Aboard the Yanilyr

[hexencreed]

Niyori gripped the tiller tightly, narrowing her eyes against the rain that attacked her face with icy needles and the wind that blew her long, white hair into knotted tangles. The moon was obscured by thick, dark clouds, leaving no light to guide her way. Niyori was steering by instinct alone. In her own country, she would revel in such a fierce and violent body of water, but this sea was uncontrollable, far beyond what her powers could harness... for the first time in her life, she was a victim to the brutality of a sea storm. The black waves below her reared and crashed, tossing her boat to and fro like a cat playing with the terrified mouse it had captured. The boats timbers began to groan, but Niyori could not hear their protest above the shrieking wind. Her mind was filled only with thoughts of escape, the need to flee from the woman who chased her. Her mother could not be far behind, and she needed to find shelter; somewhere to rest, and heal, and regain the strength depleted by their last fierce battle. But she would never find it if she didn;t survive this storm...
She gritted her teeth, and gripped the wheel even tighter. No body of water would defeat her, no matter how fierce. She was a Wyraen, and they were born to harness water's power. She pursed her blue lips tightly together, and began to hum, a calm, soothing sound. The blue, glittering sash tied around her wiast began to glow, and slowly, the waves around her boat calmed to peaceful blue swells, strong enough to carry her boat without harming it. Niyori closed her eyes, relaxed... and gasped as she heard a deafening crunch. The waves had become wild again, escaping the binds of her inadequate spell. The boat was falling apart... suddenly, an enormous wave loomed, crashing down on her tiny boat and smashingit to pieces. Niyori was thrown from the deck, eyes shut, bracing herself for the impact of hitting the water. She gasped in pain as she plunged into its icy depths, and clung to her now untied sash, knowing it would float. Wrapping both her arms around it, she formed bubbles of air around her nose and mouth, praying for another boat to appear bearing someone who would rescue her from the sea's deathly embrace.

[sacta]

((I applaud your awesome RPing skills, Hexencreed))

Despite how sick he felt, Gene kept trying to read the lines written on that old scroll with the faint light of the candle next to the edge of the table, trying to ignore the continuous movement of the ship which revolved his stomach when he concentrated on those because of the strong storm. In that boat in which he was nothing but a guest, no one panicked. All the sailors shouted only to make themselves understood over the loud noise of the wind which drowned their voices, but none lost their nerves except the youngest ones. Neither did Gene, mostly because he was busy with his own business, surrounded by an almost endless quantity of books and scrolls, inside the boat, but also because he knew he couldn't do anything about it. He had no idea of how to take care of a ship.

The sailors were really curious about what motivated the young lad to read so much and spend so much time in that dark chamber. It was also a wonder how such a young boy had become so strong. That kid, almost a snotty brat compared with most veterans people of the tripulation, had defeated the strongest man of the ship in arm wrestling. The most supersticious members had started to feel uncomfortable around him. They knew as well that that kid had no powers, not even small ones, and to their eyes that wasn't good.

Anyway, they had actually got used to having him around. It wasn't the first time he went on that ship. It was a merchant ship, and the route that it followed was similar to the journey Gene had planned. For a very reasonable price, he was able to travel around the great waters even if not in the best conditions.

Feeling tired, Gene finally decided to go outside. He didn't really plan to go out of the chamber and get wet, though. He only opened the window and looked through it. God! It felt like if he had tons of sand in his eyes. He had forced them too much and for too long. He saw something glowing strangely in the water. It couldn't be anything but something caused by the effort he put in his eyes. Maybe it was because of the light of the candle. He rubbed his eyes, tired, not really paying any attention to that glowing object. Weird enough, it was glowing blue. So much water was starting to affect him already!

He felt how the wind finally managed to make the ship change its route slightly, getting closer to where he had seen that blue shinning spot as his eyes slowly got used to the dark. After some seconds, he growled. It had been a reflex action. He could see it. pieces of some boat. Maybe...

Taking a closer look, Gene saw a body in the water. Quickly, he headed outside the chamber. He opened the door just to see a big quantity of men going from side to side, except for one huge figure that held the wheel. That man was the captain, and it was the first person Gene went to speak to. In fact, he just yelled that there was someone in the water not too far away.

