My day started with joining a line to shit. Yes, literally.
There was a long line of people and just one toilet. One. Fucking. Toilet. And it stank! There was plenty of water, sure. But it stank! And it was dirty! And arghhh!
Anyway, with that mess out of the way, my day began in earnest. I ate breakfast with Den, watching the flurry of pukers running around and the fluffy white clouds that oddly got denser as we traveled. The weather too, got colder and colder. I suppose we were going to a cold country? Maybe they’d have snow? I’d never seen actual snow in my life. Maybe this time I’d have the luxury to. Then again, since I lived mostly in temperate zones, I wasn’t looking forward to freezing weather.
Anyway, I spent the early morning to early afternoon, talking to people. Yes, talking to people. I didn’t know anyone here, and they didn’t know me. So that meant, I could talk, embarrass the hell out of myself and just do it all over again. The first few encounters were really, really awkward but eventually I got into the flow and spoke for hours on end. It was mostly just me asking who they were and where they were going. Yet, that’s all it took for most people to talk about their life and how their wives were evil and didn’t have enough sex. I had to pretend like I didn’t know what sex even was but, seriously, people told five year olds every little fucking thing here. Geez.
Women meanwhile were awfully chill for some reason. They didn’t complain as much as I thought they would… at least until I met the complainers. They put men to shame and went on for hours on hours describing how terrible their husbands were in bed and instructed me to be careful, gentle and respecting and all that. “Mam, I’m five,” I’d say deadpan. And they’d laugh.
Seriously, this world had weird standards. Speaking of weird, I didn’t see many children. I did see maybe five kids but they were older than me. Maybe one or two babies every now and then.
We ate lunch late every day, in the afternoon. During this time, Den would also make me run around in circles. Since I was a kid, the crew didn’t bother trying to stop me. I did wonder what would happen if Den was also running. Would they slap him a couple of times or throw him in a cell thinking he’d gone mad? Oh, and that was a thing apparently. Throwing people in cells.
People caught the ‘sailor’s disease’ and went bonkers on long trips. But since ours just started, I hadn’t seen any so far.
And that’s how the first three days passed. No issues whatsoever (other than me not being able to sleep at night). But then came day four. And a myriad of issues along with it.
Issue number one: the Magical Device that was creating torrents for us, decided it was prime time to take a dive underwater.
Issue number two: we had no real way of finding the device and actually do anything.
And issue number three: Our food supplies was going to run out in five days.
Welp, I suppose that was it. “How long do you think people realize that there are just bags of food walking around,” I said.
“Don’t say scary stuff,” Den almost cringed.
The two of us, watched the calm seas. This ocean was quite calm for the last couple of days. Den said, it got pretty shit during the monsoon and I didn’t want to know more than that.
“But it’s true you know,” I said.
Den sighed. “Sometimes I do wonder what goes on in that head of yours. But be careful not to express that concern to anyone else. Remember, you’d be one of the first targets,” he pointed.
“Oh yeah…” I almost forgot how damn powerless I was compared to your average child, let alone adult. “Hopefully, a giant squid would come attack us, the mercenaries on board would kill it, and we’ll have food for decades,” I said.
Den chuckled. “Hopefully.” He didn’t seem to mind that prospect I suppose. Speaking of mercenaries, I hadn’t seen Alastur the whole time. Maybe he took a different ship? No, I remembered seeing him get on the ship.
Still, stranded huh? You’d think the crew would have had a backup magical device just in case of an emergency like this, right? But yeah, they didn’t. Some magical devices were really, really expensive, so I could understand why. But I did hope they at least had a contingency plan just in case.
“Are there any bandits in the sea?” I asked. No one talked about pirates and I didn’t have any ‘real’ way of knowing about them.
“Sea bandits… you mean, pirates. I haven’t heard about any in these parts.”
Wait, really? None in these parts? But that did mean there were pirates here. Of course, there were. As long as there was some form of poverty and hunger, people would find ways to stanch that feeling. Even if that meant robbing or even killing another human being.
