"There!" exclaimed Lucan triumphantly. "Our ride is ready."
Nikka touched the small rag-tag sailboat with her toe. "Are you sure this is safe?" She walked gingerly across the plank. The boat lowered as she came aboard. "Ah!" She screeched, holding on to Lucan to steady herself. "The boat is sinking!"
"No, it's not." Lucan grinned. "There's no leak. It's just swaying slightly. See?" He began to rock the vessel back and forth. Nikka teetered on her feat.
"Urp!" She held her hand to her mouth. "Lucan! Cut it out! Felina belong in the trees, not out at sea."
"Well if you had helped build this thing, it wouldn't be so tiny!" Lucan complained.
"Help? How?" She clutched the mast, leaving claw marks in the wood.
"Well, for example," Lucan grinned. "Do you remember the night we caught that first Necromancer? The one whose robes I changed into?"
"Yes…" Suddenly, Nikka's face flushed red. "I am not going to do that kind of job! Not in a MILLION years! Not if my life depended on it!"
"Heheh," Lucan flashed his delinquent smile. "Well, not much later, I dunked you in water for the first time. And last I checked, the sea is the only place the Nether hasn't claimed." He untied the boat and pushed it offshore. It caught a northeast current and sped towards open sea.
"But Felden's half-way around Ardonia." Nikka said, still with her hand to her mouth. "That's weeks away."
"Well," Lucan hoisted a second smaller sail, "That'll be plenty of time to overcome your fear of the ocean."
"And no, it's not halfway." Lucan said after he finished tying up the ropes. "Have you ever looked at a map?" Nikka's ears leaned forward like she was about to strike. "It's only about a quarter of the way around." Lucan said.
Leaning overboard, Nikka lapped up a mouthful of sea water. "Pueh!" She stuck out her tongue and scraped it clean. "It's salty!"
Lucan chortled. "Guess why I brought two casks of fresh water aboard. Sea water's undrinkable, unlike rivers and streams."
"Hmph. Alright, oceanmaster." Nikka pouted her lips. "Lesson learned."
"Do you think they found it?" Lucan asked, "Our base, I mean."
"Well, given that Val, Xaria, and that bird all found us without much trouble, I'd say definitely."
"Are we there yet?" Nikka asked as she stared off the bow.
"Well uh," Lucan lifted his head from a map of Ardonia he was plotting on. "We're a bit closer than we were five minutes ago."
Nikka groaned. "How big is this OCEAN?!"
"Judging by the distance on the map," Lucan said matter-of-factly, "I'd say about two thousand kilometers."
"Speak human, Lucan."
"About the distance from Meridian to Riverstead."
"Thanks, that really clears that up." Nikka went back to dawdling about the boat. A fish emerged near the surface. Nikka's ears perked up as she licked her lips.
"Looks like a snack to me." She readied her pose, careful not to let her shadow lean overboard. Quick as a flash, she dipped her right hand into the water and the fish flew out.
"Yummy fish!" She exclaimed.
"Nikka, watch out!" Lucan rushed over. A dolphin, its razor-sharp teeth glinting in the sunlight, soared out of the waves. Catching the fish in its jaw, it quickly dived back into the depths.
"I see you are master of the sea now." Lucan teased. "You want to catch fish."
"No, that was so scary." Nikka's chest heaved as she recovered from the scare. "I'm not trying that again."
The sun touched the horizon as the world welcomed dusk. Lucan walked out from the small shed aboard the boat with two plates of dried pork and pickles.
"Dinner's ready." He called.
"You know," Nikka said over the food, "I've been thinking."
"Uh-oh," teased Lucan, "Not you too."
Nikka rolled her eyes. "The Knights of Ardonia failed to retake Felden, but it wasn't their fight." She took a bite of pork. "It wasn't their home. They don't know the place or the people who live there."
"So… how does that help us?" Lucan swallowed.
"We could sneak back through the Necromancer tunnels." Nikka pondered. "Rather than attacking with an army of strangers head on, we'll rally an army of those who live and fight for Felden. We can sneak attack the Nether and make their life hell, while they will have no idea where, or who, we are."
"You know," Lucan pointed across the table with a pickle. "Your proposal sounds a lot like something Kiyoshi talked about. I think it was called, um," He struggled to remember. "Monkey warfare?"
"Guerrilla Warfare." Nikka reminded him. "And yes, that is exactly what I am thinking of."
Lucan thought for a bit, chewing on his food. "I've taken a lot from Felden." He said, "Never given much back. But hey, if it works, it might inspire other kingdoms to do the same."
Nikka smiled. "I guess we are going to save the world now." She leaned on Lucan's shoulder.
"I guess we are." Lucan put his arm around her. Together, they sailed towards the setting sun.
"Wake me when we get there." Nikka purred softly. Her warm breath tickled Lucan's ear. When he looked down, she was fast asleep with a smile on her face.