Ashsib and the Cat Beast

Chapter Two

Darkwatch shift was Vel. He came up the ladder looking as surly as ever with a no-doubt pilfered bottle under one arm.

"Moon viewing." He grunted at Ashsib's glance.

"Not tonight, it's a new moon." Ashsib pointed out.

"Perfect night for a drink, then." Vel said.

"You can't do proper watch while drunk." Ashsib accused.

Vel shrugged, unstopping the bottle and having a first taste. The next pull was longer and immediate.

"Just don't run us ashore again, okay?" Ashsib said from the top of the rung ladder.

"That happened one time!" Vel shouted after him, "Just once!"

From the ladder, to the mainsail prop, then the main mast pegs, it always felt longer going down than up. Especially when the mast blew in an icy night wind. Ashsib was shaking from cold and nerves by the time he reached the deck. Time had not given him ease of familiarity when it came to traversing the heights.

The Triand Mermaid was lonesome at night, with most of their small crew below in their quarters and the plain wood almost glowing in the starlight. At full moon it was a stark sight, but this night the shadows cut up the comforting home into an unknown dimension. The sound of the waves slapping against the ship's sides couldn't be heard above the sails and flags flapping in the crow's nest, unless no wind was blowing and that was another problem entirely, but on deck it helped Ashsib calm down. It washed away a lot of worry. A 'sailor's heart beat' Ashsib's father used to call the sound.

"The heartbeat of the sea is loud tonight." A low voice made Ashsib jump.

"I'm so tired of people sneaking up on me today!" Ashsib cried out, turning on the perpetrator.

It was Namere.

"Sorry, Ashsib." She apologized, a smile playing on her thin lips and a hunch protecting her left side.

Folding just as he predicted earlier in the day, Ashsib just muttered something obliging. She was nothing more than a stranger, after all. He didn't know her humor or her tolerances for small talk. Knew too much about her family problems, but that didn't help him understand the woman.

"I've gotta take this tray back to the kitchen." He moved to step around her.

"How is your wound?" She asked anyway. Her blue eyes were clouded with worry couldn't place. She hadn't looked at the Captain that way. He shifted gaze away to the bandages on her neck.

"Elian says it's healing well." Ashsib answered, flexing his hand.

"That's good to hear." Namere shifted slightly, and Karihyou rattled in its sheath. It was the deepest shadow of the night, hanging at her hip, the starlight didn't touch the gold embellishments nor the high polish of the wood.

Ashsib shivered, remembering what it had felt like to touch the sword. The burning solidarity, the wailing, the fear, and Namere had it on her at all times. According to the doctor, it was with her even when she slept. No wonder the bruised bags under her eyes had yet to fade.

"Karihyou is restless on nights like this." Namere noticed his discomfort, "I'm sorry you had to experience it's pain, Ashsib. Karihyou has never much liked outsiders and now..." This time the sword rattled even though she didn't move, "Well, like I said back on Sedlily, it doesn't like anyone anymore."

Ashsib didn't know how to respond, didn't know why she was saying such things to him. Baring her secrets. A cloud moved over the ship and the shadows on her face deepened.

"Yeah, I've got to get to bed, I have lookout again in the morning. So." He edged around the woman.

"Sorry." Namere stood aside, the soft tone of her voice vanishing, "I, too, should try and retire, if Karihyou allows it." She strode towards the door below decks with out another glance.

Ashsib headed to the kitchen, giving Namere enough space so they wouldn't meet again. Challah had long gone to bed, dinner dishes all washed and stored and the counters clean. He dumped his tray in the sink and shuffled away. He just couldn't figure why Namere had said those things about Karihyou out of the blue, it'd only give him nightmares.

~~~

"You look terrible." Vel said as they swapped places after dawn, "Did you sleep?"

"Sure, for a few minutes I must have." Ashsib answered.

"Alright then." Vel never asked too many personal questions. Never really answered them, either. Much more nimbly than Ashsib could ever be, he returned to deck.

Ashsib settled in. The deep shadows that haunted Namere's face had invaded his sleep, creeping in on the sides of his typical panic dreams until, in a way it hadn't when he'd gotten it, like a wire slicing in a high wind, his hand felt as though it were re-opening and he was ripped awake. If the cloudy images in the shadows hadn't scared him enough, the fear of the to-the-bone sensation of pain kept his eyes open. Just thinking about it made him sick to his stomach.

Propped on the guardrail by his hip, Ashsib scanned the empty horizon once before glancing down at the deck. This morning the only others up before breakfast were Bretta and Calder. Bretta was always in charge of maintenance because the Mermaid was her ship, and it was Calder's month to help her. They were dabbing tar on a crack that was supposed to be repaired at the last port, but all they'd gotten was a quote before they left ahead of schedule. It was only thanks to Namere that they'd been able to leave Sedlily without being under P.O. suspicion. Come to think of it, that aversion by her own reputation was probably how she secured her own escape. Which was why the woman had become so cold once embarking, she had no need to play nice anymore. That grim warrior was her true self, and it was capable of familicide.

Ashsib curls a lip in distaste. Humans are always selfish.

The darkness seeps in, crawls under his skin like festering maggots looking for a meal. Anger, hatred, disgust, vile emotions he hasn't felt in ages return from the void where he'd banished them. There is a core to it, an alien thing, but before he places the feeling someone screams.