He reasoned that it would be easier on him if he were to just get himself busy with a task right away. After all, he didn’t want to feel guilty just standing still when he had gotten himself up upon the main deck that dawn’s eve. As always, his ears were open to P’welro’s explanations. He had learned so much about the ship’s sails at that point that he could not promise he could retain all of that information. He had no idea that maintaining a vessel required that much knowledge and that much all around work. He would have never guessed if he had not sailed on one of these.
But he found knowledge in general to be valuable, and so Ryanti would never truly find a way to thank P’welro for all she was doing. When she mentioned how the sight of the sunrise would be better seen from the Crow’s Nest, Ryanti craned his neck to glance up at the structure, his hands still occupied with what he was doing. He was getting to the point where he could afford to do some of this stuff without actually glancing down at it and quietly determining whether or not he was doing it right.
When she had said to hold on tightly, Ryanti smiled in such a warm and legitimate manner that he did not realize. With a chuckle or two, he had made his way diligently up to the Crow’s Nest itself. “I’ll take warning though, I promise.†He had told her. His thoughts were still wandering on what he had said when he made his way up there. They wanted to be like her. The Navigator. Beautiful, yet terrible. He could broaden that description to include all of mankind. All of Hydealyn. The present. It was beautiful, yet he had found out after losing his innocence, terrible. Ryanti would answer her call today. But he was unsure whether or not he ever would again.
Seventy-Seven lightly rested the palms of his hands upon the wooden rail that circumvented the Crow’s Nest and observed the Navigator’s fiery awakening shade upon the fabric of the horizon’s peak. He did not squint his eyes but barely. The sun’s rays illuminated his white hair in such a manner that it appeared to glow. He felt his heart rate jump a little as he observed how the colors in the sky changed from red to orange, and finally blue.
Everywhere around him felt like it went on forever. Forever was there clear blue water, forever was the sun and forever was he. The young man felt very free and liberated in that moment, finally closing his eyes to allow the warm sun’s rays to glance across his cheeks. It was not like Ryanti could see past the ill omen. But he just put it out of his mind for now. He wanted to see the good in things so badly. It was both a strength and weakness.
When finally his gaze retreated, he had seen Marjanie eye him from the deck, and Ryanti gave her a nod, letting her know that he had taken her words to heart and wanted to see this gift for himself. It was his own version of non-verbal communication.
He had folded his arms upon the railing and rested his posture and weight upon it in what little relaxation he could get as the Elezen went inside of the Captain’s cabin. A sliver of thoughts went through his mind during that time. They were minor things. About how he had seen so many new things about the world in the last two years. About how he had done things he never thought he would be doing. That despite how stressful and haunting this job was, it did have its fulfillments. He also wondered how the Captain, how Sounsyy was handling everything.
He supposed that he had to get out of the Nest eventually. So he proceeded to slowly but surely climb back over the nest, holding onto the outside of it when his ears picked up the sounds of a door opening. It was the door to the Captain’s cabin. He had looked that way briefly before focusing on where he was. As Sounsyy gave her quiet orders to P’welro, he had gently sat down upon the mainmast in the corner. His feet dangled from the air and he allowed them to loosely rock back and forth. He was given no more orders, and so he reasoned that perhaps he could stay up there for a little longer, observing the early morning’s sun for a little while.
He did not have to look down to know what was going on when he felt the foundation of the mainmast slightly shift. In that moment, an ear of his flicked as he realized that Jonathan was right. The rate that she was climbing the mast was too quick to be of pure leisure. Perhaps it had come? Everyone else that had been plagued with dreams had not told her a word, had given her space. Was it now the time?
His legs still idly rocked back and forth as she sat herself next to him. It was a moment of silence, but yet still felt so different to him simply by the addition of her presence up here. It was… a little heavy, despite how peaceful it was currently.
Ryanti remained still as his hair blew about in the wind, though listening to her question intently. A slight hum emitted from the depths of his throat as he immersed himself in thought, and a manner in which to answer her question to the best of his ability. He closed his eyes, allowing the memories of his previous dreams on this vessel to resurface to the front of his mind.
