The short walk on the ship’s deck has become even shorter due to the weather getting colder and windier. In the distance I can make out some clouds slowly making their way closer to the ship. Making my way into the barracks, I begin to feel bloated and lethargic as though I have eaten a whole feast by myself. My body feels heated and sweaty, long stray hairs keep getting in my face and eyes. The jacket only makes it more uncomfortable to walk. Each step becomes harder, each breath heavier, I feel tired from just standing and find myself wanting to lie down on my bed. The idea that I have a bed now is still rather humorous to me seeing as how a couple of days ago what constituted as a bed for me was either a tree branch or the ground.

The room has some number of griffins (that I do not bother with counting) relaxing and talking amongst themselves, none seem to notice me as I slowly walk to my bed. It is becoming harder for me to hold my composure, I try to keep my back straight and head held high as I walk forward. There really is no point in me doing so, it is not like they would actually care or pay attention if I appear weak and tired (If anything, I mainly do it for myself.) Again I have to brush the moist hair out of my eyes as they continue to cling to my face annoyingly, I should really tie them back. This whole time I did not bother tying my hair up out of sheer defiance of me finally not having to do so. My parents did not like me having them this long, saying they were too long for me, telling me that it is too feminine and not for men, they clog up the bathroom shower (we had a shower drain net that prevents things from going down and clogging), too much hair falling on the carpets (which I always had to clean by the way, so I do not even know why they were complaining) and just because they thought I looked stupid with long hair. So I always had to tie them into a pony tail (the fucking irony) whenever I went outside anywhere. Although, to be fair I did want to have long hair so I have to deal with the issues that come with them. Loose hair always gets in my eyes and face whenever I sleep, walk or a wind passes by. My hood would keep the majority held back, however stray hairs would always find their way in my face and piss me off. I wish I had some of those rubber bands that I had stockpiled at home. Now that I think about it, I always carried a couple of them with me whenever I went out somewhere for when my hair gets too annoying to deal with, except that I woke up with only the one that was with me. I could maybe use one of the leather strips from one of arm bands, they would get untied later so that will get annoying rather quickly. Or I could just ask if the captain has any plain rubber bands, those hurt whenever I try to untangle my hair. I will probably do that later because I am about to drop dead on my bed.

Lifting myself up to the bed, I take off my jacket due to the heat. Some loose hairs instantly fall on my face while others rise up from static charge. Brushing them off I try to make myself comfortable on the bed, the belt bag makes it uncomfortable to lie down to my side as it gets in the way. Why the hell did I even wear it? It is bulky, uncomfortable when I run and is actually pointless. My jacket has more pockets than I could use, I could have just put all my things inside it to make things easier. Why did I keep wearing it? Because I thought it was cool, and I did not have this jacket when I first bought it. I feel really stupid for making all of these problems for myself; then again I could not have possibly foreseen myself in this situation to begin with. That is why I wore it, because shit could happen and I would be somewhat prepared to deal with it if I had to.

I take off the belt bag, trying to make sure no one notices the few stone knifes I have tied to my belt and place it near me. Good thing Gazer did not bother to check my pockets and belt for any knifes, boy would he be surprised. I should probably put those in my jacket, in case anyone might notice them and bring unwanted problems. Doing that, I try to get comfortable on the bed. I find that to be hard seeing as how my shirt sticks to my skin from the month’s old sweat, the jeans feel too hot to sleep in again and the socks feel like they were fragile, crusted cardboard. And I cannot take any of them off due to me instantly stinking up the room with my odor and the shear fact that I would be most likely be stared at like at a striper on a pole.

Turning to the side facing the wall to try and see if it would be more comfortable, I feel an almost painful pressure from my stomach and quickly return to lying down on my back. I should have known better than to consume all that food so greedily and without thought. Such small portions were more than enough to overwhelm my stomach after a long time of having little to eat. My metabolism did not have enough time to adjust to this rapid change. That is probably what happened to me after eating that manticore steak. How the fuck did I missed that? Did I really get that dumb and careless the last two months that I lost all ability to logically reason? I keep making stupid mistake after mistake, if this keeps up my luck will eventually run out and then… well, then I guess I really will be fucked. I need to get my head together and start focusing on what I am doing. First I am going to have to get over some issues brought on from the last two months. Like my paranoia for one; I almost completely certain that no one on this ship is out to get me or wants to choke me in my sleep and I probably do not need to sleep with knifes near my hands. Well maybe just one, just in case (you never know.)

