Solo Hunkering Down [Pt.1]

[Eliro Darkcrest]

58th OF SUMMER, 515AV
4th BELL, EVENING
MATTHEWS BAY

There was a storm coming. The Svefra was only picking up small signs on the omen. The skies were darkening, the wind was sweeping out of the bay and the sweaty summer heat had an underlying chill to it, a chill that shivered your bones and not your skin. Her Avikki were getting nervous, plucking at their nest resting just next to her steering wheel. Like other birds, the Avikki would fly away with an oncoming storm, but only two of her Pod’s Avikki remained, and they were nervous to leave. Eliro cast a worried look to the birds, before stepping to the side of her Casinor. The usually greenish-blue water was a murky grey now, and she could hardly see the life beneath.

She took three steps back before pushing all her power into the two bounds it took to reach the side of the ship again. Leaping over the railing, Eliro extended her arms above her head and curved her body slightly so that she could break the waves easily with her fingers, guiding her head into the water within the safety of her elbows. Once she had dove in, Eliro swam to the surface to suck in a deep breathe before glancing under the water.

A black shadow cut through the darkness beneath her. It seemed to go on forever, which made Eliro drag herself further down to investigate. Of course in the murky water, the figure disappeared quicker than the Svefra could swim. Closing her eyes for a tick, Eliro let herself float back up to the surface, feeling the ocean around her in her head. She could sense the massive creature curving in a circle around The Spirit’s keel before returning to her. It wasn’t until she felt the slippery brush of the Manta Ray’s fin on her leg that she reached out. With ease the Svefra held to her Tavan’s upper lip. She could feel Mau speed up once she was secure, and Eliro kept her lids shut tight, unable to bear the fast current in her eyes. Instead the Svefra watched with ehr Oceanus, seeing the seafloor of Matthew’s Bay sweep by her and watching the schools of fish dart from Mau’s path. And for a moment, Eliro forgot she was not a sea-creature. She forgot the loss of her family and the pain of being alone, because when she was with Mau she was not alone. He was her prophecy, her prophecy to live a long life. She loved the Manta Ray, but after the loss of her Pod, Eliro wished she was not destined to live as long as her companion.

When she could not hold her breathe any longer, Eliro let go of Mau, kicking her feet to return to the air. Sucking in a deep breathe, she paddled the water for a moment, looking at the world around her. It was still grey. The air above her was still hot and windy and miserable, and there was no denying the oncoming storm. If she was to survive this one, the Svefra should already begin anchoring her Casinor further out in the bay, away from the rest of the ships.

[Eliro Darkcrest]

Oh Laviku, will you let Zulrav take me away this evening? Can I join my Pod in Dira’s care? Eliro felt her heart sink when she remembered. Surviving was not her only option, although she was unsure of how damaging this storm would be.

But instinct kicked in before the young Svefra could debate her death further. Of course she had to survive. She had to survive because she might not be the only Darkcrest that did, and if she was going to find the other’s who survived, she would have to be alive to do it.

“Zulrav, you just make my day harder.” She grumbled to the wind God before sucking in one last breathe. Diving beneath the choppy waves, Eliro swam through the calm waters just out of reach of the wind. Mau quickly joined her, and she could feel the worry radiating from her best friend. Trying to comfort the creature, for she knew the worry was for her, she smoothed her fingers along the Manta Ray’s brow, which relaxed the creature considerably. Mau would be safe and happy under the waves. He may even have a feast with the upwelling of algae and plankton that was sure to come as a result, but he was aware that her above-water accommodations were not as pleasant during the storms.

When Eliro reached her Casinor again, she grabbed one of the rope ladders that hung off the end of the starboard stern. Dragging herself back above the water, Eliro adjusted her soaked bra as she placed a bare foot back on her deck. The familiar warmth of the summer gave way to a shiver, and Eliro thought for a moment to put a shirt on. She knew she was anchored on soft sand at the moment and groaned at the prospect of bringing up her mushroom anchor. If she had a proper pulley system rigged to her bow for the anchors, they would be easier than her makeshift rope cure. Wringing out her hair for a moment, the Svefra tucked the blond mess behind her ear, and headed for the bow of the boat. The thick hemp rope was secured tightly on her bow chocks, the pull of the anchor helping to tighten the cleat hitch.

