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30th Day in the 4th of Ründ’s Months, Dry Season, in the First Year of King Feyaz’s Reign, 126th Reckoned Year

…The anger of a boiler shark, like blood in the water.

A love of hurt and death and pain, caught the son from his fisherman father.

He hooked his prey and he slew his enemy; he made the sea to boil.

He baited the kind and he kicked the weak; he sowed ash into soil.

He beguiled the sea and had not a friend to speak of.

Vengeance for his fisherman father was all he could think of…

From Act I of ‘The Boiler Shark and the Fisherman’s Son’, Finger Weaver tale, written by Tragedy Mill in the 75th Reckoned Year

The last four days have passed as a blessedly uneventful routine. Petsune would rise, help with the standard maintenance of the ship, see to his daily duties which were on a rotating schedule, and pick someone to learn more about. After the loss of Harlan, Pet became determined to know this crew, not merely be comfortable with them. Could he even call them family until he truly knew them, and they, him?

Four days ago, he had chosen Cheese, though the only thing Pet learned about her was that she came onto the crew recently and has a pension for pranks. He remembers a subtle impression that her name had a story Chapel didn’t wish to tell, and when he asked, she simply said, “When I’m three sheets to the wind, it sounds like I’m sayin’ ‘cheese’, ‘stead of ‘cheers’”.

Curiously though, when Pet asked The Big Man, the answer was completely different. Benafield said she was called Cheese because when Chapel found her, she was marooned on a newly made Mass, only about a tower wide, and the first thing she asked for was cheese. Shushilah said she used to have a pet rat that would frequently bite her, as if it thought she was cheese. He asked each crew member, save for Chapel, and he received a completely different answer each time. He gave up trying to figure it out, instead enjoying the enigma that was Cheese. The day after he tried to become better acquainted with Cheese, he sought out Sprig.

It turns out that Sprig and Pickett came as an inseparable unit. They had run away from a horrible orphanage on a place called Balehorn Mass in the lower southeast region of the Sea of Saints. When Pet asked Pickett what a Balehorn was, he explained that it was a seahorse roughly the size of a man, capable of splitting rock with the horn on its face and was known to carry a specific rock in the curl of its tail for the duration of its life. Sprig hadn’t seemed in the mood for more questions, so instead Petsune learned about sea life from Pickett. He learned of the nine different species of sea turtles, of which he now only remembers three. He learned about the boulder and pebble claw crabs, as well as something called a pinchfast crab which sounded very fascinating. The only other creature Pickett mentioned that Pet remembers by name was something called a feverweep, which is eel-like and can unhinge its mouth wide enough to swallow a small sailboat, whole — hard to forget that one. The day after learning about new horrors in the deep, Petsune spoke with Bor and learned a great deal about the art of food.

Bor seemed very cagey about his craft, but Bor seems reluctant to talk in general. Eventually Bor deigned to lecture Pet on all the finer points of cooking: the time, requirements, and final test all seemed grueling to say the least. Anyone working under the title of Bor must have been trained by one of the eight WinBor’s, who all take on one apprentice a year. It then takes five years of study and cooking, which all culminates in the Final Feast: a test in which your master WinBor and two others eat a meal created by you, judging whether you have earned the title of Bor. After the long-winded lecture, Petsune understood why Bor went by the title rather than his name. Yesterday, Petsune pried into the mind and life of The Big Man.

Pet had the minor ulterior motive of learning why Benafield had such anger in his eyes a few days earlier. He cannot ever remember seeing the Big Man upset or even agitated, thinking of him more as gentle than angry. Benafield was easily forthcoming about his time in the mines of Vohfay, and even spoke freely on the loss of his family, but something happened after that and before the Lady. Pet only came to this conclusion after careful questions and a willingness to listen. They surprised each other for inverse reasons: Benafield was surprised at Petsune’s willingness to simply listen and not interject, while Pet was surprised The Big Man wasn’t more hesitant to speak. Pet resolved to return to this conversation with The Big Man at some point. Today however, he planned on speaking with Shushilah.

Despite the rations getting progressively worse, Pet finds his mood improving each day, unlike Bor who has to endure the Haul’s larder. The simple schedule and the familiar environment have helped him regain some lost peace. His positivity is occasionally beset by attacks whenever he remembers where they are sailing and why, but he tries not to let that ruin his trip. One thing that does concern him is the Shipwreck Straits. They should be sailing into the unsettling stretch of water any moment now. Petsune finishes the dishes and begins seeking out Shushilah to pass the time. He finds Shush in the crow’s nest on lookout duty. When he climbs into the nest Shushilah seems pleased to see him. “Hello, friend Petsune. You are coming for the view, I’m thinking?”

Shushilah gestures out toward the southern horizon off the bow. Pet responds while turning to look. “No, I actually just wanted to talk with you and…” Petsune’s words die off as he sees what Shushilah meant. At first, he thinks his eyes are playing a trick on him. Just ahead, the water changes in color, shifting from a deep vibrant blue to a very light sky blue with patches of barely discernible green, yellow and red. This isn’t too surprising, many seas seem to possess their own color pallets: the Slick Sea of Broadfell has pinkish tones from the red whale oil, the Green Sea of Dintash is verdant with tower vines, and the Strange Sea in the uncharted south is said to be black as night. No, what Pet sees now is a preternatural stillness. The water isn’t moving at all, it is perfectly still and undisturbed, not even a ripple on the surface.

