The Voyager and the Rogue

Chapter 14

I was awoken by Eyarr gently shaking my shoulder.

"Hey, Laeli, come on. Time to go." I slowly peeled my eyes open, rubbing my face.

"It's morning already?" I asked, rubbing gunk out of my eyes. He nodded in confirmation.

"I'm looking at my map to determine where we're going next." While Eyarr studied his maps, I looked around outside the cave. It was slightly quieter since it was morning, and there was not as much boisterous activity from dragons, though I knew they'd be up and about soon. We had to get moving soon so we wouldn't be caught; I wasn't taking my chances.

I needed to wash my hair since it was becoming dry and a bit crunchy from all the dried salt. With a sigh, I found a comb in my bag and a towel and made my way to a small creek.

The water was surprisingly pleasant. It wasn't too cold, and it wasn't hot either. I held my breath as I scooped water into my hands, splashing it on my face and gently scrubbing it on my skin. Feeling the salt gently exfoliating my skin was soothing, bringing back memories of home.

After washing my face, I leaned forward while sitting on my knees, removed the pin from my hair, and began dousing water on my head. I ran my fingers through my hair to allow the water to soak every individual hair and then used my comb to detangle knots in my loose waves.

As I washed my hair, I barely heard something moving nearby, though I couldn't distinguish what it was. Then I briefly heard what I believed to be something walking through water. I couldn't see with my eyes shut, preventing water from getting in, and my hearing was partially obstructed also by water running down my face.

Blindly grabbing my towel, I dried my face and dried my hair while scanning my surroundings. There was nothing. At least I was done washing my hair. I combed it out again, returning to our small camp. But as soon as I made a few steps forward, I heard a throaty snort from behind me.

Oh, gods.

I knew it was a dragon. But I wasn't going to turn and face it. I was frozen in place.

"Eyarr," I called out firmly. He came outside instantly and froze as well. He slowly held out his hand in my direction.

"Laeli, do not move a muscle."

"What's behind me?" His light hazel eyes stared at the creature behind me, watching its movements.

"Sliquifier. Walk slowly towards me, don't run." I swallowed the pit in my throat and slowly made my way to Eyarr, my heart pounding a mile a minute in my chest.

"Easy..." A few more steps, and Eyarr grabbed me, pulling me behind him. He unsheathed out his sword, holding it out towards the dragon growing at us.

Its body was a deep, rich ocean blue, a much richer blue than that of Cliffire. Its wings and fins were tinted a deep pink at the edges, and three tendrils dangled under its chin, glowing intensely with every passing second, and intense yellow eyes. It flared its wings as a warning to us, snarling.

"Let's get out of here."

"Don't have to tell me twice." We scrambled onto the saddle with all our stuff packed and took off. All the while, the Sliquifier was watching us. We heard the warning roar of the Sliquifier echo behind us almost as soon as Cliffire left the ground.

"Cliffire is half Skrill, right?" I asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"How fast can he go?" Cliffire must've heard me because he suddenly picked up speed. I felt the wind tugging at my skin, and I buried my face into Eyarr's back as Cliffire wove himself through the maze of spires. Behind us, I could hear the screeches and roars of dragons behind us warning the Alphas of intruders. I would not have a chance to meet them this time.

We burst from the waterfall at incredible speed, Cliffire's roar deafening in my ears. Eyarr was cheering. But I couldn't bring myself to celebrate. I gazed down into the abyss below us, the childlike wonder still reeling.

"Laeli? You okay?" A whole other world lay beneath the oceans, and I didn't know when I would have another chance to see it again.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm-I'm fine." I assured, though my tone didn't sound very convincing. Eyarr didn't push it further, thankfully. After Cliffire hovered above the waterfall, Eyarr gave him a pat on the neck, gesturing for us to move forward and find a new spot to camp.

Hours later, we found a desert island covered in a pine forest. The beach was decently sized, with a clear view of the vast ocean before us. The sun was setting. It was a very peaceful evening between the sounds of the fire crackling behind me, the waves lapping on the shore, and the night critters in the forest.

So much happened today, and I was still processing it. I so deeply wished to be able to tell my crewmates. We'd all grown up together on Motunui, and I wouldn't have had a voyage without them. They made everything worth it. I had always hoped that they were delivered back to Motunui safely.

I felt the water shift at my feet before morphing to face me.

"Hey, Ocean," I greeted with a tiny smile. It didn't rise enough for Eyarr and his dragon to see yet. I would introduce them later. I watched as Ocean made motions, splashing me in doing so.

There was no real way of knowing what Ocean was saying. It was cryptic that way. But it was still fun to interact with. It brought me a sense of comfort knowing Ocean followed me wherever I went. Ocean rose up a bit more and tapped my necklace, which I instinctively touched.

"Mom?" I asked. Ocean 'nodded'. There was a silent acknowledgment that my mother was okay. Though I figured she was missing me.

There was only one other who I had yet to see again.

Maui.

I last saw him when my crew and I visited Dad's former island. After that, he flew off. Doing demigod things, I guess. We never really knew what Maui did when he didn't periodically visit Motunui. Maybe that was good; he could be chit-chatting with the gods themselves.

I figured, though, if I could talk to Maui, or see him again, perhaps that could open some form of communication with home. I don't know how that would work, but it sort of made sense in my head.

My train of thought broke upon hearing footsteps in the sand behind me. Eyarr took a seat next to me, but not too close.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I guess. Lost in thought..."

"You seemed really bummed when we left the Hidden World." I frowned slightly, rocking a bit.

"I wanted to see more of it. Learn more about another world that is right beneath the ocean! The adventurer in me is desperate to see as much as possible. Learn everything I can."

"Not voyager?" I shrugged. Both words were part of my identity, but they weren't interchangeable.

"I see myself as both a voyager for the seas and an adventurer for everything. I've always wanted to see the world. And knowing that there's a whole other world below us and the sea, it's exciting! Both my mom and I have that in common."

"You're lucky that you and your family have deep bonds and stuff. I didn't really get that growing up."

I paused, unsure of how to address that new bit of information. He didn't bring it up again, so I left it for now. I didn't expect him to unload his baggage on me now since we were still getting to know each other.

But the way he spoke caught my attention, the heaviness in his tone. Following the awkward pause, Eyarr turned his attention to Cliffire, tossing him some fish.

We chit-chatted here and there while we watched the sun dip behind the ocean. Ocean didn't interact for the rest of the evening, which was for the best. I wanted to wait for the right moment to introduce Eyarr to Ocean.

Eyarr turned in for the night, spreading a blanket for himself and a blanket a couple of feet away.

"When you're ready." He said before rolling over and falling asleep.

I smiled a bit, nodding as a thank you.

I fell asleep watching the stars.