On The Road To Nowhere: The Beginning

[Tessa]

Yalene grinned, “I will tell ye two tales, one o’shipmates for dear Liath and one o’after storms for the two of ye.” She told the group, her mind quickly thinking of the first shipmate she could remember.
“I was no more than 4 years when ‘e came aboard the Artemis.” She began languidly, her beads clinking as she shifted, “’e was no older than 13 years, ‘e was an orphan; least that’s what my brother told me, ‘is name was Roel and ‘e was French.” Yalene halted her words bringing her mind back to Roel’s first days on the merchant ship; they were hazy in some areas but not completely lost.
“Used t’take me up into the ropes, t’show me the sea; did that ‘is first day aboard, said that ye just could not get the same image from the deck. I’d seen the sea before, ‘avin’ been at sea fe’re at least a years time, but never ‘ad I seen it from that ‘eight.” She sighed softly, “See the reflectin’ of the ship in the water, the breeze; needless t’say I became ‘is shadow. Followin’ ‘im ‘round the ship as ‘e worked, and ‘e would let me. Many of the older sailors wouldn’t, too afraid they might ‘urt me, too afraid o’the Captain.” Yalene paused again, creating a small ship of flame in the fire before letting it disappear again.
“Not Roel, ‘e thought I was the moon, reminded ‘im o’is own sister back ‘ome. ‘e is perhaps the most interestin’ o’the sailors from early memory,” Yalene paused again, later memories coming forward of a now adult Roel and the farewell he had given her when she left the Artemis two years before.
“’e was my closest friend, just as important as my brother’s. ‘e still sails on the Artemis, and I still send ‘im letters.” She finished with a small smile, knowing that it was not as crafted as many of Mila’s tales but feeling as if she gave small insight to a very important companion.

“As fe’re storms, they’re the most dangerous things ye’ll encounter while at sea.” Yalene began, knowing this story by heart, “Take the lives o’sailors if ye let them, and this eve was no different. We were off the coast o’Africa at the time, the storm came upon us quickly.” She stopped speaking for a moment, creating the small ship of flame again but this time accompanying it with tumultuous seas, “Scare ye if ye let them. We spent the entire eve in the storm, and it took good men from our ship. Three died, tossed overboard during the chaos, ye would cling t’anythin’ ye could grasp to keep from fallin’ into the inky storm waters; but sometimes ye ‘ad nothin’ to grasp, that’s when ye fall.” A serious expression crossed over Yalene’s face, she let the flame-water calm and the tiny flame-ship right itself, “and if ye’re lucky ye’ll still possess ye’re cargo when the storm finally calms itself. We ‘ad lost most o’ours, the Artemis was in shambles; it would take weeks t’get ‘er lookin’ proper again. We sailed ‘er into port best we could, and got t’workin’ on ‘er immediately, fixin’ the torn sails, mendin’ broken wood, replacin’ rope.” Yalene let another scene appear in the flames, one of the African port they had brought the Artemis back to, “We were there fe’re nearly a months times fixin’ our girl up, collectin’ new cargo, and the like. Ye can always tell a group o’sailors that ‘ave lived through a storm, they’re spirits aren’t nearly as ‘igh as they should be.” Yalene let the flame image disappear as she finished her tale, “different ways o’dealin’ with the grief, a sailor will always wish t’never endure another storm after they ‘ave recently been through one; I endured forty-five, so ye see, that wish’ll never be granted lest ye fall and drown.” Yalene looked at her audience for a moment, “That’s all I ‘ave for this eve.”