Aki was standing on the deck near the front and leaned against the banister as the ship’s pilot took it out to sea. He held onto the railing and grinned. The beggar had felt a lot of different things in his life, had been a lot of places in the Empire, but this was his first time out on the open sea. His first time out of the empire. The other sailors walked by and ignored his mad laughter as the ocean sprayed up in his face.
The sun was warm on his face and he held his face towards the sky as the wind blew through his hair. He breathed that sweet, salty air deep into his lungs. Maybe he should have been a water cultivator. He snorted at the thought. He’d probably be as broken as that Botan character.
“Having fun?”
Aki grinned and looked back towards the captain of the ship before he nodded his head. “I’ve never been out here before. I can see why you guys go so crazy about the open sea.”
Captain Iehiko sighed, and Aki felt him shake his head. “Well, unfortunately, you won’t get much of a chance to enjoy it. Like I said, you’re going to have to work.”
Aki grunted. “You took all of my money.”
Iehiko nodded once more. “I did, and it wasn’t enough to cover a passenger’s fare.”
“How short was I?”
“Enough.”
Aki glared at the man from behind his sunglasses.
“What sort of cultivator are you?” The captain asked him to change the topic. “Not wind, by any chance?”
Aki shook his head and turned his body the rest of the way to lean against the banister to face the captain now. “No, sadly, maybe in another life I was. I’m an ice cultivator.”
The blind man felt the captain lift an eyebrow and asked him a question with amusement in his voice. “And you’re going to Ilian?”
Aki shrugged. “Orders are orders. What do you cultivate? To which of the kami do you follow?”
They may have said that cultivators of a certain element may follow the various kami of their element. You didn’t have to follow that kami’s way in order to cultivate their element, though, of course. The old wise men in the mountains thought it might help. Thought that maybe it meant if you did, you’d have an easier road to immortality. It was yet to be proven, though.
The other man nodded. “Indeed. I can’t imagine a blind beggar having anyone to answer to, though?”
Aki frowned and crossed his arms against his chest. The captain was fishing for information and Aki wasn’t sure how much information he really wanted to give. “Is there a question in there, Captain?”
“Does there need to be?”
Aki frowned. “We all have someone to answer to in the world.”
“Indeed. You’re free for the time being, but I’m putting you in the rowing rotation. If you hear the bugle, get below deck. Will you need help to find it?” The captain sounded stern now and Aki could feel the man’s heart giving a steady thump.
He shook his head. “No, I’ll be able to find it easily enough,” he said gruffly.
“Will you be able to manage your strength? You’ll be the only cultivator in the rowing crew and I’d rather my ship not go around in circles.”
Aki grinned and chuckled a bit. “Seems like the kind of thing you should have asked before now.”
Before the captain could say anything else, Aki raised his hand to stop him. “Yes, it won’t be a problem. I’ve gone my whole life trying to hide what I am.”
The captain didn’t say another word, but Aki heard him turn on his heel and walk away. Aki stared at the man’s back and shook his head.
The stuffy cultivator ship captain was almost all the way back to the wheel platform before he called back to Aki. “Welcome to The Endeavour.”
“This trip probably won’t be as fun as I thought it would be,” he muttered to himself. He pulled at his beard and idly wondered how much drinking the crew did. He had stories about how raucous ship crews could be and thought that maybe there would be a chance for some fun after all.
He turned back towards the front of the ship and pushed his spirit out as far as he could. At his level it was a respectable distance. This might have been the first time in his life that he wished he could truly see. The blind man felt the water under the ship and felt the waves or the water slapping against the ship’s wood. He could feel all of that and sort of see an outline of everything with the glittery pale blue that was his icy aura. All this though, and the man still couldn’t really see it.
Aki spat and curled his lip in disgust. The mood soured he shook his head and walked away from the front of the ship. Since he knew the only other cultivator on the ship, and the captain knew he was one, he wasn’t shy about using his spirit to feel his way around the boat. He didn’t bother brushing his cane back and forth on the deck to figure out where to go. Instead, in his head, he saw a kind of 3D outline of the ship and what was where.
He was on the main deck. A few yards in front of him was a few steps up to where the pilot stood next to his giant wheel to steer the ship. Before that, a little to his right, was the mainmast. It was a tall thing and Aki would have had to break his neck to spot the crow’s nest on the top where some poor soul sat to act as lookout. Another look back towards the steering wheel and behind that was the pilot’s cabin and office.
