“The umm. The young fellow… The storesman. I tried to save him, but he was gone.” Tharos got extremely quiet. Staring at his boots dejectedly, he sniffled once or twice. Then hurriedly tried to pass it off being cold and wet. He idly raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
Suddenly all the crew on land were bathed in the warmth and light of a merry bonfire. Tharos huddled close to it, but it didn’t warm him inside.
Mariner still paced the deck. He was desperate to get down amongst the crew and take charge, but the dangers of dry land reigned even over his worry. Instead, he began to issue screeching, and clicking noises. The effect on the human ear was jarring, but in Ancient Halinth, they were positive and upbeat words of compassion for his crew.
Ari did not have any time to waste. Her mind mostly cleared and she needed to act fast if she didn’t want to be spotted. She bolted towards the small unconscious figure of Dolphus laying before her, grabbing him and placing him under her arm as she ran, made a sharp turn, and moved towards the closest point of the forest with all the speed she could muster at the moment, hoping that the people on the ship were too preoccupied with assessing the damage to catch sight of her. Without looking back she ran between the trees until the beach completely disappeared from her sight and the sound of the waves couldn’t be heard anymore.
Did they see her?
Even if they did, it would take them time find her here, so she decided to stop and take a proper look at her new involuntary companion. She leaned him against the nearest tree and stared at him for a few seconds, dumbfounded by the unusual sight before her eyes. To her utter surprise, it was a kid with black hair and a frail build, wearing an Armadan military cape, way too young to be a soldier and utterly unconscious. What kind of warship would have a child aboard? Is he some kind of an important figure they were transporting? Did she have a chance of using him as a hostage to get off this island? The last thought disgusted her, but it looked like she had no other choice.
Ari had too many questions without an answer, so the only option she had was to stand amidst the trees and wait until the kid wakes up and starts talking
After following the sound back onto the deck, Mako was greeted with one of the worst sounds he has ever heard. Gritting his teeth, he asked Mariner a question.
“Sir, are you alright?”
Dolphus’ mind stirred, as the extremely ungraceful movement of a full sprint was definitely not the most soothing. But as his eyelids began to crack open, he convinced himself that it was Mariner moving him about, presumably to safety, after whatever had happened. His eyes shut again and he dozed off once more.
…for about five seconds, because the water draining out of his ear made a horrible clearing noise, and suddenly one side of his head could hear excellently as branches snapped and brush was torn. He pressed his lids together, trying to stay as sleepy as before, but he was slowly being brought towards consciousness, and the inevitable responsibility of having to deal with the rest of the world.
He felt himself be seated against what was probably a barrel, extremely rough and a bit rounded, but the ground was surprisingly moist and soft for a ship. Which was extremely concerning, because none of the scenarios he could invent to explain such an environment were exactly cozy, and they kept getting worse the more possibilities he tried to conceive. And to top it all off, there was that nagging feeling, one he had only felt a few times before, that something important was happening right in front of him.
His other ear finally clearing was the last straw, however, and with an internal sigh the drowsy Dolphus relented and slowly woke up, rubbing his hand across his eye as he looked up at Mariner.
Panic mode. There was a very tall woman standing in front of him, with about seven tons worth of hair, a tan even greater than Rook’s, and enough scars to match the moon. Dolphus immediately shot halfway upwards, using the tree as support, but just as quickly smashed his head against the stub of a former branch and shot straight back down to the ground, trying to keep his eyelids from squeezing together in frustrated pain.
Part of him was annoyed, that pesky teenager part. The other two parts were awe and fear, and they easily carried the day, parting his mouth as he looked up at his… captor? he wasn’t sure just yet, with equal parts wonder and worry swirling in his tired eyes.
“Fine” Mariner said with a series of clicks. “How’s the crew.” It didn’t quite click in his brain why Mako’s words sounded so strange, only that they did. “I’ll need a casualty report” he spoke briskly. Trying to count the human crew, both on the shore, and on the ship. Dolphus was not among them.
Ari didn’t immediately notice that the kid woke up, her vision was still a bit blurry and, gosh that headache was unbearable. However, him springing upwards and immediately crashing his head into the tree with an audible thud made her aware that he, in fact, finally came to his senses.
