Heian went to his cabin, in hope to write some more of his memories down. Every time he thought about it it seemed more and more dumb. First, he wrote in demonic so no one hier could read those. Second, Wood had a perfect memory. "A good story is always worth writing down. Even if just to look good on someone's shelf"

He already filled two books worth of paper with his scribble and writing down an entire story would take at least four more. AND it was just to the point of his appearance in Charon. Paper would end sooner than the story.

He got disrupted by a knocking. It was Cyran, informing him about Jeremy's worries. Well, he hired a guide to listen to his advice, right?

-Thank you, but we can not outwait the storm. Those fishermen might not survive it and going back with their corpses instead of alive things...

-Is not our style. You're welcome

Heian waved him off and went in search for Murmur. Like knowing he was needed, the white enderian appeared behind him.

-(What is it, sir?)

-(Order the crew to wear suits, and that does includes you. We may experience a storm)

Gerhart kept his eyes to the skies as they started off into the sea. The salt and wind through his hair was his favorite feeling so far. His siblings were going to be jealous that he got to sail on a real ship. For the most part it is clear, but soon even eyes that were trained for the forest could spot something was off. 

He stood in the crow's nest and leaned forward to try and see a bit further. The gray of the sky and that faint roiling burble of thunder made it obvious something was happening. He didn't like how quickly things were turning grey either. Gerhart slips down to the deck as quickly as he can. 

He nods to Cyran already seeing him head off to warn Heian. "All right, let's get everything we can below deck! We don't want to lose our dinner just because it fell off the side." He grins and starts helping the rest of the crew get prepared for what looked like a nasty storm. The upside was the crew was experienced and they were ready, but Gerhart had a feeling that pricked the hairs on his neck that this wasn't the kind of storm you can just sit down and ride out.

After warning Heian, Cyran returned above deck to find the crew already getting things ready to ride out the storm. In just the short amount of time he’d been below deck, the sky had already begun to turn a nasty shade of gray, the wind picking up and whipping his hair in every direction.

In the chaos he spotted Gerhart helping the crew, a smile on his face that betrayed the worry he felt over the clouds gathering on the horizon and the waters churning below.

“Here. Let me help.” He said, grabbing one of the crates and following the flow of crew hands as they stored things below deck, securing them before things got out of hand.

Inwardly, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of anxiety at the looming tempest. He’d been caught in storms before, but always on dry, solid land. He’d never weathered one on the ocean. There would be no stability for him to cling to once they hit it head on. In the distance, he could make out lightning bursting through the clouds, making the air smell of ozone.

“Let’s just hope we can make it through this… or else those fishermen aren’t the only ones who are going to need a rescue party.”

Murmur soon approached him on the top deck, reporting full readiness. His armor had two white stripes on each shoulder, marking him out of the rest of his crew.

Heian stood by the steering wheel personally. Enderien were already used to storms in Charon, but navigating in them was an entirely different experience. That's why Lurch accompanied him, having more than one competent helmsman was a common practise. Jeremy stood there as well, but more interested in observing the sky than the helm.

First came the wind, making sails slat and waves grew, more so the closer they were to black clouds on horizon. Heian spun the wheel like a madman, trying to compensate the wind effect and go in a relatively straight line. Sailing directly into storm would make it last shorter, for them at least.

The wall of rain finally reached them decreasing the visibility significantly. His crew reacted suprisingly calmly, those suits really gave them some space for overcoming their fear. As long as they won't get hit by a lightning, or run aground, they should be good.

And right as he thought that something hit their side. Strongly enough for ship to bounce to the side.

-(Someone go check on hull!)

Murmur and a couple not key members, like cannoneers went beneath the deck in search for a hole, as Heian struggled to keep them above the sea level. Waves grew stronger with every minute.

"We can make it through this don't worry." He grins amidst the pouring rain over the deck to Cyran. "We just gotta trust Heian and the others that they know what they are doing." Gerhart himself did his best to keep his footing on the deck of the ship, but it was getting harder as the rain really hit.



