Author's Note: I remembered I should mention this. Since Olose is a werewolf (which rarely actually comes up, he's only transformed once in the story!) and I took much from many werewolf myths, some people might be wondering where the whole 'regenerating as another person' idea came from. It's certainly not werewolf myth. It was in fact stolen from a completely different idea: Doctor Who. In the original FFXI Chronicles I based Olose slightly off the behaviour of the new Doctor in Doctor Who, and since then the idea evolved when I wanted Olose to return as a surprise, and so I stole the idea that he 'regenerated' in another form, just like the Doctor does in Doctor Who (which is, of course, an excuse to change actors every so often). It actually became a vital piece of the story with Olose switching lives, but I forgot to explain it. So there you are.

Now that I've established myself as a geek with references to Doctor Who, I need to explain something else. The chapters on the ship begin with 'Ship Logs' referring to what the crew are doing. I may be a geek but, and I cannot stress this enough, this is NOT a homage to Star Trek (oh, how I loathe that show). I figured they could be mistaken as such. Instead, it came from the idea I wanted people to get an idea about Olose in first person, but he doesn't strike me as the type who would keep a diary, and I didn't want to slip into first person for no reason, so used ship logs. On the bright side, they get numbered for each mission, so you get an idea of how many Olose has been on and how much time passes between these chapters on the boat as the idea is these chapters are more like episodes as Olose and his crew embark on new individual adventures.

I also tried to focus this chapter on giving Nadia some characterisation so she was beyond 'tough girl' in the character ranks. Means most other characters play second fiddle. I hope it works alright and doesn't read like I'm intentionally ignoring them.

CHAPTER 14

DELIVERY

Ship's Log 1: We've left Seblina and actually have a job to get done. We're taking supplies to aid the construction of a yet unnamed port town. Phabrizoe seems to be a capable navigator, so with the map supplied we should be able to get there soon enough. Trevia was useful when loading the supplies, as was Nadia, but I have a feeling her stubbornness and habit to refuse help will get her killed. Suse in the meantime is thrilled to discover she gets to sleep in a hammock, being all that we had room to hang up beneath deck. Although she was a little shy due to the fact she has to sleep in the same 'room' as the males. It's no secret, she can be particularly childish.

Should be easy sailing to the port. The ship's creaking uneasily, which doesn't inspire me with confidence, and Phabrizoe is busy with navigation and so unable to patch it up. On the bright side, I think I'm getting the hang of this sailing thing.

Olose had no idea what he was doing. He swung the wheel, feeling the ship beginning to react.

"Urm, we are going the right way, right?" Olose asked Phabrizoe uneasily.

"Yes, yes." Phabrizoe answered, wielding a large and clunky map that Olose could have easily wrapped the tiny tarutaru up in. "Turn for degrees starboard." Olose looked at him blankly. "Oh, I can see this is going to be a fun trip." Phabrizoe grumbled to himself.

Suse swung on the hammock with a grin on her face while Trevia attempted to ignore her and Nadia just sighed to herself. Trevia was busy sharpening her katana blade, and Nadia was reading a book. She eventually sighed in frustration and put it down.
"Just what are we supposed to do?" She groaned. "We're on this ship, but we don't actually have anything to do while we're sailing!"
"Play on the hammocks!" Suse suggested with a grin on her face as she swung around. The rope connected it snapped and she landed with a thump. "Ow!" She whined, rolling around on the floor clutching her own back. Nadia sighed and did her best to ignore her.

"What do you reckon we should do, Trevia?" Nadia asked, hoping to get Trevia speaking.

"Whatever the Captain asks." She answered obediently. "As long as I get-"

"-Yeah, yeah, we know, as long as you get paid." Sighed Nadia. "Screw this. I'm going up on deck."

Nadia emerged, watching the sea crash against the ship as it sailed uneasily across the water. Olose was at the wheel, but looked confused, and seemed to constantly be glancing to Phabrizoe for advice. It didn't inspire her with confidence to say the least. She leant on the edge of the ship awkwardly, balanced on her one arm. She sighed heavily, feeling quite down. She tried to ponder how she had ended up where she was now. As much as she had professed to hate it, she was happy in the elvaan army, life was easy there. Once she lost her arm everything went down hill. And then, somehow, she had ended up on the boat, and she wasn't sure if it was a good thing. She actually felt a little inferior, Trevia replaced whatever job she could have done, Phabrizoe was the navigator and Olose was the captain. Suse had even replaced her as Olose's friend he had taken on board. She was without use or purpose. Ever since she lost her arm.

