D’Argen slid to a stop quite far from where he thought he would encounter mortals, yet he still startled a group of them with his sudden appearance. He was only glad that they had not stood in his way at all for him to try and dodge at the last possible second.
“Carry on, carry on.” He waved the group away as he dusted himself off, his feet stuck to mid-calf in the soft ground from where he stopped himself so suddenly.
The group continued without another word and only when they turned away did D’Argen take a moment to look around him. The shores of the northern ocean were within sight, a short walk down the hill. Or, it would have been, if the hill was not absolutely crowded. The forest behind him was mostly cut down, there were log cabins scattered throughout, a giant building with a slanted roof that had half its walls in the water, and so many people that it would be impossible for D’Argen to run the distance without harming anyone.
Fortunately, unlike the crowd at the conference, all of the mortals here were professionals who were taking care of their work. They lifted their chins, and greeted him with a wave, but did not otherwise stand in his way or rush to him or pay him any more attention than anybody else walking the area.
Just as his feet touched the sand, he saw Nocipel. The God of Water had their hair loose in straight lines with a single braid pushed back behind their ear. When they turned to look at D’Argen, their lips and eyes were painted in soft blues and greens and there was a bright blush on their pale cheeks. When Nocipel smiled at him, her blush brightened even more.
“So early, we still have a few days,” Nocipel said in greeting.
“I was sent ahead. The others are due to arrive within the next week or two.”
“Ah. Well, I do not know why you came so early, there is not much left to do.” Nocipel turned on the spot, her arms coming out to motion at the cabins and the people milling about.
“I didn’t know there was a village here,” D’Argen said.
“Well, there was not. Not until we started this project. In fact, I originally thought we would take down all constructs to help with this project, but some of the workers brought their families along and… well… you know how some mortals are.”
“I do,” D’Argen confirmed even though he was not exactly sure what Nocipel meant by that. “Almost done, you said?”
“Ah yes! Come, come. Let me show you.” Nocipel came to his side and wrapped both arms around his one, tugging it to her chest and then tugging him along towards the shore and largest building. “You know, this is a big risk, but if this construction works, I have the feeling our little worker village may become a very big city soon.”
D’Argen hummed in agreement but kept his head on a swivel, not really listening to Nocipel and instead looking at the crowd around him. There were piles of logs, not far from trees that had been cut down and not yet treated, but closer to those already turned into long planks. There were still people working on those, shaping the trees to match their needs. If the original construction was almost done, then having the extra planks made no sense.
Not unless, as Nocipel predicted, they remained and continued construction.
Nocipel pulled him through a pair of huge sliding doors into the large building. The first thing D’Argen noticed was that there was no floor, his mahee automatically searching for something harder than the wet sand he had been walking through. Only after that revelation did D’Argen’s eyes focus and reveal the monstrosity before him.
“It is called a ship,” Nocipel explained from beside him.
It was huge. Bigger than any water vessel D’Argen had ever seen before. It was similar to the straw canoes used on the lakes in its shape, but it was a good ten times longer. There was no covered structure in the middle as was common in the pavilion boats, and instead, there was a tall mast in the middle with multiple ropes connecting it to the hull. On that mast hung a large square sail that was currently being hoisted up using some of the ropes.
What surprised D’Argen the most about it though was the railing. It was so low that it barely reached his knees when he finally jumped on the deck.
“We are going to drown,” he announced proudly to no one at all and nodded to himself. A chuckle from the side made him look to where Nocipel had a hand up to cover her mouth. “Do you really hate me so much?”
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“Trust me. It will be the fastest ship you have ever been on,” the other replied, still keeping her mouth hidden behind her sleeve.
“I don’t doubt its speed, what I doubt is its ability to keep us above the water.”
“We do not have to worry about keeping it above the water. It is the ice that we are more concerned with.”
“Well… we have to get to the ice first, don’t we? I mean, will this thing even float?” D’Argen asked and then spread his legs, shifting his weight from foot to foot in an attempt to rock the vessel.
Nocipel threw him a glare from the ground. The ship did not rock at all.
