Adarna

Chapter 14

It was a week before they encountered the creature again. In that time, the waves picked up, spirits heightened, and bruises healed with remarkable speed. The sun shone brightly overhead, a golden halo in an endless expanse of blue. Below, the crew worked the ropes, hoisting sails to catch the rising winds. Lark stood at the helm, checking their compass and grinning, confident and eager as the Captain adjusted course with a steady hand. Anticipation was heavy in the air. Thick and buzzing, it tasted like honey might to a person with an allergy.

Whatever their goal was, they were nearing it at last.

Sea spray buffeted Robin's face as he leaned out over the banister. Wind ruffled his hair and sunlight bore down warmly on his skin. Next to him, Freyr whistled softly. As usual, their group had slunk away at the first opportunity, choosing instead to gather in their usual spot along the side of the deck. There, Freyr could continue its pretext as a ghost while everyone else slacked off in moderation. Finn was perched on top of an empty barrel, his legs crossed and the bandanna pulled from his neck so that he could enjoy the breeze. Dinta lounged against the nearby wall in the form of Helix.

The apparent friendship between Helix, Robin and Finn was the cause of much debate. Having learnt from before, Robin made sure to clarify things before gossip had a chance to spread. With no better excuse, he declared that "the ghost thought they'd be a good influence on him," which the crew accepted with nods of consideration. An unforeseen result of this was that everyone else took it upon themselves to be on better terms with Helix as well, which left Dinta with far less personal time than before.

This was more upsetting to Freyr than to Dinta herself. The woman blended seamlessly into the crew, and delighted in the muscle she gained from working the ship. Freyr pouted in private, of course, and once or twice caused a ghostly inconvenience to those who stuck around too long, but its frown disappeared as soon as Dinta entered its field of vision.

At the moment, the provisions for the day had sparked a debate about cheese—where Finn took a strongly biased stance against it and everything related to it, while Freyr and Robin were more inclined to argue the values of it. The debate grew heated, only to be interrupted by Robin's own voice sounding from the banister where he had just been. They all jumped, head snapping to the side. There they saw the creature, hanging languidly over the side of the ship, resting on his elbows as he watched them with curiosity.

"Hello," he repeated amicably.

Robin was there in a moment, jumping in front of the creature to hide him as best as he could from the view of anyone hastening past. Finn was right behind him, almost tumbling off of his barrel as he grabbed a tattered sail. He lifted it conspicuously in front of the creature, making as if to inspect it. Freyr laughed in delight while Dinta groaned.

"Whatareyoudoinghere?" Robin whispered frantically.

The creature tilted his head and smiled. He swayed from side to side as his eyes turned from one person to the next. "Visiting?" he suggested. "What's cheese?"

Robin blinked slowly.

Finn was the first to adapt to the situation. "Cheese is an abomination, right under crabs." He almost dropped the sail as he crossed his arms firmly in front of his chest and tilted his chin upwards as if inviting a dispute. He got one. Freyr erupted into a speech highlighting all the values which cheese presented. Among them were: "It tastes incredible", "it makes your bones stronger!" and, most confusingly, "it embodies the concept of terroir by capturing the flavour of the climate and the local plant life."

Finn scoffed. "Please, cheese is hardly special in that regard. I bet I'd reflect the flavour of my environment if you cooked me up too."

"Oh yeah," Freyr retorted, "your soft and brittle bones would be horrendously apparent—"