Closed [Tranquil port]Get off of my ship! (Cassandra)

[Brandon Blackwing]

x

The 52th of Winter 513AV

Not only was it cold again today, but Syna had decided to quit hiding behind the clouds and had come out and shown herself to the surface dwellers both worshipping her and not. It hadn’t been for long though. For just a brief period of one bell her rays, rid of most of their warmth but still pleasurably heating up the freezing temperatures holding the land in its grip, had reached out to the Crystal city and the creatures residing there. After that time however, she had considered her job done and had retreated behind the curtain of thick cottony clouds.

The bat didn’t mind though. He had come to discover that the light emitted by the sun goddess during the winter was way brighter than usual. It hurt his eyes. Therefore he had been keeping his onyx colored orbs pinched to a near shut state, only barely managing not to bump into anything or anyone. If he’d had his cloak, he’d have pulled his hood over his head. The shadow would have shielded him for the flashing rays. Unfortunately, his new outfit didn’t sport a convenient thing like a hood. But it was warmer than his previous set of clothes, so he shouldn’t complain.

His mood had improved. The urge to hibernate had faded to the background of his mind. The annoying feeling that he was lacking sleep had almost disappeared. It was still present though, and the thief didn’t think it would ever vanish as long as winter lasted. As always, he employed his ignore tactic and didn’t pay the sensation much heed. With passes wide and a noticeable spring in his step he continued his way. At first, he had been strolling through the celestial city without a particular goal or destination in mind. Brandon had just wanted to get out of his flat. Tired of sitting inside, he was. The boredom it brought with it was something the bat couldn’t live with. So, abandoning the pleasant warmth of the cracking fire, he had put on his coat and had gone for a walk.

Right now, an idea had made way into his thoughts. It was just a vague thread floating by, but he grabbed it with both hands. The misty peaks were excellent for exploring, and maybe he could get some training done as well. The inactivity that winter evoked hadn’t been nice to the state the thief’s body was in. As such, he headed to the Tranquil port, the doorstep to the Peaks.

***

It had been a while since he’d last been here. Hands tucked away in his pockets, breath forming small, quickly fading clouds, he paced by the rows of docked ships. Some big, some large, but all were gently swaying up and down on the beat of the small waves rolling into the bay. The salty smell of the sea was a pleasant alternative for the cool mountain air he usually breathed. It made him want to board one of these ships and set sail to foreign regions.

Such was his dream. Not necessarily sailing, but travelling across the lands, going to cities he’d never been to. Venture out in the wilds, experiencing danger, fear and excitement all at once and tell his epic tales in pubs and taverns. The idea alone made his emotions sway and he closed his eyes and stopped his feet from moving forward. With a ship, it would be possible. When the time was right, he could perhaps set off aboard of a vessel of the seas. When the time was right…

Come to think of it, he’d never been on a boat before. Let alone a ship. Actually, he hadn’t even paid much attention to them either. Just a quick glance now and then, when he passed by to go to the Misty Peaks, like now. Turning ninety degrees to the right, he faced the ship docked in front of him. It was rather small compared to certain other ones floating on the water a bit farther away. Two huge sails, triangular and white as snow pointed to the cloudy sky. If hoisted that is. A sleek hull dyed black and reddish brown made up its body. Impressed by the elegance of the sea vessel, the bat whistled low.

Interest piqued, he was getting quite curious what the inside looked like. If it had an inside. The thief couldn’t spot anything looking like a cabin or anything alike. Even so, the desire to find out was already too strong to dismiss. He gave in. Making a full turn, carefully shooting glances around to see if anyone was looking his way, the bat started to run towards the ship. He hadn’t seen a gangplank or anything, so he figured he’d have to jump. Which he did. With a mighty push of his legs, he sailed through the air, body tilting horizontally as he flew over the small line of water between land and boat. By the time he was hanging above the deck, his head was the closest to it. To prevent his skull to have a rough meeting with the wooden surface, he placed his palms and bended through his elbows as his weight was being supported by his arms.

