Academy Island

Trigger

It was sufficient to say that night, between the buzz of activity that continued long after a particularly red sunset and the worries tangling my thoughts, that I didn't get much sleep that night. I had kept a lantern lit in my own preparation for the move, bundling up all the blankets Kota had brought me and wrapping the books and maps from the tower Owen and Gabriel had deposited to be taken care of in the morning. I had bundled everything twice and wrapped everything with green-staining twine enough that my inner pinkies and thumbs were raw, but it was satisfying when Silas showed up that morning and it was already ready to head out. 

I twisted at my hands as he gathered and hefted up the blanket I had everything spread out on in one big bundle. He threw it over his shoulder, Santa style, and smiled at me as I opened the door wide so he could maneuver through. Outside, dawn's shift beginning to dismiss the stars, the men were already awake and busy. Every hut looked as if it had vomited it's contents out in various bundles made of cloth, large leaves, and overstuffed baskets in somewhat tidy piles. Silas added my work to one of them, Owen nodding at him and taking notes in the log book once he set it down. 

"We're going to need someone to start taking supplies up to the spot we've picked out. Have we got extra poles to strap everything to yet?"

Silas shook his head 'no' and looked back at me expectantly. 

"Wanna head out with me to get them?"

I blinked, but smiled, and before I could say yes he'd already moved me along by an elbow, grabbing an axe from one of the piles. I practically had to skip steps and half-run to keep up with his long strides as the sounds of the men's packing trailed off behind us.

The path that led to the beach was quieter than usual, birds still asleep at such an early hour. I shivered as I almost tripped, wondering at the fact that even though we were in what could be considered the tropics, it could still be cool temperature-wise at night. The wind played with my shirt and hair, and I could feel ocean mist tingling cool kisses against my skin. Silas stopped, eyeing me as I shivered.

"How are you always so cold? Here, take my shirt, we're going to be out here for a minute."

His shoulders were bare in less than a moment and I gaped up at him as he stripped the rest of the shirt and held it out to me, his arms and chest steaming out in the elements. I waved my arms acrost my middle, panicking as my eyes moved across his arms and chest.

"I don't, I can't just...what about you?" I protested.

He shrugged and purposefully draped the blanket sized shirt over my own shoulders. "I would have taken it off anyway. It gets too hot."

He stretched as I gaped at him, and then he headed down the rocky path that was becoming swept with sand. I watched his shoulders as I followed him, my eyes seeming unwilling to leave the guy alone, watching for a tale tell shiver. When he finally dropped down off a rock's edge to the mist shrouded sand I finally tore my eyes away to look around where he'd brought me. There were no trees, just sand and rocks, a puddle of ocean water trapped here and there to prove the tide was beginning to recede.  Silas had stopped, stock still as he looked out to sea, still shrouded by heavy mist. I watched with him, wondering what we were looking at so alertly, before I tugged at the pinky of his hand. I wasn't expecting him to take hold, gathering my entire hand in his.

It was warm. My fingers, enjoying the unexpected respite from the chill, halted from my first reaction to pull them away. He bent to my level, pointing out where his line of sight and focus had mystified me.

"Our yacht is out there. We're going to try and tether it today once the fog lifts. Wanna help?"

I stared out at where he pointed and watched the outline of a swirling wave crash high against one of the rocks, a thousand droplets spraying and dropping again against the heaving foamy surface. A surface where a yacht lay hidden underneath. An unwanted memory tugged at the back of my mind. Maybe it was the color of the water, or how the wave seemed to breathe a gasp against the rocks like a massive beast, a beast ready and waiting to devour anything smaller than itself down to it's depths. My own breath, small and insignificant, went out along with the waves retreat. I caught up again to reality when I looked back into his cheerful dark eyes.