Gettin' Outta Dodge

by **Kopesha** on August 24th, 2020, 12:58 am

Timestamp: Summer 85, 520

"All aboard! We're leavin' in twenty! You ain't on the ship, you ain't gettin' your money back!" Kopesha looked up, already upon the Salty Bucket. She leaned back against the rail, tucked away into a small corner, her back guarded, her pack sitting next to her. She watched with her ebony eyes as a few more stragglers boarded. Most of them barely had any belongings, looking tired and scared. They were escaping this disgusting hellhole, just like her. The only difference between them is that she wasn't running scared. She was quick to learn that this place had no desire to worship Makutsi or any god. There was too much selfish, survival focus for the people there to think of anything else, and she wasn't good enough.

Rivers keep flowing, no matter what gets in their path.

So she decided to flow somewhere else. She paid her coin needed to get a spot on the ship, and she was taking the first ship back to Zeltiva. She'd been there before, but there was nowhere else to go from Sunberth. First to Zeltiva, then off to Syliras. She was excited, but she didn't wish to show it here, not around these people. This was her first time on a ship. She'd never sailed through the ocean before. She found herself smiling. She had been born in the ocean of sand, traveled through the sea of grass, and now through a real ocean.

The travelers all boarded, and everyone claimed their areas. Most people didn't get the luxury of cabins, so they would be sleeping on the deck. One man came over and set his small pack near to her, sitting down. He was pale, black haired, scrawny, wearing dark clothes that were worn, torn, and frayed. He didn't look at her, put his pack behind his head, and promptly fell asleep.

Kopesha stood up, just as the ship lurched forward as the sails opened up, catching the wind. She was sent off balance, and caught herself on the rail. But as the ship began to glide across the dirty Sunberthan water, she cracked a smile. It was exhilarating. The ship picked up speed, began bounding along the choppy waters. She felt the wind through her hair, the constant tossing and bouncing of the ship as it broke away from the coast.

And she vomited over the side of the ship as the seasickness took hold.

There was a soft chuckle from nearby, and the supposedly sleeping man spoke, without opening his eyes, "First time on a ship?" Kopesha looked over, on her knees now, hunched against the side of the ship, "Yes." The man snorted, "Well, you best get it all up now or it's gonna be a long day. Laviku demands strength when at sea."

She knew of Laviku. He was highly worshiped back in Riverfall, lord of the seas. She felt her stubbornness rise to the occasion and she sat back down, forcing herself to keep the remains of her breakfast in her stomach. The man whistled, "Ah, we got a tough one then. Alright. Lookin forward to sleepin' with ya." He looked at her for a reaction at his joke, but saw no understanding there in her black eyes. Some jokes required stronger language skills. He laughed and closed his eyes once more.

Travel Cost :

by **Kopesha** on September 2nd, 2020, 7:43 pm

Timestamp: Fall 12, 520

The storm came on suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, in the earliest hours of morning before sunrise. The ship was in Mathews Bay, a day or less away from Zeltiva, when the squall struck. Kopesha was first awakened as the winds began to squeal and shriek. Her dark eyes fluttered open, falling on the man who had been her companion for the trip, 18 days long now. His name was Felix, and he was funny. As best she could tell, he was a thief of some sort, but not to survive. He was a hired thief. He regarded pickpockets and muggers as low life scum, not worthy of being called thieves.

And he looked worried.

He was checking all of his belongings in his pack, and seemed to be tightening it up. He saw her looking, "I don't trust these winds. Zulrav, Laviku, Makutsi, there's an imbalance here in their wills. I don't know what it is. But us mortals are never lucky to be in their way." She wore a confused look on her face. Makutsi's rain wasn't even falling now.

Then the first drops splashed down on her face, and as always, she smiled. The rain always brought her comfort, and as soon as Felix saw that, he shot her a sharp look. "Don't relax! You've seen first hand that the gods don't save mortals, regardless of whether or not they are worshipers." The words took Kopesha aback, but there was truth to what he said. The gods expected them to overcome the most difficult of challenges or be willing to die trying. She sobered up and nodded. He was right.

