"They are waiting for us, you can wait till tonight," Lesha said while flipping her hair over her shoulder.
"This is your fault that I am this riled up!" I complained as the two of us left the room.
"I know, but you listen better when I make your brain melt out your ears. Sometimes you're almost as bad as a man!" Lesha said to tease me.
"You are evil, and I will figure some way to tease you!" I said, grabbing her sides and pulling her into a kiss before we left the hall and back out onto the ship's deck.
The other girls were waiting with Tim and Corbit, and we went over to them. Both Tim and Corbit looked away from us and back to the other girls who all somehow had fully covered suits, but the four of them still looked cute.
"So, who wants to come in for the first attempt?" Gloria asked as she tied a belt around her waist that had a long rope that ran from a winch that was now installed on the deck.
There were four of them, but they hadn't been there before. I turned and found Braum who was carrying five oversized wine bottles that had fluted tips.
"Why weren't those things on the deck before? I guess they would get in the way, but it seems like a lot of work to have to drag this out each time."
"The hands take good care of the equipment. There are just some things I would pay for, and laziness is one of them. This boat is out here almost every day and in most storms, unless it's a round of water, but then that is the best time to be out!" Braum said with a cheerful smile.
"Where is the other one-eyed guy?" Trinity asked, putting a finger to her bottom lip.
"Stays inside most times if he even comes out, but we don't come out that often. We are specialists, and Jester has us do other Guild-related work, but we still make our rounds and make sure that everything is in good shape. Can't have things break on us or no one makes any money, and these boys all got families to feed," Braum explained.
That made sense, and it must be expensive to pay the workers and keep a ship like this going. Still, I wasn't sure if I should be going in the water, this was a lot of money to waste if I wasn't able to do it.
"I think it would be best to sit this one out until...I figure out how to swim," I said, looking away from Braum.
"I heard you were a mountain girl from over there Tiagelia, no, sorry, Healia. Hard to think this was just over half a year ago. Now, all of the nine great cities' names have all changed to these God's names. Strange times, but don't worry, you can sit this one out, but I'll ask that you run my winch. It has a gear-down system to make it easier to crank, and since I am so big, I need someone to pull me up with some strength," Braum said.
"I will take that as a compliment," I said with a smile.
"You should, you're a tank, so you need to be able to be strong, but you will be a beast after Jester and Kal get a hold of you! BWAHAHA!" Braum laughed out as he pulled his shirt off and tossed it to the side, revealing a large and impressive chest, and Braum noticed me looking. "Oh? Seeing a real man be enough to change your view? Hehe!"
"More like she was sizing you up to her if she could take you in a fight," Lesha said, coming up and taking my hand, pressing upon my shoulder with her chest.
Oh? Was she getting jealous? Now that was something, but she was right, and I wasn't sure if I could beat him. There aren't many men that I won't at least try fighting first before making this assumption, but this guy was more than just muscle.
"Woah lady, don't worry. I am not trying to hit on you woman, I am just used to the stars, so I thought I would make a little joke. Plus, Your leader needs to put some meat on those bones," Braum said with a smile, walking past the two of us.
I turned to Lesha who was now looking down and slightly blushing. She had let go of my hand and now she was fidgeting with her fingers. She looked adorable and I wanted to go somewhere else and just lay in the sun with her pressed into my chest.
"K?"
I napped back to the present moment, and I concentrated back on Lesha who was now grinding, her slight gone.
"What were you thinking about that gave you such a dreamy look?" Lesha asked me, but I took her by the hand, taking her over to the edge of the boat by the railing.
"I was thinking of finding a sunny spot and spending the rest of the day there with you," I said, giving Lesha a quick hug and a kiss before turning to lean out over the railing, and then I saw them.
Like a gigantic pile of mucus that was clear floating far from the shore. I leaned out to get a better look, but then someone yelled a warning out, but I have no idea what it meant.
"GRAY WHALE COMING IN FAST STARBOARD!" Someone I couldn't see called.
"K! Get back from the edge," Lesha tried to cry out, but everything happened so fast that I couldn't react.
The boat was hit on the opposite side from where I was leaning over, making the whole ship tip to the side and the right itself, but I was hanging over the edge. The dip made me lean forward more, and then when the boat was righted, I flipped over the edge, smashing my head on the side of the boat.
Flashes passed through my vision as I fell endlessly into a bottomless void. I couldn't open my eyes because I didn't have eyes to open, but that didn't stop the flashes of memories.
