Gulls squawked above me, happily talking to one another as I kicked the body off the rail.
The dead man rolled off the side of the boat, and a moment later I heard the splash he made. The splash sounded… real loud, even though the boat was actually pretty high up.
And the reason was obvious. The sea was calm. The ship barely making noise as it gently floated along the gentle sea also made it seem quieter than it were.
It wasn't actually quiet after all. The sea still made noise. The ship creaked, and things that had broken during the storm were banging and clanking as the ship rocked. And then of course…
The giggling and laughter on the main deck was very noisy. The thirty one women were in the center of the boat, all around the large fresh water barrels. They were washing themselves off, and enjoying the warm sunshine.
Walking back down to the main deck, I ignored the group of women as I headed back under the deck. The inside of the ship wasn't as flooded as it had been during the storm, but the lowest level still had about a foot of water.
I sighed as I walked to the hallway in-between the lower decks, opposite of where the cages had been.
"Shoot," Ronalldo's voice carried as I heard pots and pans banging in the mess hall.
I had told him to make himself and the women food. Sounded like it wasn't going well.
He'd be fine though. For now I needed to get all the dead bodies out of the ship before we reached port.
It turned out that a few men had hid away when I and the rest had commandeered the ship. In the lower levels. They had likely planned to hide away and escape, or maybe take it back over when they thought they could.
The storm had punished them before I could.
Reaching the back, I stepped into the water and pushed aside a half floating barrel to get to the last body. The man was the largest of those who had been stuck in here during the storm.
Grabbing the body by the leg, I hauled it to the hallway. Luckily the man had only died last night during the storm, and not days and weeks ago. It allowed me to not have worry about making a mess as I dragged the body through the hall and to the stairs.
"Dang. Wait…" Ronalldo sounded frustrated as something fell to the ground. Whatever it had been broke, by the sounds of it.
I'd make fun of him for not knowing how to cook, but I knew that wasn't the cause of his difficulties.
The storm had made a mess of everything. He was probably just trying to do what he could with what he had.
"Almost done Ronalldo?" I asked loudly as I pulled the body to the end of the hallway.
"Uh… No. But I'll get it done! I found some food!" Ronalldo shouted back, he sounded worried.
While he went back to banging around, I pulled the body up the stairs to the main deck.
The group of women paused as they watched me drag the body to the edge of the ship, and then toss it over.
I sighed as I heard it splash into the ocean, and I wondered if I really wanted to go look for any more. There was another floor beneath that one, the main hold of the ship, and there was a good chance there were more in there… I had searched it, but had done so during daybreak. It had been somewhat dark and it was a horrible mess down there too. There were hundreds of boxes and barrels, supplies and who knows what else down there.
Leaning against the rail, I scanned the horizon. The mountains in the distance told me we weren't too far from Lumen, maybe another two days or so. Honestly the storm hadn't taken us off course too badly. Though that was probably because I had taken the wheel so early into the event.
"Sir Vim, can we go look for more shoes?"
I turned away from the sea to look at the woman who had walked up to me. She and a few others were now getting dressed. None of the clothes seemed to fit them, obviously what little we had found had been meant for the sailors not them. Grilly had given us some supplies before we had separated, but thanks to the storm all of that was missing… or gone.
The woman was holding a man's boot. She was smiling at me in a way that told me she found it hilarious.
"Uh… yeah. Just stick together in groups, and don't go to the lowest level," I told her.
"The… Ah the bottom, yes," she nodded, understanding.
I nodded. It seemed some of my words were… archaic to them. They understood me, and I them, well enough to communicate but there was definitely a regional issue. Not a surprise though, considering my knowledge of their language was from over a hundred years ago.
"He said we can search. Just not the bottom of the ship and we need to do it in groups," she hurried back to the group to let them all know.
"Can we find food too?" one asked.
"The boy's supposed to be making you all something. You can go help him if you'd like," I said. He probably needed the help.
"I'll help him. I'm starving," one said. A few others quickly agreed, and in no time the group of women split into two. One to get food, another to find clothes for everyone, and then…
The scarred woman walked over as the rest went to do what they set out to. Only a few stayed behind, and most were still cleaning themselves.
"My name is Lamp," she said, and I noticed she got close enough to talk to me… but not too close.
Most of them had realized that Ronalldo and I weren't a threat to them. But there were still a few who were weary, and I didn't blame them for it. This scarred woman however…
"Lamp. I'm Vim," I accepted her introduction. Wonder how she got a name like that.
