Chapter I: We Go To Sea...

[Vega]

Zida 20th, 719

"Gerroff me, you big lummox," Vega said, her actions belying her words as she leaned in to him when Arlo wrapped her in a hug. Turning around so she was facing him, Vega tilted her head to kiss him. "It were jus' a dream you know." They'd shared the strangest dream the night before, of a conflict where he'd died and a gap of more arcs than they'd either one of them been alive at this point, where she turned into someone who did progressively dark things. Then, they'd found each other. But it had been strange and filled with unusual magics, and they'd both been incredibly old. "But it does raise a fair point, you know. If you die an' leave me, all the evidence is clear that I'm gonna become a right mardy cow, so you'd be best off jus' not, a'right?" Her eyes swirled in colours as she spoke, her nose touching his. "Cos, frankly, that punch weren't hard enough an' dream-me forgives you an' yer nonsense far too easy, a'right?"

They were on her cousin's ship with them. There had been reports that there was an excellent aurora to be seen and so Vega and Arlo had decided they were going. This meant that soon Huw, Shon and Reese had all decided to tag along. Vega had told them that they weren't welcome, but apparently they didn't believe her. She'd then been sure to point out that their useless wives most certainly weren't welcome, but none of them had listened to that, either. So, in the end, Vega had made the perfectly reasonable and calm point that they were going on her cousin's ship - the one that used to belong to her father - and that if any of them annoyed her, she was going to skin them in one piece or find out if there were any biqaj-eating sharks in the oceans. Vega had been, in fairness, as calm and as placid and as reasonable as she could be.

Which meant, not at all.

So, they were on her father's old ship, with her cousins and their useless wives and Vega was ~ to put it mildly ~ not entirely happy with the situation. She was quite happy with him, though and so she grinned up at her husband. "I dont know why you saddled me with this bunch o' idjits, I really don't." They were her family, and they both knew it, but that wasn't the point as far as Vega was concerned. The point was, without a doubt, that they weren't sharing this trip as a romantic, just-them, probably-never-make-it-to-our-cabin trip was completely, utterly, and entirely his fault.

"So, I'm bored of this lot, an' I wanna be on my own with you," Vega said, punching him in the shoulder as she did. "So, I've been subtle an' cunnin'." Words to strike fear into the heart of any man, if only Vega but had the self-awareness to realise. "I told Sian - she's the blonde useless one married to Shon, that we were talkin' about havin' children. Which we did, so it weren't a lie. She burst into tears an' I had to endure her huggin' me." Vega was entirely serious about this being something which she was not happy with. "An' then I told Lily that I'd heard that gettin' pregnant catches better if yer hangin' upside down an'.... actually, never mind what I told Lilly. I reckon, we've got a night to ourselves an' so, I figured it could go a little somethin' like this."

Vega smiled at Arlo, her swirling eyes were brimming with mischief. "You could cook us somethin' lovely. We can eat it in our cabin. An', if yer really well behaved?" The smile turned into a wicked grin. "If yer really well behaved, I'll hang upside down. Can we please get away from this bunch of plonkers an' have some jus' us time?" If they didn't get away from the oohs and aaaaahhs, from the cackling and twittering of her cousins, Vega was very much of the opinion that there was an inevitable conclusion. "If not, I'm gonna have to pick one an' kill them," she said, seriously. "So that the others can live, like. You know? They're picklin' my pilchard, an' flibbertyin' my gibbet. So, what cha say, Arlo Creede?"

Most men wouldn't consider the bruising thump to the shoulder to be foreplay. But then, Vega didn't love most men. "Wanna distract me so I don't kill no one?"

And she wasn't even joking.....

[Arlo Creede]

There'd been a time when Vega and Arlo had shared any number of dreams. But those had been the ones that they'd walked together, both being mindful of it at the time and after. The dream they'd shared the night before, had been different. It hadn't been walking. Stubbornly refusing to untangle himself from her, in spite of protests that he knew were nothing but theater, he grinned. "Maybe it was the fates showing us our future," he considered, and all in all, it had been a fascinating glimpse of what might conceivably come to pass many centuries from now.

