Chapter 72: Spirits
The wind has finally calmed down. Three days ago, the crew entered the Limaw Sea and they were welcomed by monstrous winds together with bouts of thunder and torrential rains that soaked the upper deck for a whole day. The buckets were filled to the brim several times when the crew had to wipe the floor afterwards.
Now, there was only a drizzle and intermitent rumbling sound coming from the sky. There was still no lights seen under the heavy fog.
Below deck however, you couldn't even hear the water droplets hitting the wooden floor. This was because of the thickness of the wood used to make this ship, which should be the case with how many gems they had to pay to have it built.
Inside the captain's quarters, a rough hoarse sound coming from the man lying on the bed was the only noise in the room. Captain Yati had been shouting for days now—when they encountered that huge octopus and whatever creature it was detaining their ship, then the storm after they entered the Limaw Sea. Fortunately, there were no incidents again once the storm stopped yesterday night, hence he was resting here until noon after finishing his promised cask full of spirits.
A movement on the bed dislodged the blanket on top of the man. A hairy arm placed on his stomach was touched by softer skin which woke Yati up. Since he had already rested for hours, he wasn't as mad if anybody else woke him up.
His halfhearted grumbling was later replied to by a quiet chuckle when he had his hands touch more naked skin. With eyes still half closed, Yati stopped grumbling and turned on his side to get more access of the other body beside him. It was difficult to find someone once they were out at sea, so he wasn't really complaining.
The grumbling changed to moaning and it drowned out the sound of the lock clicking and the door softly creaking open. Kana entered his father's room. He had his shields up since he knew that the old man had just drunk more than he usually had.
As he expected, the 'haze' inside the room was thick. There was a fire burning in the grate—his father's room was the only room with a fireplace in this ship—but it wasn't enough to brighten up the room due to the 'haze'.
Kana heard his father moaning a name—An'yi, the name of Kana's mother. That was when he realized that his father was having hallucinations again from his drinking.
Kana's mother was just one of the women chasing after his father. However, she had always been a favorite. She never complained about Yati's other women, and of course she was great in bed.
Despite the crew's complaints, Yati still took An'yi on some of their travels and soon, she died on one of these travels after having an infection soon after giving birth to Kana.
That didn't make Kana guilty though. His mother should have known how to take care of herself even if she chose to ignored her child. Besides, Yati never blamed Kana. He could see that with his father still having women on other ports—except for times like this when Yati didn't have any other women to turn to. It was always An'yi when his father was in the mood alone with his spirits. Kana thought that that was the reason why they sometimes call the drink 'spirits'.
After walking a few paces, Kana saw his father lying in bed, mumbling to himself. He knew that the old man would be difficult to rouse once he was in this deep. Kana just sighed, then went out the door.
He went to his father's room to talk about their extra passengers, the kid and his pet, but now, Kana had to take care of the situation himself. After another sigh, he walked back to the ship's dining area.
Early this morning, the kid went to him after they had their breakfast of dried beans and pickled vegetables. The meat the two caught three days ago were already finished and the dried meat in the ship's storage should be preserved since they didn't know how long they had to sail before reaching land again.
However, the kid said that his dragon was bored since, of course it couldn't even explore inside the ship. Therefore, the kid was asking if they could fly around and catch a few beasts in the water for food.
Kana didn't know since when, but the whole crew supported the idea. Maybe they wanted good food too but Kana thought it was most likely because they were bored too and wanted to watch the dragon flying.
The door to the dining room opened and the conversations inside stopped. Kana then faced the expectant looks of the people inside.
After his third sigh today, he said, "The captain is still resting so I didn't disturb him. But you can go out on my permission." Cheers broke out inside the dining room like there was a celebration. Kana had to shout a few times to add a reminder. "Just stay within a ten meter radius of the ship so we can see you and come back after an hour. We don't know how long this drizzle will last."
"Can we stay for two hours? We'll return immediately if there were any problems." Ling pleaded with eager eyes.
Tired of the incidents for the past few days, Kana had his fourth sigh as he nodded. At least the two could scout around the ship for two hours. They could prevent something like a water beast detaining them then like the last time.
This time, a dragon's roar joined the celebration. Surprisingly, the men didn't stop their cheers even with the thundering roar of the bigger creature.
Outside, sky continued to drizzle and let out a rumbling sound. This ship still didn't know what was waiting for them in this fog.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone