by G. Deyke
~*~
My decision to wait before I leap overboard is tried sorely by the arrival of a storm. The wind blows hard against the golden sails, pushing the ship in the wrong direction, and the rain comes down so hard that it stings when it hits me. I shield my face from it, but I will not move from my spot.
The pitching of the ship brings back the upset in my stomach in full. I cling to the side of the ship and I vomit over it, glad that the wind blows away from me. When my belly is so empty that it cannot be emptied again, I sit miserably with my back against the barrel, shielding myself from the rain and waiting desperately for this to end.
All around me the crew are running back and forth and shouting to each other over the wind and thunder, trying to keep the ship under control; and through their shouts and the sound of the storm I hear Therrin's laughter. She loves the storm. She stands at the prow of the ship, her wet skirt and hair streaming out before her in the wind, her arms spread wide, laughing with joy.
“Isn't it wonderful?” she cries. “See the sea and the sky and the wind all around! Isn't it beautiful?”
I don't think it wonderful at all. Maybe Therrin is mad. The storm is horrible, and I would just as soon not endure it. But I must be strong. I cower and I whistle to Snake and I am nearly mad myself with fright and tears and misery, but I do not take the leap.
“So long as this wind blows the wrong way, it's only hurting us,” Ler calls up to her. “Now come to safety or help us control the ship.”
“Why the ship?” Therrin calls back.
With my nature sense I can feel hers as she puts it to work: it seems she has a nature talent as well, and far stronger than mine, and it seems that it runs with winds and rain. It is the storm she seeks to control. The thunder soon quiets, and the rain slows, though it does not stop entirely. The wind holds strong, but its course is righted, and we are on our way to the Island traveling far faster than we were before.
I hate this strong wind, but if we can reach the Island more quickly, I am glad of that. Ler and her crew are nothing but glad of the change in weather, and quite grateful to Therrin for changing it. “When you've done what you must, you are welcome to return to this ship,” Ler tells her. “We'd be lucky to take you as a member of our crew.”
Therrin thanks her, saying: “I love this ship, and I love the sea. I cannot agree yet, without knowing what awaits me; but if I find I can return, I very well may.”