Off the platform there was the staircase that went up to it and then down to the below decks. Aki gave a sniff and could smell the black gunpowder for the cannons. He supposed that made sense. The ship had to have a way to defend itself from marauders or whatever other threats might be out on the sea.
On the other side of the platform, past the cabin, were more steps and more of the main deck. In total there were three large masts. The main one Aki was standing close to, the one more towards the front where Aki was standing before and then one on the other side of the pilot’s cabin. He took a minute to listen to the canvas sails ruffle in the wind and hoped the wind would stay up. As long as that wind kept up, he wouldn’t have to row.
Wanting to explore the ship a bit more, he went to the steps and headed below deck. There was a hustle and bustle of commotion as the sailors went through and made sure everything was in order. The gun crew made sure the cannons were ready and serviced and did whatever it was they had to do to be ready in case of trouble. He gave another sniff and looked towards a closed wooden barrel. They were ready for an all out war with the amount of gunpowder they had in reserves.
He went through and could mostly avoid getting in anyone’s way. There was only once when he accidentally bumped into someone and then got cursed at in an accent that sounded like he was from the Isles to the northwest of the Empire. Those people were known a little to Aki as people who had individual kingdoms and knights. They also called their cultivators something different, but Aki couldn’t quite think of what it was. Wizards? He shook his head. Silly name.
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He eventually found his way to the crew’s quarters. It was towards the back of the ship and, just like the captain said, was full of hammocks. It was like a jungle of hammocks that hung from various wooden posts situated around the room. They went as high as five high off the floor in some spots if they were close to a wall.
He sensed around the room and tried to tell which might have been his. The scents all mixed together and no one hammock smelled like any one person. They must have just gone and slept on whichever hammock was open when they went to bed. Even now, there were some men sleeping. Aki figured it must have been some of the men who knew they were going to be in the first rotation of rowers, so they wanted to get their sleep.
Aki was about to turn and go when he paused and then looked back at a hammock close to the ground. It had been a while since he had slept on anything. He kind of wanted to explore the ship more, but he’d be out at sea for what, a month? A little nap might not hurt and he’ll need his strength when it’s his turn to row.
He gave himself a confident nod and moved towards the hammock. A little test to it before he committed. Pushed on the cloth and pulled and even turned and sat on it while not fully putting his weight on it. Eventually, he braced himself and sat on the hammock.
“Whoa! Whoa!” He yelled and held onto the fabric that made the hanging bed. When he went to sit, the hammock rocked, and he thought he was going to fly off the other side of it. A couple of the sailors woke and yelled and cursed as he rocked there hanging on to it, praying he didn’t fall off on his back.
It took him a few minutes, but he eventually got a feel for it and the rocking stopped. Aki could lie back and nuzzle into the hammock. He kept his cane laying on his chest with the bottom in between his legs. Within moments, the cultivator was asleep to the deepest sleep he had gotten in, well; he didn’t know how long.
Aki felt someone shake him and poke him in the chest. He just rolled over on the hammock and tried to ignore it. It was just part of the dream. No need to wake up. He swung a little more than he expected and tried to ignore it. He was sleeping so good he didn’t want to get out of the weird hanging amazingly comfortable bed.
“Get up, you’re needed at the oars. I’m gonna tip you over if you don’t climb out,” a gruff voice finally came a moment later.
Aki gave a grunt and then turned his body toward the person who was trying to raise him.
“I don’t care if you’re blind. You’re needed on duty and I’m tired,” the voice sounded once more. The man’s patience was growing thin, judging from his voice.
Aki nodded his head and through his aura he could get the broad strokes of what the man looked like. He was big and muscular, probably a head or two taller than Aki was, and he was bulky. Probably from rowing all day, Aki figured.
“Alright, alright. I’m getting up,” Aki finally said and grabbed his cane. He reached out to familiarize himself with his surroundings a bit more. Carefully, he flopped back around and could put his feet on the floor and climb out of the hammock.
He was barely out of it before the large man nudged past him and flopped into the hanging fabric.
“Rest well,” Aki said as he made way out of the bunk room, but his only response was a snore. Aki’s eyebrows went wide, and he turned back. The man had fallen asleep as soon as he laid down. He must have been tired.
The beggar idly wondered how long he slept as he brushed the cane from side to side to try to find his way to the oars.
“Here, let me help you,” a younger voice came from beside him.
Aki almost staggered. How the hell did the kid sneak up on him like that? Now that he knew the person was there, he felt at the boy with his aura, and he was indeed a kid. Probably only in his teens and wiry.