"I'll do my best to keep myself out of trouble. But you know that's an awful big ask. Risking life and limb, toying with things that could blow me into bits and pieces, it's sort of part and parcel to being a son of Cassion." Nevertheless, he'd do what he could, but already there'd been any number of times that he'd thumbed his nose at the fates. Personally, he'd have liked it better, had they come on this little outing alone. But alone just the two of them, or with company, he was looking forward to reaching their destination. Far from any man made structures, torches or gas lamps that would interfere with a view of the night skies and the auroras that he was keen on seeing up close and persona. He might like to fall asleep under the open skies at night while a symphony of swirling color played out in the heavens.

He was all for that, Arlo added when Vega voiced her preference of being alone, just the two of them. The emphasis given the statement, the bump on the shoulder, his answer was apparent enough when he affectionately returned the gesture. But then? She'd talked Sian about them and children, and it surprised him. "Why?" But then the reason became clear enough and he grinned and shrugged. Well why not if it got them some time alone without others hovering nearby. "You know, I don't think that hanging upside down thing...Well in theory it sounds fine. You could do it. I could do it. But then....well, you know," he added with a grin. "When it comes to the actual mechanics of it...Nope," he added, and leaned in to kiss her.

As for the rest, he'd be very happy to distract her. And cooking? "I think I can whip us up a little something nice." No larder was as well stocked as his. Neither pirates nor nobility ever ate so well on the seas as they did. But...In a brief moment of silence, a lull in the banter, there was something. He almost thought he imagined it. "Did you hear that?" he asked Vega. It wasn't a thumping sound, or a ringing bell, or anything so obvious. And it was faint. It was if the ship's bottom had gently rolled over something so that there'd been a smooth rubbing sound that had traveled from one end of the boat to the other. But they were too far out to sea, to far away from any kind of shallows for them to have passed over any sandbars or the life.

[Vega]

Zida 20th, 719

"Yeah, well the fates can knock on an' get lost," she said, when he suggested that was their future. "I don't wanna become all dark an' broody, I were a right mardy mare, I was. An' also, it's easy for you to say, but I distinctly remembered you gettin' blown to kibbles an' bits. That were no fun either. An' I still had this poxy curse from that useless git." Her Immortal father, that was. Arlo got a sharp elbow in the chest for his blase attitude, but she said no more. She was too busy returning his kiss and shooting him a wicked grin at the hanging upside down comment. "I meant durin' love, not after."

As he paused, so did she, but for Vega it was a different thing. "The water's different, can you hear that?" Since being initiated into Defiance she could hear the elements and this was one of those times where it might just buy them a few trills. Except, of course, those few trills didn't help. Suddenly, as Arlo heard the noise on the underside of the boat, the entire back of the vessel lifted. Not in a clean or straight lift, though - no, it lifted, it lurches, and the whole thing tilted. Vega grabbed on to Arlo in an unconscious gesture. "Arlo!" There was a note of panic in her voice. "The ships movin'!" On reflection, he probably didn't need to be told that. There were screams from the Useless Twins and Vega didn't hesitate. "We've got to get that pair o'numpties safe!"

Pulling herself away from Arlo, Vega yelled to him as the mast of the ship creaked loudly and began to fall. "Arlo find out what in the name of U'frek's belly-fluff is goin' on an' MAKE IT STOP! right now!" Always with the easy jobs. She grabbed some rope and ran up the increasingly difficult-to-manage slope as the sounds of screams were overtaken by the sounds of splintering wood. "An' Xiur," she whispered. "Look after us all. Cassion, make sure yer boy is OW! safe an' OW, GERROFF!" That last was as a bunch of heavy rigging fell onto her. She knew her husband too well to doubt it and so, from underneath it - very quickly - came a muffled call. "I'm a'right! I'm gettin' out of here. If you stop to help me I'm gonna punch you into next arc, I swear to Xiur an' Qylios!!"

At which, with the ship literally ripping apart around them, Vega did her best to just get out from under all this rigging.

