by SpelCastrMax
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is an author's note...enjoy.
CHAPTER SIX: Trying
The ground beneath them shook. The group piled into the long boat and were silent until they were back on the ship.
Young Sinbad had no sea legs and instantly collapsed when the Nomad set sail. The girl crouch down beside him. "Captain Sinbad?" the little Maeve questioned again as the others all leaned in to get a better look at the boy.
"Captain?" the boy scoffed, "I think you have me confused with someone else. I'm a little young to be a captain, don't you think."
The girl only stared for a second as everything began to make sense. Maeve rose up from where she had been observing, her legs shaking beneath her. She wrapped her arms around her waist and cast her eyes downward. "You used to be Captain Sinbad."
The young captain shook his head and ignored the girl. "What's going on? Someone please tell me..."
Firouz, keeping a logical and curious tone to his voice, asked, "What's the last thing you remember?"
The kid pulled up on his oversized trousers, glancing at both Maeve and Bryn with a tint of red in his face. He sighed wtih annoyance at having to repeat himself. "I was walking on the beach with my brother. Master Dim Dim was going to tell us a story today after I did my chores."
Doubar growled, "This is ridiculous. I say we hunt down Rumina and force her to change them..." The man paused and glanced at Maeve. He instantly changed his words. "...change Sinbad back."
"It's okay, Doubar. I understand. I might be eight but I'm not stupid." Little Maeve was still standing with a sickened expression and her arms protectively crossed over her stomach. Dermott gave a squwack to which the girl replied, "No. How could I be okay? I'm a grown up!" Her attention went to Firouz, Rongar, and Bryn. "That's what's going on, right. The empty cabin with all the stuff in it was mine." A tear rolled down her cheek. "I don't want to be a grown up."
No one knew what to do. If it had been adult Maeve there would have been no problem. She would have held back her tears until she was alone, then after she'd had her cry she would return to them, eyes dry and ready for anything.
Bryn heard Dermott quietly say to himself, "I wish I could hug her."
The mysterious burnette wanted to help. She thought about approaching the child again and wrapping an arm around her, but she wasn't sure how Maeve would react. She could see it on the faces of the three men as well. None of them knew how to handle a crying eight year old and it left them all feeling utterly useless.
To the suprise of them all, the young Sinbad went to young Maeve and put a hand on her shoulder. "You're not a grown up," he told her reassuringly, "You probably misunderstood."
She wiped her tears on her hand and shook her head. "I'm not wrong. You're a grownup too. We're under a spell. That's your brother." She pointed to Doubar.
The little boy was about to protest, only Doubar confirmed what Maeve had said. "It's the truth, little brother. You're a famous sea captain now. We're all part of your crew and this is your ship."
Sinbad could see it, the elder brother from his memory in the bearded face of the husky man. It took a moment for him to register the information, but he allowed it to sink into his brain and accepted it. "Okay, then. If I'm the captain then I say we find a way to change us back."
"You're even a bossy child," Maeve stated, "Besieds, it isn't that easy. We have to find that Rumina woman again to undo the spell."
Sinbad, the little boy, was quick to respond. "Then why are we standing around here? Let's go find her."
The other crew members laughed at the familiar tone coming from the lad's mouth. "You heard the captain," Doubar chuckled, "Let's set sail!"
"May I make a quick suggestion," Firouz cut in, "That we stop at the first port and find the captain some clothes that fit him."
The task was done, taking a little extra time at the village they stopped in to gather supplies. Maeve was quiet the entire time they traveled to the port, as well as when they left it to begin their hunt for Rumina. She threw herself into various chores, working her little body to exhaustion.
When the young Sinbad found her, her short waves of stawberry tresses were a mess from the day of long work and was nearly passed out over the rope she was twining together. "Are you any better?" he asked.
"How can you be so okay?" she wanted to know.
"I figure, what good will it do to panic? I trust Doubar and he trusts the rest of these people. It's exciting like seeing into the future. I want to know who I am now and what I've missed. Don't you?"
"I thought I did," she muttered.
Confused, Sinbad asked, "What's wrong with being grown up?"
Setting aside the rope, the girl pointed out, "What if I'm like you were as a grown up?"
"Why? What was I like as a grownup?" The little captain's voice instantly turned defensive.
"Bossy. Arrogant...like you are now. But you were hiding something. Bryn said it was a broken heart and it would always put you in bad mood for no real reason!" The volume of Maeve's voice rose with each word, sensing that the boy was about to argue with her.
Showing his age, the boy yelled, "Hey! I'd never let anyone break my heart! That would make me a stupid grown up!"
"Well, I guess you were a stupid grown up then!" she replied with a bit of a sneer, "You don't even remember anything about being grown up so how do you even know."
Sinbad leaned on the sword he assumed was his own since he had been holding it when he was turned into a child. The sabre was too large for him, but he refused to give it up. "I remember! I was searching for someone."
"You were not. You just made that up," Maeve insisted.
"What's going on over here?" Doubar gruffly questioned when he heard the squabbling.
"Nothing," Sinbad muttered.
Yet Maeve was not ready to let the topic go. "Sinbad says he remembers what it was like to be a grown up, but I think he's lying."
"I didn't say I remembered what it was like to be grown up! I said I remember that I was looking for someone...two people, I think," Sinbad explained, then turned to his big brother for support.
Firouz stepped over just as Doubar was nodding. The scientist elaborated, "It's true, Maeve. Sinbad had us searching the seas for Master Dim-Dim and for you."