Lying in bed does relieve some discomfort in my legs and back, although the lethargy and bloated feeling tells me that it is not going away for some time. This sluggish feeling makes me angry and the lack of sleep is not helping. I should try to get some rest, at least for one hour. My insomnia will not allow me to sleep for some time; however I will take whatever I can get. Although lunch was only about half an hour ago, the griffins seem to be more or less ready to go to bed for the night. I am more than certain that on an actual old time ship, things would be a whole lot different. Hey If I do not have to move or do things than I am not complaining, not that I think I could do much in my current state anyway. Closing my eyes and drowning out all the noise in the room I try to breathe in calmly and relax.

“Hey buddy! How’s it going? Relaxing?” Son of a bitch, not even a full minute! Opening my eyes and looking the side of the bed I find Beak standing on his hind legs and front claws holding on to the side of the bed with a big grin on his face. At the moment I am debating whether or not I should punch him in the face. I will not be able to take on the whole ship the way I am now so fuck it. I guess he gets to keep his face the way it is.

“I was trying to. And you?”

“Just walking around and checking up on others, nothing much to do really.” Nothing for him to do and he decided to bother me, what an asshole. As he stares at me curiously without saying anything for some time, I realize that this is probably the first time he sees me without my hood on. My hair probably looks like a mess.

“Anything else?”

“No, just thought maybe we could talk?” His cartoonish face has a hopeful look. I honestly would not have been able to read his facial expressions if it were not for the exaggerated properties of a cartoon. So much for resting.

“Sure. About what?” His face lit up with those words.

“I don’t know, anything would be fine really. Any plans for after we dock for Avias?” Great, he wanted a conversation and he does not even know what to talk about. Don’t you just hate that? If you have nothing to talk about then don’t say anything. I have no doubts that he wants to ask anything and everything about me, I know that I would in his situation. Probably still thinking how to go about doing it.

“Not really, still thinking about it.” I pause to look at him and notice that he is still standing on his hind legs and holding on the ledge of my bed. “You maybe want to sit down? It would be more comfortable.”

“I don’t think the bed would handle both of our weights.” The idiot had a confused expression when he said that.

“I meant on your bed, we are not that far apart that we could not hear each other.” I deadpan.

“Oh! Right, your right. Sorry.” His face flushes with embarrassment as he lets go of the edge and goes down to sit on his bed. I sit up with my back leaning on the wall and my legs bent.

“What about you?”

“I’m going to take a break and spend some time at home. See how things have changed in the last two months.”

“You were on this ship for two months?” I guess that is a decent amount of time to work on a ship.

“Yea, this is my third time on the ship. Last time I spent four months here.” Four months on a ship, must have been boring. “So hey, Traveler? Why exactly are you here? I mean, I know that you’re working here temporary but why?” A decent question I guess, however an annoying one none the less. I hate having to explain myself.

“I needed passage through the ocean and the captain took me in. So now I am working for my trip.” I have hard time keeping my eyes open as fatigue continues to grow.

“Where are you headed for?”

“No idea. Like I said before I am still thinking about it.” I at least have an idea of what I am going to do. First either copy or get myself a map, then find a library to learn as much as I can about this place. Although seeing as how there is the issue regarding the inability to read things here, that might be problematic. I will deal with it when it comes up.

The sound of thunder could be heard from behind the wall, followed by the sound of slowly starting rain hitting the water and ship. It starts out slow and then picks up in pace as wind begins to rise to that of a storm. It just would not be a ship ride without a thunder storm. Some of the griffs seem to notice the weather as they turn to different directions and listen to the sounds and then returning back to what they were doing.

“Huh, the wind is picking up. Sounds like it might be a big one.” Beak spoke up.

“Apparently.”

Some small amount of time passes as he does not say anything. My eyes closed and back leaning on the wall, I slowly begin to get comfortable. The feeling of wanting to sleep and yet not being able to returns as I recall the nights that were absent of any rest.

“Hey, I kind of want to ask you something.” Great, here we go.

“What?” I try to keep my tone of voice free of aggression an annoyance, although it is begging to be harder to do so.