[Arlo Creede]

"Well dark's a different matter," Arlo had quipped back, regarding her dream, when Vega expressed a wish to not turn into one of those darker souls. "But are you saying the broody bit's not already a done deal?" He'd beg to differ, was the implication. She'd been there and back already, after all, and oddly it was one of the many reasons he loved her. As for how he'd gone out in that dream, Arlo suspected that there were worse ways to go. "So I went out in a moment of high theater and heroics? A far better way to go than sniffling and moaning while abed." It wasn't like he was looking for a sure way off of the mortal coil though, and so he promised that he'd at least not go looking for the opportunity.

There'd been that strange sound to distract them, however, and Arlo paused, frowning when asked whether or not he could hear it. He did hear something. But almost certainly not the same as Vega did. "There was that rubbing, bumping sound," he said. "And the water's lapping against the hull different than it usually does." After enough time at sea, even the sometimes temperamental waves against solid surfaces tended to exhibit a somewhat predictable rhythm.

Then the back of the boat lifted up, everything akimbo and Vega grabbed him, he grabbed her. But too little too late. Everything that wasn't nailed to the floor or walls, or fixed in place, including the two of them, was sent tumbling head over tail. He wrapped his arms around Vega, trying to roll with the violent overturning in a way that put him between her and any more sturdy obstacles. He whacked a knee here, bumped a shoulder there before what had come up, went down again. "Yeah, the ship's moving," he grunted, rather stating the obvious as he stumbled back to his feet. "And it's not the kind of moving that comes from running aground or bumping an iceberg."

As for what had caused it, there was no telling but if the screams were any indication, those nearer the rail were in a better position to know. The mast cracked then, and the ship's deck began breaking in two, even as he hurriedly tried to remove Vega from the rigging. His own father was suddenly at his side, helping him and shouted. "I saw it in the water! Something alive, like a massive shadow covered in starlight. It headed right for us!" As if whatever had struck them wasn't just a living, but thinking thing. And it had specifically targeted the ship.

Whatever it was, or had been, the ship received another sudden blow, as if it wasn't done with them yet. "We're going down," he said to Jonas while helping Vega to her feet. Not even U'frek's blessing would fix the damage that had been done in such a time as would stop them sinking. "Tell them, get the lifeboats in the water." As if to emphasize the fact that time was running out, the deck on half of the ship rose up from the water, and the other half rose up as well in the opposite direction.

[Vega]

Zida 20th, 719

"The ship's breakin' up! GERROF ME AN' SAVE YERSELF YOU IDIOT!!" It was a good job one of them was keeping calm and had a level head, Vega thought as she got herself out of this rigging. "Or go an' save those idiot women!!" But no, Arlo and Jonas both were continual, insistent and, for the first time since she'd met him, Vega was not deeply and fundamentally respectful to Jonas Creede, "Get yer asses in the lifeboats, will ya?" They wouldn't, she knew, but as the ship heaved again, Vega felt a sense of overwhelming panic. She grabbed on to Arlo and her eyes showed her shock and fear as things happened at a speed which they simply weren't prepared for.

Arlo described the creature as he helped her up and Vega frowned then, as the ship lurched once more, she decided. "I don't care if it's a pilchard in a petticoat, Arlo." The damage to the ship was exponential, not that Vega knew that word, and the whole thing was crumbling inwards. The wood no longer creaked, it screamed and there was no more undulating. Now, things were heaving high in the air and then crashing, the vessel which their family had called home for a long time was breaking and Vega suddenly grabbed Arlo by the shirt, pulled him to her and kissed him. Hard and fierce, like everything she did around him, filled with passion and love. "You stay alive," she said, her voice low and husky with fear. "You hear me? Stay alive."

She had to try and save those stupid women, and she knew that he wouldn't be jumping on a life-boat any time soon. So, they had to try.

She kissed him, thought that, and then the boat simultaneously rose in the air and shattered underneath them. The ground on which they stood heaved and then they were falling. Vega heard screams and she tried, tried her damnedest to hold on to Arlo, even as she called out "PAPA!!!" as she caught a brief glimpse of her father. But it was chaos and she was being pulled down, down into the water, and it was swirling around them in a vortex and Vega knew she had to kick. Kick and kick and do the very best she could, but she wasn't a strong swimmer, not by any stretch of the imagination, and they were being dragged down with the ship.

