Kelton leaned over the rail as his stomach knotted once again. It had long emptied itself, yet insisted there was more. Nothing but pain emerged as his throat spasmed. The internal churning of Kelton's guts was synchronized with rise and fall of the ship. On the rise, his insides tried to meet his feet. When the ship fell, everything attempted to find an exit.

The pain subsided, as it had done before. Retching, then the lull. He knew it would be back again. Flopping down on the deck, he adjusted the rope that was tied about his waist. Simbawla had tied it around Kelton and secured the other end to the rope that followed the rail on the outside of the ship.

Simbawla was the captain's second, the large black man who had pulled Kelton from the barrel. He pronounced Kelton's name as something akin to 'Beltin.' Kelton was equally sure he was mispronouncing Simbawla's. They had shared a moment laughing about the difficulty in speaking during one of the lulls. Simbawla tried to get Kelton to go below. Kelton refused, desiring to be sick outside where it could be privately deposited in the infinite water. That was when Simbawla secured Kelton to the ship in an unspoken compromise. A wise move. Twice Kelton had given thought to jumping over the side to follow his insides. He pulled his cloak tight around him and laid down on the deck. The cold was easy to ignore now that his stomach had quieted.

The new sun woke Kelton and aborted Serenity's dream, ending it before he had stepped into the water after her. Dawn brought with it a truce. His insides decided to complain less, and he promised to never eat again. The queasiness was tolerable enough to stand.

"You one with the waves?" Captain Sebastian asked. Kelton looked up from trying to untie the strange knot that Simbawla had tied around his waist. There was a strange loop in it that wrapped around the rope and wouldn't loosen.

"It is a horrible thing," Kelton replied. "How do you not collapse where you stand?" Sebastian laughed.

"Wave sickness passes, my young lord. Spend enough time on board, and the steadiness of land will make your head spin."

"It is this up and down, does it ever stop?"

"Rarely." Sebastian took hold of the knot that Kelton was struggling with, twisted it about and pulled the loop forward. It loosened without effort and Kelton finished removing it. "Being calmed is not a blessing. It is the wind that we need, and that brings the waves."

Kelton got his first good look of the ship in the new light. It was a marvel of workmanship. He had seen them from afar but never had he imagined they were anything but large lake boats. The scale of it was amazing. The pole that held the main cloth was as large as the largest tree he had ever seen. There were ropes everywhere, some taught, others slack. They all looked to have a purpose, though their use was not easily defined.

"You must drink," Sebastian said.

"It won't stay," Kelton said. The ship rolled, and he surprised himself by not reaching for the railing. His weight shifted smooth, compensating without much thought. It made him smile.

"But drink you must, young lord."

"I have told you, I am not a lord." He smiled again when the ship rose higher and then came down the steep watery hill. His belly twirled, but his legs adjusted well. He could feel the swells and sense their timing. There was pride in the growing skill.

"Lord or not, on my ship everyone drinks their allotment. I'll not have you on death's door when we find land again."

"It won't stay down," Kelton argued.

"Then it won't," the Captain said as he signaled Kelton to follow him. Kelton sighed and started after him. Breaking his promise to this guts was not his wish. He was sure the fragile agreement only existed because his belly was empty.

Much of the crew had gathered near the rear of the ship. Seven men and Simbawla sat on netted crates, some of the crew were as black as Simbawla, others had dark tans. Their clothing held colors that would make a rainbow jealous. Reds, blues, greens, and every shade between. Kelton wondered how they matched the color of flowers so well. He could sense two others below, and another toward the front. The crew was smiling as if some humor had passed between them. It was unnerving since it felt as if Kelton was the source of their amusement.

Sebastian filled a ladle from a water barrel and held it out to Kelton. Kelton took the dipper and brought to his lips, wetting them without drinking deeply. The captain flicked his fingers, indicating Kelton should drink it all. Snickering could be heard from the crew. It ceased when Sebastian glared at them. Kelton sighed and drained the ladle.

The water was as cold as the air. It refreshed Kelton's throat, which was still sore from retching the night before. His stomach didn't expel it as he had thought. Although he was still apprehensive, he dared to believe it felt good to fill the emptiness. Simbawla's smile grew when Kelton glanced up from the empty dipper. Simbawla slapped his leg and began to sing. The crew rose from the crates and joined him in the song. They separated and returned to duties, moving in concert with the beat of the music. The language was foreign, yet the tune and verse were pleasant.