“Well, me and the rest of the guys were…” His voice is cut short as a ringing bell is heard from above. Everyone suddenly becomes alert as heads turn to look up. Everyone starts to get up in a hurry as though an emergency. All this sudden movement is enough to cause a reaction out of me as I become alert and adrenalin begins to course through me. I quickly jump down of my bed and turn to look at Beak who himself is beginning to get up.

“What is happening?” Beak visibly flinches from my voice as he turns to look at me.

“That’s the emergency bell. It means that something bad is happening and we all need to get on the deck to keep the ship going.” The urgency in his voice tells me that he is telling the truth.

“What do you mean keep it going? This ship has an engine.”

“Yea, but the wind will mess up the sails and we could go off course. We have to make sure that the sails hold in place until the wind goes down.” It seems that this ships navigation is entirely reliant on the sails like the old ships and the engine is just a makeshift thruster. That is really retarded, even for this world.

“So what do we have to do?”

“We need to go to the deck and do whatever they tell us to. Now come on, let’s go!” He quickly gets up and dashes for the exit. That is the first time I see a gryphon run, anatomical movements just like that of a lion.

I should go upstairs to help them; I would probably just get in the way do more harm than good. Although not doing anything would be just as bad. The weather is shit, my body is weak and I am having a hard time staying awake. I am going to be drenched regardless of what I am wearing so I should try to save some things. My jacket is relatively clean and dry so I should leave it behind, the shoes will get wet instantly so that is out too, the socks are fucked and the shirt is already wet and dirty from sweat so whatever. And the jeans are all I have so that stays. There is no point in bringing the belt bag; it would just get in the way. Taking off my shoes and placing them on the bed, I turn to go upstairs.

The rain is pouring relentlessly fast and strong as though it were from a bucket, the wind is fast and cold. The night sky is covered with grey clouds with the moon being hidden out of sight. The impact of the rain on my face and skin slowly takes away some of the tiredness, it feels refreshing and cold. My hair is now wet and sticking to my scalp and back. My shirt is soaked almost instantly along with my socks as I walk across the deck. Griffins are moving all around, pulling ropes from all sorts of angles; some are in groups trying to hold the rope from slipping as the wind pushes the sails violently. The entire deck looks like it is crowded and in commotion. I can feel the ship slowly and steadily starting to shake to the sides as the ocean waves hit the ship. Less than a minute outside and I already begin to regret taking off the shoes and jacket. Too late now.

“Hey you! New guy, come here and help us with this!” My attention is instantly grabbed by the shouting over the wind. The one yelling is looking at me while trying to hold on to a thick rope held by two more griffins behind him. It seems that they are having trouble holding on to it. I run over and grab the end of the rope and begin to pull. I cannot tell what the rope is for seeing as how it is part of some network of ropes going into separate directions all over the ship. My fingertips feel the rope as I hold it firmly and pull on it; my gloves moist from the rain do not budge from my grip. The texture of the rope, the sounds of the ocean and rain, the salty smell of the air and coldness of the wind paint a rather interesting picture in my mind. That this is going to be a long night and that I am most likely going to get sick by the end of it. I begin to feel the signs of an oncoming pain my head. Oh great, now I think I have a headache coming up too.

The three griffins pull on the rope with their front claws while trying to have a firm footing on the wet deck floor. The floor is not slippery for me as my feet have some friction from the crusty socks and the unpolished wood. They bodies covered in water as each of their heads have an almost comical ruined wet hair style and the occasional drop of water from the sides the feathers and wings. Standing the way they do at their full height, they seem look almost taller than me. Makes sense in a way, lion bodies usually are longer than humans. The work of pulling on the rope is showing the strain on their bodies if their grunts were not evident of the fact. Holding on the rope I pull on it and apparently making a difference as the rope slowly comes forward to me. The other begin to pull on it more easily now as it steadily makes its way inward. I am not pulling on the rope at my full strength, which I do not think that I actually could at the moment. Thankfully the amount of force I am giving seems to be enough. After a few more minutes of pulling out a large amount of rope the lead griffin started tying down the rope to a small hook near his feet or paws I guess. Tying the rope in some nautical knot that I do not know the name of the three seem to be happy with their work and started looking around in different directions. One moved to a group of five griffins who are trying to pull on a long rope from the top of the mast, not too far from them another hook was there for the rope. The wind probably undid some of the knots and caused the issues. Two more started running off to the front of the ship, the one that called me is looking every direction trying to find something to help with.