“Slept well?” She asked, leaning towards him with a slight grin.
She moved closer and had to crouch down significantly to be about on the same eye level with the boy. She placed her hand on his left shoulder and squeezed it. “Is there anywhere you hurry to? Your friends on the ship are a bit busy now, so you aren’t in any rush. You are too hurt from the crash, you won’t be able to run, so have a little rest while you can.”
Only now she realised how cold and tired she was. Her clothes were fully soaked in seawater and the cold morning breeze definitely didn’t help. If only she could take a nap next to a campfire right now…
“Now, there are some things I want you to tell me”, she stared intensely into the kid’s panicked eyes, “What kind of ship were you on? Where was it going? What was the purpose of the voyage? How many Armada soldiers are there? Why would they sail with someone like you… who in the world are you?!”
She looked around worriedly. Did she just hear footsteps? No, it’s just the wind. But it won’t be too long until they notice that the boy is missing and start looking for him, so she needs to act quickly.
Dolphus’ irritation started taking a bit more control back.
Dolphus winced at the pressure, his shoulder squirming and trying to escape from her admittedly powerful grip. His eyes traveled to the mid point between her face and her hand, trying to recall something that had happened. How had he blacked out? What was going on? How did he end up on… an island?
And alone, too… I wonder if we’ve perhaps run aground-
Hold on. Dolphus’ eyes traveled back to Ari’s face as some of her words started returning to his mind. “What crash? What are y-”
“Stop, I can’t…” Dophus tried to wave her away, but his hand got too distracted from the pain of his throbbing skull. He could probably take her on, but not like this. She seemed perfectly desperate, or at the minimum concerned, so perhaps he could stall.
Or she could break my shoulder if I try that. He sighed. Okay, let’s try a drip-feed. Least useful info first, not enough to go off of for the rest, then Mariner gets over here and decapitates her stupid head.
I have to stop doing that. She could be a mind reader. Of course if she is I’m already in trouble.
“Dolphus, G-Greylark.” He forced out, hoping it covered up how he almost went for his real name right off the bat. Goodness, I must be pretty bad off. “Cartographer for the Caelin’s Hand. There aren’t any soldiers, there’s a… there’s ghost sailors, I don’t… think that counts…”
He rubbed his palm into his eyebrow, his head rocking back and forth ever so slightly. “Expeditionary force, we uh… hadn’t chosen a… heading… the other fleet…” His eyes narrowed, eventually traveling up to Ari’s, slowly recalling events, the sensation of waking up to Mako’s snapping , the sound of Mariner’s song. “The… I remember that, that there was a…”
“…A squid.” Dolphus’ fingers pressed through his hair, his face growing haggard as his eyes drifted off once more. “It was massive. It ran into the ship, threw… Mako overboard, and it had me… It was digging into my leg, it wanted to tear me apart… Lifted me so high that I… I…”
“B-but I cut it,” Dolphus gestured to his sword, looking at Ari once more, emotion bubbling outwards at the opportunity to talk to someone who wasn’t a part of the crew, who earnestly wanted to hear what he had to say. “I c-cut it and I fell, and I fell, and it was there, and I looked down, and it swallowed me, and I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t. There was so much pressure. It was s-so much pressure.”
His fingers gripped through his hair into his scalp once more as tears slowly ran down his cheeks. Ari’s face was lost in the colors of the trees. “It burns… I think of it and it burns… I can’t- I can’t do this, she’s counting on me; I can’t fail like this, not after so long.” His eyes turned back towards Ari’s, locking with them as all pretense of acting melted away under his emotional turmoil. “B-But I can’t just- keep going, it doesn’t end, it- I can’t.” He swallowed, his emotions slowly working themselves back together again. “But I need her, I have to… to…”
He smeared his sleeve across his nose, sniffed a couple of times, and looked away from Ari’s eyes, clearly reading the awkward tension he had just created as his emotions stabilized, his hysterical outburst leaving regret at losing control so easily. “I prob-… don’t see much point in… telling you all that.”
"The crew… " He hesitated. “Sir, I only understand a hair of the halinth language. Pardon me for my misinterpretation. The crew would seem to be fine. I am not entirely sure where the nearest port is, as i am not the cartograph-” Wait a hot minute.
