Mending

''It is the Tenth hour by the Shadow on Cointaking, the 2nd day of Bleakdreary in the year 627. It is the fourth night since the Pride of Darkwater was wounded and ran aground at Daggerford. Though repairs are underway, the expedition is nonetheless stalled, and its voyagers are growing restless. As they while away their time, talk turns once more to religion and one crewmember's crisis of faith.''

Main Deck 


 * Sixty feet long and wide enough for three to stand abreast between the ship's two poleman's pits, this river cutter's oak deck is scarred with the wear of many journeys and almost as many battles.


 * Forward, the prow looms upward to form a protective barrier of thick wood - to provide cover for archers, for example, or to reinforce the ship for use as a ram. As the keel curves up into its aggressive forward wedge, it forms two sides of a cabin with a pair of hatches, normally securely fastened, set in the angled decking.


 * A similar hatch rests to port, leading to the crew quarters below deck, while the low rising swell of wood that acts as the captain's cabin rests towards the aft of the vessel, a heavy wooden door closing it off from the rest of the vessel.


 * Finally, looming tall and proud over the deck below stands the mast of the Pride of Darkwater; centrally located, it remains roughly seventy-percent of the length of the sailplane, with multiple triangular headsails and a reeving bowsprit. Black silk forms that which the sails are made from, granting the river cutter a degree of striking elegance that befits her position within the Darkwater Fleet.

"Lucius, what in all of Shadow makes you think I'm sunkissed?" Celeste states incredulously as she crosses her hands over her chest.

Lucius Nepos's eyebrows shoot upwards. "Weren't you a Shadowscourge, Celeste? Aren't they /all/ Kissed?"

Kael bangs around below decks for a moment, the occasional curse floating out of the open hatch.

"No, Lucius. I just grew up in the Stanchion; it's what you do when you're the youngest of four. Where else was I to go?" Celeste chides the freelander. The frown only deepening across her brow as she looks towards the forest. The muscle along her jaw only tensing as she lays her hand to her mace.

"Well. I had no idea, I always thought you were a Scourge. I've never heard of people sending their children to grow up in the Stanchion unless they were Kissed. So excuse my ignorance.. it must be something noble." There is no arrogance or annoyance in the Constable's voice, but he does seem slightly dismissive of the topic. "In any case, I'll need you to be as vigilant as the others."

Something goes bump in the night, near the aft end of the port railing. Several more seconds of the silence, then another bump, this one followed by a wet hand, appearing from the dark below to grab the edge of the deck. Another hand stretches up to grab the railing, and so Syton appears, pulling himself up over the side of the ship. His legs are wet, and his hands are wet, but everything else from his waist up appears dry. Still, he looks cold.

Still, from the open hatch leading to below, the occasional muttering of a Kael can be heard.

Dradin leans on the railing of the boat, looking out at the water with a thoughtful frown.

Celeste rushes towards Temple, her hands reaching out to help the man back on board. A quick glance towards Lucius, "I'm always vigilant, Constable." She looks back towards the freelander, "Syton, what were you doing down there?"

"Stole the words right out of my mouth. Don't go in the water, you madman, unless you absolutely must." Lucius says sternly, hands sliding onto the leather skirt which covers his tassets. Kael's head leads the way up the ladder, followed by the rest of him - including pack, a sharpened steel axe, and most of his warmer clothing. "Nothin' wrong wi' th' water. Jus' cold."

"Trying to f-fix the b-boat," Syton says, shivering a bit. He shakes his hands and kicks his legs, trying to remove as much of the water as possible. "A few d-deepers and I are taking t-turns. Cannot stay in the water for too l-long." He wraps his arms around himself and bounces up and down. "C-could not get all the p-planks loose from inside the hold."

"Go inside and get changed, Syton. You won't do yourself or anybody else any good being out here freezing to death." Says Nepos.

Celeste turns away from the gathered group, now moving towards the crew quarters. "I will get you a blanket, Syton. You will catch your death staying in those clothes." As she reaches the trapdoor, she takes a few steps down into the room as if searching from something.

Kael shrugs on his pack as he moves onto the deck and out of Celeste's way. "After m' done, Syton - wi' come down 'n help ye lot - y' kin see about planin' wood, 'n I kin move whate'er y' got left." He keeps hold of the axe, though - "Probably goin' t' need t' sleep 'n there somewhere, too."

"Thank you, Celeste, but I h-have to change my p-pants and f-find my cloak." Syton shivers and bounces after Celeste, towards the crew quarters. "I am not certain h-how much use you would b-be with that." He smiles to Kael as he passes. "Glad to see you're b-back, Kael. Uneaten."

