Ocular to the Dying Sun

Forgive Me; part 3

“Keeping our safe is one of our best traits, we believe and trust each other even with fault. And we will always, b—but…” Uran stuttered. He felt a hand on his shoulder as he blinked then continued. “I’m sorry…” he sobbed, “but a few minutes before we entered our destination, an accident occurred, and we need to a rescue party to venture into the forest. A few of the children fell through the hole made by a Dire-eater. I believe they are still alive from the distance we were attacked.

“Please proceed to the main deck, all hands available, in fifteen. Jaaron, Pemmi, prepare the break light.” Uran finished.

He knew Rona or Luri has already prepared for this protocol even before they landed, but it was Jaaron and Pemmi at the helm of the captain’s cabin. If they can’t monitor it for him then what is the worth of making them both his direct apprentices for the positions of both second and third mate? This imperative is a necessity every time they place the entire ship in an unprecedented harm’s way, which avoids exhausting the core machine of the Sunflora.

Ending the announcement with a tear rolling down his cheek, he slumped his head on his hand and then moved over to look at the crew. They looked back at him, their faces looked determined and honest. Though they may all know Uran as someone who showed confidence and silent strength, he was not one to shy from being vulnerable and honest when he needs them. To the people of Sunflora, this was not a stain on their bond as a crew. It was something they are willing, to be honest within equal loyalty.

“Captain, we’ll be here to support everyone.” One of them said. An old bachelor, who was a farmhand from one of the towns in the province they used to live. He escaped his impoverished town that was forced out of its original location because of the uncontrollable creatures beyond the land of their kingdom.

Being acquired by force into the crew was not their original goal but serving their freedom in the kingdom’s army was better than putting their lives in the hands of creatures stronger than them. That’s why almost every member of their crew and the small village they established is thankful for the founder of the Sunflora ship.

Nodding with a small smile, Uran schooled his mind and said, “we have our hands each to what we can do. The rest of you must make sure the ship is in ace shape, only you who know most about this ship than I do can achieve that. Also, check up on your family members, they’re worried about you, don’t you think? Lotois lead them back to areas that need checking. I will all see you in fifteen.”

His final words painted a sort of disappointment on the faces of the crew members who expectantly looked at him as if they were all ready to give their life to him, though they still nodded in acknowledgment of his orders. Knowing the captain was not doing this for anything but the crew’s benefit, Lotois urged them to go back to the hull and see what other repairs are there.

They left the room with Uran following behind as he needs to put the mercenaries into use, their hired extra hands, as he knew they would be the most fitting for the job that entails. Unexpected as it may seem for the occasion, making haste but taking into account planning their movement is much better even if it needs the priority.

The cockpit may seem like a tight fit, but it housed three Festoons. Two of them are only working as of current with the third partially skeletal. This third one is additional that they acquired from the junkyard that was going to be scrapped. They bought it at request by the Festoon engineer, Esie, because she was itching for upgrading their own with her desire to follow the footsteps of their deceased senior members, although her parents are still alive but are too old to travel with them.

Enough legacy remained in their airship, and it was alright for Esie to stay, at least to be in charge of her department of “tinker and evolve” kind of workplace.

She spots him and nods, “Uran, our side is free of any problems. If you need any assistance with the other engine rooms, many of us will be—”

“See and clear,” he nodded as he hurriedly looked at the two Festoons, “prepare the Festoons, we’ll be setting out after our round-up in the main deck. Tonight, we’re going to scout for the missing children.”

Esie nodded with a gasp and frown, feeling her heart tighten and her will determined. She followed through with precision, simply using her instinct out of distress for their situation putting everyone on edge. Busying her men while leaving Uran leaves and proceed to the main deck where several hands are present.

At the forefront are Lotois and Ronata, one facing their back to the direction Uran is coming from while the other recognized by their voice is clearly in front of Lotois. On the side, just a few steps away were Erizoma and three other, mercenary guards, while Ronata’s wife Luri, stood beside her wife as if stopping her. The volume of Ronata’s voice echoed through the walls of the crevice where their ship hid, while Lotois showed no signs of responding through their voice, it was obvious that he was the one she was speaking to with the way he shoved her and his shoulders and arms moving about.

Somehow, the fire of their argument left when Uran was nearing but soon turned to him when she saw him approach. In one fell swoop, her knuckles socked his jaw, only grazing his skin by an inch when he suddenly felt like his body move by instinct to dodge her obvious aggression.

“Rona!!!” shouted Erizoma who rushed to hold her away from the two, Luri got swept by the force that she tumbled, fortunately, caught by Lotois.

“Control your temper, you’re not the only one whose child is missing!” Lotois said as his voice quivered. “None of us would’ve guessed the creatures would have the chance to harm or dent Sunflora! How the hell do you think any of us feel right now?? Stand. Down!!”

