Blue Lotus

Sea Sick

It was past midnight, but I couldn't sleep. The rocking of the boat continued to move some of the small barrels on board.

"Tera, I know you're not asleep yet." I jumped at the sound of Draken's voice. I turned over in the makeshift bed, which was just an old net hanging from the walls of the lower deck.

"How did you know I'm awake?" I asked in a hoarse voice.

"Because I'm still awake." he said matter-a-factly. I smiled down at him. "What's got your mind all jumbled?"

I let out a deep breath. "I was thinking about what you said earlier, about your dragon." he looked away from me.

"It's not that big a deal. She'll be fine as soon as I get to her." he closed his eyes.

"What happened to her?" I wasn't ready to give up the conversation.

"She had accidentally eaten a purple black spotted frog. It was in the stomach of a lion she was eating." he grimaced at the thought of his dragon getting poisoned.

"I'm sorry." I mumbled. I turned back around and closed my eyes trying to get as much sleep as I can. I ended up having a night filled with restless sleep. My thoughts kept going back to the fat man. I knew he would cause trouble, but I didn't know when. It would be dangerous to confront him right now, who knows what he would do to me.

I thought back to the first drink he bought me. I never had dragon's rum before.

"Hey Draken?" I asked as I walked out to the deck behind him.

"Yes?"

"What color is dragon's rum?"

"It's a bright red color. I didn't think you were that drunk, did you really forget?" it was a rhetorical question so I didn't answer. I watched as he walked away to some of the other crew members.

"Bright red. Okay, bright." I muttered to myself. Now I started to panic. The rum I was given was a dark red, the color of blood. If the fat guy was what I thought he was, I was in deep-

"Ship wreck!" one of the crew yelled. Everyone rushed over to the side of the boat. A ship, about the size we were on, was torn to pieces. Pieces of wood still floating on top, but no canon fires or holes. It  did appear to be wrecked by another ship, but by something much larger.

"Why are you scratching so much? Whoever attacked that ship is probably long gone, no need to worry." Draken said while rubbing small circles on my back. I tried to tell him that it wasn't a ship, but I couldn't speak. My throat felt dry and rough and the itching on my arms only increased. Now my legs started to itch. The smell on the ocean was making me twitch. I wanted to jump in. I wanted to jump off the boat.

My gaze shifted to the fat guy in the far corners of the ship. He knew I was getting ready to break, he knew I wouldn't be able to stay on the ship much longer. "Bastard." I croaked out. A pain I've never felt before, erupted in my legs.

I screamed out in pain. Draken was by my side as soon as he heard me. Every eye on deck was on me. I continued to scream.

"Tera what's wrong?" Draken frantically gripped my shoulders.

"Water." I managed to get out.

"Some one get her water!!" he yelled. The crew frantically scattered in search of water. Finally Melvin came up to me with a bottle of clean water. I snatched it from his hands and chugged it down. As soon as it touched my taste buds I got on my knees and up chucked.

"Sea...water... I need... sea water." I breathed out. The crew looked at me with confused expressions. "NOW!!" the sound of my voice shook the deck, and the crew went off to get me sea water. Finally someone got me a bucket full of the salty liquid. I pushed Draken out the way and chugged the entire bucket.