It was a perilous voyage: one that I was unused to in every way possible. I was not sure what would happen, and that uncertainty left me in an uneasy state of mind. I found my eyes darting around the horizon in search of any ships within the vicinity. However due to the once again cloudy skies, it made it incredibly difficult to see which only served to exacerbate my worries.
"What are ya so uptight about?" Gennady asked, approaching me from behind.
I turned around to face him as he casually strolled up beside me and leaned against the edge of the ship. "Nothing," I said. "Just on the lookout."
"On the lookout for… what exactly?" He quirked an eyebrow.
"...anything?"
I averted my gaze as the Dwarf stared into me with his green eyes. I knew what he was thinking, but I didn’t want to defend myself and repeat the same conversation we had several times.
"Look," I said, breaking the silence, "the waters are infested with pirates and sea creatures that could attack us at any time. Even if Lisa and Jack are really able to bring us Jahar’taw as we’ve contracted them to, would they be able to protect us from a group of Horned Sharks? Let alone a Kraken or a Serpent Shrimp?"
"So what are you going to do? Stand watch all day and all night?" His gaze bore into me and I hesitated. "Just relax, lass. Enjoy the trip. It’s your first time on a ship!"
No, it isn’t. I shook my head. "I am aware that I can’t be on guard every waking moment of my life," I said. I raised a finger, cutting the Dwarf off as he opened his mouth. "However, that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t help where I can."
"And if you see a ship?" he asked. "How are ya gonna differentiate a regular merchant’s vessel from pirates?"
"I won’t." I ignored the blank room Gennady gave me, and sighed. "If I do see a ship, I’ll tell Lisa or Jack. I’ll ask them to get the Captain to avoid them as best we can. I don’t care if it’s a rowboat or a large mana ship— we steer clear, no matter what."
He ran his hands along his chin, ruffling his beard. "That might delay our travels by a good week or two, y’know?"
"Yes," I said. "But I’d rather not get ambushed in the off chance a group of pirate’s that are unfriendly with our smuggler friends run into us.
I paused, remembering what Lisa told me the night before, and I leaned over to the Dwarf.
"And," I whispered, "they aren’t in the best of terms with the big shots in the area."
"What do you mean?" Gennady asked, frowning.
"I mean that they’re starting to fall out of favor. Have you heard of the Elise?" I waited for his response, and once he nodded I continued. "They rule the underground in Luke right now. But Jack and Lisa refuse to work for them… or something. Lisa told me that the Elise haven’t taken action against them beyond putting pressure on their finances and business, but what happens if they find out they’re trying to escape this?"
Slowly, Gennady registered what I was trying to say.
"You mean if we run into a group affiliated with the Elise, and they try to grab Lisa and Jack to send them back and stop them from leaving?"
I met his eyes and held it for a moment. "Yes," I said, thinking of all the ways our trip could go awry. "We’d be uninterested third parties drawn into a conflict we wouldn’t want to be a part of. If we even try to defend the ship, we could make enemies with more than just a couple of sailors in the city. And if we don’t defend the ship?"
"We’d lose our ticket to Jahar’taw, as well as half our gold," Gennady finished the thought for me.
I nodded. "Exactly."
He considered this for a moment; I was speaking reason— or at least, I thought I was. It seemed that I might have been somewhat right as Gennady put a hand on my shoulder and said, "Fine, maybe ye are correct to be a little uptight."
I cocked a brow.
"However," he said, wagging a finger, "you shouldn’t just be up here doing nothing. I’m here too!" He jabbed his thumb into his own chest and grinned. "We can swap out whenever you’re feeling tired and want to lie back down!"
I paused for just a second, then smiled. "Thanks. But I think I’ll be fine for the next few hours. I’ll just practice drawing my runes while looking up every-so-often."
"Just don’t push yourself too hard." Gennady clasped my back lightly, and I rolled my eyes.
"I’m telling you, I won’t get seasick."
"You sure?"
I raised my shoulders up into a shrug. "I’ll be fine, I think."
"Ye say that, but ye said that same thing when I was driving and you started reading, didn’t you?"
Slowly, I stopped unpacking my bag, and put the pen down.
"Maybe you’re right. I’ll just get used to it first."
"Good," he snorted.
I spent most of the day simply sweeping my gaze across the horizon and taking in the scenery; we passed by only two ships— two other ships that dared to brave the waters in the current climate. Considering that we had just left the city of Luke, that was a very sparse number of boats at sea.
They were probably smuggling vessels too, if I had to assume. There were no altercations, and we didn’t even come close to getting a proper look at the crews of each ship. Regardless, I made sure to inform Lisa and Jack of my desire for them to remain vigilant.
At one point, I caught a few sailors giving me odd glances; I brushed it