Mako looked at the crew. I should have known. He’s missing. But where could he have gone?
Mako scanned the landscape, before noticing something, and calling out to Alexis. “Captain! Do you see that wreck over there?”
He points over to the damaged ship at the horizon. @N01InParticular
Ari listened to the boy’s ramblings, the look of concern and confusion on her face becoming more and more obvious with each sentence. Caelin’s Hand… The kid is a cartographer… Ghost sailors… Giant squid…
All those things sounded so fantastical and absurd, as if they came from the stories her mother used to tell her as a kid. How could he expect her to believe these obvious lies… why would he make up such absurd stories… is he mocking her? Even in his situation? But why does it feel so strange?
Ari has always been good at reading people. It’s a talent she has had since childhood and it helped her out in many situations, but this time she didn’t even need it to tell that the kid somehow wasn’t lying… or at least, he wholeheartedly believed everything he was saying. He was speaking from his heart, and there’s absolutely no way to fake those emotions… he was clearly not telling her everything, yet he was telling the truth, she could feel it.
But could she trust her own feelings in this situation? Haven’t they failed her in the past?
The stupid kid started crying.
This, she was not prepared for at all. Not knowing how to react, she was left staring at her companion as tears rolled down his face. She knew that feeling of hopelessness all too well… that feeling she tried to get rid of all those years ago
The kid couldn’t be lying, that she knew for sure.
Ari let go of Dolphus’s shoulder and stood up, looking around.
“Dolpus, right? My name is Ari. I got stranded on this island with you.” She extended her right arm, expecting a handshake. “Either you are the best liar I have ever met, or somehow everything that you just told me is true. I’m leaning towards the latter.”
Ari tried to hide the sound of relief in her voice. If this isn’t a warship filled to the brim with soldiers, she might be able to reason with these people, but she still can’t let her guard down.
“So you’re telling me that you are not a part of an Armadan warship crew? Then what is that cape for?” She gestured at the piece of blue fabric covering the boy’s left arm.
Dolphus looked towards her hand, then up at her face, somewhat bewildered by the offer, but eventually pushing himself to weakly accept the offered shake. I, uh… Hmm. I supoose I can’t take any of that back at this point, now can I?
Well, now I have this relationship to deal with, on top of everything else…
He opened his mouth to say that the crew would be able to verify everything, but he decided against it. Better to choose my words carefully with this one.
Dolphus’ expression of relative calm lapsed into confusion, and then, slowly, into ever-so-slight annoyance. He glanced at the cape, then back at Ari, and gestured with his hand to the obvious lack of a left arm. Maybe I’m overestimating her a little.
“It tends to be a bit more sightly than what remains.” He swallowed, his sinuses not fully over his episode.
In the lapse in the conversation, Dolphus could just hear twigs snapping, a slight rustling of branches, and the subtle sound of skree gently cascading. As if one was trying to disguise their presence coming down a shale slope. Every now and then there was a soft clink of metal on metal.
Dolphus had hardly finished gulping down the byproducts of profusely crying all over the place before he heard the noise. Years of swordfighting exercises kicked in, and his senses forced all other sensory overload aside. His brow instantly turned cold, the mask for a very brief second settling over his face in full.
It didn’t last. Dolphus decided he had better not risk offending her in some manner, and forcibly pushed through the mask over the course of half a minute, studying the noises whenever his head stopped throbbing for long enough and Ari’s voice didn’t end up as sharp or as present. However, eventually the sounds got too loud and too unsubtle for comfort.
“Someone is here.” He whispered. His head slowly turned towards the sounds, hoping he didn’t seem rude for seemingly ignoring her reply; he would have to amend that later. If there’s one thing I don’t need, it’s to make yet another person hate me.
Which might happen in a few seconds regardless. His hand rested on the handle of his sword, and his throbbing head stilled, the swordmaster’s training finally kicking into full gear.
Ari kept glancing between Dolphus’s shoulder and face, clearly not understanding what he was implying, until something clicked in her mind.
“Ah. So the giant squid bit off your arm!”, she exclaimed with a face full of confidence.
