“There are a few things I wish to speak of.” Mako
spoke, looking up at the Halinth, hesitantly.
Still, he looks familiar…
His face scrunched up in discomfort.
“Do you have any experience with weather magic?”
3 Likes
As soon as Ari heard the answer, her face brightened up and she confidently marched past Alexis, who was going in the opposite direction.
She didn’t think much of the interaction. It was natural that Alexis wanted to know more about the stranger they had allowed onto the ship.
Air entered the hall and waited for Dolphus to catch up. She then watched him pass by her and go by several doors, before stopping in front of one of them and, after a moment of hesitation, opening it.
Curiously, his eyes stopped for a moment on the door opposite to the one he had picked. Ari glanced at it as well, but didn’t notice anything too special about it.
Ari walked up next to Dolphus and entered the room, having to duck significantly in order to avoid hitting her forehead on the top of the doorframe. Once inside, she looked around the dimly lit chamber. Objectively, it wasn’t a big room at all, and it was in quite a bit of disarray as the result of the storm, even if it didn’t seem like any water had gotten inside. Yet still, it was much better than anything she had dared to hope for.
“I get this entire room, just for myself?! There’s even a real bed in here!”
She looked over at Dolphus, her eyes shining with gratitude. It was clear that Ari was extremely pleased with what was around her. Without waiting any longer, she walked up to the bed, put her toolbox next to it, removed the chain around her waist, dropping it on the ground and sat down on the bed. She let her hair down, pulling the remaining nail out of it and taking off the hairband and putting them both onto the toolbox. She pulled out two sets of brass knuckles from one of her pockets and placed them in the same spot. Then she began untying her shoes. Everything showed that she was getting ready for sleep.
Suddenly, as if she remembered something, she looked back over at Dolphus:
“Thank you. For everything.”
4 Likes
Dolphus blinked twice in rapid succession. Had this girl never owned a bed before?
…What kind of squalor did the Wohlfords live in, anyhow?
“I mean, if Mariner doesn’t object-”
The chain hitting the floor jolted him, but to his surprise his feet remained planted this time around. It seems his knees had begun to forgive him after all the hurt he put them through.
He was more surprised that the bed didn’t immediately bend under her weight; evidently they were made out of sterner stuff than he had initially given them credit for. As she somehow increased the width of her hair even further by taking the nail out of it and undoing what she might consider a hairband and what he would immediately describe as a belt, he could feel his breath growing ragged.
There would be no opportunity after this. But there’s no way she would say yes to something so stupid, so… so weak. so small.
…She had said yes to his heart before, had she not?
And then she had to go and lock his throat like that. How utterly rude.
For a moment he stood in silence, his mouth open as if something was trying to desperately to climb out of it. She had barely undone the first loop of her bootlace when she decided to completely destroy his perception of the room, and the stars visible through the window seemed to dance across the floor.
“I, um,” He finally forced out before swallowing hard and playing at his collar. “There… is something else, if… if you could…”
WHAT ARE YOU DOING IDIOT SHE’LL NEVER SAY YES YOU’RE A FOOL AND A COWARD
4 Likes
Ari was too preoccupied with her boots to notice the obvious distress and doubt that were written across the boy’s face. The room was dark and she could barely see what she was doing, so the process was taking a painfully long time
Ari finally managed to free up one of her legs, picked up the boot, turned it upside down and was in the process of shaking a considerable amount of send out of it onto the floor when she heard the kid’s voice. She had never heard him speak so sheepishly and nervously and stutter so much, so she froze in place with boot still in hand and looked directly at him with her eyebrows raised in a questioning fashion, the dim light of the moon illuminating a part of her face.
“huh?”
4 Likes
You need to back out. You need to apologize and go away. Your heart isn’t worth her time.
Dolphus’ hand was quivering as he stood, unsure if he should advance or not. The sensation of Ari’s hand on his left shoulder was stronger than the one on his right, but both were almost compelling him to act. And yet she had not even properly inquired; could he still approach unrequested?