"We can't change the route..." The man answered calmly. His powerful and deep voice was easily heard without him needing to shout.

Because of the nervousness, Gene was about to just run to find a boat, or probably even jump in the water. Anyway, he couldn't even make one step when a powerful handed closed on his shoulder and stopped him, almost making him fall on the floor. It was the captain. Gene could tell because only his aura was enough to intimidate him. That man had something almost inhuman in him, but not terrifying in a bad way. It was rather respect. It wasn't someone you would disobey lightly. "I didn't say we would let that man die drowned..." He stated simply. He took out his huge jacket calmly, as Gene stared at him confused. Before the young boy could react to stop him, the captain, now that he had a substitute taking care of the wheel, jumped head first in the water.

That man... At first Gene thought that he was crazy. But suddenly he felt that he could take care of it. Gene was very strong, but he wasn't a good swimmer, while that man was fighting the waves as if the ocean was just a five years old kid trying to make him fall with its weak arms. Seeing that powerful body, Gene blindly believed that he could make it. He maybe had beaten the self-proclaimed strongest man in the tripulation, but he could tell only by looking at the captain that their leader was infinitely stronger. His only presence was overwhelming. He was also cold like ice and wise like the eldest of all the tribes. He had the dignity of a king. It was almost as if he wasn't a middle human.

Few moments later, Gene noticed that the captain had reached the body and was taking it towards the boat.

Gene knew, or at least he felt, that the captain, like him, hadn't powers. For what he heard, he wasn't even from the land of the elemental tribes. In fact, every tribe had different kinds of people with different features, but he couldn't relate any race with the captain. He was unnaturaly big. His hair had become white, even though he didn't look incredibly old. He had a short beard and many scars covered his body. Besides, he never covered his chest, so you could always see his scars under the jacket when it was untied. Was it pride from showing his medals? He also had a huge and deep scar that went accross his face, close to his left eye.

Gene knew that he wanted to be like that man. Wise, cold, but caring, intelligent, noble, powerful, strong! He was almost super human.

"Sir Red!" The captain's powerful voice awakened him from his daydreaming and Gene quickly knew that he had to get a rope to help the captain, along with the body of the person that had been about to drown, get into the ship again. He soon threw it and in a moment, the captain was already climbing up to the enormous ship with no help, with only one hand, as he held the person with the other arm.

[hexencreed]

Niyori kept her eyes shut tightly, pretending to be unconscious. She had dissolved her bubbles as soon as she had felt the ripples caused by the man's powerful strokes. She hung limply over his arm, her hair in dripping tangles and her white skin cold and clammy. She could faintly hear shouting through the water in her ears... this must be a large boat, with an equally large crew. She began to wonder about the nature of its voyage, but her thoughts became sluggish, and before she knew it, she really was unconscious, head lolling and mind blissfully blank.

[sacta]

The captain's skin looked as pale as the girl's when the only lights were those of the thunders far away. But when the man finally reached the ship and Gene helped him by placing the girl's body on the floor, he finally noticed it. Not only that she was a girl (they didn't usually travel alone), but that her skin was white like the foam of the waves. At first he was shocked. He was even taken by his most trivial superstitions. Could it be a siren who had pretended to drown just to attract preys?! But no, it couldn't be, otherwise the captain wouldn't have come back. Well, at least not with the girl, something told Gene that bo siren could stop the captain, who swam as if he was one of the sharks that lived in those waters.

When the storm stopped, the sun was shinning again. It was morning. While Gene had been told to watch the 'newcomer', the captain took care of giving orders and controling the wheel again and the other members of the crew had kept working. Now, some of them approached the girl, most wondering if she would open her eyes. Along with Gene, who was sitting cross-legged next to her, there were around ten other curious men. Some of them mumbling about how beautiful she was and about how they could have some fun. Those comments disgusted Gene more than those that he already expected, such as the warnings of certain members of having bad luck for carrying a woman or about how she was actually a siren who had tried to catch one of them. Anyway, they were just mumbling, nothing else. They were just merchants, and intelligent ones, not brute, stupid pirates. So none of them yelled or tried to start a fight. Besides, none of them would go against the will of the captain.

