MARIN

Marin was the first to recover from the shock and surveyed their position and the vessel as it rocked in the calming waves. Expanding beams of light illuminated the wreckage around them as the storm dispersed, revealing the light of day and the many black and white painted wood fragments of the two ships. While most of both ships had sunk beneath the waves, sprinters from the collision marked the site like flowers on a gravestone.

The sight made Marin sick, and she decided to turn her focus away from the white and black debris.

Marin decided the vessel was decent, with space for all of them to sleep below decks, though slightly cramped. The deck was also barely large enough for everyone to sit comfortably, both on the deck and in the hull below. She estimated the little vessel was about ten paces wide and thirty or more long.

She heard splashing off the port side and saw one of the pirates swimming toward them. The Pantherian quickly hoisted the sails and took the helm. The dwindling gale provided speed as they sailed northward at a decent clip. Marin barely thought as the sailboat skirted the west coast of the southern continent, she barely knew where they were headed.

A few hours of silence passed, and the wreckage disappeared far behind them before someone spoke. "W̶͙͘h̶͕͝—̴̎ͅa̸͕͘t̵̛̼ ̴̥̇d̴̕͜o̷̹͂ ̷̥̆w̸̺͒é̷̘ ̷̲̚d̷͍̄o̶͙̾ ̶̬͌n̸͚͗ö̴̦́w̷̥̒!?!?" Myrllen's voice cracked as he breathed in ragged breaths. He put his hands on his head as he put his head in his lap with a sniffle.

Everyone looked at the Stellan with wide eyes. "Myrllen, ̸̖̈́w̷̯̒h̵̨̒ǎ̶̼t̸̟͠ ̶̻̅d̴͈̄w̵͉̽i̶̦͆d̶̥͊ ̶͇̈w̸̖̑y̶̮̿o̶̺̕ṵ̶̉ ̸̡͠s̴͙̈́a̸͓͑y̷̝̍?" Costasiella tilted her head in confusion.

"W̷̗̓e̶͍̓ ̸̖̏c̸̞͊a̸̓ͅn̷͈̓'̷̦̕t̵̹̓ ̵͈͠ṳ̵̀n̷̈ͅd̴̙͝e̵̯̔r̸̞̚ș̷͘t̴̩͝a̸̹͆n̶̟͐d̶̬̓ ̴̳̂ȩ̷̚ă̶͈c̶̡͋h̷͔̀ ̶̪̈ô̸̞ṱ̸̏h̵̟̔e̷͍͑r̷̦̿ ̴̦̂ẃ̸̻į̴͆t̸̤̊h̶̰̀o̷͙͆u̸̥̍t̷̺̋ ̵͚̄Paragon..." Travis looked at his crewmates with wide eyes.

"Paragon....." Costasiella used a tendril to wipe tears from her eyes.

"W̸̙̋ĕ̵̠'̴̫͝l̴̟͝l̶͓̿ ̵̦͐b̸̼̿e̵̤̓ ̵͍̀ö̶̱k̸̫͠,̶̢̿ ̶̪̆Costasiella...̸̞̚.̸̜̈́ ̴̺̆I̸̭̔ ̶̡̎h̷̲̅o̵̰̊p̴͔͠e̶̥̊." Travis tried to sound soothing as he patted the dragoo's shoulder, but Costasiella couldn't contain her tears. Soon, all four of them were partially blinded by tears in their eyes.

"W̴͚̑h̶̭̽e̴͇̓r̴̓͜è̷͜ ̷͕̉d̸̛͙ȍ̷ͅ ̴̮͌w̶̟͐e̴̹̚ ̶̧̀g̸͓̀o̵͈̽?̴͙̕ ̸̥̓W̵̪͛h̷̳̔a̷̖͋ţ̶̑ ̵̤̎d̶̘̍o̴̜̅ ̶̧͆ẃ̴͕e̵͖̔ ̶̡̾d̴̛͕ȍ̵͇?̷̳͗" Myrllen spoke with ragged breathing.

"I wish I knew what I could do." Marin sighed to herself as she glanced around the open ocean, then set a course north, out into the open ocean, then checked to make sure the sail and helm were set.

She approached the group. All of them were starting to look red with sunburn, and solemnly stared out at the ocean, silent again.

Marin paused, then tried to speak what little she knew of Ferone from her time under the pirates instead of her native Meowin tongue. Humans live in Ferona, maybe Travis will recognize it? "I... look... below." She tried, pointing to the door that led below decks.

None of them looked at her with recognition. "Ȳ̴̖ọ̸͘ṷ̵͋'̵͇̊ṛ̶͒ę̷̅...̸͓̋ ̶̻̈́g̸̟̃o̴̮̓ĭ̵̜n̵͂͜g̵͇̚ ̴́͜b̵̰͠e̴͕̋l̷̪͐ö̴͍́w̶̦͠?" Costasiella tilted her head, watching the Pantherian wave and point her hands. She pointed to the door with an inquisitive gaze.

"Yes." Marin nodded, back in her native tongue, though she doubted they understood. I know three languages and parts of another, and none of them are useful now.

She shook some of the rain off of her fur as she opened the door and entered, though her fur was still plastered to her skin and her tail dripped between her wet footprints.

The inside of the little white shuttle was quaint with a small kitchen and table, then a hall with five sanctioned-off rooms. Four at the end of the hall and the fifth at the end. The doors on either side of the hall were labeled, and Marin blinked in surprise as she realized she could read all four names.

