Faris didn’t want to return. Not yet.

Despite the ache in his heart, he didn’t think he was ready for the stuffy confines of a shared hotel room. Despite the emptiness of the sea, it was still as good a place as any to wait out the silent storm. Perhaps this dark and quiet coast would yield him nothing but a sense of insignificance, but at least he could hear the waves as they lapped at his boots and at least he was completely alone.

The waters were too dark to notice that anything was amiss. Indeed, the night was so oppressive that Faris could see nothing but vague shapes in the shadows and even that had its limits. So he was caught by surprise when there was a distinctly wooden crack against the rocky shores only a few paces to his right. Faris approached it cautiously, squinting until he could make out a dark cube and then some slatted wooden boards. He touched at the the crate and wondered where it had come from -- a shipwreck, perhaps? The skies had been clear since the start of the week and he hadn’t heard of naval battles wrecking havoc. Still, here was a lot crate without an owner, floated out to see. If he squinted, he thought he could make out another. And another. Several of them, in fact, all clustered together and floating their way towards land.

The wreck had been in shallow waters then. And not too long ago at that.

Faris didn’t bother looting the crates. They didn’t look sturdy enough to stand up to water damage, and besides, he doubted he’d find anything particularly valuable in them. Instead, he counted them out of sheer curiosity and watched as the debris washed up on shore. It was something to do, at least, and something that fed his morbid interest.

One, two, three…

He frowned as he squinted past the cargo. There was something else there too, a quivering mass that floated at the shoreline. It looked almost like a lump of sea-soaked clothes or maybe…

Faris cursed and charged as quickly as he could through the knee-deep water. That was a person. His stomach churned at the sight he was almost certain to uncover. A drowned man, bloated with his eyes rolling and blue tongue lolling about. It wasn’t the first time he’d come across one, but still he stiffened at the thought. It wasn’t a sight that one forgot. No, it was likely something he’d continue to see when he closed his eyes weeks from now. And yet…

There was always the chance he could save them. And Faris was more than willing to put his own sanity on the line for that.

The signs looked good when Faris approached the body. The light was still too dim to tell, but if the drowned stranger was dead, they hadn’t been for long. Their eyes weren’t sunken in. Their face wasn’t discolored. Faris let out another curse -- this time in relief -- before grabbing the stranger under the shoulders and dragging them further onto dry land.

Faris couldn’t tell much from the stranger at first glance. They were weighed down with all manner of loose waterlogged clothing from scarves to capes to loose boots and belts and pouches on top of a set of heavy boots. It was a wonder they hadn’t been dragged under by it all, and yet, Faris doubted that was the case entirely. No one would’ve made it this close to shore alive if they hadn’t stayed afloat somehow. The stranger’s hair was cut just below the chin, and between the androgynous stylings and the baggy clothes, Faris couldn’t make out their gender at first glance. Still, there was one thing about them that Faris knew as he pressed his ear to their mouth and touched their neck for a pulse.

This person was alive, but only barely.

For a moment, Faris could only stare in wonder. How many times had he come across this same scene, and how many times had he actually found a living person instead of a corpse? Faris willed forth the power of the wind crystal and felt his tunic give way to flowing robes, his bandanna to a hood, and his usual dagger to a wizard’s staff. In a flash of light, he knelt there in the sand as a healer -- a white mage. Though Faris felt a tinge of unease as he held the staff uncertainly in his hand. White magic had always been Lenna’s specialty. Faris hardly knew a spell of it, and that was being generous.

Still, desperate times called for desperate measures, and Faris wasn’t about to let a poor stranger die just because Faris barely knew the right end of a staff.

He held the piece of wood in front of him, trying his best to listen to the will of the crystal as he mimicked what he’d seen Lenna do so many times before. The right words fell from his lips, the right gestures played in front of him, and yet, he only felt the vague stirring of magic inside of him. Once he’d finished, a light flashed around the drowned stranger in a dim glow. ”Cure,” he muttered and then eyed the woman for any sign of improvement.

”Are you still breathing? This is about the best I can do for you.”

ulla

The drowned stranger shuddered at the touch of Faris’ magic and then rolled over, sputtering and coughing up sea water. There was blood there (not unusual -- the salt had a way of tearing up the insides) and vomit and the stranger’s body trembled on the sand. Faris couldn’t help a sigh of relief even as the stranger glared daggers at him.

”What... did you do?” The stranger -- a woman, maybe? -- hissed before rolling over to breathe heavily. Faris tried for the warmest look he could manage.

”I got you out of the water’s what I did. Dragged you out myself and tried some magic to get you breathing again. It’s not my strong suit, but it seemed to do the trick.” Faris knelt down beside her in the sand, pushing back his white cloak irritably as it collected sand. She looked about three steps removed from death’s door, but that was better than the half step he’d found her at. With her pale complexion and shuddering breaths, he wondered if she’d ever recover fully, but there wasn’t much else he could do for her now. Faris was more of a fighter than a healer.

The woman kept her eyes on the sky as she asked, ”Did anyone else survive?" Faris gave her a look tinged with sadness as he shook his head.

”Didn’t see anyone,” he said. ”Doesn’t mean they’re not out there somewhere, but they're not here. You must’ve had some manner of god watching over you, I think. With the luck you had.”

The waves lapped at the shore, churning and rolling its deadly song. Faris knew those waves well and he knew the kind of hell they could make out in the open sea. He’d almost drowned twice himself, hadn’t he? Once when he’d met Syldra and again when he’d been but a lost little girl nearly dragged under by her own dress folds.

”There’s a town not too far from here.” Faris looked out at the inky black of the horizon. ”You’ll need a doctor or a mage -- whichever you can get and you’re in no shape to get there yourself. I’ll help you get there if you can manage. I’m stronger than I look.” Faris glanced at her with a wry smile. ”The name’s Faris. Pirate captain and warrior of light back in my world. And what should I call you?”

ulla