Due to his momentum however, this wasn’t enough to keep him from crashing down. The bat tucked his head against his chest and curved his back. His knees folded themselves up and as he touched the wood, a swift roll made him get back on his feet right away. Well, he was aboard the small vessel. Now what? Right, the cabin! Footsteps pounding louder than expected on the deck, the thief realized the hull was hollow underneath his boots. Hm, in that case there should be a hatch somewhere…

x

credit goes to Euthisa

[Cassandra Southwind]

She was getting used to the city's strange sleeping schedule, the two-hour naps between quarters of alternating labor and celebration. She had even started to take those naps at the Shooting Star Inn, if only to save time when her haul had not been sold all the way. Or if a festival was not quite over. Or if she just didn't feel up for the trip down. But it had been almost two days since she had visited the shore, and Cassandra was beginning to feel an ache that she had never felt before. Her mark curled and twisted on her arm like a bad cramp, and she couldn't quite quench her thirst. One thing she couldn't get used to was the okomo ride. Whether on a cart it pulled or on its back, there never seemed to be a more comfortable way to sit. Certainly she knew how to adjust to a constantly moving vessel, but the sea rocked in a steady, soothing rhythm. The cart was as bumpy as it was precarious; she had taken to counting the rocks on the mountainside, if only to avoid the sight of the incredibly steep slope that dropped so close to the cart's wheel. When they finally reached the base, she jumped from her transport before it even stopped moving. She did not think to acknowledge the man who had driven her there--he'd gotten his pay, and couldn't possibly want anything else. Cassandra's heavy brown shoes made the transition quickly from beaten dirt path to wooden docks. Despite her coat, her arms were wrapped tight around each other in a futile attempt to keep out the cold. Her breath caught white and warm on the air before her eyes, dry even despite the water that roiled around the swaying boats. Her eyes had been on the horizon, the distant waters barely discernable from the dark clouds. It would snow soon. Perhaps, Cassandra thought, she should stay inside The Lioness, instead of sailing out to-- A loud gasp poured into the sailor's throat when she saw him. The man was crouched on her boat--her boat, of all boats--like he had every right. Though it was true that her kind paid little heed to the concept of ownership, so were they wary of strangers. Especially those that chose to invade their privacy and scrutinize their homes. It took every bit of effort she had to keep the noise on her lips from turning into a poorly-uttered shriek. He was inspecting her, the boat that is, as if she were some sort of ware to be bought and had. Rage lit in Cassandra like a flame on a match, ready to go out with a good shake or set her every fiber ablaze. "Who do you think you are?" She demanded quietly, her Common measured and articulate. "Get off of my ship."

[Brandon Blackwing]

x

Head moving from left to right and the other way around, the bat was still searching for the hatch. And he couldn’t find it. Maybe he was crouching on top of it? A quick glance down was enough to bust that idea. Perhaps it wasn’t visible from his current position? That was a possibility. Or it might just have been hidden so well, that even his prying eyes couldn’t located it. It was both frustrating and filling him with anticipation at the same time. And it grew stronger every chime.

No surprise that he hadn’t heard her coming. Buried inside his buzzing mind, he had forgotten about the outside world. Anything except for himself and the boat had disappeared. His reaction was an obvious one. Startled, he jumped up from his low position. “Who do you think you are? Get off of my ship!” Words spoken quiet and calculated. Not really spontaneous either. A person who had trouble speaking common? There sounded a heavy accent through her sentences. Looking back over his shoulder first, he turned around, facing the girl that had appeared. She was still on shore though. He grinned. Her question hadn’t been one waiting for a response, but he was in the mood to pretend to misunderstand.

“Quite the thing to ask. Who we think we are is not necessarily who we really are. But to answer your question”, he voiced while slowly stepping towards the rail bordering the deck. “I think I am Brandon Of The Black Wings and much more…But who can say for sure? Pleased to make your acquaintance. Who do you think you are, miss?” By now he had reached the rail and proceeded to stand on it. Retaining his balance while turning so his back was facing the shore was quite hard.

