"Tiana's Compassion" Log Date: 11/30/01, 12/3/01 Log Cast: Vardeus, Tiana, Franni Log Intro: Originally bound for an archipelago in the southern seas of the world of Abode, the Vraeyan ship _Windrider_ has been blown wildly off course by a massive hurricane. Now, as she has been for months, she sails in unfamiliar waters -- for her crew has no conception that they have reached the northern half of the world. The reversed winds and the unfamiliar stars are beyond their skills as sailors, and what remains of the _Windrider_'s crew now desperately search the foreign waters they sail for some sign of land where they can find desperately needed fresh food and water. Just as desperately, they search the skies for some hint of a pattern to the stars, any possible clue that can provide them with a way back to their homeland. Particularly desperate is the _Windrider_'s young captain, Vardeus of Shalros. He has already lost his best friend and second in command to the storm that doomed his ship to wandering, and the feisty, beautiful young woman he hired into his crew as his new second officer has had to step up to take his lost first officer's place. But the harrowing strain of the voyage has had the two of them constantly at odds. Barely, just barely, the captain has kept himself from removing Tiana Pagonis from the position he gave her by remembering her undeniable skill as a seawoman and as a leader -- but her shrewish temper has worn his pride to tattered shreds. It doesn't help that his worry for the lives under his command has driven him into exhaustion and nightmares, either. But the direly weary Vardeus is about to discover that his current second in command has a surprising streak of concern for him beneath her fiery exterior.... ---------- Vardeus rolls off his bunk in the morning. Clothes? Check. Sandals? Check. Hair combed? Mostly. She can cope. *sniffs self* Nothing a good stiff wind won't help. HAH! Let's see her hassle me now! Tiana arches a brow, "Is it just me or did you drop your dagger overboard in the night, captain? According to your jaw, you certainly did just that." Vardeus rumbles testily, secretly grateful he does at least have a height advantage here, "Do you have an issue with the state of my jaw, second?" The jaw in question seems to stubbornly set under its -- well, it's not really a beard yet, but it's definitely more than a five o'clock shadow. Maybe more like a nine-thirty. Tiana considers the state of said jaw for a moment before reaching up and scraping the palm of her hand across it, "Why yes, sir," she says as she shakes her hand as if it is injured now, "You could smooth boards with the stubble on your face, captain." Wait, did the captain just actually physically _start_ at that impetuous contact to his jawline? For a fraction of an instant something flashes across his azure eyes, before his bronzed features return to their stony mask. "As much as I'm sure you'd like to see my face put a shine on the deck, second, I have better things to do!" Tiana smirks, "You haven't seen me grab your ankles and start swabbing, have you, captain?" she asks. Vardeus snorts aloud. "Primarily because you couldn't lift me, I'm sure," he growls. A single brow arches high on Tiana's forehead as her smirks grows a bit wider, "I'm certain that I could, sir. However, I have no desire to see your face smoothing the deck so, have not done so," she retorts. He clearly isn't buying it -- either the notion that his spitfire second could actually pick him up, or this avowal of hers that she doesn't actually want him to do double duty as a mop. "Good, then I won't have to sling you over my shoulder and throw you into the hold," he snaps back, "and I hope I won't have to resort to that to actually get to the business of updating the maps?" It's Tiana's turn to frown now and her brows dip low on her forehead at the mere thought of being thrown into the hold for any reason, "How do you intend to update the maps, sir? There are no familiar stars overhead and we have yet to catch sight of anything remotely resembling land..." Fairly bristling with restlessness, the captain edgily pushes past the insistent young woman questioning him, saying as he goes, "The stars are still unfamiliar, but the moons are still in the sky and I can still pick out patterns. Been scopin' 'em out on the night watches. We'll get something to steer by if I have to name three dozen brand new constellations myself. Sun's up, I got charts to make now that it's light enough to write by!" Tiana watches the agitated captain brush past her and lifts a curious brow .oO(Goodness, he's waspish this morning. You try to be helpful and this is the thanks you get..? *sigh*) Finally, she calls back, "Would you like some help with that?" Vardeus stops, shoots a murky glance over his shoulder, and seems to evaluate whether there's a veiled insult beneath that offer. What, no further catty remarks about his lack of shaving? Reminders that cleanliness is next to holiness, and never mind that he's a bloody buggerin' sailor, not a priest? Perhaps it's his exhaustion speaking, three hours of agitated sleep shot through with a nightmare about his ship doomed to ride the waves until every man and woman aboard her is reduced to dust and wraiths while he helplessly