Chapter Three: Separation

Karis discovered that it was impossible to cry underwater.

She could not scream. She was shut off from her senses, from her sister, from everything but the cold darkness and her fear.

It took several moments of her head bobbing above the surface for her to register the cleansing air entering her body. She let all other thoughts leave her as she gasped in more breath, gagging on the salt grinding down her throat. It was not until she opened her eyes that she noticed her body moving forward. She realized the man still had an arm around her. In the next moment, she saw that he had nothing in his other arm – the one pulling them forward no longer held Nis in it.

Karis squirmed. "Stops!" she shouted weakly, her voice barely rising above the tumult of the rain and waves. "Karis needs Nis! Whys drops Nis!"

The human merely grunted in response and continued to swim. He managed to keep his grip on the weak Ratonga, but knew he would soon tire. His adventuring days left him with a good deal of strength, but he knew his limits. His eyes searching for drifting wreckage, his body straining against the heavy waves, he had no energy left to respond to the child. Jush live fer now, he silently urged.

And so the struggle continued, both within them and all around, as the passengers who had not lost the fight far below the surface frantically clung to life. No one was superior to this base fight with nature, and few could hope to leave the battlegrounds alive.

The man was an excellent swimmer, as proved by his remarkable progress – but weighed down with the squirming Ratonga and pulling on the water with only one arm, he could feel himself losing the battle. He knew he could easily release the child and better his own chances, but he refused. Holding the tiny life in his arm gave him more reason to continue, and that was more strength to him than the muscle in his other arm.

Karis stopped struggling and closed her eyes, young body giving in to sleep, stress, and strain. In unconsciousness, she could find false hopes, be comforted by an image of new missing sister. The reality around her – a shred of real hope found in a shard of the hull – did not penetrate her dark dream. She would have chosen her fantasy over the world around her if presented with the choice. Nis's mother had taught Karis the wonders of the imagination, how to let one's fancies take some control over reality. She had not lived long enough to teach the girl about the dangers of its overuse. It was just one of many lessons left to Karis to learn on her own.

The man pulled them onto a shattered piece of the ship. He managed to shove Karis fully on the soaked wood and pulled most of his own body near her. He sighed as he looked at her content face. How easy it was for a child's innocence to assure that all was well. How easy for the child to run from the harsh truth of life. He would not want to witness the incident that would tear the last shred of honest innocence from the tiny Ratonga. Shaking his head, he shifted himself, and put one arm over her, the other grasping the edge of the drifting wood, holding them both on.

"Yer makin' this too 'ard on ol' Fenis, ye are," he muttered to Karis, finally resting his head. "But git yer rest, runt. We're gonna make it, ye'll see."

The two floated with the current. Keeping watch, Fenis noted as they passed several survivors, but everyone drifting from the wreck were all too exhausted to lash their floats together. Most were unable to gather enough strength even to speak. The rain began to subside, growing lighter, but the waves still battered the fortunate above the water. To his disappointment, Fenis did not catch sight of the second Ratonga. Losing her complicated matters.

Squire Fenis had been sent to fetch one Ratonga girl. A young woman, the others had said. Peachy fur, tall, earrings. Never said anything about a second Ratonga – and this child definitely was not the one sent for. Upon seeing them, he had been content to take both to Antonica and get them started on making nice with the guards – but with only one, and one he knew nothing about . . . plans had to change. He could not just take her back – she knew Nis, but she had not yet proven loyalty to Qeynos. He could not be certain of her trust or integrity, no matter how innocent she seemed.

With a groan, Fenis lowered his head again. The rain cleared more, slowing to a drizzle. That did nothing to help his current troubles. All of his thinking hurt his head, but he had nothing else to occupy himself with. And each thought led to yarns of ideas that usually led nowhere. One particular thought ended in how convenient it would be if the ocean were full of mead rather than salty water. Another brought him to the conclusion that gnomes had to have somehow invented the Halfling, and if he took one of the latter apart (an image most likely gained due to the fact that a particularly shifty Halfling owned him ten gold), he would fine shiny gears. Another casual thought mused over how pleasant the island in front of them looked. And then how wonderful a Koada'Dal covered in honey would-

Wait. Island. Land.

