Trevadir (age 16)
End of May, 3018
Somewhere on the sea, sailing Southward
(immediately following
this story)
Trev tossed and turned, but he could not seem to find any position that was comfortable. Sleeping on the floor was beginning to make his joints ache, especially his legs. At first it had been his own stubborn pride that kept him from asking the boatswain for another hammock. But after weeks of sleeping on the hard floor, he had finally caved in and asked, only to be told a very emphatic "No". He sighed, wincing as he stared up at the wooden beams, listening to the creaking of the ship, mostly drowned out by the snoring of all the men around him. They had hammocks to sleep in. They all seemed to get enough sleep. They also got more to eat than Trevadir did. But he hadn’t felt much appetite lately even when they allowed him to have something to eat, although he wasn’t sure if he was just getting used to short rations, or.. something else.
Trying not to groan, he rolled on his other side, arms wrapped around himself. He had sewn his blanket back together, so he did have that at least, but it was smaller than before. It barely did any good. The Forochel tribe people had given him a blanket before things turned bad, but one of the other crewmen had claimed it, and there was nothing Trev could do about it. So he made do with this one. No one else wanted it, after it had been ripped to shreds and then sewn back together. Still, he could not get comfortable. He was just beginning to feel as if he might doze off, despite the persistent aching in his limbs, when Samroth began the yell for the crew to wake up and begin their work for the day. Trevadir groaned softly, struggling to his feet. He felt a bit unsteady on his feet, but tried to ignore the feeling, hoping it would pass, even though deep down, he knew it would probably only get worse. But he didn't know what to do about it.
He felt confused by his condition. He’d slept on the ground before, and in the treehouse, and even on the floor at home, back when he and Nal and Ryn might all sleep over at one another’s houses. He’d never felt like this as a result. Was it merely because he had never spent such a
long time doing it, night after night? Or… was it something different? He couldn’t think of anything else that might have caused this persistent ache in his limbs. Sitting down at one end of the table in the galley, he propped his forehead in his hand as his elbow rested on the table, merely staring at the porridge in his bowl. He really didn’t want it. It was bland and flavorless, and he didn’t feel like his stomach would even accept it.
That, also made him frown. He hadn’t felt like eating any of his supper last night, either. And he was feeling weak, so he knew he
should eat. He sipped some water, then forced a few bites of porridge into his mouth. After three spoonfuls, he ended up staring listlessly at the bowl with his head propped on his arm. And before long, someone else claimed it when it seemed obvious that Trev wasn’t interested in it. Strangely enough, he didn’t care. He felt like he dragged through the day. Several times, he was yelled at by various of his fellow crew, and he knew he wasn’t putting his best effort into his work. But it seemed the best he could do. The teen knew he had been putting less and less effort into his work for the past week or so, but he could hardly help it. He felt as if he had no energy, and when he tried to sleep, it was difficult to get comfortable. Over the next couple of days, he continued to feel worse and worse, feeling pain all over. He began to feel a little feverish, but feared to say anything about not feeling well, because they would probably yell at him some more, or something like that. After the stunt he'd pulled with the tribe in Narth Cam, he expected no one would be interested in his troubles.
After several days of enduring this miserable state, Trev was trying to keep from swaying as he worked on trying to tie the end of a rope down where Samroth had said to tie it, but he found it difficult to focus. He must have tried a dozen times to tie the most basic knot, and it wasn’t working out right, and he couldn’t really understand it. And he was starting to feel like the water must have gotten rough, for he suddenly, he found himself sprawled on the deck, confused as he tried to sit up again. Had the ship tilted unexpectedly? A groan slipped out as he pushed himself slowly into a sitting position. No, the ship was still, the waters quiet. A dizzy spell, then?
Then he frowned in concern as he spotted a smear of blood on the deck. Blood?! He brought a hand to his face, wondering if he’d hit his nose or something, but then when he looked at his hand, he realized that
it was the source of the blood. His eyes grew round with alarm as he saw his left hand. It was bleeding. But it wasn’t the blood that alarmed him so much as
where it was bleeding. The blood came from his scar, long since healed. It was as if the scar had broken open, but Trev couldn’t make sense of why it would have done so. It frightened him, and he stared at it in horror.
“Get back up, you lazy rat! Them sail’s aren’t gonna tie themselves down!" Samroth’s angry tones broke through his dazed senses. "Get back to work!” He ordered, moments before the man grabbed Trev and yanked him up to his feet.
Trev swayed, struggling to remain upright, but cringed in pain. It seemed like his legs were growing more painful by the day, and that also worried him. But this new thing.. that seemed scariest of all. “I.. I can’t,” He mumbled, feeling too panicked by this recent development to be as intimidated by Samroth as he normally would be. He looked up with eyes wide with fright, holding his hand close to himself. “I think something’s wrong with me,” He admitted at last.
“I’ll make something wrong with you if you don’t do your work, now get back to it.” Samroth snapped, shoving him roughly toward where Trev was supposed to be tying some sails down.
He winced, staggering as he fell against the mast. He barely managed to keep his hand from getting hit, fearing it might make his injury worse. The boy crumbled to the deck soon after, groaning in pain as he hit the hard wood. This launched the boatswain into another tirade of yelling, but Trev hardly heard him. He was far more preoccupied with his pain and discomfort, and the fear of what was happening to his hand. He continued to hold it close to his chest, determined to protect it as well as he could.