[hexencreed]

Niyori stirred, and opened her eyes, blinking and disorientated. Her throat was dry and scratchy, and her head was pounding. What had happened?
Forcing her eyes open, she sat up, looking around the room. There were men around her bed... she stared at once of them, and he shifted uneasily under her intense blue gaze. He was dressed in fine clothes, so obviously a rich man. A merchant or trader, perhaps? She moved her gaze to the next man... a brawny sailor, who nudged his friend upon meeting her eyes. His friend leered, and she frowned. She spoke in a clear, high voice.
"Who is the captain of this vessel, and what is its nature?"

[sacta]

Gene looked slightly surprised when she woke up, thought he wasn't startled. He just stared at her as she looked around. He noticed how she was making the other sailors uncomfortable. He waited for her to speak, though maybe he should have asked if she was alright. When she did speak, Gene was the first one to growl, almost glaring at her. "What's with the attitude, girl?" He growled annoyed. He had found her first words to be rather insolent after they had saved her life. The other sailors stared at Gene as if he suddenly had become their representant, even though he wasn't even from the crew.

He looked at them out of the corner of his eyes and growled once more, irritated. He closed his eyes as he let out a sigh and then he got up, thinking that actually his attitude would have surely been pretty similar to the girl's in that same situation. He wasn't exactly the incarnation of politeness either after all. Or maybe it was just that it bothered him that they weren't thankful to the captain after he had almost given his life to save that girl. Maybe it was just his respect for that man that made him act like that.

"It's a merchant ship. Well, actually we only transport things. We don't really trade or anything except for when we have merchants on board." Said one of the sailors calmly as he pointed at the rich man who the newcomer had just noticed. He was one of the few who was only curious about the girl's nature, and he didn't seem to be against having her on board.

Gene walked outside the room, mumbling, surely cursing in low voice. Right after, he saw the captain. After Gene told him that the girl had awakened, the huge man entered the chamber, leaving Gene behind as the young boy stared at the sea. The sailors turned around. Some of them mumbled 'captain' and finally they saluted him. The captain nodded his head to let them know that they could rest and then he stared at the strange girl waiting for her to speak first, since Gene had told him she had asked for him.

[hexencreed]

Niyori stood and bowed low before the captain, her white hair brushing the floor.
"Sir. I am assuming that you are the man who saved my life? I am eternally grateful. I am new to this land, and did not anticpate the ferocity of the waters... but that is irrelevant. How can I repay you? I have money, or things from my homeland that may be of value to you..."
She spoke quietly, with a slight accent, and some of the sailors were struggling to hear her words. She ignored them, she had no time for eavesdroppers.

[sacta]

The huge man nodded and then he held his hand in front of him, politely, to ask the woman to stop speaking. Asking money from someone who needed help was out of the question in that case. If she had money, though, a very small quantity would be enough. But that wasn't the matter now. "If you are alright, rest, eat, and recover. You shouldn't thank me. Do you think I would have jumped to save you if I didn't know my crew could take care of the ship without me. Thank them for being sompetent and brave sailors." He said. Some of them seemed to take a deep breath in and stand straight, proudly. "As well as the stranger who spotted you." Then, the captain bowed his head slightly before turning around and walking away. Soon, the same sailor who spoke before offered his help to the girl to see if he could get her anything she needed.

[hexencreed]

Niyori declined the sailor's offer.
"All I require is an estimate of when we will arrive, wherever that will be."
She turned to Gene and regarded him thoughtfully. He did look like a sailor or trader... what was he doing here?
"You look as out of place here as I am," she remarked wryly.

[sacta]

The sailor was about to speak, but he felt interrupted when the girl talked to Gene. He didn't find it rude though, and he just answered. "Two days, to an island close to the coast of Sacrecia." He explained.

Gene just stared at the sea, out of the chamber. He hadn't turned around when the captain came out. He just stood there with his hands inside his pockets, still staring at the horizon and not saying a word.

