Chaos

[11.30.00] » by Gabe Colbaugh

The first thing I remembered was the prodding of a boot against my body. The second thing I remember was my body protesting me coming back to consciousness as I felt the full weight of the fall I’d taken…I wasn’t sure how long ago it was. Voices, I could hear them talking above me but I wasn’t sure just what was it that they were talking about. I’m assuming that it was I. Roughly two sets of hands came down to heft me up, eyes cracking open just a little as they did. They shut almost immediately as I received my first glimpse of light in quite some time I’d imagine. It wasn’t all that bright, just a torch, but to me it was as if I were staring directly at the sun itself.

"Who’re ya, dog? And how’d ya find me base?" A rough voice commanded of me. It wasn’t often that I am spoken like that to, but right now I frankly didn’t care. A low mutter came in response, but it was obviously not what the person wanted as I soon found a hand across my face. "Speak up!" said voice commanded again.

"I…am a man of no concern to you," I finally got out, "And I’m not sure where I am. I haven’t been all that coherent lately." Whether it was what the person was hoping for or not, I wasn’t sure, but that’s what they got. Another slap followed and I received my answer.

"Ya scurvy dog! I wanna know who ye are, and ya better make me ‘appy." ‘That’s impossible,’ I wanted to tell my interrogator, but I knew that’d be counter productive.

"My name…my name is Gerad," I threw something together as quickly as I could.

"And what’re ya doin’ in me base?" The harsh voice continued to insist.

"I told you, sir, that I…I don’t know where I’m at. It’s hard to after falling a long distance." Another slap on the other cheek was the retort I received.

"Lock ‘im up. He kin rot till ‘e tells the truth," At least I wouldn’t have to face the sting of that hand again. Being dragged for what seemed forever I soon found myself roughly tossed into what I supposed was going to become my new home for a while. Groaning I pushed my way towards the wall I slowly collapsed against it and forced myself to regain consciousness fully. Eyes opening just a little I adjusted to the light as best I could, letting myself reorient with actually controlling my own body. Hands going out to see if I was all that, I noticed all I had left were my ponytail and my clothes. All my possessions were gone, which wasn’t surprising considering.

A light sigh as I leaned back against the wall and recounted everything that had happened to me. Only problem was that I couldn’t shortly after the airship broke apart. I’d tried to grab who I could, but it was all in vain as everyone went scattered throughout the world. But where was I? I knew that at least the planet I called home hadn’t been destroyed, else I wouldn’t be where I was. It still didn’t answer my question on what my present location was. No use in struggling with it, though, and I just sat there, trying to keep the pain from coming to me, and trying from believing that my brother and my friends were dead.

My reverie was eventually broken up by the sound of the door of my cell opening. A single figure appeared in the frame, casting a shadow out and over me. It’d been the first time I’d actually seen who it was that was my holder, though even then I wouldn’t say I got the best view of the situation. My eyes eventually adjusted for me to see a very slim man, almost effeminate. But after feeling the sting of his slaps I’d taken from him I wouldn’t say such out loud. What intrigued me the most about the one above me was the fact that he had long, blond hair pulled back in a ponytail. It reminded me of someone…

"Now tha’ ye’ve had a chance ta wake up some, I’m gonna ask again. What’s yer name and what’re ya doin’ in my base?" His rough voice seemed almost out of place on him. Slowly I stood up to face him, finding myself unbound oddly enough. A rough hand came down to put me back on the ground, and I was too weak to really fight it.

"I told you, sir," I groaned out, "I am Gerad and I don’t know where here is," I quietly moved myself into a little ball as if doubling over, but I had something else planned.

"Now, I’m not gonna say ya aren’t who ya say ya are," the voice called back, "But I am gonna argue tha’ ya don’ know where you are."

"You said I was found floating into this base of yours, and I was most definitely unconscious," I snapped back, "so how would I know where I was?" The figure moved in to slap me again and that’s when I made my move. One foot snapped out, catching him by surprise and tripping him down to the floor. I was up in an instant, jumping to try and pin my captor to the ground. Unfortunately I’d forgotten how weak I was as the struggle continued, leaving the match fairly even until he was finally able to pin me…which was when I noticed my holders shirt had flown open.

