Tales of the Storyteller

The Strange Woman:

The ship Pathos boarded consisted of five men; Elias, Adrian, Basil, Ezio and their leader, Kosmos. All were fit fellows with different personalities. 

Elias was a man of 34 years of age. Bald in the head, he sports hooded brown eyes, a bulbous nose and blackish brown whiskers. His twin brother, Ezio, is nearly the opposite; his green eyes were protruding and his face was clean-shaven. His nose was long and straight, as hair upon his head was a curly brown mop. Had one not know any better, he would mistake the his age 10 years younger than his real longevity. Meanwhile, Adrian, being only 16, was scrawnier than his coworkers. But still had muscles, nonetheless. Bearing blue, down-turned visions and a delicate nose, the lad would have his black, stringy hair down passed his shoulders. Despite this fact, it would not be the thickest of the bunch. That title went to Basil whose hair of dark orange would share the same volume as sheep's wool. This gentleman's nose was pointed, eyes were hooded and his height was the tallest of his company while his age was 21.  As for the ship's captain, Kosmos bore piercing eyes of sky-blue. Sporting light-brown hair as curly as Ezio's, Kosmos had a dimpled chin with drooped nose. He was 43 years old. With these five men in only one ship,  Pathos was in some company.

"Hey, Athenian man!", laughed Elias as he drinks a cup of wine, "Pass me the grapes, will you?"

"Why?", Pathos asked, "Are you going to add more flavor to your drink?"

"No, smart-mouth, I'm just hungry."

With a mellow sigh, Pathos does what was ask and handed him the fruit. In the meantime, Adrian had asked the son of Palamon bits of questions.

"So, Pathos, where exactly do you want to go? What plans do you have?"

"Well, dear boy, I shall go wherever the gods shall take me. And once getting to that land, I'll just make things up as I go."

"But...", Adrian looked at the others with uncertainty. hoping for someone to say something. Then the teen turns back at Pathos.

"But how will you know what land the gods would want you to be in? Athena would want you stay put in Athens. Poseidon would want you to go to Crete. Aphrodite would want you to fight for Troy and who knows where Zeus would want you to go."

Pathos's eyes widened. That thought had barely occurred to him until now.

"Oh...uh...", he stammered, "I'll...I'l just make things up as I go."

"How can you when there's nothing to give inspiration?"

Pathos was trying to come up with something. Only to quickly lose his train of thought when he saw something from the distance. 

"Guys,", he started, "look!"

Once taking a look, the crew rowed the boat closer to investigate. Getting closer, they saw a lovely young woman lying upon a floating blanket. She looked like she was in her early 20's. Her long straight hair light brown and had a braided bun at the back. Yet, the bun was only holding one portion of her hair with the rest being out. Had her sleeping eyes been open, one would be quick to notice her sparkling grey-blue eyes. And, if she were standing on land, some would be aware that her clothing were from an ancient Celtic region. 

 Upon such a discovery, the alarmed sailors hurried closer to the girl. Taking her out of the water and putting her in the boat with them.

"Great Neptune!", cried Ezio as Kosmos checked for a pulse, "How is she still alive!"

"How was only a blanket able to carry her?", Adrian followed.

Before any assumptions were made, the maiden began to cough and gag out salt water. It was not long until she regained consciousness. Breathing normally, she looked around. Asking, "Where am I?"

"In our ship, miss.", Pathos spoke, "You were floating in the sea when we'd found you.
"Yes.", Kosmos stepped in, "Now, what's your name and where did you come from?"

"My name is Betha. I was born and raised in the Celtic wilderness with only my widowed mother, and sister. I was on another ship to find work in Athens. However, a storm had killed the poor passengers. And I was left with only this rugged blanket as my preserver."

She continues to cough. This time it was from chills. Pathos turns to the men.

"Do we have anything to warm her?"

"Check in the trunk over there." Elias points behind him.

Going to the box, Pathos had taken out a thin quilt and wrapped it around Betha.

"Here,", he softly said, "it's not much but it's something."

"Th-Thank you.", she shivered, "It-It w-will do j-just fine."

"Anyway," Kosmos started, "we are not going to Athens. We're going to your country to see what we could trade."

"A-Al-Alright.", Betha shook her head, "I had enough adventure for that will last a lifetime. Trust me on that."

                                                                                                     ....

  That night, everyone was asleep. All except for Pathos who was compelled by the starry sky. 

Wonders of wonders!, he thought to himself, The gods have truly outdone themselves, have they?

The Nyx's spell would be broken, however. Within moments, Betha began to open her eyes. With a couple of blinks, she noticed the Athenian.

"Pathos?", she whispered, "What are you doing up?"

"Just star-gazing.", he answered, "Feeling better?"

"Yes. Thank you."

Betha goes nearer to him. Joining him as she looked up.

"Aren't they lovely?", Pathos asked in wonder.

"I can't recall a better night. Nox would always create such things."

"Don't you mean 'Nyx'?"

"No-Nox. That the night goddess of my home."

"Sounds odd."

"Well, what kind of name is 'Nyx'? Sounds like...I don't even know."

Pathos could not help but scoff. "Then what's the name of your Zeus?"

"Taranis."

"Is he the ruler?"

"No, Pathos, that's-", Betha gaspsed with shock.

"What?", Pathos looked down at the water where her sight was. With only the moon to shine on the blue-black waters, he saw nothing.

"What's the matter?"

Perplexed, Betha began to stammer, "I-I thought-there was-"

"You're probably still tired. Best you go back to bed."

"But...alright.", she solemnly said as she returned to her spot. Pathos, thinking he should rest too, went to find a place near Adrian and began to fall in deep slumber.