Hello every body.

new story... yeah that's just about all i have to say about this.

Enjoy I guess?

this chapter is a bit slow and boring but its introducing a character that your going to see a lot of so i see no reason to put a lot of detail into it.

A young man listens to the wind, and feels the rise and fall of the waves as his small boat glides across them. He finds peace in the open ocean and enjoys it greatly. The ocean in turn seems also to enjoy his company. A light misting of water hits his face and clings to his glasses but he does not wide it away, choosing instead to pear through the drops of water with bright blue eyes. The wind whips his already messy hair into increasingly more wild shapes held fast by the salt in the air. He does not mind these things, He smiles broadly in appreciation of them.

He loved the wind and waves and he was quite convinced that they loved him in turn. Throughout all his life they were his only friends aside from his family. They called to him from a young age and pulled him to them. And he had never resisted their call. It was why he did not object to fishing the waters around their island as others in the town had done for generations. However recently the call had grown stronger, he was no longer content with the gentle and known waters of his home. He wanted more than the tame winds and frequent shade. The ocean was calling for him, adventure was calling to him.

He was not currently on the adventure of his dreams but he was content… for now.

At the moment this young man was trolling the deeper waters a few miles out from his home island. His boat sailing with the wind and slicing through the water like a knife. He had been fishing these waters for years now, no longer just setting traps or fishing for small game. When he was finished with the traps he would come out here to fish for larger game.

Speaking of which, the line he had out behind the boat had grown taunt, he caught something. He quickly pulled in the fish. It was a two foot wahoo, making his count for the afternoon three wahoo and one mahi mahi. As fast and powerful as the fish were the young man was more than strong enough to reel even a marlin in bare handed with only minimal effort on his part, years of ship repair and practice made the tasks easy. And he accomplished this all while maintaining his balance on the small and fast moving vessel (this is actually a difficult feet, put a mast on a tiny boat and it can be tipped quite easily). It was a good catch not great but certainly worth a good bit of coin.

Just then the wind shifted, not by much, it was only the gentlest of nudges but it got the boy's attention. Looking up he noted the change in color the sky was beginning to show, night was approaching and if he did not leave soon he would not make it back to port before it fell.

The boy quickly checked the compass and maneuvered the boat into starboard tack with the wind (wind coming from the right), with the bow pointed toward home. Pulling lines and adjusting the rudder the boat began to lean to one side as the wind fully caught the sail. The Boy did not panic, instead he leaned out over the water o the other side of the boat not causing it to right itself but it did keep the little boat from fully tipping. He maintained his position as the boat sped off across the waves, his body leaning out over the water like he was lying on air as he adjusted the ropes with his hands and steered the rudder with a foot, always making some sort of adjustment. He liked to believe he was a very good sailor; he always won the races when he competed, even when he was competing against the veterans.

He made good time; it was only just sunset by the time he docked. Too late to go to market with his catch but not too late to do a little work at the ship yard, he had to go see the foreman about getting an advance payment on his birthday anyways.

Quickly tying up his boat and heading to the ship yard, making it to the entrance the boy was met by a very large man. "Ah, John! If ye'r look'n fer yer pa he's already gone ome." He said addressing the boy, now identified as John. John often thought of himself as a big guy, standing somewhere around 6,3 or so, But this guystill towered over him. He was, for lack of a better word, a giant. This was the boat yard manager.

"No I'm not looking for dad. Thanks for telling me though." John offered. "I'm actually here to get an advance on my pay, seeing as it's my birth day tomorrow an' all. I was gonna take the day off so I came here to log a few hours to make up for it."

"Ah can certainly pay ye, if thas what ye want. I owe ye' fer the pass tree months anyway. An' no many work de yard this late so yer help would be mos appreciated." The man looked back at the yard for a moment trying to find something that could be done without much manpower. "we'r done wit the new dry dock. Why don ye head o'or an finish up the rails." The man handed John an Iron hammer with a long handle and sent him on his way." come see me when yer done wit da' come see me about yer pay."

John arrived at the new dry dock and found a half built rail road leading into the water; it would eventually be used to pull ship up from the water and into the work area. The majority of the rails were stacked to one side, each made of heavy steel. John also noticed that he was the only one here.

John shrugged and started working. Walking over to the steel rails he lifted one in each hand before walking back to the track. Putting them in place he grabbed a hand full of spikes and placed them in the slots.

