They stayed on the boat for longer than anyone had expected, almost two weeks, before finally coming to shore. The ship which picked them all up was only running a skeleton crew and was grateful for the extra hands. At least, that's what Health and Pearl assumed, it was all still a little muddled.
They had both picked up the language surprisingly fast, but they were still missing huge gaps in their knowledge. Partly due to just a lack of time, partly due to the fact they were stuck on a ship, and you could only point at different bits of the boat a certain amount of times before you ran out of bits of the boat to point at.
Health mostly bummed around the deck. They were learning to weave ropes and scrub and wax the deck, but once the captain discovered that she had what they referred to as a "talent", Pearl had been recruited as a fully paid mage.
They had both been surprised when the pay appeared, after that first week, and the explanation for why had gone past them at first, but money was money, and between them they kept busy with little odds and ends. Change wasn't a hugely practical magic, but you could, if you knew what you were doing, use it to break down materials in certain ways. So the ship had set her to work carving game pieces, nudging faded tattoos, and changing little physical features which had shifted over time without access to a Changer.
They already had a Growth mage, so in their spare time, the two of them had been hanging around with Blanketweaving, learning language and playing with magic. They got the impression that he had gone through some sort of formal education for what he did, but the communication barriers were still too high to really get anything across.
-
Sitting on the forecastle one morning, the three of them were playing with some grains of rice Blanketweaving had stolen from the kitchen. He was making them grow very slowly between his fingers, wrapping the shoots around his hand, and Pearl was attempting to copy him, squinting in turn between him and the her own tightly clutched grains.
Health laughed, "Well, if we ever end up back home, at least you'll be appreciated"
She narrowed her eyes at them for a moment, and then went back to glaring at her fingers, "I can kinda see what he's doin, but it doesn'-"
There was a shift in the air, and the grain in her hand suddenly broke down, turning to dust in her fingers. With a sigh she pinched another one out of the bowl, brushing the dirt away. "It doesn' matter so much here."
In front of her, Blanketweaving's grain had sprouted into a full plant and was now starting to bloom. Without pollination it wouldn't be viable, Health mused absentmindedly, but they had heard the adults talk about how a growth mage could…
They shook their head and looked back. The grain Pearl was pinching between her fingers had dried out, even more so than it had been originally, and Blanketweaving was nodding and offering some advice that neither of them could understand.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
The three of them had taken to scrawling pictures in a little tray of damp sand when things got desperate, but it was discarded off to the side for now. Whatever it was he wanted her to do, it wasn't easily communicated by sand drawings.
"Bla bla bla bla" said Blanketweaving, waving his hands about in a way that conveyed nothing, "bla you bla water bla bla"
"Oh!" Pearl exclaimed, "I think I get it"
She paused, triumphant for a moment, and then deflated back to her previous posture.
"But I have no idea how to do it."
She stared at the grain for a moment and then reached for the tray, but Blanketweaving pulled her hand away, and she huffed at him. "I think he's pullin' water out of the air, but I don't know how to do that."
The mage kicked the sand tray a little further along the deck, and she rolled her eyes at him, "using a soil is cheating yeah yeah I get it."
She settled back into a more relaxed pose and tried again.
Health got up and headed towards the rail, leaning against it and looking out along the bowsprit. If they understood it today, the ship would make land tomorrow, and then something would happen, but neither of them were sure what. Without a ship, Southshore and his crew wouldn't be able to get them to the place where they knew somebody who spoke their language, and to get another ship was going to take a while.
The more complicated details went beyond them, and both Health and Pearl had stopped worrying about it. What would happen would happen, and they would just have to go along with it. They had the few coins that Pearl had been paid to help out, but they didn't know the value of those coins and had no way of negotiating for goods. They were two kids lost in a strange land.
As they stared out over the blue sea, Health thought about the genie. Had it sent them both to that island on purpose? Things could have gone much worse if they'd just been thrown into a strange city. As it was, they'd had a relatively gentle time of it.
Plus, it had been kinda fun so far. Health would even miss the sea, but they could come back.
There was an exclamation and laughter from behind them, and they turned to see Pearl, with a tiny rice shoot clutched between her fingers. It was only the tiniest of sprouts, but it was something!
"Good job!" Health exclaimed, leaning back on the rail and laughing at the concentration on her face, as she glared at the tiny shoot.
"Stop laughin' at me this is super hard!" she growled. "I couldn't have done this before whatever Genie did to us!"
Health nodded. Since their experience at the cave, even they could see more than they had used to be able to, although they hadn't tried to do anything with it yet. Whilst Pearl had been able to do magic since before she could talk, Health just didn't have the instinct for it.
And that was ok! Scrubbing the decks and painting the rails was fine by them, if they needed something Changing, they could always ask.
Pearl grunted and shot them a look, before finally allowing herself to break a smile. In her hands, the shoot wilted a little, but it didn't wither up and die, so that was something.
She clambered to her feet, rubbing her bum from sitting on the hard planks all morning. On the other side of her Blanketweaving also got to his feet, looking around. "Something something Sails, something something" he said, and the two of them nodded, as he made his way back towards the centre of the ship. He wasn't the mage in charge, but he could always give the one who was some relief.
Pearl came over to stand beside them, learning her arms and chin on the rail and staring out across the water.
"You think we'll ever go home?" Health asked, and she turned to look up at them.
"Gods I hope not. Bet your dad is pissed."
Health laughed, and they stood together for a time and simply watched the sea.