The Legend of Karzatin Ch 10

CHAPTER TEN - A short trip to Cristyne and rest for our infamous heroes...

   About fifteen minutes later, a gray and blue ship was visible to all. It was extremely close, in fact, it was coming towards the shore at an awfully quick speed. It almost looked like the vessel was going to crash.
   "Let's move out of the way." Dougan suggested, nervously twisting his moustache. He grabbed his stuff. Everyone quickly moved out of the way except for Palin, who was having trouble picking himself up.
   "Help him up, lads! Quickly!" Everyone pitched in and they were able to move him within seconds.
   Minutes later, the ship arrived. It turned out that Dougan was smart to move the party. The ship moved a few feet on to the beach before it actually halted.
   Palin looked up at the vessel. It was a little bigger than the other vessel he had been on with Dougan, mainly in terms of length. Instead of having a female figure at the front under the sail, there was a male figure, muscular and bare-chested. The ship's sail was smaller than the sail on the former vessel and it was all blue. Printed on it was the name, "The Femina". 'An interesting name,' Palin thought. 'I wonder what it could mean.'
   Just before another thought came to his mind, a gnome walked down what appeared to be a small flight of stairs, on the left side of the ship. The gnome wore a gray tunic and brown pants under a short brown cape. The gnome appeared to be the captain. And the gnome was female. Palin also noticed some other gnomes gathering near the wheel of the ship to look on. They were dressed in brown robes like the gnomes on The Miracle, but they were female as well.
   Madfrent went to hug the gnome. "Sisterhowareyou? Howwasthe
ridetheshipisdoingwellitseemstoberunninggoodIguessyoufixedthat
probleminthestern, huh?"
   "Finefinebrother. Nowwouldyouliketointroducemetoyourfriends?"
   Madfrent turned back to his companions. "Thisismy, my sister Captain Fririi. Her Life Quest is to build the most technologically advanced ship with the least bit of complications." He then introduced her and she stated, "It's a pleasure to meet you all." She turned and walked back up. Madfrent gathered his things and followed.
   "I can see the resemblance." Tas declared, noting Fririi's curly blond hair. He and Dougan helped Palin up the stairs.
   "You can take them to their quarters if they need rest." Palin heard Fririi mention to her brother.
   Madfrent nodded and led them towards the back of the ship. He flung open a wooden door that was part of the floor and under it was a set of stairs. There was a bunch of rooms to their left and right. They were sent to a small room with two beds and a window. Tas and Dougan helped Palin sit on the bed and they put his sack on the floor next to it. He laid his staff down on the side of the bed that was against the window.
    Palin then had the urge to lie down. The bed was extremely comfortable; another improvement the vessel had in comparison with The Miracle. He weakly looked over at Tas, who was taking his boots off. He offered Palin the service of taking his off as well and the mage was glad to receive it.
   Madfrent looked at them. "Makeyourselves, uh... comfortable. Sleep as long as you like. When you're rested, come upstairs or knock on the room past the storage room. Dougan and I will be resting in there."
   "Thank you, Madfrent." Palin said as he turned over towards the window. His body relaxed as his face hit the pillow. It was a beautiful afternoon. The sun was setting and the bottom of the sky contained shades of yellow, red, and blue.
   "I think it's easier for Fririi to talk to us slower than Madfrent." Tas remarked, unfolding the sheets.
   Palin dozed off, right after agreeing with Tas' observation. Most of Palin's sleep sequence was peaceful, but the portion that wasn't contained a most amazing dream. He had a dream about his brother, Sturm. He was leaning over Sturm, who was lying on the ground. He was in his armor and he was breathing rapidly. Palin kept calling out his name and Sturm kept repeating to him to take the fork on the left. He kept calling to him and asking him why but all Sturm would do was repeat his instructions.
   Palin looked at his brother one more time... and he woke up. He sat up, waiting for awareness to come to him. He felt dizzy and hot for a moment, and then he looked out the window. The sun was high in the sky. Palin couldn't comprehend this. He then rolled over to look at Tas, but Tas wasn't anywhere to be found. His bed wasn't made, though.
   Palin rubbed his eyes and then got up to retrieve his boots. He decided to leave his sack in the room, noticing that Tas had left his. He reached for his staff, however, which was still lying near the window. Before going upstairs, he decided to see if Dougan or Madfrent were in their room. He walked slowly, trying to put as little pressure as possible on his left leg. He passed through a storage room, which held boxes and packages that had preserved food names on them as well other items. He then glanced in their room. None of them were there.
   Palin headed for the stairs. While passing through the hallway, he came across a plaque on one of the walls. It read in big letters at the top, "The Femina". Then, in smaller letters under it read, "The Ship of Female Gnome Sea Captain and Crew Because Dammit There Aren't Enough Female Gnome Sea Captains And Crews Around and Female Gnomes Make The Best Sea Captains And Crews Around...". And then of course, the name went on. Palin acknowledged that after the word 'around' the letters were getting even smaller, probably due to the lack of space. Palin chuckled at the communication mode of the gnomes. However, he did feel that whoever gave the ship the name had a point. He wondered then, how come there weren't more female sea captains, or female captains, in general.
   Palin then thought about his mother, who always stood up for herself. He thought about Laurana, who was fought in events that preceded his birth, a general that led the armies in the War of The Lance. And lastly, he thought of Kitiara, his aunt, who though was on the side of evil, a powerful Dragon Highlord. He didn't care what other people thought, but he came to the conclusion that whatever lives his sisters sought to pursue, he would support them and be there for him.
   After having finished looking at the plaque, he climbed the stairs. He realized that his leg didn't hurt as much, but that he still had to walk slowly and limp with his staff for support. That would also help him to not put pressure on his injured leg.
   Palin looked around and saw his friends sitting on a bench in the front of the ship. Various gnomes were walking past him and he had to move out of the way, fearful that they wouldn't see where they were going and knock him over. He walked to the front and saw Fririi at the wheel, her cape blowing with the breeze.
   "Oh, Palin. You're finally up!" Tas smiled as he noticed him. He moved over on the bench so the mage could sit down next to him. Madfrent was looking through his double-looking glass. Dougan was on Tas' other side, eating something resembled mush  from a wooden bowl. Regardless, Palin felt hungry.
   Tas noticed him looking at Dougan's food and got up to bring some food over. He received a tray from one of the crewwomen with some tea, bread, and meat. Palin ate and Dougan spoke to him.
   "It's almost midday, lad. You looked very tired yesterday."
   "I was." He responded. And then for a second, he remembered
his dream again. Was Sturm trying to tell him something? No, Sturm was dead.
   Palin felt a lump in his throat and tried to clear it with more pleasant thoughts. He wondered what they would do when they arrived on the island. Would they go straight to the caves? Palin personally felt that they should rest for a while. He knew he couldn't be of much use until his leg felt better. His question was then almost answered.
   "We should be coming up to the port of Merwick pretty soon." Fririi announced.
   Palin then figured that when they got there, they could rest in the city or at least near it, to avoid the expense of an inn. That would especially be best if Palin's leg was not to heal for a few days...