“Is it alright if I hold your shoulder? If we take much longer to get down to the oars, we’ll get in trouble and might not get dinner,” the voice came once more.
When Aki nodded his head and gave the boy an affirmative, he felt a hand reach up and grab his shoulder. He was then directed around the ship’s narrow walkways. The blind man could sense everything now that he was fully awake and wasn’t scared to let his aura out around the ship. He still walked into the corner of a wall or something here and there. His way of ‘seeing’ was far from perfect, but it helped. Still though, sometimes accidents happened.
“Sorry, sir, right here. We have to go down one more deck. There’s five steps and when we get down there, you’ll have to crouch down. There isn’t a lot of room for standing,” the voice explained to him.
Aki nodded and climbed down, counting the steps. When he got to the bottom, he knocked his head against the staircase opening that turned into the ceiling of the bottom deck. A loud grunt, and he grabbed his head.
“Sorry, bit lower,” the voice said and Aki glared at the voice for a moment.
“I did say you had to crouch down,” the boy told him, indignant.
“Yes, yes, my fault,” Aki said and stopped glaring at him. He felt the boy grab his shoulder once more and then was led away from the staircase.
In front of Aki were several rows of benches, most of which were already occupied by men and women. He wondered whether these people received payment, and if so, how much? Aki couldn’t think of anywhere that used slaves but… He stopped the thought and shook it away. No, no cultivator would use slaves for their labor. Or well, he hoped. The captain seemed to have a high opinion of himself, but he didn’t seem the type to do that to another human.
“You two, get in that second to last bench there on the left. Hopefully, you fools don’t slow us down. I have good strong people in front and behind you, so even if you lag, hopefully it won’t hurt us too much.”
Aki lifted his head and found the source of the voice. A barrel-chested, bulky man stood at the front of the room. Next to him was a younger, smaller woman who sat behind a drum.
“Sit!”
Aki felt himself being hurried towards the bench the director indicated. The boy slid in first, and Aki sat next to him.
“That’s Kayden. He’s the oar foreman. He’s kind of a dick,” the boy told Aki once they sat.
Aki stared forward as he heard the name. “Where’s he from?”
“Aside from the captain, the entire crew is from Ilian. My name is Owen. By the way, sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” he said.
Aki nodded his head and then felt the oar in his lap. He could hear the boy grunt a little as he got it into position.
“Well, thank you for the help, Owen. My name is Aki,” he said as he heard a slow and steady beat on the drum.
Aki grabbed the oar and started to work it with the boy and the paddle.
“We probably aren’t a great team. It’s a good thing they put us in between two stronger teams. I’m not as strong as I should be for this job. Usually I’m just a deckhand, but the captain had to expel a couple of the oarsmen at the last port for being too rowdy,” Owen said as they paddled.
Aki smiled and nodded his head as he paddled. Owen figured he’d be weak because he was blind, which would probably be a decent assumption, judging from how Aki must have looked to him. Aki paddled along, though, and tried to keep his strength down. He didn’t want to be found out and ended up rowing the ship in a circle.
“So how did a crew of men from Ilian end up with a captain from the Empire?” Aki asked as they rowed.
“It’s good to have a captain that can do magics, or well… cultivate, as your lot calls it, right?”
Aki nodded his head. “Yes, I’ve heard the term.”
The beggar tried to hide his smirk by lowering his head and pretended it was because he was struggling to row.
“Yeah, we don’t have many people that can do that on Ilian and the mages of the United Island Empire, or whatever they call themselves, are too snooty to work on a ship,” Owen continued to explain.
Aki just nodded his head. Mages? He mentally filed the word away. He had never been to the islands to the north of Ilian, but he had heard of them and knew one of his fellow beggars was from there. That just must have been what they called cultivators there?
“It’s just too bad the captain isn’t a wind cultivator, then we wouldn’t have to do this. He could just magic wind the sails and we could be off,” Owen said sourly.
“Then we might not be on the ship, or well, I wouldn’t,” Aki said.
He felt Owen nod his head and shrug. What did Owen really care if the blind man was on the ship or not? He was normally a deckhand and could easily still be on the ship just swabbing the deck.
“Maybe,” Owen said simply.
Aki just smirked and continued to row.
The pair rowed in silence after that and Aki just worked on managing to not row too hard. That in itself was a decent workout that helped him practice control. Eventually, once he got the pacing down, he started to cultivate.
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What will Aki discover on his journey west?
