As Garrick and Kyra looked out at the ocean, time passed, and before they knew it, a vague smudge in the distance signified the city of Volmyr and the kingdom of the Sovereignty, and in the opposite direction was a vast open sea, as far as the eye could see.
"No changing our minds, huh?" Garrick blows air out his nose as he looks at Volmyr, then turns to look at Kyra, who stands stoically staring out into the vast marine blue waters, hands clenched tight against the taffrail of the ship and then... she spews over the edge, dirtying the sparkling blue ocean.
"I... can't last a month... of this. I'll die... before we make it," Kyra weakly speaks through burps and heaving.
"You'll get yer sea legs soon, lass!" A crewmate with a smile of broken and missing teeth and slicked-over blonde hair slaps Kyra on the back and giggles. "The landlubbers always find it difficult at first!"
Kyra throws up again while pitifully swiping at the crewmate for touching her. "Bas..tard!"
"Okay, I'll let you, uh, sort yourself out. I'm going to look around," Garrick carefully steps away as Kyra gives a thumbs up and collapses onto the taffrail.
Despite its age and rough appearance, the Maelstrom Voyage is fascinating to see in action, as the cables and ropes, like veins of a body, all have a specific purpose to keep the ship on course. It's even more remarkable since these lunatics could understand how to use it. Crewmates were swinging from mast to mast like monkeys in trees, with one landing directly in front of Garrick. He was short, very short, so short that Garrick thought it was a kid who snuck aboard, but the stubble told a different story. The Gnome was only two feet tall but stood confidently despite the possibility of being accidentally stepped on. He didn't wear the typical pirate clothes but instead wore cream-coloured woollen robes and a pointy hat.
"You! Tall one! Come with me, and I'll show you around!" The Gnomes' voice was squeaking, as expected by Garrick.
"Sure... uh... what's your name?"
"Call me Limony! Limony Peterstack! Strongest Gnome there is! I was voted the strongest crewmate in Volmyr; pretty impressive, huh?" Limony furiously flexes his thin, stick arms as he raises his eyebrows at Garrick, who is staring practically directly down with a look he has adorned since meeting Dex. Pure 'what-the-fuck is going on' painted on his face.
"Okay, I'm gonna gloss over what's going on here. I can see Dex has had quite the impact on the crew, though."
Limony starts shadowboxing and jabbing Garrick's leg. "Best cap there is. We trust him, but let's tour the Maelstrom Voyage; this warship is a real beaut!"
Limony begins to walk fast, with a quiet pitter-patter against the rough wood deck. Garrick takes a step, then stops to let Limony catch back up, eventually reaching the entrance to the lower deck. Limony jumps in a small basket attached to a cable pulley system and lowers himself down instead of descending the treacherous tall stairs, but Garrick does. Limony reaches the bottom first and jumps out.
"Hurry up, long legs! You don't want to get lost down here! It's a real maze!"
Garrick looks around the lower deck, seeing a visible back wall with no possible way for him to get lost, but Limony is two feet tall, so he's more than likely speaking from personal experience. Many crewmates are moving boxes, some are playing card games, and others are sleeping in hammocks.
"You ever get lost in here?" Garrick inquisitively asks, wondering if he's right on the coin.
"Once! Spent three days down here stuck; I almost went feral!" Limony rubs his head and breathes out, reliving the memory affecting him. "Sweet sea air never smelled so good; I was getting a bit sick of smelling nothing but farts."
"I know the feeling; I had to spend a couple days in a tent with two guildies during a blizzard who farted more than they spoke. Never again." Garrick rubs his head and breathes out, his story affecting him just as much as Limony's did for himself.
"Ooo, a guild member, very fancy!" Limony does an exaggerated bow before continuing.
"I was. Recently left it,"
"Not like it?"
"Nah, it was good fun, and the money was nice. It was the management, didn't trust them."
"A tale as old as time, long legs. The management on this vessel is top-notch, though, a real winner!"
"So I've heard,"
They make it to a wall of hammocks, twenty-two total. With some occupied by sleeping crewmates. Limony grabs a stick and points to a hammock on the lowest level.
"This is your hammock. You share it with Brady and Zawrch."
"Wait, I'm sharing? I don't just get one?"
"Very cheeky to assume. You're almost at the bottom of the next in-command list, which means you've got to share with the other bottoms! You should be thankful; the last in command doesn't even get a hammock!"
"The red-haired elf busy spewing upstairs?"
"That's the one!"
"Huh, it makes me feel a bit better. What about you? You get your hammock?"
"Hah! The strongest always get their hammock!"
Garrick chuckles, and then a voice chirps up from above in a hammock. The man can't be seen, but a green arm dangles down.
"He's being serious. Limony's the strongest on the ship."
Garrick, focused, probing further, "Strongest, like mentally or strongest remaining calm?"
"Nope, physically. Limony could crush us all into pulp if he wanted, so maybe be nicer,"
"It's okay, Chark, he didn't do anything wrong. Looks can be deceiving as we all know, don't we chark?" Limony laughs.
"You got that right, boss," Chark replies.
Garrick stands dumbfounded, still processing what he heard. "How do you become the strongest on the ship? I want my hammock."
Chark spins around, his gnarled, scarred green face looking worried. "Take that back, man, trust me. Don't mess with Limony, you'll regret it."
"It's just a question, Chark, settle down. You become the strongest by beating the strongest in a fight. The winner takes the title and the hammock!"
Garrick looks down at Limony, who is doing some shadowboxing again. "So I beat you in a fight and got the hammock?"
Limony stops shadowboxing as Chark's eyes go wide.
