It was several minutes after everyone had returned back to their tasks before Akira could finally fully process what had happened to him.
‘Wait do I have a girlfriend now?’
‘How did this happen?’ Akira asked himself as he looked at Mileena who was sitting on his right and was combing her tail.
“The air is even more humid out here on the south sea. My hair keeps getting all frazzled as soon as I finish brushing it,” complained Mileena as she noticed Akira’s gaze.
“Oh,” was all Akira could say.
A short time passed as Akira thought of his current situation. He decided that he didn’t mind having a girlfriend, even though it was a bit odd how it had all been decided.
“How long are we staying here?” asked Klyn who was sitting by the rail with a wooden fishing pole.
“The rest of the fleet is all ready to set sail. So as soon as the ships that you guys arrived on replenish your food and water we can leave. So a day or two from now,” said Azura.
Akira looked to his left to see his sister sitting next to him watching Mileena like a hawk.
“You’re still here? Aren’t you supposed to be back on the other ship with grandfather?” asked Akira.
“He doesn’t need me for anything right now so it’s okay…Oh! That’s right the queen wanted to meet you after hearing so much about you from the Cora.”
“Mother will probably be disappointed since he is quite average,” said Shaarla in a dismissive tone as she flipped over to tan her back.
Mileena quickly kissed Akira on the lips and while hanging onto Akira said, “I don’t think you are average. But even with all your flaws I still love you.”
“It should be me saying that to you! You who can’t take one step in a dungeon before you set off all the traps. Not to mention that stuff you call cooking….” said Akira mumbling the last part.
Maya seeing such lovey-dovey stuff happening in front of her bopped her sister on the head before Azura could.
“Cool it Mileena or you’ll go into heat,” warned Maya as she pried Mileena off of Akira’s arm.
“I see, so this is something just like a cat or a dog? How normal…I lie! You guys are too strange!” said Chack.
“No, it’s not like those animals that go into heat during a certain season. We Nyaantails, when overwhelmed with emotions of love will go into heat… and then stuff happens,” said Maya pushing up her glasses on her nose in a very smart way.
“Ummm… I don’t think we should be talking about something like this,” said Akira scratching his head while he looked into the sky to avoid everyone who was looking at him.
“Yeah, talking about THAT happening between Big brother and her…how embarrassing…,” said Azura.
While the ships were busy gathering supplies for the long trip south, Akira spent the rest of the time ignoring the other girls by talking to the queen of the east sea. In doing so he was able to understand more about the south sea.
The whole time this was happening, stubby stayed on his shoulder sleeping most of the time. When he was awake he ignored Mileena and Azura who were constantly trying to lure him away with nuts and other scraps of food.
***
With the help of the mermaids escorting the ships, the fleet was able to pass most of the troublesome areas that would have caused them problems if they had tried to go alone by themselves.
It was amazing how fast the mermaids could swim and their stamina was no joke.
Akira was staring out at the sea sketching whatever he saw onto a piece of paper that was starting to look more and more like a crude map. He knew the map would most likely be wrong in the future with the changing seas but it was better to have something just in case he ever needed to travel in the south sea.
“Bluuuuggghhhh,” for the hundredth time the sound of someone losing their last meal could be heard some distance away.
With several weeks of sailing behind them, Akira was able to find out that Azura was prone to seasickness.
“Here, have some water,” said Mileena as she patted the silent Azura who silently took the waterskin and slowly took a sip of the water.
“Ewww! Who puked in the water!?” asked Shaarla her voice coming from the bottom of the ship.
“What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at the front with your mother? Did you escape and come here to slack off?” asked Maya.
“I wish I could! I’m here to pass along a message. Tell the captain of the ship that part of ‘The eye of south sea’ is still active and we will reach it in a few hours.
The Grandelders have decided to take the risk and skirt the edge since it should be getting weaker every hour. If we turned around now we would run out of supplies due to the extra time needed to sail around the island chain to the next island that has fresh water.”
“I heard you loud and clear,” said Finch, a grizzled seafaring captain who had been on the seas all his life, although this was his first time crossing an entire ocean.
“Be sure to make preparations and follow closely behind the other ships. The ‘eye’ may be weakening but it still can drag your ship to the bottom of the sea. I have to go warn the other ships so I can’t stay and chat.”
Akira turned to captain Finch who was behind the large wooden steering wheel of the ship and asked, “What is this eye of the south sea?”
“A whirlpool. A nasty piece of work, I heard earlier that this one randomly starts and stops every few months. At least we picked a time when it is calming down and not the other way around,” said Finch.
“What do we need to do to be ready?” asked Akira.
“The sea is going to get even rougher as we near the eye along with the wind becoming chaotic. The main thing is for all shamen on the ship to help keep the wind blowing properly on the sails so that we don’t get dragged off course and sent to the bottom of the sea.”
Akira looked over to Klyn.
“Don’t look at me. I don’t know any elemental chants. I only know the chants for buffs for battle,” said Klyn.
“No need to worry, we already have a few reliable wind element shamen on the ship. If you could help support them that would be more than enough,” said Finch. “As for everyone else, if you have enough courage and strength to resist the wind, rough seas, and slippery footing, we can use you to help with any emergency repairs that may pop up. Everyone else should go below deck where it will be somewhat safer.”
“I think I’ll go down and rest in my bed,” said Azura who had turned pale at the thought of an even rougher sea than now which would make her seasickness even worse.
“We’ll keep you company,” said Mileena volunteering herself and Maya to keep an eye on her.