It was dark, and cold, so very cold. There were lights, here and there, but they made no sense and she didn't know what they were. She couldn't breathe in, Vega understood that - at a basic level the instinct to survive had more or less taken over for her, and her lungs were burning and she couldn't see and she needed to know that Arlo was alright. She needed to know he was, but she couldn't even see him any more and she had to kick and kick.

As the determined and ferocious young woman tried to reach what she thought was the light, Vega was aware that there was more and more desperation for her to breathe. Even with her endurance as it was, she knew that she wouldn't be able to hold out much longer. Still, she was fairly sure that was light - it was, wasn't it?

And then, the swirling water almost flung the heavy wooden beam at her and Vega felt a strange sensation. That's well weird, she thought. I've never been hit over th'head underwater before. It's kind of spongy.... She thought nothing else; she was already mostly unconscious as she finally reached the surface she'd been kicking so hard to get to. Vega didn't know it though.

In fact, Vega didn't know anything until some indeterminate time later. Even then, she was only vaguely aware that someone was blocking out the sun. It was Arlo, she realised and her eyes fluttered open. He had that worried look on his face, and the sun was behind him. Vega was aware that everywhere hurt, but she was more immediately concerned with the fact that she was coughing and about to throw up. She emptied the water from her lungs, and she became aware, more clearly than before, of the pain in her head. Lifting her hand, she felt something wet and sticky and she knew it was blood. Things were unclear and although she understood just how worried and relieved and concerned he looked, she didn't really comprehend it. Confused eyes turned to him with swirling colours and Vega wondered.

"Did I get 'it with a snake again? Why are you wet?" And then, because she was - inevitably and inexorably - who she was, her hands moved to him. "Are you a'right?" She felt dizzy, but that didn't matter to her in that moment. "Where'd the snake go? An'... where's the jungle? You've got a cut, you 'ave. Righ' on yer forehead." She didn't quite manage to focus as she swayed slightly, but she was getting more lucid every second.

"Where's the snake, Arlo?"

Maybe a little way from lucid just yet.

[Arlo Creede]

Save himself and leave her to fend for herself? If he hadn't been working so hard to keep his feet under him while he was busy extracting her from the rigging, Arlo would have told Vega to keep mind of who she was talking to. She might as well have commanded the sea to stop churning and the ship to knit itself back together again...Helpful as all of that might have been. And since Jonas wasn't bailing without either of them, best she just get a move on and cooperate for a change.

And then as he pulled Vega to her feet, if not for the immediate circumstances, he'd have pointed out that it did matter what it was that was currently wrecking the ship. Better to know if it was going to try and eat them once they were all in the drink. Which was exactly where they were going to end up, lifeboats or no. As for those, there'd been several, though one had already come loose of the ropes and plunged empty into the sea before getting swamped by whatever that enormous thing was. Which meant there were two left, and from the corner of his vision, Arlo could see Vega's father and brother's corralling at least one of the sisters into them, if not both.

Then Vega kissed him and when she instructed him to stay alive, he couldn't resist. "You just mind your own mortality. Rumor has it if I shuffle off this mortal coil, I'll be back before you know it." Her dream had told her so, had it not? At any rate, Arlo wasn't eager to test the theory though the fates might have other plans. Suddenly, too much of the ship was reduced to little more than shards and the small slice of deck they were standing on lurched up suddenly out of the water. Jonas cursed and before Arlo could grab hold of him, the older man was sliding down into the angry waves. And as for him, he was able to hold onto Vega until they hit the water themselves.

What was left of the ship was dragging them down with it. Arlo was far from a expert or master swimmer. But old sayings sometimes held true. When it comes down to a matter of sink or swim, you either learn to tread water very quickly, or down you go. It took all the strength that his Immortal father had given him to fight the undertow created by the broken ship, but finally he came up sputtering. "Vega!" he called out. But in answer, all he got was the sounds of the others calling out, including Jonas. So turning round and failing to find Vega, Arlo gulped down a lungful of air and dove beneath the surface.

