17.5. Extra: The End of One Journey

As the ship rocked to the waves of the Southern Seas, the crew of the Orina’s Wind continued hard at work to keep the great vessel moving steadfast to their destination in the near distance: Curieux. Captain Loffar Loft-Hands oversaw his men (and now some women) from the ship’s wheel. While a group of sailors pulled on the mast on one end, the sole Goliath on the vessel, Buzz, single handedly manned the other side. The sight made the captain smirk, as he himself had been warming up to their passengers, turned crewmates, in recent days. Andraste, the priest, kept rambling on about his god but when it came for action, he had kept the crew on their feet. Jester, a strong lass, had an equally strong head, and a sense for doing right about her. Everyone seemed to like Kent, who had a knack for keeping the men, tuckered out at the end of the day, entertained during mess hall times. And, while aloof, Varris had her own way of staying useful and doing what had to be done. They were an interesting bunch. No doubt he’d be hearing about them still in the future.
And, of course, there was Buzz. The goliath took orders well and strong to boot. Not the chattiest of the bunch but knew how to roll with the punches of the crew’s banter, if not slow at times. From their chats, mostly of the captain asking questions, he learned that the giant had been on the road for the better part of the year, simply seeing what the world had to offer. Loffar and, as far as he can tell, the other men found this factoid and his demeanor strangely...charming.
In recent days, the sailors had to bear the burden and sadness of losing a handful of their own to assailants. Flew out of nowhere, flew onto their ship, and then tossed men they had known, some for decades, off the side of the vessel. Their blood seeped into the wooden boards of the deck. Despite the captain’s attempts to keeping morale up, the aftermath of the events still shook his crew. Three of their passengers had outright disappeared, seemingly into the sea breeze. And the captain could not explain the occurrence--not the most assuring thing to already shaken sailors. More rumors came from that, though the calm in the past few days has at least soothed some of the trauma.
Walking down the stairs, Loffar barked orders and mild chatter, simultaneously, as he passed by some of his sailors towards Buzz. “Buzz, my boy! Good work, I see. Now, mind if we have a chat?”
Buzz turned his gaze away from the rope in his hands and towards the red-bearded man. He considered his words for a few moments and then slowly nodded. “Well, alright, Captain.”