~ Di ~

She awoke, alone. Again. Although this time, there was sunlight bursting from the window above her head. She groaned in pain, slowly gathering her surroundings while a headache formed right in the middle of her forehead. As she tried to sit up, her stomach lurched, causing her to dry heave. The heat, the sun, the constant motion -- it was all unbearable! Di had never felt so annoyingly miserable in her life. She'd been in all kind of unique pain both physically and emotionally, but this sick feeling was a new level of discomfort.

She squeezed her hands over her eyes and let out a wail. Someone came crashing in the door -- the prince.

"Di, are you ok!" His blue eyes were wide and his legs nearly tripped on themselves as he pushed the door wide open.

"My name is Girl," she muttered, falling back into bed. He let out a huff. "I'm fine. I'm fine, good friend. My body was not made for any of this."

"Right." She felt his body sit right next to hers. "Your husband told me about your seasickness. I've seen it bad on a few others this morn as well."

Di felt a warm hand on her shoulder. Alquorien meant well but physical touch in her situation only made her skin crawl more. Yet she didn't say anything, lest she hurt his feelings.

"I'll get the wretch to come to take care of you. He and the others have been high on their merry songs since last night! You're lucky you were asleep, far away from them. Pitchy tunes and bad song choices altogether seem to be the only status quo around here."

She opened an eye to see him smiling at her, causing them both to laugh. Matis was always a horrible singer. Di grasped his hand at her shoulder and forced herself back up.

"Just take me with you." Her breath was loose and her head ached, but she was starving. Alquorien gently pulled her up, holding her hand and put his other arm around her waist. The boat seemed to stop swaying for a moment. It let her breath.

Slowly, he led her down the corridor and then down more stairs to another floor. This one was mostly a large room. There were benches to sit and pillars to hold the room together neatly sorted throughout. Di gathered, with a slight turn of her head, that torches lined the walls and between those were hammocks. Amongst all of that was a huge array of people. More than she'd expected to be on the ship, or on any ship.

"There he is!" Alquorien sped their pace and nearly dragged her to a table near the other end of the room. At the other end actually stood an open window and two doors on either side, where she assumed the kitchen stood. But finally, in front of them, stood Matis and the rest of their crew save the boy, Po. Matis grinned and leaped over the table to take her from the prince.

"You found my lady!" He kissed her cheek. Di blushed. So many people were watching! "Sit, here."

He placed her on the bench by Waterwell then scurried off to the open window in the wall. She saw eyes all around her. Very few females seemed to be on this boat and no fae of any kind. She took a deep breath and quietly listened as the others started speaking again while ignoring the voices and open stares from those nearby.

After a breakfast of plain bread and salted meat, Matis led her above deck. The sway was a little more obvious, but the people were too busy with their work to stare. As of the time, she only counted four other women aboard and one seemed to be the ship whore. Di previously thought men were superstitious of females onboard ships but it seemed that was a past notion.

"I beg you to tell me a little of why I'm here," Di said, looking up at Matis. His skin was so brown in the sunlight, it gave him a glorious glow. He gulped. It took a walk around the starboard of the ship before he stopped and led her to gaze out at the sea, opposite of where the sun was rising. The water was green but the sky had a rich pinkish-blue that seemed to compliment the morning. Unfortunately, she couldn't find the moon for comfort against the swaying.

"'At night, she breathes, by day she cries, the maiden will unite the elven ties,'" he responded not once looking at her.

"How do you know it's me?" She turned fully to face him. The sun was in her eyes and the boat seemed to rock, but she ignored it, to stare him down. He turned his brown eyes, then his full face to read hers.

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"How do you know with any prophecy? There's more about Quo and the dwarf, plus you're a Night Elf!"

"Moon."

"Ok, Moon Elf. The Golden Priest assures us this is the most likely grouping, Wife," Matis shrugged and leaned forward to rest on the ship. "This prophecy is likely over a century old, and we may be wrong but there aren't many Moon Elves in Difavose and even fewer princes. Do you trust me?"

"Of course," her eyes softened. Di trusted him since the day they met.

"I know we are meant to be on this trip," he half-whispered. He took her hand in his and kissed the palm. "I trust the Golden Priest. He has yet to steer us wrong."

"Fine. Then what are we looking for?" Di felt sweat beads begin to form on her brow as the sun slowly rose higher. Matis bit his lip. "You don't know?!"

