Don't Fall, part 6

FIC START!

Sakinah was a reasonably deep sleeper most all her life. But suddenly, a large rumble woke her right out of that peaceful slumber. She wondered how the hell was there something like an earthquake beneath her? Weren't they flying?! She rubbed her eyes before heading up the stairs to stand on deck.

Kain was at the controls, but was frustrated in his inability to control the ship alone. "Get below deck," he commanded. "A storm has caught us in its maw."

Sakinah started to obey, but when the wind picked up again, she stood her ground. "Let me help you," she pleaded. She ran to his side, looking at the clouds around the ship. "This is not natural. Clouds do not create funnels around ships like this." Somehow, this did not seem right.

"You have never flown," Kain said quietly, reminding her of what she had said before.

"You have not studied the sky as I have," Sakinah retorted. "Only magic will summon a storm around something like this." She then took in a deep breath and walked towards the front mast. Her eyes never once left the clouds. There was only one hole in the formation, and considering the stress of controlling the airship, Sakinah doubted that Kain could take his eyes to the sky to even look to see there was a way out. Her voice suddenly became stern, full of force unnatural to her. "Steer to the southwest!"

Not knowing what else to do, Kain did as she directed.

"The clouds are not solid," she said. "I can see where they are the weakest."

"We are being blown off course," Kain shouted. "We will not make Fabul at this rate."

"I don't care if we land in Fabul or not," Sakinah replied at full volume. "What matters is that we make it out of this storm in one piece." She then added "Hold the current course. I see clear skies, if only we can get there." She kept darting her vision across the various clouds that ensnared the airship until a bolt of lightning suddenly struck the ship causing a fire to erupt immediately. It knocked her completely off her feet.

"Sakinah!" Kain shouted, finally letting go of the steering wheel to run over and catch her from falling into the fire. He pulled her close and headed back to the wheel to keep the airship from nosediving into the earth below. "Do not leave my side!"

"Kain..."

There was no way to save the airship at this point. Going below deck only put them at greater risk of death, so Kain used all his strength to hold them where they stood. At the crack of dawn the day after they had met, they had crashed straight into desert sands. The ship was mostly one piece, even if on fire. Kain thanked the Heavens that they did not crash in a forest, as that fire would have spread further. Once they started working together to put out the fire, it was not able to take the beds or much of the supplies below.

"There is no way to know exactly where we are until there is more light," Kain said quietly. He had prepared a small fire in the sand with wood pieces that had splintered off of the ship.

Sakinah sat right next to him, the desert night air having hit her hard. She never had been in a desert before. "I don't mind." She was munching on a piece of jerky she pulled from the supplies. "I've never been out this far before."

"If I am right, this is Damcyan territory," Kain said quietly. "King Edward will most likely send a troop to investigate what happened. He takes all manners in his kingdom seriously."

"When he asks, exactly what do we tell him?" Sakinah asked. "A funnel cloud swallowed up our airship and practically tried to engulf it as if it were hungry for it?"

"Edward fought with all of us during the War of the Crystals. He fought again when the moon came upon our heads. He knows just as well as I do that anything is possible here in our world," Kain said, stoking the fire to make it bigger. "So, rest for now."

"I was sleeping soundly until I felt the storm rumble the ship as if it had been hit by an earthquake," Sakinah explained. "And I had to... I had to do what I could to help you."

Kain cracked a smile, even though she did not see it. "You know that if you had not come on deck when you did, we would have died."

She crossed her arms. "What use is there in me dying, after you caught me? If I can't kill myself, then nothing can."

"And you are not allowed to take your life, Sakinah Skylar."

"Not as long as you're by my side, anyway, Kain Highwind."

She offered him a piece of the dried meat, and he took it. They laughed softly together until Sakinah slumped over onto his shoulder and fell asleep again. He pulled his shoulder back just a bit, and she slid into his lap instead. He never had anyone lay on him like this before. He remembered seeing Cecil holding Rosa like this several times. And no matter how he longed for that chance, it never came. Sakinah smiled in her sleep as she laid upon his lap, her face lit by the calm glow of the fire.

What was this warmth growing in his heart that he never felt before? It was different than the feeling he carried for Rosa for years until it ripped him asunder.

"I'll have to send word to Baron," Kain whispered to himself, not expecting a single answer. "I've kept Ceodore away too long. I'll be scolded by the Queen."

But he didn't mind. Being a knight of Baron wasn't the first thing on his mind anymore.