They could see no land. They could see no clouds. In every direction the world consisted only of an endless azure horizon which was distinguished only by the sea and sky gleaming slightly different blues. The sun beat down on the ship much more aggressively than any swell had thus far.
Heat and humidity sweltered throughout the ship. The crew had set up large canvas tarps to help shield the passengers. The inside of the ship was cool in the cargo area, but grew uncomfortably hot in the bunk area Amethyst had been staying in. Though the deck was crowded under the shade, there was plenty of free space if one wished to stand under the thirsty sun.
Amethyst stood towards the center of the ship. She gripped tightly to the worn wooden railing. She had first observed its chipped, gouged surface which had been sanded slightly to avoid some splintering before letting her hand take hold. She was rubbing the wood absentmindedly searching for any hints of life out in the endless blue. But this desert hid its jeweled life away from the surface deep below where no mortal eye could see..
Sea water sprayed occasionally against her skin, in the moment it felt nice to have a reprieve from the sun, but she quickly realized that the sun hadn't just sucked away the water on her, but in her too. The exposed skin had grown ashy as salt stole away any moisture, it's offering to the sun for allowing it to remain behind.
Amethyst loved the feeling of the wind blowing against her too, but the itching and burning drove her away from the edge and back to the shaded section of the ship. Her group had spread itself amongst the crew who were waiting out the hottest part of the day in relative comfort. Among them, Bontu and Nuru seemed to be engaged in a deep conversation, oblivious to everyone around them. Wa Chini and Garba, although spouting the desire to stay away from each other, sat nearly back to back, their arms crossed and making quiet rumbling noises.
Busara had found a secluded hideaway where he could look out at the water. He did so unceasingly, longing to know where his son had gone. Where he could be. Amethyst stopped next to him, and placed a gentle hand on his tense shoulder. Busara was unsurprised and continued to look off into the vast emptiness before him. His lack of reaction was an answer to all the conversation they could have had in that moment. Amethyst stood there for a few minutes, the unspoken meaning her hand being conveyed, she let them drift along wordlessly. Busara, as lost as he was, let his hand raise across his chest to meet Amethyst’s. For a moment the two hands lingered, before he let his float back down to his waiting hand, where they gripped firmly together.
Amethyst let her hand fall as well as she took her leave. Letting the old man remain in his trance. She looked around and saw Stochastís leaning in a corner against the lower deck entrance. He had a rag over his head and was hugging his knees and muttering to himself. Amethyst sat beside him. Not close enough for the two to be touching, but not so far that physical comfort couldn't be offered. Stochastís had not noticed her presence. Amethyst knew that, like Busara, Stochastís could become lost in his own world.
So Amethyst sat, looking amongst the crew and her friends. They had finally done it. They had escaped from the world before and made their way towards a more hopeful place. She watched everyone lost in their own worlds. Bontu and Nuru smiling widely, laughing together. Nuru's hand placed on Bontu's knee, his hand placed on her shoulder as he recounted some of the many adventures he had taken.
She watched as the cats eventually let their backs touch. Their flicking ears and half glances around matched the thumping of their tails, as they too were seemingly engaged in a conversation all their own. Neither speaking, nor looking directly behind them as they slowly established some level of trust. She could tell in Wa Chini's eyes each time he looked at Garba in the previous days they had shared a deep wound which had never had any chance but to fester.
She watched Busara, who had not moved from his place, but he let his hands hold him up as he leaned back looking out. She wished that she could help as some of her friends suffered through their challenges. To help Busara find his son. To help Wa Chini and Garba mend the fabric of their torn friendship.
She also wished to celebrate with everyone as well. They had found Ebba and that should have been a cause for joy Amethyst thought. Yet that moment had passed in the exhausted days of sleepless nights and busy time that had followed. Their hurried escape from Ashara as soon as they were permitted was a blessing and a curse. They had been on a journey for so long already and it felt like there was no time to rest. But if revenge were to come from the crumbled remains of the defunct Serpent Guard, all their hard work would be for nothing.
Amethyst lost herself, like the others in her own head. Pondering over the what ifs. What if the Serpent Guard followed after, would their grudge be so great? What if Uongo was not actually dead, or Katili? What if Hofu blamed her for the needless deaths of hundreds of people and sent someone after them? What if the bodies in the Aqueducts followed her for the rest of her life? Though rationally she knew it would be unlikely that these scenarios would come to pass, her mind worried over them as if they really could happen.
Amethyst hadn't noticed that Stochastís had left his trance and was now observing her. Stochastís's hand reached out, squeezing lightly on Amethyst's arm. Amethyst didn't jump. Some part of her must have noticed his movement, or at the least expected it.
