This was starting to get creepy. Not only was Zarius, yet again low on gold after traveling around following more dead end leads, but he had also found himself in the company of one Edward Ardent. How they kept finding each other and being thrown into dealing with the troubles of locals was beyond him. Oh well, the human was fine company. Gods knows he can more than take care of himself and then some. So if this most recent venture were to go sideways, at least he knew he wouldn't have to drag Edward's corpse out of the briny blue.

This other fellow though...could he even call him a fellow? Zarius hadn't met many lizardfolk in his journeys so this was a first for him. He was a tall and imposing figure but didn't seem to say much. At least he hadn't when the three of them crossed paths in a small fishing village on the coast. They didn't have much time for introductions or pleasantries before a woman and her young son had approached them in a panicked state.

The woman explained that her husband and his friends had gone out the night before to harpoon a rare starlight whale that was sighted nearby. Such creatures are rumored to grant wishes if caught and the town was in desperate need of a miracle since their fishing had been so poor this season. The fishermen have yet to return to shore and there is a storm lingering on the horizon. The storm had rolled in after the fisherman had left, but no one from down has braved it to see if they were still alive or not. She pleaded with the party in tears until it was less trouble to agree than to try and ignore her. 

The woman had no reward for their trouble, however she had an old sloop that belonged to her father before he passed. It's seaworthy enough and should be able to carry the group and the fisherman should their own vessel be scuttled somewhere. Hull in the water and feet on the deck, they set off across the waves towards the storm. 

Zarius hated every minute of this. Being on the water in larger vessels was one thing, but the waves tossed the sloop around like a toy boat in a bath. He kept one firm grip on a rope or a rail at any given moment. He looks at the other two. 

"Either of you get sea sick?" He asks over the sound of the waves crashing against the hull. 

Xalmann had only agreed to save the sailors in order to make the woman stop pleading with him. He found himself in a similar situation before. It was irritating, but at least he wasn't alone to deal with this. He was with Edward, a man he had met and fought together with before on a journey through the wastes. They had earned his respect somewhat by showing him his ability in battle. It was practically the only way to gain Xalmann's respect.

Along with Edward, however, there was also a Tielfing man named Zarius that he had never met before. They still needed to prove themself to the Lizardman, but they didn't annoy him as much as some others had. They hadn't spoken much on this boat ride. Though, that may have just been because of how roughly the boat was being tossed by the sea and the sound of the crashing waves. It wasn't exactly a relaxing ride where they could enjoy conversation. Xalmann had to keep his tail wrapped tightly around the small ship's railing as he leaned against it, or he might be tossed overboard.

Finally, Zarius did end up speaking, asking the group whether they get seasick. Xalmann looked toward him and tried his best at being friendly. He actually answered their question. "No." he responded, emotionlessly.

Edward doesn’t mind helping those in need, even if he has to get on a boat and sail out on the  unforgiving mistress that is called the sea. He has never experienced sea travel before and was reluctant to do this quest, but people are in danger and who else would rescue them. Edward is currently breathing in and out of his nose, trying to calm his mind amidst the rocking of the boat, the overwhelming salty taste on his tongue and in his nose, and the rumbling of thunder overhead. 
He is currently clutching the wooden railing of the ship, determined not to fall overboard. The moving of the sea keeps Edward nauseated as he is determined not to look down below to the churning waters of the sea. Edward looks at Zarius, “Well, I haven’t traveled on a boat before so I haven’t gotten sea sick before. However, if you can count the nausea that I’m feeling right now, then yes, I might be seasick right now. Sorry about that. I never been to sea before and right now, it’s a bit terrifying right now. Storms, lightning, and thunder I can deal with. The churning of the sea, don’t think so right now.”

Zarius laughs at bit. Edward had proven to be beyond competent as a warrior, so it was humorous to see the greenish pallor he was now sporting as the nausea set in.

He looks at the lizardfolk with a friendly smile, he hadn't expected much of an answer so he would take the one word response as a win in his books. "We may have to rely quite a bit on you, friend."

The horizon before them darkens and the waves grow in size and strength. The small vessel is tossed about and leans from side to side. The three of them can manage the sails and the helm to the best of their capabilities, but these rough waters were proving to be worse than they appeared from the shore. 

