Ashan 8 719
Night fell early as it became darker than Enrick could've anticipated, thanks to the cloud cover which released the a turbulent deluge upon them. Even by now Enrick had expected to be accustomed to the sea, and how rough the waves were when they crashed against the bow of the ship. He had to shake the water from his eyes as droplets pelted his brow and forehead, as the cold brine of the sea often sprayed over him with each ride down another wave. Lighting crashed the sky as he felt the ship rock back and forth hard, almost as though the wild turbulence erratically changed direction by pure whim.
"Enrick!" His companion Ekumo called out above the roaring seas as they ascended another mountainous wave. "Enrick!" The dark-skinned man stumbled as he tried to hold on for dear life, clearly not a man of the sea as his balance shifted with the ship. It took him a moment to reach the wheel, as the gusts of the wind whipped hard against them both when Enrick felt them slam at his back. This wasn't doing them any good... Seven days out at sea and they're already slammed with a nasty storm? Just who did Enrick piss off when he left Desnind behind anyways?
"We have to find a way out of the storm!" He called out aloud as another crash of lightning filled the sky.
"Too late fer dat!" He hollered back with hands firm on the pegs of the wheel, his narrowed turquoise eyes focused forward as he leaned back from another dip. "Only ting t' do is hang tight and sit t'rough it!" It suddenly happened again as the winds whirled frantically, the cold spray of water from both rain and sky yet again a shower from the front once more.
"Can you make it then?! Will the ship hold?!" Enrick could only swallow hard as he hadn't quite the answer, last time he experienced waters too rough for him; a large spirit had caused the storm and took out his eyes without any intention. Sailing the seas certainly had it's hazards and while Enrick knew well enough now, Ekumo seemed to be fresh to the experience entirely since he had only started learning when they left.
"She's a tough one, she can hold on." He finally reassured the man as he looked up to the sails, the mast being his main concern since it was likely to suffer most. Ekumo held on for another rise and when the ship dipped into another descend, the waves suddenly started to flatten as Enrick felt the ship begin to drift. Strange for when that started to happen... There had to be a pretty strong current to cause the ship to pull elsewhere, all while the winds started to pick up from the backside once more. Enrick twisted the wheel counter-clockwise to try and steer the ship away, all while the boom helplessly responded to the turn with intention to catch wind.
With the sails secured they'd hopefully just ride the currents out of this raging storm, however in the meantime Enrick had to focus on keeping her afloat among the waves. Suddenly they seemed to pull with the Windrunner however as the ship continued to drift, and Enrick's own strength became tested against the currents themselves. "What... de... Fek?..." He uttered in between groans as he tried to keep pulling, and when Ekumo saw that he struggled; the dark-skinned Defier stepped in to help out. Both men were at the attention of the wheel now as they held it there, no longer able to turn it any further as the ship still drifted way off course.
Finally their strength gave out and when they slipped from the wheel, the ship dramatically pulled further into the current he tried to resist. Both men fell on their backs dumbfounded as Enrick had been the first to try and stand, determined to catch the wheel before any more complication developed from their stall. Ekumo rose slower as he relied more on the ship's rails to help him stand, which apparently led him to realize what exactly had transpired now. "Enrick!!" The call of his name led him to focus from the wheel out towards the open sea again, the waves no longer rolling but instead swirling around a large body of water.
Bronze hues suddenly filled his irides as he knew right away what was about to take place, as he'd heard stories from many of the sailors in Scalvoris... but never expected to see one in his lifetime. "Fekkin' fates help us." The body of water the ship sailed into pulled them into its fierce rotation, as the heart of a maelstrom revealed itself while they tread just outside it's swirling ring. Enrick pulled the wheel as hard as he could to try and divert their course yet again, but the resistance he felt in doing so proved practically pointless as the ship proceeded within the proximity of the ring. If this were a beast of the sea, then they were now certainly trapped within it's maw as the ship sailed the circling water towards the center.
"What do we do now?!" The question was met with the same considerable thought, as Enrick had never believed it possible to come across one of these. A fucking maelstrom! As the ship made its first lap around the belly, Enrick's eyes searched frantically for something, anything really, that could perhaps help set them free.
"Take de wheel an' don't let go, keep her aimed fer de outside alright?!"
"What?!" Ekumo sounded horrified now, as he knew what to expect if Enrick couldn't save the ship. They both did... which was why Enrick had to try, and why he needed his companion to take the wheel in his place.
"Y' heard me! We only got one shot at dis, Oi'm gonna 'ave t' make it count!" He insisted as he pulled Ekumo over to grasp the wheel, once the man seemed to have a firm hold Enrick then let him be; and moved carefully from the wheel towards the mast as the ship started to lean. Time was of the essence now and if he didn't hurry, then they'd be swallowed whole by the sea in a matter of minutes. When he reached the mast Enrick yanked and tugged to loosen the knot there, desperate to free the sheet from it's hold so that he might release the sails once more. After a few more tugs and careful pulls he finally managed to get the knot undone, and with the sheet wrapped around his forearm like he would normally do before; Enrick fed slack to the mast so that the sails would open to catch wind.
The turbulence had nearly died down however, a startling transition to how they were earlier. With just enough winds to pull them along though, Enrick moved closer to the side elevated from the maelstrom. With the distributed weight factoring in there and what winds they caught in his sails, their only hope was to try and pull out from the gushing center they were slowly reaching. At first it looked as though the efforts were actually helping, until it Enrick noticed just how close they were at reaching the center. "Enrick!!"
"Ekumo!!"
As both roared each other's name in vain at the top of their lungs, the Windrunner capsized and turned over into the heart of the maelstrom.
"Enrick", "Ẹrọim", "Follower", "NPC"