She met his eyes. They were red, with shallow bags highlighting his thick moist lashes. "Stochastís?" She inquired. "What is troubling you so?"
He shook his head as his free hand wiped his face. In his attempt to hide away the evidence of his tears, instead they streaked across the thin layer of salt, wearing trails which quickly dried, but remained in sharp contrast to the rest of his skin. "Nothing to complain about."
Amethyst smiled at him, holding back her quiet amusement. "You do not need to complain, but you can tell me about it."
"I am simply nervous and excited to return home." Stochastís had a forced smile as he continued in a whisper. "There are people I have been away from for a while, and I fear they have moved on."
Amethyst cocked her head. "Why are you afraid of that?" Amethyst turned herself to face him. She let her head rest in her hands.
"I was receiving consistent communication from them both until about two months before you arrived." Stochastís had a defeated look, as he gripped his knees tighter. "I checked with every courier and post service. None had received any letters for me."
"Could they have been destroyed when you fell into hiding?"
"Maybe." Stochastís said as he shifted into a more neutral position mirroring Amethyst. "It's not like them to stop. Sophia has sent me a letter a week up to that point." His head sagged. "And Mágissa had attached a letter along with hers. now both have stopped entirely."
Amethyst nodded in understanding. She considered the issue carefully. She was not like Stochastís when it came to thinking. Though her mind toiled for an answer, no answer she came up with offered hope. So she shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. "I am sure they have a reason, and I am positive they wouldn't just move on from you."
Stochastís nodded his head. "I hope you are right."
The two sat in silence. Amethyst tried to understand his predicament. Though it seemed trivial on the surface that a couple of girls were not writing him any more, he was more than a little shaken. She had heard him mention them both before, that they were two of his best friends. It didn't make sense that they both stopped writing to him at the same time unless something happened. Amethyst let her mind wander about the meadows of her imagination once more.
§
The journey across the water had reached its midpoint. Amethyst felt like a prisoner with a view. She had loved the water at first, but its expanse seemed never ending. She had seen no sign of passing ships, nor of any land. To her untrained eye, they had not moved in over a week. Bontu had assured her that not only were they moving, but that they were making fantastic time with a very good wind. According to him, they had traveled more than half the distance already. She trusted him, but still felt uneasy.
Ebba and Tenya had been running themselves ragged. Up until this point, Ebba had only seen the inside of a cage as they traveled just as Amethyst had. Unlike Amethyst, however, Ebba was filled with wonder each time she looked out to sea. But that only remained the case until clouds would roll across the sky. She would shake and hide around the ship, making it difficult for Tenya and Amethysts to find her.
When the day was clear, Ebba would run about the ship like a fleeing mouse. She had taken to several members of the crew. She insisted on learning all she could about the ship. They saw her as a nuisance at first, but after a week, she had learned all the duties required of a "cabin boy." She laughed when they called her that. She could be seen with different men learning knots and all the different parts of the ship. She was eager to devour any knowledge the crew shared.
Amethyst sat, watching in amusement as Ebba ran mock drills with an equally amused crew. Tenya was gripping Amethyst's hand tightly, she flinched each time Ebba would lose her balance, or when her foot would slip as she climbed the rigging. Amethyst had no problem with this arrangement, though at times, she too would jump in fright.
"She is like a little monkey." Amethyst said with a smile.
"She has always been like this." Tenya sighed. "She has always pushed the limits of what she is allowed to do." Tenya paused. Her mouth opened, but words became trapped. She let out a chuckle as she found a way to continue. "Sven, He was always like this crew." She shook her head as she recounted memories. "He always encouraged her to learn. Pushed her to do better, and was always there to take the fall if things got out of hand."
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"He was a great boy… and she is clearly a great girl." Amethyst said, squeezing Tenya's hand gently.
"Wilhelm… took more after his father… though by no fault of his own." Her tone soured. "Sorry, it sounds like I don't love Wilhelm. Nothing could be further from the truth. He... he is a very good boy, but his father has taken on his tutelage… personally."
"Well it definitely seems like you don't like your husband." Amethyst's smile had faded away.
Tenya let go of Amethyst's hand and scooched away slightly as she cleared her throat. "Solveig." She spat. "He is a great leader and a fantastic politician. He deserves that credit." She looked down to her hands, flipping them so she could observe both sides before balling them into fists. She slammed her left fist onto the deck of the ship which she was sitting upon. "But he is a lacking father, Absent except for Wilhelm. He is also just as terrible a husband."
Amethyst scooted closer, closing the gap that Tenya had created. "Well, in spite of him, It looks as though Sven and Ebba had turned out fantastically."
Tenya leaned onto Amethyst's shoulder. "Yeah... well, in spite of both of us."
