Brokenly, Restored

Chapter #10

(Choco's POV)

Captain Zephra ordered her crew to undock the ship within the hour. Matt stood watching one of them work the sails' ropes, and he then repeated it on the other side. Both the captain and the other male Zemrlt were very pleased with him. They might not be so happy if his hood was a little looser. I imaging pass for whatever a Caelum is, and Pete's mysterious sign language saved him, but I've never been able to come up with a good excuse for why Matt is made of metal. He's been doing a pretty good job of angling his body to hide his arm.

I still have no idea where Pete learned sign language. He didn't know it in the lab, and I don't think the GoldenEye school would teach it. He's getting better and better at it while the two Zemrlt chat with him. Captain Zephra was doing some of her hand signs when I spotted the wedding ring on her finger. Looking at the other Zemrlt, I can see that he has a matching one. It's really sweet of them to follow each other across the ocean like this.

And then there's me. I have no idea how to work on a ship, so I'm now scrubbing the deck. Turns out that there's a lot of down time on a ship. The clouds get darker farther East, and I've noticed Zephra repeatedly glancing at them. The wind has also picked up a bit since we started. It'll only take another day and half to get to Liblicen. I'm not sure how a feel about coming all this way for Matt's coordinates. It seem like the plot point wasn't very well thought out.

The rest of the ship's crew didn't seem surprised that we were let on. There are a few humans and a couple other hybrids. I've heard of Baccas, but it's weird to finally see one. They offer friendly smiles and small-talk, but don't seem very interested really getting to knows us. I'm sure a few are creeped out that Matt hasn't shows his face. He's had one eye closed this entire time.

The ride is extremely calm until we get closer to the darkening clouds. The waves get choppy, and the rain starts to come down. Matt's cloak gets plastered to his body like a second skin. Captain Zephra's husband, who's name is Nilaxen, takes the ships's helm. He's quiet and prefers to use sign language over his voice. He wrestles with the wheel to keep it straight and on course.

      Captain Zephra gives the sails a long look before yelling down at the crew. "Lower the mai-main sail! This storm's getting w-worse". A few of them scramble up the ropes to get to the top of the sails. Matt sees what they're doing, and goes up the opposite side to help. Although he's doing everything in his power to get to those coordinates, he has no problem taking orders from Zephra's authoritative presence. Pete is already hiding below deck. He doesn't like storms.

       A gust of wind nearly knocks me to my feet when I let go of the ship's rail. My feathered tail whips around my legs and flattens the ones on my head. Strangely, the force of the wind almost feels soothing to me. It has such a savage beauty and strength. I can feel the wind and the waves as my ability stretches out. We're not going to be able to punch our way though a storm like this. Stumbling with the waves crashing against the ship, I climb up the stairs to where Nilaxen is pulling against the wheel.

     "Hey! Listen, you need to turn right for a few seconds, and then left again", I yell at him over wind. We have to move with the waves to make any progress. Nilaxen looks at me with confusion and doubt. He doesn't take orders from me. "Come on! Just try it for a second, please! You won't have to fight the wind as much if you listen".

Nilaxen clearly doesn't want to listen, but Zephra isn't close enough for him to ask. He turns the wheel sharply right, and the ship lurches forwards. I can see his surprise when most of the force pushing on the rudder lulls for a few moments. He then whips the wheel to the left when the pressure returns. The ship moves with the water, and the threat of capsizing has gone down.

"What a-are you two do-doing?", Captain Zephra climbs up the stairs to us, looking annoyed and confused as to what her husband is doing. Nilaxen can't reply with both hands on the wheel.

"I can hear the where the water is going", I try to explain, "This storm will sink the boat before letting us force our way through". I know it's a bad explanation, but no one else can hear what I can. They don't know what the wind wants. With a warning from my ability, I jerk my head up in time to see a crew member slip and fall from the sail as the boat jerks. "Matt!", I scream at him as loud as I can, pointing over to the falling human.

For a second, I didn't think Matt would listen, but then he drops the ropes and throws himself off the mast. He's fast and heavy enough to grab the guy. They both going flying over the ships's rail, and my heart nearly stops, but Matt's robotic hand clamps down hard on the rails. He tosses the startled crew member back onto the deck before he climbs back up. His hood is down, and a flash of lighting reflects off the metal half of his face.

"What are you?", Zephra stares at Matt, suddenly horrified to have some kind of monster on her ship.

"I'll explain it later, but he's a lab experiment", I shrug in the pouring rain, "I'd like to guide the ship out of this storm before getting into details".