We all learn

[boxcattin]

A woman has no place on a ship. The captain is adamant about this, and he folds his arms just so. It is unlucky. Arethe Wynward is unlucky, she has never thought of it like that. The Wynward men are frustrated, thought the mercenaries quickly lose interest. You don't understand, one man begins, she must get to Grunwald. The captain laughs, and Arethe Wynward grows impatient, irritable. "I'm not unlucky!" This is the first time she's spoken out since leaving the oasis. She is ready, she is waiting, but the hands that typically come and strike her do not, and she is so terribly confused.

We will pay double for her. The captain again shakes his head, and his smile is none-too-kind. Arethe bares her teeth back, hoping to charm him with her fire, but instead he hikes the fare higher. When the men refuse, he turns them away, and the the man vouching for her storms away muttering. For the second time in her life, she wants to apologize, and she breaks away to follow in spite how the men shout for her to come back. "I'm sorry, sorry-" She is caught off guard by the strike, and staggers, falling. You are stupid!

Arethe Wynward is unlucky and stupid, Arethe Wynward is struck dumb. He hauls her to her feet and marches her back to her father's men. She cannot answer, because the wolf has no tongue, only a mouth too stupid to make words, a mind too slow to put them together. The men are tired and worn by the road, and by defeat. We will find another ship. He sounds hollow, the one that struck her. He sounds worn. She falls into step beside him, head bent low as they carry on. We will have to divide our numbers, no ship here will take us all.

By morning, Arethe Wynward is mesmerized by the sea, and how it spreads out all about them. Only ten of her father's men have come as her escort, including the one that struck her. "Ser Todde?" She supposes that is his name, though the wolf is uncertain. He does not react, but only stares out at the waves. "Ser Todde, I'm... I'm sorry." She stands beside him, half-cowering, as if he might strike her again. Instead, he reaches around and rubs her shoulder warmly, attempting to pull her into a hug. The wolf is startled and confused by the gesture, and jumps away - it would have been better if he'd simply hit her. Uncertain, wary, she bolts.

The deck is slick, and Arethe was unlucky and not familiar with the rock of the ocean. She falls twice before reaching the stair, and once more before finding her quarters.

[boxcattin]

Nothing was safe on a ship, unless you sat prettily in your cabin. The men yelled when she climbed the ropes, they yelled when she pestered the captain, they even yelled when she looked at the water for too long, and so Arethe grew increasingly rebellious. It wasn't as if she was going to get hurt.

The ship was packed with many nice things, and the Wynwards told her of how it belonged to an Amran Wild, a man she loved well. It quieted her for a time, and Ana was not half as rebellious, however not long. Terrel Wild, his son, is aboard the ship, Arethe. Her blood ran cold, and Arethe again grew rebellious, even moreso. They were trying to sell her! Confused and unhappy, the wolf made a nuisance of herself, and an effort to avoid her father's men. He's been waiting, and he's so very nice. Todde was a liar, Arethe decided, and hated him for it, fighting him every step of the way.

Their attempts at coaxing were weak, and Ana refused them all. Man-handling nearly got her there, but at the last minute she broke and fled... but there are so few places to run on a ship, and Ana found herself cornered. Come, you're being silly. But she snarled and clutched the railing, and challenged them to come. "I will not be sold!" She was a wolf, not a horse, and terrified at that. "You're going to sell me, and he'll-" The men shifted, uncomfortable. None had forgotten the merchant, and none seemed ready to test her after. Ana was permitted to avoid Terrel Wild, though she spent the rest of the trip largely confined to her room.