He still felt as if he had sand in his eyes. He needed to sleep, but he really also needed to finish reading those books. While he debated with himself about what he truly needed the most, he rubbed his eyes, somehow expecting it would sooth the irritation.

Then he felt he was being talked to. He turned around frowning, as if that person had interrupted him while he did something important. It wasn't completely true, but he just always looked annoyed. "Oh, really?" He asked with somewhat sarcasm in his voice. He expected she wanted some kind of answer as to what he was doing there. "Yeah, maybe. I am not from the crew. I thought it woul dmake sense get a ship in conditions that wouldn't break to pieces in the middle of a storm." He answered to her implicit question. "May I know what pushed you to get into a kamikaze journey with a boat in the middle of the ocean?"

[hexencreed]

Niyori raised an eyebrow. Were all men in this part of the world this rude?
"I had my reason, and you really wouldn't want to meet her. I didn't expect the seas to be as rough as they are"

OOC: this is actually going nowhere :S

[sacta]

((I don't understand what you mean, but... I agree!!! :3 But if you mean that Gene is rude, I am sorry but he's like that, so I have to RP him the way he is))

Gene deduced that the girl's 'reason' was a person, a woman. At first, in fact, he was confused by the fact that she used the feminine pronoun instead of the neutral one. Anyway, what she said afterwards... he couldn't help taking it as some kind of challenge. "Wanna bet?" He asked grinning widely, but definitely not in a warm way, confident in his own strength. Anyway, his face soon turned serious, as he almost glared at her. She was running away from someone, now the question was: why? Gene hated authority, but he despised criminals as well. Someone who was so afraid of being caught could even be a murderer. Besides, Gene wasn't usually fooled only by appearances. That girl seemed sweet and nice to a normal person's eyes (if it wasn't for her skin color which would make most people reject her for being different) but Gene was a rather bitter man, and therefore he didn't usually trust people.

"Who are..." He was about to ask her who she was, but he stopped. He was about to ask her who she was, but if she was actually running away, she wouldn't be as foolish as to share her identity with the first stranger that came accross. And that was more noticeable due to the fact that she hadn't bothered to give her name yet. "Forget it." He mumbled as he rubbed his eyes and he stood up straight. "I am just traveling with these guys because it's cheaper. I am Ewein Red." He said as he opened his eyes again. His frown hadn't disappeared for even one second, though. "I'd just like to know what pushes someone to run after a girl even in the middle of the ocean, though."

[hexencreed]

Niyori stared at Gene through narrowed eyes. Didn't he know when to leave it be?
"Did you see that storm last night? See how vicious it was? It didn't affect your ship much until the captain rescued me, did it? The woman chasing me... she created that storm. Elesri the Wyrid. You may not believe me that one woman alone could create such a ferocious storm... but she did."
Suddenly, Niyori clutched her head as a vicious scream ripped through her mind. She knew that nobody else in the cabin could hear it.
"I am coming, foul seed of my womb! Parasite! You cannot hide from me!"
Niyori fell to the floor, the pain in her head forcing tears from her eyes. Suddenly, black clouds appeared overhead again, blocking out the moon. The wind began to howl, and huge waves rocked the ship. Her mother was coming.

[sacta]

Gene had calmly folded his arms and he leaned on the wall that sepparated the Captain's room from the outside of the ship, listening to the girl's explanation. He was obviously eskeptical about the storm being the result of a woman's power.

He had a few moments to think. And actually, he grew slightly irritated. No, very irritated in fact. What she said about the storm was true then, but if it was, she was the reason they were in danger. What actually annoyed him, though (he didn't really mind protecting someone even if it put him in a dangerous situation) was the fact that Elseri hadn't intended to hurt anyone but that girl. Maybe that woman was actually on the righteous side. No... but that theory was strange mostly because that woman was supposedly the girl's mother.

"Hey..." He began, to catch her attention so he could make a question. Anyway, barely after he opened his mouth, the girl suddenly seemed to react to something. She even managed to make Gene get startled. Gene crouched next to her, expecting to be able to do something useful, but nothing came to his mind. "Are you okay?!" He asked putting a hand on her shoulder. Well, obviously NOT. But maybe he would get a more detailed explanation of what was happening if she managed to say a word.

