Welcome to Gaia! ::

Cerdik had buried himself deep in thought once isolating himself from the group. So when Aranai engulfed him in a hug, his body naturally tensed up. Feeling her warmth, though, that irrepressible (or so I hope... the amulet leaves me in wonder) heat that forever radiated from her body, he quickly relaxed, and even hugged her back, burying his head in her shoulder.

"Aranai..." He had not realized up to this point what had been missing, but he remembered now. He had been cold since she left, and it had sent him on a steady downward spiral.

Now his mood was perking up, not only at the heat, but at Aranai's return. He was somehow reminded of the painful emotions he felt when killing those bandits yesterday, and the same emotions felt when seeing Kato commit suicide earlier that morning. Tears formed in his eyes, and he wiped them against her shirt. They soon stopped, and he lifted his head once more, smiling widely. "Aranai," he said softly once more. "You are back."

In her absence, Cerdik had experienced loss, he now realized. He had so quickly become attached to her that it wasn't until now, after losing and regaining her companionship that he realized how she truly affected him. it was also a frightening thought, but Cerdik was beginning to accept that he was as frail emotionally as he was physically. That was his own fault, and he would have to overcome. For now, he just wanted to enjoy what time he would have with his friends.

Aranai leaned out of the hug and stood back a step from Cerdik, grinning at him. The wet spot he had left from his few tears dried quickly from the heat of her skin - which, to her dismay, was not repressible in the least.

"Yes, Cerdik - I am back. And glad of it! My task was made as swift as I could have hoped, with an old favor and a few handfuls of pearls." she said with a wink.

Aranai turned her head to smile at Adencia, her eyes alight, and gave a small dip of her head in a greeting.

"Adencia, it is good to see you once again. I had hoped to be with you all again."

Her eyes strayed to Tanyeera, who seemed guarded and thoughtful. She realized the elf had noticed her new... adornment. She would have to explain. But not now.
A man called out to the small group, telling them to board. Aranai was eager to comply, walking quickly back to collect her fallen pack, and fairly jogged up the ramp to the ship's main deck. Her heart was bursting with the excitement and the relief of being back with them - these people she had known for so little time, and yet the only ones she could ever identify with on a real level. She called back for Cerdik to follow, eyeing Ekko perched on his head. A chuckle escaped her.

Adencia was happy to have Ekko come flapping back to her. She smiled and stroked his feather head.

"Hey, there you are, I wasn wondering where you'd gone. I was afraid you wouldn't be back before we left. I would be making everyone wait untill you got here, I'd never leave without you."

Kyna walked by and rolled her eyes. "Love the bird much?"

"Hey you can't blame me." Adencia shot back, "He's a great companion when I'm traveling alone after all."

Garren was looking around at the crew as they began the get ready to cast off. It dawned on him that there was a greater number of women on the ship than men. Not that he was discriminating, he just found it curious.

"Regner?" he asked, "I can't help but nottice the greater number of women on your crew. Is there any reason for this?"

"If you were more familiar with Sirens you'd know." Regner answered, "Once we get out to open sea the Sirens will be right there with us. They are beings, woment to be more exact, that sing as a seductive lure in order to overcome the ship and ultimately bring any male crew, as they are attracted to the women, to drown. Many times this has happened with an all man crew. The ships just come floating back into harbour empty. Ghost Ships we call 'em. So women in your crew are rather useful when the Sirens are around. All men below deck and we have no problems. Savvy?"

"Alright! Cast off!" Regner called. The sails were down and the docking rope had been pulled in. Many of the crew below deck were beginning to run out the sweeps just to get them away from the dock. Soon they were far enough away to get some wind in their sails and they began to pick up speed.

"So how do you come about Sirens?" Garren asked. Adencia, who was nearby, heard his question and felt obligated to answer. She had been on several sailing voyages with Regner and Kyna after all.

"Oh, you'll know." She said, gazing out into the water. "You'll see the fog rolling in . . . thick as anything . . . that's when the storms blow over."

Garren grimaced. ". . . Sounds exciting . . ." he mumbled sarcastically.

Adencia looked down at thorn and gave him a thoughtful smile. "Hmm . . . I'm not quite sure. Sirens usually tempt men who are old enough to . . . well, to put it bluntly . . . have, eh, manly urges, if you will? It's really sort of an awkward subject." she blushed as she could see Garren shoot her a quizzical look as he caught bits of the conversation. "But, in the event that there is some sort of possibility you could be effected I think it would be wise for you to go below deck when needed."

It wasn't long before they were too far from shore to see the town and the ships crew began falling into the ships rythm, going to where they needed to be at the right time.

((You guys post sumthin, because after Imma do a time skip to . . . *dun dun dun* THE STORM! That is all ;] ))

Kyna heard Tanyeera's question and set down the coil of rope she was holding. "Oh, there isn't really anything we need help with, we have plenty of ship hands. If you really want to help then just jump in anywhere and the crew will help you out. Otherwise just do what you wish."

"I'm going to head down to the galley." Adencia called to her comrades. "Anyone can join me. We could do with a couple more cooks, there's planty of people to feed."

Tanyeera followed Adencia down to the galley quite willingly. She didn't have anything better to do, and when the storms that followed the sirens came, she doubted that it'd even be possible to cook anymore. Therefore, she'd be free to swim a bit. She knew her... fascination with storms and such was a major weakness of hers, but she truly couldn't help it. Anyway, she'd return to herself, and the ship, once the storm blew over.

A cool wind swept Aranai's hair behind her as she stood on the deck, watching a thick fog begin to peal out over the water. She felt the coldness around her, but it did not penetrate her body, so she felt no need to button her coat or otherwise protect herself from the coming storm. In fact, she loved storms. It was really a wonderful feeling to be amidst the rain and wind and feel it sizzle off your skin. A call was made for all men to go below deck, and she felt a nagging tinge of fear. Surely there weren't enough women on board to get them through this! She herself knew nothing of sailing - it had never been a family fancy, and hardly one she ever thought she'd enjoy. But now, skimming keenly over the waves, she felt a wonderful exhilaration.

She turned then, and looked about the deck, at the manly figures crawling down the ladder where they would shut themselves up for the ride. A soft smirk played on her face. How ironic that it would be the women protecting the men on this voyage?