"You’re, you’re, you’re," I stammered, not usually at a loss for words, "A woman!" This caused him, I mean, her to flush very deeply, hands moving to close up her shirt over her bound bosom. Two guards dressed as seamen came running into my cell after she’d done so.

"Cap’n! We heard tha commotion. Is everythin’ okay?" Both of them glared at me, swords drawn and ready to kill me were they so ordered to. Thankfully they were stopped by the mysterious ‘captain’ stayed their hands.

"I’m fine! Now git back to yer posts. I kin ‘andle this dog." Both of the guards watched me suspiciously before doing what they were told. Sliding onto the bunk I’d not noticed until after the struggle, I looked at her appraisingly, now seeing why ‘he’ was so slender.

"Well, captain, it seems I know something about you you’d rather not let your men know," carefully I played my little trump card, knowing she could kill me know and it wouldn’t hurt her at all. She appraised me quietly, as if sizing me up.

"An’ I could kill ya before ya even could shout the words!" Was her retort, voice softening just a little this time around.

"You shouldn’t speak so harshly. I’m sure you have a wonderful voice, my lady," I grinned a little at what I said, even more when I saw the look on her face. The compliment had caught her off guard, which isn’t very surprising since I was sure she’d never been complimented before in her life like that.

"Ye shut up!" The harshness returned again as she glared at me. I just smiled back charmingly, which seemed to disarm her a little. Though I’m sure more because she wasn’t sure what to do with the attention, "And don’ ya dare call me ‘milady’ in fron’ of me men!"

"I wouldn’t dream of such a thing. However, in private I would never treat a lady as such." I smiled some more, leaning back quietly and fully enjoying the consternation that came across this captain’s face.

"Bah! I should cut ou’ yer tongue fer tha’!" I just winked back.

"Now you know my name, captain. Might I ask your own?" I could tell she wasn’t used to being on such uneven ground, unsure of what exactly to do. I was half expecting the woman to run me through, but definitely glad that she didn’t.

"Ye kin call me cap’n like everyone else," She muttered back at me.

"Fair enough, Captain," grinning all the while I stretched out over the cot provided for me and relaxed a little, "So where am I exactly?"

"Aha! I knew ye were tryin’ to find where me base is!"

"No, I’d just like to know where I was so I might be able to get a lift to a town of some sort."

"Nah yer no’. Yer stayin’ here, especially since ya gave me such a hefty purse an’ such a fine weapon." A deep flush at that before I slowly contained my anger.

"You don’t understand. I…" my thought was cut off as a sound echoed throughout the area that rattled even my solid cell to it’s very core. Soon I found a certain sea captain in my lap and helped her from hitting her head on the wall.

"Are you all right?" I gently asked, her own eyes coming up to meet mine. A weird flash came into them as if she was shocked at something.

"I..I…I…I’m fine!" She finally pulled away to a standing position, only to find her way to the same spot she was as another explosion rocked the compound. Helping her up I went with her to the door. A pair of guards rushed by, weapons ready.

"Wot in the bloody ‘ell is goin’ on?!" She cried out to one of them. Dutifully stopping he responded.

"We’re under attack by a gian’ creature, Cap’n!" He called before rushing towards where said creature was. The Captain ran with them, and I followed behind. I wasn’t about to let these bandits have all the fun, and I might be able to earn their trust if I could help out. My ‘guides’ didn’t seem to either mind or care that I was hot on their heels as they went through a few twisting corridors before bursting out into where the ship and the monster was located.

The creature was massive I gave it that. Two bulbous eyes protruded from its massive head, which seemed to be immediately attached to a series of tentacles. It reminded me of the stories I’d heard from seamen about massive squids that would destroy entire towns and sink ships through its tantrums. I didn’t have much time to ponder it though as I soon found my spear thrust into my hands by a certain sea siren.

"Iffin ya value yer hide, you’ll ‘elp us out wit’ this thin’!" I didn’t argue with what the lady said, knowing I’d be promptly killed if I let anything happen and I didn’t try and stop it. Watching I saw all of the other sea going men charge at the creature with swords of some kind or other, with varying amounts of success. A few were able to get in a shot, while the rest were blown away with their comrades when the beast brushed them back with it’s head. My captor was about ready to charge into the fray when I brought a hand up to stop her. The gaze she gave me let me know she thought I was crazy for not doing anything, but as I concentrated I could see she was going to give me a chance.

