The Witterings of Wilden the Wanderer - Collected and edited by Simon the Scribe

I have always been foolishly fond of the past, a mediocre man of small stature, I have often thought, that had I but lived 100 years past, I would have been taller then. Still, I have collected and catalogued the Witterings of Wilden the Wanderer and hopefully, in time I will seem the greater and taller man for having done so.

On friends

A friend is one, whom

When we walk, but

For a time together

One in whom

Comfort we find

And whose company would keep

Indeed to whom, we do

Once more to meet

Oftimes direct our feet.

Wilden the Wanderer

We were quickly followed by my Father, “Kai . . . Cal, think it is time for us to take that sailing trip. Your mother and Aleera can deal with settling in the new tutor. Not really our place. Let’s go.”

He untied the boat and jumped in switching places with Grandfather. “You should stay just to make sure Aliyah is okay.” He said before casting off and taking us across to Wester.

“Coward,” Shouted Grandfather left standing on the shoreline. But he didn’t argue with Father or stop him from going. Proof enough of his agreement despite his words.

“I thought out of sight out of mind would be best for Cal. Aliyah didn’t disagree. So we are taking a little sailing trip now. I will send Aleera back across with Des and Sinis and the Luggage. Although according to Mercurio and Cadmus it sounds more like she brought her furniture as well. Don’t wait up for us.” He yelled back as he pushed the boat further out onto the lake and unfurled the sails.

“Come on Kai, a little wind here.” He motioned to the sails. I obliged him and we were soon skimming across the water to Wester Town.

It was a short moment later that we arrived home for the first time in so long. It was not what I had imagined homecoming to be like.

It looked like we were moving house!

Mercurio’s sailors had filled our front yard with box after box of belongings. There were dressers, wardrobes and possibly even a chamber pot amongst them all stacked high. It had surely been an interesting procession through the town and I was a little sad that I had not been able to see it all as a bystander. Made you wonder what the neighbours were thinking.

Des and Sinis were there organising the sailors as they continued to carry more belongings to our old home. They had taken to living in our old home as it meant they were in the right place to collect the nightsoil as well as Wanda in the morning and she was still living in her old home so they had to bring her back each evening as well. She continued to enjoy working in our secret garden. They might not have space left to live in it if her belongings kept arriving.

“You might as well get started shifting this over to the island,” Father told them. “Just be careful with it, the tutor can be a little . . . intimidating. Trust me you don't want to drop it. Aleera, I leave this in your capable hands. Grandfather should be able to help you shift it to the mountain and the sailors should be able to help you load the boat in order to get it out there.” He said as he carried me off.

It was difficult to tell whether the speed at which we were travelling was based on his enthusiasm to go sailing and fishing or rather his desire to escape the view of the tutor. He had hardly been the focus of her interrogation. Maybe he just didn't want to be in the middle or just wanted to get me out of the way.

We walked through the town and it seemed fairly busy today. People bustling around on their own business but happy to hear that a boat had docked. Whenever a boat docked it meant that we would be able to get a few of the goods we wouldn't normally be able to get. The procession of goods to our old home was also stirring up a lot of gossip, based on what I could overhear of people's conversations as we passed on by through the market square.

Questions like, “Where had it all come from? Who was it for? Surely all of that would not fit in our old home? What were Kaius and Aliyah up to now? How could they afford it all?”

It was invigorating to listen to all the conversations after being kept hidden away from them all for so long. It also highlighted how quickly misconceptions could be born and grow at the edge of earshot without correction which I was not yet in a position to do. Grandpa Smit would have to set the record straight for our family but what the record was going to be I was not sure.

A few said hello to Kaius or expressed an interest in me, Callen. But the majority of them were focused on their own tasks. We exited the town by the granary and visited Kaius’s brother at the Smithery to pick up some stronger hooks and lines before we headed through the fields heading southeast as opposed to directly east to where the Swift was docked.

When we had been practising our sky diving it had been a secret from the town so we had sailed west of the island and practised it off the western cliffs of Wester Isle. Now that we were publicly fishing the sea as opposed to the lagoon Father had to be seen to be heading east to fish. Our boat far smaller than the Swift was taking up a smaller dock at the base of the southeastern cliffs.