Ebba was still high above the two women. She was next to a man who was on look out. Amethyst could see that he was sitting up on the side of the nest, laughing while Ebba was overly animated. Amethyst thought she looked like Stochastís when he told a story. She could tell Ebba would be a great woman if they continued to feed her ever shifting passions.
There were a few large puffy clouds sailing across the inverted sea above them. The women spent the afternoon pointing out the shapes they saw and made up stories, giving each new image a voice and playing out scenarios of how they became clouds. The crew would pass by carefully so as to not interrupt them.
§
While Amethyst and Tenya grew closer, other members of her group were doing the same thing. Wa Chini and Garba, though certainly not friendly with each other, were locked in a different kind of fight. They couldn't use their claws, so they created competitions to substitute their battles. First it was a race. The two came together wordlessly. They knew the other's intent. Their years apart hadn't dulled the bond they had shared. The look in each other’s eyes told enough. So off they ran, leaping over boxes, dodging crew members as they rushed to the back side of the ship, slamming against the captain's cabin only to turn around quickly back to the front where they had started.
They engaged in other physical games as well. Pushups, sit-ups, and squats. Each having their own victories, always even in the running point tally. After they had exhausted themselves physically, they would turn to card or board games. Each fighting for their dominance over the other while keeping their promises to not fight anymore.
In their hearts, the bond they built in those deep caverns under the Savannah hadn't diminished. They had found each other again. Their friendship, although different, remained waiting to be rekindled.
§
Nuru and Bontu had been engaged in conversation nearly nonstop. Each morning they sat together with breakfast and would rarely part for long until they said good night to each other. Nuru was terrified, she had trusted men before only to be sold off by the one who she considered father. Men mutilated and defiled her innocence when they were meant to protect her. She could scarcely be blamed for keeping a watchful eye. But Bontu was so easy to talk to. He laughed and made her laugh too.
She would lose track of time with him so easily. He made her feel safe and that scared her. But she couldn't help but to follow her desire. She hadn't meant to at first and now she didn't want to stop. So she stayed by his side entranced in his stories of the greater world. His trips to the far east and the people he had met there. He spoke of the trinkets he had traded and the many fun adventures he had.
Bontu Had met many different people. Though he had found easy conversation with them, this was different. He felt his heart bubble when he looked at her. When his eyes met hers, the way they glinted brightly roped him in tighter. He could feel them growing closer as he told her things he had never told anyone. He shared his most intimate details. The tragedies he had faced and the mistakes he had made. All the while, she would look at him warmly, slowly healing all the hurt parts of his fractured soul.
He had heard tales of love from old sailors and lonely travelers who had mourned their choices. They followed their business over their hearts desire. He would heed their words, leaving nothing to chance. So he engaged with Nuru as frequently as he could. Each time doing so, he knew better that he had fallen in love.
So Bontu and Nuru spent the days on board the ship learning each other. They grew closer late into the night when all others had already retired to their beds. And before any would wake, they found each other again in quiet embrace just as the sun rose to greet them warmly.
§
Busara couldn't let his mind rest. He had been so focused on getting Ebba, he hadn't realized that he had used her as a surrogate for his lost son. Though the man was grown and had likely forgotten about his father, Busara needed to know that he was alive and happy.
Looking out to sea, he wondered if this had been the same path that Jooruu had taken on his voyage north, or if he had gone some other direction. Busara feared that he may not have even reached the shores. Pirates and creeping monsters in the depths proved to be the downfall of even the greatest naval fleets. At least that is what he had heard in Ashara as he had inquired about his son to strangers.
He hadn't told anyone yet, but he had heard from a traveling merchant he knew long before he was defeated and captured in battle. The merchant had in fact seen Jooruu many years prior. "He looked defeated. Lost. His head hung low and he was nervous. I remember him well, as even though he looked to be on the run, he took time for pleasantries in our conversations. He was polite and recalled my visits to your village even though he was just a child at the time."
Busara was thrilled to hear he was alive, but the man's continued words scared him.
"He had plans to travel north, far north. Beyond the land of olives and wine. He heard tale of giants that roam a land of Ice. He sought to slay one, or at least that was the aura he evoked as we spoke."
Busara had pondered deeply on the perspective his old acquaintance had given him. He had hardly noticed the attempts of comfort Amethyst and the others had given him, speaking only briefly with Stochastís. Busara prayed that his son would have had a safe journey, that he had given up on the foolish attempt to slay a giant in a distant land of myth. But he prayed most importantly, that wherever his son may be, that he was happy.
§
"What is the difference between a thinker and a doer? One moment."
The words of Sophia were stuck in Stochastís's mind. What had happened to Sophia. Had she really moved on from him, had there been an accident? Why had his family not sent a letter in her stead? Stochastís had thoughts of increasingly awful scenarios festering. Perhaps she was kidnapped, and is being held for ransom? He knew that it was unlikely.
