Know that I couldn't always trust the things Drania said that were disturbing. I had to wonder what other lies that she had told me.
We had got back down to the mess hall and Corbit, and Tim was down there waiting for us. Corbit can over and gave me a quick hug, but then backed away quickly.
"Sorry Guild Leader! I am just glad to see you're okay!" Corbit said with a bit of embarrassment.
"I hope you don't think I am going to give you a hug too," Tim said with a smile.
"No, not this time, but it is nice to know that I was missed. How have things been going with your training? It has only been one day, but it looks like you two have been doing something," I said looking the two over them up and down while brushing some dirt from the yellow shirt I was wearing.
"Yes, something like that, we didn't do much in the way of weapons training. Hershal and Braum think that we need to get into better shape before we start any kind of weapons training. I argued at first, but after the first time we ran their course, I could agree that I might need to work out a bit more," Tim said with a weak smile.
"So, they are making the scrawny little boys beef up? Don't worry Tim, one day you can have arms like mine," Gloria teased while flexing one of her biceps.
"Laugh at us all you want, but I think Kal and Jester have a course planned for you all tomorrow. Braum said that ours was the beginner's course and that you would be doing the intermediate. Honestly, I didn't really think I could get much worse after that," Corbit said with a grin to Gloria, but it was Mei that spoke up.
"Wah?! Wait, why do I have to do it?! I don't need to run to fight and I won't be using a weapon!" Mei complained pulling on Gloria's sleeve, but she had her fist up and clenched tight with fire in her eyes.
"Oh? They think that they have a course that is more challenging than the gauntlet from my hometown! I will accept the challenge!" Gloria announced to no one.
"Who are you talking to?" I asked.
"No, one...I umm, hmm. Don't we have a boat to catch?" Gloria said a bit peevishly, turning red-faced and walking out the door, dragging Mei along with her.
Too cute, Gloria never got excited about things. This must be one of her things, she likes competition, but so did I. Part of me wished we could be just going there now, and not down to the open water.
Stepping outside was weird, but magically beautiful at the same time. The entire city was built on a hill and we walked out to face down the hill. Ahead was what felt like miles of stone and wooden buildings, but the scene below with all the boats and water was magical and terrifying all at the same time.
We were fairly high up, but the ocean still swallowed the horizon. Only blue water met the blue sea, and while it was beautiful to look at, the thought of traveling out to a point where there was no land in sight terrified me.
I almost took an involuntary step back, but Lesha was there, as usual, to ground me with a hand on my arm.
"The ocean can be a big scary place, but you will get used to it. Don't worry, we will be staying close to land today. The Gem Hearts grow in a reef, so we won't be that far off the shore. We have met, but I will introduce myself again. I am Hershal, and this is Braum, and today we are going to take you out to show you how Gem Heart collecting works," Herschel said pointing to a large and muscled man with short black hair and a chest-length beard.
"Alright, let's get going then before I change my mind and go back to bed," I said, shaking my head.
"Ah, don't worry lass! The water be good for yer soul. Plus, you get to see the silly fockers that are going to grow to be the most profitable pain in the ass you ever did have, and that's the God's be damned truth of it!" Braum said with a big smile.
He had a funny way of talking, but he seemed like a nice guy. I also liked those curses he was using; I would have to stick close for when he stubbed a toe, I could learn all new things to call Healia when I got back!
I took Lesha by the hand and kissed her cheek, and she gave me a cute smile back, but then we had to jog to catch up. The trip to the ocean was nice and we stopped to get some dried and smoked fish to eat on the way.
When we got almost to the dock area, I remembered something and turned to Lesha as we continued to walk.
"What are we going to do in the water? I don't want to walk around in wet clothes all day waiting to dry."
"Don't worry, I picked you out of a swimsuit yesterday. Once we got into the city and got you settled down, Gastbo paid us, and Kal told us what we would be doing today. So, I went and got you some new clothes and a swimsuit," Lesha said with a dreamy look in her eyes that made me feel uncomfortable.
"You had better not got something inappropriate!" I growled at her.
"Me? Do something like that? No baby, I got you something cute that you will look good in, I promise," Lesha said while leaning over to kiss my cheek, and squeezing my hand.
When she called me that, it sent shivers down my back, and made me melt like butter inside. It really wasn't fair.
