The Search Begins [Travel/Event]

Lexiara tentatively stepped onto the large ship. It was much, much larger than any ship she had ever been on. When she had been to Balbadd in the past, she had looked upon the ships in the port with a great deal of awe and fear, unable to understand how something so large was able to stay afloat. The largest floating vessel she had ever been on was a river barge and the large ships in port made the river barge look like a child’s raft. Her purple hues scanned the bustling deck in fear, her heart pounding in her chest. The sailors rushed about, preparing the ship for the long trip to Heliohapt, rolling barrels to the ship’s hold with the ease of a practiced routine. Several other passengers milled about the deck, all of them destined for the large city across the sea. Lexi timidly approached an older man in attire different from the other sailors, hoping he could direct her.

“Sir? Excuse me, sir? Where am I supposed to go?” her voice was filled with uncertainty, her eyes widening as the ship gave a small dip with the gentle waves.

The older man turned to look at her, a smile crossing his face at her frightened expression before pointing to a door other passengers seemed to be moving through. “Just follow the others, little lady. Your room will be along with theirs. And don’t worry, this ship is a fine vessel and will get you to Heliohapt in one piece, on my word as your Captain!”

A smile drifted across her face at his reassuring words, trying to quell the fear in her chest. She looked in the direction of his point, blushing brightly when she noticed the other passengers were indeed filing through a door that led to the passenger quarters. She gave him a nod of thanks before clutching her bag against her back and rushing to follow the others through the door and down a hall and checking the door of each room before finding her own. Her room had three beds and open areas by each to store belongings. Two of the beds already had females sitting down and organizing their items meticulously, both of them seemingly free of fear and accustomed to the tiny movements of the ship.

She quietly made her way to the unoccupied bed and sat down, setting her bag on the floor and looking around with a mix of apprehension and excitement. This would be the farthest she had ever traveled from the Great Plains and she was sure it would be a fantastic adventure, even if she was almost frozen with terror. With any luck, she would be able to find her family and rescue them.

[459/200]

The first week of the trip was uneventful, giving her a chance to adjust to life on the ship. Though the area was fairly cramped, she was able to keep her distaste of confined spaces to a minimum, reminding herself there was no other way to get to the other continent. She spent as much time as she could on the deck, the open area giving her a break from the confines of four walls. The sailors were all very kind, giving her a smile when she would wander about, some taking time out of their day to explain to her what each part of the ship was and how each part of the ship helped to keep the ship on track and moving. Others would share stories of their previous times afloat, offering brave tales of supposed encounters with pirates or of weathering horrific weather. When they noted the look of terror on her face at the tales of bad weather, they avoided such stories in the future, not wanting to frighten the curious young lady that liked to watch them work.

It was not until the second week afloat that they encountered any bad weather, the wind and rain making the water choppy and rocking the boat more than she was comfortable with. She still continued her daily outings on the deck, the rain not bothering her, but she stayed away from the edges, fearing that she would be tossed from the deck and fed to the choppy waters below. When the storm began in earnest, though, she confined herself below deck in her room. The soft rumbles of thunder made her stomach flutter and made sleep difficult. She had finally managed sleep one night when a great crash of thunder drew her from slumber with a screech of fear. The boat was rocking dangerously and she could faintly hear sailor’s yelling on the deck as they struggled to stabilize the ship in the water.

She looked desperately to the other beds, the covers clutched to her chin as though she could hide from the horrific storm. The other two women were awake but seemed to be unworried. One took pity on the terrified girl in the room with them and gave her a kindly smile.

“Do not worry, child. This is a hearty ship and we have taken this route a time or three before. The Captain will get us safely to Heliohapt. Try to get some rest.”

The words did little to comfort her, but she offered a shaky nod and lay back down, trying desperately to ignore the violent rocking of the boat. Another great boom of thunder made her squeak in fear and she pulled her pillow over her head, softly chanting reassurances to herself. She had nearly drifted off when she heard a chain snap in the storage area and the sound of barrels rolling across wood had her shaking in fear again. She stood from her bed, making her way to the door of the room and scanning about. Sailors were still rushing about, fighting to secure the trade goods and the sails with the practice of years.

