Arc 695, Saun
Too and throw the boat rocked steadily with the waves as the crew boarded the endless supply line of cargo. Oathryn had wasted no time putting Vakhanor to work and introduced him the first mate, a man named Felt. Felt was a tall, intimidating man with rugged features and an aura of authority and had been eager to teach the boy everything as quickly as possible and started with lifting. As soon as he was satisfied, the Aukari excused himself to go about his own business and felt showed the young apprentice around the docks. “You look like shit kid,” the man said, walking steadily alongside him “whatever ‘appened to ya looks fresh. That gonna get in the way?”
Afraid of what Oathryn might do or say if he refused Vakhanor lowered his head and gave a hardened response, regardless of the agony “Nope.”
Wary of the boy’s confidence felt fell silent as they carried on through the rush of oncoming people. Beings of all races bustled around, going about their daily lives. Some spent a pleasant afternoon fishing on the wharf, while others bickered about coin and some were like them getting ready to sail. “Look ‘ere kid, “Felt lifted his finger in the direction of the crates where a woman and a man were helping each other to lift one of the heavy wooden boxes “See what those two? That’s Goy and Vyleia, hard workers the pair of them. You see the way they bend their legs to lift with their backs straight? That’s too make sure they don’t break ‘em.”
Quietly watching the pair Vakhanor trained his eyes on the woman, Vyleia. She was beautiful with long tied back hair and dark, tanned skin with a patch across her right eye. And although her clothing was not glamorous like the stories told, the lady lifted the weight as if she were an equal to the burlier looking individual that shared her burden. Wide-eyed with childish excitement Vakhanor’s heart began beating in his chest; they weren’t going with pirates were they?
“You like Vy eh boy?” Felt asked, grinning down at him.
Unafraid of his affection toward the woman, Vakh smiled back at the taskmaster “You don’t?” he asked in a casual matter of fact tone.
Taken by surprise by Vakh’s confidence the sailor shook his head “She’s a bit old for you boy,” he asserted, almost as if her were being defensive over the stranger.
“Yeah,” the apprentice agreed with a shrug and turned his attention back to the taskmaster “Where do you want me to start?”
Uncertainty made Felt nervous and a serious expression befell the mate’s face, worried for the way the boy would interact with the crew until he reminded himself that the apprentice was just a kid and Vyleia, although a gentle soul would shove the boy out of her way in a heartbeat. Joy returned to Felt’s face at the mention of work “Don’t be too eager lad. You’ll be partnered with Jourf, he’s been asking me to get another crew member to help him for months,” he said, slapping a large encouraging hand on Vakh’s shoulder “let’s go find him.”
They wandered through the dockyards, onto the boat, into the galley, back off the boat and back to the crates where they eventually found Jourf fighting with another crew member. “You’re a waste of space y’ lazy shyte,” the large man boomed down to a smaller crew member who was clearly not interested in listening, or helping him.
“Oh my days! You’re so strong Jourf,” the smaller man sneered faking a swoon “won’t you just wet my fancy.”
“I ain’t got time to faggot around. Be useful or take your pansy prick elsewhere,” Jourf retorted, visibly disgusted by the smaller man’s statement.
“Ah! Ye better be careful Jourf, there’s a lot of rich pansy pricks around here. Y’ never know, give them a suck and they might buy ya dinner,” the smaller man grinned; he knew he was onto something.
Tempted just to watch for a little while longer Vakhanor laughed at the display between the two men. One was smaller, with beaded green eyes and thin mousey brown hair – likely the same size as Vakhanor, stood at five foot six with a chin that pointed out of his face like a sore thumb. While Jourf on the other hand was large with biceps that bulged from beneath the thing cotton of his shirt, greying black hair, blue eyes and a scrunched face. “Are they always like this?” the apprentice asked, looking up to the mate who was stood still, arms crossed and shaking his head.
