Sypherkhode822

In Dark Seas We Sail

Beyond the jostling of the boat, Pieter hardly moved, his focus on the turtle. His eyes narrowed when Uban hastily emptied the contents of the flask into the frothing waters. The turtle dipped its head into the water, and though it didn't seem to drink, when it lifted it's head to look at the sailors, a slightly glazed look had come over it's eyes. Pieter judged that the time was right, and spoke, "We're looking for someone." The turtle lowered it's neck slowly, bringing it level to Pieter's head. The difference in size was so astounding, it became hard to recognize it all as a single thing. The shell jutting out like a rock, the endless neck, the gleaming eyes, and the terrifyingly sharp beak. A nip from that beak would be enough to kill them. Pieter put his hand gently on Uban's chest, a silent instruction, Shut the fuck up, let me do the talking.

"Everyone's looking for someone." The turtle replied in it's deep voice.

"Aye, and we're asking you to tell us where the people we're looking for are." The turtle rolled its eye in- playfulness? Was it humoring them? If it wasn't, they'd soon be dead.
"There are too many human ships for me to remember now. Not like how it used to be."
Pieter nodded deeply and pulled at his beard, understanding the difficulty of his request.
"Aye, we understand. It's important we find them, so we'll try and jog your memory." He gestured to Uban to dump one of the barrels into the water. It bobbed in the water before the turtle gently grasped it in it's mouth. Tilting it's head back, it bit into the barrel like a man would a grape. Rum gushed down the turtles throat, and splintery wood fell around them into the water. Spitting a scrap of wood the size of Pieter's hand from it's mouth, it returned to the conversation with an amused air, "I may be wiser than everyone on land, but I still need to know who you're looking for."
"Barizians. Men with ships drawn by oars. There's one, but there might be more." The sea grew abruptly still, and the turtle withdrew it's head, studying them. The muscles in it's neck tensed. Pieter's heart hammered in his chest.
"What." The turtle said softly, "Do you want with them?"
"They have done unforgivable things, and must be punished." He answered.
A great plume of steam came out of the turtles nose. Tilting it's head, it looked pointedly at the barrels. A hurried nod from Pieter to Uban told him what to do. They watched with relief as the second barrel was dispatched as quickly as the first.
"The one's you look for- they stink. They smell like blood and rot, and they stain the waters as they pass. There are nine of their ships, though one of them is much bigger than the others. Only the small ones sail about, the large ship has not moved since it arrived five moons ago."
It paused pointedly, and another barrel was rolled out. After it had drunk, it continued, "I know where they hide, and something else that would interest you." The last of the barrels were rolled out, and finished in quick succession. Had a reddish hue come over the turtle's scales? Sweeping it's gaze over the boat, it remarked, "Well, it seems that you have nothing else to offer me, so I'll be on my way. Come again with more barrels, those are always a pleasant distraction." The water churned noisily as it sunk into the waves, turning it's head away from the two sailors.
Pieter sighed to himself, gave Uban a brief pat on the shoulder, and called out, "Knowledge for knowledge! A secret of mine for a secret of yours!"

The water stilled immediately. Only the turtles great head was still visible. Swinging it's head so it was up against the boat, it said, "I don't want a secret of yours, priest." An immense eye fixed itself on Uban, staring into him. "I want one of his."

---

Hana expected to flinch at Berlin's touch, but instead relaxed. The tension locked in her shoulder eased up. The buzzing in her head went away, and she was able to bring her attention to what was going on. She trusted him. She wanted to impress him. She could be herself around him. She looked back into his eyes and said, "You're not the first pirate I've treated- but you're the first I've joined." She could do her job. She'd do it for Berlin. And Pieter, and Rohaan, and Uban and Wheel.

---

Wheel watched coolly as the boy threw his tantrum, ignoring the oncoming headache the curse was bringing. Finally, after seeing the chip in the gunnel, he spoke, "Right now, you're pathetic. You're scrawny, you can't win a fight without turning into a beast, and you think that if you don't know how to use something, it's useless." He lifted his shield, "You're still small, so it's going to be hard for you to learn how to use this properly right now. Later, I can fix up a better sized one for you. You're going to work with the size it is right now, however, because I want to see you struggle." Wheel continued, demonstrating exercises with the buckler and sword that would build strength and make it easier to use. Lifting it, holding it in place, slow, steady circles. All of it slightly dull, unexciting, and very painful.