Something that wasn't Vega brushed by him, bumped him hard enough to nearly knock the air from his lungs, and Arlo caught sight of what might have been an enormous shadow if not for solid form, and a swirl of stars that went with it. As for what it was, it barely registered although it did seem familiar somehow. But then Vega's hair brushed his face, he took hold and pulled her to the surface. For a trill, he'd thought he was too late, but then she took a big gulp of air and he thanked any Immortal that might be remotely responsible.

The best case scenario was to get her aboard one of the lifeboats. The air was cold, and the water was colder by far. But by then the lifeboats, one without their paddles had drifted too far away. Much of what was left of the ship was now floating on the surface in pieces, including the door from the galley. And so Arlo paddled closer, pulling Vega with him until he reached it. Contrary to what the naysayers might claim, there was room for them both. And there they'd spend the night, him with his arms wrapped around Vega as they drifted. Where, was anyone's guess, and only occasionally did Arlo hear the faint sounds of the others calling out across the water. If only he'd had a whistle, he'd have alerted him to his and Vega's location.

Eventually though, as most often happened, they finally drifted ashore; and Arlo pulled Vega up on the sands of what appeared to be a small island. Though over the next few breaks, he had no interest in exploring, and was left to wonder if the others had made it to the same shore unscathed. If they had, then it had been outside of the small cove where he and Vega spent the night. And finally come morning, Vega opened her eyes, blinked at him and Arlo could hardly describe the sense of relief that washed through him. He grinned.

"No snake. Not this time. I'm pretty sure it was a whale with an axe to grind." Biggest and oddest whale he'd ever seen, in fact. "It seemed to lose interest as soon as we were all in the water," he added, and lifted a flask to her lips while raising her head a little. "Just a sip. It floated by and I grabbed it. But it's not water. Whiskey," he said with another grin. At the least, the shock and the burn of good strong liquor might clear her head a little. As for him. Just a scratch. The more curious thing was the question of whether or not the others had gotten to shore, and if they had, was there any other life on this island besides the usual things that swam, crawled and flew.

[Vega]

Zida 20th, 719

"What muck is this?" Vega asked, as she sipped the whiskey and then she smiled. "I got hit on the head, didn't I? I can tell this, cos there's three of you an' I'm talkin' to the middle one. But you boys are all gettin' closer together. Mind you, if there were three o' you an' I was feelin' frisky jus' think of the damage I could do," Vega wasn't really aware that she was talking, in fairness. Yet she asked him quite seriously, "Yer not secretly one o'triplets are ya?" It was odd, but her accent was more pronounced. Like it showed how many little aspects had changed. Slowly, over the arcs they'd been together, Vega had learned some semblance of enunciation.

Some.

Little bit. Not a lot. Not a whole lot at all.

As awareness returned to her though, she began to remember things. They were jumbled at first, leading to questions like, "Were there a whale an' a floatin' door?" and then, more difficult things such as, "did you see Papa? What about Mr Creede? An' the useless twins?" but her sense of humour showed, now and then, as she added things like, "or their wives." But there was no denying it. There was no sign of anyone else. Vega looked at him as she became more and more lucid and she sighed. "There's no one nearby, an' ... where are we?" That was a good question. They were on a shore, with a treeline at the edge of the sand. It seemed to be thick forests, possibly even jungle. "That looks dark an' forebodin' an' not at all friendly." Vega said, softly. Looking at him, she sighed.

"We're stranded. On a desert island. I feel that this is all a bit twee, you know. Right. Well, I've got no time to be feelin' sorry for myself, an' nor do you. It's gonna be dark, an' we're needin' to set up a camp. I suggest we do that on the beach, but near to the treeline. We need to get some fresh source a'water, though, so we've got to get in there. First things first, lets take stock. What 'ave we got, resource wise?"

