Summer Breeze

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Yuruto moaned and wanted to sleep more but his hungry stomach didn't let him and in the end he followed Barret, the room was long but the roof was pretty low, there where long tables and it was almost full everywhere where you could sit, except for two seats left. Yuruto sighed and felt disgusted about the food, he wanted real food and not this. He started tp poke it.
-"What the hell is this?" Yuruto whispered to Barret and almost wanted to throw up. And here he thought that sailors had better than this, he was pretty wrong about that now.
-"Ugh.." He kept saying over and over again while poking the "what-the-hell-that-is-for" food. Suddenly one of the sailors smashed his drink glass on the table and called out a "Shaddup!" before everyone would get quiet and look at the odd "stage". It really wasn't a stage but it was a litle higher than the floor and well, they had fixed some accessories to ut with blankets and other stuff. Yuruto sighed and tried to eat the food. But when it didn't want to go down he took the drink instead.
-"Hello everyone." Said a female voice and Yuruto, filled with shock, spat the drink out and coughed. He hit his chest and looked at the stage. There stood a young woman with long blonde and golden hair and black eyes, she was smiling to everyone and had completely changed from her angry state. Yuruto widen his eyes and tried to hide like he never existed. "Damn it. Why is she here?!" He thought and pulled his jacket up to his neck. The others though, didn't seem to mind.
The young lady, whose name is Natalia. Is a famous singer that goes to different places in the world and sings and she is also on her way to Heaven Oan but not to visit them. No she is on her way to the village Oan that lies near the sea. The village is where most of the people in Heaven Oan are but now, throughout the years. More people from the outside world have visited the village and now the village is more shut from Heaven Oan than before. She started to sing and truly her voice was very beautiful. It was strong and powerful and her song made it even better.

(The song I thought about:
)
 
The food wasn't half as bad as Yuruto made it out to be, according to Barret. It was by no means a delicacy, but he assumed it had all the requirements a man on a ship needed. There were chunks of meat, what he thought was some vegetables and a side of bread all covered in a brown sauce. With the thought that they'd be at sea for an undetermined amount of time, and that he definitely wouldn't be able to starve himself until they found solid land, he dug in, making short work of what was in the plate.

So he turned in his seat, back to the table, nursing his drink. It seemed like a weaker brew than he was accustomed to, probably to save the men their wits. He was busy wondering what the platform was for when the man yelled for quietness. A grin spread over Barret's face as he saw a blonde female climb onto it. He recognized her as the one who had chased after Yuruto. His smile quickly faded as he remembered he had lied to her about knowing his the mage and yet now he sat on a ship with him.

As she began to sing, he glanced at his companion that was trying his best to hide. He decided to follow suit, turning his back to the stage and hunching forward. It was only later that he considered that, that was what made them stick out like red to a bull. All the other men were staring, fawning, over the girl with the angelic voice. The song stopped after a while, and even though the men begged for an encore, Natalie only smiled and excused herself, marching towards the two men who had the audacity to ignore her.

She was stopped in mid-step as she came close enough to recognize them. She tugged up her sleeves and swiftly grabbed each by the back of the neck, squeezing as hard as she could muster.
 
Yuruto felt a big shiver through his spine when he felt the small hand grabbing him by the shoulder and he looked up, It was too late to run now and he knew he would't live long. He started to smile but it seemed more like a call for help.
-"H-hey. Long time no see... I wa-" He was about to give an excuse as always but got stopped when the small hand slapped his cheek with all it's power and pain was going through him. He hold his hand over his cheek, shocked about what she just did. She looked at him with an angry look and was ready with his hand, she then glanced at Barret.
-"Natalie, I-I just.." Yuruto tried again but got quiet when she looked at him.
-"Liar! Where is my money?!" She almost screamed and the men looked at him.
-"Shh... not so loud." He said but she didn't care at all.
-"You almost destroyed my fathers work and you never paid us back for what you did! Where. Is. The money?!" She said out loud and she was serious about it.
-"Y-you will get them back... It's just-" This was surely another work of the famous mage who is destroying most things or relationships for this case.
-"Don't you lie to me, how many times have you ran away from me now?! And you." She turned to Barret.
-"Didn't you say that you didn't knew this man?"
 
