The Captain's Trial (7)

Writers: Anaria
Date Posted: 4th June 2011

Characters: Tiernan, Paraner, Hawthen
Description: Things on the Seawing get a bit rougher than anticipated.
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 2, day 8 of Turn 6
Notes: For point of reference, the Seawing is loosely based of the
Clipper ships of the mid 1800s. It is designed to travel extremely
quickly with a small to moderate amount of cargo and a somewhat small
crew.

**CK-CRACK BOOOOOOOOOOM**

It was one of the worst sounds that a Seacrafter could hear - other
than the sound of the ship splitting in two, that is. It was the sound
of a lightning strike hitting the ship itself, and the wood giving way
in protest. It was one of the biggest hazards with sailing a ship
through a storm like this one. And by the sounds of things, it had hit
one of the masts.

Tiernan hurried up to the deck, but found that his way was blocked by
the splintered end of the main mast. "Of course it would hit the main,
it's the highest..." he murmured to himself. He quickly surveyed the
status of his crew, and found that for once luck had been with them -
no one was hurt. But the way the ship continued to buck about, it was
inevitable that the loose mast would cause harm - either to the crew,
or to the ship itself.

It was too long to be properly fastened to the ship, and Tiernan made
the difficult decision. "We need to throw it overboard!" He called.

"Aye aye, Captain," Called various members of his crew, who began to
remove the lines that were holding the mast to the ship.

"Try and salvage the sails if we can. We might need em for flags
later," Tiernan said. He drew a knife from his belt and began cutting
the sails loose as best he could. It was difficult work under the best
of circumstances, made worse by the rocking of the boat. He had soon
cut his hands up on accident, and he swore for what seemed like the
millionth time.

Once the mast was detached, it took 5 crewmen to get it overboard.
Tiernan cringed as it splashed into the sea below. Trees of the height
and quality to produce a mast that size were not easy to come by, and
he knew he would be criticized for the waste. But he couldn't afford
more damage, and he didn't want any more deaths to come from this
storm.

Without another word, Tiernan stalked back down to the Mess Hall. He
probably should have relieved Paraner on the helm, or made sure that
the hull of the ship hadn't been damaged. But he was pushed to his
breaking point, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could take it.
He had lost his first crew member, and it happened to be someone he
was related to.

His head was whirling, his normally unfailing charm and optimism lost.
He'd owe it to Fievan's mother to tell her in person how her son was
lost at sea. He owed his own father no less debt.

"Captain," came the voice of Hawthen from behind him. "It's Galliet.
He's beginning to show signs of infection on the wound."

Captain Tiernan scrubbed his face, sighing deeply, "What do you
recommend we do for now, healer?"

"Well, I really don't have the herbs available to keep the infection
at bay for long. We've got about a day, possibly two before an
amputation becomes necessary," Hawthen said, then cringed as he saw
Tiernan's facial expression.

"We're not getting back to any dock in 2 days. Not with the main mast
broken, and with some damage to the sails on the others..." Tiernan
started. The boat rocked heavily then, pitching Hawthen into Tiernan,
who caught the younger man, and steadied him. "Keep an eye on it,
don't amputate before you have to."

"It's going to be a difficult procedure if the ship doesn't stop this
sharding rocking any time soon," Hawthen lamented.

"Well, hopefully within the next few candlemarks you'll not have to
worry about that anymore," Tiernan said. The last thing he wanted was
the death of an old friend looming over his head. He'd known these
things were possible going into the path of a Sea Captain. But he
hadn't prepared himself for how close to home it was hitting him. He
was suddenly glad he'd never Impressed. He wasn't certain that he
could handle the probability of losing friends.

Taking a deep breath, Tiernan forced his mind back where it needed to
be in order for him to tend to his ship and his crew. It was his turn
to take over the helm, and he knew Paraner needed the break. They
would assess their losses, and mourn accordingly once the storm was
past.

Tiernan's face was raw from the wind and water, and he cringed as he
stepped back out onto the deck of the Seawing. Paraner looked like he
was about to fall over at the wheel, and Tiernan suspected that the
ropes were the only thing keeping him up. "Thank Faranth you're here
Captain!" He exclaimed.

"Fievan's loss... it wasn't something I was ready to deal with,"
Tiernan explained, simply. Paraner didn't need to know the details of
why that particular loss was so troublesome.

"Aye, Captain. It's always sad when it's the young ones," Paraner
said. I think the worst of the storm is past us now, the thunder seems
to have stopped at least."

"That's certainly a good thing," Tiernan said. "See if there's
anything warm below for you to eat. If the ship stops rocking soon,
Cookie can get us soup heated up. We'll need all the energy we can get
to limp back to dock."

"Certainly, Captain," Paraner replied, before ducking back down below.

Tiernan was lucky in the fact that Paraner seemed to be right.
Although the storm still raged about him, Tiernan could see a glimmer
of light breaking through the dense clouds. Perhaps they would survive
this after all.

Last updated on the June 13th 2011

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The Captain's Trial (7)