Chapter LXXXIV – Clear Skies

"Whoa, friends! What are ya doin' here?! Go get some rest!"

Jack smirked at them with a merry expression on his face as he gripped the helm tightly.

How exactly was he this calm?!

The ship was swaying wildly, waves crashing against its sides and spilling water and foam on the deck. The crewmen were running around in panic, messing with the sails and riggings wherever they could. Camianta was even climbing up on the main mast.

When Bishop and Aeyrin rushed from below decks, leaving Karnwyr in their cabin to keep him safer, the black clouds and cold winds greeted them instantly. It looked like a very nasty storm, and it didn't take long before a bright flash and an imminent thunder captured their attention. This didn't really look good.

Their first destination was Jack who had still been by the helm with a fierce expression on his face, but when he saw them, it turned into a so much more reassuring one.

"The fuck do you mean 'what are we doing here'?!" Bishop yelled at him through the howling winds and aggressive hissing of waves. "What do we do?!"

"'Do'?!" Jack almost laughed at him. "Nothin', friend! Is a storm! The Sea of Ghosts throws them our way often! Don'cha worry!" It was hard to hear him through all the noise, but he was still smiling brightly.

They might have been disturbing his concentration. He looked so fierce before he saw them and tried to calm them down.

"This is normal?!" Aeyrin gaped at him, but before she could get an answer, a violent wave crashed against the ship, tilting it to the side a little too much for its stability. Aeyrin's footing wavered in the unexpected motion, as did Bishop's, but luckily, his reaction was fast. She felt his arm wrap around her waist instantly to pull her to his form with a hard yank. It was a bit disorienting and it took a while before she noticed him gripping the railing of the upper deck tensely with his other hand.

"Not to worry, me pretty!" Jack chuckled at her, still tightly holding the helm as the ship tilted back into its original position with another destabilizing motion. "Normal enough! We been through storms like this'un before! My sweet girl can handle it!"

"Jack!"

Camianta's voice echoed through the storm, but it was so faint. And it was hard to tell where it was coming from.

"JACK!"

It was louder now, and Jack finally seemed to notice. His eyes went upwards into the skies instantly. Only then Bishop and Aeyrin noticed the Redguard woman, perched in the crow's nest with something that could only be a spyglass gripped in her hand and pressed to her eye.

"REPORT!" Jack bellowed in turn, trying his best to be heard over the raging storm.

"JACK! ON THE HORIZON! SOMETHING'S COMING!" Camianta yelled back. It was hard to tell through the noise, but it sounded like there was a measure of panic in her tone.

This didn't really sound like the crew was used to these storms. It was really harsh. Every storm out at sea couldn't really be this bad, could it?

"'COMING'?!" Jack half-scoffed and half-yelled. It didn't seem to be the report he had been expecting.

And what did she mean by 'something's coming'?

The answer came soon enough.

It was faint, far away, but it was so familiar that it was hard not to recognize it, even though the storm.

A roar.

"Did you hear that?!" Bishop scowled at Jack. The man didn't seem to notice. He was probably not as attuned to the sound as they were. This was bad.

"Hear what?!" Jack kept looking into the skies, trying to decipher Camianta's meaning, but the clouds were too thick to see anything and rain was beginning to fall too, obscuring more of the view.

"A dragon!" Aeyrin cried out at him. It was unmistakable. She could recognize the sound anywhere, through anything.

What was it doing out in the open sea?

Well… to be fair, they weren't that far from the shore. It could have been just flying around.

But it wouldn't fly into a storm, right? Right?

And would it really attack a ship?

Although… Aeyrin remembered Maven and the Guild too lamenting loss of trading and smuggling ships to the beasts. Gods, this was the worst coincidence ever. She was barely able to stand on the deck. She would have flown overboard already if it wasn't for Bishop's lightning reactions. And now there was a dragon to fight?

Maybe it really wouldn't fly into the storm.

"Shit! Fuck!" Jack cursed loudly. His composed smile was completely gone.

That didn't bode well.