"Vim…" Lamp said my name slowly as she studied me.
She had given the previous captain of this ship the finishing blow. Before the storm had hit I had gone down to tell Ronalldo and to get them out of the cages so they'd not get hurt, and found he had already done so and that she had done the deed immediately.
He must have been cruel to her. But I knew his cruelty wasn't the cause of her scarred face. Half her face was covered in a deep craggily scar. It made her left eye look odd, since it was permanently half closed, and a bit of her left lip curled upward. It was a very old injury. Something that had happened to her years ago, likely during her youth.
It made me wonder why she had been captured in the first place. The rest of them were young and pretty.
She looked away from me, and to the women behind her. The four that remained were all around one of the fresh water barrels, talking amongst themselves as they cleaned their hair.
"Is there anything I can offer you to free us?" she asked while staring at them.
"Free you," I said. A statement. Not a question.
She shivered, and I noticed the way the thin rag she wore did nothing to protect her from the sea's breeze. It was warm today, but the wind could still chill. Especially after washing oneself in cold water. "You're a man of worth. Surely we can reach a deal somehow," she said as she looked back at me.
Man of worth? Wonder what that meant to her. It was obviously a culture thing, but I couldn't really remember their culture much. Not enough to understand her meaning in its entirety.
"Even if I was willing to entertain such a thing… what would you have to give me?" I asked her.
She gestured in a way that told me exactly what she could offer.
"A sad joke," I said.
Lamp flinched, and I realized my words had probably cut her as bad as the wounds that had given her those scars. Although it was sad to see a woman with such low self-esteem in this situation, I wasn't going to retract my statement.
I would have said such a thing no matter her appearance. Now if Renn had said such a thing instead...
"I could… I could…" she started to speak, and seemed to stumble with her words. She wasn't sure what to say.
I sighed at her. "Just let it be for now. Technically right now you're not even mine, but Grilly's. The woman you saw earlier, the sick one."
"The sick woman…? What will she do with us?" she asked.
"Who knows?" I said.
Lamp's eyes glared at me, and I noticed the fire within them. She really did have a backbone. That spine had probably gotten her that scar, or instead had been forged thanks to it.
"Lamp, we got food!" a woman poked her head out of the open stairs that led downstairs. She shouted happily as she waved her in. The four women who had been cleaning themselves quickly went to drying themselves off and hurrying to the stairs.
Lamp though remained before me. She waved at the women who stared at her for a moment before going downstairs.
"Go eat," I told her.
"Not before I figure out what to think of you," she said.
"What's there to think?" I asked.
"A lot. You're a warrior, yet not like them," she said.
"You only think that because we can communicate," I said.
"I'd think you blind to your own fellows… but maybe you don't realize how cruel men can be, since you're the way you are," she said.
"Excuse me?"
"You force men to go against their instincts. Like the boy. You order him around, and he obeys without fail," she said with a gesture to the barrels. Ronalldo and I had carried them up to the deck.
Or well, I had. Then Ronalldo had rolled them to the center, and opened them for the girls.
"Lamplight is known for being hard on the eyes," I said.
She flinched again, and I regretted my sharp tongue. Why did my words always slip out so smoothly?
If Renn had been here she'd have retorted back.
Before Lamp could regain her composure and say something, I raised my hand to stop her. "I get it. You're worried for your future. And I fully understand why. I'm not stupid. For now you and the girls are safe. I promise. I'll not let anything happen to you or them until we get back to Lumen," I said.
"Lumen…?" she asked.
"A port city. It's two or so days away at this rate," I said.
"What happens then? After we get there?" she asked.
"As I said. You're not my property. You're Grilly's. For your information, she has promised to not harm you. Though I can't honestly say what your future holds… for now it's nothing too dark. You're free to try and escape, or make a deal, with anyone and anything you wish. I'll not stop you. But this boat will reach Lumen. I made that vow and will fulfill it," I told her.
Lamp stared hard at me, and for a very long moment… she held my gaze.
She reminded me of Renn. Though a little taller... and her breasts were a little bigger, too.
I blinked as I realized I found her attractive. Maybe that was why I was entertaining her foolish conversation and…
"Vim…!" she raised her hand to point past me. She was staring over my shoulder now and…
Turning around, I frowned at the sight of something in the ocean. At first I wasn't sure what it was… but as I studied it I started to recognize things.
The flags. The sails. The masts, half sticking out of the water.
A wreck.
Taking a deep breath, I gripped the rail of the ship as I stared at the wreckage of the barque. The ship that Grilly and her crew had been upon.
