It was dawn when we departed from Red Beach Outpost via rowboat to the Salt Fort. The seven of us loaded onto the rowboat. The boats were large enough that normally two people were needed to row, but Kona Godi was so large she piloted the boat single-handedly. I sat near the back with the twins and Henri Dericourt, and at the helm were Nigel and Josephine Baker.
The sea was calm in the morning, so the trip was smooth. There was an actual port on the north side of the island where a large gunship was docked. It towered high above our heads like a wooden monster and looked to be made of multiple layers, judging from the cannons sticking out from windows on the side. There appeared to be four layers in total, including the top deck. Depending on how long we'd docked here, I would like the opportunity to have a look at it up close. I had never before seen something so large that was capable of moving.
We landed on the island and entered the fortress. Soldiers who were from the Red Beach Outpost were stationed about. It was a strangely unsettling sight. There were no signs of blood or battle left in the central courtyard. Looking at it, that was the only thing I could think of. That cold, rainy night when I should have met my end. But here I was, standing in an open field, bathed in sunlight.
Nigel instructed us that we would be departing in only a few hours once our ship arrives from The Doom, a large naval fortress to the south and that we would have only an hour to ourselves before we went over the plan. I already knew a little from overhearing nightly conversations, as my tent was next to Nigel's.
I heard that the Metonym navy anchored their ships in the middle of the narrow sea and had smaller supply ships regularly ship transport supplies. This way, they were ready for battle at a moment's notice, whereas our navy docked in ports and took time to deploy. It was this method that helped the Metonyms repel any advancements and to launch surprise attacks, like on the city of Lindelt. It seems the war was at a standstill since it started with neither side able to secure any advantage over the other, that was, until the Salt Fort. But, in the meantime, I had two desires. Firstly, I wanted to get away from this courtyard. Secondly, I wanted to look at that big ship.
Once we were dismissed, I made my way back towards the dock where everyone else entered the fortress. As I approached the ship, I did notice an unmistakable giant figure had in fact followed me; it was, of course, Kona Godi.
I stood on the pier and looked up at the towering ship. Kona stood next to me and also looked up at it in silence. From the pier, we could see movement on the upper decks as the crew were working on something, maybe cleaning. I looked around for a soldier to ask if I could board the ship and look around, but there was nobody on the pier. There was also no ramp to board either. When I looked back the other direction, Kona had found and started to climb a rope ladder that hung from the side of the ship.
Panicked and thinking we would get in trouble, I called out.
"Kona! What the hell are you doing?"
"Boarding. I want to see the inside." She climbed without pausing or turning her head to talk.
"Qu'est-ce que c'était? Qui est là?" [What was that? Who's there?]
A head poked out from above with a sword drawn, pointed down towards Kona.
"Exprimez votre intention." [State your intention.] He shouted down.
"Huh? Ah shit, um. Visiteur?"
"Que dites-vous? Vous ne parlez pas le viltin? Êtes-vous un espion pathétique?" [What do you say? You don't speak Viltin? Are you a pathetic spy?]
Kona turned her head to look down at me.
"What did he say? Sorry, my Viltin is horrible."
""Elle n'est pas une espionne. Nous sommes sous les ordres du commandant Fenring. Nous souhaitons visiter votre vaisseau." [She is not a spy. We are under the command of Commander Fenring. We would like to visit your ship.]
The man atop the ladder sheathed his blade and smiled.
"Ahhh. Vous auriez dû le dire plus tôt. Je vous en prie, montez à bord." [Ahhh. You should have said so earlier. Please, come aboard.]
Kona turned back to me. "What did he say?"
The two of us climbed aboard the enormous vessel and were left unattended. In Viltan, the man who had threatened Kona apologised and said we may explore the ship as we please, as long as we don't interfere with the crew, move anything or break anything. The last of the requests was said while giving a side eye to Kona. And so we explored the ship, walking down to the lower decks and poking our noses into each room.
"So, you don't speak Viltin?"
"Not well, you try learning three languages, it's hard."
"Three?"
"Course three. My native tongue is Snæmál, then I learned Imperial and lastly a bit of Viltin."
"Sne-what?"
"Snæmál, it translates to Inperal as 'The language of the snow' or something like that."
"Can you speak some of it to me? I'm curious to hear what it sounds like."
With a faint smirk, she leaned back in her stride, placing her hands interlocked behind her head.
"Mér þykir þú nokkuð fríðr"
"Yep, didn't understand a word of that."
She laughed and patted me roughly on the back. I felt like they were meant to be soft and playful, but it nearly knocked me to the floor. She stopped walking and looked to the side.