The words and actions were still new to my body, and I was trying to adjust to them. I knew what I had to do, and right now it was what I was going to do in order to save everyone. Ironic, I thought to myself, that I would be saving those that would have me killed. Then again, I was always one to love irony. The beast lunged at me with it’s massive maw as if to swallow me whole. The captain’s voice cried out for me to do something, and at the last possible moment I did.

A crackling sound came out of nowhere, as did the bolt of lighting that joined it. The cavern lit up as if the sun itself was in there for a brief moment as lighting speared down to toast the head of the being that would serve me as a noon day meal. I had just learned the more powerful lightning spell before the accident with the air ship had happened, and now I knew why.

A great and deafening screech came from the creature, nearly knocking me off my weakened feet. I stayed there, though, and finished the spell. Seconds passed, or maybe minutes and my senses slowly began to work back to where I could tell what was going on. I wasn’t dead; I knew that, because the creature that would be my end was reeling back in pain and shock from what I’d just done. However, the spell hadn’t finished off the beast as I’d hoped it would, and I prepared myself to launch another bolt. Before I could do anything, though, the situation changed.

Soon another creature joined the party, though this one seemed to be on our side. Its massive head was attached to a long serpentine body. Scales ran down the length of the beast, and a massive set of teeth latched into the giant squid with a vengeance. It took the giant snake several moments to subdue the squid, but eventually the latter stopped its screeching and struggling as it finally succumbed to the jaw of doom.

"Good job, Hydra!" the captain shouted out towards the creature before looking to her men, "Git tha’ mess cleaned up!" The harsh voice of the captain broke the silence, and nearly broke my eardrum. Seamen scurried to do their captain’s bidding as they moved to take care of the giant carcass that threatened to block up room. "As fer ya, Gerad…ya come with me." She turned and headed off down a corridor. I shrugged and dutifully followed behind her, spear slung gently over my shoulder as I did so.

Down a series of hallways we went, going passed where my former cell was and a bit surprised that I didn’t find myself returned to their. My guide didn’t say much in the way of anything and kept me moving down towards whatever it was our destination was. As much as I wanted to, I didn’t whistle figuring that’d be detrimental to my already tenuous health with this motley crew of sailors. Finally we got to whatever room we were headed for and the woman before me opened the door, motioning for me to enter. The door closed behind me as I got in, and she motioned for a place for me to toss my weapon in the corner.

The room wasn’t all that extravagant, but was decorated with some taste. Tapestries adorned the walls as a few chests abound in the place as well. A table and mirror were set up in the corner, as well as rather comfortable looking bed with silk sheets against one wall. A portrait of an older man, and really a man this time hung on the other wall with an inscription underneath it. However, I didn’t get a chance to find out exactly what was written there as I soon found a pair of lips attached to mine and also found myself in a rather passionate embrace.

Caught off guard at first I soon remember where I was, as well as what I was in the middle of. Unsure for a second, I none the less shrugged and met the kiss with an equal fervor, having not done something such as this in quite some time. My eyes closed for a moment as I enjoyed the taste of the woman’s mouth against mine, losing myself in the feeling and nearly forgetting about my friends. The eagerness of what she was offering, despite what she gave me earlier nearly drove me over the edge. What she did to me earlier...this brought me to pull back gently.

"Wait, captain…not five minutes ago you were ready to kill me. Now you’re kissing me?"

"Shu’ up, Gerad, and jus’ take it." It wasn’t long before I found myself very nude and very flushed while lying in bed next to a very feminine sea captain. My arms rested around her and I gently held her close. Much to my surprise she seemed to respond to the softness, leaning in against me and almost purring contently. I smiled lightly at a job well done, and well received.

"Well, that was enjoyable." I finally ventured out. She chuckled lightly as her voice came down to a smooth as silk sound instead of the usually gruff baritone I’d heard before.

"Ye weren’t so bad, lover," I smiled lightly and kissed her, pondering when the last time I’d been called that was. Ah well, I thought to myself, enjoy it while you can. Perhaps you’ll wake up and find this to be a wonderful dream.

"So, captain, what brought that on?" I had to ask. She was a woman, and the one thing about women was they had the right to change the rules whenever they wanted to. Granted it was endlessly frustrating for me, but it also made the chase and the catch that much more enjoyable.

