The Long Road of Adventure- Blue Storms and Black Sand

by Ian Rodgers

  The two adventurers were led through to the lower deck, and shown the rest of the ship.

  “Over here is the mess, where we eat,” Jenner stated as he pointed out the smallish room that carried a heavy scent of stale ale and salted rations.

  “You call your dining area the ‘mess?’” Lily asked, surprised.

  “Oh, yeah, it’s fairly common. It’s short for ‘mess hall,’ but it’s not really a ‘hall’ and more of an oversized cabin,” Jenner explained. “Don’t ask me why it’s that way, it’s just the naming sense and a bit of tradition.”

  “Here is where you’ll be sleeping,” Jenner said to Gaelin as the halberdier was shown a spacious region of the lower deck where numerous hammocks had been set up. Each one had packs and personal effects on them, marking out who slept in which. None were occupied, as it was time to wake and get things done, but some sailors were busy shifting cargo and preparing to set sail.

  As Gaelin looked around his eyes fell on a large, shaggy mound of black fur propped up against the wall. He tilted his head, wondering why a rug had been placed there when it shifted and an enormous bear rose up.

  “Hey there, Bigg Guy,” Jenner said politely. Lily and Gaelin stared at the bosun in disbelief, until the creature spoke.

  “Hello, bosun.” The voice was stilted, as if the speaker was unused to forming words at all, but deep and rumbling like a storm.

  “This is Bigg Guy, and yes, that is his name,” Jenner explained to the shocked pair. “He’s the partner of Miss Vala, and the second passenger.”

  “Are you an Ursine?” Lily asked in wonder. When the large bear nodded she grinned widely.

  “Amazing! To think I would meet an Ursine!”

  “Is that such a shock?” Gaelin asked, and Jenner spoke up.

  “Ursine are beastkin, that is, humanoids with extremely close similarities to animals. There used to be more, but the Great Calamity wiped most of them out. The Ursine are one of the few tribes that remain. As you can tell, Bigg Guy and his people are closely linked to bears,” the sailor explained.

  “They’re fairly isolationist, rarely leaving their hidden villages. They’re pacifists, though, and help lost travelers,” Lily continued, and the big bear nodded again.

  “All true. We do not leave often. I did. I see the world. I like it. I stay,” Bigg Guy said, his booming voice rattling some of the loose timber.

  “A pleasure to meet you! I am Lily, and this is Gaelin. We’ll be traveling with you down to Riggs,” the red-head introduced. The Ursine bobbed his head politely and held out a claw. Lily took it and eagerly gave it a shake.

  “Still a few final places to see, like the bilge and the cargo hold,” Jenner said, ushering the pair out of the crew’s compartment. “After that we’ll head back up top and I’ll point out a few things on deck you need to know.”

  The duo accepted, and were rapidly introduced to the last places on the ship, as well as a few of the crew, such as the cook and a few of the deckhands, or swabbies as Jenner called them.

  “Now, to finish the tour let me show you perhaps the most important part you may need to know onboard the Blue Wave,” Jenner claimed as he led them back up top to the deck. He then took the pair over to the side of the ship and pointed to a series of large rings attached to the side of the ship by ropes.

  “These are the flotation rings. If anyone falls overboard, one of them may save their life,” Jenner said sternly, forcing Lily and Gaelin’s attention onto him. “They are made of cork, so they float in water. Throw one of them to someone who has gone into the ocean and then reel them in. You probably won’t have to use them at all, but if by some small misfortune you do, you must know about them, and the other safety features.”

  Jenner proceeded to drill boat safety and etiquette into their heads for the next hour and a half. By the time the bosun was satisfied with their level of understanding the Blue Wave had set off and was now on a path headed south from Jetty. The fortified port was still visible, and would be for a while, but it was steadily shrinking in the distance.

  “…and that is how you tie a seagull knot, perhaps one of the most common rope knots found on a boat of any size!” Jenner announced, holding up his length of coarse material to show off his masterful tangle.

  “I think something went wrong with mine, but I’m not sure where,” Lily admitted as she held up her own length of rope. The knot in it was deformed and quickly came undone when it was poked by the amused bosun.