With a shake of his head, he ended what would have been a pleasant, if naughty, indulgence and squinted ahead. A forested, hilly island did indeed loom ahead of them, obscured by the poor light. Praise whatever was left to praise, they were safe.

He lifted himself a few inches from their improvised raft and starting gauging distances. The tide was flowing towards the island, so the waves would wash them ashore in an hour, if the tide did not reverse. Or, he realized as he pushed himself up a few more inches, he could back to swimming now that he had rested a moment and get there with certainty and more speed. Shaking some splinters from his graying beard and weariness from his bright eyes, he picked up the small Ratonga again and fell back from the board, strong arm pulling them forward once more.

This time, however, he head real hope in his breast.

He fell into an easy rhythm as he swam forward, smile widening every time he looked up and saw the island coming closer. He was tiring as he finally felt his feet drag against thick, soaked sand a half of an hour later. Lifting the limp Ratonga up, he began to walk, panting in each breath. The beach he finally staggered onto looked deserted – but a tower in the distance proved otherwise about the island as a whole. He laid the Ratonga down gently, then fell to the ground beside her, thankful for the dry land (but sure to curse the sand later). He would confront society later, when he had his strength back – and maybe when the Ratonga was awake.

Ohr mebbe jush tha former Fenis thought with a faint grin as he glanced back over to the child, who was now stirring. Pushing himself up, he reached over and gently shook her by the shoulder. Her eyes began to flutter. She turned a little, as if to go back to sleep, when her eyes snapped suddenly open in realization. She sat straight up.

"Nis!" her feeble cry barely left her swollen throat and she crumpled to the ground again. Tears that had been held back by the ocean began to gather in her eyes, wasting no time in spilling down her dripping fur. She stared weakly ahead as she begged to the air for her sister, tiny body trembling.

With a light frown, the human shifted forward and clasped a hand around one of her shoulders. The motion caused Nis to snap her gaze up to Fenis. Her depression quickly turned to rage.

"Why lets go!" she shrieked, roughly pushing his hand away. "Why not keeps Nis toos!"

The man just shook his head feebly, giving a resigned shrug. As Karis balled her small hands up into fists and began to beat weakly on his arm, he merely watched her. Physically, he felt nothing, but emotionally he flinched for the pain he felt from the girl. It did not take the Ratonga long to tire, and she was soon prone in the sand once again.

Fenis tried again, carefully putting his hand on her shoulder. This time, she only winced. When he felt sure would not lash out again, he moved his hand up and began to stroke the top of her head gently. "I'm really very sorry," he said quietly. "I tried ta 'old 'er, but she pushed away an' got free. I think she wanted ye ter live," he added the last few words cautiously, eyes meeting hers with unwavering honesty. When she offered no response, he gave her head one last pat and pushed himself shakily to his feet.

"Fer better ohr fer worst, it's tha two'a us fer now." His light-hearted words did not rise even a stir from the girl, as he had expected. He ran his fingers through his long, unkept hair and sighed. He was sent after the ones that wantedto do what he said – he never had been very persuasive on his own. Looking down quietly at the shivering Ratonga, he found no words of comfort to use to placate her. He turned from her to look back out over the ocean.

To add to his growing list of problems, he realized he had no idea what to do about the island. His hope wanted to believe that it belonged to Qeynos, but he knew it was just as possible the land was home to goblins, orcs, or even Freeportians. If it happened to fall into the latter categories, their position would prove quiet difficult. But, Fenis thought with another sigh, the only way for them to know would be to look. The idea of an adventure at his age (he had become a squire as a retirement from adventuring), with a child no less, did not appeal to him. But he had no other choices.

As he hugged a third sigh and turned to pick up the still sobbing Ratonga, though, he soon found his quest sped forward considerably for him.

A band of fully armored Tier'Dal advanced towards them from a leafy outcropping.