[center][b]Kyne’s Tear[/b]
[@Spoopy Scary] & [@DearTrickster] Feat. [@MacabreFox][/center]
[hr]
It was clear immediately where Sevine’s attention pulled while the conjurer’s was elsewhere. Getting clear of the spectacular wreckage that was formerly [i]The Golden Slug[/i] raining down around them, Maj ducked among the prone corpses of the dreughs her head popping up after the swift rush of air of chains breaking free whipped by. The ship rocked from force to Maj's luck she steadied herself against the dreugh body and the railing final great waves splashing across the deck and taking unlucky few with it into the water. Some recovered far more quickly than others, Sevine namely quick to jump to her lover's aid.

Maj looked to Sevine next pausing at the edge of the deck, she reached out. “Hold on-!”

Sevine dived in, Maj made a dash for the starboard side eyes peered into the water for the eventual resurfacing of the Nord. She relaxed feeling a chill come over her at the deep waters, unaware of it’s sudden grip. Strapped to the side of the [i]Kyne’s Tear[/i] was the rowboats. Securely fastened, surviving the attack. She would need another pair of hands to lower it into the water to rescue others. Bodies bobbed close by, time was of the essence.

She joined her voice to the other sailors, “Man overboard! Starboard side!”

“Port side!”

Other calls shouted out.

Maj scanned behind her seeing the Bosmer priestess finding her composure after managing to stay aboard the ship. 

She stepped around bodies, minding the dead. Others were clearly preoccupied pairing up - executing their own rescue operations. Wylendriel was on her feet, to Maj she counted as able bodied as anyone unaware of the injuries she suffered before.

“Priestess, Wylendriel! I need your hands, we’re going to lower a boat into the water!” Maj shouted making her way over. “I can’t do it alone.”

The priestess’ head whipped around to look the mage with wild eyes, panting with deep, heavy breaths. Only moments ago she had dropped her arms from exhaustion after particularly intense restoration magic, which in turn was only moments after she was nearly burned alive. Her robes were in tatters, and the stinging cold rain slightly soothed the subtle burn scarring which had remained on her back. What remained of the black wool top underneath was likely the only thing protecting her modesty. Her eyes darted side to side on the boat as she was still trying to process what was happening. Ashna’s screams were still playing on repeat in her head. People were diving off of the ship. One was the huntress, Sevine. One of the argonians was helping too - not Tsleeixth. Unexpectedly, the older khajiit had also dived off the ship. Overwhelmed, it was only now that Maj’s words began to reach her. She nodded and looked to her hands.

Gods, she felt exhausted. Her magicka was drained too. She had maybe one spell left in her. A small one. She summoned what was left of her magicka to fortify her stamina - a faint, weak glow traveled up the veins in her wrist and she took a deep breath, giving herself a moment to let it course through her body. It wasn’t much, but it should be enough to keep her moving for now.

Wy looked back at Maj. She still had a job to do - she still had people relying on her. Her voice was shaking somewhat, but determined.  “Lead the way… show me what to do.”

Maj nodded tracking back to the rowboats getting to work on the knots. Loosening the rope she tugged roughly, the rowboat shifted on one side. “Wylendriel, hold this rope while I undo the otherside and prepare it.” The bosmer priestess looked in far worse shape up close than Maj originally assumed. A twinge of guilt because she asked for her help when she looked ready to collapse into a bed. Emergencies happened when you were least prepared. Maj decided there would be time to make it up to her later. 

To her credit, the priestess didn’t hesitate in following Maj’s direction. When she had a good grip, Maj went to the other side and repeated the process. The rowboat came loose, the last bit of rope Maj unknotted righted the boat right side up ready to be lowered into the water. 

“On my count! We’ll lower ‘er into the water, steady now.” Maj said holding firm.

“Understood!” Wy rasped.