What also was way too sudden was the storm. Okay, so maybe the girl hadn't made up that story. 'And I was having such a good day, too...' Gene growled on the inside. "Wait here!" He said, though he didn't know if she could actually hear him.

He went to search the captain. He needed a boat. One hell of a fast boat. And a direction to the closest land as well as some point and a time where Gene could meet the crew again when the girl was safe. He couldn't just leave someone to their luck, but he couldn't either put the lives of the crew that had treated him so well in danger. Okay, it was obvious that the person whom he had to be angry with was that Elseri. Anyway, he didn't tell anything of what he was planning to no one but the captain.

The man had no choice but to agree. He couldn't leave his crew and he couldn't expose them to danger either. Actually, a fast little boat would be better to escape from the wrath of a single person, like guerrilla warfare. But leaving two kids go alone... Unfortunately, he had no choice. But no, his plan hadn't ended there. There was no way the captain would let his crew or those strangers suffer any harm.

Gene went back to where he had left the girl before. "Are you okay? Can you move?" He asked in a hurry, hoping she would react at once. If she could at least move, they'd get the fastest boat which actually had a small sail. Whileso, actually, the captain was getting his own boat as well.

[murasakihato]

((I don't think I will ever compare to your extreme writing Gene))

[hexencreed]

Niyori staggered after Gene, holding her head in both hands. Her temples felt like they were on fire, her skull felt ready to split, and still Elesri screamed.
"Bitch! Traitor! Murderer! You can't hide from me! I'll break this whole boat into splinters just to find you!"
The sea became even more ferocious, throwing the boat into the air and catching it in foaming black arms, making the timbers creak and groan.

[sacta]

"Wow!" Gene almost lost his balance. It was easy to set a boat on the water from a ship in the middle of a storm. 'Please work please work please work!' He begged to the boat as he got ready to set the small sail. With such wind, they'd go at the speed of an arrow and even more with such a light and aerodynamic boat. But it didn't matter. He had seen those. They were used a lot in sailing games for races at high speed and certain maneubers. If he was able to make it begin going forward, it should be alright... well, except for the fact that he had never done it before... That was what truly scared him.

He had placed some kind of huge box on the boat. He also had taken some kind of cloak. It was used before to hide food underneath it, so it worked well to conceal someone's scent. He planned to use it to cover the girl, since he had heard certain fishes like sharks had one hell of a good nose. It maybe was stupid, he wasn't facing a fish now, but anyway... Though he didn't use it yet. He wanted to make sure the old witch knew they were using a boat to escape, or at least that her daughter was. Like this, she would leave the ship and their crew alone.

Gene wrapped his right arm around the girl's stomach. He doubted she would be able to keep her balance in that state. Then, he finally pulled from the last roap unkotting it and setting the sail free. Almost as if they had suddenly been pushed away by a rhinoceros, the boat went forward at full speed because of the powerful wind. Not even the legendary Kraken would have been able to hold that little bullet the boat had turned into.

Gene almost fell backwards, but he managed to hold on the ropes of the sail, still holding the girl. 'God... I feel so sick...' He said. That was way too fast. He was about to puke. The nervousness due to the fact that he didn't even know how to use it only made his stomach turn more and more. Anyway, he had to do it, so he took a deep breath in and yelled quite loudly. "Elesri! Come on, old dodderer, will your fins be able to keep up with me?!" He exclaimed insolently, hoping to make Elesri focuse on them and forget the boat. Anyway, he suddenly had to grab his stomach because of the nauseas. 'Oh... Oh God... I don't feel good at all.' He was actually glad he hadn't eaten in a while, or he would be vomitting all he had eaten since that morning at that moment. Obviously, Gene didn't hear the voice that only echoed in the girl's head, but he did hope, without knowing about it, that Elesri would actually hear him.

[hexencreed]

Niyori clutched Gene's arm, her white skin looking almost green.
"What... you fool! Why are you doing this?! You're going to get yourself killed!"
Suddenly she collapsed against the side of the boat, her head hitting it with a hollow thump. Her eyelids flickered, and she sat up again slowly. She opened her eyes with her face turned towards the sea, then suddenly turned her head and stared at Gene. Her eyes had turned pure black.

