Tora Lithenmiir's Story

Tora sat on the mast, as per usual, watching the shore and the people milling about. Observing them go about their day-to-day reminded him a lot of the mainland. Obviously there were differences such as the emphasis on fishing which was clear in how many people were doing exactly that along the docks and on small cliffs near the shore. But overall it was similar enough that he felt a twinge of homesickness in his stomach as he thought about some of his favorite meals of old.

A short time after his mulling, he happened to catch a glance at Collen as he began his own fishing adventure for the day. And if the expression on his face was anything to go by, he was in less than a pleasant mood. Still, Tora couldn't exactly leave it alone. So, hopping off the mast, he walked over to the boy and sat down next to him on the deck.

"Any luck so far?" He asked, gesturing to the rod.

Collen, keeping his eyes on the rod, shook his head. "I just started."

Tora nodded in response.

"Not to pry, but you seem a bit out of sorts today."

The boy was silent for a moment, unsure of his response. Tora wasn't wrong but Collen feared revealing too much would cause him trouble later. Eventually he shrugged, "I guess. Something I was looking forward to got cancelled."

Tora's eyes flickered with understanding.

"Ah."

He considered saying something more, but chose to remain silent for the time being and instead just watched Collen focus on his fishing task.

Collen stayed silent as the fish bit and with an immediate reaction, he started to reel the fish in. Without even realizing it, every move he made was calculated, the way he shifted his weight had a purpose. The fish blopped on the deck, as the boy quickly put one knee on it to hold it down and pulled out his knife. Just like many times before the fish was soon lifeless.

To Collen, all of it was just muscle memory.

Tora observed the catch in silence taking note of the movement and automatic nature of Collen's reactions to the fish's struggling. And by the time the fish was dead, he nodded slowly.

"Impressive." He said calmly. "Quite good with that knife, aren't you?"

He turned to face Tora. "I am?"

Tora nodded with a smile.

"Indeed. Your movements mimic those of a fighter. Smooth. Calculated. Practiced. And the swift dispatching of the fish showed a certain level of knowledge and skill as well."

He stood up and patted Collen on the shoulder.

"Not many your age can move like that." He said as he moved down a ways and sat on the rails.

Collen watched him and then glanced at his knife. No one had ever compared him to a fighter, nor called him knowledgeable. His hand took a tighter grip from the handle. He didn't remember a lot from that night. Only his desperation to survive. His desperation to protect.

He looked back at Tora and walked over to him. He glanced around, making sure no one was too close to hear as he spoke quietly. "That... Thing I was looking forward to... Capt'n was supposed to teach me to fight."

He faced Tora with determination in his eyes. "I want to learn how."

Tora listened quietly. And as Collen finished stating his desire to learn, Tora's eyes closed.

"Hm."

He opened his eyes and looked up towards the skies deep in thought. Every so often he'd make another "Hm" sound, and finally took a deep breath and looked at Collen, speaking quietly.

"Do you intend to use anything you learn to deliberately harm anyone else?"

Collen waited for his answer, finding himself to be slightly anxious. As he finally got his answer, he blinked and then shook his head.

"No. It would be for self defense. Last time I got lucky but..." He paused and looked at him. Collen knew Tora, like everyone else on the ship would have heard of the events. "I got lucky I was able to protect them."

Tora's lips curled in a smile and he reached out and patted Collen's shoulder again.

"I understand."

He stood up and rolled his shoulders.

"Very well. Then I'll teach you. But I have a feeling, given the Captain's demeanor and how he addresses you, that it would be best to train discretely. So, if it's all the same with you, come find me tonight over behind that house," he said, pointing to a lone house on a hill just overlooking the city.

"I'll wait for you there, and we'll find a nice quiet spot to go over some basics of self defense together."

Collen grinned, for the first time in a long time. "Deal." His voice was full of determination as he headed back to fishing, his mind already focused on the night.

Collen had been excited all day knowing Tora had promised to teach him, and wasn't going to back down from his word like the Captain. The boy had been making sure to still do all his work efficiently as not to raise any suspicion.