"What do they sing about?"

"It is a timing song," Sebastian said, his smile looking as mysterious as Simbawla's. "They sing of birds perched on a cliff." The captain paused, waiting for a strong inflection in the song. "There. That is when one of them flys off, decreasing the number."

"What do they time?"

"You," Sebastian replied. He laughed and left Kelton standing there with an empty ladle in his hands. Kelton lifted the dipper to his nose and smelled nothing but the sea. He replaced the scoop on the barrel and looked inside. It was water, odorless beyond the smell of the wood that encased it. Something was amiss. Kelton followed after the captain to find out.

"What did you make me drink?"

"Fresh water. Nothing more."

"Why do they sing about it?'

"It would not be fair to tell you," Sebastian said. "There is a lot of coin riding on the outcome." Kelton didn't like the answer.

"I do not like being laughed at."

"Look about you," the captain said. "The ship is small with little privacy. There are rarely new people to meet, and entertainment is limited. You are a refreshing diversion. Listen to them sing. Do you think I should make happy men unhappy? Is that how you would run a ship?"

"No," Kelton admitted. He didn't like how the logic was working against him.

"Of course not. Men must be allowed to experience happiness so they can weather the hardships. It is a balancing act every captain must learn. It is times like this that make my job easy. You see, they are smiling and working. I have done nothing but allow it to happen."

"But, I am not happy."

Sebastian laughed. "And you are not of simple of mind. True. We are having a bit of fun at your expense. It is not a bad thing, nor does it make you less in our eyes. Most have been where you are now. A very few have avoided it." Kelton considered it as the crew sung on. A rite of passage he would have to suffer through. He decided to ignore it until he was made privy to the humor.

"Will you now tell me what a breakwater is?" Kelton asked. Might as well gain what he could while the others played their games.

The captain was halfway into his explanation about a wall of rocks blocking violent waves when it hit Kelton with no warning. He covered his mouth and ran to the side of the ship. Holding onto the safety rope that followed the railing, he leaned over and lost the water in his belly. The singing stopped, and the crew cheered. The retching wasn't nearly as violent as last night, and the queasiness dissipated more quickly. A few blinks of the eyes and the need to expel was gone. Kelton stood back up and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

Simbawla was busy collecting coppers from the rest of the crew. All his teeth, the ones that weren't missing, were showing as he happily gathered the ill-gotten gains.

"I lost after the third verse," Sebastian admitted, his smile as large as Sambawla's.

"That is why you made me drink." Kelton tried to not sound angry. It seemed a cruel thing.

"Nay. I made you drink because your insides need it. I'll make you drink again when the sickness pauses enough." Sebastian patted Kelton on the shoulder, much the way Gossamer used to do. "You can't throw all that water out and not take some back in. Fear not today. Water is easy. Tomorrow I will make you eat."

"And they will gamble on it?"

"Not anymore," the captain replied. "They fear you would strike a deal and share the winnings. It is only fair when you don't know."

Simbawla yelled something in his language as he pointed at Kelton. Then bowed respectively.

"He says you are as strong of stomach as he guessed," Sebastian interpreted. "37 verses is quite a lot. Reaching 10 is rare. I thought his bet risky, and yet, here I stand a little poorer." Kelton would have never associated pride with vomiting over the side of the ship. Somehow, the crew had made the connection and added a strange form of dignity to the act. Kelton felt closer to them, like a new-found brother. It pleased him, and now, so did the ship.

"I want to know more about these breakwaters, and how you read the stars. I want to know what all these ropes do, and how the wood is shaped to the curve of the bottom." An excitement filled Kelton. There was so much he didn't know, and a lot of it was now before his eyes. It was Rolic's cave all over again.

"You wish to be a sailor?" Sebastian chuckled.

"Do you go to many places?"

"Aye, many ports." The captain's answer increased Kelton's excitement.

"And you say this wave sickness passes?"

"Aye."

"Then I wish to go with you. I want to understand Sambawla's words and know what you know," Kelton said.

"We are sailing for Turbusa. Should only take a month," Sebastian said stroking the hair on his chin. "We will teach you what we can in that time. If you are still inclined, you may join the crew. It is not something you should do lightly. One cannot change one's mind and jump off a ship."

"Agreed," Kelton said. "And what is a month?" The captain laughed, and then the learning began.