The Thunderchild ploughed through the waves of the Circle sea, the seagulls wheeling behind her as the sea foam into the air as the paddles churned up the water.
Thunderchild stood on the observation deck in front of the bridge, his hands on the rail and his hair blowing in the wind. He seemed to be contemplating something, Domino couldn't sense what, as she walked over to him she was very surprised to hear him singing softly to himself.
"I journey on through the rain
To be by your side again
Through lands of dark I stride
To wake up by your side
Through the trails set before me
A better man I hope to be
And at the end I will find
That you took my heart and mind
Why did fate bring us apart
Tore you away from my heart
I will find you again one day
And in my heart you will stayI will find you again one day"
A tear rolled down from one eye as the Thunderchild pitched and rolled in the seas and a seagull screeched on its way pass.
What's wrong my sweetheart? she asked
Thunderchild jumped and turned around, the look on his face fading as he quickly hid whatever it was he was thinking about.
"Dom! I didn't see you there." He said
"What were you singing?" she asked
Thunderchild shook his head
"Oh…it's nothing…nothing…"
"It was beautiful." She said, her hand moving up to Thunderchilds shoulder.
Thunderchild turned and looked out to the setting sun again, he seemed deeply troubled.
"The genomes say we'll make Klatch by tomorrow night." He said quickly changing the subject. "You'd better get some rest."
"What about you?" she asked, her face expressing her concern.
"Oh…I'm not tired." He lied
Domino tired to look into his eyes but he shied away and leaning on the rail that surrounded the observation deck he looked back at the sun. As Domino walked away she could hear him singing again, ever so quietly, to himself.
"Why did fate bring us apart
Tore you away from my heart
I will find you again one day
And in my heart you will stayI will find you again one day"
She sat on his chair on the bridge and curled her tail around her waist, she was deeply troubled by her husband, he had been like this ever since the Twilight Forest, not getting too close to her, almost as though he didn't want to hurt her for some reason.
She feared the worst…that he was going over to Jara but she knew that he wouldn't leave her, after all, he had promised…and Thunderchild wasn't the type to break promises.
After watching him for a quarter of an hour, she got up, walked to her quarters, got into bed and fell asleep.
Later that night Thunderchild sat alone in the captains cabin, he had checked on Domino earlier and she was fast asleep, he couldn't sleep…there was too much on his mind. Behind him lay Dragon Trance and the Battle of the Crystal Palace…in front of him lay his biggest challenge yet…a challenge that would require the ultimate sacrifice.
Thunderchild didn't know whether he was ready for that yet.
Sighing he brushed a stray bit of fringe that had fallen across his eyes away and thought of Domino, of how much he loved her and didn't want to leave her…but leave her he must. It was his destiny…he knew that now…he was beginning to become aware of his own mortality.
But nothing will probably come of it he thought My dreams and visions have been wrong before…and for both our sakes I hope this one is very, very wrong.
He must have fallen asleep sometime there because the next thing he remembered was waking up to see sunlight streaming in through the porthole window.
Stretching he got up and looked out of the window, an almost perfect day with just enough wind to keep the old sailing ships going but not enough to make the waves hard to break through.
He opened the door and walked out into the corridor and turned left for the bridge, within a few minutes he was there, the genomes greeting him as he entered, Domino had beaten him to it and was sitting in the captains chair.
Good morning sweetheart. he greeted her
She turned and looked at him
You didn't come to bed last night. she scolded him
No…I had a few things to think through he replied
Domino raised an eyebrow and shot him a look
Why won't you trust me? she asked him
I do trust you Domino!
Then what worries you and there's no point in saying nothing because I know when something bothers you and it bothers me too.
Domino felt a wave of sorrow from Thunderchild
Some things Domino…are not meant to be said…or thought. he thought to her as he walked through the bridge and onto the observation deck where he stood with his back to the bridge.
A genome walked out to him, thinking it was Domino he was just about to turn around and ask her to leave but then he saw it wasn't and just stood there looking a the genome.
"Well?" he asked
"Nagy asks to speak with you…"
"Bring the mirror to me." He replied
The genome went away and brought the part of the shattered mirror back to Thunderchild who took it without a thank you and turned his back on the genome.
"Hello Nagy," he said, forcing a smile "What can I do for you?"
"Nothing much…I just wanted to talk, do you know how hard it is to get a decent conversation out of these genomes, honestly I'd get more response talking to a brick wall."
Thunderchild laughed, genuinely, he needed some Nagy-humour now.
