Hitting y'all with a bit of a longer chapter
Enjoy, lovelies!!
xoxo

Alistair

Our departure from Gatvia left my crew in various emotions. The eagerness to get back to the sea was clear- that was just who myself and my men were now. However, the disappointment of leaving the more leisured days didn't fall on deaf ears.

It was Caspian who actually surprised me. He was the first to drop the ropes of the sails as the sun slowly rose above the water. Most of the men were still awakening from their slumber, most parting from Gaia's daughter's homes with somber farewells in tow, but even from sunrise, Caspian had been quick to get to work.

My thoughts traveled to the previous night. I had only meant to gain some fresh air, to leave the congested conversation my men had nestled into, and yet... night had long since captured the day by the time Caspian and myself found our way back to the Inn.

I could tell he was more relaxed than he usually carried himself as. It was... interesting. It made me wish for one thing that I didn't think I've ever willingly expressed disdain of my own actions for... and that was not listening as closely as I should've when Cael spoke freely about the stars.

The look on Caspian's face as his pale eyes stared up at the bright lights above us, was inexplicable. He had seemingly done the impossible- made me look to the world above with almost more adoration than what I could see right out in front me.

The validation Cael would feel right now if he could hear my thoughts, sickened me to my core. I couldn't give him that satisfaction.

Yet I also couldn't stop that jolt of interest I felt when Caspian's eyes found mine. When that awfully rare smile of his appeared, stretching ear to ear as I showed him yet another constellation that was visible this season.

I knew Gaia had given him something because there was no possibility that Caspian felt comfortable enough for me to remain that close to him. Especially for the length of time we remained on that grass plain for. At least not without his entire body maintaining a certain amount of rigidness.

I was used to the affects my presence had. Not many understood how just the hard steps of my metal plated boots upon these floorboards could make the hair on the most vicious man's arms, stand to attention.

They could feel that unsettling aura spread through the exterior and interior of their useless bodies, but many didn't understand why.

Caspian and the rest who were unfortunately fated with the events of crossing paths with me might not have seen it this way, but I was doing a surprisingly good job of masking my true presence. The mask was invisible to the eye, however people like Gaia could see it. People like Gaia could break through it even.

I guess I was using that phrase too freely, I thought to myself. I was positive I had never crossed paths with anyone like Gaia before, and I still didn't know exactly what the hell she was.

We had left Gatvia by the first glimpses of daylight, and had been at sea for three full days since. We were now approaching nightfall, and Sicoria would soon welcome us come morning, its location conveniently close to Gatvia which made for a shorter journey. The men had started to grow restless again, that bloodthirsty need which lay buried just below the surface of man, was only amplified by the thoughts of what trouble Sicoria would bring. My men had been ordered to maintain a certain balance of peace... but we could all feel some bloodshed on the horizon. This was why I took my time at sea preparing my men, as opposed to rushing towards the island.

In addition, making a Sicorian man bleed dry would be a perfect start to any day. Gaia was lucky I hated that island more than I hated hers.

Caspian had spent these last few days we were back at sea, surprising me. That was becoming a pattern with this man, yet one could argue that the tendency first presented itself on that merchant ship the night he chose to not beg for his life. That could be why I found his gradual dedication to the ship's work, surprising.

I was positive it had been some time since I last threatened him. I wondered what changed.

He was also spending more time with Snips, who had seemed to take a liking to the tall, broad shouldered imbecile. As did Coop, though I suspected Gaia's kindness to Caspian influenced whatever opinion he previously had on the man.

This general acceptance actually seemed to bleed throughout the entire crew, something Cael himself also picked up on. He made sure it was the first thing he mentioned when he entered my study this evening.

"The crew's coming around to your usually unusual, disinterested slave." Cael noted, dragging the wooden chair against the floorboards of the main deck as he pulled it out to take a seat. My fingers tightened their grip on the small wooden piece, before I struck the red tip of the match against the textured paper attached to the match holder. Golden embers ignited immediately just inches away from my fingers, to which I brought its burning flame down to the wick of the candle that was rested on the study's desk.