After a moment of hesitation, she opened the door with her name on it, then blinked in surprise as she realized it was a smaller version of her bedroom, including the decorations. She paused as she noticed an unfamiliar sea chest, then kneeled and opened it. With a surprised blink, she stared at the contents: a sizable money pouch, maps, navigational tools, even star charts, and an astrolabe.

The Pantherian paused as she noticed a folded letter with her name written in silver ink. She slowly unfolded the paper and read the note.

"Marin," the letter started, "I hope you can read this message. I do not know if my Universal will remain without me—" "when" is hastily scribbled out "—if I don't survive. I hope so. I'm also unsure if this letter is necessary, but I want to prepare for the worst. I'm sorry.

"I left you all the navigation tools, and in the bottom of the chest are a few swords and spell books, in case you want to practice magic. Though our time was brief, I am endlessly appreciative of the time you spent on my decks.

"All of you have a chest containing your belongings and gifts. Marin, you didn't have much, so I gave you things I thought you would enjoy.

"I fear you four may be unable to speak to each other. Horizon, my trusted friend in Havenous of Draconia, is fluent in Universal. She will be able to help you."

Marin paused and looked at the various maps. She located Havenous semi-easily and mentally charted their course with an estimated location. She estimated it would take at least three weeks to get there, providing they had favorable conditions. She hoped they had enough rations to last that long, or they would have to eat breakfish every meal and hope to stave off scurvy and other shipborne diseases. She looked back to the note and continued reading.

"I packed all the supplies and money I had into the back room, I believe it is enough to last you until you can arrive wherever you want to go. I hope your four stay together, but given the possible language barrier, I understand if that's impossible. Horizon will help you sail anywhere you need.

"I couldn't let anyone die on my decks ever again. Even if we had escaped, those dark pirates would have tried again. I could feel their drive and determination in the cannonballs that hit me in the darkness. If I had been on any other ship, I would have immediately sunk.

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you all these things in person. I have slowly realized that I am possibly the only being capable of ending the Black Reaper's regime, and I hope you do not hate me for my decision.

"I'm sorry,

~Paragon"

Marin read the letter a second time, her heart dropping. Paragon is gone.... She folded the paper and placed it back in the box, then paused. If I can read that, I can use it to communicate with others!

She hurriedly exited the ship, leaving both doors she passed open. "I found something!" She called, despite knowing none of them would understand.

However, her three crewmates looked up at her with various confused gazes.

Marin showed them the parchment and pointed to Horizon's name, then to "Universal" and "Havenous." "I hope this works." She watched their faces.

"I̴͈͊ ̵̟͆c̵̗̕a̵͚̎n̷͔̈ ̴̼̃r̷͎̈e̷̡̎a̵̧͠d̶̖̀ ̶̠̌t̶̘͝h̶̭̀í̸̗s̵̟͋..." Travis blinked in shock as his eyes traced the writing, then paused. He pointed to a word near the bottom of the page: "understand."

Marin grinned to herself and pointed to "understand" and watched their faces. She grinned to herself at the success as they nodded.

"W̸̱͂h̴̲͂e̵̦̎r̶̡̓é̴͙ ̶̘͠d̴͎͌i̵̪͒d̸̲͆ ̶̮̿ỳ̴͎o̶̚ͅu̸͙͂ ̵͇̕f̷̬̈į̸͌n̶̘̓ď̶͈ ̵̻̂t̶̘̀h̵̲̒i̸͇͘s̵͉̋?" Myrllen spoke, then blinked. He sighed as if annoyed with his stupidity and covered his eyes with a hand. After an inhale, he scanned the message, then pointed to "anywhere" and "message" with a questioning look.

"Down there." Marin pointed, then scanned the message. She pointed to "bottom" when she couldn't find a match for "below," then "decks" and "room."

They looked where she pointed. "S̶̬̔o̸͍͌ ̶̹̋ÿ̴̗ǒ̸̪u̴̜̐ ̸̱͝f̸̯̓ò̸͙u̶̅ͅñ̵͎d̴̠͑ ̶̩̀ị̷͋t̶̰̚ ̶̲̆b̶̫̌a̸͍͊c̶̱̓ḳ̴͗ ̷̡̃ḯ̶̙ǹ̷͈ ̴̢̅t̴̠́h̵̡̛e̸̬͆ ̷̢̂ḏ̴͊a̴͕̐ŗ̶̚k̴̥͊ ̴̛̳p̶̣̂ļ̵̈å̴̜c̷̣̈́e̵̼̽?" Costasiella nodded and used a tendril to poke the word "understand."

Marin nodded to them, then paused. She returned to her room and gathered a map, compass, and a quadrant. She took them back outside, using the tools and her feet to hold the paper down as she located their position and properly charted their course.

She wasn't sure what they would do once they arrived. However, Havenous was a direction that filled a desire in her directionless being.

Author Notes!

So fun fact, I was originally going to use Vulgar lang and give everyone an actual fake language! 

But then the demo version does not have a useable translator if the words you want to translate do not come included in the generated sample words. Which was all of the lines of dialog. And it has a limit on how many languages you can generate at three, and I used all of them up on the first language, trying to find one I thought fit the character. 

So plan B was to strikethrough everything Marin was not supposed to understand, but Wattpad does not support strikethrough.

But, for whatever reason, it supports glitchy text!?!?!?!?!  So I used that on the second to lowest setting. I honestly think it is better than strikethroughs because it accurately represents the struggle to understand a foreign language. 

Also, this chapter was late because my original plan involved using the demo version of Vulgarlang, I had to write all the dialog for the next four chapters out. so most of the next chapters are completed. 

Well, I hope you enjoyed and did not freak out at the glitchy text. Thank you for reading and I will see you next week!