(RoS) Crossing the Ocean - Read after Leaving the Island (Patreon)

The Wavedance slipped effortlessly through the water. The waves had grown slightly in intensity over the course of the past few hours, but the sleek black ship didn’t seem particularly bothered.

Maya barely even felt the deck move with the speed that they were cutting across the ocean. She sat at the front of the boat, her watery cloak wrapped around her, as she watched the endless expanse of blue before them.

Cyll was still manning the wheel, and Patty had taken to the small crow’s nest at the top of the ship.

“Do we have a flag?” Patty called down to them.

“A flag? Like a pirate flag?” Maya yelled back.

“Yeah. Cyll told me that pirates usually have their own crew flags, so they can make a name for themselves. But our flag is just black, there’s nothing on it,” Patty replied.

“I asked Akrun to leave it blank,” Cyll said from the wheel, looking away from the ocean and up to Patty. “Maya’s the Cap, so she needs to decide what our crew symbol and name will be.”

They both turned to expectantly stare at Maya. The captain huffed and looked out over the water.

“I’ve been thinking, okay? It’s not easy to come up with a good name. I’m worried it’ll sound corny or something,” Maya grumbled.

Patty slipped down from the crows nest, using the ladder more like a pole as she slid to the deck. She sat down next to Maya and drummed her fingers on the deck.

“Our name could be the Maya, Cyll, and Patty crew,” Patty offered.

“Ah…I think we might have to spend a little time on naming practices,” Maya said, hiding a laugh. “Something shorter would probably be better.”

“What about the Vengeful Undying?” Cyll offered.

“You’re the only one here who can’t die,” Maya said.

“And I’m not vengeful,” Patty added.

Cyll grunted. He returned his attention to the wheel and frowned slightly. The immortal pirate left the wheel and descended below deck to inspect the map.

“Maybe we could name it after your hat,” Patty suggested. “It’s all torn up, so maybe it we could reference that?”

“Who would name their crew after some dumb torn up hat?” Maya asked. “Nobody would do that. What about the Monsoon Pirates?”

Patty failed to hide a grimace. Maya rubbed the back of her head and chuckled.

“I’ll keep thinking on it, I guess,” she said.

Cyll reemerged from below deck. He nodded in their direction as he climbed the stairs back up to the wheel.

“That’s probably a good idea. Who knows, maybe someone will come up with a name for us,” he suggested.

Maya nodded, rising to her feet and leaning against the rails. She stared out across the ocean and sighed wistfully.

“I think I prefer sailing when there isn’t any land in sight,” Maya said. “If it’s okay, I’m going to go try to get some rest. I’m pretty tired.”

Cyll gave her a disinterested nod. He was clearly focused on steering the ship. Maya bid goodnight to Patty and entered the captain’s quarters. Part of her wanted to investigate it, but when her eyes locked onto the soft bed at the corner of the small room, the rest of her body overruled her mind. She flopped down onto the mattress, not bothering to remove her clothes. A minute later, she was fast asleep.

Wavedance continued on through the night. Neither Cyll nor Patty had to sleep, so it wasn’t much of an issue for them. Several hours later, the dark sky turned burnt orange as the sun began its crawl upwards.

Atop the crow’s nest, Patty frowned. She squinted at the horizon, then shook her head and narrowed her eyes. A small black speck, outlined by the morning sun, had appeared at the edge of her vision.

“Hey, Cyll?” Patty called. “Is there any land near us?”

“Nothing,” he replied. “We’re in the middle of the ocean, and we will be for the next few days. Why?”

Patty didn’t respond for a few moments.

“I think I see something,” she said, sliding down from the crow’s nest and walking to stand beside Cyll.

She pointed in the direction of the dark speck. Cyll left the wheel and strode over to the railing, peering in the direction that Patty had indicated.

“Hmm,” Cyll said. “You’re right. There’s something there. We should probably invest in a spyglass when we get to Greenhill, since I’ve got no clue what it is. For now, just keep an eye on it.”

Patty nodded and left Cyll beside the wheel as she climbed back to the crow’s nest. Cyll’s frown deepened and he turned back to the wheel. The speck was close to the direction they were headed.

The sun continued its ascent overhead. Wavedance made good progress with Cyll at the helm. He kept his eye in the direction of the dark dot, but the rising sun made it difficult to make much out.

“Can you tell anything about the speck?” Cyll called to Patty.

“I think it might be a ship,” Patty replied.

“Merchant?” Cyll asked.

“I can’t tell yet,” Patty said. “But I think it’s coming towards us.”

Cyll grunted. He headed down the stairs and knocked several times on Maya’s door. A minute later, it swung open, revealing his disheveled looking captain. She brushed some of the hair out of her face and pulled the torn hat back into position.

“Sorry,” Maya apologized. “I think I overslept.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Cyll replied. “But we may or may not have a ship headed straight towards us.”

“We definitely do,” Patty said from the crow’s nest. “I can’t tell how fast it is, but we’re going towards eachother.”

“I don’t suppose there are any cities nearby?” Maya asked Cyll.

“Patty asked the same thing,” Cyll said, shaking his head. “We’re days away from anything. The chances of stumbling across a random ship headed straight towards us is…unlikely at best.”

“But not impossible,” Maya said. It didn’t sound like she believed her own words. “Just in case, I think we might want to load our cannons. A little precaution never hurt anybody.”