Private Tales What the Sea Holds

[Inina]

She didn't know what sewers were, or taverns or ale, but she got the general idea and didn't want to barrage him with even more questions. She figured he'd tell her what she had to know, and she didn't plan on being here long after all. She wasn't sure she wanted to learn, she'd rather this land had remained a mystery to her, that she still believed humans to be wondrous and kind..

Her legs were already aching, the new muscles that had never before existed let alone been used already felt heavy and sore, causing her to stagger even more. How people got around on these things all day she'd never understand.

As they approached the building, Nina looked up at it uncertainly. She realised in that moment the discomfort she felt at going inside again, for fear of the people in there trying to chain her to a wall. She swallowed, and decided that she trusted him...but also that whatever sound was coming from the inside was intriguing enough to beckon her further...

"What is that?.." she asked, the pretty sound soothing to her ears, and she nodded in agreement with him. She had no intention of speaking to anyone..

 

[Bastian]

He glanced at her. "What?"

"The Music?" Bastian turned his head for a moment, listening to the sound for a few seconds before he determined what it was. "Sounds like a lute, probably a shanty of some sort."

He didn't exactly think that a place like this would be worried about having the fanciest music around. Lips thinned for a brief moment and he shrugged his shoulders. Bastian had never much cared for music, not because it wasn't nice, but because there wasn't time.

When he was inside of a tavern he was usually more worried about who had the biggest knife, not who had the nicest instrument.

Without waiting again he gently guided Inina into the tavern.

The inside of the place was about as nice as the outside. Wood floors, old tables, ancient bar, and a small stage where a gleeman stood playing his lute. The song he played was a melodious one, though most everyone seemed to be ignoring him.

Bastian slowly lead Inina over towards the bar, rapping his knuckles against it. "Oi!"

He called out, not noticing an innkeeper around.

 

[Inina]

"Music.." she repeated under her breath and twice more to commit the word to memory as he guided her inside. She gave the place a quick glance over, but her violet gaze fell upon the man who made the 'music', her mouth gaping as she watched..

"Don't 'oi' me, lad!" the barman called from the back room and poked his head out, a look of disgruntlement on his grizzly features. The deep tone of his voice caused Nina to flinch, and she avoided his gaze as he shuffled back out into the bar, a barrel under each massive arm.

"If you wanna try an' be more polite, maybe I can assist you.." he grunted.

Nina let the two speak and used the bar to manoeuvre herself toward the stage, the wooden floor sticky under her bare feet and her nose wrinkled at the feeling. She glanced at the few faces that'd looked at her, but let her attention shift back to the gleeman as she sat herself down on the stage in front of him to peer up at him and the instrument he played. The man grinned wide, clearly not used to people taking much notice of him, and he added a little more gusto to his tune as Nina smiled.

 

[Bastian]

Bastian cast a glance over towards Inina as she began to wander.

For a brief moment he felt the Impulse to run, to just leave her here and get the fuck out. The crew might be satisfied with finding just her, claiming their prize. It would have been what he'd done a few years ago, look out for only himself.

Was he better now?

No.

He would have slit the innkeepers throat in a heartbeat if it meant he would have everything be okay. Yet perhaps he was not as cruel. Leaving Inina was signing her death warrant, and that at least he was not willing to do. Not now. "Sorry about that."

Bastian said.

"I've had a hell of a day." He gestured to himself, shaking his head as he began to negotiate with the Innkeep for a room.

The conversation was a short one, a few silvers passed over, some questions asked about discretion. It was over quickly, and just a minute later Bastian was holding a key and stepping up behind Inina.

 

[Inina]

Nina simply sat in awe at the edge of the stage, her violet eyes pinned on the gleeman and the instrument he played, enthralled with the sound that it made. He watched her too, and as he changed the tempo and started tapping his foot in time, Nina smiled brightly and laughed for the first time in weeks.

She looked up at Bastian, her smile wide. "It's wonderful isn't it!" she asked and looked back to the man who dipped his chin at Bastian too.

 

[Bastian]

Bastian did the same, grimacing slightly as he pulled up a chair and sat himself down. "It's alright."

