Post by PeroxidePirate on Sept 2, 2010 22:05:09 GMT 10
Title: Always Moving
Rating: PG
Prompt: 26. the call of sea, stars, and sky
Summary: Daja can't remember a time she wasn't moving.
Daja floated, hammock swaying with the waves. Ropes creaked with the movement, and somewhere a sail caught the wind with a loud crack. It had been such a long time since she'd been aship, though she wondered, now, why she hadn't been part of the last few voyages. Had she done poorly, and been sent back to learn the basics of a sea-trader's craft in one of the coastal villages? But she was learning the sky, already, and the patterns of the stars. And she knew all the knots – wasn't she helping to teach her younger sister?
Her sister.
Her sister was dead. So were her parents, her favorite aunt, the cousins she'd followed around though her whole childhood. So was everyone who had been on Third Ship Kisubo.
Daja jolted awake. It was dusk, and for a minute she could have sworn she was on a ship – in a cabin, although the hammocks for young crewmembers would be strung in one large room below-decks.
But she couldn't smell the sea. Instead, she smelled copper and woodsmoke and grass.
The rocking and creaking came to a simultaneous halt, and Daja realized she was in a wagon. She must have collapsed, after all, and Kirel had gotten her to Polyam's wagon. That was embarrassing.
“Is she awake?” Polyam's voice came from somewhere up front.
The door swung open.
“I'm fine,” Daja said quickly, getting to her feet. Someone had removed her shoes. “Thank you.” She stepped out of the wagon, stumbling as she landed. A woman with one leg managed to get in and out of this wagon all the time.
Polyam half-climbed, half-slid down from the wagon seat, and nodded to Daja.
Daja nodded back. “Thank you, both.” She looked at Kirel. “We'd better get back to the castle.”
“It's quite a ride,” he answered. “It's getting dark. We thought you'd sleep the night through.” He hefted a bundle of canvas Daja hadn't noticed before. “Polyam's lending me a tent and a blanket. I'm going to set up over there.” With a wave, he began to walk away.
Daja watched him go. “Where am I going to sleep, then?”
Polyam answered in Tradertalk: “That's entirely up to you.”
Rating: PG
Prompt: 26. the call of sea, stars, and sky
Summary: Daja can't remember a time she wasn't moving.
Daja floated, hammock swaying with the waves. Ropes creaked with the movement, and somewhere a sail caught the wind with a loud crack. It had been such a long time since she'd been aship, though she wondered, now, why she hadn't been part of the last few voyages. Had she done poorly, and been sent back to learn the basics of a sea-trader's craft in one of the coastal villages? But she was learning the sky, already, and the patterns of the stars. And she knew all the knots – wasn't she helping to teach her younger sister?
Her sister.
Her sister was dead. So were her parents, her favorite aunt, the cousins she'd followed around though her whole childhood. So was everyone who had been on Third Ship Kisubo.
Daja jolted awake. It was dusk, and for a minute she could have sworn she was on a ship – in a cabin, although the hammocks for young crewmembers would be strung in one large room below-decks.
But she couldn't smell the sea. Instead, she smelled copper and woodsmoke and grass.
The rocking and creaking came to a simultaneous halt, and Daja realized she was in a wagon. She must have collapsed, after all, and Kirel had gotten her to Polyam's wagon. That was embarrassing.
“Is she awake?” Polyam's voice came from somewhere up front.
The door swung open.
“I'm fine,” Daja said quickly, getting to her feet. Someone had removed her shoes. “Thank you.” She stepped out of the wagon, stumbling as she landed. A woman with one leg managed to get in and out of this wagon all the time.
Polyam half-climbed, half-slid down from the wagon seat, and nodded to Daja.
Daja nodded back. “Thank you, both.” She looked at Kirel. “We'd better get back to the castle.”
“It's quite a ride,” he answered. “It's getting dark. We thought you'd sleep the night through.” He hefted a bundle of canvas Daja hadn't noticed before. “Polyam's lending me a tent and a blanket. I'm going to set up over there.” With a wave, he began to walk away.
Daja watched him go. “Where am I going to sleep, then?”
Polyam answered in Tradertalk: “That's entirely up to you.”
Maybe once we'd have seen it during Smackdown!