A/N: This is a very short update- I'm sorry. :(
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Tundra
Chapter 7: Screaming
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The first person fell.
This man was very dead. His neck had snapped when he landed on the deck, the wood groaning from the impact. A crowd of people were gathered around him, their faces pale as they stared upwards.
The dead man had been up in the rigging, typing back ropes from the sails neatly and checking the horizon. His face was young, but his wildly thrown out hands were calloused as if he'd worked on a ship his whole life.
"Certainly," said the people who'd seen him fall, sailors working on the deck or warriors practicing pattern dances, "he seemed very confident. Not afraid of falling. Just doing his work. And then...
...well, we don't really know why he fell. "
The captain frowned at the body, and then glared at the rigging. He barked a command in Yamani and the cabin boy scurried up the rigging, looking carefully about for cut ropes or slippery handholds- anything that might have made the man fall.
Nothing was found.
"No-one pushed him, he simply fell," they said.
The captain scowled even more, this time in annoyance at the man's clumsiness. The people began to drift away, the sailors to find a cloth to wrap the body in, the warriors back to their morning exercises. The ship returned to its normal state of quiet industry, even if it was slightly subdued. Some spoke in quiet voices of how it boded badly for the journey, such an accident happening so soon in the voyage. They began to speculate about whether the ship was unlucky, or cursed.
And then the second person fell.
The young cabin boy, climbing down from the rigging, pressed a hand to his forehead as if he were dizzy. He climbed more carefully back onto the deck and leaned against the side, looking puzzled. He took two steps before he collapsed, simply keeling over without a word.
The captain cursed this time, but genuine worry was beginning to show on his face. He strode over and picked up the boy himself, shaking him to wake him up. The boy hung limply. The ship's doctor was found and rushed to the deck, but by the time he reached them they didn't need him to tell them there was something seriously wrong.
Great sores appeared and darkened on the boy's face and hands, seeming to grow before their eyes. He moaned, his eyes still closed as if he were dreaming, his dusky skin breaking out in sweat.
The captain gulped and met the doctor's eyes. Sickness anywhere was bad, but on a ship it could destroy more rapidly than a fire. If a few men were sick, the healthy ones would be paranoid, would lose their morale, wouldn't work as a team, and the ship might founder. If many were sick, then the ship would simply drift for lack of hands.
And disease spreads quickly on a ship.
Without even consulting the doctor, he gave the order. "As soon as land is spotted, we stop. The nearest coast should be directly east." He looked up into rows of frightened eyes. "What are you all staring at? Go!"
Daine watched them running, frowning in confusion. She couldn't understand what they were saying, but when the boy collapsed she realised something was badly wrong. She wondered what the captain had said to the other sailors to put them into such a state of panic. She thought about going to ask Ged, then dismissed the thought impatiently. Other people could speak common; she'd just wait until one of them told her.
She looked at the boy, who they'd left lying on the deck while they were busy with their tasks. He was only about nine years old. The doctor had glanced at him and left, presumably to find some medicine or something.
She walked up to him and knelt, wondering if they even cared about him. He lay where the captain had gently dropped him before shouting at the sailors- sprawled on his side in the puddles that formed most of the deck. Now they were further south, the puddles were icing over slightly, and his head rocked from side to side with the motion of the boat.
She pulled off her cloak and folded it, slipping it under his head like a pillow. He didn't seem to notice. As soon as she touched him, she heard the noise. It was so loud and piercing that she didn't realise at first that it sounded like someone screaming- harsh and shrill, full of fear and pain. She gasped and looked around the ship, wondering who was hurt so badly they would scream like that.
None of the sailors seemed to have noticed. They carried on with their jobs, glancing indifferently at her as she stared at them. She bit her lip and looked back at the boy, sliding her hand from under his head. As soon as she took her hand away, the screaming stopped.
Hesitantly, she touched his shoulder. The screaming started again, but this time it seemed slightly quieter, as if she had built a wall against it. She listened to it intently, trying to work out where it was coming from.
It didn't seem to have a direction. She realised with amazement that she couldn't hear it with her ears at all- it screamed in her mind, as if it were Cloud or one of the People speaking to her. She looked up at this thought, wondering if there was an animal hurt anywhere nearby.
-Are you hurt? Where are you?-She called silently. As soon as she thought the words, the screaming stopped. In the absolute silence, the boy moaned, his eyes fluttering open. He whispered something in Yamani, one hand creeping up to cover one ear protectively.
"You can hear it?" She asked, with her voice and her mind. The boy blinked at her, not understanding, but nodded when she covered her ear with her free hand. They both flinched when the screaming suddenly started again, biting through their ears like a physical blow. The boy's eyes rolled back in his head and he passed out. The screaming grew louder and shriller until she pulled her hand away from the boy's arm, fighting the useless urge to cover her ears.
"What's wrong? Did he fall?" Numair asked, kneeling beside her. Daine smiled a greeting to him, but shook her head.
"No... I think he's sick. But it's the strangest thing..." she hesitated, "Touch his arm."
Numair gave her an odd look, but reached out and rested his hand on the boy's shoulder. "He's feverish?" He said uncertainly. Daine shook her head again, impatiently.
"You don't hear anything?" She demanded.
"No. You do?" He asked, and then held up a hand to stop her replying, his eyes narrowing. Slowly, he took his hand from the boy's arm and studied his fingers, rubbing them together as if they were covered in something sticky. "He's absolutely covered in magic. It must be someone else's, he doesn't have the gift..." Frowning, he glanced over to the other side of the ship, where the dead sailor's body lay still amongst the bustle. The sailors were keeping themselves almost obsessively busy, trying to avoid the captain's eye, the two strange mages and each other at all costs. The morale had already sickened.
"I think..." he started.
"Excuse me, you cannot be here," Said a nervous voice quickly. The ship's doctor, a skinny, shy looking man, was standing a respectful distance away, a medical box clutched in his hands. His eyes were cloudy and his hair was rough, as if he'd just woken up. But his expression was perfectly alert- barely concealed fear as he kept glancing at the sick boy. "This could be the start of sickness. You don't want to be sick. Please go."
"But..." Daine began, then stopped as Numair gave her a warning look.
"How do you think they'd react, if you told them someone had sent a magical plague to make them sick?" He asked quietly as they walked away. Daine swallowed and glanced back at the doctor, who was now examining the boy tentatively.
"Is that what it is?" She asked, just as quietly.
Numair stared at the green waves crashing at the side of the ship, his dark eyes bleak. "I truly hope not."