"Call me Faris. And ya saved me hide an’ the hide of me men. I owed ya one." A playful wink as she rolled over in an agonizingly slow motion to find her way on top of me.

"I’ll have to save you and your men more then, Faris," I winked up at her, "If this is going to be my reward every time." When her laugh came it wasn’t as if hearing bells or as if hearing birds, but it was still music to my ears. It was the first time I heard her honestly laugh.

"Don’ git yer hopes up to much, Gerad. Yer gonna have to stay on wit’ me crew for a while now," This…wasn’t such good news, and the frown that found its way to my face told her as much.

"I appreciate the offer, Faris. But I need to get back to save my friends. If you could just drop me off at Nikeah, or South Figaro I’d appreciate it." Her slowly growing anger turned to confusion by the time I mentioned the names of the port towns I wished to go.

"I’ve ne’er heard o’ such towns. An’ I’ve been all over this world." My own frustration proved very evident as I looked up at her in my own confusion.

"You can’t be serious. South Figaro is part…it’s a part of where I’m from. It’s a huge port town, you must have heard of it." Her own face flushed with a bit of embarrassment.

"I kin guarantee you there is no such a place, Gerad. Are ya callin’ me a liar?" Gently I pulled her down and kissed her before she could get too riled up. Before long I pulled back in order to respond to her.

"I’m not, lover. I…I’m just starting to wonder if my own memories are real or not…or if something happened." What was going on? How could they not have heard of South Figaro since everyone who sailed had heard of it. I doubted we were in some unexplored area that couldn’t be the case. That’s when I got an idea, "Why don’t you name some of the castles here?" Sure she’s heard of Figaro Castle at least.

"Le’s see…there’s Tycoon, Walse, Kamac…" That truly caused my heart to fall. None of these were any of the ones I’d heard about, and I’d been to all of them. No Doma…no Figaro…what was going on here. She noticed my apprehension, a concerned look coming on to her face.

"Somethin’ the matter?" she asked. I was caught of guard at first by her concern, but smiled as she offered it. Slowly I pulled her tightly against me.

"Everything…but it seems moot now that I have you in my arms." I could feel her body flush against mine despite her next words.

"Bah! Don’ ya go an’ get sappy on me, Gerad." I just laughed softly.

"Right, right, Captain. I’ll do my best. And I’ll try not to show that anything happened in front of your crewmen. Don’t want them thinking you’re a woman." The rest of the night was spent in negotiations for me to offer my help and services to the crew, which was going to work out very nicely.

It’d been nearly a year since I’d joined up with that rough and tumble captain pretending to be a man and her crew, and I was fitting in just fine. Shortly after the battle the captain and I had struck an agreement where I would become her first mate, telling the rest of the crew that I was a famed thief she’d heard of and that my skills would come in handy when it came to their business. I felt ill at ease knowing I’d become a pirate, but considering the situation I was in I wasn’t even sure if I should fully disagree with the work or not. When there’s no sign of you having a past you wonder if it was all just a dream.

I still did my best to keep them from killing innocents, introducing a ransom system to them that allowed the sea dogs to increase their profit while also keeping their prisoners alive. It worked most of the time, though it hurt to see those people bound and gagged and forced into a situation they shouldn’t be in. It was the best I could do, though, and a part of me was thrilled with the work. This was the same part of me that was thrilled at being free from my responsibility that I’d borne upon myself in running my kingdom.

Did I have a kingdom, though? Philosophy was always something I never cared to delve to deep into, after all it could mess you up when all you needed was common sense. I couldn’t help it in this case, though, and spent long hours remembering everything that’d happen to me in my life. But there I was, alive and well, not dreaming thanks to a few pinches to reassure me of that fact, and in a position where I was doing something that I was actually enjoying, and seemed to be really good at. Was I a king? Or was I this thief that we seemed to create?

There were two things that kept me sane while I was out at sea and with little to do. One was the fact that I had a job to do, regardless of how I felt about it. Being a land lock ‘thief’ I had to learn how to sail. I’d had a few lessons before as part of growing up, but nothing extensive. The others in the crew treated me with a bit of disdain at having to show me the ropes, but soon enough I was swinging from them as well as any of the old salty dogs could. On top of that I spent a lot of time using my technical knowledge in order to help the ship as well as the facilities back home.