Debris littered the sea, and I turned and hurried to the helm.
"Go get the boy!" I shouted at Lamp.
She stared out at sea for a moment, and then turned to comply. While she headed below deck, I grabbed the wheel and quickly took in the ocean. Yes. It was definitely the wreck of her ship. It looked to be in three pieces, and most were still sinking… slowly. There was debris everywhere, from barrels to broken bits of the ship.
Great. Just great.
"They hadn't survived the storm," I said as I turned the wheel, to direct us a little closer to the wreckage.
They should have. That ship, although had a longer keel than this one and not as high above the water, had the speed to outmaneuver that storm. They should have been able to hug the coastline, if not even dock at the coast until it passed.
Maybe something had happened. Maybe some of the crew they had taken prisoner had done something.
Ronalldo hurried up on deck, his head spinning around. He had his axe in his hand, ready for anything.
"What is it?" he asked as some of the women hurried up with him. Lamp was pointing to the wreck in the distance, and the boy's quick mind seemed to become sluggish as he stared at it.
As we drifted nearer the wreckage, I glanced up at the main sail. I had folded up the front and rear sails, or at least most of them, since they had gotten damaged in the storm. If we were going to come to a stop, not only did I need to drop anchor I was going to need to…
"Ronalldo! Get the sail ready to reef!" I shouted at him.
"Ah… Oh gods!" Ronalldo though was realizing what was before him. He was realizing which ship was sinking right in front of him.
"Ronalldo!" I shouted as I turned the wheel.
The boy jerked, as did the women who were watching us. He turned to look at me and even from the distance I could see the whites of his eyes. He might even be in shock.
"Get the sails up! We'll drop anchor near it!" I shouted at him.
The boy looked away, to the wreckage… and then nodded. Then he dropped his axe, right there where he stood, and then hurried to the rigging of the main mast.
Sighing at him I guided the boat between the floating debris and decided I'd round the wreckage. It was a good thing the sea was as calm as it was, else this wouldn't be easy. Did this ship even have any smaller boats? I hadn't noticed any… if it had, they were probably gone now. Lost to the storm…
Actually why didn't I see any other ships nearby? Such a wreck had not only happened a while ago, but the debris was probably covering miles and miles of sea. Other ships would have seen it and searched out the wreckage. Both to save people, and to get the spoils.
"Vim I can't get this one!" Ronalldo shouted at me form the port of the ship. He was struggling with one of the ropes.
"Lamp!" I shouted at the scarred woman. She startled, as did the other women, and she looked at me as I waved her over.
She hesitated for only a moment then hurried over.
"Do you or anyone else know how to sail?" I asked.
"I uh… kind of. Yes," she said.
"Take the helm. We're going to round the wreckage, and anchor between it and the shoreline. You understand?" I asked.
"Yes."
I nodded and stepped away. She took the wheel, and I went down to the main deck to help the boy.
Before going to help Ronalldo, I spared a moment to glance at the axe he had dropped. Most of the women had come up onto deck to see what was going on, and...
And it was still there. Untouched. Several of the women had glanced at it upon his dropping of it, but it had been left alone.
"You let her take the wheel?" Ronalldo whispered harshly as I went to see what he was having problems with.
The rope was stuck. It must have gotten dislodged during the storm, and then redone in haste. Then during the commotion knotted up and…
Grabbing the rope from him, I pointed at the other rigging. "Get that side," I said.
He obeyed as I pulled the ropes free. They gave way, and then became taught as I pulled. The pulleys made odd noises, telling me they were probably damaged too, but they worked all the same. The main sail began to fold up into itself.
Ronalldo and I got the rest of the sails folded upward, and then I pointed at the helm. "Take the wheel. I'll get the anchor," I told him.
He happily complied. Although a young boy, and not as cruel as most sailors… he still seemed unwilling to let a woman hold the reigns.
This ship had two anchors. They were at the bow of the ship, and both connected to the same chain stopping mechanism. It was a giant turning apparatus, with a single metal lock holding it in place.
I stepped up to the railing and peered over at one of the anchors. They were large, with three arms and flat bills for flukes. Not the nicest, nor the best, but they'd work. Especially in these calm waters and this close to shore.
"Ho Vim!" Ronalldo got my attention, and I watched as he spun the wheel, putting us on course. He was young, but knew without me telling him what to do.
Lamp was standing next to him, watching intently.
Looking back to the wreckage, I studied it and all the debris around it as we sailed around it. Ronalldo gave it a huge birth, more even than needed, but I didn't fault him for it. One never knew what lay beneath.