“Now what?!” I shouted over the wind and noise to the griffin. My question seems to confuse him as he has a lost expression on his face. “What do you want me to do?!”

“Go around and help the others!” Quickly turning his head around he points his claw/finger at a group on the further right near the edge. “There!”

The ship continues to be swing to the sides, however not hard enough for me to have any problems running over to the group. Again grabbing the back end of thin rope I begin pulling on it and helping out the rest. My help is noticed as the rope almost effortlessly gets pulled in and some of the griffs look behind to see me aiding them. I do not know what exactly I am doing by pulling on the rope, nor does it matter. This is just one more mindless menial task for me to do while enduring a lethargic state, a bloated stomach and a headache. The wet hair is not getting in the way as it would if it were dry so that is good, although it still sways from side to side with the wind. A big wave hits the left side of the ship and the griffins nearby get sprayed with shower of salt water, some small drops hit my feet. The job is finished faster than the previous as the griffins again spread out to help the others. Moving on to the next station I see there are only three groups left with me joining one of them. The rest seem to be either monitoring the tied down ropes or going back and forth from one side of the ship the other.

Looking around at the things happening on the deck I notice the captain behind the wheel turning it rapidly to his right with a concentrated look on his face. This whole scene is just way too dramatic, gusting winds, strong pouring rain, huge waves rocking the ship to the sides, everyone on the deck moving franticly around, the captain staring off in to the distance with a focused glare. An action scene right out of Hollywood, the only thing that is missing is the dramatic orchestra background music. Maybe it is a strictly only cartoon thing? Well it would not help me at all with this growing headache; it is really getting stronger quickly.

With the last rope getting tied down I am left with nothing else to do except stand at the side of the ship and not get in the way of those who are running back and forth. I am not the only one as many others do the same thing and stand out of the way. Everyone is yelling to each other to be heard over the storm, waves and rain. I could really go for some Excedrin and a quiet dry room right now. Leaning forward on the rail I try to rest as my body is still weak and the headache is only getting stronger. I do not feel the wind or the rain anymore as I ignore it. Another big wave hits on my side of the ship and water pours down on me and the other griffins nearby as though it were from a bucket. The ship shakes from the impact and some sounds of complaint are voiced from the nearby victims. Everything is just happening around me as I continue to feel sick. This is the second time something like this has happened to me, the first being in an airport after arriving to New York for the first time. I got really sick from the airplane food and some issues caused me to get nervous and worried; I do not know how many times I threw up on that day, did not bother with counting. I could not sleep on that night and I could not eat for almost two days straight. Good times.

I could just go to the barracks; it is not like they really need me that much. Hell, Gazer said it himself that he has a full crew of workers. Wait, then why is there an extra bed for me? Screw it, I am too tired to care and my head is splitting. Some of ropes are getting untangled from all the rain and motion from the storm. Griffins run in to grab the ropes and tie them down again. So far I do not have to do anything as the ropes are all being taken care of by those rushing in. Apparently some inaudible order is made as almost all the griffins go to the ropes again and begin to either retie them or to adjust the lengths.

“Trav! Over here!” I get drafted with a call of my name to one rope station nearest me with two other griffins. Trav, I guess that is less of a mouth full then Traveler. I already got myself a nickname, a very human one at that. Oh the freaking irony.

And again I begin to pull on a rope along with the other poor wet bastards. Everyone is pissed off and tiered as far as I can tell. No one wants to be out in this weather on the deck, however not a lot of choices in the matter. It is obvious that this weather is not going to go down anytime soon, it is actually getting stronger and the rain is pouring even harder. Not even close to some of the weather I have experienced, the wind is strong however it not strong enough to push me along with it. Everything I see is slightly darker with a grey tint, dark grey scenery that is fitting for this situation. Time is irrelevant at this point; fatigue and pain are all that is on my mind. How many times have I asked myself if this is real? That this not just a delusion, a fantasy from the mind of some deranged madman. No, this is real. The headache and lethargy are proof of that, that and the fact that this is all too stupid to be made up. Seriously, why the hell would a random human being eve be here? Out of nowhere with no visible purpose, this is like some messed up joke. Then again, life is just a messed up joke.

