Dark waters

3. Finding routine

Cole woke up by the sunlight shining through the little round window above his head. At first he wanted to roll over and go back to sleep, but the realization that he was on a ship on his way through the Therison canals made him sit up instantly.
He looked out the window and realized the sun had just reached above the horizon.
Hopefully he had not overslept.

He got out of bed and opened the tabletop that worked like a lid on the small sink. After plugging the drain he poured some water from a jug into it and washed his face. He had a small towel hanging next to the sink to wipe his hands and face on.
Straightening his back, he met the gaze of his reflection in the mirror above the sink. The mirror looked a bit foggy and had small brown stains in the glass. His eyes almost looked black in it and not its usual nut brown color. Same thing with his hair.

He hung the towel on the hook and tried to get his hair in a shape that felt right. A lifetime of backslick had robbed him of the individual choice.

Trying different things was quite fun, but his hair seemed to prefer a side part style with a strand of hair hanging over his forehead.
He leaned back and took a good look. The look was more him than any other hairstyle.
He gave his reflection a childish smile before he closed the tabletop on the sink and got dressed.

A strong breeze hit him when he stepped out on deck. Some seagulls passed over the ship and the wind filled the sails in the warm morning light. Cole couldn’t help but smile. He didn’t feel so seasick. A bit dizzy maybe, but a lot better than the day before. For a moment he thought he might have gotten used to the sea, but seconds later he realized the ship didn’t move as much as the day before. He probably had a few more days before he could say he had found his sea legs. Still, he was grateful for the calm sea and decided to enjoy it for as long as it lasted.

Vock was already in the kitchen when Cole came down below.
“Morning, cabin boy. Here for the captain’s breakfast?”
“Yeah. I hope I didn’t oversleep or anything? I don’t know what time the captain wants his breakfast.”
Cole grabbed the kitchen counter just in case. He had learned that the ship didn’t always move the same way in a steady pattern. A wave could suddenly be bigger than the others and surprise him with a wild swing.
Vock took out a tray and a plate.
“Honestly, I never got any requests about routines. He rarely complains. Sometimes when I brought him the tray he sat at his desk and sometimes he was still in bed. If he was in bed, I simply left the tray on his desk and left. Never heard anything about it.”
The smell of freshly baked bread filled the room when Vock opened the oven and took out a baking tray.
“What did the cabin boy before me do?”
“There never was a cabin boy before you. The captain did most himself and the rest was up to me. He must have decided that he needed a cabin boy when he saw you.”
Cole raised his eyebrows.
“It’s not the first time the captain has accepted strays”, Vock continued, “We are all strays, more or less. Track came first. I heard the captain just got his ship when he came across a Taur in a bad fight. Track was beaten down by three big trolls and two bulls. The captain interrupted the fight. Being a royal and all, the brutes listened to him and let go of Track. The captain paid Track’s debt and offered Track to work it off here on the Valkyrie. Track asked if he could bring his cousin and that’s how Vu joined the crew. To my knowledge, Track had borrowed money trying to keep a roof over his parents’ heads. When the parents died, he was left with nothing besides the debt. Vu was just homeless as far as I know.”
“How did they sail with just two sailors and a captain?”
“The Valkyrie can sail with just three people. Barely, but following safe routs and avoiding bad weather it’s manageable.”
“Really?”
Vock shrugged.
“Absolutely. It takes a bit of work, but they handled it. A few months later the captain found me at the docks in Edori. Unemployed, dirt poor and pretty much a cripple. He dropped a coin in the cup at my feet and asked if I needed a job. At the time I had only one horn. My left horn was broken in an accident on the last hip I worked on. My horns stood out and up”, Vock paused to gesture in front of him how the horns had grown, “With just one horn I could barely balance my head.”
“So you didn’t get the other horn removed straight away?”
Vock shook his head.
“Removing horns is expensive. Especially if you want painkillers. The captain paid for it, just like he did with Track. I worked my debt off with in a year, but after that ... Why would I want to go somewhere else?”
Cole nodded.
It seemed as if he was the latest stray the captain had taken in.