Beyond

Day Nine

"You reckon they forgot about us?" Haiv asked.

There was no reply. Perhaps Green Coat was asleep. So far, Haiv hadn't been able to get him to say much other than, "Shut it."

His brig mate was stalky. Haiv might have been taller than him if they had both been standing. His green Raysharian uniform was tattered and bloodstained. And across his face, a wild beard sprouted where there had only recently been smooth skin. His eyes were always closed, and Haiv might've thought the poor chap had been taken by Auru, except for his loud breathing and occasional cough.

Other than Green Coat, Haiv had only his stomach to talk to, and that did not make being stuck in the brig any easier. It was boring too. All his stomach did was complain about how it hadn't eaten in what was it? Two days? Three days? Not since the storm anyway.

"Yup, they've gone and forgot we're down here," Haiv grumbled, hugging his knees as he sat on the floor of his cell.

His stomach growled.

"Shut it," he told it under his breath in an imitation of Green Coat's reedy voice.

The hull moaned beneath him as it cut through the waves. Haiv rested his head on his arms, feeling the rise and fall of the ship. Up and down. And up and down. And up and down. When Haiv looked up to make sure Green Coat was still breathing—ain't no one want to be locked up with a corpse—Hailoh's shimmering face was hovering mere inches away from Haiv's nose.

"Gah!" Haiv yelped, smacking his head on the slats behind him. "Auru's souls! Don't do that!"

His father knelt before him, reached out, and straightened his collar. Haiv had finally gotten cold enough to put the shirt back on. Plus, it helped soak up some of the blood. Wearing it made him want to rip it to pieces though.

Hailoh gently picked up Haiv's injured arm. Haiv hissed at the movement. His father went to roll up the sleeve, and Haiv hurriedly started helping to avoid those weirdly solid blue fingers brushing up against one of the gashes. Together they rolled up his sleeve so that Hailoh could examine the cuts. To Haiv's discomfort, his father gently prodded one of the wounds.

"Ow," Haiv complained.

A blue hand cupped Haiv's cheek. Hailoh's expression turned sorrowful, and then hardened into anger. He suddenly straightened and disappeared.

Haiv stared at the spot his father had floated in just seconds ago. If he was honest with himself, it hurt a little that his father would leave him so quickly when he was still reeling from being flogged the day before. Though that really wasn't the worst part of his punishment. The worst part was that he was still reeling and he had to do so alone. Not even Green Coat had showed him any sympathy.

Slowly, Haiv pulled his sleeve back down, gritting his teeth when the fabric rubbed against his gashes. Wonder if Spir even knows what happened, Haiv thought. He's probably still dyin' in that bunk and wonderin' why I ain't come to see him.

"What were you yelling about over there?" asked a soft raspy voice.

Haiv jumped. He looked across at the other cell to see Green Coat watching him.

"What?" Haiv said, surprised the man had actually said something.

"Nothing. Probably just a nightmare, eh?"

Then Haiv realized that Green Coat was talking about his cry of shock when Hailoh appeared. "No," he said defensively, "not a nightmare. A vision. I'm one of those Hekea people, and I see ghosts. That's what it was. Just a ghost what came to see me."