The sea bobbed the boat up and down as I lay haphazardly across the ropes, tangled so well that I wouldn't fall down. My head lolled against my shoulder as it rocked, and I felt uncomfortably warm.
I moaned as the sun touched upon my face again, not willing to feel Glaedis for another moment. Saedli, as cold as it made the shadows in the dock, was more welcome right now. It had been a hot night, one that woke me up from my sleep at least three times. It was night and day and that whole irritating pattern once again as I slept for days on end. I let go of the mana that made my cloak, not wanting it anymore.
Then, I heard a loud noise. It was the sound of a racking shutter as it was pulled up.
I didn't react and just continued to sleep, unable to truly care at all.
I faded in and out as dawn rose, noises around me getting louder and louder as I fought to stay asleep. There were large clashes and metal clangs, the sound of taut ropes straining and sails flapping open. The boat and I were no longer rocking, but smoothly gliding.
Hm? Gliding?
Then, I heard men's voices starting to pick up, sluggish and obviously not wanting to be here.
"Hoist the sails, we've got a long day ahead of us!"
"Aye, Sir!" Many voices called back with barely mustered vigor.
"Make sure to steer clear of the calm seas! There's been the makings of a storm past Severo these past few days!"
"Aye, Sir!"
These types of callings went back and forth, till I got sick of it and halfheartedly imagined earbuds of mana. They worked really well.
I got comfy again, the clouds blocking out a lot of the suns' rays as I calmly breathed in, and out, enjoying the feeling of being almost completely motionless.
I faded back into sleep again as certain activities started picking up around me. I didn't notice a thing.
Then, a fishy smell started to reach my nose after the sun shone down on us way more intensely than before. It felt like I was being baked in a fire, and since I was over the sea, I immediately assumed that it was dead fish being cooked by the sun.
But wait, you can't smell fish that are in the sea. You smell them when you are out of the sea.
This boat must've had fish left on it and not taken out yet, then.
However, there was something wrong with that theory. Why would fishermen leave their catchings out in the open where they were bound to go bad? Wouldn't they store them? Also, why hadn't it stunk this badly when I was in the dock? It was a closed space where the smells were bound to crowd together and make a huge army trounce upon my undefended nose.
The ropes around me started shaking and shivering as I felt something climbing them. It was not the wind, that was for sure.
My eyes refused to open, and I obliged to their wishes. Five more days, please.
Then, I felt myself being lifted.
What?
No.
I forced my eyelids to pry themselves back as I found myself in the arms of a person. I couldn't see much, just the edge of a shirt and a neck. Over the shoulder there was the sea, an expanse I didn't want to see for a long time even as a former Japanese.
Said person was climbing down the ropes while holding me close to their extremely flat chest, which made me think, "Male."
A man was carrying me.
Uh...weren't we just in the ship hangar?
My earbuds dissipated as I let them go and started listening to the conversation.
"Impossible. There shouldn't be anyone on this ship, Gabriel," the Sir from earlier was reprimanding below us.
"I'm holding it right now!" A voice, pretty deep, answered back. Now that I thought about it, the build of this person was pretty close to Kitri's. A teenager?
"It's a..." I heard one of the people who called out "Aye, Sir" earlier mention.
"What?!"
"How did that get on here?"
I'm not a "that," thank you very much.
"How should I know?" The boy who was carrying me answered back.
"Well, you found it!" A gravely voice barked. It actually sounded like a bark.
"Just because I found it doesn't mean I know where it came from," I could practically sense the eye roll.
"Well, smell it. Is it human?"
The climbing froze for a moment and a nose went into my hair. I heard the sniffing sound an animal would make and then it drew back.
"No, I don't know what it is."
The climbing resumed again, making me wonder how tall this ship was. I had gotten high up into the ropes in a flash because I used my flight, but now that I thought about it, that "hangar" had been pretty tall...
"Is it alive at least?"
"Yeah, it's still breathing."
The voices got closer and closer, until finally, we dropped onto the deck.
"Give it here."
I was taken off the shoulder that had carried me down, by one hand. It was a very large one that made me think of Fang and his own hands, grabbing me around my neck and choking me out. Instantly, my hands closed around the small parts of shirt I had and I refused to move.
The hand trying to take me away ended up jerking the boy I was holding onto with me, and we almost toppled over. My eyes were shut closed to not reveal the slits, yet keep the strength of a Vampire.
