34ish

The moons were almost directly overhead when Tsuda first noticed Mede’s labored breathing. “Mede, see if you can climb on top of the branch and lie down. I think you should be able to float alright there.”
Mede shook her head, and gave another kick to push the wood a little further ahead. “No, I’m alright. Besides, we need to keep steering. We don’t want to get washed up on any island near Leti, not now.”
“Your lips are turning blue, and you’re going to tire yourself out. The current will carry us for now, and I think I can steer it myelf without too much trouble. And I promise, if I have trouble, I will tell you.” Tsuda smiled, her teeth shining white in the light. Mede nodded, and carefully pulled herself up onto the branch and, stretching out lengthwise, was asleep in less than two minutes.

Tsuda looked up at the night sky, the stars hung in the starry dome overhead. She could almost feel them watching her, could sense their love for her, and desire for her to live, to learn. She rolled over and floated on her back to see the sky better. There seemed to be not a single space in the sky that did not have a star shining from it, and she had never noticed that there were so many colors of stars before; some shone red, others green, some blue, and others pure white. Sbhe could feel the gentle swell of the current under her body, and felt almost as if she wer in the beating heart of the world.

The stars spiun slowly across the sky, and the moons slowly sank into the ocean. Dark shapes of nearby islands loomed by on both sides of the unusual craft as it made its way over the face of the waters, moving smoothly along the silvery path that the moonlight cast on the ocean.

Vedek coughed, choking, and spat out a large quantity of sea water. He rolled over and gagged, expelling more salty water onto the sand. He lay on his stomach for a moment, catching his breath. His face flamed, and he knew that he must have been lying in the sun for severl hours. He groaned, and pushed himself up on his knees. He could see a long expanse of beach, but that could have been almost any of the outer islands. The shore curved inwards sharply, which was not promising; any shore with that small a circumference was unlikely to be inhabited, but it was always possible that he was simply on a small peninsula of a a larger island. He pulled himself to his feet, but fell back into the sand before he could take a step.
The monk groaned, and rolled to his knees again. “Very well, I will take things a little more slowly.” He crawled towards the trees at the edge of the sand, taking no notice of the heat that assaulted his palms as he moved forward. In the shade he found a small melon plant, and eagerly picked one of the fruits. His knife had been lost to the ocean, but he found a sharp spur jutting out from a tree where a branch had broken off, and managed to pierce the rind of the melon. After consuming the flesh of the fruit in a few moments, he leaned back against the tree. His head felt a little clearer now that he had had food, and he tried to think about where he might be. The current that had taken the log moved inward through the Astaldak lands, and into the central islands. He did not think that he was anywhere near the central islands yet; one night’s travel by current alone would not have taken him so far, and it was entirely possible that he had been cast up on the shore long before daybreak. That left either an outer island, or a channel island, one that bordered the current. There was no way to tell from the beach, so he decided to take a tour of the island and see if he could find any evidence of civilization. It was shady under the palms at the edge of the sand, so he trudged along in their shadow, keeping out of the sun as much as possible. At the end of an hour he came to a small stream that flowed out to the sea, and kneeling by its shore, he drank greedily.
He followed the stream inwards for a little while, and came upon an abandoned hut. Peering inside the darkened doorway, he saw a few ropes, a rough hammock, and the general detritus of a fisherman’s lifestyle. Some of the local fishermen kept cabins like these on small uninhabited islands to use when the fishing in their own locale got poor or overcrowded. Behind the hut, he found a small canoe leaning against a tree, and quickly carried it down to the sand.
He scanned the sky for a moment. It was too early to set out; he had nothing to carry water in, and if he set out now, he might need a good deal of it before he found a town. Vedek decided to wait by the stream until nightfall, and sert out then. He settled down with his back to a palm and tried to sleep.

“Mede, wake up” Tsuda shook her friend’s shoulder gently, trying not to dislodge her from her perch on the floating branch. Mede stirred, then slowly raised her head to look around.
“Where are we?”
“I have no idea, but we need to get in to an island soon. It’s getting hot out here, and we need water.” Tsuda gently pushed the branch towards the shadowy form of an island in the distance. Mede slipped off the branch, relishing the cool ocean water on her skin that had been exposed to the sun, and began kicking to propel the branch forward.
A few hours later, the two young women dragged the branch ashore, and looked around at their surroundings. Mede spotted a paved path that ran from the sand back into the trees; their feet burned as they walked across the sand, and the stones of the path were not much cooler, but soon they were under the shade of the trees, and walking became much more comfortable.
Tsuda heard a high-pitched burst of laughter, and a young girl ran into the path in front of them, chased by a boy of approximately the same age. Upon seeing them, the children halted, and stared up at them shyly. Tsuda realized suddenly how odd they must look; two almost grown women, walking up a street in their under clothes; one with a shock of white hair, the other with pale skin burned red by the sun. She laughed, running a hand through her matted hair, and bowed slightly to the children. The boy smiled then, and bowed dramatically. This sent the little girl into giggles again, and in a moment all four were laughing.
“Kaeli? Demek? Are you hiding over here?” The clear sound of a young man’s voice cut across the laughter, and the four fell silent again. A moment later, the young man emerged from the same spot where the children had appeared before. He stopped in his tracks at the sight of the disheleved pair.
“Are you two hurt? How did you get here?” The children ran up to the man, and clung to his knees, looking out at Mede and Tsuda again. Tsuda smiled, blushing furiously, and said, “I’m afraid we were washed out into the current. We kept afloat by hanging onto a branch that was swept out with us, and we have just now landed here. Which island are we on? I know it is not Selni, nor Mei.”