Lightning flashes across the sky and then the rain starts to pelt the deck, making it slick and harder to keep ones balance on. Cresting a particularly tall wave, Zarius wipes the salt spray from his eyes and feels his stomach drop. 

In the direct path of their vessel's travel was a massive waterspout. The column of water rips across the waves and twists violently up into the clouds which churn with lightning and- 

"OW!" Zarius exclaims as a piece of hail pelts him in the head. "I think we need to do something fast or else we are going get torn up by that thing!" He shouts back at the other two.

Xalmann looked up at the waterspout with a grunt of agreement. He was a bit worried, though the emotion hardly showed on his face. He had no experience with sailing a boat, but it seemed now was the time to learn. If he didn't the three of them might be in just as much trouble as the ones they were supposed to be rescuing if not more.

He released his hold on the railing and ran over to the steering wheal of the boat. Thankfully, the heat emanating from him melted the hail that headed his way, but it wasn't fully evaporated. He was being hit with huge splashes of water from the melting hail. His cloak was soaked through and the deck was slippery.

He kept his head low, using his tail as a counterbalance as he ran. He barely managed to reach the steering wheal as the ship was hit by another wave, tossing it about. He held onto the wheal tight to make sure he didn't get flung away from it. When he was finally able to take a firm enough footing, he turned the wheal as much as he could to turn the ship to head around the waterspout instead of directly into it.

The boat began to turn, but the hail and heavy waves continued to pelt the ship.

Edward was barely holding it together as is before the waterspout hit the ship. The extra momentum the waterspout gives to the boat forces Edward to throw up a bit of his lunch. This is very unbecoming of himself as he wants to give off the impression that he is perfectly composed. Sadly that ship has sailed. 
Edward feels something impact his head and sees the hail falling around him. He growls in frustration, why this day of all days, for goodness sakes? Seriously, why can’t it be a calm sea for the group to travel through? It has to be storms and hail! He has no idea of what to do exactly. Maybe he can help protect the ship from the hail? He raises his hand and golden light gathers around his hand. The light forms into glyphs that flies out of Edward’s hand and expands to form into a golden wall of light that partly covers the ship. It moves towards the front of the ship and is angled to catch the hail so it falls off of the wall and into the sea. 
Edward yells, “This is the only idea I have, do any of you have more ideas on how to avoid the waterspout? I know Xalmann is at the wheel right now.”

Zarius holds onto the mast of the ship for dear life as the small vessel pitches forward and backward across the towering waves. Glancing about, it looks like Edward had a handle on protecting the ship from the hail and the lizardfolk had altered their course around the waterspout. He sighs relieved, maybe they would make it out of this in one piece. Who could say for those fisherman but he had mostly forgotten about them in the chaos they were now facing. Then the wind shifts. 

The waterspout abruptly changes course and makes a bee-line right for their vessel as the boat dips down to the base of a wave. The roar of the waterspout is deafening and it bears down on them with incredible speed. It feels like there is no escape with walls of water on all sides and this indestructible force of nature threatening to swallow them whole. 

Zarius' mind raced. What could he do to help? He wasn't strong. He had no magic. He had to do something. Anything! He quickly darts across the ship to where Edward is. He grabs a rope and quickly ties a loop and hands it off to him so he has something to hold onto, then he runs and ties the opposite end of the rope to the mast. At the very least, this would give Edward something to hold onto and hopefully keep him from being knocked overboard.

He didn't have time to do the same for himself or the lizard folk as the swirling tower of water and the wind started pulling their ship in towards it. The most he could do was be an anchor for the lizardfolk so he hops over to him and locks his arms around one of the lizardfolk's legs while locking his legs around the base of the helm. 

"BRACE YOURSELVES!" He shouts over the storm. 

Xalmann swears internally as the waterspout suddenly shifts directions and heads straight toward their boat. He hoped he would never have to get on a boat again after this disaster.

As he's thinking about this, he's surprised to suddenly feel arms wrap around his leg and looks down to see Zarius, who had also wrapped his legs around the helm of the wheal. Was he trying to protect the Lizardfolk from being flung from the boat by the storm? It was almost touching, though a bit awkward for Xalmann who now had difficulty crouching down to grab the helm himself. Hopefully Zarius was strong.

