(1) Flotsam- wreckage, debris, or refuse from a ship, found floating in the water. In maritime law, flotsam is what is found floating after a ship has sunk and jetsam is what was thrown from a ship while it was in trouble.

April 7th 4002

I woke up early the next morning and sat on the bed for a while before getting dressed. I went downstairs and sat at the table with the sheet Raine had given me yesterday and did some more practice with writing. It would likely be some time before I was able to memorise the letters and longer still before I could write them competently. I gave up writing after a while and read until Dirk came downstairs.

He blinked at me for a moment before coming over. "G'mornin lad. Sleep well?"

I hesitated for a moment. "Yes. Thank you." I gave him a shy smile and ducked back down behind my book.

Dirk chuckled and went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. After a while he asked me to go and wake up Lloyd. I jabbed him in the ribs again and once I was sure he was going to get up and not go back to sleep I went back downstairs. Breakfast passed quickly and I helped Lloyd with yesterday's homework and did my own before we left for school.

I looked sideways at Lloyd. "Um... about last night..." I blushed bright red. "Um... i..."

Lloyd looked back at me out of the corner of his eye. "It's okay. Your arm was in the way. I didn't see anything. Let's never mention this again."

I gave a shaky laugh. "Thanks."

As we walked I noticed Lloyd kept glancing at me but I ignored it. When we finally made it to the end of the forest we sat down and rested for a moment. Lloyd was keeping a very close eye on me and I rolled my eyes. Honestly, what was he worried about? We got to school with little trouble and sat and chatted with Genis and Colette for a while before everyone went into the building for lessons to start.

Sooo bored...

I hate school...

Blegh...

Finally the end of the day. I spent most of the day practicing my reading and writing, though I focused on the numbers. I spent a while staring at gald and learning how to count it and recognise each coin. It was a completely different currency than I was used to. I had barely handled it while in Luin, I mostly put it in my pouch and ignored it, I didn't have much to buy.

I wasn't planning on spending long in school.

I waved Lloyd, Genis and Colette off and went to find the carpenter. I asked around and was directed to an area close to the farms. I found him there with Dirk and most of the flotsam from the ship. I grinned as I walked over. "Hey." They looked over and smiled.

The carpenter held his hand out to me. "I forgot to introduce myself yesterday. I'm Thomas, the Carpenter."

"Drake Rise, pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Dirk and Thomas showed me the blue prints for our idea. I looked it over and grinned. "It's perfect." There were a number of different items to be built and it would likely take a while to put together but I knew it would be worth it in the end.

I helped out where I could and told tales of the ones I had seen before and we ended up adding a few more items to be built. I worked for a few hours before the reinforcements arrived and Dirk and Thomas told me I could go. I walked back towards the village and wondered where Lloyd and the others were.

I sighed and went towards the village plaza. I sat on a bench at the plaza and closed my eyes. I looked around at the mana and found two people that weren't human. Definitely Raine and Genis. I looked around the two of them and figured Genis was probably the one over towards the south end of the village. I groaned and stood up, heading back the way I had come and searching for them. I found them easily by a stream.

I ran over and grinned. "Hey guys!"

They looked over and all waved and greeted me. Lloyd looked me over. "Are you alright?"

I raised an eyebrow and leant against a tree to catch my breath. "Yeah, why?"

"Are you sure? After yesterday..." he trailed off and glanced at Genis and Colette who were looking at the two of us curiously.

I sighed. "You mean when I passed out?" Lloyd nodded and Genis and Colette both flinched back in shock. "I'm fine, Lloyd. I don't know why I pass out sometimes but its fine. As long as I don't do it when I'm fighting then I'm fine. Now, what are you lot up to?" I pushed off the tree and walked over to them. I looked down at the stream. "Stream jumping?" They nodded. Surprisingly Colette was the first to shake off her worry, followed by Genis. Lloyd kept a close eye on me the entire time but he relaxed after a while.

We stream jumped for a while with me pointing out interesting things. There were a number of cool bugs that flew around. Some of them resembled dragon flies while others looked like butterflies the size of my head. There were a few frogs and toads and some fish in the stream.

It was funny that I had such terrible spatial awareness but I was able to spot things like dragonflies much easier than anyone else. I was always the first to point them out. Even weirder was I was still not wearing my glasses. Where did I put them anyway?

After we got tired of the stream we went back to the village and noticed how late it was getting. We all went for dinner at the Sage's house before Lloyd and I walked Colette home and headed back up through the forest to Dirk's house. I made Lloyd sit down and do his homework while I did the worksheets Raine had given me. I could copy the letters fine by now, it was reading them that was the problem.

Lloyd and I went to bed at about the same time and I was once again woken up by nightmares. I pulled a shirt on and sat outside for a while. I shook my head but the disturbing visions kept haunting me. I sighed and tried desperately to distract myself with something. I grabbed at the mana in the air and pulled it around, feeling it flow between my fingers. I played with it for a while before going back inside and back to bed.

I was going to be so tired tomorrow.