I am able to force myself to do the work without having to stop and hold my head from the pain. I probably appear to be really angry to all the others if they even bother to look at me. The sounds of the ocean waves and the yelling of the crew only aggravate me further. It is almost enough for me to want to strangle them all. My body’s whole condition is impairing my thinking, aggression and irrational anger is constantly on my mind. I have to be careful and not lose it on some poor bastard who might piss me off without even knowing it. Just have to try to keep calm through the tiredness and pain. Time passes and I cannot tell for how long I have been moving from one rope station to the next. Now I have to stand in the middle of the ship near the mast and pull on the rope along with two others behind me whenever the order to ‘raise the topsails’ or whatever it is called came. I have seen diagrams and models of real old time ships in books and museums so I know for a fact that this ship has way too many ropes, I am not entirely certain about the number of sails. Gazer’s voice call out the orders to perform what task, some get called by name other get pointed at. Orders come and go, the shouting died down slightly to only orders and grunts of frustration. My whole body is completely wet as the shirt and pants are clinging to my skin, at least the socks do not feel like crusty cardboard anymore. The wet hair clings to my head on the sides and out of my eyes from the weight of the water pouring on it. As long as I do not pay attention to the wind and the cold I can ignore it and not feel it.

More time passes as we all stay on the deck in the wind and rain. I keep standing in the same spot and pulling or loosening the damned rope whenever told. My sluggish tired feeling slowly passes away, making me feel only slightly less like shit. The whole ordeal is monotonous to me by now and the sense of action dissipates, leaving me along with the other rather tired and probably bored. Almost suddenly the wind begins to calm down. The rain becomes less intense as the drops of water loose their force on impact. This is noticed by many as they look up from their slouched positions, the tiredness and misery is evident in their eyes and expressions. Those depressed looks slowly begin to look hopeful as orders began to be less frequent. There is still some wind and the rain continues only less strongly. The waves seem to calm down to some extent however they are still strong to shake the ship. It is still night outside with the sky being covered in dark grey clouds with the grey tint remaining over everything. I still would not call it night as I can make out everything clearly. I guess the other can see in the dark as well because they were not stumbling like they would if it were too dark. Shouldn’t they have some light fixtures set up so that the crew could see what they are doing? In this weather it would probably not make much difference anyway. Again Gazer’s orders are voiced all over the ship, pull this, loosen that, tie this, and untie that. I cannot focus on what those orders are yet alone try to understand them, all these nautical terms are way over my head as all I can do is feel the never ending pain in my head. I need to get some of those leftover leafs in my bag. I don’t care; I will chew them as long as it makes the pain stop.

I feel a tug on the rope from behind me; I turn to see the other gryphon’s trying to pull on the rope. I must have missed the order to do pull on the damn thing. Their effort in force is decent, however not what I would have expected from two full grown griffons. I guess they were more tired than I thought. And so once again I pull on that freaking rope, my frustration built to the extent that I grip the rope and begin pulling on it with as much strength as I could out of anger. It resists with a great deal of force, however that only makes me angrier. Son of a bitch, piece of shit rope!

“Dude! Trav stop! That’s enough!” A griffin calls from behind me. Turning back I see that the one who called me is holding on to the loose rope while the other one behind him is tying down the excess. The griffin tied down the rope and gave us a thumb’s up to show that he is done. I slightly loosened my grip on the rope and let it slowly go so it would not snap tight suddenly and possibly rip. The one who called me was looking at me the whole time with his stupid cartoon expression.

“Are you ok dude?” His voice is audible over everything else due to him being right there and the wind calmed down enough for him to not have to scream anymore. I did not really think that they had the word dude here, for some reason it does not fit him. And other one showed a thumb’s up, I guess that would exist here. They do have opposable thumbs, or claws. Fuck it whatever.

“I am fine.” Trying to sound calm is hard and frustrating. Not a lot of point in doing it anyway, he looks rather tired and somewhat unhappy himself.

Looking around I can see that the majority have tied down most of the ropes while some of the remainder have not moved or changed anything. The wind and rain continue to slowly calm down. Some griffins look hopeful and the rest continue to look miserable and depressed. Huh, just like the kids you would see in high school on Monday morning. I continue to look around and stop at Gazer on the steering wheel. He is entirely soaked with his feather hairstyle ruined and down as if was regular hair. The determined look on his face is still there as he stares out into the distance moving the wheel ever so slightly to opposite directions from time to time. He notices me looking at him and he gives me an acknowledgeable nod before turning his gaze back into the front of the ship. Well at least now no one can say that I did not do anything on this ship. Now I earned that bed that I so really badly want to fall down on.