She chuckled to herself looking around the ship. It was truly a ship of coincidence. Two of the crew members had attempted to kill Olose, and had ended up together working for him. She looked over to him as he bolted onto the stairs leading down from the ship's wheel.

"Land ho!" He cried excitedly. Nadia went to turn around to look.

"Hands on the wheel, Olose!" Snapped Phabrizoe and Nadia spun back around as Olose lunged, grabbing the wheel to keep the ship steady.

"Sorry." He laughed nervously. "Looks like we should be docking soon. Get Trevia to prepare the anchor!"
"I can do it!" Nadia snapped.

"You only have one arm!" Olose pointed out.

"Dammit! I know!" Nadia cried, struggling to get ready to drop the anchor.

Trevia walked up on deck.

"I hearrrrd shouting." She commented. "Docking then, are we?"

"The docks aren't fully completed." Olose informed her. "We're going to drop the anchor here and lower the rowing boat into the ocean, take that ashore with the supplies. So give Nadia a hand with getting that anchor in the water." He paused. Phabrizoe grumbled something about not being certain of the condition of the rowing boat. "SUSE!" Olose suddenly bellowed. The little mithra popped her head onto the deck.

"Yeah?" She asked innocently.

"Hoist the sail!" He ordered. She looked a bit confused, having been told how to do it, but never having tried. "Nadia, give her a hand!" Nadia dropped the anchor, frustrated that she couldn't handle it in one arm alone, and helped Suse with the sail.

The Destiny came to a halt, the mighty iron anchor safely securing the ship.

"Now to get to shore." Phabrizoe grumbled.

"Right." Olose stated. "Nadia, your with me. The rest of you stay on the ship."

"Awwww, no way." Sighed Suse.

"No choice." Olose shrugged. "The rowing boat can only take two with the cargo on it, and that's at a push. And Nadia's my first mate, so she's coming along."

"Because I'll be able to row in circles." Nadia grumbled.

"You're my first mate, Nadia, so you're the one that comes with me when nobody else can." Olose stated. "Now let's get the cargo loaded and get to shore. The sooner we deliver it, the sooner they pay us for it."

"This is the parrrrt of the job I like." Trevia allowed herself to break her professionalism for a grin.
"Hey, we don't get the cash 'til we're back in Seblina, remember." Olose warned. "We need to deliver the money to the guy who gave us the job, then we get our cut. So no taking it until we're back." He paused. "Alright, let's get to work!"

Nadia seemed unusually distant to Olose as he rowed the small boat towards Seblina, now loaded with barrels of construction supplies. The little rowing boat creaked uneasily, not unlike the Destiny.

"What's wrong?" Olose asked casually as the oars splashed against the waves, more to draw attention away from his erratic rowing and the bad feeling he was getting water was gathering in the tiny boat.

"Nothing." She sighed. "I just feel a little useless."

"You're the first mate." Olose said bluntly. "Of course you're useful!"
"It's just, Norg died, and I can't help thinking if he was still around he'd be so disappointed in us." Nadia muttered.

"I know on the surface it looks like we ran away." Olose sighed. "And I know that it seems cowardly. But remember, I'm doing this to protect everybody I knew back in my old life. If Abaj found-"

"Stoppit." Nadia stated firmly. "Who are you trying to convince? Me or you?" Olose fell silent. "We didn't even give him a funeral!" She protested.

"I was busy getting my face ripped off!" Olose protested. He sighed. "Look, Norg was a good friend. I'll make sure we do something to remember him, okay? As soon as this job is over, we'll hold our own memorial service." Nadia sighed.

"Thank you." She said in a tone that was unusually soft for her.

The boat soon arrived by the extended pier, still under construction. Olose fiddled for a bit, trying to tie the rope effectively to the stump. Nadia sighed, taking over and tying it effectively.

"See, I can even do that with one arm." She taunted. Olose sighed, beginning to unload the barrels. "Weren't you ever in the ranger scouts or anything?"

"No, I grew up in-" Olose paused. "No." He stated, forcing himself to not remember the events that occurred back in his home village. Nadia chuckled. Olose wobbled a little on the boat, dumping the barrels on the half built pier.

"So, where is everyone?" She asked, surveying the empty worksite of a port.

"Good question." Olose answered, clambering up onto the pier having moved the last barrel. "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go find them!"