"What is this strength?" The hand, owner of the voice, tugged even harder. The other hand was put on the boy's shoulder and the one around me grasped harder, trying to pry me off...
...to no avail. I was as stuck to that shirt as a barnacle against a rock.
After a few minutes of trying and failing, they gave up on me.
"Sir," Gabriel, the boy, addressed the one trying to take me off. His voice was oddly emotionless.
"Yes?" the voice, peeved, ground out.
"May I be relieved of duty for today?"
"Did you really think you could get out of it?"
"I don't think I could with this...girl...on my shirt."
"Get it off then."
Dude, you just tried and failed. You were hella strong and couldn't accomplish it, even made the fibers of the shirt tear. What makes you think he can?
"Sir, if you can't do it, no one can."
"I don't care. Find a way."
Pride much?
"Yes, Sir..."
The man walked off, making the wood boards creek as he stepped on them. My eyes hadn't opened so far, but I could tell he was really big, muscular wise. The grip on me had been even tighter than Fang, threatening to make my eyes pop out of my head as he squeezed on my torso.
The boy sighed as soon as the man was out of sight.
"Hey, Taryn," Gabriel called out as he turned his head upwards, shirt pulling on the back of his neck as I weighed down the front. I was one of those babies in the carrier packs that mothers had on the front, except I held on by myself.
"Yeah Gabe?" A voice I hadn't heard before called out. It sounded youthful and playful, unlike the snarky one I was holding onto. The person was just walking up, having not been here earlier.
"Say, do you know how to pry off babies?"
"The way you worded that is kind of weird. No wait, it is weird. Why?"
"Because..." He turned around.
"What the...where'd you pick that up?"
"I found it in the rigging. I was climbing up to the crow's nest when I saw it laying there. Boss couldn't pry it off so he told me to find a way."
"Pft...really? How hard can it be?" The voice swaggered up to us, overconfident.
"Do you want to give it a try? By all means, please do."
"Why not?"
People think they can just grab me and I won't do a thing? I'm just another stray baby?
Well, I am a stray baby, but...
They can think wrong now.
Another hand, smaller than the last, wrapped around my stomach.
Hell no.
I used three mana points, unsure of how much to activate, and allotted them into a bit of lightning magic. I shocked only the hand around my torso, which made me think of how bad I torched Fang's arm with 1,000 times the amount of points I used here.
"Youch!" The owner cried out, releasing me instantly and stumbling away.
"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" *Snicker.*
"Very funny, Dog. I got shocked."
"There are no eels here, so I don't see how."
"It was magic," the person I shocked was pouting while cradling their hand and blowing on it hurtfully.
Drama much? Also, I'm surprised you knew it was magic and not static electricity. I've been rubbing on the ropes for days now, you know? I haven't touched wood once.
"And why would a little girl like this know magic?"
There was another sniff near my head, which made me want to punch someone. I hadn't had a bath in weeks, and if they dared to insult me then I was tossing someone overboard. "It doesn't smell like a human. It could be a thousand year old Demon for all you know, since you can't match their ages with their appearances," Taryn defended.
"And what business does a Demon in the form of a human baby have all the way at the bottom of the world?" Gabriel asked.
Bottom...of the world? Not anywhere near the equator? Bytriste?
"You know Demons these days. They're everywhere," scoffed Taryn.
"Yeah. And they are on fishing boats in the middle of nowhere. Sure," Gabriel rolled his eyes again.
"You never know!"
"Superstitious fanatic..."
A fist thumped against a chest, a sign of pride. "It's all in the blood."
"Is that really something to be proud of?"
"As a catkin in Zueltina? Yeah, I think it is."
I have no words. I can't say, "I've done it now," because I've done "it" too many times. Far too many times.
But seriously, catkin? I'm in Zueltina? That's like the south pole, one fourth of the way from the equator. One fourth of the world away from home.
I overshot my goal...*sob.* When will I ever get freaking home?
(Author's note: Sorry, the story goes where it flows. You weren't even supposed to go to the capital in Bytriste in the first place, that's how random this is.)
Gabriel, who I assumed to be a dogkin because of the banter between him and Taryn, tried to pull me off himself. My hands didn't even strain with my insane strength, his beastkin arms trying desperately to take me off. There was no comparing how hard he struggled to how little I tried.
I think you should give up, dude. I'm not moving anytime soon, since I have no idea where the hell I am.
