Sailing to Valgoore-2

'Oh dear lord… Maybe going to Valogoore was a bad idea.' David thought when he looked at Captain Duffy's ship in the distance...

The ship that David was looking at was a medieval-style ship that used sails to move forward. The whole ship was made of wood and looked like something out of a disney movie…

David had traveled on a lot of ships in his past life. He had seen ships that were 5 times the size of this ship. He had also seen and sat in small boats that smugglers use when smuggling items from Sri Lanka to India. The boats that smugglers used looked like they were made by using scraps from the scrap yard.

Boats used by smugglers although looked very bad but they were surprisingly durable. And these kinds of boats hardly capsized. But this ship looked like any strong wind could blow it away. He knows that these kinds of ships were used a lot in the 1800s. But still looking at the exterior of the ship, David was having a hard time not thinking about capsizing…

"What do you think? Isn't this a beauty?" Captain Duffy asked who was standing right beside David.

"It looks wonderful," David said with a fake smile.

"Then what are you waiting for, lets's go." Captain Duffy said while pushing David forward.

David then started walking towards the ship. As he came closer, he saw that at the back of the ship was a huge board. And on that huge board, 'My Lady' was carved. It was a strange name for a ship.

As he came closer, he saw that two huge ramps were going in and out of the ship. Sailors were using these ramps to push barrels in and out of the ship. While people were also boarding the ship with the help of these ramps. As Captain Duffy came to the ship, every person who was working gave him a slight bow and then went off to work again.

David then boarded the ship with Captain Duffy. As they got onto the ship, David was amazed by how the ship was made. He could see a web of ropes going from one end of the ship to another. He also noticed the very big sail of the ship. It was currently folded as the ship was docked right now. David also noticed that the sail seemed to be torn from some places. The ship reeked of alcohol and piss, but it was still manageable…

As David was standing on the deck of the ship and admiring the ship, a man came running toward them. The man looked like he was in his 20s and had a muscular physique. The man was bare-chested and was wearing a bandana on his forehead.

"Captain." The man said as he approached David and Captain Duffy.

"David meet him. He is my son and my first mate, George." Captain Duffy said.

"Hello." David greeted George.

"What is the status?" Captain Duffy asked.

"Well, you came too early Captain. I was not expecting for the next hour or so. But the ship is fully stocked. The cargo has been boarded and most of the passengers are here." George said.

"Well, we will wait for half an hour more, and then we will set sail." Captain Duffy said.

"Aye, sir," George said.

"And could you please do me a favor, take this young man and show him the way to the public hall. He would be staying there." Duffy said.

"Sure, come on young man," George said.

Then David started following George inside the ship. While going forward, George started telling him the rules of the ship…

The Captain's office is a strictly off-limits place. No one is allowed to go in there in any circumstances or the consequences will be very brutal. Rations will be given to each passenger 3 times a day. If someone doesn't like what they are being served then they could not complain.

The kitchen of the ship is also a restricted area of the ship. And like this, there were many more rules that every passenger had to follow…

Duffy had already informed David that private rooms are not available anymore. So if he wants to go then the needs to travel via the public hall. These were essentially big halls that were shared by the people who could not afford individual rooms.

Usually, these rooms are jam-packed with people. These rooms are very smelly and people of his stature could not survive in there. But David didn't mind it.

As soon as George showed him the hall, David went inside and picked the corner of the room. He took off his shirt and made a roll out of it. Then put the roll of his shirt under his head and fell asleep…

****

When David woke the next day with a body full of energy. As he got up, he looked around and saw that the hall was now jam-packed with people now. The whole hall was illuminated by what looked like a chandelier made from iron. Several candles were burning at the top of the chandelier that was responsible for the light in the room People of different sizes and gender were all sitting or lying on the floor with their belongings and were chatting amongst themselves.

David then got up and picked up his rolled-up shirt. Then he navigated his way towards the door of the hall and went out for a walk. He then made his way up the deck of the ship.

As he was coming up the deck, David started feeling the cool breeze coming from the deck. As he came up, David was greeted by a huge open sea.

On the deck, sailors were busy with various types of work like cleaning or tightening the ropes. Other than sailors, several people were just roaming around the deck and were having a good time in a cool breeze. As David came up, he felt a lot better than when he was in the hall.

The hall was very cramped with no window. Because of this, it becomes sweaty and smelly. And this deck was much better than the hall…

As David started looking around the ship, he saw Duffy at the other end of the ship. He was standing in front of the ship's wheel and was steering the ship in the right direction. Just beside him was George who showed Duffy some charts…

David then went towards the side of the ship and looked down. He could see that the ship was cutting and sailing through the water flawlessly. Although he had to admit, the ship was seems were slow to David. But this was the best option that he has at the current moment…

David then remembered that this world is supposed to have a train. That got him thinking that then why not this world has ships with engines. From what he remembers, steamers used the same principle of a steam engine of the train. So shouldn't ships should have steam engines as well?

Then David started feeling a little bit hungry. He remembers clearly what George told him last night. According to the rules of the ship, food will be served three times a day and at a particular time. If someone fails to take their portion of food at the time of the meal, then they would have to wait for the next meal. And no exception would be made to this rule.

David looked at the position of the sun and determined that it should be around noon. Sun was almost over his head, which means that he may have slept through breakfast time. David was dejected that he missed the breakfast. But what he could do in this situation…

But as he was thinking, he heard a crunching noise from his right. There he saw that a man and a woman were standing and talking to each other. The crunching noise came from the delicious and riped fruit that the woman took a bite out of. David looked at the fruit with envy as he was feeling very hungry just after hearing the sound of crunch from the fruit.

David then thought that maybe he could get fruit from those people. He didn't have a lot of hope, but still, there was nothing wrong with trying. But David couldn't help but think whether it would be a good idea. Because the duo of those people wasn't exactly the normal people that David had seen soo far…

The man in question tall man with a height of around 6 feet 2 inches. From his body shape, it was clear that the man was very muscular. David could also see a sword hanging on the side of the man. The sword looked like a normal broad sword used in medieval Britain.

The woman on the other hand was a short woman around 5 feet 3 inches tall. She had small stature from her body shape she looked fit. She also had small knives on her belt and was wearing boots similar to that worn by the man.

Looking at their attire and body language, David couldn't help but wonder about the identity of these people. From what he could tell, these people were professional warriors or something. They gave him the feeling that they must be war veterans or something similiar…