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The Wind Riders finally made it back home. Having loved, having lost, and having grown. Van was no longer afraid of water, her curse having been turned into a blessing. And with her fear gone, there was one more thing she wanted to do before returning to adventuring. Sailing. Her family had done it for generations, and she wanted another way to connect with them, besides the obsidian shard she carried around.
After helping the Rusty Nut return to normalcy, she excused herself from her beige restaurant, giving her husband a quick smooch as she left.
"I'll be back dear, make sure the nut stays safe while I'm gone" She said, giving him a tight hug.
"Lovey, where are you running of to?" He asked, hugging back
"I'm loyal to the Nut, but I think I'm more loyal to my family. I want to see how they navigated the oceans. I've been afraid for too long, it's time to be brave."
Bert smiled at his wife, happy to see her be able to face what she had once feared most. "Well I won't keep you here, we can add the sea to our marriage too, with the sky."
Van grabbed her coat and hat, and started heading off the Uplands, hoping to see her old friend down in Scrapsylvania.
Marya had just finished getting the boat together. It wasn't the best thing in the world, but it was hers, and Mila's when she visited. And Van's. Somewhere on the top of the boat, on the mast, has the engraving "so sails a worthy boat." A part of their adventures, a piece of what came before, a thing to look forward to with this boat. It would be rude to call the boat The Zephyr 3, so Van and her came up with a better name, Jazzy Tazzy.
Marya waited by the water for Van to show up. She chuckled to her, thinking about how she'd wait a thousand years for her friend if she had to. After a few minutes, Van finally showed up.
"Oh Captain my Captain, you ready to embark on our next adventure?"
"Ha Ha, the real question is if you are" Marya responded, throwing over a couple pieces of rope. "The boat isn't that big, room for us two, maybe one more if Bert or Mila wanted to join, but I know both of our people are busy with their own adventures"
"Yeah, Bert will be stuck with The Nut until I get back. whenever that is. I can't stay out for too long though, maybe just a quick trip." she sighed, looking towards the horizon. She loved this new freedom, but she wanted to still be close enough to Bert to help out. Maybe once she got her sea legs back, she could talk to Bert about expanding The Nut to the sea.
"Right, well, the sooner we get this boat in the water, the more time we have to go out. Every second counts."
Van nodded, using her tentacle arm to pick up the boat and move it further into the water, after, she swiftly hopped on the boat, grabbing the jib line as she sat up front. Now that she had this arm keeping the ropes tight should be much easier, the only hard part would be hiking.
"Hey Van, you know how we were so sky eyed, maybe now we're called sea eyed" Marya joked, grabbing the tiller. "you know, maybe sometime we can switch spots, you captain and I crew. It could be fun."
Van shrugged, "Sure, I guess we're all figuring out new stuff, what's one more change."
Marya looked towards the water, sensing a small shift, looking out, she saw a wind line heading towards them. "Van, look, see how the water looks different right there, we can go faster if we hit that, but you'll have to stick a lot of your body out the side. you might get dunked."
Van thought about it for a second. While Tazgw’agwa and her relationship means the curse is finally gone, what if it wasn't. What if she got dunked and never was seen again, gone to the water like her father and his before, since the beginning of the Chapmans. She didn't know if Marya could take being responsible for another one of her friends disappearances. Maybe her powers worked different in Gath. She might not get her gills, or maybe eventually her arm stops working. Maybe -
"Hey, Van, we don't have to go that way, we can leisure around today, you being comfortable is more important than us going all over the place today. We can head back home and practice this stuff on land."
Marya was worried about Van. She knew about the Chapman's past curse, that's why she was so surprised when Van agreed to join her today. She wanted to make the experience as enjoyable as possible. But eventually something will go wrong in the boat. It can capsize, and she didn't want that to ruin Van's day.
Van looked at Marya. "No, no, I want to do this. But maybe we avoid the high wind spots, just for today. Next time we can go towards them."
"Of course, If that's the case, I'm going to turn the boat, the metal part above our head, The Boom, it's going to swing over, try not to get hit by it, you'll get a concussion." Once she got the nod of approval, she started turning "Tacking."
Marya started to turn the boat, calling out her turn to make sure Van wasn't caught unaware. The boom swung quickly to the other side, if you blinked you would have missed it. Marya quickly moved to the other side of the boat, the side the boom wasn't on, and put her feet under a pair of straps on the bottom, leaning her body out of the boat.
"See Van, hiking isn't that dangerous, its honestly fun once you get the hang of it"
Van was considerably slower than Marya about this sailing stuff. "Give me a second…" She tried to move over as quickly, grabbing her sail's rope from the other side. She wasn't used to boats anymore, maybe she'd ask the Chapman's about it later.
"How are you so good at this stuff anyway? I never thought you would sail"
"Van. Scrapsylvania is an Island of Scraps. All we have is tetanus and open water. Sailing is one of the only things we can do around here. how do you think I knew how to build a boat."
Van shrugged "Lucky guess? I honestly thought you just found it. The island is made of scraps, you could've grabbed it"
"I'll turn this boat around right now I swear." she joked. Marya moved back inside the boat, shaking it back and forth. "I'm joking. Obviously."
Van grabbed the mast. "alright Junker, I guess since your the boss I have to listen." she joked back, stifling a laugh.
They both devolved into a fit of laughter for a couple minutes, before composing themselves.
They sailed for a few hours, Marya slowly teaching Van the ropes, both literally and figuratively. Always making sure Van was okay with whatever their next move was. Van slowly got more comfortable with the idea of sticking themselves out the boat, slowly sitting on the railing of the boat. With Marya's encouragement, Van agreed to come back another day to learn more.
"Van, just let me know when you're free. I have nothing better to do. and you can get yourself a life jacket if your worried. All of the ones here are punctured or broken."
"I'll see if theres some in my closet or something, but.. I had fun today. Thanks for taking me out for a ride. I'll see you soon." Van waved a goodbye
"See you soon Van."
Marya looked at Van going, feeling a small pang in their chest, how odd. She quickly got to work making some on land versions of what was on the boat. She would eventually teach Van how to stay calm if the boat capsized, and maybe get them some dried fruits and crackers for their next ride.