I remembered that my American host student once told me something. Her mother, a pilot while her father took care of their agricultural business, used to tell her what to do and what not to do when she was stranded and alone. She was a little child when she was told that, and loved her orchard. Her father thought it would be funny to mess with his child a bit and told her, "If you are ever lost, grab the nearest thing and wait till help comes."
She grabbed a tree for two days straight and never let go until they found her. Luckily, it was spring and she had barely missed freezing to death in winter. She ate the fruits for hunger.
Even if no one was coming for me, I still applied that principle here. I would not let go.
Gabriel collapsed against the wall of the ship, giving up. "Oh Zuelis..." he let out while his teeth ground.
The sky, partly cloudy, started to cover over like it had all those weeks I was flying over the sea alone. I had been parallel with a storm the whole time, hoping it wouldn't break while I was there. I could've gone above the clouds if necessary, it seemed to be a really big one that wouldn't let up for a while. If I went up there, I wouldn't be able to follow my path. So, I stayed below so I could follow my mana guideline. I didn't want to move it for risk of messing up the path I had made.
Too bad that it was a failure. If only I had shifted it a little bit to the right! I would've at least been a little bit closer to Bytriste!
The wind was picking up and blowing away the calm morning like it was a lie. The masts started flapping harder, ropes snapping like whips as they swung back and forth in their slack.
"The storm's coming on stronger than I thought," Taryn, who was standing off to the side, spoke up a little worriedly.
"Old man Rich said it was only a bluff," Gabriel spoke up, anxious as well.
"I thought you didn't believe in the superstitious?" Taryn goaded while keeping his eyes to the sky, only commenting instinctually.
"I believe in the gods, and he is a priest."
"Yeah, priests make weather predictions. Right." Are you mimicking Gabriel now?
"He said the gods are angry about something and tried to keep us from going out to sea today."
"And Boss would have none of it, I know," Taryn replied.
"I wish he would put down his pride sometimes," sighed Gabriel. The wind picked up so fast that the masts snapped unexpectedly, making the boat lurch dangerously to the side.
Taryn cried out, "Woah!" as he almost fell over the railing, having been leaning against it the whole time.
The ship became a flurry of footsteps pounding down everywhere, the shrouds creaking again as people climbed them to pull in the mainsail. Gabriel got up to help, but since I was still clinging on he couldn't do much. He realized I was just clinging onto the shirt, then got an idea as he started taking it off hurriedly. It was such a stupid and sudden realization that I wondered how none of us thought of it earlier.
I crashed to the deck as he threw away the shirt, and I rolled.
He was probably irritated by me ruining his working time, so he didn't care when my head got scraped by a boom as it swung around and smacked me down. I rolled painfully across the deck and smashed into the wall Gabriel had been sitting against before.
I couldn't see for some time, even though my eyes were closed. There were bright spots dancing around and spinning as I tried to get my bearings and open my eyes. Since I was still in Vampire mode, my senses were intense. Of course, that meant my nerves were extra sensitive as well, so I was almost foaming out the mouth from the pain.
I no longer had to worry about anyone seeing my eyes, which refused to become regular pupils again. I had no idea what I did to make them so much like a snake's, but there was no getting them back.
Except, I didn't have scales around my eyes. I didn't have scales on me at all, which I was grateful about. But if I was a Dragon...I'll try that out someday. For now, I've got other things to worry about.
I rolled about while clutching my head, applying sloppy healing magic to myself since [Rapid Healing] only turned on for serious injuries. I'd let it off the hook for now, since it came in when I most needed it. Life and death situations, when I couldn't bother to take the time to apply healing magic myself.
I was fine and dandy as I sat up, breathing hard. I was all tangled in the large shirt, which I could now see was brown. I felt a little bad because there were newly made tears in some places because of me, until I remembered, He threw me!
All in front of me, I finally took in the size of the ship I had been unable to identify before. There were tens of men running about, all over the large ship as they started preparing for the storm. They seemed extremely frantic, unprepared. They knew a storm was coming, but they didn't think it would be this bad. I could tell that was what they were thinking by seeing the expressions on their faces.
"We're in for the long run."
I saw someone up top trying to wrestle with the wheel to turn the rudder. Ominously, the sky became almost black with the clouds rolling around and rumbling, the first drops of rain starting to drop. Somewhere off into the distance, I heard thunder. It was crackling and sharp, echoing like the shockwaves I left behind as I flew. Eventually, the sky started lighting up in various places like someone was setting off bombs up there, or fireworks.
