13 Once A Young Lad

Scurrying across the deck, the crew hefted up barrels and crates while others hoisted the sails as the wind picked up against the waves. The sun shined on the water bouncing off making the light almost too much to bear for the young boy peering over the side of the boat. He watched the tides crash into the side of the boat while, from behind him, his parents bickered, "if we send him back on another unmarked boat, the same incident could happen again! I'm not sending Caspien back to the mainland alone, Ronald!" His mother stomped her foot into the wood making her green dress puff up in the wind.

His father argued back, "we can't just put the voyage on hold, especially when we're already more than halfway there. He either stays with us through the whole trip or goes back with you on an unmarked ship, there's no way around it."

Caspien leaned over the edge and looked deeper and deeper into the tides to see a tail wriggling in the foam as if it was saying hello. From the tail came a green scaly arm then brown hair. And for a moment, Caspien held his breath and waited to see her glimmering lavender eyes shine in the sun. When they did, he popped his feet off of the deck and leaned closer to see her. Venus held out her arms and caught him just before the salty seawater could splash him.

"I've been waiting all day to see you!" He squealed and giggled with pure joy. He didn't shutter nor squirm and the slight touch of her scaly hands but instead embraced her careful touch.

She laughed back at him warmly, "I wanted to make sure the time was right." She twisted his arm to see the backside and scowled, "your cut is still too deep to have healed properly. I'm sorry I couldn't heal you properly, Caspien." She kissed the deep scrape on his forearm and sang him a soft song.

Caspien leaned into her and listened to her languid notes against the roaring wind. He popped his head up and exclaimed, "oh! I forgot to give you your present!" He scrambled to reach the edge of the ship again as Venus hoisted him back up over the railing. He scrambled to his feet and tottered over to his father's quarters.

Digging through drawer after drawer, Caspien dug through miles and piles of different knick-knacks and jewelry to find the ringtone but to him, they all looked beautiful enough for her. Thinking of her lilac eyes glistening in the sun, a necklace caught the light making him drawn to it. Snatching it from the drawer, Caspien snuck past his mother and back to the edge of the ship where Venus shone at the sight of him. She reached out her hands to him as he happily jumped down to her.

She caught him with ease and booped his nose giggling, "you can't trust another person to catch you that easily, what if I had dropped you?"

"I know you'd save me if I fell in!" He gleamed at the trust they'd built together in such a short time. Before he forgot again, he slung the necklace around her neck and said, "this is for you. It reminded me of your pretty eyes!"

"Then I'll gladly accept," she laughed.

As time passed, the moon began to rise in the sky, making Venus rush into giving him back to The Anastasia. She was about to dip back into the water after watching him safely climb back over the railing when she heard a small plop into the water beside her. Looking down, she just in time caught the small trinket. An unfamiliar earring with orange and yellow outlines with fabric knotted at the ends. She held it up to the sunset with awe in her gaze as she promised to remember this sweet boy for as long as she swam the seas. Looking up she saw his familiar curious hazel eyes peering over the wooden railing down at her. She blew him a kiss before diving back into the water.

For months she kept visiting the boy until Caspien realized she started skipping every few days. Then it became every week she'd only visit once and when she did, there was always a rush in their meetings. In those days of meeting and passing, Caspien always tried his best to throw gifts over the side of the ship hoping that Venus would somehow find them but she never brought them up whenever they met. His hopes to stay with her forever were fading with every waiting period he experienced.

After his birthday, Caspien waited past the sunset for her to come because something pulled on his curly blonde hair telling him to wait for her. He knew tonight would be the night he'd been waiting for since last month. Not being able to wait anymore, he flipped himself over the railing in the hope that she'd be there to catch him like every time before. Just as he wished, she followed his command and burst from the waves just in time to catch him.

Her eyes went wide as she scolded him, "what are you doing? What would have happened if I didn't come up to see you in time? You can never do something so reckless again, do you hear me?" She pulled him in close to make sure he was alright before pulling him back to hear his response.

"But I knew you'd be there! You always are!"

"That's no excuse! You need to remember what I told you before: You can never trust another person with your own safety!"

Caspien didn't want to bend but she struck a chord in his heart with her words. Flashes of fire sparked across his eyes as he remembered how the crew he treated as family abandoned him before. Her words sunk deep into his heart as he answered solemnly, "I understand…"

She tilted her head, knowing her harsh words would help him later though it hurt him now. Booping his nose, Venus wrinkled her own and laughed, "since you understand now, I came especially today because a little fishy told me it was your birthday today." Lifting him into the air, Venus sang a beautiful song that rose the water into the air changing its colors and shaping it into crystals. From there, a shape formed making an elegant sculpture of a glass-like crescent with the middle carved out depicting the letter 'C.' Caspien's eyes shimmered at the sight as it floated down into his hands. It fit perfectly in his apricot sized hands, making the gift just right for him. Venus smiled, "happy birthday, Caspien."

He hugged her tight and thanked her. Looking at the gift again, he hoped these moments with her would last longer then asked without thinking much of his words, "why haven't you been coming every day like you used to? I thought you'd always be there for me."

"I come when the time is right. Also," she looked around as if she was making sure they were alone and whispered, "my fiance gets very jealous when I tell him I'm going up to the surface to see a little boy! That's why I need you to make sure no one else knows about me coming here."

A pout poked out of his face as he huffed, "I'm already 6 years old! We'll be able to get married by the time I'm all done getting bigger!" He beat his chest in determination then when back to twirl with her soaked hair.

She laughed at his attempt to act older than he is and sighed, "ah! I wish all of your people acted like you do, Caspien."

"What do you mean?" Venus lifted him back up towards the railing as he climbed aboard and before she could answer, someone came.

They yanked Caspien away from the railing and scolded, "I've told you time and time again not to go towards the edge of the boat, young man! Do you need to be scolded again for not listening to me?" The figurine he held onto so tightly before fell into the sea and dissipated into the tides. He looked on in agony when five fingers popped up and twiddled in his direction.

The crease in his brow lightened as he knew that there would be another day to see his future wife. Little did he know that the time he looked forward to every night would be too far down the road for him to care much for then. Just that small gesture on his cold birthday night though, let his hopes soar high and wide enough to keep his spirits in good care for the long wait to come.