Sailing the Ocean blue; and some times green

Part two to the story

 

Part 2

 

Sailing the Ocean blue, and some times green.

“Love is as much of an object as an obsession, everybody wants it, everybody seeks it, but few ever achieve it, those who do will cherish it, be lost in it, and among all, never... never forget it." 

 

Life changed almost instantly. Firstly, the crew was never going to let me live this down. So what, I ran off for one night, and I hadn’t even intentionally run off. Secondly, if Kylin interrupted me one more time I was going to deck him. He was just going on and on. Throwing a half-a*s punch to his shoulder, I expected to him to shut-up. What I didn’t expect was for him to catch my fist and twirl me around so that my arm was pinned behind my back.

“What was that for?!” He was shocked I threw a punch? How about me being shocked about being wrenched around?

“And I quote

‘If you want me to shut-up that badly, punch me or something.’ End quote.” Jacob was laughing at our bickering again. How was this funny? It was not amusing to me; my arm was starting to tingle.

“Do you mind?” I said jiggling my arm.

“Oh, sorry.” Letting go of my hand he stepped back and gave me a sheepish grin. ‘Hmph’-ing I walked off to the engine room. One of the pistons had gotten jammed, and Ryne was in the process of fixing it.

“You and lover boy there gettin’ along all right? I could’a sworn I just heard someone bickering.” He was practically pasting the grease on with the cloth, working it into the crevice between the two metals. He threw a smile at me over his shoulder and the young man he was shined through his rough exterior. His knuckles were all torn up and slightly bloody, his fingers cut up from the metal.

“Ha ha, you’re very funny.” Rolling my eyes, I leaned against the wall.

“He doesn’t shut up. Normally he’s really quiet, but when he gets going on something it’s impossible to get a word in edge wise.” I slid down the wall, watching what the men were doing.

“Ok, fire her up; see if she gets caught again.” They started up engine 1, and by not adding any pressurized air into the tube, we wouldn’t go anywhere. Almost immediately the piston was stuck, and the motor created this churning sound, like it was stalling. The entire engine room filled with smoke, forcing us to evacuate. I would have, but just as I stood, I was knocked down by one of the men (accidentally of course, hopefully). As I dropped to the floor again I saw through the smoke, and haze, and saw the heart of the problem. The main motor axel that moved the piston back and fourth was titled slightly down. It was forcing the top of the piston to catch on the metal, and the bottom to dig into the metal. Crawling towards the heated, black spewing demon, I also noticed that there was a tiny hole in the tube that was leaking all the grease Ryne had just recently put on. Coughing I turned to stand, but found I could not gain any weight on my calf.

“Perfect timing.” Inhaling the smoke wasn’t the best of ideas, so I covered my nose and mouth with my shirt. My stomach and, well, everything, was covered in sweat from the broiling heat. Shimming to the door, I levered myself up with the handle, also using the force to pull at the door. Some times gravity can be a wonderful thing. It didn’t budge. Coughing I tried again, it was jammed from the inside.

“Again, great timing.” Speaking only made me inhale more smoke, so I decided on not speaking. ‘Who the hell thinks shutting a door on an enclosed space full of smoke is a good idea? Well, it isn’t!’ There was so much smoke; it was being pulled through my shirt. I could taste it in my mouth, it was chalky and gritty. It crunched when I bit my teeth down, like sand. My eyes stung, tearing up, making it feel like I was crying (but I wasn’t!). Sliding down to sit next to the door, I breathed slowly, measuring my breaths. My coughing must have alerted someone ‘cause there was a banging at the door, and it opened slowly. Someone grabbed my collar and dragged me through the door, hauling me up the stairs into the fresh air of the lower deck. We both practically fell on to one another to the ground in a fit of coughing. After catching our breaths, we stood, inhaling as much clean air as we could. He told me I was a fool, and to steer clear of anything potentially dangerous.

 Ryne then turned to face me fully.

“Well, guess we’ll need that ship of yours after all, ‘cause the ‘Lisa May’ ain’t leavin’ port any time soon. I think we may need to replace the entire piston.” I stared wide eyed at him for a few seconds.

“What did you say?” I had Ryne by the shoulders. He stared at me with an eyebrow raised.

“We would need to replace the engine.” Rolling my eyes, I shook him.

“Before that, and don’t say that the ‘Lisa May’ isn’t leaving port, before that!” He put his hand on my shoulder. Kylin and Jacob walked up to us one at a time, obviously over hearing us.

“That we would need to use that ship of yours after all. Are you sure you’re ok? Did you inhale too much smoke?” He felt my forehead his eyebrow still quirked.

“Ryne, what ship?” Reality dawned on him.

“Shi- damn. You didn’t know yet. Ah. Ferget I said anything. Let’s go see Doc, you’re hearin’ things.” He got all flustered. Spinning around I felt like a rat in a cage. Jacob smacked Ryne upside the back of the head with a roll of his eyes. Father had left to go search out those merchants that never showed two days ago. I was technically grounded for running away. I wasn’t allowed off the ship without his or Jacob’s express permission, but I had to find Terese. She would know where a new ship would be docked. Playing it cool, I calmly walked to the starboard side of the boat, my hands behind my back. It took awhile for the crew to relax, but I just stood there, waiting patiently. Kylin came to stand behind me, putting his elbows on my shoulders. This would be difficult with him there. As another boat sailed by, we caught a heavy wake, rocking the ship back fourth. Turning around, I sat on the ledge kicking my feet against the wall.

“Soleil, what are you thinking?” Staring up at him through my eyelashes, I quietly told him ‘nothing’. He immediately became suspicious of my actions, I could tell. Crossing his arms over his chest, he stared at me, a frown forming on his lips as if to warn me not to do anything stupid. Thinking fast I jumped up to stand on the ledge, my arms held out for balance. I began walking the length of the ship on the ledge, carefully putting one foot in front of the other. My plan was to slowly walk all the way around the ship on the ledge jumping off as I got to the pier.

My plan was shortly interrupt by another ship’s wake making me wobble side to side so as not to fall off. I really didn’t want to end up in that water, it was stagnant and gross. Kylin then stepped up onto the ledge, stepping up to me, and taking my arms.(As he had been following me as I walked along to make sure I didn’t fall or jump.). He was incredibly graceful and lithe. He was able to quickly place one foot before the other, and keep perfect balance. The rail was only large enough to have one foot at a time, and it curved down at the edges. He had a cross between a smile and a frown on his face, as if he was having fun, but not liking it in the process. Smiling coyly at him I took a little leap backwards, my feet landing one after the other. His crystalline blue eyes shouted a warning, a warning I would fall over. His body lurched forward, alert and ready to make a grab for me if I was to fall. And as if fate had planned the damn party, we were hit by another heavy wake that totally threw our balance off, sending us both over the edge. Giving a yelp, I hit the surface on my side, instantly getting water up my nose. We both came up coughing.

“Why the hell do I keep ending up in the water? There has not been a day this week where I haven’t been drenched some way, some how.” Fuming, I idled in the water. Kylin came over to take my arm.

“You, you, I don’t even have words for you.” I dunked him under, holding him there. I got the funniest sensation then, something I could remember but not what of. It happened then, the ‘attack’ started.

“Ah! Cheater! Cheater!” I screamed, flopping like a fish out of water out of his grasp. I sunk so that my nose was just above the water, my eyes glaring. Kylin came up laughing, an immense, wicked smile on his lips.

“You asked for it, don’t give me that look. You had it coming. Now come on, let’s get out of this dirty water.” I wasn’t going to give up that easily. Ducking under the surface, I swam around him, planting a soft kiss on the back of his neck on the exposed skin, before skirting off. I was still a little shaky with this relationship thing, my mind still rebelling somewhat. It constantly told me that it was wrong to kiss a brother in such away.

“Soleil, that was mean. Come on.” I found I could see and hear him perfectly; he was calling out my name, and spinning around in a circle, trying to see if I had come up yet.

Deciding to put him out of his misery, I nudged my head out of the water not even an inch from him. He pulled me to him, his arm looping around my waist.

“What is with you scaring me half to death? Do you have this irresistible need to do it?” He began to propel us backward towards the dock, but I still wasn’t going to give up, he asked for it.

Leaning all my weight against his chest, I reached up and planted a delicate kiss on his neck just below his jawbone, my lips barely touching his skin. Shivering, I watched the goose bumps rise on his neck and back.

“That’s not fair. You cheat more than me.” Smiling again, I laid my head in the crook of his neck.

“What’s not fair? I am technically your girlfriend, so theoretically I am allowed to kiss you right?” I knew that I was being unfair, but hey, he asked for it. He didn’t answer until we were up on the pier, shaking ourselves out.

“Teasing me like that is not fair. It makes me want to do things I’m not allowed to do.” He was staring at me, his brow furrowed and a frown on his lips. Cocking my head slightly to the side as I wrung out my hair I stared back.

“Like what and why?” Shaking out my arms, I slide my sleeves up to my elbows. The soaked cloth stuck to my skin like glue. Running my hands down my legs one at a time I attempted to remove all the excess water; it just soaked into my boots.

‘Wonderful.’ He didn’t respond for a while. It wasn’t until I stopped ridding myself of water did he speak. Slowly walking up to me, he pulled me to his chest. It wasn’t welcomed as his shirt was still water logged, very much so.

“You wanna’ know the truth? Or some lie I can make up to appease you?” Looking into his face, insecurity was evident in his crystalline eyes.

“Truth, always.” I felt like such a freak. I never acted this way before, how did he make me act and feel like a fool with simple words? The logical part of my brain that had always been taught to be emotionless and perfect in public was screaming at me to realize that anyone could see us from where we stood. The emotional part blocked everything out, seeing only him. It would drive me crazy, and I was pretty sure that if I didn’t get this figured out soon, my brain would explode. Just being near him made me want to giggle girlishly and blush, and when in his arms, I felt so small. I had giggled maybe when I was smaller and didn’t know how to laugh, but I never giggled now, I laughed. It made me disgusted in myself. One point I would think I had this all figured out, then he’d do something to make me stumble, and slip. He never looked like he was having as much trouble as I with these feelings, but then there would be times like these. Some times, it would feel wrong being held by him, but some how relieving, like my body always knew it would be this way, but my mind was yet to wrap around the facts.