[sacta]

'Well, that if she can catch us...' He said when she told him to hold back a bit. 'I think I lost my soul at some point after this damn thing began going at such a speed, so I doubt she will really get to us...' He joked to himself. Anyway, when he chuckled at the joke that he had made in his made, he almost like as if he was going to puke again. Fortunately he regained the composture and manged to keep a tight grip on the ropes. "What I don't want is to let the people of the crew to get killed..." He growled. He trusted that little boat as if it was a friend from all his life.

Anyway, he saw how the girl suddenly seemed to pass out. "Hey! What...?" Panicking, he almost lost control of the sail, but he managed to hold onto it again. He couldn't help her now or they'd be blown away by the wind or swallowed by the waves. He could only be careful and make sure she wouldn't fall from the boat. No way to do much else right now.

Gene looked forward, but after few seconds he noticed the figure of the girl sitting up again. "You alright?" He asked as he turned his head, just to realize she was staring at him with absolutely black eyes.

"Please, tell me this is a stupid joke..." He said to no one in particular as his left eyebrow even twitched a bit. He grinned, but mostly out of desperation. He had no idea what was happening to her. Unfortunately, it was far from looking even slightly good. If he had to run away from an enemy with a small and hard to control boat, and at the same time he had another person that wanted to cut his head off in said little vehicle, things would get seriously complicated. He suddenly remembered the suspicions of some sailors. What if he finally had gone and got on a boat with a blood thisrty monster of the seas, hidden at first as a victim?

[hexencreed]

Niyori's head turned all the way round, and she slid gracefully over the side of the boat into the sea. The water began to boil around her, shooting black steam and jets of water into the sky. Suddenly, the boiling water pulsed, rocking the small boat, and parted, making a small hole in the center. A skeletal, white figure with six long limbs rose from the hole, hovering just over the water. Niyori's hair had become a mass of writhing white tentacles, and her neck was three times as long. Her face had become hollow and stretched, and from each bony white limb grew a thin hand with three long, webbed fingers. Niyori glided over to the boat, landed in the rear, and turned to the water behind it. She pushed her fin-like hands away from herself, and the boat shot forwards, faster than any wind could make it travel. She turned to Gene and spoke with a hissing, reptilian voice.
"Don't just stare like an idiot. She's coming."

[sacta]

'Oh crap...' Gene thought as the girl began to do something really really strange. Mostly turning her head 180º. It was pretty creepy, indeed. He was ready to turn around any time to defend himself, even if that ment leaving the boat to its luck. 'This is what I get for helping people out...' He growled mentaly, scared as all hell. Anyway, the... thing, only jumped off the boat.

He was kind of relieved, even though he knew he couldn't stop paying attention to the front of the boat. And suddenly, it felt like his vehicle was going to spin around and make him fall in the water with all the strange beings that had decided to pop out that day. 'Nonononono!!!' He panicked as he tried to keep control of the thing, until he saw the creature that had appeared underneath it.

'And I was having such a nice day, too...' He repeated again. He searched around looking for something to throw at the thing, when suddenly his boat was propelled forward at such a speed that for a moment it was impossible to see one single thing. Gene thought for a moment he was going to be blown away like a leaf, until he got adapted to the speed, which took quite a while.

He felt the boat tremble. Something had got into it. Gene looked behind to see the same creature as before. He stared at her completely surprised, terrified too.

Anyway, her comment managed to awake him as the veins on his forehead and next to his eyes got pumped up. "I am doing what I can, you creep! And I can't say the same about you! Why didn't you do that from the begining?!" He yelled glaring at her and gritting his teeth. Then he 'hmphed' and looked forward again. "Okay, I will teach you how to do things right..." He growled as he grinned to himself insolently. He had got used quite fast to the boat. Desperation was always a good teacher after all. He started leading the boat between the waves with its only sail quite skillfuly. He smiled when he saw land far away. It would take a while to get there, but it was still a reason for relief. Besides, the rain made it harder to see, which meant they were probably closer to the beach than it seemed, which also made him happy.