Everything keeps on going as the weather shows no signs of changing; I notice that some of the hopeful looks drop from the faces of the griffins from the corner of my eyes. And then the rain suddenly stops as though the water was turned off. Well that was rather sudden, it is still rather dark and the wind is almost unnoticeable. The clouds do not seem to move, almost like they were painted in place. Which in this world sort of makes sense, I guess. The others on the ship all seem livelier now that the rain stopped. Some smiled wide grins as they looked up and started to talk amongst themselves again, to my displeasure. The pain in my head is not getting any easier, I could just run off into the barracks and get the damn leafs. However that alone would get me more attention that I do not want, I sign of weakness to a bunch of sad excuse for hybrids that I do not care about and probably something for Gazer and rest to bitch about how I ‘left my post’ or whatever. God I hate my life.

And nothing is happening as I stand for the beck and call of any orders to do something. Well, at least all I have to is just pull or let go of some rope so it is not all that bad. However it does not make this any less boring. The noise from the crew’s growing talking is starting to annoy me; I want the rain to come back now. The waves have calmed down again as the ship does not sway as it has before, the wind has also calmed down to a negligible breeze. No orders have come by for some time now, many of the crew begin to sit down on the deck floor or by the rails and relax. I sit down with my back to the mast as the other two griffins do the same. My knees bent upward and my head low, I try to tune the noises out. When I have a headache, I cannot stop thinking. Meditating on it is pointless as it the pain is only slightly alleviated for a short time. And any stray thoughts that come to mind brings the pain back in full force. No matter what I do, I am screwed right now.

“Wow that was a tough storm.”

“Yea you said it.”

“Hey. Are you alright?” I turn to look at the one who spoke to me. It is the same griffin that told me to relax when I over did it on the rope pulling. He is sitting not too far from me with the other griffin next to him. They are both staring at me with expressions that I do not care enough to look at.

“Fine. Just tired.” Leaning my head down again I try to just relax. Not easy being all wet and in my clothes.

“Hey don’t worry. As soon as the captain gives the all clear, we can go dry off and go back to bed.” I just nod my head because I do not really bother with a verbal response.

Nothing is happening as me and the rest continue to sit on the wet floor. Some have actually fallen asleep while the rest just lounge around. When will this shit end so I could go get those leafs? The sky has slowly turned into a less dark shade of grey and began to resemble the deep blue that the sky usually has. I guess that a couple of hours have passed during the whole storm, it is probably not long until the sun begins to rise. The clouds have ever so slowly moved during this time of rest. Apparently in my case there is no rest for the wicked.

A bell starts to ring from nowhere; I turn to look for where the noise is coming from and see the captain ringing a yellow hand bell in his right claw high over his head. Where the hell did he get that from anyway?

“We have past the storm! You can all go back to your rest!” He calls out for everyone to hear, waking up some of the sleeping griffins. He lowers his right hand and seems to put the bell in what probably passes for a pocket in this world. He has no jacket or bag or anything on him that could hold the bell so where the hell did put it?!! I am seriously getting tired of the fucking lack of physics around here! And I am tired of saying what the fuck! And… I am getting worked up over this crap for nothing. My head hurts even more from the small mental rage moment.

Everyone begins to stand up on all fours and walk back to the cabin entrance. I slowly stand up, cracking my back and arms to relieve some of the stiffness in my joints, then cracking my knuckles and neck. Some have flinched and turned around from the noise, I really don’t care. Now that the storm is not a priority everyone begins to look more closely at me. My wet clothes cling close to my body, my wet hair is messy as I draw it back out of my face and sides as I walk to the door. Some just stand and stare as I walk by them, some began to whisper not so quietly that I can hear in detail. Most are just about how my strange clothes and body shape look; some comments are about my apparently big muscles. Well that is rather flattering even if my body is actually not all that great right now. Still nice to hear something nice now and then, it feeds whatever is left of my ego.

Some of the griffins have moved out of my way and stood aside. Seriously, when are they going to get over it? This is getting a little too much guys. Walking down the steps along with the rest, I notice that some are going into different places. A number of them go to the mess hall while some were standing in line for the bathroom. One guy in particular was holding his crotch with a comical expression that most have when they really have to go to the bathroom. That is the first time I see something even remotely funny in a really long time.