“I want to touch you all the time; I wish you would never leave my side. It drives me insane when someone else even looks at you. Every minute you spend with another crew member makes me so jealous I want to beat the living crap out of them.” Taking my face in his hands, he leaned his forehead onto mine as he did days before.

“I feel like my heart rises into my throat whenever I’m around you, whenever you laugh or smile.” He smiled gently, his eyes downcast.

“I would wish for the storms to happen so that you would come to me. I held my breath while you slept thinking you were just a dream. Whenever I woke, I would just lie and stare at you as you slept, unable to tear my eyes away.” He blushed slightly, and my breath hitched, speeding up somewhat.

“When I saw you standing on the deck with Elijah on your hip, I pictured you standing on my ship holding our child, our son. You were and still are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I’d wish for nothing more then for that to become a reality.” Poking him in the (still wet) chest, I quirked an eyebrow, trying to even out my breathing.

“Ya’ know wanting children is normal, right? I mean, father and mother wanted me, that’s why they named me Soleil. I was their sun, their world (so father tells me). I’m sure your parents wanted you too. It’s a natural thing to want babies, as they are the product of two peoples love, et cetera and all that good stuff.” He smiled softly, pulling our foreheads back together as I had leaned back to look into his eyes without crossing mine. Whispering even lower then before, I barely heard him.

“It isn’t the babies I want, what I want is the making of said babies.” As what he said clicked into place in my mind, my face flushed, red running all the way down my neck and coating my cheeks. I could feel the heat across the bridge of my nose, and under my eyes. Straightening up, his hands left my head to travel to my forearms. I knew I was staring, my eyes wide in apprehension

“That is what I’m not allowed to do. I haven’t married you, yet, so don’t worry about it.” His tone returned to the jovial tune it had been when we were in the water, though it still held some strain. For some reason my mind was awfully slow this night, still dwelling on the fact that Kylin had just confessed that he wanted to…ah…‘create babies’ with me, it stalled over one word in his sentence. Yet. Drawing my brow together, folding my arms over my stomach, and tilting my head back slightly I have him a questioning look.

“What? That look never means anything good. What are you thinking?” His eye’s narrowed to slits.

“Yet? Confident much? How are you so sure I want to marry you, huh? For all you know I could be head over heels in love with Ryne, pining away for the man.” A low rumbling tore from his throat. Surprised beyond all thought I asked,

“Did you just growl at me?”

“Don’t even joke around like that Soleil.” His face was dark, cast over in shadow by the soon to set sun. His voice was a low grovel that sent chills up and down my spine (in the good way.) Grabbing my wrist, he dragged me on to the ship, jerking me away when Ryne came forward. Judging by the looks on the men’s’ faces, I must have looked pretty shocked, and I was. Kylin then proceeded to slam the door to the cabin, his footsteps were heard loud and raging, and another slammed door. Ryne hesitantly walked up to me, hesitant with the look on my face, and the actions of Kylin.

“What was all that about?” Facing him, I gaped for words, my mouth opening and closing like a fish.

“Soleil, what happened?” I was at a loss for words. He looked worried.

“Sol?” Finally I was able to speak. It came out squeakier then I meant it, but I was still in a state of shock.

“He growled at me.” Confusion was most distinct on his face.

“What?”

“He growled at me. I mean, he actually growled at me. Like a dog.” My hand reached up to rub at the side of my face.

“Well, what did you say?” It worked out perfectly in my head, really it did, it just didn’t come out the way it should have.

“I told him I didn’t want to marry him, and that I was head over heels in love with you, pining away after you.” I don’t think my dead panned face helped the situation much.

“You did what? Why would you go and tell him something like that?” Some of the other crew members had taken interest in our little conversation, more specifically Elihe, Jacob and Little Troy.

“I was joking; I didn’t think he would take it seriously. I mean come on, me and you?” We both cringed at the idea.

“Oi, why couldn’t you stay little? Life was so much easier then.” Jacob came over and laughed, clapping a large hand on my shoulder, a distinct white scar shifting with the movements. Glaring at him, I stuck my tongue out. He just laughed some more. I was soaking wet, my boyfriend was pms-ing, and I just recently found out I had a ship. Great day!

“Maybe you should go talk to him Sol, I fear we may lose our first mate if you don’t.” Jacob chuckled out.

I must have looked like a half drown rat. I told him I would, but I was to be informed the minute father got back. Jacob agreed and walked off still laughing. Ryne gave me a sympathetic look, patting me on the shoulder. I trekked below, entering my room. I stripped clothes as I went to the bathroom, tossing them wherever they may have landed. The stench was horrible.

“Damnit Jay’!” I knew he was laughing at my expense. I showered quickly; dressing in a simple pair of navy blue trousers, and a snug black long sleeved shirt. I chose not to where any shoes. I wasn’t going back up to the deck to work any time soon, unless I was needed for the smaller tasks. My bare toes peeked out from under the long pants. Leaving my hair down and still dripping, I made my way into his room with a brush. My footfalls were silent as I made my way over to him. Being always on alert for everything, I was surprised when he didn’t react. Maybe he did hear me, but ignored me; maybe he was so lost in thought that he didn’t hear me. The list went on forever. He must have showered as well because his hair was damp but smelled clean, and his clothes were dry, well what was there anyway. He lay there; face down in nothing but a pair of black trousers. His hair was a mass of knots on the top of his head, and he held his hands on the pillow above the crown of his head. If he didn’t hear me, he had to of felt me. I climbed on top of him, straddling his back. He didn’t even stiffen. Nothing was said, and nothing moved, well except me. I was still brushing back my annoying long hair. I would have to cut it soon. It was getting too long. It was reaching the middle of my shoulder blades. An idea struck me. Neglecting my own needs, I began to brush out his nest of tangles very slowly and as softly as I could. Some were really bad, some weren’t. I had to move his arms so that I was able to get to the sides. He let me move them wherever I wanted to. It was as if I was playing with a doll. At last, I was able to comb it all back; it looked as if it had been sleeked back. I couldn’t help it, it erupted from the pit of my stomach. A small noise, barely audible, but it was there, and he had defiantly heard it. A giggle. What was so amusing, I would never know, my body just felt the urge to make me giggle. You could see his ears visibly perk up, waiting for more, though none came. It was just that one. Finally, he couldn’t take it, and turned around, messing up all the hard work I had put in for his browny blonde locks. He raised one hand to my hip so that as he turned under me, I wouldn’t fall one way or the other. I ended up sitting on his stomach. Feeling the muscles pull taunt then relax, quivering under the movement was odd. Not a feeling I was use to. The sapphire gems that were his eyes stared me up coolly, raking over me. Shivering, I leaned closer to his body for the heat. He regarded me calmly, well, calmly enough.

“What do you want?” I pouted, annoyed he thought I would be here for any other reason.

“To make amends.” I replied simply. He stared at me for a while, his eyes glittering with a hidden emotion.

“What if I don’t want to?” A frowned settled on my face, and I glared at him.

“You stubborn idiot.” I hissed. We had a staring match for what seemed like forever. When I couldn’t take it, I threw my hands in the air.

“You are so annoying some times! Did you know that?!” He just smirked. It was crooked, small, and so infuriately cute.

“Damn you!” He knew he was being annoying, but he was so perfect at it! Leaning back, I crossed my arms over my stomach, glaring at him.

“It’s your fault.” He spoke at last with a lilt to his voice

“What, how? I was joking. Stop being so possessive!” The low rumbling in his chest rose up. Poking him hard in the diaphragm, I gave him an exasperated look.

“And stop growling at me. You’re not some animal.” He stopped growling but still was breathing out heavily through his teeth. He murmured something under his breath.

“What? I didn’t quite get that?” I leaned in closer to hear him better.

“I have to be.” He seethed out.

“No you don’t.”

“Yes, I do.” His voice was rising slightly. Another irritated look was plastered to my face.

“No, you really don’t.” There we go ago, arguing our heads off. At least we weren’t yelling this time. He was getting angry though, I could see it in his eyes. Fine, I would play along.

“Why?” He closed his eyes, and already I missed them. I was a lost cause.

“Kye, tell me why!” He didn’t move, or say anything, but his face scrunched up. I would’ve normally taken that as a warning sign, but I wanted to know too badly.

“Please! Would you just tell m…”

“Because if I’m not possessive over what is mine, I will lose you!” He lurched up, dropping me on to his lap. His face was so close to mine, and in such short time that I found it hard to breathe. He reached his hand up to stroke my cheek and sighed, all trace of anger gone.

“You are like a bird. If I don’t keep you caged you will fly away from me.” He looked so absolutely sad, and unbelievably depressed that I just wanted to hug him, and promise him forever, but I couldn’t do that. I wasn’t ready for forever. I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

“I’m not going to fly away if you treat me nice, besides this was my home before it was yours.” He must have gotten more out of that sentence then I did, because he immediately perked up, a large smile on his face, his eyes wide. The sorrow barely showed through whatever he was thinking.

“Then say you’ll do it! Marry me, right here, right now!” He was practically on top of me, and his question had yet to register in my brain. Leaning back, I stared at him confusedly. He reached up and gripped my head, where the neck meets the jaw line, his long fingers wrapping around the back of my neck.

“Nothing will have changed, except that you will be mine, and no one can take you from me.” He seemed so excited it dwarfed my confusion. He began to nuzzle into my jaw, almost purring, whispering please.

“Hey! No distracting, you know my mind is still playing catch up.” I struggled out of his grip, pushing his face and hands away. He sobered up instantly.

“You cheat too then. Do you realize you just being here distracts me? It drives me crawling up a wall. You being this close, and just touching you, it makes me want to claw my way out of my skin. You are so amazingly perfect in everyway. You are smart, funny, strong, clumsy, brave, stubborn, beautiful, and so many other things, I could go on forever.” He ran his hands through my hair, pulling at the blonde curls.

“If your mother looked anything at all like you, I can understand why Ian would fall for her.” Blushing I pushed him away.

