User blog:Leea/The Tale of Voronwe, Chapter 101

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4th Era 171, 7th of Second Seed, Abecean Sea
When his vision cleared, he noticed instantly that they were out of the storm. In fact, it was utterly calm where the boat now floated, and a glance up revealed stars winking at him, as if they were telling him, assuring him, that everything would be okay. If only, he thought dismally. His home was wrecked (likely beyond repair), he was stuck on a ship he didn't quite remember, and in the middle of all this was a mysterious Maormer and an equally mysterious - but scary, too - bloodstain off the the side on deck. Not to mention the strangely familiar but not really remembered Captain Kael. In fact, he didn't know where they currently were at all. They could be in a plane of Oblivion, for all he knew. With all that had been going on, he didn't doubt that had been his destination, after all.

The Maormer's head rolled back forward, and he lowered his arms to his sides. He had stopped glowing. He didn't look the least bit drained after carting a ship of this size and all its passengers to this...unknown place. He knew that even three hours - or sometimes less, depending on the weight - of hauling a client's belongings or evidence papers left him quite tired and in need of a long break, so he admired the man's stamina.

Wait...

He furrowed his brow as the thought struck him. Something about that thought seemed...seemed...what was it? What was it? He thought hard. Yes...Curwe...

His eyes shot wide. That was it! He spun to the Captain, who was watching him.

"You!" he nearly shouted. "You! I know you!" he now shouted, pointing at him.

There was a calm expression on his face. "You do, huh?"

"Yes!" he shouted again, suddenly oblivious to the staring eyes of the crew, which had so terrified him minutes before. "You're Captain Kael!"

Kael folded his arms over his chest, the calm, slightly amused expression intact. "But I just told you who I was."

"No!" he insisted. "Well, yes you did...but...I remember you now!" he continued, stumbling over his words in his excitement.

He smiled a little. "Good. Now you remember."

Now that his excitement - such as it was - had died down, he grimaced at Kael. "You? Of all people? You were picked by Auriel?"

Kael cocked his eyebrow. "You got a problem with that?" he asked, voice casual, but not quite. There was an almost imperceptible edge to it that he might have missed is he had not been listening closely.

Akadil instantly remembered the bloodstain on the Captain's boot, and toned down his attitude. Now was not the time or place to take out his frustrations. He made an effort not to glance at the stains on deck and the Captain's boot as he replied.

"No...just...just that I remember that you were quite the..." he trailed off, looking for the proper word to describe the Captain...and one that was as preferably as non-offensive as possible. "Quite the...character the last time I'd...I'd seen you." he finished, hoping that he'd found the right word.

The man's eyebrows slowly lowered back to normal position. "There is both good and bad character," he began, the faint and minute "edge" almost gone from his voice. "Since I was picked by Auriel for this mission to rescue and shelter you, I'd think that I'd be more on the lighter end of that spectrum. Wouldn't you agree?"

He'd said "shelter". Did that mean that he'd be staying aboard the Seagull's Catch? Most likely. After all, he wouldn't have said it if he wasn't supposed to. Also after all, he couldn't go back home (his heart clenched at the thought), and he surely couldn't swim to Valenwood, either, because carnivorous sea life would make that little - actually not so little - test of his physical stamina nearly impossible to complete. That wasn't even including in the propabilities starvation, thirst, and pirates, which were usually quite thick around this area...if they were still in the Abecean Sea, that is.

But what about what else he'd said? If Kael had truly been picked by Auriel - including the Maormer - didn't that say something about his moral character? Where, in all the recorded histories of Time, did it say that the God of Time picked an evil - or at the very least unscrupulous - person for his work? That, seemingly, did indeed say something good about Captain Kael. And the Maormer, too, though lingering traces of his earlier mistrust remained. But still...Kael had still killed someone on deck before he had arrived. No one else could have done it, because he'd discreetely been checking out their footwear, and none of the crew had bloodstains on their feet. Still, that didn't rule out that perhaps two people had been killed aboard, and that the killer had also been slain, that both dead bodies had been thrown overboard, and that Kael had merely walked through the fresh blood before it had soaked into the wood. He mentally gave himself a shake. Too many variables, and he realized belatedly that the pause in the conversation was reaching a critical stage. Better say something.

"Uh...yeah. I guess so," he said, (mostly) truthfully.

Kael nodded, apparently satisfied. He turned to one of his crew. "Show our guest to his quarters. He might like a rest, after all."

The yellow-haired and yellow-eyed Altmer stepped forward, and the question "can I show you to your quarters" was all over his face, though he said nothing.

Akadil instantly accepted, and followed the crew member below deck. He didn't know if he would be able to sleep, but it would give him time to think all these...events...over.