Golden Sun: The Age of Light
By: Mokona-Midoki
Chapter Seven
Author's Note: YAY CHAPTER SEVEN IS DONE! Finally! I'll have chapter eight out shortly so please wait. It's currently in the works. For the item that Wayde wants, they still might have it, they might not! You'll just have to wait and find out.
Disclaimer: Noa, and all other characters are mine. Everything else belongs to the game Golden Sun and whoever created it.
Chapter Seven
Aboard the Sea Wolf, Captain Wayde Wolfhound stood looking out over the vast ocean, resplendent in his power. He was tall, standing at 6'7 and radiated power and strength. He wore his dark hair cut short so that it wouldn't get in the way of his work. His clothes consisted of a long red captain's coat, a fine blue silk shirt, black pants, highly polished boots, and the large double-headed war-axe strapped across his back.
Around him, his crew milled, doing their tasks. They didn't dare not to. They respected and feared the man who stood at the stern. They all knew that if they hesitated to obey, he wouldn't hesitate to kill them.
Next to Wayde stood his first mate, a man by the name of Dalit. He was shorter than his captain, but no less dangerous.
"Dalit, what am I supposed to be seeing?" Wayde asked.
Dalit pointed his finger out over the sea. "Darya spotted a ship over that way a little while ago. She says it's a junk. On this next wave you should be able to see it…there!"
Wayde's sharp blue eyes squinted slightly as reaching inside his coat, he pulled out a brass telescope. Holding it up to his eye, he studied the ship for a minute. Then his face broke into a wide, feral smile.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't our old friends."
Dalit didn't respond. He knew that look, and he knew what was coming next. Being the man who had been with Wayde the longest, he knew. That look meant death for whoever he was chasing.
"Dalit, tack on every piece of sail we have. I want that ship caught, and I want it done today."
His first mate nodded, and turning began shouting orders at the crew.
Wayde, however didn't hear anything. His entire being was concentrated on that small junk, bobbing up and down in the waves. That ship was going to pay for the humiliation it had caused him. They had been lucky, but now that they were back in his waters, their luck had run out. The hunt was on!
Lynna twisted in the rigging and stared out across the waves. "Captain! We've been spotted! The Sea Wolf is gaining!"
Qing Yuan didn't look back. He stared straight forward concentrating hard on a spot out to sea. "Kenda!" He suddenly barked.
"Captain?"
"Take the tiller, and hold her steady."
Kenda quickly switched places with her captain. Qing Yuan jumped down and pulled the door to his cabin open. He disappeared inside, and returned a few minutes later with what seemed to be a thick tube of bamboo, an exotic plant that Noa had only seen once when a merchant had come to Anemos from a place called Xian. It was about a foot and a half long and was plugged up with wax at both ends. Noa noticed that runes for containment had been carven into the wax. Letting her attention go for an instant she focused on the bamboo in Qing Yuan's hand.
"Reveal." She whispered. She then had to quickly shut her eyes at the blaze of white light that emitted from the bamboo tube. Squinting, Noa could see that the runes on each end were shining with a steady bright light. She then noticed that the sides of the tube were shining with unreadable runes. Whatever was in that tube, it was obvious that Qing Yuan didn't want it getting out anytime soon.
"Noa, can you keep up the whirlwind a bit longer?" Qing Yuan asked her.
Closing her eyes she reopened them and concentrated once again on her creation. "Yes, don't worry."
"Alright then, listen up! Here's the plan." Qing Yuan pointed out towards the west. "That way is land, if we can make it to the shore without being followed, then we can hide in one of the coves."
"But Captain," Kenda protested, "There's no way we can make it to land without being followed by the Sea Wolf."
Lynna waved her hand. "Don't say things like that, Kenda. That's Troy's job."
"Kenda's right," Qing Yuan continued. "Under normal circumstances, we'd never make it. And that's why we're sailing into that." He changed the direction he was pointing, now to the northwest where Noa could see a dark mass of clouds starting to form in the sky.
