VG Rumble

Warren

"Now about that bet..." Warren smiled hopefully but after seeing their expressions, he sighed theatrically, "alright, alright, I get the message. I'm Warren by the way, the Wind God, at your service." He bowed gracefully with a flourish of his cape.

"You travel with some strange people, Luke," Rick said thoughtfully.

"Luke's the strangest of us all," Ilum assured him. "My name's Ilum and this is Karana." In turn they each shook Rick's hand and then Raven stepped forward and did the same, telling him her name briefly.

"A pleasure to meet all of you and if you'll follow me, we'll set sail within the hour," Rick assured them. Warren didn't think the claim too impressive but once they had boarded the ship and he could see just how much work there was to raise the sails and the anchor, to turn the ship about and head for open sea, he was amazed that they were leaving the docks after a mere fifteen minutes.

"You can have my cabin - the captain's cabin - for the journey," Rick was explaining to Luke. "And your friends will be given suitable beds beneath deck." Warren almost grumbled at that but held his tongue, not wanting to seem disrespectful and then Luke - the fool - looked ready to refuse! Refuse the captain's cabin? What a disaster that would be but then Raven spoke softly but firmly:

"Thank you Rick, we really do appreciate this and in return, we'll make the voyage as swift as possible."

"Oh?" Rick asked curiously.

"Warren and Izuki will make sure the winds stay long and I'll keep the ocean calm for smooth sailing," Raven explained. And then Warren did open his mouth to object except that he could think of no reason against it. Afterall, the quicker they got there the better, so he closed his mouth again, feeling rather foolish like he had not done since leaving the group. They sure knew how to make an old friend feel welcome.

Karana and Ilum laughed at Warren's expression. So, time alone had not changed their friend's smart-mouth attitude? Warren "the Wind God" was still their Warren.

She took hold of Ilum's hand as they walked along the deck, just watching the water pass beneath the ship, the clouds float in the sky, the people on the docks move back and forth. It would have been a better sight if the sun was still gold, the sky still blue, the plants still green and alive.

Ilum could obviously read the disappointment in his fiance's gaze. "It will get better."

She forced a small smile as she embraced him, resting her head against his chest. "I hope so."

He lifted her chin so as to look directly into her eyes. "We know so." He kissed her once, then they turned back to where Luke and the others were talking to the captain.

Raven

Ten minutes into the journey when everyone was settling in, Raven, Iuki and Warren made their way to the front of the ship, wrapped in their warm cloacks and wearing life jackets that Rick had lent them.

"Okay, let's get this boat moving!" Izuki exclaimed excitedly, raising her arms above her head and suddenly the ship lurched forward as the wind picked up. The sailors all gaped with awe and not to be out done, Warren joined in and faster and faster the ship pitched forward until huge waves were lapping the boards and sailors were stumbling all across the deck. Even Raven was having some trouble standing up but then she reigned the water in, forcing it to run smoothly around the ship without disrupting their speed.

"So then," Warren said as the sailors returned to their positions though the running of their ship was largely out of their control, "what exactly are we looking for?" Raven gazed at him, surprised as she realised that he knew nothing of the sacred stones and then, laughing, she recounted the last few steps of their journey to him and Warren listened with amazement.

"Can I see it?" Warren asked when she was finished. Raven nodded and slipped the saddlebag from her shoulder while still directing most of her attention to keeping the ocean smooth. She opened the bag and Warren stared inside, letting the wind die for a moment as he grasped just how much of the adventure he had missed. He silently swore to never leave the group again.

"Now back to work, Wind God," Raven said softly, closing the bag and looping it back around her shoulder.

Luke came to the front of the boat to check up on everyone. "How is everyone doing?" he asked.

"Just fine," Raven said as she tried to keep her concentration on the water passing around the boat. "Is something the matter?"

"No, I just came to check up on you all."

"Hey, Luke." He turned to look at Warren. "How far do you think this island is?"

Luke explained, "The captain says Drokonia is usually a three-day trip, but at the speed we're going it should only take half the time if we take resting into account."

"So, how much longer do we need to do this?" Izuki asked.

"Four more hours, then you three can sleep for the night."

Izuki's jaw dropped. "Four hours!?"

Raven spoke before the child could say anything else. "That's fine, we can hold out until then. Why don't you go to the captain's quarters and get some rest?"

"If you three have to keep working in these conditions the least I can do stay awake with you," Luke told her.

Raven smiled and looked at him with soft caring eyes. "You need some rest, Luke, especially after your fight with Caim. You deserve it." She went over to him and laced her arms around his body. The water under the boat wavered a bit, but she was able to control it. "I'll come down to you when the four hours are up so you can sleep nightmare free."