They would likely have to deal with both the dragon and the storm.

Although...

Suddenly it dawned on Aeyrin. She didn't even think of that before. She hadn't used this Shout apart from clearing their way of the strong winds whenever they ventured to the Throat of the World. But this was what it was perfect for. She could clear the skies.

But if she did, the dragon would see them for certain.

Would this ship withstand a dragon's attack? Jack seemed somewhat confident about the storm, but not about the dragon itself.

She had no idea if Shouting was the right decision. She would reveal her identity, but that was the least of her problems now.

"Will the dragon attack?!" she yelled at Jack in panic. There had to be a way to avoid it, right? She still thought that it wouldn't fly right into the storm.

"Don't know!" Jack frowned before he bellowed again so that his first mate would hear. "STATUS!"

"IT'S GETTING CLOSER!" Camianta yelled with palpable panic in her voice. She yelled out something else, but that was drowned out by the storm, before she finally screamed again so that they could hear her on deck. "IT'S CLOSE! I'M COMING DOWN!"

She didn't wait any longer and disappeared from the crow's nest, only to emerge on the mast below it, climbing down the ladder-like handles there. It made sense, who would want to be so close to that flying beast with no means to defend herself?

But that meant only one thing. The dragon didn't fear the storm. It would attack regardless.

There was no reason to battle two threats at once.

"LOK VAH KOOR!"

It was as if everything went suddenly quiet.

The boat still rocked violently and the waves didn't calm down that easily, but suddenly the dark clouds parted right above them and bright morning sun shone through.

Jack was left staring at Aeyrin with his jaw dropped and she could feel everyone else's eyes trained on her too.

Everything felt strangely still.

But she quickly realized that this didn't help as much as she had hoped.

The black clouds parted, but they still formed a wide circle around the ship in the distance. And they were enclosing it again with disturbing speed. She knew that the Shout was temporary – it only lasted a short while up on the Throat as well, but she really didn't expect the raging storm to recover so quickly. And it didn't help at all with the momentum of the massive waves still crashing into the ship.

It only brought attention to them.

A loud roar echoed through the skies, a large dark shape sprung from the black clouds into the clear skies above them.

"You're the…" Jack gasped in astonishment, but before he could finish the sentence, Aeyrin turned to him sharply while she still clung to Bishop's arm on the wildly swaying boat.

"Have you dealt with one before?" she asked. It would be good if they did. Panicky crew wouldn't really help the situation now.

"Aye. Nearly did us in, the fucker," Jack's face darkened somberly. "One thing to keep in mind, me pretty. Ne'er let it land or fall on me sweet girl. She won't survive."

Aeyrin nodded with determination. It made sense – the dragon was as big as probably half of the ship. It was an unusual tactic for her, to try and keep it in the air, but there was no backing out now. They needed to fight and they needed to survive the storm. The waves didn't let up and the clouds would enclose on them again in a matter of minutes.

"Go get your bow," she turned her head towards Bishop and he, in turn, let go of her instantly. He waited until she gripped the railing herself, to make sure she was secure and then he ran off towards their cabin, as fast as he could before the ship would sway violently again and tried to throw him off board. He had to be careful. He always made sure to run past something that he could hold onto if it came to that.

Aeyrin stayed on the upper deck, tightly holding the railing. There was no help for her below decks in her pack. All she had in her arsenal now were her Shouts, since she couldn't get the dragon close enough to the ship. The best tactic was to stay put and steady while she tried to deal with the beast.

To his credit, Jack was adapting very swiftly. He no longer looked shocked. Now there was just fierce determination on his face.

"CREW! ORDERS!" he bellowed, his voice echoing all around. "TIBBY! YOU'RE ON THE DRAGON WITH OUR FRIENDS! THE REST, KEEP THE THREE ON BOARD AND KEEP ME SWEET AFLOATIN'!"

The last orders rang through the air, but soon, everyone got greeted by another loud roar. The dragon was already closing in on them. It lowered itself a bit above the water and began to flap its wings wildly, making those damn waves even worse.

