Everliving: Day 5

Word Count: 30,018

Summary of Events:

Quique was working on stretching his foot when Lenox came to find his compass — which took awhile because they kept getting knocked off their feet. Bethania went out riding with a few friends when her horse took off on her and wouldn't stop until it got tired. Edvin, a duke out to find the Fountain for his nation's benefit in war, headed to speak to the captain of his ship and check that they were still on a relatively good course . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"Another wave broke over the side of the ship in a great spray and Edvin bent himself against the water, hoping his hat would keep the worst of the water out from underneath his coat.

Finally he got to the upper deck and stood beside the captain at the tiller.

"Do we still make west?" he asked.

"Yes my lord," the captain replied. "I know not how good of a trajectory we make, but so long as we maintain a westerly direction I am more than confident we will make landfall somewhere, and hopefully there be able to be close enough to a community so as to get directions if the storm does not relent enough for us to chart our own course."

"Very good," Edvin said.

Another wave broke over the side of the ship. Edvin's eyes widened as he felt his feet washed out from underneath himself.

He couldn't feel anything solid, but he flailed out with both arms — despite only one being useful — and managed to catch something, which he grabbed fast to with his hand.

When the water cleared Edvin realised, to his horror, that he was hanging off the outside of the ship, off a figure that had been carved into the extensively decorative rail/wall that surrounded the upper deck like an elegant collar.

"The Duke is overboard!" he head the captain call.

He then heard the clamber of men's feet and voices. He couldn't see them, although he could see another piece of projecting wood that he felt was close enough he ought to be able to wrap his elbow around.

Hearing nothing but discordant voices and feet, although largely drowned out by the storm, Edvin reached his arm up and hooked his elbow around the wooden point.

He didn't really want to trust his hold, but being as he had no other option if he wanted to get back onto the ship he needed to trust his hold and try to get up in hopes that they'd notice him.

Slowly he released his hold on the wood he'd been gripping and carefully crawled his hand up toward the top edge of the wood.

He heard some sort of a shout, but his grip was slipping. He grabbed for the edge, but his fingers slipped off of it just as his elbow slipped off of the wooden piece.

Another, louder, shout reached his ears as he felt himself falling. A jerk on his arm and tightness around his forearm stopped him. He looked up to see a sailor hanging onto him.

Edvin wrapped his hand fast around the sailor's arm and worked to push himself up as he was pulled by the sailor.

Other sailors grabbed onto him as he got high enough and he was hauled onto the deck where he heartily embraced the sailor who'd caught him.

"Never have I seen a more welcome sight in my life," he whispered into the sailor's ear."