Star looked up at the night sky from the crows nest and sat enjoying the view. She stood up and leaned on the railing, sighing. "Priestess... What are you thinking?" She turned around and saw Harnio. "Nothing... I'm just enjoying this moment."
"Why is that?"
"Harnio, we're guards now, which means, we won't have moments of quiet like this... You need to enjoy them while you have them... It helps you remember what you're fighting for... And why?"
She saw Harnio look into the sky and nodded. "What do you see Harnio?"
"I see stars, the moons and clouds... Is there something I'm missing?"
"Hahaha... No, you saw it all. How about feel? If you stand here what do you feel? What do you hear?"
She watched as Harnio closed his eyes and lowered his head. "I feel wind. I hear the sea crashing against the Princess..."
"Anything else?"
"I don't hear anything else... I still don't understand what answer are you looking for or wanting me to say?"
"Hahaha... I'm not looking for any answer... There's no correct answer." She turned around and pointed at the clouds. "See that cloud over there?"
"Yes... A storm cloud."
"I see people in the cloud dancing... That's what I see Harnio... You just see a storm cloud, and that's fine. I'm me and you're you." She looked at the storm cloud smiling. "Harnio, do you remember the trial, when you became the storm demon?"
"Yes. I remember that very well. I don't forget things easily."
"When I see that cloud, I think of that moment when you became the storm demon..."
"Is that a bad thing?" Star shook her head. "Not at all. Just things I can see, help memories come to the surface."
She pointed to another cloud. "That one there looks like my home in the stormy mountain, and that one..."
"Which one? What does it look like to you?"
"That one is moving towards us..." she turned to Harnio. "Snuff the lights out and tell the captain and the ass."
"By ass you mean the firewarrior... Correct?"
"Yes... Him. Let him know and make sure all the light batterys are off."
She watched as Harnio disappeared from her view, while staring at the incoming cloud in the distance. She looked down as the Princess turned into darkness.
"What do you see?"
She looked down and pointed to the cloud in the distance. "There's something in it... It's big... We need to move out of its way and hide."
She watched as the captain took out a glass and looked in the direction she pointed. "Men, we go full silent... No one makes a noise." She looked at the firewarrior in worry, drawing her bow. She saw Harnio hold onto the railing starting to shake, and jumped down landing on the deck. She stood up and cursed. "Not as good as Mouse, but I'm getting better." She looked at the captain. "What's the plan?"
"Whatever is in that cloud its too big and can swallow the Princess in an instant... We need to hide in the darkness so they don't see us." She looked up at the sky cursing. "With the moons out, anyone can see us if they're looking."
"What if we did the same trick, like those bandits did last time captain?"
She turned and looked at Harnio as he fell to the ground unconscious. She ran to him. "Harnio has fainted... The last time he was like this was when there was a ..." She cursed and looked at the firewarrior.
"Captain... Inside that cloud whatever it is... Is very dangerous... We need to hide somewhere or they'll be hitting us, and even with us here, we won't be able to survive it."
She looked ahead of her at the bow of the ship and pointed. "What about the storm? If we hugged it would we be able to hide from them there?"
"You're mad... But if that's what we got to do, than that's what we got to do." She nodded. "I can point a safe way towards the storm."
"Don't worry about us going forwards... We can do that... A storm is hard to miss... You need to keep an eye on that thing behind us." Star nodded and climbed the rigging, watching the moving cloud with a worried look on her face. She looked down at where Harnio was on the ground, nodding at the firewarrior as he picked him up, taking him below deck.
"Lets go lads... To the edges of the storm... We gotta hide from something that's chasing us. We can't blast it to hell, we just got to run. I want all the speed we can get out of the Princess here."
She felt the Princess change direction and moved so she had a better view of the moving cloud behind them. She frowned. "This is strange... It made Harnio faint, but it's ignoring us... What is it?" She closed her eyes, opening them focusing on the cloud. She frowned blinking. "Even my eyes can't see through it... Something must be hiding in there that doesn't want to be seen."
She looked down at the deck and saw the others staring at her. She shook her head. "I can't see in the cloud... What ever it is, its big and moving fast... The thing isn't changing direction... It could be just ignoring us."
"It makes sense if it is moving at night... Doesn't want anyone to see it... What do you think brother?"
"I think he's right." She looked at Drummen. "Night is the best time for people to move things unseen... The only people out here at night are usually people who don't want to be noticed, or have something in their hold that shouldn't be made aware of."
"Like us..." She nodded and looked up as the cloud still hadn't changed direction. She cursed. "Its completely ignoring us... That blasted cloud." She drew her bow and aimed at it.
"Stop... Don't do something the brothers would do."
"Hey, you can't say that Stannir... We thought your our drinking friend."
"Yeah... Why do you have to be so mean to us?"