Leaning over the bow of her boat, she tightened the hitch on the rope until the anchor was taught. The water was choppy, because of the oncoming storm, so it was easy to pull the anchor up, until the waves could reach it. The hemp rope was burning her calloused palms, so she retightened the hitch. Her Casinor was tilting slightly due the the drag now, and Eliro knew she had to push through the last pull, else a big wave come through and snap it from her hands. There were some other boats, larger than hers, that were also taking their vessels out into the bay to anchor instead of dock. With a storm this big, no one wanted their boat smashing into the dock.

[Eliro Darkcrest]

Taking a huff, Eliro pulled the rope again, she could feel the ripping in her palm where the rope tore her skin, and she grunted when the anchor hit the side of the boat. Grabbing more rope she hauled the mushroom anchor out of the water, which suddenly gave way with ease. The anchor was so much lighter above water than under it. Balancing the anchor on the side of the boat for a second, she examined her hand.

Stupid, stupid. Eliro chastised herself. She had already committed to staying on her boat for a few days until the storm blew over, there was no going into town to get medicine for the rope burn, and she still had more work to do before she could hunker down. Grumbling to herself, the Svefra pulled the anchor from the side of the boat, careful where she placed her hand, and set it on the deck. She set to work wrapping the rope around the shaft of the mushroom anchor, which took her almost five chimes worth of concentrated work. Just because she hadn’t been thinking didn’t mean she needed to stop now, there was no point in tangling her rope.

Once the anchor was safely stored in it’s hatch and locked back up, bouy unattached, Eliro turned to her sails. She was not very far from the docks and in soft sand, so she had just wrapped her sails for the few days of mooring. Of course, with the storm, she would have to take them completely off, but first she needed to get to the waters she wanted. Deeper, where the anchor wouldn’t be interrupted and in a more solid bottom than the soft sand near the kelp.

Before Eliro decided to do any hard work, she popped a finger in her mouth, wetting the tip. She then stuck it in the air, and confirmed her suspicion. She had noticed earlier, through her Oceanus, that the tide was heading out, and if the wind was going in the same direction, the Svefra wouldn’t have to do much work to get out to deeper waters. moving to her main mast, she unlatched the ties on the main sail, pulling the trimming rope until it was partial up. She secured the rope just in time to feel the boat shifting. It was turning in the direction she wished, but she would have to put up a support sail if she wanted to control the direction better. If she followed the wind directly, the Svefra would wash up in no time. Lively now, the Svefra bound to the back of the mast, unlatching one of her two support sails as well. Before she did so, she yanked a peg of her wheel so the sail would be perpendicular to the wind so that she could secure it properly once it was up.

[Eliro Darkcrest]

After adjusting the directional sail, Eliro bounded back behind the wheel, throwing it quickly portwise to slow the drifting of the Casinor, now that the sails were dragging it out. She stood there for a few ticks, watching the docks get smaller. She took a moment to grab a rag that she usually used to tie up her hair, but instead wrapped it around her palm a few times. Tucking the rag into itself so she had a nice cushion over her ropeburn, which was complaining from the saltwater now, Eliro returned to the wheel. It was still a few more chimes of making miniscule adjustments to the fin beneath the water before deciding she must be out far enough. She would have to start dropping her anchors now if she wanted them to catch. If this storm was anything, it would swing her boat around a few times, so it was crucial she got as many out as possible.

Again, the energy of sailing, even if it was simple repositioning, was coursing through her veins and Eliro scrambled around her wheel to trim the mainsail again, lessening its area to drag wind. She kept up the support sail however, before running to the bow of her boat. Unhitching the compartment for her handy grappling anchor, Eliro set to work untying the anchor. She still had quite a bit of time before she would have to stop for good, but she was sure that the floor of the ocean was less soft now that it was much deeper.

