Chapter 5
Waves crested against the wooden exterior of the ship, with the elemental power of the immense sea out before it. At times the impact would result in water spraying up across the deck, something that roused the sailors, among them Jester, Fjord and Kingsley. It was a bright day, the elevated clouds not blocking out the sky. The sun’s rays turned the moving ocean surface into a glittering flow. Currently the captain was not at the bow, but at the center deck, welcoming a group that had arrived in a flash. Jester rushed over to Veth, Caleb, Beau and Yasha, greeting them enthusiastically. Yasha and Beau got to her at the same time, embracing her twofold. Swinging down smoothly from the mast cords came Kingsley, greeting them as well. This new life he was clothed in a more sharply cut coat, in dark red, black and gold. Refined, at least visually. The indulgent smile and air of a performer was still there. Their hair had gained volume, tossed by the seawinds. A thin scar ran across his throat and up his face. Yasha returned his greeting by picking him up in a hug, with the tiefling chuckling against her shoulders. It had been a month since they all last met up.
Now it would be at least a few days in the sun and on deep waters, sailing with Fjord who proudly introduced them to the ship and crew. It showed on him, the strength he held in his trust to the sea and having found his place. Ever-moving with the winds and waters. Greeting its danger. Caleb quietly admired it. When he had first sailed out on a ship he’d felt the freedom and power that called to Fjord, but he knew the ocean would never really set him free. He still belonged to the land; Blumenthal, Rexxentrrum, the rest of the empire. The vastness he favored was the expanse of dunamis, that dark space with seemingly infinite lights of possibility. Still, the change in location and having the whole group around was uplifting. To a degree it pulled him out of his head, with bright sights, solid wood and fresh air.
Jester trailed along the ship, excitedly showing Beau and Veth carvings and sculpted parts she’d added to it. There were a lot of dicks in the filigree and carved art pieces, as well as weird-looking sea creatures. When the tour was done, she challenged them on who could get to the crow’s nest first, and the ruckus began. They leapt and climbed, Beau being very agile and quick, Veth pulling tricks to sabotage the other two, Jester adding spells to the match. After looking up and catching this, Fjord was breaking a sweat with worry evident on him.
“No damage to the sails!” He shouted up at the women. Caleb showed some concern, but was mostly amused.
“Guess she didn’t challenge me cause she knew I’d win” Kingsley added, having come down next to them.
The day went on with Jester giving them more dares. Kingsley alternated between taking Jester up on her ideas and tending to the ship’s journey. He bounded from one part of it to another in seconds, swinging from rope to mast dexterously. Aside from when they were called, usually by Jester, Caleb and Yasha found more restful parts of the vessel to settle into. The human on a reclining chair with legs bent, his boots and socks discarded, spellbook open in his lap. In a more relaxed pace he settled into transcribing, the space with its welcoming sunlight and waves granting him a calm flow. It would most likely not be long before the Nein pulled him into some new challenge, he reckoned.
Yasha kept close to the ocean’s surface. When the powerful wind met her, it reminded her of flying. The wings she’d gained, unfurled like a physical attribute of her power. She smiled as she thought of her first flight, catching Beau on Rumblecusp and taking her over the waterfall. A sting of embarrassment still followed with remembering their fall as the wings had receded.
She let the wind flow through her, partook in its power and closed her eyes.
—
By afternoon Kingsley was leaned over the railing, tail casually swinging behind them. He whistled a melody, smiling at the memory of it. Quietly, Yasha came up from behind, settling with her arms on the railing next to him.
“I know that one.” she told him. They had both been taught the song from the circus, but maybe he had learned it anew through the sailors, Yasha thought. It was lively and beautiful, fitting to sing while dancing around a campfire. Kingsley turned his head towards her partially, before going back to watch the ocean. Then he sang in a rough voice, to remind them. His grasp on notes was not great, still he recited it with fondness.
“I’ll swim and sail on savage seas, with ne'er a fear of drownin’
And gladly ride the waves of life
If you will marry me
-
No scorching sun, nor freezing cold
Will stop me on my journey
If you will promise me your heart,
and Love - he stopped, caught on the word. "And-"
“And love me for eternity—” Yasha’s soft voice continued, with an enamored smile towards the tiefling. She picked it up for the second verse -
“My dearest one, my darling dear
Your mighty words astound me
But I’ve no need of mighty deeds when I feel your arms around me”
While singing, she reached out in a hestitant motion with her hand towards Kingsley. When it was reciprocated and he turned, taking her hand, she swung them into a spontaneous dance. As they leapt across the wood deck, Kingsley sang with a fanged smile -
“But I would bring you rings of gold
I’d even sing you poetry
And I would keep you from all harm
If you would stay beside me!”
There wasn’t elegance to their movement, but they reveled in it, beating the rhythm with their feet hitting the ground between turns. To both it felt as if the moment was only theirs, caught up in melody, spinning and trying not to fall. Yasha came in with the following verse.
“I have no use for rings of gold
I care not for your poetry
I only want your hand to hold-”
“I only want you near me!”