[hexencreed]

Niyori grinned, displaying long black fangs. She felt so alive in this body... all her inhibitions had dissolved into the ocean with her human body.
"Don't get insolent with me, boy. I could capsize this vessel without having to move. I would survive. You wouldn't. I'm not weak like the human girl. Just shut your mouth and keep this boat moving."
Suddenly, a jet of water shot into the air not so far behind them. Niyori hissed. She was here.
There was a shout.
"Help me!"
A pale woman was in the water... she was struggling. At least that was how it would seem. Niyori knew better. She walked on the water, standing over the woman.
"Don't play games with me, mother. Go on. Try to swim. You may find it a little hard..."
As Niyori spoke, an enormous wave loomed on the horizon, coming closer with terrifying speed.

[sacta]

"Sorry madame!" He shouted so he could be heard over the rain and the roaring of the sea. He grinned widely. He had got used to the speed and he loved it. That, and his little dialogue with the sea creature was actually quite fun. "But you will find out I am not your average 'fragile' human boy either!" Though that was absolutely true, Gene knew he wouldn't survive if she actually did what she said. He was incredible at a physical level compared to almost any human alive, but he was a horrible swimmer, and with such a storm he would end up drowning. 'Or maybe not...' He thought as he realized that the coastline was getting a lot closer. Anyway, then he came back to think about the 'human' part. Was he talking to some kind of alter ego? He did consider the girl from before quite rude, but when she changed she really reached a completely new level. And she spoke about 'the girl' as if she was a completely different person. Not to tell that if she could do that at will, why didn't she do it when they first met her and she was about to drown? It was obvious then that he probably wasn't talking to the same person.

He felt how they were going faster now. He wondered why though. The wind wasn't blowing any harder (he doubted it could) and if it was the creatures whom had pushed the boat he would have definitely felt it. Maybe he would have heard the screams if it wasn't because of the sea's roar. Anyway, he couldn't help turning around.

"What the hell are you doing?!" He yelled when he realized why they were faster. They had become lighter mostly because he had lost a passenger. Only then did he realize the woman struggling in the water, who was no other than Elesri, though he didn't know. He was very far already. Probably far enough so not even the creature could have heard him call her.

Gene growled, feeling impotent. He had no idea of what was going on. He looked forward again, though he didn't pay attention to the rocks that stuck out of the water, like icebergs, and he tried to make the boat turn around to rescue the woman and knock some sense into the creature. Anyway, that only resulted on hitting one of the rocks. At such a speed, the boat, as well as his passenger, were thrown in the air like if they were nothing.

Gene landed in the water. He struggled to go to the surface and right when he shook his arms, he realized that he was touching the sand. He suddenly took his head out of the water and realied that actually the level of the sea barely reached a few feet over the sand. He was absolutely safe.

BANG!!! Something suddenly landed next to Gene, startling him and making him jump. He noticed it was the enormous box he had put on the boat before leaving.

He sighed relieved, but he remembered the situation in which he actually was now. He growled and quickly turned around. He could see, far, far away, the creature, and also... "Oh crap..." He exclaimed in awe as he saw a gigantic wave. He stared at it for a moment, but he shook his head to wake himself up and pushed the box so it would be on the sand, where the water couldn't take it away.

Then he turned around. What could he do now? If he at least knew what was going on! He did see clearly how the creature was actually standing on the water, but it was still hard to tell if she did or did not need help. Stupidly, and out of his hot headed temper, Gene decided to jump into the water again and swim towards them, although it was almost impossible with the waves pushing him back to the coast. It seemed he wouldn't get there any time soon.

[hexencreed]

Elesri stared up at Niyori.
"Oh daughter of mine... see how quickly you forget? The one thing I always told you... when faced with an enemy... ALWAYS TURN AROUND!"
The wave slammed into Niyori's back, knocking her face down into the sea. She lay there, floating face down, breathing through her gills, her entire body screaming in pain. Elesri shot up from the water in demon form. Hers was identical to Niyori's, but with wing-like fins trailing from both arms. She began to hurl jets of water at Niyori, bruisng her flesh and cracking her bones. Then, she raised her blue sash, the Yrali...
Niyori coughed and spluttered, thrashing in the water. She was human once again, and at Elesri's gesture, the sea grew even rougher.
"Watch, daughter dear, as I leave you here to drown. Your little human friends can't save you now. And even if they do... I will be back. I will be stronger. No Wyraen is stronger than the Wyrid."
Elesri dissolved into foam, leaving Niyori struggling against the pounding waves.

