Chapter Five

The next morning land was sighted. Neither Tella nor Collin felt the need to share the night’s events with anyone. The insane captain declared that Bessie would make her way to the shore the next day.

“Tis lands ahead! Must be careful with dear Bessie yes we must. Take her time that one does, but for good reason.”

 “Right, today we’ll ready to ship for docking.” Will said, “The cargo will have to brought up from below. But don’t worry,” he sighed, “There isn’t much.” The rest of the day was spent normally enough. For the last dinner on the ship Captain had prepared a feast of seafood. The wanderer watched her’s a moment before eating the unknown crustacean, finally deciding it looked enough like shrimp. Will on the other hand gobbled down his portion, and most of their portions.

“Will!” Tella cried angrily after he finished his sixth helping, still showing no sign of slowing. “Save some for us. What’s wrong with you?”

“I’m a guy.” He said. “guys eat a lot.” He said in one of the few pauses he took.

“Not all guys eat like that.” Tella insisted. The captain guffawed.

“Aw, leave Will as e be. E be a grown boy! Eaten a lot be a natural thing far him. Specially them of Iokian blood, as Will. They hunger the most.”

“Oh yeah. That’s right.” Tella said. “I had forgotten he was Iyokian.”

“Mph…” Will nodded as he chewed.

“Ah but my sister what a woman she was.” The captain said interrupting. “The only other woman ta catch me eye, besides Bessie.” He whispered, apparently to keep Bessie from overhearing. “Ma sister, she was a wild youngun, then she got all growned up and had Will here, with another Iokiean guy, although,” Will’s uncle leaned down and whispered to Tella, “we ain’t quite sure which one.”

“Uncle!” Will shouted blushing.

“Hey! Will!” Tella said loudly enough to catch his attention.

“What?”

“Is the heart string legend true?” she asked. Will stared at her a moment.

“Heart String Legend?” the wanderer asked.

“Yes.” Tella began to explain. “According to the legend, the deity of Iokiean was very protective of her children and when they began to leave Iokeya to explore the other countries, she tied a string to their heart and attached it to Iokeya. So the children of Iokeya who have left their home, feel a small constant urge to return to their homeland. So Will, is it true?” Will swallowed and pondered her question.

“Well, I guess I do feel an urge to return to my birth place, but everyone feels that, right? It’s just nostalgia.” And with that he dove back into the plate of shrimp.

“Hmph. I don’t know if you would feel it even if the ledged were true.” Tella sighed. “If you eat like this all the time your senses must be dull.” Will paused a moment and looked up at her as he swallowed.

“Come on Tella,” the wanderer said, trying to avoid any conflict. “It is just a ledged.”

“Legends often hold many truths to them, wanderer.” Collin said glaring at her.

“I didn’t mean anything by that.” The wanderer said quickly as her face flushed. Collin nodded silently and took a sip of his drink.

“Come now youguns! Don’t ya be a quarrle’n. We got work to do before landfall tomorrara. You all had bettar be ready!”

“Yes sir!” Will shouted automatically. Everyone stared at him a moment and then let out a reluctant “Yes sir,” as well.

 

 Night came slowly but when it did no one felt like retiring, except the captain. Even Collin sat on the main deck with the others.  Will rose and stretched.

“Hey, I’ve got to go deal with the rusty old plank, see if it will support our weight tomorrow when we try to go ashore.” He said.

“We can help.” The wanderer offered. Will shook his head.

“I should at least help Will. You did the laundry, when it was my turn.” Tella said.

“Oh, did I?” Will asked blushing. Tell stared at him, wondering why he was blushing.

“Yes.” She said.

“Well, don’t worry about it.” He said and walked around to the other side of the boat. After a few minutes of the girl’s company, Collin rose and followed the direction Will had taken, obviously preferring his presence to that of the girls. On the other side of the boat Collin slumped down beside Will, silently watching him tighten screws and knock rust off the aging plank.

“Hi Collin.” Will said. “you ready for land again?” Collin didn’t answer. Will took no notice and continued his work. After a few minutes Collin spoke.

“You’re from Iyokia.” Collin said.

“Yes. Are you?” Will asked.

“No.”

“Ah. I didn’t think so.” They lapsed into silence again. Will quietly hummed a tonelessly and Collin sat back against the sturdy side of the ship.