This was followed by a good minute of awkward silence, during which the kid suddenly started acting strange, his face turning emotionless, as if he became concentrated on something else. What kind of mind game is this kid trying to play? He’s the only one who knows the rules it seems and that’s irritating.
At this point Ari started picking up on the strange sound coming from behind. She realised that the kid was looking in the direction of its origin, which was confirmed by him saying that they were not alone. How did he notice it quicker than her even in his current condition? He must have some great senses…
Ari spent way too much time thinking today. She went way beyond her usual daily limit and she wasn’t having any of it. All these mind games were getting on her nerves, her head felt heavy and she needed a distraction.
She spun around, facing the direction from which the sound was coming from, took her metal bet off her belt and took her fighting stance, holding the weapon with both hands in front of her torso, all her muscles tense and a scowl on her face.
“Here’s the deal, kid. Your ship is in shambles and won’t go anywhere, so you’re stuck here with me and… whatever that thing is. I am a shipwright, some say a great one, and I can get you and your crew out of here fast so you can continue whatever your idiotic quest is, only if you take me with you and help me get as far away from the Armada as you can. Now, I hope you can stand up and use that toothpick you have strapped to your belt. I have a feeling you’re going to need it.”
To the direct left of the two, a new sound started. A set of leisurely footsteps. Wandering towards them from the same direction they came.
Meanwhile the same noise they had heard previously came back, redoubled. This time all around them. They were surrounded.
A voice with a Northern Armada Accent called out. “Let’s put the toys away, shall we children? Don’t want anyone getting hurt.” This voice came from the same direction as the footsteps. Whoever it was, they were cutting off the path back to the beach.
Dolphus turned his eyes back towards her with a slight glare, deciding the matter was unimportant and it was in everyone’s best interests - at least for now - that she be wrong about a few things. Still though… Well, I guess I can’t fault her for coming to that conclusion.
But still though.
Dolphus had started to turn to stand up, but his head turned back towards Ari with eyebrows raised when the massive steel bat thicker around than his leg came into play. She can lift that with just one hand?! I’m starting to think Mariner might not be so capable of putting her down after all.
Toothpick? TOOTHPICK?!
Well I guess it- NO. Dolphus scowled. There’s no excuse for such flippant disregard of such fine craftmanship. This sword was forged and perfected for three years; the pearl on the pommel has no equal for- okay well the pearl is relatively cheap but that is no excuse.
Grabbing onto the branch nub he had collided with before, Dolphus slowly staggered to his feet, wobbling all the way. “That, at least, we can agree on.” He slowly turned around, unsheathing his sword to cover Ari’s back, as much like before he had noticed the sounds of movement from behind her a bit faster than she likely would.
Dolphus exhaled. His hunched posture and weak breaths were likely not helping his case here, what with being surrounded like this. The accent was slightly relieving, since it immediately brought to his attention the northern fleet ships that had tried to shoot down the Thauin before it attacked the Caelin’s Hand.
Dolphus swallowed hard before speaking.
“Well, you know how attached people get to these sort of things,” He replied, trying desperately to make his voice sound conversational and not as worried and tired as his eyes looked, which scanned the trees for some indication of their opponent. “If this is your property, your sign must’ve blown over.”
I don’t know if this sarcastic levity is hurting or helping. My stomach hurts.
Ari immediately turned her head to her left. Footsteps. From the direction that she and the kid came from. Multiple people. How many? She couldn’t tell.
She threw a quick glance at Dolphus: “your friends?”
The strange metallic sound spread around them, louder than before, the source still out of sight. Was it related to the footsteps? Why did it start earlier? Could it be something else?
Ari immediately recognised the accent and the tone of the voice. She knew them all too well…
“No armada soldiers, you say?” she asked the boy quietly, her voice filled with unrestrained rage.
Ari turned towards the unseen opponent and raised her voice: “Screw you! Those are some big words for someone who is too scared to show his face! You think you’re so intimidating?! Show yourself and I’ll put that toy away directly in between your eyes, you pathetic little coward!” She pointed the tip of her bat in the direction of the footsteps as she said the last sentence.
All her thoughts disappeared. She was overrun with burning anger. She wasn’t going to go down without a fight. If she were to die here, she was going take a few of them with her.
