(A.n- this story is actually turning out to be longer than expected. I will try to start the short stories about Tavern, but now promises. Enjoy!!)
It had been about 5 hours since we had arrived at the island. There was still no sign of Tavern or the others.
Hours passed. Time went so slow that it could have been going backwards. The whole crew seemed incredibly anxious.
"They will make it back. They are good warriors." Lefeirn assured everyone, but doubt and worry still thickened the air.
"Maybe we should go back... Or send spies. Just find some way to see if they are okay." Farley, a blonde Caucasian crew mate suggested. The rest of the crew nodded or grunted in agreement.
"We can't risk losing more people." Lefiern said.
"Are you saying they are already lost?" A Latino woman, whose name I couldn't recall shouted.
"I'm saying that if they are, Lucifer would be waiting on the edge of his seat for a rescue team to be sent in. But they aren't, they are good warriors. They are okay," Lefeirn said. "If they aren't back by sunset tomorrow.... Then we will figure something out."
"Are you sure we should wait that long?" Leda asked. "A lot can happen in one day. They could be injured or captured and tortured."
Lefeirn sighed. It was obvious that he was worried about his crew and his niece. His eyebrows furrowed and he frowned. "We can discuss this more tomorrow. Until then we dine and pray." Bowls of porridge were past out. The normal chit chat of the crew was absent tonight. People looked down to their laps or into their bowls. No one spoke.
I tried not to think of what could have happened to Tavern, but I couldn't help it. The thought were gnawing at my brain. I knew something must have happened. She wouldn't take this long. She would have found a way to say that she was okay, a way to tell us that she would be back soon.
'She shouldn't have stopped to get stupid necklace.' The bitter thought tore through my mind. But after that my worry turned to anger and frustration. She left me to get a stupid necklace. A necklace. What the hell did she need a necklace for. Why would she risk her life for that. And why the hell didn't she tell me why she needed it.
I finished my porridge and walked towards the bow of the ship. I looked into the turquoise water and imagined what it would be like oft his had never happened. If Trip and Lisa and Ash never found their catalyst. If I hadn't gone for a bike ride that day. What if I had found a way to escape Lisa's house. The thoughts kept churning through my brain. I began to feel sick to my stomach.
Sighing, I ran a hand through my hair and realized how long it had been since I showered. I tried to causally 'fix my hair' well checking to see how bad my arm pits smelled. I almost gagged.
I needed to shower. I looked around for Lefeirn. I spotted him talking to the red haired, wind manipulator, Shaun. I walked up to the two men. Both of them were about 6 inches taller than me.
"Excuse me," I interrupted. The men turned to look at me. "Is there anyway I could take a shower?"
Lefeirn nodded. "Ask Leda if she will draw you a bath. I'm sure she will gladly help." He returned back to his conversation with Shaun. I walked around looking for Leda. It took me a while to spot her blue Sari.
In a few minutes she had a warm bath prepared for me. "Thank you," I said before she left the small bathroom that was below decks.
I slipped into the warm bath and I didn't realize how sore I had been before. Bruises speckled every part of my body. The cut that I had gotten from one of the soldiers had scabbed over. It didn't look or feel infected. I took the soap from the side of the tub and lathered it through my hair, then I cupped my hands to get water to rinse it out.
After I finally felt like I scrubbed enough to be considered remotely clean, I stood up and got out of the bath tub. I quickly dried myself and got dressed into the close Leda had left for me.
"Tavern!" I heard a deep voice yell. I dropped my old clothes and ran to the deck. I had to push through the crowd of people to see what they were looking at. On the ground was Tavern with Lefiern kneeling over her.
"Tavern, can you hear me? Hold on, Tavern. You'll be okay, Yessica is coming. She's gonna fix you up, I promise." Lefeirn whispered to her. I looked around his shoulder. Tavern had a crimson stain over her stomach.
My heart dropped. She was conscious, her eyes were open. Around her neck was that damned necklace she bought from Syvern. I let the thought pass. I was too worried to be frustrated.
A short Latino lady pushed passed me and knelt down besides Tavern. With the help of Leda's water manipulation she cleaned Tavern's wound quickly. It looked bad. The wound was about a foot long, stretching from her right side to her left. I couldn't tell how deep it was, but it was bleeding really bad. "I need everyone to back up." Yessica said. She pulled out a thread and needle.
"Everyone return to your jobs." Lefeirn yelled. He was still next to Tavern, holding her hand. The crew complied and backed away. I was so concentrated that I didn't see the crew mates who went with Tavern crouched on near the side of the boat. They were covered head to toe in dirt and spotted with blood. I couldn't tell if it was their own or not. They all had empty bowls and mugs in front of them. Izzy and Wisteria, the twins, were leaning on each other, like if either of them moved the other would collapse. None of the five spoke. Graham looked at the ground. His eyes were void of any emotion.
I turned my focus back to Tavern. Her brown curly hair was mattes to her for head and the corners of her mouth were turned down. Yessica looked like she was done stitching up the wound. "I want you to take these herbs mixed in with your tea everyday so that you can fight any infection that could take place. And you will also be bed ridden until further notice. I don't need you making things worse by ripping outhouse stitches." Lefeirn and Leda moved her on to a wooden board and lifted her up. I followed behind them as they made their way to the captains cabin. From there they set her on the king sized bed. "Rest." Yessica said and left.