That was pretty clever. Aeyrin wanted to rush towards the stern of the boat, right towards the dragon, but now she was too uncertain of her footing. She needed to hold onto the railing of the upper deck, overlooking the lower deck instead. This way, Jack was the first in the dragon's path, with his back turned towards it, but she needed to deal with it somehow. She couldn't walk the deck. She was lucky that she managed to hold herself on the railing.

Bishop practically burst out of the door leading below decks with his bow in his hand and his quiver on his back. He didn't bother with armor, there was no time for that now.

He felt how much worse the stability of the ship had gotten below decks already. He was constantly thrown around in there. And poor Karnwyr was so panicked. Bishop had a hard time forcing him to stay in that cramped cabin.

Now that he was outside on the deck again, it was much worse. The ship was drenched, with water constantly spraying on the wooden boards with each motion. He had to hold onto anything he could find, but that was no use. He needed his hands to shoot.

"Over here!" he heard a voice calling out to him. The clouds were already closing in and the rain and wind was picking up again. It was hard to see through the water spraying everywhere. It was much worse on the lower deck than by the helm.

He finally noticed who was calling out to him. Frelie was standing by one of the masts with a coil of rope in her hand and she was gesturing wildly to the mast-pole. Bishop noticed people by the second mast in an instant. Tibby was standing there with his back flat on the mast and rope tied around his waist as Naszug fastened him to it tightly.

Huh… so this was how he was supposed to shoot. He wasn't used to being still in a fight. This was going to be challenging.

Holding onto whatever came under his hand, he made his way towards Frelie. His eyes moved all too often towards Aeyrin by the upper deck railing. She had her arms entangled in it securely to keep herself steady and her back was facing the lower deck. She was turned to face the dragon that was now hovering by the ship's stern. It looked like it was about to attack at any second.

"KRII!"

Aeyrin's Shout echoed through the approaching storm and Bishop could see a menacing red glow out of the corner of his eye while he rushed towards the mast. The sooner he would get to shoot, the better, now that the thing was affected by Aeyrin's power.

Bishop had to run through a part of the deck with nothing to hold onto and it was hard to keep footing on the slippery swaying ship, but he managed. He flattened himself with his back to the mast soon enough and it barely took a second before Frelie started to wrap the rope around his midsection tightly. He noticed that she herself had a rope around her waist, but he couldn't see what it was tied to. She clearly had a long 'leash' to be able to move around the ship. He kind of wanted that instead of being pinned to the mast, but then again, there was a very sensible reason for that. The rope with a long 'leash' wouldn't prevent him from falling overboard. It would only make sure that he wasn't left behind or drowned too easily. He was one of the few people that were going to fight the beast – he couldn't waste time trying to climb back onto the ship.

"FUS RO DAH!"

Another one of Aeyrin's Shouts rang through the area when Bishop finally felt himself fastened tightly to the mast. The dragon came into his view just then. It seemed to have been tossed towards the portside of the ship by Aeyrin's Shout. It didn't fall or waver, but it was now right by the ship's flank. Bishop quickly stepped to the side to face the beast. As tight as the rope was around him, he could move in a circle, letting it grind over the wood of the mast. And he quickly noticed that Tibby did the same.

Fuck, those sailors had this shit down. Have they fought a dragon at sea before? And Aeyrin kinda seemed to have pushed it to the side intentionally too. Impressive. He was uncharacteristically lost on the tactics, however. This was so out of his combat comfort zone.

He quickly tightened his grip on his bow and aimed. Or he tried to. Fuck, that was a challenge when he was tied up there like that. His elbow kept hitting the mast behind him and he had to make a lot of readjustments to his posture and his grip of the bow. It would probably not be his best performance like this, but hopefully he could still hit the beast.

Just as his arrow flew towards the dragon, an icy spike shot from the other mast, from Tibby's hands. The creature got hit by the two projectiles almost simultaneously – the spike pierced its torso while the arrow hit its throat. With the red glow still enveloping the body, this might not be that difficult.

