20, Autumn, 518
Kailani awoke with a start just as the sun’s rays were barely painting the sky, sun-kissed skin painted in sweat. A recurring nightmare had awoken her, one she couldn’t seem to shake-her mother’s hand just out of her reach. Kailani knew if she could close that final distance, it would mean the difference between life and death. No matter how many times she had the dream, no matter how many different ways she tried, Karigan’s fingers lay just out of her grasp. This time was no different. Will it never end?
With a shudder, the Svefra pulled herself from her bed, disentangling her limbs from the oppressive blankets and standing on the floor with unsteady feet. “Only a dream,” she reminded herself softly. “It’s only a dream.” Grabbing her shirt and pants off the chest by the foot of her bed, she pulled them on before walking over and splashing her face with water from a nearby decanter. By the time she went above deck, she was feeling quite a bit better, the dream fading to the back of her mind as her morning fog started to clear. She grabbed a few slices of dried fish jerky and a bit of cheese from her pack, devouring both in record time before she set about making her vessel seaworthy. The storms had finally come to an end, and it was her first day on her new job-ferrying the citizens of Sunberth down and across the river. It was a simple enough task for one such as her, but one she even thought she might enjoy. If she couldn’t be out on the sea, at least she was still sailing; and if she couldn’t be with her pod, at least she wasn’t spending her time alone.
Hurrying about the deck, she raised up the mast, slowly unfurling the mainsail and tying it loosely in place. She checked the ties on the jib and nodded with nervous satisfaction; she’d done her best to secure the ship during the storms, but it had suffered some minimal damage. She’d need new ropes before long, but she figured these would last at least through the week. She hoped. Kailani gave a sharp tug on each of the lines and none of them snapped nor frayed any further, so she settled on hesitant optimism. “Call it my fatal flaw,” she muttered under her breath as she started pulling up her anchor, neatly winding the chain as she yanked it onboard. Next, she carefully undid the lines holding her to the Cherry Bay pier. A swell of wind caught the slack in her sail as she adjusted the tiller, a broad smile spreading over her face as she steered her way to the mouth of the river.
“Where to first?” she mused aloud as headed out of Baroque Bay, veering right with the Commons quickly passing by. “Probably should have asked that question yesterday, eh?” She’d been so overwhelmed with the thought of even taking on such a job, with coming in contact with other Svefra, she hadn’t had the presence of mind to ask even the practical things like normal stops and routes. Dazed and dizzy, she’d simply accepted, promising she’d start first thing in the morning. “Oh, well,” she muttered. “Suppose I’ll figure it out along the way.”
It was only a matter of minutes before the sailor was coming up on Robern’s Reaches, adjusting the mainsail and angling the tiller to slow the vessel down. Snap! Kai started at the sound, almost losing her grip on the rope she held as she helplessly watched her jib come undone and flap toward the sky. “Son of a petching whore!” she shouted as her casinor started veering violently toward land, azure eyes wide with alarm as the gnosis mark on her arm started to glow. With hardly enough time to spare, the water currents around the boat started slowing her progress toward the bank, though a collision was now inevitable. The best she could hope for at this point was avoiding permanent damage to her boat as well as running over anyone hapless enough to be too close to the river.
“Watch out!” Kailani shouted to any and all who might be in her path, her voice echoing over the water as her casinor quickly ran ashore. Her last minute intervention had saved her from going too far, luckily; only the bow and front half of the boat buried itself in the sand. Her unexpected entrance onto the scene had caused a bit of a stir among those near enough to see it happening, the Svefra clearing her throat as her face flushed red. What a great first day.
“Um…Anyone need a ride?” she asked weakly, her face rueful as she glanced around her. “Hanhi's Herbologie,” read the sign on the nearest building, a few patrons peeking their heads out of the door. Well, I always did like to make a lasting impression, she thought wryly to herself as she looked up helplessly at her detached sail. Though this might be taking it a bit too far.
WC: 850