He tilted his eyes towards her, locking with them for the first time in a while. Perhaps since that day he had challenged her on the Bloodsands. “Have you ever heard of a man by the name od Saint Coinach?â€
He smiled a little at the mentioning of the name, it being a man that he had really looked up to after reading about his life. As appealing as he found to keep his gaze intertwined with hers, he had to break it away to stare at the sun once more, so he could think of other things besides. “He was a man that changed the way historians see the world. Before him, it was taught that the civilizations in our time were raised from the ashes of a former era that preceded our own. An ancient, magnificent era that saw an apex of society and culture. An era that waned and collapsed because of their legendary abuse of magic and the exploitation of aether that nearly sucked Hydealyn dry.â€
He raised his right hand up to his shoulder level, extending his index finger and bouncing it up and down in the direction of the ocean softly as if to emphasize his words in that manner. “Before him, historians believed that the rise of the Fifth Astral Era saw civilization reach a high point, and that was –it-. Before them, there was nothing more or less beyond organized tribes and nomadic hunter-gathers that formed communities and settled down when they realized agriculture bared fruit. But you see, there was a myth during that time. A myth that eons before even the beginning of the Fifth Era civilizations, there was a time in Hydealyn’s history where civilizations reached a pinnacle the world has never seen again.â€
His pointed finger turned into an upward palm as he explained further, utilizing the inspiration of the beautiful sky before him to allow him to word out his thoughts. “Saint Coinach believed it to be more than a myth. Despite no one believing in him, and despite everyone trying to prove him wrong, Saint Coinach spent the majority of his lifetime chasing that belief. Eventually, he had gathered enough evidence to where once he made his findings public, no one could argue against him. It was found that there was in fact a civilization that took hold before any of the civilizations we ever knew. A one ‘Allagan Empire’ that spanned over most of the land in the three great continents. It was said during Coinach’s lifetime that the Allagan Empire was vast, glorious, and prosperous in the likings that the world has never seen before or since. Then, at some point around five thousand years ago, they just… vanished.â€
He solemnly rested his gesturing hand onto the wooden pole that he sat upon, tightening up his shoulders in a bit of a stretch. “That is common knowledge to anyone interesting in looking it up. But… what the world doesn’t know is just how small we are compared to what they were. How their technology would make the Garleans look like bronze-age cavemen… or how their mastery of magic would make even the wisest Conjurer sage of this era completely dumbfounded. From what masterpieces of magic we have seen in the Fifth Era and now, and what technology we have beheld ourselves against in today's time was.. nothing compared to them.â€
He paused for a moment, allowing himself a moment to moisten his parched throat with a swallow. “The artifact you laid your eyes upon is from that era. A very old, very ancient era that has been lost to history. But even though knowledge of them has been, for the most part, lost to mankind, their legacy has not died. They have created things during that era that has survived for this long because it had been built so unbelievably well. That includes what we have on this ship.â€
He slightly shifted his posture enough to partially face her now, finding his balance as he let both of his hands free of supporting himself on the mainmast pole. He gestured both of his hands palm-up towards her, forming his hands in a shape of a partially open sphere. “That artifact is a product of immense technology and mastery of magic. It is filled with a dormant channel of aether that activated when we set out on this mission. So it… ‘came to life’. It has an attachment to where it needs to belong, which is the objective that we are heading to. When you glanced your eyes upon it, it sensed your intentions. It chose to accept you. It formed a connection with you.â€
He rested his hands back onto the pole and relaxed himself a bit, locking glances with her once more. “So… it is trying to look for a way to communicate. For a way to reach out to us, and guide us. One of the ways that it does that is through our dreams. A long, long time ago… there were other souls that lived and worked around that object. That key. Those souls either… perished alongside it, or had a strong attachment to it during their lifetime. Their will, their essence, perhaps even their very spirits itself are still here. But they, their era, and their stories have been completely forgotten by mankind for such a long time that they are desperate to call for help. To be laid to rest, and to tell their story. They want us to understand, so that we can be able to do the right thing with handling what they have left behind, and to learn from their mistakes so that their dramatic end may not happen again in some distant future when civilization reaches that apex again.â€
His feet rocked back and forth for a moment longer. “And I have faith in all of us. Not just because of the faith I have in the people on this ship, or my partners. But also because we are being watched over by them. Y’know, by the Allagans.†He smiled a little. “I may not be the most experienced on this ship, but... I’ve done this job enough times to know that they have picked us. That they are.â€
His eyes trailed away from hers, down to the injured hand that was closest to him. Talking about this had him think about her more. He stared intently for a moment at the wound, all bandaged up and everything. He had felt a hand of his own move in to lift it up, to examine it for himself, but at the last moment he hesitated. “May I?â€
But he found knowledge in general to be valuable, and so Ryanti would never truly find a way to thank P’welro for all she was doing. When she mentioned how the sight of the sunrise would be better seen from the Crow’s Nest, Ryanti craned his neck to glance up at the structure, his hands still occupied with what he was doing. He was getting to the point where he could afford to do some of this stuff without actually glancing down at it and quietly determining whether or not he was doing it right.
