Through the Wind and Waves

“I hate boaaaatts!!! I wanna get off!!!” Lucius knelt beside a despondent Hana, who was clinging to the rail of the ship as if her life depended on it. It had been three days since their close escape from Atin, and it would be at least three more before they made landfall at Ikara. Both he and Hana had felt the ravages of seasickness, but he was fortunate to have largely overcome the lurching sensation of the ship. Hana, unfortunately, had yet to adjust and could be constantly found either hiding deep in the hold or leaning over the side of the ship. Thankfully, none of the sailors were too hard on her and gave a wide berth during her frequent episodes.

He gently rubbed the space between her shoulder blades, trying to keep her comfortable while she worked through her discomfort. She pulled herself back over the railing after a particularly bad spasm, her usually refined expression reduced to one of misery, and her skin had an unusual green tinge to it. She slumped down in a crumpled heap, breathing heavily,

“I wanna go on land…Lucius…get me to land…pleeaasse…” Her quiet whimpers tugged on his heartstrings fiercely, but there was little he could do. The Wavecutter was true to its name, slicing through the depths at incredible speeds, which it largely owed to its massive canvas sails that transformed its silhouette from a jungle to that of a cloud. Captain Astora had been overheard speaking about the ongoing currents and wind behavior, though most of it went far over his head. All he needed to know was that things were going well, at least as far as the ship was concerned.

A figure approached them and crouched in front of them, extending a small clay jug towards Hana,

“Here ya go, girl. Drink this, it’ll help, promise.”

A female Beastkin stared at the pair with sympathetic eyes, reaching out to them with clawed hands. Lucius had spent some time during the past few days trying to get along with the crew, and this feline Beastkin was one of the first to accept him. Her name was Calla; she sported feline characteristics including a slender tail and furred ears, though the rest of her largely resembled a human. Her hair was the color of mountain stone, giving her an air of knowledge and prestige, though Lucius had come to know her as a caring and attentive, if a bit of a goofball.

Lucius accepted the jug for Hana, “Thanks, Calla. What’s in it?”

“Ginger beer. Captain always keeps a store handy, in case someone ain’t feelin’ quite up to snuff. It’ll taste bitter, but it should help with that stomach of yours. Also, you gotta eat something, Hana. If you don’t, then it’ll get even worse.”

Hana groaned quietly at the thought of food, but Lucius was thankful for Calla’s assistance. It wasn’t just because he really had no idea how to help, though that certainly played a part in it. Calla, as the only other female on board besides the Captain and First Mate, got a curtained off area to herself on the crew deck. This worked out well for Hana since she could pass herself off as another Beastkin without raising too many eyebrows, though she still preferred to keep herself covered when on deck. As such, the two women had started to bond during the journey in between Hana’s fits of nausea.

“Calla, would you mind taking her back down below? Some darkness might help a bit, too.” The slender sailor propped Hana up underneath her arms and carefully guided her to standing, “Don’t you worry! I’ll keep our vomiting vixen company until she’s all shipshape! I can be quite persistent, after all!”

Lucius watched as Calla cheerfully led Hana off towards the ladder that descended into the ship’s hold, feeling helpless. There just wasn’t much more that he could do, and he knew that, but it still sucked to see Hana in such a state. Wandering away towards the bow, Lucius busied himself with a length of rope he had stored in his pockets, practicing his knots. As soon as he had gotten over his nausea from the first day, Lucius felt the need to make himself useful as way of repaying the Wavecutter’s crew. He was surprised to find that much of the crew was welcoming to his questions, happily sharing with him various tricks of the trade that helped him integrate into the Wavecutter.

The structure of the ship’s hierarchy was also a bit of a surprise to him. He originally thought that Captain Astora simply commanded everyone who then obeyed without question, much like the military. But such a notion was laughed off the previous evening, as was explained by the scarred sailor, who had introduced himself as Narrak.

“Ya see here, lad, we ain’t nearly as uptight as those prim and proper types on land.” Narrak’s comment was warmly received by those who sat about in the dining section of the hold, who continued after a long pull on his tankard, “Now don’t get me wrong, Captain’s got a good head on ‘er shoulders, ‘cept of course when women are involved!” A loud and raucous peal of laughter echoed throughout the small dining area, and Lucius found himself grinning in agreement. Narrak waved the mirth down and continued, “See, Captain only has the right to yell at us if there’s trouble. Rest o’ the time, we all chat it out an’ see what’s best for all of us. We’ve all got a voice here, an’ we gotta all get along too. Getting’ crammed into a little space like this fer days on end makes us all friends, whether we wanna be or not!”

