Setting Sail Finale part 1

The last day on Thellin came. Amidst his heavy hangover he rose from his bed as a pounding came at his door. It was accompanied by a pounding in his head. As he stepped out of the door he had to do a quick hop to avoid stepping on Rangpar. The gentle giant was passed out surrounded by nine empty bottles of rum. A flash of memory showed him arguing with Rangpar about who could chug faster. It being a challenge forced the orc’s hand.

“I’m coming, I’m coming! Gods above you are insistent.” Wilkes swung the door open and squinted at the harsh light that suddenly assaulted him. He retracted his thoughts on it being beautiful for now. Beatrice stood with her arms folded over her chest. Hannah right behind her. “What happened to me only seeing you again the night before and not a moment sooner?”

Scoffing at his sass, the pair of women welcomed themselves into his home. Brushing against him. Both were bewildered at the drunken state of his household. Wilkes took it in properly this time. Erik lay splayed across the table, a book covering his face. The trio of apprentices were in his old bed, snuggled together like a pair of triplets. They hadn’t woken yet. When they shot questioning looks at him, he simply shrugged.

“The fellas wanted to have a small get together. The apprentices are too young to go to the tavern, but old enough for a controlled sip of rum. Besides, they're about to brave the true see for the first time. Leave ‘em be.” Wilkes said.

“Really, rather than wallowing in your loneliness my cousin and your best friend threw you a party and you went and partied with them?” Beatrice asked him. He gave another shrug and a crooked grin as his only response. He had no reason to explain that. Nor did he owe it to them.

“So, do you want to talk about the rumors, or did you just want to see me looking pitiful? Sadly the latter isn’t an option.” Wilkes huffed, leaning against the counter top in his kitchen. He kicked the door closed behind himself using only his heel.

“Wait, where did you get that necklace? Did that whore in the navy give it to you?” Hannah prodded him with accusing eyes. He glared at her, then took several quick steps until he was standing directly in front of her. Once he felt her breath tickle his skin he spoke.

“It was my mother’s.” He forced the words through grit teeth. He watched a series of emotions cross the baker’s face. He didn’t enjoy any of them. “Hannah. Get out. I want to talk to Beatrice alone. I’ll talk to you later.”

“No, we’re having this conversation all three of us. Stay.” Beatrice said firmly. Grabbing the other woman’s arm before she could leave. He slid his gaze to the half-orc.

“She leaves, or there is no conversation.” Wilkes returned. He would not be disrespected in his own home. Not like this. Not by them, or anyone else. Beatrice saw the fire in his eyes and let go of the other woman’s arm. Hannah left quickly. Wilkes let out a shuddering sigh. His hand wiped over his face, before running through his hair. “I want to talk to you alone, and considering these five could wake up at any time. How about we go for a little stroll on the beach?”

She nodded and they set out. The light stung his eyes, but he ignored the mild discomfort as he pressed on. Once his shack disappeared behind a dune he stopped and sunk to the sand beneath him. The cape was beautiful in the afternoon light. Gods above it was already afternoon.

“We… didn’t expect you to take the separation that seriously. I’m sorry Wilkes. It’s just that, after everything I told you about being afraid of a woman from the mainland… and then I heard you were going around with a brilliant woman from the navy. I just didn’t know what to think. Hannah was already mad about something else and saw you with her. It just blew entirely out of proportion. I didn’t mean to put you into that kind of loneliness.” Beatrice apologized to him earnestly.

“Do you remember what you said to me after I called you a cunt? That words alone weren’t good enough and that you needed action. That our bond was healed after you shot at me in the woods for a full day and night?” Wilkes asked her, he gave no acceptance of an apology yet. He wanted her to understand where he was coming from fully. “Hannah has done something worse than either of us ever did. She manipulated you, and isolated me. Intentional or otherwise. I am willing, more than willing, to continue courting you. I want nothing to do with her anymore. I have spent my days in isolation reflecting on my actions. The act of welcoming her was a mistake.”