"You say that like it's a good thing." I found myself noting aloud, rather than to myself.

"Is it not?" He asked me. That question forced my gaze to find his, his dark rich oak colored eyes against his pigmented skin narrowed themselves at me.

"Well, I don't want the crew to get accustomed to something we plan to sell." I reminded him, completely contradicting the instructions I gave Caspian. I had told him my crew would need to accept him, but that was rather a ploy to force his commitment to this work. Now my plan was being correctly executed, better than expected really, and all it did was bring me more weariness.

The look Cael was currently giving me however, made me question my own motivations.

"We're pirates." The large man reminded me. Even as he sat, Cael stature was still mightily impressive. "The men will always choose the money over a man. In addition, the man in question is your slave. Your property. There is nothing for them to protest to, for you are to do with Caspian as you wish per the pirate code."

I thought about that for what felt like an entire night, though only moments passed between Cael and myself before I found myself eventually nodding.

"The only thing the men might take issue with, is the workload that will fall back on them once we collect our bounty. That, and the combat skills Caspian has are irrefutable. I'm sure the men currently enjoy the additional deadly asset assigned to this ship, slave or not."

I thought about that, too. Cael and I agreed we would use him while we could... but I knew we hadn't even seen enough of his fighting ability to know his true extent... and I wanted to see that. I wanted to see just how far that blood thirsty smile of his stretched, when he felt the cut of his daggers piercing through flesh.

"Once we reach Sicoria, I'll mask my face as I head deeper into the city to meet with a bounty appraiser. We don't need to draw any attention to ourselves. I say we drop anchor on the outskirts, and row a small party in. Your sails are never welcome on their shores, but something tells me the hostility will be more than usual."

I gave Cael a nod, agreeing with his more hesitant approach. We weren't looking for an all out war- we still had a particular captain's throat to catch up with, then slit open. I preferred my floorboards clean, but I would willingly paint them red with that cowardly captain's insides if fate willed it.

"Aye," I nodded in return. "Finnik doesn't care much for me to begin with. I'm sure he'd appreciate we keep our presence hidden to aide in keeping the secrets he himself harbours on that island." I thought about the web of connections that existed right under the barbaric Sicorian noses. "An Azultian in Sicoria is dangerous as is, if they discovered his smuggling tendencies to help the free thinkers of Azultia, it would be his head. Or his genitals." I paused a moment. "Perhaps both. It been some time since I refreshed myself on their governing practices, all I know is something's getting chopped off."

Cael reached for a blank piece of paper atop a stack of books, before he pulled my small container of ink and a quill closer to him. He was starting to pen a letter, but he continued the conversation as he wrote.

"Don't do anything to anger him." Cael practically scolded. "The information he gives us could sour, and I don't particularly want to be involved in another ambush."

"Were you really even involved in the last one?" I grumbled, muttering that more to myself than him, but when his firm eyes glanced up from the paper slightly to catch my gaze, I knew he'd heard it. "Fine," I sighed. "Consider my quick tongue severed. I'll make sure to keep the conversation jolly-"

"Don't do that either," Cael's abrupt words followed by a chuckle, brought my attention away from the sword I was cleaning on my desk, and to him. "You being jolly is... equally, if not more terrifying than your anger. Why don't you bring Caspian along, perhaps he could show you a thing or two about the art of disinterest."

I wanted to take offense, but Cael was right. Disinterest was hilariously the best angle to approach with when it came to Finnik and that fucking island. The less you wanted something, the lower the price got.

"And what if someone is to recognize him in Sicoria?" I asked. My intentions were to leave Caspian on the ship until Cael, myself, Snips, and about two to three other well trained pirates returned. "We are after all docking to uncover who he is. I don't want to show our hand."

Cael slowly shook his head. "I don't think leaving him on the ship would do any good. That, and my bounty appraiser may need a good look at him somewhere on this island if he doesn't recognize Caspian's name... because Captain, if I may bear a shred of honesty, I have little faith in the information Caspian has shared with us about himself. His name included... Savvy?"