In Dark Seas We Sail

Pieter firmly grasped Uban's shoulder and pulled him back in the boat. "Sit." He had stowed his pipe, and his other hand clutched the seat. The water before the rowboat churned as a massive turtle head emerged from the waters. A fleshy neck appeared, and it would have been called delicate if it weren't thicker than a man's chest. The top of the shell crested the water, dark scales wrapped in seaweed. From what was visible, it was clear it was larger than the boat. The neck turned, and a single, piercing brown eye fixed itself on the sailors. The turtle opened it's mouth, revealing a deep red mouth large enough to bite them in half. In a voice that shook the air, it said, "You got anymore of that?"

___

Hana started to nod, then realized that she'd be copying the captain, then realized that she had started to nod so it'd look weird if she didn't nod, then realized that she'd spent so much time deliberating between nodding and not nodding that her neck had found itself in some strange halfway point between nod and not nod, which she wasn't aware existed, and that her fixation on nodding meant a slightly too long pause in the conversation, which Hana hoped could be played off as thoughtfulness. "Hmm," She began, squinting her eyes as if she were fixed on thinking, "I'll have enough supplies to cover the sails and buff the barrels with what we have left over. It certainly wouldn't rate with the Elbish navy, but it won't go up because of a stray spark." Feeling more in her element as she continued to disapoint Berlin, she went on, "I maybe have enough supplies to enchant a wall sconce, but to be honest, Captain, most of what I brought was for medicine." She laughed, "I didn't expect to be the ship's carpenter."

___

While Wheel waited, he went over the training equipment, making sure the falchions were safely dulled and that a strip of cloth was wrapped around the tip. There was a time and place to train with real blades, but not now. These had been swords Wheel had kept from previous fights, and since he'd had no other use for them, he'd converted them for training. He'd weighted the handle and the blade to give it more heft. The bucklers were boiled leather wrapped around wood. Despite the signs of heavy use, they were well kept.

He lit a cigarette as he spoke to Rohaan,

"We're now using swords and bucklers. This will leave bruises, it will hurt, I will not coddle you. If you can master a sword and buckler, you could possibly survive in this world. Right now, if I gave you a sword and buckler, you would not only die, you would kill everyone on the ship and yourself at the same time. With great effort and the blessings of all the fuckers I've killed, it can be fixed. But that means you must learn as a man and not a shapeshifter. You must be the weakest you can be, and you must be perfect. If you don't, it'll be because you failed, and that'd piss me off."

He tossed the sword and shield on the ground before the boy. "Well?"

In Dark Seas We Sail

Pieter savored the taste of gin and the smoke of his pipe as he looked stoically at the few bobbing pieces of wood left from the barrel. Him and Maria had once been shut up in a cabin together laying low, and they'd had plenty of time and gin to kill. Good memories. Smiling, he looked to Uban, "Yes lad?"

___

Seeing the excitement in Berlin's eye, Hana hurriedly clarified what she was actually able to deliver, "I can't keep things from catching fire, but I can make sure it doesn't continue to burn. It's not perfect, but it's something. Um. Also, I don't have enough gypsum to fireproof the entire ship. What would you like me to concentrate on first?"

___

Rohaan was progressing fine, he'd remembered most of what he'd been taught, and he relearned what he'd forgotten. They'd been working with the fighting knife on its own, and he decided that they'd next work on knife and shield fighting. It'd be good for the boy to learn how to defend. Wheel's eyes widened when he saw the cut on the boy's hand. These blades should be perfectly dull. But the use must have roughened them up. It was time to put a pause on the fighting. When the boy became a dragon, he tensed up, ready to spring away. But the boy corrected himself, instead launching himself into another flurry of attacks. Wheel responded defensively. Slapping away the thrusts and avoiding the careless slashes, Wheel waited until the boy's immediate fury lessened. Once the boy's rage gave way to panting caution, he said, "That was acceptable. Get a drink of water and we'll move on."

In Dark Seas We Sail

Pieter only smiled, and said, "Here's good enough I reckon." Rising to a crouch, he took a barrel of rum and tilted the entire thing overboard. With a splash, the barrel ducked down and bobbed to the surface again. Feeling a slight pang in his chest at losing so much rum, he withdrew his pistol, aimed, and shot the barrel through. "A gift of pleasure for knowledge." He called out. His voice carried something more than words. It shivered in the bones, carrying itself silently through the water. Nothing happened. Pieter scratched his beard. "Hey, you want some?" He removed a flask from his pocket. "Hana had a spot of gin. Want some?" The waves that rocked the boat grew imperceptibly softer.
___

Hana laughed, then sobered up when she tried to figure out if Berlin was serious. "I could uh, try? If you really wanted me to. Maybe. I could also fireproof the sails for you if you'd like." Glancing out to sea, she chewed her lip as she listened to her Captain's request. "I'm not really trained for battle magic, so I don't think I could be much help fighting. I can work up winds, rain and fog for the fight. I can defend myself, but beyond that, well..." She glanced back at Berlin, gauging his reaction, she said, "I could only try something with the cannon balls and Uban's lightning. If you'd like."