“How long would it take for us to reach the nearest island if we took one of these and just rowed?” I said.
This ship had about four small rowboats. Our ship did have a sail of sorts but wind wasn’t a thing here. Like seriously, we barely moved at all.
“Three days, assuming the sea remains calm like this and if we don’t get lost.”
“Worth a shot.”
“Don’t get ideas. I’m sure the captain would figure something out.”
“Where the hell is that guy, anyway?”
I’d seen most of the staff members so far. But I didn’t see the captain of this ship, even once.
Anyway, since I had nothing else to do, I went about listening to people’s anxieties as usual. And surprise, surprise, they were even more talkative. Some spoke how they were going to be late for their daughter’s marriage, or birth, new job, or something along those lines. Apparently, unless it was super damn important, people didn’t bother moving towns of all things. Especially on the sea route since it was so dangerous and unpredictable.
After a brief period, I came back to Den, who was still watching the water and the sunset.
“You know, you won’t have to come see me every year,” I said.
The sea was pretty dangerous. And form my understanding my school was only accessible through this sea route or a mountain route that was even more dangerous with horrendous fiends and stuff.
“I was planning on going every 5 years but sure, I’ll keep that in mind.”
Asshole, I cursed under my breath. “Won’t we be late for my enrolment though?” I asked.
I didn’t know much about the enrolment and the courses I’d be taking. And Den wasn’t being generous enough to shower me with that information either.
“It’s special enrolment, so you’ll be fine.”
“Uh-huh.”
Despite the utter lack of movement, the people actually didn’t panic and didn’t create a scene. Which did make me wonder, if this was a typical thing that happened often. Or if people of this world were really this understanding.
The people I’d encountered so far, were genuinely good people and understanding, so maybe that was true. But there were also people like that priest mom nightmared out of existence, so maybe that hypothesis wasn’t very apt. Just because I hadn’t come across someone exceptionally shit, didn’t mean someone like that didn’t exist. But least we wouldn’t have to deal with the puking company since the ship was no longer moving.
Bleguh!
Nope, people were still seasick.
My day started with joining a line to shit. Yes, literally.
There was a long line of people and just one toilet. One. Fucking. Toilet. And it stank! There was plenty of water, sure. But it stank! And it was dirty! And arghhh!
Anyway, with that mess out of the way, my day began in earnest. I ate breakfast with Den, watching the flurry of pukers running around and the fluffy white clouds that oddly got denser as we traveled. The weather too, got colder and colder. I suppose we were going to a cold country? Maybe they’d have snow? I’d never seen actual snow in my life. Maybe this time I’d have the luxury to. Then again, since I lived mostly in temperate zones, I wasn’t looking forward to freezing weather.
Anyway, I spent the early morning to early afternoon, talking to people. Yes, talking to people. I didn’t know anyone here, and they didn’t know me. So that meant, I could talk, embarrass the hell out of myself and just do it all over again. The first few encounters were really, really awkward but eventually I got into the flow and spoke for hours on end. It was mostly just me asking who they were and where they were going. Yet, that’s all it took for most people to talk about their life and how their wives were evil and didn’t have enough sex. I had to pretend like I didn’t know what sex even was but, seriously, people told five year olds every little fucking thing here. Geez.
Women meanwhile were awfully chill for some reason. They didn’t complain as much as I thought they would… at least until I met the complainers. They put men to shame and went on for hours on hours describing how terrible their husbands were in bed and instructed me to be careful, gentle and respecting and all that. “Mam, I’m five,” I’d say deadpan. And they’d laugh.
Seriously, this world had weird standards. Speaking of weird, I didn’t see many children. I did see maybe five kids but they were older than me. Maybe one or two babies every now and then.
We ate lunch late every day, in the afternoon. During this time, Den would also make me run around in circles. Since I was a kid, the crew didn’t bother trying to stop me. I did wonder what would happen if Den was also running. Would they slap him a couple of times or throw him in a cell thinking he’d gone mad? Oh, and that was a thing apparently. Throwing people in cells.
