Young Writers Society

A Tale of Two Troublemakers

Ardeshir Ellonhav is among the crew of the magical ship The Hippocampus that ventures world to world, reality to reality, on a journey of exploration. On one particular trip, they dock on the coast of Maine. The modern world is a wonder to Ari - who hailed from the land of Nye and stumbled upon The Hippocampus after the events of The Outlands. Born and bred a sailor, he gladly hopped aboard.

And that was how he found himself with the similarly goofy-and-puppylike-yet-well-meaning shapeshifting demon Damascus on one fateful day...

The three-masted carrack sliced through the deep green ocean with ease, riding the wind and sliding through the waves like a dolphin in the water. The sharp tang of salty air surrounded them and gulls and gannets danced on the wind with practiced wingbeats and twists - they must've been near land, with so many of them out.

Ari smiled and put his arms out to feel the breeze. It was so beautiful out here!

"LAND HO!" the woman in the crow's nest called, her lilting, accented voice carrying across the forty foot ship from stern to bow. "LAND HO!" she cried again, just for good measure.

"Turn port!" the captain responded, jumping down from her perch atop the bowsprit and walking down the deck. "You know the drill for making port, folks!"

And so they did. The crew, Ari included, scurried across the deck to pull in ropes and sails and oars, scrambling across it like rats in the storage room.

It was that moment when the lights became visible through the thick fog in the night. The lights that were so numerous and so bright it lit up the horizon with such brilliance that for a moment he thought it was sunrise.

"Ari, Thane, get ready to go!" the captain called. "I want the both of you taking a look around here and coming back to me with some information on the time and such. You know the drill."

"Aye, cap'n!" Ari saluted and beamed as the ship came into port and ran over to help drop the anchor. Once the ship was secured, he hopped off onto the docks and decided to start adventuring.

He got some funny looks from the sailors he passed, and he wasn't exactly sure why. They were all wearing odd clothes and had even stranger devices that glowed and they held in their hands. What a cool place!

Damascus had been wading in the frigid water near the ports, carrying his shoes in hand and staring out at the horizon with a distant, thoughtful expression. He was shivering slightly, but a small smile was fixed on his face every time the tide pulled on his ankles.

Suddenly, a shout startled him from his affixed fascination, and he straightened, glancing around. A figure about twenty or thirty feet ahead of him had called, and it took a moment for Damascus to realize that he was calling him.

"Hey! Hey you!" The figure, apparently a man, shouted. "Can't you read?? The sign says no swimming."

He glanced over at the sign in question, and squinted at it. In truth, he couldn't read- in English, at least. His knowledge of the written language was limited to the alphabet. He called back all the same.

"Sorry about that! I didn't know." Carefully, he picked his way back up to the rocks, and put his shoes and socks back on.

Well, if he wasn't allowed to go into the water, it was no matter. He could walk around and gaze at all of the ships that were coming into the ports.

Ari was halfway down the docks before Thanatos caught up, his expressionless countenance as empty as ever. His skin was a muted white pallor, and his hair was a similar color. That, combined with the pale, pinkish hue of his eyes was an instant giveaway that he was albino - or, so most people thought. He wore a black tailcoat and suit, with white gloves to match. The cap'n had said he was undead, though, which Ari had gathered to mean that he was dead but...not.

He really wasn't sure.

"You cannot just run off," Thanatos said evenly. "You are bound to get into trouble."

"Aw, sorry, Than," he apologized, looking back towards the street and bounding down the docks, his words instantly forgotten as he saw a very strange light.

What he didn't see was the barefoot figure clambering out of the water and onto the docks, and by the time he realized what was happening, Ari went tumbling headfirst into the man.

Damascus sputtered in surprise as something- or, rather, someone came barreling into him. He blinked, dazed and disoriented from where he lay sprawled on the dock.

Then, all at once, his manners came to him in a rush, and he turned his attention to the man who had crashed into him.

"Oh goodness, are you... Are you okay, ah, sir? I'm terribly sorry, I must not have been watching where I was going. You aren't hurt, are you?"

He helped the stranger into a more comfortable position, tottering unsteadily himself and habitually taking responsibility for the collision.

Thanatos stopped several yards away and clasped his hands behind his back, waiting for the situation to be resolved. Ari scrambled back to her feet, apologies streaming out of his mouth faster than he could compose a real sentence. "Oh, I'm sorry, I hope I didn't, are you okay, I should be watching, oh goodness, real sorry!"