With my work I was able to streamline the vessel so that it ran faster than anything else in the water did. The base was also a wonderful improvement as I showed them how to install plumbing to make things a little more sanitary. You should have seen the look on their faces when I showed them how to flush, I wish I had a portrait of it. Other improvements were added as time went on, and soon enough I’d helped the pirates become even more fearsome then before, and increased their profits. Guess a part of me still remembered my past…or my dream.

The other thing that helped me through those long nights was the captain herself, Faris who was known as a man to the rest of the crew. Our interludes seemed fewer and far between then they actually were, and the both of us had to be careful not to let out her secret. Pirates don’t respect women as much as I did, so she had to keep up the charade in order to keep them in line.

What we did have was the most beautiful relationship I’d ever been involved with, even if at the surface it seemed nothing more than just a pair of young adults finding their rabbit roots. At first it was such, but after a while it dug deeper and the two of us would share little bits about ourselves. Most of mine was made up, or I had ‘holes’ in my memory thanks to the fall and nearly drowning in the ocean. But we accepted each other despite all the little things that weren’t shared since we, quite frankly, didn’t know them. It wasn’t until eleven months after my initial capture that things really started to get interesting.

It was one night when we were back at the base, Faris and I had a place that we would meet out amongst the cliffs in order to ‘discuss’ the next mission. We did some of that to keep up appearances, but more often then not it finally broke down into being a love-fest. The night in particular that I remember was a chilly, autumn night with the stars out in force. The moon was full that night, casting a pale light across the sea. As I approached our normal meeting place I could see that Faris had beaten me there, which caused me to pause behind her and glance at her form.

She was gazing up and at the starry sky with her side to me. I was rather surprised that she didn’t notice my coming, and I let myself take the opportunity to look her over. She was dressed in her usual masculine garb, letting it cover her in case one of her men came to see her. Oddly enough her hair was out and around her shoulders making her appear more feminine. The light of the moon gave her an almost ethereal appearance, reminding me of the angels my mother had once told me about when I was smaller. Seeing her like this made something inside of me snap, and odd feeling that I wasn’t sure what I was feeling.

"Beautiful ou’ tonight, ain’t it Gerad?" She finally spoke up, telling me I wasn’t the master at hiding in the dark that I’d hoped I’d been. Coming forward towards her I nodded quietly.

"Not as beautiful as the lovely visage before me, though," I responded with a flirtatious smile. Faris snorted lightly and turned to face me.

"Do ya always ‘ave ta make comments like tha’?" She asked, though her voice was soft at the moment, not the usual harsh baritone that she usually held.

"I only say what I know, my captain, and I know that you far outshine all the stars of the sky tonight." I finally stopped, coming to rest in front of her with my arms snaking out in order to lightly wrap around her waist. An odd look came into her eyes as her own arms twined around my neck, pulling me in rather close.

"Ye always did like ta flatter me," resting her head lightly on my chest I became a little confused at a couple of things. One, she’d never quite been this tender with me before, and two, why was my heart racing at a million beats a minute?

"My words pale in actually telling the truth, Faris. I only try and eek out what meager sentences I can in order to fully describe how…how much you mean to me." What was I saying? I knew what I was saying, I’d said it before to a few other women, but this was different. They’d never stuttered out like this before.

"Gerad?" She asked after a long pause, "Jus’ ‘ow much do I mean ta ya?" The question caught me off guard, not only because of the nature of it, but also because of the odd quiver that came out with the inquiry.

"Well, enough that I’ve stayed with you despite wanting to know where exactly I came from. Enough to want to be with you as much as possible," a deep breath proceeded the next words that uttered from my mouth, "Enough that I could say that I love you." I had to almost force them out, but not because I didn’t mean them, because I wasn’t sure I was saying them. I loved her? I loved her. That was the feeling that I felt, and I knew it to be true. Faris, on the other hand, remained very quiet for a long time, and didn’t say a word. Soon, though, I felt a small trail of something wet against my shirt. Was she crying?

"Faris? Are you all right?" I asked as I realized she was indeed shedding tears. Pulling back a little I looked down into those beautiful eyes of hers. A single finger came up to gently brush them off of her cheek.

"Aye, Gerad. It’s jus’…" a soft sniffle as she pulled herself together. My thumb continued to wipe away the tears that I wondered why they were there at, " It’s jus’ tha’ I’ve ne’er loved someone before…before now." The words struck me as surely as if the ship had run me over. She, this strong and brilliant sea captain that had to pretend to be a man, had just said she loved me. A woman as hard and tough as the very rocks we stood upon had just opened herself up and admitted her feelings for me. I wasn’t sure what to say exactly, but I let something come out.

"Faris, you’ve been the one thing keeping me anchored," and I berated myself for the pun, "to reality since I’ve been here. You’ve offered me more than I could ever pay you back. And you don’t know how happy I am to hear that you feel the same for me as I feel for you." I waited to see what her reaction was, curious at what she could be thinking.

"And ye’ve been a blessin’ ta me, Gerad. Ye’ve been the closest thin’ I’ve ‘ad ta a real friend, and been more than jus’ a lover. I…I was wonderin’…" Her voice trailed off, and she had definetly piqued my curiosity.

"Yes, Faris?"

"Would ya be willin’ ta marry me?" Her hopeful eyes came up to mine and my heart melted as I gazed into the two stars. I wanted to make a quip about how usually it should have been the man to propose, but then again things didn’t work normally with how she worked. I did, however, voice the concern that was going through my mind.

"What about your crew, Faris?" I had to ask.

"What ‘bout them?" she asked back.

"I mean, how suspicious do you think they’ll get? If we were to get married then eventually we’d probably have a child as well, and when they notice that the captain is getting rather fat, and then suddenly there’s an heir to take over everything after you retire, I think they’ll be a little curious about what exactly happened." She was very quiet at that, swallowing lightly.

"I was sorta thinkin’ ‘bout tellin’ them the truth an’ lettin’ ya take over as Cap’n…in appearance only. I’d still be in charge." The last little addition made me laugh softly as I looked at her fiery demeanor.

"You’re willing to risk everything, then? Everything you’d worked for? Your crew, your ship, your treasure, just for me?" I wanted to make sure she knew all that she was getting into.

"Aye," was her unhesitant response, "I woul’. Mostly because I know I ain’t gonna lose a thin’, and gain everythin’." The confident grin on her face told me she honestly thought that, and it made me smile even more.

"In that case, Captain Faris, then I will marry you. But only if you’ll marry me as well."

"Jus’ had ta add somethin’, didncha," she teased me, pulling something out of her pocket gently before taking my left hand. I soon found a simple gold band rested around my ring finger as if she was marking her territory.

"Always," I winked and pulled something out of my own pocket, the ring that’d been found on me and returned when I joined the crew. A sigil was on the emerald, the seal of my kingdom; at least I thought it was. The ring was the one thing that made me question myself most about why I thought it was a dream. It was, after all, proof that I had been royalty…so I kept telling myself. It didn’t matter anymore, I thought to myself as I slipped the ring on her own finger, I was where I was meant to be, and I was happy.

The next several moments were spent in a mixture of passionate embraces and telling of affection to one another. Finally we could freely admit how we felt to the other, and not have to worry about losing that one. I’d hoped it could have gone on forever, that I could just hold her and I’d never lose her and we’d be like that for all eternity, but that moment was shattered as quickly as it had begun.

An explosion rocked us from our feet, nearly throwing us to the ground in shock. As the shockwave subsided we held each other for support, trying to figure out where it was that the blast had come from. Another one soon followed and we could see a source of light billowing out from the entrance to the secret cave that was our base. The flicker of strength and the red-orange color let us know that our base was on fire for some reason or other, most likely because a powder keg had gone off.

I’m gonna kill whoever was dumb enough ta le’ this happen," Faris cursed as we ran back to our base. I just gave a little grin as we did, telling her that’d be if he weren’t already vaporized from the explosion. The snort I got in return told me my opinion wasn’t asked for, and I just quieted down. I had larger things to worry about then if my fiancée was amused, our home was on fire. I don’t think either of us were prepared for what we ran into.

The sight I found was even more of a shock to me then it was to Faris, I could guarantee you that. Ducking behind several crates of supplies we peered in on the raiders who had come to attack our home. A single ship had found its way into the cave that held the dock, blocking in any escape we could have made with the ship. What surprised me the most was the nature of the ship and its crew. Obviously steamed powered it was more advanced then anything they had in this world. The worst part was when I saw the familiar brown and green armor of a foe I’d almost considered a dream. Somehow they’d been able to find their way here…but how?

