Chapter Text
The sun was bright against the ocean waves giving the sea the faint smell of sunshine and salt. Caduceus breathed deeply, his eyes closed, and listened to the sound of waves crashing against the ship. He was pleased to note that these sounds didn’t give Caduceus the anxiety he learned to expect from being surrounded by so much ocean. In and out, his breathe acclimated, becoming in tune to the music of seafaring nature. He relaxed, taking another sip of minty tea. The smell of home warming him.
He sat atop his usual place in the crow’s nest. He quite liked his little spot this high up. It was more quiet here. He didn’t mind the company of the other Mighty Nein members, but sometimes their antics and energy could be a bit exhausting. He was used to taking things much more slow so quiet moments like these felt all the more special. He watched as his friends each took up their own respective residencies across the boat, keeping in mind that he was on watch for the day and needed to alert Fjord should he see something.
He saw Jester practicing her sketching by drawing Beau like “one of her French girls”, as she liked to put it. He wasn't quite sure what Jester meant by that. Sometimes his friends liked to refer to things that happened before Caduceus arrived without providing him any context. Maybe it was just another one of her inside jokes. Or...maybe she was referring to Avantika? It seemed to fit.
Well regardless, he knew it was just her having fun, but he liked to think this was one of her ways of putting the events in Darktow behind her. He couldn’t really be sure though since he wasn’t a mind reader, despite what the other members of the Mighty Nein thought of him. And Jester especially liked to keep it close to her chest. Sometimes that worried him.
Beau draped lazily across the deck in what Caduceus assumed she thought was a “sexy pose”. He couldn’t really tell what she was doing but he liked that they were having fun. He took another sip of tea when he saw the wizard come up from the cabins below.
Caduceus watched as he strode across the deck towards the bow of the ship. He looked a bit annoyed but that wasn’t unusual for Caleb. Perhaps Nott was being her usual rambunctious self and was a bit too loud for Caleb to do his “wizard stuff”. He knew Nott could sometimes get carried away with whatever she was doing. Or perhaps it wasn’t her specifically and Caleb was just having a bad day. Maybe he should go and give the wizard some company…
Or...perhaps not. For now anyway. He didn't want to seem overbearing and lately he's been giving the wizard a lot of attention. He couldn't really resist. There was something so strangely fascinating about the man. Brilliant, but also sensitive. Brave, but also incredibly cautious and deeply distrustful. Haunted...but also had a pretty good sense of humour. Caduceus knew that much of this was just a façade. There was still so much that Caleb refused to reveal to the other members.
Caduceus frowned slightly. What a complicated man. Caleb could handle himself in a fight to be sure, but for all his magical prowess and destructive power, the wizard felt so...broken. It felt like a stiff breeze could shatter Caleb into a million pieces.
Something in his past, a terrible trauma or someone dear to him made him this sad, haunted man he is today. Sometimes Caduceus had the impulse to just grab Caleb and wrap him in a big hug so he could protect or shield the wizard from whatever it was that seemed to be hurting him. Of course, he knew this wasn't the kind of thing you could just fix with a hug. But Caduceus was patient. He wasn’t entirely sure what seemed to be torturing the man, but the Firbolg knew Caleb would tell him when he was ready.
As he took another sip of tea, a dark shape loomed over the horizon catching the Firbolg’s attention. He stood up straighter and squinted over the glare of sunlight to get a better look. It seemed to be some type of landmass or an island. He breathed in deep and yelled, “land ahead,” in what seemed like a lazy voice.
He thought for a second. That might not be pirate-y enough. As an afterthought he added, “Ahoy.” Jester would appreciate that a bit more.
He could hear Beau laughing below him on the deck. “It’s land ho! You’re not supposed to say land ahead!”
“I dunno Beau,” Jester said seriously, “that doesn’t look like a land ho to me. And I’m an expert in these things.”
“She’s right you know,” Caleb said with equal frankness, “a true land ho requires there to be a sufficient amount of seamen.” Sometimes it was hard to tell if the wizard was joking since he tended to be serious no matter the subject. In this case, it was obvious as Jester was cackling with laughter.
“That’s…that’s not what I….nevermind. You’re not funny. You say you see land Caduceus?” Beau said turning to the Firbolg.
“I think so, yea. I can’t make out any details from this far away though.”
“Alright. Good work Deuci.” Beau smirked up at Caduceus and he gave her one of his small, goofy grins. It felt good to have friends who gave nicknames. It wasn’t something he was very used to yet.
“So should we land our ship?” She turned to the cabins, “FJORD get your ass up here!” She waited for him to approach before nodding to the land mass ahead. “Might be a good opportunity for us to get some supplies.”
Caduceus wasn’t entirely afraid of the water anymore, but he also didn’t mind the prospect of getting on some dry land for a spell. Maybe they could find some fresh fruit for that apricot tagine he was thinking of making tonight. He knew Marius would appreciate it.
Nott came up from below the cabins to see what all the commotion was about. When she saw the island up ahead she screamed.
“THANK THE GODS THERE’S LAND”. She bounded up to Fjord and grabbed a fistful of his tunic.
“We’re landing right?!” Her hands shook with a desperate gleam in her eye. Of course it had been a couple of weeks since they last docked. Caduceus felt like everyone was probably in need of a quick break on steady surfaces. That or risk Jester tattooing everyone on the boat just to keep herself occupied.
"I don't know if that's a good idea. It doesn't say there's supposed to be an island here..." Fjord said while checking his map.
“But wait, shouldn’t we check if there are hostile locals or something?” Beau was squinting at the isle ahead. Nott was usually the one to be more cautious but in this case, it looked like she was just too strung out from being on the sea all this time to care. Caduceus wondered if maybe he should calm her emotions a bit, just to help her along.
“Now hold on a sec, we’re getting a bit closer now. Caduceus, do you…um, see something?” Fjord asked hesitantly. Caduceus suspected Fjord thought the source of his perceptiveness was through some magic or divine power, but really he was just very good at noticing things. In all honesty, he thought this hilarious.
As he took a second glance, he saw that the island looked relatively deserted. It wasn’t very big, but it seemed to stretch on very far. A tall mountain of some kind rose up over the horizon and there seemed to be a dense forest blanketing the entire length of the island. Caduceus perked up at the sight. He was excited at the idea of making some new tree friends.
“I don’t see anyone unfriendly,” he said with a deeply affectionate sigh.
Fjord responded with a nod and stood thinking for a moment, wheels turning in his head.
“I don't mean to rush you,” Caleb smirked, “but if it helps with your decision, I can tell you there's almost no way of knowing for sure unless we get close enough to check.”
“Hm….well...alright, fuck it. Let’s take a look then.”
“Ai ai Kapiten,” Caleb gave a small salute. He looked reluctant to get off the boat, but willing to go along with what his friends decided.
“Alright. Cool.” Caduceus said as he downed the last bit of his tea.