The Painful Lady glides into the Shipwreck Straits as Petsune cautiously rises and stares down at the eerie sight. “What…”

Despite not finishing the thought, Shushilah answers the unspoken question. “Nobody knows why the sea is so still here. Is a question many have asked. In the Oullman, we call it the Still Sea. And another thing: no salt. Is just water.”

Once the ship passes fully into the Straits, Petsune realizes with a shock that the water isn’t the color of a light sky blue, it is simply reflecting the sky like a vast mirror. But when Pet looks down, leaning far over the edge of the crow’s nest, he doesn’t see only the sky's reflection. Behind the thin reflection on the surface, Petsune can see straight down to the sea floor. His eyes go wide in amazement as he gapes at the sight. It is as though they are flying, and towers below he can see solid ground — the bottom of the sea. Pet has never been to Broadfell Keep, and so he has never seen solid ground before. There, far below the hull of the Lady, are swathes of green and red plants growing in sweeping patches amid yellow sands and dark colored rocks. Pet climbs out of the crow’s nest, completely forgetting Shushilah for the time being. He climbs down the ropes slowly, finding it hard to take his eyes off the unmoving water. It is silent, the still waters not lapping at the hull or causing the ship to sway and creak. Even the prattlebeaks roosting in the branches of the ship have gone uncommonly quiet. Some of the crew are on deck, looking out at the Straits ahead, but no one makes a sound. The atmosphere is a mixture of equal parts reverence and unease.

Petsune makes his way to the starboard railing where Chapel stands atop one of the roots that descend to the water. Pet climbs over and stands on the whaler's platform that wraps around the ship. He leans over, holding on to the root above, and he looks straight down. The shadow of the boat affords Pet a perfect view through the surface to the world below. He reaches out slowly, intending to touch the water but Chapel touches his shoulder. Petsune looks back and up at Chapel who shakes his head. “We don’t touch the water here.”

“Why? It seems so odd.”

“A lot of people died here in the aftermath of the Shot, so I try to be respectful whenever I pass through. Some say the souls of those lost that day somehow stilled the waters permanently, others believe a deepfoot died here. Nobody really knows why the waters are still.”

Petsune looks back to the glassy ocean. “I’m surprised I’ve never heard of this…”

Chapel looks out at the waters as well. “People don’t like to talk about the Shipwreck Straits, mostly because of what happened here, but there’s a superstition around this place too. Not good, but not really bad either. Just a place with a… strangeness.”

Petsune stares down through the window-like surface, and he begins to see debris on the bottom. First, he sees chunks of unknown objects, wooden debris, and the shapes of cannons. As they sail further into the Straits, entire ships begin appearing on the bottom, some sunken during the North War, others more ancient and mysterious.

The shipwrecks are teeming with life: forests of lush, green, tower vine stretching to the sun and swaying gently the slight movements of fish; fields of lumpy, brown snag weed; thickets of long, twisting sharksbane; yellow bushes of dogfur reeds; large, spidery trees of fickle willow; and the bulbous, red mouths of enticing blisker leaf pitchers. Swimming over and through the flora and flotsam are innumerable creatures of all colors, sizes and shapes. There is a swirling school of muckfins being herded carefully by several large wakefolders; there are sudden glints of shimmering runnkykits as they dart in and out of various plants; there’s a slow moving group of four rockshell turtles and two of the larger bulkhead turtles swimming closer to the surface and casting roaming shadows down on the sand; and there are slick skin sharks patrolling the wreckage, searching for an easy meal. Petsune stares down in awe at all of this and more, a world teeming with life and color. He doesn’t recognize many of the fish or plants and thinks of Pickett, finding the expanse of his knowledge all the more impressive.

Petsune looks up at the horizon as the Lady continues gliding soundlessly above the active sea life below. The glassy sea makes for an unusual horizon, boating a nearly perfect reflection of the sky above. The clouds morph and coagulate into shapes as Petsune watches, until something catches his eye. There is a single blotch on the horizon that stands out, an odd dark protrusion into the invariable line of sea and sky. Pet is about to point it out to Chapel when he hears the Captain call out loudly. “Hollow Tree, straight off the bow.”

Petsune reluctantly climbs back onto the main deck where Chapel is. Pet asks, “What's going on?”

“There’s a Hollow Tree ahead, and I always stop when we see them.”

The deck is bustling with energy and activity as the crew furls the sails and makes ready to stop when they reach the Hollow Tree. From the glimpses he catches, Pet is given the impression the crew looks forward to these encounters. Chapel begins walking off toward his quarters, and Petsune follows him. The Captain appears thoughtful as they enter his cabin and Petsune asks him a question as he grabs something off his desk. “How many Hollow Trees have you come across during your years of roaming?”

Chapel considers, “Hmm, well, let me think… there were four, plus the one by Windrock, oh and the one in the Strange Sea — so six, I think?”

“In all these years, that’s it?”

“Yeah. They’re very rare and they move, so you never know where they’ll be.”

Petsune thinks about this and then considers something. “Shouldn’t we flag down the Haul, tell them we’re stopping?”

“Witt will understand. He said he trusts us to get there, and we already split the rations up.”

Chapel says all of this without his characteristic pluck and mirth, and Petsune wonders if it is simply the loss of Harlan weighing on Chapel, or something more. They exit the cabin and can see the Hollow Tree is closer now. Pet feels a buzzing energy as he begins to discern the shape of it.

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