Linewalkers

21 | Disguise and Demoralize

Not Edited

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When she woke, Kreve was gone. 

She scrambled out of her berth, almost falling flat on her face in the process. She glanced around the small room, there was no sign of him even being there. He hadn't touched anything. Except for the door. She noticed the board was leaned against the wall, leaving the door unlocked. How long had she been sleeping with the door unlocked? How long had it been since Kreve had left her alone? 

Her stomach was churning with fear. She didn't want to be alone, especially on this ship with a bunch of rowdy crewmates. Her rational sanity flew straight out the window because she was perfectly safe if she stayed in her room, but she felt safer in the presence of Kreve. She wanted to go find him immediately. 

Her fingers itched to grab the door and open it. Of all the stupid things she could do, she stopped herself before she actually acted on her previous thought. There was no way she could disguise her human appearance or smell. She would stick out like a sore thumb and the crewmates would notice immediately, drunk or not. She remembered when she encountered the bobcat man on the beach, he had known instantly and he was very hostile. 

She could get herself killed if she went out on the deck. She remembered how Kreve had warned her about the Captain, he had eyes like a hawk, hence his name. She couldn't risk being seen by him. After she thought about her next actions in a rational manner, she fell to pacing. From one side of the room to the other, an occasional glance out the window to see the ocean beyond, and a steady eye on the door. 

It felt like hours. She could hear footsteps trekking across the deck of the ship above her head. Once or twice, she heard an occasional shout, but mostly the crew members voices were a murmur of background noise. Especially since she could hear the waves lapping against the belly of the ship outside. By staying moving, she chased away some of the seasick feelings that tried to curl her stomach. There was only a small bucket in the corner of the room and she didn't want to spend the day with the smell of her own vomit. 

Finally, the door opened and Kreve slipped in. 

"Where have you been?!" She almost shouted, she felt hysterical. 

Kreve turned with a furrowed brow, "What do you mean?" He observed her appearance with glowing amber eyes, "Why are you so worked up? Did something happen?" 

"No!" She flailed her arms, "I was scared because you left me alone!" 

"You're safe here." 

"Someone could have come in!" She continued with a rush of emotions fueling her, "Something could have happened and you weren't here!" 

His expression grew annoyed, "You're being a bit dramatic. I went to breakfast so we could eat." He motioned to his hand and only then did she notice the plate he held in his hand. It was stacked full of food, warm food as it steamed, and suddenly her stomach grumbled in hunger. 

She deflated, "Oh." She felt incredibly stupid for her actions, of course she was being dramatic, "Sorry." 

He ignored her, "The food will be the best the first few days. Eventually, the fresh produce will go bad and the bread will go stale." He shoved the plate into her hands. 

"Thanks." She mumbled. 

As usual, Kreve inhabited his berth and fell into a light sleep. He napped quite a lot, she noted. Maybe it was his animal tendency. He was a panther after all and cats generally napped most of the day and hunted at night. She quietly sat down on the only crate in the room and placed the plate on her lap. It was warm and she quickly dug in. There was fresh scrambled eggs, a chunk of cheese, and a type of meat broth that was spread over mashed potatoes with diced carrot pieces. A very balanced meal for a ship full of men.

She glanced at Kreve's sleeping form in guilt. She had accused him before she knew his intentions. He was only getting her food and she wasn't even thankful with her drama. She sighed, setting the now empty plate aside, she really wasn't the best companion. He was probably fed up with her stupidity already. Cats do tend to get annoyed rather quickly. 

With nothing better to do, she thought about Elias. She wondered if he was still okay. They were well in-route to the Western Lateal and she prayed he stayed there long enough for them to reach him. She couldn't imagine what the Fallarks would do to him. Though, she already knew. They would kill him. He would be permanently dead then because he couldn't return to Earth, their realm of life. Only she could if she was killed here. 

She hated the way this world worked. It was confusing and seemingly unreal. How was a world of this old-fashion so capable of technology? They didn't even have cellphones or laptops or cars. Yet there was still a technological connection between her world and this world, simply by a set of codes, and she wondered about who ever created them in the first place. Was there a reason? Did they intentionally link the realms together? 

It had to be a stupid reason because this world hated anyone from the other. As they called her and anyone before her, Linewalkers. They weren't welcome here, they were hunted by Fallarks, killed on sight, and sent back. How was that even fair? There seemed to be no logical explanation and she didn't like it. She was all about cracking the code, gaining access to a forbidden site, and figuring out the internal mechanics of the web. 

But this? It was all new. There was still a way to do what she was skilled at because Elias had reached out to her just yesterday. It was like a touch of magic existed in this world because there was no way letters could appear on the wall without it. However, that knowledge was withheld for the Fallan, as Kreve had explained, and somehow they had all the access to technology. 

She was shaken out of her thoughts by the ship trembling. With a gasp, she sat upright. She must have dozed off slightly against the wall because it was now dark outside the tiny window. She grabbed the crate when the ship jerked again, then she saw flashes of lightning illuminate the sky outside. A storm was rolling in and the waves were tossing relentlessly, she could see white caps of giant waves peaking. 

Kreve was still in his berth as it swung from side to side but he wasn't asleep. His eyes were focused on her. She could only imagine how she looked. Wide-eyed and terrified, she had never experienced a storm on a ship before. What if the ship was capsized? The crewmembers swept overboard?  

As if sensing her thoughts, Kreve spoke, "It's unpleasant but it will pass." 

She could only nod. She didn't dare try to stand up, she would most likely lose her balance as the entire ship swayed from side to side from the waves bashing it from every angle. She also didn't like the idea of trying to climb into her berth, she watched as Kreve swung violently from side to side and she figured she would get sicker than a dog in seconds. 

So, she stayed on her crate and prayed the storm would be over soon. 

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  It feels good to update this book again. 

I know its been almost a year but I lost my motivation to write for a little bit. Don't worry, though, I found it again and I'm getting back in the game. This is the third book I've written for today, I'm on a serious roll!