“What games do you know, Apex?” Korith asked. The tone of her question was mildly exasperated. During the past three days, she had come to understand three main negative traits about the party: Aclysia was dense, Reysha was horny, and Apexus was weird. Korith knew that she was throwing stones in a glass house, but the humanoid slime could be incredibly awkward.
On the first day she had been nice and patient, explaining the rules to even the most common games. She had travelled a fair distance and games varied widely between Leaves. Taking time to teach the rules was just common sense when making new gaming friends. The methodical explanations also helped her distract herself from her desires, which was direly needed when Apexus decided he’d rather stay around without a shirt or when Reysha got very handsy with either of her travelling companions.
Over the course of the second day, she lost a few inhibitions. It was easy to talk to Reysha, a bit too easy even, but with the other two Korith needed to acclimate herself. With a set of games they all liked established, she didn’t have to concentrate on teaching the entire time. That allowed her to take part in the bantering. It started with testing nicknames and reached its peak, at that day, with a couple of ribbing lines thrown in the general mix.
Now on the third day, she was comfortable enough that she was willing to question some of the odder aspects of their behaviour. Korith didn’t usually get to know people that quickly, but the trio was open-minded, its members charismatic, and they spent practically every waking hour together. After two days, they had been talking and playing for almost thirty hours. Korith had family members that she had spent less time with.
Of course, her getting comfortable with them meant that they were getting more comfortable ribbing on her as well. “What games do you not know?” Apexus answered with a question himself, eager to distract from himself.
‘He likes to do that,’ Korith thought, before responding. “Most of them. I like to learn new ones though.” The kobold gathered the dice that were sprawled out over the cloth between them. They had put it out to keep the dice from bouncing around as much and to cover the many small bumps of the floorboards. Carefully, she picked up each die with her claws. She could feel the little depression of the numbers carved into the surface. “Games are a great way to pass the time and get to know people. Which is why I wonder why you don’t seem to know any.”
Apexus shifted around suspiciously, his expression showing thoughtfulness and apology. These and other similar moments occurred quite regularly. They were weird and they helped Korith to see more than the incredibly handsome hunk of a male. She could actually see the person. It helped push down most of the immediate sexual attraction. A feeling of attachment took its place though.
“I didn’t grow up around people,” the humanoid slime said, “and I haven’t had time for games since.” That was about as close to the truth as he could reveal.
“That sounds horrible,” Korith answered with sincere sorrow in her voice. The steady sound of rain underlining the dice bouncing on the blanket.
“Eh, it balances out with the copious amounts of sex we’re having,” Reysha causally added, only to click her tongue at the settled dice. “Can you stop rolling double pairs?”
“Hoard blesses me with great luck,” the kobold said and pulled several silver coins over to her side. They hadn’t actually bet them, they were just using them as tokens to count the victory points.
“Was it great luck when you decided to go voyeur on us?” Aclysia wanted to know.
A day ago, a small incident had occurred when the trio had been doing their thing. As Reysha had announced, she had put a sock on the door and most people decided to just respect that. Korith had been too curious and conveniently forgotten what the sock was supposed to mean. She had walked in and witnessed the two women on their knees, working a truly sizable manhood with their mouths. Had she found any privacy after staring for a solid few seconds, she would have masturbated.
“An unlucky accident,” Korith insisted, even if everyone knew it wasn’t the truth.
“Could have stayed,” Reysha said. “We wouldn’t have minded.”
“You do not speak for us all,” Aclysia protested.
“I wouldn’t care,” Apexus said.
“And that makes two, so ‘we’ is technically correct, so I’m the best kind of correct,” Reysha declared victoriously, before throwing the dice. “Oh come on, three ones and a four? What’s that…” The boat suddenly and powerfully shook, interrupting Reysha and rearranging the dice into four sixes. “Does that count?”
“It may be wise to postpone the resolution of this game,” Aclysia remarked, the sound of rain audibly swelling when the rest of their fellow passengers came into the chamber. They were drenched, but that was hardly unusual. Rain had been a frequent companion these fast few days. What was different was that Joey entered the chamber with the passengers.