“I… I’m sorry I pushed you to do it. She just always looked so jealous and lonely when we came around the bakery. I want to keep our courtship, and I do want to marry you when you come back to us Wilkes. It’s you or no one.” She scooted across the sand towards him. Placing a hand on his. He pulled his hand away from hers.

“I appreciate that. I would prefer if you gave me until dusk before we go touching each other in any way, shape, or form.” Wilkes said coldly. The sadness in Beatrice’s eyes broke his heart all over again. He hated being cruel like this, but he put such a small barrier on it. “Until then, I am going to tell Hannah that I will not be seeing her anymore. Not romantically anyway.”

The two sat in silence for a moment, staring out at the boundless sea. He will be crossing it by this time tomorrow. There was no room left for mincing words or pulling punches. He sprawled out fully on the sand for a few minutes. Letting the rays fall across his bare chest. He had neglected to get dressed beyond pants. Even his boots had remained where he cast them off the night before in his drunken stupor. With a groan he rose from the sand, and looked at her one last time.

“I love you. I’ll see you at dusk. Not a moment sooner.” Wilkes said, deliberately turning the wording of the letter against her. He kicked the sand as he walked away. Not at her, but just into an explosive scattering in front of himself. At least that kind of thing gave him a small vent of his frustration. He walked clear past his house without getting any more dressed than he was.

The cobblestone was rough on his bare feet, but he ignored it. Consciously he began to put a pocket of air between his steps in the ground. If he wanted to emulate Zephyr, he needed to practice. Let this be a moment of practice. He envisioned a parchment thin barrier between his feet and the ground. That is what he was walking on, as the wind obliged him. It required a conscious effort to maintain compared to the instinctive bursts of wind. A few women of the town gasped and hid their blushing faces as he walked shirtless. His lean muscle on open display, tussled messy hair hanging to the nape of his neck, and a chain necklace must have had him oozing sex appeal. He didn’t feel any more confident about his current course of action because of it. He wasn’t going straight to Hannah. He wasn’t going to Meryl either. He walked up the steps to the inn. He knocked on the door to Pauline’s room. It creaked open and she stared at him wide eyed.

“I’m gonna speak and you’re gonna listen. I know how you look at me. I know at least vaguely how you feel about me. I think you’re cute Feathers. If you can’t learn to play along with any of the other women I love in the future you’re throwing your chance away. Am I clear?” She nodded rapidly, staring at his chest and the glittering necklace he wore. She was about to say something when he turned and walked away. As contradictory as saying such a thing to Pauline was to his promise with Beatrice, he knew in his heart if she just bothered to get to know her she’d appreciate their similarities. He thundered down the stairs of the inn, admittedly the pocket grew larger as he approached the cobbled street again. Nearly an inch of air held between his bare feet and the grown, but he could feel himself getting tired from the continual casting. He had only been walking for thirty minutes, but silent casting for that long without enough emotional resolve to back it was becoming increasingly difficult. Ultimately he exhaled hard and the gap between the ground and his feet deflated. The stones were hot from being bathed in the sun. He winced slightly and began to hop. Funnily enough as he did so, Meryl rounded a corner with a pair of slippers.

“I saw you burning your feet in a vision. You will take these and walk much more comfortably.” Meryl pressed them into his hands. He obliged the ever enigmatic woman, and sighed in relief as his feet no longer endured a small suffering. He pulled into a quick hug before resuming his walk. She sputtered and walked with her thighs rubbing together for a few steps before calming down. When he saw her glancing back he blew a kiss. The oracle promptly disappeared. She was so fun to tease. However the brief bit of peace allowed him to focus harder on the task in front of him. Without making a massive scene, he needed to break things off with Hannah. In one clean swoop at that. The bakery had their sign flipped to closed. Rolling his neck, Wilkes tried to work some of the tension out of his body. He’d have to walk even more. The last stretch of his walk was a calm one. No walking on air, no mysterious conversations with beautiful women, no impending interruption from the divine. It was the calmest his life had been in recent history. And he was overwhelmingly grateful for it.