“It’s Jourf,” Felt eventually replied and wandered over to the two, ready to break up the fist fight that Jourf looked like he was about to initiate “alright Linderman, enough! Pack it in.”
Linderman chuckled, delighted with himself for having wound up the large man and scuttled away “Good luck,” the weasel of a man winked to Vakhanor on his way past. Baffled, the boy’s eyes followed the smaller crewmate with piqued curiosity and turned only to find nothing, the man had disappeared.
“Vakh,” Felt’s voice broke the boy’s attention away from the mystery “come here, I want you to meet the man who will be looking after ya.” Obediently he wandered over to the two men and wordlessly extended his hand toward Jourf in greeting. The big lump of the large man’s hand clasped his with incredible strength and a large, broken toothy smile “Finally some fresh meat.”
Unnerved by the use of the term ‘fresh meat’ Vakhanor offered what little he could muster of a smile and withdrew his hand from Jourf’s giant palm. “Crates?” he asked eventually, eager to keep his mind away from drifting into solemn thoughts.
Jourf raised his brow and looked to Felt “You found a boy that wants to work?” the scrunched face man addressed his superior with a friendly familiarity like Vakh had never seen before.
A calculated smile lit up the mates’s face, if he was unhappy about Vakhanor’s presence, the boy couldn’t tell. “We got lucky. This is our passenger, Vakhanor – travelling with the Aukari, Oathryn. Says the boy worked as an apprentice under a smith here in Andaris, we can use him to lift the crates and swab the decks,” said Felt, leaning back against a post “Give him a rest for today though, he can start tomorrow. If he’s good we might even teach him something useful.”
Jourf nodded solemnly while Vakh stood, studying the looks of understanding that passed between them. It appeared that the power of the words they did not speak were more powerful than the ones they did. “What about the lizards?” Jourf piped up and stood beside Vakhanor “Get ‘im to muck them out.”
Felt nodded “I best be off, rest easy boy. You’ve a long few days ahead of you,” the mate offered and wandered back toward the ship, leaving him with Jourf.
Too and throw the boat rocked steadily with the waves as the crew boarded the endless supply line of cargo. Oathryn had wasted no time putting Vakhanor to work and introduced him the first mate, a man named Felt. Felt was a tall, intimidating man with rugged features and an aura of authority and had been eager to teach the boy everything as quickly as possible and started with lifting. As soon as he was satisfied, the Aukari excused himself to go about his own business and felt showed the young apprentice around the docks. “You look like shit kid,” the man said, walking steadily alongside him “whatever ‘appened to ya looks fresh. That gonna get in the way?”
Afraid of what Oathryn might do or say if he refused Vakhanor lowered his head and gave a hardened response, regardless of the agony “Nope.”
Wary of the boy’s confidence felt fell silent as they carried on through the rush of oncoming people. Beings of all races bustled around, going about their daily lives. Some spent a pleasant afternoon fishing on the wharf, while others bickered about coin and some were like them getting ready to sail. “Look ‘ere kid, “Felt lifted his finger in the direction of the crates where a woman and a man were helping each other to lift one of the heavy wooden boxes “See what those two? That’s Goy and Vyleia, hard workers the pair of them. You see the way they bend their legs to lift with their backs straight? That’s too make sure they don’t break ‘em.”
Quietly watching the pair Vakhanor trained his eyes on the woman, Vyleia. She was beautiful with long tied back hair and dark, tanned skin with a patch across her right eye. And although her clothing was not glamorous like the stories told, the lady lifted the weight as if she were an equal to the burlier looking individual that shared her burden. Wide-eyed with childish excitement Vakhanor’s heart began beating in his chest; they weren’t going with pirates were they?
“You like Vy eh boy?” Felt asked, grinning down at him.
Unafraid of his affection toward the woman, Vakh smiled back at the taskmaster “You don’t?” he asked in a casual matter of fact tone.
Taken by surprise by Vakh’s confidence the sailor shook his head “She’s a bit old for you boy,” he asserted, almost as if her were being defensive over the stranger.
