It was fascinating.
The sight of the sea extended in all directions, the gentle ripples breaking its surface and catching on the sunlight, and the swarms of both fish and birds racing against their boat.
The longer he looked, the more he felt at ease. As though that was where he was supposed to be. As if he was born to watch that scene.
Sindbad could only marvel in awe at the magnificent sea from the crow nest as the wind caught in his long hair, flapping it behind him.
" Everything alright there, Sindbad?" He leaned over the edge, peeking down at the captain as he called out.
Sindbad held a thumb up as high as he could. " All is good, Captain Rashad!"
" Great! Now be careful, if you start to feel unwell tell us! Do not attempt to climb down on your own!"
The boy bobbed his head once and fixed his eyes again at the far horizon.
Rashad heaved a sigh and smiled broadly at the child. " Didn't think you would actually let him on this ship, captain," said the small man who was leaning on his mop. " Honestly, he's still too young to journey with us."
" I almost didn't but… He's quite persistent and clingy." He laughed as he rubbed the back of his head. " If I didn't accept, I might have found him waiting for me under my desk."
A shiver ran down the slim man's back. " Well, I understand your point."
" Also…" His eyes flicked back momentarily at the kid. " Those burning eyes that threaten to swallow everyone within their dazzling glimmer. Saying 'no' to them was hard."
" Heh," the other man threw a quick look at the crow nest.
" Still, don't blame me if he falls off." He shrugged before going back to sweeping the deck. " I still think he's a kid. And a kid's place is in their houses with their parents."
Rashad scratched his head as he considered the point and looked up again at Sindbad.
That big smile and large sparkling eyes weren't of someone who was feeling homesick. The captain had warned him several times before that there was no going back if he went abroad. That they couldn't turn the ship around if he said he wanted to go home.
Sindbad seemed affronted at those warnings.
" I wonder though… what kind of parent could raise up such a reckless son…" Rashad murmured to himself as he looked up at the blue sky…
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A man with short silky black hair that was pushed back and the faintest attempts at a beard rushed through the hallways at an inhuman speed.
Whatever he was bearing, it seemed to be urgent news.
He stopped before a large double door and sucked in a few deep breaths, a bead of sweat slid down his temple. He was nervous, that much was obvious.
When he managed to gather himself, he knocked twice on the door before he was given permission to enter. He pushed past the two doors and stopped in his spot as he faced the back of the other man.
He didn't look back at him, only gazing off at the sea in the far away distance from his balcony.
The black-haired man shifted uneasily in his place, the words he came to deliver growing too heavy even for him.
The occupant of the room, however, was quick to interpret the man's silence. " I take it that he got away, Masrur."
He didn't look back, merely gazing far away, as if he could see something on the horizon that no one else saw.
Masrur dropped to one knee, probably crushed beneath the weight of their failure. " Unfortunately, Your Highness, my men couldn't catch him. He had departed on Mawj. But if we deploy a ship-"
The other man cut him off when he raised his hand, a signal that he had heard enough. " There is no need to."
He hummed to himself, his golden eyes softening at the sight of ships leaving the port and turning their back on Baghdad. " This is what you truly wish for, right, Sindbad?"...
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" And this is where you're going to sleep, newbie." The gaunt man, Salah, leaned over a hammock on the lower deck among a bunch of other ones that could fit most of the crew. It appeared only the captain got to sleep in a separate room.
" I don't want any complaints about it being uncomfortable or being unable to sleep in it." He waved a warning finger at Sindbad.
" I promise you won't hear anything of the sort!" Sindbad stated with a bright smile before climbing into it and stretching. The makeshift bed swayed with his weight and he drew his arms behind his head. " This is actually really comfortable!"
Salah blinked twice at the kid. No, was he truly a kid?
" This is your bed, right?" Sindbad leaned over the side, pointing at the hammock beneath him.
" Yes." The man raised an eyebrow skeptically. " What are you asking for?"
" Nothing. Just, wondering about my neighbors," the boy answered with a large smile.
" You're an odd child." Salah leaned on a post and folded his arms as he surveyed Sindbad with one eye.
" Odd as in how?" The kid asked in genuine curiosity.
" In a lot of ways." Salah looked around as if he wished to find words to express it but failed to do so.
His stomach instead was keen on expressing its disgruntle for keeping it waiting. Salah had taken on the duty of showing the newbie around and so, neither he nor Sindbad had the chance of eating anything as of yet.