I couldn't focus on any single one, but I slowly started to get a feeling of understanding. It was like a gate was opened that blocked knowledge that was stored somewhere deep inside of me.
Water. The ocean. The Creatures. Swimming, I somehow understood it all. Crabs, I still didn't like them or most of the other things, but a gray whale had just hit the ship… I was thrown overboard, and I had hit my head… was I dead?
"Breathe."
I could hear a voice telling me to breathe, but how did I breathe without a body?
Suddenly, I was back on the ship, soaked and on my side choking up water. I gasped for air and drew in a sweat breath, and then let it back out. I coughed a couple more times, but then blue cover breast smothered me, making it hard to breathe again.
"DON'T DO THAT!" Lesha cried out as she smothered me, and only after Gloria pried her off was I able to breathe again.
My head hurt something fierce. When I put my hand to the side where the pain was coming from, there was a large lump.
"I didn't mean to do that? I just could remember what a whale was, but why would it come at us so fast? Oh, I know how to swim, let me try," I said, but I was grappled by the five girls.
"Are your brains scrambled woman?" Gloria growled at me. "You just told us before…"
"That pole over there? A mast. This side of the ship? Port. The sponge-looking plants of different colors? A coral reef. To stay above water, I pretend I am riding a bike and spreading sand, right? The tide is in right now, right Braum?" I could have kept going, but I need some air.
All this water-based knowledge, but nothing else. It was like an injection of knowledge, but it was all my own past experiences. The memories and references were of me doing them, or showing, and teaching the knowledge to others.
"Baby, are you alright? You hit your head pretty hard, maybe you should come to lay down...why is your face getting red? Are you okay?" Lesha asked with panic, but I let out the breath of air.
Barely three minutes, so I would need the air after all, but I would be able to do better in the future. I really needed to hit my head more often. I wonder if the same would happen with a shield…
"Kiada!"
I jumped, there were too many new, but old concepts and ideas that were running through my head. I focused back on Lesha.
"I don't know what happened, but when I hit my head, something unlocked inside of me. Now, I know things about running a ship, the ocean, and the creatures in it. Many things that I am sure that not a single person here knows, but I am not trying to start a debate," I said staring into the depths of Lesha's sparkling blue eyes, and put my hand on her cheek. "I have memories of doing and learning all these things, and almost every one of them is with you."
I leaned forward and kissed her trembling lips softly, feeling a tear rolled down to our lips. I slowly pulled away and smiled at her, taking a hand away to wipe my own eye before it rolled down. She smiled back, and we both turned to the others who were all studiously looking for something else to look at and examine.
"So, Lesha, I would like you to stay here and do the winching if you don't mind, please. I have a better understanding of it all and I understand what needs to be done. The Flexil look very similar to the Man-O-War jellyfish, but the Flexil have no tentacles, and they look a lot denser. So they must be able to move fairly quickly if they have control of their amorphous body, meaning they can jet like a squid. Right Braum?" I asked, turning from Lesha to look at him.
Braum just stared at me open-mouthed, but he wasn't the only one. Both Tim and Gloria had the same expressions. I clapped my hands twice and snapped my fingers twice, holding my hand up for them to see.
"Hey! Wake up! We don't have all day. Can't you feel the slight drop in the temperature? Let's get belted, and bottled up, and get down there!" I shouted, and everyone started moving.
Gloria helped me into the belt that was about six centimetres wide and it should be easy enough to pull us back safely. The position of the rope should be fine without causing too much strain on our bodies having the ropes from the back.
"Are you sure about this K? You hit your head pretty hard," Candi said coming over to me. "I have seen things like this before. The person seems fine and they act better than ever, and go back to what they are doing, and then die."
"I Will argue that that might be the case, but I am okay. You have to remember, because of your Service, Lymphocyte, I can heal. The lump that I had is already healed, and my head doesn't even hurt anymore. I just need you girls to do your jobs up here you two are in charge of Gloria's winch and Corbit will take mine" I told the girls to pacify them.
Lesha came over to me, still looking worried. I wanted to tell her that I was fine, but that would be useless, I could tell she just wanted to fuss. So, when she started, I pulled her in for a kiss to cut her off.
"Okay, time to go, don't let us get eaten by boogers, and I love you!" I said as I pulled away and ran for the railing on the port side.
There was a storm coming.
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