"Well…the genomes weren't exactly designed for conversations pieces Nagy…" he reminded him
"You've got a point, I mean there's only so much you can talk about before you blow someone's head off."
Thunderchild laughed again and nodded
"True…anyway, what else is the matter?"
Nagys smile faded slightly
"Something is wrong with you Thu…I know you."
Thunderchild sighed
"Why is everyone so concerned about me! I'm fine, never better…"
"You always were a bad liar Thu…now tell me what it really is…or do I have to come over there and drag it out from you…which I will do…" he warned
Thunderchild shook his head and sighed
"Alright, alright, I'll tell you…but please, keep this to yourself." He pleaded Nagy
Nagy nodded
"Of course."
Thunderchild looked around him checking for any listeners, saw that there was none and continued.
"Well…when I was on Gaia I travelled to a place called the Twilight Forest, Dominos sister Reiganna lives there…it's a very mystical place full of energy crystals, the crystals gave me a weapon, Ultima Trance…I used this weapon to stop Jaras forces in the Forest…"
"Why didn't you say this before?"
"That's not what's troubling me…besides, I've been sworn to secrecy over the forest…Anyway, once I finished my attack I collapsed and stayed asleep for three days, then on the day I woke up I dreamt of a battle. This battle took place on Terra…it was between me and Jara…"
"What happened?"
"I killed her…but in the process I also died." He said
Nagy leaned back from the mirror
"Ah…" he said, no further speech was needed.
Thunderchild nodded
"It probably won't happen…my visions rarely do…but nevertheless…"
Nagy nodded
"I won't breath a word of it to anyone…I can see how this would be bothering you…I take it you haven't told Domino?"
Thunderchild shook his head
"No…and I won't be…she's got enough on her plate without having to worry about me…"
Nagy frowned
"She's your wife…of course she'll worry about you."
Thunderchild sighed
"I know…I wish she wouldn't…it makes me feel guilty…but this vision probably won't come true so there's no need for her to get worked up over nothing."
Nagy nodded
"Ok…I understand…I…what the hell…?" Nagy suddenly frowned at something off mirror.
"What's happening?"
"Thunderchild…check your 270!" he warned
Thunderchild instantly turned to his right and saw that the horizon was now filled with a dark bubbling mass of black cloud which even as he watched sped towards them.
"Uh oh…" he whispered
"Jara?" asked Nagy
Thunderchild looked back into the mirror
"It has to be…I've seen storms in the Circle Sea…but not of this size before…we'd better warn the fleet…get them to batten down the hatches, this is going to get very rough."
Domino ran out onto the observation deck having seen the shock on her husbands face, then she saw what he was looking at.
"What the hell is that?" she asked
"Proof." Replied Thunderchild walking quickly back onto the bridge
"Proof? What of?" Domino asked while following him.
"That Jara isn't dead…now find something to hold onto Dom…things are gonna get very rough."
He walked over to the mirrors and found the shattered piece that would address the whole fleet, running his hand over it he activated it and then started speaking into it.
"Listen up, we've got a large storm approaching bearing 270…directly to port, it's gonna be a rough ride so batten down the hatches…recommend we turn to meet it rather than have it hit us side on. Message Ends."
He looked up from the mirror and shouted to the genome at the helm
"Get us round, course 270, head straight into the heart of that storm."
"Are you crazy? We should be running from it, not heading for it!" said Domino
Thunderchild shook his head as the ship began turning and the rapidly approaching raging storm filling the sky in front of them.
"We can't run from that, it's too fast…and if we don't meet it head on then it will knock this ship straight over."
The sea state was beginning to change from calmish to stormy, waves began to break on the bow of the ship.
"Get all hands to batten down the hatches," ordered Thunderchild "And tell them to hang onto something, things are going to get very interesting very quickly."
The wind hit them like a brick wall smashing in one of the windows on the bridge, a shard of glass cut across Thunderchilds hand causing him to swear and then shout
"Get some wood across that window!"
Domino ran to his side over the heaving floor
"You're injured!" she shouted, having to shout to be heard over the howling wind.
"It's nothing!" replied Thunderchild wiping the blood off his hand.
The Thunderchild pitched steeply down, Domino nearly went flying out of one of the windows but Thunderchild caught her and stopped her. Then the Thunderchild rose up sharply as it crested another wave.
"Keep her at maximum speed!" Thunderchild ordered as he pushed Domino onto the captains chair and held onto the helm with both hands. Other genomes on the bridge were holding on for dear life as the Thunderchild fell down into another trough.
One moment they were falling the next they were flying, it kept this up quite regularly which made Domino feel very sick, she closed her eyes and tried to ignore the motion of the ship which was smashing through the top of another wave now.