"Take it back! Say sorry, or you'll be sorry!" Chark's voice shakes with fear as he sinks into the hammock.
Garrick looks around to see the other crewmates have stopped playing cards and moving boxes as they stare with wide eyes and worried expressions like Chark. Garrick looks back to Limony, whose head hangs low, the shadows obscuring his features as he rolls up his sleeves to show his thin, pale arms.
"Challenge accepted! You, me upstairs right now, let's tussle, you landlubber!" Limony looks up at Garrick, his eyes squinting in a surprisingly menacing way for being such a cute little Gnome and then sprints away to his basket, going back upstairs.
"What the hell is wrong with this ship?!" Garrick shouts with utter confusion and anger at his lack of understanding of this place.
Chark jumps down from his hammock, standing seven feet tall and three hundred pounds, and from the looks of it, is all muscle. His body flexes and twitches, almost as if he'll attack for Garrick's rudeness, then quickly changes demeanour.
"Just say sorry to him, and he might take it easy on you, please! You don't seem like a bad guy, just stupid, is all." Chark interlocks his fingers, almost begging Garrick.
"I've been getting called an idiot by more and more people lately; I'm not a big fan. I don't know what got you so scared, but I got a few magic tricks up my sleeve, so I don't think Limony will pose a threat. I'll pin him with two fingers and get the hammock."
Chark stares, mouth open, trying to comprehend the drivel from Garrick's mouth.
"Okay, have it your way. Circle time, Boys!!!!" Chark's demeanour changes yet again into what you'd expect, loud and imposing, as the crew all scamper upstairs like eager children. With the lower deck now empty, the noise above increases to a deafening level.
"Okay, let's get this 'fight' over with."
Garrick walks up the stairs and onto the top deck where all the crew has gathered, standing on boxes, sitting in the shroud above to get a better view of what's to come. Limony stretches as everyone gives him a surprising amount of space. A crewmate lifts a barrel and empties a line of salt in a circle with a thirty-foot diameter.
Dex walks over to Garrick, followed by Meetle and Kyra.
"I knew I liked you! To fight Limony after being on the ship for less than an hour, hah! You're a lunatic; you should be locked up!" Dex cackles, breaking into a laughing fit, struggling to breathe.
"Uhh, Garrick, why are you going to fight a two-foot-tall Gnome?" Meetle worryingly asks.
"I may be physically sick, but you're mentally sick. What's fighting a Baby Gnome going to prove?" Kyra shakes her head as she begins to heave again.
"I don't actually want to fight him, but supposedly, you get your hammock if you beat him, and right now, I'm sharing a hammock with two other people, and you don't even get one, Kyra." Garrick shrugs his shoulders as he still has a look of confusion on his face.
Kyra's face drops. "Toss his baby-bodied, big-headed ass overboard!"
Limony stares down Garrick, not averting his gaze for even a moment. Garrick steps into the circle nonchalantly, the crowd getting even louder, almost bursting his eardrums with their cheers and roars of anticipation. But the cheers are cut dead by the roar of their captain, Dex.
"Listen up! It's been a long time since our last circle time, and our new guests have blessed us! Give a Maelstrom welcome to our challenger, GAARRIIICCK!!!!"
The crowd booms with cheering, slamming their fists into the wood.
"And give a warm welcome to our reigning champion. He's not green, but he's certainly mean! He's got the muscles to tussle! He's the strongest in Volmyr, maybe even the world over! Ladies and gentlemen, give deafening applause for LIMONNYYY 'MIGGHTTYYYY' PEEETERSTAAACCKKK!"
Limony takes a bow and shadowboxes, livening up the crowd more as Dex continues announcing.
Now, before we begin, the rule is simple. The first one to leave the salt circle loses! Now begin!!!!!"
The crowd bursts into a cheering frenzy and begins to beat their hands on any surface in a rhythmic way as Limony takes his robe off, showing a pale, scrawny body beneath, with an anchor tattoo on his right arm. Limony adjusts his pants and begins to shadowbox again.
"Right, you challenged me, so take the first shot!" Limony has a focused glare, which looks cuter than scary.
"So I just need to put you out of the salt circle? That's easy enough." Garrick walks up to Limony and kneels to pick him up, but surprisingly, Limony doesn't budge. In fact, Limony is standing very lackadaisically while Garrick struggles to lift him even a millimetre.
"Garrick just put the midget out of his misery already!" Kyra bellows as she heaves yet again.
"What the hell is going on here?" Garrick worryingly voices.
Limony chuckles. "That all you got? My turn, I guess!"
Limony grabs the leg of Garrick and, with intense force, launches him off the salt circle and into a stack of crates, destroying them as he lies buried underneath, unmoving. After a few seconds, Garrick weakly crawls out, battered and bruised.
"WE HAVE A WINNER!!!!" Dex roars with pride as Limony runs around the salt circle, high-fiving all the crew as they stretch their hands out. Garrick looks on in bewilderment, even seeing Meetle reach for a high-five.
Chark walks over and extends a helping hand to Garrick. "You got off light, mate. You should be thanking Limony for being so kind to you."
Garrick removes the splinter of wood from his clothes, still staring with confusion. "This ship...what the hell is this ship?!"
"I'm open to another challenge anytime, Pipsqueak!" LImony squeakily laughs as the crew lift him high on their shoulders, still cheering.
Looks can be deceiving, but Garrick is far from done with this bite-sized bundle of brawn.
"LIMONY! ROUND TWO, LET'S GO!" Garrick aggressively roars with confidence as he steps back into the salt circle.
"Round two for the twiglet landlubber? I guess showing mercy was my fault; let's go, you puny peanut!" Limony squeaks back.
End Chapter