Again, she tied the simple cleat hitch to her bow chock before lowering the anchor over head. The water immediately caught once it was deep enough in the water, but Eliro did not make the mistake of holding on this time. She let go of the rope, and watched it fall over the side of the dock. She knew it wouldn’t yank because the water would lower it to the ground slowly. She waited until the rope was halfway taught before turning back to grab her hook anchor. Again, she took the time to unravel the anchor properly, and tied it to its proper chock with a 3:1 ratio instead of a 7:1 ratio as she had with her grapple anchor. Once she has secured that one, she lowered the significantly heavier hook anchor into the water. Eliro cringed, sucking in her breathe when the roped pulled on her makeshift bandage, putting more pressure on her burn, but Eliro tried to keep from just dropping the anchor until the current took it to the ground.

Once her two bow anchors had been dropped and tightly secured, Eliro set to work on wrapping up the sails again. She knew she would be taking them off later today, but first she had to ensure the anchors would keep. She wasn’t as good of a sailor as her parents had been, and so she always checked her work to ensure she would float away, or even worse, capsize.

She stood still for a moment, looking at the shoreline around her for two good points. She made sure she planted her feet direction in front of her main mast, and then closed on eye, turning towards the docks. She could see two cargo ships that had already been secured out in the bay. Deciding to use those as her reference points, she brought a thumb up, so that she could measure the distance between them. Once she had committed the measurement to memory, she turned back to the rest of the work that needed to be done. She would only have to wait fifteen chimes before she could tell for sure if her anchors were going to stay.

[Eliro Darkcrest]

She had already been at it for over a bell, but the Svefra knew there was a lot more work to be done before she was sure she had secured her boat for the oncoming storm. So when she heard the distant thunder, the Svefra jumped. She needed to clear her deck immediately.

The first run over was easy. The odd bucket or two and her waterskin were dumped and tossed into her cabin. The canvas awning that she had rigged up over her steering wheel was quickly detached and folded up, also thrown into the cabin. She was just dumping her things in the boat now, they could be sorted later when she had secured the outside. The curled up fishing net that was secured to her starboard bow was carefully untied and then bundled up and thrown in the cabin as well.

After Eliro had cleared the deck of unnecessary objects, she returned to her position in front of the main mast. She located the two secured cargo ships, brought her thumb up to roughly the same position as before, and confirmed that her distance from the two ships had not moved nearly enough to be of worry. Smiling at her anchoring job well done, Eliro shifted to the stern of the boat, unlatching her mushroom anchor again. She reattached the buoy and uncurled the rope, which was still wet from its earlier dip in the water. After hooking it on its respective chock and lowering over, she waited until she could feel the mushroom anchor settle into the bottom before tightening it’s hold.

Sails, and then secure all the hatches. Eliro went over the list of remaining objectives in her head. She would likely be another two bells before she was ready to go below deck, but Eliro was a little worried as she felt the first of the drizzle. The wind was picking up, which meant she would be in for a hard time taking down the sails, especially by herself.

Laviku, I have so much to do. The sheen drizzle that was raining down on her boat only helped propel the Svefra forward, fear of the sky breaking overhead before her boat was secured. She had all three of her anchors down and her deck cleared. Immediately Eliro bound to the main sail, determined to get the largest one off first if she was unable to do any others.

[Eliro Darkcrest]

She realized then, that she hadn’t learned from her mother. The simple tip to always keep a spare rope hanging around to climbing had gone ignored by the Svefra, and now she understood. She had always been able to climb the main mast of her Casinor, but it took time and effort, and was not easily done. Of course if she had the sense to attach a rope up there last time she rigged the sails, she could pull herself up easy enough without worrying that she would unhook something. Oh Petch me. The Svefra sighed, not wanting to waste time. She loosened the fast rope and let the sail down, but instead of curling it around the mast as she normally would, she allowed the mainsail to crumble to the ground. It was a massive length of canvas and not easily moved, but once she released the whole sail, unhooking and unclasping various rigs around the bottom of the mast she looked up to the real issue. She had to get the halyards off.