“W…” He gulped, and then almost without thinking about it, he approached the bed, stepping softly across the floor and sitting gently on the mattress next to the pillow. “W-Would you…”
His stomach was churning. He couldn’t bring himself to look at her as he spoke, instead staring down at the opposite wall. The light of the moon grew brighter, the universe itself seeming to push him onwards, to convince him to act.
“would you…”
“…hold my… …hand?”
4 Likes
Mariner’s posture changed significantly. He seemed angry, when he spoke his voice confirmed it.
“Is this what you bug my quiet time for? Myths and fairy tales? Weather Magic doesn’t exist the effort would kill the greatest mages.” He paused before amending. “Yes, a mage can create small scale phenomena, but they’re powerless to change the actual weather.”
6 Likes
Ari watched the kid slowly approach, until somehow he ended up directly next to her.
She could barely hear Dolphus’s inquiry, his voice sounded so weak. For a moment, she thought that she must have misheard him, but it simply couldn’t be. What else could the question have been? As she looked over at him once again, her brow crinkled in utter confusion and disbelief.
What was the point? Why would he ask for something like this? It was utter nonsense. He barely knew her, and, by the looks of things, didn’t even like her all that much, why would he-
This simply couldn’t be happening.
“Wha-”
She stopped herself.
A thought that had been sitting at the back of her mind since the first time she had spoken to Dolphus back in the forest suddenly started to become louder and louder, pushing all other thoughts out of its way. She had tried to suppress it, get rid of it, but that didn’t make it less true, no matter what she did. No amount of denial could change it.
The kid reminded her of Aleksander, her younger brother.
She let out a short sigh and, without saying a word, put her hand forward next to Dolphus, with the palm facing upwards. Her facial expression had changed and now was showing something more akin to compassion.
What did you get yourself into, Ari?
5 Likes
Dolphus held his breath.
She’s going to say no. She’s going to question why in the world I would ever ask something like this of her. She’s going to express her disappoint, dismiss the request entirely, and kick me out of her cabin. And then she’ll always detest my being around her and write me off as crazy or stupid, or more likely both. I was a fool to have ever brought it up to her-
There was a motion to his right that seemed to indicate movement.
His eyes eventually traveled after a pause to suddenly stare in utter amazement at Ari’s hand, as if he had somehow not expected it to be there at all. He looked up nervously at her, but broke eye contact with her almost instantly, finding it too hard to look at her empathetic expression for more than a split second. Quickly lifting his hand, it froze halfway to Ari’s for a moment, before nervously settling in around her palm.
It was a very painful reminder of just how much bigger Ari was than him, as he could barely get his hand across the width of her palm while still allowing his thumb to grip the opposite side. But no sooner had it properly made contact than it began to contract, his fingers somehow managing to not instantly slip off.
His arm was trembling. He looked down at his knees, which were pressing into each other quite violently, and the motion made his torso want to collapse in on itself. His eyes continued past his knees and directly below his feet, and then all the way down into the bottom of the ocean.
“I’m sorry.”
4 Likes
“I ask because-“
“Because, when you were angry at the armada,
a storm came from nowhere.” Mako said, his jaw set and his eyes wide.
“And perhaps that’s a coincidence. But such a storm, of such power and magnitude… add the fact that you speak about fish as if they have their own personalities. And-“
Mako’s voice dropped to a quieter tone.
“In your presence, when I have tried for years,
I had once prayed, silently. And in that moment, I felt as if I was being watched. I felt as if I was there when the sea was new and free, when the
very first life sprang from within. So. Along with the fact that you seem strangely familiar…
I must ask if you are who I believe you may be.”
Mako did not move. He dared not take a breath, for the words may certainly have caused something in Mariner to snap.
3 Likes
There was a pause where Mariner stood absolutely still. Even his mandibles hidden behind his facial armour barely twitched. He took in Mako’s words, knowing where this was headed.
“So, you believe me to be someone based off coincidence, and human assumption about life forms they see as lower than them?” Mariner eventually said. “I’m afraid I must disappoint you, I have no idea who you think I am.” With that he stepped back, and for the second time in as many days slammed the door on Mako.
His thoughts were in turmoil, of course he’d known who Mako thought he was, but Mariner couldn’t give him any other answer.