He darkened the door step of the baker residence now. A gentle rapping against their door was all he could muster. It swung open slowly, Alice stared up at him. She swung the door the rest of the way open and called for Hannah. He let himself in, but did not sit at their table. He stood in the open space of their home. He wouldn’t rip off the bandages here, no he would have her walk with him before breaking the news. She appeared from the bedroom she shared with her sister. Her eyes were puffy and red as if she had been crying. He was sympathetic, but his mind was made.

“Walk with me.” Wilkes said, swinging his head to point to the door without moving his hands from where they rest. She nodded and followed behind him. A few final sniffles as she seemed to be actively stabilizing her own feelings. He remained quiet until she spoke. It took about five minutes of walking for that rule to give beneath the pressure.

“I’m sorry, Wilkes. I was just so angry about it, I felt like I was the beginning of an expanding collection rather than someone truly welcomed.” Hannah spoke, her lip still quivered as they walked. He beheld her with a mix of pity and disdain. It was miraculous to him how quickly his feelings could change.

“I understand that. You took a drastic measure while only seeing my explanation as an excuse. I forgive you for acting on emotion over logic.” Wilkes spoke calmly. He saw a light of hope in her eyes. A deep pang in his chest struck at that. He braced himself before speaking again. “However, you isolated me. I am about to be gone from home for longer than I have been in years. Not just days, but entire moons will pass. I will be so physically distant from you that if anything happens I have to rely on multiple ships passing each other for news to reach my ears. You started my loneliness days early, over lunch with a business associate. I cannot forgive that.”

Her face sank immediately at his words. He saw tears begin to well in her eyes again. He stopped walking and faced her directly. “I don’t think we should keep seeing each other romantically. Actually, let me be more clear. I do not want to see you romantically anymore.”

“That’s it? That’s all I am to you? Someone that made one mistake and you get to cast aside after we share a bed?!” Hannah demanded, the tears streaming down her face only made the sudden outburst worse. She attempted to slap him, but he ducked clean under it and popped back up. More reckless swats came and he continued to evade her. “You’re worse than all the others that tried, you used me and made me feel important!”

“Hannah. Hannah, stop. STOP IT!” He snapped at her, catching both her wrists in a tight grip. She thrashed and tried to wrench away while he stared down at her. This was getting messier than he had wanted. “My gods, no! I didn’t just cast you aside after a night in bed. You cast me aside first! Because you wouldn’t hear me out! You refused communication, the very basis of a relationship! I didn’t use you, that was never my intention. That’s not who I am.”

He pulled the sobbing woman into his chest. She kept smacking him as his arms wrapped around her. “I wanted to love you, but we aren’t going to work.” she began to truly bawl her eyes out at that. Snot ran down his chest alongside the tears. He decided to simply let her cry it out. Once she seemed to regain her composure he let her go. With a final glare, she stormed off. That would have consequences. He could feel it. All the same, he had about an hour before dusk. He decided to spend it at Meryl’s fortune telling spot. Not actively keeping her busy, but just watching who came in and out. A few men he recognized as regulars at the tavern, he couldn’t for the life of him remember what they did. Likely the wood cutters for the Truebranches if he had to hazard a guess. They had the sort of calluses on their hands he’d expect from that work. As he rested against the wall, a woman came up to him. She was one of the innkeeper’s daughters from what he could guess. Blonde hair, green eyes, and a middling level of beauty. Neither beautiful nor ugly in his opinion.

“Wilkes, is the rumor true? Did you really promise Hannah you’d marry her if she slept with you, then break things off before leaving?” She asked, a look of pure horror on her face. He beheld her with genuine confusion.

“What?! Who told you that? No, I never promised to marry her. I told her I’d seek her romantically, and I broke things off because she tried to isolate me before sailing away.” Wilkes spoke urgently. Rising from the wall he had been leaning on. She eyed him up and down and gave a slight hum before walking away. He had no time to handle this. The sky was already beginning to change colors. Meryl poked her head out from behind the beads.