Lifting the hammer over his head John then brought it down with enough force to drive the spike entirely into the cement underneath in a single stroke. This level of strength did not come from his life as a fisherman this came from his dad, who had taken it upon himself to teach John the ways of many strength. John was nowhere near his dad's level of insane strength but he was still stronger than even the boat yard manager despite the difference in size.

He did this again with the other spikes before going back to grab more rails. He repeated the process several times until he reached the water. He hadn't taken him very long, maybe an hour and a half. The rail wasn't finished, but the tide was in so the other workers would have to finish it in the morning tomorrow. The only drawback he had was breaking the handle of his hammer (he had to grab another one).

Waking up to the big man who handed him a good sized pouch of coins. "'ere ye' are. Four monts pay. Since it's yer birth day ah' thought it'd be nice tah' give ye' an advance on de' mont'"

"Thanks!" John said cheerily. Though he did feel a little guilty and it showed nothing a little misdirection couldn't hide "I broke the handle on one of the hammers so I'm taking it home to fix it. Is that alright?"

"s' long as ye' bring it back." He replied.

"Alright, ill drop by tomorrow." With that John left on his way home.

By this time the sun had fully set, the lamps on the street were in the midst of being lit, and their illumination could be seen on one side of the bay and extending a short distance away from the harbour. It was a small town. Full of fishermen primarily and the odd shipwright or two but most of the fishermen repaired their own ships john had to do so since he was eleven.

He walked a ways out of town to the house he shared with his father. The house like all the others was made of brick but it was rather large for a fisherman's house. John always just attributed this to good banking. Entering the house he was greeted by the sight of a large cake and a note. For a fisherman John's dad did a lot of baking. John was just grateful he didn't try and combine the two professions.

Instead of dwell on the rather disturbing thought he decided to see what his dad had to say by reading his favourite mode of communication, the pride filled note.

Son

If you are reading this than I am not in the house

I had some serious business that needed dealing with

You're a strong young man and will do fine without me

Just know that I am so proud of you.

John wasn't too torn up about his dad being gone for his birth day. He had been planning to slip past his dad and run away out to sea anyways. Not that anyone needed to know that. Tomorrow he was going to start his journey. It had already been stated that the pull of the sea was strong on young John Egbert, and who was john to deny the sea. He did feel a little bad about deceiving him though.

-Time skip- next morning

The sun had yet to rise and john had everything together. A large pack of dried fish and bait, a bag with his clothing, the coin he had been saving for the trip, and a chest with all the tools of the prankster. Sure it was a lot but he held all of this fairly easily. He had already taken all the lines and tools he would need down to the boat.

He was about to leave when he saw the hammer he had repaired the night before. It had solid iron head and a long handle thicker than the original so it wouldn't break so easily, it looked reliable. John debated with himself for a minute. He was already going to be a runaway but did he want to be a thief as well? He thought about it until he came to the conclusion that he would need it. There were pirates out at sea after all, and it would probably be best if he had a reliable weapon. Sticking the hammer in a loop on the side of his bag he walked out the door and into the sleeping town.

John made his way down to the boat, taking care to stay in the shadows. He didn't want any witnesses to his escape. It would make finding him too easy. John went unnoticed despite his large size and the racket coming from his luggage, this was probably due to the face it was only 4 in the morning, he had about an hour to get going before the town woke up. The day starts early for a fisherman but not that early.

He made it to the pier without any difficulty just as the sky started to show hints of sun, lighter blues and purples. He quickly stashed his things in the compartment at the front of the boat before checking over the rigging and uncovering the sail, he doubted anything was faulty after only one night at rest but it was better to be safe than sorry.

By the time he had sailed out of the bay the town the barest corner of the sun could be seen and the town was ever so slowly waking with its arrival. John didn't notice this all he noticed was the wind in his sails as he started his grand adventure on the high seas.

Just then he noticed a piece of paper that was attached to the inside of the sail. Reaching over he found a note, John was more than a little shocked at the contents.

Son

If you are reading this than you have started your journey

I know you will do great things

you are a strong young man after all

Son, I am so proud of you.

-elsewhere-

On a rock out cropping a man stood watching a lone boat sail into the distance. A tear of fatherly pride slid down his cheek as he looked on in approval.