7 Likes
Mako did not move. He only spoke.
The stinging worsened.
“ If you didn’t,” Mako muttered. “Then why avoid it?” He silently slipped down the hall towards the decks once more.
What is he hiding from us?
4 Likes
Ari felt the touch of Dolpus’s hand on her palm. It was small and soft, especially compared to her own hand. It was also quite cold and trembled slightly. Ari carefully wrapped her fingers around it, trying her best to be as gentle as she could. It seemed as if her own muscles didn’t want to listen to her, too exhausted from all of the woodworking she did that day. The kid’s hand seemed so fragile that she thought she could crush it had she applied even the slightest amount of force.
Initially, it didn’t make her feel much of anything, apart from mild awkwardness. The parallel between Dolphus and her brother was obvious, but it was just as obvious that the kid wasn’t him. She knew that she would never meet Al again, she had accepted the fact that he was gone long ago. Obviously, this kid wouldn’t replace him. Yes, they were similar, but these similarities were superficial. And she’d only known him for a day. Really, she knew next to nothing about him and who he really was. She would never be able to trick herself into believing that him holding her hand meant something for her. She was not that naive.
And what would even be the point of that? She’d be leaving this ship at the first opportunity she got, and would forget about its crew, as there was next to no chance she would ever be meeting them again.
Yet Ari found it painful to even look at the kid. The state he was in was truly heart wrenching.
What did you have to go through?
How poorly he must have been treated if he was ready to cling onto the first person that showed him even the slightest bit of affection? A complete stranger that he had barely known for a day. What kind of trauma he must have experienced that left him in this state? How much pain did he suffer to turn out such an emotional wreck? Was there really nobody to help him get through it? How lonely he must have been…
Ari winced at the thought of being completely alone, not having anyone to care for you. She went through some tough times as well, worse than most have ever experienced, but there was always someone by her side, someone worth living for, so she had always managed to get back up after being knocked down…
Was there really nobody there for you?
Her grip on Dolphus’s hand tightened.
Maybe the kid holding her hand didn’t have much meaning to her, but it seemed to mean everything to him, so she wouldn’t try to pull her hand away until he let go of it.
Dolphus’s words were barely audible, but in the silence of the night Ari could hear them clearly. The phrase rang in her ears, as if the kid shouted those words. Ari forced herself to look over at Dolphus.
“What are you- You have nothing to apologise to me for, kid.”
5 Likes
Ari’s grip was enough to stop Dolphus’ hand from trembling, but it seemed to work through his arm into the rest of his body until he was quivering in place. He didn’t seem to mind the pressure.
A particularly large tear hit his leg. It seemed as though he just couldn’t get dehydrated or something.
“I’ve been so cold.” He gulped, still staring into the floor. “I know you wanted me to be bigger than this, but I just can’t.”
“I keep feeling that crawling sensation, of- of the squid. C-Crushing me, holding me underwater. It’s there when I sleep, when I’m awake, it makes me feel so small. Helpless.” Dolphus glanced at the door suddenly, to see if it had somehow suddenly opened on its own. “I c-… I hate that. That small and vulnerable feeling, like… like everything in the whole world can hurt me.”
“I don’t know what to do.” He tried suddenly to pull his hand away, but finding himself unable to escape from Ari’s grip the rest of his body gave in to the motion, his knees drawing closer to his chest as he stuttered out a sob. His elbow wobbled wildly, eventually rattling the rest of his frame right along with it.
“But… But what do I do?!” He suddenly turned, almost looking at Ari… but setting his eyes in desperation on the stars themselves, which shimmered through the window. “You won’t let me be weak, not even for a moment, but I have nobody! no one!! and just when I thought I found you again, all she ever does is… hate me…”
His eyes broke away for a moment as he looked towards the floor, as if he would somehow control his outburst of emotion even in that moment. It didn’t work, and he stared back up at the stars again. “I’m sorry!” He cried, his hand beginning to tremble now in spite of Ari’s grip. "I can’t be any bigger than this! I’m sorry!!"
“I’m s-sorr-rry!!” His voice warbled weakly from all the effort being put into his outburst, the rest of his body finding it hard to stay upright enough to keep eye contact with the window. In spite of all their lights, and the brilliance of them, the stars did not seem inclined to answer.
