Fable - Ask The Canal

[Kalix]

Boats were fine. Water was fine. This was fine. Kalix took a deep breath. Boats were fine. Water was fine. This was fine. Another deep breath. Boats were fine. Water was fine. This was fine. I am fine. Boats were fine. Water was fine. This was fine. I am fine. I am not going to drown. I will not drown. I will—

“What’s the point of cleaning this if I’m gonna get it all bloody anyways?” Kalix asked, walking over to Alistair very carefully as if he took one wrong step would cause for the entire ship to sink. Right now it didn’t really feel like they were on water. Not yet exactly. There was some uneasiness, it didn’t feel quite like solid ground, but it was okay. Boats were fine. Water was fine. This was fine. As long as he repeated that to himself over and over he was sure things would be alright.

“Oh, is it to not disrespect the nobles?” Kalix asked. That would make sense. And Alistair was a noble, right? Maybe that’s why he was trying to clean the tabard up and make it presentable. Nobles and their looks. Kalix could laugh at how ridiculous that was. Who cared how you looked? The only time you shoulder care if you were in the battlefield and only then it was acceptable to make sure all your limbs and head were still attached.

Regardless of his personal beliefs, Kalix pulled the tabard over his head and handed it over to Alistair, a bit of a disinterested look on his face.

Alistair Krixus Kristen Pirian Raf

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair gratefully accepted the tabard, thankful that there did not have to be an argument He quickly inspected the item, creating a step-by-step plan for the best way to clean the piece. He expertly began the cleaning process, mixing in pieces of magic with simple tools used to get his desired outcome.

"Blood on a sword or tabard is normal. It is a weapon of war. However, vomiting on such a weapon makes us look weak or nervous...I will not allow anyone to look down on us. We have worked hard for at least that much respect." Alistair explained without looking up from his work.

He did not expect the others to get it. It might be considered a strange affixation, but he knew the truth. Every fight that could be stopped due to fear, respect, or really any emotion was one more fight that he did not have to waste his energy on. He could put that energy to the next once.

It was possible that Kalix was right in some way. Alistair was a noble and most of his life he had been taught to grovel and appease the higher noble houses and all in the name of one day having house Krixus being included among them...so why would he let others look down on those which he must appease. No, that did not seem right.

Kalix Raf Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen finished fastening the rope to her wrist. There. Hopefully this appeased Kalix's surprising fixation on the perils of sea-based travel.

Soon as it was done, Raf repeated himself. Kristen glanced up at him, mild puzzlement furrowing her brow. It was but a momentary oddness. In the next moment she could tell that he could tell that she was growing nervous about this whole affair.

"M-Meditating?" she asked. She...didn't know what that was. A practice of some sort, judging by the context surrounding the word. Was this something that commonbloods did? There were a fair number things of which the commonbloods participated in and partook of which simply evaded the notice or interest of the nobility, she was sure.

"Y-Yes, that does sound like Noel." The flaring of a black eye's ache, ghostly and ephemeral, tingled unpleasantly across her skin. Noel's short and slim stature was most deceptive when it came to the force she could sink into a punch. "But I digress."

She ought not to be embarrassed by not knowing, yet, somehow, she was. "What might...meditating be, Raf? I've not encountered any occasion in which I could become acquainted with the practice. Though I-I must say, it appears to have done quite well for you!"

The soldiers had finished loading onto the boat, the greater portion of their number standing in rigid formation upon the deck. Some held onto the overhead ropes strung between the masts with a hand, others did not. Walter Banick had boarded last, and with his arrival the gangplank was retrieved and the anchor pulled up. He gave the order to "Cast off!" and the rowers of the boat began to row and the sailors by the masts opened up the sails to their full extent.

All five transport ships began their departure from the harbor of Ostia Anir. Morning light from the east lit the world with a hue of soft pink, the sun itself shrouded by a thick cloud and from around its gray mass a halo of rays seemed to crown the sky to the fleet's back.

Raf Kalix Alistair Krixus

 

[Raf]

"Oh!" Raf rarely found time to share the things he enjoyed with the others.

Most of the time they told him to fuck off, other times they threw something at him just to get him to shut up. He didn't blame them of course, the proctor's didn't exactly like his practices all that much either. So when Kristen showed interest it was almost instantly a point in her favor.