watches... and Tiana last of her, her fiery hair a final lingering ember while the rest of her grows more and more and more insubstantial... perhaps it's the exhaustion or the nightmare, but he can't seem to find any insult in her words for once.... His eyes haunted, Vardeus abruptly shakes himself, forcing himself to snap out of it. She's still here. Focus on her. Think, man. "Any observations," he rasps then, hoarsely, "you've made on the patterns of these new stars... would be welcome." Tiana watches as the captain's gaze shifts so that it sends a chill of forboding down her spine. Unaware of his thoughts she tips her head to the side just a bit as she silently wonders what put that look on his face. She gives herself a mental shake as he finally speaks, "I have noticed a few stars that seem to make a few patterns.. when I've had the time to look up, that is." When you get right down to it, he really hasn't had time to look up, either. Which is why he's taken to watch-and-a-half shifts or even double; after all, if he's going to be unable to sleep, might as well put his restless mind to work rather than dreaming (dreams -- no, curse it, get it out of your mind) (if I look at her is she going to disappear?) (can't look at her she'll see) (Skyfather I'm tired) (SNAP OUT OF IT)-- Is that a flash of guilt in his face? Or fear? Whatever it is, Vardeus swiftly buries it, whirling perhaps just a trifle too forcefully away as he goes in search of the maps, of a quill, of ink. "Good. I want what you've seen, to compare it to what I've noticed so far," comes his strangely distracted reply, low and rough. Tiana watches this strange shifting of emotions on the captain's face once again and her brow dips. Could it be worry that flashes across her own features before it is quickly masked. .oO(Save the worrying for later. The crew's already worked up enough without me seeming to be brooding over every little thing.) She gives a nod of her head as the captain whirls away, turns to make sure that everyone is about their posts as should be before moving to follow Vardeus to the maps. (Perhaps I can persuade him to take a bit more rest.. Sweet mother but, he looks as if he's going to fall over.) "Yes, sir," she calls after him. Rest, however, seems to be the last thing on the captain's mind. Apparently trusting that his second will remain right there in earshot, the moment he has his hands on the last set of notes he'd taken, he's gesturing at them insistently with the quill, delivering in short, clipped tones an account of the sinuous shape in the sky he's dubbed the Little Serpent. "Have you seen the same? I've been trying to track when it first comes into view in the sky, thought I had down when it sets, but--" And, out of earshot and immediate visual range of any of the crew, he suddenly pauses and stares askance at his own handwriting, normally boldly scrawled characters having to be turned small and cramped to save space on the parchment. For just a moment, his own handwriting doesn't make sense to him -- and he freezes. Tiana does, indeed, stay within earshot once she gets moving along after the captain. She halts her steps only once she's moved up alongside of him then peers at the parchment for just a moment looking to see what it is that he's written. Only when his voice trails off does she look up at his face. "Captain..?" she queries in a voice that seems to have lost its usual bite as it gives way to a small note of worry. A few scant hours of nightmare-ridden sleep to an exhausted man is almost worse than no sleep at all -- and hale though the Captain might be in full health, in the habit though he might usually be of leaping into full activity almost the moment he's awake, not even he can keep up that pace after days of inadequate sleep. The stare he trains on the parchment is pure unadulterated confusion; then, with a strained little growl, he rubs a big tanned hand across his eyes. "The Little Serpent," he mutters thickly. "Have you seen it? Five stars... two bright enough that they're blue..." Tiana watches Vardeus with a very odd expression on her face. Worry settles in the depths of her jade eyes though she struggles not to show it. She puts her mind back on the task at hand as she lifts a hand to outline the stars that she thinks he's talking about. "They shift in a pattern like this?" she asks as she moves her hand in a zigzag pattern. Now that he's actually come out onto the deck, with the morning sun on his face, a close enough look at the captain's features might show deeper-than-normal shadows as well as lines of exhaustion etched about his eyes... as if his odd distraction was not quite enough. Still, his attention seems to rally at the gesture of his second's hand; gruffly, he nods his assent to her description. "Aye. Close little clump of stars, nothing else too near 'em. Blue ones at each end. Sound the same to you?" Tiana nods her head, "Aye, I've seen that one," she replies with a nod. Her own expression takes on a measuring cast as if she is studying the captain more than the parchment he holds or the actual discussion at hand. She manages to keep any comments to herself for the time being though. Good. It's a relief to have the evidence of his memory confirmed... though Vardeus has to struggle to keep