There was a unique camaraderie among the crew of the Wavecutter, of that Lucius had no doubts. It was infectious, the way the crew jested, insulted, and generally screwed around with each other. Yet whenever something went wrong, like a snapped line or a runaway crate, they had each other’s backs. He had even observed the captain herself working alongside the crew, which was very unusual from what how he expected a commanding figure to behave. Still, there was one obvious exception to this merry bunch of sailors; that being the enigmatic Blacktern.

She moved with barely a sound across the deck, always keeping careful watch over all things. The more he saw, the more he wanted to learn about this mysterious figure. For some inexplicable reason, he found it nearly impossible to tear his eyes away. Unfortunately for him, she had noticed his staring and was now coming straight for him. Overcome with shame and just a touch of fear, Lucius pretended to bury himself in his knots, but it was to no avail. A pair of onyx boots appeared in front of him, and he knew that he had been had.

He slowly raised his head, trying his best to appear as nonchalant as possible, though the placid look on her face told her that he was failing at that quite miserably. The Blacktern had fair skin, which contrasted with her dark aesthetic in the way that the stars stand out against the depths of night. Pale green eyes met his with unwavering focus, threatening to devour him within their depths. Swallowing his nervousness, he leaned back against the rail in another poor attempt to pass himself off as doing anything else,

“Ah, hello Blacktern. Can I, uh, help you with anything?”

Though she was a full head shorter than him, Blacktern had an aura equal to Astora’s, though Lucius was starting to feel that hers might be even stronger. Blacktern maintained her even stare, “I understand your stare, but you must realize that I am spoken for. I cannot accept your advances.” Lucius quickly waved his arms as if trying to bat the words out of the air,

“No, no, no, I don’t…I mean, you are quite, but no I…ah damn. I’m just digging a bigger hole, aren’t I?”

Blacktern seemed unamused by his blustering, “Staring implies interest, which in turn indicates a desire. If it is not my body that you desire, then there must be something you wish from me. Speak it, I will at least hear you out.”

He paused, surprised by the sudden generosity as he seriously considered her offer. She was right, there was something that he desperately wanted from her, but he had yet to garner the courage to ask. But there wasn’t going to be a better time than this, so he threw caution to the wind,

“Actually, yes. I think there is something I would like to ask of you. Blacktern, I would like to ask if you could teach me how to fight.” It was a surprise to him that he was even able to say the words, though Blacktern seemed fairly nonplussed at the overture. She looked him over carefully, barely batting an eyelash,

“It appears you already know how. You have good balance and do not walk lopsided with that sword on your hip. At the very least, you have received training already, yes? So why come to me?”

“Why? Well…it’s hard to explain, but you don’t give off the same feeling as my old teachers. Don’t get me wrong, I learned a lot, but there’s just something…different about you, I guess.” The corner of her mouth twitched slightly, “Hmm, is that so? Interesting. Very well then. Draw your weapon.”

“Wait, what? Here? Right now?” A smile flickered across her lips, “No time like the present. Unless, you wish to renege on your intentions?” His hand quickly went to the rapier, drawing it in one, fluid motion. The shimmering steel drew attention from everyone on board, sending a ripple of amusement through the sailors. Blacktern was unimpressed, standing at ease with no indication that she was going to reach for her own weapons. Lucius paused upon realizing this,

“Are you, you know, going to take yours out too?” The woman shook her head slowly, “Not unless you have a death wish. Come. Show me what you have.” Thoroughly terrified by her blasé attitude, Lucius knew he had been cornered into acting. Unsure of exactly how to go about this, he took a half-hearted lunge forward which barely managed to reach Blacktern. A rumble of laughter echoed from the surrounding sailors, happy to see such a unique distraction on the voyage. Blacktern frowned slightly, “Do not waste my time, child.”

“Why do people keep calling me that? It pisses me off.” Lucius breathed in deeply and centered himself, not wanting to be the subject of amusement for the others more than he already was. Thinking about where he was, he adopted Waveform, a flowing stance that relied on movement and ripostes to turn an opponent’s strengths into weaknesses. The rapier tip bent and shifted as he rotated his wrist, hoping to fool the Blacktern into providing an opening. But the woman stood like a statue, unmoving from her at ease position with her hands clasped behind her back. When he attempted to drive in from an angle, the ship hit a large wave and rolled to the side sending Lucius stumbling into the center mast. Blacktern remained unfazed.

