18 Chapter 17 - Hymns

The rocking of the boat made Archer unsteady on his legs. He had a queasy feeling in his gut that made him feel like he was throw up this morning soup at anytime. He would never be able to understand why people willingly chose to set sail. The prince shoved down the feeling of nausea and walked back across the deck to his master. Looking over the railing briefly, there was nothing but ocean around them now. The sun reflected off of the ocean, making the light appear to dance as the waves carried it.

"How long did you say the journey was master?" Archer asked, ignoring the pair of crew members who were bickering loudly nearby.

"Captain said it would only be a days trip. I expect it to take slightly longer if the rumors of the waters are true though. I can't imagine what creatures there would be that could have driven the men mad. We can't let it stop us though." Bring himself out of thought, Shuien noticed Archers lack of color from his face. "Why don't you go below deck and try to help wherever your needed? Being lower to the base of the boat will reduce the rocking you feel too. So it should be able to provide you with a little relief."

Not wanting to open his mouth from the fear of it not producing only words, he just nodded his head and turned from the master. As Archer walked away, he noticed that several members were scrubbing the deck from what appeared to be a blood spot. Peaking his interest, Archer walked over to it. "What happened here?" He asked, genuinely curious.

"No business of yours pup." The man retorted, he had several deep lashes across his back that seemed like they were swollen and puffy. The blood that dried within the skin almost wasnt visible due to the swollen skin. The man looked enraged at Archer although he only asked a question. Wanting to avoid conflict, Archer didn't say another word and walked towards the stairs that led below the deck. The swaying didn't seem to stop much as he did so, regardless, he looked around and spotted multiple beds. "This must be crew quarters," he thought to himself. As Archer made his way to the next flight of stairs, he noticed movement in the back corner of the cabin.

Walking up to where he saw that glimpse, his eyes finally adjusted to the light and he noticed a couple dozen or so people huddled in the corner of the cabin. Some of them had tears streaming down their face, clearly traumatized from the events that had transpired. Several of them seemed to only stare at the wood wall blankly, void of any emotion on their face. Most of them had tattered clothes, but miraculously none of them seemed to have any injuries. A couple of the individuals had cloaks on with their hoods drawn and were laid over, as though sleeping.

Averting his eyes, Archer walked over to the nearest crew-member. He was a shorter guy and was only wearing pants. They were baggy and brown, almost like an old sack had be used to make them. His arms were lined with tattoos, barely leaving any of his natural skin tone visible. He looked up at Archer as he walked up.

"Who are all these people?" Archer asked, motioning his head in the direction of the stowaways, glancing at them briefly them back at the worker. A shudder of crying broke out from behind him as he asked this.

"People that made it here before you did. Cap'n has a soft spot when it comes to his hometown. He saw these people running from some of the monsters and we took them in till we land at Puraloke."

"That's pretty generous of you." Moving on from the subject, "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Not me, no. The fellas on the gun deck could always use a hand or two however. I usually get stuck only cleaning the quarters here." Pointing in the direction of the next set of steps leading further into the ship, Archer bid the man farewell and continued on. He glanced back and noticed one of the hooded individuals had woke up and was looking in his direction. A chill went down his spine as he looked into the shadow that was cast due to the persons hood.

Walking down the steps, the wood seemed to groan as his body weight rested on each step. Once his feet his level flooring, he was beginning to feel the difference between the deck and being a couple flights down inside the boat. The relief made him take a deep breath. Although the air was dusty and stale, it felt nice as his nausea was beginning to subside. There were four men on this level and they were split into two groups. Both groups were huddled over their own cannon and were cleaning the barrels of the weapons.

"Where can I help you gentlemen?" Archer asked, announcing himself into the room.

One of the men got off of his knees and walked over to Archer, he had a bald head and a long, brown beard that had a couple of braids in it. He was shorter than Archer, as most men were, but he appeared as broad shouldered as an ox. "What makes ya think that you can help us?"

"I'm not implying you aren't doing your job. I'm getting restless and I'm just offering my services wherever I'm needed." Archer could tell these men had trust issues just based on his last several minutes of interaction with them.

The furrowed brow of the man relaxed. "Well we don't need help with the cannons here. Tell ya what, go to the ship stores and bring a crate of round shot and fat."