I didn’t worry too much about it, though, seeing as how I had a few other things to worry about. Namely, I had to get rid of these cretins and save my crew. Faris motioned to me as if asking if I knew who they were, but I only shrugged. I wanted to figure a few things out before I let her know that they must have followed me through however it was that I came through to this world. Quietly we crept away and towards the largest gathering of the Empire’s minions.

"From what we’ve seen all we have left is the captain and the first mate, sir," One of the soldiers informed his commanding officers. I could barely contain my bile as the sick, demented being that was wearing that green armor grinned as though he’d just saved the world.

"Excellent. Spread out and find them." Most of the soldiers saluted before rushing off in different directions to try and find out where Faris and I had gotten off too. A small grin played over both of our faces at the irony that we were sitting right there. Motioning for her to go in one direction I headed in the other, pulling out the crossbow I always kept with me for safety purposes. She got the hint and went to get into position to rescue the men shortly after I created the distraction.

After a little bit of finagling I was able to make my way directly behind the commander, which is where I wanted to be. Leveling the bow I released a switch on it, preparing to let it do its maximum damage. Several soldiers had fallen before it before, and though I hated killing people I was willing to make an exception in this case. Carefully I leveled the weapon at my intended target and waited just a moment to make sure Faris was able to get herself into her own position. I also had to make sure this shot counted so I could prevent them from spilling any information on who I was before I could tell Faris. Finally the time came and I fired.

Unfortunately the time came for the commander to move as well, which he did in an oddly almost simultaneous manner. Several bolts shot forward and at the Imperial guards, catching many of them in various body parts and leaving them in a great deal of pain from the darts. The commander, however, got away scott free.

Cursing I was up in an instant, putting away my weapon quickly before reaching for the pike of one of the guards that had come through. Thankfully this move caught the lone remaining imperial guard off balance, as it did their commander who seemed to be gapping at who I was, which caused another bout of cursing to spring forth from my lips. The tip of my spear found its way deep into the belly of the guard that faced me, causing the man to do little more then gurgle and crumble to the ground. Unfortunately this also stole me weapon from me, but it seemed to matter little since the coward of a commander was already headed for the ship.

Giving chase I left the crew to Faris to take care of. I made sure to bend down and pick up a discarded sword so I had some protection at least from whatever it was that the man could throw at me. Right now I thought he was more interested in getting away from me than anything. I would be damned if I let him, though, the bastard needed to pay for everything he had done to my friends as well as my crew…my friends.

For a moment I almost faltered as I remembered them, the ones who had brought me into this whole mess and who helped me to get to where I was. Perhaps some of them were around here, it would have made sense since I know others from my world had found their way here. But were they alive, and would I want to go after them now that I had her…had a woman I could love and who loved me back?

The thought was thrust aside as I leapt for the boat that was pulling away, barely making the jump without falling back into the water. Glancing about the vessel I could see the commander running up towards the bridge and to the guy driving the beast. I didn’t waste any time in following right after him, which I soon came to regret after only a few steps. Other soldiers came out of nowhere, armed and ready to toss me overboard or worse

Cursing my stupidity for rushing in like that I dropped the sword and pulled out my crossbow, leveling it at them and just daring them to come at me. A few of them decided it wasn’t worth it and found themselves over the side. Others thought they could take me, but soon found out that they were wrong. Dead wrong in this instance as my bolts bit their flesh and drove them to their knees. One got through but found out the bow was just as good close quarters as from a distance. It also helped that he didn’t have his sea legs, leaving me with a sizable advantage that I took. After disposing of the underling I headed for the head too severe it.

I soon found the man wasn’t as big a coward as he seemed when he leapt out in order to take me on, sword in hand aimed to remove my head, or at least split it in half. My own recovered one came up in order to block the blow, allowing me a chance to swipe at his feet to try and take them out from under him. His feet jumped enough to dodge the attack, but his landing was not something to be desired, as his perch on the stairs become precarious. I tried to push the advantage but soon found a blade try and take me out of the fight from behind.