Certainly wasn't the best rendition of the song he had heard, but close enough that he was surprised to find it in a tavern like this. He looked the man up and down, wondering why the hell he was playing here before he looked towards Inina.

"I asked the Innkeeper to get me some bandages." He said in a more hushed tone as he leaned closed to her. "She doesn't seem the type to ask questions."

Which was a plus in their column.

 

[Inina]

Nina could barely take her eyes from the performer, but as Bastian spoke she nodded and looked to him with a gentle frown in a moment's confusion before she understood. "Oh. Good.." she nodded, glancing to the bar..

"Then are we staying here?" her brows arched, but her eyes were heavy and she desperately needed to sleep.

 

[Bastian]

"We are." At least for the night.

What tomorrow would bring Bastian wasn't entirely sure. There were a lot of questions still to ask, but he was sure that the morning could bring them answers just as well as tonight. His own wounds needed tending still, and he was exhausted.

Glancing up at the gleeman for a moment he frowned, then returned his attention to Inina.

"I've got us a room." He told her. "We can get up there, and..."

He bit his tongue for a second.

Asking for help had never come easily for him. Strangers, friends, no one was to be trusted. Everyone could stab a knife into your back, everyone could take you down if you weren't careful. "And I might need some help with these."

Bastian said with a gesture towards his wounds.

 

[Inina]

Nina frowned at him as he paused, her head tilting in question. Help, that was all he wanted to ask for and yet he seemed to have difficulty.

"Of course.." she frowned. It was the least she could do and she wished she could help him more, but her energy was spent. As the barkeep returned with Bastian's bandages, Nina thanked the Gleeman who tipped his hat, and she pushed herself awkwardly to her feet, staggering from table to table for something to hold onto. Most likely thought her drunk, and so little attention was paid to her.

Stairs. Nina stared at them with a few heavy blinks and inwardly groaned before taking them one at a time, clutching hold of the rickety banister for dear life. "These things hurt." she muttered with a glance down at her shaking legs.

 

[Bastian]

Bastian chuckled. "Tell me about it."

His wounds were aching. The blood had slowed to a trickle, but there was still an ebbing throb of pain that lanced up and down his legs. An echoing hurt that was impossible to ignore. His teeth snapped together as another one of those waves lashed over him, but he made no complaint as he took another step and began to help Inina up the stairs.

As they walked he leaned gently into her. "Did you know…"

He glanced down at her legs.

Not even twenty minutes ago there had been a fin in their place. It was...odd to him. At the time he had not question it, but now Bastian couldn't help but wonder what the hell else Inina was capable of.

First she had spoken in his mind, then she'd grown legs. What was next? Controlling the very waves around her?

The thought put a small spike of fear in his chest. He had no idea who he was dealing with. What he was dealing it.

 

[Inina]

"Thank you.." she murmured as he helped her, trying her best to lean most of her weight against the banister and not cause him any more difficulty. She had to pause half way up from the ache in her never before used muscles and her teeth clenched.

His question caused her brow to furrow as she looked down at the legs for a moment before continuing up the last few steps.. "No.. None of my people have ever been on dry land before. I'd heard stories but I thought they were just stories.." she answered.

She clung to the railing as they reached the top landing, looking down the corridor at all of the doors. She swallowed, feeling her palms grow sweaty already and she bit nervously on her lip as she thought of the wooden door of the cargo hold in the slavers ship, the wooden door of the other ship she'd been dragged onto. Doors with four walls and terrible fear beyond them.

"Are you sure about this?.." she asked quietly, reluctant to let go.

 

[Bastian]

Bastian nodded as she asked if he was sure. "I had to survive in worse places than this."

He did not see that those words would perhaps not reassure her as much as he would hope they would. Their lives had been extraordinarily different. She was a Princess of the Sea, a mermaid, a being of grace and wonder.

Bastian?

He was a killer. A murderer. A piece of scum born in the worst gutters Vel Anir had to offer. He didn't think like she did. Couldn't.

"It'll be alright." The Runaway said as he gently tugged her along the hallway, finding the door that was theirs and pushing it open. The inside of their room was small, just large enough for two small beds, a window, and a dresser.

There was no decoration, nothing on the walls save for a single mirror. "Not so bad."

He told her quietly.

