Categories > Original > Fantasy > Tradewinds 11 - "Honor Among Thieves"
OUTRO: WAYSIDE
The island was a lost treasure.
A hidden gem in that endless sky men called the Ocean. This one a glittering diamond of white sand that stood alone, having no constellation to share its stark brilliance with. Fathomless miles out of anyone’s way, it was a pristine place, seldom seen by human eyes, and likely just as rarely, if ever, touched by human hands.
The Reflection sat anchored just off that dazzling shore, its mostly sandy, rocky stretch dotted with sparse patches of green and the occasional palm tree. On the deck, Abu-Sharrah lounged in a wooden folding chair, fishing pole propped against the deck railing. Largely inhospitable, surrounded by sharp reefs and visibly shallow sandbars, the old man wisely chose to forgo landfall, seeking the Ocean’s bounty at this particular stop.
As he looked out at the desert isle before him, his thoughts touched on that young man of recent acquaintance, Max, and he wondered absently if anyone had ever been stranded on this island before. Though it bore precious little resemblance to his Paradise, he suspected it might still be possible to survive in such an unforgiving place. If nothing else, though, he reflected, it would be a very harsh existence.
Just thinking of Max seemed to make him feel as if he was forgetting something. He still wasn’t sure why that boy was so familiar to him. The only conclusion he could come to was that if it was of any importance, he would remember sooner or later.
After all, he always did.
Again he wondered, as he had off and on lately, what those crazy kids would do next. Especially the hotheaded one. While Max would have listened and thought it over, and Shades might have nodded as if realizing that he should have known all along, he had refrained from talking too much about connections between people in this life in front of Justin. Not so much to misinform him, as it was in hopes of persuading him to abandon his vendetta. No matter how big this world was, some people simply traveled in the same circles.
Yet what struck him as most important to them was finding their balance.
In retrospect, he felt drawn to that particular dock from the moment he arrived in Centralict. It was a feeling he had grown used to over these long years. No matter where he went, he just always seemed to be in the right place at the right time to help those in need, and always in ways that were within his grasp. This time, though, he sensed something out of the ordinary about their chance meeting, as if he had gotten himself involved in something big. Bigger than he had encountered in many years.
He could tell those three young men were new to each other, yet their presence together felt like pieces of some great puzzle falling into place.
It all seemed somehow summed up in the dream that awakened him from his nap in the first place, a vision of Max standing on the deck of that new ship of theirs, gazing off into the sunset with those eyes that always seemed to be fixed somewhere past the horizon.
Wherever the winds may take us…
That sagely smile widened as he watched him speak those words, for he found this scene very reassuring, enough so to hope it was true.
So lost he was in his ruminations, it took him a moment to notice that he finally had a bite on the line. A big one, too, from the feel of it. Found a moment to wish he had someone like Max around right now to help him haul it in, but ultimately decided that for now he was content to relax here by the wayside for a while before setting out again.
As he turned his attention back to his fishing, he wished his most recent passengers a safe voyage on the journey of life.
The island was a lost treasure.
A hidden gem in that endless sky men called the Ocean. This one a glittering diamond of white sand that stood alone, having no constellation to share its stark brilliance with. Fathomless miles out of anyone’s way, it was a pristine place, seldom seen by human eyes, and likely just as rarely, if ever, touched by human hands.
The Reflection sat anchored just off that dazzling shore, its mostly sandy, rocky stretch dotted with sparse patches of green and the occasional palm tree. On the deck, Abu-Sharrah lounged in a wooden folding chair, fishing pole propped against the deck railing. Largely inhospitable, surrounded by sharp reefs and visibly shallow sandbars, the old man wisely chose to forgo landfall, seeking the Ocean’s bounty at this particular stop.
As he looked out at the desert isle before him, his thoughts touched on that young man of recent acquaintance, Max, and he wondered absently if anyone had ever been stranded on this island before. Though it bore precious little resemblance to his Paradise, he suspected it might still be possible to survive in such an unforgiving place. If nothing else, though, he reflected, it would be a very harsh existence.
Just thinking of Max seemed to make him feel as if he was forgetting something. He still wasn’t sure why that boy was so familiar to him. The only conclusion he could come to was that if it was of any importance, he would remember sooner or later.
After all, he always did.
Again he wondered, as he had off and on lately, what those crazy kids would do next. Especially the hotheaded one. While Max would have listened and thought it over, and Shades might have nodded as if realizing that he should have known all along, he had refrained from talking too much about connections between people in this life in front of Justin. Not so much to misinform him, as it was in hopes of persuading him to abandon his vendetta. No matter how big this world was, some people simply traveled in the same circles.
Yet what struck him as most important to them was finding their balance.
In retrospect, he felt drawn to that particular dock from the moment he arrived in Centralict. It was a feeling he had grown used to over these long years. No matter where he went, he just always seemed to be in the right place at the right time to help those in need, and always in ways that were within his grasp. This time, though, he sensed something out of the ordinary about their chance meeting, as if he had gotten himself involved in something big. Bigger than he had encountered in many years.
He could tell those three young men were new to each other, yet their presence together felt like pieces of some great puzzle falling into place.
It all seemed somehow summed up in the dream that awakened him from his nap in the first place, a vision of Max standing on the deck of that new ship of theirs, gazing off into the sunset with those eyes that always seemed to be fixed somewhere past the horizon.
Wherever the winds may take us…
That sagely smile widened as he watched him speak those words, for he found this scene very reassuring, enough so to hope it was true.
So lost he was in his ruminations, it took him a moment to notice that he finally had a bite on the line. A big one, too, from the feel of it. Found a moment to wish he had someone like Max around right now to help him haul it in, but ultimately decided that for now he was content to relax here by the wayside for a while before setting out again.
As he turned his attention back to his fishing, he wished his most recent passengers a safe voyage on the journey of life.
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