I didn't see rocks, or reefs. But I did see part of the ship that was mostly sunk. The front of the ship, where the front mast had been, was hundreds of paces from the rest of the wreck… and facing in a different direction.
The ship had broken in two. A wave had hit it, and whoever had been sailing at the time had not done his job. Or her job, if it had been Grilly.
I sighed and looked around for survivors.
There were bodies floating, but none seemed to be alive… and at first glance I didn't recognize Grilly amongst them.
Our ship was slowing, thanks to the lack of sails, and a few minutes later we got in position. I went ahead and stepped up to the anchor weight, and then kicked the bar which held it locked in place.
I stepped back as it made a loud bang, as both anchors immediately fell into the water.
The chains roared, scraping and breaking the wood they slid and grounded against as the anchors went deeper into the water. I stepped a few more steps back since the chains went wild.
One shackle. Two. A third even.
This area was deeper than I thought.
On the fourth shackle, the chains finally stopped rolling as quickly. Although they still flowed out into sea, most of their momentum had been lost. I reached out and kicked the stopper once more, locking it place.
The lock didn't want to engage right away. It fought me, so I kicked it again. This time the mechanism came to an abrupt stop, and the chains clanked.
I felt the chains drag along the ships side, and then the whole ship lurched a little as the anchors found their teeth. Some of the girls made noises as the ship rolled, then tilted, then came to a stop.
Once anchored I stepped up to the rail and looked down. The chains had broken some of the rail's wood, but nothing too badly.
This ship was going to look like it had gone through a fierce battle by the time I was done with it.
"Hey!" one of the women shouted, and I turned to see Ronalldo pushing the girls out of the way as he hurried to the edge of the ship. To stare out at the debris.
"Mother!" Ronalldo shouted, and even the women who didn't recognize the word he had screamed felt his emotion.
Walking to the main deck, I studied the ocean. There were bodies… but no one was waving or shouting for us. One of the bodies even had a large bird perched upon it, pecking at it without a care.
I sighed as one of the girls hurried up to me. "There's someone over there. He's alive," she said with a point to the stern of the ship.
Oh?
"Don't tell them that! Let them drown!" one of the women shouted.
"They'll find out anyway!" another shouted back.
I ignored them as I went to the other side and looked for who she spoke of. It didn't take long to find him. A man was on a large block of timber, waving at us. His voice barely audible over Ronalldo's shouting and the women arguing.
Of course I didn't recognize him, and there was no point in calling Ronalldo over to verify who he was. The boy probably couldn't see that far.
A quick look around verified that this ship had no life rafts or smaller vessels. Which meant…
Was I really going to have to swim over there? Why couldn't he just swim here?
"Should we go get him?"
Turning to look at Lamp who was staring at the man, I shrugged. "He can swim to us," I said and turned away.
"He is harsh," one of them whispered as I went back to stare at the main wreckage. Two pieces of the ship were still floating mostly above water.
"I'll go check," I said.
"Huh?" one of the women startled, and I realized I had spoken in their language.
"Ronalldo, I'll go check. Stay here," I told him.
He looked at me with tears in his eyes, and I didn't wait for his response as I stepped up to one of the spots where the railing had been broken off. Where one of the cannons had went overboard.
Stepping off the boat, I leapt into the ocean.
As I sunk into the ocean, I realized I was going to be soaked again. I had just gotten dry not too long ago.
Breaching the surface, I began swimming towards the largest floating piece of wreckage. The one where her cabin had been, near the back.
It didn't take me long to reach the wreck… and as I swam up to it, I found a spot to climb up onto it. Using a broken mast, and all the rope and pulleys layered on top and around it, I climbed up onto the broken deck.
This part of the ship was tilted. The angle was enough to make it a pain, but not so bad that I couldn't stand up and look around.
The thing was a mess. It looked like it had gone through the storm just as feebly as our ship had. There were floorboards broken upwards, revealing the skeleton of the ship and the lower sections. I couldn't see any water within them… but I could hear it all sloshing around beneath my feet.
This thing was sinking, just not that fast. But that didn't mean it wouldn't give way at any moment and plunge into the depths.
I made my way towards the end, where the cabin was. It was above water, but thanks to the angle that this thing was sinking at… it wasn't easily accessible.
"Grilly! It's Vim, can you hear me!" I shouted as I hopped over a broken beam.
For a small moment I listened to the world around me. The sinking of the ship. The waves. The birds. Thunks of wood as they banged against each other on the waves.