As soon as her hand struck Yuruto's face, Barret decided he needed to get away. His considerable bulk counted against him though as he tried to slink away without attracting attention. His attempt was in vain as Natalie loomed over him, having for now finished with Yuruto.

The idea of jumping through a porthole flicked through Barret's thoughts, but his head would probably barely fit in, not to mention his body. The next thought was to bolt to the upper deck and jump overboard. According to Barret's mother there was nothing worse than the fury a woman is capable of, most likely not even the sea. Many hidings drew testament to that.

Now that he actually thought about it, Yuruto was the cause of many of those, just like he was for the current situation.

"I'm waiting," she fumed at him. Speech had momentarily evaded him, a glance towards Yuruto the only thing he could do.
Finally, "I... might have bent the truth a bit," he ventured, his eyes meeting hers. Few people were able to make a man his size feel small, she was one though.
 
She grunted once again and glared at Yuruto, she pointed at him, wanted to say something but just couldn't. It just ended with a; -"I want to have a word with you later." And then she would walk away. For a moment there, Yuruto thought he would be a dead man. He have encoutered many angry women but her was much more different, also. He have done something that should make her like that, it was his fault after all. But he couldn't talk to her about the past now with several sailors and his childhood friend close by. No, this was between him and Natalie. For all his care, he just wanted to eat this weird food and die by posioning and get away with this. But he couldn't now, could he?

Natalie sung another famous song that tales a tale about a woman in the forest who encounter a talking tree, this tale is old and have been heard in many generations but sadly. Most children today haven't heard that tale and it's soons fade into thin air. When they had ate and everyone was done for tonight, Yuruto could feel the sailors faces on him. He could feel their smile on him and that he must oh be so embarrassed! But now he had bigger problems, he was now going to have a lonely moment with her and with no help either. He could beg Barret but since he knew him, he wouldn't get any help at all. He started to swallow his dry throat and got up from the deck. He actually hoped that the food had posion and that he would die before he would meet her, he really hoped that would happen.
 
Barret watched his friend stand up gingerly, as if he was about to enter Hell's jaws. He knew that the slap earlier was only the beginning of the argument that the girl had planned and, unfortunately for Yuruto, unlike in the city the boat had nowhere he could run or hide. The trip would be a while and she wouldn't let her prey escape twice in the same day. So as Yuruto left to face his demons, the smith sat, waiting for the sailors to disperse and Natalie to set after him.

Only then did he raise, joints stiff after a filling meal and a second mug of drink. He was not tired though, the earlier nap having ensured a wakeful mind. He decided to the main deck, thinking the fresh salt air might encourage sleep. The night was bright, the moon three quarters full, only a few clouds drifting around. On the deck there were very few people. A man maintaining their bearing by the wheel and another far up the mast in the crow's nest. Their was a brisk breeze blowing and Barret unconsciously rubbed his arms.

Barret walked to the starboard side, leaning on the rail and looking at the stars.
 