He did his best to try and better hold onto something, grabbing a firm hold of the steering wheal. It looked like Edward was on the opposite end of the boat, too far for them to help each other at all, but he had a rope tying him to the mast. Probably better than their current position of just holding on for dear life.

As the waterspout was about to hit the boat, Xalmann wrapped his tail around Zarius's waist. He supposed he had to respect them at least a little. He may not have seen them in a battle against bandits or dangerous creatures, but this seemed like they were fighting a battle against nature. He gripped the wheal tightly as the boat began to rock wildly from the fierce waves being kicked and the wind tried to pull them all from the boat.

Edward was still on the deck, constantly moving his wall of light to catch hailstones that would fall onto the ship. He managed to divert several large hailstones that could’ve splintered the wooden deck of the ship. Then he sees the huge waterspout coming directly towards them and feels Zarius tap his shoulder to offer him a rope to hang onto.
Edward accepts the rope gratefully and ties it around his waist to secure himself to the ship. Edward shifts his stance so that his center of gravity can help him brace the incoming impact of the waterspout. Then the waterspout hits the boat, swirling with wind and water. The impact shoves Edward off of his feet and he is hanging in the air as the waterspout pulls in the ship. The ship is currently swirling around inside the spout. Several chunks of wood are pulled from the ship due to the immense attraction of the spout. Edward pulls onto the rope with every ounce of strength he has to pull himself closer to the ship. Since the rope was attached to one of the masts of the ship, he manages to get to the mast and wraps his arms around it to keep himself from being pulled into the spout any further.

The salt water was blindin and the sound was deafening. Zarius tensed every muscle in his body to try and keep himself and the lizardfolk from being swept away. He hoped that Edward had managed to hold on. Finding someone who fell overboard in this storm would be impossible. There is a moment when it almost feels like the boat is weightless…like it was falling. Which way was up? Had they been picked up by the waterspout? Are they going to smash down into the sea and scatter across the waves?

Gravity abruptly returned and the breath was knocked out of him as his back was slammed against the deck. The small vessel had indeed been briefly airborne as the twister’s wind caught the sail and then flung the boat like a discus thrower. The hull hits the surface of a wave and there is a terrible creaking and groaning from the wood below, but they luckily land hull down and the lizardfolk’s firm grip on the helm rights the ship.

Zarius untangles himself from between the helm and the lizardfolk before rolling up onto his feet. “Thank you, that could have ended badly.” He says to the lizardfolk between breaths before looking around to assess the situation.

The cyclone was continuing on its way without any regard for them. They had a chance, but they weren’t in the clear yet. A quick inspection of the ship revealed that the sail was torn and the rigging was dangerously loose allowing the ropes to lash out in the wind.

He runs forward and grabs hold of a line and manages to get it under control and secured to the rail.

“How are you holding up there?” He calls to Edward, glad to see he kept from being swept away. “We need to find a way out of this storm, can you see any break in the clouds?”

Xalmann scans the horizon, looking for a way out of the storm. Hail continues to rain down on the ship. Are these chunkcs of ice getting larger? Xalmann starts to feel the hail battering him, his heat no longer fully melting them before they hit him. They're still smaller when they hit, but he didn't know if they would continue to grow. They were also not being melted at all before hitting the others or the ship.

As he worries about the hail, he finally spots what seems to be a break in the clouds. Hopefully a way out of this storm. He turns the wheal, aiming the boat toward the break. With the torn sails and rigging, the boat was slow. This wasn't a good situation. The ship was in rough shape. He just hoped the ship would survive at least long enough to rescue the sailors and get back to land. This whole mission had turned out to be far more trouble than he expected, and he wasn't even getting any reward for it.

He was really angry at that woman that had forced him to do this. He internally fumed, anger now slightly visible on his usually emotionless face. He didn't even notice that in his anger, the hail that had started to hit him was now melting before it could reach him again, his fiery aura spurred on by his fury. His skin started to glow very slightly and his soaking wet clothing steamed, though never became fully dry thanks to all of the splashing waves and rain that continued to soak it.