As the night fell, he went to lay down with the rest of the crew as usual. He kept his eyes closed, listening closely, waiting for them to fall asleep. He couldn't afford anyone seeing him leave the ship. Even with eyes closed he didn't worry about falling asleep himself, he was simply too excited to do that.

Eventually he rose quietly and headed up the deck. He was moving as silently as he knew but the old ship boards creaked under his weight.

Collen froze as the creak sounded like a cannon going off in his ears. And one of the crew nearest him stirred with a few groans. Collen slowly looked over towards the now surely roused crewman with some of the color draining from his face. But, against all odds, the man simply rolled over and adjusted himself on his cot much to Collen's relief.

The boy stood still for a moment longer before continuing his slow sneaking. There was moment of relief as he made it up the deck and felt the salty night air on his skin. Luckily for him, Lohran didn't have anyone to be in guard duty during night times at shore but Collen still kept his eyes open for any movement as he quickly but silently made his way to the beach.

Once he felt the solid ground under his feet, he took off running, making his way towards the lone house on the hill.

Tora, having made his way to this location some time ago, was leaning against a tree next to the house as Collen made his way up the hill. As the boy approached he kept an eye out behind the lad to make sure nobody saw or followed him.

Once Collen arrived, Tora gave him a smile.

"Ready?"

"Yes." He said with an excited, determined smile.

Tora nodded and stood up straight.

"All right. Follow me."

Tora led him around the back side of the house and towards a more wooded area where they would be safe to practice in private. Entering the tree line and stepping through, over, and around the brush and undergrowth, they came to a small clearing with just enough space to move around. Collen struggled a little bit to keep up with Tora as he wasn't used to moving in a forest and definitely wasn't silent doing so.

"Okay." Tora began as he stood near the edge of the open space.

"Stand in the center, there." He instructed, pointing to the middle of the clearing.

"Do you have your knife with you?"

He did as he instructed and nodded.

"Yup." He pulled his knife from its hold on his belt.

Tora nodded again.

"Good. Now," he began as he walked forward stood side by side with Collen.

"The first step to defending yourself comes from your stance. The way you position yourself relative to your opponent can make all the difference between a successful strike versus a failed one. And the same is true of your ability to actually defend against incoming strikes."

Tora put his right foot forward and his left foot back, keeping his feet about shoulder width apart. His right hand rested at elbow level with the hand open, and his left hand mimicked holding a knife right in front of the middle of his chest.

"Try to mirror my stance. Keep your left foot forward, right foot back, and hold the knife like so." He said, gesturing to his own hand mimicking a knife.

Collen listened the advice closely as he didn't want to disappoint Tora. He nodded and tried to mimic the stance, having little bit of a trouble to figure out the proper way to hold the knife as it felt different than the way he was used to while handling fish.

"Good."

Tora turned towards him and adjusted his hand slightly, straightening the wrist and lifting his elbow just a tiny bit.

"There. Try to remember how this feels."

Tora drew his sword and held it in the same way as if preparing a stab out in front of them.

"All power from a stab comes from the feet first. So dig your heels into the ground and push forward while keeping your wrist as straight as possible like so," he said as he stabbed forward with the sword, holding it out so Collen could see the position of his wrist and such.

Once again the boy nodded and mimicked his movements. His first attempts felt clumsy but he didn't let it bother him. He went over the steps in his mind again and retried the move few more times, each time focusing on the feel of the knife. Despite the familiarity of the handle, the motion was hard to grasp correctly.

He glanced at Tora after a couple more tries. "Am I doing it right?"

Tora nodded.

"Yes. You're doing fine. It's a new motion for your body to go through, so if it feels awkward don't worry. That's normal."

Tora watched Collen repeat the motion a few more times before calling for him to stop.

"The next step of defending yourself is learning how to react instinctively to how your opponent is moving. Whenever they take a step, you should have a response prepared. If they lunge, you have a response. If they retreat, you have a response. So..."

