Fantasy The Open Seas (with TheDarkButterfly)

[TheDarkButterfly]

Alfred and Patrick carefully slipped in the water, making sure that they didn't make too much noise and risk drawing attention to themselves. It was a little annoying to know that the powder they had would be wet, but they didn't exactly trust the younger two with their guns. It took quite a while for Patrick and Alfred to make their way back to their beloved ship. The had had a couple of close calls and even had to go under water at some points. Eventually they made it though, and started climbing aboard on the opposite side of the docks. This too took quite a while, but finally they slipped over the railing and onto the deck of the ship. Both men were still damp from the sea water, but it wasn't anything that they weren't used to.

 

[Shy2Infinity]

"Did they really give us enough of a description...?" She watched as Caleb shrugged, but he was far too focused on the ships to give her much of an answer. She pursed her lips and turned her gaze to the ships, trying to ignore the itch crawling up in her chest. Almost as an after thought, she rubbed the spot over her chest. Were they really going to find a ship with an odd ones out plank? The anxiety was upon her before she'd scarcely noticed it. Her throat clenching as super awareness of their surroundings invaded her: The salty smell of the ocean that had once been home was suddenly overpowering, the chattering and other people hard at work, the guards--

The clank, clank of the guards armor made her teeth chatter. Her hands were sore by the time that she realized she was clenching them too tightly.

It wouldn't take much, would it? For me to be run through with a sword or shot. Someone could so easily come up and-- Stars, shut up!

"Everything okay?" Caleb's eyes were on her, worried. He was always freakishly perceptive, though in her case it was probably easy to see on her face...

"Y-Yeah, just..." Her eyes slid to their surroundings, to the people around them, to the guards even. "It's... Way more open than I expected." She tried to breathe in through her nose in an effort to keep from full on panicking, then something caught her eye. Suddenly grabbing Caleb's arm, she pointed, wide eyed at the pirates' ship. "That's it, isn't it? See, the one oddly colored plank!" Following the line she was pointing, he nodded.

They were about to head towards it when a voice called out and made them jerk to a stop, "Hey! You two!"

"They know," she whimpered and Caleb shot her a look.

"They don't know anything. Just let me do the talking." As the two slowly turned to see a guard slowly trotting up to them, he feigned a somewhat of a worried look, "Is there a problem?"

 

[TheDarkButterfly]

Patrick and Alfred looked around carefully, not seeing the younger two. Worried, Patrick asked the crew that was still on the ship if they had seen either of them. When they all answered in the negative, Patrick grew even more worried. If the kids got caught by a guard, they might point them out and then they're really in trouble. Plus Caleb still had his knife!

Alfred had to explain to the remaining crew why he and Patrick had scaled the ship from the water and then sent to two fastest of them to find and direct the crew on the shore back to the ship, warning them that anyone not back by the tide would be left behind. They went off as quickly as they could without drawing the attention of the guards. Once they were out of the port they would be safe. While not the fastest ship ever, the Ragamuffin still had some speed when needed of her. Otherwise she would never catch up to other ships to plunder. Once thy left, the remaining crew set about preparing to leave. Alfred then joined Patrick again and they kept to the shadows to speak.

"Well, they either got lost or got caught." Patrick said to Alfred. "I hope it's just lost. It's only about an hour or so to tide." He shaded his eyes, staring out at the water. "If they don't make it by then, we leave without them. We can't stick around for a couple of strangers and risk our necks, even if they did help us out." Alfred just nodded in agreement.

 

[Shy2Infinity]

It was the damned guard captain. Hopefully, he hadn't seen them running away before. The man strode up to them and gazed at them not with wariness, but curiosity. Still, they could see one hand resting on his pistol. Even as unwary he was of them, they probably wouldn't get a few feet before he whipped that pistol out.

"Problem? No, not at all." As the guard captain shifted in place, Caleb suddenly noticed the papers in his free hand. Reluctantly, the guard captain took his other hand off of his pistol in order to unroll the parchments. And as he did... A startled laugh erupted from Irissa.

Up until then, she'd been struggling to contain her growing panic and the desire to just do something! But suddenly seeing the wanted posters from this guard shocked her into a hysterical laugh. And her hand slammed over mouth as horror rippled over her. The guard frowned at her but didn't seem to think too much of it, to her relief. Maybe he just thought she was weird? That'd be better than the alternative.

"I just want to know if either of you have seen these men."

Caleb pretended to study the wanted posters for a small length of time before shaking his head resolutely. "Not at all. Who are these people? Criminals?"