"You want us to sail into a typhoon?!" Kenda and Troy yelled.
Qing Yuan nodded.
Noa said nothing. The captain was up to something.
"That's practically suicide!" Kenda told him.
"No Kenda," Troy corrected. "It IS suicide."
"So what happens when we enter the storm?" Noa asked. Everyone turned to look at her, then at Qing Yuan. He smiled.
"Glad you asked, Noa. That's when we use this." He held up the tube.
"You're going to use that to get away?" Lynna asked. "But, Captain, it was really expensive!"
"That doesn't matter, Lynna. We bought this so we could use it, and I believe that this is the right time." He turned to his other two crew members. "What do you think."
There was a light in Kenda's eyes. "It's crazy. We'll probably all end up dead at the bottom of the sea. It's reckless, and dangerous. Let's do it!"
Troy shook his head. "I guess we don't have much of a choice."
"Um, excuse me, but what's in there?" Noa interrupted, nodding at the tube.
All the crew grinned. "You'll find out soon enough." Qing Yuan told her.
Wayde stood in his cabin, checking his charts. If they were lucky they could deal with the problem of the Ulysses before nightfall, and have just enough time to make it to shore for the night. There was a knock on the door. "Enter." Wayde called without looking up.
Dalit opened the door and cleared his throat respectfully.
"What is it, Dalit?"
"Darya says that the junk has changed course. They're headed northwest now."
Wayde looked up at his first mate. "So change our course."
"Captain, there's a problem."
Wayde began to feel a bit impatient. "What's the problem, then?"
"You'd best come see for yourself, Captain."
Sighing heavily, Wayde stood and walked over to Dalit who quickly stood by to let him out first. "So what's the problem Dalit?" He asked as they came to stand on the deck.
"That, Captain." Dalit motioned out to the northwest.
Wayde looked in the direction his first mate had mentioned, and narrowed his eyes. A huge bank of dark impenetrable clouds hung low and threatening above the ocean. "And you say the Ulysses is headed straight for it?"
"Yes Captain."
"What are you up to, little ship?" Wayde muttered.
"What should we do, Captain?" Dalit asked, half-knowing what was already coming.
We're sailing after them. If we can't catch them before they reach the storm, then we'll batten down all the hatches, and ride it out. Do you know why our ship can do that, Dalit?"
"Um…no Captain."
"Simple really, Dalit, our ship is large enough to ride it out. However, Captain Qing Yuan and his little crew can't. Their ship is far too small. If they think they can escape in the storm, they're in for a nasty surprise." He paused, smiling. "If the storm doesn't kill them, then they won't go very far. Tell the crew to change course, Dalit."
Dalit nodded. "Yes Captian."
Noa was breathing heavily now, her eyes stinging from the sweat that dripped into them. Sometime during the period she had been standing there, Lynna had tied a rope around her waist, and secured her to the mast. The small part of her mind that wasn't wholly concentrated on keeping the whirlwind in place began to notice that the wind had picked up and that the sky had begun to turn the darkening gray-black of a storm. The wind blew with more strength than it had before, spraying seawater higher and higher over the sides of the ship.
Noa shook her head and focused on her whirlwind. To her dismay she found that it had already begun to shrink. Concentrating harder, Noa tried to draw anymore power than she already had, but found that there was next to nothing left in her reserves. She had already gone beyond her limit, but she couldn't stop. Not when they were so close…
She suddenly felt the deck topple backwards as she fell, but before she could hit the deck, she felt two slender arms catch her.
"Whoa there. You okay?" Kenda's dark face swam above Noa's at, what seemed to her, a dizzying height.
Noa tried to answer, but found her throat was completely dry, she couldn't talk at all, then her eyes rolled back and everything went dark.
Kenda cursed when she saw that Noa had blacked out. This was not a good time. The wind was blowing harder than ever, and she had to crouch low to stay upright. "Troy, c'mere!" She called.
There was the sound of pounding feet, and the pale gunner was there. He looked down at Noa. "What happened to her, Kenda?"