Another arrow and another icy spike flew towards the dragon, hitting the beast in its wing and in its maw now. The dragon roared in pain, but it soon riled up. It looked like it was still capable of flying without issues, but at least they didn't have to deal with it falling on the ship.

The beast's scales glistened in the sunlight, probably one last time, as it heaved. The black clouds were almost fully covering everything again and the winds and the rain never let up. But the worst concern now was still the dragon. It opened its maw, ignoring Bishop's arrow still protruding from it, and a Shout began to form at the back of its throat. It was a familiar acidic green light.

Fuck! That would eat right through the ship!

Bishop thrashed in his bindings in an attempt to escape. The best he could do was to circle the mast to have it protect the worst of the blast, but before he did, another Shout echoed through the skies like a saving grace.

"FUS RO DAH!"

The dragon was shoved from the side violently. It didn't fall and just before the Shout hit it, the red aura around it dissipated, but at least Aeyrin had managed to interrupt its acidic attack. That was fucking close.

And damn, she had gotten so precise with her Shouts. A year ago, that one would have taken out both masts with it, apart from the dragon. Bishop's eyes went towards her instinctively. She was still standing by the railing, gripping it firmly as she stared at the dragon, waiting to see what state it was in. Bishop wondered why nobody tied her to the railing, but she probably needed to move freely, in case the dragon was about to fall on the ship. She was the only one who would be able to get it out of the trajectory.

At least he hoped as much. He wasn't sure if her force Shout was even strong enough to do that. It was best to ensure that they didn't need to test that theory.

Bishop quickly focused on the dragon again and notched another arrow. He aimed steadily, already somewhat used to the change in posture and reach, but before he let his arrow loose, suddenly a large wave crashed into the side of the ship. Water sprayed over him and he felt his fingers slip from the string, the arrow loosened Gods-knew-where. He couldn't see anything right now.

He just felt the shift.

The violent movement of the ship was sudden. It pressed him uncomfortably to the mast and for a moment, he felt like he was actually lying on it fully, as if the ship had turned all the way onto its side. There was so much noise. So much splashing water, crashing waves and some screams. He quickly wiped his face with his hands from the water to see better, but all he could see was the railing of the ship in front of him, the dragon hovering nearby and the black skies, raining down thunder and lightning upon them.

He heard a few yells from the upper deck and he instinctively looked towards it.

Aeyrin was kneeling on the ground, clinging to the lower bars of the railing there desperately with all her strength. Bishop could see this way just how tilted the ship was. There was no going back from this, was there? The waves would finish the job soon and actually tip the ship over. Maybe it was a good thing that Aeyrin wasn't tied up. He at least had the waterbreathing ring on him, if nothing else. But Karnwyr would be trapped in the cabin!

His eyes remained fastened on Aeyrin as she struggled to hold on, but then he heard her let out a loud cry. He wasn't sure what was happening just then, before he noticed one of the bars she was holding giving way. It cracked in an instant. The bulk of it remained in Aeyrin's hand and she immediately lost her balance. She slumped down, splayed on her stomach as she still clung to the railing with one hand only. Gravity was not in her favor though. And neither were the planks of the deck, covered in a layer of water, constantly streaming everywhere.

He screamed out. He wasn't sure if anyone heard him at all. He wasn't sure if he even heard anything at all anymore. He squirmed in his bindings, but he wasn't able to do anything this fast.

Then suddenly it felt like his stomach turned upside down.

Wind blasted around his ears and he barely managed to register what happened. The ship landed back fully onto the water with an enormous splash and even more chaos than before. He briefly saw Aeyrin being hurled in the other direction that she had been pulled until now, slung across the upper deck. She crashed into a curved part of the railing, right by the steps to the lower deck. She wasn't holding onto anything anymore, but fortunately, the ship was upright for now. He just hoped that she would rile herself up before it tilted again. The waves were insane.

"SHOOT!"

A loud yell diverted his attention.

Shit, so much was happening. He almost forgot about that fucking dragon for a second. He quickly notched another arrow and located the beast in the skies. It was circling the ship now quite rapidly. It was going to be tough to hit.