"They aren't exactly spelled out! We just know we're looking for something at sea," Matis shamefully bit his lip again and looked down. They were at sea with no clue what to look for. They were going to the middle of the ocean looking for anything. Di felt her stomach curdle and her forehead glisten seemed to become more of a sheen. She hated the ocean, she hated dwarfs, and she absolutely despised not having a plan.

~Matis~

Matis quickly gathered his wits as his lady's eyes fluttered closed, and she nearly fell onto herself, catching her at the very last moment. His shame was upon him and in a great wave of came.

He saw her heavy sweat on her brow and seeping through her dress, more than normal. He cursed inwardly. Di was never meant for the ocean or high sun, and he was sure the idea of open plans made her anxious. He practically fed her this concoction of anxiety with this quest.

With his other arm, Matis swept her up and took her back to their bed. Her face looked troubled, even asleep. He knew she would wake up soon but what would she need? He looked through her pack -- there! Essence of wildflowers. He knew that usually calmed her around her Moon flow and any time she'd felt nauseated.

Part of Matis wavered in his belief in the Golden Priest. He sometimes did but now it seemed the priest truly got this part wrong! His wife was of the night and grass; she was a Healer and a thoughtful woman. The only thing applicable to this quest for her could be her healing powers. How in any world would she be fit for a quest like this? He wondered if he was blinded by his feelings for her. Usually, the priest was right about these things, even when all odds were stacked against the quest.

Di blinked. He leaned forward, putting a hand behind her back to help her up. Her right hand instantly went up to her head, and she hissed in pain, closing her stormy gray eyes.

"Here," he handed her the essence and her leftover cup of drinking water. She groaned and shook her head, lying back down instead.

It was hours later when she came back out. He and Quo were drinking on the starboard, ignoring the slight rainfall around them. They decided they were too good at betting on cards and creating more enemies than friends by doing so. The rest of their crew was drinking the night away with song again, and Matis hated to sing, so he and Quo went up to talk. Matis felt her warm hand on his shoulder and instantly rose to greet her. Quo grinned at her.

"Perhaps I'll just be a lady of the night," She joked, taking a seat next to Quo, resting her head on his shoulder. Matis felt better about her stay. She seemed more at peace, and he could feel her magic's presence, once again. Her skin looked back to its pale tone and her hair was illustrious in its dark glow.

"Day time is for chaps any way," Quo replied, swigging his ale. "Say, can you play with the water out here or is that not your style?"

Di playfully pushed his shoulder. Matis sat next to her and took a swig of his ale as well. It was nice, despite the rain, to sit like they used to. It brought back fond memories of their first time sitting out on a night like this, just the three of them. Di had only begun trusting them, and was still obviously wary of drinking ale, but she sat with them and talked for hours. That night was rainy as well, but on that night the moon was still bright amongst the clouds.

She put a hand out and light a light golden glow emit; she playfully sent it around Quo before sending it in him, probably relieving his oncoming queasiness from drinking too much.

"I love that!" Quo kissed her head and finished his mug. She pulled another light out, this one with a blue haze around it and this time made it bound around Matis before sending it in him. He chuckled and sighed. It felt like a warm light inside. Like it wasn't raining, and they didn't have a bad together, like a true contentedness. It made him smile goofy and lean back onto his elbows.

"That must have been a good rest," Matis said, still smiling.

"Remember those nights when we crossed the Plains of Evershire?" Quo asked.

"Yes! I was just thinking of them," Matis replied. The rain slowed to a stop, and the clouds began to part, showing a half-moon.

"You two were as incorrigible as you are now," Di replied with a laugh. "Both of you! Trying to see who could get the elf-girl to talk first."

"I won that challenge!" Quo replied with a hearty laugh. "You were so uptight! I was afraid we rescued you just to see you flit off and never thank us. You've done more than that now."

Quo nudged her head suggestively towards Matis.

"Oh shut it!" Matis laughed. Back then, Quo would talk about anything to crack Di's closed demeanor. Now, both he and Matis recognized that she was simply quiet. Her entire being rested on peace.

"Back at it again," Quo sighed and laid back. "I don't know what I'd do without you Goldfinches."

Di hit his head.

"Ow! Sorry, Girl and Ban." Matis closed his eyes. Perhaps they could have a better trip than so far, they could just live their lives after the moon rose.