Growling in competition with the thunder, the Svefra set to work dragging the wet mainsail towards the cabin pit and stuffing the canvas down. She repeated the process with the jibsail and then stuffed that too in the cabin. Of course there were a million things the Svefra could be doing to make this easier on herself, or quicker for that matter. But the Svefra was not thinking too clearly, fear of the oncoming storm driving her into the chaotic mistakes of the merely competent sailor.

The rain felt like needles now. Now or never The Svefra reached up the now empty main mast, gripping the slippery wood as best she could. Using her strength, she swung one leg up over the horizontal rig of the mast. The Svefra was quite used to everything being wet, it was how she liked it. But more often than not the rough saltwater was the source of wetness instead of slippery rainwater that fell from the wood quickly. Focusing all her effort on the climb, Eliro shimmied up the mast enough so that she could unhook the two highest halyards, and the ones that would whip themselves to death in the storm.

[Eliro Darkcrest]

Dropping the loose halyards to the deck below, Eliro glanced down to see how she could get down. At the moment her toes where gripping the hook for a sail trimmer, and the only thing holding her up was the strength of her hug around the mast. Taking a deep breathe, Eliro squeezed her arms tighter, taking her toes from the rig and slowly allowed herself to slide down the empty mast, catching her clothes on the empty hooks and grapples meant to hold her sail. Halfway through shimmying down the mast, a burst of lightening hit the hills on the side of the bay, which startled Eliro and forced her to fall the rest of the way.

The rain was pelting down now, and Eliro groaned when her bottom hit the deck, the loose Halyards were only helping to worsen the fall. But at the resounding thunder that answered the lightning’s call, the Svefra was on her feet in an instant, the ache of the fall still there but largely ignored. She grabbed the tangle of halyards and stuffed those in the cabin as well.Oh there were so many better ways to do this. Eliro thought, thinking of the mess to clean up once she got down there.

Nearly another bell had passed in the time it took her to take down all the sails. Now she only needed to secure the hatches around deck so that nothing collected water. The Svefra bounded across her deck, or more accurately slid, to reach the aft. She snapped the anchor hatch shut, and turned to the starboard hull, stuffing the rope that held her net together into their hatches in the wood. Before she returned to the cabin, Eliro flew to the bow of her Casinor, closing and tightening the bow anchor hatches as well.

She was almost done. The boat was completely secured, except for the mess she would have to deal with in the cabin. If her anchors held, her Spirit wouldn’t go anywhere, the deck was completely clears, sails and all, to avoid windage and drag. She was prepared, except for one thing.

[Eliro Darkcrest]

Eliro fell to her knees, on her deck. It was near impossible for her to see because of the dark and the rain, and her silhouette was only occasionally outlined by a clap of lightning but the most important step was to be done, even if she died doing it.

”Laviku!” She began, placing her hands in front of her so she was kneeling on her deck. ”Laviku my holy father. Laviku, the keeper of my people. I give you my life this day, and only ask that for once you please take it. If you are keeping me here for some cruel purpose, then I only ask that you protect my dear ship. Protect my dear Mau, and protect my dear Avikki. Else, if you choose, take my life. Decide, my father.” And then she was up, there had to be a gift. She was offering her life to the God, today, as a gift. He did not let her perish with her family, only proving her mother’s suspicion on the reasoning behind her Tavan bond. Svefra were not without family, and for once in her life, she was. Laviku must have a purpose. Or perhaps he didn’t. But she still would give the God a promise that he could take her life this night. That he should take her life.

There was pain throughout her body. Different bumps and bruises, the fall and the burn. She was hasty and careless in preparing her boat, because she knew she should have prepared it earlier in the day. Her mind wandered back to the burn on her hand, and she saw that the makeshift bandage was now bloody from over exertion. Deciding it was the best form of promise, her own blood, Eliro slid to the starboard hull, and tore the bloody rag from her hand. ”Please give me a sign, father. Will you take me from this lonely existence or am I to suffer in life?” Eliro balled the rag up and tossed her blood and wish into the water.

The Svefra paused for a moment to watch the wave gobble up her blood, before another warning of lightning sent her running for the cabin hatch.