“There it is.” the gruff old sailor grunted out as he stood on the deck, pointing a mangled finger towards the horizon. Out in the distance a shape was coming in to view. Mostly shielded by the hazy tint of fog or mist. Even the ocean seemed to turn a darker shade of emerald as it reached out towards the continent.
“Great! How long before we dock?” With her hands planted firmly on the rail, her face lit up into a wide grin. This was the unseen. The unknown. The mythic and the forbidden. It was [i]Deridia[/i]. And Wren Norina Rosalinda Alvetica, Seventh Princess of Charbiq, Tamer of Kanterbryn, Scourge of Felweiss, Unprofessional Adventurer, and now Ambassador of Karridran was going to be the first to step foot on the Forbidden Continent and live the tell the tale.
“We’re not docking. You’re getting off here.” He responded, moving away from the rail to a stack of cargo tied down to the dock. There was a bit of rustling. Shouts from the other sailors, and even the Captain was barking orders. Suddenly there was quite a bit of activity.
Wren frowned, turning and resting a hand on her hip. “Huh? Why not? What about a boat? The agreement was transport to Deridia. It’s along your trade route.”
“That places is [i]strange[/i]. We never dock there. Now off you go!”
“Wait a sec-OOOAAAAAHHH!” [i]SPLASH![/i]
Wren surfaced moments later, coughing and sputtering. There was a splash as her trunk landed in the water nearby. Shaking a fist up at the sailors, she made sure they got to hear all of those curse words she’d learned off of them in the past week of traveling. Had Wren known she was going to get chucked head first in to cold ocean water miles away from shore, she might have prepared better. This was not an acceptable way to conduct business!
Oh well. Nothing she could do about it now. Pushing her trunk in front of her, she kicked her feet to get through the water. The trunk seemed to be protesting it’s watery bath, choosing to try and sink beneath the waves instead of floating like a proper trunk. Wren let out another growl as the blasted thing tried to take it with her in to the depths. She wasn’t sure if the thing understood her under water threats, but the kick she gave it sent it bobbing back to the surface.
With the waves working against her, half the time it was a real struggle to swim for the beach. By the time she touched the shallows, she was already exhausted. Grabbing the handle of her trunk, she lugged it behind her until she was a good ways up on dry land then she plopped face first in to the sand.
“Ugh. Uuuugh, you are the worst travel companion. You could have swam for both of us, you don’t have any lungs.” she grumbled at the trunk that so lifelessly sat next to her lodged in the sand. Once she caught her breath she would light a fire to get warm and dry. Maybe she’d light it under the trunk.
But she was there. Deridia. Wren grinned and rolled on to her back, knowing that the moment she opened her eyes she was going to get her first real up close look at the Forbidden Continent.