Silverstream says "What are we supposed to do with them?"

"Learn from them. That is if they want to live."

When I turn to look at the sailors I find they are all staring at me as if I am the devil himself. When I ask again if they want to live I get a few scared nods from the sailors. I highly doubt that they are going to give us any trouble, but I decide to lay things out.

"If you teach the elves to be sailors, then I will let you live. If you don't teach us or try to escape, then I will eat you just like the others!"

This gets me a bunch of terrified responses, including promises and oaths that I don't believe. At my nod the elven warriors take the sailors over to the elves currently working on the sails. We will just have to wait and see how things go, but Silverstream doesn't leave.

"Is there something else?"

Silverstream says "Yes. The humans didn't have much fresh water on the ship, and whatever this food of theirs is it is inedible. If this trip takes more than a day we are going to be in trouble."

"Here, take this."

Silverstream says "One waterskin isn't going to do much."

"This one will, it never runs out."

Silverstream says "Magic? Yeah, that will help!"

"As for food, I can provide that too. Just send everyone down to the galley in groups."

By the time I am done feeding the last group of elves the sun is setting. When I head up on deck I am happy to see that we are now under full sail. It would seem that taking the sailors prisoner was a good idea and will save me a lot of trouble.

It is just too bad that I couldn't take the human from the shipyard prisoner as well. I could have learned a lot from just an hour or two of questioning him. However, saving the elves was more important, so I don't really regret it.

I still learned a bit from the shipyard and am more confident about building my ship. The main problems that I ran into in the soulscape are most likely just in the soulscape. I don't have enough information to create an accurate copy in the soulscape.

Mainly, the tree, I don't know enough about what it is going to be like once I shape it. The density of the wood and its weight are things I don't know but will make a huge difference. I can't learn that information until I actually start building the ship.

As the sun fully sets I watch the elves as they climb up and partially lower the sails. This is under the direction of the prisoners who say sailing at night is dangerous. Considering the elves have decent night vision that probably isn't as true for them, but I don't interfere.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

As I am watching I notice that most of the elves are looking at me differently. They aren't hostile, but they obviously don't see me as one of them anymore. I'm guessing Silverstream spread the word about me so I go looking for her.

"Everyone has eaten. Any other problems I should know about?"

Silverstream says "No. No other problems so far."

"That's good. If things go well we should reach the other elves tomorrow afternoon."

Silverstream says "About that. Do they know you aren't an elf?"

"Yeah, they do. I only came up with the idea of turning into an elf when I was planning the rescue."

Silverstream says "Oh! Alright."

"Why? Was there a problem when you were telling the others that I am not an elf?"

Silverstream says "Not a problem, no. There are a lot of unanswered questions though."

"Such as?"

Silverstream says "Probably the most common question, what do you look like?"

"I'll show you."

Just as I am about to drop shapeshift, I notice that every elf within earshot has turned to watch. It would seem that Silverstream wasn't kidding about the amount of interest. So under all the watchful eyes I release shapeshift and return to normal.

Silverstream takes half a step back and then just stares at me with wide eyes. The other elves nearby have similar reactions, which makes me smile. No matter how many times it happens, shocking people never gets boring.

"Is this what you were expecting?"

Silverstream says "No! Not even close!"

Her response makes me laugh and I decide to give her a minute to collect herself. Soon every elf on the ship is on deck looking at me and there is a lot of whispering going on. Yet it doesn't bother me, in fact I feel great, it is a good feeling to be back in my own skin.

Silverstream says "Is this the real you?"

"Yes, this is my true appearance."

Silverstream says "I've never seen anything like you! How did you come to our island?"

"I came through the same portal that your ancestors used."

Silverstream says "Okay, then why did you come here?"

"Uh, curiosity?"

Silverstream says "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, I found the ancient gate and I was curious where it went."

Silverstream says "You went through the gate because you were curious? Without any idea where it went? You do know it could have just killed you right?"

"Now you are starting to sound like Myria."

Silverstream says "Who is Myria?"

"One of my companions. She said some of the same things when I told her I planned to go through the gate."

Silverstream says "She sounds like a smart woman!"

"It figures you would say that! Remind me to make sure you never meet her! One at a time is bad enough!"

Silverstream says "Oh, now I have to meet her!"

"Yeah, not going to happen!"

Silverstream says "Wait, aren't you planning to take all of us back to where you came from?"

"Yeah, that's the plan."

Silverstream says "Then surely I will be able to meet her!"

"Uh, I didn't think of that. Maybe I should just throw you overboard!"

Silverstream says "You can't do that! Not after all the trouble you went through to rescue me!"

"Yeah, I guess you have a point."

Silverstream takes her win and runs off, leaving me in charge of the ship for the night shift. As she leaves she sends the majority of the elves off to rest as well. Once things have quieted down I call one of the human sailors over and start questioning him.

Not only do I want to learn about sails and how to set them, but I also want to know about the humans. Mainly I want to know what kind of dangers I am going to face sailing around the continent. While it would be nice if the humans left us alone, I doubt it will be that easy.