“Handle your bond with the huntress. I will speak true of your actions. And later tonight… if you wish to join me at a feast, I would be thrilled.” The oracle spoke, a hint of nervousness slipped into her voice towards the inn. He nodded to her.

“If I have time tonight, I’ll break bread with you.” Wilkes promised, already beginning to walk back home. Had she heard that conversation, or simply seen it and knew to act preemptively? It ultimately didn’t matter to him. He’d just have to get used to that. Practically sprinting the whole distance home, he found his shack devoid of sailors and huntresses. Scratching his head, he began to rack his mind for where they could be. His heart hammered in his chest like a smith at work during a rush job. He surged across the sandy gap back onto the cobblestone, still shirtless. The town was a blur around him as he moved with a single goal as the sun sank ever lower. He had to find Beatrice. He pounded on the Tellish family door hard enough it rattled. Jonah answered the door, drunk as a skunk.

“Wilkes, lad, it better be pirates that got ye pounding on me door like that. If yer looking for Bea, go back home and sit a spell. She told me she was heading to ye. Also did ye really use that baker girl like that? I toughtya better than tha.” Jonah slurred.

“Okay. No I didn’t, and yes you did. Thanks cap’n. See you at dawn.” Wilkes fired off his responses before spinning on his heels. He kicked up debris with how hard he ran. A small pocket of air began to form and he found himself moving faster than he had in his entire life. Normally the run he was making would’ve taken him between eight and ten minutes. As he was now, he made it in six. Settling into his home, he decided to hurry up and wait. He combed his hair, donned a shirt, and sat at his table. His leg bounced unending. His fingers drummed the table. He did every bit of action he could think of to keep from purely being without motion. His door swung open slowly.

Beatrice stood there in a new dress. He’d never seen her in a dress before. It was a lacy black thing, sheer around her chest, and with deep slits at both thighs. Green skin complimented the deep shade of her garment. His mouth dropped as she softly clicked the door shut behind herself. Her hips swung with each step, a confident smirk on her face. She mounted his lap and stroked his face with the back of her hand. The dress must’ve been worth a small fortune. She also had put charcoal to line her eyes and make them seem sharper, more intense. She stared at him with a heat that must have come from the days of separation.

“Hello sailor, I know you’ll leave soon, but I intend to ingrain the warmth of my body into your salt soaked brain first.”

“Beatrice we should really talk fir-” He was cut off as her lips smashed against his own. She moaned in the kiss and caressed the back of his head. Her tusks poked him softly as her hips ground against his crotch.

“Enough talk. I have waited for days, at the burden of rumors and distance. Shut up and lay with me.” She urged him, resuming the passionate kiss. With the knowledge of Meryl’s efforts in the background, he let himself decompress. He returned the heated kiss, and began to fondle her rump. Gripping and smacking the muscular cheeks she worked so hard to maintain. She moaned loudly into his mouth. Her hands came down from his face and began to explore his body at large. The two ravished each other in his den, but he wanted more. Carefully he pushed her onto the table. Her legs spread wide, he stood between them and continued the heavy petting. Moving from her ass to her tits. She stroked his crotch through his pants. Breaking the kiss into small bursts as she began to moan her head off. He slid a hand down from her chest. He traced a path over her toned midriff. Moving through the slit in her dress, he rubbed along the inside of her thigh before rubbing her crotch with his hand. He found the slickness of her waiting pussy. She had neglected any kind of undergarment. His cock was hard as rock now, throbbing as it was being stroked through his pants.

“Tell me you want it.” Wilkes whispered in her ear, her rubbing sped up. A faint whimpering coming from the proud huntress. “I didn’t say whimper, I said tell me you want it.”

“Wilkes, I want you inside me. Now.” Beatrice pleaded, spreading her slit beneath her dress. The inviting entrance glistened in the candle light. She bit her lip while flicking between his face and his cock.