Bending slightly through his knees, he launched himself backwards. His legs went higher, while his chest and head went lower. Bringing both knees to his chest, he barely managed to make a backflip before his feet touched the ground. His newly acquired stance wasn’t as stable as he hoped it would be though. Arms swinging around wildly, it took a couple of ticks before his balance was found anew. And then he made a spin on the heel of his left foot and stopped when he was looking straight at the girl.

She was Svefra no doubt. Well, he assumed she was, since she apparently claimed that boat was hers. Not that that made every girl that had a ship in their possession a Svefra. An other thing he recalled being a trait of the sea folk were their blue eyes. The thief noticed she possessed those as well. Blue like the sea, unpredictable and stormy. And sending a look meant to kill his way. Brandon guessed she didn’t quite liked his person on her ship. “So, that’s your boat then? It’s a magnificent piece of work. Does it have a name as well?”

The bat was asking both because he was curious and because he wanted to soothe the rage he’d seen in her orbs. People were already watching the two of them, attention drawn since the moment she had said, no ordered him, to get of her ship. And people watching him was something he couldn’t stand. Made him nervous. Probably a side effect from practicing his profession. Ah well, they would avert their gaze eventually when they grew bored of this. It wasn’t a spectacle to behold. Yet. He hoped it wouldn’t become one, else he’d be in trouble.

x

credit goes to Euthisa

[Cassandra Southwind]

The intruder did not respond as she had hoped he might, greeting her stern anger with less alarm and more grinning. A complacent string of words fell from his dancing lips, too fast and figurative for her ears to catch. Their meaning caught her belatedly, like an undertoe current beneath a rolling wave. What she did understand made her eyebrows rise. "Smart ass," she muttered in Fratava, huffing as he climbed up on her rail and leapt off it again. His acrobatic stunt pushed the sloop in the water; Cassandra took advantage of its recoiling hull and stepped expertly from the dock to the boat as it rocked toward her. Arms folded, the Svefra girl planted her feet a little too close to his, just enough to hold her ground and show him who was in charge. There she took a moment to look him down. Other than his invasive pleasantries and dark-hued clothes, he seemed like any average Lhavitian. It was hard to tell them apart. Really, Cassandra was better at putting on a show than actually disliking a person. She would be hard pressed to say it, but she was secretly flattered by his interest. She stepped back as she answered, "Cassandra Southwind is my name and yes, the boat is mine. Her name is The Lioness. She bites your head off, if you are not careful." The threat--the best sort of joke she was capable of making--put her in a good humor, though it would take careful consideration to tell as much. Cassandra's laugh churned brightly in her eyes where it forgot to lift on her mouth. She gave his darker pair a good long look before her attention strayed to the mainmast, the furled sail and ropes that hung from it. Her arms opened so that her cold, bare hands could wrap around the familiar rigging. The Lionness was truly a part of her, built by her family in her honor and named for her reputation of quiet strength. She was more proud of it than anything in the world. Whether the frigid air had touched her heart or the man's little adulation had calmed her, at least she was not quite ready to run him off. While in most circumstances she might have preferred solitude, in this case she was prepared to accept any other praise he had to give. "She's not for sale," the sailor mentioned, edging between stubborn reserve and the traditional tolerance allowed to strangers. "And I am intending to go. If you have some other purpose here, speak it." She looked down at the man then, her fingers primed on the ropes for the work to be done in setting sail. A sigh left her in a billow of hot air. "Or leave."

[Brandon Blackwing]

x

Their positions had switched. Now he was the one on the docks, and she on the boat. From her slightly higher place, she looked down on him, a pleased look hidden in here blue orbs. It wasn’t easy to hide emotions gleaming in one’s eye. That was what his mother had always told him. She had done so a couple of times when the both of them had been training. She’d said it was very a very important aspect of unarmed combat. Fighters sometimes said that combat was a language, punches and kicks represented the spoken word. And eyes were the mouth.

Some people could read ones lips, he read eyes. Well, he tried to anyway. Only the basic things were what he could distinguish. Frustration, annoyance, rage, sadness, killing intent,… The usual stuff. But it was said that masters of the art were able to read a fellow’s thoughts just by looking them in the eye. The thought of it was very appealing to the bat. No wonder why he tended to stare intensely in other people their eyes for a moment every now and then while conversing. It was truly interesting and fascinating what was written down there.