Uran stood back again, not feeling any kind of pain from Ronata’s fist, however, he expressed a level of distress as he spoke, “this isn’t any time to let your anger loose Rona, curb it for later. We need to get our children back from that field. I’ve ordered Esie to prepare the Festoons.” Blatantly dismissing Ronata and her blazing glare, she spat on the ground as Luri came to her, not to soothe her but reprimand her in a way that made her anger lessen.

Erizoma stood beside Uran, his staff on his side, before saying, “there were a lot more men before you came, but we convinced them to stay so that they could guard or escape just in case things turn sour. Convincing the men who reported their children missing had to be held back. Lotois refused for them to come along, they’re not as trained in the field as we do. Well, at least things were calmer until Renata insisted to come along. Everything was calm until,” he pointed towards Ronata and Luri, “it did for a while but it’s never going to rise above the shouting. Still, we’re all here. Ugnille and his crew are coming with us, they’ve automatically surveyed the area with the help of the sensors through Pemmi’s assistance.”

Nodding at Erizoma’s report, he approached the rest and started ordering Lotois to start arranging the Festoons, along with the instruction to reconfirm the location of the “incidents” location through Pemmi. Luri pulled Ronata along with so that her fiery temper could calm down, the way it would not be in the way of their mission.

“Everyone’s edge is worse than I could range it, this is solely my fault alone. This would be a mar in my decisions, for once.” Uran pondered as the mercenaries approached.

Erizoma’s face is straight and solemn, “it’s nothing to be ashamed of, besides, the few missions that most of the crew has ever done are not as intense and most common. They have been sites we often go to, it’s not uncommon to want to discover new locations for Dire shards. Besides, you’ve always solved any problem you create.”

Patting Erizoma on his shoulder, Uran nodded at Ugnile, “we need your services again under the pressure of our circumstances.”

The man, taller and built leaner with tougher-looking muscles than Uran, Ugnile is an expert mercenary from a dying village on the outskirts. He’s been working since he was taken in by mercenaries from his adolescence and even when he had the chance to have a peaceful life, found better peace and financial gain out in the field using his skills for fighting. There is a distinct harshness to his face, perhaps due to the scars that remained from his battles, especially the large dark scar on his right cheek. He sported guns on both sides of his belt that held holsters for a supply of bullets, along with a short dagger. A short dirt brown cape with tattered ends billowed from the medium gust of wind coming from the top of the crevice towards the ground.

Beside him walked two girls, one taller than the other. The shorter one is named Eran, a teenage stocky girl, much chubbier in looks but is quite agile for the physical impression she gives. Two long sticks, the length of her arms, occupied her back as she sports a tight-fitting five-layered top and pants with fur-covered boots.

The other girl is Thera, a homegrown fighter under the Sunflora crew and village. Part of her life has been devoted to living as a survivor, using only her staff, until she was taken in by the Sunflora. To repay her gratitude, she worked as an official mercenary and guard, much like Erizoma in his original work on the ship. Much like Erizoma, she also knows how to do engineering or mechanical work on the ship, but she prefers to defend their ship.

“Uran, having this search and rescue during a tirade of wild Dire-eater is comparable to passing through an avalanche of boulders. Still, it would be worse if we didn’t try,” Ugnile pulled a hand-size compact from his holster and opened it to reveal a crystal that showed itself gracefully from the base of the compact.

The crystal was clear in color and connected by a copper wire to a glass plate on the base. Three nail-sized glass plates shined as the crystal resonated with a type of color that shimmered only by an angle of the light.

“An Agulman,” Uran said as he moved forward and watch Ugnile activate it with his magic.

This was a modified Slitark shard the size of a finger that uses the magic for “search,” with the use of Alchemy, the commanding spell within the crystal “looks for specific beings” with a drop of blood and imagery. It’s commonly used by several authorities to look for missing people, culprits, or wanted criminals.

Instinctively, Uran quickly removed his gloves and used his teeth to bite on his finger.

Ugnile held out his one hand as it reached for Uran’s, “we could use your saliva,” he said more jokingly. Even though he did say so, he continued to squeeze the finger with a droplet of blood on one of the plates in the device.

After doing so, he made sure the crystal absorbed the essence through the guidance of his magic. Opening a channel through the fibers of the Alchemy within the shard, Ugnile created a psychic pathway to create a strong resonance from point A to B. Point A being Uran and point B being Amegra, his son.

Holding the Agulman, Uran tightly grasped the compact and sincerely thought of his son, tightly bonding the mixture of worry, grief, and unconditional affection. Through this, the crystal instantaneously showed slivers of strings that spread toward the sky until it formed a thick thread. Its light passes through the dark sky and into the forest, like a thin stream of collective stars, able to pave a soul’s way to calm.

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