When she had said to hold on tightly, Ryanti smiled in such a warm and legitimate manner that he did not realize. With a chuckle or two, he had made his way diligently up to the Crow’s Nest itself. “I’ll take warning though, I promise.†He had told her. His thoughts were still wandering on what he had said when he made his way up there. They wanted to be like her. The Navigator. Beautiful, yet terrible. He could broaden that description to include all of mankind. All of Hydealyn. The present. It was beautiful, yet he had found out after losing his innocence, terrible. Ryanti would answer her call today. But he was unsure whether or not he ever would again.
Seventy-Seven lightly rested the palms of his hands upon the wooden rail that circumvented the Crow’s Nest and observed the Navigator’s fiery awakening shade upon the fabric of the horizon’s peak. He did not squint his eyes but barely. The sun’s rays illuminated his white hair in such a manner that it appeared to glow. He felt his heart rate jump a little as he observed how the colors in the sky changed from red to orange, and finally blue.
Everywhere around him felt like it went on forever. Forever was there clear blue water, forever was the sun and forever was he. The young man felt very free and liberated in that moment, finally closing his eyes to allow the warm sun’s rays to glance across his cheeks. It was not like Ryanti could see past the ill omen. But he just put it out of his mind for now. He wanted to see the good in things so badly. It was both a strength and weakness.
When finally his gaze retreated, he had seen Marjanie eye him from the deck, and Ryanti gave her a nod, letting her know that he had taken her words to heart and wanted to see this gift for himself. It was his own version of non-verbal communication.
He had folded his arms upon the railing and rested his posture and weight upon it in what little relaxation he could get as the Elezen went inside of the Captain’s cabin. A sliver of thoughts went through his mind during that time. They were minor things. About how he had seen so many new things about the world in the last two years. About how he had done things he never thought he would be doing. That despite how stressful and haunting this job was, it did have its fulfillments. He also wondered how the Captain, how Sounsyy was handling everything.
He supposed that he had to get out of the Nest eventually. So he proceeded to slowly but surely climb back over the nest, holding onto the outside of it when his ears picked up the sounds of a door opening. It was the door to the Captain’s cabin. He had looked that way briefly before focusing on where he was. As Sounsyy gave her quiet orders to P’welro, he had gently sat down upon the mainmast in the corner. His feet dangled from the air and he allowed them to loosely rock back and forth. He was given no more orders, and so he reasoned that perhaps he could stay up there for a little longer, observing the early morning’s sun for a little while.
He did not have to look down to know what was going on when he felt the foundation of the mainmast slightly shift. In that moment, an ear of his flicked as he realized that Jonathan was right. The rate that she was climbing the mast was too quick to be of pure leisure. Perhaps it had come? Everyone else that had been plagued with dreams had not told her a word, had given her space. Was it now the time?
His legs still idly rocked back and forth as she sat herself next to him. It was a moment of silence, but yet still felt so different to him simply by the addition of her presence up here. It was… a little heavy, despite how peaceful it was currently.
Ryanti remained still as his hair blew about in the wind, though listening to her question intently. A slight hum emitted from the depths of his throat as he immersed himself in thought, and a manner in which to answer her question to the best of his ability. He closed his eyes, allowing the memories of his previous dreams on this vessel to resurface to the front of his mind.
