Arc 1~> On Board The Razor
After Bones left the infirmary Rowan sat down on the bed looking out the window at the boundless darkness looking forward to the next day, he couldn't wait for the adventure but his heart still arched from the death of his island people but three things kept him, one was the newfound goal to find his mother, the second was to travel the whole world, and lastly was his will to live, he didn't want to die and he'd rather look to the future than the past. Rowan slept that night smiling while tears rolled out of his eyes.
The next day came in a rush, Rowan could swear he just blinked, and the next thing the sun was up in the sky. Rowan rolled to the side of the bed then sat up at its edge then stood up, his legs felt stiff, he sat back down on the bed and stretched his leg muscles then he got back up better. He made his way out of the room into the passageway, dimly lit up by lamps on the walls of the passageway below his leg. The deck creaked as he walked, trying to find his way to the main deck. Soon after, he came across a door half open. He tried to peek inside, and a sudden and brief headache blasted through his head.
"Ah… boy. I think you wouldn't like it there." A familiar gentle voice but fast-paced came from behind, and Rowan recognised the speaker immediately.
Rowan Spun around to see sharp he looked very young and had an eagerness to his build his eyes a shade of blue his hair as black as pitch, and he wore the rag-like clothes he had seen on Bones, his was different but still alike. Only that he was missing the officer's frock coat and the beard. However, he wore a loose-fitting blouse with full bishop sleeves, it was decorated with large frills on the front and he wore leather pants that ran from stomach down into his knee-high boots, his dress looked almost similar to abara the only difference begin his sleeves abara wore handles, and another thing rowan had noticed was that he wasn't armed like Bones.
"Why?" Rowan managed, his curiosity peaked. What the hell was that headache?
"Ruins, that's why you see there's a high concentration of mana in that room." sharp explained. He almost sounded like he was raping. Rowan noticed something, however.
"You talk differently from the others," Rowan said, looking at sharp, questioningly
"Yeah, that's because I'm not from abora, I'm from valorath," sharp said with his usual pace and smiling at rowan.
"The free realms of abora you mean." Rowan said excitedly, knowing something about the world. " valorath, where have i heard that before?"
Sharp shrugged. "Come, let's go up to the main deck and find you something to do." He said in his sharp way and then murmured something. "Long days ahead." He sighed, it was filled with stress and for a moment Sharp looked tired and his face looked downcast.
"Can you tell me about the free realms of abora?" Rowan asked excitedly.
Sharp did not respond. Rowan looked at the young man and saw the look of absence he had. Rowan couldn't talk anymore. He just couldn't disturb him anymore. What if he gets angry? I'd better ask later. Rowan looked into all the rooms they passed by. They were all empty. Why?
After a short walk, they made it to one, of the ladders that led up but not to the main deck to the 3rd level of the ship then he led rowan to a door that led to the main deck and from behind the door rowan could hear people shouting.
Sharp opened the door, and he saw abara punching a man in the face. What the fuck? Rowan honestly couldn't understand what he had just seen. He hadn't noticed it the day before but Abara had the body of a man. She had a slim tall build, she wasn't buff but her slim muscles were so pronounced, they obviously held a lot of power. Rowan gulped down a mouth full and looked at her in fear back on Rowan's island sona, women didn't punch men and most of the sailors who visited didn't have females on board, so he didn't know how the women outside his island behaved.
Abara Spun around her long skirt riding the slight wind just above her short boot, she still wore her shirt, but this time without a corset, it was a white loose shirt without sleeves and of minimal design unlike sharp.
"Rowan, you're up. Good to have ye back!" She looked honestly happy to see Rowan back on his feet but Rowan still couldn't put his head around the man on the ground on her feet.
"Don't worry about this lumberbrain boi, knock him out so the cim poison wouldn't spread too fast. It is not fatal and only makes a man, half a man. If you know what I mean." She said laughing energetically after that she winked at rowan. She lifted him up and placed him on her shoulders roughly. He's a goddamn grown man twice her size. Rowan looked at the beautiful woman before him in fear. "I better go treat him, he has a dream of giving me a child. We don't want him being unable now do we, afterall, i might not hate that idea so much now that I think of it. "
Rowan looked away blushing slightly and he looked at sharp who seemed to be going through the same. Well, she's not that bad. He tried to convince himself.
Sharp pulled him out of the door giving the shameless woman some space to walk past them. Rowan wore a stunned expression mixed with awe.
Sharp laughed. "Now that the face expression everyone shares when they first hear abara, shameless isn't she? Still can't believe she's a witchhunter." Sharp said with a bit of doubt.
"What's a witchhunter?" Rowan asked. His interest being picked.
