20.A new horizon

Dear diary,
 
We managed to take Sea home… What now? That’s what everybody asked themselves in their mind I am sure. I too was a bit unsure of the answer. I had the general idea of what we’d like to achieve, but we need more than guidelines if we are to succeed. After a bit of contemplating and overall relaxing… as it was a lot to take in… we gathered round a small improvised fire on the beach next to that beautiful field. I brought the map and we started discussing which way to go. I wasn’t sure why this was a question, as the only way back would be the one we came through, right? I was wrong. Nixie suggested we should take it westward. It was uncharted territory and uncharted seas. We didn’t know for sure if the two seas, Syomalos and the Great Southern Sea would be connected. We had that old Tovan/Singularist map that suggested so, but it was probably just a guess. People had different opinions on the matter so we concluded we would take a vote. After everybody presented his or her concerns and advantages about the routes we voted. I wanted to go east, back from where we came, but more people agreed to going the west route. I agreed with the outcome, as I am a strong supporter of democracy, and started to plan a route and figure where we should go to avoid the infamous Du-Ul. A land filled with criminals and every nation’s most wanted and dreaded people. Or at least that’s what I heard of it. Cursed nonetheless. Reason enough, right? Haha.
 
After that we told the crew our decision and everybody was very approving of it. I must say I was surprised a little. I sense they have grown a lot from this voyage, just like us. They didn’t seem to mind the extra journey we had to make, and the fact that they might not be able to go back to Alomir on this ship. I am really proud of each and every one of them. Before everybody came I took Eve by the hand and left. I wanted to spend some time alone with her in this amazing place. It was just too peaceful to miss the opportunity. I told everybody not to expect us too soon.
 
We walked for a while, to make sure we are out of sight of any wanderer, while holding hands, kissing and hugging a lot. We stopped and went swimming in the azure sea. It was wonderful… The sunset was perfectly caught between two pointy rocks in the distance, almost looking like a heart. We reached a place where we could sit in the water, on a soft boulder, somewhere near some cliffs. The water was very warm, and refreshing. Even though we lost the sunlight there was still enough light for us to see, and…well… play and love. I remembered our first time, when Eve used that vial. It was magical, yes and it was perfect in the moment, yes. I wasn’t imagining something that could be better in any way. But I was wrong. We had no vial now, no magically induced palace or feelings, just us. If that was perfect then, this is perfect now. I just wanted to be lost in her and never ever leave. We were a lot more restless than usual. And I don’t even care what you think, dear diary. Call me a pervert or whatever you want. I want to love my poppy-Eve and give her the best energy I can muster. We eventually got out of the water and settled on the field nearby. The flowers and grass made for amazing pillows, blankets and bed. Even though we were naked we didn’t feel any coldness. It was as if mother nature tendered to our needs. The sky was filled with stars. More stars than I have ever seen. Eve was on my chest, twirled around one of my legs with her own. Night began to set in, slowly. But I wasn’t feeling like sleeping. Everything today was indeed mesmerizing and so.. so.. pure, but I couldn’t let this day end like this. There was something still missing. I bet Eve woke up because my heart started beating a lot faster. I asked her if she was sleeping. She was awake. I told her about today, and how I felt about it and that I wouldn’t ever forgive myself if I didn’t told her this. She looked up at me, and tried to stop me. I was certain of this, and had no hesitation... Yes, sleeping together is amazing, but that is not what’s important. It’s the feelings you feel when you sit like that. Saying nothing, starring nowhere, incapable of thinking about anything else but the person next to you... That’s what I feel love is like. And that’s what I am feeling. I told Eve I love her, truly, as she tried saying something before me. She didn’t say anything. I knew it was very early, we’ve barely been together for a month, but I didn’t regret saying it. I told her it’s okay, she doesn’t need to say anything. She looked at me and asked me to say what she felt. There I saw it. She was vulnerable.. yet brave, anxious.. yet calm. Her eyes were like an open book, carefully presenting the story of the most beautiful soul I’ve seen. I replied the same. I knew it, felt it. She loved me too! I must say I was a bit scared, but then relieved. Mutual love was not something I had much contact with, but that changed now…
My heart could finally rest. We went to sleep shortly after. I hold her tight the entire night and dreamt of this day for several nights to come. I… love.
 
