Open seas, dark skies.

[Vega]

18th Cylus, 718

"Arlo, wake up," she said and it was the tone of her voice, perhaps, which woke him but Vega was pleased that he did wake. Hard to tell though it was in the dark season, it was the middle of the night. By the time she'd finished speaking, she was up and pulling on her dress. "There's a storm comin'. Can you smell it, an feel it? It's in the air an' it's comin' in." Vega had grown up on boats and she didn't realise just how much she knew, but the charge in the air was very much there, the smell of it different. It was all there, for those who paid attention.

"In a storm, it's best to get out of dock. We're not moored the righ' way, if it's bad," and she thought it was, it had that sort of high charge to it, "then the last thing we want is to crash into the dock or the dock into us." Shrugging she motioned as they got above decks. "Besides, even if we were sure of the Wanderlust an' how we'd moored her, can't rely on others an' one of them crashin' into us is bad, too." So, out into the water. It was perhaps strange, but there were a few vessels leaving, sailing out. "I'll take us out, see if I can get us around somewhere we can get some shelter, too." Glancing at him, she felt it important to check that he was alright, but he was - wide awake and more than alert.

With a bit of luck, she explained as he pulled up the anchor and she let out the sails, just a little, it would be a quick squall. She didn't believe it, even as she said it, but it was good to be hopeful, she thought. There was always hope and she did her best to hang on to it. "If you could see yer way to not lettin' us get squashed flat dead, Xiur, that'd be great," she spoke underbreath with a smile. "Thanks."

Getting the Wanderlust out of the docks was an easy enough move, but Vega needed to concentrate both because she wanted to get out on more open, less dangerous waters soon and also because she was battling the winds. "Mind the boom!" was a call he heard more often than he normally would, but the wind direction was changing and Vega glanced at him. "A'righ, if this gets bad like the one on the ship goin' to Ne'haer, we'll need to be watchin' out." Things that needed watching out for, she said, was lightning hitting the mast, which had the very real chance of setting the ship aflame and, more likely, they had to keep an eye for waves.

Looking at him, Vega seemed to be eagerly anticipating the storm to come and when he'd raised the anchor and they were in a place where she had steered them out of the docks, she stepped into his arms and kissed him, fiercely and passionately. "Don't underestimate the strength of that water, Arlo. If a waves big enough to come over, it's strong enough to pull you back, so warn each other an' hold the hell on, a'right?" What they needed to do now, she said, was to find a place with some shelter. "You know any on that there map of yours?"

[Arlo Creede]

Cassion's blessing had caused Arlo to feel more, want more, crave more. More of everything. But the flip side of it was when he slept, he was finding he slept more soundly, less likely to wake to the slightest movement around him than he had been before. It might partly be due to living indoors, in a sense, as opposed to sleeping out in the wilds. Or that Lyova had over time become more reliable when it came to watching over them in the night. And besides all that, it was Cylus and the sunlight was as good as gone for a number of trials to come. Whatever it was though, when he woke to Vega's voice, Arlo was fully awake and quickly.

Rolling over on his back, he considered what she said and sniffed the air. "I can smell it," he said, sitting up and reaching for his trousers to pull on. He could feel it too, that charge in the air. And besides, the temperature had dropped too overnight and the cold hit him like a wave once he'd thrown off the covers. It made sense to get the Wanderlust out of dock, he agreed as he'd dressed and gone with her up on deck. There was another blast of cold waiting to smack them both in the face and he winced against the sharp breeze that was already peppered with fine bits of hail that began collecting on the brim of his hat and his clothing.

By the time he'd hauled the anchor, let loose the ropes that tethered them to the docks and Vega let out the sails, the wind had already picked up, the hail flying along with it stung any exposed flesh and was getting bigger all the time so that they could see and hear the larger bits bouncing off the deck. "Ow," he muttered as a larger piece bounced off his cheek. And at the next slip over, there was a great deal of shouting as somebody slipped and fell into the water and others worked at fishing him out again. The man would be fine and was already with so many others to help him. Still, it seemed that more than a couple other ships up and down the harbor were well on their way to putting themselves out on open water.