People caught the ‘sailor’s disease’ and went bonkers on long trips. But since ours just started, I hadn’t seen any so far.
And that’s how the first three days passed. No issues whatsoever (other than me not being able to sleep at night). But then came day four. And a myriad of issues along with it.
Issue number one: the Magical Device that was creating torrents for us, decided it was prime time to take a dive underwater.
Issue number two: we had no real way of finding the device and actually do anything.
And issue number three: Our food supplies was going to run out in five days.
Welp, I suppose that was it. “How long do you think people realize that there are just bags of food walking around,” I said.
“Don’t say scary stuff,” Den almost cringed.
The two of us, watched the calm seas. This ocean was quite calm for the last couple of days. Den said, it got pretty shit during the monsoon and I didn’t want to know more than that.
“But it’s true you know,” I said.
Den sighed. “Sometimes I do wonder what goes on in that head of yours. But be careful not to express that concern to anyone else. Remember, you’d be one of the first targets,” he pointed.
“Oh yeah…” I almost forgot how damn powerless I was compared to your average child, let alone adult. “Hopefully, a giant squid would come attack us, the mercenaries on board would kill it, and we’ll have food for decades,” I said.
Den chuckled. “Hopefully.” He didn’t seem to mind that prospect I suppose. Speaking of mercenaries, I hadn’t seen Alastur the whole time. Maybe he took a different ship? No, I remembered seeing him get on the ship.
Still, stranded huh? You’d think the crew would have had a backup magical device just in case of an emergency like this, right? But yeah, they didn’t. Some magical devices were really, really expensive, so I could understand why. But I did hope they at least had a contingency plan just in case.
“Are there any bandits in the sea?” I asked. No one talked about pirates and I didn’t have any ‘real’ way of knowing about them.
“Sea bandits… you mean, pirates. I haven’t heard about any in these parts.”
Wait, really? None in these parts? But that did mean there were pirates here. Of course, there were. As long as there was some form of poverty and hunger, people would find ways to stanch that feeling. Even if that meant robbing or even killing another human being.
“How long would it take for us to reach the nearest island if we took one of these and just rowed?” I said.
This ship had about four small rowboats. Our ship did have a sail of sorts but wind wasn’t a thing here. Like seriously, we barely moved at all.
“Three days, assuming the sea remains calm like this and if we don’t get lost.”
“Worth a shot.”
“Don’t get ideas. I’m sure the captain would figure something out.”
“Where the hell is that guy, anyway?”
I’d seen most of the staff members so far. But I didn’t see the captain of this ship, even once.
Anyway, since I had nothing else to do, I went about listening to people’s anxieties as usual. And surprise, surprise, they were even more talkative. Some spoke how they were going to be late for their daughter’s marriage, or birth, new job, or something along those lines. Apparently, unless it was super damn important, people didn’t bother moving towns of all things. Especially on the sea route since it was so dangerous and unpredictable.
After a brief period, I came back to Den, who was still watching the water and the sunset.
“You know, you won’t have to come see me every year,” I said.
The sea was pretty dangerous. And form my understanding my school was only accessible through this sea route or a mountain route that was even more dangerous with horrendous fiends and stuff.
“I was planning on going every 5 years but sure, I’ll keep that in mind.”
Asshole, I cursed under my breath. “Won’t we be late for my enrolment though?” I asked.
I didn’t know much about the enrolment and the courses I’d be taking. And Den wasn’t being generous enough to shower me with that information either.
“It’s special enrolment, so you’ll be fine.”
“Uh-huh.”
Despite the utter lack of movement, the people actually didn’t panic and didn’t create a scene. Which did make me wonder, if this was a typical thing that happened often. Or if people of this world were really this understanding.
The people I’d encountered so far, were genuinely good people and understanding, so maybe that was true. But there were also people like that priest mom nightmared out of existence, so maybe that hypothesis wasn’t very apt. Just because I hadn’t come across someone exceptionally shit, didn’t mean someone like that didn’t exist. But least we wouldn’t have to deal with the puking company since the ship was no longer moving.
Bleguh!
Nope, people were still seasick.