She rolled her eyes and lowered her bow, putting it back on her back. "Yes, you're right... I don't want to lower myself to their level... We'd die if that thing attacked anyway."
She climbed down the rigging and leaned on the Princess's railing watching as the cloud sped past them."
"Captain... Look at that... Have you seen anything like that before?"
"I can't say I have... Whatever it is, I'm glad it isn't chasing us... If its huge from this distance, I wonder how big it would look if it was broadside, how tiny would the Princess feel?" She nodded in silence watching the cloud. She turned to the firewarrior. "How's Harnio."
"The medics are watching him... He'll be fine. I think he just got a similar shock like last time at the trials, but this time it was this giant thing."
"Do you think it's another alpha?" She turned and looked at the firewarrior shrugging his shoulders. "No idea... We don't fully understand the trolaiths yet... Its possible that its a sea version of an alpha... They evolve quickly... That we all know for sure."
"Why does everyone look so serious? Lets enjoy this night, no attack, and we're still heading towards the storm... Just so you know... It's right there in front of us."
She heard the captain curse. "Change course... Half sail. Wait for that thing to leave our sight before we go anywhere. No light until dawn... Better we stay dark."
"Aye captain... You heard him move."
Star felt the Princess slow down and change direction again. She stared at the cloud watching it with her eyes, while she was playing with the top of her bow. "He did a good job on your bow." She turned and looked at the firewarrior. She nodded. "That, we can agree on... Is he going to be fine?"
"Don't worry about him... The medics would tell me if something bad happened to him... It just seems he needs to have some rest... Have you seen him sleep at all?" She shook her head. "No... I've never really seem him sleep. Even that time when you were on watch, he looked like he was asleep, but it also didn't."
"Maybe his meditation allows him to recover like us when we sleep?" She watched as the firewarrior leaned on the railing next to her. "Or the accident that happened to him, changed his body more than we know." She looked at him curiously. "What do you mean?"
"Writing in the air, and things happen... What if he is a walking battery? All those experiments, and explosions. The accident... There's more to him, than we can see." Star nodded. "That may be right, but he is our friend, and a guard with us."
"I agree... I'm not trying to say anything bad about him. Look at all the things he has done for us." Star nodded. "What are you really trying to say?"
"I'm saying. At this point in time... He's stronger than us... Well, except for Mouse... We need to get stronger. He's been looking after us and protecting us all this time... If we're guards, we got to start also becoming stronger... Star you need to be stronger."
She looked at the cloud in the distance in silent thought. "Did you hear me?" She nodded. "I heard you ass... I also happen to agree with you... I'm only strong because of my bow, and my eyes... I need more strength." She looked at him. "Going to these islands will make us stronger... It has to."
"The islands won't make us stronger... We make ourselves stronger... Don't wait for something to happen with your hands outstretched, or nothing is going to happen. You need to work on yourself, to train yourself... That's how you become stronger."
Star cursed and looked at the firewarrior with a frown on her face. "I know, I need to become stronger, if I want to protect what is important to me, I should be back in my home so I can do my duty. That's where I can become stronger." She saw him shake his head.
"They sent you from there for a reason... Don't you see?" She frowned and shook her head. "They sent you to get stronger... Just like Drummen being dumped because he needed to get stronger too..."
"Hey I heard my name... Are you talking about me?"
"They're talking about how that captain dumped you."
"Shut it brother... I don't want to share my wine with you now... You can go rot." She turned and looked at the brothers drinking and rolled her eyes. "Those two just get stronger by fighting... What do I do to get stronger?"
"You said there is someone you want to protect in your home... Think of them... That'll give you the inspiration for you to become stronger." She leaned on the railing and watched as the firewarrior joined the brothers.
"Finally, someone who doesn't give me a hard time to drink with. Come Stannir, lets drink... Forget about my brother... He's being a hairy ass."
"Hey... Why are you so rude to me... Your an uncle because of me."
She covered her ears and stared out at the sea and the moving cloud fading from her view. She watched as the sea moved and smiled picturing Iyane's face. "I'll get stronger, so I can stand in front of you and keep you safe at all times..." She grabbed her bow and pulled at it shooting an arrow towards the moon, and watched as it fell, landing in the sea. "I'll get strong enough to hit the moons from here."
"Splash..."
She smiled. "He may be an ass, but sometimes he does think the right way... I really do need to get stronger." She looked at her hands and the bow frowning. "All I'm good at is climbing, shooting and seeing things." She looked at the sea again noticing the color of the water was different. "Where have I see this before?" She smiled and walked up to the captain. "May you teach me how to drive this?"
"Why do you want to learn... You don't seem much of a sailor?" She smiled. "I want to become stronger, but I bet you I can find a better route to the one we are currently on." She saw the captain smile. "I don't usually allow betting on the Princess, but in your case, we shall play... What's the wager?"