Vega's call to mind the boom, once they were on their way, was more welcome than usual. Ordinarily, even when it was going to come at you, it was fairly predictable and came in a steady, almost graceful sweep. But not that night. The winds that whipped around them were fickle things and changed on a whim. And not just that, these weren't steady or straight line winds either. Whatever the baseline was so far as strength and speed,the gusts seemed to double or triple it in a flash, making that boom deadlier than usual. Luckily Arlo was quick on the uptake when it came to the ducking and weaving it took to avoid a catastrophe.

Funny how Arlo was enjoying the squall. His Immortal's enhanced blood was pumping through his veins and bringing an adventurous thrill along with it. Cassion would relish all this he was sure. With a hand tight on the rail and the other round Vega's waist, he steadied them both when they kissed,and he nearly lost his hat in the process. They weren't far out of dock but the waves were growing, one right after the other and as they collided with the Wanderlust, they sent spray careening across the deck. Spray made more punishing that it might have been, had it not been carrying marble sized hail along with it.

It would be smart, he agreed, to find a place where they'd be better sheltered from the storm than on open water. And there were some places around Scalvoris that he'd already charted, based on the places they'd been before, or those he'd identified on existing maps of the area. "The wind's coming from the north," he said, trying to be heard over the wind, the crashing waves and the snapping of the sails. Digging into his sack and then sorting through a handful of scrolls he'd stored there, he looked for a particular one, and finding a relatively dry spot, showed it to her.

"Here, it's already charted. North, with the mainland coast to port, passing by Immortal's Tongue to starboard." There was plenty of room, even in a storm. It didn't exactly require threading a needle. "South of Almund, the harbor is a deep hook shape, plenty spacious and should provide a good deal of shelter from the wind on three sides." Not to mention the waves that were beginning to toss them round like a rubber duck in a sloshing tub.

[Vega]

As they'd walked out, she'd handed him the chicken peg-leg on a small leather thong, which was in a small bowl on the table. "It'll help. Won't keep you dry, but it'll help." Her own clothing was pulled tight around her and as the cold and hailstones hit, she breathed in. They had to get the Wanderlust out of the dock and she concentrated on doing that. It wasn't as straightforward as picking a direction and moving in it, because of the changes in the wind direction and wind speed. Her frown was deep as she steered and she was pleased that she didn't have to keep watching him with the boom so long as she called it. It was one less thing to worry about, after all. The hail hit them hard and fast, like bullets of ice which would leave bruises on covered skin and scrapes on bare flesh. Vega ignored it and put all her attention on them getting out of the dock and into open waters. She didn't even pay attention to the soul who fell into the water in the slip next to theirs. They had their people, and a sight more of them than the two of them here. Literally, they had to make sure that they kept their focus on them.

Steering to accommodate for wind changes took all her attention, but as they got out from the docks, able to take just a brief moment they shared a kiss - he pulled her close to him with his arm wrapped around her waist and held on tightly with the other hand. She, in turn, clung to him and held on to his hat as they shared a moment. "It's gonna get rough, Arlo. This is just the beginning," she yelled into his ear, needing to do that to be heard over the sounds of the sails and the wind and hail. All her life at sea, she could feel it, taste it and she was delighted that he could too. "I know where you mean, you don't need to show me!" That was going to get his maps wet.

The waves flung them and the winds buffeted them and Vega was battling. "BOOM!" She yelled, time and again. Then, just moments later, it was feet away from them that lightning struck the water, lighting the place up and she looked at him. "I don't know if I'm gonna get us there, Arlo!" A more experienced, better skilled sailor might have been able to, Vega figured. Her father probably could, but the Wanderlust was tipping in the wind, tilting to the point that they had to hold on not to fall off as waves flung over. "I think we're gonna 'ave to heave to an' hope!" Without even really considering it, she was focusing on the hope that she knew they had to keep, utilising the 'Flow of Morale' ability which made them both, theoretically, feel better, more hopeful.