5 Likes
how did I end up in this situation, again?
It took Ari a moment to realise that it wasn’t her who the kid was speaking to. He was calling out for someone who wasn’t there.
Ari lacked a lot of context to what the kid was talking about. Many of the things he said didn’t make much sense to her, not that they were supposed to. After all, his pleading wasn’t directed at her. She wasn’t the person he was calling out for, so she couldn’t respond to his pleas.
However, Ari understood just enough to get a rough idea of his situation, and finally, it all clicked. She understood the meaning behind him wanting to hold her hand and his infatuation with that woman Alexis.
There was someone whom he desperately wanted to see in them. Someone whose approval he was desperately seeking. There could be only one explanation. It was a person who was very dear to him, perhaps dearer than anyone else in the world, and who he lost. He was desperately trying to find that person again, trying to return his past, but Ari knew that it was impossible.
This feeling of hopelessness caused by losing someone that the boy was experiencing was all too familiar to her, so her heart wavered as she witnessed his agony.
Ari wished she could help him somehow, reassure that everything was fine, but she knew that there was nothing she could do. Nothing she could say would make things better for him, and he likely wouldn’t listen anyways.
This is something the kid had to get through by himself. He had to get these emotions out of him, otherwise he would never let go of something that he couldn’t return. Trying to suppress them would only make things worse. He couldn’t cling onto the past forever. Ari had learned that lesson the hard way.
Don’t hold back.
Scream.
Hurt.
Cry.
It won’t be easy, but only then it will get better.
he wouldn’t be able to accept it unless he faced it head on. But he didn’t have to be alone.
Ari moved closer to Dolphus, her upper arm was now touching with his shoulder, and put her other hand on top of his, as if reassuring him that she wouldn’t let go, wouldn’t leave him for the time being…
6 Likes
The additional hand atop his own seemed to have something of a subduing effect on his outburst, as Dolphus’ blubbering became less uncontrolled while also less verbose, as if Ari’s poorly bandaged hand was compressing his heart from inside his chest, wrapping it up in her fingers and holding it tight.
“Please!!” He gasped for air, his chest dramatically rising and falling as he did so, sniffing in and almost coughing out his exhale. “I don’t want to be alone! I can’t- I- I need you. I need- I need someone.”
“I’m sorry.” He swallowed, his head starting to quiver again. “I don’t… I don’t want to be so small. I d- I h- hurt… so much…”
The sensation of Ari’s heavily pronounced tricep barely brushing against his shoulder finally worked its way into his mind, and with severe resistance he fought against his muscles relenting, but ultimately he found himself with his temple against her arm, staring off into the air in front of him. The consultation with the stars was over. In the place where once his desperate plea had proclaimed so loudly the void in his heart was a shame for having ever been so exposed.
“I’m sorry.” His voice carried the same trembling warble which marked the peak of his emotional cries. But now there could be no mistaking it was Ari to whom he spoke. “I… I can’t…”
4 Likes
Ari sat and waited patiently until Dolphus slowly started to calm down. She didn’t dare to move until his outburst was over. His cries and pleading had finally stopped and she felt his head resting against her arm.
It will get better only if you set your emotions free.
For the first time since the kid had entered the room, it seemed like he was directly addressing her.
Ari didn’t immediately respond. At last, she let go of his hand, turned towards him, gently placed her hand on his caped shoulder, and carefully guided him to turn to face her. She looked him in the eyes. Her expression was kind, but her eyes showed stern, unwavering determination. Only after establishing eye contact, she spoke with confidence:
“It’s okay. You have nothing to apologise for. There is nothing wrong with showing how you feel.”
Ari took a pause to let her words sink in. Finally, she took her hand off his shoulder. The expression in her eyes softened.
“I am not good at saying things like this… shoot… you- you might be feeling lonely right now, might think that you don’t… have anyone. But it won’t be that way forever. Nobody is born to be alone.”
Ari smiled at him, slightly nervously. She wasn’t the best at putting the way she felt into words, but she still tried her best to convey what her heart told her to Dolphus.