“Will.” Collin said suddenly but very quietly. Will looked up. “Will, if someone you … ah, if someone made you a promise, but it took awhile for them to… fulfill it… So long that you began to have… doubts in them… What would .. What…” his face crumpled for a moment then quickly regained its posture. “Oh…Never mind.” He said. Will studied him for a moment.

“I’m not sure what your asking but…We should all have faith in people.” He said softly. Collin stiffened, then rose quietly and was about to walk away when he turned back and said almost accusingly.

“You have a gift for being likable Will Kapino.” Will stared at him in silence then burst out laughing.

“You tell that to Tella.” He smiled looking down, “If I had any kind of gift for being likeable, I’d be using it on her. Not a little scamp like you.” Collin blinked a moment then allowed a small smiled to spread across his features.

“I suppose so.” He turned away but stopped once again but did not turn around. “I do not suggest you get close to that girl Will Kapino.” He said coldly. Then Collin walked away into the night. Will stared after him for a few moments then shook his head and went back to his work.

“Thar be somin wrong.” The Captain announced uneasily. They all sat up on the top deck facing the Hailian coast watching it in the early morning light. Will silently lifted a makeshift telescope to his eye and peered into it for a moment.

“Smoke.” He said. Tella bit her lip and clenched her hands together.

“D-Do you think something’s happened to the Hailian village?” the wanderer asked quietly.

“It doesn’t look good.”

“Bessie don’t like it neither. Can’t you feel her? She flinches when I steer her towards it.” The Captain said uneasily.

“I’m taking the small boat closer to shore.” Will said. “There’s no point in risking Bessie.”

“Are you sure that’s wise? If there are Areans around they’ll shoot at you.” Tella told him. Will shrugged.

“I’ll try not to get in too close.”

“Hm.” Tella watched the shore a moment then turned to the captain.

“Sir, I’d like to terminate our employment now.” She said. The captain blinked uncertainly.

“Well alright I suppose.” He said. “Bessie will miss the company of other women folk but I suppose young people must move on quickly.” He quietly paid her for their work. Tella turned to Will, who was almost ready to cast off in the small rowboat.

“Will. We’re coming with you.” She told him. Will made a surprised noise and opened his mouth to protest but already Tella was climbing into the boat with the wanderer following her.

“I’m coming as well.” Collin announced eyeing Tella coolly, daring her to protest.  

“Do what you want.” She said turning her back.

“Wait a minute! I don’t know if the boat will hold this many.” Will protested. “And this is a really dangerous time to be testing the boat.”

“We’re all going.” The wanderer said. “So lets cast off.” The captain guffawed.

“Younguns these days. You all take care of yourself. You too Will, good bye.” The captain said. Will laughed lightly.

“You act like were not coming back.” He said. Everyone quieted for a moment. Will cleared his throat and ignored the tension around him. “Right then casting off.” He said take up the oars and pushing them back. They moved further and further from the boat that had been home for nearly a month.

“I assume you two are trying to get to Area.” Collin said suddenly. Tella glared at him alarmed. Collin laughed hollowly.

“It’s no secret princess.” He said. Tella bit her lip and fought against the desire to try to choke him.

“Huh? How do you know about-” Will started to ask Collin but Tella interrupted.

 “Just row Will.” Tella told him savagely.

“Easier said than done.” Will complained digging the oars into the choppy water.

“Yes,” the wanderer said, “The sea is getting kind of rough, isn’t it?” Will didn’t answer just narrowed his eyes and watched the water.

“Tella you realize you will die soon.” Collin said casually. “My people are here.” The wanderer shivered at his ominous words. The cold sea spay that shot up didn’t make things better.

“Evil runt.” Tella spat. Suddenly a high-pitched scream of a rocket sounded.

“Someone’s shooting at us!” Will yelled. “Everyone down!”

Tella cursed, “I knew they would!” The rocket landed nearby in the sea and exploded, shooting water and spays everywhere.

“Hang on!” Will shouted above the roar of the sea. “It’s made a giant wave! It’ll turn us over if where not careful! Lean to the left everyone!” Just as Will had foreseen a massive wave rolled up before them, carrying the tiny boat upwards into its gaping jaws.

The wanderer squeezed her eyes closed and held onto the side trying not to be sick. Suddenly she felt something heavy weighing her side down. The wanderer cried out in surprise as she felt herself sliding down toward the low end of the boat. Her companions cried out but their shouts were lost in the roar of water. The wanderer reached to her side trying find what was weighing her down. However, she only found the container where her staff had been attached all morning. She pulled the staff out a bit, but as he fingers touched it pain burned through her fingers. It was hot! Despite the heat she felt cold and foreboding as if something very evil were near trying to rip her apart.