My coat came off, flying back thanks to the speed of the vessel, to hit my assailant full on, driving him over the side. My attention returned to the commander I barely was able to get out of the way of his sword swipe, a nick finding its way to my shoulder. Growling low I advanced on him again, this time going for a high blow. As his own blade came up to block it I suddenly changed the direction of my sword, aimed to cleave him in the belly if it got through. Thanks again to his unease on the sea I was able to get the advantage, dicing him nicely and leaving a rather nasty red stain.

Turning my attention back to the driver I made my way towards the bridge to speak to him, which allowed me to notice the storm that was brewing for the first time. The water had been getting rather choppy, now more so since I’d finished my duel it seemed. Rain began to come down fiercely from the sky as the wind howled about us, my grip moving to keep me from being tossed overboard. It was all I could do to keep from falling off from my grip as the ship speed, seemingly on its own accord. Sometime between the first gripping and shortly after I re-awoke I lost consciousness.

Seagulls. It was the sound of seagulls that had woken me from my fitful rest. Starting forward I looked around at where I was and panic entered into my heart, as I didn’t recognize where I was. Tossing aside the cover I ran out of the nearest door to see if I could unlock yet another mystery that had found its way to me. Thankfully I was clothed, though it mattered little to me as I burst through the portal and out onto the deck of the ship that I had charged onto…the night before? Glancing around the gray fog I tried to get my bearing when a voice finally came to me.

"Finally woke up, didja?" It was older, somewhat amused by what had gone on. I span around quickly to see the captain of the vessel standing before me.

"Where am I? What’s going on?" I asked hurriedly, realizing at that point my head hurt. I tried to ignore it, but slowly I found myself at my knees, holding my aching head. The captain came over and offered me something to drink.

"Far as I can reckon we’re about two miles off the coast of Nikeah." I took the offered drink and forced the bitter tasting drink down. A light sigh followed as my eyes closed.

"So I am home…" I finally admitted out loud, which caused the captain to look at me a little funny.

"Yer from Nikeah?" he asked. I shook my head a little bit, standing up then.

"Figaro. If you don’t mind me hiring you, I want to retain the boat for a while." I told him. He arched a brow at me, as if a little skeptical.

"How do I know ya can pay me?" He asked. Looking to my belt I pulled out a pouch of gold I’d always kept with me…or was it Gerad had kept with him. Shaking my head I tossed it at him, which he promptly caught.

"Because I can guarantee you there’s more where that came from." His eyes widened as he saw how much I was offering, which prompted him to grin and nod.

"This’ll do nicely, sir. To South Figaro?" He asked. A quiet shake of my head as I looked back towards where we had been.

"Nikeah, first. Let’s make sure we can get to South Figaro safely. And I need to find some information." The captain nodded and headed up to the bridge to make a course adjustment. I headed for the back of the boat and thought on everything that’d happened…had it all been a dream? And if so, when was I going to stop wondering if my life was nothing more than a dream. It was when my thumb played over the ring on my left hand then I got something of an answer.

I won’t bore you with the details of the rest of what happened since you’ve probably already heard it from the bards. Upon getting to Nikeah I was able to find out the fate of my castle, as well as find a way to help out my people. I was also able to meet up with my brother and my friends, and help them to take out the madman that would otherwise have destroyed our world. But every night as I slept alone I thought of the time I had spent with her, the time I’d spent on that world…or did I? The ring was there, but did I really go and have that wonderful year with the woman that I loved? It made me cry many times to think about her, to remember what it was that we had, to remember that we were to be wed. And if I had actually gone through it, what was going through her mind…

The crew searched for their missing mate as they followed after where the other craft had gone. The storm had prevented them from getting to far along until the next day when they doubled their search. Unfortunately that search was in earnest as they kept up their quest for nigh a week. Finally they were able to find some source of their fallen comrade as his long coat was discovered floating in the water and covered in some blood. The crew brought their captain the evidence that Gerad was no more, to which he took in stride.

"Le’s head home then, crew. I’ll be in me quarters." Faris turned and walked into her cabin on the ship, shutting the door behind her as she headed towards her bunk. Resting the cut and tattered coat on a chest that lay in her room. Slowly she made her way towards the bed and gazed down on it. So many times they’d been there, hidden away from the others and played with each other. No, no we didn’t play, she thought to herself, where he loved me. And I loved him. The admission was all it took as she threw herself down onto her sheets and cried her heart out all the way back to her home.