  Gaelin had fared much better, showing off his own near perfect copy of Jenner’s knot. The sailor nodded in approval.

  “Well done, boy! We’ll make a sailor of you, yet!” he claimed with a hearty slap on the back. Gaelin winced at the heavy impact but nodded.

  “Now, try to amuse yourselves for a few hours without getting in the crew’s way. I’m off to do my rounds. Shout if you need anything,” Jenner said as he wandered off, speaking to a few of the crewmen on his way.

  Gaelin glanced over at his archer companion, only to stifle a snicker at the sight of her trying untangle her fingers from a length of rope.

  “Need any help?” he offered. Lily shot him a scathing look but eventually conceded and held out her hands to him. He proceeded to untangle her. As he did, he asked a question that had been niggling at the back of his head since they’d boarded.

  “What was with your attitude towards, um, Valalil?” Gaelin inquired, stumbling a bit as he tried to remember her name.

  “She was an elf,” Lily stated, as if that was all the answer needed.

  “You had no problems with Gelt the merchant when we met him, nor the Guildmaster.”

  “They were half-elves. Plus, you should always be nice to merchants and Silas Revel is well-known for his disapproval of the Domain’s policies. Also, he could kill me with his pinky finger if he so wanted to.”

  Gaelin narrowed his eyes as he looked at Lily.

  “How do you know she’s not a half-elf?”

  “The ears. They were too long and pointed for her to be anything but a full-blooded elf,” the archer retorted. She then paused. “Also, the hair. Not many people outside of earth elves have green colored hair. Even half-earth elves don’t have such vibrant colored hair.”

  “Fine, that makes sense I suppose,” Gaelin consented. “But what is with this attitude of yours?”

  “What is with your lack of attitude?” Lily shot back.

  The halberdier stared at her for a long time, even after he had undone the knots that had ensnared her fingers. After a moment he scoffed.

  “Ah. I see. Yes, she’s an elf. So what? Just because I’m from Partaevia I’m supposed to hate all non-humans? Just because you’re also from the south you have to act like the elves are all waiting to stab you in the back?”

  He shook his head. “I will not lie. She frightens me. My upbringing taught me to shun her for what the elves did to humanity during the Elvish Conquest and Orrian Occupation centuries ago. But I am better than that. I’ve seen so much in the two years since I left my home, and I refuse to sink to the levels of my countrymen because of what I’ve learned in my travels.”

  He straightened up and looked Lily dead in the eyes.

  “I don’t know her. I don’t know the Ursine. I want to, though. I want to prove to people I am not only nothing like what people say my kin are like, but that I can overcome their prejudice. Can you do the same?”

  Lily flinched at that accusation. When she said nothing to refute the statement Gaelin heaved a sigh and shook his head.

  “I’ll leave you to sort your own thoughts. I need to secure a hammock and put my stuff away.”

  He turned and walked off, leaving Lily to stare down at her hands and the untangled strip of rope that lay limply in them.

  Her introspection was cut short when what sounded like a dying beast echoed forth and she jumped in surprise. Glancing across from her, Lily saw the Ursine, Bigg Guy, dent double over the railing and feeding the fishes.

  She wrin
kled her nose at the sight but felt a hint of sympathy towards the large beast person none-the-less. Her own stomach felt queasy too, due to seasickness, but not to the extent he clearly suffered from.

  Thinking of her belly, she reached down and rubbed the hidden scar softly, wincing as it sent pangs of pain shooting through her.

  It had never healed. And never stopped hurting. She had gotten used to it, though. The dull aches it constantly spread through her body had become familiar to her. Only when pressure was applied, or something touched it wrong, did it flare up and cause her noticeable discomfort.

  Her gaze never wavered from the Ursine who was the earth elf’s companion. Like Gaelin was for her. She grunted in annoyance as she thought back on the halberdier’s words.

  Her, being friends with an elf?

  She shook her head in disbelief. Not likely. She had too many other matters to worry about, and befriending an elf was not one of them. She turned away to stare out over the glittering blue waves that the similarly named ship now traversed. She squinted as a beam of sunlight bounced harshly off the ocean and nearly blinded her.