That was easy. They had what they were standing in. "Righ', well, we're soakin' wet an' if it gets cold at night, we're gonna get frostbite on our franzies," what their 'franzies' were, Vega didn't supply. "So, git some wood, we'll get a fire goin'. I'll whip us up a makeshift clothes-dryin' thing an' then we go lookin' for water?" She looked at him and raised an eyebrow. They needed a supply of fresh water, there was no doubt about it. "Shelter, near water. Then water, an' warmth. We're gonna need to eat too, an' you an' your appetite aren't gonna 'elp. Can you do that eatin' anything... oh wait a minute. You can make a camp. But .. if we're stuck 'ere we need to be able to see if people are comin' an' stuff. So we use that only if we need to. Right. Get yer clothes off, an then find me some kindlin'." Vega looked at him and then frowned and reconsidered.

"Actually, find the wood first, then get yer kit off. I don't want do be dealin' with no splinters in yer nethers." Vega's sense of lucidity was almost all there now, but still. She looked at him and she smiled. "Mr Creede's jus' fine, Arlo. I'm righ' sure of it. Can Lyova pop aroun' an' see if there's anythin' nearby? I jus... just get some wood, would ya? I'll sit here." And wait for the world to stop spinning.

Assuming he did, of course, Vega's high sense of endurance meant that she was quickly feeling better. Certainly, able to collect up stones and shells and make a campfire, which she started with the whole 'rubbing two bits of wood together' trick and then, she'd instruct him to take off his clothes, so she could get them dry- she did the same with her dress and petticoats (Vega always had a lot of petticoats) - which she would indeed dry, then she'd get her dress back on, but her petticoats she kept out. "I'm gonna use these if we need 'em, for bandages an' stuff." Looking at him, she was more alert and herself than she had been.

"We need to go explorin' and find a way to make signals an' find them." She stopped and she looked at him. "Arlo, I've got a righ' bad feelin', so I have. It's nothin' is it?"

[Arlo Creede]

That knock on the head that Vega had been dealt, had brought on a bout of irreverence, argumentativeness and being general nonsensical. Arlo grinned and encouraged her to drink. "Good. Looks like that bump on the head hasn't altered your disposition any. Same woman I know and love," he teased. "Small and slow sips, but get some of it in you," he added, referring to the whiskey. "It'll warm you up and clear your head a little. Not too much though." And with that he took the flask back.

"A whale, I guess," he said, sitting back on his heels then and frowning. "Not like one I've ever seen before though. He, or she, appeared to have something against the boat...but not necessarily those of us in it." Judging by the way the thing had swam away, that was, once the offending ship itself was sunk. "Almost like it was a case of mistaken identity. Or, it thought we'd drown anyway." Who knew? But he guessed it didn't matter anymore. Unless of course the others were still out there in the lifeboats somewhere.

He'd seen them. All of them, he told when she asked about family and in laws. "They were in the boats, or getting there. Last I saw them they were drifting away...No paddles, and I lost sight of them because of the swells and darkness." As for where they were, he hadn't the foggiest. No equipment, no maps. They'd been at the mercy of the tides and this island looked like most any other he'd seen before. "Lyova? Want to fly off and have a look?" he asked then, and the diri that had stayed by his side from the beginning, obliged by launching herself into the sky.

Vega, meanwhile, was still running through a string of nonsense. "We'll need a fire for cooking, and maybe light at night that can be seen from a distance. But I can create a comfortable camp for us, that'll keep us safe as well. Near the treeline but not too close." He had Cassion to thank for that one. So from his perspective, they needed fresh water, kindling for a cooking fire, and food. Foraging maybe for edible plant life, or dreaming up snares for small game. And signals, of course, he agreed while shedding the wet heavy clothing he wore.

"It'll be fine," he reassured her when she asked, and he surely hoped that was the absolute truth. The place did have a strange feeling about it, after all. But there was no sense in dreaming up more problems before they arose. "You just sit here and rest. Keep an eye on the water for drifters, and wait for Lyova to come back with news. I'll see if I can find us a source of fresh water nearby...Especially since all I've got is a flask to carry it in. When I get back we can build a fire and I'll set us up a safe camp."