She began following his lead, checking all her knots and gear, making sure everything was secured. She kept her pack in her lap, her bow case laid over top it, wrapped both up in her arms and legs. And that's when the thunder began to crack and lightning flashed and the rain felt more like stinging suffocation than a warm embrace. And the boat started to creak.

She watched as the sailors scurried around, tightening ropes, trying to get the sails under control. There was an intense focus on their faces, but they were panicked as well. They kept themselves in control, but she could see clearly that they were worried. She hugged her gear and began saying prayers to Makutsi, to Laviku, to Zulrav, asking them to help guide her through this latest challenge.

Crack, boom!

The lightning and thunder were constant now, rapid. Kopesha forced her eyes open, to watch for the signs she'd prayed for. And that was when she saw the wave, darkening out a flash of lightning behind it. It was huge, and heading right for them. And she knew this would be how the test would end if she failed it. In that same view of the wave, rushing toward her, sailors all rushing to grab onto ropes, she saw a loose barrel rolling about.

As the sailors all rushed away from that side of the ship, as it began to tilt upward on that side, Kopesha was on her feet and moving. Pack and bow in hand, she was rushing up the incline. She visualized herself as the river. She flowed the way she wanted, no matter what direction others decided to go. She was determined to carve her own path. Uphill she pushed, slipping and sliding, hair wet and whipping about her face, she found herself at the barrel, secured to the rail. She slipped the bow case into a holding strap, grabbed her knife, and swung it hard, severing the rope holding the barrel. As the barrel began to slide back down hill, she reached out with her knife hand, and quickly slipped it in the barrel hitch knotted rope around the barrel.

Kopesha and barrel both slid down the deck as the wave upended the boat. The barrel sped directly toward Felix, who was too slow to slide out of the way. It hit him directly in the chest, and sent Kopesha and barrel both bouncing over the rail of the shit. As she went, she saw Felix reach out in panic, and he grabbed her bow case. It yanked out of her pack strap, and Kopesha screamed, trying to reach out for it. But her arm was still entangled. An instant later, she crashed into the water, being dragged away from the ship as it overturned. The last thing she saw before she slipped into the depths, was Felix, ankle snagged on a rope, holding her husband's bow, as the ship was dragged under.

by **Kopesha** on September 2nd, 2020, 8:11 pm

Kopesha woke up, groaning, her entire body hurting. She shifted slightly, instantly recognizing the feeling of sand against her skin. Eyes shot open and she tried to sit up. The world was blurred as she found herself looking through her second pair of eyelids at the sun. So bright out. Pain racked her shoulder. She looked over at her hand, still gripping the knife like a vice. Her elbow was still hooked in the rope, and her shoulder was burning.

She could move it, but only slightly, and to do so only invited more searing pain. She touched it, finding it to be bulging and loose from the joint. She slowly eased her arm free from the barrel, letting the limb hang loosely at her side. She looked over to her other side, seeing her pack next to her in the sand. She let loose a sigh of relief. At least there was that. She looked around for her bow case. Panic began to set in as she couldn't find it. She quickly realized she was on a beach, overlooking the water.

Then she remembered.

Felix had dragged it to the bottom of the ocean with him. She felt an intense rage and sadness well up within her. That bastard! He stole the only thing she had left from her husband. She kicked sand and growled at the water. In her native tongue she screamed, "You water stealing piece of shit!"

She turned, grabbing her pack with her good hand, and stomped off away from the beach. Then she stopped. She just realized that she didn't know where she was. And she was being reckless. And she was injured. She needed to be careful, she was exposed, and in dangerous territory. She needed to respect the wilderness. So for the moment, she shied away from the forest she could see up a ways, sticking close to the coast.

And she began to walk. She kept her eyes and ears opened, she watched the forest from a ways, and she walked on. She then stopped. She walked back to where she had washed up, and straight lined over to the trees. She took out her knife, and carved an X into a tree trunk. She looked out over the water. She'd come back here. She'd swim to the bottom of this bay, and she'd get Chokaji's bow back from that dead fucker who snatched it.

She huffed and walked off.

Solo Gettin' Outta Dodge