"For her!" Sinbad almost spat out, "Why? Did she owe me money?" He smiled slightly suggesting that he meant it as a joke, however Maeve left in a huff, off to find another odd job to keep her mind occupied.
It was several days before they stopped once again. The village was average, a good size with friendly people. They had little to say about Rumina, however they were especially oblidging when it came to the topic of their own magical menace.
Firouz had been studying both of the children constantly. "I don't understand. Why does Sinbad have his memory and Maeve doesn't. I mean, Sinbad knows who he is and can even remember little things about the present, but Maeve's not improving the tiniest bit."
Rongar pointed at Maeve and made a meaniful gesture with his hands. Bryn interrupted, "Maybe you're right. Maybe she not really trying to remember."
The inventor nodded his head. "An excellent observation." He sighed, "I just wish we knew how to help her."
The girl in question had perched herself atop a barrel watching Doubar and the pint-sized Sinbad listen intently to the village elder's tales of a horrible creature that had attacked them recently. Dermott flew over to her, chirping in her ear and trying to cheer her. A brief smile crossed her face, giving the crew hope as they watched. But a second later the smile had vanished and they all were disappointed.
"Perhaps Sinbad should try talking with her again," Firouz suggested, "Provided he doesn't just make her angry again."
"She won't talk to me," the boy said over hearing the conversation as he and Doubar re-joined the group.
Dermott perched on Bryn's hand. Bryn shook her head a little. "Dermott told me that she was like this as a child. When something upset her, she'd get really quiet about it."
"You can really understand that bird?" Sinbad marveled. Dermott schreeched. At first, everyone laugh, thinking the hawk was insulted by Sinbad's wonderous tone. Dermott stretched his wings and Bryn released him. They all watched the hawk soar towards the place where Maeve had been sitting, only to see an empty barrel.
The young Sinbad could not explain his sudden terrror. He felt his heart race and his palms sweat. Images of a storm flashed in his mind's eye and the boy could not keep his thoughts straight. "Maeve!" he heard himself shout with such power and fear that he didn't reckognize the voice. It sounded more like the voice of an adult.
Shaking off the panic, Sinbad repeated in a much more child-like way, "Maeve, where'd ya go?"
Bryn shaded her eyes with her hand, watching Dermott soar behind a building as she commented, "He's not sure where she is."
Doubar creased his brow. "We better find her," he commented.
"I believe it would be more productive if we split up," Firouz added.
The group separated into three groups, Bryn following Dermott, the scientist and silent warrior paired off, and Sinbad trailed after his big brother.
Little Maeve had wandered off when she heard a scream. She wasn't sure why she didn't tell the others. She wasn't sure why she crept behind a building towards the source of the sound despite her shaking knees and the fear in her gut. Even after the shouts stopped she continued onward.
The sight she was met with was that of an unconcious woman, fallen over her little son in a final attempt to protect him, but instead trapping the toddler under his fainted mother. They were caught between the back of a house and the shadow of a monster, a Cenataur. The half horse creature was clomping up to the frightened child, the hooves beating up the dust of the alley. His human arm carried a spike deorated club which he raised high over the sleeping woman's head as the human-like face released a whinny and a snort.
Maeve jumped out with little thought to a plan or the dangers to herself. She was already forming a fireball between her palms. Her own arm pulled back and tossed the fireball at the monster before his club came down on the mother and child. Screams emitted from the cenataur which were almost human. The shorched hide of the horse body caused the monster to face his attacker and forget the previous victims. At first, Maeve stood her ground trying to form a second fireball. However, her heart pumped and her concentration vanished the closer the monster came.
The cenataur was more focused. He swung his club. Maeve jumped and screamed, but was not quick enough to dodge the blades sticking out from the end of the blunt object. She felt the quick slice in her side and heard her clothes rip at the place where blood surfaced. However, all she was aware of was the pain. She knew she needed to run away or cry for help or find a way to fight back, but all she could do was pull at the hole in her dress where she'd been wounded.
Bryn and Dermott were the first to find her. Dermott flew off to get the others while Bryn sent a blast to the Cenataur whose attention left the girl. Meanwhile, Maeve steadied herself and fought tears. She swayed as she bled.
Firouz and Rongar entered the alley from another entrance, finding themselves behind the monster. Rongar, with sword at the ready, was instantly at Bryn's side as the easily distracted Cenataur advanced on her. Firouz tended to Maeve, helping her to sit in the dirt and move her out of the way of the fighting.
Dermott returned with Doubar and Sinbad. Doubar's sword was unsheathed on reflex and he ran to help his crewmates without hesitation. The little boy held back, wanting so badly to help but realizing he knew nothing of fighting or monsters except what heroes faced in the stories Master Dim Dim raised him on. Sinbad, great captain of the seven seas, watched helplessly as his crew, the crew he couldn't even remember, struck fatal blows to the beast body.
Every now and again the boy would attempt to raise the sword he carried and try to run into the fight, yet the wieght of the weapon kept him a safe distance from the battle. It was not long until he missed all chances as the Cenataur was killed by one last stab by Rongar.
After checking on the mother and child, Firouz reviving her with water and checking both for injury, the entire crew surrounded Maeve. At first, Maeve had seemed alright. She acted like the cut was not deep and even joked that she was having bad luck with half human monsters. But by the time the man of science was done with the poor woman and her toddler, the little sorceress was close to tears once again. She moved her weak hands from her side and revealed to everyone the deep cut before she collapsed.