“Don’t say stupid stuff like that. If I distract you so, I’ll leave.” I got up and made to leave, but was stopped with a hand on my elbow.

“You didn’t answer my question.” His voice was low, and cautious. I kept my body and face turned towards the door, trying to keep my face composed.

“What if I don’t want to?” Shooting his words right back at him might not have been the best idea. He put pressure on my elbow, and it stung. I pulled at it, trying to get it free.

“That isn’t funny. Now answer the question.” After one last tug, he let go. I was sure the skin was pink. I stood, standing next to the bed facing the door, fist clenched, eyes closed. I clung to the last few hopes I had, excuses.

“Well, father…”

“Has already agreed. I’ve already asked him.”

“We don’t have time.”

“The ship is not sailing out any time soon. We have time. This is your father we are talking about. He could have one whipped up in a matter of days.” He tugged on my wrist, more gently this time, turning me around to face him. I stared down at his pants, counting the stitches.

“Hey, look at me.” He spoke so gently it only made me feel worse. He pulled my chin up, I tried to keep my eyes looking down until it hurt and had to make eye contact. He looked worried and upset.

“What’s the matter?” He pushed a strand of hair behind my ear. It was on the verge of a whisper. Rolling my eyes to look up at the ceiling, I shook my head, taking a deep breath.

“It’s nothing. I’m just overreacting. I just need to think about it, ok? I think you’re rushing a bit is all.” He gave a small chuckle.

“Rushing, what’s there to think about? Sol, we have known each other all ours lives. You know all of my secrets, and I know all yours. You know all there is to know about me, and I know everything about you.” He started to go on but I stopped him.

“If you knew everything about me, you would know I’m not ready yet.” His smile dropped quickly, and a seriously hurt look crossed his face. He let it go almost instantly, choosing the emotionless façade he wore every time he was overwhelmed with emotions. Leaning over again, I kissed both of his cheeks.

“Just give me time, that’s all I ask.” Turning around I walked out of the room, and up on deck, searching out Jacob. I found him at last standing on the starboard side looking out over the water.

“Jay, I’m going out. To Lori’s. Okay?” He turned to face me and I tried to look like nothing was bugging me. If he saw through it, he didn’t mention anything. He nodded, telling me someone would give a call when I was wanted home. I nodded, and numbly walked off the ship, and through the market. It was dusk, the sun having just set. Elihe came running up to me just before I was out of sight to bring me my sword. Trying to loop the belt proved too much for my shaky fingers. He offered to do it, and I let him, too tired and confused to care. He told me that I looked like crap, and if I was wanted him to go with me, just until I got there. I told him I was fine, and could make it on my own. He left reluctantly, his tall back swaying into the crowds, the top of his head still visible as I turned away.

I thought of waving down a car, but a walk seemed like the better thing to do, it would give me time to clear my thoughts, and put them in order. I was taking a back way through some fields and a small wood when it happened. The sky gave an awful lurch and broke out in the tears I would not shed. Wild beats of thunder drummed out the warnings of the strikes soon to come. I had just stepped out of the woods when it happened. All the animals grazing in the field spooked, and became intelligent beings. They ran to take shelter in the woods. As the stampede of animals flew past me, I noticed a small crying under the noise. Slowly making my way out to the center of the field, I found a small foxy looking creature. It had small green eyes, with a black nose and large whiskers. Coated in mud, it was drowning in a puddle. It was so small that when I picked it up, it curled into a ball in the center of my palm, licking itself free of the mud after hacking up a thimble full of water. I took it and myself into the woods and found a somewhat dry log to sit on. I used the cuffs of my sleeves to help the animal clean off, with help from some rainwater collected in my hair. It dawned on me after awhile that I had my boots on, and I hadn’t even known. After the creature was somewhat free of the muck, I was able to tell the brown and wheat colored fur apart from the mud. It had tiny paws with black pads that were the size of small pebbles. It had three pads on the front paws and four on the back two paws with tiny translucent nails to go with them. Its green eyes looked to be too big for the small head, but I guess the head would grow to fit the eyes. The ears were delicately shaped in a teardrop form and were covered in minuscule veins of blue.

The edge of the woods was about 200 feet away, found easy enough. I would just sit here and wait out the storm. I pondered over Kylin and marrying him, and how insane things were getting to be. My brain was still wrapping around the fact that he was not my brother, though he wished to be my lover. Flushing at the thought, I stamped on the feeling of butterflies in my stomach. Now was not the time to be thinking about such things. It was all too soon for me, I was starting to get cabin fever in my skin, wanting, needing, to get out. The fact of the matter, of what few facts there were, was that my father had agreed to this when Kylin and I have only been in the courting process for a few days. Meaning, he was expecting us to marry. Just how many of the others were expecting this from us. Did we not have the choice? Was this decision made for us before we knew what marriage was? Did it ever occur to anyone that maybe we would not want to wrap ourselves in forever with one another? Surely, I knew enough about Kylin to know all the things I disliked about him. Moreover, he made crystal clear all the years he had known me that there were quite a few peeves he had about me. Kylin seemed quite content to marry, but did they even know what ran through my head? The sickness welled in my belly, threatening to spill over into a physical form. He was nearly my brother, me nearly his sister. When had these careless thoughts of siblings turn to intimate thoughts of a woman from a man? My head was spinning, trying to recall every memory. There must have been a sign, something, this just didn’t happen out of the blue. Was I blind to all that went on around me? When had his looks changed from childlike innocence to dark and brooding? I must have missed something somewhere. Images as sharp as knives flashed in and out of my vision. The last storm that had taken residence in our skies that sent me skittering to him. He, just like every other time, opened his bed for me, accepting me in. Had it started here or further back? One in particular rose up from the graves. We were young; I was maybe seven or eight. We had gone swimming, and decided to shower together. Father had burst in while we were under the spray washing our hair, taking me away to my own room. Had it been here? Had father or somebody said something that made Kylin and me different from each other? Different from whom we thought we were? Thoughts swirled in and out of consciousness, reminding me of times far off in the past. The minutes moved on, and finally I gave up, having not found my answer. Sighing I turned my attention away from my problems and to my hand. The little fox like creature was curled up and had fallen asleep. It breathed in and out with deliberate breaths. Every now and again, it would take one large breath to make up for any lost air. My thoughts were still hazy so I began to count that creature’s breaths to calm me and right my mind. I guess I must have fallen asleep too, because I woke up lying on my side on the soaked ground feeling stiff, sore, and damp. The woods were already filling with steam from the high sun, and it was muggy. I lay there for a few moments with my eyes closed, rubbing my thumb in the soft fluffy fur of the foxy creature. I guessed it to look twice as big as it did when wet. Something growled off in the distance, something snorted, something stomped, and something chirped. It was a large concert of songs all sung at once making an oddly satisfying melody. Suddenly a snort of hot sweet smelling air was blown in my face. It was also wet. The creature stomped its feet on the ground a few times, probably trying to decide what type of animal I was. Peeking one eye open I saw a large bulbously welt that was clear; liquid could be seen swishing in it. Closing my eye slowly, I hoped nothing would jump out and scare it, and hoping that if I didn’t move, it would just go away. The Scarf decided I wasn’t very important and just trotted off. Relaxing a little, I slipped back into an easy doze, but not exactly asleep. I was on the verge, where you are aware of things going on around you, but are still resting. The foxy creature in my hand stirred, brisling up and hissing. A low growl came from the brush somewhere near by. Thinking I was just being over sensitive, I ignored it. It only grew louder with time. A large wail, like a cat, tore through the air, and I was up and standing, sword at the ready.

‘Of all the damn things I have to run into, it has to be a Were.’ Weres were feline like animals but had a tendency to change forms. Not like shape shifting, no that was only in books. This changing was over a period of time. It could change the way the ears, or eyes looked, the shade of their coats. Most each change took at least a year to complete, but that could mean a lot of changing. To date, these things are said to live for a couple hundred years. The tale for these creatures is that you know it is a Were when you can hear it but don’t know ‘where’ it is. Most creatures will attack up front, whether by charging or such. If it was this close, there was no way I could just walk out of here. If I ran, it would signify a challenge, and it would chase. I didn’t think I could out run it.

“S**t!” Well, maybe the only way to out run it was to take it into the field, up on to a street and towards a market or house. Weres did not like loud noises, electric lights, or cars. I would have to out run it to a street though. The foxy creature stirred again, and jumped from my hand. It should have warned me. I was knocked to the ground by a couple hundred pounds of pure muscle, teeth and claws. My head cracked on the log and I cried out. I saw stars and fought to keep my eyes open. A pinching feeling in my arm was the only thing to keep me from passing out. It didn’t work for long. My vision began to sway, and I think I fell from my sitting position. A trumping sound echoed off in the back of my mind, and a squeal. The last thing I heard was a painful cry of the Were, and another even louder squeal. The smell of burnt hair and flesh assaulted my senses, nearly having me gag twice. I was over taken by the smell, and the metallic scent on the air, it nearly smelled like copper. The world faded to black.