He shot at the beast, one arrow, two, but none of them managed to hit. The constant rain and swaying and the strong winds certainly didn't help. And Tibby was having just as much trouble hitting it with his spells.

It felt like a while before the dragon stopped moving and heaved with its maw opened. Bishop only caught a glimpse of the oddly ashy hue in its throat, but his bow was already taut. He let the arrow loose, followed instantly by another icy spike, and the dragon got hit by both, straight into its throat.

It didn't even let out a roar. It probably couldn't.

It thrashed wildly in the air for a time, but soon, it stopped moving altogether. And it swiftly plummeted down.

Fortunately, it did so into the water, but it was close. The second its body smashed against the surface of the sea, they were all sprayed with more water and the ship swung even more violently.

Bishop quickly wiped his face again and his eyes shot towards Aeyrin. She was still on the planks, holding onto the railing, but that could change any second.

The dragon was probably dead, or at least it would be any second now. She wouldn't be able to hold onto the railing when she was absorbing the soul! And with how much the ship was tilting again after the dragon's impact and with the storm still raging, she was sure to go overboard. And in that state.

Fuck, he needed to get out of that rope.

He couldn't reach his knife, but he tried to wiggle out violently. He continued trying, but it was no use. The ropes were tied well enough to hold him there through the storm. And come to think of it, he might just not make it to Aeyrin at all across the ship.

Fuck. Well… someone needed to be there.

"JACK!"

Oof, it made him weirdly uncomfortable calling out that name for help, but whatever. It was just a fucking name. The least of his concerns now. Jack was the closest to Aeyrin, unless he flew overboard at some point. Bishop could see his hat in the distance though, by the helm obscuring most of his hazy view.

How did that stupid hat stay on?

Fuck, who cares?! Focus!

"HANG ON! WE STILL GOT A STORM TO… FUCK!" Jack's voice rumbled through the air, almost drowned out by the imminent thunder following.

"JACK!" Bishop growled again loudly. Jack had a whole crew, right? They could hold the ship afloat. Bishop didn't know what was even involved in that, and to be fair, he didn't see anyone nearby except for Tibby, still tied to the second mast, but he didn't care. He had barely seconds to spare for sure. "YOU NEED TO GRAB HER!"

"WHAT?!" Jack's call echoed throughout the area. Fuck, Bishop didn't have time to explain.

"GRAB HER! NOW!" he yelled. He could already see it. There was something shining brightly below the surface of the water.

"FUCK! CAMI! HELM!" Jack's voice roared across the ship and Bishop's head snapped back towards the upper deck instantly.

Everything happened so quickly then. He saw Camianta flying through the air above the deck, swinging on a rope high above, aiming to land near the helm. Fuck, that was impressive. Had she been up there in the riggings the whole time? But Bishop was much more focused on Aeyrin now. He saw Jack rush over to her quickly, wavering a few times as the ship swayed.

But he made it.

Aeyrin felt a hand nudge her and her eyes snapped open. She could barely process what was happening anymore. She was exhausted, confused, and soaked in water. And now she knew what was coming with the dragon dead, but she had no idea what Shout it tried to use last. She didn't have a good vantage point for that.

And she knew that Bishop was tied to the mast. So she would have to withstand it alone.

She just really hoped that she would subconsciously manage to hold onto the railing. She wasn't sure if she wouldn't drown in that catatonic state if she fell overboard.

But now, with a surprised stare, her eyes landed on Jack right in front of her, kneeling on the planks and holding the railing tightly as well. He looked so uncertain.

But that didn't matter. She just needed to hold onto someone. She couldn't rely on herself in throes of pain.

Without a moment's hesitation, she let go of the railing and flung her arms around Jack's torso instead.

He looked completely caught off guard, but she didn't care. She buried herself into his chest and closed her eyes firmly. It would come soon. And she was only briefly comforted by Jack finally holding her back in a secure grip before she saw the light under her eyelids and the pain hit.