"At least we both have a bed." Bastian said with a chuckle, not realizing that she might not even know what a bed actually was.

 

[Inina]

Nina gave a short nod as he reassured her. He was running from the same people that she was, and so she could trust him, that was her own naive little way of justifying said trust. Her gaze wandered over the strange little room as she stepped inside, clinging to the wall to hold herself upright.

"You sleep on those?.." she asked curiously. It blew her mind that they didn't simply drift off in their sleep, then again, the air wasn't strong enough to lift and carry them where it wished. Already she longed for the sea, even those horrible ships moved like the waves. This stillness had her constantly fighting nausea.

She pushed herself from the wall and took a few rigid steps to the nearest bed to sit down on it, her brow lifting as she seemed to sink into it and she sighed at the sudden relief to her aching legs. She was instantly sleepy, but rubbed at her face as she remembered his wounds, a hand held out to him.

"Give me those." she gestured to the bandages.

 

[Bastian]

"We do." He said with a chuckle.

The thought that such a simple thing might be foreign to her never having crossed his mind. His head shook, and he slowly handed over the bandages as he practically hobbled over towards one of the chairs and sat himself down.

His wounds had slowed their bleeding significantly, but there was still a steady drip.

Bastian reached down a hand, softly grazing one of the cuts and letting out a quiet hiss of pain. Eyes squeezed shut, and he took in a deep breath. "I figured out where we are."

He said quietly.

"Myrios." The Runaway's voice was quiet. "Ever hear of it?"

For some reason he doubted it. Inina did not know much of the surface world, but perhaps some bit of knowledge leaked through.

 

[Inina]

Nina wobbled unsteadily to the dresser, studying her reflection for a brief moment. She'd lost weight and her eyes had dark circles underneath. She could only imagine how she'd looked before Bastian had brought her sea water. She sighed and looked over the basin and jug of water, pouring some and throwing in one of the face cloths which she took to him.

She couldn't help but chuckle at his question, an incredulous look shot at him as she wrung out the cloth. "All I know of your lands is that it's dry and it doesn't move.." And that there were some horrible people born from it. "Let me clean your wounds.." she nodded to him.

"What sort of place is it?.." she asked curiously.

 

[Bastian]

Another hiss escaped his lips as Inina reached out and gently touched the cloth against his wounds.

The pain was a familiar one at least, but he still had to bite his tongue to keep from swearing. "At least you have that part right."

He could have been reading her mind, but of course he was just referring to the fact that land was dry and didn't move. A stupid joke to him, but perhaps a moment of panic for her. The Runaway grimaced for a moment, grasping the chair a bit more tightly as she cleaned some of the infection away.

"I'm not sure." Bastian told her truthfully. "I've never been here, just hear ru-FUCK!"

He swore as she pressed a bit too hard. "Sorry...rumors."

A breath filled his lungs.

"They call it the City of a Thousand Ships." That was always the title in the story. "Great Ship Builders and navymen, apparently a penchant for the sea like no other."

Bastian frowned. "Except...well...I suppose mermaids."

He chuckled, though it seemed a bit forced.

 

[Inina]

Inina focused on the wounds, frowning gently at his words and wincing as he swore.. "Sorry." she murmured, trying to be as gentle as she could but she was drowsy and weak which made it a little more difficult. She lifted her eyes to him, her slender brows rising with intrigue.. "They, like the sea?.." she asked rhetorically.

"Perhaps, they know where Njova is. Perhaps one of them could take me back home." she blinked at him. "Is there a king I can ask?.." she asked.

 

[Bastian]

Bastian shrugged. "I...honestly don't know."

The Runaway had absolutely no idea how this place operated. Vel Anir had a King, he was in charge of everything, but he knew that Alliria didn't operate that way. They had a council of some sort, and for all he knew Myrios had the same.

"We can ask tomorrow." He offered.

For a brief moment he wished he had read more books, hell, he wished he knew how to read in the first place. It would have come in handy at a point like this.

"I don't know anything about this place except the name and some stories." Bastian admitted quietly. "And..."

The Runaway trailed off. "We have to be careful in finding out."

Something she said stuck in his mind though; Njova. Was that where she was from?