Quickly he stepped towards her. "It's pretty easy."

He told her.

"Helps with all sorts of things, anxiety, nerves." Raf was practically beaming. "I read about it in a book from the West."

He explained. "Basically you sit down and do nothing."

To anyone who actually knew about meditation it would become instantly clear that Raf did not grasp the whole concept.

"Like this." Raf said as he deposited himself down onto the deck of the ship, motioning for Kristen to join him. "You have to clear your mind of everything. No thoughts. No worries. Nothing. That's the only way it works."

Raf was not a very good teacher.

 

[Kalix]

Kalix watched Alistair as he worked, listening to him make excuses for being a neat freak. Vomit and blood seemed to go hand in hand in Kalix’s experience, especially when it came to him using his magic.

“Sometimes when you stomp on someone’s stomach they puke.” Kalix said. “Or piss themselves. Sometimes they even shit.” The deadpan expression on his face was a telltale sign that Kalix was trying his best to be very serious right now. “So I think I get what you mean.” He added, a genuine sort of statement as Kalix did understand what Alistair was suggesting about weakness. Kalix didn’t want to look like he was the one who got curb stomped. That’s what he did to other people.

Kalix still felt fine in this moment— if being on a ship was like this he could handle it! But then it started to move. There was that tremor that made Kalix lose his balance for a split second, and he held out his arms to steady himself. His gold eyes narrowed as he used the mast for support. Only to figure out with another uneven tremor, that caused him to bump his face into the mast, he may need that rope after all.

“You gonna tie me to the mast still, right?” Kalix grunted, keeping his voice low to hopefully hide the slight tremble within his broad frame.

Alistair Krixus Kristen Pirian Raf

 

[Alistair Krixus]

The movement of the ship barely registered to Alistair as he focused on his work. He only offer a nod when he overheard that Kalix was agreeing with him. That had to be a first, but it did make all of this easier.

The stain was proving to be a problem, but a small cleaning smell and a quick brushing were removing many of the signs of vomit. The early signs of success only caused Alistair to smirk in self-satisfaction. However, he was taken from his work when heard Kalix's last statement. He took the fellow initiates question very seriously since he knew how much Kalix hated all of this.

Alistair got up from his seat and grab some of the nearby rope. "Yeah, how do you want to be tied up?" The strangeness of the question did dawn on Alistair. He would never have guessed he would need to ask that, and especially not to Kalix.

"It also helps if you take deep and slow breathes."

Kalix Raf Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Helps with all sorts of things, anxiety, nerves.

Why, that sounded marvelous! It was the sort of thing that could help her reach the point Edric had been talking about. Her foremost hurdle was precisely that: her anxiety, her nervousness. For every victory over her myriad trepidations she could count two losses...three losses...okay, four losses...alright, she was just going to halt that train of thought right there.

So what was the secret?

Basically you sit down and do nothing.

Kristen blinked. Her face took on a doubting character even though she tried mightily to keep on smiling in a receptive and polite manner. This, um...wasn't going to be much help when she desperately needed it.

Nevertheless, she indulged Raf's invitation to sit down, her one arm held up just slightly by the length of rope binding it to the ship's railing. "O-Okay, Raf, I shall...give it a try. Though, have patience with me, for I am but a novice."

Kristen did just as Raf said. Cleared her mind. There. That was easy. Of course it was easy. All she had to do was nothing, just like Raf had instructed. Though she wasn't quite sure how this would translate into an amelioration of her anxiety and calming of nerves. Wait...her mind wasn't clear. She'd been thinking about thinking. Thinking about how easy it was to not think and thinking about how that was supposed to translate into feeling calmer. And now she was thinking about thinking about the thought she had just had. Ahhhhhh...the more she tried to stop thinking, the more it seemed like thoughts came to her unbidden, rising up into her consciousness from nowhere and demanding her attention, and she was helplessly giving it to them. Every time she cleared--or thought she cleared--her mind, a sneaky thought would come tip-toeing back in. The sound of the waters of the bay made her remember a particular summer's afternoon playing by a river with her sister Amelia and she was thinking about that. Alistair asking Kalix "how do you want to be tied up?" made her blush for reasons she couldn't readily explain and she was thinking about that. The sergeant of the Banick soldiers calling out a rowing cadence brought back memories of the Homeland Parade and the soldiers calling cadence there as she watched from the Embassy and she was then thinking about that.