She could only barely register the loud shriek she let out.

It felt as if the storm had tripled in its intensity, but somehow, it was centering on her. Gusts of cold salty wind were slashing against her body everywhere. Her face, her arms, her legs, even her back and torso. It felt like it was filled with salt which burrowed right into those slash wounds and stung intensely. She squirmed and cried out, but just as she opened her mouth, she felt the mass of cold wind enter it. In a second, she felt full, practically full enough to burst as her insides filled with freezing air. She felt it swirling and slashing inside her painfully. If she could only exhale, it would be gone, but it felt like there was a barrier in her throat, preventing that. It felt like the wind was rearranging her organs, tossing them around as if in a strange small twister inside her core. She let out another loud scream as she felt something violently torn inside her…

Wait… she screamed. Did she? She wasn't sure, but it felt like it… and it felt like she couldn't breathe. That wasn't possible. Not to do both... This wasn't.

Gods, why did it always have to take this long? Why? It was like her body never let her mind tell it what was happening. It was never real.

She felt rapid breath leaving her as she tried to rile up from the experience.

She was so exhausted. Of having to go through this every damn time. Of the relentless storm and the swaying of the ship. Of the dragons. Of everything. She just wanted this to be over.

Her eyes fluttered open slowly, only to see Jack staring at her in both worry and shock. Her gaze drifted towards the skies above him. Still raging. Still black as the night. She just wanted it to stop.

She closed her eyes again tiredly. She wasn't sure what else to do at that moment.

"Me pretty."

Jack suddenly patted her cheek a bit more briskly than she would have wished. The ship swayed again and now her stomach churned, but it felt a little more secure when she felt Jack wrap his arm around her again in a tight grip.

"Me pretty, wake up," he almost pleaded. She was fine. Just tired. She didn't want to open her eyes now. But he sounded so worried.

She weakly opened her eyes and looked at Jack. He gave her a gentle smile in turn, but it was still laced with uncertainty.

"Sun's on the horizon, lass. It'll be past soon. Just gimme one more of those Shouts, please. Me crew's mostly danglin' off ropes. I need to do some damage control," he chuckled weakly.

It took her a while before she understood what he wanted. She kept forgetting about this Shout, especially since she saw how little it helped before. The waves were their worst enemy and the Shout obviously didn't clear their momentum, but it would likely make it more manageable if the storm was really passing them.

"LOK VAH KOOR!"

She closed her eyes almost instantly after that, but the sun suddenly warming her cheek made her smile.

She was so tired.

…

"Come on, let me in. I'm not gonna disturb you," Bishop almost whined at Tibby as he was being chased out of the small cabin.

"Don'cha think it's cramped enough, horker-brain? Out," Tibby growled at him.

The aftermath of the storm was no less confusing than the storm itself. Bishop remained tied tightly to that mast for a very long time. The waves continued to crash against the ship and he was only able to manage to take in the situation.

The skies had been cleared by Aeyrin's Shout again, and while it wasn't as helpful before in the center of the storm, now it was much better. The surrounding black clouds traveled across the skies away from the ship and there were no more of them looming on the horizon. The waves would take a while to calm, but it was definitely an improvement.

Next, he noticed that both Frelie and Amrlm seemed nowhere to be found. He scanned the ship for them a few times, but he only noticed when Naszug came to the railing after the swaying of the ship calmed down a bit and he began dragging on a rope fastened there. Seemed like Frelie went overboard. And Amrlm probably did too. Good thing that those two were tied to the ship. Bishop still didn't get how everyone determined who got the rope, but it was beginning to become clear that the whole tactic was more of a panic move and the sailors didn't actually have time or leverage to prepare fully and make everyone secure.

Aeyrin was still held tightly in Jack's embrace. Normally Bishop might have been a little uncomfortable with that, if the situation was different. Or if Jack was anything but an old drunk. Though, granted, a capable old drunk. He seemed like a damn good captain. Not that Bishop had any frame of reference though. This was probably his last sea voyage ever.