 

I don’t know how long it was by the time I woke up. There was a black beetle crawling over my hand which was a clammy yellow color. Sitting myself up, I nearly passed out again. I felt so nauseous, and my throat was dry and scratchy, and I was dizzy beyond all belief. The ground passed a couple times under my body, swirling around. I dry heaved a few times, but there was nothing in my stomach to offer up. Every time I moved my head, I thought it was going to crack into tiny pieces or explode. I had a pounding headache that made listening to the scholars debates seem like a picnic. The skin on my left arm was stiff and sticky, and over all I was sore and tired. I could barely make out the time of day. Either the sun was just rising or just setting. How long had I been out? A few hours or a few days? My head hurt too much to think, and staying conscious proved a task. I found my eyes would close with out me knowing, and I would not know I had passed out. This feeling seemed to last for days. Every time I woke up, more and more bugs were around me, and some times a small scavenging animal. It dawned on me pretty early that there was a good chance I was dying. Bugs sought out decaying animals to eat, and rodents ate food that was still a live but dying, or had just been killed. The air reeked of a pear smell. Trying to recall facts was difficult with the headache, but the lessons on medical information father made me study came to mind quickly as it should. Time was of the essence in panic induced situations, so the information that I would need to resolve them would have to come to mind just as fast as the situations rose. The acidic scent of pears meant the body was digesting muscle instead of fat. That could mean two things. There was no access fat to devour, therefore the body went to muscles, or it was pulling an autoimmune and turning on itself. I prayed it was the first one. It would stop if fat was there to be eaten again. If it was the autoimmune, only medication could, hopefully, stop it. Obviously I didn’t have any of that right now. What I would have done for some water, my lips had cracked, and would bleed off and on if I tried to talk or moved my mouth too much. My tongue felt too large for my mouth and fuzzy. I was never awake for long. After a few dry heaves and trying to scatter the bugs, I either would lie back down, or would pass out. I had no energy. Once I tried getting up, but my legs wouldn’t support me, and I fell wrong on my ankle. It was soar and puffy now. The whole time my stirring friend stayed with me. I don’t know if it went anywhere when I was gone. A couple times, I would wake to it cleaning my arm or forehead, which by the way was tender to the touch. I must have been running a fever, because I was incredibly hot, but it could have just been the fact I was in a humid climate. After some time, I grew numb to the heat and pain. That scared me more then anything. If there was one thing I had learned over the years, pain was your friend. If reminded you that you were still alive. If you felt no pain, you weren’t alive, or going to live.

 

One day I woke, and something had changed. My stirring friend was rubbing his wet fur on my face, coating me in cool water. I felt more alert, more awake, not that I felt a whole lot better, just more alive. After some time of just sitting up and looking around, the spinning stopped, I was able to look around with out becoming sick to my stomach. My throat felt as if someone had just rubbed fresh picked cotton up and down it. After a while longer, I was able to stand (with some help of the nearest tree.), though my ankle protested somewhat. My lips cracked open again, and I could taste the coppery blood. After a little while of walking (slowly) around the log, I decided it was time for me to sit and sleep. I couldn’t waste this energy. On my trip around the log, I had picked up a large sturdy stick to help me, as my ankle wouldn’t take my full weight. I noticed a dark splotch on the log about the size of a handball that dripped down the other side to where I was laying. Reaching up, I probed my forehead gently, wincing when I came in contact with a large cut and lump. ‘I hope that the next time I wake, I will be able to find a stream or creek.’ I was dehydrating, and fast. All my cuts needed cleaning also or I would catch infection.

Over the next few, what felt like days, Stirring (which I had come to name my foxy friend), lead me to a small creek where I drank my fare share. It stung and burnt my throat going down, but I would have to suffer through it. I washed my hands and arms from the dirt, mud and blood, then carefully tended to my face, rubbing everywhere with some soft green moss except the wound. Stirring lead me to some bushes of ripe (and some not so ripe) little peach colored berries, offering them to me. I didn’t think I could keep food down, even something so small. My stomach revolted at the thought, sending back up the cold water I had just put down. It wasn’t cold when it came back up.

I knew I had to get back as soon as possible, I didn’t even know how many days I had been gone. They probably think I ran off again. I slept for one more day before starting off. Stirring followed me, though I told him he should stay. I was grateful for the company, and he helped me find water and food when needed. The trip, which would have normally taken about two hours at a slow pace, nearly took me the entire day. Now that I was out of the woods, I could see the sun. As I stepped on to Lori’s property, it began to rain. It was as if the sun had never existed to begin with, the dreary grayness overwhelmed the sky and ground. The whole world seemed to be a little darker, with a touch more morbidity. My eyes drifted shut, and I was jolted awake when I landed harshly on my knees. It had started pouring, a change from the light drizzle mere minutes before, soaking me to the bone, sending shiver after shiver through my bruised and battered body. I now knew that I had in fact had a fever, because I could feel it rise in response to the rain. My mind became foggy again, and sleep tugged at me. The feeling of death crept up again, biting at my fingertips. My breath seized and I coughed and hacked. My lungs shook, and my ankle burned. My head throbbed terribly, and my wrist was on fire. They say that just before you actually die, everything that pains you is intensified. The saying rang throughout my mind. A flame burns brightest just before it goes out. Stirring bit me then, right on the jaw and it urged me foreword, up the slippery lawn, and to the front door.

Would they want to see me?

Would they care?

I could hear the tinkling of the cutlery on the plates and knew they must be at dinner.

It would be rude to disrupt their dinner would it not? It would down right ruin their dinner. I decided to turn away, and try to make it back to the ship, though I knew the chances were very slim that I would actually make it. That was when I heard it, they were speaking very low.

“I do hope she is found.” Lori’s voice.

“There’s a small chance.” Elie’s gruff voice. Lori’s scolded him for being so pessimistic.

“No, that girl’s strong. She will be fine. There’s no way she would go and let herself be killed, she has too many who love her to leave behind, besides she so young. Poor Kylin would be heart broken, not that he isn’t all ready.” That brought tears to the back of my eyes, I couldn’t tell if they were falling as it was still pouring too much. The thought of Kylin, or father or anyone else for that matter had slipped my mind these past few days. The problems I had with them at the moment seemed like nothing, I would come up with a solution when time called for one. I shouldn’t have been so difficult. It was obvious Kylin loved me so, surely I loved him just as much. We spent the same amount of time with each other, why should one love the other more? It didn’t seemed like the world worked that way. If he loved me as much as everyone says he does, then I must love him the same. The voices knocked me from my musings rather quickly.

“My mistake Ma’am. I spoke out of place.” Elie was as courteous as ever.

“Nonsense. You have your right to an opinion.” Elie thanked her for supper, and told her he must be on his way. He bid good night to Elijah, whose little feet could be heard all the way out here, and opened the door. I hadn’t realized I had turned back to the door until I made eye contact with Elie. He looked shocked and surprised, and worried. I must have looked like a damn fool standing there, just starring. Then, nothing. I don’t know what happened, but I must have blacked out.

 

Nights and days passed in a whir. People came, called my name, blurry faces with quiet voices, someone would spoon-feed me broth some times, but it never stayed down. Someone gave me a bitter tasting liquid but that didn’t stay down either, and brought blood up with it. I could indistinctly taste the coppery flavor. A cool rag was on my forehead some times, other times it wasn’t. A couple of times someone would touch me, hold my hand, and it would hurt. My skin would hurt to be touched; it made me wonder what was going on, if I was still dying. I would cry out and push them away, turning to curl in on myself. My arm had been wrapped in something, and my forehead had stitches. I had been vaguely aware of a man putting them in. I was plagued by nightmares of my mother and of the Were with the gruesome red eyes, black coat and two rows of teeth shining threateningly. My mind was still trying to figure out what had happened. I was supposed to be dead. That is not something one recovers from easily. Some nights I would wake up screaming, other nights, I would be crying. On the nights I woke up screaming; I would cough and hack up blood on to the sheets. At times, someone would hold a cloth to my mouth, and offer me some water. The world felt unreal to me in these days. My body told me I was laying in a soft bed with fresh water daily, and a cover if I got cold, and no rain, and I wasn’t being eaten alive by bugs or animals. Nevertheless, my mind was still on defense, putting me into sleep as it was overwhelmed, keeping my body alert, and reminding me of the perils. When I held some consciousness I would think of Stirring, and if the people had left him outside, but one night I felt his soft fur on my collarbone. I slept peacefully that night, knowing my little protector was there. He had warned me of the Were, he had done nothing when the Scarf was there, he had cooled me, and showed me food and water. In truth, I probably would have been dead if not for him. The nights from then on became a little more peaceful, I became a little more aware in the days, not sleeping as much, but choosing not to open my eyes. I was still exhausted, and sore. My muscles were all stiff; my mind had been growing numb. I thought I was going insane.

 

One night, it was cool, and I began to shiver. My fever had broken. I pulled the covers back to reveal my pale heated legs. They were thin, and weak looking. I looked down at what I was wearing. A pair of shorts, and a tank top. I placed my feet on the cool wooden floors, and pushed off the bed. I immediately sank to the floor, my legs giving out from under me. I forced myself-up again, using my arms to hold me up, though they were shaking violently from the effort. The full size mirror across from the bed showed me the reflection of a sickly girl. The talking in the other room had stopped, but resumed after they heard nothing. I looked myself over. My hair was relatively knot free, meaning someone had been brushing my hair while I slept. The cut on my forehead was an angry red and puffy. My ankle felt so much better (it must have not been twisted anymore), and my arm was wrapped (in stark green, Doc must have been here. I should give him a hug for remembering.). Over all, I just looked a poor pallor, and thin. I smelled myself, sticking my wrist near my nose. I smelled clean, except for the smell of ‘sickness’. It clicked when I remember someone helping me out of bed to shower. Why couldn’t I remember how long ago that was? My chest heaved up and down from the weakness and my limbs shook, but I wanted to get out of the room. Stirring chirped at me from on the pillow where he lie curled up, his green eyes regarding me lazily. When I didn’t lie back down, he came bounding over to hop on my shoulder, stretching out as he did so. I avoided the weak boards as much as I could, but my legs trembled. I clung to the wall and furniture for support. Finally making it to the door, it opened of its on accord, narrowly missing me (as it opened into the room, not out of). Conversation had gone silent again, and this time I knew it was because of me. I whimpered as my head gave a terrible throb and I lost sight of every thing for a moment. When my sight came back, whoever was standing at the door was crouched down looking at me. Familiar icy blue eyes stared back at me. I realized then I was on the floor and in dismay, I found out that the rooms lights had been off, and the dining rooms lights were on. Wincing again as I pinched my eyes closed, I got a sense of vertigo as I was lifted off the floor and carried back into the room (not that I left it or anything). I kept my eyes closed tightly when I was placed back on the bed, the covers were pulled up to my waist, and a chair was dragged across the floor. The sound was grating on my ears, the melody from the woods still playing on repeat in my head. Upon opening my eyes, the world spun again.