Yuruto stood before her, it was like a battle with a monster but this was much worse, her long golden hair followed the wind and her white dress smoothly hugged her body. She started to sigh and turned around.
-"You're horrible." She started and Yuruto had nothing to comment, he knew already.
-"I... I thought you liked me. So.. Why?" She asked but Yuruto could still not say anything, just stood there and with a cold face watched her.
-"We where happy together, you said yourself that you wanted to marry me, yet... you ran away. The work my father and you did..." She sighed, it seems like she felt that this was as heavy as Yuruto felt.
-"I was stupid and young and, I just couldn't... think of marrying someone." Yuruto said and saw that she was even more upset.
-"Then why did you bring up that idea in the first place? You even helped my father with his work, you then broke it and didn't even pay us back the money. Do you know how much we spent on it AND on the wedding?!" She tried to hold in her voice not to shout too much, because she didn't want to wake anyone up. Yuruto sighed and scratched his neck.
-"I said that I will pay you ba-" She walked forwards to him, looking him in the eye.
-"When? You said that the last time as well." She still looked at him and Yuruto felt like this was hell, there where nothing worse than a situation like this. Should he jump out to the water perhaphs? Drown himself instead? No, he could swim and that wouldn't work either.
-"Look." He sighed, taking his hands on her shoulders.
-"I... I've a mission right now but I promise you that I will pay you back when this is over." He wanted to make a joke, take this serious and cold aura away, but that would only make it worse. She couldn't say anything of course, she was angry, sad, everything at the same time, except happy. She wanted to slap him once more but how would that help? She just looked down.
-"Don't ever see me again. I don't want to see your face anymore." She then walked past him and those words, made Yuruto feel a stinging pain in his chest. This feeling was new, nothing like it before. But he couldn't understand, he had already lost himself a long time ago. He saw her walk away and sighed, looked out to the stars and then down to the water.
 
Barret had crouched down, behind a nearby barrel that contained some kind of pickled food by the smell of it. He hadn't meant to listen to Yuruto and the singer girl, but couldn't see a way of slipping away without being seen. Luckily his spot was quite shadowed and his form would probably seem like just a big rough-spun bag of potatoes. At least that is what he hoped as snippets of the other two's conversation drifted to him on the breeze.

He could hear distress in the female's voice and to his surprise his friend wasn't as vocal as he had expected. He sat on his haunches, continuing to listen until finally he saw that Natalie left. Peeking around the barrel, he stood as he saw Yuruto looking down at the small waves the ocean created. With a creak of the wooden planks he made his presence known, closing the distance between them and placing a heavy hand on his friends shoulder.

"Need an ear...?"
 
Yuruto almost jumped of suprize when Barret out of nowhere took his hand on his shoulder. He looked at him and then calmed down with a deep sigh and looked out to the sea.
-"Sure." He just said and then a silent mood went over before he would explode with feelings.
-"It's not wrong... I mean... Did I do the right thing? To leave the marriage?" He then looked at his friend with a pained looks. His mind was twisted with thoughts and memories and then he would talk again.
-"She is special. I've met many angry women before but she... Can really take ones breath out. Maybe that is why I really like her.." He mumbled the last words before a small light wind swept by and cooled them down, he sighed once again.
-"Damn... I really need a drink right now."
 
Barret listened, that was what he offered, didn't he? An ear. Perhaps he offered his shoulders as well, so Yuruto could unload. He squeezed the other male's shoulder and stood next to him, gazing out to the darkened horizon, trying to think of what to say.

"If you like her," he began slowly, trying to pick his words carefully. Yuruto was seldom so affected by another. To be honest, Barret couldn't remember his friend getting close to anyone else emotionally instead of himself. "If you like her, why leave? Why break the engagement?"
"I do agree though," he added. "Few women can make a man cower as she can. I do think she didn't mean it though. Women like testing men, the same way I test each sword I make. I stress it. I put it through its paces and then see if it can hold its own after. She probably wants you to still chase after her after her stress test."

He gave his companion a slap on the back then and said, "Aye, a drink will be good."
 