When the girls had disappeared under the wooden deck of the ship the captain turned to Akira, Chack, and Klyn.
“Make sure to tie yourself to one of the main masts. When I say it is going to get rough I am not joking,” said Finch pointing at the dark clouds swirling in the sky far away. The swirling clouds were getting bigger and bigger as they approached.
As they neared ‘the eye of the south sea’ the winds started to pick up speed and the boat started to bob up and down even more as several waves escaped from the nearby whirlpool.
Akira could now see the large spinning whirlpool that was in the middle of the large rocky islands with several sturdy green trees that blocked the view of whatever was hiding behind them.
The surrounding area was scattered with dangerous shallows and other small islands making this narrow pass the only place they could use to get past the islands without taking a detour that would take several weeks.
In order to ride the edges of the weakening whirlpool, each ship of the fleet was forced to reposition themselves and form up into a long line as they entered the dark shadows of the stormy waters.
As if the dark clouds were waiting for them a heavy rain started to fall which soak everything and everyone on the top deck of the ships.
The raging wind was blowing everywhere.
The sails would have been useless if it weren’t for the shaman who continued their chants fighting the roaring wind and the rain to make sure that a strong wind was behind the sails so that the ship stayed on the proper course.
The rough waves caused by the wind continued to slam into the ship causing the ship to violently rock to one side or the other.
Every time they were hit by a large wave Akira’s stomach lurched as the waves were constantly trying to pull or push them closer to the swirling whirlpool.
In order to keep his footing, Akira along with the other sailors on the top deck had transformed and was holding onto whatever they were tied down to.
Akira’s fur was thoroughly soaked by the salty water from the waves that continued to smash into the ship and washed over the deck trying to pull any careless person into the sea.
“I love this!… I lie I don’t want to stay up here anymore!” shouted Chack over the roaring wind.
“You can’t leave now!” shouted Akira.
Akira was somewhat jealous of Chack because the rain and water from the waves just slid off his scales. His feet also had a hind claw on his heel to go along with the claws in the front making it so he could clamp down onto the wooden deck and not move at all.
“The fun’s just started! Don’t let your guard down!” shouted Finch as his large furred arm muscles bulged while trying to keep the wheel straight as he resisted the rough seas chaotic pull.
“Incoming wave from the left!” shouted the lookout who was still in the crow’s nest keeping an eye out for dangerous waves as well as making sure they were following the ship in front of them which they could barely see due to the rain and large waves.
Wham!
The huge wave slammed into the side of the ship causing several wooden groans from the ship as well as a loud ‘Crack!’ as the smaller supporting mast next to Akira was snapped in two as the wave rushed over the deck.
Klyn who now had no anchor was picked up by the wave and was swept towards the edge of the ship along with the other shaman that he had been supporting.
Akira let go of his grip to the mast and without a second thought leaped forward towards the two with his claws outstretched grabbing onto Klyn’s wrist and the ankle of the other shaman just before he was jerked to a stop by the rope that was around his waist tied to the mainmast.
The two shamen were dangerously dangling over the edge of the ship where the railing had broken. The waves continued to smash into their bodies trying to suck them into the water.
The only thing keeping them from falling was Akira.
“Heavy,” grunted Akira as he tightened his hold onto the two large transformed werewolf’s. He was being slid roughly back and forth on top of the slick deck slamming into the remaining railing on both sides while he held onto the two.
Seeing Akira diving to save the two shamen Chack along with several nearby sailors let go of whatever they were holding onto and slipped and slid over to his rope and started to pull the three back to the relative safety of the mainmast.
When both Klyn and the other shaman were given a new rope and tied to the mast, Akira let out a sigh and of relief.
“You need to go on a diet! So heavy,” shouted Akira.
“I’m the same weight as you!” said Klyn.
“Quit your yapping! We’re only halfway through! We need to keep the main mast safe or we are doomed,” shouted Finch.
With the help of the Shamen who were heaving and huffing from exhaustion, they were able to reach the south side of the eye without another incident.
The water and winds were now starting to calm down.
…
“A Kraken!” shouted the lookout in the crow’s nest. “It’s coming towards us!”
Several curses came out of the sailor’s mouths as they had thought that they had escaped the danger of the ‘eye’ only to run into the sea monster that was one of the most feared monsters for sailors.
“Battle stations!” shouted Finch.
Akira unsheathed his sword and readied his shield that was now glowing, lighting up the darkness around him due to becoming wet.
Before the Kraken could reach the ship several mermaid warriors appeared before it and launched several attacks forcing the Kraken to shy away and swim back to the whirlpool with the several severe wounds it had received from the warriors.
Everyone let out sighs of relief as the nearly wrecked ships exited the dark clouds and the rain stopped, returning to a calm and sunny sea.
With the sun now shining brightly and the high humidity in the air, Akira’s fur poofed out making him look like a large fluffy and frizzled furball.
What was worse was the salty water that was now drying on his skin made his skin all over his body itch.
He hurriedly returned back to his human form to stop Chack from laughing at him.
“Bring up the spare mast! Get the tools and start fixing the holes and the rails! Bail out the water that escaped into the ship!” Finch shouted out several orders to the everyone who was staring at the whirlpool that was now behind them.
Several people let out groans.
“Quit your whining we can’t reach full speed and keep up with the rest of the fleet if we don’t fix the ship now, and we can’t afford to take a slower trip with our limited supplies!” boomed Finch.
***
As they continued to sail south the islands became less and less tropical green and started to become more barren as the air also became colder.