“Good girl.” He praised her, dropping his pants to his knees. Grinding his tip against his entrance he gave her a bit more teasing before slowly sliding inside her. He let out a long groan as the warmth greeted him. Days of celibacy made this bliss otherworldly. Beatrice was similarly overwhelmed and latched onto him with all of her limbs and mouth. She bit into his shoulder lightly, her tusks digging in just shy of drawing blood. The mix of pleasure and pain burned through a fair bit of his stamina. He began to thrust his hips hard, the table creaking beneath the effort. As much as he wanted to savor this, he would likely be rutting her all night long outside of his trip to a feast with Meryl. The wet slap of flesh was music to his ears. Cupping her face, he pulled her from the crook of his neck. He pushed his thumb into her mouth and she suckled on it. Her eyes hazed with lust. Seeing how greedily she sucked any part of him ignited his senses anew. “Beatrice, we’re going to break my bed again.”

“Godsh yesh please!” She pleaded while keeping his thumb still in her mouth. A shudder ran through her body as he began to go from tip to hilt with each thrust. That deep of a fucking proved to be too much for her. Her eyes rolled back, and hips bucked. Her walls clamped and spasmed. She pulled away from his thumb and began to ramble as he continued to work her pussy over. “I need you. I need you, I need you.”

Carefully he hooked an arm under each leg, heaving her up and off the table. Her arms wrapped around his neck instinctively and she burrowed her face back into his neck. He began to bounce her into the air on his cock, letting gravity slam her back down. An entirely new experience for both of them, he felt his climax rapidly approaching. Beatrice had continued to ramble, a raspy “I love you!” Coming with each deep thrust. Another series of spasms from her walls proved how badly they both had needed this. The assault of kisses on his neck combined with the new position were ultimately too much. His knees shook as his balls emptied into her. The strongest orgasm since the two began their romance racked through his body. An explosion of pure euphoria ran through him. He set her bare ass on the table, her dress had been hiked up from the intensity of their sex.

“I love you, I love you, I love you.” Beatrice mumbled in his ear while stroking his hair possessively. “I’m going to miss you like hell.”

“I love you too.” He told her, planting a kiss on her cheek while she continued to pet him. “What I wanted to talk about was that Meryl is having a feast tonight. We should go.”

She looked at him, her hair slightly disheveled, the charcoal she had lined her eyes with had begun to run slightly from a mixture of sweat and tears. The annoyed deadpan that formed as she scrunched her face at him was a welcome sight. “You coulda mentioned that before dropping the mother of all loads into me!”

“I tried! Then you came and sat in my lap looking like this!” He gestured at the jaw-dropping outfit.

“I thought you wanted to fuck me until the bed broke again!” She fussed at him, rapidly fixing where she had tussled his hair.

“And we can! But we owe it to Meryl as her friends to go to her feast.” Wilkes argued back, pulling her dress back down and tending to her loosened braid. She huffed and separated from him slowly. His cock twitched faintly as he pulled his pants up. She stared at his crotch intently but lightly tapped the sides of her face.

“Right, right the banquet. Celebrating everyone leaving for one last time.” Beatrice reminded herself “There’s a suckling boar, literally hundreds of loaves of bread, hundreds of pounds of fruit. It’s the biggest feast since the end of our apprenticeships.”

Wilkes shot her an annoyed look. She had known. She had decided to seduce him when she knew about this. He folded his arms and she shot him her sweetest grin. Fingers danced along his collar bone before she stole another kiss. He couldn’t stay mad at her. Ending their celibacy and a new sexy outfit were enough to win him over. Being sweet even after that had him compliant rather than complacent. He took her by the hand and led her out the door. He could already hear the distant clamor of the banquet. Lanterns were lit, and paper ones were beginning to sail through the air. He glanced at her and got an idea. He scooped her up bridal style and began to run. Focusing he briefly formed footholds against the air to allow him to turn corners even tighter than he should’ve been physically capable of. Beatrice giggled excitedly while clinging to him. Once he arrived in the square he set her down. The gathered crowd turned and welcomed him. Nearly everyone on Thellin was milling about.