"I'm going to go down and see if I can't be of help with that, too. I'll see you all in a little bit." Lucius says, descending down.

Celeste sighs, shaking her head at the freelanders as she moves further up ship. "Just tell me what you need me to do, Kael," she calls out to the marked man

Kael snorts at Syton - "Like anythin' woul' eat /me/. I figure 'm stringy 'n taste awful." He claps Syton on the shoulder as he moves past. "Get ye /warm/, m'friend - cold kin hurt ye." He looks past him to Celeste, considering - "Keep 'n eye on th' ship.. n' me, if yer o' a mind. M' nae goin' into th' deep wood. Wi' set out a lantern afore I get too far inland."

Syton descends into the crew quarters after Lucius, still shivering faintly.

Celeste walks to the other end of the boat, collecting a torch, stick and rope. She moves back towards the front where Kael had pointed. "So just string up a torch for you while your scouting?"

Kael shakes his head, setting his pack down to rummage through it - "Jus' hang onto it - nae at yer eyes, though - will ruin yer vision. Wi' carry a lantern wi' me - y' kin see where I am, that way."

"I was thinking of hanging it off the line and down the front of the boat partially. That way my vision is fine and we can see a bit further out." Celeste holds up the stick and line."

"'till y' set th' rope on fire." Kael's grin is impish. "But y' do what y' want. Jus' keep a knife handy, afore y' set th' /rest/ o' th' ropes on fire." He lights that lantern, absently, using bit of broken wood and one of the deck's torches... then hoists it. "Wi' nae b' too long - jus' goin' t' look, fer now."

Syton arrives on the deck once more, appearing this time through more ordinary means. He climbs up through the hatch from the crew quarters. He is wrapped in his cloak, though brief glances beneath reveal that he has shed his wet leather pants, boots, gloves, and bracers in favor of dry wool replacements. The young freelander makes his way back over towards Celeste. He warms himself, rubbing his arms beneath his cloak, no longer shivering.

Celeste looks at Kael curiously as she reaches for the brass lantern. Looping the rope through the top handle, she ties off the end. Then moves towards the stick, looping the rope about the stick now.

Kael heads down off the tilted deck, bearing light and a wry smile. "m' wonderin' about y' nobles. Honest, I am." It's a parting, light-hearted shot at Celeste.. and then he's heading down to the shore and the pile of supplies there.

"Be careful," Syton calls after Kael, shaking his head slightly. He turns to flash a smile at Celeste, still bouncing on his heels. "Good evening, Celeste," he says cheerfully, seeming to be in better spirits now that he's dry. "How are you?"

Celeste glances up to Temple as she finishes tying off the rope. The lantern now dangling a good ten feet from the woman as she smiles towards the freelander. "I was hoping to give him a bit further to see by," she shrugs her shoulders as she moves to wedge extended lantern out in front of the boat. "You should be careful, Syton. Catching your death from a cold could be seen as a breach of our promise," she chides softly. Though when she turns back, she winks at the freelander to soften the words.

"Better that than let us sit here until we both get eaten, or worse. At least this way, you are alive to forgive me" Syton replies, smiling in a way that is slightly too cheerful for the dark humor of his words. "Besides, I am happy to actually /do/ something for once."

Celeste laughs, shaking her head. The makeshift lantern now firmly in place as she looks back towards Syton. "You could tell me what I could do to help. I will strip this armor off right here and now if it means getting us underway again."

Syton grins at that. "I believe that stripping off anything would only distract the men from their work," he says, chuckling at himself. "Once the Deepers cover and seal the hole, we will need to clear the water out of the hold. That will take all the men--and women--we can find."

"I'm sure the Deepers have seen enough half naked women, just maybe not with a fancy title in front of it." Celeste grins as she looks out towards where Kael has wandered off to, or where she thinks he's wandered off to. "When will that be, do you think?"

A circle of light moves out to the edge of the nearby wood, Kael moving carefully past the trees, eying them with that speculative look of someone searching for something.. specific.

"We can probably start bailing out the hold tomorrow, but we will have to wait and see," Syton replies with a little shrug. He stays more or less at Celeste's side, his eyes focused on Kael. "Quite honestly, I am beginning to wonder why I was allowed to come along at all. I do not really know /anything/ useful to this expedition."

Celeste looks over to Temple with a slight smile, a knowing smile. "Because your the wisest, most good-natured man, that any of us have ever met. When we behave the fool, you are quick to remind us what is important. You are out Light in the night," she looks up at the makeshift torch and then out towards Kael. "Would seem I'm here cause no one seems to realize I'm nothing more than a washed up scourge," she sighs softly.

