The Rose Thief (Achievement Hunter)

8. Waiting

Ray started counting the days he was aboard the ship. He was never allowed on shore when they stopped occasionally for supplies in case something bad happened. If they got jumped by drunken thugs or spotted by Venator guards, then they needed to be able to make a quick getaway without worrying about Ray. Otherwise, he tried to keep moving, because he knew if he ever stopped, he wouldn't be able to start again.

Ray's regimen was the hardest he had ever been on. He slept on a rocking hammock below deck with the rest of the crew and woke up at dawn when everyone else started moving around. He never really got seasick, but it took him a whole week to get used to the constant swaying of the ship under his feet. After a quick breakfast, he was made to do physical exercises, normally including stretches, pushups, and sit-ups, but extending occasionally to other exercises as well. Then, after lunch, he and Kerry would train with the sword, usually borrowing Kerry's blade. It was exhausting, but it kept Ray's mind and body occupied. He was finding it hard to get used to the sword. It simply wasn't clicking. At the end of every day, he would collapse into his hammock and fall instantly asleep.

Every couple of days, the Rose Thief would watch them practice on the deck from in front of the double doors before jumping down and dueling Ray himself. After Day 1, the Rose Thief took a few breather days, and on Day 4, when he tested Ray's progress, he seemed a lot calmer. Still angry, but restrained. Ray had learned not to pry into the Rose Thief's past - at least, when the Rose Thief was on board. On that Day 4, when the Rose Thief tested him a second time and knocked the sword out of his hand a second time, the Rose Thief stood over Ray with a sneer.

"Pathetic," the Rose Thief said. "Can't even hold onto his sword."

When the Rose Thief had disappeared into the captain's cabin again, Kerry told him, "It's like that phrase. 'You are your own biggest critic.'" He was trying to be helpful, but Ray only felt miserable.

On Day 5, when the Rose Thief was nowhere to be seen, Ray ventured again to ask Kerry about the Rose Thief's past. Kerry chewed his lip and glanced at the cabin doors. "If he doesn't want to talk to you about it," he said after a moment's thought, "then I'm not going to go behind his back. It's up to him."

Day 7 was overcast, and while Ray had a friendly duel with a random crewmate and dulled, relatively harmless swords, Kerry and Caleb talked in hushed voices. They weren't trying to be secretive, but what they were discussing was not applicable to a general audience.

On Day 8, the winds began to die and Ray got to see his first real example of a Mage's power. The black clouds churned above, and the rain came down in heavy blankets of water. The wind picked up again and howled. Caleb stood behind the railing in front of the captain's cabin, his hands gripping the wet wood so tightly his knuckles paled to match his sleeves. His clothing plastered to his body with the rain. Ray, invited to watch Caleb in action by Kerry, clung to the main mast in the middle of the deck, his black shirt cold and wet against his skin. When the wind began to blast, Caleb began to concentrate.

The dark storm was lit up nearly constantly by lightning, but Ray could barely hear the thunder around the wind and the chill in his ears. Caleb began to glow as he leaned forward, elbows locked and feet spread solidly wide. The wind plucked at the soaked hem of his robe and sleeves. White light hovered around him before, with a sudden whirlwind originating from him, the light stretched rapidly outwards in an orb. Caleb created a white force field around them, and the wind howled a little less and the waves stopped tipping the ship as much. The rain and lightning no longer threatened them at all. Kerry exited the cabin behind Caleb and put a hand on the Mage's shoulder, whispering something in his ear. Caleb's eyes flashed white, and the wind changed direction to blow the ship in a specific direction. They dropped anchor near a town a few leagues away and waited the storm out. Ray only threw up once, and he felt he deserved an achievement for that. Caleb slept for all of Day 9 after that.