Another wave approached, this one was bigger than the ship itself, Thunderchild looked up and shouted
"Hold on tight, we're going through this one!"
The wave surged forward through the ship, as it approached the bridge, the bow of the ship disappearing in the powerful water, Thunderchild turned and ran over to Domino sheltering her with his body.
"Take a deep breath!" he commanded her
She did what he said as the wave hit the bridge, all of the windows smashed completely and water flooded the room, suddenly Domino found herself underwater with visibility down to almost nothing, she could just about make out Thunderchild in front of her holding his breath, she began to float away but a hand kept her pinned to the chair. A burning feeling began in her lungs, she needed to get out of here and quickly! But still the hand wouldn't let her move, she was drowning! She began to struggle and let out a few bubbles in panic but the hand wouldn't let her go. As she began to give in and prepare to die suddenly the water drained away and disappeared. The ship had only been underwater for a matter of minutes but it had seemed like an eternity.
Thunderchild took a sharp breath of air as did she her wet hair plastered to her face.
"Sorry about that," he apologised "But if I had let you go you would have been taken out to sea."
"That's ok," Domino forgave him "I nearly drowned there though!"
Thunderchild nodded
"Me too…that was close." He stood up fully again and looked around at the bridge, several genomes were getting back up from where they had been knocked to the floor, one genome wasn't getting back up at all, Thunderchild ran over to him and checked his pulse.
"He's dead…drowned during the wave." He said with a tinge of sorrow.
In front of them another large wave approached, Thunderchild saw to his horror that they were side on to the wave.
"Oh shit! Quick, someone help me get this wheel around!" he shouted as he began pushing the ships wheel to port, turning the ship back around into the wave, but it was too late, the wave hit the ship at an angle and Domino felt the ship begin to roll over.
He ran back to her
"Take a longer breath than last time…we could be under for a while." He warned
Domino nodded and breathed in deeply as the wave hit.
Once again the bridge became submerged, the water rushing around Dominos body, she also felt the ship turn upside down, several heavy objects began to sink down towards the ceiling.
Again the burning began in her lungs but again the hand kept her pinned down, she shook her head side to side to try and stop the air from building up in her mouth but she couldn't and even as she placed a hand over her mouth bubbles began to leak out taking her precious oxygen with them, just as the last bubbles left and she began to breath in water suddenly Thunderchilds face appeared in front of her and he kissed her, giving her a long kiss which exchanged the air between them, she sucked in some of his air eagerly and thanked him by kissing him on the nose as he pulled away. And again she was alone under water with the unseen force holding her down.
Are we going to be under here forever? She thought Even Thunderchild must be running out of air by now!
Nagy dodged a breaking wave as he ran out onto the observation deck, the Thunderchild had just been off his port bow when she had gone down. The wave had hit her sideways on and had rolled the ship underneath the waves and it hadn't come back up. He had to presume the worst, that the Thunderchild had sunk with all hands, that everyone on board the ship had drowned.
Suddenly the front of the Thunderchild broke the water and smashed its way up into the air, crashing back down onto the waves as the rest of the ship appeared like some kind of sea monster rearing out of the ocean.
Although much of the ship was damaged, the Thunderchild stayed upright and surged forward, a little bit of smoke coming from her funnels.
On the bridge Domino coughed up some water as Thunderchild stood up from where he had fallen, many genomes lay dead on the floor around them. They hadn't been as lucky as Domino and Thunderchild during the ships time underwater.
He turned, expecting to see another wave bearing down on them but instead saw clear sky ahead as the waves began to settle, he breathed a silent cheer as Domino coughed up more water behind him.
"We're safe Domino, the storms finished…we've beaten it!"
As the water drained off the bridge and the surviving genomes picked themselves up and walked back to their stations, Thunderchild felt that whatever evil had thrown this at them wasn't finished with them yet…that another trail lay ahead and not too far away.
"Resume our original course to Klatch." He ordered the helmsman and then he turned to Domino
"Are you ok?" he asked
"I will be," she replied coughing up another bit of seawater "Thank you for that kiss…it saved my life."
Thunderchild nodded
"Not a problem…you looked in trouble."
Domino nodded
"I was nearly dead."
Thunderchild hugged her
"Hopefully that's the last Jara will throw at us…now come, lets get you changed out of these wet clothes." He said as he led her from the bridge.
Thunderchild was right…Jara wasn't finished with them, and as the Thunderchild sailed on, leading the fleet, already her next attack was underway.