Chapter Three

“Why did you lie to me?” Amaris swung the door open to Shark’s room and strode inside, her fury clear in every step.

“What?” shark was uninterested as he slowly sat up on his bed. “Do you realize how late it is?” he blinked at the light that Ash turned on, on his way in.

“Do you realize how vital that lie is?” she shot back. “A life hangs in the balance of your little joke, shark.”

“It’s not a joke.” He grumbled finally waking up completely.

“Well it sure as hell wasn’t the truth. What is it then? Why did you lie?”

“I didn’t lie I can’t weave-“

“Give it a rest, shark,” Ash interrupted. “I saw you weave the water on deck this morning just fine.”

“And just because I weaved a few liters you expect me to be able to weave the fucking waves?” he was getting angrier and angrier by the second. But so were Ash and Amaris.

“Any help could make a difference.” Amaris shot back, “Even if they’re just small pushes. They could get us to shore a little earlier and that’s-”

“You don’t understand!” he yelled shooting to his feet. “Neither of you understand.” He glared at both of them. “I am not getting back on that boat and I am not weaving the grey sea ever again.”

“Why the hell not?” Ash did not yield.

“Because I’m scared!”

Silence. Neither of them knew how to respond to that. “You’re a fire weaver, aren’t you, boy?” Ash didn’t answer. “Imagine that you walk into a burning house, and you’re confident you can stop the flames whenever the hell you want. But as soon as you touch them your fingers burn and your skin starts melting. You don’t know what to do and you can’t control the flames at all. You want to get out but it’s too late. You’re stuck. All you can do is wait for the fire to swallow you whole. When you finally make it out, it’s only because your- your best friend, the man you grew up with and would kill for, pushed you out and burned in your stead. He died,” his voice cracks. His eyes are glistening as he continues glaring at ash. “He died because you couldn’t control the one thing you were always confident you could bet your fucking life on. Would you go near another flame again?” Silence stretched. Ash didn’t answer, Amaris looked away. “Would you?” he yelled louder. “Get out.” He finally said, swinging the door wider. His voice sounded tired, defeated. This huge boulder of a man looked small and powerless, his shoulders slumped and his footsteps heavy as he stepped to the side, letting them pass through the door. “Until you can honestly answer that question. Don’t ever order me to do that again.” Just as shark was about to close the door, Ash jabbed his foot in front of it.

“That question you just asked? It’s not as hypothetical as you think. And yes, it took me years to touch flames after that, but let me tell you one small thing. You couldn’t save Hightide. None of us could.” Shark’s fist clenched on the door but he didn’t interrupt. “But you might be able to save Mecheye. No one else on this ship has that choice. You and I both know that the water outside this ship isn’t the same as the one in the white circle. You can weave it just fine if you decide to try.”

Shark didn’t answer. He glared even more fiercely at Ash but didn’t say a word.

Ash reached for Amaris’ hand and grabbed it gently. “Come on, Amaris. Let’s go.” As they turned to leave, they found wind tuner standing in the corridor watching their interaction closely. His eyes flickered between the two of them then to shark in his doorway. A moment later, they heard the telltale slam of the cabin door.

Wind tuner’s eyes softened slightly before he glared at ash. “You didn’t have to be so harsh.” He whispered before maneuvering his wings to move around the two of them in the narrow corridor.

Amaris and Ash exchanged a look. This was the first time Amaris saw wind so much as annoyed. Either way, they made their way back down to the engine room in silence.

“Back there,” Amaris didn’t know if she was allowed to ask. The last time she had shown the slightest interest in his past, he shut down completely. But then again, the last time she had asked they hadn’t shared kisses and peaches yet. She couldn’t stop herself. She had to at least try. “What did you mean when you said that that question wasn’t very hypothetical?”