"Indeed! Well, pirates." The guard proceeded to roll the wanted posters up before giving them a nod. "If you see anything, let one of the guards know."

They watched him head off before Irissa let out a harsh breath, a hand flying to her chest. "My heart..." Forget her phobia, the thought of being found out by the guards is way worse! Caleb allowed her another moment to get her panic under control before they set off towards the ship. It didn't take long after that to go up to the ship, show the crew members Patrick's knife, and to be allowed on.

 

[TheDarkButterfly]

Patrick glanced over at the newest additions to their ship as they came on board, smiling slightly. "You've made it! I thought you two had gotten lost. Or caught." He looked back down at the map he and Alfred were pouring over. "This is the fastest route, but it's the riskiest." He commented, tapping the paper with a finger. Alfred frowned slightly.

"It's certainly flirting with danger. Those aren't exactly the best waters for us to go through, considering the circumstances. It adds a week, but this way would be safer. It avoids the coast for a while and we can stop at the island here if we really need to resupply. That way we're more likely to avoid the kingdom's ships." He pointed out another route and Patrick rubbed his chin.

"It could work, but keep in mind we have two extra mouths now. I think we would have to stop at the island, which is a risk itself. They're not affiliated with the kingdom, but the soldiers also use it to resupply." Patrick nodded. "Either way is risky, but if the sea's on our side we can do it. The old girl can outrun most of the kingdom's ships, at least, if the wind's at our backs."

 

[Shy2Infinity]

Patrick smiled at them and yet, she wasn't relieved in the slightest. She rested her hands on her knees and gulped in a huge breath. Now that she was no longer worrying quite as much about running into guards, the salty sea air went a huge way to dispelling much of her nervousness. "I genuinely wondered if we had gotten caught..." Rationally, she knew it was as Caleb had thought. No one had seen them and when they first entered the pier, no one had called out to them in outrage or anything of the sort... But paranoia didn't care about rationality and she'd never admit to anyone, even Caleb, just how true that was.

Caleb shot her a look over her words before hastening to add, "A guard wanted to know if we'd seen you. He didn't seem too suspicious of us, if at all." As the two pirates turned back to the map they were considering, he stared at it from a safe enough distance. As far as he was concerned, their rules were already in effect. Irissa must have thought the same because while she was curious, she stayed at his side and listened to the two pirates speak.

"I don't eat much, if that helps!"

 

[TheDarkButterfly]

Patrick chuckled a little at Irissa. "But you still eat, don't you? Although you look as if you could eat a little more." He joked and Alfred rolled his eyes a little. "Anyways, we'll be on our way soon. Tide is starting to come in and most of the crew has made it back at this point." Patrick shaded his eyes against the sun again, gauging the height of the sun. "Give us about 10 more minutes and then you'll need to come up to the helm with me as the crew finishes up with the rest." As he spoke more of the crew came on board.

"We'll be out to sea for a couple hours before the sun goes down, so you'll have a bit of time to adjust before nightfall." Alfred added. "When that happens we'll show you to where you'll sleep." 'After Patrick clean it up...' Alfred thought, sweating. Hopefully there wasn't too much of a mess piled up.

 

[Shy2Infinity]

At Patrick's words, she made a face and huffed, "Caleb eats enough for both of us!" She ignored his scowl and turned away, crossing her arms. Taking a few steps to the side of the ship, she peered closely into the sea with furrowing brows. The water was peaceful and there wasn't a single cloud in the sky, but she couldn't help the pitter patter in her chest. She strained to see anything beneath the waves. As she searched, a hand went to curl around the brooch sitting on her chest. It was a simple silver brooch with an Aquamarine inlaid in it.

Caleb decided to ignore Irissa's nervousness, knowing full well that she wouldn't want attention brought to it. Instead, he decided to listen to Alfred. After a moment, he nodded. "Right, that sounds fine enough."

"Might want to get a bucket for Caleb~"

He whipped around far faster than he might normally on a swaying boat, and immediately regretted it as the world swayed around him. Still, he managed an indignant, "Irissa!" She merely blinked at him innocently, before turning back to the sea with an innocent whistle. Letting out an extremely put upon sigh, he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "She's right, though I wish she didn't sound so overly triumphant over that. I get extremely sea sick. It's not so bad when we've stopped, but when we're moving..."

 

[TheDarkButterfly]

Patrick laughed a little. "You get used to it after a while! We'll give you a bucket though. Can't say that we have anything to settle the stomach though, sorry to say. Just...please don't throw up in my cabin. I'd rather not have that smell in there." He ginned at Caleb. "Aim it over the rails if you can, alright?"

