[Durelin]

Staring down at a dead man missing an arm, Adeline could only feel the need to empty her stomach. There was nothing left to rid her of this feeling, as she had previously seen other body parts brutally ripped off by a catapult shot. She had heard of battles before, though these had been on dry land, and the basic description had always been that of confusion and fear. Men reacted as they had since the beginning, and so men died. But never did she expect to learn the utter and thorough truth of this description, and the moist deck around her, the broken pieces of wreckage remaining of what was once a beautiful vessel, as hard as that was for Adeline to admit, it seemed so unreal. Most of all, it was hard to see those unfortunate men who had followed Doran into the most perfect picture of battle lying about her as real. Perhaps on sea perfection of the horror was reached, as man was still so awkward on the sea. As with all nature, and with its own separating magnificence, Adeline was not sure man would ever overcome the sea, whether to fight, live, or die.

No one took the time to even glance at her as they ran across and back across the deck. They seemed to be busily on their way, but Adeline could sense no work being done, only confusion. The crew, unlike the past days of sailing, seemed to be wandering aimlessly. It was a sharp contrast to the precise order they had worked in only hours before. It had to be only hours, as the sun had not reached the western horizon yet, but if felt a lifetime. In a way it was: it was a lifetime of war. It was all the amount of battle a life could endure, and more. Adeline was not sure of how much longer she could endure this, whether locked in the Captain's cabin, as she was meant to be, or out on deck. In either place, both her mind and stomach were tumultuous.

Drawing in a deep breath, she waited a moment until she felt her stomach was calm enough for her to move. Walking awkwardly across the deck, as in a drunken stupor, Adeline kept her head up, her eyes away from below her. She moved her way carefully toward the side of the ship nearest her, not bothering to look down at anything her feet ran into. As she found calm and her eyes began to actually see what was before her across the sea, she found a greater horror than the one she stood in. Whoever had said 'the grass was always greener on the other side' knew more than many men ever would; or women. Her hands shot up to her face, covering her eyes, wishing all away. Though she gripped to the one hope of closing her eyes fully, as in sleep, her eyelids seemed transparent.

A weight was felt on her shoulder, and Adeline winced, recoiling away from it. She turned and took steps backward as she found herself facing a swarthy looking, shirtless man slinging a scimitar-like blade. Not only was this weapon stained with blood, but so was he, from head to foot. Wounds on his own person could be seen, but other stains could not have gotten there without coming from another body. Adeline winced again at this thought, and backed away yet another step, till she felt the deck railing behind her. "Why 'ello, your Ladyship," he said, gruffly, but still obviously in a mocking manner. "And what are you doing up on deck? 'Ave you not noticed that the ships are launching bloody big rocks at each other?"

Adeline was all but shivering from a cold, sickly feeling in her stomach and in her heart. She could find know strength to speak, or perhaps it was that she no longer knew how to. And even if she had, she would not have known what to say. "We'll just get you back down to the Captain's cabin. Though mayhaps we'll make it the cellar this time." He still did not smile, and that brought a shiver out of Adeline. He reached out to grab her, and as his hand once again touched her, Adeline let go, and she crumpled to the ground. Finally darkness was found, an escape from the scene that surrounded her in consciousness.

But this freedom would not last for Adeline. She was forced to return to reality, and it returned to her with crushing force. When she found the strength to open her eyes, and then to raise her head, she found what was left of the man who had reached out for her minutes earlier. One of his 'bloody big rocks' had taken off his head. Adeline emptied the contents of her stomach onto the deck, and again fell into the darkness. This time, though, the still-life paintings of reality would remain with her.