Tora walked around and stood in front of Collen and took a stance as if he were preparing to strike at him with his fists, having since sheathed his sword.

"Keep your eyes on my face, and let your peripheral vision handle what my body is doing. When I move, I want you to take move in whatever way you think it would be best to be able to stab me. Understood?"

As Tora mentioned stabbing him, Collen froze for a short moment as the night's events played in his head. He quickly shook himself out if it. That was exactly why he was doing this. He needed to learn how to defend himself. He would learn how to.

Without realizing it, his grasp tightened around the handle as he corrected his stance better. Collen looked at Tora in the eyes, keeping his words sharp in his mind. "I'm ready."

Tora slowly shook his head.

"Relax. Your grip on the knife need not be that tight. Stay loose. You move slower when you're tense." He urged calmly.

"Ah" Collen sounded surprised realizing it and corrected himself. "Stay loose, right."

"Good. Now, keep your breathing steady. As your brain anticipates conflict, your heart rate will get faster. Push it out of your mind and stay focused on me."

Tora slowly began stepping left and right, feet shuffling so as never to cross themselves. He kept his eyes on Collen. No facial expression. No more advice. No hints. Just silence.

Suddenly, he lunged at Collen.

Collen tried to follow his instructions about the breathing and keep close eye on his movements. But as Tora lunged forward, he took a step back instinctively before remembering he was supposed to find a spot to attack. He had noticed earlier that Tora had hold his weapon on his right hand just like he did. With that in focus Collen quickly moved on Tora's left side instead.

Tora's eyes remained glued on Collen during the lunge. And as Tora came to a halt with Collen's movement, Tora looked down.

"You hesitated." He said calmly.

Looking down, Tora's left hand was partially extended with his fist having paused just an inch shy of Collen's stomach.

Tora stood up and smiled.

"Not a bad first effort. Your movement was correct. But whatever made you hesitate stood in the way of a successful defense. Let's reset and try again."

He backed up to his spot and retook the same stance.

Collen was frozen for a moment as he saw Tora's fist and heard his words. He felt something stuck in his throat. He had already failed. He was about to apologize when his teacher smiled and to his surprise, actually complimented him.

"Okay!" The boy relaxed and returned to his starting position, once again taking his time to find the stance and hold of his knife. As he was done he looked up at Tora with a questioning look as if asking if he did it correct.

Tora gave Collen a nod.

"Just like before, I won't tell you when I'm lunging for you. Just stay relaxed and move as quickly as you can."

Tora began making tiny steps to the left and right. Shuffling this way and that to keep Collen mentally on edge. There was no danger of a physical strike landing. But the simulation of a real-life conflict was still a heart-thumping experience for those not used to it.

Tora himself recalled briefly that it took him weeks to adjust to this kind of training when he was a child. And while there was a fairly significant age gap between when Tora trained as a child and Collen being fourteen, the principle was the same. Time would bring adjustment.

Nevertheless, he was already smiling a little to himself as he watched Collen's eyes track him as he moved about. And finally, he lunged at Collen once again while extending his right arm in the direction of Collen's chest.

The boy tried to focus on Tora and only Tora. The more he started to focus, the more he felt adrenaline building in his body.

This time when Tora lunged, Collen managed to dodge to his right. But did so too hastily as he stumbled to find his balance again. The boy let out an annoyed groan knowing in real life stumbling like that was as good as being dead.
Tora smiled and nodded a few times.

"A good effort." He said simply as he gave Collen a pat on the shoulder.

"Your face tells me you know what that meant if it were a real fight. So there's no need to repeat it. Instead, let's move on to something else."

Tora walked Collen to the center of the clearing.

"We're going to practice a different kind of awareness. The first type that we were just practicing is what my Master called Active Awareness. It's where you're focusing on actions and movements such as when an opponent is moving and how they're moving."

Tora walked over to a tree stump and sat down while gesturing to Collen to close his eyes.