"I believe my companion is meaning to apologize for his clumsiness and state that next time he will watch where he is going," Thanatos clarified, offering Damascus a hand up courteously.

"Yeah, that!" Ari agreed. "Ya alright?"

Damascus gratefully took the white man's hand and stood, brushing himself off. He hurriedly turned to the man who had bumped into him, and put a settling hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, yes I'm perfectly fine. Please, don't trouble yourself - I was just as clumsy, I'm sure." He smiled reassuringly and let his hand drop.

After a few beats, the mens' clothes registered to him. Oh! he thought with surprise (this appeared clearly on his face).

He hadn't seen clothes of that style for a long while. Even though he knew that some people liked to wear "vintage" clothing, he concluded that this was probably not the case.

"Are you both new here? Like, from a different realm, or a different reality, or..." He trailed off, his eyes widening as he realized that he was being very rude.

"Uhm, I mean, mynameis Damascus, lovely to meet you." He quickly stuck a hand out, right in between them both.

Ari took his hand and shook it heartily with a big grin. "We sure are!" he affirmed. "I'm from this awesome place called Nye, 'n Thanatos 'ere is from this super tech...tech...technonlologeez place! I'm Ari, by t' way!" he grinned. "We usually don' run into people who know 'bout different realities!"

"Technologically advanced, he means," Thanatos corrected in his quiet, somber way. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Damascus."

Damascus smiled widely, exited to meet someone else who wasn't from this particular reality.

"Wonderful!" He exclaimed, "It's a pleasure to meet you both! I'm not from here either, though I have lived in this world for quite awhile. I'm afraid the reality where I come from isn't awesome, though."

He frowned and glanced thoughtfully toward Thanatos. "-or technologically advanced. Tell me about that- it sounds amazing."

"IT'S SUPER COOL!" Ari gushed. "They've got big giant buildings that are so big you can't see the tops past clouds and they have trans...transs...uh..."

"Transports," Thanatos supplied.

"YEAH, transports, that go like, super duper fast, and but they're really quiet and they fly!"

"Hover."

"Hover!" Ari beamed. "And then there's these tiny devices that they can talk to each other on and they can cure all sorts of crazy things, like there was this one girl, she had a ribbit-"'

"Robotic."

"-robotic arm but it was totally usable and really awesome!"

Damascus' eyes widened considerably, and he set down his shoes in a side thought. It was hard for him to wrap his mind around a reality that was even more advanced than the one he was currently inhabiting, but he tried just the same to picture it.

"Whoa... flying transports? And, you said.. robotic. Robotic like the little metal creatures in films? So, this girl, her arm had... artificial intelligence?" He gasped slightly as he worked this out. "How, exactly, does any of this work out?"

His excitement was enough to overcome the cold that had set in his skin with his wet pants, and though he still shivered and rubbed at his arms, he was hardly aware of the sensation himself.

"We have the technology to replace limbs, or other features, with technology that can be linked into the central nervous system," Thanatos explained. "It acts as an extension of herself, just like your arm would, except that it's made of metal. In fact, many consider it a step up from biological assets, and it's certainly got its advantages - it's stronger, faster, and more resilient, though it cannot heal itself as flesh could and, like any technology, it is susceptible to glitches. I, myself, was created by...similar technologies. Bio-tech is what we call it."

"Oh!" Damascus smiled brightly, though most of Thanatos' explanation was left unregistered. "Bio-tech." He tested.

"You have bio-tech?" He went on excitedly. "May I see it? T- that is, if you don't mind."

"Yeah, Thanatos, can you show us?" Ari asked, excited by the prospect.

"I do not have any myself," he said. "My creation was a complicated process. Perhaps...Well, we could use some assistance, and if you are interested in such knowledge maybe...there could be a trade? We don't know this world and if you would be willing to be our guide, the captain very well may allow you to come see some of the otherworldly creatures and artifacts aboard our ship."

"Oh, of course." Damascus gave an easy smile, and scanned the ships, looking for theirs. It happened to be very easy to spot. "That one is your ship, right?" He pointed. "Oh, I'd absolutely love to look around on board, but you know, I'm willing to help even without a trade."

As if suddenly remembering, he plopped himself on the deck and started to put his shoes and socks back on, noting that his fingers were trembling slightly. Whether this was from excitement or the chill in the air was hard to tell.

"Where do you want to go?" He looked back up, eyes shining.