Berry Backpost: The First Promise, Part Two

Posted on Sun Nov 11th, 2012 @ 6:08am by Berry
Edited on on Wed Jun 8th, 2022 @ 2:04pm

1,893 words; about a 9 minute read

Chapter: Additional Stories
Location: Velusia
Timeline: About Eleven Years ago...

The First Promise, Part Two

OLD

The pirate captain’s eyes widened, and she lunged forward. The dust dissipated, and she frowned to the side. “Ink dust. The coward.”

“Fan out and look for them,” Shek thundered in his deep voice.

As the pirates ran out into the village, Kahns sighed, brows knitting with worry. “I can’t believe what that idiot did…” She had to admit she was impressed and touched by the gesture of the twerp, but not when it came to something like this.

NEW

O—O—O—O

The waves sloshed against the rowboat, with Jo Snake at the helm furiously rowing out to sea. The village dock slowly but surely began to get smaller in view.

“They’re gonna find you!” Berry shouted at him. Several bruises were already turning green, almost finished with healing back to yellow.

“They won’t.” The bandit leader glanced around anyway despite his confidence. “They’ll never suspect an island bandit running to water.”

Berry tried to move again but the stone weight tied to her ankle didn’t help. She glared up at him. “Well, you still look like a sea slug!”

He scowled. “I’m getting tired of your mouth. No one who insults Jo Snake lives to tell of it.” He bent down and picked her up by her hair, inspecting her neck one more time. “No gills means death out on the water. So see ya.” Then he tossed her out.

Berry knew the bandit was right. She didn’t want to, but a small part of her, the part that knew almost too much, let her know that. So as the ocean waters neared her face, she sucked in breath.

And lost it, for she sensed something coming—something big. No one needed water magic to see this one, though.

For a huge Sea Emperor had found its way to the island water to eat its fill of the fish—and any Aquar that found its way into its maw. The fish was gigantic, a behemoth of the sea. Many varieties existed, gigantism common in several parts of the ocean. This one resembled an eel multiplied by a thousand. Its huge circular eyes were as wide as one small Berry, maybe bigger, and they regarded the bandit in his boat.

The bandit turned as he heard water falling as it rose, and his eyes widened in horror. He screamed and jumped out of the boat—to be suddenly crushed between the Sea Emperor’s sharp, jagged teeth.

It swallowed, boat, bandit and all…then turned its huge head to look at Berry.

The huge waves caused by the giant fish helped the young girl barely stay afloat, but the fear shooting through her suddenly made her movements less organized—and she started sinking.

“H-Help!!” Berry screamed and sputtered, tears escaping her eyes as she desperately pulled at the water. “Someone help me!!”

The giant eel opened its cavernous mouth and lunged forward, snapping its jaw.

Berry blinked, suddenly feeling herself floating. Was she at the crest of the giant wave? Or in the stomach? She was resting against something…someone. Kahns.

The Aquar woman treaded water, the young child pressed against her chest as she stared the Sea Emperor down. The fierceness in her gaze was surpassed by the power radiating from her.

“Leave.”

Before she had to say it twice the eel turned and swam off, past the shelf and into the deep waters from where it came.

The pirate captain relaxed, smiling in relief as she stroked the young part-Aquar’s dripping hair. “Hey, are you all right?”

Berry sniffled and nodded, her bottom lip trembling as she tried to stay strong. Her skin shimmered so much silver it was almost grey. “Y-yeah, b-but, Kahns...” The young child grabbed onto the coat, eyes screwing shut as she cried out, tears flowing.

“What about your arm?!”

The Aquar woman just smiled, almost serenely, as blood from the stump on her shoulder poured freely into the waters around them, the sobbing of the young girl echoing into the empty sky.

O—O—O—O

“Do you have to leave?” Berry asked for the umpteenth time, frowning sadly up at the pirate captain.
Kahns sighed in regret, placing only one hand on her hip instead of two. Her shoulder had been well treated, and as long as she stayed out of water for a few months she should be all right. “I’m afraid so,” she told the young child. The pirates almost finished loading the ship again, never to unload at these shores again. “Someone may have seen us, and we don’t want this village to suffer more than it has already.”

Berry bit her lip. “But…I’m not going with you.” She said that as a fact, not a question. Her brows began to knit. “I’m…I’m going to make my own pirate crew.”

Kahns grinned at her. “Y’know, even if you could go I wasn’t going to have you on my ship, anyway.”
At that Berry pouted up at her. “I don’t care about that one bit! I’m gonna have a better crew than you and find that Line of Chaos treasure and beat you!!”

The Aquar woman smiled fondly at the young child, then knelt in front of her. She reached behind her neck and pulled at the blue necklace. The quicksilver thread came apart easily, but snapped back together at the ends as soon as Kahns let it. “Then let’s make a promise. I’ll give you this necklace, and you give it back to me when we meet again and you’re a great pirate. How about that?” The blue beads glinted in the light.