"Now, we'll move to Passive Awareness. I want you to relax your body and use only your your ears to listen to the sounds coming from the forest around us. The birds. The animals. The wind and the rustling of the leaves. And whenever you hear an animal of any kind, I want you to point towards where you think you hear the sound coming from.

Collen listened as Tora explained the next practice. The concept of it seemed harder to grasp, but none of the less he nodded. "I'll try."

At first it was hard. The sounds seemed to come all around him and the rustling leaves seemed to cover other sounds under them. He frowned, closing his eyes to try focus harder.

He waited.

And waited.

But finally. "There!" He pointed directly behind Tora and opened his eyes.

Tora glanced over his shoulder and saw a small gathering of birds on one of the branches which made him smile.

"Very good."

Tora looked back at Collen and gestured to close his eyes again.

"All right Collen. Let's do the same thing once more. But this time I want you to focus in on a sound that's not coming from the birds or small creatures. There's another sound in this cacophony somewhere that's a potential threat. So let's see if you can find it. If not, don't worry about it because I'm tracking it as we speak. So focus in and see if you can pick it out."

Collen looked slightly worried as he was uncertain in the threat was real, or if Tora was trying to create tension. In any case the boy nodded, closing his eyes focusing on the sounds around him.

He was uncertain what he was looking for. Something a threat would make? Something that would seem different from a normal forest? He quickly shook his head, noticing his thoughts were distracting him.

Instinctively he shuffled around slightly, mimicking the stance Tora had taught him earlier. Then, he stood still, letting his ears focus on the sounds around him.

Slowly he started to pick them apart better, wind rustling the leaves on right, birds occasionally chirping on his left. Occasionally he thought he could hear Tora taking a deeper breath in the quiet night.

Still he couldn't find the threat. He frowned, trying to find it but eventually gave up shaking his head as he opened his eyes and looked at Tora.

Tora's smile never wavered and he gave Collen a slow and subtle nod.

"It's okay, Collen. The sound I'm listening for is the sound of the bushes rustling which is near identical to the sound of leaves in the wind. But if you can learn to pick out such subtle differences..."

He pointed to his own eye and then pointed off to Collen's right while also looking that direction. When Collen's eyes followed Tora's finger it took a moment for the light to reveal it, but a tuft of dark fur poked out above one of the bushes with the yellow shine of a pair of predatory eyes peered through the gaps of leaves in the bushes.

"... You can find any threat even in the most chaotic of situations."

Tora stood up and walked over to stand beside Collen as they both looked at the animal in the bushes which quickly disappeared and ran off into the woods to search for easier prey.

"I think that's enough for tonight. Tomorrow while you're doing your chores and tasks for the Captain be sure to think about what we've gone over. Mental practice is still practice, after all. Tomorrow evening we'll meet behind that house again and we'll review what we learned tonight and begin covering some basic combat maneuvers. Deal?"

Collen was amazed how easily Tora could have found such a quiet sound and seeing the wild animal itself gave the boy a bit of childish joy.

He smiled wide at Tora. "Deal."

Tora patted him on the back.

"Then let's get back to the ship."

As they walked back towards the ship, the boy suddenly gave a quick hug to him. "Thanks." He whispered, letting go as soon as it happened.

And with that they returned to the Silver Moon with Tora taking up a spot on the mast as usual and Collen returning below deck.

With the moon high above the clearing in the forest not far from A'hana's family home, Tora stood across from Collen with his arms resting at his sides.

"Okay Collen. We've reviewed the physical aspects of awareness from our previous lesson. So let's move on to the mental. Close your eyes."

Collen had and would be focusing extra hard to his training that night as the previous night had been unsuccessful. Just as Collen had gotten on the deck after sunset, one of the crew returned to the boat having spent the evening on shore. One who was rather drunk and decided to share stories about his luck with women to Collen. Having no way out of way of the situation without seeming suspicious, Collen had been forced to stay on deck, claiming he was unable to sleep and was just catching some fresh air.

Now he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Tora nodded and backed up to sit down on a small boulder.

"There are three birds and one woodland creature around us right now. Listen carefully, and point to where they are one by one."