 

[Inina]

"Alright.." Nina agreed in a quiet sigh, his warning not making her feel any safer about being on dry land. "I'll have a better look at these wounds tomorrow." she told him as she tightly tied off the fresh bandages. Infection was rare below the surface of the sea, owing to to salt water's own healing properties, but it wasn't unheard of and she hoped she'd cleaned the wounds enough to avoid any fever taking hold, at least for one night.

"I need to sleep." she frowned. She really did, she hadn't slept properly in weeks and her magic had taken its toll. She got up and stumbled over to the bed closest to the window to fall into it.

 

[Bastian]

Bastian lingered in the chair for a moment, running a hand through his hair and rubbing his face.

For a brief moment he wondered what in the fuck he was supposed to do. The crew had betrayed him. He hadn't been close to any of them of course, no friends, nothing even close, but...but they had been Anirian. That was supposed to have meant something.

At least according to the poster.

He remembered back to that feeling he'd had growing up in the slums. That impulse of not trusting anyone, of never giving anyone a length of rope. Not even to hang themselves with.

A scowl pulled on his lips, but he slowly shook his head and stepped over towards where Inina had collapsed. He pulled the blanket over her, knowing she'd likely never even seen one before. If he had no friends, perhaps he at least had one ally.

He would just have to see what that counted for.

 

[Inina]

It felt strange, and her body wriggled and writhed on the mattress as she tried to recapture the sensation of the waves, but she didn't have the energy to keep it up. It was far too still, but she found it comfortable, at least.

As Bastian pulled a cover over her, she looked up at him, a soft frown on her brow that quickly melted as she felt the weight and warmth of the blanket. It settled her almost immediately, and she nuzzled her face into the pillow.

"Thank you." she whispered in appreciation of the comfort and sighed deeply. She was too tired to think, which was probably a good thing, and so her eyes closed and she was asleep within moments, her sleep deep and dreamless.

 

[Bastian]

Bastian rubbed at his face.

All of this had gone to shit. The whole point of the navy had been to lay as low as possible, keep his name out of things and get away from his crimes. Now? Now he was part of a mutiny and a dozen other crimes that he didn't even want to think about.

His lips thinned for a moment as he scowled, gaze flickering over towards the one window in their room. After a moment he shook his head and made his way towards the other bed.

Best not to dwell on it, not for the night.

By the time morning came though Bastian wasn't in any better mood. Most of the night was spent thinking about what to do, where they would go, what he would be faced it. Nightmares plagued him, though none born of guilt.

When the sun rose, the young Runaway was already up and about the room.

 

[Inina]

Inina was sprawled across the bed, her limbs a mimic of a starfish as she spread her body to all four corners, savouring this new sort of comfort. She had never slept so soundly, blanketed and warm, a soft breeze sneaking in through the window and caressing her face. Her body healed as she slept, and as she woke she groaned with a wide smile, her fingers and toes wriggling as her stretch reached them.

"This bed thing isn't bad." she rumbled, her voice gritty from sleep. She nuzzled into her pillow and yawned, her eyes flickering open to watch him move about the room..

"How are you feeling?" she asked sleepily.

 

[Bastian]

'Stressed' would have been a truthful answer.

Bastian was practically jumping out of his skin at this point. They were in an unknown city with unknown people and the remnants of his former crew wanted him dead. There was no telling what the law was here, who they shouldn't run afoul of. It was dangerous, extremely so, and it made his skin crawl.

Fingers tightened and he forced himself to ease up just a bit. "I'm alright. Legs are doing better."

That was at least true.

The wounds on his legs were still aching, but they had stopped bleeding sometime in the night. Running or anything more strenuous would no doubt open them up again, but that couldn't be helped. At least not in any scenario where he would have to risk it.

"We're going to need to get some money."

 

[Inina]

Nina sat herself up and stretched, her skin, hair and eyes having returned to their usual vibrance and lustre. She lifted the blankets to look down at her legs, a sight she wasn't sure she'd ever get used to. They were nowhere near as pretty as her tail was. She prodded at them curiously as she nodded distantly at Bastian..

"Hm.. Where do we get that from?.." she asked, tilting her head at her wriggling toes before she looked up at him and patted the bed.

"Bring the water and let me look at your wounds.."