‘Damn, I thought I got over this in the woods!’ Thinking proved me painful. I reached a hand to my head to steady myself, even though I knew it wasn’t my head spinning. I was close to up-chucking all of my nothing, but managed to keep it down. Gagging in and of itself is painful and gross, whether something comes up or not is just a bonus. We sat in silence for a while, and the talking in the other room started up again. He spoke first.

“There are so many things I want to say right now, I don’t even know where to begin.” Sitting up I pulled the covers to my chin, still chilled. I didn’t even look at him, preferring to stare at the blanket. Clearing my throat, I asked

“How long was I gone?” It was hoarse and scratchy. Stirring shuffled on my shoulder, rubbing his fine fur against my neck. I still didn’t look up, but I knew he was staring at me, trying to make me look up.

“Nine days. Nine f*****g days.” He was beyond angry, he only cursed when he was past the point of no return, like when we went to visit his parents a few years back, and all his mother did was call me names. I don’t think he has forgiven her yet. I hadn’t cared, and that had made him even angrier.

“Where were you? What happened?” I don’t think he was angry at me so much as what happened and himself. So I launched into what happened, not sparing a detail. When I finished he looked like he was going to cry. He sat back (from leaning foreword) and crossed his arms over his chest, just staring at me.

“What were you thinking? You could have been killed!” I just nodded, accepting it as my fault. Why had I taken the longer way? I couldn’t even remember. He ran his hand through his long locks of blonde, pulling straight through some knots. It was longer then I had recalled. When I had finally looked up at him, I could not take my eyes away. I was staring at him, and he at me. I guess I knew why he was staring at least. His eyes were dark, darker then I had ever seen them before, and he looked pale. There were dark circles under his eyes as though he had been losing sleep over something of great importance. I slipped out from underneath the blanket and crawled the best I could to where he sat, climbing on to his lap. I wrapped my arms around his neck hugging him as tightly as I could, not wanting to let go. There was no hesitation in his movements, though they were a little shaky. One hand threaded up through my hair, pressing my head into the side of his neck, the other wrapped around my back. He dropped his chin to sit on top of my head.

“Please don’t hate me. I’m sorry.” It was timid and muffled by skin and tears, but it was all I had to offer at the moment. He shook his head, stating he was not angry with me, merely that he felt he could not even tell me how much he was worried.

“For nine days, we were looking for you, searching everywhere. Even Terese was helping, and friends she brought from school. For nine days, I didn’t know if what we were doing was a lost cause, if you were dead or not. I missed you so incredibly much it hurt. When we got the call, I thought you had been found dead. I nearly lost it. But Ian said you had appeared on Lorelei’s doorstep at death’s door. Doc said had you been outside any longer, you would’ve…” he stumbled over the last word. We just embraced tighter. We were both crying now, and I felt like such a fool.

“Please don’t leave me.” I meant at that moment, I did not want to be alone, but I guess he took it differently.

“No, never. I’m a possessive b*****d; I should have never let you go to begin with.” I guess he was blaming himself.

 

From then on the days passed quickly. I grew stronger each day, but stayed with Lorelei. She was over run with joy that I was safe and recovering so fast. I spent my days sleeping, eating and running around with Elijah, keeping him out of trouble and building my strength. Everyday someone would come to visit, mostly Kylin or father. Sometimes Ryne, Jacob, or Elihe would come up, but Ryne was busy with the pistons. They had all been neglected the days I was gone and ill (which I had found out added up to a total of 14 days). Jacob was stocking Kylin and my ships’ with whatever was needed, and Kylin didn’t like Elihe coming up for a reason he wouldn’t tell me, but I let it go. I was sitting down to lunch with the normal crew (Elie, Elijah, Lori) when there was a knock at the door. Elie got up to answer it, knowing it was probably somebody from the ship. When he opened the door, he was pushed a side, and a mass of a red head came flying into me, knocking me out of my chair, and smacking my head on the ground. I gave a small cry as I felt the stitches tear. Terese was pulled off me, and somebody was kneeling in front of me as I sat up. They pulled and fiddled with the stitches, then when they saw I was not focusing they held their hands up to my face, asking how many fingers they were holding up.

“You’re holding up something? I’ll tell you the minute I can see straight again.” Blinking rapidly didn’t help.

“Damn it! Do you know just how long it took me to make the world stop spinning?” Elijah ‘oohh-ed’ at me saying a bad word, and Terese was shaking me begging for forgiveness.

“One hour out of nine days?” I was going to smack that boy. I stared in the direction I knew Kylin was kneeling.

“Haha, very funny.” Terese stopped shaking me.

“No, it wasn’t.” She sounded so sorrowful. I tried glaring at them. I’m not sure if it worked.

A week later, I was allowed to return to the ship, Stirring came with me, my constant companion. To celebrate my returning and my 16^th birthday (which we never did celebrate) we all trouped down to the pub, inviting all those who helped look for me, though a lot didn’t come because it was way past the setting sun. People had work to do in the morning. Terese did come with a few friends though, and she fluttered about the room, knowing most of the men from the ship, and sparked up conversations. She had brought three girls (one of which was very familiar) and two extremely familiar boys. Kylin came to me, asking if I wanted them to leave.

“Let them be, as long as they don’t ruin my fun. Lilly behaved herself, somewhat, she flirted with Elihe, but he just looked confused, searching out someone to help him.

We told stories, jokes, and recalled memories. Everyone sat around drinking and eating and talking with one another, and it was the most fun I had in a while. Then it was called out. Somewhere in the mass of men and few women, someone yelled it out, and it caught like a wildfire.

“Sing! Sing!” Rolling my eyes, I searched out the piano. Every year they did this, but this year was different. I wasn’t going to fight, and I had the perfect song planned, one my mother had sung on her wedding day to my father. I sat myself down and everyone grew silent, waiting in anticipation.

 

“Take what you need while there's time,
The city will be earth in a short while,
If I'm not mistaken it's been in flames,
You and I will escape to the seaside,

There is a storm in the distance
The wind breathing warning of its imminence
There is a lighthouse five hundred yards down
You and I will be safe there

There is a girl who haunts that lighthouse
She saved me, I was swimming
So young I almost drowned
Under the water she sang a story
Of losing her lover
She calls a warning

Love, you are foolish, you're tired
Your sleeplessness makes you a liar
The city is burning,
The ocean is turning,
Our only chance is the lighthouse,

Her lover was a sailor
She went and she waited there
The door locked from the outside
Lover never arrived so she sings there
Soft as a siren luring the ships off their course, how alarming

We went in, we climbed up and looked out
The door locked from the outside
Three ghosts in a lighthouse.”

 

When I finished it was really, really quiet. Like everyone had died quiet. Had I chosen the wrong song to sing? After a minute of silence (which nearly made my heart beat out of my chest) noise broke through. Laughing and clapping, whistling and howling, and everything returned to normal. Father came over and kissed me on the forehead, telling me I had done my mother proud. We partied the rest of the night, stumbling back to the ship at the early hours of the morning, trying to be as quiet as we could.

 

I was wide-awake, and sleep was far off so I decided to go for a swim to clear my thoughts. I was still struggling over marrying Kylin and I knew I could not keep him waiting for long. Pulling my swimsuit on, I threw a t-shirt over myself and grabbed a towel. When on the pier, if you followed a certain dock labeled ‘Dock 4’ all the way down, you would be let out in fresh clean seawater. I told the night watch where I was going and that I would be back in an hour or so. They told me to be careful, and call if I needed anything.

The trek wasn’t long, but it just made me more confused than I already was. Immediately I was in the water when I happened upon it. My t-shirt and towel left on the dock’s edge. Just being in the water cleared my mind somewhat, and I was able to sort through my thoughts.

‘Do I love Kylin? Yes.’

‘But enough to say forever? I’m not sure.’ My mind nagged me about these types of questions, recalling memories good and bad, mostly good.

“Fine! Yes I do! Are you happy?” I shouted aloud to my mind.

“Well, that depends on what you are saying yes to.” I hadn’t expected that, my mind normally never talks back to me, not out loud at least. Whirling around in the water, I faced the dock and said person to be arguing with my mind about.

“Stalker.” Smiling I swam over, pulling myself up. My arms still were weak, but I was getting stronger. It was warm as summer was just starting, but I put my t-shirt on anyway after patting myself dry. I now sat next Kylin lying on my back looking up at the cloudy stars.

“Only because you make me one.” He replied, lying back next to me.

“How long have you been here?” I asked turning my gaze to him. He glanced at me from the side of his sight , then quickly averted it to the sky.

“A few minutes. I like watching you swim, it’s peaceful, like you and the water aren’t separate entities, united by some bond that the rest of the world can’t obtain.” I snorted, placing my arms underneath my head.

“That was so corny. Why must you say things that sound so stupid?” he just tossed a grin my way. Neither of us talked, not wanting to break the enjoyable company, but we both knew it was coming. It must have been too much for him.

“So? What were you saying yes to?” He was still lying back, but I could feel the tenseness in him. I drew out my answer, hoping to gain some more purchase on my feelings, but I fear I have gotten all my mind is willing to give.

“I was admitting to myself that yes, I could and would love you forever.” There was a pause of air, as if he had been expecting me to say something else, when he jerked upward, coming to lean on his elbow, on his side, facing me. I stared up at the stars before finally meeting his eyes. They burned and smoldered, and my heart sped up. My pulse hammered in my veins under his stare.

“But I’m warning you, Soleil Jenks does not sound as good as Soleil Quinx.” He smiled, no that was an understatement. His face spilt in two. He jumped up, pulling me along with him. He danced us around in a small circle kissing both my cheeks and then my lips. We both came away breathing hard. He leaned his forehead down on mine.

“That’s fine. I was thinking of changing my last name to my grandmother’s maiden name.” I reached up and kissed him this time, our teeth rubbing together, chewing on his lip. We pulled away again breathing even harder, each other breathing in the other’s breath.

“And what might that be?” Choosing to instead kiss everywhere else than my lips, he kissed my eyelids, forehead, cheeks, nose, and down the length of my jaw.

“Isaiah.” He replied simply, not breaking his ministrations, and I treated him to the same thing, his breath came out in sharp gasps.

“If you do that again, I swear, you will not make it to your wedding night untainted.” I blushed but stood tall, not going to be cowed by this ardor.

