Before Beasts, There Were Storms--6

Eternal Happiness

He didn't know how much time had passed when he opened his eyes to find the boat still and sunlight peeking underneath the door. Somewhere during the long hours he had dug out a rope from the trunk and tied the both of them down to the bed, and somewhere long after that he must have passed out. All he knew was that, at the sight of sunlight, a sharp migraine started up in time with his heart.

"Ayah." His voice crackled like crumpled paper and his tongue had swollen. He coughed and tried again. "Ayah."

A small moan answered. He fumbled at the knots at his chest, croaking profanities as his weak fingers kept cramping up. He managed, though, and rolled himself out of the bed. The side of his body that had been formed to Ayah's felt cold and misshapen.

"Come on. I need you to try." She only had one rope on her legs, since they had shared the other two. "There's got to be a kitchen on this damn box."

She oozed out of the bed in a feathery sprawl and used him as a prop to straighten, blinking owlishly at the sunlight as though she had never seen it before. Then she stiffened.

"The captain!" And before he could stop her, she jumped to her feet...

And passed out.

"Don't get up too fast," he said to her unconscious face, grinning. They were alive, after all. He had prayed for death for hours on end, but now finally being at the end...had the world really been so still? He never wanted to feel it spinning again.

Eventually they managed to get to their feet and into the cabin. The door outside hung open, pouring sunlight and a light ocean breeze across the tangled body of the aging man, his naval jacket hanging on by one arm. Ayah dropped by his side as Kai traced the streaks of blood and vomit across the cabin. His mouth tightened, and his dry lips cracked.

"He's dead," she said in a little, hollow voice.

"And so will we if we don't find that kitchen," said Kai, suddenly realizing he had to keep her moving. She wasn't use to death as he was. He took a firm hold of her arm and pulled her to her feet, then waited for the black head rush to pass before pulling her out of the control room and closing the door behind them.

He drank in the pain of light as his eyes adjusted, hissing. Clouds still scattered the sky, but he could see blue and the steel-colored plain of the ocean, steady and smooth. He had to resist spreading his wings and tipping off the metal stairwell then and there. Had air ever smelled so delicious?

The layout of the ship was easy enough to figure out. They found its large kitchen near the front and middle, with wide windows facing out onto the deck where they had battled who knew how many days before. Kai made a beeline for the fridge, vaguely aware of Ayah drifting to the windows. He had just spotted a seram wrapped case of Gatorade in a cupboard next to it when she spoke.

"Tyson."

Kai's hand hesitated, then pulled the case of Gatorade from the shelf.

"He okay?"

"He hasn't come out yet," she said. "It's his shell. It looks like clouds made solid."

The plastic tore away easily and he grabbed a red one. He always went for the one that was least likely to dye his mouth weird colors. Same with any sort of hard candy or popsicles, if he ever actually ate them.

"Ayah." He rolled one towards her. She stopped it with her foot and picked it up much as someone with arthritis would.

"What is this?"

"Never seen Gatorade before? Well, it's the best for dehydration. Drink it slowly. Don't want to overwhelm your stomach and end up just throwing it all up."