Sunlight and Shade

By: Vilya (with help from muse-ish thing—you know who you are!)

Oh, that's right. I have to disclaim myself. Hello! Anything you've heard of before, I don't own. I won't tell you what I DO own until it comes into play. Any questions?

A/N: This has been drifting around in my head since a friend said 'Karagol' to me, and I thought of it, or the middle of it, so I built up a story, and here's the first chapter. For those who know ALWHI, there is more coming soon, I promise! So, enjoy this…prepare for quite a ride. And look! Picard's in it! YAHOO!!

Chapter One: Sparkling Sea

            The bright noon sun hit the ocean with blinding accuracy, causing the still water to sparkle, glint and glow, and generally causing Felix, standing at the prow, to blink spots from his eyes. He liked the sun as much as the next Adept, but this seemed to be taking it to the extreme. And the total lack of wind meant his dark hair hung in his face.

            "Much the same effect as the sun on snow," he said to himself, trying to get a decent view of anything ahead of them and failing quite miserably.

            "Snow, water, it's all the same," muttered Jenna. Felix looked at her for a moment, at her auburn hair and fiery brown eyes, then turned his face back to the water and smiled to himself. "Wet. I despise wet."

            "Well, at least you don't try to dry up the ocean anymore."

            "I did try, with all the Psynergy I had, but Spirits, there's a lot of it!"

            "I doubt even the Mars Spirit itself could dry up the ocean. Besides, then we'd have to walk from Lemuria to Gondowan."

            "Are you two quite finished?" a voice called. Felix and Jenna turned, but no one was there. Both of them looked up then, their eyes following the tall mast of the sailing vessel to the occupant of its highest point.

            "Ivan! Good morning!" Jenna called, waving. "Can you see anything better from up there? Down here it's all…glinty."

            "Glinty?" Felix and Ivan asked at the same time. Jenna shrugged.

            "It sounded good."

            "Spoken very like Garet," Felix remarked.

            "Spirits, no, not that!"

            "To answer your question, no, it's not any better from up here. The sun kicks out everything. And the water is completely still, aside from the ripples we create." Ivan sighed. He wasn't usually one for complaining, not while he was so high up with such a view. But the air was as still as the water, and it was getting hot.

            "Makes me wish for home," Felix said as he and Jenna turned back to the rail. "I seem to have spent so little time in Vale over the past four years or so."

            "Home? Just left," said a voice from behind them. A tall, blue-haired, gold-eyed man joined them. "Your turn, Felix."

            "Aw, Picard, it's your ship. Certainly you have something less energy-draining for me to be doing?"

            "The Orb requires Psynergy. You know that. And I'm pretty much out for the day. Plus, it isn't my ship, it's on loan." Picard smiled jokingly. "Unless you'd rather row this thing by hand? The sails obviously aren't going to be much help."

            "Ivan could raise a wind," Jenna suggested.

            "Ivan already spent his Psynergy ration on propelling this thing," called the Adept in question. "He would very much like to raise a wind, but he knows his companions have had experience with what happens when a tired, hot, cranky Ivan tries to make things move."

            "Right. See you in a few hours," Felix said, gladly leaving the conversing Jupiter and Mars Adepts (not to mention a confused Picard) behind. Jenna sighed, adjusted her hair for about the thousandth time, trying to keep it off the back of her neck, then turned and walked belowdecks.

            "It won't be any cooler down there," Picard mused. "Well, not cool enough to make a difference. But the galley is in that direction…perhaps lunch is a good idea." One or another of his Djinn gave a comment on the questionable sanity of a Lemurian mariner who spoke to himself, but Picard ignored it.

            Ivan found himself alone yet again, and while he usually liked it, the humidity was really starting to get to him. They were surrounded by ocean so unmoving and vast it might as well have been the Lamakan Desert.

            Several hours later, after a break for lunch and a few delightfully cool moments of soft breezes, Ivan was dozing off in the crow's nest when he saw it. He sat up, rubbed his eyes, blinked a few times, trying to make sure it was really there.

            Picard!

            "What?!" asked the Mercury Adept aloud. He sat up quickly and banged his head on a low piece of ceiling. "Ivan? Is that you?"

            I see something! Come up here and tell me I'm seeing mirages or something! Please tell me I'm seeing something!

            "Alright, alright. In the middle of a nap and you get woken up by hallucinating Jupiter Adepts with the—great god of the north winds!" Picard yelped upon emerging onto the deck.

            I am not conspiring with Boreas, Picard, Ivan thought tersely. I am merely asking that you confirm that that is indeed a very large storm and in the center of it is a very large…thing.

            "Some sort of sea monster," Jenna surmised. She and Felix stood together at the bow, eyes fixed on the dark, vast mass of thunderheads in front of them. "It certainly is a large storm, though. Can we go around?"