  Dang, but the sun was bright today!

  .

  “So, I can take this spot here?” Gaelin asked and a sailor nodded.

  He was below deck in the sleeping area standing between two posts. It was close to where the Ursine had been sleeping earlier, and the massive figure’s items could still be seen. Though why there was a table with its legs broken off, a battered wagon wheel, and an uprooted tree with a lump of quartz crystal lodged in its roots among his possessions he was unsure.

  “Yup. Here, a hammock for you to set up as you see fit.” A bundle of canvas was passed to him by the crewman and he took it with a nod of thanks.

  “I’ve never had to set up something like this before. Could you help me?” Gaelin requested. The man nodded and showed the young halberdier how to properly set up a hammock for sleeping.

  “Now, if you toss and turn a lot when you sleep, it’s better to keep it close to the floor lest you roll right out of it. Many a broken bone has been caused by someone sleeping too high for their own habits,” the sailor explained. “And don’t move around in it, especially if you want to leave the hammock. Just let the motion of the waves and the boat do the movement for you, and time your exit that way.”

  “I see. Thank you, that makes sense,” Gaelin said with a polite nod. The sailor than passed him two pieces of cork. He raised an eyebrow as he took them.

  “What are these? They kind of look like plugs,” Gaelin mused.

  “That’s right. They are. Earplugs, to be precise. Some of us snore. And with over a dozen folks making noise at once, sleep can be tricky. Just stuff it in your ears and you’ll be fine.”

  “No Silence spells or wards?” Gaelin inquired.

  “Not on a ship. Not even the captain’s room has any. How would we hear alarm bells or warning shouts if that was the case? A storm or pirates could overtake us and we’d die in our sleep if we put up spells like that,” the sailor admonished.

  The D-rank adventurer nodded in understanding. “Got it. No Silence spells or wards.”

  “And I don’t know if Jenner told you this, but no smoking,” the sailor continued, jumping onto a different topic. “The Blue Wave might have all the fire-proofing wards its needs to stay up to specs, but sometimes accidents happen, and tar and cooking oil tend to be flammable enough to burn away pieces of weakened wards.”

  “He did mention that,” Gaelin said. “Don’t worry, neither Lily nor I smoke. You should be careful with the rum around Lily, though.”

  “Ah, a lightweight,” the man said with a laugh. “Got it. And no worries about anyone trying to take advantage of her that way, either. The captain and Jenner run a tight ship.”

  “Actually, Lily seems to be immune to drunkenness,” Gaelin admitted. “I’m warning you so you keep it away from her, lest she consume it all.”

  The sailor blinked, then started to chuckle. When the adventurer didn’t join in he paused.

  “Seriously?”

  “Oh yes. She feels the effects, but as far as I’ve known her she has never gotten full blown drunk. Tipsy, maybe, but back at Jetty she drank an entire bar under the table and came out still standing.”

  The man snapped his fingers in recognition. “I heard about that! That was her?”

  “Yup.”

  “Ha! That’s great! When we stop off in Riverfold I’ll have to get her to come with us for a night on the town!”

  “Riverfold?” Gaelin asked.

  “Yeah, you know, Riverfold. Third of the three cities of the Crawling Coast. Situated in the middle between Jetty and Riggs?”

  “I’ve heard of it before, but I wasn’t aware we were stopping there,” Gaelin stated.

  “Of course we’re stopping there! We might be a fast ship but the entire trip from Jetty to Riggs is over a month. We’d run out of supplies if we didn’t make at least one stop,” the man explained.

  “As such, we always stop at Riverfold for picking up new supplies and dropping off some of the cargo. Then we hightail it down to Riggs.”

  “No other stops?” Gaelin inquired.

  “None. The only other settlements are fishing towns and villages. Some ships stop there, but we make our gold by zipping up and down the coastline delivering things between the cities.”

  “Ah, I see. Well, thank you for the information. I’ll inform Lily about these plans.”