"You think it could lift one o' them cannons? Carry it like a gun?"
As I imagined the sight in my head, I couldn't help but let out a small laugh. As I leaned forward, closed my eyes and tilted my head away for the brief moment the small laugh took. She had already stepped closer to the cannon, wrapped her arms under it and was trying to lift it.
"Woah, hey, they told us not to break anything."
She groaned out as she lifted. I took a step closer and moved around the cannon. Her face was red as she struggled to lift it. I shifted slightly, but I could also see that in her legs, she wasn't putting her all into trying to lift it. She huffed and let go, creating a loud thud as it dropped to the few centimetres back to the ground. She chuckled softly and scratched the back of her head as she pushed her long hair from her reddened face.
"That's heavy."
"Hé! C'était quoi ce bruit, bordel?" [Hey! What the hell was that noise?]
A voice rang from the deck above, followed by footsteps.
"That sounded angry." Kona stepped back from the cannon and grabbed my arm, pulling me along without a word or warning.
She pulled me away and into a room near the staircase that went to the bottom deck. She closed the door behind her, not realising that she had shoved us into little more than a broom closet. It was tight and cramped, with no room to move and little light, only the faint bands from the floor above creeping through between the wood.
I couldn't see, but I heard her shift, turning around maybe. Then I felt something warm press against the top of my head. I reached my hands out behind me, but there was only a wall. What was on top of my head? Her arm, maybe? No, it felt too soft to be an arm; her body felt like it was made of rocks. I reached up and grabbed it, only to find it was soft as well.
"What is this? Did something fall on my head?"
I squeezed the strange soft object as I tried to determine its shape. Then I heard something, a faint and slightly muffled gasp along with a sharp inhale. She turned around, right? And the room was small. She's super tall, so that means the things on my head.
"AH!" I retracted my hands quickly, and in a mild panic, I reached for the door handle. Twisting, the door flung open, and Kona toppled back and out of the room, and she accidentally pulled me with her as her hands clasped around my back.
The guards ran around the corner to see me lying atop Kona with my face pressed against her chest. We both looked towards the guards. The guards looked back at us, then each other and then walked away as if they didn't see a thing.
Panicked and embarrassed, I rolled off her and stood up so fast my head felt light and my vision blurred. I apologised to her for my actions, and then I ran towards the upper floors and towards the exit of the ship. Once I had climbed down the ladder, I had started to calm myself a bit and moved to a walking pace as I headed back towards the fortress. Then I thought, how was it that I also fell? Why was it that when she fell back, I felt her hand on the back of my head? Was she perhaps about to embrace me? Did she want me to continue?
I shook the thought from my head and entered the fortress. Josephine Baker was walking halfway across the courtyard. She stopped upon seeing me and waved.
"There you are, my dear half Metonym, I was just sent to fetch you and the she giant. The two of you went out to look at the gunship, no? I trust the two of you enjoyed some quality time together, no? Oh? What's this? Why is your face getting all red?"
I stormed past her without a word and headed into the main fortress door. As I left, I heard her chuckling behind me.
I walked through the stone halls, glancing into each room to see if the other were there. I probably should have asked where it was I should go at least. As I followed the main pathway, I felt an uneasy feeling, like I had been here before, though I had no memories of it. Well, I had been here before, but I wasn't entirely…me.
At the far end of the winding stone hallway was a meeting room where the others were. Nigel gestured for me to sit, and then we waited for the two women to join us. After about a minute, they entered the room. Kona moved with a slight shuffle as opposed to her usual large strides. She sat on the other side of the room, and Nigel began to speak.
"Good, now some of you might know most of this information already, but I need to go over it so we're all on the same page. As you may be aware, the enemy has a method of anchoring their ships in the middle of the narrow sea. This gives them the advantage of rapid response and deployment. They call them Night Ships. Our mission is to infiltrate one of these ships and figure out what methods they use to safely anchor in water so deep. If we can learn this, we can fight against it or use it ourselves. Over the past week, I've sent scouts to try and find the most isolated ship that we can make our target. Our mission is this: board the ship and figure out how they keep them in deep waters permanently. As for the crew on board the ship, anything goes. Ideally, we can conduct this operation with no casualties, but if we need to actually board the ship, there may be conflict, and the Metonyms are fierce. We would have no choice but to kill all on board. We leave two hours before sundown."
There was a silence, an eerie stillness to the air. I wondered if that was why I was here; if the worst was to happen, it would be my turn to step up. Do they think I can do whatever I did here again and at will? I don't even know if I can do that; at the end of the day, it's not even my choice to make. I suppose in a few hours, we'll find out.