___
The boy dropped into a relaxed stance, keeping his eyes fixed on the blade. Wheel couldn't remember the last time he saw Rohaan focus on anything for longer than a minute. Wheel sprang away from the boy's lunge, then lashed out, blade darting. The fight had begun, and Wheel was testing and demonstrating various techniques to his pupil.

In Dark Seas We Sail

Hana flushed at Berlin's approving nod. "Is there anything else you'd need enchanted, Captain?"

--

Pieter puffed on his pipe, enjoying the pleasant day as his apprentice paddled for them. He'd done enough paddling in his days, and he approved of getting the young buck to do the work. "Yeh don't think it's just us on this old ocean of ours, do yeh?" He laughed, "Boy, we're guests in this place." Nodding to the looming barrels of rum, he added, "And that's for our hosts."

--

Wheel ignored the boys banter, striking a match and lighting a cigarette. "Kid. When you're training with me, you're going to be training to fight like a man." He held up a hand to stop any backtalk, "I know you can turn into a lion and tear some poor bastard apart. But if you're stuck with only one tool, you'll eventually come to the point where it doesn't work." Wheel started stretching, and stared down the boy, wanting him to join. "I knew one man in the pits who'd only use an axe. He could take off a horses head with it. We did some work together, and the guardsmen came after us. He buried his axe in the shoulder of a guardsmen, and he had to leave it. He could barely use a sword, and a pimply faced conscript stuck him in the gut." Flicking the stub off the side of the boat, he looked down at the boy. "If you can't kill with everything, something will kill you.:

In Dark Seas We Sail

Pieter nodded to himself as he packed his pipe, working through the problem aloud as he spoke, "We'll have to take out the rowboat, and a few barrels of rum. If things go well, I'd imagine it'll take half the day. Anchor out a half league from us, hm, and with the way the winds have been blowing, half a league east of here. Rio can come by every hour to check on us, and we can put the lad to work and bring us home when we're done. The sea watches everyone who travels on its surface, and with the proper gifts, they'll tell us where the Barizians went." The priest shook his captain's hand as farewell, and went to collect his apprentice.

Standing under the rigging, Pieter paused for a moment in his task to watch Uban and Rohaan clamber around the sails. When he was younger, he'd loved being in that world of sail and sky. Now he was older, and his concerns were of a more earthly, or rather, watery, bent. "Ay! Uban! Come on down! Get the rowboat ready, we've gotta talk to the locals!"

Striding away, Pieter set to work, gathering the supplies they'd need for the trip.

---

Setting the last of the barrels down on the decking, Wheel asked the priest, "Anything else, Pieter?" "Nah, thanks for the help." Dismissed, Wheel prowled along the ship, looking for his quarry. The scrawny boy didn't look like he was up to anything important, so Wheel pounced. "Let's work on knife fighting, boy."

In Dark Seas We Sail

Hana had bent to work the moment the ship had gotten underway. She had begun at the bottom, magically waterproofing the surfaces of the bilge. Though thankfully it was empty of water, the entire space reeked of something she couldn't decide smelled more of rotting kelp or fermented fish. Dragging a heavy knife through the wood, she carved out an oval on the walls and floors of the bilge. Reaching her hand into a bucket of animal fat, she layered it onto the indentations she'd made. Mixed with herbs and charcoal, the fat would keep the spell tied to the wood, waterproofing the bilge for a season or two. The spell itself, however, would have to wait. From there, She worked her way up to the crowded storage space. That took moving the crates and barrels to let her trace a complete oval. Wheel helped her, silently lifting the boxes as she crawled on her hands and knees, smearing the animal fat into the grooves. It was a cold day, and she had to warm the fat between her hands as she worked, making them greasy. She lost herself in the task, and didn't realize that she had finished the storage area until she looked up for the next set of crates to move and saw Wheel climbing up the ladder to take a smoke.
She went up on the topdeck after that, her back aching as she dulled the knife of the planking. She stretched for a minute before she made her second loop of the ship, this time pressing the fat into the grooves she'd made. Finally, she went to her room to retrieve the thurible that held the incense she'd burn as she cast the enchantment. Until this point she'd had no point for self doubt. But now, about to cast the enchantment, she briefly froze up.
She knew she could cast the spell, she'd done it plenty of times before. But, holding the thurible by it's chain, she thought she'd forgotten the words, and that it'd fail. She thought about the certainty of her own failure the entire time she descended into the bilge, smoky incense filling the air of the small space.
She began the spell. Stopped, coughing on nothing. Her blood pounded in her ears. She began again, and this time recited the entire spell flawlessly. The wood of the bilge was slick, and water rolled on top of it. It wouldn't mold, and bugs wouldn't find their home in it.