“Remember what I have taught you, Kai?” He asked as we walked our way to the top of the cliffs before descending down narrow steps and sometimes rope ladders to get to our boat.

“Everything out there wants to eat us apart from the things small enough for us to eat.” I solemnly replied

“And . . .” he prompted. I hadn’t forgotten but it was part of our routine in learning this mantra for safe sailing.

“And even those will try to choke you if you try to swallow them whole.” I tried to show him I was indeed taking this seriously but I was just as excited to finally be setting sail on the open ocean. If sailing on the lagoon was amazing I couldn’t wait to get my real sea legs.

“So . . .” he continued our back and forth as we worked our way down.

“So, sail in shallow seas and catch only what you can carry quickly,” I replied.

“And if . . .” he led.

“And if you spot something bigger turn tail and run for home,” I replied resigned.

“Because . . . the only thing worse than no catch to eat, is being caught and eaten in return.” I chorused with him as the lesson had been repeated every day since they had made the decision that he would be fishing the open ocean with me as well.

We had finally arrived at our pride and joy, the boat of the dead assassin. The best thing about the boat were the runes that empowered the hull and made it safer for us to sail on the open sea. They were also the only reason that Mother had even contemplated Father taking me out on the open ocean. He may have sailed it when he was younger in an attempt to gain levels and win my mother's hand but it had been a long time since then.

She had finally relented when Grandfather pointed out that the only way for me to continue to level after getting to where I was would be through the experience gained on the open water. Apparently, there were events that the school and church would put on for children to help them gain experience eg: power level to a certain extent. But they were only for those over the age of 10 and I could hardly compete in them without proving an impossible monster. They had decided the earliest I could get away with taking part in them would be when I was 5 at the very earliest so it was the open ocean for me and my father.

He checked the sails and ropes, tied me on, stowed the anchor and pushed us out to sea. He quickly steered us out and away from the island heading southeast towards Little Wester. The difference, when compared to our little lake, was immediate and obvious with the waves becoming a challenge on their own. We cut our way through them before aiming our prow at the next and ploughing through. We sailed in comfortable silence, my father concentrating on the sailing while I enjoyed seeing a little bit more of the world. I gave him the occasional burst of wind when requested but the air out on the ocean was far livelier than the breezes blowing within the cliff walls and kept us racing up and down the swells.

As we grew comfortable in plotting our course Kaius began to teach me again, “Most of our world out here in the archipelago is covered in water my job is to show you the best parts, Kai. This route here that we are taking used to be Erasmus’s sailing route and this is one of the first spots that he taught me.” He waited for me to ask what was special about this particular spot as he let the anchor slip into the water without a sound.

“What’s . . .” I hesitated. Maybe I could work out what was special about the spot myself. I had been so wrapped up in enjoying the new experience that I had forgotten to have my HUD open with all its displays. Quickly I activated parallel processing to use mana sense and echolocation to form a map of our location add it to my HUD and gasped in surprise.

Despite no obvious sign on the surface of the sea, my father had managed to take us over an impressive coral reef that was teeming with fish. Whole shoals of fish were swimming all around us, while the reef went off in every direction below us. At a variety of different depths ranging from 10 to 30 metres in depth.

“There’s a huge reef right below us,” I told him what he already knew.

“Yes Kai,” father smiled unsurprised by my knowledge but clearly enjoying the surprise he had given me. “So where are the fish today?”

“Everywhere!” I honestly answered.

“Brilliant! Let’s get started then. Point me in the right direction.” He seemed eager to begin. It was almost cheating using your echolocating son to point out where the best place to cast your bait in my opinion, but I humbly obliged.

He was with my direction pulling fish out of the water almost as soon as he cast his rod and hook in and excitingly my direction along with putting the hooks on the lines for him with my knot skill was enough to gain me some part of the experience he was pulling from the water even though I did not have the strength to pull these beasts from the water.