“Alright, so we are heading into a storm,” he told everyone. “Wind is pulling us straight in and no amount of rowing could save us, so the best we can do is head through. Good news for all of you is that I know what I’m doing and as long as you stay in here, you won’t have any issues. Seasickness aside, that is.”
“Need any help?” Korith asked immediately, storing the things they needed to play in her adventurer’s bag. If she couldn’t throw dice, she might as well make herself useful in other ways. “I hate just sitting around.”
“We want to arrive safely, so we’d also help,” Apexus said.
“No,” Joey said and looked over the four. “Actually, maybe, if you’re offering. You two are strength Classes, right?”
“Yes,” Korith answered swiftly.
“Yes,” Apexus said, since that was close enough.
“Fantastic, but you are aware that a ten-metre-high wave may break over the deck and wash you away?” the captain asked. “Ironically, more of a problem for you, big guy. Korith here is small and heavy. You have way too much surface area.”
“I will be fine,” Apexus responded. Even if he did get pushed off, only sea monsters and disorientation would threaten him.
“Anything for us to do?” Reysha asked.
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“What can you do?”
“I can stab people.”
“Not remotely useful, best use I’d have for you is another link in the bucket chain, if we need that.” Reysha showed an excited grin, but Joey got ahead of her joke. “Yeah, I’ve had multiple complaints about how much you enjoy being a loud cumbucket, but I think your boyfriend there would have an issue if you offered that kind of help for my crew.”
Apexus only let that pass because he knew Reysha would have said that if Joey didn’t. What he had learned about the captain and the tiger girl the last few days was that they had a very similar sense of humour. The difference between them was that Reysha cackled madly, while Joey kept cursing everything in existence.
“What can you do? Heal?” Joey inferred by the rest of the group dynamic. There was practically no party without a healer. Aclysia nodded and he continued his question. “What are you? Because I could use a Druid or a Shaman right now.”
“A Priest,” Aclysia told him, her expression turning slightly sad when the captain clicked his tongue with disappointment. “What’s wrong with a Priest.”
“You don’t have stamina recovery spells, that’s what’s wrong. All you do is heal and wounds aren’t exactly my worry right now. What kind of Priest?” Joey continued his questioning unabated.
“A Priest of Hashahin.”
“Hashahin… he’s a summer god, right?”
“He’s the last summer god of the 33 ori-“
“Alright, I have no time for sermons. You can crawl under deck with Lethen and help him melt the tar, in case we get leaks anywhere. If you want to do something, you can do that.” Joey said and turned around, heading back out into the rain.
“Alright, everyone, gimme your stuff,” Reysha said, before anyone else could leave. “Might as well sit on everything that’s loose while you’re doing whatever the jackass wants you to do.” Apexus and Aclysia took off their adventurer’s bags, while Korith headed over to her chest. She stopped when Reysha grabbed her by the tail. “Oy, squishy, gimme your stuff.”
“I, uhm, thought you meant your party members.”
“I also meant you. Come on, I’ll guard the things,” Reysha showed a wide grin. “They’ll be safer if my cute ass sits on them.”
“T-thank you,” Korith said and presented her adventurer’s bag to the Rogue. Everything she owed was in there, most importantly her purse. “Hoard won’t like it if I lose my money, so please…”
“I’ll take care of it,” Reysha assured, weighing the bag in her hand before tossing it to the rest in the chest the trio had been using. The lid was shut and the iron frame that kept the chest in place creaked softly when the weight of the chest was tilted along the ship. “Only took me four days to get your stuff,” she joked.
“Please give it back after we make it through the storm?” Korith asked.
“All promises,” the redhead winked, then gestured for them to go. “Have fun – but not too much fun!”
“I couldn’t have too much fun without you,” Apexus reciprocated the joke and left his second lover giggling, while he led the rest of the group out on the deck. They closed the door firmly behind them.
The weather wasn’t too bad yet. The steady pour and howling wind were both only so strong that one would rather huddle up with a hot tea. Nobody would fear that their roof would blow off – yet. Every second pushed them further towards a grey wall in the distance, rain so thick that it was difficult to see more than fifty metres out.