Seeing the calm but determined looks on the faces of the sailors reassured her slightly and she crept back into the cabin and buried herself under covers and pillow again. Sleep finally claimed her and when she awoke, she found the ship in one piece and the sun shining, not a cloud in sight to give evidence of her terror-filled night. One of her roommates gave her a knowing smile, as though pointing out the ship had been just fine, as she had said it would be. Lexi blushed and dipped her head with a smile before wandering about the deck once more.

The rest of the trip was calm and clear and they made good time to port, despite the delay the storm had caused. The ship were complete chaos as passengers rushed to disembark and sailors scurried to her cargo sorted and unloaded. The docks were no better as merchants came to collect their shipments and relatives were on the lookout for the arriving passengers. She slung the bag across her back and made her way off the ship, grateful to have solid ground beneath her feet and blue skies above her hair. It was still several miles to the city proper and she was glad for the opportunity to reconnect with nature and contemplate her plans for once she arrived.

She began down the road, straying from the trail to take in the sights and sounds around her, so much sand completely foreign to her experience with the plains and forest. When she first took off her shoes and stepped into the sand, she winced slightly, not expected the sheer amount of heat coming from the tiny granules, though her feet seemed to adjust fairly quickly. She carried her shoes in her hand as she wandered along, not straying too far from the road, lest she become lost. A lizard scurried across her foot, making her giggle and reach down to pick it up. She was used to bright green, slimy lizards but this one was dry and scaly, its skin matching the color of the sand it called home.

After a couple of hours of wandering, she caught sight of a palm tree, and then another, nearby and she headed for them, carefully noting which direction it was from the road. She clapped in excitement as she saw a flush of green and blue, the small oasis fed by a spring fed lake in the middle. The palm trees and large shrubs offering cool shade from the desert heat and she decided to rest there, sitting on a rock and soothing her sore feet in the refreshing waters.

As she gazed up at the fronds of the palm tree, her mind wandered to her plan. She knew her family had been taken by slavers from the reports of small villages across the Great Plain. It had weighed heavily on her heart, knowing that such gentle creatures had been stolen from their homes and taken as slaves for some unknown person to buy like they were nothing more than a piece of jewelry.

When she had finally managed to find her way to Balbadd after they were taken, she had asked around the town to see if anyone had any information on where they might be. A merchant had taken pity on the girl, recognizing her from her trips with her father, and offered what little he knew. He mentioned that most slaves were taken across to the other continents recently, shipped from Magnostadt and taken elsewhere. He had heard rumors that Heliohapt was having a festival of some type that featured a great number of slaves to be sold off. She had thanked the man profusely for the information and had set off with a plan forming.

She had already known she had to go after them, but she also knew she needed money to make the journey and she needed to train more to be strong enough to rescue them. For weeks, she hunted and foraged for anything in the forest she thought would fetch a price. She knew leather went for a decent price and the hunting offered her the opportunity to improve her use of the bow. Fresh fruits usually brought a decent amount of currency as well, so she gathered as much as she could as she hunted. It took a lot of time, more than she had wanted to take, but taking a ship was not the cheapest thing in the world and she knew of no other way to get to Heliohapt.

But she had finally raised the necessary money and here she was. In a foreign land with little to no idea how to proceed. She knew she needed to get information in the city and then proceed from there. With the city still a couple of miles off, she gave a soft sigh and pushed herself up from the rock and steeled her determination. Now was not the time to lose her nerve.

She made it to the city by nightfall, the town bustling with activity even as darkness fell across the sky. The palaces were designed differently than in Balbadd, but the smells of the city were similar. She wandered through the crowded streets, trying to keep track of her progress as she formed a mental map as best she could. The mental map grew as she took her time shuffling through the streets, her shoes back on her feet after a small piece of glass had found its way into her heel. She tried to get a general idea of where the market areas were and made mental notes of places she could ask for information on the morrow.

Pleased with her progress for the evening, she headed for the outskirts of the town, knowing that what precious little funds she had left were best not wasted on an inn if she could avoid it. Once outside of the city, she found a place to set up camp and settled into making a fire. Dinner was a simple stew made from some dried meat and vegetables she had in her pack. Her stomach full, she cleaned the cut on her foot and wrapped it before settling back on her roll. Tomorrow would bring a whole new adventure and she wanted to be well-rested.


(exit)
[Final word count 2042]