Golden Swords

Sailing lessons

She cantered Ebony into the far town at a fast clip, heading through the village. The tailor's shop was closed, so she headed down to the small harbour, hoping that was where Bethany was. Indeed, there were several large ships tied up in the harbour, several round waisted traders and one made of paler wood, narrow and curvy and beautiful. A familiar head of bright red hair strode around the deck, giving orders to some bulky men lifting large chunks of wood.

"Ah, Mycena, good to see you made it alright, never trusted those horse things myself, not enough sails on them to like a proper boat and no way to make them go slower, anyway, glad to see you're here."

"Hi Bethany," she grinned at the pirate's monologue, "I came for my intro to sailing."

Bethany smirked at her, "Well it just happens we were just finishing here, so looks like one intro to sailing coming right up."

Bethany Kyle lad her around the Snowbound showing her the tiller, the ropes, all the different sails. They wouldn't take the Snowbound out today,  as it was too big for a proper sailing lesson, but instead would take the little sailing ship that they used for delivering messages, or just a few people. It was called the Ferocity, and was a cinnamony brown to the Snowbound's cream.

Bethany moved in a whirlwind, unfurling sails, pulling on ropes and giving her directions. Mycena pulled up the mainsail, and Bethany steered the small boat away from the quay. The wind caught and they began to pick up speed, the water burbling away from the bow. Bethany motioned her over, placing her hand on the tiller. "Move it the opposite way to where you want to go," she instructed, "Not too much, it's quite sensitive." Mycena steered the boat carefully towards the mouth of the bay, glorying in the feeling of being in control. Bethany launched into a full explanation of sailing.

"So, the wind is coming from our right at the moment, that means we want the sails pulled in, but not as far as they will go. That would be for if we were heading more directly into the wind. However, we can't sail straight into the wind, so we do something called tacking, where we do zigzags. If we were to head away left, so the wind was coming from behind us, then we would let the sails out until they were at a right angle to the boat. If there was a lot of wind we would need smaller sails, or we could reef them by tying them up along the yardarm. The little pointer at the top of the mast shows where the wind is coming from, and these ropes here control how far in or out you want the sails."

Mycena tried to process this. Bethany pointed out a nearby buoy. "Head towards there," She did so, pushing the tiller away from her. They instantly slowed down and the sails began to flap. "So, you pull in the sails using these ropes when you turn further into the wind." Bethany handed her the rope and Mycena pulled in the sail, trying to steady the tiller with her leg. The sail stopped flapping and the little boat picked up speed again, water rushing past in a stream of bubbles. Bethany nodded to her, and Mycena shook out her braids, letting the salty air caress her face.

They picked up even more speed, and, with a terrifying rush, the boat began to lean over. "Help! Bethany! It's leaning! We're going to fall over!" Bethany only laughed at her. "This boat has a keel, little sailor. She's built to lean!" The pirate queen sat herself on the higher edge of the boat, tucking her feet under one of the seats and leaning out backwards until her long red hair trailed in the water. She was wearing a tunic and her scarred boots today, the bright blue bringing out her eyes. She looked wild and happy and everything Mycena wanted to be. She joined her on the edge, leaning out not quite so far, keeping a hand on the tiller. Bethany Kyle whooped for joy, and the whole boat hummed with the joy of sailing.

Her clothes were stiff with salt spray by the time her sailing lesson was over, sometime in the afternoon. She could now tack, reach, run downwind and haul up / take down the sails by herself. Her grand finale was where she almost crashed the boat trying to moor it up beside the pier, but Bethany leapt out with a mooring rope and fended them off. It was then that Bethany broke the bad news to her. "Plans have changed, I'm afraid Mycena. The Snowbound leaves at midday tomorrow. There's space for you if you want it, and your horse."

Mycena froze. She couldn't leave, not tomorrow. "I'm sorry, Bethany. I don't think.... I'm not sure if I can go tomorrow ..."

"It's okay, little Myc. I'll be back up here next year, old Bethany won't forget you."

"Goodbye Bethany," she threw her arms around the sailor.

Tears blurring her eyes, she saddled Ebony again and headed off through the woods back to the ruin. Bethany raised one arm in farewell, before she disappeared between the houses.