What they could see was equally awe-inspiring and terrifying. The ship was currently ascending a mountain of water. A wave higher than the ship, only failing to bury them under it because it was so wide across the base that the buoyancy of the vessel let them rise up alongside it. In a storm, there was more to fear than just a tall wave.
It was descending those waves.
They reached the highest point of the mountain. It was difficult to measure how fast they were going while the ship was in motion. When the majority of the ship shot out of the water for a solid four seconds, they got an idea about the forces involved. They only accelerated further, after the hull slammed back down into the surface, battering the wood. Now in front of the wave, they were pushed not only by wind but also by water.
That was the calmest part of the rhythm they would go through for the coming hours. “LIGHTWEIGHT, UNDER DECK!” Joey screamed over the wind, the rain, and the rushing ocean. His hand pointed at the door that led to the stairs. Aclysia hastily obeyed. If the wind picked up any further, it whisking her away was a genuine threat. “YOU TWO, GET TO THE ROPES!”
Apexus and Korith separated, each of them heading to one flank of the ship, where clusters of sailors were clinging onto ropes that had been attached to the corners of the fully stretched sail. The wind was strong enough that the regular knot that kept the sail in place may have come undone at any moment. If that happened, they had to keep the sail steady by hand until someone managed to fix the situation. Otherwise, they ran the risk that the wildly flailing, wet sail may have wrapped around itself, making it unusable for the remainder of the storm and leaving them completely at the mercy of the waves. If they ever became slower than the waves, one of them would inevitably collapse over them.
They joined in the general holding efforts. Right now, everything was fine. They just needed to stand there, in the whipping downpour, ready for the worst. Rushing adrenaline prevented them from being bored with their stationary situation, which was a blessing.
The additional advantage of the rope was that they had something to hold onto when they hit the valley between two waves. The front of the ship was dangerously low in the water. Sent up high, scattering drops rained down on the quaking deck. The nervous moment passed, and they were back up in the ascend.
Ten minutes passed, then an hour, then two. Wind and rain grew worse, the waves taller, and still they stood. The entire deck was drenched, doubtlessly there was water in the hull too, but so far the construction of the ship coped with what made it through the planks.
Then it finally happened.
One of the knots on Apexus’ side snapped. All three adult men and the humanoid slime were pulled forwards by ludicrous force. Upping his body temperature as much as he dared without being suspicious, Apexus pulled for more than two of them. His heel pressed against the elevation in the wood that existed only so people had footing in this situation.
Two more sailors, having stood at the ready where the rain wasn’t quite as punishing, hastened over. With six pairs of hands, they managed to keep the sail steady, while the captain himself rushed to the loose end of the rope. It had been secured to a part of the railing, which allowed re-knotting without scaling the mast. Cursing continuously, the captain handled the wet rope with cold hands. The knot he had to make was complicated. It had to be sturdy, because the majority of the pressure had to be on the knot itself. If the post it was tied to broke, they only had a few alternatives. Simultaneously, the knot had to be weaker than those securing the sail to the top of the mast. If the wind tore that first, they were doomed from the start.
Joey was almost done when they hit a new wave, harder than ever before. Several thousand litres of saltwater rushed around everyone on deck. For a moment it felt like they had instantly sunk. Then the front of the ship rose far up the surface, reducing and then shielding them from the stream that broke around the hull.
“FUCK,” someone screamed on the other side of the ship. Apexus only had to take one glance to see what was happening. The rope on the other side had also loosened, just as one of the people on that side had lost their footing and almost been washed overboard. The sailor held onto the railing for dear life, just like Korith was holding onto the rope. Using a spell called Steadfast, she could lock herself in her current position with a supernatural level of footing.
“KNOT DONE!” Joey shouted. “BIG GUY, GO!”
The captain knew what that tone of curse meant during the storm and he also knew who had the longest legs around. The humanoid slime knew that he had two jobs to do and that one was a lot more important than the other. Rushing over to the other side, the slime reached the railing just before the sailor lost his grip on the slippery wood. With no regard for gentleness, Apexus grabbed the sailor by the collar and threw them back on board. They hit the planks in a painful but very much alive fashion. Then Apexus turned straight to the second rope and helped there too.
Everyone gritted their teeth and weathered the storm for the hours to come.