Syton waves a hand dismissively and shakes his head. "Oh Celeste, that is just not true," he says. "You are here because, out at the edge of the world, the only thing we need more than a warrior is a priest, and you have a bit of both. You are the only one among us who can save our souls as much as our lives... And thank you for your words; they are very kind, but I am not the Light, just someone trying to do the right thing."

That circle of light moves a bit farther away from the ship, bobbing with Kael's steps. After one particularly jerky movement, a muffled curse floats back in the direction of the ship. Something about a stupid root, though considerably less polite.

Celeste frowns at Temples words, "now now, you are a wise man, Syton. And a better drinker than myself. Those who would seek to do the right thing, live in the Light, and thereby carrying it with them." Her eyes continuing to follow the bob and sway of the distant lantern.

"Shall I drink the water in the hold, then?" Syton taps his foot against the deck, looking thoughtful as he continues to watch Kael's distant light. "Celeste," he says after a dramatic pause, "I am afraid that I do not have much faith left in the Light."

Celeste Mikin says, "Why is that, Syton?" Her gaze remaining upon the light. Though it is clear her attention is for the freelander at her side.

"My friend Alainne is a good woman. She walks in the Light. She lost her husband and her baby, nearly died of a fever, and lost an unborn child as well. My father was pious to the Light... more so than any man I have ever known. Now he is dying in the most undignified way." Syton shakes his head, looking thoughtful, rather than emotional. "I guess you could say that my faith does not come as blindly as it once did."

Celeste reaches out a hand to take Temple's. Her sea green eyes now turning away from the bobbing light to focus on the freelander alone. "One should follow nothing blindly. We ask questions, and seek truths. In that, we find what we seek. It is not the Light that caused these deeds but the cycle of life itself. Without loss, we cannot know happiness. With remorse, we do not know bliss. If we weep for the past, how can we face the future, Syton. It is not the Light that took her husband, or her child. Nor is it what afflicts your father." She takes a deep breath, "It is the Light that will bring them peace. Do you feel that the love your friend Kael has for his woman, is not the Light's doing? If it took what she loved, then it also blessed to her to find another...and perhaps peace to move on with her life. As for your father, it will be the Light that embraces him at his passing... no matter his ailment. He will find peace within it's brilliance."

Out in the distance, that light pauses for a long moment, holding steady beneath a smaller, overhanging tree.

Syton glances back to Celeste, but is unable to meet her gaze for long. His eyes quickly return to the light glimmering off in the wilderness. "I am certain my father would say the same thing," he says, "could he remember who I was... if he even still lives." Syton sniffs at the cold night air and clears his throat, nearly looking sad for a moment. His hand rests mostly motionless in Celeste's. "I cannot find much of myself that cares for the Light you describe, Celeste. One that would allow a man or woman to be brought low, only to be built back up again through its 'grace.' I do believe that suffering is only that--suffering, and that death... I do not know of death. I hope there is peace in it, at least."

Celeste sighs, looking down at his hand in hers. "We always doubt that which is good for us, when we are in pain. When you look up and truly believe it all to be a lie, when in truth, you were looking to the wrong answers. Syton, that man out there that you call friend... what would you say brought him to you? And us, what brought us together, Syton? Would you say Fate, Shadow or Light?"

"What brought us together? We did," Syton answers with a shrug, finally looking back to Celeste. "No invisible hand--dark, light, or otherwise--guided my actions." He raises his own hand, with Celeste's in it, as though to illustrate what a hand is. "I chose for myself, as you did, as Kael did, as all men do. And here we are.

"Syton, it's hard to explain," Celeste confesses, looking at their hands as well.

"I did not chose the friends I have today more so than they were guided to me. They showed me how to be more than I was, that the Light blossomed within each and every one of them. That no matter who would shun or shy away, they are good. I walked away from the Light once, too." She looks out towards the stilled light of Kael's, "is he alright?"

"He is fine," Syton says, speaking before he even looks back to check on his friend. "Kael is not a man who belongs on a boat. He belongs out there." The freelander shifts a bit underneath his cloak. "You may believe for both of us if you wish, Celeste. I shall do what I do because it is the right thing to do, and because I choose to, not because I am guided or called to do so."

Celeste sighs letting Temple's hand go as she moves to lean on the railing. "It was my calling to the Light that even brought you to me, Syton. I could have remained a freelander for the rest of my life, and been happy. Now, I find my life to be to educate those who no one wants to help... and shun. Call it the right thing, or the Light, at times... they are one and the same."

Speak of that light - and it'll start moving again, heading back in the direction of the ship at a leisurely pace.

"I do not believe that you would have been happy," Syton says, leaning on the railing beside Celeste. His eyes follow the light as it slowly returns. "Staying at the Stanchion may have been the easier path, but what is easy and what is right are rarely one in the same. Maybe it is the Light in you, Celeste--I do not know--but though your reasons may differ from my own, you strive to do what is right, as I do. It gives you meaning, and everyone needs meaning in their life to be happy."