            "I doubt it," Felix said, looking back to Picard for confirmation. The Lemurian nodded.

            "It's too wide. We'd never make it to the outside edge before it got to us—the wind's picked up and it's headed our way." He looked up at Ivan and frowned contemplatively. "Ivan! Get down here!"

            "What for? This is the most lightning I've seen in one place in a good long time!" Ivan was practically jumping with happiness. The Jupiter element present was, in effect, charging him, and he felt his Psynergy returning with every moment.

            "Could we turn around and use the wind to outrun it?" Felix asked. "Ivan could whip us up some more."

            "I think this…this beast…I believe the storm follows it, instead of the other way around," Picard said. "It would, eventually, catch up with us."

            "Then what do we do?" Jenna asked. "Somehow I know this will involve getting wet."

            Before Picard could answer, the first heavy drops of rain began to pelt them. Ivan, high above, was having the time of his life, laughing both at the insane rush of power and at Jenna's ironic prediction of wetness.

Flashes of lightning and the loud booms of thunder quickly followed the rain as the storm overtook them. Ivan, still in the crow's nest, laughed rather maniacally and threw his arms wide.

            "Ivan, what are you doing up there?" Felix called. He doubted Ivan heard him over the roaring winds and booming thunder. Until he got an answer, that is.

            "Having the time of my life!"

            "We got that impression! Are you aware those lightning bolts can kill you?" Felix realized the absurdity of this statement almost immediately. The Jupiter Adept controlled lightning. There probably wasn't a bolt out there strong enough to harm him.

            Picard sighed, looking at the giant beast that was drawing nearer as the ship was pulled farther into the storm. It didn't seem to want to harm them, but it might do so anyway, inadvertently.

            A lightning bolt struck the ship then, scorching the deck and breaking free part of the rail. That part flew skyward, slamming into Ivan at a dangerously high speed. Ivan moved to duck, but a large wave crashed into the ship, knocking him off balance and into the flying debris, which smacked into his head.

            "Dang. I hope they're…alright…" Ivan mumbled before he lost consciousness. He remained slumped over one edge of the crow's nest as the ship was almost literally tossed about by the force of the storm. Lightning struck the mast several times, and each time a stronger wave accompanied it.

            "Ivan's acting like a super-attractive lightning rod!" Felix shouted above the crashing waves and booming thunder. "Someone's got to get him down from there!"

            "I'll go!" Picard yelled back, and he had begun scaling the rope ladders leading to the crow's nest when the water beast's tail lashed towards the ship. It collided with the mast, sending the top two thirds, Ivan included, careening far out into the stormy sea.

            Picard was jerked violently around, eventually crashing to the deck in a mass of splintering boards. Felix and Jenna ran that way, but the largest wave yet hit them, knocking them both to the deck hard and fast. Before either could get themselves up again, the beast's tail smacked the ship, splitting it almost cleanly down the middle and scattering Adepts, supplies and ship parts quite far.

            In the midst of the terrible storm, Felix fought to stay afloat. Something was definitely wrong, as one of his arms had gone numb and wasn't working as he'd planned it to. Waves came up and over his head, and one broke on top of him, driving him downward. He tried to break the surface again, but something slammed him in the stomach, knocking out all his air. He just barely registered a faint green glow as the world went dark.

            Jenna was having an easier time of it, holding onto a piece of wreckage that floated, but of course her mind (and her Djinn) would offer only complaints. "I never did like the water," she mumbled angrily. Her staff floated in the water nearby, and she reached out for it, pulling it closer to her. Something large and solid thunked her on the head, making a resounding ring echo on her mind. She was out, then, unconscious but still holding her piece of destroyed ship.

            And Picard, who had remained aware even as he had crashed through the deck and into the galley below, had been sinking with his respective half of ship. He fought his way free of wood, rope and kitchen supplies, then gave in to the overwhelming need to breathe. He gagged on water, finding it amazing when he collapsed onto what felt like a solid surface, and closed his eyes, and knew no more.

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Vil: Ok, so that's chapter one. How do you like it? And feel free to guess on what happens next.

Kaede: And keep your eyes open for any other new things. ::laughs evilly::

Vil: pssst! Kae! Your plan-ish-thing!

Kaede: Oh, yes. You see, erm…oh, out with it, then. There is a GS author by the name of Feonyx. Writes hilarious stuff. So this is me (my plan, even) asking you wonderful fanfiction people to review it. ASKING. I don't beg.

Vil: Anyone who says she does learns real fast.

Kaede: so, um…aw, geez, you're making me feel G-ish.

Vil: Good. Now, on to the reviews, if you will.

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