(ooc- The following is a short story I wrote, it belongs to me. The notion is Karcier is reliving this memory, which is infact a memory of him reading something he (I) wrote as a story makes sense right )
Thane chuckled at the Captain, he wasn’t used to sailing but Thane had at least managed to get over sea sickness which unlike his fellow Shadow Hunters below deck meant he could enjoy the sea and sun. He took a moment to close his eyes and feel the suns warm rays caress his skin. Without opening his eyes he spoke.
“Why do you sail Captain Miko ?”
“I love the sea, I love the freedom of being able to go anywhere the winds may carry me…” there was a pause.
“This country I call Divine, we are all fair and each work for the benefit of all. That is why, on the sea we are truly free.” Miko laughed
“And you Shadow Hunter, why do you go aiding the Bannerless Trade, I thought the Empire frowned upon slavery.”
Thane opened his eyes and turned to the Captain with a somewhat quizzing look but there was no hostility on his face. Thane guessed the Captain was in his late thirties, he showed signs of old age where his unkept beard was beginning to grow a dull grey and like the rest of his crew he was tough as nails but unlike the crew he wore a dark navy blue mantle and spoke his mind. Thane smile faintly as he replied. “Personally, I go because it is my duty to follow orders…but for the Empire, well it is for their benefit to have the Bannerless Trade as friends.”
The Captain chuckled.
“I’d be careful Imperial, the Bannerless Trade aren’t a good bunch heck they were founded by pirates and I heard the only reason the Empire didn’t conquer the Verssai islands was because of the Pirates navy.”
“I’d be careful Captain, others might find your opinion somewhat unpatriotic.” Thane said in a low tone.
“I don’t mind, we are all entitled to our opinions.”
The captain merely laughed, Thane watched ahead, he saw the Quartermaster climb down from the birds nest and walk up to the Captain. The Quartermaster was a tall man with dark skin, it was rare to see any in the empire. The mans eyes were pure white and his hazel eyes seemed like the void, he was well built and showed it proudly by wearing loose shirt. Thane caught the gaze of the quartermaster and quickly looked away, simply listening to them.
The Coming Storm
“Captain, there’s a storm ahead. Nasty one too, don’t think we can go around it.” Said the Quartermaster of the Divine to its Captain, Thane turned to them both.
“Surely you don’t mean to ride into such a storm, going around it would be better.” Thane said but he was ignored by the Captain and the Quartermaster. He waited a minute then simply looked back at the incoming darkness that covered the skies, from afar he could hear the deathly thunder calling out, the rain slowly began to drizzle the ship and eventually it fell on them in torrents.
"Crazy man." he muttered.
The dark clouds were looming over them like harbingers of death, like wild animals these dark clouds rolled over one another forming miles of darkness across the sea’s, Thane stood at the main deck opened mouthed he’d never seen such weather before. The sound of distant thunder echoed louder and closer, he heard the Captain of the Divine shout orders to her crew.
“Man your posts men, we are racing through. Signal the two the other two ships to follow !”
All of them scrambled to their positions along the deck, sails were raised in order to catch the wind and other men were tightening the ropes that held them. The wind picked up with extreme violence and for a while all Thane could hear was the wind rushing past him at all speed, he had to hold onto the railing.
“Rogue wave!” he heard a man shout.
“Brace yourselves!”
Thane looked ahead but he saw nothing then he turned to the left and saw it, fear swelled within him. The rogue wave was huge, it towered over the ship like a castle towered over man. The captain of the Divine swirled her towards it, was he mad he thought. But the ship eased up the wave and came crashing down past it with barely a scratch. Thane looked in amazement back at the rogue wave which was behind them, it felt like he was a child again seeking danger for the thrill.
His excitement was cut short when he saw another rogue wave rising from the horizon, the captain growled and turned the wheel to the right. Slowly the ship began to turn and just like last time, it floated over the raising waves and landed with a loud thud onto the waters ahead.
“
Watch out !” he heard a voice cry out.
“To the right !”
Thane had enough time to see another rogue wave come crashing down on them from the right, Thane was thrown off the railing and onto the edge of the deck. He heard cursing from the Captain who was desperately trying to sail the ship away from the rogue wave, Thane jumped up and held onto the nearest rail he could. The other two ships had vanished from sight, he could only hope that they were fairing better than them. The ship began to creak loudly as wild winds hit its hull, by then the Captain was fighting to hold the wheel. In a flash of seconds a bolt of lightening hit the mast breaking it neatly in two.
“Fire !”
A handful of men scrambled to put out the fire on deck but they were thrown off there feet and hit the ground when smaller waves hit the ships side. Everything was happening so quickly Thane had barely any time to make sense of it all. Then he was suddenly off his feet and falling with a massive wave enveloping the Divine and its crew.
His senses were submerged with fear, he tried to stay above the raging waters but with every attempt he was cast back into the depths of the sea as waves upon waves came crashing down on him. Was this the end, he thought was he to die before even making it on land. He felt the strength leave his arms, his legs gave way with each desperate kick. Fear slowly left him as he accepted his fate, the storm had hit them so quickly he didn’t know how many had survived but the ship he had been on was burning, he couldn’t remember much the lightening had struck swiftly sending many flying over board but it had been the rogue wave that had thrown those on deck into the sea.
Slowly he drifted, his senses gone now. All sounds were muffled and he could vaguely hear shouting, everything inside him shut off one by one. He found it somewhat funny, he was to drown after all he’d survived it was not a sword that would kill him but the mighty sea. One by one his body shut down, the once gripping cold water was gone. He closed his eyes with only the thought of Ellyne before he’d killed her. Her final words haunting him to the very end.
It may have been minutes or hours, he wasn’t sure his mind didn’t register much. He felt arms pulling him out of the water, fingers faintly touching his neck and then air being pushed into his lungs. Strange accents resonated in his head. He could feel hands pressing on his chest, pushing something from inside him out.
“Taga yato no shin a!"one voice said, Thane didn't understand. “
There may be more !”
“No we cannot, these sea’s are wild and untamed tonight. We are lucky to have found anyone here, let us leave before it takes us into its depths.” Said another voice, this one was rustic and old. It made no sense to Thane, was his mind trying to give him hope or was this death being cruel.
Thane tried to speak but the words never left him, he simply felt a hand on his head. It felt reassuring, he was safe or maybe this was how life would be dead, a tease of how he could of survived. “You are yet to live child.” Was the last words Thane heard, before the sound of distant thunder faded and he fell back into darkness.