4 Likes
As soon as her fingers touched his shoulder, Dolphus’ face immediately fell flat. His lips parted, his muscles untensed, and the wing which was so tightly contracted suddenly faltered, silently dropping the delicate quill and its connected notebook onto the pillow. His mind didn’t process that it happened, and his body along with the dark of the room hid them from his vision.
His thoughts were entirely focused on the fingertips which made contact with his cape, and the large yet feminine palm they connected to. Ari’s efforts to drag his attention towards her were met with zero resistance, as he looked up at her with tear-stained sockets.
The moon seemed awfully dim as his eyes began to glow, in that moment finally allowing just enough of the iron layer over his heart to voluntarily be lifted. Before had always been involuntary; desperation, circumstances beyond his control, utter exhaustion and crumbling masks made up his excuses for these instances. Now, however, he chose to let her in - to trust her with not just his wing, but his soul as well.
Desperately his eyes searched hers for some sign of stars. There were none, but it didn’t seem to matter. She clearly wasn’t his mother, or anything remotely close to what he had lost. But somehow, it seemed to make her all the more valuable a friend by being so unique.
Huh. Dolphus pulled enough of his faculties together to gulp down more of the tears in his throat. I… don’t remember actually having anyone I could call a friend.
Dolphus’ eyes broke from hers as she spoke and traveled down, staring right through her body and across the ocean, far out over the seas until it wrapped all the way around the world and came back through again. He hadn’t considered for a moment that anyone could be emotionally close aside from his mother; having that desperation finally met in some capacity was starting to clear the fog over his mind, which kept him so dutifully bound to the woman he had chosen to replace her.
And yet… I know she is the one. I can’t afford to let her go. But am I being too partial to her? But will being impartial ruin my reputation in her eyes? I can’t… It’s too hard to think about. It hurts too much.
His eyes finally lowered themselves to Ari’s hand, still gently holding his own. It seemed to have loosened somewhat, and for the first time since he touched it, Dolphus started to feel the person behind it instead of the person he wanted it to be - a blunt, unsophisticated girl whose lack of aristocratic etiquette left her heart unbiased and untainted by the world. The emotions pouring through her skin were genuine, the words she spoke? They were real.
It didn’t matter that her heartfelt finisher was badly fumbled. It didn’t even matter that she was not, and would never be, anything remotely near a mother figure for him. The simple fact that this giant pile of well-developed muscle truly cared was enough and more than enough, in that moment, to split his heart in two.
One, two, three, the beats of the heart were counted through her calloused skin. The blood in her veins backed up her statement more than anything else ever could, more than anyone would dare to claim otherwise.
His eyes slowly returned to Ari’s. His brow was crinkled, and he voraciously took in every detail of her face, darting between her features and devouring every one of them. This is what it looks like when someone cares.
For a very brief moment, his lips tightened, and for an even briefer moment curled downwards.
Then, his hand quickly tore out from inside Ari’s curled fingers as his face smashed into her arm, his now free hand wrapping partially around her comparatively massive back. His wing, now freed from any instinctual restraint, flung itself outwards and around her other shoulder, almost reaching his hand on the other side.
“T-th-than-nk you!!” He bawled, half muffled by the bare instinct to not bellow out in the middle of the night on board the Caelin’s Hand and the other half being Ari’s bicep. “Thank y-y-ou! Th-h-(hic)-h-h-h-”
Any further words from him were completely illegible. He continued shuddering and gasping, his stomach violently contracting and releasing as the occasional hiccough made it into his speech, his forehead pressed against her arm.
5 Likes
Unfortunately, Rook’s positioning would turn out to be tremendously disadvantageous. Boldly planted at the edge of the deck, examining the oppressive swirl of storm clouds, the ship’s groaning was accompanied by a sinking feeling in his stomach. THAROS. Squinting between cords of windswept hair and fighting against the torrential downpour, he managed to isolate a figure at the helm.
