Songs of Reamere | Nacht: Chapter 2

Nacht is absolutely disgusted by the very thought of boarding a ship and sailing across the ocean. She’s a bird, a mighty Gryph big enough to sink dozens of ships with her powerful wings and flaming breath. She should be flying like she was designed to do, not sitting on some rickety old boat swaying back and forth, making her stomach do nasty flips. Trysta had been pleased beyond measure when the captain had offered them passage on his ship, knowing they wouldn’t have to spend hours flying and would be able to keep themselves well rested.  

Unfortunately, Nacht couldn’t have disagreed more with the sentiment. She grumbles loudly, flopping down onto the large deck with a thump and a creaking of ancient wood. Her head plops down onto the ground and she rolls over onto her side, offering up another full body sigh. His partner walks up to her, petting the tip of her beak with her tiny, humanoid hands. “Don’t worry, sweetheart, we aren’t going to be here for too long,” she tries to reassure her, tracing little patterns over her beak.  

The wind has really picked up the further they have travelled away from the shore, and although it might not be so bad for most Dracostryx, Nacht is absolutely freezing. Her thin, velvet coat does absolutely nothing to fend off the terrible cold, despite the small patch of thicker feathers wrapped around her shoulders. Her beak is chattering slightly as she fluffs up slightly, curling up tighter around herself and doing her best to show her displeasure about the whole situation. A small puff of flame comes from her mouth and smoke curls out from her nostrils as she tries to warm herself up a little, ignoring the way several humans are forced to try and leap aside in the hopes of avoiding her fiery breath.  

“Nacht! Be more careful!” Trysta tries to scold her companion, gently swatting the top of Nacht’s head with a frown. She knows that is won’t do much to discourage the rather dangerous behavior – Nacht thinks little of the pathetic humans as it is – but she has to at least be seen making an effort.  

As expected, rather than taking on the request from her friend, Nacht does the exact opposite, letting out another deep breath of flame. One of the other humans makes a startled yelp, jumping when the heat threatens to burn them. If a bird could smirk then Nacht would surely be doing that, for she feels a swell of sinister enjoyment, trilling happily to herself. Luckily for the other humans, however, she decides that she has tortured the crew of the ship enough for the time being and goes back to curling in on herself to get a little more comfortable.  

She is quiet for a while, just listening to the crew as they go about their sailing duties and Trysta as she converses merrily with them. There is the sound of waves crashing against the front of the boat as they carve their way through the water and toward distant shores. Despite how nauseous travelling by boat seems to make Nacht feel, she can’t help admitting that watching the waves roll past is rather relaxing, almost enough to lull her to sleep.  

All of that changes when the crew begin to shout, rushing up and down the length of the ship and pointing at something in the water. Trysta is leaning over the edge to inspect what is concerning them and so, with great reluctance, Nacht pulls herself back up to her feet, dragging her heavy body across the deck and to the edge where she can gaze down into the watery depths. She doesn’t immediately pick up what’s wrong, until the ship suddenly shudders, something causing the boat to violently groan as the water surrounding them starts to bubble and splash all over the place.   

Excitement begins to brew in Nacht’s heart, causing her to eagerly hope from leg to leg. Most of the humans start scurrying about, grabbing hold of weapons and preparing their canons for a potential attack. It’s complete chaos, with tiny humans running around everywhere as they desperately try to grab everything they might need. The rest are quick to dart below deck, hiding away like the pathetic cowards that they are.  

Nacht is already nudging at her rider’s side, squawking to try and encourage Trysta to leap onto her back so they can already leap into battle. She’s still not entirely sure that there is actually anything dangerous out there, but the reaction from the crew is promising and enough to raise her spirits a little. The moment Trysta is settled in the saddle Nacht is quick to throw herself from the boat with a beat of her leathery wings.  

The boat rocks dangerously from the force of the massive bird taking off from a standing start, water splashing up onto the deck and all over those unfortunate enough to be close to the railings. Some of them make rather disgruntled noises and shout a profanity or two, but don’t try to stop the Gryph now circling high above them. If there is indeed something in the water then keeping her on their side would most definitely be in their best interests.  

Nacht stares down into the water, watching as the bubbles move around the ship. There’s something down there, but with how dark the water is and how high up there are it’s impossible for her to judge just how large their potential foe may be. Trysta straps herself into the saddle securely, drawing her own sword in preparation while Nacht snorts out a large cloud of smoke through her nose. She can feel the embers of flame building in her chest and tickling her tongue, enticing her to destroy this new enemy.  

They could have both very easily gone below deck to wait out the encounter, but neither Nacht nor Trysta have ever been one to say no to a fight.