Kristen opened her eyes and looked back to Raf, nibbling guiltily on her bottom lip. "Oh, wow, it's more difficult than you made it sound. Certainly, you are more adept at it than I. How often do you practice?"

Raf Kalix Alistair Krixus

 

[Raf]

"Huh?" Raf said, snapping out of the slight trance he had fallen into.

It was really rather difficult to tell whether he actually had been meditating, or it was just an excuse to take another nap. The boy seemed to detached from reality that it was hard to pin down if anything he was doing had any ounce of actual commitment.

"Oh." A shrug rolled over his shoulder. "Once or twice a day."

He told Kristen. "Though the Proctor's don't really like it, call it 'being' lazy."

Then again that was something they always said about whatever he was doing. Even his method of fighting had been dubbed as such, but...well it suited him. His shoulders rolled for a second as he glanced towards Kalix and Alistair.

The former was hugging the mast, and the latter was uncoiling a length of rope. His head tilted to the side as he watched the whole ordeal. "It helps though."

He added, not wanting Kristen to feel like he was ignoring her. "I feel like some of our peers could really benefit from trying it."

 

[Kalix]

Kalix thought about how he wanted to be tied up as he hugged the mast. What would be the safest way? In truth the young man thought very hard about this, considering how the ship seemed to sway due to the push and pull of the waves, and even in the more calmer waters, the ships buoyancy was so uneven that Kalix struggled in procuring even footing. His mind drifted to needing to tell Proctor Novgorodoff that after he graduated he would do whatever he had to do be placed into the guard. Getting shipped off to join the corsairs for whatever reason would be the ultimate punishment for the land lover.

“Tie it around my chest and waist!” Kalix exclaimed, finally coming to his conclusion. He turned around so it no longer looked like he was humping the mast and pressed his back against the wood and then raised up his hands. “And make sure it’s tight! I don’t want to be flip flopping around.” And then because it was a joke he was often telling to his best buds, “Tie me up like one of your Elbion girls.” The feline-looking initiate said with the largest grin in the world as he did his best to keep himself from laughing.

Alistair Krixus Kristen Pirian Raf

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair moved in to tie up Kalix when he paused and looked at him in confusion. "Why would I tie up an Elbion woman?" From what he knew, Vel Anir and Elbion were not at way. Kalix must just be confused.

He shrugged off the comment and went about tying his fellow initiate up. He did not have to worry about it not being tight enough, because Alistair ensure that it was as tight as it could be without cutting off Kalix's breathing.

Alistair pulled the rope taught to the point that any more probably would have caused Kalix some pain and likely started a fight. "I think you are good to go." He wanted to make a comment about just using a knife if the ship went down, but he held his tongue. The ship was finally beginning to get underway, and it would not be long until they were at their destination.

"Just close your eyes, take some deep breathes, and we will be there in no time."

Kristen Pirian Raf Kalix

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Raf was phenomenal at meditation! Why, in the span of time that Kristen had endured failure after failure in her maiden attempt at it (though surely she could be forgiven this first floundering try!), Raf had found so deep a calm that only her intrusive question seemed to bring him back down to Arethil from some blissful heaven.

Once or twice a day.

"My word, that is admirable dedication to the practice!" she said, gushing just a small, tiny bit. If only she had such command over her own nerves. Being called 'lazy' was to her a fair enough price for it!

I feel like some of our peers could really benefit from trying it.

"On that, we are agreed." She didn't want to start listing off names aloud, for it was unseemly to start--what they called in the vernacular--a "dogpile." But she could have. If pressed, yes, she could have.

Her attention was pulled toward Kalix and Alistair, and again a rosy tint warmed her cheeks as the former made a certain joke to the latter. (Was there a mission that was perhaps going to Elbion soon? What manner of things were gotten up to so far to the north? This...simply bore investigation! That was all! Of course!) No master of meditation yet, Kristen nevertheless wrangled in her midnight thoughts. She had wanted to speak with Alistair, and the window of acceptable social timing was closing. The ride across the bay to Elyr'Adith was her one opportunity, else broaching the subject would not only be tardy but jarring.