There was a long silence before he answered at last. “When I was seven, my village was burned. Fire riders.” Amaris gasped. Fire riders were the dark emperor’s ‘special’ army. He only used them when he wanted a public massacre. Usually, when they attacked only Ash and burned flesh were left behind. No one survived the fire riders. “Almost everyone died. But a few of us made it out, thanks to… someone’s help. I hadn’t discovered my weaving at the time. It took me years to go near a match again, let alone get the hang on my weaving. Hell, I didn’t completely master it until I met Mecheye five years ago. He was the one that taught me most of it. I was terrified of fire for so long, the idea of controlling it felt ridiculous. If I couldn’t control it when I needed to the most, how can I control it now?”

A silence stretched. Amaris didn’t know what question to ask. His tone wasn’t exactly welcoming but at least he was talking. He took out the small box of matches he always carried and spun it on the table in front of him. He stopped it with one finger then spun it again. What happened? She wanted to plead. Talk to me, Ash. Should she ask-?

She didn’t have to wonder for long because she heard him say in a low weak voice. “Sometimes, I light these matches and play with them just to remind myself that it’s different now. That I can stop fires or make them shine brighter whenever I want. That what happened then won’t happen again.” what happened? The question was about to tumble out of her lips but it was too late. He slapped his full palm over the small spinning box and stopped it immediately. Then lifted it and put it back in his pocket.

He had shut down again.

No more questions.

“Mecheye will be fine.” He said after a while. “He’s strong enough to get through this.” He gave her a lopsided smile, his eyes faraway in memories as he continued, “Did you know that once he got shot to the chest and the first thing he said when he came to was ‘I’m not leaving just yet. You’ll all be lost without me’?” Ash chuckled shaking his head. “The bastard knows his worth. He is not giving up. I know he’s not.”

Which reminded Amaris… “Who’s bonnie?”

“What?”

“Earlier, when I went to check on Mecheye, he thought I was someone called bonnie.”

“Oh,” a flash of recognition filled his face. “That’s his sister. She was picked for the draft a long time ago. Mech’s parents took the two of them and ran out of Oddelerie in the dead of night. The moon soldiers took them in and they stayed in their hideout in Silverfort. His mother fell ill soon after and his father died during an operation when he was nineteen. So his sister is all he has left.”

“Where is she now?” asked Amaris.

“She’s still in Silverfort. Hawk wouldn’t let her on the ship. You know how particular he is about letting women on this ship. No offence.” He added as an afterthought.

Amaris ignored it. “Why did Mecheye leave her behind?”

“What?”

“If she’s the only family he has left then how could he leave her behind like that?” she couldn’t imagine it. She might have only known the boatswain for a few weeks but she knew him enough to know how considerate he was. How kind and selfless he always acted. She couldn’t picture him voluntarily leaving his younger sister behind.

“Why do any of us leave the people we love and board this ship? Because we want to make a difference. Because the dark emperor needs to be stopped and we’re better suited here than on land. There’s no better boatswain in the entire moon ring than Mech. What use would he be to the cause if he were in the middle of a crowded city instead of out at sea? Hell, I think we would’ve died ten times over just in the past six months if it wasn’t for him.” Ash gestured at the machinery around them. Mecheye’s handiwork. He spent endless hours in this very room fixing, tinkering, and adjusting every little thing. “He didn’t abandon her,” ash’s voice softened, as if just now remembering what had happened the day before. “Whenever we’re in Silverfort, he would always rush to the market and buy her a rag doll and a new storybook even though she’s a full grown woman now. I guess it’s some kind of tradition they keep. She’s working with the moon ring too. Just not at sea.” That answer inexplicably calmed Amaris and released much of the tension she’d been feeling. Ash grinned again. “Mecheye always told me you reminded him of someone. Now I finally know who.” Amaris smiled at that. She had always considered Mecheye an older brother of sorts. It was nice to know that the feeling was mutual.

The ache in her chest only got worse though, when she remembered how small and exhausted he looked the last time she saw him. She didn’t know what to do. She had raked the engine to the last bolt. She had fixed every minor issue that might have slowed it down. She’d done anything and everything she could think of. All she could do now was pray.