What he could see in hers, was that she was pleased. Why, he didn’t quite know for sure, but he guessed because he had done as asked. Well, he’d set foot on that deck again soon enough. When his neck started aching from looking upwards. For now though, he’d stay on solid gr-…docks. She courteously answered his small inquiry. So, Cassandra eh? Nice name. He couldn’t remember hearing it before. As of her ship, it was known as the Lioness. A small joke followed the introduction. He could feel his lips being drawn into his usual grin. One corner of his mouth was pulled up, the other one not, lips slightly parted, revealing his teeth.

“If it’s just my head then I don’t mind. Any other part of my body and I don’t believe I’d like it.” Not exactly what one would call a joke, but it was intended to be one though. The girl gave him a long stare. As if burying her mind in the depths of his onyx pair, she examined his eyes, while he could see thoughts rippling through her sea-like ones. What they mused about he didn’t know. Not even the emotions display were readable, but well, he wasn’t good at it anyway. Or maybe she was void of emotion this instant?

When she finally averted her blue gaze, the bat blinked, rehydrating his a bit too dry dark orbs. When he looked at her again, she had unfolded her arms, fingers playing with some ropes dangling around the mast instead. Somehow her features softened up. As if she was thinking about something pleasant. Was it…affection? She seemed ,even though his presence was hindering her to indulge herself deeper in to it, peaceful. He understood how she felt. The same thing happened when he rubbed his fingers against or stroked the black fabric of his scarf.

“She’s not for sale”, she suddenly spoke. Somewhat confused and startled by this statement, he focussed his gaze back on Cassandra. She? What was she talking about? Did boats have a gender? Since it was an object, he’d say no, but well, boats weren’t his expertise. “Are all ships female?” A polite question, asked in a gingerly way. He didn’t want to insult her, or the Lioness for that matter, when she’d just calmed down. “And I never said anything about wanting to buy it, did I? Besides, I could never”, -Nor want to- “Buy something expensive like a ship.” There were other means for that. “I’m not even a fisherman, what would I have to do with a boat?”

The thief had completely ignored Cassandra’s demand of stating his business or leave. Up until now that is. Before he could answer it however, he had to do something about the cramp in his neck. Rubbing it didn’t help, so there was only one option left. “Mind if I come aboard? It talks rather difficult from here.” He didn’t waste time waiting for her response. By the time she said something about it, he was already standing next to her. “Can’t I just stick around for the sole purpose of sticking around? Or doesn’t that count?”

x

credit goes to Euthisa

[Cassandra Southwind]

oocAgain, sorry this took so long. His words were like waves on the sand; every time she thought he was finished, another spray of them rolled from his mouth. But however invasive their meeting, he did not seem malicious in the slightest. Brandon's friendliness was grating, but so was it amusing. There was something honest in him that made it impossible to be annoyed for long. She looked down at him in consideration as he spoke, meeting his eye for an instant before her attention dipped to his feet. They seemed to dance on the docks, like they belonged elsewhere, but perhaps not the elsewhere Cassandra had first hoped. Anticipations of her own were rising at the bottom of her gut, her hands itching to pull on the ropes beneath them. She longed to leave, to feel the tilt of the ocean beneath her and salty sea breeze before her. It was what she had come down here to do, and somehow this marginally pleasant stranger had prevented her from it. Well, she decided, not for long. When he boarded again she gave him a quick glare, but the casual inquisitiveness in his eyes was too piercing to hold for long. Instead she bent to the cleat where the rope was tied and began to unwind it. "Boats are not for fishing. Not only. They are freedom." It was then that the aged white braid loosed, and the headsail fell wholly from its angled mast with a slapping crackle of fabric. It luffed noisily where it hung, unable to catch a breeze without the rope's tension to hold it. Usually Cassandra would only unfurl the sails once she had untied the ship from the dock, but the loud visual served better as a sign to Brandon that she was not one to dally. She would suffer him until he became a nuisance, at which point she could always throw him overboard. After securing the sail (with plenty of slack) she jumped onto the docks and began to unwind the rope that leashed The Lioness to shore. Between grunts of effort, she explained, "In Fravata, my language, the boat is female. Maybe you are thinking The Lioness is not alive. Maybe that is true." The rope slipped from the post and into the water. Cass jumped back aboard, and her momentum kicked the boat away from land. She raised her voice so that he could hear her over the angry headsail. "But if you see her sail, maybe you will be thinking otherwise." Their boat drifted into the narrow lane between the others. It was a short trip to open water, but there was still much to be done before they were fit for sailing. She pulled the headsail taught to catch a breeze, then gave it a little slack before she handed it to Brandon. "You will do what I ask to help with the sailing," she said, and did not ask. "Or I will leave you to the sharks. They do not prefer the head over the other parts." There was that smile again. Not in the mouth, but in the eyes. Friendly, but secretly so. She sat at the rudder and aimed them for the horizon. "Loose when I say loose, hold when I say hold. Now hold."