"Be nice." Alfred scolded absently, still focused on their route on the map. "We'll be together for a while, so be sure to get along." He nodded, satisfied, and rolled the map back up, tucking it away safely. He looked around at the crew on deck, counting them and mentality checking off everyone. "Everyone aboard, Captain. Ready to prepare for sail."

Patrick nodded and waved for Irissa and Caleb to follow him to the helm, wanting them out of the way of preparations. He snatched up an empty pitch bucket, passing it to Caleb just in case. "Prepare for sail, tide's coming in!" He shouted to the crew, moving to the wheel. They scrambled to obey as Alfred began barking orders at them.

 

[Shy2Infinity]

At Patrick's words, Caleb just hung his head in sudden defeat, "I never get used to it though..." How could people expect someone like him to just get used to the sea?! Any further grumbling was stopped when the pirate captain aimed a smile at him and that... His face colored, heart giving a jump start. He looked away with an unintelligible huff. Seeing the way Irissa smiled mischievously at him made him immediately want to take out his sudden annoyance on her.

Come on now! He wasn't that easy!

"I don't know if I could get along with him," he scoffed quietly under his breath. He only perked up as Patrick waved them over. And fighting against the churning in his stomach, reluctantly followed the pirate captain. Accepting the offering bucket, he continued to follow the pirate captain. Starting to the side, or as far as he can get, he's about to sit to hopefully ride out the swaying boat... But the barest sight of the blue sea causes his stomach to lurch. He just barely makes it to the railing before losing his lunch over the side.

And all he hears is a sigh. "Yet again, I'm stuck on a boat with you, Caleb."

Over his gasping breath he grumbles, "Shut up."

Irissa strides over and gives him a few awkward pats on the back.

 

[TheDarkButterfly]

Patrick stifled a smirk at the poor soul, focusing on his own duties as the crew finished up preparations to make way. The Ragamuffin smoothly glided free of the dock as the sails dropped, carrying them from the port and the hunt for them. Alfred continued to bark orders as the ship gained speed away from the shore. Patrick relished that electric excitement sparking though him as it always did when they set sail on the open waters. Only there was there true freedom.

"That's it for now, lads." Patrick called after the port was long out of sight. "Ease her down and let the waters guide us." At his words the crew relaxed their duties, allowing the sails to slacker slightly as they went about doing small tasks to maintain the ship. Alfred can up to join then and smiled slightly at Caleb.

"Just take it easy for now, lad." He said kindly. "Looks to be smooth waters for a while, so nothing to worry about."

 

[Shy2Infinity]

Eventually, he'd managed to empty his stomach but his head continued to hang over the rail as if afraid that there was something still left in him. But the sight of the sea, splashing against the side of the ship, did not help his sickness. With a groan, he slid back down and rested his back against the side of the ship. Even now, he could feel the ship swaying beneath them and he had to resist the urge to close his eyes. He'd tangoed with sea sickness long enough to know that closing his eyes would only make it worse. As Alfred strode up, he squinted at the man beneath the bright blue of the sky. "That's good," he sighed.

Strange, Alfred's smile didn't affect him as much as Patrick's did.

While Caleb was trying to curb his seasickness, Irissa stayed by the railing. She gazed upon the sparkling ocean, a hand tentatively curled around her brooch. After a moment of searching the waters, she turned away and happily exclaimed, "Even I don't wish to see the sea in its worst state."

 

[TheDarkButterfly]

Patrick smiled at them both, keeping a steady hand on the wheel. "If we do hit any bad weather, don't worry about it. Alfred and I have been through it all. We've been through years of sailing. So has this lass." He affectionately patted the wheel of the ship. "She's taken us through thick and thin. Treat her well and she'll be real good to you." He winked at the younger two.

Alfred sighed a little at his friend. "We have seen a lot, that's true." He agreed. "So don't worry about it. We can handle anything thrown at us." He tried to reassure the two, especially Caleb. "We'll see you safely to the next port."

 

[Shy2Infinity]

Chapter 1 - Where the Wind Blows​

And so that day ended on a special note. Strangers that had their own shares of burdens had now joined these dastardly pirates on an adventure! But what sorts of troubles did these strangers bring with them? And would the pirates regret this decision of theirs. . .? What about the pirates? What kinds of baggage did they carry? This was a chance meeting that was bound to be sung in taverns for generations to come.