his countenance steady, to hide the effort it is costing him to keep himself focused. At least the cramped set of notes he's scribed upon the parchment have finally consented to be comprehensible to him, and he seizes almost gratefully upon the reminders for his scattered thoughts. "How about this?" he asks, gesturing at a tiny diagram he's made of an almost box-like quartet of stars, flanked on either side by two more pairs that rise up at an angle. Then he looks up into the sky, squinting against the sunlight and trying to gauge relative distance against the mast. "Covered more space than I can draw." Tiana studies the small diagram then shakes her head, "No, I don't recall seeing that one, sir.. but, I have seen something near the horizon line if you'd be interested in it.." she says in a effort to get as much information from the captain's obviously tired mind before she sends him back to his bed or has to resort to more forceful methods of making him take some rest. Franni grunts as she pulls the mop across the deck. She eyes her Cap'n standing on the deck now with his mate and stops briefly nearby. Arms crossed, handle of mop crooked in one arm, she shakes her head, "Bleedin' standin there all night, is what you are. Sky's not had a familiar star to it. Innit funny how ye would think the least someone on this ship was doin' any work around 'ere." She hmphs and goes back to mopping, slowly disappearing to the other side of the deck. Distracted by Franni's passing, Vardeus snaps his head to rebuke the young sailor... and then pauses, staring at her strangely. He can almost see them again, the pattern of stars in a bird-like shape, if he looks hard enough. Tiny spots of light, glinting in the field of his vision... but no. He shouldn't see stars, not when the sun's up, and not when he's not even looking _up_ to begin with... Frowning darkly, Vardeus blinks several times, then shakes his head to try to clear the heavy, gritty feeling out of his skull-- --only to have the world go gray for a moment, and when it comes back, he catches only Tiana's last five words. (Curse it, you fool, wake up, she'll be on you in an instant--) "Aye, go on," he requests then of his second, his voice dropped down to its huskiest register, as he inwardly prays he hasn't just committed himself to something outlandish. Tiana watches the captain closely though she does note Franni's commentary. She casts a glance, heavy with warning, in the sailor's direction then returns her attention to Vardeus. She watches as he concentration shifts and his gaze seems to go unfocused there for a moment. Finally, she can stand it no longer and frowns, "Did you even hear what I said?" she asks. The captain goes still, parchment and quill still in his hands, but now he appears to have momentarily forgotten them. Instead, his attention rivets on the woman before him -- and his focus returns. (Can't let her know. I'll never hear the end of it; doesn't she already give me enough grief about what a pitiful excuse for a captain...) (Maybe she's right, hells, who knows, maybe she could get us home better than I apparently can...) (No, can't let her know...) "'... you'd be interested in it,'" he mutters. See? He heard. Sailor's honor! Tiana shifts so that her back is to any of the crew that might be present and lowers her voice so that only the captain might hear her next words, "So you're interested in the pot of briney bones rotting in the hold?" she asks. Wait a minute. Vardeus' tanned brow creases in what can only be puzzlement, and he musters up a semblance of his usual piercing stare, trying to figure out how this conversation suddenly escaped his control. "What're you talking about, woman?" he barks irritably. "Or have I somehow not made it clear enough that we've got to figure out the _stars_?" Tiana lowers her chin just a bit, taking a touch of aggression out of her stance as she says, "That's just the point, sir. You have no idea what I was talking about, do you?" Her voice is very quiet and the tone is much gentler than the one she normally uses to address Vardeus with. Add to that the spark of concern in her jade gaze and it becomes a somewhat shocking effect since she's normally hellbent on rending the captain's pride to tatters at every turn. Alarm surges through him, along with no small amount of confusion, leaving the captain staring with eyes turned oddly defenseless down at his second in command. He must be dreaming, surely? Maybe he hasn't managed to get out of his bunk yet this morning, after all? What happened to the storm-cat harpy Tiana? This one, if he didn't know any better, seems almost... concerned. Stunned, he breathes, "Nonsense. Just got distracted a bit, s'all..." His voice drops in volume to match her own, though chances are high it's more from a lack of energy than a conscious desire for discretion. And abruptly he scowls again, adding, "So tell me what you really said and have done, told me often enough I'm thick in the head..." Tiana shakes her head, "Captain, you've been distracted by something since your feet touched the deck. You've looked at me strangely, you keep trailing off in midsentence and getting distracted more easily than is normal." She sighs and finally decides to look worried so that Vardeus might realize that