Yuruto listened to his words but they just... didn't seem right. He then smiled and they went down to the pub, some men where already there, either drunk or asleep. Many sailors seems to drink themselves to sleep but why is a question you will ask a lot of times but never get any clear answers for. Yuruto bought himself a drink, took a big one and felt like his throat was burning after the drink but it was a good burning feeling. He glansed over at Barret and then sighs.
-"I.." He started and looked down the glass, rubbing the bottom part carefully with his finger.
-"I don't think I can be together with her, even though I love her very much." He said and was still looking down the glass that shone a little.
-"I am a free man... I like to go outside, go on adventures and experience something new everyday. To simply be free." He took another drink and then laughed.
-"Remember when we where small? We would always go outside, or well... I would drag you outside to have company with me. We would run around in the forest or around the huge fields where I had helped my family to growing food and they would always get angry when I came home late." He smiled gently and kept his eyes on his drink like an eagle.
-"I thought I could handle to get married, to be with the one I love for the rest of my life in a house and take care of the family but.." He got quiet for a moment.
-"..But I think I just missed home a little, the farm... mother and dad that are dead. And I mistook the marriage as something I really wanted to do when it actually was just me missing home. I didn't want to get married at all." He felt a bit lighter when he talked out, but it could as well be the drink. But since he doesn't have anyone else as his friend except Barret, he was the only one he could talk to.
-"I want to run, learn new magic spells, defeat many monsters and be on a lot of adventures. I want to be free while I can, not married, stuck in a house. I want to drink, meet women even though I don't love them and experience something new everyday, to feel alive and just be happy." He drank his last one and then asked to get another glass before finally looking at Barret.
-"Do you think I'm a bad person?" He asked.
 
Barret followed his friend and sat, with a creak of the wooden bench, across from him, nursing his ale. He held his tongue and listened as he was accustomed to. The men had started to quiet down and with the entertainment of the night being gone, most had gone to sleep or went elsewhere. His friend appeared to be drinking fairly quickly, something Barret thought might cause regret later on.

He never thought much about love, outside of the common gossip and nagging the women partook in, trying to have him settle with a daughter or niece. It had certainly been a surprise to him that Yuruto had gone as far as planning a marriage. He could understand that it was difficult losing a parent, losing two was probably much worse.

"Always had a family with us," he voiced as his friend continued. He knew he was much more rooted, feeling adventure was just a danger.
"A bad person?" he almost laughed, but realized the situation was a bit too tense for it. "I don't believe there is any such thing. People are good and bad. Good and bad is all a matter of perception. A viewpoint. Perspective changes things. In the end we are what we decide we are."
 
Barret was right, it's what we choose. But even though Barret had never been in these kinds of things it maybe was hard to him to give Yuruto the right answers. Barret already had it good, he was fixing weaponds everyday since he liked that, met people who wanted to buy them and just like what he does. Actually Yuruto didn't know much but since he've been with him a time now he could almost think how it is to have a life like that but he knew he was different from Barret. Much more different. He had already drank half of his second glass and looked at Barret once he've got out from his thinking and looking at the glass.
-"You know what?" He said and raised his glass.
-"I will do what I want, I will do what I like to do! I will go on many adventures, maybe even write down all my stories and make a book out of it! And when I get old and come back to visit you, I will then have a girl by my side that I wont let go off and I will read my stories for you! Even if you like it or not." He said with a smile and drank almost up the last and called for another round. He smiled even wider and made a deep breathe.
-"...We will sit together like now, old and ugly. Tell us about our young days while seeing our children that have grown up, play and talk with each others. We will sit by the fire and drink our favorite drinks!" He took another gulp of his drink and then almost smashed it to the table. After some moments he was already drunk, babbling about when they will get old, his adventures and then of course women.
-"I... I will get married to Natalie... I wont -hic- break our.. our promise!" He said holding another half empty glass in his hand before his head was falling down and hit the wooden table as his hand was almost stuck with the glass. Yuruto had fallen asleep drunk and now was facing the table while the man who had served the drink told them to get out.
-"It's late now and I don't want to stay here any longer than necessary!" He said while cleaning a glass in his hand. The other sailors have gone to sleep now and one or two where still in the room, fallen asleep drunk as well while hugging a bottle in their hands.
 
Barret laughed boisterously at the thought of Yuruto staying still long enough to read a book, let alone write one. He had to wonder if it was indeed to happen if he would feature in such a story. He had also finished his first mug of drink and ordered a second. The brown liquid quickly followed the previous down his throat.