“BRING HER STERN TOWA-”
The Caelin’s Hand suddenly rose as if being plucked from the Earth from a colossal deity. In his last moments of consciousness, Rook felt his foot slide, followed by the dreadful sensation of awaiting inevitable impact. A fleeting bout of despair—and to his extreme dismay, a second one, as he tipped backwards not onto the floor, but into the lower deck. He caressed the bottommost step violently with his cranium, and with the world around him blurring, was flung by the forces of nature down the entrance to the oar deck.
Rook found himself in a dark unfamiliar room. Five hooded figures suddenly materialized around him, and they began chanting an incomprehensible mantra:
“Post in togav… post in togav…”
They drew closer to Rook. He dropped to his knees, begging for the madness to end, but the chanting was ceaseless. Months later, Rook felt a newfound conviction rising in his heart. I must post in Togav.
“I MUST POST IN TOGAV”
A bright light emanated from his chest and engulfed the entirety of the universe. It was now time to rook n’ roll. Down in the oar deck of The Caelin’s Hand, the man’s eye twitched.
8 Likes
The way he looked at her told Ari everything she needed to know. The kid had stopped looking for someone else in her and accepted her for who she was. It truly seemed like he cared about her… a stranger who he’d met less than a day ago.
Was she any different though?
There also wasn’t any fear or resentment in his eyes anymore that most people showed when meeting her. This bratty kid was somehow one of the few people who managed to look past her stature and appearance and… accept her.
Ari’s heart skipped a beat. An expression of surprise appeared on her face.
Out of all responses the kid could have given her, a hug was the one she expected the least. And something felt extremely unusual about it. Ari looked down and saw a huge dark coloured wing wrapped around her. Its big fluffy feathers softly touched her skin. It was warm. So much had happened that day that she’d almost forgotten about the fact that Dolphus had it. It was truly an impressive sight.
And to think that he not only revealed it to her with no hesitation, but also embraced her with it, despite his insecurity about it… the kid truly became attached to her.
Ari felt her heart warming from that notion, but a sad thought appeared at the back of her mind. She wouldn’t be staying with this crew for long. Sooner or later, he’d need to let her go. What would that do to him?
If Dolphus could somehow see her face, he’d witness a slight smirk briefly appear on it.
And he really thought that his act of pretending to be cold and emotionless could somehow fool her.
Ari realised that even if she tried to move away, to free herself from his grasp, she wouldn’t be able to. To her surprise, the wing was incredibly strong, even stronger than she expected. But she didn’t want to move away. She wouldn’t dare to attempt to pull back until he released her. Instead she raised her free arm and lightly patted Dolphus on his head.
Ari did not respond. There was no need for words. She silently accepted his gratitude by staying with him.
He’d certainly have to let her go, but sailing through the ocean was a very long process. It was a problem for the future, and Ari didn’t like to look too far ahead.
For the time being, at least for that night, she wasn’t going anywhere.
""
Suddenly Ari felt a disturbance in the Force. A presence appeared on the ship, unlike anything she’d ever felt.
It was the presence of someone whose unsavouriness and rambunctious nature could compete with her own. Her true rival has emerged on The Caelin’s Hand.
HE’S POSTING IN TOGAV
4 Likes
The pressure of Dolphus’ embrace softened as she touched his hair, and his face flushed with embarrassment at the situation he found himself in. He looked further down, trying to decide if yet another apology was in order.
No. She said it was okay. She said she cares. Her heart said so.
Looking up, his tear-stained eyes met hers just a moment after she lost the smirk. He tried to say something, about how he’d like to stay just like this forever, or how truly grateful he was, but nothing came out. Then again, with how perceptive Ari was of these things, maybe it wasn’t necessary.
Finally, with some awkward hesitation that genuinely showed just how long it had been since he instigated a hug, he retracted both his arms and rubbed his hand over his nose, swallowing a couple times to recover from his display of emotion. Ari was peculiarly silent then, and although he did not look at her, instead choosing to face the wall opposite the bed, the entire conversation brought something back to his mind.
There was a clarity present which left him unsure, unwilling to commit to the course of action he had already once chosen. Her heart was real; perhaps it could discern for him.
“There’s… something I wanted to ask you about.” He rubbed his hand down his pantleg, trying not to suddenly look at her again. He was already feeling the absence of the hug.
4 Likes