Karl headed for the main deck, stumbling over tools, furniture and other debris littering the hallway. When he reached the deck, he was greeted by the disheartening sight of the smashed mast, and the panicked group of crew members conferring with Mariner. Great. So we got the mast ripped apart last night, and the ship hit something. At least there’s an island nearby… maybe we can repair this mess.
He made his way towards the group, noticing that Alexis was there, and not in a good mood. By her expression, she was clearly worried, but more angry and frustrated than most of the others. Then he realized that part of the noise he was hearing was coming from Mariner, a grating, clicking noise that reminded him of rusty chains. After a second, he decided to ask Alexis about the damage.
“Captain, what happened? Is there anything I can help with?”
Dolphus shook his head, but only very slightly, as even that motion rattled his sore skull, not improved by his hitting it on the tree or his episode. I’m really hoping I can talk my way out of this one or we are in BIG trouble. Hopefully she follows my lead here.
…Why am I putting any faith in that prospect?
Dolphus’ shoulders suddenly seized towards his neck, as if Ari was about to follow up that sentence with a physical strike. In reality, however, she followed it up with something much worse. He barely had time to respond to the unseen individual before she politely and calmly replied.
Dolphus was now noticeably leaning away from Ari, his eyes repeatedly darting in her direction despite his best attempts to make them not do that, his shoulders still fairly close to his neck, and his breathing all but stopped in nervous anticipation of a more physical rebuttal. I’m going to die. I am going to die on a random island in the middle of nowhere with a kidnapper who now has emotional blackmail against me why did I just tell her everything oh gosh what’s wrong with me have I gone mad what’s she gonna do with this will I ever be able to sleep again-
Dolphus’ throat suddenly locked, stifling an emotional hiccough. No. Not again. He smeared the back of his hand across his cheek to wipe away the tear line from before, his eyes still locked on the trees.
…I hope whoever is there wasn’t paying much attention.
“Who said anything about trespassing? Guilty conscience?” As he spoke he started slowly coming into view. Through the trees they could see a man Casually walking. “Ah, my apologies, I see you’re not children at all.”
The man was dressed in black, head to toe. His Mail and helmet, though steel were so grey as to count as black. His visor was up and his face was visible.
It appeared a kind enough face, except for the eyes. His eyes were so dark it appeared they had no iris’. Were it not for the occasional glint of sunlight that caught in them and revealed their true colour of brown. They also held no expression or emotion. While his friendly smile, and general demeanor were quite pleasant. His eyes were those of a corpse it seemed. Blank, always staring forward. They were the kind of eyes even the bravest couldn’t meet for long.
“Ah my, you are a bold one. Not many people brave enough to throw such threats at a Captain of the Armada’s navy. Much less when that Captain is of the Domestic Watch.” The man stopped about 10 feet from them. “I resent your notions of cowardice, and reject them. Whoever heard of a coward who announces their presence? I merely heard your discussion and believed you to be a couple of lost children. I didn’t want to spook you by popping up unannounced.” Every word was smooth as silk, even the statements that could be deemed disrespectful had their edge dulled.
“My name is Captain Althain, of the Northern Fleet, I am the Marshal of this region. Pray tell, what are your names?”
Ari eyed the figure that emerged from between the trees. She was ready to spring into action, charging at the man with all the force she could muster, but completely froze in place as soon as she saw his face. Two black holes were staring directly into her soul from where his eyes were supposed to be. His gaze sent a shiver through her entire body, she suddenly felt sicker than ever before and had to look away, breathing eye contact with the figure.
As the man approached them, Ari couldn’t help but take several steps back.
There was something so calming about this speech. His words had an almost hypnotic effect, as Ari could feel her muscles slightly relaxing and her weapon slowly lowering to the ground…
But all her instincts were ringing an alarm, telling her that something was extremely wrong. How could someone with those eyes mean no harm?! This was not just a soldier who she could simply knock out… this presence was much more sinister.
Not knowing what to feel, she could only stand still, trying her best not to meet his eyes again.
Ari didn’t know how to respond. Here feelings overwhelmed her and her thoughts were scrambled. She could only hope that the kid would have something to say…