The Ship

I mentioned an escape from a ship. I was a kid, not yet interested in girls or able to do anything about it if I were. I wound up on the ship because of my uncle, and not because he was a good guy. I was sold to the captain of the ship.

Just a quick thought on slavery. I may think about it more at a later time, but for now, just a thought. Slavery existed in my world, just as it does in this one. Most would take offense to that comment, but if you give it more thought, slavery is still around even if it is outlawed. It just looks different.

The slavery in my world was a bit more open and accepted. Most of the time it was to pay back a debt, pay restitution for a crime, or, as in my case, just not having someone that would stand up for you. I guess this would also be someone that can stand for themselves. I couldn’t. Yet.

At some time between being a helpless baby left in the woods to a self-sufficient man, the guy that picked me out of the woods decided I had stayed at his long enough. Maybe he wanted his wife back, or just nothing between them anymore. I didn’t have much of a say in the travel that he had prepared. I would tell you how many nights we traveled, but it was one, with a wondering moon.

My uncle didn’t seem to enjoy traveling under the light of the moon. And my aunt mostly walked outside the wagon. Watching the sky. I stayed in the wagon. Many times I thought about slipping out the back and just running. But, something seemed to keep me in the wagon.

Eventually, I could smell the ocean. This is when fear started setting in. I had heard the stories. If the ship’s crew didn’t like someone, they would get a swimming lesson. Far from any land. As for what the crew liked, that answer may be obvious, but I had no intention of seeing if the rumors were true.

As we rounded a corner, I saw a rather large man standing next to a nice looking lady. She was quite small, and dressed in tight leather. He was wearing a cloak, and that’s about all I noticed. Maybe I was getting to that girls-are-interesting-age after all.

It didn’t occur to me that they were just standing at the edge of the wood. The town was still a ways in toward the ocean. I could see there was someone in the tree as well, but the leather on the lady had gold buckles. There looked to be some decoration on her shoulders as well. A black belt kept the top snugged to her waist, and looked home to more than just a fashion statement.

The wagon hit a bump and I stumbled toward the front of the wagon. When I looked out, the woman was gone. Probably the man as well. My aunt climbed in the back, and we started off down the road again. I stayed at the back of the wagon, while my aunt stayed at the front, intensely conversing with my uncle. I was hoping to see some way to leave.

The sun rose.

It almost hurt my eyes. Still no way out, and I could hear the ship crew. They were as loud as the rumors said. The last thing my uncle said to me, at this time anyway, was that it was time to eat. We went into the local tavern, filled with ship-people. My uncle picked us a table in the middle of the tavern.

Taverns in my world served as both the family restaurant and the local party spot. It was just a matter of the crowd. I would say the time of day, but our days and nights, while mostly constant, had too many fluxuations for rhythmic reliance. Instead, most people just ate when they were hungry and slept when they were tired. When you wanted to go to a tavern, you just hoped the tavern was open and the crowd was agreeable.

Some magic users knew how to look for people in a certain area. This ability has many names, but it was very useful. I learned this later in life, but didn’t have that ability when I was young. I didn’t even have basic healing magic. And that was something most learned about the same time they learned to walk.

If I had been more perceptive, I would have noticed the lady and man from the trail sitting in the corner. They weren’t alone. There were a total of five people around that table, all there. Watching my uncle. That was their story.

After we had our meal, my uncle got up to use the restroom. My aunt followed close behind. It would be several years before our paths would cross again.

I waited at the table for what felt like years. Picking at the plates. Eventually, the owner of the tavern asked how I was going to pay for the food. I could feel people moving in behind me. I was a kid. I had no words.

Of course a ship captain offered to pay for my meal, in exchange for me tending to his ship. He talked quite loud. This was a good thing, for me. He ordered me to his ship, which was empty. That was good, too. My first job was to clean the ship.

Our ships weren’t too different from what you would expect to have seen on Earth a thousand years ago. With one little difference. Our ships had no need for masts, captains were captains because they could control the magic field around the ship to move it through the water. I was a single kid cleaning a massive ship. I didn’t think I’d be popular.

I spent most of my time looking for somewhere to hide. Nope. Secret escape hatch. No luck there, either. Money or jewels or anything valuable? This ship was truly empty. No clothes, either. I still had no way to pay for food. So, I found a corner and went to sleep.

I didn’t know how tired I was from the journey, but when I woke up we were much farther from shore. And getting farther quickly. I didn’t hear the ship get loaded with equipment or crew. But, I did hear a commotion onboard. I didn’t want to find out what was going on, so I ran across the deck toward the shore. When the deck left my feet, I did my best at running on the water. I think I ran on the bottom of the ocean, but I did make it to shore, eventually.

Because I’m sure you understand foreshadowing, I found out later that the lady and her crew were the commotion on the ship. My memory says her name was Leyan. My modified memories also see her as an elf, so slightly smaller and leaner than the other inhabitants.

I have mentioned this before, but my memories basically show me as a human, with some deformities in my chest and back to account for my extra muscle. Think of a bird’s chest bone. My back also had some growths on my spine to anchor the muscles in my back. Aside from that, I look mostly human in my memories.

My world had a few other species as well, not just people like me. We were all about equal in population size, though not in ability. The elf-like were small and thin, and usually thieves. There was a larger race, much wider and sturdier. Usually warriors. There was a short species also. Mages. There were also four and six legged species that were comparable in intelligence to the other species.

Back to Leyan. Her big friend was Elysha. It would be a long time before I saw them again.