Slightly excited that he wasn't being turned away for the first time, he nodded his head quickly and walked towards the steps. Based on what he had learned from his studying at the castle, he vaguely knew the anatomy of a ship. The stores were usually kept at the level below the gun deck. Once he made it to the store room, a mix of smells hit his nose. A mix of old food and iron seemed to blend in the air, causing the prince to cringe his nose slightly. Finally spotting a barrel in the corner that was actually labeled "oil" he stacked in on top on the crate of round shot that he found. As he squat down to lift the load, the smell caused the nausea to resurface. He ignored the twisted in his gut as he hefted the load and climbed back up the steps.

Once he made it back to the crew members on the gun deck, they looked at him somewhat surprised. Squatting down and placing the goods against the wall of the ship, Archer could catch a glimpse of the shimmering water through the porthole of the ship. Not wanting to look at what he had for breakfast a second time, he averted his eyes. Archer walked back to the guys and squatted down next to them.

"I've never seen weapons like these before. Where did they come from?" Archer asked. Throughout his years of studying, he knew the different types of weapons that were used when it came to warfare, however; none of his books had ever mentioned anything about an explosive based weapon. It was amazing.

"Cap'n designed it. You wont ever find another vessel with these babies."

The crew member seemed to puff his chest slightly, as though boasting the power of their vessel. Another of the burly looking men stood up and grabbed the crate of oil that Archer had placed next to the wall. He popped the lid on it and almost as though in unison, all the men scrunched their noses.

"Rancid shit I tell ya." The guy said. It made Archer feel slightly better knowing that he wasn't the only on that the nasty stuff affected.

"My name is Olrick by the way." The man with the braided beard said out of the corner of his mouth as he stuck his hand into the barrel and grabbed a massive glob of the goo that was inside. "This here is Neterly, Brostos, and Vestros." He nodded his head at each of the individuals as he stated their names. They grunted in response.

All the men had a similar build- Short and stocky. Neterly's hair blended with his beard, although both were an untidy orange color. His stubbed nose gave his face a wider look that the others. Brostos and Vestros could have passed for brothers. Both had beards that were black as night and their hair was braided behind their head. There facial features looked exactly the same.

"My name is Archer." The prince said back to the individuals. Olrick opened the back of the barrel from the cannon and smeared the goo in his hand across the orifice. There was no gap for air to seep through by the time he was done. Closing the hatch, Neterly slide a round shot into the other end of the cannon. There was no clank of metal as the ball slide to a stop due to the ball settling into the oil.

Piping up again, "How does this work?" Curiosity was smeared across Archers face as he asked.

"Whale fat. Whale fat is extremely flammable. Cap'n found out that of you put the goo in an area with only one means of leaving when ignited, then it explodes from the only open end. Once you slide the round shot on top of it, it builds pressure as it explodes out, hence it fires out the round shot. I couldn't tell you have the Cap'n discovered this, but it has come in handy on more than one occasion."

After greedily absorbing the knowledge, Archer grabbed a handful of the goo and continued to help the men finish readying the cannons. When everything was in place and taken care of, he bid the men farewell, happy with his newfound knowledge and the ability to help somebody who wasn't a complete donkeys ass. Climbing back up to the main deck, avoiding a glimpse at the hooded person on the way, he saw that clouds had started to cover the sky. A slight drizzle was starting to fall. The wood was soaking it up and the ocean looked like a sheet of ripples that seemed to stretch forever. Shuien was standing next to the Captain who was manning the wheel. Concern was spread across both of their faces as they stared past the bow of the ship.\

Turning to see what had their attention, Archer saw a path of fog ahead. The fog was so thick that it looked like one of the clouds above had flown to low and was hovering right above the surface of the water. Everything on the boat was quiet and in the distance Archers ears picked up humming, or singing. It was still a little too far off to be able to tell correctly. As the ship passed from the clear of the ocean and into the cloud, the humming exploded out loud into the melody of a song that started to entrance him.

Trying to shake his head clear, he briefly noticed some of the men looking over the railing of the ship with smiles beaming across their faces. It was hard to make out, but one of the men appeared to grasp a figure out of the fog and leaned towards it. The song around him echoed off of the wood from the ship. Then just as fast as the song began, the man disappeared, pulled overboard and into the depths of the ocean with a splash. The ordeal didn't seem to bother Archer. Instead, he was envious of the man. He wanted to jump of himself and embrace whatever was performing such a ravishing melody.

Fire spread through Archers limbs as he listened to the song. Unlike the other times this happened, he paid it not attention. His mind was enveloped in the music bouncing around the inside of his skull. As though his body had a mind of its own, he walked to the railing where the man had fallen overboard, hoping that he could be chosen to go next.