What about Mágissa? There was no reason she too would have stopped sending letters unless something happened to her as well. But she was the Oracle. Closest thing to a god on earth. She interpreted the future and advised the leaders of Melydaesos. There was no way that news of her passing wouldn't rock Ashara as much as Melydaesos.
Maybe the two of them realized they were actually in love. They always did have a somewhat flirty relationship. What if they had grown closer in his absence? Even if that were the case, they would have told him about it.
He was lost, and no advice he received helped. Nervously he would go around the ship trying to distract himself. Help came from the most unlikely source, Ebba. As though she had been witness to the last conversation he had with Sophia, she told him, "If you love her and she loves you, she will still be there waiting for you to return to her, until she dies."
Stochastís felt an immense relief. It was as though she were speaking the words of Mágissa. After all, Mágissa didn't predict death. The voyage was more than half over, but he leaned back in his hammock as he pondered Ebba's wise words and laughed to himself. She was right, They would both be waiting for him.
§
The sun was low on the horizon as Amethyst and all her friends, save for Ebba, ate on the deck. They were all in varying states of their own conversations. Wa Chini and Garba seemed to be in some argument, while Busara and Stochastís talked about Ebba's wisdom. Nuru and Bontu were still oblivious to everyone around them. Amethyst and Tenya were both enjoying the conversations of the others while they sat and ate quietly.
Ebba was eating her food up in the crow's nest. The captain said she could relieve the man there until the sun set. Though it was only a couple hours, Ebba was excited. She had been up there enjoying the view for most of the day.
There was a cool breeze and the sun's harsh rays had dulled over the last couple days. Their journey was almost over, yet land was still out of sight. A few additional ships had come up and joined the navel caravan. Amethyst didn't feel quite so uneasy as she had at the journey's midpoint. She relaxed into Tenya's shoulder while the sea birds perched themselves loudly along the mast's support.
The quiet lapping of the sea against the boat had become a lullaby and the gentle rocking of the ship was like a cradle. Amethyst felt like the journey really wasn't so bad now. There was great comradery, and the travel itself had been easy with little distraction.
Ebba shouted from her nest above. "There is something in the water! large shapes like shadows." The man who she had relieved was up in the nest nearly an instant later.
"Cut the sails!" The man called. "Fin whales!" His excited voice echoed.
The crew abandoned their food, climbing up the ship wordlessly as they started to pull the canvas sails up, slowing the ship. The other ships followed, and a deep rumbling could be felt along the wooden deck.
Amethyst and her friends rushed to the side of the ship Ebba had been pointing too. Nothing happened for a while until the birds took off from the mast. Seconds after their departure, too close to the ship for Amethyst's liking a behemoth launched itself out of the water.
Its splash back into the water sent large ripples to rock and shake the ship. Then a second creature crested out of the waves even higher than the first. It breached and crashed down followed by two then three others at once. Alongside them smaller looking ones dove out of the water making clicking noises as well. They swam towards the eastern horizon. Their dark shadowy silhouettes passed under the ship and breached again as they reached the other side.
Amethyst looked at Tenya, who was faced the opposite way. Amethyst followed her gaze and saw Ebba with a big grin, hugging the side of the man while she jumped up and down excitedly. The man was more focused on the whales than Ebba, but held a firm grip on her shoulder.
Tenya was smiling just as wide as Ebba was. "It's like she never left." Tenya said as she began to cry.
Amethyst wrapped her hand around Tenya's shoulder. "That is one happy kid." Amethyst whispered into Tenya’s ear. Tenya and Amethyst pressed tightly against each other as they looked up at her.
As they watched, Ebba stopped smiling. Her Excitement vanished and slowly she turned her head towards the western horizon. Both Amethyst and Tenya's smile dropped as well. They watched Ebba look off to the western horizon. Ebba fell back into the man. She started tugging on the man's shirt, he turned towards her. She pointed out to the west and the man looked out along with her.
"What's wrong baby!" Tenya shouted.
Everyone started looking up. The man seemed to have a spyglass along with some paper he scribbled on.
"What's wrong!" Bontu shouted after.
The man dropped his paper and pulled out a large hand bell and started ringing it aggressively. Like a chorus of alarm, the other ships started to ring out their own bells. Everyone waited breathlessly as the man rang the bell furiously. Ebba had her ears plugged as the rapid toll cried out.
The man held up a red flag. The crew sprinted into action along with Bontu. Amethyst and her friends waited in wonder. Amethyst's unease turned to panic, as Ebba rushed down the netting to the deck. Tenya leapt forward towards Ebba as the man shouted down.
"Incoming! Cyclone Incoming!"