Music From The Deep

The Black Hind

"It moved." Zuma reported. "It seemed to have holed up in this one stretch of water, but now it's moving again. Heading west. Started moving before I was awake, it's nearly even with Mahrain now."

Tetsuya stood rigidly, eyes having turned stony upon hearing the news. Zuma held her breath, worried at how her captain would react. A siren could move at a good clip, and already it had put a day's travel between the Tidewalker and itself.

"Keep sailing." Tetsuya said at last, reigning in his anger. "We will catch it. It can only stay ahead of us for so long."

Zuma nodded, gathering up the map she had laid on his desk and hurrying out of the cabin. Tetsuya wasn't an angry man, but the navigator hadn't known how he would react to this. Best to keep any updates short and to the point.

The deck was quiet, filled with a heavy sort of anticipation. One that was darker than anything Zuma had ever experienced. She'd only been on the vessel for a year, and while she had known Sedrick as a good man, she didn't know him well.

She supposed it was like losing a child to a hot spring, which had happened in Kurultai, where she had been raised before taking to the ocean. It was rare, but children could wander out from under the watchful gaze of their parents for just a brief space of time and fall in, leaving the parents to grieve most fiercely. Sedrick had been unobserved for a little bit, and then had fallen prey to a beast.

Zuma stepped up to the woman at the helm of the ship, a middle aged woman named Sable. Sable nodded at Zuma and grinned, showing off her slightly crooked teeth. She was one of the few people that was still in somewhat good spirits, but they could have been from the bottle of shell-shine hanging from a strap at her hip.

"Still on course for beastie?" she asked, her thick Myathios drawl somewhat slurred.

Good gods, why is she allowed near the helm? Zuma thought to herself as she unrolled the map again.

"More south, but only by a wee bit." Zuma responded, glancing off the port bow. "Lost a bit of time. Siren's movin' again."

"Perfect time to get drunk then," Sable said, popping the stopper off her bottle with one hand and taking a swig. She winced slightly before letting out a low whistle. "Aye, want a swig? Does wonders for the thoughts up here." She tapped her skull.

"I'll pass," Zuma said drily.

"Suit yerself," Sable said with another swig.

Zuma rolled up the map and left Sable to get drunk at the wheel. Surely someone would take her place soon. At the very least once she started raving about whatever shell-shine hallucinations she saw. Usually she was good about keeping the drinking to whenever they were docked. But everyone grieved in their own way, she supposed.

As she crossed the deck, the Crow started calling down to the people on deck.

"Ship is aft! Wavin' a scarlet flag!" they shouted, their shining black hair glinting with sunlight.

Zuma rushed to the railing of the ship, looking out behind the Tidewalker. She was surprised by how close this ship was, even able to see people moving about on the deck. And if she really squinted, she could see the bright flash of scarlet.

A distress flag.

Tetsuya appeared at Zuma's side, face unreadable.

"Cap, we stoppin'?" Sable shouted.

There was a beat of silence.

"No, keep after the siren."

Zuma whipped around and looked at Tetsuya, appalled. She may have only been a seafaring person for a year, but even she knew that you didn't leave a distressed ship.