Collen nodded and listened quietly. As the first bird chirped quietly, he pointed towards it's general direction. Next one was harder. He had to listen for several minutes before he was able to point towards, what he assumed was a woodpecker.

Keeping his eyes closed he tried to hear any more sounds. Something that he could pick out of the rustling of leaves in the wind. He thought he heard a small snap of a branch towards the left side and pointed, hoping it was the woodland creature Tora mentioned.

But, despite listening for another several minutes, Collen couldn't hear the last bird. He shook his head and opened his eyes, only to see a tiny bird hopping near Tora in search of food.

Tora smiled.

"Well done."

The bird flew away the moment he spoke, and Tora stood up and approached Collen.

"I believe you're ready to begin learning some basics of combat strategy. So, draw your knife and assume your stance."

Collen, trying to not look too eager and excited, nodded and took his knife. He took the stance Tora had taught him, looking at him waiting his orders.

Tora walked forward and knelt down so he sat up straight on his knees at around the same height as Collen.

"There are several things to keep in mind during combat. But we'll just focus on three tonight."

He made an "X" in front of his torso with both arms.

"The natural position of your arms makes for slashing along this X ideal. So, try it out. Practice slashing along both lines of the X from neck to hip. And make sure that you go all the way through. If you stop early, your attacks will lack power."

Collen listened his instructions closely. "Okay." He made sure his grip of the knife was firm as he made the first few slashes in the air, but struggled to have power by the end of them. He frowned, knowing he must be doing something wrong and looked at Tora. "Can you show me?"

Tora nodded and scooted forward a little so he could reach out to Collen.

"Your arms moving is one thing. But if you want power, you need to turn your hips into the strike."

Using one hand to gently take Collen's wrist, and the other on Collen's hip, he helped Collen practice the motion while helping him rotate his hips.

"Relying on your arms alone isn't enough. As soon as the attack begins you want to start rotating your hips. Doing so puts all of your body weight behind the strike, like so."

He helped Collen go through the motion slowly twice on each side, then backed up and crossed his arms again.

"Try it yourself now. As soon as the strike reaches the neck twist your hips into the remainder until it exits at the hip."

"Okay. I'll try." Collen took a minute to mentally go over the motion Tora was teaching him and struck. While the movement was still somewhat clumsy, he was able to get the power all the way through.

"It feels better", he told him and tried the movement again before doing the same on the other side. After a few more repetitions to get feel for the movement he looked at Tora for any more corrections.

Tora nodded.

"Good."

Tora then stood up.

"The chances of fighting someone your own age are slim. So it's important you understand how to apply that X attack region to an opponent larger than you are."

Tora took a somewhat less professional stance similar to the ones the pirates usually took.

"When they stand this way, blade forward and body facing you, they're showing you another target along the X I made with my arms. Right in the center."

Tora pointed to his belly, just above the belly button area.

"This is a vulnerable area to stab. So when they raise their arm to slash like this," Tora raised his front arm as if raising a sword, "You lunge in and stab that center point on the X as fast as you can."

He lowered his arm and started moving subtly about.

"Wait for my attack, then counter with a stab towards that center point."

Collen was listening his instructions closely and swallowed slightly as the image of the night flashed in his mind. The night when in the desperation he had been stabbing the man over and over again with his knife. But he had to push it out of his mind and focus on Tora's teaching. If a night like that happened again, he had to be more prepared.

The boy gave a small nod, corrected his stance and watched as Tora moved around. As Tora raised his arm, Collen lunged forward. But he was too late as Tora blocked it.

"Good."

Tora reset his position.

"Your movement was correct. But your hesitation slowed you down. Try once more. And this time try your best to relax, observe, and react. Don't worry or think about anything else."

"Okay." Collen said taking a deep breath. He took the position again, focusing his mind on Tora and his movements. As he raised his arm again, Collen rushed forward. And to his surprise, "stabbed" Tora.

Tora gripped Collen's wrist to prevent a true stab from reaching him, but the blade tip was but a millimeter from his shirt.

