Reposted by robin 🪽 7.56
robin 🪽 7.56
@eyedyllic.bsky.social
43 followers 30 following 1.3K posts
mostly an I Love My WoL ramble account + art! he/they/it 🏳️⚧️ | over 21 | minors DNF! occasionally 18+ content + reposts | FFXIV acct! (but not strictly so!) spoiler warning!! WoLs: saf (ARR - EW) ; morrys (DT onwards) icon: mmyemptytable @ vgen
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What feels like only a few short weeks later, I find myself on a boat whose journey will take many moons more than I am familiar with, its destination a land I have never seen.
Prior to boarding, I double- and triple-checked the pack traveling alongside me as though I had more than I could keep track of; in reality, I have always packed light. I feel a slight tightening in the back of the throat — apprehension in the face of the unfamiliar, perhaps? It is not spared much thought.
Over three days, I am quick to realize three things:
One; My presence brings a sort of disquiet to those whom I share this vessel with. It is difficult to ignore that most conversation is killed swiftly in my presence.
Two; I, myself, am not too comfortable with wide-open seas all round, with no lands in sight. The dizzying feeling that comes when I look out across the water is rather unwelcome. I find myself wishing for familiar sands I have not seen in years. I try not to dwell.
Three; There is what seems to be a mouse on board, its trail familiar in an odd, almost comforting way I cannot place, nor do I wish to address. I do not bring attention to its presence on this boat, nor do I indicate I notice it at all. In spite of myself, I find tracking it a welcome distraction from my prior realizations — there is, to a degree, a sort of fun in knowing I may have frightened it by venturing too close.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4wboahbidqnmmwx3f27ty6ao/bafkreicpnwfd2vk6xud4njw3tcjkfx3ihdb6hd3hettgio64fqdchhxelq)
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While travel by sea is easy in theory, it is difficult to express the toll it can take on the mind. Sequestered to a vessel whose space is barely comparable to a small home, the sea moves around me with a lack of tangible progress. I hold faith in the ship's navigator — surely they are more familiar with their mode of travel than I — but even so, my mind conjures visions of a rodent running along a wheel.
I regularly review the ship's stores below deck, the abundance of supplies a relief no matter how many times checked.
There are small signs of life in this place — things the crew likely would not notice, as they are not looking. Burned into my memory as it already is, I find it easy to find differences, much akin to games children play. A stirred mote of dust, a barrel just barely moved.
I pretend I do not notice.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4wboahbidqnmmwx3f27ty6ao/bafkreiakbwia5clzjp2yhgesycgxgrbkdhzx3zarndxkvlr3njhig3ktta)
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Accustomed to my fellow traveler's wintry disposition, much of my time is passed writing, reading, reviewing. I have not been a talkative sort since my youth. It is easy enough to take my place at a distance, allowing some bitter taste I cannot define to pass as I listen to discussion I am not a part of.
At the edge of my vision, I see dusty yellows and golds. When I turn, there is only blue.
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I hold an unexpected conversation with one of the ship's crew, a small trading of stories of times past. It is welcome — perhaps they have taken pity on the loner, or perhaps they simply see something familiar in me. I know not, but it is pleasant regardless. When asked of my past, I do not speak of Thanalan; instead, it is tales of roads, of weathers unfamiliar, of recent work. They tell me of their family in tural, of rocky seas, of once getting their hands stuck in the ship's rigging.
It is refreshing.
I do not check the stores that night.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4wboahbidqnmmwx3f27ty6ao/bafkreidpb7asruutioirmnfkfu5wm5yci6ctlh5i655ysipqeihyhb56pi)