"If we're gonna do that, we've got to set the sails right. Help me?" It would require them putting the sails into a position where they were holding the ship itself still, the wind equally pushing and pulling the boat and thus, keeping it still. It was an old and well used trick in stormy situations, Vega just hoped and prayed to Xiur that she hadn't left it too long before making the decision. As the hail bombarded them and lightning hit the water around them, she looked at him. "I jus' don't think we're gonna make it unless we heave to!!" She was holding on with her whole arm, water had completely drenched them both and the wind was wild. Yet, for reasons only he could ever understand, she was grinning.

[Arlo Creede]

Arlo didn't like wearing the chicken leg. It looked ridiculous and never mind when he did wear it, it was hidden beneath his clothing. It was the principle of the thing. But rather than argue the point, when Vega handed it to him, he took it and put it on. She had a point of course since it was colder than cold out in the storm, but he wasn't about to admit aloud that she was right.

While they worked together, he saw the look on her face and couldn't help but grin a little. Vega might be wearing a deep frown of concentration while she wrestled with the sails and the Wanderlust. But Arlo knew without a doubt that she was loving every bit of it. And as for himself, maybe it was a little bit of Cassion's blood running through his veins. But in spite of the dangers of a storm like this at sea, he was loving it too.

Side by side the two of them, there was no doubt it was going to get rougher than it had already. He'd experienced storms like it before in fact, but more on land than water. When he suggested where they might go in order to ride out the storm, and she yelled that she knew where he meant and where it was, he frowned as he put the scroll away. "Well if you knew already then why did you ask!?" he shouted back against the wind. "And you don't need to shout, I'm not hard of hearing!" It was always a good time for a scrap apparently, even a short one.

Then he ducked as the boom came at him again. "Well you heave then!" he told her when she said they wouldn't make it. "And you come blessed and marked for hope so I'd say we're in a decent position!" Seemed she'd already thought of that, considering the new feeling that came over him, and presumably her too. The hail hurt, but their thick clothing helped, his hat helped, especially after he'd tied the thing down to stop it coming off his head again with the next gust that came along. It wasn't easy with the hail and the wind whipping around them, the crashing waves, getting those sail where they needed to be. But between the both of them they got it done. "We'll make it just fine," he said, looking her way with a wink.

[Vega]

Vega considered, as she pulled against the force of the winds which whipped around them, that she was the luckiest woman on Idalos. Her silver blood was pumping in her veins, and she felt alive in a way which most people simply never did, she thought; yet for her there were so many times every trial where she felt like this and for a hundred different reasons. Her eyes showed the excitement she felt and yet she knew the dangers and she was far from over confident. They needed to live long enough to see the next sight, experience the next thing ~ to live every moment. He was right, though, it was going to get rougher before it got smoother and they would need to be totally on point in terms of what they did. She couldn't be afraid, though, it simply wasn't in her.

"I asked cos I didn't know until you explained it to me, you dweeb!" Vega yelled right back at him. "Immortals, Arlo, you're argumentative an' touchy, you know that?" Always time for a scrap, indeed, and it occurred to her as she grinned at him that he was the only person who could whip her up like this storm, and about as quickly as it had descended, too. Thankfully, it was true in all aspects of their lives, not just the arguing.

But heave-to was all they had, at this point. There were still risks with it, and she turned to tell him but then saw his face and instead just grinned at him and shook her head. "Come on, we can decide who's right later!" She was, they both knew it, but the tussel of finding out was always fun. "It's gonna be 'ard work. But it's better than layin' ahull. This squall, we'll capsize if we do that." She returned his wink and nodded. "A'right, so I'm gonna tack us across the wind, but not release the jibsheet, a'right? Then, you'll take the wheel, an' for the love of U'frek, 'old on tight, that bit's bumpy, an' then I've got to move. I'll shout adjustments to you, so you'd better not be 'ard of 'earin'. Then, when I tell you, lash the wheel, Arlo. It needs to stay in place, a'right? Don't be shy." Vega ran her hand, almost lovingly, over the side of the Wanderlust. "She needs it. Tie 'er firm, or wrap an' old in place, an I'll show you knots to lash, jus' make sure that wheel don't move, a'right?" She kissed him again as a wave soaked them both and they both needed to be holding on so, she figured, why not?