The young man smiled, and shook his head. “No, this is Yeni. We are a small island, but there is one village, and we are happy here. Please, come with me. My wife will be happy to help you find more suitable attire, and she will enjoy the challenge of cooking for someone other than myself and the children here.” The two children giggled again, and the five of them moved quickly down the walkway and into the small village.

“So you just washed up here?” The young woman was not very much older than either Tsuda or Mede, but she seemed to fussing over them as if they were her own young ones. “how did you manage to get swept away?”
Tsuda and Mede exchanged a quick glance. Tsuda knew that many of the Astaldi would gladly be rid of the Temaltans if they could, but would be unwilling to stir up trouble or invite it in. However, some were truly happy to stand up to the monks. Which category did this ha[ppy young couple fall into?
Just then, Relni, the young man, stepped back into the room. “There is an interesting story spreading around the village this morning, Kagi. They say that the monks decided to take revenge for the killing of their brother in the central islands, and that they destroyed an ambassador’s house on Leti last night. Apparently, two of those most sought by the priest dived into the ocean, and escaped them. We have been warned to watch for them, if they appear, and to alert the Temaltans.”
Tsuda’s blood ran cold at Relni’s report, but the young wife smiled, and said to Mede, “Fancy that! Well, it’s a shame that we have not seen any such visitors here. We would, of course, be happy to do our civic duty and report such strangers to them, but what we have not seen, we cannot report!” She leaned in close between the women, and whispered, “Have no fear while you are on our island. We have no love for the foreign monks here; we have some among us who still remember the old ways before their cold hand descended upon us, and we will tell them nothing about your presence here. Stay with us for as long as you need.”


As Vedek walked up the beach, a novice ran towards him. "Master Vedek! We thought you were lost! Someone saw you running towards the ocean, and when you didn't return, we thought--"

"Yes, I'm sure I know what you thought. but it takes more than a little saltwater to get rid of me. Now please, go give the captain of that ship some gold for the trouble he took to bring me back here." The monk continued walking towards the cluster of buildings on the hill, leaving the novice staring behind him. Seeing another monk in the distance, he hailed him and ran to meet him at th top fo the hill.

"Greetings, Maikul. Can you tell me what has happened since our visit to the ambassador's gardens? I'm afraid I did not see the conclusion of that one."

Mailuk shook his head, and looked out over the ocean. "Well, we won that little skirmish, if that's what you mean. The statues were all destroyed, and we have regained control of Mei. But the ambassador is now holed up in his house with his daughter, armed guards surrounding the house, and he claims that as soon as he can get a message through the Ersan fleet will be on its way to destroy us. We can't kill him, or the Ersans really will hear about it. We can't keep him alive in his house, because he will eventually get a message out. And we can't invade the house and take him captive because again, the Ersans would hear about it, and consider it an act of war. We have started sending out parties to the neighboring islands, and are slowly getting them back under control, but it's going to be a long process. Quite frankly, we need more men."

Vedek nodded, scowling. "We can't have the Ersan fleet come out here, not now. We don't have the resources to fight on two fronts, and getting the Astaldi under control is going to take everything we have. Even then, we're going to need to let the homelands know that we need more warriors. We have to send one ship back to tell them. who would you recommend sending back with the message?"

The other monk thought for a moment, and responded, "I think we can send Vederen; he's reliable and calm, but he is much more suited to message carrying than strategy. We can send some of the novices back to crew the ship."

"Excellent. How soon could he set out?"

"Well, if he has only a skeleton crew, and heads straight back to Temalta, he won't need more than a few weeks' supplies. I think we can get most of those from the gardens here, so I should think he could set out within the week."

"Good, that sounds reasonable. Will you see to it that this is done?" Mailuk assured Vedek that he would, and the green-eyed monk moved on towards the other buildings. He saw crowds of novices hurrying to and fro on various errands, and noted with pleasure the strength and toughness of their bodies. They would be needed soon. He would burn every island of the Astaldi to the waterline if he had to, but he would find her.