"This isn't going to end well, is it?" Nadia grumbled.

"Well, you never know. They might be in trouble. Maybe we'll get a reward." Olose paused. "Man, Trevia is going to be so angry if we get money and she doesn't."

"I'm in!" Nadia cried enthusiastically and Olose chuckled, walking towards the poorly constructed shacks that housed the workmen.

Olose knocked on the wooden door and heard nothing.

"Our first job can't even go simply, can it?" Olose sighed. Nadia managed a half hearted grin. "Shall I break the door down?"

"Well, if somebody's around, they might not appreciate it." Nadia was worried. She was being the voice of reason.

"They're builders. They're supposed to rebuild things." Shrugged Olose.

"No smashing things!" Nadia snapped. "Sir." She added afterwards with a wry smile. "We just need to find what's going on here."

"They're probably having a picnic or something." Olose suggested. Nadia rolled her eyes. A rumble brought the two of them back to attention. "I think we may be on to something." Olose muttered, drawing his sword. Nadia swung hers out, a single handed rapier to accommodate for her handicap. There was a roar and they spotted something approaching them. It was big .Very big.

"It's an ogre!" Nadia yelled. "A giant!" Olose surveyed the area, and saw that one of the shacks had been smashed. Before he had assumed it was under construction, but now he could see that it had been smashed to pieces. The giant roared, swinging about a gigantic object in its hands. "That's a big club." Nadia muttered blankly.

"That's no club. That's a bloody tree!" Olose cried in fear, before reassuring himself to try and appear as brave as possible. "Right. This is okay. It's only a gigantic monster. We can deal with it." The giant swung down the tree, hitting Olose and sending him flying across the air. Nadia didn't see where he landed, but it seemed it was a long way away.

Nadia adjusted her grin on her sword as the giant roared. It was a sickly faded green colour, and the bones of its ribs stuck out in an ugly way. It had yellow, soulless eyes, and jagged broken teeth, and Nadia winced at its foul breath as it roared at her.

"I'm assuming we can't just talk about this?" She said sceptically. The giant roared again. "No? Damn." The giant swung and Nadia flung herself to the floor (she actually emitted a slight shriek, and was very glad nobody was around to find out). It lifted up the gigantic tree, ready to bring it down and smash her relatively little form. Nadia dove forwards and drove her sword into the leg of the giant. The giant looked down at her curiously, lowering the tree, holding it one hand, and scooping her up in another. It was totally unaffected by its wound, and now held Nadia curiously, adjusting her grip so that it held her by her foot. She dangled helplessly upside down. It lifted her up as if it was going to drop her into its mouth. Nadia squeezed her eyes shut in fear.

Olose appeared suddenly on the creature's head, having run up behind it. The creature reacted in shock as he drove his sword down into its skull. The creature cried in pain, letting go of Nadia. She fell and Olose dove from its head, grabbing her and spinning around so that he landed spine first against the ground, protecting her from the fall as she ended up using him as a cushion. The giant roared as Nadia stumbled to her feet, still hurt from the fall and badly giddy. Olose groaned as his body began to regenerate the wounds. Nadia looked at her blade, still lodged in the giant's leg.

"This isn't going to end well." She grumbled. The giant roared at her, and she stumbled back. She turned and ran to the wreckage of the shack, grabbing a fractured piece of wood and hurling it at the monster. It bounced off it's hide and it continued to march towards her.

Nadia grumbled. If she had a bow, she would be in better stead. Olose sprang up behind it, running to the giant's tree trunk like legs and grabbed Nadia's sword. He hurled it to Nadia, who skilfully caught it out of the air in her one hand. The creature continued to amble towards her.

"We're gonna need more than swords for this one." Olose cried above the sound of the giant marching.

"Any ideas, sir?" Nadia cried back. The creature roared powerfully.

"I might!" Olose snapped. His face suddenly lit up. "The containers! That's it! Fantastic!"
"What?" Nadia screamed incuriously.

"The containers, one contains an explosive powder for creating a clearing!" He explained enthusiastically. "Distract it!" Olose shot towards the containers. Nadia looked at her sword, shaking with fear.

"Urm, how?" She asked weakly. The creature swung its club down, and she dove to the side, causing the mighty tree to crash against the ground with a rumble. Nadia scrambled away in a panic, trying to keep her cool, but panic beginning to take over.