" That's it for the tour. I'll go grab something to eat." He pushed himself away and walked to the short ladder leading to the upper deck.
" Hold up, I'm coming with you!" Sindbad jumped down and rushed after Salah.
Upon coming out, they could see a couple of the crew members serving a simple warm soup from a large pot. Sindbad and Salah got their bowls before they picked up each a spot and began eating.
Salah surveyed the kid during the whole meal. He would break down soon. He would start to complain about it. He would want to go back.
Needless to say, Sindbad wolfed down his share with a big smile plastered over his face.
As he wiped the residue of the broth from his mouth, the kid's stomach grumbled, demanding more.
" For your information kid, you don't get seconds," Salah found himself saying. " We don't know what might happen during our journey, so we can't afford to waste food and water."
Sindbad blinked twice as he looked between Salah and the bowl before wearing that beaming smile again. " It's alright. I don't really mind it."
Clearly, his stomach disagreed, but Sindbad's smile didn't waver.
What's this kid?! Salah's eyebrow twitched.
" Sindbad!" The kid looked over his shoulder as he heard the captain calling for him from the bridge. " Get up here for a moment!"
" Coming!" The child bolted to his feet and hurried off to their captain.
A few rungs, and he found himself hit by the strong wind of the sea, catching in his hair and whipping it around.
Being at the front of the ship felt entirely different from the crown nest or the rest of the deck. From there, Sindbad felt as if he was experiencing firsthand how it truly feels to cross the sea from one land to the other, to feel the elements hitting you at full force, not to be shielded or high above it.
To be exposed to the might of the sea.
As the boy's eyes went large with excitement while he marched forward toward the prow, overtaken by the need to feel more of it, Rashad allowed a lopsided smile to manifest on his lips as he clutched tightly to the steering wheel.
" Do you like it out here?"
Sindbad snapped his head back with a glimmer in his eyes. " Yes! This is the best place ever! It feels… it feels…"
" It feels like freedom," Rashad piped in.
The boy's smile broadened. " It truly does!"
Rashad gave a nod of approval before stepping away from the steering wheel, barely holding it with one hand. " Come here."
Sindbad looked at him for a moment before approaching the captain, but between him and the large wooden wheel, Sindbad's eyes were leaning towards the latter. He must have realized Rashad's intentions.
" What are you waiting for? Grab it."
The boy flinched at the blatant order. He wanted him to grab the wheel? The one wheel that would decide the course of the ship, of their trip, of the whole journey?
" I couldn't-"
" A sailor should grip it at least once. That's more of a passing ritual here." Rashad beckoned.
Sindbad could not keep his excited hands to himself any longer and they stretched in a heartbeat to grab into the handles.
A strange sensation washed over him then like a tidal wave. Being there, gripping the steering wheel, and facing the turbulent waters they were riding, Sindbad's heart throbbed with excitement. It suddenly felt as though he was part of the ship, one that ought to be there.
No. It felt as if the ship was an extension of him.
It was exhilarating.
It was amazing.
It was-
The captain pulled away his hand and the wheel swerved to one side, taking Sindbad by surprise. He struggled to keep it from spinning further, but it was so heavy he felt his arms were about to break like small twigs.
The front of the ship leaned slightly to the left before that weight was lifted off his shoulders.
The captain's hand was once again on the wheel, correcting its position and returning the ship to its course.
Sindbad looked at him in awe. The very wheel that he was fighting to keep from spinning with his whole body, Rashad had stopped with a single hand.
So that was a captain.
" This is the difference between a sailor and a captain, Sindbad," Rashad spoke up, eyes fixed ahead at the rippling waves. " A sailor would feel that he belongs on a ship when it sets out on water, as if he was born to be there. As if he was rooted to it and could never be knocked off. A captain, however, feels that burden that you had just experienced, whether they hold onto the wheel or not."
Sindbad blinked at him, taking in his rough expression under the moonlight. Rashad's smile served to highlight the wrinkles around his eyes from a lifetime of squinting at the ocean.
" A captain is entrusted with the lives of those aboard his ship. Once you're in, I'm responsible for delivering you safely to the other side of this trip. Do you understand, Sindbad?" The man looked down at him, his smile soft and gentle. " Would you entrust me with your life as well?"
Was there a need to ask. Sindbad had seen first hand the weight Rashad was bearing upon his shoulders.
If he didn't entrust his life to Rashad, who could he choose.
Without even thinking, he had already stated his answer aloud confidently. " Yes!"...