The calm waters of the bay didn't give her much of an "in," there were but a few splashes of water that skipped up at the sides of the boat yet fell short of the deck. Still, she had an idea.

"Alistair!" she called. "Might you come and inspect my knots? I should like to know if I am as secure as Kalix."

And, if he did come and crouch down close to where she had sat herself upon the deck, she'd whisper to him, "Forgive me if I am too forward, but...is there anything bothering you, Alistair? Yesterday you seemed..."

She'd been thinking about it for a while, and yet, now, the right word just slipped from her grasp.

Alistair Krixus Raf Kalix

 

[Raf]

"Yeah, exactly." Raf said, his eyes still closed as he leaned back against the railing of the ship. His attention drew away from the gang of Initiates, and suddenly he found himself rather comfortable.

A nod tipped his head as Kristen agreed with him, but the turn of her attentions and the draw of conversation towards Alistair let Raf slip away into some quiet place in his mind. It was a venture he had taken dozens times before, a safe haven from anything and everything.

Meditation. Disassociation.

Whatever it was called, Raf was an expert at it. Just as Kristen finished talk, as she turned away, Raf's head lulled backward.

The young Initiate fell asleep, letting the boat journey pass him on by with a serene quiet.

 

[Kalix]

“You tie up an Elbion woman because… hey, hey, hey, wait.” Kalix shifted slightly. He most definitely couldn’t move. Good. Perfect. Alistair was proving to be a very useful person. He may have been a noble but he could tie a knot and keep Kalix snug as a rug. “Al, you’ve gotten your dick wet, yeah?” It was a serious question. Kalix only ever saw him in the library, studying. And while Kalix had managed to convince a pretty lady to do things with him in a library, he just couldn’t picture Alistair getting freaky in there. At least not with another person, maybe with the books. Kalix frowned. When he got back he’d need to switch some books around again before one of the girls caught sight of his list or his sultry photo cards.

Kalix opened his mouth to explain why you’d want to tie a Elbion woman up compared to a woman from Vel Anir, but then Kristen had called Alistair to tie her up as well.

“Go ahead,” Kal said, nodding his head over to Kristen’s direction. “Tie her up just as good as me.” He struggled against his bonds with a smirk. “Actually, Kristen is the type you could tie up. Get your practice in now before you head into Elbion.”

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair was focused on his task, and that is probably what made his reaction so funny. He did a double-take as he looked up at Kalix with a shocked expression. Kalix was just casually talking about some so...indecent. The amount of trouble Alistair could get in with his family for just casually sleeping around was horrifying to consider. He made sure to pull the rope extra tight as he tried not to let any red show on his face.

"I do not see how that is any of your business, Kalix. You should be fine...Best not to talk. Seasickness might get you." Alistair offered as he forced a smile. He did not want to explain what that concept was, as he hoped the mysterious illness might keep Kalix quiet.

He did not want to give Kalix another chance to speak if something worse popped into his mind, so he quickly departed to go help with Kristen. Who would have thought so many initiates did not know how to tie knots.

When he lowered himself to inspect Kristen's knot, he realized he did not have anything to worry about. The knot looked perfectly fine, but that wasn't what she really wanted to discuss. Her question made him pause for a moment. The red on his face, from his previous conversation, quickly disappeared as his emotionless mask reappeared. He offered her a polite smile that did not really make it to his eyes.

"I'm fine. Yesterday, I was just...childish. I apologize for such an incident ever happening."

Kristen's question helped Alistair refocus on what he was here for. He was not here to make friends or memories. He was here to do a job. More importantly, a job for House Banick, whose head had seemingly taken a liking to him. Alistair could not afford to mess this up.

Kristen Pirian Kalix Raf

 

[Kristen Pirian]

A tiny measure of frustration pawed at Kristen's mind. Oooohh! It hadn't come out right. If only she hadn't hesitated in searching for the right word. Alistair thought she was commenting upon the episode between him and Kalix, the pretense of there being spirits menacing the Banick Estate. No, it wasn't that, it was what came after!

Just talk, Kristen. Just press on and ask what you truly want to ask, however inexpertly it may come out.

"No, no, Alistair, I wasn't speaking about that. Kalix is...well, you and I are aware that certain adjustments need to be made in dealing with him. I was trying to speak to what came after. You were...ah...withdrawn."

