Tsuki ✔️COMPLETE

Chapter 9: Stories at Sea

The Disaster

Minami-Akali Ocean

"Well, thank the gods for hammocks, huh?" Kagemaru said, looking for a spot to secure the second end of the cotton sheet.

"Yeah, they're easy to set up in a hurry." Rubi replied, adjusting the crate bed she had set up for the child, who was too small to safely use a hammock. "It'll be cramped down here, but it's better than sleeping on the floor."

Kai and Sama had returned to sleeping in the locked storage area, but now Rubi felt content to let them roam freely. They had only been at sea since sunrise and when the sun hit its peak Kai was actively helping their trip run smoothly.

Sama was curiously exploring, a constant source of questions and amusement.

"When will she start her element training?" Rubi had asked Kai.

"She's still pretty young." Kai had replied. "She knows to observe me and learn the theory before she tries it herself."

Rubi wondered if Sama would ever have her own demon like Kai did. The Elemental was always hovering somewhere in the water just out of clear sight.

The waters had been smooth so far. Sometimes she caught a flash of red eyes in the gentle waves. Sama frequented the side of the vessel and talked into the sea spray, laughing and pointing as she spoke.

Indra had asked for a stick of sorts to use as a guidance cane, which Rubi had happily supplied. He walked the decks like everyone else, deeply breathing the sea air and enjoying the sun on his skin. He looked calm.

"I have one more thing to ask for," he said. "If it's not too much."

"Sure. What is it?" Rubi replied.

"Do you have a long strip of cloth? Rectangular preferably."

"Yeah, I should." Rubi said, thinking of her shawls. "How long?"

"A full arm span if possible. Longer would be best."

"Let me look for you."

Rubi went to her captain's quarters and rummaged through her things. She compared a few shawls and scarfs, finding the longest of them. She reemerged on deck and handed it to Indra.

"That's the longest scarf I could find. It's orange and white, if that matters."

"Not at all." he said. "Could you help me fold it so it's about a hand's width wide?"

They laid it flat and folded it so that all the edges were smooth. He lifted it carefully and began to wrap it around his head in well practiced movements, knowing where to overlap and where to tuck the ends by heart.

"I've wanted to wear my turban again for so long, like my ancestors did." he said, gently patting it to be sure it was right. "It was the first thing they took from me when I was captured and sold."

"I'm sorry." Rubi said. "What does the turban mean?"

"For my people," he explained. "It means that every man is his own king. Or queen, we all wear them. No one owns them, and they have a duty to serve others to the best of their ability."

"Is it a religious item?" she asked.

"Not so much an organised religion, but a personal one. We greatly value autonomy and condemn slavery."

"My father was a freedom fighter." Rubi said. "He agreed that no one should be property."

"Was he ever enslaved?"