[Brandon Blackwing]

x

OOCNo problem. It was well worth the wait.


The bat watched quietly when Cassandra started unwinding ropes, fingers trained for the movements executed and able to do what they had to do in less than a couple of ticks. While she was at it, she spoke her mind, correcting what he assumed she thought was wrong about his earlier statements. “Freedom, huh?” What the young Svefra meant with it, he didn’t know, but he figured he’d find out soon enough. As the mainsail dropped down with much more noise than the thief would have liked, he saw her performing a series of actions that had something to do with the sail that was uselessly swaying in the wind.

Then she just jumped from the decks to the docks and untied the knots that held the Lioness in place. The rope was loose quickly enough, pulled into the water by the calm floating movement up and down of the waves rolling towards the port. Running noises followed the rope, with a pause between the end of the docks and the landing back on the deck of her personal ship. The force of the landing caused the boat to slowly drift away from the land.

Sea legs were limbs he didn’t possess yet. The sudden movement of the ship distorted the balance he had been able to keep despite the continuous shifting of the angle of the floor. Almost falling sideways, he barely managed to regain his footing by waving his arms wildly and bending trough his knees. This wasn’t as bad as it could get though: the bat knew, however he’d never been there before, that things would get harder once they’d hit open sea. He’d heard amusing tales from Svefra taking a break in a tavern about land dwellers tumbling helplessly over the deck, unable to keep their balance. Also about them turning green and vomiting the contents of their stomach into the ocean. He’d thought it was amusing at the time, but seeing as he was headed towards the same fate, he didn’t think so anymore.

Before he even knew what was going on, Cassandra had placed the headsail in his grip, ordering him to do as she asked. His other option was a date with sharks, and he couldn’t say the idea was appealing. More like appalling. Especially, however he deemed –hoped- it was a bluff, since, according to the Svefra girl, sharks preferred to consume his limbs over his head. He gave the girl a nervous laughter. “You do know that I don’t have a clue what to do with this, right?” A simple question, loaded with fear for the unknown. Being on a boat was fine, but not when he was in control of the sails. He didn’t have that much trust in his abilities so he could just go with it and do things he’d never done before without fear. Actually, this was far outside his comfort zone. The bat stayed where he was though, eyes fixed on the horizon and his mouth fixed in a small line.

Appearances aside, this wasn’t bravery, though one might certainly mistake it for that. The thief didn’t move from his spot for the sole reason that there were no other options: they were too far away from land already, and he couldn’t swim, nor was he able to fly during the day. As such, he stayed where he was now, face drained of most of its color, eyes wide and with fear gleaming on the inside. He needed to calm down, and the perfect way to do so was knowing everything was under control. Thus, his onyx orbs searched for Cassandra, who had positioned herself at the rudder, looking quite relaxed and laid back, the opposite of his current state.