Much like you are now, said the voice of radical honesty in the back of her mind. That very voice so often filtered or outright silenced for the sake of decorum and politeness.

"If it is as I fear, being something that I had said or having overstepped my bounds in some careless manner, would you allow me to apologize? I wouldn't want for some mishap of mine to cast a shadow over you while we are embarked on this campaign."

Big, round eyes searched Alistair's own, finding nothing more than the stolid mask he'd assumed. Disquieting, it was, for she could have sworn that although he had said he was fine, he was in truth not quite the proper definition of the word. And if she'd made a misstep yesterday, then at least she could try to help him in some manner today.

Alistair Krixus Raf Kalix

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair looked into Kristen's eyes, and it was clear she was looking for something. She was worried about him. He really did not like that look. His own stupid actions had led to someone worrying over him. He was pathetic. Alistair was not supposed to be someone like that. He was meant to be efficient, strong, and reassuring.

"I am fine...really. I just got focused on my work. I had to fix the door after the incident, then I had to prepare for the day...my magic requires me to spend large amounts of time on choosing the correct type of runes for that day's assignment."

It wasn't untrue, but it sounded like an excuse even to Alistair. In truth, he had turtled up in fear of letting out another unbecoming side of Alistair. He had let his guard down for an instance when he had been messing with Kalix and look what that led to. That should have never had happened. Thankfully, it did not seem like Lord Banick ever heard about the door, so that was a plus.

"You actually helped me, yesterday, Kristen. You reminded me what we were here for. After all, I am representing House Krixus on this assignment. I can not be performing such tasteless jokes."

Alistair took this chance to try and move the situation away from his emotions or past actions. "So, how are you feeling about the day, Kristen?"

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Something of a journey along undulating hills, Alistair's response. He'd reiterated that he was fine, and Kristen felt that awful, awkward feel of clamming up again, same as she did when Raf said much the same yesterday. Oh, another faux pas! Truly her social acumen had deteriorated, and quickly, within this year and some change she'd been at the Academy.

Up one hill, down another. He came to say that he needed to prepare, that his magic required quite a lot of it. Oh. Well...yes, that did make sense. Kristen needed to pray regularly; certainly a far cry from the intricate and extensive preparations Alistair had to make, but she understood at least where he was coming from.

Such a reasoning still meant that her social acumen was off, though. Ah!

Or was it? You actually helped me yesterday, Kristen. She brightened up at this, that look of worry giving way to a pleased expression. Really? Truly? She did help him? It felt so positively good to hear someone say that. After months and months of feeling like a lead weight to whomever was cursed to have her company on a task or mission, finally she was on the giving end of aid, rather than perpetually on the receiving end.

She idly brushed her hair with her free hand. A demure gesture of averting her eyes followed, and a tiny smile. "Nervous. Yes, nervous, overall. But..." She looked back up, "...in this moment, I am doing rather well. I am glad to hear that I could be of help to you yesterday, Alistair. Very glad, indeed."

It was easy to forget everything: the campaign, the Academy, her nobility and Alistair's own. Easy to forget and just enjoy the simple satisfaction of one human being helping another. A thing perhaps rare among Initiates, and rarer still among full Dreadlords.

Alistair Krixus Raf Kalix

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair could only smile appreciatively towards Kristen. He would wager that he was one of the nicer initiates at the Academy, and that was more because it was efficient to be kind to people for down the road. Still, he could not even hold a candle to Kristen to seemed to radiate this kind and caring personality. A part of him wondered if it was all an act, but he highly doubted it. It had to be real because this was the only side of her that he had ever seen.

"I am grateful for the help...and don't worry about today. I'm sure we will do well. We just may have to watch out for Kalix."

Alistair told a small lie, but it was necessary to keep everyone in good spirits. In truth, he had plenty of doubts about this mission, but he was hoping they just scraped by. After all, asking Kalix to be discrete was like asking the sun to not be bright. It did not happen. He did not have the heart to tell Kristen that and Raf seemed like he already knew, so there was no need to say that.

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Her tiny smile grew into a bigger, brighter one.

"Yeah," she said. Alistair's confidence, the manner in which he seemed to be handling everything so calmly and assuredly, lifted her spirits up and out of that nervousness she so often found herself mired in.

