Rough Seas

6 - Arrival

Katherine sighed as she watched the crew diligently working, some cleaning, other's checking knots and the ropes. The wind was still blowing strong, and the water was a clear dark blue. All in all, it was a perfect day. It had been a few days since she and Jordan had talked about Tom, and their relationship. Ever since the next morning, Tom had been, well, cold towards them. Not just Jordan and herself, but the rest of the crew as well. Her arms crossed over her chest and she frowned. It hurt a little to have Tom being so distant, especially after she had admitted to Jordan (and herself, really) her feelings for the Dianitee champion. Now it just felt like the world had heard of her feelings and flipped a switch, changing Tom's friendly and charming personality to that of a quiet, standoffish person. She hated that he was being so distant, and she knew that Jordan was also peeved by it too.

Katherine smiled as she felt an arm wrap around her waist, Jordan coming to stand beside her. They stared at the ocean in silence for a few moments, before Jordan spoke up.

"Are you feeling alright?" Jordan asked, quietly. "I saw that you were watching the crew, and you seemed pretty miserable over here." Katherine just shook her head, smiling a little as Jordan fussed. It was cute, how Jordan would always try to put her in a good mood.

"I'm alright." She responded, watching her brother teaching a few of the younger crew members how to tie secure knots. "It's just... I'm worried about Tom. He's gotten really distant over the past few days and... I'm just worried about him." She confesses, glancing over to Jordan, a worried look on her face.

"Me too, Kathy." Jordan replied, biting his lip slightly. "He's been... He's kind of been an asshole the last couple of days. Not responding when we talk to him, almost completely ignoring us, really only writing in that little notebook he has." Katherine lent against Jordan, resting her head on his shoulder. It had become all too common for Katherine to go check on Tom, only to find him in a corner, scribbling things down with that ridiculously small pencil of his. How he was able to keep his pencil at the same length was a mystery to Katherine.

"I just want to know why." Katherine whispered, blinking slightly as her eyes started to sting. She couldn't cry now, not in front of the crew, not when they were so close to being home. Jordan pulled her closer, resting his head atop of hers. The two of them stood in silence like that, before an excited shout caused them to pull away from each other.

"Land ho!" One of the crewmates on top of the crow's nest shouted down. There were a few whoops from the crew, and most everyone scrambled to the railings to see if they too could catch a glimpse of home. Distantly, there was a dark blur on the horizon, which got bigger and bigger with each passing minute. Some of the crew members erupted into celebration, and soon, the rest of the crew followed, after Katherine had nodded her head to show that she was alright with them celebrating. Music erupted onto the deck, and there was excited talking and some dancing from the crew. Katherine smiled as she saw her brother clapping along to the music, a wide smile on his face.

It was good to almost be home.

-

Tom's hand hurt. Really, it was a self-inflicted wound, but he was still annoyed by it. He had been writing for nearly two days straight. At least, he had started the morning after he decided to stop playing nice with the two Ianitee's – god, he couldn't even say their names – and his hand was aching after all that time. Shaking it, Tom willed for his hand to stop hurting so much, so he could continue planning with Dianite. He was shocked that after all this time, his pencil hadn't been worn down enough that he couldn't use it anymore. Maybe Dianite had charmed it, so that a person could use it for longer? He'd have to ask Dianite about it later.

Speaking of Dianite, the god had told him that something big had happened, but he wasn't revealing the details to Tom yet. That annoyed Tom to no end; how was he supposed to be Dianite's champion if the god wouldn't even tell him what he was doing? Tom glanced up from his notebook as he heard a distant shout.

"-and ho!" The sound of many feet rushing cross he decks echoed through the room. He frowned, wondering why everyone up top was rushing around. There was a couple of shouts, and for a moment Tom sincerely wondered if they were being attacked. Then there was more movement up above, and Tom heard distant music coming from up top. Realizing that the ship was nearing Ianarea, Tom sat up. They must be able to see it from here if their celebrating like that, Tom thought. Tom swallowed nervously, closing his notebook and putting it back into his coat pocket.

The likely hood of Ianite just keeping him in a cell was very, very small. She would probably want to interrogate him, and the very thought of it made Tom's stomach churn. Tom wasn't sure if Ianite would actually torture him, but it was better to be prepared all the same, even if the thought of torture nearly made him throw up. He would have to use the training that he had gotten to withstand torture, and the likely interrogation that would come with it. Tom closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down. If he freaked himself out over this, he wouldn't be able to keep any secrets for Dianite. And, if Dianite learned of his failure to keep his mouth shut, Tom knew that he would be punished the same way that traitors were punished. Tom had been to too many of those punishments to ever want to get on Dianite's bad side.

-

She could hear the bells of the temple ringing as they made their way into the main port. Katherine smiled, looking at her city, her home, so happy to be back. Sailing around and completing missions for Lady Ianite was fun and all, but Katherine always longed to be home. Now she was back, victorious. Jordan smiled too, as he gazed at her. He knew that going on this mission would be risky, especially with his injury still healing, but he was glad he had gone on it. Purple banners flew from windows, and he could see a few children running along, following the boat to the docks, laughing and waving at some of the pirates. They pulled into the docks much to slowly for Katherine, who was practically bouncing by the time they were able to get off of the ship. As they walked down the plank, they saw a few of Ianite's guards waiting for them.

"Champion, Captain." The head of the guard, an athletic woman called Morgan stepped forwards, nodding to both of them. The two of them nodded, back, and Morgan continued. "Lady Ianite has requested your presence at the main temple immediately. She has some urgent news for you."