The captains of the sunset wind.

Part 2 the next adventures (gillions pov)

I woke up at the same time I always do, just as the sun rises over the ocean, both Jay and Chip still asleep. I miss early morning training with Arianna. I thought as I looked at their partitions, set up to create some sense of privacy. Careful to not make noise, I carefully stepped out of my barrel and stretched. Pretzel remained beside my barrel. She would sometimes sleep with me, but most of the time preferred her own space. I watched her, bubbles sometimes rising to the surface of her bowl. A completely normal day, from the looks of it.
But something caught my attention, and I froze. Something didn't seem right; didn't smell right; and not in the usual way when something smelled bad. But that it smelled wrong, evil. An ability I had been given allowed me to smell evil, and right now the smell of something truly unnerving was filling the room. It's not Chip, or Jay smell... that's not good. I pulled back the curtain to where a very sleepy Chip lay, and walked up to him. Mouth open, snoring like bombs were going off in his throat, drool escaping his lips and pooling on his pillow. I watched him for a moment before I moved closer.
"Chip! ...Wake up! Get up already!" I shook his shoulders, to which he flopped around, limp, and snored softly before another explosion escaped. "No." He subconsciously shoved me away, to which I dropped him, scrunching up my nose in annoyance. Chip- I figured I shouldn't bother replacing his blanket, and flipped the curtain back to Jay's side. "Jay, something isn't right..." I muttered, hoping she would bolt awake as she usually did. But alas, behind the curtain, she stayed sleeping as well. I crossed my arms, pacing. Should I try harder to wake them, or should I take a look on my own? I turned back to face my friends once more. Memories of me rushing off into danger, making things worse, flitted through my mind but I quickly shoved it away. I'll just take a quick look to see what's wrong. It could be a big problem. I quickly put on my armor and grabbed my sword and ran on deck to find... nothing. The sky was still rising to be as blue as the sea, pink and yellow still staining the fluffy clouds. The smell didn't go away, it didn't even falter. A presence that I couldn't possibly ignore even if I wanted to. I tried to follow the smell, but it was everywhere. Whatever it was, it taunted me. Anger began rising, quicker to simmer than in the past. I clenched by fist, biting back the want to get even angrier. Whatever it is, I'm not going to find it like this. Who knows? It might just be Chip and Jay. Humans and their weird smells... I shrugged it off, placing my sword on the side of the ship. I usually did that to let Chip and Jay know I wasn't on deck. With that, I dove into the water. I needed to clear my head. The strangeness of this morning wouldn't go away if I just sat and waited. Maybe it'll be gone when I get back.
---
It was not gone, not even close. In fact, it was like it had followed me. I stewed in this disgusting smell for a while, wondering if it was even real. I felt betrayed by my own senses, and that only made me angrier. I swam a few laps around the ship before heading back, defeated and overall confused.
"GIL!" I heard Jay calling as I grew closer to our ship. I swam a little faster and jumped onto the deck, dotting the wood in wet little specks. "What is it Jay?" She looked me up and down, perhaps not expecting me to be finished with my swim. She blinked away surprise, and turned to a more accusing tone. "Why did you try to wake me and Chip before the sun was even up?" She looked tired, rubbing her face. "We talked about this."
I sneered to myself, something completely unlike me. "Oh. I tried to wake you guys because something smelled off, but you guys didn't wake up, so I went on my own." Jay glared at me, arms crossed. "So you tried to wake us up for a smell?"
"An evil smell, Jay. You should know about this by now. My nose doesn't lie, unlike you guys." I said pointing at my nose. I didn't completely believe that, though, as apparently my nose was making up evil that wasn't even there. Jay sighed and rubbed her hand over her face once more. "Did you even find anything to warrant waking us up?" She sighed, unhappy to be disturbed but knowing the moment to scold was already gone. I raised my head, angry and disappointed but tried to hide it behind defiance. "No, it hasn't left. I'm starting to think my sense of justice is broken."
She seemed to stiffen, noticing something in my tone. Her hostility vanished. "Are you okay? You are acting.... Pricklier than normal." I suddenly realized that my shoulders were tense, and tried to roll out the oncoming of mysterious stress.  "I'm completely fine, but we should really work on your 'response in crisis' skills." Now I crossed my arms. I'm totally okay. I probably should be mad, but I'm not. I'm not. I squinted my eyes at her.
"Listen, Gil, I expect this from Chip, because he's Chip and won't go an entire day without being moody. But this is bad, coming from you, and it's been days. Are you sure there's nothing wrong?" Jay put her hand on my shoulder. I shrugged her off.
"I'm fine, Jay! Honestly, I've never felt better. In fact, I'm gonna go for another swim. Oh, and, you and Chip really should take a bath. You both smell awful." I turned and dove back into the water, ignoring Jay calling after me. Humans are weird. I'm fine. It's her that's acting weird. I ignored the prickling on my arms and legs, assuming it was the depth I was going, swimming deeper and deeper into the water, seeing the rocky ledges and underwater cliffs blur past me.
A pod of dolphins gathered a large school of fish; their shiny silver bodies forming a large mass of shifting light. Maybe I should eat something. Eating food should make me feel better. I swam toward the shoals and caught a few fish, gobbling them hungrily. The dolphins stopped their hunt, and swam around me, eyeing me as I ate. I immediately felt bad for stalling their hunt and offered out a fish I didn't bite. One dolphin, darker than the rest, swam forward and instead of taking the fish, bit my wrist, drawing blood.
"Sorry! Friend!" I tried to say. Broken communication was still communication, but it didn't work this time. The pod took turns nipping at me, seemingly roughly play-fighting with me, but I knew better. They think I'm a threat. This is what dolphins do to sharks- I should leave. I shoved the darker dolphin away from my face as it tried to pull my hair and started swimming up. "Sorry." I tried saying it again, only this time it seemed to make them more confused and unnerved. The dolphins followed me for a bit before going back to the school of fish. Today isn't a good day. I swam back through the water before spotting the ship, careening towards who-knows-where. I don't want to go back yet... but I knew I had to. I jumped out of the water, landing on the deck. I decided to sit there and look at the sky and sun. I laid down on the deck, the sun warmed the wood. Maybe I am the problem.
"Gil!" Old man Earl's voice startled me. I rolled to the side and sat up.
"What is it Earl?"
"What's wrong with you, huh? Your stupid face looks upset. I swear if you try to fight someone again it'll be me- and you'll lose!" I stood up.
"Noted." I watched the old man huff and puff before standing up. "I won't fight anyone." I muttered, going past him below deck. I hopped into my barrel, water sloshing over the top, soaking the floorboards. I should just stay here until someone needs me.