Luke smiled and leaned down to kiss the woman he loved. When they pulled away he said, "Try not to spend too much of your energy."

Karana watched Raven, remembering how worried she had been. Karana would never forget the fear in Raven's eyes when Luke had been hurt.

"Raven," Karana began, stepping toward her friend as Ilum took his place next to Warren. "Maybe you won't have to control the ocean." She turned to Warren and Izuki. "If you two could take it easy, slow down a bit..."

"The water wouldn't be so rough," Ilum finished.

Raven

"And the journey would be considerably longer," Raven replied with a vague smile. "It's okay, I can handle it for a few hours." She turned once more to face the ocean and leaned against the railing, staring out across the water and causing it to ripple with a smile as she imagined what lay beneath its mysterious depths. Steadily the water lapped the sides of the ship and at the edges of sight it churned, the large waves scattered out of the way. And then suddenly all lay still and Raven was surprised to find that she didn't need to exert her will to make the ocean smooth; it was like a glacier, not seeming to shift at all and yet the ship still moved onwards.

"If you're sure...." Karana's words drifted off as she realised that Raven was and instead she came to stand closer to her friend, wondering what it was that Raven stared at so intently when suddenly Warren began to speak in a quiet, thoughtful voice quite unlike his own:

"I wonder how far the bubble stretches if that is what it is. I've experimented a few times now and I think that it covers at least the space of an entire city. I wonder..." As if in a daze, Warren stared out across the ocean.

"Warren..." Izuki hesitated, looking amazed. "Warren, there's no wind. We're making the ship move but there's no wind."

"What do you mean?" Karana asked, turning to her.

"She means that Raven can go to sleep, I'm sure I can hold this an hour or two at least and that will make up for lost time when Izuki and I have to move more slowly," Warren replied with a grin.

"Hold what?" Izuki asked.

"The time spell!" Ilum realised suddenly. "That's what it is, isn't it?" Warren flashed him a grin and bowed with a flourish of his cape.

____________________________________

Not much later that night, Raven and Luke were sitting side by side on the captain's bed and Raven had just finished explaining Warren's new trick.

"That will be useful," Luke decided, "but let's hope he doesn't exhaust himself."

"I'm sure he won't," Raven replied with a small smile. "Now lay down and close your eyes." Without any hesitation, Luke did just this and then Raven laid down beside him and wrapped her arms around his bare chest, whispering in his ear: "It's my turn to stay awake tonight."

Luke smiled as he opened his eyes and placed a hand on Raven's. "Not tonight."

She gave him an odd look. "What?"

"I finally have you to myself, and I intend to make the best of this opportunity." He caressed a gently hand across the cheek of the woman he loved. "I love you, Raven, more than words will ever describe. I want to show you how much my heart longs for your touch." He leaned in to whisper the last part. "I wish to make love to you..."

(Just so you know, this storybook isn't going to turn out like the one that got deleted, the Eternals. Ayumi and I do stuff like this all the time and we always fade out before the inappropriate stuff happens. Plus, you've been posting with us in this storybook for a while, kitty. You know we're not going to make the whole story revolve around sex.)

You don't have to assure me of that Dynamo, I'd have let you know if the storybook was getting out of hand but you and Ayumi have always been very careful not to over step the line.

Raven

Raven's heart skipped a beat and she looked back at Luke in surprise. For a moment, she didn't know how to respond but then she smiled and though he couldn't see it in the dark, it flooded her words with a gentle, loving tone:

"You don't have to prove anything to me, Luke, I know how much you love me and I love you back. Not that I don't want to, I..." Luke placed a gentle finger over Raven's lips and then his mouth covered hers and she wrapped her arms around him, each holding the other closer than ever before.

__________________________

Later that night, Raven lay awake, nestled close to Luke who was sleeping gently and she needed very little concentration to keep the bad dreams from his mind. She felt safe next to him and her desire for him to be happy seemed to press through her fingers and into his, coursing through his body with her magic until she almost thought that if she wanted to, that if she tried she could see his dreams and absorb herself within them.

But instead, she was content to lay still and bask in his love until morning when he would wake refreshed and wonderful and loving. "I don't know how I ever lived without you," Raven whispered.

The sun shone through the window that morning, bathing the two lovers in a ray of warm sunlight. Luke made a small sound as he opened his eyes. Raven was nestled snugly in the curve of his arm, just as she had been before he had fallen asleep, which was after their night of passionate love making.

Raven was awake, she traced her nail along Luke's bare chest as if drawing patterns with her finger. He gently took her hand in his and ran his thumb across her knuckles. "Good morning."

Raven smiled warmly as she looked up into the face of the man she so desperately loved. "Morning. Did you sleep well."

He nodded. "Thanks to you, my love."