“Fine, I guess we need to cool off.” I gave us both a shove, just hard enough to push us off the dock. I shrieked with laughter, and he swore, clinging to me.

We landed in the water with a big splash, I came up laughing, and Kylin came up coughing. After being chased through out the water, and having his revenge taken we laid ourselves out on the dock, drifting off in light dozes as the morning sun rose, our fingers intertwined in the others. The men from the night shift never came to get me.

 

After three days of annoying long planning and people, we were to marry.          Kylin, as always, had been right, and my father went into overdrive. I was told nothing except what to wear, and to say yes to everything asked of me once I got there. The last part was told to me by the groom-to-be himself, which just made me laugh. I invited Terese, and a girl named Liilia from the next town over. She had dark olive tan skin that complimented everything she wore, and small dark brown eyes that were everywhere and one place at once. Terese was of course ecstatic, but a little put out I had not told her we were even courting each other let along thinking of marriage. It made me feel really old. Lori and Elijah stopped by to tell me they would be here early to get me ready. I didn’t even know where it was taking place. 

The day arrived soon enough and it was actually pretty calm. I was in a simple white dress made of lace and silk with fine stitching and a pretty pattern stitched in the bottom corner of the skirt in black thread. The bodice had small pearls beaded into the left bottom corner. It was sleeveless, but had thin straps and reached my knees. It didn’t really billow, more like flared at the bottom, and if I spun in a circle it would fly out around me. My hair was fixed with a few small braids done along my scalp, and the rest pulled back into a bun held by an ornamental sun clip. No rouge was applied, and I was beyond appreciation, though Liilia and Terese felt it necessary to put glitter on my cheekbones. It irritated me that it was there; I kept seeing it when I looked down. Suddenly, all the time we had was gone, and now we were rushing. They slipped some soft white slippers onto my feet and practically pushed me off the ship. A car picked us up from there, and when he drove straight down the pier I had a feeling I knew where we going. Half way there, I got nervous. I don’t know why, I just did, and it wasn’t pretty. I freaked out on Lori and the girls, but they did a pretty nice job of piecing me back together just as we got there. Lori started muttering something about being late.

“Late? What? I can’t be late. That would be very bad.” Lori had opened the door and was pulling me out. They cooed around me on just how beautiful I was, the perfect bride, fixing any last minute adjustments, and we were off. Lori and Liilia were first, nodding to my father as they passed him, Terese took the arm of Jacob, they walked down the isle, and then it was my turn. I froze. Like stop dead, not even breathing froze. This was it, no going back, well there was, but I was pretty sure I would be stopped up there. At least down here I would only have to out run my father. Damn, whom was I kidding; they would all run after me. I realized I had paused for a minute too long, and the atmosphere was getting tense on the ship. Taking a deep breath, I stepped foreword and took my fathers arm. Everyone visibly relaxed now knowing that even if I wanted to get away, I wasn’t going anywhere.

“You look beautiful, just like your mother.” Father stared straight a head and gave small bits of advice. Breathe slowly, only look at Kylin when up there or you might be freaked out, count to five in your head before speaking after he did, et cetera. Just before we got to Kylin, he asked me if I had anything I wanted to say at all. I peeked at him sideways and he did the same.

“I. Have. To. Pee.” I said it very seriously and I meant it. He laughed aloud, bellowing over the music. His laughter died down and the atmosphere seemed enjoyable from then on. Kylin was curious now.

“What did you say?” He reached out to touch the rose petal. (I was holding a single rose for my mother.) I smiled at him.

“I told him I have to pee.” He chuckled, finding the joke humorous. It wasn’t to me. Damn anxiety!

“By the way, nice ship.” I whispered, winking at him. He grinned his lop-sided smile and I melted. Ok, it was all over for me. The ceremony was over with quick, and father was up to the ‘does anyone object to this union of souls? Please stand, or forever be silenced.’ There was a hush and some gasps. Originally, Kylin and I were (probably) grinning like loons, but his smile dropped and a frown appeared. I turned to look where he was looking behind me. Elihe was standing from his seat at the end of a row, two rows back from where we stood. His hands were clenched in fists, and he looked ready to kill. He merely shook his head and walked off the ship. It was beyond confusing, and I could only stare after him. Had I really been that blind? Now that I thought about it, I recalled memory upon memory of his kindness and concern, and care, even from when I was little. My chest burned with hurt over the actions of my long time friend. My eyes strained as I tried to see him as he jogged from the dock and pier. I didn’t realize I had started crying until a tear dripped onto my hand. It was cold.

“Sol?” Someone called to me quietly. I turned to Kylin. He looked uncertain.

I wiped at my eyes, thankful again that they hadn’t put any rouge on, though some of the sparkles did come off. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly I nodded. I offered a weak smile.

“I’m fine. Let’s go.” He nodded, still uncertain and looked to father who looked like he was just thinking about biting someone’s head off.

“Ok, so that doesn’t happen again, do you Kylin take Soleil…”

“Yes.” He smirked, trying to lighten the situation. It got a chuckle out of a few people. Father hated to be interrupted.

“Do you Soleil take Ky…” I didn’t even let him finish.

“Wait, your name is Kylin? I thought it was Joseph.” I looked around, pretending to look out at the crowd as if I didn’t know any of them.

“Am at the wrong wedding?” I chuckled darkly. Kylin rolled his eyes. Father smacked me up side the back of the head. I turned to father beaming and he smiled back.

“Then, I now declare this union of souls to be complete. You may kiss…” Kylin was two steps a head of him, already stealing my breath away. There was a lot of hooting and hollering, whistling and cheering. Breaking away from each other, we turned to father. He threw his hands in the air, declaring he was not doing this again. I turned to walk to the edge of the boat, Kylin following close behind. His arms wrapped around my waist, his chin sitting on my shoulder, well, the unoccupied one. Stirring had come running up to curl up on my shoulder. I dropped the rose in to the water, wishing mother well, and praying she was proud of me. He turned me around to face him, leaning against the edge of the ship.

“So, you are now Soleil Isaiah. Mrs. Isaiah, what are you going to do as a new bride?” Reaching so that my face was mere centimeters from him, I replied.

“Well, first I’m going to kiss my husban…” However, he beat me to the punch. When we broke apart, his eyes were wide and wild. They almost looked hungry, but I continued with my speech. It sounded a bit rushed due to my heavy breathing.

“Then I’m going to drink till I can’t see straight, party until I can’t walk straight, and sail until I can’t see or walk!” I felt like I was drunk already, I felt lightheaded, and giddy and just over all very happy. He smiled, but a dark smile, not in a bad way though. It made the giddy feeling in me rise up, and small butterflies filled my stomach.

“You are forgetting one very important thing. You belong to me now, and I will wait no longer to take what is mine.” He chuckled darkly, and kissed my jaw. I was scared, down right scared. Should I be scared? He was technically my husband now, and that was the point of the sacred ‘wedding night’. Still, chills ran down my spine at the thought of it. He seemed to sense my unease, and turned the cards, becoming quiet and loving.

“Do not fear my love. I will not hurt you.” He nuzzled against my neck, taking deep breaths as he kissed along the side of my shoulder. I picked at his hair, braiding small strands as I murmured,

“It is not you I fear. I will not know what I am doing. I will be very clumsy.” He chuckled again, only in more sincerity then before.

“You think I will be any better? We will learn together.” It didn’t ease my fears though, however I tried my best to mask them. He took my hand and led me to the crowd of people just talking amongst themselves. They started clapping when we joined them and I couldn’t help but smile. Terese nearly tackled me again, but thought better of it with the look she received from Kylin, just embracing me tightly.

“I’m so happy for you. You better send me a letter the minute you know you’re pregnant.” Wow did I turn red. I don’t think there was such a color in the world, but I knew my skin looked like it. I told her that I would if it should happen so soon. She just giggled while Kylin and the others laughed. It wasn’t funny to me! That was embarrassing. The laughter died down when my skin returned to normal. Ryne spoke out among them.

“For a second there, I really thought you were going to run, you looked like you were seriously considering it.” I blinked a few times trying to understand what he meant, and then I remembered. So he was standing there, I had thought so. I gave a guilty smile.

“I was. I just freaked. I figured I’d only have to out run father from down there, where as up here, I would have been stopped had I turned and tried to run. Then I realized, you all would probably come after me, when you caught me would just be a matter of time.” I gave a nervous laugh turning to Kylin, telling him I wasn’t thinking of running because of him. The guys busted his chops about how he nearly had me running, but oh wait, he had already gotten me to go twice before. His face got dark then; sorrow and anger filled his eyes. Smiling to everyone and thanking them, I pushed him off, down into the cabins. They shot jokes of how we were so urgent to have little Soleils and Kylins around to cause havoc. I just laughed and rolled my eyes. They ended up leaving, knowing they were pushing their luck. Once down on the lower floors, he automatically led the way. We ended up in the master bedroom. My heart began to race; I swallowed around the lump in my throat. He didn’t even turn to me, just went over and flopped face down on the bed. I went and laid down next to him on the other side, curling into him. Stirring buried himself in my hair. For some reason I was exhausted, and I hadn’t even done anything. My thoughts drifted to Elihe. I felt mean about the way I treated him, and never recognized his feelings, and a little hurt that he couldn’t be happy for me, but it was out of my hands now. Closing my eyes, I felt myself drift. The last thing I felt was Kylin turning and draping an arm over me, pulling me to his chest. I think he fell asleep too.

 

It must have been a few hours later that I woke. The sun had set and it was dark outside.

A heavy weight was across my side, curling around my back. Only then did I realize I was lying, facing Kylin, who was still sleeping. I didn’t want to move, put my bladder made itself all too known. I had to pee hours ago, and I’d been holding it since. I tried picking his arm up, but he would just tighten his grip. I really need to go, so I bit him. As Stirring had when I wouldn’t move, I bit him on the jaw, a hard quick bit. It jerked him awake.

“Ouc’ch” He was still sleepy. I scrambled out of his grasp, running for the bathroom door. Just as I reached it, a warm body folded around mine, which folded into the door, pinning me there. Seemed like he had gotten over his sleepiness quickly.

