Star Light, Star Bright

[Gwen Kasady]

All was quiet on the deck of the Heathen. All of the crewmembers, including the captain, had retired for the night after an arduous day of preparations, checks, rechecks and triple checks. They had to be ready for everything. The known and the unknown. As far as Gwen and Bosun were concerned, they were. Morgan, Gwen thought, would never believe it, but they were prepared for every eventuality the Heathen was capable of. So, exhausted and excited, the crew trudged to their quarters and one by one doors were shut until finally, the telltale click of Morgan’s door signaled that the captain had, begrudgingly, retired as well. Everybody was in their quarters.

Everybody….except one.

The night sky was clear, Arabrab and Trebor clearly visible in the waning light as day passed into night. Gwen sat on the prow of the ship, one leg hanging over the edge while the other was pulled up with her arm resting atop her knee. In that hand she held a dagger from her right thigh, mindlessly flipping it, squeezing and then flipping it again in her palm as she looked out over the calm waters. There in front of her, just barely to port, sat the small chain of islands they were to visit once the sun rose again. Her features set with determination, that cobalt blue gaze roamed over the greenish grey silhouette jutting out of the water. It mocked her.

“So he’s found the islands,” came a voice from behind her.

Gwen, thinking herself alone, started at the sound and nervously twisted in that direction. Upon seeing who it was, she instantly relaxed. “Oh…,” she replied, before turning back and staring at the islands in the distance again. “He has.” she added, her eyes squinting as the words passed her lips. A silence passed between them for a moment, Gwen sat at the prow with dangling leg and Bosun with his foot on the railing, arms crossed over his thigh, as they both looked out to sea.

“You alright?” Bosun asked finally.

Gwen didn’t answer right away. Instead, she simply stared forward, eyes never leaving that looming silhouette. When an answer wasn’t immediately forthcoming, Bosun gave her time to process the question. When no answer came at all, he finally averted his gaze and looked down at the girl quizzically. In that time, Gwen’s expression had gone from determined to forlorn and her eyes dropped from the chain of islands to the waters below them. Now in the corner of her vision, the first mate caught the movement as the man looked at her and immediately stiffened, bringing her free hand up to swipe at her cheek quickly with a sniff.

“I’m fine,” came the belated reply as her gaze resettled in front of her, away from his prying eyes.

“Hm.” Bosun huffed, looking at her in consternation. He didn’t believe her one bit, but he knew she wouldn’t say what was bothering her until she was ready. As if she had heard those very thoughts, he watched as the girl spun around and stared up at him with tear filled eyes.

“He’s going to be ok, right? Nothing is going to happen to him? He’s not gonna…,” Her words cut short, not able to finish the last. Straightening, she looked up at the man who had helped them through it all. Who had stood by their side and weathered the worst with them with pleading eyes. Bosun, at a momentary loss of words from the unexpected outburst, stood slightly, looking down at the girl sympathetically as he searched for something to say. In that time, he watched as Gwen looked down, upturned her hands and continued. “I...I put him back together. Piece by piece…,” her words trailed off again and she stared down at her clean hands. She didn’t know if she would ever be able to not see the blood on them anymore. Slowly, her gaze lifted to meet pale blue eyes. “I thought I’d lost him.” At the words and the thought, her eyes welled up with tears and a few spilled out over her cheeks as she shook her head. “I can’t go through that again.”

Bosun, seeing the heartache in the girl’s eyes and the tears streaking her face, couldn’t help but move towards the girl and envelope her in his huge arms. Holding her against him as she collapsed against his chest in quiet sobs, letting her cry at first, he waited until the sounds quieted before he patted her back and spoke reassuringly.

“Morgan is going to be fine. You’re going to be fine. We’re all going to be fine,” he said softly. “I promise,” he added, not knowing if he were lying to the girl or not. None of them knew what awaited them on those islands, but they couldn’t go into it like this. No matter the outcome. Waiting a little while longer, hand patting and then rubbing her back, he finally pulled away and looked down at her, mustering up a smile. “Okay?”

“Okay,” Gwen answered, pulling away a little and swiping at her cheeks again before managing a smile after seeing his.

“Ah. You kids are gonna be the death of me,” he said, shaking his head and letting his hands rest on the girl’s shoulders. Almost immediately, he blinked, and his smile turned deadpan as he continued. “Later. Much, much later than tomorrow.” Gwen looked up at him in horror at the statement, then slowly relaxed and let the moment pass. When the awkwardness dissolved, albeit slowly, she finally looked up at the orcish man and smiled again.

“Thank you, Bosun,” she said. The trepidation of what would happen tomorrow wasn’t completely gone, but with his words, he had seemed to make it better somehow. Like he always did.

“You’re welcome...first mate,” he offered, reminding her of who she was. “Now, time for you to get some sleep. We’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow. Okay?” he finished.

“Okay,” Gwen replied with a nod. He was right after all. As she slipped from the prow of the ship, Bosun turned with her and proceeded to walk towards his quarters and hers. As he walked, Gwen stopped and turned, looking back up towards Arabrab and Trebor for a moment where she saw the first star of the night to their right. Bosun, curious, turned to watch what she would do next. Instead of turning and going to her room, Gwen again ventured to the railing of the ship and leaned against it with both hands. As she looked up, she said something quietly that she hadn’t said in a very, very long time.

Star light, star bright,
First star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have the wish I wish tonight.

At the arcane incantation she hadn’t uttered since childhood, she dropped her head and closed her eyes, trying to find the right words. Finally, settling on a few, she looked back up to the lone star.

“Please watch over Morgan tomorrow. I....,” she stopped, looking back down for a moment and pondering something. When she looked back up, she smiled when she continued. “...We need him around. For a long, long time.” she finished. Looking up at the star and the two moons for just a moment longer, her smile widened and she finally turned and started making her way to her room. As she passed, she looked up at the smiling orcish man who fell in step with her along the way.

“That was nice,” he said.

“Thanks,” she replied. “But, you’d better hope you can pay up. Cause it’s never going to happen.”

Bosun laughed and Gwen just grinned before they both parted ways and went to their rooms. They really did have a long day ahead of them. The likes of which would rival their wildest dreams……….