Waterborne (Wanderlust 3)

Chapter Ten

Xaoto reminded Soren of the small villages on Crele, but on a much larger scale.

Rico led them through the port's maze of docks and wooden buildings, all hanging over the water, standing on stilts. Large rocks, maybe remnants of the collapsed arch far above, served as good supports and signposts. Most of them were covered in carvings or newer, painted words.

More than once, Soren noticed as they passed by, or in one case even walked over, old boats that had been built into the structures. And when he started to pay attention, he noticed that quite a lot of Xaoto's port seemed to be made of ships. Sometimes the entire thing built in, more often recycled pieces. Beams with the telltale wear marks of old masts, huts that looked lifted right off of the back of small fishing sailboats, planks of wood with water damage from being part of a hull. The Alvarians seemed to reuse everything.

They made it to the bank undisturbed, which didn't surprise Soren. Up ahead, Rico looked like an easy target and Tanden had his limp. But nobody would think Soren or the other sailors were worth the risk. It didn't seem like that dangerous of a place anyway.

Tanden and Rico exchanged a few small bags of Zianna siyas for Alvarian azos, unique looking coins which were pierced through the middle and traditionally kept on strings. Then came the walk back towards the Wanderlust, which went equally as undisturbed. Soren was feeling a bit odd about the whole thing, maybe even disappointed. Escorting Tanden to the bank was important, of course, but he had been hoping to see some flash of Tanden's usual energy. He wanted to aimlessly follow Tanden around, as Tanden looked at everything around them in awe.

Then Tanden caught his arm as they reached the Wanderlust's tiny section of dock, and those odd feelings fluttered and dissipated.

"Soren and I are going to wander around a bit, mates," Tanden said. "Ivern, take this..." He let go of Soren to pull strings of coins from his pocket and hand them over. "And keep the crew onboard tonight. We can start up the shore leave rotations tomorrow."

Jerios stepped forward to help with the money as Ivern asked, "You'll be back tonight?"

"I plan to be," Tanden said.

Rico glanced between them. "What about pirates?"

"Soren can fight off a few pirates," Tanden said, flashing Soren a grin. "Aye, mate?"

"You can fight off a few pirates," Soren said.

"Ah." Tanden held up both hands in a sort of shrug. "There you have it. We won't be gone long. Soren?" With that, he started to stroll away.

Soren nearly followed, until he noticed the look Ivern was giving him. "I'm not hovering." When Ivern just tipped his head to the side, Soren added, "Not right now, at least."

"Fallin' behind, mate," Roan chimed in.

It was true, Tanden wasn't waiting. Soren gave his friends a dismissive wave and jogged to catch up, only remembering the two swords on his belt when they hit each other. Steadying them with his hand, he slowed to a walk beside Tanden.

Tanden gave him a quick, sideways glance. "What's Ivern giving you a hard time about?"

"He didn't say a single word."

"And?"

Soren ran his left hand through his hair and sighed. "Nothing."

"That's not true."

"Leave it alone," Soren said. "Are we wanderin' 'round for somethin' in particular?" He heard his accent and winced.

Luckily, Tanden let it pass with nothing but a chuckle. "All right. No, nothing in particular. I've just missed wandering around with you. This is an interesting place, isn't it? Maybe we could find an inn for a few nights, have some privacy."