Warren

The morning came too soon and with a groan, Warren rolled out of his bed and hit the floor, jerked from his sleep in an instant to find himself laying on hard, wooden boards and staring up at a line of empty hammoks.

"What the hell is going on?" he demanded, rubbing a sore head as he sat up and found that less than five of the hammoks were inhhabited and all by familiar faces. His rude awakening was accompanied by giggles.

"Sorry, Warren," Ilum said as he stretched and scrambled out of his own hammok, reaching for a ladder at the side. Warren gazed around and found that every line of hammoks was the same, a cloumn of seven white, canvas beds reaching from floor to ceiling and there were at least nine or ten columns altogether.

"Why was I all the way up there and more essentially, what was I doing in a hammock?" Warren demanded, trying to recall when and where he had gone to sleep only to find that he couldn't.

"I asked one of the sailors to help me carry you to bed," Ilum explained. "I woke up a few hours after you told the rest of us to get some sleep and realised you still hadn't come down so I went up on deck and you'd collapsed against the railings...."

Warren grunted in acknowledgement of this as his memory confirmed the story and then Izuki's giggles reached a climax and she exclaimed:

"The sailors said they didn't wake you because they were afraid that you'd sink the ship!" She began to giggle again as she sommersaulted from her hammock, landing in a handstand in front of Warren and casually flipping to her feet.

"Well you could have at least left me sleeping on the floor," Warren grumbled. "I don't suppose Luke and Raven are awake yet?"

"They were down not long ago," Karana said. "Raven's gone back to work and Luke said you and Izuki could have the morning to rest seenas you were up there half the night."

Raven may not have had the power to control the wind but she could still us her magic to control the water and make them go a little faster. As she worked she could hear footsteps coming up from behind. She recognized those heavy, yet quick steps, she didn't have to look to know it was Luke who wrapped his arms around her body.

"Hey, Luke."

Luke kissed Raven's cheek and said, "How's everything going?"

"It's not as fast without Izuki and Warren, but we're making progress." She turned her head to look in Luke's eyes. "Thanks for letting them take the morning off."

"They worked hard last night, they deserve the rest." He smiled when he said, "As do you but you won't listen to me." Raven smiled at that. Luke gave her a quick kiss on the lips before saying, "Besides, you three made a lot of progress last night. I'm sure we'll be reaching out destination very soon. And that's also why I wanted you to get some more rest this morning. As soon as we reach Drokonia we're going in, we all need all the rest we can get before then."

"Once we see the island I'll take a break," she said.

As if on cue the man in the ship's crows nest shouted, "LAND HO!"

Raven

"Looks like I'm going to be taking a break sooner than expected," Raven said with a tired smile as she released the water and the ship jerked sharply as it slowed and the waves became more turbulent. The sailors called back and forth to each other, tightening ropes and taking up their positions again.

"Come on, let's get you some rest," Luke gently pulled her away from the railings, his arms still wrapped around her as he led her down to the captain's cabin. In such a tangle of limbs, they struggled a little on getting down the stairs, causing Raven and Luke to laugh and smile and then Luke altered his positioning so that he had a single arm about her waist instead of two.

"I love you, Luke," Raven said, kissing him gently and then more fiercely as they reached the door to the cabin.

"I love you too," Luke told her, pushing the door open. Raven undressed to her underwear, blushing a little as Luke watched her and then she climbed into the bed and smiled up at him.

Luke smiled as he looked down at the woman before him. He closed the door and locked it before taking off his shirt and joining Raven on the bed. He propped himself on all fours over her and leaned down to kiss her. Raven wrapped her arms around Luke's neck and kissed him as a moan escaped her throat. She lifted her leg so it rubbed against Luke's groin.

Luke pulled back for a moment and said, "You are truely amazing, my love."

Raven giggled as she pulled his face down to meet her lips once again. As they kissed Luke's hand slowly slid down the length of Raven's body until it found the edge of her panties.

(You think we should fade out here?)

**Having fun, you two? lol**

Karana stretched as she stepped into the light and sea breeze, the warm, morning sunlight waking her up completely. The night had been long; she'd stayed awake most of the time, talking with Ilum about their future. Where would the wedding be? What theme would it have? Where would they live? What would they do, occupationally?

She leaned against the railing, staring out across the water. There, on the horizon, was a strip of land. Drokonia.

A hand rested against her back, and she looked over her shoulder to see Ilum standing beside her.

"So, that's Drokonia?" he mused. Karana understood the question to be rhetorical.

"Is it, really?" Izuki bounced to the railing, balancing on one foot as she looked across the water.

"Yep," Karana answered.

**All I've got for now...Dynamo knows why.**

Oh? Does that mean Dynamo needs to post next?