If I ever managed to get my endurance up to a reasonable value and stop sleeping quite so often to regain my stamina Strength would need to be the next attribute I focused on above Charisma and Luck. How I would do that as a toddler who had yet to stop growing I had no idea. But it would be nice to catch my own fish for once rather than watch my father do all the work. Maybe I could create some sort of winch or a spring-loaded net. If I made traps, baited them then hoisted them slowly upwards and out of the water with gears and pulleys that would give me the sole experience and . . . probably add to my mental stats as a success of brain over brawn, mind over matter.

When he had filled the boat as much as he was comfortable with, should we have to run for it, he emptied the boat of the traps and pots we had brought out here. He dived down to place them on the reef and whilst down there he brought a few urchins up with him to take home as a special treat. I was amazed at the similarity of so many of the fish to our own. But I was also astounded at all the fish I could see with echolocation and mana sense that had no versions of themselves in my old world. I couldn't wait to go diving. But what he didn’t do was allow me to dive with him here on the reef.

“It’s the open ocean Kai, the reef might be safer but it isn’t safe.” He answered when I asked him why I couldn’t dive with him this time.

“We will work up to it, I promise. The shallow water stops the larger monsters from eating us but there are still dangers here that could harm us. Let’s keep it simple and straightforward for our first run.” He explained.

As we returned home I thought about how we had escaped from the complications at home. “It’s nice to get away from it all. Is this why you sail?” I asked.

“I don’t go sailing to escape my life I go sailing to live my life. Sailing and fishing gave me the best catch of my life, your mother.” He responded with such a corny line. On the one hand, I felt like gagging but in a world without the internet and memes were any lines Kaius said ever truly copied. And if it was his own could it truly ever be corny at all. He was still clearly smitten with my mother, he might love the sea but he loved my mother more.

. . .

The small coastal dock had a winch and platform that we used to haul the fish to the top of the cliff. It was not their weight of them that was challenging for Father but rather their size, shape and fundamental nature to slip around. They had been boxed up and the whole lot placed on the platform along with myself and hauled up the cliffside by my father who stood at the bottom. It was a fantastic view being lifted up the side of the cliff. At the top, I attempted to pull the boxes off the platform onto the cliff by the time my father made it to the top. But my lack of strength and rapidly depleting stamina meant that I only managed one box by the time he arrived with me.

It was a short job for him to load the boxes full of fish into the cart he had borrowed from his brother at the smithery. Then it was time to head back into town. The fish were very popular when we started selling them in the market square. Kaius did not bother with setting up a stand simply selling them from the back of the cart.

We had probably missed out on some buyers today as we were arriving a lot later than we would have normally but they were still keen.

"Why are they so enthusiastic?" I asked seeing as he was having as big a success as usual if not better it was hard to judge as I only had his accounts of his previous sales from the lagoon to go on.

"They are enthusiastic because of the bigger fish from the open sea. The fish within the lagoon are fantastic but well on the open water they have higher levels and lived in a mana-rich environment. They are bound to taste better and be better for your body. Who knows how much better or whether it adds to stats or skills but people believe they do so are happy to pay a little more for them. Wait till we get home and you try some. Then you can make your own decision on the matter."

"Why is it a mana-rich environment?" I asked wondering about the reasoning behind this assessment. I had noticed that the fish out on the reef seemed to shine brighter to my mana sense but simply put that down to the sheer amount of food they were gorging on and the breadth and depth of the variety and quantity of the fish out there. I didn't realise there was a fundamental improvement in their quality too.

We sold all of them bar the few that he had saved for our family. "Time to go home," he said, sending the car off with a cousin working as an apprentice at the Smithery under my uncle. I had restricted myself to the sole two questions and was keen to get back home to where I would be accepted for who I really was rather than watching everything in silence broken up by the occasional comment on how cute I was.

Home though would not be quite like it used to be. I wondered whether Lady Acacia had warmed up and what dinner might be like with her. Mother had recreated a stone dining room and dining table in case she wanted to join us for dinner but I found myself hoping that perhaps she wouldn't for a while.

Either way, it was time to go home and find out.