Chapter 1
The ship ride was long. The salty sea filled my nose like never before, is the sea better than the beach in this regard? The journey south seemed to take years, but at least it was quicker than going through the academy.
The ship seemed sturdy at though. To the common eye at least, though the structure is fine, so it suffers no threat from the waves. But the creatures within it are a different story. With no magic defences it’s very susceptible to magic or a sea beast of really any sort, though it’s made for only a few days of sea time at a time.
The entire ship is made of simple planks, so a basic fire or spell would sink the entire ship, though that’s with most if not all wood ships. The sea was clear so at least nothing’s going to attack this second. But still there might be something deeper down.
I turned around to go back to my room, one of the workers tapped my shoulder, or at least I thought it was a worker, I looked behind me, saw nothing, then looked down and saw a small girl, she was an elf.
Did she think I was one too?
Anyway, she then said. ‘Sir, do you know where my mum is?’. It seemed odd though. She was the only elf on the ship, I’m a half-elf so I didn’t count legally.
I looked around to see if there was, in fact, another elf here. There wasn’t.I realized she must have been a stowaway, or left here by her mum, either way there’s no way I could get her back to her mum.
‘Do you know where she is?’ seemed like a good question. Didn’t work. She started crying. And by crying, I mean CRYING, not a single tear seemed to want to stay in her eyes. ‘I don’t’ she managed to get out through the sobbing.
I turned around and got on my knees ‘go on, get on’. Through the salty wetness leaving her eyes she managed to scramble on, she calmed down a bit but still crying. We then ran around the ship, looking for a spot for where the mother could possibly be hiding. Nothing of the like was found.
We did three laps of the ship, by that time the girl was laughing, thankfully. But her mom wasn’t here for her to run off to. So, I went up to deck, put her down, and told it to her face.
‘Your moms not on this boat, maybe she could have been a bit late, and you boarded without her.’. she then snapped back ‘that can’t be! I got on the boat with my mum, but she disappeared last night.’. what happened to her? Could she have tried a double suicide but didn’t have the guts to take her daughter with her? No, can’t be. Teleportation? That would be extremely hard though, you’d have to be a grand elf at least to pull that off, wait.
‘Excuse me, but what was life back at home for you? And where did you live?’ I asked. Suddenly her face lit up with joy ’me and my mom live in this REALLY Big tree with the rest of my family, apparently my granny grew it years ago. But trees don’t grow that fast’
Knew it. She’s a High Elf’s daughter. But then why the rags? She looks like she’s wearing a pouch.
‘What’s your mums name?’ if I could know the answer this would be much easier. ‘Mum!’ she said so excitedly.
Shit
So, I’m dealing with a child who’s too young to know her parents names, but she’s an elf so she’s probably twice the age where your supposed to learn your parents names. But if I can find out what her last name is I could find her mom’s identity.
‘So, do you know your last name?’
’No, I’m Ipoz. What’s a last name?
Greeeaaaaaaat, she doesn’t know her last name either! I guess all I can do is bring her back to Alikolime and back to her family.
‘ALRIGHT, TIME FOR DINNER!’ The captain said. It was a bit late so dinner was about the right time, though still a bit earlier than usual.
‘So do want to come with me for dinner? Or can you eat on your own?’
She tugged at my sleeve. I guess she wants to stick with me.
‘Hello there. Tickets please?’ said one of the waiters, I handed her my ticket. Ipoz took one out of a pocket I didn’t even know she had, seriously what’s with a high elf’s kid wearing what’s the equivalent of a potato sack. ‘ and Ipoz, please follow me’.
Shame, if only I could see Ipoz’s ticket, but they put magic on it so only the owner and staff can see what’s on it. Could REALLY use the last name for a clue.
The waitress took us to a table, wooden like the rest of the ship, the dining area of the boat is the size, vibe and looks like a tavern. It just serves more food, and probably better food than just the potato chips and bread on Iftuk island.
‘An announcement to all! The ship will be docking by morning tomorrow, so make sure to pack your things since if you leave anything we have no obligation to give it back!’
The captains jest seemed to get a few laughs, but if you laugh at that joke you don’t deserve respect in any way. ‘You hear that? One more night and we can get of the ship back on solid land, are you fine with sleeping by yourself?’ I asked Ipoz, though her mouth was full of food I think she said, ‘I’ll be fine!’ seriously why doesn’t she have any manners?
We finished our dinner and went our separate ways. I walked down the halls of the rickety ship down to my room. It was very plain, only a few windows lining the walls, and they only look into the sea. Speaking of the sea, the air was even saltier than on deck. It smelt like someone was burning the stuff. Though with all the strange faces that show up here there would be at least one Tellianist.
I got to my room and opened the door, the same as I left it, messy with clothes all over the floor. I should really clean myself up.
As I cleaned up, I noticed that some of my clothes were missing, doesn’t really matter since I brought spares. The clothes themselves I have no idea how I could have lost them.
As I packed up mt things I saw a small shimmer out the window, I looked again, and it too was gone. Was there an actual sea beast out there?
No there couldn’t be…
Anyway, I fell asleep after a few minutes of dread regarding my death in my sleep. Though after that the morning was fine. Absolutely no sea beast here.
I grabbed my bag and left my room, never to enter it again.
Maybe.
As you reached the deck, I could see Ipoz waiting for me. How early did she wake up?
‘There you are! I thought I was just dreaming yesterday.’
Yesterday huh? Yesterday I planned to travel with this across the continent to return her to her family. Why? Why did I make a choice like that so quick and easy when it could have the ability to alter my life in a variety of ways.
Well, I don’t have anything to do so…