“Kye, move!” He just kept his hands on each side of my head on the door.

“Where do you think you’re going?” I wiggled and whined slamming the flat of my hands on the door lightly.

“I have to pee! Let go.” Nothing happened for a minute, and then he chuckled, stepping back. I slammed the door closed with a ‘jerk’ and relieved myself. My bladder was most grateful.

Upon reentering the room, I found no one to be there. Uncertain, I stood in front of the bathroom door just peering about the room, taking in small details. The door opened quickly and he stepped in, his eyes meeting mine. He had changed into simple trousers that hung off his hips, and threw me some clothes, a shirt and a pair of shorts. A thousand thoughts floated across my brain of what might happen now.

‘If I can I get over it now, I can do it later.’ I was talking about body shyness. I did not like being shy, no matter what it pertained to, and nudity was still a shyness of mine. My guess was he was expecting me to go to the bathroom to get changed. He walked over and sat on what I presume would be labeled his side of the bed, placing the water bottle he brought in on the nightstand. I stood next to the bathroom door for a moment, reassuring myself, then, slowly slipping the straps off, the dress slide off my body and to the floor. I quickly put the shirt on and stepped into the shorts. I tried my hardest not to blush, but it was so hard.

‘Damn shyness!’ I cursed it as it always made things awkward. I picked up the dress, folding it carefully, and placed it on the dresser. The shirt was too big and hung off one shoulder as I walked back to the bed, plopping down to face him. I wasn’t tired any more, just apprehensive. He just stared at me, I stared back as if nothing had happened out of the ordinary. The water bottle was held half way to his mouth as f he had stopped in mud-motion, which he very well might have. Breath came out shallowly from his nose in an odd kind of sigh as he held out his hand, having set the bottle down.
"You can not expect me to do nothing now."

I took it and crawled up to him. He reached around and pulled the clip from my hair, and it went tumbling down my back. I gave a slight wince and sigh as the tension was pulled off my roots. Stirring gave a chirp of annoyance, as he was awoken and removed from his spot of rest. Kylin began to unbraid my hair, and I realized just how tender the spots had become. They hadn’t been this painful going in, but I winced every time he hit a sore spot. He tried to be gentle, but they were inevitable. It progressed from there and soon our clothes had been discarded altogether. It was rather embarrassing at first, but it seemed right in a weird way. We sat facing each other, no awkward touching, just admiring one another. I crossed my arms over me chest, frowning as a blush spread across my face.

“Don’t stare, it’s embarrassing.” The uneasiness was welling up in the pit of my stomach, and I thought for a few moments that I would be sick. Swallowing nervously a few times, I tried to settle my stomach. He took my hands in his, rubbing the inside of the wrist.

“Don’t ever hide from me.” Turning my face away from him the blush spread down my neck. He let go of one of my hands and pulled my face to look at him, my eyes straining to look away. My heart was dreading something, what was it? What made my heart pound in fright? My pulse was hammering, and my stomach lurched painfully. What was wrong with me? I felt like I had chewed my heart up and swallowed it and it was stuck in my throat. I’m scared, but what for? Panic rose in me, threatening to spill over and wash me away. Why? Why? What is wrong with me? This had to stop now. I could not live in fear and not know what it was I feared. A life could not be lived like this. I had to choose one path or another. Surely Kylin would stop this if I asked, he wouldn’t force me. He would never, but what of everyone else? They would be expecting, this is what people did on their wedding night. It would hurt Kylin if I said no. I had to do this; I had to swallow my fear now. Whatever it was, I could deal with it later. I would deal with it later. Sitting up on my knees, I reached over and placed my hands on his shoulders, his hands naturally going to my hips. I kissed him hard and it was all instinct after that. Some moves were slow and deliberate, others were fast and wild. Feather light kisses down the belly, nibbling and butterfly kisses along the shoulder and collarbone, the cupping of a breast, the squeezing of an arm. It all seemed like moves for a dance; an ancient, well-known dance that had been written in the very fabric of our beings. The alarm bit into my heart again, making my chest ache painfully. I nearly cried. What was this? Biting my tongue I ignored the pain. Kylin thankfully was completely oblivious to my pain.

There was nothing at first other then slight discomfort, but I thought too soon when I felt something tear. It was painful, I’ll give it that. Not as much as the fear, but that was buried under a haze of passion. Crying out, I bowed off the bed. Pelvises ground together, heated skin made contact with heated skin. A strong hand was placed on my hip, keeping me down. After a couple of seconds, the pain died down, leaving in its place hot coils in my loins. I nodded when he asked, and the dance continued. Medium speed, even strokes was the rhythm we tried to keep constant. Skin moved against skin, nails clawed, teeth bite, and kisses soothed it all. After what seemed like an eternity in a second, the hot coils exploded, tugging on every nerve in my entire body. I cried out, arching once more off the bed, only this time I was allowed. White took over my vision in a bright burst, like when you stare at the sun for too long. After it faded and I came back to my senses, we were breathing heavily, staring at each other and still giving kisses and nips. He rolled over, taking me with him as he did so, to lie on his back. I kissed a bite mark I had made once more, and curled up, sated and exhausted again. He pulled the blanket up over us as I shivered, the air had gotten cold, and our bodies were rapidly cooling too, making for a chilly night. After some time of us just lying there, and trying to figure out what and why I had been so scared, I decided I needed sleep. The darkness of the night had crept over everything it could possibly touch and was now receding to allow some light in. I slept well with no nightmares.

 

The sun’s rays crept through the window, landing directly on my face. I reacted like I would any day, snuggled further into the blankets. I didn’t want to get up, I was too comfortable, and sore. Flashes of what went on last night took place and I had no choice but to smile.

‘Not to bad for first timers.’ I snuggled into the warmth, though the day was sure to get hotter.

‘No messy slip-ups.’ I shifted again, and a wave of the scent hit me. I wrinkled my nose. No way of getting around it, lovemaking was messy. My skin felt clammy and sticky in some places, I needed a shower. Kylin was completely out of it. Sliding out from underneath his arm, I escaped to the bathroom to shower. I was not under the spray for more then five minutes when I was joined. I stared up at him.

“What are you doing?” He gave me a tired flat look.

“Showering?” I shook my head.

“No, I’m showering, you out, now.” I made the shooing motion with my hand towards the door. He just stared.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. You’re getting body shy now? After all that and you’re shy now? I don’t understand your logic.” He stayed reaching around me to get to the soap.

“It’s not that, I would just like to shower alone, by myself.” I don’t think he got the picture. He pressed up against me, pinning me between his body and the cold tile wall.

“Contradictory elements do not like each other, I’ll have you know.” But I couldn’t help smiling up at him. He scrubbed some wild flower soap into my hair absently and that began the ritual of us cleaning each other. It took us a little while longer, but not for reason you might think. With all the soap being used at once, the floor became unbelievably slippery and I don’t think the lump is going to go a way any time soon.

We eventually made it back to the ‘Lisa May’ in one piece though we didn’t escape the jokes and taunts. We idled about the ship, not really having anything to do. Some of the crewmembers had been relieved if they lived near by to visit family or friends. They were told that if they still wanted to work under us, that they had better return in two days time or when they got back the ships would be gone, their stuff left on the pier. We did the basics, checked ropes and knots, helped Ryne in the engine room, cleaned some, but there was really nothing to do. Kylin wasn’t acting too different from when we weren’t wed. Though ever time he or I got close to one another, or passed each other, he would reach out and touch me. Nothing weird, just a hand to an arm, fingers to a neck. I suppose he was thinking I would disappear or something, but why should I disappear? I lived here first. My thoughts ran away with me as I stared out over the water. Had I done the right thing? If I looked at Kylin now, did I still see my brother or did I see my husband? These types of questions plagued me with out resistance; I didn’t have an answer to a good number of them. I nearly jumped out of my skin when someone slouched next to me, making me drop the rope I was holding loosely in my hands. Fearing I had just let a smaller sail loose, I panicked and dashed for the end piece, feeling it snag on something. I looked up from my crouched position to see the rope already tied off. It hadn’t been like that before, I had untied it to retie it. Shifting my sight to the left, I only then realized Kylin was half sitting half leaning on the rail, his back to the water. He stared at me with an eyebrow quirked.

“You ok?” Taking a deep breath, I let it out with a nod. Standing up only to sit next to him I blamed my panic on spacing. I was so lost in my thoughts I hadn’t realized he had tied the rope while it was still in my hands. As if I could tell the time by it, a heavy stream came in, raising the ship up. ‘High Tide.’ Kylin slung and arm around my waist, pulling me so that are bodies were flush side to side. It felt stuffy in my skin, as if I was filled with cotton and not everything that makes a body work. It was dizzying. I placed my head on his shoulder, mostly to keep my self from displaying my guts for the world to see, besides, they would think I was already with child, which was impossible. Sighing, I felt myself slip back into normal space, comfortable in my own skin once more.  

Most of us were just lounging around when father gathered us up, and we made a little herd, strolling along the pier. Our posse made a sort of box with me in the center. Father stood at the front, leading us while Jacob casually followed at my back. Kylin strolled on my left and the same with Ryne to my right. I had a definite idea of where we were going but I played it cool. Kylin had my hand in his, and I could feel the magnets shift into place. Whether these magnets would go together or push apart was yet to be decided. A large smile made its way on to my face when we stopped in front of a large, dark wood ship with maple railings and floors. I was on it before anyone could turn around, my hand slipping quickly out of Kylin’s. It had the main rails, then spindled posts then the ships main body, crafted in some kind of dark wood, most likely walnut. The floors and rails themselves were a white maple with a white stain, almost looked like a pickled oat stain. The doors and windows were made from the dark wood, but framed in the maple. Inside was just as beautiful with pink glass windows, and an engine room all of mine own with a set of three pistons. This ship was smaller then the ‘Lisa May’ but looked like the sister ship to Kylin’s. I raced up stairs to the upper deck where the wheel was. I nearly fainted. A carved block of cherry wood with each rung and alternating color of the dark wood and the maple.

Achoo!