Berry stared, eyes widened in shock. How could Kahns give away something so treasured? The young child’s lip trembled again, and she bowed her head as much as she could to hide r tears. She nodded, sniffling, and so Kahns leaned forward and attached the necklace around her own small neck.

The tears ran freely now, drenching her shirt, and some snot dribbled, too. Berry swallowed and wiped at her eyes, crying softly. “O-okay...”

The ship set sail, and Kahns waved with her only hand at the villagers. She sighed with a small smile on her lips.

“That kid is gonna be great someday,” Shek remarked in his deep voice. He never said anything lightly, unlike his captain.

“Why do you reckon that?” Massi asked.

The Aquar woman grinned. “ ‘Cause she’s just like me at that age.”

“Do you mean stupid?”

Kahns burst into laughter. “Yeah, I guess!”

O—O—O—O
Ten years later, about one year ago from now…
O—O—O—O

“Ah! Today’s a good day to go.”

Berry hopped into her little rowboat. Her hair had grown longer, shoulder-length now, and tied into two braids. The seventeen-year old part Aquar wore a bright green tunic and some loose pants, her sandals strapped firmly to her ever-moving feet. It was time to set sail! Well, not really, since she didn’t have a sail…just paddles.

Kana smiled at her from the dock. “Berry…don’t you need some supplies?”

She grinned at the bartender. “That’s why I got this bag on my back! Which is why I call it a bagpack.”

The bartender still looked quite youthful as he smiled weakly. “Uh…okay. How about some fresh water?”

Berry blinked. Water? She totally forgot! “Oh, yeah, water…”

Kana shook his head and smiled amusedly, rolling a large barrel to her. “Here. It should last you until the next island.”

The part-Aquar laughed. “Who said I’m going to an island?”

“Well, you’re going to find some crewmembers, right? If they’re gonna be pirates, you know they don’t stay at the ocean floor…” Kana pushed the barrel into the boat.

“I guess you’re right,” Berry commented, nodding with a thoughtful frown. She hadn’t thought of that, either.

The bartender smiled fondly down at the young part-Aquar. To think, he was only around her age when Kahns left. “May Velus shine over you,” he wished her, although he knew she didn’t really need anyone to…not anymore.

Berry giggled, smiling up at him. “Yeah, it’s always in the sky, huh?” She sat down in the rowboat. “Okay, well I’m gonna go now.”

Kana waved. “Bye!”

Berry was too busy dropping her oar to wave back. She surfaced from the water and laughed. “Whoops.”

As she pushed out to sea she smiled up at the sky, her hair still dripping water. Her adventure was beginning! How exciting.

She glanced back behind her, sensing something coming. Her brows lowered as she smiled determinedly.

The giant fish slowly rose out of the water, gazing down at the puny part-Aquar with its multiple eyes half her size across. Water streamed down to the ocean, mini water falls appearing down the fish’s spines.

“Hey there,” Berry greeted as she stood, her feet planted apart for balance. “I have to say goodbye to you, too.”

The Sea Emperor didn’t mince words and lunged—to be met by Berry rocketing forward through the air with her fist stretched out. Her small size compared to the large creature meant she should’ve been the one pushed back, but this young woman had water-magic on her side.

The fish flopped back into the water, its head raising to stare.

Berry dropped into the water with a splash, grinning up at the Sea Emperor. She could use water magic to push against the water for another blow, too.

The giant fish probably knew that and promptly turned and dove into the waters.

Berry treaded water, a triumphant grin on her face. All right, so where did her rowboat go…she grimaced as she saw the speck of it in the distance.

Upon securing her vessel, Berry rowed some more, finally happy to be on her way. The salty breeze blew past her, and her braids fluttered. Velus shone down on her, making her skin glow slightly as it reflected. What a great day…she slid to the bottom of the boat and rested her back against the barrel. She took a fruit out of her bagpack, munching on it as she gazed up at the sky. So who did she want on her crew? Why, anyone awesome would do…someone fun. But also good fighters. Hmmm…

Unbeknownst to the daydreaming dunce, there was a whistling sound steadily increasing as the boat floated. It soon started to roar—something massive was moving.

Berry poked her head up above the edge of the boat, eyebrows rising. “Huh?”

The rowboat moved steadily in the water, but the ocean wasn’t flat anymore—it was gone! Berry’s eyes widened as she looked over, and she yelped.

A huge whirlpool lay before her, and the boat was right on the edge. She grabbed an oar and paddled as furiously as she could, but it was too late, and the swirling mass of water sucked her right in, her exclamations of surprise the last anyone saw of her.

At least, for a few hours.

O—O—O—O

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