Bab 5: Nasser
" Who are you?" The child asked, leaning on the mop to stand up.
" It matters not who I'm…" the man lifted his head up at the sky, but his eye was still somehow focused on Sindbad. " What I can do to you is what really matters."
Sindbad squinted. " And what can you do?"
The man snapped his head at the boy and Sindbad jumped back, startled by both the sudden move and the fact that each of the old man's eyes wandered separately in opposite directions.
The man seemed to consider Sindbad for a moment, though how he did so was a mystery to the kid.
The man backed away with a deep sigh and gently, as if treating something made of glass, he held the metal piece at the end of the string and stawed it among the folds of his clothes.
The boy thought it was the end of it and he was about to go back to his work, planning to forget about the whole conversation, when the old man shifted his position so he was facing the kid this time. His hands were clasped tightly together, as if he was hiding something in between them.
He gave them a few shakes, and something rattled within before he parted them, letting whatever was trapped in between his palms cascade to the ground.
Sindbad realized it was an amalgamation of carved stones and wooden pieces, with a few shards of bones mixed among them. There were strange drawings and symbols etched on their white surface.
A shiver ran down Sindbad's back at that and he considered whether it was too late for him to pretend he never ran into the man in the first place.
The old man, however, rubbed his beard and bent down to peek at the things he had just thrown on the floor with such intensity one might think it was the first time he set eyes on them.
" You're trying to hide something big, kid. You weren't open with the captain were you?"
Sindbad flinched at that and he went tense, a bead of sweat running down his temple.
How did he know that?
Then again, he could almost hear a disappointed voice in his mind mocking him. And the boy frowned at himself rather than the old man. How can he get himself carried away with the flow?
" Anyone might guess that just from seeing the soldiers who were chasing me the other day," Sindbad countered.
" Would they now?" An eye flicked up to the kid while the other kept watch over the small pieces as if they would run away if it didn't.
" Look at this…" with a long shaky finger, he pointed at one of the bone shards on the ground. " This is fortune, now as you can see, it settles far away from the circle here," he drew a circle in the air with his finger, " despite it having fallen right into the middle a moment ago. It scooted that far. Do you know what that means?"
" That I would get rich?" Sindbad tried to play along with him.
" Wrong!" The old man bellowed in a voice that almost shook the whole deck. " It means you turned your back on it! You had it, but you threw it away!"
The man held a piece of wood at him, on it was a symbol akin to three fused triangles. " And this! This is status! It was right on the edge of the circle! You know someone important don't you?! Someone worthy of being a noble or even royalty! Am I right?!"
The louder he shouted, the closer he got to the boy, and the further away Sindbad had to lean from him.
He almost had to arch his back all the way to the ground when the racket got the captain's attention.
Two firm hands grasped the old man by the shoulders and pulled him away from Sindbad, albeit, with all the gentleness their owner could muster, seeing the fragile build of the man.
" Hold up, Nasser. You're terrifying the kid." The captain laughed as the old man turned on him.
" Rashad, you're growing soft. How come this kid managed to weasel his way past you?" The old man, now known as Nasser, turned on the captain, a finger pressed against his chest.
Rashad kept his smile as he lowered Nasser's hand, but his eyes didn't drop from the old man's. How did he manage to stare at them that easily?
" What about I take care of who comes aboard my ship, and you take care of foreseeing whatever danger we might run into? I don't really trust Salah's eyes that much, between you and me."
" Hey! I heard that!" A shout boomed overhead from the crow nest and they looked up to see the said man about to climb up to the nest. " You owe me big time for my good eyes, you know!" He grumbled as he continued his way up.
The captain laughed awkwardly and the old man chewed on the inside of his jaw. " That's why I tell you to ask me when recruiting people," he said settling back into his previous position and bringing out the metal pendant, allowing it to turn in circles again. " You can't survive these long trips without my guidance."
" We totally depend on you. Tell me if you ever find out anything." Rashad wrapped an arm around the boy's shoulders and led him further from the older man.
Sindbad kept glancing back at him before his curiosity got the best of him and turned to the captain to quell it. " Who is he?"
" Nasser, huh," Rashad smiled as he placed both hands on his waist and looked at the man focusing on his task attentively. " Well, you won't believe it even if I tell you."
" You can try me." The boy's eyes were bright with expectations that Rashad couldn't help but smile at that.
" Well, he kind of came with the ship."
" Huh?"
" As you heard." Rashad shrugged as his smile broadened. " He literally came with the ship. When I bought it, I found him stowed in the lower deck."
" Is he a stowaway?" Sindbad considered with a brief glance at Nasser.
" Not at all. I confronted the previous owner of the ship, said he tried and failed to get him to leave it when he was about to sell it. From talking to him, to throwing him out in a barrel. He tried every possible trick, but Nasser always found his way back on board." Rashad laughed.
" Why so desperate?" Sindbad questioned, his eyes focused on the small frame of the crouching old man. The more he knew, the more he found him intriguing.
" Well, this is what I heard from the ship's previous owner. Nasser apparently foresaw that this ship would be his dying place."
Sindbad tried hard to surpass a smile. " Well, if he foresaw it, then he will be desperate to make it true." He shrugged.
" So it seems." Rashad laughed aloud. " Either way, no one can get him to leave it, not even when we dock. It's like he is truly nailed on board. So we leave him be. He says he can foresee and predict anything for us, but yeah… as you earlier pointed out, none of his predictions so far couldn't be concluded."
" And so he sits there all day, pretending to foresee the future, while he does no real work?" Sindbad arched an eyebrow at the captain and Rashad scratched his jaw.
" I get it. He's more like an extra mouth. But as I said, we don't have a choice. Besides…"
The metallic hexagon swerved slightly in its circle and Nasser frowned. He stood up and looked, or tried, at the far North, just where the perfect circle had been broken.
The captain caught that and his expression hardened. " It's not like his predictions don't come in handy once in a while." He walked up to the old man and folded his arms, squinting at the far away sky. " What's it?"
" Danger."...
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
M0M0KA
M0M0KA I foresee that this book will be a great ride for all of you!!
Enjoying Sindbad's story so far? I'm glad!! Then please leave a comment or a review!
Also, consider reading Zarqa, the original story! :D
Not enjoying it? That's alright too! Just leave me your thoughts so I can improve it! All kinds of feedback are welcome! As long as you are kind!
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone