1 Birth Among the Waves

The sea churned violently, as the clouds poured out their sorrows. Lightning and thunder crackled across the sky. The boat swayed, rocking viciously with the waves. The crew upon the ship swayed with its movements. The masts creaked and groaned in protest to the brutal winds that whipped at their wood. The sails, though wound tightly fluttered in the gale. Though the sea and wind were brutal, all on the ship was still and quiet. The silence echoed throughout the ship. Inside the women's quarters moaning could be heard as a young woman lay within a tub of steaming water. three or four women surrounded the lady, scurrying back and forth to assist with hot towels and gently guiding the child out into the world from its mothers womb. The lady lying in the tub was pale with pain, but it only added to her ethereal beauty. Her long black locks, stuck to her porcaline skin. Her green doe eyes fluttered shut and open, trying to cope with the tearing sensations she felt every contraction she pushed into. The water at one point had been ice cold, now was almost roiled with heat from the woman's body. Another groan of pain escaped the woman's lips. Her pail face contrasted with her red petal like lips, and her long black eyelashes. On the womans side was black ink, ingrained into her skin. The image of a dark dragon curled along her side from the top of her calf, it spanned up to her shoulder, gently curving onto her shoulder. "Syresa, you can do it. The child is crowning, soon your child will come into this world. You must hold onto life for him." At the grainy voice of the midwife Syresa snapped her green eyes open, but no longer did they show the emerald of the seas on calm days, but a violent gold and red swirl. "Do not speak to me of holding on to life. I am your queen! YOU WILL BOW BEFORE YOUR RULER AND HIER TO THE MANTLE!" all the women shivered in utter terror as they were forced into a kneeling position by the dominance projected onto them by their queen Syresa of Watermoore. As she bellowed her commands, the child was borne into the world. A scream echoed into the world, so ear piercing it seemed the world had come to a halt. As the wails of the child made their way into the world, the sea stilled its ceaseless movement, the clouds calmed to but a drizzle, and the thunder and lighting roaring among the sky abruptly ceased. The ship once rocking so violently started to sway only slightly. The pirate clan of Watermoore surrounded the massive ship housing their queen on one hundred plus ships strong. Each ship hoisted a black and grey swirled flag, with a red and black dragon twining with a deep blue and green dragon. The colors should have clashed, but instead blended into a tyrannical image of two creatures of death looking down, surveying all others as not but prey for them and their kin. The man at the helm of the ship smiled with a ferocity of a predator, his canines catching on his lower lip. His deep blue eyes had such depth to them they reflected no light within them. Making him seem ferocious and cold. "Captain! Captain Dune! Your son has been borne!" a maiden boomed in the midst of the ship. "Haha! My son is strong of spirit and body!" Captain Dune boomed in a velvet dark voice. The hundred plus ships boomed with shouts of joy, and cheer. Inside the women's quarter of the captain ship called La Marina, Syresa held a small boy swathed in white cloth. Syresa dressed in a long white dress, with small lace braids crisscrossing the front, and her train dragging slightly behind her small leather boots. Her hair now draped gently on either side of her chest. Syresa gently ascended the steps to the main deck of La Marina. Captain Dune's eyes immediately trained themselves on the fairy like lady as she seemed to float towards him with a small bundle of white in her arms. The joy on his face couldn't be masked even with his deep eyes that sucked in all light. Syresa looked up as she reached the Captains position behind the wheel. "My darling, we have done it! our child is a healthy boy." Syresa's breathy light voice entered Captain Dune's ears, making his already large smile become bigger. "May I hold her?" Dune said in a low voice, so as to not startle the child. Syresa slowly handed the child over to her mate, and king saying "careful of her head dear." Dune cradled the little boy in his arms like he was a precious gem. "what is his name?" he asked quietly. "Kelpie" Syresa said in a hushed tone. the look in Captain Dunes eyes turned gentle as he looked at his small baby wrapped in his muscular weathered arms. "Why did you name him that?" Dune asked in confusion as he looked at Kelpie. Syresa smiled gently, then with care unwrapped the child's white cloth slightly. The unwrapped cloth revealed a dark black and green Kelpie inked into the child's side. It twisted and turned along the child's pink skin. Dune gasped in shock at the powerful water spirit his son had ingrained into his skin and soul. "How?" Dune asked.