Foresta through the ages. [WIP]

June 1848

Lee took a deep breath of the fresh sea air as the boat beneath his feet cut through the water with increasing grace and speed. It was a bright and sunny day and despite him and his crew having been on the ocean for almost two months now, the American enthusiast could feel it deep in his bones – they were getting close to something great. There was something about the melody of how the water and the wind sung together, almost as if it were beckoning for him – closer, closer … almost there...

“Lee!”

The young man shook himself out of his reverie as he turned back to see who was calling his name, Manuel – a brooding sort of fellow with tawny skin and a hard-set face. “You looked as though you were going to fall into the water, you can’t go swim with the sirens just yet my friend.” Manuel’s Spanish accent was thick and those not accustomed to hearing it would have a difficult time deciphering some of the English words.

Lee let out a hardy chuckle, reaching for his friend’s shoulder and giving it an almost alarming sort of double pat. Manuel was perhaps one of his oldest friends on this ship, which wasn’t saying much since they only met a few months before they had set sail. Even before that the two had been close to killing each other, after all what else did you do when your countries were at war?

If it hadn’t been for Manuel revealing his gift so to say, Lee’s head probably would have been smashed into the dirt in some Mexican city. It was a difficult argument to make, but Lee had managed to make Manuel back down from killing him – it had been lucky that Lee had taken the time to research some of the language before he had gone into battle, otherwise who would have known what would happened.

Despite the cruel insults and the mocking tones of the other soldiers, Lee was always much more of a scholarly type than anything else. He could fight, although not by much -lucky for him they had finally managed to escape the war even though they’d be branded as traitors and cowards if they ever went back.

“I can feel it now, Manuel – the sea and the skies are speaking to me … we are going in the right direction. Our journey just might be finally finishing!” Lee exclaimed, excited as he looked back out toward the ocean.

Manuel looked back toward the other people on their ship, those who didn’t look sea-sick looked as if they were wasting away. They had gathered an odd collection of people, some looking to escape their countries – others looking to escape their lives. They all had a reason to be together, they all shared something – something they had been hiding from everyone their whole lives, or something they had showed other people and had almost been killed for doing so.

That was the biggest reason why they had grouped together like they did, although with some it took a little more convincing than others. Such as two Brits they managed to get on the ship, the fellow was a devout Catholic and convinced that his country companion was a witch – the companion in question, well she didn’t quite make any actions or say any words to prove the man otherwise.

Instead, every now and then the accused witch would stare quite coquettishly at the Catholic – rubbing her thumb over an odd shaped teal trinket that hung around her neck while mumbling incomprehensible words in a mysterious sort of fashion.

On this particular day, Robert (The Catholic) was at his wits end with the woman’s teasing. Standing up with a jolt, Robert made his way over to where Manuel and Lee were - directing his complaint toward Manuel instead of Lee because while Lee was the one that got them all together, Manuel was much more of a problem solver when it came to the conflicts that people experienced with one another.

“I cannot stand this! That woman is cursing me, I’m sure of it – any second longer in her presence and I jump of this boat I swear.” Robert exclaimed in an exasperated manner – looking at Manuel as if he had all the answers.

Manuel took a deep breath, glancing briefly at the woman in question – to him, it seemed as though she took a lot of enjoyment out of Robert’s distress. Looking back at Robert, Manuel took a step toward the man – his voice low and thoughtful “Have you perhaps considered not looking at her?” Manuel asked the man then, catching stifled snicker from Lee.

Robert narrowed his eyes, appearing just a bit stunned at Manuel’s response. “How can I do that when she is constantly appearing before me everywhere I go?”

Lee took a moment to butt into the conversation before Manuel had a chance to reply, “I’m not really sure what you’re so afraid of, Robert. As you say God has given you the ultimate power over life itself, even if that woman were to attack you with her powers wouldn’t it be mere child’s play compared to what you have?”

It was in that instance that Manuel glanced over at his friend, surprised at his response. Everyone on the ship knew that Robert liked to brag about his gift, going so far as to showing them all tricks with candle flames. More often than not though, that was all it was – the Catholic manipulating very small sources of flame. He even seemed afraid to use his power sometimes, almost like he would be struck down by lightening at any moment.

Lee’s words though, seemed to help Robert and the older man nodded – “You’re right, I will take both of your words into account.”

Turning away from the two, Robert made his way back toward the middle of the ship – quickly averting his eyes as the witch woman stared at him once more. “Not today…” Robert mumbled to himself, turning his eyes toward the sea.

Within a matter of seconds suddenly a voice echoed throughout the ship from above, “Land Ho!”

Lee quickly ran to the bow of the boat, eyes widening with glee at the appearance of a large island in front of him. “This is it, Manuel! This is what I was talking about!” Lee exclaimed – taking in the outline of the land as the boat slowly approached.

Manuel, while excited about the island – was hesitant as well. Were there any people on this island? If so, were they friendly or would they attack? If they attacked were they like them? So many questions ran through the man’s mind, but before he had a chance to say anything to Lee – the young man in question ran back toward the other’s that had risen to their feet to look at the island they were approaching.

“Friends! We can make a new home here, this will be a safe haven for our kind.” Lee watched the varied expressions of the people around him. Some were wary, other’s just relieved at being able to get off the boat. As the large ship grew closer to the ship, Manuel moved over to the anchor and called another man over to help him – with a few grunts they pulled it up and tossed it over the edge making it so that their boat wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon.

Over the series of a few hours, most of the people that had been hunkered down in the boat started to make their way toward the island two at a time with only one dinghy to transport the people and the variety of items (if any) that they had brought with them. One woman in particular who was unfazed by being on the boat for so long had dove into the water, her legs shimmering as she swam effortlessly toward the shore. Once she was at the beach and came out of the water, it was as if she hadn’t swam at all – her hair and clothes lacking any sort of water.

Others were not so lucky, such as Robert whom once his feet touched the ground stumbled around for quite a while in an attempt to gain his bearings. Manuel, although not particularly expressive on his state of being – stepped heavy and seemed almost relieved with the earth being underneath his feet once more.

Once everyone had made it to the island, some men started to make quick work of setting up a campfire – having it near what seemed to be the ending of the beach and the beginning of a forest. It wasn’t long until nightfall came around and while a few folks choose to sit somewhere by themselves – most crowded around the campfire – making conversation and drinking from a half-full bottle of unrecognized alcohol.

Taking a deep breath, Lee absorbed all the sounds that were around him – ever since he was a child the young man had been capable of listening to nature and it was almost like it was speaking back to him in its own way. The way the leaves on the trees rustled, or the way the wind moved against his clothes – they were all things that guided him. When he was younger and had tried to explain this to his parents, his mother was convinced that he had been touched by God – his father on the other hand was under the impression his son was certifiably insane.

It had taken years after that to convince them that he had been a child and was just making things up and that they needn’t worry about him anymore. It was only once he was older and able to have access to books that Lee started to really learn what was going on.
From his research, he had gathered a few ideas – one being that as a child some kind of nature spirit had possessed with body, allowing him to have such a connection with nature. With that he gathered that perhaps this spirit was kind, seeing as how it hadn’t taken full control of him and still allowed him use of his body. His second idea though was like his father said – he had gone insane.

When he met Manuel though, the doubts on his sanity and had quickly disappeared. Being held down by a man controlling a floating rock in mid-air would be enough to convince anyone that supernatural things were going on.

Once him and Manuel were at a point where they were more capable of speaking with each other, Lee had started to understand the extent of his power – or at least what Manuel had explained to him. Just like Lee as far back as he could remember Manuel had always been able to control the rocks and dirt around him – manipulating them to his will. Oddly enough once it came to plants and trees, that was where his ability stopped.

“Tomorrow, we’ll explore more inland and see what we can find.” Lee finally said after the people around the campfire had grown silent for a few moments.