"Well done."

Tora backed away a half step and stood up straight.

"We've covered the natural flow of motion for your slashes, and we've covered the weakness of the body's center line during an attack. We've one more thing to cover."

Tora backed away another step and drew his sword.

"Fear."

He took his real stance with the blade primed and ready, aimed directly at Collen's neck.

"Fear is the most debilitating enemy of all. It can cause the body to freeze which is a certain death sentence in real combat. So the final part of this lesson is learning to overcome the fear of death as it stares you down."

Tora prepared to strike.

"Prepare yourself, Collen. I won't be holding back this time."

With the sword pointed at his neck, Collen swallowed instinctively. But he had made a decision of not letting the Captain scare him, so why let anyone else? He took his stance, holding his knife and nodded at Tora signaling he was ready.

Tora's calm expression faded to one of emptiness and neutrality.

He stood perfectly still for a long, long time. Every now and then he would blink. But other than that, it almost looked more like he was posing for a painted portrait than preparing for an attack.

Every second which ticked by felt like an eternity. Tora's body remained still as stone, eyes locked on Collen's, and blade lined up with Collen's neck.

"What are you thinking about right now?"

Collen was waiting, trying his best to keep his breathing steady as he watched Tora and the blade aimed at his neck. His whole body was tensing up to prepare for that second he was going to attack. The second that seemed to never come. It made him nervous. Nervous but he didn't let the fear take over him. Instead he grabbed the knife tighter.

"Why are you not attacking", he replied as that was the main question is his mind right now.

Tora's eyes narrowed.

"I already am." He said quietly.

"You're nervous. So I've already successfully attacked you. Whether or not you even realize or accept the reality, I've frightened you. And now you've become tense because you're anticipating an attack which-"

Tora lunged forward and set his blade beside Collen's neck, using the flat to gently tap his shoulder.

"Came when you were at your most vulnerable."

Collen froze and swallowed as Tora lunged at him, barely even able to lift his dagger hand in time to try to counter attack. Feeling the tap on his shoulder he looked away, gritting his teeth. He felt extremely annoyed at himself. Without realizing it, he was gripping the knife so hard that his knuckles were turning white. He wasn't just annoyed. He was angry at himself. He had done the one thing he was not supposed to do and in a real situation, he would have been dead.

"Tora? What do you think about the Captain?" He asked all of sudden still looking away from him and towards the forest.

Tora sheathed his sword and placed a hand on Collen's shoulder.

"I think the Captain is a man who knows how to use fear to his advantage."

He knelt down and placed his other hand on Collen's other shoulder and made the boy face him.

"Collen. Your presence and how you carry yourself into battle is both your first line of defense, and your first attack. If you can project an aura of confidence that puts your opponent on edge, you've already won the opening bout. After that it's just a matter of following through."

He let go of the boy's shoulders and offered him a calm smile.

"Are you afraid of the Captain?"

The boy thought for a while. "Sometimes." He admitted. "You can never know what mood he is in. And it can change as quickly as a storm wind." He glanced down for a moment, but then looked at Tora again. "But I'm used to it. It's not too different from my life before joining the crew." He shrugged.

Indeed there was a lot of similarity in Lohran and Collen's father. Their temper, the way they only cared about themselves and not the others. Collen glanced back down. "There's only one reason he even keeps me at the ship to begin with." He shrugged again.

Tora's smile remained, but no longer reached his eyes.

"I cannot pretend to know how you feel. But I can promise that if you keep training with me and learn to subdue your fear, the Captain will no longer frighten you."

He stood up and placed a hand on Collen's shoulder.

"A man who loses the fear he relies on to control others is nothing more than a snake without fangs. It can hiss and mimic a bite. But it can do no harm... Do you understand?"

"I think so", he nodded. "Thanks."

Tora nodded.

"Then reset your stance and let's continue."

Morning...

How long did they sleep? Was it truly only a few hours? Surely not. It had to have been longer than that. Regardless, Cretas awoke with Lemnia in her arms, fast asleep, and a sore and achy back from the horrible cot they were sleeping on.