Caleb arose from slumber and slung his sword sheathe around his waist. He paused to glance back at his companion, who continued to snore. Unable to help pulling a face at that, he sighed deeply and headed above deck. He couldn't help the weakness in his legs though, with every swaying of the ship. After dumping his bucket, and ignoring the tightening in his stomach, he observed the deck. Anything to force his attention off of his sea sickness.

Already they were hard at work. Some were mopping the deck, some were maintaining the sails, someone was up in the rigging... And at this, he found his gaze wandering to the sky. A sky that was devoid of rain clouds, the sun beaming down harshly over them. Something that was noteworthy to him? There wasn't a single bird in the sky. Well, it's going to be a long while before there is. Up until we dock. It would have been nicer if there was. Soothing. Instead he was surrounded on all sides by the oceans and by pirates (complete strangers), riding atop a floating box that could so easily take damage and plunge into the ocean's deep, dark depths.

This thought process immediately had him scrunching up his face in distaste. After all, there were so many ways where he'd been in danger, and yet water was the thing to make him buckle the fastest.

With a shake of his head, he forcibly cleared his head of such thoughts and cast another cursory look over the deck, searching this time. . . Until he found Alfred and Patrick discussing something by the wheel. He was about to head over there when he paused, considering them. They'd laid a few ground rules, but he couldn't decide if going over there to speak with them would break one of those rules or not. They'd said not to touch the wheel, which he definitely wasn't planning on... They'd also said not to bother the crewmates and if you thought about it, Patrick and Alfred could count as two of the crew mates, so he was a bit at a loss.

 

[TheDarkButterfly]

Alfred and Patrick continued their conversation until Patrick noticed a particularly lost looking soul watching them. The poor boy looked a little worse for wear, although considering he suffered from seasickness it was nothing surprising. He wouldn't be shocked to learn if Caleb had spent the whole night huddled over the bucket given to him. He quietly waved Caleb over before turning his attention back to Alfred.

"I'm fine for a few more hours or so, there's no need for you to take over yet." He said, almost a little firmly. They had had this particular conversation a million times before, and Patrick was starting to grow weary of his friends constant worrying.

"And you've been up all night at the helm." Alfred scolded yet again. "You have to sleep sometime, Patrick. You can't keep doing this. One day you wont have the ability to do it anymore and the gods help us if someone isn't there to take over when it happens."

Patrick just rolled his eyes. "In case you have forgotten, my quarters are currently occupied by our dear guests. That being the case, I don't have a place to sleep currently. And seeing as only one of them is up at the moment, that isn't going to change any time soon. So, I will go sleep when I get my quarters back. Fair enough?"

Alfred stifled a groan. While Patrick did make a fair point, Alfred knew that he had been up for nearly 24 hours now and was surely reaching the end of his stamina after the long run and swim they had accomplished the day before. They were both still young enough that recovery would be quick, but they still had to rest in order for that to happen. Something that Patrick hadn't done yet.

 

[Shy2Infinity]

As he was considering what to do, he suddenly noticed Patrick waving him over. Significantly relieved by this he started over, with one hand on the rail. He fought his roiling stomach every step of the way until he was close enough to realize that the day was starting with an argument of some kind. An argument about Patrick's sleeping quarts, he soon came to realize. Their voices carried easily enough on the air. And judging by their expressions, neither seemed particularly keep to budge on the subject.

He thought about stepping in, but considering that this was an argument considering them using the captain's quarters, he thought it wiser to stay silent. Not to mention, he didn't want to take sides with strangers he didn't know.

Still, the seasickness combined with his usual grumpy stubbornness meant he was a bit lacking in patience. Running a slightly quivering hand across his mouth, he raised a brow at the pirate captain. "You'll sleep when you get your quarters back? You must be a god, to push back the need of sleep for two whole months." Perhaps it would have been smarter to hold his tongue, but he'd never been particularly well versed in the ways of patience.

 

[TheDarkButterfly]

Patrick felt a bubbling irritation at the other two men grow within him, fueled by his exhaustion and the sharp tongues. Warning flashed in Alfred eyes at Caleb as he sensed his friends shifting mood.

"Do not put words into my mouth." Patrick growled, bristling. "I didn't say that I wouldn't sleep. Considering that your friend of the female kind is currently asleep in my quarters, I would think that you'd rather not me be in there at the moment. Or am I wrong in that thinking? If that is the case, I'll go ahead and retire to my quarters right now and leave her to wake in my presence." A dangerous light glittered in the depths of his eyes and he watched Caleb, not seeming less then a predator with his sights on prey.