I walked with the girls down onto the docks, and the smell of the salt was stronger here, along with various other smells. Why did the whole area smell like...no, I wasn't going to think about it.
The boat was starting to sound like a good idea rather than stay around all these invasive smells. I looked at the other girls, and everyone but Gloria and Lesha had their noses scrunched up.
"The Dead Right be up ahead, once onboard, head to the front of the boat so yer doesn't get in the way of the deckhands, or old Captain Nobby will give ya the left side of his tongue!" Braum said with a laugh.
"That's not a very good name for a ship," Trinity said, tilting her head at Braum.
"Oh, come now, little miss, this is a great name for her! She's a Flexil Fish hunter, so she is dead to rights if we get caught by the Flexil," Braum said in a more serious tone, losing some of his jovial accent.
"What are the Flexil Fish?" Lesha asked.
"We will talk about them more after we cast off. First, let's get everyone aboard so they can pull up the gangplank," Hershal said, waving us all forward.
The Dead Right was the biggest boat there, and I had only seen some paintings like this. It was hard to put into words how amazing it was. The ship had to have been at least thirty meters long. I didn't even bother trying to guess the height of the two sails that hung from wooden poles.
We were rushed up onto the deck and then herded up a half-meter set of small stairs at the front of the boat. There was plenty of room and some wooden boxes to sit down on, so we made ourselves comfortable.
I turned to see people rushing around, untying thick ropes and pulling up the ramp we had walked upon. Candi and Trinity came up to me and stood to either side of me, but neither of them looked very good.
We had just started to move and there was a feeling of constantly moving, but it seemed to be bothering the girls. Both were almost a head shorter than me, and the little girls looked like they were going to be sick.
"K, the waves, the boat, my stomach, ugh," Candi growled out as she grabbed my arm as the boat dipped a bit.
"Ya, Miss K, I don't feel so good, and everything stinks, do we have to do this?" Trinity complained, grabbing my other arm as the boat came back up.
I didn't know what I was supposed to do, and I turned to Gloria. She was the only one that seemed to have any idea about what we were going to do.
"Gloria, what can I do for these two? They don't look so good," I said, but then I noticed that she was helping Mei lay down, and letting her lay with her head curled into Gloria's lap.
"They just need to lay down and keep their heads still, they will get used to it, hopefully. If not, then next time we will get crackers and some Air Juice. Just let them put their heads in your laps for now," Gloria said while running hands through Mei's hair.
Both girls were looking like zombies from the dungeon, so I went and put my back against one of the crates and crossed my legs. I waved the girls over and one came to each side, but then Lesha came and laid down in front of me.
"Are you not feeling good either?" I asked with concern, but she looked fine.
"No, I'm fine, I just didn't want to sit alone, and you have comfy legs," Lesha said with a cute smile while looking up at me.
We all sat there and relaxed for almost an hour before Braum came to talk to us. Trinity and Candi were both sleeping and Lesha handed my arm and was running her fingers around it gently. It was a nice feeling that I had never felt before, and it let me relax to the point that I almost fell asleep.
"I hope your girls there are feeling better when they wake up. The sea can be hard on some, but I just take time for most. So, we are going to be coming up on the Reef soon, so I want to run over some important details. So, wake the girls up as well, Corbit and Tim are already getting changed, and Hershal and I have already gone over the basics with them," Braum explained to us.
Lesha sat up and I woke the girls up. The two of them sat up and stretched, both looked a lot better, so I stood up and stretched.
I turned to look over at Gloria who was trying to get Mei up. Poor girl still looked like she was going green, but she would just have to push through.
We all gathered around Braum, Hershal must be with the boys because he was nowhere in sight.
"All right, sorry for making you wait so long about the explanation, but I was helping out with the crew. See, I now head out with these here boys cause this is my boat. I just let old Nobby there captain the thing cause I got other Guild business outside of just Gem Heart hunting. So, Flexil, they look like a pile of floating snot, but not to be taken lightly," Braum said, shaking a finger at each to make sure we were paying attention.
"If they are floating boogers, then what makes them so dangerous?" Trinity asked.
"They eat through anything, the jelly melts holes through anything. So, If they touch the ship of you, it's all over for us. So, we have spotters, but the biggest thing is for the divers to get in and out without being noticed. Most people die on their way back from getting the Gem Heart."
Well, this just made things seem that much worse.
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