“Wanderer!” Will shouted. “Grab something! You’re falling!” indeed the shock of touching her cold burning staff had distracted her enough to let go of the side of the boat. Frantically she reached out her hands wet and slipping off everything she touched. The wander screamed before tumbling out of the boat and was swallowed by the dark waves. They all cried out screaming her name but the wanderer never resurfaced.  

Down through the water her body fell, as if it were a stone. There was no fighting now. She had tried that. Flailing about, trying not to panic, failing in that, and then… Slowly the panic had ebbed as the wanderer came to realized the water was not her enemy. Instead it held her, caressed her, and rocked her back and forth slowly, slowly…... The wanderer let her conscience drift apart into the vast water and gradually, everything around her faded away into nothingness.  

 

“Breathe child. Breathe.” A voice coaxed her gently. “Breathe.” The blackness cleared sending a shock of light into everything. The Wanderer suddenly felt the panic again as everything within her tightened heaved through her. Arms pulled her into a sitting position and as soon as she was up, the wanderer turned sideways and let the choke of sea water and vomit course out of her onto the ground. She breathed freely now, gasping and pulling in the air greedily.

“Steady now. You’ll be fine.” The voice told her. The first thing she noticed was the beach. It was sandy with trees off to the side with large rocks that rose up out of the sand. The wanderer leaned back against one of these rocks and looked to her left to find the owner of the voice, though she knew already who it was.

“Hello. Welcome to Hailia.” Azrael said. The wanderer didn’t answer at first.

“Y-You are at home here. Aren’t you?” she asked. He laughed softly.

“So you can see that.”

“Oh, that’s right. You rule over Hailia?”

“Yes. This is my home country.” He said.

“You’re home country?” the wanderer asked. “You were born here?” Azrael paused.

 “I’m not sure born is the right word but…When this world was created I awoke to rule over this land, Hailia and instill souls into the inhabitance of all the world. It is in Hailia that the souls of the people are especially strong. Of course,” He sigh, “That hasn’t helped them much I’m afraid.”

“D-Do other… Ones like you rule over the other countries?” the wanderer asked. Azrael paused.

“Yes. But enough of that.” He said. The Wanderer looked at him doubtfully and asked quietly,

“What just happened back there, with the staff?” The Soul of the Planet sighed again and looked away.

“That was… The force behind the Areans. I’m afraid. It manipulated the staff. I-I’m not quite sure how. That staff is a thing of binding made between…,” he paused, “…Between, Betamy and Hailia. Arean forces should not have been able to do anything to it. But again… Our power is failing in this world…” he trailed off looking sadly out into the horizon in the direction of Betamy.

“So, do you think its… Safe to carry?” the wanderer asked.

“… Maybe. That choice is yours. By carrying it, it may mark your location to those who you wish to evade. However, they may be able to see you anyway. Again, the choice is yours. But I doubt it will become dangerous to you again. It would require a great amount of strength to overcome the staff again, even with our power as weak as it is.”

“By saying “our” you mean you and the ruler of Betamy?” the wanderer asked. The Soul of the Planet quietly regarded her for a moment. The wanderer blushed, remembering him saying that mortals were not to know too much about the rulers of this world.

“I’m sorry. Really, I didn’t mean to… um… I don’t need to know that.” The Wanderer stuttered. Azrael smiled reassuringly.

“Its alright. You have a right to be curious. But no, you don’t need to know that just now.” He said. The wanderer nodded, her face still red. The wanderer suddenly jumped and stared at him with wide eyes.

“Hey, where’s Tella and the others?” she asked suddenly filled with dread.

“Their fine. For now. They have landed and are somewhere on the coast. Where they are exactly I do not know.”

“There are Areans around here, aren’t there?” the wanderer asked quietly. Azrael nodded.

“I’m afraid so. They are all around us and very near.” He said. The wanderer was silent for a moment then,

“Well, I have to find the others. Before something terrible happens.”

“Yes. The sooner you are all together the better.” Azrael was about to continue when he jerked his head up staring into the woods behind the wanderer with wide eyes.

“I will talk to you later. I am afraid I have do have the power to protect you, even in my home country. You must run form this place now!” the wanderer jumped to her feet suddenly filled with panic. She sprinted to the nearest clump of trees and did not look back.