There was even more honesty to that. "Aye," I agreed. "We'll need to cover ourselves completely then. His stark white hair will draw enough attention, let alone those dead looking eyes." I thought about the people of Sicoria, their deeper skin resembling the people of Gatvia, but just a few shades richer from the intensity of the sun over their incredibly vast island.

Caspian was the complete opposite of that, with his own hair color only emphasizing the paleness of his skin. He looked like he had chosen to maintain an unhealthy distance from the sun his entire existence.

We would be discovered as soon as we first stepped foot onto those sandy beaches.

My thoughts were interrupted by a sudden glow that pulled me from my work with cleaning this blade. Cael's ink, the tribal patterns etched up his muscle dense arms, before feeding into a chest that was mostly exposed by his partially buttoned shirt, they started to glow. That soft white color, almost blueish in hues, contrasted against his dark skin, and otherwise illuminated a room only partially visible by the burning candles.

This was something I was used to, however Cael and I were not currently planning a route. His skills had been brought on unprovoked, causing my brows to furrow as I watched my Navigators eyes brighten to the color of his tattoos.

"Cael?" I found myself questioning, but kept my tone calm. When Cael entered this state, in a way, I was no longer speaking to my companion on this ship...

I was speaking to the projections of the stars themselves, like a moon reflecting on the darkness of water, which only mimicked the night sky. One endless cycle. And he spoke like that too- just a bunch of jumbled, philosophical nonsense. He did, however, make accurate predictions of the alignment of land, so I held my tongue and entertained it.

Cael's gaze was still angled towards the paper, his hand continuing to write that letter but with speeds that didn't resemble the pace we held as we spoke earlier. He was writing faster than his burning eyes could follow.

"I sense something." I heard him whisper. His voice in this state remained the same- it was like a blanket of velvet wrapping each word. A sense of smoothness in the cadence of his tone, and something that could soothe a troubled spirit.

"What is it?" I continued.

The burning of his tattoo's should've been familiar to my naked eye, however I couldn't shake the feeling that his glow had intensified since I last saw it. He looked... well, he looked unnatural... but in an almost sentient sort of way. Was this what he had meant? I wondered silently to myself. What he had meant about the island- Gatvia, about it changing him.

"I'm not sure." His voice sounded like comfort.

Yet mine held none when I asked "is it dangerous?"

There was a possibility that my eyes deceived me. That perhaps Cael had meant to shake his head all along, but for a moment, I saw conflict in his eyes. And I didn't know how, considering they were burning the same hue as the patterns in his skin.

"No," he whispered slowly. "but I sense... well..." his voice trailed off, to which I noticed his hand had finally slowed on the letter he was still very much crafting. "Something has... changed."

The look I was giving Cael probably wasn't the most welcoming considering all he'd done was give me exclusive insight into what was equivalent to that of an empty crate, but I held my tongue as I noticed the brightness of those patterns etched along his smooth skin, starting to dim. I didn't know what to say, let alone how to say it.

"I'm sorry," Cael whispered. His finger held my quill hovered slightly above the pad. "It isn't much, but I'm still learning."

I set the wet rag I was holding, filled with flakes of dry blood I had scrubbed off the metal, down on the wooden desk. "So this is what Gaia was teaching you?" I asked. Cael nodded once more.

"My powers have benefitted me in the past because I held the ability to call upon it when needed." he explained. I watched as he finally set the ink coated quill down next to the ink's container. "My skin has always acted as a smoke signal for the world above us, a call to them to do my bidding... but I'm starting to understand more."

The glow continued to lessen with each word this man spoke, and all I could do was watch as the Cael I knew without that power returned.

"Gaia had somehow slit into my frequency with the stars. She bestowed upon me the wisdom of understanding that this skill- this power, it may work as less of a pigeon flying home, and more of a... a conversation. A connection linking both worlds." My body remained still, listening intently to Cael's words. "She's been teaching me to learn how to listen."

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