The next day we both woke up smiling, it was early but the crew was probably readying the ship to leave. We quickly dressed up and went to join them, but not before a quick session of Bart kisses, as every morning from now on shall be. We were right, and a bit late, yes. Oops. We started sailing and doing our everyday trainings. Eve and I hold our usual gavan lesson, which went very smoothly. See, we can be serious together too! I went to check for some stuff in my room and came back to Eve and Verfy talking. I wasn’t aware of the discussion, but it seemed over, so I took over. Given our present situation with Pullius and his demons I found myself not needed anymore. So I suggested to Eve, as she was alone now, if I could move in with her. Her eyes literally started glimmering, I swear. I could feel her excitement, both in her eyes and her lips. Verfy approved too and encouraged Eve. I think they might’ve talked about this or something. Anyway, we were celebrating there. Meanwhile, Nixie, our very curious and INTRUSIVE captain decided to ask Heron about the naughty feeling of everybody on the ship, which of course, included us. Verfy had a surprisingly naughty idea of a threeway between her, Nixie, and Xebec. And was quite open about it too. I do wander if that’s something common for fire elementals… Anyway. Heron was now all fired up, so he had to spill everything because that’s what we told him to do. I knew I would regret it at some point. I was thinking non stop at the day before, while Eve had A LOT in mind, for the more close future. I… was surprised, yes. But intrigued. I knew her already to be crazy, but she was my crazy girlfriend. She, on the other had was not so happy with this outcome. She jumped in the water. After we brought her back on ship, Heron had already finished presenting everybody’s desires and his. Verfy was kind enough to take him away for a while, that’s when I took Eve and gave her a long kiss. I didn’t care for her naughty, kinky desires. Maybe we’ll even try some. I like her intensity. I am more of a soft guy, but I have my naughty side too. Anyway, enough with the bedroom talk. Drenizek came and hit Heron in the head with his staff, seeing he had peaked inside our minds. Eve wanted to try out hitting him too. It seemed fun so I joined in. It was a lot of fun! Hahaha. We resumed our day as normal. Eve had me take a gavan test to see if I am worthy of moving in with her. Needles to say, with such high stakes I gave my best and got it all perfect. And it wasn’t easy either. I went to pack my things up and called Eve to see how we organise our stuff. The rest is history.
 
The next few days were uneventful. I finished my gavan lessons and worked more on my singing. We discovered we were now sailing on a new sea. It was much more restless, with bigger waves and stronger wind. The type of sea this ship was made to sail upon. The crew was happy to work hard. I started to work on my nimbleness. Eve told me she’d like to see me more flexible and no I will not reveal the context! I asked Dillen for help as I saw he was kind of holding a class for this type of stuff. Most of my time not spent training or with Eve was in the captain’s quarters figuring out sea currents alongside Xebec, Nixie and Dillen. This sea is much more interesting, and I think we found a good route to follow. Unfortunately the weather stopped being so dandy after a while. One morning there were not so many waves nor any wind. And it felt odd. We quickly realised why as the ship started to be pulled in a huge storm. Waves were getting bigger and bigger. And the wind was everywhere, mostly in circles. Our ship held fast against the waves, but those were not regular waves. They were at least three times the size of our ship. And between the waves, entire valleys were formed. Everything felt like a never ending mountain trip. Poor Eve even vomited her guts at some point on the deck. I went under the deck to repair the damage caused by us free falling tens of meters. Vadrek came with me to help with the effort. I don’t know why I felt this would be a good idea, but in the moment I figured why not place the wooden planks inside the hole, “it would be easier to stop the water this way” Bart told me. Stupid Bart. Of course at the first crash everything burst inside and an even bigger hole was made. Everybody else was bailing as we tried to patch up the holes. We managed to survive this storm, all soaking wet. I tried hugging Eve but I still had that rowing motion in me and I fell down next to her. It was hilarious. We lost some cargo, but nothing too worrisome. I checked the sea with Xebec and it seemed we were now on a different current than the one before. He tried to keep us mostly pointed south by south-west. From what I know about sea currents, and the fact that here the water was warmer I concluded that we were somewhere west of where we were a day ago. It was a setback, but now we had a better current to take us, so we could make up for it if we are lucky. Somehow I was now in charge of where are we supposed to go until we find some charted lands. I guess I am a sailor now. Bart the Sailor Bard. That’s what the crew will call me. Heh. The next day I called for a together training early in the afternoon. I thought it would be nice if everybody told what they felt changed in their hearts, and how they evolved from our journey. Nixie told us he was feeling very anxious with the new information we got. I kind of felt let down by her. She said that she didn’t give up hope though, which was good. Maybe I couldn’t really understand what she was trying to say. Nixie seems very conflicting in general. I trust her to do the right thing, and she does, but if you ask her what is the right thing, it gets a little blurry. She is good at making decisions, but she is an awkward speaker. I noticed something at Eve when we sleep. She tilts her head to the right quite often and smiles. At first I though it was because I was there, but she does that even when I am not in bed with her, or when I’m on her left. I wonder what’s with that. I’ll ask her when we have some free time.
 