I froze in position, before spinning around to point a finger at Kylin.

They all looked frozen in spot too.

“You got me sick! I have not been sick in forever! Three weeks ago was due to an infection, that doesn’t count. I can’t believe you got me sick!” Jacob just out right laughed, stepping up to board my ship.

Father smacked himself in the forehead, following Jacob, stating he didn’t want to have to deal with this. Kylin just stared at me, unsure of what to do.

Before either of us could say another word to each other, a blonde headed figure launched itself at Kylin. My blood boiled in my veins as I saw who it was. I could hear her nagging high pitched voice talking to Kylin. She had her hands clasped around his arm as if they were attached to one another, and I saw red. Stomping down the plank, I grabbed her by a fist full of hair, ripping her face away from his as she leaned in to get a little too friendly. She screamed, and Jacob and father came running back down, thinking it was I. Ryne who had stayed on the pier lurched forward attempting to pull Lilly from my grasp, but I just held tighter.

“I can do this now. Why the f**k don’t you get the picture? If he wasn’t in to you then, what makes you think he is in to you now?” I dragged her across the pier, her skirt catching on the coarse planks, audibly tearing in some places. I led her to the edge, and with the last of my strength, pushed her over.

“How does it feel? Sucks don’t it.” I stormed off then, right back on to the ship, still steaming. Kylin edge up along with me, keeping a hand on my elbow. Probably so that he could stop me if I decided to further my vengeance. Ryne reluctantly helped her out of the water, though she did it kicking and screaming. After sending her on her way, he then joined our little troupe. Jacob was still laughing with some of the other men that had tagged along after us.

Father laid out a map on the table behind the wheel, pointing at three ships, each leading a different colored route.

“Soleil, this is your route, Kylin this is yours. Both your ships are made to be faster and more agile then the ‘Lisa May’ and you will be delivering the most important of items. Soleil your ship will be taking the first route, it partakes in long hours of sailing and little amount of stops, you will habitually be carrying clothes, silks, and items made from weaving. Kylin, you will be taking the second route behind Soleil. You will be transporting foods and perishables. Your ship should make frequent and short stops. If everyone is on course and time, you two should meet up at these three ports at the same time. If everything is running smoothly, all three of us will meet up at these four ports along the way. Understood?” A nod from both of us is all he needed to continue.

 “Now, for the next year or two, we have to make up for lost time, so we will be altering the plan. Soleil, you stick on course, if the weather fares well, you should be able to circumnavigate in about 85-95 days, 100 in the worst weather. Kylin, as you will be making more stops, it should take you about 120 days to circumnavigate, and I want you to start out on the starboard side and move counter-clock wise. I will follow Kylin’s course. I will know which ports need what I have and who do not. With the altered routes, we will see little of each other, but may pass one another. Until we catch up, this is the way it is. It should only take a year at least.” Looking up I worked the math out in my head.

“Let’s see. 100 days per season, four seasons, 400 days in a year, 90 days times 4 is 360 days. So I should have twenty days to alter my route and set myself back on course should the need arise. 120 days times 4 is 560, so you will fall into the next year by 160 days and father, you know your course well enough.” We continued to plan for another hour before we had agreed on what to do, and the map was rolled up.

“Soleil, the ship will need a name. As will yours Kylin.”

Smiling, I came up with the perfect name.

“The Lunar Winds I” Father smiled a sad smile, remembering well where the name came from.

“Sun Chaser.” Kylin said, leaning back against the rails, his arms crossed. We all knew where that came form.

Two days later, I set off, following the slightly alternated route with my new crew, consisting of four men from my father’s ship, and nine from port.

 

Letter sent for Captain Isaiah of the ‘Sun Chaser’

Marked by Second in Command Ryne Keiths

In regards to Captain Soleil Isaiah of ‘The Lunar Winds’

 

Kye,

Day 34^th

Ian has told me to keep both of you updated on what is going on.

Soleil has been complaining about some abdominal pains, but refuses to take time off of the route to see a doctor. I’m sure it is just from being away from sailing for the time she was sick. I hope they will ease up.

                        K. Ryne

                        Engineer & Second in Command

 

Letter left for K. Ryne Second in command of ‘The Lunar Winds’

Marked by Captain Kylin Isaiah of the ‘Sun Chaser’

In regards to Captain Soleil Isaiah of ‘The Lunar Winds’

 

Ryne,

Day 78^th

Make sure she is getting enough fluids; it may be her courses dehydrating her.

Keep me updated.

                        Isaiah K.

                        Captain of the ‘Sun Chaser’

 

Letter sent for Captain Isaiah of the ‘Sun Chaser’

Marked by Second in Command Ryne Keiths

In regards to Captain Soleil Isaiah of ‘The Lunar Winds’

 

Kye,

Day 94^th

I fear it may be something worse. Soleil has taken to her bed with severe pains. What little food she can eat, never stays down for long. There is no fever, and no chills. She still refuses to seek help. She bids that I keep her health a secret from the men and tells us to sail on.

                        K. Ryne

                        Engineer & Second in Command

 

Letter left for K. Ryne Second in command of ‘The Lunar Winds’

Marked by Captain Kylin Isaiah of the ‘Sun Chaser’

In regards to Captain Soleil Isaiah of ‘The Lunar Winds’

 

Ryne,

Day 132^nd

Seek help immediately! As second in command, you hold power when captain is down to do what is necessary. Your word holds more command then hers if she is so ill. Have you informed Ian? Tell her I said to stop being stubborn, her health matters more then the course.

Keep me posted.

                        Isaiah K.

                        Captain of the ‘Sun Chaser’

 

Letter left for Captain Isaiah of the ‘Sun Chaser’

Marked by Second in Command Ryne Keiths

In regards to Captain Soleil Isaiah of ‘The Lunar Winds’

 

Kye,

Day 229^th

Yes I have informed Ian. Soliel is fine as of now. A doctor has checked her out, and they have her on vitamins. She didn’t have enough nutrients in her system. Many things have changed since we left port those many months ago. Changes that have made life so very different.

                        K. Ryne

                        Engineer & Second in Command

 

Letter left for K. Ryne Second in command of ‘The Lunar Winds’

Marked by Captain Kylin Isaiah of the ‘Sun Chaser’

In regards to Captain Soleil Isaiah of ‘The Lunar Winds’

 

Ryne,

Day 272^nd

Why I feel as though you are not telling me something? Keep an eye on her, she may be hiding it.

                        Isaiah K.

                        Captain of the ‘Sun Chaser’

 

No more letters are sent after this one between the ‘Sun Chaser’ and ‘The Lunar Winds’ as of this time.

 

Almost two years after the letters stop

 

Letter sent for Captain Isaiah of the ‘Sun Chaser’

Marked by First in Command Captain Soleil Isaiah of ‘The Lunar Winds’

In regards to Docking

 

Kye,

I do not mark the day because I know it does not matter, we will both mark port at the same time as we have set meticulous courses. We will be waiting for you on father’s ship. Meet us there. I can’t wait to see you! I have a surprise, one you will never guess.

 

                        I. Soleil

                        Captain of the ‘Lunar Winds’

 

A few Days after Captain Soleil Isaiah sent the letter

 

I stood waiting, knowing that they would catch on soon or think me a fool. I sent my father, telling him I would be on my ship, waiting for him, that I had a surprise. Kylin had received the same, only stating that I would be on my father’s ship. I needed him off his ship and my father out of my way for a few minutes to put my plan in motion. The conversation Kylin and I had those years ago still rang clearly in my head, chiming in, and making my plan that much more enticing.

Taking my face in his hands, he leaned his forehead onto mine as he did days before.

“When I saw you standing on the deck with Elijah on your hip, I pictured you standing on my ship holding our child, our son. You were and still are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I’d wish for nothing more then for that to become a reality.”

I chuckled when I overheard them talking on the pier as they made there way to Kylin’s ship, having finally realized I was in neither places I said I would be. Their murmurings were lost on me as the boy in my arms pulled my attention away from my husband and father. Their voices coming closer and closer, until they finally, abruptly stopped. The boy had just asked what the bird that flew by was called. I told him that it was a finch. He giggled. I poked him, asking him what he found so funny, and he squirmed out of my arms. Quickly shifting and twisting around, I was able to place him down on the ground, with out him falling. A lock of blonde fell across my vision, distorting it. The blonde hair and blue eyes had been a trait passed down by both his parents, as he peeked up at me from behind my legs, his teal eyes shining and innocent. I will admit that I had let my hair grow out, and thankfully it had become straight instead of staying curly. I heard the men shuffle at the edge of the ship and I looked up, smiling at the both of them. I hadn’t realized they had been standing there for so long, when had they come up, my mind had been preoccupied with the random laughter of a baby. The wood under my boots creaked with wear, but not weakness. We had lost a board through our voyage and Ryne nearly found a faster way to the engine room. I really need to obtain a doctor for my ship. I don’t think that could have been a more compromising position we were in. He had the equivalent of a stake jutting out from his inner thigh, and I’m the only one with any type of medical knowledge, and thank the sea father had forced me to learn. The sight of Ryne in his shorts was a sight I would not forget, not that it was a bad sight, just not one I needed. I chuckle broke through my lips at the blush he had when I was stitching the skin back together. The man had worse things to worry about then his captain seeing him half naked, he could have gotten a serious infection. Leisurely, I strolled up to father, pecking him on both cheeks, telling him it was good to see him. One step over and I placed my hand on Kylin’s chest to steady myself and raised myself to my toes. He had gotten taller, and I had grown none. I placed a chaste kiss on his unresponsive lips, his eyes never even made contact with mine except when I had looked up before. The boy’s eyes peeped out from behind my legs, examining the two men. I hoisted him up onto my hip, wrapping my arm around his small hips to keep him there. He clung to my hair and tunic, leaning in close to me.

“Father, Kylin, this is Ezra.” I shifted towards father, and gave him a pointed look.

“Your grandson,” Swinging to face Kylin, cocking my head to the side, giving him a grin.

“And your son.” Stirring chirped on my shoulder, rubbing his dainty paws against my neck.

 

End Part 2

Author's Note

same as before...