Hey all, this is my attempt at steampunk. I've recently become very interested in it, and decided to give writing some of it a shot.
Rip it to shreds.
EDIT: I'm working on fixing the pacing, I swear. xD
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CHAPTER 1
AN OPPORTUNITY
Fairthen wasn’t a nice city by anyone’s standards. It was one of the main ports for the criminal underworld, and the city itself was a veritable hive of criminal activities; the Authorities didn’t even bother trying to stop it; there was just too much to keep track of. It was overcrowded and smelly, and many people were sleeping in the gutters.
Deborah Grierson was one of those people.
The nine year old girl woke up as a particularly large raindrop found its way up her nose. She sat bolt upright, sneezing violently. Her hair was dirty blonde and slightly curly, and her eyes were crystal blue. She blinked groggily, staggering to her feet and glancing at the sky. A solid wall of dark gray clouds stared menacingly down at her. She sighed and hugged herself, shivering. It was going to rain hard tonight. There would probably be lightning too, by the look of it. Just what I needed… She thought with a sigh.
She sighed again and straightened her clothes as well as she could, starting down the street. Men in tailcoats and breeches strode down the street, as well as women in either dresses or skirts. Some had mechanical arms or glass eyes. Automobiles clattered down the street, but only a few. They were expensive, and the coal to run them was more expensive still. Horses and carriages were much more popular. There was a large brawl going on a short way down the road, but nobody bothered to do anything about it; this sort of thing happened all the time.
She glanced up, seeing a zeppelin overhead. She shook her head. They’re crazy, flying that close when there’s obviously a storm coming…
Deb sighed. Then again, most outlaws were crazy. Actually, that was why a lot of them were outlaws in the first place. The clock tower above her struck ten times. She looked up at it. It was an enormous brass structure, five stories tall. This wasn’t very high compared to the one in the Capital, but it was the biggest building in the city, and the largest one that Deb had ever seen. One side of it was made from a thick glass, allowing people to see inside into the works of it. Deb had always been fascinated with how the clock worked; she spent at least an hour a day studying its insides, and watching the pendulum swing back and forth. The gears and weights were almost hypnotizing.
She sighed and started walking down the sidewalk, dodging past the brawl and into the road. A horse reared as she cut in front of it, whinnying loudly. Deb screamed, scrambling away and to the opposite side of the street as the rider swore violently at her. She heard those words several times a day; they didn’t really bother her.
Her stomach rumbled, and she grimaced. It was time to scrounge up something to eat. She pushed the door to a store open, slipping inside.
The storekeeper was a very birdlike man in his fifties. He had a pair of very thick glasses on that magnified his brown eyes by about fifty times, making him look almost like an insect. A pair of bushy gray eyebrows peered over the edges of the lenses. His nose was long and slightly hooked, and wrinkles plagued his face. He didn’t notice Deb.
She crept over to a shelf, grabbing a loaf of bread. Then she turned and ran, making a beeline for the door. The shopkeeper jumped. “HEY!” he shouted. He ran around the counter in an attempt to stop her, but she was already flinging the door open. She would have made her escape, if she hadn’t run into something solid.
Whatever it was smelled strongly of salt, tobacco, and alcohol. She looked up, eyes wide. It was a rather tall man; at least, he was tall in Deb’s opinion. But that wasn’t saying much, as she considered anything higher than her whopping height of four-foot four to be a tower. He wore a pair of breeches, a brown tailcoat, and a black cap. Tufts of red hair stuck out from under said cap, and he had a face full of messy stubble. He blinked his bright green eyes down at her, confused.
The shopkeeper caught up and grabbed at Deb’s arm. She screamed and tried to duck past the man, clutching the bread to her chest, but the man she’d run into caught her around the waist and stopped her.
“Wha’s th’ problem?” his voice was gruff, like sandpaper rubbing together.
“This damn street rat is trying to steal bread.”
He frowned, titling his head. “Is tha’ a problem?”
“YES!” the man shouted, face red. Deb flinched, trying and failing to squirm away from the tall man, but he held her fast.
“Well then, allow me.” He took a small bag of coins from a pocket and tossed it to the man. “This should be more than enough. Buy yourself a new pair of boots,” he said, eyeing the man’s worn gray leather shoes with distaste. He scowled, but he took the bag and went back into his shop. The tall man released her, and she took a step back, frightened. He laughed. “Now, don’ be scared, kid. ‘M not gonna ‘urt you.”
Deb wasn’t convinced. “What do you want?” she asked fearfully.
He sighed. “T’ ‘elp you. ’Ow long’ve you been on th’ streets, kid?”
Deb bit her lip and looked down. “As long as I can remember.”
He grinned slightly. “How’d y’ like t’ get ou’ ‘f ‘ere?”
She glanced up at him, eyes widening. “More than anything!”
He smiled, holding out a hand gloved in black leather. “Come wit’ me, then.”
She hesitated for only a second before taking his hand. What did she have to lose, after all?
He led her down the road, and rain began to fall, the little drops screaming down toward the ground before exploding into a million tiny shards of water as they collided with street, buildings, and occasionally people. A harsh wind began to blow, and Deb shivered as the raindrops were shoved into her face.
He frowned. “Y’ alrigh’ there?”
She nodded, shivering again. “I’m fine.”
He nodded again. “Th’ name’s Duncan, bu’ most call m’ Dunc.”
Deb smiled slightly, despite the cold. “Deborah, but I like Deb better.”
He nodded. “Well Deb, ‘ave y’ ever though’ ‘bout sailin’ th’ ocean?”
She tilted her head. “No, I haven’t.”
Duncan grinned. “Well, y’d better think about it now.”
Deb jumped as she heard a hollow thud when her foot hit the ground. She looked down and realized that they were on a long wooden dock. Floating in the water, tied up to said dock, was a large metal ship, probably stolen from the navy. The gangplank was down.
His grin widened. “Welcome t’ your new ‘ome. Th' Red Fancy.”
<- Remember this guy? 
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