"We will do well."

* * * * *

ELYR'ADITH

(Alltherooms)​

The sun was still shy of high noon and what morning clouds there had been mostly gave way to wispy remnants and the powerful blue of the sky. Turquoise waters greeted the transport ships as they pulled closer and closer, the white sands of Elyr'Adith in plain view. A balmy warmth under the sun's radiance cradled the occupants of the boats, this matched only by the cool breeze blowing occasionally across the decks. Small, quaint buildings lined the beach, most with cozy thatch roofs. The day was beautiful, picturesque, and one could almost inhale the unspoiled serenity of it with each breath.

The lead boat slowed to a halt, the ship rocking a trifle unsteadily before settling back in to stability. Elyr'Adith wasn't a port for a good reason: the underwater shelf of the beach was so shallow and stretched so far out with this shallowness that larger boats couldn't get close. Even the lean keels of the transport ships saw them caught in the sand beneath the surface of those scenic waters.

But they had gotten close enough. And here the ships would wait, ready to be pushed back out into the bay by the wind and the sailors once the soldiers disembarked.

From the front of the ship, a mate called: "My Lord Banick, this is as far as we can go!"

Walter Banick crossed to the edge of the boat, leaning over the railing and looking down to the gentle water just below. He turned back to his men, saw (vaguely) that one of the Initiates had somehow managed to find himself tied to a mast. He ignored that.

Presently, he ordered in a booming voice, "Men. Disembark!"

Walter gripped the railing and swung himself over and dropped down into the water--the first man to do so. The water was just above waist level on him, and his purple cape floated atop the surface. The soldiers on the lead boat, and across the other four boats as well, all disembarked in a similar manner, and the sounds of splashing water became ubiquitous.

Kristen stood from her spot at the rear of the boat, her legs a bit sore from having sat for those few hours without moving all that much. She stretched. Alistair could help Kalix out of his, uh, secure position, so Kristen turned her attention to Raf.

"Hey, Raf," she nudged him with an insistent foot, "wake up. We have arrived at Elyr'Adith."

This she said while undoing the knots of her own bindings.

Alistair Krixus Raf Kalix

 

[Raf]

Raf was fast asleep.

In fact for the entirety of the boat trip the Initiate looked as though he were little more than a corpse. His chest barely rose and fell. His body did not tumble nor sway. He seemed as though he were in the most restful state humanly possible.

When Kristen gently nudged him he didn't seem to budge, his eyelids barely twitching. It was only at the second press of her foot that he began to stir.

Without a single hint of warning, without a second of any sort of reason Raf suddenly shot upward. His eyes popped open beyond any sense of reason, his voice echoing out over the deck of the ship. "THE ORCS HAVE TAKEN OVER THE TUNDRA HELPED BY PEOPLE FROM THE MOON!"

Raf shouted, startled.

His head whirled left, right, then upward.

With the last pass of his gaze he stumbled upon Kristen. A frown touched his features, eyes narrowing, and then a long sigh escaped him.

"Nevermind!" Raf declared. "Just...just a dream."

He was pretty sure at least.

 

[Kalix]

Thank goodness Kalix was tied to the mast! During the bulk of the trip he seemed to get used to being on a boat that was in water. Luckily the clear skies helped to alleviate the fear of storms for the initiate. He had been stuck in his thoughts during the trip. Kristen and Alistair had talked a lot, Raf was sleeping, and Kalix, for once, was quiet. But only for the time being. Now they were able to finally get off the boat and could kill some elves!

Wait. That wasn’t right. Could go and regulate some elves as nonviolently as possible? Now that was a weird sentence to say.

“HEY HEY HEY ALISTAIR!” Kalix shouted after Raf thought he could be louder than Kalix. Yeah right! Kalix was the loudest and he just proved it right there and now! He shifted a bit against the rope. “You gotta untie me!” He said as people on deck began moving around, blatantly ignoring the initiate.

 

[Alistair Krixus]

"I'm coming. Calm down."

Alistair took out his knife as he made his way over to Kalix, but he wasn't hurrying over. That was because he had a difficult problem to solve in the next few seconds. It was a problem that Kalix had not yet considered, because he was not freaking out yet.

How was he going to get Kalix on dry land?