First Mate, Jay
“What’s going on?” Jay spoke up, approaching with a frown. The noise of Samroth’s yelling was hard to miss, and he frowned at the sight of the captain's kid curled up on the deck, clutching his hand close to him as if it was in great pain. “What’s wrong with him?” He looked at the boatswain, who scowled.
“Slacking off, the lazy slob.” He reported, clearly annoyed.
“What’d you do to his hand?” Jay wondered, motioning toward Trev.
“I didn’t touch his hand.”
“He don’t look so good.” Jay observed, tilting his head curiously. He paused, recalling that Dev had said something about needing the boy ‘alive and unscathed’ not that long ago, in a private conversation. He waved Samroth back. "I'll handle this." He decided, and crouched beside Trev. “Hey, kid. What’s wrong with your hand?”
Trev looked up, eyes wide with worry as he tentatively held out his trembling hand, revealing the bleeding palm. “I-I don’t know.” he admitted, not even trying to hide how frightened he was. “It’s..it’s never done this before. I don’t know what’s going on. What’s wrong with me?”
Jay looked at the hand with a frown, observing that the scar seemed to have cracked open. He frowned, having never seen anything of the sort before, either. “Uh. How do you feel?” He wondered, stalling from having to answer that question just yet.
Trev slowly tried to sit up, wincing. “I.. dunno.” He gave up as it seemed like too much effort. “I.. really don’t feel good.”
Jay considered this, and quite believed it, since he thought the boy didn’t look so good, either. As second in command, he made a decision, thinking about what Dev had told him in private. “Alright. You’d best get some rest, Trev. Come on.” He glanced at Samroth. “Get someone else for this task. The kid’s not fit for it.” Pulling Trev up, Jay pulled Trev's right arm around his shoulders, supporting him, as he headed to the cabin that would normally be designated as the infirmary, where he could rest. Unfortunately, the ship did not currently have a healer on board, so the ‘infirmary’ had no one to run it.
Trev groaned as he was helped into a bunk. “What’s wrong with me?” He asked faintly, pressing his right hand against the bleeding scar of his left, trying to hold the scar-skin down and keep pressure on it.
Jay hesitated, trying to think of a good response. “I.. can’t really give an answer to that, without knowing all your symptoms.” He pointed out. “Tell me what’s happening? And how long has it been going on?”
Trev shook his head slightly, trying to think. “I.. I dunno. A few weeks?” He really wasn’t sure exactly when this stuff started happening. “At first, I started feeling achy, uh.. a few weeks after we left Narth Cam, I guess. Now, I.. I just feel really..” he tried to think of how to explain. “like I have no energy.” He frowned. “I feel like I hurt everywhere. In my joints, bones, and muscles. Especially in my legs. I thought it was just from sleeping on the floor, but.. now…”
“When did you last eat?” Jay wondered, trying to think of what would explain the fatigue. He was aware that there were often times when Trev was denied meals as punishment. And Trev did get punished a lot... but Jay was pretty sure that he was done with any punishments, at the moment.
Trev hesitated. “I had.. a few bites this morning." He mumbled. "I.. I’ve tried to eat. I just haven’t felt much like eating for.. I don’t know. A while..”
Jay frowned at him.
“I’ve.. also.. felt a bit feverish the past few days.” Trev admitted quietly.
“Why didn’t you mention this to anyone?”
Trev sighed, closing his eyes as he rested his head back on the pillow. “Would anyone have even cared? Or believed me?” He muttered, frowning.
Jay shrugged, though Trev didn’t see it. The kid wasn't wrong, he mentally acknowledged. Most of the crew weren't very pleased with Trev, and he doubted very many would have cared that much. He sighed. “Well, it’s clear that there’s something wrong. Anything else? Besides the.. weird bleeding?” He asked, frowning.
Trev was quiet for a moment, thinking about everything he was feeling, even stuff he hadn't really given much thought until now. “My mouth hurts, and feels odd.” Trev mentioned quietly.
“Your mouth?”
Trev nodded slightly. “Feels sore, and.. I don’t know..”
“Right…” Jay frowned deeper and thought for a moment. “Alright. I’m going to go and tell the captain about this.” He decided at last, holding back a sigh. Trev did seem to have a knack for causing trouble, he thought with vague annoyance, but didn’t voice that thought. He started for the door.
“Can you ask him to come?” Trev asked quietly, looking hopefully at him.
Jay hesitated, pausing at the door. “I’ll..ask.” he promised, but didn’t make any promises about whether the captain would come. He knew, better than anyone, that Dev couldn't stand his own son. Why he wanted to keep him around was a mystery to Jay, but he knew Dev had something in mind for him. That seemed to him like the only reason Dev would even care that Trev wasn't well. With that thought in mind, he set off to find the boy's father.
After Jay had gone, Trev rested his head back on the pillow, closing his eyes and struggling not to let himself panic. This entire situation was scary. Possibly the scariest thing he’d ever encountered. It was a different sort of scary from most other things, because it was some sort of ailment or sickness of unknown origin, and he had no idea whether it was curable. He wished more than anything that he was home with his grandma. He thought of other times in the past when he had been sick, and she would take care of him. Suddenly, he wondered, what was that illness his grandpa had died from? Could this be the same thing?