He grabbed hold of the mast as he slid back a moment while the waves rocked the boat. The higher and rougher the waves got, the harder it got to hold on. Instinctively, he just headed down to help look for the repair. The ship was taking on some water, though the damage wasn't too severe. Gerhart scrambled around below deck to find an extra board or two to start boarding it up. He pounded away to get the nails into the wood despite the thrashing of the sea.



"ALL GOOD DOWN HERE CAPTAIN BUT WE SHOULDN'T TAKE MUCH MORE OF THOSE." Gerhart pokes his head out from the stairs that lead below deck. Hopefully Heian can hear him above the squall, but regardless of that he would come up and see if there was anything to do in the churning sea storm.

The choppy waves battered against the side of the boat, throwing the vessel in every direction. The storm had arrived, and it came with a vengeance. He barely managed to grab hold of a support beam when one of the first waves hit, making his legs feel weak and his heart leap into his throat. He stamped down the nausea, more focused on trying to keep himself from getting thrown overboard. He just had to trust in Gerhart’s words that Heian knew what he was doing, and that he would steer the ship to weather the storm.



The second, larger wave slammed into the side of the hull, and Cyran lost a little confidence. He believed Heian was a competent captain, but when mother nature had a vendetta against you, there was nothing any mortal could do. When Gerhart made his way above deck, Cyran followed, determined to help, only to stop when he looked outside.



The sky was black as pitch, the only light coming from the lightning that struck the seas around them, never quite touching. The waves grew taller than the ship itself, threatening to slam over them like a message from the heavens themselves. Heian was navigating the ship with expertise, steering them away from the worst of it, but they needed to find shelter. It was impossible to tell which way they’d come from, or which direction they were going, and it was damn near impossible to make out any land. Would they be able to skirt around it? Wherever they went, they needed to find shelter to wait this out.



He remembered one of the few lessons he’d been taught by trade captains he’d sailed with back in the old days. None of them were especially seasoned sailors- they were merchants, those who only braved the waters in mild weather, when they were certain they would never run into anything that risked their precious cargo. One of those men had given him a piece of advice that came to mind now.



“COULD WE MAKE IT TO THE EYE?” He screamed, hoping the others could hear him. It was a long shot, but it was only a matter of time before the ship sustained damage, and they had to try something if they wanted to make it before the ship succumbed to the sea.

At least the hole was not a problem. Because every other Arbor thing was.

The storm only grew more intense, treating the giant ship like a play thing. The top deck was maintained by skeletal crew, just enough to keep things running putting any more enderien would risk their lives. The smallest waves could turn the ship around if they would hit from the side, not even mentioning the huge ones, reaching Bastion's lengh into sky. Avoiding getting tossed around was no longer possible, and Heian had to pick which wave would hit them.

He considered it an achievement everyone stayed on the ship so far.

Cyran's advice made him chuckle. At least they coould not hear it over the storm.

-It's not this kind of storm, there's no eye hier! But that's the general idea, we will go through it and emerge on the calm side! - His voice was much louder, even if some words were not understandable due to his accent.

He got distracted and a wave crashed into them, nearly washing whole sail crew off to the sea. They managed to stay there only because they were tied to mast like he ordered.

But the mast leaned dangerously.

Gerhart was acting on pure instinct and just the need to do something instead of just sitting around regardless of his lack of experience on the sea. He gritted his teeth at the continual battering of the ship, the sea spray was much less endearing when it was trying to consume you whole.



Seeing the mast start to lean, he scrambles to his feet to try and push against it to hold it in place. It might seem futile, but with just enough stupid determination he was hoping they could make it through the worst of it and survive. He looked ahead over the sea with a small sigh of relief. It looked like there was an end to the storm ahead, but there would be some difficult waters getting there.



"Looks like we got some light captain, just gotta hope we last that long." He gives Heian and Cyran a strained grin as he is focused on keeping the mast upright for the moment. For a brief second his footing slips on the sea water spilling over, but he manages to catch himself and hold on. The groaning and creaking of the wood had him more than a little bit worried, but hopefully they could get to the other side sooner rather than later.