. As she exhales, she opens her eyes again, looking down at her girl and the prize she holds. She holds out a hand, moving her fingers slightly, lifting her brow and nodding her nose toward the candy.

Abida's lower lip juts outward briefly as she deposits the bag into her mother's hand. She looks down at the ground, waiting for her chastisement.

Thana places the bag into her messenger bag, closing it on the treats. She places her hand on the girl's shoulder, causing her to look up again. "I am disappointed in you. Go to our room and think about what you've done. When you can figure out why I am angry, I will think about giving you back your candy."

Abida looks at her mother, confused. She presses her little lips together and wrinkles her nose. "Fine. I didn't want any candy anyway!" She turns and runs off to the room in a spat. Thana watches her go and looks around at the rest of the people topside. The knot between her brows creases again and she brings her hand back to it, rubbing at it idly. She could not wait for this job to be over. If the money wasn't so good...

A strong wind blows in the first of the northernly snows, the grand mountains becoming less a thing of the distance and instead beginning to tower over the ship, piercing the skies themselves. It's difficult to tell through the growing amount of snow being blown across the ship, but a faint crack can be seen in the distant mountains: someone with a good eye could tell that a ship should be able to fit through them. In any case, the pilots seem to know to head for it. But the wind and the beginnings of hail within the next hour or two suggest that all pilots should be at the ready.

What kind of response was that? Deryn thought to herself, furrowing her eyebrows toward the old man. “What is that supposed to mean?” She growled, picking up the dirtied bowls and throwing them in the sink. In a way, it was just a method to make a smashing sound without seeming like she was downright offended. Her eyes came to the sink as she ran the warm water and grumbled at her hands.

“Well how did you know her then?” She thought it was best to just bite her tongue any more on his prior response and focus on getting the straight answers she really wanted. It wasn’t long before the whole kitchen was now filled up with the sweet smell of the baking bread in the oven.

Motioning for the salivating old man to back up a few steps so she could open the oven, she waved and waited for him to move back before pulling the risen bread from the heat. The top was crisp and caramelized. Just to check, she stuck a knife into the Gypsy bread, causing steam to spill out into the air, inside was just right, puffy and moist.

Cas will be pleased, she thought. Hopefully she would be able to have enough to bring to her friend if this man doesn’t devour the whole thing.

The old man shrugged his shoulders as the hull of the ship began to sway more sharply and rather unevenly with the wintry gusts of wind pushing the ship closer to the mountains. A nearby window, not latched well enough, swung open and met the inside of the ship with a slam.

The guide was smiling, just a little bit, when he looked to the opened window and walked over to reset the latch. "Maybe another time, then. Seems gusty, you best get up there, lady pilot," he said with a crinkle of his eyes and a little jester's salute, opening the door and heading into the hallway, towards the deck himself.

The sudden jerk of the ship sent her against the counter with a loud grunt. Looking toward the window the guide was reaching for she saw the change of weather swirl in through the open slats. It seemed that she would have to wait to get the answers she wanted.

He was such a mysterious man, stirring up questions and unexplainable intrigue inside her body. She would have to inquire others about who this man really was. Staring into his almost abyss like eyes behind sluggishly dropping eyelids she paused before nodding a farewell in his direction, heading for topside.

"Bloody hell." Her voice emerged along with her silhouette amongst the raging weather that was blowing about topside. She held her arm up to try and shield the snow from her vision, walking slowly across the slippery boards toward her station. Taking her binocular device she held it to her eyes to see a better view of what the ship was approaching.

She had initially wanted to be in station before they even began to approach these mountains to calculate a route more leisurely but unfortunately the distracting old man and her baking seemed to pull her away from her duties. Unfolding her map she pinned it to the boards and examined it further, her eyes going from the paper to the masses of frosty land approaching her. It seemed that they could in fact fit The Ardent through them, but just barely.

In all honestly, she should have been maneuvering the ship for it's entrance ten minutes ago but there was nothing she could do about that now. Calling out orders to the men assisting her she took a tight grip of the wheel that was proving to be quite a strain on her small muscles, and guided the ship toward the looming silhouettes that were now casting shadows upon the ship.

The elf scowled into the iced wind, lifting a hand to shield her eyes from it's bite. She was still stinging from the incident with Thana, and the lack of attention from anyone she wanted it from. With her free hand she tucked another cocoa treat between her lips, slipping it between her tongue and the roof of her mouth and finally letting out the smallest of pleased sighs.

Mountains were rising in the distance, and she spied her friend rising from the depths of the ship and heading for the pilot's sheet. Cas glanced over towards Thana, then her captain and Barasa, before practically hopping on over to Deryn, box of chocolates in hand.

She plops one in her mouth, eyes on the littlest of pilots. "Not going to get us killed, are you?"