The captain, or at least the man I assumed to be captain because of how he ordered people about, was walking quickly up the aisles while helping men with herculean strength, muscles way bigger than my head. The thing was, his voice sounded familiar. It sounded like the voice of the one called "Boss," who had been trying to pry me off before...
No way! I withstood the strength of that thing?!
Vampires are dang strong!
I noticed something as I looked at all of the crewmen, after a while of observation and trying to not roll out of my space and keeping from being stepped on.
These people...were not human. Most of them, at least.
Gabriel was a dogkin. Taryn was a catkin. Boss, a bearkin. The man who just ran past me, a rabbitkin.
Aha...haha...ha...
I remember now. Why I wanted to visit Zueltina so badly after reading about it.
It was because it was a nation of not just humans, instead a mix of all races but Demons. Anyone was welcome but Demons.
Well, seeing all these beastkin running around me with only a few humans, I got my first visit to Zueltina in one go.
Okay, that's enough. Tourism time over. Time to go-
A man cried out anxiously as the wooden beam he had been standing on broke from a sudden, booming lightning strike. Someone tried to use magic to catch him, but they themselves were swept under the legs by a loose barrel, crumpling to the deck without another sound.
The man who fell went into the choppy sea with a single splash behind me and never came up again.
The situation turned unforgiving and treacherous in a matter of minutes. Land was nowhere in sight, the horizon blocked by clouds and rain on all sides. The sea, normally a nice blue, was gray and forbidden to surface dwellers.
I looked around as many men got knocked over board, screaming out with their last breaths before they smacked the water cruelly.
I was in frozen shock as I looked around at the works of nature, realizing I was uselessly placed in the center of it.
"Help!" I heard, just as a boy about thirteen years old flew out of the rigging fell into the sea.
"Wilver!" Many people called out.
That boy, too, never rose again from the sea.
He's going to drown and die. He will never come back up.
None of them will ever come back up.
I snapped out of it after realizing I was just sitting there, watching all of it. At least a forth of the crew, an insane amount of about twenty-five men, were already overboard.
My legs locked up as I stood, trying to think up a spell to get the situation under control.
First, as I grabbed the railing that was way above my head since it was much taller than me, I attached thick mana ropes to the crewmen I could see on the boat and made it so they couldn't fall out. The ropes were golden and easy to see in the flurry of wind and rain, making each member glow and easy to identify.
Then, I strapped down anything loose that could fly around and hit someone, such as the masts that were swinging about and the barrels on the top deck. Since it was a fairly large fishing barge, the same size as a small battleship, there were many men and lots of supplies. I made rope nets of golden mana and tied them all down, scooping up the limp, hurt, unconscious people and putting them against walls, where they couldn't get even more injured.
I used [Radar] to search underwater for all the men that had fallen overboard, sending out more mana ropes with direct mana manipulation to grab them. It looked like I had made a giant spider web with how many ropes extended from the palms of my hands, glowing and amazing.
As soon as I was sure I had latched onto all of them and made sure there were absolutely none that escaped my vision, I pulled them all up in one go while screaming out. I had never liked pulling things, I was more of a pusher, helper. Someone who stood on the sidelines and assisted, not one to go and do things on my own.
I could technically say dogs and cats were raining from the sky as the men flew high above from the momentum I had conjured, out of the water and sopping wet. I was the same in my thin clothes, as was everyone else going about and securing the ship. I almost released them because of the unknown strain that suddenly sucker punched me in the soul.
But, realizing that they would just fall to their deaths with how high they were, I cushioned their blows and slowed down their falls as they landed on the wide deck. A lot of them were not breathing, so I used water magic on each and every one of them to drag out the unnecessary fluids in their lungs.
They started coughing and sputtering in the rain, blood on some of them leaking off onto the wooden planks below. I moved them along with the others and latched them down so they wouldn't move around or worry about anything falling on them.
I repeated this process with anyone that almost fell out of the boat, jerking them back in while panting and crying on my own. My MP was running down abnormally fast, about one tenth of my whole counter being lost every ten minutes.
Just when I was at about two thousand something left, the storm started picking up in speed. And then, abruptly, it stopped.
We were in the eye of the storm.