It was nearing my birthday and I wanted to train extra hard today. I wanted to surprise everybody with my singing, but I burned my tongue in the morning by accident… And then bit it… I hated that day. Why was suddenly the gruel hot. I guess that’s what I get for going first to take my food. I’ve learned my lesson. This reminded me of mother who was always telling me how to behave with women. I forgot about that. From now on I will only take my plate after all the girls had taken theirs. Out of respect. It’s the little things you know. Aaaand I won’t burn my tongue again. That didn’t stop me running around like a freak though. I am trying to lighten my footing. After such a day I went to sleep earlier than usual. I was sad. Sad Bart. Eve hold me in my sleep. No more sad. <3
 
Next morning I woke up full of energy. I concluded I must start my last year, before my twenties, with good mood and energy. In the morning we even saw the first bit of land in a while. Some orange cliffs with golden and red wave-like reflections dancing on them. It looked like the cliffs were on fire. It was an amazing sight. As we got closer we saw more glimmers and white accents to them. We decided to keep the west coast, going south. Later that day, after I was done singing and wanted to go on deck to see what everybody was doing Eve stopped me, because she had something for me. She gave me two bracelets, each with some runes carved on them and a little drawing. Mine had a pair of cherries and hers had a peach. I melted right away. And they even had a purpose too. She told me they would help us protect each other even when we are not close. We just needed to see the other and when needed an aura of protection would protect the other. It was an amazing gift. I will proudly wear it everyday. She told me how happy she was with me, and how much I have helped her grow, and… *smudge* the fact that she loves me, a lot. I couldn’t say a word… I started crying and I just hugged her very strongly for a while. There isn’t a single language, maybe apart from old elvish, that could tell her how much I felt for her. We started kissing, and we used that vial she had once again. I couldn’t care less if anybody heard us. This time it wasn’t a palace with sophisticated ornaments and whatever else, it was just a flower field…
 
A couple hours later we decided to go back up and see what’s everybody doing. Little did I know, these bastards were readying up a surprise party for me! And everybody was there too! They made a choir and sang my favourite songs. It was very touching and nice. Drenizek somehow managed to decorate the ship with the most intricate designs and things. THEY EVEN BAKED ME A CAKE! A fish cake yes, but it had something special on it. Everybody had put his little mark there on their side of the cake. They were all so cute and nice!!! I spotted Eve’s first, it was a circle. I immediately understood just how much I mean for her… I was very happy! The cake was delicious even though I am not a fish guy. There were games everywhere, organised by Nixie and Drenizek, and some by Dillen. From strength contests to swimming to athletic jumping to dancing. I took Eve dancing in that competition. In my opinion we were the greatest couple, but the jury decided Heron and Pullius were the best. I can’t deny their vote, after all Heron spun Pullius in the air like a ballerina. Eh, I had fun. I didn’t win any competition but I was in the top half most of the time. Eve was rooting for me at every step I did. It was such a wonderful day. At the end Vadrek brought a strange looking piece of plank with some runes on it. I figured this was Eve’s doing, so I expected nothing lame. She asked Nixie to throw a fireball at it, so I assumed some fire magic stuff was about to happen. When it hit it something wrong happened and the front of the ship was quickly engulfed in flames. Luckily Nixie brought a few barrels of water and extinguished it fast. Poor Eve was on the floor because she failed the runes. I lifted her up and thanked her, and told her how amazing it was, even if it failed. It still was nice. I laughed very hard. Haha. I kissed her on the forehead to calm her down. It was the best birthday party I have ever had, I told everyone that after I thanked them for it. You see dear diary, I never had a birthday party for me. There was always celebrations and good time whenever my birthday came across people's minds. But usually I was the one singing and providing them a good time. I didn’t think much of it then. I was in the middle of everything, so I felt good, but I never actually had a party for me. Like actually for me. These people did that for me. I am so thankful for everything. I don’t regret any of my old parties, at least now I know how to tell true friends from people that just take advantage of me. Here I had true friends. I couldn’t have asked for more from these people. They are amazing. I love them all.
 
I felt blessed today, God. I just want to thank you. May You forgive those beautiful people for their mistakes.