"I'll tell you another time, Bones the boys up!" Sharp said in his normal way.
"Ahoy, mateys(Good morning)." Bones said with a wave." Ye can leave the lad with me sharp, you're free for now but cap'n planning something so you better be ready."
"Aye. Sir, hmm, Sir the ruin engine would be running out of mana very soon" sharp said unsteadily but still fast. Rowan knew about mana but he was a little confused about this ruin, sharp had been talking about. I'll ask Bones later, I blame myself for not asking questions more patiently.
"Yeah, I know I will fire it up again after what's been planned. I'll Tell ye that it's gonna be one hell of a day." Bones replied, slapping the boy on his shoulder. "Sharp, why aren't you carrying a sword anymore? After all that training?" Bones asked, looking at sharps waist.
"Ah… that," Sharp said slowly for the first time, shifting from one foot to the other nervously. "I… I don't feel like carrying it anymore" he said looking at his hands his eyes in pain.
Bones waved the young man away and looked at rowan. His hair was a messy of curls on his small head and his eyes where a dark gray the same as abara. He wore a loose shirt like sharps, and his was unbuttoned from chest down to a waistband covering both his waist and abdominal then on top of that was a long leather frock coat, he wore a trouser that was loosely fitted and ran rough into his knee high boot. Unlike sharp bones was armed to his teeth on his left side where three pistols, two tucked safely in his waist band and the other was tucked in his boot while on his right side was a sword, a tessak, it hilt was a art work. Bones hand rested on it gently like that was where it is ment to be.
"So, lad are ye alright?" Bones asked eyeing rowan.
"I'm feeling alright, since after your advice last night, thank you for that," Rowan said nervously.
"No worries lad."
"So, who was that earlier that adara knocked out?" Rowan asked his voice a hushed whisper.
"That, was our ship's beloved and silent co-cap'n James gantor, for some reason he just can't seem to stay on board the razor." Bones said shaking his head rowan looked past Bones and what he saw turned his stomach.
"What's that!?" Rowan asked fear evident in his voice. he said looking at the sea before them. What Rowan saw was absolute madness. Rowan felt fear creeping into his mind and he stood there in a daze of what was before him.
In the sea before the razor, keelsaw fish numbering in the thousand. they covered the face of the sea as they leap in and out. What really made Rowan's blood run cold was the build and reputation of the keelsaw, they where big fishes, almost five foot long, and they had protective armour on their back and they have a long saw-like fin that can tear apart the Keel of any ship. But why the hell is this ship sailing towards it? Rowan thought in panic
"Avast! Keelsaw stream up ahead. Bones power the protection! Sharp, catch as many of those bastards as you can! Bucker on the shields with Bones!" A loud voice came booming from the sterncastle deck just above the quarter-deck. The voice carried a kind of authority that made rowan want to obey. Before rowan could register anything, Bones burst into motion in the bow of the ship. Soon, he was holding a lone stick from the back of the figurehead, and it began to glow a dangerous blue. As Rowan looked at the glow, another headache assaulted him."Where gonna ride this current everybody hold on!"
Rowan's blood went cold at the mention of that.
He looked back at the man who had spoken, but instead, his eyes were caught by sharp, who was throwing metal nets into the water. Rowan wanted to rush over to sharp to give him assistance, but then the ship jerked forward, bow to the sky, and stem down words. The ship flew up due to the sudden change of flow. Before rowan could catch a hold of anything he was falling towards the quarter deck, then the ship fell back into the water with a boom, rowan fell to the ground with a thud, he ignored the pain and picked himself off the ground trying to find his balance on the ship which seemed to be bounce in and out of the water.
Rowan made his way to the side of the ship and held on tight to a rope, holding some barrels to deck. Rowan looked at the water in Awe gods. The water surface was covered but fishes diving in and out of the water like waves, as they dived put of the water the ship bounced up and when they crash back into the water the ship fell back down.
The ship was being pulled sideways by the violent current the fishes had created and staying on board the ship was starting to feel impossible for rowan his hands were starting to hurt and the current was only getting worst, he looked at Bones and saw the man standing like the ship wasn't even shaking. The current calmed down for a minute.
"Rowan, go back into the cabin!" Sharp shouted. Rowan bolted for the door as soon as the words left sharp lips. He ran towards the cabin diving into the open door, then the ship jerked right, slowly then left violently, then all hell broke loose as all sense of direction was lost and balance became only a dream. They kept going like that for so long, and rowan's hands felt like they would pull off his shoulders.
"Where out of the current" the cap'n shouted his voice happy and rowan heard sheers follow. "Not long now mateys! Home calls!"