“And we’re supposed to be on this thing for days? Weeks maybe? Where are we going to sleep?” D’Argen dropped to his knees beside the railing and leaned over, hanging upside down to look at the bottom of the ship. The support struts that kept it from rocking looked like they were really close to the deck he was kneeling on. The centre of the boat—ship—looked deeper than the rest, but that looked uncomfortable. D’Argen straightened, looked behind him, and looked for latches that would lead to that hollow space.
“We will be sleeping on the deck,” Nocipel answered him but he ignored her.
There were three mortals workers on the deck with him, hammering in short posts near the mast. Finally, something D’Argen recognized. The frame for the tent went up quickly and then the cloth covered it. Barely four people would be able to lie down in it though it was tall enough for D’Argen to walk in without ducking his head.
When he stepped back out, Nocipel was standing on the wooden deck, looking at him with narrowed eyes and a frown on her painted lips.
“Thank you,” she said to one of the mortals who had presumably helped her get up there. “Look, I understand that you are wary of this, but there have been many tests and equations and trial runs. The ship will float. It will hold fifty of us. It will not be the most comfortable of travels, but it will get us there.”
“Will it?” D’Argen asked and started pushing against the mast, hoping it would wobble under his strength if only for him to have something to complain about. When it refused to budge, he frowned at it. A look down revealed Nocipel and the mortals all glaring at him. “I mean, is there really land out there?” D’Argen asked, trying to cover up his mistrust.
Nocipel nodded then turned to face the north. D’Argen finally turned as well. The tip of the ship was pointing right towards the open waters, the building missing an entire wall. D’Argen walked to the bow of the ship where there was a small flat block, just large enough for him to sit on and dangle his feet. He wondered at the strange spot and instead of sitting on it, he hung over the edge of the railing again. The support struts that held the ship stable and in place also held it at least two hand spans over the sand. And over the large wooden beams that came from the sand and tipped into the water. A slide, for the ship to get off the land and to where it was meant to be.
“D’Argen,” Nocipel’s voice had him flipping back up to look at her. “Look. I know the prospect of a new land excites you and yes, there is a possibility that there would be no new land to see. But for me, it is the prospect of new waters. It is the idea that there is something new out there, even if only frozen ice.”
“Ah yes, your blood snow,” D’Argen confirmed with a smile. “Vah’mor told me all about it.”
Nocipel nodded slowly. One of the mortals came up to her with a wooden tablet. Nocipel read something on it, nodded, then the mortal walked away.
D’Argen winced and finally realized how ungrateful he must have seemed with all his testing and complaining. “What is there left to do?”
“On the ship? Not much. In the village? While there is plenty of lumber and fish, the cabins were hastily put up to deal with the winter storms. Now, with summer coming, they would be uncomfortable for most inhabitants. We are re-building some of them.”
D’Argen nodded. “What can I do to help?”
“There is a woman by the name of Vesta in the village on the cliffs. She decided against moving here for the season. Her talents are very well known though. We have hired her services to decorate the ship. She said it would take four days, five at most, which should be just enough time for her to finish the carvings and any paintings to dry. It should also coincide with the first of our party’s arrival.”
D’Argen groaned and dropped to sit on the deck. The ship did not even bother to groan under him and D’Argen was not sure if he was impressed or peeved.
“If you can collect her and all of her supplies, it would be much appreciated.”
“Now?”
Nocipel looked around her as if searching for something. “Tomorrow,” she answered finally as if the answer had been inscribed in the air for her. “If you want a task for today, Halen is in the village somewhere.” She used her chin to direct D’Argen’s gaze back out the huge sliding doors. “He may need your help with some final checks and assurances before we are truly ready to leave.”
“Is Halen coming with us?” D’Argen asked, unsure and the first he had heard of it.
“No. He was here for the construction and testing only. Not many Never Born volunteered for his.”
“Not many? There’s more than half a dozen coming from Evadia alone!”
“And not from anywhere else,” Nocipel confirmed with a shrug.
D’Argen felt something inside him twinge at that. He remembered back when they all wanted to go and argued for the honour of being the first to be somewhere new. Now, Acela was too busy with alliances to even come to see them off. D’Argen was not sure if there would be ten of them in total going on this trip.
“Anything else?” He asked.
Nocipel shook her head and walked away. D’Argen tried to rock the ship once more, without anyone looking, and when that failed, he jumped off and went towards the log cabins to look for Halen.