Chapter 118 A Trip to the Crows Nes (1/2)

”I...are you sure?” asked Ebony.

Midas raised an eyebrow, ”I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't sure”.

”Maybe one of us can-”

Midas frowned at Rassa, ”I chose him because he's small, it's better to have that quality when you're up there”.

He turned to face an approaching sailor who was much shorter than himself and pointed to Ebony.

”This here is Eb, train him for the day. Sit with him for the morning then take the afternoon off before you take the night watch. He'll do day and you'll do nights,” Midas instructed.

”Aye, sir,” the man nodded without complaint, turning to face Ebony. Taking in the younger man's pale face, the man grinned, ”Scared of heights, right?”

With no where to run or hide, Ebony could only nod.

”You'll get over it,” the sailor said, ”Name's Isaac”.

Ebony could only nod again, her fear silencing her as she watched Midas take Aegin and Rassa away to another part of the ship.

”Eb, right, strange name,” Isaac commented as Ebony looked up at the mast. It towered above her, at least 3 stories above the deck. They wanted her to sit up there all day? Sh was seriously beginning to regret this whole agreement. Maybe she should tell them she was a girl so they'd let her off?

”Eb?”

The voice of the sailor cut through Ebony's thoughts as she refocused her gaze on him, gulping visibly, ”S-sorry”.

Dear gods, did she just stutter? Ebony closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself. While it didn't have a big effect, it was at least mildly helpful.

”It's okay, plenty of newbies feel daunted by the height of the masts and the nature of the rigging, as long as you work hard, I won't complain about you,” Isaac grinned, ”Now, how are you with climbing?”

Ebony shrugged, ”Okay, I guess”.

”We'll work on that first, by the time we get to Rouke you'll be scaling it like a spider-monkey!” Isaac proclaimed, then paused, looking at the terrified look on Ebony's face, ”Okay, you're right, to get that good in just four days is a tad optimistic. Have you got something to keep you occupied up there?”

Ebony frowned, ”Isn't the idea to watch for anything that could threaten the ship?”

Isaac smirked, ”Sure, but that can get boring doing it for hours on end”. He pulled out a dagger and a peice of what appeared to be driftwood, ”I personally like to wittle, if you've got something small you can do, I'd go and get it quick considering you'll be up there most of the day”.

The first thing Ebony thought of was embriodery, but something in the back of her mind told her that on a ship full of mem, doing it was a risk. Still, she wasn't particularly eager to have her hands full of splinters, she ducked below deck to retrieve a peice of plain cloth, some thread and a needle, then returned to where Isaac waited by a large, triangular shaped net of thick rope that ran from the port side of the ship to the yardarm of the lower sail on the main mast.

”Alright, up we go, Captain just about ready to set off,” Isaac said, ”You go first, I'll be right below you if something happens, just put one foot above the other and you'll be there before you know it”.

”Prepare to hoist anchor!” Midas called from the Quarter Deck to the rear of the ship.

”Come on,” Isaac hurried her, ”Up the ratlines”.

He was pointing the triangular shaped netting so Ebony could only swallow her fear and hoist herself up, the lines only wobbling slightly due to their tautness.

”That's it,” Isaac encouraged, climbing up behind her as Ebony swallowed and looked up, putting one foot in front of the other as instructed.

It wasn't long before she arrived at the interection of the lower yardarm and the mainmast, a platform was there, though it was very small, just with her an Isaac standing on it it was daunting as the wind breezed past off of the bay.