"It looks like she used to much of her power. She held that whirlwind for much to long. We'll need to wake her up."
"Why? Wouldn't it be better to let her rest?"
Kenda looked up, her dark eyes serious. "When an adept uses too much of their power, they black out. If they aren't woken, they could die."
Troy's pale face blanched. "What do I need to do?"
"Go get my bag out of my room. It should be in my trunk on the top."
"Right." And with that, Troy was gone.
Kenda gently laid Noa out on the deck. She checked her pulse, and was relieved to find a faint but steady heartbeat.
Above the whistling of the wind, she heard Qing Yuan call, "Is she alright?"
"At the moment, no, but I think she'll be alright." Kenda yelled back."
"Kenda!" Troy's voice came. "Here!" Troy came running up, carrying a medium sized black bag.
"Good. Troy get me out the blue glass jar out of the second pocket."
"Right!"
"Alright, give it to me and hold your nose."
"Why?"
"You'll see, or smell it if you don't." Kenda told him as she struggled with the stopper. Finally it came loose, and pinching her nose with one hand, Kenda removed the stopper and held the small bottle under Noa's nose.
At first, nothing happened, but then suddenly, Noa's purple eyes flew open and she began to cough and hack.
Kenda quickly removed the bottle, and carefully shoved the stopper into the opening again.
"Are you alright Noa?" She asked the adept.
Thor's bones! What was that?" Noa asked, half-coughing, half-speaking. Her eyes were watering, and she blinked rapidly, sending salty tears down her face.
"The sap of the aviea vine. It's said that the smell of it can wake the dead." Kenda told her calmly as she replaced the blue jar into it's proper place in her bag.
"I wouldn't doubt it." Noa replied still coughing.
Troy took Kenda's bag from her and made his way back over to the cabin door, disappearing from sight.
Kenda helped Noa into a sitting position, and leaned her against the railing of the ship. "Stay here. It's almost time."
Captain Wade didn't like what was going on. The wind was beginning to pick up, they still hadn't caught up with his prey, and now it was doing something unexpected. "Dalit!"
As if from nowhere, his first mate appeared at his side. "Captain?"
"Why haven't we caught them yet?"
"Darya has reported that there seems to be a whirlwind on board, fueling the ship with a stronger wind."
"A whirlwind?"
"Darya also reported that there was somebody controlling it."
"An adept then. With a whirlwind, probably from Anemos."
Dalit nodded in agreement.
"Now Dalit, what do you think they're doing?"
"It looks like they're sailing into the storm, Captain."
"I can see that. But why? For them, it would be suicide."
"Captain if you don't mind my saying so, Qing Yuan has always been very cautious. He probably has an escape plan."
"I agree, but what?"
"Captain, the storm is getting closer, we need to begin battening down the ship."
"Very well, but continue the chase until it becomes impossible."
He turned and strode towards his cabin. Dalit watched him go.
"Madness to sail into a storm like this, should have jumped ship at the last port." A voice to the left of Dalit muttered.
Dalit turned slowly, hard eyes locking with the eyes of the speaker. The man in question froze.
Dalit walked up to the man, still staring directly into his eyes. "You think it's madness to sail into this storm?"
The man swallowed, and then, finding courage, spoke up. "Of course it is! One wrong move and we're all dead! The captain's crazy an-" He was cut off by Dalit thrusting his cutlass into the man's stomach.
As he pulled his blade free, the man toppled to the ground, eyes and mouth still open in shock. Dalit contemptuously wiped his blade on the man's garment, and sheathed his sword.
"If anyone else has a problem with the captain's plans, please don't hesitate to voice them." Dalit told them.
Nobody moved.
"Get rid of it." Dalit stepped around the body of the dead man and started making his way towards the helm. Of course the man had been right. The captain was crazy. In all reality, he was a madman who loved hunting and killing any and all that stood in his way. However, almost no one realized this. Madness was only a handicap if you couldn't control its irrationalities, and the captain certainly could. Still, he couldn't have anyone saying things about the captain like that.
