Our Second World book three: Personal Truth

Chapter 5: Nephinae

After dropping my stuff in the room that Haren and I would be sharing, I started making my way back up to the deck of the ship.

When I got there, I saw that we were already quite a distance from the shore.

What surprised me was the large amount of white figures bustling around on the deck. They all looked surprisingly similar to Bira, except the figures had no faces.

"Pretty cool, right?" I looked up to see the real Bira standing at a wheel on a high platform with stairs leading up to it at the back of the ship," They're my crew."

"They look like you," I replied, walking up the stairs," are they magic?"

"Yep," Bira had a proud smile on her face as she showed me a shell necklace around her neck. The inner side of the spiral shell had a kind of magic circle carved into it," it's my wind magic. They're like clay soldiers made of solid air."

"I see," I leaned on the railing and looked down at the white figures moving about the deck. Tilting my head back as the salty smelling wind swept through my hair. The sky was bluer than I'd ever seen it before, and there was hardly a cloud in it.

The two of us were quiet until Dain appeared from a door below us. He stopped at the base of the steps.

"Bira?" He called," is it alright for me to climb the nest?"

Bira gave him a thumbs up," just be careful."

Dain nodded and hurried over to the central of the three masts. He walked around to the other side of it and I couldn't see him anymore.

"You can go with him if you want," Bira said, gesturing to where the short boy had just disappeared.

"Where'd he go?" I asked.

"He went up to the nest. You'll hear other sailors call it different things, but it's a platform at the top of a ships mast that you can use as a vantage point," She explained.

"I'll pass this time."

"Well, if you change your mind, just be careful."

"I will," I nodded.

"There you are, Nephinae." Rala and Emiko bounded up the steps to me," We've been looking for you."

"Why?" I looked around," Where's Luna?"

"Well..."

"Is something wrong?" I asked, following the two of them back down under the deck.

"It might be easier for you to see for yourself," Emiko said.

I stepped past them and opened the door to my room.

Haren was sitting on the lower bunk with a bundle of white on his lap. He looked up when I walked in.

"Oh, they found you."

"Yeah. What's wrong?" I sat down next to Haren on the bed.

"She just started acting weird a few minutes ago," he shifted his arms a little and set Luna on my lap," I think she's just a little sea sick."

"Well, it is her first time on a boat. That's entirely possible," I muttered, stroking the white fox's back.

"So, how are you doing?" Haren asked once I'd gotten Luna to sleep.

I looked at him, puzzled," What do you mean?"

"It's your first time on a boat too, right?"

"Oh, yeah," I shifted my gaze to the floor," To be honest, it's a little weird."

It was Harens turn to look confused," How do you mean?"

"I don't really feel any different," I said," It's like I'm still standing on dry land. To me, the boat doesn't feel like it's moving at all."

"Huh. That's interesting," Haren frowned," Maybe it has something to do with your affinity to water?"

"Maybe."

Haren and I sat together silently for a while. I couldn't really think of anything else to say to him, but our silence was a comfortable one.

After a few minutes, I noticed that Haren was leaning against the bed post. His eyes were closed.

I slid over to him and rested my head on his shoulder.

When I next opened my eyes, I was filled with an odd feeling. I figured I was just imagining things, but that was when I noticed the lantern on the wall swinging around more than it was before.

Setting Luna on Harens lap, I stepped over Rala and Emiko sleeping by my feet. Walking out to the hall, I ran into Dain on my way up to the deck.

"Is something wrong?" I asked him as the boy hurried past me.

"Nope." He said, disappearing into his room.

"Huh." I continued up to the deck.

The conditions made me wonder how I was still standing.

Large waves crashed against the sides of the ship. spraying water on the deck already slick with rain. The sky was completely covered in dark clouds; I could barely see the other end of the ship.

Biras copies were in the process of rolling up the sails on the three masts while Bira herself was standing at the wheel. She seemed to be having a bit of trouble holding it still, but her expression was calm as she gazed intently at the horizon in front of us.

I hadn't been standing on the deck for very long, but my clothes were already soaked through with water, so I decided to head back down under the deck.

Here, I could hear the wood of the ship creak every time it moved. I could feel a slight rocking under my feet now as well, but it wasn't much.

When I got back to my room, I found Haren in the same place as when I'd left.

He opened his eyes after I closed the door.

"You're wet," He said.

"Yeah. It's raining a lot right now," I replied, retrieving my bag from the top bunk to look for a change of clothes.

"I figured," He answered, his tail twitching," Sounds like it's coming down pretty hard."

"Yep. I was only out there for a few minutes and I'm soaked." I said, pulling a dry pair of clothes from the bag.

"I'll sit in the hall while you get changed," Haren stood and stretched.

"Thanks."

I waited for the door to click shut before taking off my wet clothes. tossing them in a pile on the floor before putting on the dry ones.

Once I'd finished changing, I knelt in front of the wet clothing. Seeing the water pooling on the floor gave me an idea and I decided to try something.

I held out my hands and closed my eyes. Picturing the water in the fabric seeping into the wood, then moving out to the ocean. When I opened my eyes, I found everything relatively dry.

"Huh. That might come in handy." I thought as I put the clothes away.