He tilted his eyes towards her, locking with them for the first time in a while. Perhaps since that day he had challenged her on the Bloodsands. “Have you ever heard of a man by the name od Saint Coinach?â€
He smiled a little at the mentioning of the name, it being a man that he had really looked up to after reading about his life. As appealing as he found to keep his gaze intertwined with hers, he had to break it away to stare at the sun once more, so he could think of other things besides. “He was a man that changed the way historians see the world. Before him, it was taught that the civilizations in our time were raised from the ashes of a former era that preceded our own. An ancient, magnificent era that saw an apex of society and culture. An era that waned and collapsed because of their legendary abuse of magic and the exploitation of aether that nearly sucked Hydealyn dry.â€
He raised his right hand up to his shoulder level, extending his index finger and bouncing it up and down in the direction of the ocean softly as if to emphasize his words in that manner. “Before him, historians believed that the rise of the Fifth Astral Era saw civilization reach a high point, and that was –it-. Before them, there was nothing more or less beyond organized tribes and nomadic hunter-gathers that formed communities and settled down when they realized agriculture bared fruit. But you see, there was a myth during that time. A myth that eons before even the beginning of the Fifth Era civilizations, there was a time in Hydealyn’s history where civilizations reached a pinnacle the world has never seen again.â€
His pointed finger turned into an upward palm as he explained further, utilizing the inspiration of the beautiful sky before him to allow him to word out his thoughts. “Saint Coinach believed it to be more than a myth. Despite no one believing in him, and despite everyone trying to prove him wrong, Saint Coinach spent the majority of his lifetime chasing that belief. Eventually, he had gathered enough evidence to where once he made his findings public, no one could argue against him. It was found that there was in fact a civilization that took hold before any of the civilizations we ever knew. A one ‘Allagan Empire’ that spanned over most of the land in the three great continents. It was said during Coinach’s lifetime that the Allagan Empire was vast, glorious, and prosperous in the likings that the world has never seen before or since. Then, at some point around five thousand years ago, they just… vanished.â€
He solemnly rested his gesturing hand onto the wooden pole that he sat upon, tightening up his shoulders in a bit of a stretch. “That is common knowledge to anyone interesting in looking it up. But… what the world doesn’t know is just how small we are compared to what they were. How their technology would make the Garleans look like bronze-age cavemen… or how their mastery of magic would make even the wisest Conjurer sage of this era completely dumbfounded. From what masterpieces of magic we have seen in the Fifth Era and now, and what technology we have beheld ourselves against in today's time was.. nothing compared to them.â€
He paused for a moment, allowing himself a moment to moisten his parched throat with a swallow. “The artifact you laid your eyes upon is from that era. A very old, very ancient era that has been lost to history. But even though knowledge of them has been, for the most part, lost to mankind, their legacy has not died. They have created things during that era that has survived for this long because it had been built so unbelievably well. That includes what we have on this ship.â€
He slightly shifted his posture enough to partially face her now, finding his balance as he let both of his hands free of supporting himself on the mainmast pole. He gestured both of his hands palm-up towards her, forming his hands in a shape of a partially open sphere. “That artifact is a product of immense technology and mastery of magic. It is filled with a dormant channel of aether that activated when we set out on this mission. So it… ‘came to life’. It has an attachment to where it needs to belong, which is the objective that we are heading to. When you glanced your eyes upon it, it sensed your intentions. It chose to accept you. It formed a connection with you.â€
He rested his hands back onto the pole and relaxed himself a bit, locking glances with her once more. “So… it is trying to look for a way to communicate. For a way to reach out to us, and guide us. One of the ways that it does that is through our dreams. A long, long time ago… there were other souls that lived and worked around that object. That key. Those souls either… perished alongside it, or had a strong attachment to it during their lifetime. Their will, their essence, perhaps even their very spirits itself are still here. But they, their era, and their stories have been completely forgotten by mankind for such a long time that they are desperate to call for help. To be laid to rest, and to tell their story. They want us to understand, so that we can be able to do the right thing with handling what they have left behind, and to learn from their mistakes so that their dramatic end may not happen again in some distant future when civilization reaches that apex again.â€
His feet rocked back and forth for a moment longer. “And I have faith in all of us. Not just because of the faith I have in the people on this ship, or my partners. But also because we are being watched over by them. Y’know, by the Allagans.†He smiled a little. “I may not be the most experienced on this ship, but... I’ve done this job enough times to know that they have picked us. That they are.â€
His eyes trailed away from hers, down to the injured hand that was closest to him. Talking about this had him think about her more. He stared intently for a moment at the wound, all bandaged up and everything. He had felt a hand of his own move in to lift it up, to examine it for himself, but at the last moment he hesitated. “May I?â€