She narrowly avoided knocking into parts of the ship, focused on Kingsley and spinning them around. The tiefling vaulted up and down raised sections as part of the dance. Around them, shipmates had noticed the two, including some of the Nein. Jester and Veth were drawn nearer, as well as part of the crew. “Oh, are we dancing?” the blue tiefling asked with a grin, joining the activity.
“To love, to kiss, to sweetly hold
For the dancing and the dreaming
Through all life’s sorrows and delights
I’ll keep your love beside me”
It continued on in a fast pace, they repeated the first verse, and by the end of it they’d roused festivity. As the final move of their improvised dance Yasha lifted Kingsley and spun them in the air, with him landing against her. Their melody was turning to laughter, the two turned inwards to eachother. Yasha shone in sunlight. Some part of them had missed the circus’ lively dances. It seemed half the crew had now gathered around, picking up shanties of their own and continuing to cut a rug across the ship. The aasimar and tiefling wound down, still smiling.
With the mood lasting, Yasha and Kingsley leaned back, watching people take up the revelry.
“I was meaning to ask you,” the pirate tiefling started, turning to Yasha. “As I’ve seen, you have a mighty pair of wings that you can summon,” His red eyes were widened with interest towards her. “Is that something you can choose to do?” he said in his charming-not charming way.
“Oh right, yeah.. It’s something the Stormlord helped me, gain? Unleash?” Yasha was unsure which of the terms was more accurate as she tried explaining it. “And yeah, they sort of come out when I will it.”
“Well,” Kingsley added, “I wanted to ask, whether you’d be willing to take me up?”
Yasha looked to them, her consideration turning to an expression of mischief.
“You want me to take you on a flight ride?” she asked them.
“Yes.” he answered with intrigue.
When no one else was by the stern, Yasha was shaking out her riled up energy and taking a few steps back. She needed a wide empty space around her. Kingsley stood a short distance from her, watching with anticipation. She shut her eyes and through her excitement, focused. In a burst, and with a short swishing sound at the disruption of the air around her, large wide wings materialized from her back. White at the base and white-tipped, turning to black along the length of them. She folded them, still looming over her frame, then looked to her friend. He stood there in amazement. She reached out her hand, and he took it. Yasha turned him around, to loop her muscular arms under his. “It’s probably easiest this way, are you good with this?” she spoke.
“Yes. I think” they answered, getting a tight grip around the woman’s arms. He wore a nervous, excited smile.
Then they lifted, as Yasha carried them up in one ascending beat which turned to several, flying above the ship. Kingsley shrieked, before turning to laughter as they surged upward and the wind met them fully. Yasha paused in the air with a view of the ship, some of its residents spotting them. She turned, in a forward sweep above the vessel, which allowed them to soar over it. With added beats she built up the pace, taking them higher and in the process spinning, getting an excited yell from the tiefling in her grasp. After going up, she twisted around and turned to a lower sweep, taking them back behind the ship. The thrill of it surged through Kingsley. It was one thing to be at the front of a ship and lean into the wind, feeling as though you’re soaring above the ocean. It was another experience to hold onto your friend as tightly as you could, her own power taking you through the air, having to trust she’d keep you from falling. They kept on in their flight above the water. Here and there Yasha would twist them around, or turn with her back to the waves and their faces to the sky. He felt her laughter reverberate against his back, along with his own.
She was a wild, enduring being, he knew. The way she found ways to radiate through the cracks in coated layers and break through despite all that she carried - it was one of his favourite things about her. When the strong wind flowed over them it almost took his breath away. Still, it was an invigorating ride. They were high above the waves when Yasha asked
“Wait, how long has it been? Shit, I forgot to say-”
She was cut off when they abruptly descended towards the ocean, clutching at eachother in shock, the wings having dissipated.
“Sorry! I forgot to tell you-” Yasha exclaimed, the force of air almost stifling her voice. They were hanging on to eachother’s arms as they fell.
“Take a deep breath!” Kingsley shouted back to her, before doing so himself. The ocean’s surface was getting closer. She inhaled, and let go of the tiefling’s hands to give them both a better landing angle. A second passed before they crashed into the water, its surface and change of pressure pelting them to where they almost lost the air they held. Then a cold, dark space was around them. Taking up strokes to swim up was the one thing to do - their fall had put them fairly deep under - somewhere they couldn’t stay. Having lost some of their oxygen already, the time it took to rise up through dark waters went on longer than either of them had prepared to hold their breaths. Many tense, pressing seconds progressed while they swam up with all the power they could muster. Yasha instinctively gasped and took in salty, choking, stinging water before she breached the surface. Several moments were spent coughing, trying to take in air and keep above the waves. When she could consider her surroundings, there was a purple tiefling taking strokes over the ocean to her. Their hair was a deep violet, now soaked. There was concern on his face - and focus. Soon he was next to her, while she regained her breath and bearings.
“We’ll need to swim back” they told her.
“I’m sorry, I should have remembered to-” Yasha started,
“Save your breath, love.” Kingsley interposed.
Getting back was laborious, leaving them breathing hard, exhausted and heavy with water. At least, it seemed to them that the ship was not getting further away. They endured the expanse of waves, likely from their months of building up endurance as adventurers. A rope ladder hung from the ship’s side, and on the deck above was Jester, spotting them with wide eyes.