First, she said, she had to get them to close hauled point of sail. That was tough in and of itself and Vega let out a yell as she turned the wheel, fighting against the way the vessel wanted to move. "Come... On!" When he helped her, it was easier and she smiled her thanks. "Keep 'er steady," she said, when they were where she was happy with, and was gone. She'd brought them as close to in irons as she dared, now she had to move and fast. She did, and as she called "Turn 'er ten degrees to port!" the battering that the ship took was something else. Vega was holding on as the boom swung and the tacking happened, but without the sail released it battered the pair of them. But once it got to a specific point she let out a cry of victory as the mainsail backed and the force of the wind caught it.

Holding on for dear life, Vega made her way quickly to the back of the boat, where she tacked the aftsail in the normal way. "Lash 'er, Arlo!" Vega called, and he would feel the difference as she shouted it. The wind was counterpointing the front sail and back, holding the boat in place. They weren't, of course, still, they were moving but in a surprisingly slow and gentle manner. Lightning struck the water close to them and lit the ocean as thunder roared above them and hailstones fell on them. Without pausing, she moved to next to him, to help him with holding the rope or tying it, if he needed it. "Now, we ride it out." Holding on to the wheel, and him, she shrugged. "Lots of folks, they go below deck an' wait the storm out. My papa always 'as us up on decks, jus' in case. Extra trill can make all the difference. But it'll be rough."

[Arlo Creede]

Before Cassion had blessed him, Arlo had been predisposed already to living life to the fullest, at a breakneck pace sometimes. Now it was even more the case. But he wasn't so consumed with living large that he'd throw himself overboard in a storm, just to see what it was like. And letting go of a handhold, not watching his step, not keeping an eye on the boom was as good as diving in headlong. Still, it was thrilling.

He wasn't so preoccupied though with staying alive that he wasn't up for a good scrap with Vega. It was part of what made them work. "Well you asked about a map and I showed you a map!" he insisted, shouting against the wind. "And I'm not," he insisted. No more argumentative than usual, that was. Better stop though, it was too easy to get drawn in and that was a distraction too. She was right. Vega was right. They could settle it later.

So Arlo took the wheel like she wanted, and made the adjustments when she called them out. And by U'frek the thing fought back. It took strength and focus to keep hold and not let the thing spin out of his hands, or him with it. That salty kissed sustained him though. Then ten degrees to port it was, and it wasn't easy. Just keeping himself steady on his feet took a combination of balance and strength, and when Vega called out, he lashed the wheel in place with a strong piece of rope before stepping away to join her.

Naturally, he'd have told Vega, he preferred to stay up on deck. Except that the words were cut off by a loud crack as soon as he opened his mouth as something above them definitely snapped and came tumbling down towards the deck.

[Vega]

Last season, just before her twenty first birthday, her father had invited Arlo into their Clan. She didn't think that he understood what that meant, not for a moment; he couldn't in many ways because he wasn't biqaj. No part of his blood was silver, yet? "You know, in every way that matters, Arlo Creede, your heart is as silver as mine," she said, whispered words against his lips once the wave had washed over them as they stood held together in a tight embrace and shared a saltwater soaked kiss. "Keep safe, an' don't let her push you around. She's a feisty one, this ship." She grinned at him, her eyes mirroring his ~ neither of them were foolish, but they both were thrill seekers, determined to live every moment of life.

Then, she was gone from his arms and busy doing what she needed to. As much as she wanted to keep an eye on him, Vega knew better; she'd get them both killed if she didn't trust him to do his job. So, she let out sails, moved and jumped over the boom as she needed to. She ducked and weaved, always holding on and by U'frek and Xiur they were skilled enough or lucky enough, or both, to make it to the point that they were standing together, her grabbing hold of the rope. "We wanna tie this in a biqaj hitch, a'right? Watch this." She showed him how to tie it and explained, as she did.

"It's perfect for securin' lashin', cos it holds in place an' I can make it stronger by pullin' 'ere. Got it?" It was always a bit of a moment as they both stepped back. He'd done a good job, though, and Vega grinned at him. She explained about how most people, now that they were at least as secure as they were going to be, would go down below. He wouldn't, though, she could tell just by the look in his eyes before he even answered. She'd have said something, possibly even something soppy considering the swell of love and fierce pride which she felt and which showed in the swirling colours of her eyes, but the crack above them was loud and it was directly above them. "Look out!" Vega yelled.

