I guess I should've felt stronger about leaving the land I had spent my whole life in, but it seemed to have passed without much notice, constantly buried under other, stronger emotions that had been rising in me ever since the incident at Steamwheedle Port. It was as if I had stepped into something greater and more important, allowing me to ignore 'insignificant' things like the fact that every passing second set a new record on the distance I had ever been from Kalimdor.

The drizzle of the morning had passed three or four hours ago by the time it started again. And sure enough, as Valen had guessed, that rain started to get heavier and the waves higher as time and distance passed. The sky had become thick with rainclouds, darkening everything to the point where I wasn't sure what time of day it was anymore. Indeed, it all seemed to point towards an incoming "rough ride", as I had been warned.

However, instead of making me cautious or having me cover in a corner, it all seemed to have quite the opposite effect, filling me with anticipation and drawing me to it stronger than before.

I lost track of time somewhere along the way, but I reckon it must've been towards the end of the day when the waves had gotten high enough to wash the deck a little with every impact, and the first lighting bolts appeared in the sky, followed by a roar of thunder.

Crew members all over the boat had began to yell orders to each other with increasing volume and intensity, but their efforts at communicating were bested by the noise of nature's might every time they raised their voices a little more.

I guess most people who were at open seas for the first time in their life would've been at least a little concerned about the crew possibly no longer having full control of the vessel, I never really thought of it. Instead, the storm was getting me quite excited and I enjoyed myself, as if I was one of those hardy old sailors who had been through weather like this a million times already. Maybe it was my better understanding of the nature, knowing that it was merely moving on on it's course and wasn't out to get us like some superstitious sailor might've thought. Or maybe I was just that happy to be back at the sea, by which I was born and spent my first years at, even if it was a different sea on the other side of Kalimdor.

At some point, Valen showed up at my side again. I never noticed his approach.

"You seem awfully cheery", he had to say in a voice that was almost yelling, because anything more quiet would've been inaudible in the storm.

I hadn't noticed it earlier, but I was actually smiling quite widely at the rain that was beating my face.

"You don't like it?", was my response.

"As long as we get to our destination, I don't really care. But Thoraim sure doesn't like it."

"I can imagine."

"Anyway, it doesn't look like I can talk you back inside, so I'm gonna go back there myself and hope that you'll still be onboard tomorrow morning."

"Is it going to get a lot heavier than this?"

"Depends on what course the captain is taking. It could."

"I'll stay alert."

Valen didn't seem that confident about it, but he did drop the subject for a different one.

"You sure you won't catch a cold, standing out here in the cold wind and rain?"

I had to admit, of all my excitement and enthusiasm, I hadn't stopped to think of that, as it would only be a concern afterwards. A good example of how I sometimes lack foresight in such simple, practical matters. Judging by what he said next, my expression told him everything about it.

"We've got a four-bed cabin down under. It's the only size they have here. So there's one free spot even after Furball claimed one of the beds for himself. Why don't you come dry off a bit a sleep inside tonight when you're done here?"

"I'll think about it."

After that, he headed back inside, stopping to look at me for a moment just before entering, as if to make sure I hadn't already gone overboard as soon as he had turned his back.

It wasn't long after that when his suggestion began to seem like quite a reasonable idea. Even with wtih my cloak wrapped around me, my clothes started to feel pretty thoroughly soaked with cold rain- and seawater. After trembling of the cold for a few minutes, I finally gave up on further enjoying the storm and headed inside.

Dripping water all over the floor as I walked through the narrow main hall and fought back my claustrophobia, I at least found the right door pretty quickly, thanks to the directions I'd been given earlier.

To my slight surprise, I found that the door wasn't locked, so I entered.

The cabin was at least a little larger than I had expected, but not by much. A tiny oil lamp on the back wall gave a dim yellow light into the room. There were two beds on each sidewall, one above the other. Well, they were actually simple mattresses with a pillow and blanket, on top of some kind of metallic grates hung on the walls with chains. Furball was loafing all over the left bottom bed, raising it's eyes at me as I entered. Thoraim laid on the right, looking rather sick as expected. Valen sat on the bed above Thoraim. He was holding a bunch of embroidered paper cards, with more laid in front of him in an elaborate formation. After placing down one of the cards from his hand, he raised his eyes towards me.

"There you are. I was already wondering if you decide to go for a swim after all."

Coming inside had really made me shudder in my wet clothes, so instead of responding, I went straight for the back of the room, dropped off my cloak halfway there, then pulled the blanket from the unoccupied bed above Furball and wrapped it around myself as I sat down on the floor, leaning against the wall.

Valen watched me sit there with clattering teeth for a moment, then spoke again.

"You know, it would help a lot if you gave up the rest of those soaked clothes."

I let go of the blanket around me and pinched at the side of my vest. The bit of my skin that didn't touch the wet leather immediately felt a little warmer. Valen was right about what he had said, so I proceeded to unstrap my wristbands while eying him. For a few moments he didn't react at all, but then he got a sharper look on his face, as he'd just realized what I was about to ask of him and hopped down from his bed.

"Hrm, I'll just go catch a drink before bed. At least that tastes as good here as it does on dry land."

We both aimed a questioning look at Thoraim, who responded by grumbling something incomprehensible. I gave Valen a small nod and he left the room.

Then I stood up and started fingering the straps on my vest, while aiming a look at Thoraim, who was laying on his back.

"Um...", I began, not really sure of my intended choice of words.

The dwarf rolled over to face away from me.

"Don't worry 'bout it. I ain't lookin'", he said.

I decided to turn my back to him before continuing. Facing Furball instead made me feel a tiny bit more confident.

"'sides", the dwarf continued suddenly, "I'm a married dwarf anyway, so unlike him, I don't think o' you like that."

"What do you mean 'unlike him'?", I asked over my shoulder.

"Ye haven't noticed?"

"What?"

"Remember when I told ya back in Gadgetzan, how he was actin' a bit different than the last time I met 'em?"

"You mean Valen?", I asked him as I hung my clothes and cloak from the end of the bed above Furball, then climbed up on it and slipped firmly under the warm blanket.

"Aye. I think I know why, now. Like I said, I've already got me a wife back home, so from a bit of experience, I know a man who's got his eye on somebody when I see one."

For a moment, I didn't know what to say. As obvious as it may had been for quite some time, I had somehow ignored it all along...and sort of still wanted to.

"So...maybe he has met somebody back where he lives, who he wants to go back to when this is over. After all, that curse of his doesn't make it too safe for him to be around a person who he...", I tried to present a different explanation, but as I did so, reality hit me like a frenzied orc.

'Run away, child. Run back to all those you love, and you'll discover your fate.'

I had been in Astranaar the day when something had driven him to kill that woman.

I had been exercising with him before the night in Winterspring when I heard him having a nightmare for the first time.

And in Tanaris...

I didn't need to finish the thought. All the shadiness of Valen's explanation of the curse seemed to make sense now.

"Wasn't exactly gnomish science to figure that one out, was it now?", Thoraim said to break the sudden silence.