Olose ran to the barrels as quickly as possible, also panicking, which was quite illogical, since he was immortal. However, he didn't want to find out if even he could regenerate after being squished by a tree, so worked quickly. He saw the giant lumbering towards him, totally ignoring Nadia, and still with Olose's sword stuck in its head. Nadia slashed at its legs, but it totally ignored her. Olose looked up as it approached him, and he gulped, subconsciously reaching for his sword that wasn't there. It roared, taking a step onto the pier, which collapsed and it disappeared into the water. The end Olose was on fractured, but stayed exactly where it had to be. Olose gripped the explosive barrel and ran along the remains of the pier, reaching dry land just as the giant burst out of the water behind him. Roaring.

"Distract it, dammit!" Olose snapped.

"I can't!" Nadia yelled back. The giant roared just as an explosion echoed across the air and something hit the monster with such force it fell forwards, crashing down before Nadia. Olose smiled as he saw the crew left on the Destiny cheering with glee, and the cannon smoking. Olose let himself catch a breath before noticing that the giant was still alive.

"Dammit!" Olose cried. "Lure it towards the cliff face!" He pointed towards a cliff overlooking the small construction site. Nadia nodded, lunging forwards and trying to pull the sword lodged in the creature's head out with her arm, almost dropping her own sword. She managed to twist the blade, making the creature squeal as it sprang to its feet again, roaring.

The crew of the Destiny were hurriedly preparing another cannonball, but Nadia knew it would take too long.

"This way!" She called, luring the creature after her. It began to stamp after her and she began to run. Olose scaled the cliff face quickly, leaping from rock to rock like a hyperactive frog. He reached the top, setting down the explosives. He started looking around frantically for a way to light it. The creature reached the base of the cliff, and Nadia ran, diving into the water for safety. It began to attempt to climb up the slope, ripping at the rocks to get to Olose. Olose started frantically striking two pieces of wood together, desperate to light the explosive. The giant reached the peak just as Olose managed it, dropping the flame into the explosive and causing the barrel to explode, sending Olose flying (who crashed into the water safely) and the giant reeling back as a massive landslide crushed it.

There was a moment of silence before both Olose and Nadia burst out of the water, scrambling back onto dry land.

"YEEHAH!" Olose cried. Nadia sighed in relief. "We got it!" He hugged her, swinging her around. She landed uneasily, stumbling a little from wounds and shock.

"Very impressive, sir." She managed to say dryly. They suddenly saw figures beginning to emerge from a cave in the rocks opposite the fallen cliff face.

"You defeated it!" Gasped somebody. "You've saved the town!" They cheered. Olose and Nadia smiled.

"You know, if we get a reward, we now technically owe it to the whole crew because they helped to take it out." Olose whispered to Nadia.

"Damn." She whispered back.

"We've been hiding in those caves since that monster showed up!" An elderly hume explained. "We've been unable to do anything, but the caves were safe at least. We'd of been trapped there forever, were it not for you."

"Anything to help." Olose smiled. "I'm Captain Sampson, and those were your explosives. Sorry about that." The old man smiled.

"No problem. I'm sure you can be forgiven." He told Olose. "The rest of our supplies are still okay?"
"On the shattered pier, but in one piece. We even delivered them." Olose beamed.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" The old man was on the verge of ranting. "This calls for a celebration! And a reward!" Both Olose and Nadia grinned from ear to ear. "A reward worthy of the savoir of the town! Say, this town is unnamed. Why don't you name it?" Nadia and Olose were slightly taken back by this offer. They had expected money. But quickly the same idea crossed their minds.

"I think we should name it in honour of a fallen friend of ours." Olose explained. "He was a good man, and we never even managed to attend his funeral."

"If he has your respect, then he must be a worthy man indeed." The old man said to Olose. "So, tell me, what was his name?" Olose looked to Nadia, allowing her to say it.

"Norg." She explained.

"Very well. Henceforth, this town shall be known as Norg!" The old man announced. Nadia and Olose smiled to each other. "And we shall celebrate! Come! Bring your crew to dry land! We will not allow you to leave without a celebration for what you have done for us!"

"What do you have to celebrate with?" Olose asked sceptically. "This is little more than a worksite."

"We need enjoyment." Explained the old man happily, seeming to buck up. "So we brought plenty of beer with us when we came here." He gestured to a hut that was still standing. "Come on, for you are now the heroes of Norg. Enjoy your party!"

Nadia and Olose grinned. Their first job had been eventful, but successful. They had finally honoured Norg's death. They were having a party. And best of all, they were going to get paid.