That was enough, seeing as the girl didn’t have a worried look on her face made him feel much better, secure even. The power of company. Soon enough he was back to his usual self and grin as his hands held on to the sail given to him. The thief hadn’t received any orders yet though, but for now he didn’t mind. The rough breeze playing with his hair and vest was pleasurable: soon he gave in to it, unbuttoning his vest so the wind could made it flutter in its grip. It felt almost as if he was wearing his cloak. "Loose when I say loose, hold when I say hold. Now hold." Without thinking about it, the bat obeyed, holding the sail tightly in his grip, and keeping it in place so it could catch some wind with its fabric. “Aye aye, Captain!” he shouted over the sound of the stern breeze. The bow ploughed through the waves, droplets of water spraying up as it did. The rough heaving the waves made the Lioness go through gave the bat’s feet a lot of trouble, but Brandon had always loved a challenge. This too, he enjoyed. Holding the headsail, his mouth fell open and a maniacal laughter of sheer joy escaped his throat.

x

credit goes to Euthisa

[Cassandra Southwind]

Cassandra rolled her eyes at his laugh, allowing the curl of a smile to rise on her lips now that his back was to her. The cool mist of the water was delightful indeed, punctuated by the crisp breeze that pulled at her hair and clothes. It was only a taste of the freedom she had mentioned, but the feeling was as addicting as drink. Perhaps that was why her people took so easily to all forms of merriment. The Lioness was exiting the port quickly enough, drawn out by a favorable breeze. Just before they passed the last pier she yelled, “Loose!” She had not noticed how far they had drifted. The wind was on their side, certainly, but it was near impossible to catch a perfect one. They had been veering towards another boat, one of the pretty Lhavitian ones with the violet sheen, before the headsail went flapping again. Cass turned hard with the rudder, and their momentum pulled them out into open water. “Keep it loose. Tie it down,” she said, knocking the rudder into a holding piece and rising to stand. This next was the tricky part: raising the mainsail. Cassandra had known since she was practically a babe how to set up a boat and steer it, but more often than not she still struggled with doing it all at once--especially now that they had given her a boat of her own. It was nice to have a second set of hands, but she had to remind herself that her company was land-legged and inexperienced with the rigging. He followed orders well, but she could not make the mistake of trusting his intuition. The casinor coasted, bucking on shallow sea waves but unable to keep its speed without a sail to hold the wind. The cold winter air beat wildly around them nonetheless, begging for the embrace of great white fabric and tugging her stray hairs into medusan tendrils. She gripped another rope and, pulling, saw the bigger sail begin to rise on the mainmast. She gave the slack she had made to Brandon. “Hold!” She cried over the roar of the sails. But she could not remove the memory of his face from her mind, when the boat had first begun to move. Surely, to a man who had never seen this side of the sea before, the noise and the action together were an overwhelming experience. All jokes aside, she could not have a nervous wreck aboard her ship. “Do not be afraid,” she said, her blue eyes burning wary. “If you trust me, there is nothing to fear.” oocAfter the mainsail is up and the headsail secured, it should be smoother sailing. If you want, you can move us forward to that. Don’t have to though.

[Brandon Blackwing]

x

OOCNah, gonna let you take the lead. I’m not really knowledgeable about sailing, to say the least…

Piers were passing by faster than he had thought possible. Boats never seemed to go that fast when the bat watched them enter the port, so he hadn’t expected it to go so quickly. He’d always believed that maneuvering a ship was a relaxing activity, but as the thief noticed they were about to ram a Lhavitian boat, small and both ends curving upwards, Cassandra had as well and yelled the order to loose. Good thing he had great reflexes, and as soon as his ears registered the order, his fingers let some of the rope attached to the sail slip through, making the sail unable to make use of the wind.

At the same time, the Lioness made a sharp turn, the sudden movement almost made him roughly meet with the deck. Soon enough they were drifting slowly into open water, gradually slowing down because the sail was luffing uselessly and the momentum of the forward movement was lost. The Svefra girl left her position at the rudder and suddenly stood next to him, fiddling with more ropes and whatnot. And she expected him to tied it down? What? Him? He could try, but the result probably wouldn’t be what was needed to be.

