The Merryweather is among the many airships in dry-dock, the undercarriage resting on a supporting frame, and minus its envelope … though work is evident in the construction of a rigid frame rising from the ship to hold its envelope, and some considerable reworking of the structure of the undercarriage itself. There's no work going on at present, though, since most of the construction crew is still recovering from the wild partying at the turn of the century, decade and year that happened last night and well into this morning.

On the deck of the Merryweather, a very odd assortment of airship hands and minor royalty, Rephidimites, Darksiders, surface dwellers and aliens, Skreeks, Savanites, Khattas and others, is gathered for a special occasion. A cheetah in robes and ceremonial pieces of armor stands in a cleared area in the middle of the deck, his face obscured by a full helm with sigils incorporated into the designs that identify him as Testament-Blaze to anyone in the know. He stands before a wooden pedestal, and carries a heavy leather-bound tome.

Outside the circle, there is a small crowd, roughly divided into something approximating two groups, though the exact dividing lines are blurred thanks to the presence of several airship hands trying to get a better view from the rigging and frame. To one side, most of the airship hands are clustered, including a grizzled old crow by the name of Captain Barnacle. There's also a very big cowled cheetah with an "X" scar across his face, accompanied by a much smaller Savanite boy and an older white Kattha girl. There's a well-dressed and scrawny-looking Skreek who occasionally tries to make witty remarks to a solemn-looking but pretty young Savanite woman. Watching over the Skreek is a taller and much older Khatta in a formal suit and a dark brown cape. There's also a mountain of a Cervani man in regal attire, accompanied by a delicate doe in raiment befitting a princess. A blind mutt stands behind the big cheetah, smiling and generally looking pleased with himself, smelling strongly of alcohol.

The other side of the circle is far more sparse. There are a few farmers and merchants dressed in their holiday best, some evidently Krozite, and some of them (Katthas) probably from Olympia. Standing out from them is a sleek black Khatta in an outlandish dress of purple and black cloth, with a black lace shawl running across her shoulders and dangling from her wrists, a purple ribbon about her neck with an ivory cameo on the front, and a purple beret tipped to one side, letting one black ear poke through raven hair.

At the more sparse cluster stands a black male Khatta, tall and somewhat lanky, in his thirties or so. He wears a suit that has a somewhat military cut to it, and holds a woven braid of cords, most of them dark in color, with enameled beads tied in here and there along its length.

Willow tries to smile at the white Kattha girl over her shoulder as she fidgets with her cord. Her stomach feels as though a thousand coolects are holding a carnival inside.

The white Kattha smiles back at Willow, and gives an encouraging wink. She mouths, "You look great!"

Testament-Blaze takes a step up toward the small podium before him, nods to the assembled groups … and then holds out his hands, one beckoning to the groom, one to the bride, to come together toward the podium as well.

The Skreek swallows and chews on her lip. She almost misses her cue, but hastily remembers that she's the one getting married. It's almost hard to believe… Hesitantly she steps towards the podium and takes her place.

Prince Sebazhan steps up as well. He does a better job at looking calm, collected, and practiced, as if getting married is something one does every day. But the merest of flicks of his ear and a tiny twitch of his whisker is enough to betray to Willow that he has his share of nervousness as well.

Testament-Blaze holds his hands out in blessing over the bride and groom, then lowers his hands … and gestures toward the white Kattha.

Ariel walks over to a place outside the circle, but between the two groups of friends of the bride and groom. In a melodic child's voice, she says, "Since not all of you understand the Silent Sign, I shall be translating the signs of the priest for your benefit."

The voice of Ariel relaxes Willow a little; it's something familiar to her and comforting. She takes a step closer to Prince Dack and brushes against his shoulder.

In the following minutes, the priest signs through a fairly traditional-sounding sermon about the sanctity of marriage, how it is not something to be entered into lightly, nor is it something to be broken asunder when it is inconvenient or when the emotions of husband and wife toward each other do not seem as strong as they did when they first were married. The only real difference between this and a fairly standard message about marriage is that whereas many Rephidim services would invoke the collective name of the First Ones, this one invokes the Star. Ariel dutifully translates the sermon the whole time, taking far less time than it does for the priest to make the careful and clear hand-signs.

At last, the priest comes to the part of the exchanging of vows. In a Silent-Ones ceremony, this formality would be considered implicit in the act of marriage – "let your 'yes' be 'yes' and your 'no' be 'no'", without any promises or pledges beyond that to make it official – but for the sake of legality and the many traditions converging here, he nonetheless goes through the more familiar exchanges. "Do you, Prince Sebazhan Dack, take Willow the Wisp as your lawfully wedded wife?" Sebazhan almost doesn't let Ariel finish repeating the question before he says, looking directly into Willow's eyes, "I do."

"And do you, Willow the Wisp, take Prince Sebazhan Dack as your lawfully wedded husband?" Testament-Blaze signs, repeated in turn by Ariel's vocal translation.

The Skreek returns the prince's gaze and smiles. "I do." ( Not a moment's hesitation, not a pause, not one look of doubt. I almost can't believe he really feels this way about me… )

"Then by the powers vested in me by the Light of the Star, I now pronounce you husband and wife. May the Star light your path always, and may no man attempt to separate the flames that have been brought together as one by the Star." Ariel translates, and the priest nods toward the braids held by Sebazhan and Willow.

"As you weave together these cords, so too may your lives be woven together, to form a new and beautiful creation as one which was once two."

Willow carefully holds out her own section of cord to the prince's as she starts to loop her own against his. ( I wonder what all of the colors in this mean… )

It's not a very secure binding – more ceremonial than practical, for the sake of not making the guests stand and wait – but the two braids are intertwined. The priest then takes the intertwined braids and lightly wraps it around the hands of bride and groom, symbolically "binding" their hands together.

The Skreek squeezes the black Kattha's hand as she tries to keep from trembling.

The priest then steps back, and signs, "I present to you, Prince Sebazhan and Lady Willow Dack!" Ariel sounds quite jubilant, her voice raising to a near-squeak, as she repeats the pronouncement, then breaks into a cheer at the end, clapping her hands.

At once, the people gathered applaud – though quite a few of the ship hands hoot and holler and make Jupani-whistles. A white rat groans, clasping his hands to his head.

Willow manages a laugh and presses her head against the prince's chest. "Thank you," she whispers softly.

The two separated crowds begin to close in, mixing together as a few of them press forward – but not intruding upon the circle. X quietly herds a few of those gathered to make sure that there's still an open avenue to the steps leading down below-decks to the areas designated for changing.

Sebazhan purrs, "And thank you. I wouldn't have been brave enough to do it without you." He then snorts at the realization of the perhaps moot point of that particular realization.

With a self-conscious smirk, Sebazhan adds, "Shall we get ready for the reception? And don't worry … our escape awaits when needed."

"Oh yes, we get to change now. A very good idea considering how messy the caterer is, and this dress doesn't belong to me." The Skreek kisses the prince's cheek and then makes her way below-decks.