[sacta]

Gene kept trying to fight against the waves, though he didn't feel he was getting any results. It was getting hard to breathe with the water hitting his face. Finally, when he was able to, he took a deep breath in and sunk into the water. Under it he could swim faster. Now the waves didn't push him it... but the current was taking him in, and that would be worrying later.

The boy had to come to the surface to take deep breaths in every few minutes. He had a pretty good cardiobascular system, even if his skills as a swimmer were highly questionable.

In fact, he resufaced just in time to notice that the woman in the water (fool him) wasn't what she appeared. And he saw how the girl got beaten to probably death. Gene stood on the surface of the water not even moving. He was so stunned that he almost forgot he was in the middle of a now deadly sea. When the girl's mother finally disappeared, only then Gene reacted. He came back to reality letting out a scream of desperation. He could look tough and mean, cruel, sarcastic, cynic, but one single life, no matter whom it was from, ment a lot to him. He hated seeing death and pain as much as if hey were being inflicted to him.

He sunk in the water again and began swimming faster than ever, his muscles hurt as if they were about to burst. And yet he kept going until he reached the girl. He wasn't a great lifeguard either, but he did what he could to keep her head over the level of the water as he carried her to the coast. Anyway, all was for nothing. The same waves that before were keeping him from getting into the sea, were making it harder for him now to come back, as if they were offended because he didn't pay attention to their advice the first time.

Anyway, he kept trying and trying, being only able to use one arm to propel himself now. And soon, it was way too much, even for him. He tried hard, but his muscles were too tired to actually be of any use. He sunk in the water again... but this time not willingly. He didn't know where was up or down anymore, and he felt his muscles wouldn't answer him. 'Shit...' He thought. 'Is this it? I am gonna die... like this?' Again, he grinned, but only out of pure desperation, almost the grin of a maniac. 'Th... this is pathetic... drowning... like some kind of... I always thought I'd die fighting someone... protecting someone... but not like this... not like this...' He thought. 'I want to die in a better way...' Anyway, he noticed that he didn't. He didn't want to die in ANY way. He had a family to protect, a father whom he had lost. Under the water, he mumbled the names of his parents and sibling, before trying to breath in in vain, swallowing only water that went into his lungs.

'Wow... They always made Heaven look shiny in the stories... But this is... like very very shiny.' Gene thought as some light seemed to fall upon his eyes. He tried to open them, though the light made it hard to keep them open for too long. When he finally got used to the light, he managed to sit up... and he realised that he was on the beach! For a moment, he just stared with the eyes widely open, until a crab hurt his hand, making him jump. At first it hurt, but in few seconds that became the best feeling he had ever felt. "I... I am alive..." He mumbled surprised. Then he smiled widely. "I am alive!" He repeated as tears welled his eyes and the sun from the morning bathed the lands around him.

"You are alive, indeed..."

Gene suddenly turned his head, and he realized that the captain from the ship was also sitting there, not many feet away, staring at him. "Ah... you... you saved me..." He stated, very surprised from seeing the old captain there.

"I didn't do such thing..." He answered, leaving Gene quite stunned. Then, he looked at him out of the corner of his eyes and spoke, just to clear things out for him. "I got a boat myself. I wanted to help. I actually wanted to meet the sea witch before you did. Though I didn't succeed. I followed the storm and I arrived at the coast. Right when I arrived, you just crawled out of the water, bringing that girl with you. For what I saw, you were unconscious when you arrived here."

Gene couldn't help but to smile, mostly out of disbelief. 'I did what how?' It was impossible to do something while being unconscious, it just made no sense at all.

"By the way... the girl was pretty badly hurt. I took care of the first aid. Actually I had to give you both mouth-to-mouth to make sure you didn't go to the Other Side."