"What is your meaning, Syton?" Celeste inquires. "I know what mine is, where my life will go from here. If it does not end, there is no mystery as to what I will become. But what of you, my friend? Your here for self discovery, what man do you think you will find when this is over?"

"My meaning is whatever I make of it," Syton replies with a shrug. "For now, you, Kael, and those I hold dear are meaning enough. As for what I will become from all this, I do not know. Exploration, discovery, adventure. These things are only worthwhile if you do not know the ending."

"Then I envy your life, Syton," Celeste states with sincerity. A nod of her head towards the light, "would seem Master Firelight did not find trouble this evening. Hopefully, we can have the boat fixed within the next few days and be underway again."

"I hope so," Syton says with a frown. He knocks against the railing and says, "Being stuck on this boat is bad enough, but now the boat is not even moving. I am eager to get to Crown's Refuge and meet the people who live out here."

"Yes, Master Wolfsbane and I have talked of him showing me where he once lived," Celeste replies softly. Her eyes following the bouncing light of Kael. "We will be there soon enough once the boat is fixed. The sooner the better, I don't want that wraith coming back for anyone here."

As the light grows steadily closer, Kael's easy to see in its circle - his expression oddly satisfied. He pauses, however, at the ship's stores, leaning down to blow out the lantern and secure it before even considering a climb back up to the ship's deck.

"The Drake called him Vhramis Kahar," Syton says thoughtfully, humming deep in his throat. "And that was the Drake that supposedly knows everyone's names." The freelander leans over to offer a hand to Kael and aid him in his ascent. "Find whatever you were looking for?" he asks.

"Vhramis... Kahar," Celeste replies. She looks back towards Kael with concern, a hint of distraction to her sea greens eyes as she tries to veil it with only the most obvious of questions. "Yes, what did you find?"

"Trees woul' work fer lumber, 's all. Wi' need a couple o' men t' help m' bring 'em down - nae more 'n half a day's work t' get a few pieces roughed in." Kael grunts as - with help - he pulls himself up on the deck. "Syton - how much y' figure yer goin' t' need t' get that hole patched?"

"I am no shipwright," Syton says making sure that Kael is on the deck before releasing him and shrugging helplessly. "Not much, I would guess, the hole is not too big. Depending on what extra supplies the Deepers brought along, they may already have planks to use for repair."

"Kin get 'm more, if th' need 'em. Woul' be rough, but good now. 'm nae a carpenter." Kael yawns, then. "Wi' hae sommat t' do in th' mornin', regardless. Might want t' convince Master Wolfsbane t' shoot sommat t'morrow - 's game sign all through th' edge o' that wood. So if we can get the wood needed, we could be back on the water within a few days?" Celeste inquires. Listening to the two freelanders, she leans back on the railing once more lost in thought.

Syton quirks a half-smile towards Kael. "I am sure there is something in the woods right now, thinking the same thing about the tracks you left behind." He then turns to Celeste. "Well," he says, wheels turning in his head, "if we work hard and get the hull patched up tonight, we can start bailing out the hold while they seal the timbers. We could be afloat again by tomorrow night."

Celeste looks over her shoulder towards Syton. "Shall I strip down now? And we get to work?"

Kael raises a brow. ".. m' nae allowed t' watch. If y' /accidently/ happen t' to 't in front o' me, m'lady, I woul' be mos' obliged, however."

Syton chuckles. "I hope you intend to 'get to work' on the boat. But by all means, let us get to it." He flicks his head back towards the hatch. "Change into something you do not mind being waist-deep in. The Deepers will show you how to do the easy stuff."

"I never minded getting dirty," Celeste remarks brushing the blonde hair from her face as she heads for the crew quarters. Slipping a small strip of leather from about her mace, she begins pulling back the blonde tresses.

Kael literally. Obviously. And with much effort... bites his tongue, giving Syton an amused look.

"Careful now. I /will/ tell Alainne that you are being uncouth," Syton says to Kael, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "Now then, let us see if we can get this expedition moving again." With that dramatic announcement, he cracks his knuckles and sets off after Celeste.

Celeste disappears down into the crew quarters. Shortly later there is a few heavy thumps and a bit of cursing that should not be coming from a noblewoman's lips. A small crash of metal to wood, and then silence.

Syton covers his eyes with one hand and begins to make his way clumsily down into the crew quarters. "Are you decent, Celeste? Need a hand?" he asks blindly. He gropes at the hatch for a second or two, then pulls it shut behind him.

''Return to Season 5 (2007)