“Yeah,” the apprentice agreed with a shrug and turned his attention back to the taskmaster “Where do you want me to start?”
Uncertainty made Felt nervous and a serious expression befell the mate’s face, worried for the way the boy would interact with the crew until he reminded himself that the apprentice was just a kid and Vyleia, although a gentle soul would shove the boy out of her way in a heartbeat. Joy returned to Felt’s face at the mention of work “Don’t be too eager lad. You’ll be partnered with Jourf, he’s been asking me to get another crew member to help him for months,” he said, slapping a large encouraging hand on Vakh’s shoulder “let’s go find him.”
They wandered through the dockyards, onto the boat, into the galley, back off the boat and back to the crates where they eventually found Jourf fighting with another crew member. “You’re a waste of space y’ lazy shyte,” the large man boomed down to a smaller crew member who was clearly not interested in listening, or helping him.
“Oh my days! You’re so strong Jourf,” the smaller man sneered faking a swoon “won’t you just wet my fancy.”
“I ain’t got time to faggot around. Be useful or take your pansy prick elsewhere,” Jourf retorted, visibly disgusted by the smaller man’s statement.
“Ah! Ye better be careful Jourf, there’s a lot of rich pansy pricks around here. Y’ never know, give them a suck and they might buy ya dinner,” the smaller man grinned; he knew he was onto something.
Tempted just to watch for a little while longer Vakhanor laughed at the display between the two men. One was smaller, with beaded green eyes and thin mousey brown hair – likely the same size as Vakhanor, stood at five foot six with a chin that pointed out of his face like a sore thumb. While Jourf on the other hand was large with biceps that bulged from beneath the thing cotton of his shirt, greying black hair, blue eyes and a scrunched face. “Are they always like this?” the apprentice asked, looking up to the mate who was stood still, arms crossed and shaking his head.
“It’s Jourf,” Felt eventually replied and wandered over to the two, ready to break up the fist fight that Jourf looked like he was about to initiate “alright Linderman, enough! Pack it in.”
Linderman chuckled, delighted with himself for having wound up the large man and scuttled away “Good luck,” the weasel of a man winked to Vakhanor on his way past. Baffled, the boy’s eyes followed the smaller crewmate with piqued curiosity and turned only to find nothing, the man had disappeared.
“Vakh,” Felt’s voice broke the boy’s attention away from the mystery “come here, I want you to meet the man who will be looking after ya.” Obediently he wandered over to the two men and wordlessly extended his hand toward Jourf in greeting. The big lump of the large man’s hand clasped his with incredible strength and a large, broken toothy smile “Finally some fresh meat.”
Unnerved by the use of the term ‘fresh meat’ Vakhanor offered what little he could muster of a smile and withdrew his hand from Jourf’s giant palm. “Crates?” he asked eventually, eager to keep his mind away from drifting into solemn thoughts.
Jourf raised his brow and looked to Felt “You found a boy that wants to work?” the scrunched face man addressed his superior with a friendly familiarity like Vakh had never seen before.
A calculated smile lit up the mates’s face, if he was unhappy about Vakhanor’s presence, the boy couldn’t tell. “We got lucky. This is our passenger, Vakhanor – travelling with the Aukari, Oathryn. Says the boy worked as an apprentice under a smith here in Andaris, we can use him to lift the crates and swab the decks,” said Felt, leaning back against a post “Give him a rest for today though, he can start tomorrow. If he’s good we might even teach him something useful.”
Jourf nodded solemnly while Vakh stood, studying the looks of understanding that passed between them. It appeared that the power of the words they did not speak were more powerful than the ones they did. “What about the lizards?” Jourf piped up and stood beside Vakhanor “Get ‘im to muck them out.”
Felt nodded “I best be off, rest easy boy. You’ve a long few days ahead of you,” the mate offered and wandered back toward the ship, leaving him with Jourf.