Together they slowly let the boat down, Maj kept an eye on the boat and on Wylendriel, worried she might lose her grip but she held. When the boat cradled into the water, Sevine and the older khajiit were swimming back to the ship with Do’Karth in hand. Dar’Jzo helped her carry her companion as he climbed onto the rowboat, grabbing Do’Karth by the scruff of his neck and haphazardly dropping him on one end before helping Sevine climb on top as well. The waves of the post-storm ocean were battering those who fell overboard and jumped in voluntarily, perhaps so much that they didn’t notice the splashing just beside the ship. Though the dark waters hid who it was, a minor break in the cloud cover casted just enough moonlight for Wy to catch a glimpse of a familiar dunmer face from her bird’s eye view.

“Niernen!” She cried. She looked to Maj in a look of panic, and back towards the mage who was struggling to stay afloat with her disability. Another wave washed over her, slamming her against the hull of the [i]Tear[/i], and suddenly the splashing had stopped. Without a second thought, Wy began tearing her way out of her tattered robes. The tangled mess of burnt and shredded wool and leather gave way to a Bosmer woman mostly bare aside from the tight black undergarments covering her torso and upper thighs as she started to climb atop the railing.

Maj snapped, “Are you crazy-!” She quickly stepped between Wylendriel and the railing, arms out. Behind her she yelled, “Someone grab Niernen! We’ll keep the boat steady!” She turned to Wy, brow furrowed. “Adrenaline and a quick stamina spell isn’t going to last long enough for you to grab Niernen and swim back. Think! That icy water’ll sap you of any strength you have!”

Though Wylendriel pushed against Maj at first, it was long after meeting resistance that she felt her energy beginning to fade out. Her arms weakly reached out to where she last saw Niernen sink beneath the water’s surface, barely enough strength to keep it up as her wide-eyed stare darted between there and the rowboat they dropped. The older khajiit seemed to have heard Maj call out for Niernen to be saved and jumped into the water once again with a dagger in one hand and a length of rope in the other with Sevine on the other end. Maj’s words were beginning to reach her. She was right about not lasting a second in that water. Still, she was fearful. What if they had failed? Her panting fell into a long sigh as she helplessly leaned into Maj and buried her face into her shoulder. At this point, she felt like nothing more than dead weight.

“She’ll be fine, we’ve got a pair of able bodied swimmers put to task.” Maj gently pat Wy’s shoulder, attempting some reassurance. Her eyes shifted down, the long terrible scars visible across her body and back. It set Maj’s imagination ablaze, what could have done this? How in Oblivion did she survive? Most importantly, did she even [i]want[/i] to know the details? Everyone had their scars to display or hide away.

The tattoo however drew her eye, the strong lines depicting Kynareth’s wings clearly marked genuinely of her priesthood. Reminding her of her mother’s own tattoos. Maj averted her eyes, feeling as if she were invading Wy’s privacy. She checked the waters again, Sevine helped Niernen into the boat followed by Dar’Jzo pulling himself in. They were ready to come back up.

“Wylendriel, they’re ready to return to the deck. One last push and then we can rest.” She said quietly, green eyes looking anywhere else.

There was an audible sigh of relief and the tension in the Bosmer’s body seemed to have relaxed a bit  before she stepped away from Maj. There was a bit of stagger in her step, but she squeezed her hands into fists and kicked her heels into the deck as a sort of way to summon her strength back. She took a deep breath, as she did in her exercises many times before. Her eyes fell back on Maj and she nodded, before  locking her eyes on the rope. Perhaps it was out of habit, since she had just spoken high sacrilege only minutes ago, but part of her feared speaking in case the breath she was holding would escape her.

Maj nodded returning to her side, grasping the ropes again - Wylendriel did the same, leaping up and using her weight to do most of the work for her, taking in new breaths as she did. Together they pulled the boat back up, below Sevine and Dar’Jzo did the same - the full weight on neither party. The injured were carried safely aboard and rushed away to warm cabins. Maj watched them go, feeling the adrenaline beginning to edge away lack of a proper sleep catching up with her. She ran an eye down Wylendriel, the sag in her shoulders and deeply drawn bags under her eyes told the conjurer she could always be worse off. A healer in need of a healer was a sad sight. 