“Hey you guys! Come here!” the cleric shouted to them.
Next to her Fjord stood, with an odd expression of something like worry and disgruntlement.
The two reached the ladder, and gradually started to climb up the ship’s side. They flipped over the side of the railing and landed on wood, at the end of their exertion. The Nein stood around Yasha and Kingsley who were lying down, entirely wet and with energy solely to breathe. Beau knelt down over the aasimar’s head with her hands on either side of her face.
“You okay, babe?” the monk asked.
“Yeah.” Yasha managed to get out, eyes still closed.
Kingsley groaned, before a weakened laugh emanated from him.
“That was..an experience.” they said.
“We saw you guys fall pretty far. Just straight down” Jester spoke.
“I’m sorry” Yasha repeated. “I didn’t think about-”
“No, I mean that in a good way. It was a great experience.” Kingsley added with a tired smile. His eyes opened partly, and he moved to find Yasha’s hand, taking it in his. They lay there for a while longer, letting the sun absorb the wetness coating them. Turning from cold to warmer, feeling the endorphins in the aftermath of their endeavor.
—
Caleb was leaned against the railing, alone by the stern’s edge while dusk was settling. It was their third evening spent on the ship. The rest were away drinking and dining. He had taken some time off, to look out at the sky turning from the sun's illuminated soft yellow-pink into a purple-blue. Now he was lost in thought, at first not noticing that a lavender tiefling had gently stepped up to him. Only when a tail touched against his leg did he see Kingsley. "Magician." they called him. The enthused look was there, though now he also expressed something like genuine consideration.
“Molly-I mean Kingsley. Sorry.” Caleb shut his eyes while correcting himself. When he looked at Kingsley, his gaze held adoration and warmth, as it did every time he took them in. It was there, though Caleb didn’t speak of it. He had no idea if Kingsley had such interest. They had both changed much, since a dirt-covered renegade wizard met a circus tiefling.
“Oh, I should tell you..either works” Kingsley said, now leaned back in front of the wizard, a bit more tense than in his usual carefree presentation. His expression almost apologetic.
“How so?” Caleb’s questioning gaze fell upon him.
“Things have been..coming back? Here and there. Like almost-memories. Mostly feelings. Kingsley..Mollymauk, it’s more or less one now.” They explained, looking down and to the sea.
A mix of disbelief, hope, confusion and affection came to Caleb, made it hard to speak. He hadn’t prepared for this. Ever since Kingsley had emerged a new person, Caleb had done what he could to suppress the attachment and hope he had for Molly. To give this new person space, without expectation. Though internally he could never extinguish the fondness he had for the tiefling. He had hoped, when they chased Lucien through Aeor and noticed signs that their friend was still there. He had despaired, as he leaned down and returned a forehead kiss, after having poured his devotion into a resurrection spell that failed. He had rejoiced, when despite it all the Wildmother’s care had brought him back to life. And at times, Kingsley would do or say something like Molly, and melancholic recognition would rush to Caleb. Now he was stunned. The wind blew through his hair.
“You’re- do..do you mean that?” He asked. Couldn’t grasp that it would actually turn like this.
“I do.” He took a step closer to Caleb, with a smile and a look of hestitant fondness. “It’s me, love.” a haphazard confession and assurance in a hushed voice. His gaze was attentive towards the wizard. Reaching out.
Caleb was blinking, mouth slightly open. Processing. Again, he met those red eyes, darker in the evening, framed by gold. The wizard reached out, to grasp onto his red coat. If they were really here - he felt a want he had tried to stifle return. The tiefling closed the distance, and put his forehead against Caleb’s. Behind them, sounds of waves cresting, moving, crashing. Dusk was falling over the sea, and stars had begun to appear in the sky. Caleb closed his eyes and let what was unsaid emanate around them.
The wizard had known love before, in many forms. Unrequited, requited, dangerous, complicated, wavering, certain, reflective. No one had meant to him what Molly meant. Something had pulled him in towards this fanciful, colourful, loud, caring man. The summer night flowed through the vast space around them, two figures entwined with relief, care, and despairing love. Caleb had moved to hold onto Molly’s forearms, while Molly had grasped the back of the wizard’s arms.
“Scheiße, Molly, I thought you were gone.” the wizard’s breath was unsteady. He held onto the tiefling. Took it in.
“I was, wasn’t I? It’s been a right mess, sorting all of this out. Who I am, who I was -” he breathed a short sigh. “Sorry?” Kingsley told him.
Only a brief moment passed, the crest of longing that had lasted over a year, through loss, deadly chases, resurrection and recollection, before he asked Caleb, "Can I kiss you?"
The wizard gave a small nod, and let himself be tipped back across the railing when Molly connected their lips and took him in. He savored it, extended it, kissing Kingsley slow and tender. Relief rippled, sparked and tore inside him. When they pulled away, he lifted Kingsley’s hand to his mouth, pressing several kisses to it. The will to show his devotion was the only thing currently on his mind. Gods, he had wanted this for so long.