Yet no sound of people.
Glancing around, I took a moment to look back at the ship. The one still sailing.
The large man-o-war looked… nice from this distance. Even though one of the back masts was now leaning a little too strongly.
I wasn't worried over the women killing Ronalldo and taking over the ship. Even if they could accomplish it, I sincerely doubted they could get the anchor back up. Even if they were able to somehow break the locking mechanism to free the chain completely, I wasn't too worried either.
Especially since I could just swim back to shore from here.
"Grilly!" I shouted her name again as I finally reached the cabin's entrance. The tilt was now strong enough that I had to enter the cabin in such a way that I had to step into the room by walking on what had been its walls.
The cabin door was missing, and the cabin itself was an absolute mess. All the fine furniture and livery that had been in here was now scattered every which way… and most was missing. Half the windows were broken out and missing.
"Grilly?" I asked as I went in deeper. As I did I found myself walking more and more onto the side of the wall than not. This part of the ship was quite literally on its side.
"Grilly!" I continued to shout her name as I listened for her.
No response came.
Kicking a broken table over, I looked around for any sign of her. Or at least any sign of what could have happened to her.
As I pushed the table over, part of the wall it and I were standing on gave way. The wood cracked loudly, and suddenly the floor plunged downward. I tried to steady myself, but I fell anyway and landed on my ass and back. I landed on the table that I had kicked, and beneath it I heard more wood and junk bang and clatter… and beneath all that I heard the splashing of water.
"Stupid," I cursed at myself as I quickly rolled upward and onto my feet. I had to crouch since I had only fallen a floor below, and thanks to the pile of wreckage there wasn't enough room to stand up fully.
Holding onto one of the broken floorboards above my head I looked around at the half submerged room. It looked like this had been some kind of sleeping quarters, based off the floating hammocks and bedding and…
A familiar long piece of wood bumped up against a box near the table I was standing on. I stepped forward, into the dark water, and reached out and grabbed hold of it.
Once it was in my hand I waded through the water back towards the rubble beneath the hole I had fell through. Once beneath the hole, I ignored the creaking and the feeling of the water listing and looked at the pipe in my hands.
Grilly's pipe.
"Least you died at sea," I said. That was better than a very slow death in bed.
I slid the pipe into my pant's waistline to keep it safe, and then went to climbing out of the hole.
It wasn't difficult. There were more than enough places to grab and pull myself back up into the cabin area. Once I reached it however, I heard the sound of rushing water. Something snapped somewhere, and the part of the ship I was in lurched and began to creak loudly.
The thing was going to sink quickly now.
I didn't hurry, but I didn't take my time as I clambered out of the cabin. Reaching the door, I peered out and saw that the broken half the ship was now sticking upward. The ship was sinking at a much stronger angle now, but it made it easy for me to get back to the open sea. All I had to do was walk along the cabin's walls to the edge of the boat, and hop over.
While I swam away from the wreck, I noticed the tug of the pull from it sinking. It wasn't strong enough to stop me, but it did make a lot of the floating debris gather closer. I had to push floating boards and sail pieces out of the way as I swam back to the ship.
Reaching the ship, I reached out for one of the flailing ropes. It was a dark color, implying it was probably one that had held a cannon in place. It was now flapping without purpose over the side of the ship.
Using it to climb myself up, I chastised myself for not making sure to toss over anything to let me climb back up the ship. Why hadn't I thought of it? Usually I was a little more observant…
Though Ronalldo could have done so for me…
About half way up the rope, I heard some voices. Looking up, I watched as the blonde haired women peered over the rail to stare at me.
"He's back," one said.
"Does he need help?" I heard another ask.
As they talked amongst themselves I climbed the rest of the way up.
I sighed as I pulled myself up onto the deck. I ignored the women who stepped away, unsure of themselves. They had tried to help me up but I had ignored them.
Scanning the deck, I noticed Ronalldo near the center. He was on his knees… and…
"Is he hurt?" I asked.
"He's weeping," one of them whispered, as if he could understand their language.
Weeping…
Yes. I wanted to weep too.
Now back on deck, I relaxed a little as my soaked clothes dripped with ocean water. Turning back to look at the sinking wreckage, or what was left to see, I shook my head and sighed.
That ship had been beautiful. Far more than this one… even before this one had incurred the damage from the storm, too. I'd have chosen that ship over this one any day of the week. It was even sinking beautifully.
"That was my ship," I groaned as I watched the rear-mast sink into the ocean.