[Sidequest] Beast

The surface of the deck bucked under his feet, making it difficult to walk even from the hatch that led belowdecks to the mast. Duran loved it. It felt like dancing, sliding from side to side. There was shouting everywhere, lines sliding. A wave crashed across, covering his legs in cold water.

The Captain grabbed him by the arm, sliding him out of the way as a line pulled taught. “Kid! Why are you on deck?”

“I wanted to look for beasts!”

It was hard to say anything over the roar of the sea. The Captain seemed familiar to Duran somehow- the shape of her face, he thought, or maybe the axe she carried now that they were at sea- but he dismissed it. She shook him. “You’re going to fall over! Don’t look for beasts!”

He pulled back. “But what if one shows up?”

He’d heard all of the stories. When he’d realized they were coming north, he’d even asked around the One Horse Inn and looked for the stories he could find to reread them. Everyone knew the northern seas were full of horrible creatures that wanted to eat ships in one bite. They would spit people out as intact skeletons, their guts full of acid. They had scales made of diamonds, eyes as big as houses. Of course he wanted to look at them! Maybe he could pet one. If he was fast.

Maybe that was why his mother had come up here. Had she ever seen a beast?

The Captain shook him again. Maybe she had been speaking. “You don’t want to see a beast,” she said, shouting. “They will kill you. Forever.”

“But they’re-” He sputtered. It was impossible to describe beasts. She had to know what they were like! She’d seen them! “They’re amazing!”

“They’re big fish,” she said. “If you need to be up here, if you’re getting sick, you can be tied to the mast. Otherwise, you can work.”

Duran looked down. Somehow, when he’d been distracted, she’d put a rope in his hand. “What?”

“Put that one to the side,” she said. “We need to keep the sail taught. We’re tacking against the wind. You know how to do that?”

Of course he didn’t. They didn’t sail at the One Horse Inn. Duran thought of Servius, getting dragged out of the Always. Did that count as sailing experience?

He nodded anyway. How hard could it be?

The Captain slapped him on the shoulder. “Good. Keep up!”

She ducked, grabbing Duran by the collar and forcing him to the deck. The boom swung forward, swishing over where his head had been moments before. Slammed against the deck, feeling the cold water soak through his shirt, Duran let himself smile. Finally, he was getting something done.

The deck was a place where everyone yelled at him, it turned out. No matter what Duran did, he was in the wrong place, or there at the wrong time. It seemed like most of the time, he was doing both, and also managing to tie knots too loosely or loosing track of some important part. But the entire time, he was keeping moving, watching the waves. It was like he was dancing on a living creature, watching the horizon. Was this what sailing was like?

“Left!” Another member of the crew threw a line at him and gestured wildly. Duran pulled back. They shouted again. Not the right choice, then. He pulled to the side, and the sail moved. He was in charge of the sail now?

No. He stared over, where someone else was holding another line. They were dragging the sail to the side, catching the wind. He was just counterbalancing it. Someone else ran over and grabbed the line from him, taking it out of his hands and tying it to a piece of the rail with a complicated knot. He stared at it, trying to understand how it worked. Before he could remember it, he was being dragged out of the way as another wave crashed over the bow. The entire ship shuddered again.

“Captain,” shouted someone else. “I think up ahead-”

“I see it!”

The captain was back at the stern, steering as the crew all ran about in ways that seemed random to Duran. He tried to follow them, always managing to be underfoot despite his best intentions. “That beast won’t take us!” She shouted. “By my honor, we won’t-”

There was another crash as they tipped off the top of another wave. He could see faint movement beneath the waves now. In the distance, there were mountains through the mist. He couldn’t see the moon through the clouds.

The movement under the water looked familiar, though. Almost luminescent. He thought of the temple, of how his breath had left as he’d fallen.

No. He shoved that thought aside, dodged the swinging boom as they tacked back to port and leaned over the railing, staring out at the waves. The beast was out there. He knew it. He couldn’t wait to see the eye, the scales of diamond, the-

For a split second, the waves split. He could see dewy skin, a wet tentacle curling up. He knew it. It was a little larger than it had been, glowing the same as it had. How had it made it out here? Hadn’t it been trapped in that temple?

The squid stared at Duran, massive eye slitted and solid. A tentacle rose, curling. He could have sworn it waved. Then, as if he’d imagined it all, it sank back below the waves. He stumbled back from the railing.

“That’s it,” said the Captain. She grabbed him by the shoulder. “It’s too dangerous to have you up here. You can’t be leaning against the railing, you’re going to fall overboard and we’ll never find you. Back down you go.”

Duran didn’t protest. He’d already had a great adventure. As he stumbled back into the Cabin, Madame Elysia looked up from where she was huddled in the corner. Her face was still a little gray. “Oh,” she said. “You’re back. Have fun?”

“Yes,” he said. “It’s unbelievable up there.”