Arcane Odyssey: Adventures of Kala Kayaba

Chapter 6: The Deserter

The sun shines, the birds cry out as the sounds of the sea surround the boat of our duo of heroes, It's been a short while since Kala and Vera left Redwake from the docks, the sails are raised as the sail the sea, looking out for any islands nearby as they currently have a situation onboard

Vera: "We should've resupplied..." she says as her stomach growls, though Kala did share his food with her it was apparently not enough, meanwhile Kala himself was doing quite fine by himself apparently, though maybe it was because he had eaten a meal before getting ready to sail off on the last chapter

Kala: "I wasn't really expecting you to come with me so it was bound to happen, let's just hope we find an island"

Just as he says that the ship is hit by something from below, shaking the entire boat and making them stumble

Kala: "What was that!?-"

Vera: "Shark, get ready Kala"

Kala: "Excuse me a what!?"

The ship is hit again as Vera peeks from the side of the boat to look for the shark, Kala does the same and sees the shark

Kala: "What do we do??"

Vera: "Hit it obviously!" she charges up a Sunlight blast and hits the shark on it's back, Kala follows up with a Moonlight blast which makes it swim away, but it stops midway and encircles the boat

Vera: "This one's not giving up...get ready" She unsheathes her rusty sabre and jumps into the water while Kala stays on the boat ready with a flintlock and magic, both wait for the shark to make it's move

The shark does make it's move, that move being to charge Vera, of course that's what she wanted to happen so she could take it head on, Vera blocks it's charging bite with her sword, putting them in between it's jaws

Vera: "Hit it now!"

Kala lets loose on the predator, filling it with holes with both bullets and magic until it stops moving, he sighs in relief as Vera gets up, holding the tail end of the now dead shark and putting it on the boat

Kala: "T-that thing is dead right?"

Vera: "Yeah, and that also solves our food situation, now let's keep going!"

Kala: "Yeah but before that..." he looks at the multiple holes and such the ship has and gets to work fixing them as best he can as they soon find their first island

Mango Island

The two dock on the beach and step onto the island, the midday sky overhead as they get to this cozy little island, Kala takes a map he was given by the shipwright and finds out that they're on an island called Mango Island, and another island was nearby named Elm Island, he took note of this as Vera ran in immediately after they had docked to look for any food in the island, finding a multitude of fruits, mainly mangoes because this IS Mango island after all, she's seen coming back with a peeled mango in her mouth as Kala read the map

Vera: She walked up to him and looked at the map as well "Wmhere tmu muex?" nom nom

Kala: "Don't talk when your mouth is full Vera, but anyways, seems there's an island right next to this one, we can come here next if you want"

Vera: "Smure" consume mango, spits seed out "hope there's something there other than food, i found only food here"

Kala: "You act like you've never had fruits before"

Vera: "We mostly had bananas and any meat the hunters found as well as fish so yeah-"

Kala: "Well then-" he had a fruit too before they hopped back on and set sail for the next island

As they get closer they see what seems to be a dock along with...a person?, they soon dock and approach the person who's just sitting there fishing, a small hut behind him with a drying rack along with a sailboat way behind him

???: "Welcome to Elm Island, travelers...what brings you here?"

Kala: "We we're on the way to Frostmill Island, other than that we're just exploring, who are you?"

???: "I'd...rather not disclose that...I've been living here for a few weeks now, but you're welcome to stay a while." the man gives the two an awkward smile before going back to fishing

Kala: "I see...but why live here?"

Vera: "Yeah, this place doesn't look like the best place to live, but from seeing your ship being a wreck that might be why" she gave it a bit of a look from the dock before they landed

???: "To be honest...I don't know...I'm a Grand Navy deserter and I'm not sure what to do with my life anymore. Growing up, I always told myself that joining the Navy was my destiny, so now I'm lost.."

Kala: "Wow...sounds rough sir"

???: "It's alright...Say...wanna help me fish? I could use an extra pair of hands around here"

Kala: "Sure! I'm kinda lucky so I might find something"

Vera: "I can help too if you want, we're getting hungry anyway"

???: "You're welcome to try"

The three cast their lines into the sea and as hours pass they find themselves having fun with the stranger telling the two stories of before he had left, Vera at times gets up to cook what they caught, mixing it with some of the food they found on their way here to make nice smelling meals, and Kala with his luck would find himself in many many situations that mainly involve him holding onto his fishing rod tight while the others held onto him

Kala: "There's a Shark on the line! Help!"

???: "I gotcha boy, now reel it in!"

Vera: "C'monnnnn! Hurry!!"

They eventually manage to reel it in, it was a big one indeed, Vera had fun cooking that one, soon after more fishing and the stranger asking about how Kala held his own against a shark for a time he stood up and stretched, Kala and Vera we're still talking and laughing with each other which put a smile on his face

???: "That should be enough to last me a while...I appreciate your help you two"

Kala: "No problem, it's the least we could do to make life here easier"

Vera: "Yeah, but a question still lingers in my mind, you might already know what I'm about to ask but...why did you desert the Grand Navy? that seems like a tough decision to make.."

???: "Well...I served for just over seven years, and was Captain for my last two. After all that time, I just got sick of the bloodshed and wanted a simpler life, but now that I have it I feel empty...
I don't want to rejoin the Navy - not that they would let me - but I yearn for adventure and want to travel the seas again..."

Kala: "Then why don't you?- ohhh right the Deserter thing-"

Vera: "Stupe weren't you listening to what he said" She clocks his head from the top

Kala holds his head as he hisses in pain

???: he chuckles at the two youths "Hmhm...and to answer you yes the Deserter thing, and the fact that my sailboat is broken, I don't have the supplies needed to repair it. besides, sailing by myself isn't quite the same.."

Kala: "Then..." he outstretches his hand towards Kenton "You can join with us if you want, you don't mind right Vera?" he looks at her with a smile on his face

Vera: "I- sigh fine, they're pretty nice anyway and we'll need the extra help as well"

???: "Hmmm...Perhaps this will be a lot more fun than my days in the Grand Navy. I'd be happy to join your crew, and it's Edward Kenton," Edward Kenton takes Kala's hand and shakes it firmly "Captain."

Kala: "Welcome to the crew, no need for formalities, just call me Kala ^^"

Vera: "And call me Vera, nice to meet you sir"

After gathering his things Edward Kenton hops on aboard the ship with them and get to sailing towards Frostmill Island, excited for what's in store, but as they approach the island slowly melts from a mysterious heat

To be continued...