"Patrick I know that's not what you meant." Alfred said almost soothingly, successfully drawing the sharp gaze to himself and away from Caleb. "It's fine for now, you don't have to go down. But at least let me take the wheel for a while and sit and rest until your quarters are free. There's nothing wrong in admitting that you need to rest."

Alfred gentle words did much to sooth the irritation and the dangerous light faded to a dull glow, not completely snuffed but controlled now. The wrong words could spark the light back to a roar in the tired captains eyes, however, something Alfred was intending to avoid. He would have to have a little talk with their new companions after Patrick retired to his quarters. There were boundaries that he had to put in place for them while Patrick was not in earshot in order to keep them all safe from his friends anger. He and the crew knew what words would set the pirate off, but their young travelers did not. Crisis averted, Alfred relax when Patrick nodded slightly.

"Very well. I'll let you take over for a while, then. A tired mind can't react properly to a problem anyways." While his words sounded logical, it was a far cry from him stubbornly digging his heels in just moments before. He gave Alfred the wheel as if it was what he had been intending to do all along, like they had never had the conversation about his refusal to do so. Alfred sighed softly, a little in relief and a little in frustration at his friend. Patrick found himself a spot near the helm that was out of the way and sat down, arms and legs folded and back straight as he watched the crew work.

"We'll talk when Irissa is up and Patrick is gone." Alfred said lowly to Caleb, out of the hearing of Patrick. "There are some rules we didn't go over." The tone in his voice warned for no arguments.

 

[Shy2Infinity]

Seconds after making his irritation known, he'd realized that he'd made a mistake. As Patrick made his anger known, it took almost everything he had to not bristle. He knew what predators looked like. Had stared one in the eye far too many times to count. Hell, some humans had that look about them. The gaze that pierced his right now was definitely the one of a predator eyeing up its prey.

He pressed his lips together, knowing well enough that saying anything more would land him further in hot water. He couldn't very well send the man to sleep in his own quarters, not just for Irissa's sake but for Patrick's own. These two probably didn't think anything of their guests. Probably didn't think they were dangerous at least, and while he wouldn't exactly say Irissa was dangerous... She's done things as well that have pushed the envelope.

Still, might want to warn her. It was as he'd thought, they had to be careful around the pirate captain. He turned towards the front and cocked an ear as Alfred muttered to him. "Mm," he made a low noise out of agreement. Alfred definitely had a point. He'd expected some anger, but nothing quite like that. It almost felt like Patrick would have attacked him had he not wizened up and kept his mouth shut.

 

[TheDarkButterfly]

The two men stayed rather quiet as Alfred focused on keeping the ship steady and Patrick watched the crew work. They kept their head down, sensing the mood that their Captain was in and not wanting to draw attention to themselves. It was better for all of them if Patrick remained relaxed and didn't have anyone to unleash his anger on. While Alfred usually took the brunt of it, it always left the crew unsettled and weary for a while and made the ship quite uncomfortable to be on. Luckily it hadn't happened in a while, but they had had a few close calls the last couple of months and it was a bit overdue. Most of the older crew was already used to it, but it still freaked out some of the young pups on board.

 

[Shy2Infinity]

It wasn't all that long afterwards that Irissa woke up, though it must have felt like forever to the other crew members. As she sat up, she took a moment to close her eyes and sway along with the ship, allowing the waves to resonate with her. The rocking of the ship had gone a long way to lulling her off to sleep the night before. It was like sleeping in a cradle above the sea. How unfortunate that Caleb couldn't get used to any of this.

Finally, she sighed and climbed to her feet.


Climbing up to the deck, she immediately winced as the sun momentarily blinded her. She took a moment to study the crewmates and was surprised to find that the deck contained an almost... timid air. No one seemed particularly enthused with keeping their head up for long and if they did, they immediately looked away. For a moment, she considered asking one of them... Until she remembered that'd be breaking one of the rules, and she wasn't particularly keen in disobeying them.

She had to remember that they weren't friends. Nor were they even acquaintances.

She scoured the deck again, looking until she found Caleb, Patrick, and Alfred near the front. Her lips pursed. Maybe she could ask them? But as she drew ever nearer, Caleb's eyes locked on hers. Even as sickly as he appeared, there was still enough of a glint in his gaze as he gave a slow shake of his head. A warning, then. But for what? Only more baffled, her pace slowed as she drew near.