He motioned to the helmsman that he would take over the steering of the ship, and the helmsman happily obliged, perfectly willing to get as far away from this man who was as equally crazy as his captain.
Quing Yuan struggled to hold the tiller straight in the wind that blasted against his small ship. The waves had grown dangerously tall, and threatened to swamp the boat at any given moment. The wind tore at the sails, threatening to rip them to pieces. As it was, they should have already been stowed, but Qing Yuan had told Lynna to wait. It was finally time. Pitching his voice so that it could be heard over the wind, he yelled. "Kenda! Troy!"
Miraculously, they heard and came, fighting the wind, both of them with their lifelines securely fastened to the mast.
"Keep the ship on course. I'm going to do it now."
They both nodded, and took the wheel from his hands. He began making his way slowly towards the mast of the ship.
Noa watched Qing Yuan from where she sat, completely exhausted. She could barely move, and she didn't want to. Lynna had joined her, and had wrapped one of Noa's limp hands around the railing of the deck, and held her other hand tightly. As it was, the wind had become so hard that Qing Yuan couldn't move very far without being blown back a step or two. Finally, he stopped, and reaching inside his jacket, pulled out the bamboo tube.
Now was the time! Qing Yuan smiled. If they survived this, he would definitely have to leave incense at the shrine of Neptune. He held the tube tightly in one hand, feeling the power that swirled inside it. He didn't know if it knew it was being released or if it was just its nature, but it seemed agitated more than usual. "Here goes nothing." And a small fortune in gold. He thought. "HANG ON!" He yelled out to his crew. Whipping out his wrist knife he stabbed it deep into the wax. The psyenergy that was in the wood shone brightly and before it could melt the blade off his knife he yelled, "RELEASE!"
He pulled the knife out, the stopper coming with it, followed by a roar as a blast of wind flew out of the tube, struck the sails, and sent the small ship skipping across the waves, practically airborne.
One hand gripping the tube and the other, holding onto his lifeline, Qing Yuan struggled to keep his footing. But the force of the released wind was to great and he slipped and fell on his backside, still stubbornly pointing the opening in the tube at the sails.
Kenda and Troy held on to the tiller for all they were worth as the ship flew through the waves, propelled by the contained wind. Keeping the ship on a course of due west, they both scanned the horizon for any hint of land. After a few minutes, Troy's hand shot out, pointing at the almost invisible gray smudge.
"There!"
Kenda nodded, and kept the tiller straight on course.
They were moving so fast that soon, the land which should have taken half an hour to reach was upon them in a matter of minutes. As the cliffs of Gondowan loomed close, Kenda spun the wheel changing the ship's course to follow that of the cliffs.
By now the wind inside the tube had all but diminished, and the ship followed a much smoother, slower course. Finally, they spotted what they were looking for. An opening in the rock wall, so small it that the normal person couldn't even imagine a ship fitting through it.
But, spinning the wheel once again, Kenda and Troy maneuvered the ship through the crack in the wall, and into a small cove just as the first drops of rain began to fall.
Footnotes: Three cheers for Captain Wayde! The crazy pirate captain! I must say, he reminds me a lot of Bellamy the Hyena from One Piece in appearance, and crazy temperment now that I read over this again. (I did not base him off Bellamy in anyway, however.)
Dalit and Wayde's crew-Dalit means 'Draw water' in Hebrew. Darya, name of the lookout, means 'River or sea' in Persian. (Just to let you know, Wayde hails from Indra, Dalit from north Gondowan, and Darya from the coast of Angara.)
Reveal: One of the most useful psyenergy in the game. It is strictly limited to Jupiter adepts. When you use it you see the unseen. Mostly you use it to see hidden entrances, treasures. Here, Noa uses it to see psyenergy.
Neptune: One of the summons from the game. He is a Mercury summon, and labeled as an incarnation of the Sea King. Here he serves as the Sea King and protector of sailors.