Edward yells back at Zarius, “I’m currently not feeling well right now. I want to throw up right now! My eyes are stinging so much I can’t see properly! As far as I can see, the storm is only getting worse. The clouds have no break in them from what I can see! Maybe Xalmann has better luck.”
Edward can feel his arms aching as he tries to hang on for dear life. Every muscle is working to keep Edward stable and from being yanked backwards. Then he sees the flashes of lightning that seems awfully close to ship. “It looks like we might get hit by lightning!”
Edward moves his head to look up and sees the flashes of lightning in the clouds above. With his intuition, Edward can somehow sense that the next lightning strike is about too occur…now! Edward moves his wall to cover the top of the ship and the lightning bolt strikes down, directly hitting the golden wall. The wall cracks from the force and then shatters after a moment. Edward sighs in relief but the sudden relaxation he feels loosened his muscles and his body is pulled backward from the mast as the sudden relaxation of the muscle has caused his grip on the mast to loosen. He feels his body impact against the rope.

Zarius squints through the rain and feels the sloop change course as Xalmann adjusts their course. He looks back at the lizardfolk. "Keep it up! If we make it to that break we should be through the worst of it!" He sees the steam coming off of Xalmann and the snarl on his face. Uh...he's probably fine. 

The flash of light and the shatter of the spell makes him cover his head to avoid any debris. The wind rips at the sail and the tear starts to get worse. If they lost the sail they'd have no way to keep the ship moving forward. 

Zarius sprints up behind Edward and gives him a push forward back against the mast when his grip slips. "Hold on! One last push! We can make it out of this mess, but I need to borrow your shoulders for a moment."

Not waiting for a response, Zarius springs up on Edwards shoulders and then hops up to a loose rope dangling down from the mast. He gets a good grip on it and pulls himself up to the top. The hail has eased off but the rain was still thick and the lightning threatens to strike them down. Just a little further. They're so close.

He swings over to the loose flap of the sail and grabs it and pulls it taught. The wind catches it and fights against his grasp. He grits his teeth and wraps his legs around the mast, basically suspending himself horizontally above the deck in a desperate attempt to keep the tear from getting any larger as best as he can.

Xalmann is fuming as he strains to hold the steering wheal in place to guide the ship into the break in the clouds. The sail is barely being stopped from ripping by Zarius and Edward seems... unwell. Their shield of light is shattered. Hopefully, another lightning strike doesn't target the ship or they'll all be in serious trouble.

The ship continues forward toward the light peaking through the clouds. A huge wave impacts the ship almost directly on its side. The ship is nearly capsized by such a hit, the boat nearly turning as horizontal as Zarius on the mast. Xalmann growls angrily as he holds onto the helm of the wheal, his tail wrapping around it to keep him from falling overboard. Edward is thankfully tied to a rope, but they look like they're about to vomit.

With an angry growl of the Lizardfolk, his scales glow fiery hot and the wood against his feet and tail blacken. All he can think about at the moment is how if he survives falling into that water, that woman who sent him on this suicide mission is dead. Almost miraculously, the burst of hot air from Xalmann's temper suddenly fills the boat's sail like a hot air balloon, righting the ship. He's surprised for a moment at the sudden turn of events. Either he and the others just got very lucky, or that woman did. Either way, the boat had managed to keep itself afloat for now.

They were nearly to the break in the clouds. Just a little further and they should be fine.

Edward can feel Zarius use his body as a spring board and sees him more up the mast of the ship, “It’s fine! Just get us out of this blasted place!” Edward can feel his exhaustion kicking in but refuses to give up. He pulls himself by the rope to move closer to the mast once again.
He climbs up the mast, still arched to rope to get a better view of the surrounding waters. He can see the waves still crashing into the sides of the ship. He can feel that the ship is shaking so fiercely that he was about to fall down from all the rocking but managed to keep a stable grip onto the wood of the mast. He can see the light breaking through the clouds from a distance, “We’re almost there guys, we most keep on!”
Then a huge wave comes bearing down onto the ship and breaks apart some of the wooden deck. Some of the wave was about to come crashing down on top of Xalmann, but Edward can see this from being up high on the mast and raises his hand to conjure a wall of light behind Xalmann to protect him from getting swept away from the wheel.