"Ugh." She grumbled as she slowly worked her way to the edge without waking Lem, whom she gently lifted over so her head was on the pillow.

Walking up on deck she spied Tora in his usual spot sitting on the mast and watching her carefully as she stretched her arms high until her elbows and back both cracked.

"Ooh, that felt good." She muttered.

She grabbed the railing of the ship and gently twisted around until her lower back cracked, and then the other way to the same result. Rubbing the small of her back as best she could she turned and sat on the railing. She glanced back to Tora a moment wondered why his eyes were glued to her like that. He normally would be relaxing and watching the horizon. However, a quick diversion of his glance to the upper deck and the wheel drew her gaze.

"Oh... That's why." She whispered.

The Captain was standing beside the wheel with a crooked smile. His eyes were locked on Tora, who returned the stare. Cretas glanced between them and could practically feel the malice hidden within the Captain's smile, and Tora's silent fury standing in firm opposition to it. In every way this was a battle in and of itself between the two men. Eventually the Captain was forced to look away as one of his men approached and asked for confirmation of whether or not their current heading was correct for whenever they chose to leave port. And so Tora relaxed his gaze and returned it to Cretas with the most subtle of nods, which she returned.

Desmiel, thank you. She thought.

"Momma?"

Cretas looked over and found Lemnia sleepily rubbing her eyes as she stumbled over to her mother's now open and waiting arms as she was scooped up.

"You should still be sleeping, love."

"Can't."

"Why not?"

"The pillow wasn't comfy."

"Aw, I'm sorry love."

"Mommy's more comfy." She replied while leaning against Cretas and closing her eyes.

Cretas' heart melted, and she couldn't stop herself from rubbing cheeks with Lem and kissing her temple. Lem fell asleep almost immediately which made Cretas' smile grow wider. But when Tora dropped from the mast with one hand holding the scabbard of his blade, Cretas knew what was happening.

"The little angel be sleepin' already?"

"She's tired."

"Aye. Are ye sure ye don't wanna put 'er ta bed in me quarters? Bed's softer n' wot's down in da belly ov the ship."

"No, thank you."

"Aye. Have it yer way, lassie."

The Captain walked back up to the main deck and once again stood by the wheel as the crewman from earlier walked off the ship via the plank leading to the shore below and wandered off into the village. While watching him, Cretas jumped a bit when Tora touched her shoulder.

"Sorry to scare you."

"Oh, no. It's fine. Thank you for looking out for us."

"Of course."

"You think he'd try anything right now?"

"No."

"You sure?"

"He's brazen. Not stupid."

"I could argue that point."

Tora chuckled. "I'm sure you could. For now try not to worry."

"Will do."

Tora nodded and returned to the mast, but this time simply leaned against it while keeping his eyes on the Captain and Cretas, the latter of whom decided it best to go into the village as well if not just to get Lem away from the ship for a while. A lonely log near the center of the village served as a rather convenient chair for Cretas as she sat down and slid Lem onto her lap for support.

"That's a bit better," she whispered while stroking Lem's hair.

Looking up at the lightly cloudy skies, and then to the greenery surrounding the village, she found herself for the first time contemplating if she'd made a mistake in coming this far with Lohren at the helm. But thoughts of the Captain soon gave way to a nightmare as she observed one of the few passing clouds took shape. Cretas found her hands trembling and her jaw clenching, and she could feel her heart skipping beats in her chest.

Quickly she looked away and caught her breath before looking at Lem and stroking her hair for her own comfort.

"He's gone, Cretas... He's gone. Just... Just calm down. It'll all be okay." She whispered.

Suddenly, a drop of water fell on Lem's cheek. But... It wasn't raining. Cretas used one finger to feel her face and found a single tear had rolled down without her knowing. Her mouth hung open slightly, but quickly closed as she sniffed back anymore that might fall in favor of nuzzling Lem which helped reduce her heart rate.

"Desmiel, help me."