"I'll be old and you ugly," he laughed, watching his friend slip deeper into the grips of alcohol. The edge had lifted from the evening, as they drank mug after mug. Barret enjoyed hearing his friend talk about the future instead of moping over the ills of the past. The past was there to be built upon, not to break each attempt of the future down, or so he believed.

It wasn't long before Yuruto was passed out on the table and the remaining sailor, that served as the barman, chased them out. Barret thus pried the mug from his companions hand and stood, with a slight sway, before pulling Yuruto up by an arm. Barret was indeed a bit more immune to the effects of drink, perhaps because of his bulk, but still not immune. It seemed like the rocking of the ship counteracted his own sway as he moved them to bed and, having set his friend down, fell asleep in his own.
 
Yuruto felt how his head started to ring like a bell, it wasn't bad but it wasn't good neither. He've been through worse though. He took his hand on his head and grunted while slowly opening his eyes, seeing himself lay upon the bed and beside him only some feets away, Barret. But was he asleep though?
-"Uugh..." He felt how his head hurt for a moment.
-"My heeead." He moaned and didn't dare to look outside to the open sea or else he would probably go blinde by the daylight. Slowly, he got used and could slowly take his sight to the small round window. It was a little hard to see though since the window haven't been washed in some month but he could see that it was a clear sunny day and the water was calm as ever. He don't remember seeing any gray clouds in the sky the other day either, so of course there wouldn't be a storm but sometimes a weather could have its small tricks hiding and make a storm right away before you could even react. But the sky was clean, not even a single cloud could be seen. He heard the men running around over their heads, shouting, stressing and working. Soon he and Barret themselves would probably work and stress themselves as well but since Heaven Oan have asked them to come, it really must be something special. What it is though was hard to know when they really didn't say what they would do. He slowly got back to laying down on the bed and resting his back for a bit and looking in the ceiling. He thought about what he remembed of the conversation with Natalie, he didn't remember much else though but he remember talking to Barret about them getting old, or so he thought they did. Suddenly a man came down, holding the tree made stair while leaning. His hair was brown, messy and he didn't look that good with his yellow teeth and tired eyes.
-"Hey, boys! Hurry up will ya? Or else the breakfast will go to the birds." He then started to run up the stairs to go back to work. Yuruto sighed, he didn't want to get up, not yet. What if he sees Natalie? He now felt really ashamed somehow because of what he did and now was too afraid to look into her eyes. Although, she would probably ignore him.
 
Barret had lain in his bed for a while, awake but unmoving, trying to still the dull pounding in his head, like a hammer on wood. He had been awakened by the thudding of bare feet on the top deck combined with the morning sunlight that sifted through the filthy portholes and cracks in the wood of the ceiling. Standing up had been too much of a chore for him though. He could still feel the sloshing of the previous evening's drinks as the boat rocked to and throe. It made him nauseous, an effect the alcohol didn't usually have on him so he blamed it on the ship.

He heard as Yuruto stirred at last, a complaint following momentarily. His friend then stood and lay down once more. Nothing much happened for a bit until he heard someone making their way to them. It was a crew mate rousing them for breakfast before leaving once more. Barret seriously considered skipping the meal, fearing he would lose it all as soon as he was up and about. He was still able to remember the majority of the the previous eve, though he wasn't entirely sure how they had succeeded in reaching bed.

With a groan and a slight creak of his bones he raised himself up and stretched, looking through narrow, adjusting eyes at the room. It seemed surprisingly tidy for the fact that sailors lived there. He stood gingerly and nodded a morning at Yuruto as he made his way passed him and to the breakfast that was promised. The mess hall area was once more tidy as well, no sign of mugs or spilled drink. Few people were in the room since most were busy with their work. If he was correct, though his groggy mind might be confused, the first mate was seated in the room with another man accompanying him, the cook was there and then...
 