  “Be sure that you do. She didn’t look like she has her sea legs yet, either. Hopefully she’ll get them sooner than Bigg Guy.”

  “Yeah, he seemed a little seasick,” Gaelin muttered, thinking back to the large mass of black fur.

  “‘A little’ is a bit more generous than how I’d describe it. They boarded us two days ago in the hopes of not having to wake at the crack of dawn and rush to get on when it was time to go. And even while we were still moored at the harbor the poor lug could barely keep his food down,” the sailor said sympathetically. “He’s probably still feeding the fishes as we speak.”

  Gaelin nodded sympathetically. He then turned back to setting up his bedding.

  “Well, thank you for all the helpful information. Be looking forward to sailing along with you for the foreseeable future.”

  “Don’t mention it! See you around, I have to go grab some more rope. Can never have enough of it, after all!”

  The young adventurer nodded sagely in agreement. “Indeed. There is no such thing as too much rope.”

  They shared a laugh and went back to their activities. Gaelin stared at the hammock he had made as the sailor left.

  “I should probably test it out now before I try and sleep in it tonight,” he thought out loud. After a second of thinking it over he shrugged and clambered into the swaying nest of canvas.

  “OK, let’s see, my foot goes here…”

  .

  A loud thump, and a string of curse words reached Lily’s ears. She ignored it all. Probably just a sailor having a hard time somewhere below deck. She didn’t want this moment to be spoiled.

  As Lily relaxed on deck she couldn’t help but sigh in amazement at the sparkling blue before her. The waves were choppy and the sky overcast thanks to it being early spring, but there was still a great deal of wonderment to behold.

  The largest source of water in Tashel had been Foxhound Lake, a large body of freshwater that sat between her country and Pannon to the south-east. The lake had nothing on the Bluestar Ocean!

  The fresh, salty air was tantalizingly different to anything she had ever experienced before, and the way the horizon stretched on seemingly infinitely into the azure expanse filled her heart with a sense of excitement.

  And on the other side of the boat, Lily could see the land fly past her. Rocky coasts and brown beaches mixed together as the Blue Wave sailed onwards. Vague glimpses of trees and the occasional building gave the impression of a place just as monotone and repeating as the ocean, but still unique in i
ts own way.

  Best of all, the anticipation and restrained energy burgeoning inside of her held her queasy stomach at bay! So long as she remained entranced by the view of the ocean Lily doubted she’d have any problems with seasickness.

  Her attention was stolen from the scene before her by a sudden thump as a hairy body slammed into the railing next to her.

  Lily glanced over in surprise at the Ursine who had slumped against the side of the Blue Wave. Even on a bestial face the glimmer of human-like intellect was noticeable, if a tad marred by the oozing sickness the poor dear was experiencing.

  The archer frowned. Hadn’t the Ursine been on the opposite side of the boat? Why had he come over to her?

  “Are you alright?” Lily inquired. She took a long, close look at the beastkin before her as she waited for a response.

  There were distinct differences between him and an actual bear. Namely, the arms, legs, and paws. The paws were far more humanoid, with five fingers, and the claws had been filed down to blunt points to avoid accidents.

  The limbs, too, were longer and had far more articulation in the joints than a regular bear’s, whose arms and legs would be stockier, and more suited for quadrupedal locomotion. Bigg Guy’s limbs were for walking and operating like a biped.

  The red-headed princess couldn’t see a tail on him, and honestly could not remember if bears had those or not, but wasn’t sure it mattered, either.

  His head was a perhaps the most animalistic part of him. It was definitely a bear’s head, but the eyes were larger and brighter, and carried the spark of sapience within them. The beastkin’s fur was well groomed and cared for. It was lustrous and gave Lily a tingle of jealousy that his fur was better looking than her own hair.

  Then, there was the Ursine’s outfit. It was a dark red wool tunic, interwoven with bands of hardened leather. Trousers of a similar colored cloth covered his nethers, but beyond that he wore nothing. No shoes or hat or gloves.

  Given how the furry man was panting, it was obvious the sun was getting to him as well as the seasickness, and more clothes would have only done more harm than good.