She went up to the next room. Repeated the spell. Coming up onto the top deck, Hana smiled and cast the spell, walking the perimeter of the ship as she spoke. Testing it by dribbling water from the bucket of rainwater they kept, the water rolled along the deck, sitting in a puddle, unabsorbed into the planking. The spell had worked. Hana nodded to herself, then went to put away the thurible.

---

Pieter tapped the stem of his pipe against his teeth as he thought. "Well, me and Uban can ask around."

In Dark Seas We Sail

Pieter trudged silently up the hill with his apprentice, listening to his tears and guilty, embarrassed attempts to make up for them. After some time, when they were away from the immediate chill of the ocean, and the campfire was only a hopeful promise, he started to speak. His voice was soft, and though it was conversational, it had weight.

"Ya know. When I first met the mermaids- and I was a little younger than you- my priest hadn't bothered to tie a rope to us. He just had us half dozen apprentices gather on the beach at night, and called them up. Two of us drowned that night, we were so enchanted by the mermaids they didn't realize that they had gone so deep into the water the riptide dragged them away. I nearly joined them, only my brother pulled on my hair so hard a patch of it came out and I stopped. They were beautiful, and they owned us. That's what mermaids do, they take sailors hearts, and they're loathe to give them back. They're not natural, not like beasts and men. They belong to something else, something older. I've heard talk that every star in the night sky is a sun like ours, with planets around them. And that the black between the stars is an ocean, and that creatures swim through them. Maybe mermaids swam from the night sky into the ocean here. Or they're just spirits, not as big as gods but just as hungry. They took two sailors that night, and they took four more of us over that next year. My priest wasn't a good man. He had lived through the Yepturn wars as a boy, and life was cheap to him. None of those sailors needed to have died. But he wanted to find priests, and he didn't care enough to save the ones who weren't ready. There are a lot of priests like that, folks who are more concerned about being strong than they are about saving the one's who aren't."

He fell silent for a moment. Clouds drifted over the moon, plunging them into a darkness that seemed deeper than the night of a new moon. He continued, "I wasn't ready. Mermaids, it's their nature to know your weakness. They change the world around them to make you weak. My brother was as weak as me, but he had me to keep him strong. It's a challenge, becoming stronger than mermaids. But you can do it. Exposure and training makes you resistant to their charms."

They had neared the campfire now, and the clouds had moved on. After the darkness, it seemed like the flat around the camp was bathed in a silvery sunlight.

"My brother, he left after a year. He apprenticed at a chandlery, and never went to the waters edge again. He had a good life."

Clapping a hand on Uban's back, he announced, "Well, I think I'll turn in. We've more ahead of us tomorrow, and it'll be good to get an early start."

At that, he left his apprentice and sat with his captain briefly, before going to the tent he shared with Berlin to sleep.

In Dark Seas We Sail

Pieter readjusted his grip on the rope, ready to pull Uban away. He was as dopey as a sailor with his first barmaid. He was going on about giving her flowers and chocolate. Well, he certainly knew just how alluring a mermaid was now. " Do you sing? I'd give anything to hear your voice sing to me". The mermaid giggled, smiling coquettishly at the naive sailor. "I'll sing for you. But you need to get closer."

"That's enough of that," Pieter chuckled as he yanked on the rope, doubling Uban over as he was bodily dragged to shore. If the mermaid was upset that she lost her prey, she didn't show it. With a flip of her silky hair, she disappeared under the waves, leaving the night emptier than it had been.

Standing over his apprentice, Pieter puffed on his pipe and asked, "Well? What do you think of mermaids?"

In Dark Seas We Sail

Pieter lit his pipe, puffing steadily as he watched his apprentice fling his belt off and fumble with his trousers. Heh, he'd been there. More than once. So far, nothing out of the ordinary had happened. The mermaids watched Uban make a fool of himself. The youngest one giggled and whispered to her sister, who coolly watched. The other mermaid, the one with the closed eyes, stayed silent. As mermaids went, these one's certainly weren't the flirtiest. Which, considering how besotted Uban was, was for the best.

The younger sister swam up to Uban, her strong tail flexing, sliding her through the water with shocking ease. She stopped just outside of arms reach, smiling coquettishly. "What's your name?" She asked. Behind them, the older sister flipped her hair and disappeared under the waves. She had taken what she wanted from the meeting. The silent one watched them, unseeing.

Pieter nodded to her, offering his respect. She dipped her head in return, and continued to watch Uban and the young mermaid.