Growling at his own incompetence, he righted himself and tried once again, only this time he made it into range. Blacktern moved with lightning speed, ducking and weaving between his flourishes without the slightest hint of effort. He imagined this was what it was like to fight a shadow; fruitlessly swinging at air and never once coming close to his goal. Frustrated, he swapped from Waveform to Flameform, trading precision for aggression in the hope of cornering the Blacktern in a net of steel. But try as he might, Blacktern found an opening, bobbing and leaping around barrels and ropes, even swinging around the mast with her legs.

After a few minutes of Lucius running around the ship and feeling like a trained monkey at the circus, he collapsed from exhaustion. Blacktern paused in her motions, then looked back to where he slumped in defeat. She walked back with quick steps, then knelt to eye level,

“Hm, I can see you really are trained well. Technically speaking, your forms are quite good. You clearly practice quite a bit.”

“Ha…ha…thanks, I guess? I feel like there’s a ‘but’ coming though.”

She gave a curt nod, “Indeed, you lack passion.” His head shot up, “Passion? What do you mean by that?”

Blacktern sighed quietly, “Exactly as it sounds, your strikes are simply that, technical. There is no heart behind them, which makes them far too simple. A strong fighter must also have a strong heart, and without it they are no more than a rank amateur.”

He leaned back against the mast, “That’s pretty profound from someone who just spent the last ten minutes running away.” A sharp glint peeked out from beneath a thin smile, “You made for an excellent warm-up. Get up, there is still much I can fix in your sword arm, but there is nothing I can do for your heart. That, you must figure out on your own.”

The next hour was spent in grueling training with Blacktern as she pushed him through various drills and exercises, most of which amounted to doing various chores around the Wavecutter. Lucius bore the abuse in good spirit, hoping to figure out the answer to the silent question posed by Blacktern. What did it mean to have a strong heart? How does he get one? Was it really that special?

He didn’t really have any idea on how to answer them, but asking the questions to himself over and over did take his mind off all the tasks being assigned to him. but at least he wasn’t feeling the rolling of the ship as much anymore, which was nice. As he was carting a forty-pound roll of rope from one side of the ship to the other for the third time, a panicked voice snapped him down to earth,

“Lucius! Lucius! Come quick, hurry!!”

He dropped the coil to the ground and spun about to find Calla running towards him at top speed, pushing her way through anyone who even remotely got in her way. Her face was flush with panic as she ran up to him, grabbing both of his shoulders. Seeing the normally excitable Calla so out of sorts was unpleasant for Lucius,

“Hey, hey, what’s going on? Is everything alright?” Calla shook her head rapidly, dropping her voice to a hoarse whisper, “No. Lucius, it’s Hana. Something…something weird is going on with her!”

Cold dread seeped into his chest, “What happened, Calla? Be specific, please.” She sucked air into her lungs and tried to speak evenly, though the stress of what she had seen clearly got to her,

“She was just restin’ in her bunk, just like I told her. She had eaten a bit and was lookin’ better, and then she just…she just started groanin’ and twitchin’ all about! I thought she was havin’ a bit o’ a nightmare or somethin’, but then she just shot straight up in bed! An’ just when I was about to ask her if she needed to make a run for the head, her eyes started glowin’ somethin’ fierce!”

Lucius was already moving, with Calla following close behind. His mind raced with worry, seeing as the last time he had seen Hana do any kind of glowing, he had nearly had his throat ripped out. Pushing his way down into the hold, he made his way down the length of the ship until he reached the crew quarters, which amounted to hammocks hanging from the rafters and the odd chest that had been nailed to the deck. At the far end there hung a heavy burlap canvas that gave Calla and Hana a bit of extra privacy. Astora and Blacktern shared a cabin on the upper deck, as befitting their station. Though he really should’ve announced himself, the growing sense of unease that he felt overrode his desire to be polite.

Throwing back the curtain, Lucius stepped into the small space to find Hana standing perfectly still and looking out of the small porthole that allowed for some light to filter into the otherwise dimly lit space. Her back was turned to them, hiding her face from view. He cautiously approached, calling out to her softly,

“Hana? How are you feeling? Everything alright?”

She turned around upon hearing his voice, a blank expression plastered onto her face as she stared past them with distant eyes that made it seem as if she was both present and yet not at the same time. Even though she responded to his voice, she gave no indication that she truly recognized who they were. He approached her with utmost caution, unsure of what was going on,

“Hana, it’s me, Lucius. Can you tell me what’s going on? You don’t seem yourself.” A few moments passed before she gave a response, but it was flat and empty, devoid of any and all emotion,

“The last sun has risen for one. Death will visit this place before its fall.”

Lucius recoiled, then turned to Calla as goosebumps prickled along his arms, “Get the captain, quickly. She’s going to want to hear this.”