Tomoko emerged from her room a few hours after sunrise broke over the horizon, only to nearly fall over Kyran. The Drow was lying a few feet in front of her door, curled up into a ball with his cloak over his head to block out the sunlight.

The elf glared down at the prone form and considered giving him a hefty kick in the ribs to alert him to the fact that she was now awake. The thought crossed her mind that if that had been her laying there, the crew would most likely have stuck things to her back or moved her so that she got a surprise when she woke up - most likely to be of the unpleasant variety. Yet somehow they appeared to have some in-built fear of the slight Drow male. It probably had something to do with the formidable reputation the Dark Elves had, the way that everyone knew them as fearless killers, immoral and cruel.

If only they knew the truth, Tomoko thought bitterly. Kyran could be a strong foe, that much was true. However, for the most part the Drow male disliked fighting. He would far sooner use the elf as a shield than actually engage in the fight himself, and had even been known to try to offer her as part of a bargain with whichever adversary he was battling against in order to save his own black skin.

If she didn't know better, she could almost believe that he was trying to get rid of her.

Nonsense, of course.

She didn't think that the crew would accept that though, even if she did try to tell them. In hushed tones they spoke of surface Drow, raiding parties and even marauding Dark Elf pirates. All of this was so far removed from her experience of travelling with Kyran it was almost laughable. She looked down at the sleeping male again, then shrugged and kicked him in the stomach.

Most Drow would immediately counter-attack, determined to defend themselves. This one, however, simply coughed, groaned and curled up more tightly into a ball. "Go away," was muttered from beneath the thick brown cloak.

The red haired elf debated whether or not to just let him sleep. Then decided that she wasn't so benevolent. In one swift movement, she pulled the cloak from over his head.

It took a moment for the Dark Elf to realise what she had done. His eyes weren't shut when she pulled the rough material from over his head and he stared up at her with a startled expression. Then he cried out in pain as the sunlight streamed through his wide black eyes and wrapped his arms over his face. "What did you do that for!"

Tomoko rested both hands on her hips, knowing that this tended to make her look more impressive from the angle Kyran was at. "It's time for you to go to bed."

"You could have found a better way to tell me!" he gasped. "One less painful would have been nice."

The elf shrugged a little. "You should sleep at normal times like everyone else."

Kyran struggled to his feet, both hands now over his eyes. "I would if you would actually let me. I'm not sure if you actually noticed, but you have this strange habit of kicking me out the room every night."

"There's nothing that says you can't go and sleep with one of the sailors." The sorceress had a wicked glint in her eyes as she smirked at the male.

"Except for the fact that I am not you and I don't feel the need to sleep my way around the crew." Kyran retorted, trying to walk past her without actually being able to see anything. "I'm secure in myself like that."

Tomoko's eyes narrowed. She debated for a moment blocking his way and setting fire to his hair, much as she had done one of the other times he had decided to become insulting. She couldn't do it every time, she had realised a while ago. It happened too frequently, she tended to run out of energy to cast the spells after a time. Instead, she simply moved out of his way as he approached her. "Don't choke in your sleep or anything," she spat as he stumbled past and nearly fell down the stairs.

"Don't worry, I won't. I'd hate to leave you alone here or anything." Somehow he managed to pull the door shut behind himself.

A minor crash followed, indicated that this time he had succeeded in falling down the stairs.

Tomoko smiled.

Although she would never admit it whilst Kyran was present, the motion of the boat did a spectacular job of making her feel sick too. Any time that the Drow was on deck at the same time as her, she pretended admirably that the sea was great and that she loved the journey. The minute his white head vanished below deck, however, she resumed throwing up over the edge of the boat.

It did pass through her mind once or twice as she lost her breakfast, lunch or dinner - or on occasions all three - overboard, that avoiding alcohol could perhaps stop her feeling so ill. Then she realised that right now it was only the drink that was making the journey bearable and shoved the idea from her thoughts again.

Once she felt sure that there was nothing left in her stomach to give to the sea as some kind of rather disgusting offering, she wandered over towards one of the more attractive crewmen. "Do you know when we might get to land?" She made a concerted effort to keep the anxious tone from her voice.

The man smiled sweetly at her. "It won't be long now, love. A week maybe. Two at the most." The smile she turned on him made his heart melt a little. Naive as he was, he hadn't noticed the way that she had been turning her attention from one man to another and felt flattered that the attractive elf was bothering to give a small part of her time to him every once in a while.

The sorceress flashed him a brilliant smile. "You're so sweet." She looked him up and down, making the brown haired youth flush slightly under her scrutiny. "Perhaps you could drop by my cabin for a little... talk... tonight. I would enjoy it..." Her smile widened as his face flushed a little more. With one final flutter of her long eyelashes, she turned and walked towards the upper deck.

There was nothing else to do on this damn boat after all, she reasoned. Why shouldn't she have a little fun whilst she was kicking her heels?

All Forgotten Realms trademarks are owned by Wizards of the Coast. Tomoko Aiher is owned by Vincent Stone and is used with permission. Kyran, Braden, Erelvayas etc. are my characters and aren't to be used without permission.