For a while Bishop worried that she was unconscious, but she did Shout after the absorption. She was likely just exhausted. Was it any wonder?

After what felt like a long time, when the waves actually calmed down and the storm was only visible in the distance, Camianta came to finally cut the ropes off him.

He rushed towards Aeyrin instantly, but to his surprise, so did the recently untied Tibby.

Jack finally let her out of his arms and Bishop wanted to take her into his, but Tibby interrupted him in his intentions. He apparently needed to check on her as the ship's healer.

Well… fine, it wasn't exactly a bad idea. Bishop just wanted to have her close after all that shit. But with how fast asleep she was, he wasn't going to deter the elf.

But he had gotten annoying with it.

Aeyrin woke up a few times as Tibby carried her back to the cabin. He wouldn't even let Bishop do it! But she fell asleep right after every time. She must have been so tired.

So was Bishop, for that matter. He wanted to do nothing but curl with her on that stupid hammock and sleep until they reached Eastmarch.

They opened the door to the cabin and Karnwyr nearly toppled Tibby with Aeyrin in his arms over in his relief. But when he noticed Aeyrin's limp body, his excitement turned into worried whines. Bishop had to reassure him that she was fine and that she was just sleeping, but the healer's fussing didn't manage to alleviate the wolf's fears.

And eventually, Tibby got tired of them cramping up the room and he chased them both out. He said that he only needed to check on a few vital functions, and he was leaving the door to the cabin open, so there was no funny business, but still. Bishop just wanted to go to sleep. Next to her.

When he was refused by Tibby once again, he morosely leaned on the nearby wall and waited.

Soon, the door to the below decks opened and Jack entered. He looked a bit somber, for his usual cheery self as he approached Bishop.

"How she doin', mate?" Jack nodded towards the small cabin.

"She's fine. She's asleep. Tibby just wants to make sure everything's fine," Bishop sighed in response.

There was a moment of silence, before Jack broached the subject uncertainly.

"So… you knew what would 'appen. To her, I mean. Fuck, I dunno what even 'appened. Just… she looked in pain," Jack shook his head with a forlorn look in his eyes.

"Yeah," Bishop nodded. "That happens."

"Every time she… does that?" Jack's eyes went wide. "Never thought I'd see something like that."

"Yeah," Bishop let out another sigh. "Every time." He wished it wouldn't happen every time. It was better some times, worse some other times. It was clearly bad when she was tired or wounded. At least this time she hadn't passed out.

"Damn, friend," Jack scoffed, more at the whole situation than at anything in particular. "Ya sure you're not cursed?" he chuckled a little weakly. "Couldn't find yourself a regular girl, could ya?"

Bishop smirked at him in response. That seemed like the most boring thing ever just then. Besides, the Dragonborn shit was hardly what made her special, what drew him in. He wasn't sure what it actually was that did, but he'd known for a long time that being with her felt like nothing else ever did before.

"No 'regular girl' would do after I found her," Bishop's eyes went towards the cabin briefly as his lips quirked up into an affectionate smile. "Fuck, no amount of regular girls would do."

He earned a hearty chuckle and a slap on his shoulder from Jack at that.

"Hah! Then it's either love or really good fuckin'," the captain grinned at him widely.

"Can't it be both?" Bishop laughed in turn. It was definitely both.

He and Jack chuckled a little after the exchange before Jack's expression turned a bit more sincere after a minute of silence.

"Listen, friend, you really pulled through. Never woulda made it without the two of ya," he smiled warmly. "We take on storms, we took on a dragon once too. Never together though."

Bishop nodded at him companionably. It was not as if they would just stay in their cabin and drown instead, but it was still nice to have their efforts acknowledged.

He really hoped that they took out all of their bad luck for this journey on that encounter though. He didn't have surviving another shitstorm like that in him. And neither did Aeyrin, probably.

He just wanted to sleep the rest of the voyage off.

Hopefully the soft waves and the sun beaming through the round window in the cabin would ease his worries about the rest of their journey.

And if not, Aeyrin's body nestled into him definitely would.