Yuruto complained inside his head instead of talking out loud to Barret and then they where in the small hall where the sailors ate and where they ate yesterday. Yuruto was still tired but he could manage it but what made his stomach turn was her. Natalie was eating with some of the sailors, talking and smiling which Yuruto didn't like at all. Sitting with other men and who knows when they last had a shower. She saw him and Yuruto got suprised, didn't know how to react before she would turn away and eat, Yuruto felt this weird feeling in his body but pretended it was because he was just hungry and then took the food. He didn't eat much last night nor did he want to eat anything now of this thing called food. But he had to have powers to make the day and soon they would reach the island. Not only that Yuruto was very picky about food but his body was skinny as well, it didn't feel well because of how Yuruto was acting towards his own body but he couldn't eat much neither or else he would feel sick. Barret probably thought that he was being ridiculous, being so picky about food but he could actually not help it. He drank for the most but took some of the bread so hard you could kill someone with it and the very salty food that almost burned his throat, although it wasn't much, he could still make it. He only hoped that he could get real food from Heaven Oan once they got there.
 
Barret scarfed down the food that was given to him, hoping that it would settle his stomach. It wasn't an improvement on the previous evening's food, though at least it wasn't worse. He would have thought there would be fresher bread though, considering the ship had made port a while back, but money was probably spared as much as possible by captains. He had noticed his friend's demeanor at the sight of Natalie.

She seemed to have forgotten about the previous evening, or she was a good actor, which, if you took her singing into account, wouldn't be too far a stretch. She was enjoying a meal with other members of the crew and it was eating at Yuruto. Barret tried to inconspicuously obscure his friend's view and not too mention anything about all the talk of yesterday. This meant there wasn't talking at all, only the slurping and chewing sounds of food being consumed. Finally he decided that this was the longest his friend had been quiet in waking hours and that it was unnerving, so he took the initiative.

"Perhaps we should go ask the captain how far we need to go still?"
 
Yuruto woke up from his thoughts and looked up at Barret.
-"Oh, yeah. I'm tired of staying here! Can't they fix real food?" He mumbled to himself and even though the other sailors could hear him complaining about the food, they didn't say anything. They knew by his clothes that he wasn't near their... level, so to say. Yuruto walked up the stairs and then was over deck, looking around and see the captain by the helm. He didn't hesitate to go up there, actually he was already there in just a moment.
-"Hey, when are we leaving?" He asked the captain, with his messy beard and stinking clothes. He felt to leave this boat, leave the bad food and the akwardness from this trip. He was tired, just wanted to get to the island, eat real food and take a little more time to rest.
-"Easy boy!" The captain said.
-"We will get ther' by night-time." And when Yuruto heard that he was both relieved, which meant that he would get there to eat dinner but also sleep. But bad news since he had to wait so long, so he made a mix between an annoyed grunt and a reliefed sigh.
-"Can't this boat go any faster?" Yuruto said and kicked it's brown moldy tree.
-"Ey! Watch that!! Alena is strong but if ya do something to hurt her, then I expect ya'll have the money to pay!" He shouted in anger and Yuruto just looked over at the sea and didn't care at all. Acting like a spoiled brat, as usual.
 
Yuruto had sped off before Barret was even able to stand up straight. He lumbered after the other young man, feeling the eyes of the crew mates. He had realized they were probably just keeping mouths shut because their boss had a lot of coin because of the two. Barret wouldn't have been entirely surprised if the crews opinion had changed for the worse since the previous night, seeing as Natalie was so close to them.

As he reached the upper deck, the sun burnt his eyes for a minute, forcing him to squint and fend the sun off with his hand. His eyes adjusted and he looked around, searching for his friend and fleetingly seeing that the sea was as calm as he could have imagined it. Yuruto was engaging the captain, eliciting a sigh from Barret. He made his way and placed a hand in the other man's shoulder, whispering.

"Having him angry isn't getting us anywhere faster. Might get us in a row boat, in fact." He tugged on his friend's shoulder pulling them away.

"Thanks Captain," he said as they moved away, and to his friend, "A game of dice will pass the time."
 
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