she's dead serious, "Judging by the fact that your eyes are blue and red this morning.. and have been for a few days now.. I'd say you're not sleeping much if at all. You can't run a ship if you're exhausted, sir," she adds that last in an almost cajoling tone of voice. (She knows...) (The nightmare flashes up for a moment again behind his eyes, his ship sailing on, on, on, endlessly across a sea that touches no land, her doomed inhabitants trapped in a never-ending cycle that imprisons them even after death...) No doubt about it, for about half a heartbeat that's fear that fires up within his eyes, to go along with the distinct confusion still lingering there; where is she going with this? Intending to relieve him of duty? A threat to take the ship from him? Half of him wants to surge up in irritation... but he can't seem to find the strength for anger, and he can manage only a faint distrustful, stoic frown. "I... had a restless night or two, lately," he grudgingly ackowledges. Tiana nods, "Captain, we're lost.. it's not likely that we're going to get a favorable bearing in the next few hours. Why don't you go see about getting a little rest, and I'll make sure we stay afloat while I make a few diagrams of the stars I've managed to notice.. then we can compare notes afterward?" She's _not_ threatening to take the ship from him? Even more stunned, Vardeus just stares at Tiana a few moments longer, no longer entirely certain this is the same woman who first came on board his vessel back home. Her suggestion is tantalizing, almost dizzyingly tempting, and the one simple word 'rest' echoes through his mind like the song of the sirens the legends say lure men to their deaths. In fact, his eyes drift shut, just long enough to leave doubt as to whether he might fall asleep right here on the deck... but then he grimaces, and grunts out another single, simple word, barely audible. "Can't." Tiana tips her head to one side and lifts a curious brow, "Might I ask why, sir?" she asks then still maintaining the softened tone of voice. Clearly she's worried, though with her back to the rest of the ship only the captain can see it. And the captain isn't quite daring to actually look at her. Eyes still squeezed shut, his voice turned taut and strained as if having to force himself to make this admission is tantamount to driving a dagger into his own chest, Vardeus mutters another monosyllablic reply: "Dreams." Tiana's brow knits ever so slightly at that answer. She sighs then nods her head, "Very well.. I'll see if I can't at least find ways to keep the crew from seeing you like this." Slowly, subtly, the captain's big frame begins to lean, his head to dip... but at the prospect that someone might see him, Vardeus abruptly catches himself. "They can't see me," he affirms, though his voice sounds odd and distant in his own ears. Not urgent enough. If he's not urgent enough he won't make her understand. How can he make her understand? "Tiana..." Yes. He could say that. "Aye, watch over 'em. I'll..." And he half-turns, unable to hide the exhausted desperate longing in his face as he glances at the door into his own tiny cabin. Tiana takes the few steps between herself and the captain's cabin door which she opens invitingly, "You're going to work on those star charts then? Very well, sir, I'll try to keep us heading in a straight line until you're finished," she says with a small, almost triumphant smile. "Carry on, Second," Vardeus answers, pulling his voice up a bit louder, succeeding in walking rather than stumbling into the refuge that is his own private space aboard the ship. Only once he is within -- and out of the line of sight of everyone else on board -- does he allow himself to sag against the wood-plank wall, head starting to spin. A last lingering shred of bruised pride remembers, though... is _she _ gone? He glances over his shoulder, just to make sure Tiana's gone about the business she's promised. (Don't want _her_ to see me like this...) For no reason he can fathom, that prospect bothers him more than being seen by anyone else on the crew. Tiana is actually still standing in the doorway though she seems to have her attention riveted across the deck. In a near whisper, she calls after the captain, "My suggestion.. if whatever those dreams are come back.. take a drink, sir." That said, she closes the door and moves away from it going to find something to busy herself with so that the crew doesn't wise up to the fact that the captain isn't in tip top shape this day. He could almost collapse on the spot from relief... but Tiana's shadow in the door keeps him on his feet, and her suggestion makes him smile sardonically. Is there enough uzo on board to throttle the cursed dream into submission, so he can actually _sleep_? That would be all he would need, to have to drink the rest of it before he can function again... and it could well be a week before he woke up... but no. Swaying, scowling, he finds the drinking skin he'd stashed in his sea chest. He allows himself only one long draught from the thing, before he replaces it, sets chart and quill atop it, and collapses at last into his bunk, hoping his weary body will get enough of the idea and let him sle-- And it does, for the moment he is horizontal, he is out. [End log.]