“Dude?” I look down to my right to see Beak standing on all fours looking at me with a confused expression. He is as drenched as everyone else from the storm.

“Yes?”

“You’re smiling.” He sounds surprised.

“Yes. So what?” What the hell is his problem?

“You never even smiled once since the time you came here.” I did not even feel my face stretching or anything when smiling now that I think about it.

“I didn’t?” I guess I have gotten rather numb over the time. So what? I showed no expression on my face the whole time like some emo character from an anime? No, I scowled in pain not too long ago on the deck so maybe I just had a neutral expression the whole time. Or something.

“No you didn’t. It’s not bad, you should smile more often. Some of the guys thought you were a maniac when they first saw you.” Why am I not surprised?

“That is nice to know.” I deadpan. The majority of griffins have made their way to whatever destination they were going to while I was his short exchange of words. I should go to dry up somewhere, my wet feet are making foot prints wherever I go. The only places for that would either be the bathroom or the engine room by the furnace. The bathroom line has gotten longer so my best bet is the engine room.

“Don’t take it personally. It’s just that… well they never saw your kind before.”He almost sounds like he is trying to apologize.

“I understand, see you later.” I turn and go downstairs as Beak call out later to me as well. My headache has somewhat relieved to a more tolerable state, so I can bear with it for now. The engine room is as big and full as it was before. The light of the engine lights up the room with soft hummer of the engine in the background (more silently then an engine of that size and type should be.) The whole big room is really warm. Fuma is lying on the floor, leaning on a crate behind him and panting from the heat in a cartoon fashion with beads of sweat coming from his forehead. He sees me and smiles.

“My that was one great storm, huh? I had to work this here engine for hours. How are you friend? Wet from the rain I see.”

“I came here to dry up. I hope you do not mind.”

“Not at all! In this heat your fancy clothes will be dry in no time. Here, you can put them over there. Warm enough to dry, not hot enough to burn.” He points next to the engines levers.

“Do you have a towel or something I could use to cover myself?”

“Sure, but why do you need to do that?” I am not about to strip naked in front of any guy, I do not care if it’s a frisking griffin. Nor am I about to start the whole nudity conversation again.

“I would feel more comfortable if I am not naked. So can I use it?”

“Of course! Here come with me.” He stands up and starts to walk deeper in to the room. Following him, we come over to a small makeshift bed hidden by the crates. The bed seems to be one of those metal carrying beds with a white thin mattress, one deep green pillow and bed sheet on it. Fuma picks up the bed sheet and hands it to me.

“It’s going to be hot in here for some time so I don’t need this for tonight. You can have it.” Besides the fact that he used this sheet for sleep and is probably not vary hygienic, he still gave something I could use. And it is big enough for me to cover myself more than just my waist.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. You can change here while I go keep an eye on the engine.” And I thought I would have to go somewhere else or make him turn away for this part.

I try to take of my clothes quickly; however every movement I make begins to take more effort than it should. Finally striping off all my clothes I wrap myself in the sheet and carry my clothes over to the place near the lever. The gloves are too wet to ignore so I have to leave them to dry. I am not entirely certain, I think Fuma is staring at my hands as I walk over. Setting my clothes down in the best way I can without them having to be spread out or my underwear showing, I sit down by a wall nearby with my back resting on it.

“You look more tired and then usual, maybe you want to go and rest up a bit while your clothes dry up?”

“That would be nice. I will stay here if that is alright.” My voice betrays my tired state as it is good to be out of those wet clothes, even if my hair and body is still somewhat wet.

“Sure, if you want. I’ll be real quit and the light from the fire shouldn’t be too much of a bother for you. Why don’t you go and lie down on my bed, I need to keep on watching the engine for a short time anyway.”

I do not bother answering him or even listening to him anymore as I lie down on the floor with the wall to my back. My whole body feels tired and sluggish with a continuing throbbing in my head. I do not care about anything anymore, I just want to sleep and not think about anything. The sight of everything around me just pisses me off. I close my eyes and hope that I could get some rest. And if I do fall asleep, maybe it would not be too bad if I do not wake up from it.

Author's Note

I do not really need to say that shit happened, you get the idea.
Anyway, this story is not yet dead. Or at least I am trying to keep it alive.
Criticism and comments are welcome.