But well, he obeyed anyway. She was the boss on her ship, and he didn’t feel like becoming a shark’s meal. So, he winded the rope around one ring or another, and tied some knots in it. There was but one knot he knew, the basic one. Guessing that it probably wouldn’t hold, he improvised quite a bit, creating a strangled mass of loops and such sticking out. It wasn’t pretty, but it would hold. Brandon wasn’t sure if anyone would be able to untie it though, but that wasn’t something he could worry about now. Another rope was pushed in his hands, one attached to the mainsail that she had hoisted up in the meantime.

The same orders still applied for this one; hold and loose. Good, simple, he could handle that. For now he had to hold. Winding the rope around his right hand, he also grabbed it with his left, pulling it tight. Immediately the deafening screams of the sail were dimmed and the breeze blew it to a puffed up state. The lioness came to find new motion and smoothly ran over the ocean’s waves. The smile on the bat’s features faded however , as the captain gave him an intense glare.

Burning blue her eyes were fixed on his face, distrust or something along those lines gleaming in them. Her features were hard and rather cold, like they had been the whole time, but something was different now. She couldn’t be thinking about throwing him overboard now did she? He didn’t even do anything wro- He had done everything she’d asked him to do. Fortunately, she was just worried he could turn paralyzed by fear every tick. He was scared, indeed, but that was a good thing. His reflexes were enhanced by adrenaline, which also kept some pain and tiredness at bay. The disadvantage was that it made his hands quite unsteady, they were trembling like a leaf. Bran gave her a reassuring smile and shrugged.

“I figured that out a while ago, but good to know you’re worried about me, or yourself anyway. Don’t fret, I have myself under control … for now.” A short pause for effect, while the breeze took his words away. “ Anyway Capt’, could you take a look at this,” He nodded towards his knot work, since his hands were occupied with the slack. “I’m no Svefra and don’t know a thing about knots, so I had to improvise… It’s not pretty, I know.”

x

credit goes to Euthisa

[Cassandra Southwind]

With the sails raised and the port behind them, Cassandra found a moment to look down at the knot he had made. Her expression had softened into something more easy, possibly more understanding, as he treated her obligatory concern with the proper consolation. But in the next moment, old thoughts had flitted away with the constant wind. Her eyebrows rose at his handy work, but she said nothing at the honest attempt. Still loose, the headsail flapped angrily, as if jealous of the full mainsail. She handed the latter's rigging to Bran and gestured to the rudder. "Hold her tight," she said, and was done until she remembered again his inexperience. "You sit at the back, with the rudder. You try to keep us pointed at the sun, see?" She pointed at Syna's afternoon position in the west. "She should keep course without effort. I can come to help in a moment. Good?" Whether or not he agreed, she gave him a nod and knelt at the knot. It was tied in a random, but not complex arrangement. Only a knot that was designed to hold firm could do as much; the rest were butter in a sailor's hands. She worked from the free end, fishing it around the maze of its own length. But the chore proved a longer one than she first anticipated. Cassandra ended up getting comfortable beside the thing, forgetting to mention that she did not mind the task. It was like a puzzle. She liked puzzles. In the meantime, she wrapped the loose rope around one arm to hold it taught. With both sails full, they moved faster than ever—smoother too. The only noise was the rush of water as The Lioness cut through its surface, the only urgency that steady rise and fall of the rolling ocean beneath them. It would be a half bell before they reached the shore where the rest of the Southwind pod was camped, but only if they attempted a straight shot. It would be another ten chimes before they were forced to change direction at all. "Do you feel it now?" Cassandra broke the momentary silence with a breath of tentative honesty. "You can go to any place, fast. Or no place. You can chase the horizon." But her little dramatics were short lived. There was an animal pursuing them, a dorsal fin that moved faster than even the casinor could. Valory only breached the water's surface when she came upon them, leaping out alongside the boat and spraying Brandon with a blowhole-full of brine. The dusky dolphin was as merry and amiable as any Svefra, but so was she distrustful of outsiders. She heeled at the boat's side, her black eyes focused on the Kelvic every time she jumped into the air. "My Tavan," Cass said, as if that explained anything. She was otherwise engrossed with the knot beneath her fingers.