"I don't suppose that you can make yourself weigh close to nothing with your magic?"

All the other soldiers were beginning to hop off the ship and they would need to follow quickly. It would not look right if they were given some special treatment in the matter, not to mention even getting a rowing boat closer would be difficult because of the coast.

"Kalix...I need you to trust me."

He swiftly cut the rope that was keeping Kalix tied to the mast but wanted to try and keep his fellow initiates eyes on him and not on the water that he would inevitably have to wade through to get to land.

Kristen Pirian Raf Kalix

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen nearly jumped out of her boots. Why, she'd never seen Raf like this! Oh, well, with the caveat that she had not had much time in Raf's acquaintance; and with the exception of yesterday, when Raf had enthusiastically asked to be served tortellini for supper. But otherwise!

"It must..." A nervous giggle escaped her, as if uttering the wrong word might provoke Raf into some kind of rage. "It must have been quite the dream!"

Her wrist now free of the knot, she stood to her full height and gave her once bound hand a small bout of shakes. Soldiers were still hopping overboard, their splashes a near constant clamor. She could see from over the railing on her side that the water was not very deep. Especially not for someone her height (for once in her adolescent life, she was actually glad for it!)

But with Kalix, however...he might not be so fond even of waist-high water.

Kristen leaned toward Raf as Alistair went to assist Kalix, saying to him in a low tone, "Raf...you, um...may need to aid Alistair in getting Kalix overboard if he becomes too...unruly." Then, confusing his powers for Meredith's, she suggested, "Mayhap you could touch him and make him weigh less, as Alistair needs?"

Raf Kalix Alistair Krixus

 

[Raf]

"Right...right, just a dream, there's no one on the moon." Raf didn't sound as though he was entirely sure of that claim.

His head shook from side to side as he crawled up the deck of the ship and stood to his full height. The fog of sleep still hung over his mind, but he tried to shake it with a slight smile as he looked over to Kristen and she suggested he help with Kalix.

Eyes immediately flickered towards his wayward companions. "Uhh."

He looked to the noble. "I can't do that."

Least he was pretty sure he couldn't.

"Maybe if he tried to make Alistair weigh enough to sink this boat, but even then..." He shrugged. "Maybe we're better off..."

For a few seconds Raf considered, and then he shouted towards Kalix. "Hey! Did you hear that there's a bunch of busty elves waiting for us?! Heard they barely wear any clothes at all! Apparently don't even know what bras are!"

The lie slipped from his tongue as he gave Kristen a big thumbs up.

This would surely motivate Kalix.

 

[Kalix]

Kalix thought about Alistair’s question, not because it was a good question, but because Kalix was confused about why Alistair would even ask such a thing. Why would Kalix need to weight very little? Wouldn’t they want him to weigh more when he attacked— no, delegated with the elves? He had yet to look over the ship and realize just how far out from shore the ships really were and how much they would need to traverse through the water.

“Yeah, I can float!” He boasted. Maybe Alistair was just curious about how strong Kalix was? He was the strongest, that’s why he was here, duh. Look he even braved it out on a boat even though a huge part of him was starting to feel uneasy with the ropes being gone.

And if Kalix couldn’t do boats because they were on water, he most definitely could not do water that was almost up to his chest. But Kalix would most definitely would swim across every sea if it meant on the shore there were boobs to be seen. Especially if it they were the voluptuous bust of a elf!

Elves were gross but they always did somehow manage to have the biggest racks. Or they had absolutely none at all. There never seemed to be a good in-between for them. No wonder why they were a lesser race to humans.

Kalix looked at Raf, a moment of hopefully joy glittering in his eyes before he smirked. Raf wasn’t so bad after all. “Raf!” Kalix shouted, grinning like he had been the one to be paired up with Ella at the Solstice Ball. “You may be a weakling but at least you have good tastes!” They had the same type! Who knew?

Without another word, Kalix ran over and jumped off of the boat. He saw the water. But they had docked right, it couldn’t be too deep. He saw some of the others that had been onboard. Noticed the water level on them. But they were way shorter than him! He was fine. He was fine.

~SPLASH!~

Kalix stood up, even on the tips of his toes. The water was at the middle of his waist. He looked up, looked down, then looked at the shore. It was then that he knew he had been bamboozled.