It was instinct, pure and simple, which drove her. She pushed him and dived backwards in the same moment, the heavy, thick plank of wood which had snapped from the mizzenmast crashing literally on to the spot where the two of them had stood just trill before. Rope flew and the entire ship shuddered as the midsail opened. Vega, though, had no idea of any of that as she flung herself backwards, fully intending to land and roll but she slipped, or she misjudged because she was too busy trying to push him out of the way too, or for whatever reason, she fell backwards and as the back of her head hit the side of the Wanderlust she slid down and didn't move. Silver blood washed onto the deck, and the world spun around her in complete lack of thought for her state.

Which left Arlo with something of a predicament. The ship was about to tip itself over in the winds, Vega was mostly unconscious on the deck and a good wave would take her over and .. well, those were probably the most immediate.

[Arlo Creede]

More and more, Arlo was coming to understand that the Wanderlust had had it's own personality, it's own quirks and even it's whims. And the Wanderlust was definitely a she. She wasn't unlike Vega either, maybe. Whichever the case it had taken some doing, keeping hold of that wheel then tying it in place. A biqaj hitch? Well that would work nicely and he committed the little intricacies of the knot to memory. It would hold. That was unless the rope itself was to snap, and it would take a lot of force for something like that to happen.

"Got it," he assured her as they finished tying the thing up and he finally stepped away from the wheel. But then before he could take hold of her again in order to steady them both and just to have her in his arms, something above them snapped and in the same instances she was throwing herself at him. "Vega, no!" He'd begun to reach for her and duck away in order to pull her away with him. But she was quicker, collided with him and knocked him onto his backside. Safe and sound, him. But as it turned out, not her.

Scrambling onto his knees, Arlo realized that the puddled water round him was tinged with silver. "Vega, no!" he shouted against the storm as he reached her. There were any number of immediate concerns. The first was whether or not she was still breathing, and a quick check insured that she was. But the next immediate worry was that in her limp state, she'd be easily washed overboard if he left her long enough to somehow get control of the ship. He couldn't do that, and tend to her at once. And if he didn't stop them from being swamped, it wouldn't matter to either of them then.

So carefully taking hold of her, he dragged her to center ship and carefully tied her there, in order to hold her aboard and relatively safe for the time being. "I'll be right back," he told her though she couldn't hear him, and offered up a prayer to U'frek to keep her safe in the meantime. And Cassion, even Xiur for good measure. If he untied the wheel, the thing would go crazy, surely. But when Arlo looked beyond the rail, he realized what their most immediate problem was. A wave, much larger than the ones before, was heading right at them.

Twenty-five feet? Maybe more? The thing would swamp them and he knew it. Even if it wasn't for the broken bit that had left one of the sails flapping loose, it would be catastrophic and he didn't have time to fix one before the other came crashing down. But on a whim, or maybe it was divine insight, he became aware of the gift U'frek had given him. It might just work, so focusing, Arlo created a wave of his own. Just fifteen feet tall, a little smaller than the one coming in, but from the ship heading out to meet it.

And when they met? They clashed in such a way that while the one that would have swamped them kept coming, it's energy was depleted by quite a lot, and it grew much smaller in the process. In effect, they'd met where one went up and the other went down. In the scheme of things, rendered harmless. There was no time for celebratory jigs, and Arlo knew on instinct that he wouldn't be able to create another one as quickly. It was only one disaster averted. But it allowed him to get back to Vega's side in order to check on her.

Kneeling beside her, where he'd fastened her tight, he looked into her face. "Vega?" Whatever bleeding she'd been doing had slowed, and was just a trickle now. And in order to stop it completely Arlo tore a strip of cloth from his sleeve to tie round her head. Then prying an eye open, he looked to see if her pupils were responding.

