Indebted (working title)

Who we become (part 1)

She was... so many things but on that day, she was a savior. With a wave of her hand the storm clouds split open as if parted by a great blade and sunlight poured out of the divide like blood from a fresh wound. The rain stopped falling, and the droplets hung suspended in midair like tiny glass spheres. The waves fell, massive swells settled back into the ocean with little more than splashes. All around the Almsgiver, the angry skies and sea knew peace and the battered ship drifted helplessly on still waters... all because of her.

She leaned against a fallen beam and flashed smiles at the dozens of perplexed and sorrowful faces in front of her. Of the 137 men and women kept in the ship's hold, only forty remained and of the fifty man crew the Almsgiver once boasted, only two had been spared the wrath of its human cargo. The adrenaline from the storm and the battle had not yet faded but now there were new emotions, the shock of dozens of world views dramatically shifting, the awe of seeing feats of the gods preformed in real time, and no one knew how to respond. There was silence then screaming, then silence again. Frightened chatter erupted through the deck. There were pleads and panicked prayers punctuated with the sounds of knees hitting the ships floorboards. Heads were bowed, tears were shed, transgressions confessed, and to her, to Tempest, it was a welcome that had grown old centuries ago... she found herself staring at the few who ignored her, those that hung over dead loved ones, transfixed by grief, locking corpses in a final cold and teary embrace.

Melody's bloodshot eyes peered out from behind a film of angry tears. Blood trickled from behind gritted teeth and oozed from deep gashes across his bare chest. It poured from his crooked broken nose and spurted out of his nostrils with every wheezing breath. Louis, who was tied up beside him, could barely bring himself to look at his captain. Even when surrounded by the gory mess of his friends'' lifeless bodies, he found Melody to be the most repulsive thing on the ship. He writhed and let out long strings of obscenities that would melt into deranged unintelligible screams. Louis found himself wishing they would just gag him, and wondering how this once great man had been reduced to an animal.

Zian delivered a swift punch to the back of Melody's head to silence him but never took his eyes off of the strange woman who seemed to command the ocean itself. The newly freed captives murmured amongst themselves, some bowed and some prayed. In a dark corner of the upper deck, Melody's cat, still wet and shivering hissed and peered at Tempest with unrelenting fury... and profound fear.

Ekon was the first to approach her. He stepped forward with unsteady legs and a pounding heart. He'd found peace in confronting the most dangerous animals on the planet, beasts who rip men apart with ease and crush bones like autumn leaves, but this woman was different. Her very presence instilled a fear in him that he had never felt before and it came with an overwhelming sense of dread that he imagined his own prey felt when they realized that there was nowhere to run and nothing they could do. There was a air about her. An overwhelming feeling of dread that projected out from her in spite of her smile.

She looked at him curiously, amused at first by his boldness but disappointed by the cowardice hidden behind brave eyes. In a moment she knew him. A painfully familiar soul wrapped in unfamiliar flesh. How boring it felt now. How alike people become over eons.

"Hello", she said with a grin. "I guess you're the bravest of the lot. Do you have a name?"

He started to speak, but felt the trembling in his voice before the words could even escape. He closed his eyes, took a breath and said, with confidence, "My name is Ekon". He wanted to ask what she was but decided that "who", was a safer option.

In truth she'd gone by many names, all means for boring introductions, none of them important, none of fun. She suppressed a sigh and started to give the same tired answer she'd been giving for the last century or so, "Tem-"

"What kind of creature can do what you just did?", a voice called out.

Tempest paused, taken aback by the sudden outburst. It was not the words that had surprised her, few words ever did. It was the delivery... the voice was powerful and untainted by fear. She scanned the deck looking for the source, only to find Zion emerging from behind Melody and making his way towards her, his light brown eyes skeptical and unimpressed.

A powerful torrent of wind shot out from behind her and, forced the crowd to shield their faces. This one had surprised her, really surprised her.

The wind stopped after only having lasted a few seconds and Tempest smiled before asking "Who might you be?". The blue light that shone from the beads in her braids seemed to flicker and dim as she regained her composure.

"My name is Zion", Zion answered as he stepped closer.

"Well... Zion", she said while completely losing interest in the mortal who'd approached her earlier.

"You can call me Tempest.".

Melody's kitten let out another violent hiss and entered a fit of hoarse coughing. Adaeze felt fur brush against her leg and ,she looked down to see that the cat had moved from her hiding spot ,and was now peering at the strange and powerful woman from behind her ankles. She never much cared for cats, but In that moment, she felt a bond of mutual mistrust for tempest.

She smiled and touched Zion's shoulder before moving past him to address the crowd.

"Greetings!", she bellowed. "I have come to tell you that the gods have heard your cries and your prayers and they have sent me to answer them. I make no claims to be a god myself in fact...", she paused to shoot Zion another passing grin, "I make no claims to even know what I am, but for as long as I can remember, and for as long as there has been anything to remember, I have been a messenger, for beings greater than myself. I carry their words, and their will and in exchange, they have given me the sea, to do with as I please, provided I do not interfere too much with the affairs of man. However over years of passive observation I have reached my threshold for suffering and it seems the gods have as well. They sent me here to make things right."

Melody snickered and spit a glob of bloody sputum onto the deck. "Took you long enough", he said. "The 'gods' could have sent some help before these animals gutted my crew.

"She isn't here for us sir", Louis said mournfully.

"Perceptive", said Tempest. "I can see why you kept this one around... the other one however" she kneeled and lifted Melody's face. "I've found more value in dead things washed up on beaches"

A small woman, barely older than seventeen, stepped forward from the crowd. She spoke softly, and her gaze remained fixed on the floor. "The people... that died when the hold flooded... my little brother was one of them. Can... can you bring them back".