 

[TheDarkButterfly]

Alfred almost sighed in relief when he saw Irissa coming towards them. Thank the gods for that. "Patrick." He called and Patrick looked up, also seeing Irissa.

"Right." Patrick stood up and put his hands at his lower back, stretching out. "I'm going to bed, then. Wake me if anything happens." He gave a slight wave as he walked past Irissa and towards his cabin. There was a big sense of release when he disappeared.

Alfred did sigh in relief. "Sorry about that. He gets funny like that when he's tired. How'd you sleep, princess?" He leaned on the wheel, resting his chin on his hand. "You seemed pretty used to the sway of a ship so I can't imagine it was too difficult to get to sleep, eh?" He glanced her up and down a moment. "Anyways, you missed some excitement over here, I'd say."

 

[Shy2Infinity]

Once again, the sense of relief on his face made her hesitate. She tried to figure out what was going on through their expressions alone, but that was hard going. She definitely couldn't see anything on Patrick's face other than tiredness and Caleb was too... Preoccupied, to give her much. "Uh... Good night? Well, good morning but--" She decided to bite her tongue as Patrick moved past her.

'He gets funny'...? Funny, how exactly? Once again, she shot a cautious glance at Caleb but he was no longer looking at her. He was sitting by the rail with his forehead against his knees, battling against his seasickness. He wasn't going to be much help. Shaking her head to clear it, she almost missed what Alfred had said but when she heard, she did a double take. Staring at him suspiciously, a hand curled around the brooch attached to her shirt.

...

Whatever had possessed her seemed to pass in the next moment and she waved a hand dismissively, "I've been a part of the sea for as long as I can remember. The sway of the ship, the sparkling waves, even battling storms are a part of home to me." Trying not to get nervous as he glanced her up and down, she almost breathed a sigh of relief as he moved on. "Uh, yeeeah. I'm starting to see that." A frown curled across her lips as she came to notice that they were moving onto a serious subject. "I noticed a kind of... Timid air over the ship? Like everyone was trying their hardest to not be noticed. What happened?"

 

[TheDarkButterfly]

Alfred half smirked and half grimaced. "Well, ah, Pat gets a bit.....irritable...when he's tired and he had been up for quite a bit." He tried to lightly pass it off, but there was clearly more then what he was telling them. "Anyways, it's best to try not to piss him off when he's like that." He glanced at Caleb. "I'd be pretty safe from him, but you two need to be careful. I think Caleb knows that already, though. Word of advise, steer clear if he's in a mood like that. It's for everyone's benefit if he doesn't get angry." He warned them seriously. "There's usually blood involved after he hits a certain point."

 

[Shy2Infinity]

The way he reacted to a silly little question had her somewhat on edge. But there was also something more there... She watched him, trying to figure out what she found so off putting. Was it the fact that he seemed hesitant to even admit this much? Or maybe that it seemed like he wasn't telling them the full story? Irritable, to the point that his own crewmates are scared to be around them? Normally, when she and Caleb met people like that, they tried to steer clear of them. People that were so easily set off had the tendency of causing them more trouble than they were worth.

It'd be safer if they could stay away from him, but could they really do as such when they were basically trapped on the ship with him?

She could see Caleb staring at Alfred with rare alertness, at least until Alfred glanced at him - in which he hurriedly glanced away again. The green was still plastered across his face, but it seemed that he was starting to get used to the swaying of the ship - finally. "Fine," Caleb grumbled, perhaps still annoyed that he was chewed out.

Once again, she fingered the brooch attached to her shirt. It was disconcerting, that she had no choice but to go along with this. As she answered with a resounding, "Of course!" She plastered a warm smile across her face and resolved herself to a long voyage.

 

[TheDarkButterfly]

Alfred sighed and scrubbed a hand through his hair, sending the locks standing at odd angles. "Right, now that that's out of the way, it looks to be fair sailing for a while. The breeze is good today, so we're making good time. Are the two of you hungry?" He glanced at Caleb. "You think you'd be able to stomach anything right now? We do have some things on the lighter side you can eat. It's not good to keep an empty stomach for too long." Alfred straitened, calmly having a quick glance at the horizon. Complacency in gentle waters leads to fast storms and sinking ships, after all.

The crew seemed a lot more at ease now that their captain was safely tucked away in his cabin to rest. A small amount of chatter was now going on on the deck as they worked. The atmosphere on the ship was now shifting to it's usual peaceful cheeriness that Patrick would participate in with gusto when is his typical mood. Even Alfred seemed to relax quite a bit, although he kept a careful eye on the horizon.