[Vega]

When he spoke to her, there was no response from her but, thanks to the fact that he'd tied her there, as he dealt with the waves and what they would have done, she remained where he'd put her. She opened her eyes, blearily lacking focus as the world swum around her. Arlo, was that Arlo? Vega frowned and opened her mouth to speak, but then no words came out. Confusion befuddled her brain as she realised that it was Arlo who she was fairly sure she'd met just yestertrial, sitting on a tree and then swinging on a swing into a pond. What was he doing on a boat, she wondered, looking at him with his back to her and watching waves hit each other. What a strange thing for the boy on the tree to do, Vega thought ~ it was the most lucid thought she had in that brief moment of consciousness ~ looking at waves. But then, he was strange, she remembered, though when they'd gone swinging together, he hadn't minded that her hat was better than his. She smiled at that, then wondered briefly who blew the candle out. By the time he came back, to check on her, she was out of it again. Her pupils were responsive, though and when he lifted her head to check them she grumbled.

"Gerrof," she said, swatting at him. Or, more precisely, half a foot to the right of him. "I'm fine. Stop it." One eye was solid blue, the other solid pink.

The Wanderlust, though, was in danger of laying ahull if he didn't fix what had broken, and that gave him more than one issue. Fundamentally, a rope had snapped, part of the rigging. That had caused the piece of wood, still attached at the bottom, to fly loose and whip out landing between them. In it's turn that had loosed a sail which now meant that the careful balance gained from being hove to was lost and the Wanderlust was being battered. He could pull that sail in without reattaching the rope, because there were other parts of the rigging which would pull the sail back in, if he wanted to / did that.

If he did that, it might mean that the ship simply went back to being hove to, but probably not - they were being flung around and he'd need to make sure that the balance of the wind in one said and the other was right. It could be done by a lone sailor, but it would be tricky. Vega, certainly, was going to be no use at all. She was mostly out of it with brief moments of half conscious.

Whatever happened, whatever he did, the next time that he checked on her Vega was awake and her gaze on him was at least vaguely focused, although her eyes were still different colours. "Arlo?" Her frown was deep as she spoke to him, "I think we got kidnapped. I'm tied up." It took a full half a bit before she realised something and looked at him in confusion. "Did you escape?"

[Arlo Creede]

She'd taken a swat at him, protested, ordered him to stop. There was no question that Vega had taken a good knock to the head. But Arlo could at least find some consolation in knowing that so long as she was being stubborn and argumentative, then she wasn't too far gone. Which was all the comfort he had at that bit, since the greater part of his focus would be needed to keep them from getting swamped and ending up little more than shards of wood scattered across the waves.

When he'd sent one wave crashing into a larger one coming right at them, well any other time he'd have pumped a fist in the air and celebrated. Except that the rogue wave wasn't the only one out there, and there were probably others waiting to come up from behind. He had to do more, and the ability, such as it was, was depleted. Arlo's worry for Vega though was nearly overwhelming, especially when he saw the warring colors in her eyes. Surely though she was just feeling a little loopy? Anyone would.

"We must have," he told her when she asked if they'd been kidnapped. Better to humor her for now. "And of course I escaped. Always do. I have to make sure it's safe though. I'll be back. I promise." And with that, he was off, back to trying to figure out how to avert a disaster that was inevitable if he didn't find a way. There was no question that Vega was more familiar with the rigging than him. He knew what all the bits and pieces were. He knew what they did. But what he knew was mostly book learning or word of mouth, not necessarily practice. What was broken, he'd have to put back together again best he could.

The hail continued to beat down on them and sideways too. The waves kept tossing the Wanderlust around, soaking her deck with salty spray. And it was cold, wet and it all made it difficult to keep his footing. The fewer steps the better, Arlo thought. Less to go wrong and so he pulled the sail that needed pulling in. Naturally though it didn't completely do the trick. So dashing back to the wheel, he untied it, heaved to again with a great deal of wrestling with the ship, and tied it in place again.

Really, it was all he could do at that bit, so dashing back to her and dropping down on his heels, he looked into her eyes again. "Alright then. Tell me the name of your father. When's my birth-trial, and how many giant bees does it take to make two hats and a set of long johns?" There was reason behind that line of questioning. The first, so that he could get some sort of idea just how hard of a knock she'd received. The other? Well, if she still had her caustic wit, then she was well on her way to lucid already.