“Go on, Priestess. You’re done out here for today.” Maj said scooping up her clothing and passing the mess of robes back to her. “Thank you for your help, your healing spell was masterfully well timed for those who will live to see another day.” The apparent waterlogged cadavers punctuating her point. 

“My name is Maj, Maj Noor by the by.”

“Wylendriel Greensky.” She answered. Ashna’s screams still echoed in her head. “Thank you, I… I ah… well, thank you. I regret that I couldn’t do more.”

Wy’s eyes followed after the old khajiit and Sevine who hurried the bodies of Niernen and Do’Karth into the cabins. She turned back to Maj and said, “I beg your pardon… I have to go. Thank you again.”

Maj watched her go next crossing her arms, inevitably her eyes settled on her retreating back. Warriors rarely had scars as bad. Survivors, however often did. Lucky as the remaining crew was to survive the encounter with the [I]Golden Slug[/i]. She quickly summoned a familiar, appearing as a goblin shade she gave it commands to start pulling bodies free of debris, shiny small specks of gold glittered across the deck as she moved. The familiar was nearly distracted by it, she slapped it’s hands away as she scooped up the bit of gold. Hiring a crew was an expensive endeavour, every little bit helped. Even as she came across mangled bodies, the distinct image of Wylendriel radiating light burned into her mind’s eye. 

With the messy bundle of torn-up, wet fabric in arms, Wylendriel shuffled her way after Niernen and her rescuers. The dimly lit interior made it hard to see, but they were lined up next to the other injured. Sevine was wet and shivering, yet remained fussy over the condition of Do’Karth. The older khajiit was already bundled up in a wool coat and his cold fur was already shaken and bristled, evidently very unhappy with his current condition.

“If you cannot help the cub, then you should get warm.” He told her

“I’m not leaving his side, I’m fine.” Sevine protested.

The khajiit answered with a sharp exhale through his nose. Then his cold eyes fell on Wylendriel.

“Dar’Jzo hates water. Especially cold water.”

“That’s surprising for such a strong swimmer.” Wy commented.

“Mm... regretfully this one was already wet from the rain. Look to the darkskin and the cub. This one and the fussy one knows not how to revive them [i]properly.[/i]”

The priestess sighed heavily, dropping the wet bundle of clothes and staggered over to Niernen and straddled the dunmer woman’s waist. The Bosmer gave a tired look over towards Sevine and told her, “Do as I do and he will be fine, okay?”

She held her hand flat against Niernen’s sternum and placed her other hand over it and began a series chest compressions. After a few moments, she tilted back Niernen’s head and listened for any signs of breath. When there weren’t anything, she pinched her nose shut and breathed air into the Dunmer’s lungs. Almost immediately she began spitting up water and rolled on her side. It wasn’t long until Sevine’s procedure revived Do’Karth as well. However, they were also immersed in the ice cold ocean and took in a lot of water. Their response was a short lived relief, as they quickly fell back into unconsciousness. Still, they were breathing now.

Sevine was far beyond exhausted from her time spent in the water, but Do’Karth was alive and that was all that mattered to her. She held him close, her fingers smoothing the fur on his face into place.

The priestess got off of her and sat beside Niernen as she slept. There was bruising and abrasions along the side of her head where she was knocked against the side of the ship. Wy winced as the scene replayed itself on her head. Maybe she could do something for her. Maybe she had enough magicka left to help her.

Wy reached out and set her hand on Niernen’s head and tried to perform one more healing spell. A light faintly flickered around her hand -- which then immediately whipped back in front of her mouth as her chest heaved in a massive coughing fit. The cabin around her started spinning, Dar’Jzo’s and Sevine’s voices were faint in her ears. She tried to look at her hand. It seemed like there was four of them phasing in and out of each other, but she caught a glimpse of blood staining the palm of her hand. The weight of her eyelids were becoming too much.

It wasn’t peaceful, but she eventually allowed herself to drift asleep.