Lost At Sea
Written by Sarah.
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Author's Notes:
Hi There. I am Sarah and although this is not the first story I have written it is the first I have posted on the internet. A couple of quick notes before I let you read. I would not consider this a huge spoiler but if you are not past The City of Thames and you don't want to learn anything about Elly and Fei well you can always turn back.
Okay the story should sound familiar because it is based mainly around the scene where Fei and Elly are lost at sea. I thought that scene was very sweet and it inspired me to write this story. Basically I am just expanding on what happened and how the two characters are feeling. Well in case you haven't figured it out yet I don't own the plot but I have worked in some of my own ideas and I have though changed a couple of minor things. Okay, okay just read it and if you have any questions
feel free to e-mail me. Well now that that's covered here's the story.
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The salt air was the first thing that hit her senses. Next came the almost unbearable pain and the heavy smell of blood. Everything was still dark but she was beginning to regain her conscious. Bits of the incident came to her. The Goliath had been attacked and she and Fei had been ordered to retreat with their gears. But where was she now, and more importantly where were Fei and everyone else. Elly groaned softly.
Fei was in the lower cabin compartment. He was looking for anything that would possibly keep him and Elly alive on this abandoned oil well. He was sick with worry. After Citan had sent him and Elly to the gears the Goliath had fallen and disappeared from sight. Vierge and Weltall had been badly injured in the huge fight with Granf and had dropped to sea. He had been lucky and had fallen right into the sea. Elly's gear Vierge had crash landed on this piece of junk. Fei had gotten Wetall to the ship. Elly had been knocked out from the impact.
Now the two of them were stuck out in the middle of nowhere, with only of food to last them a short few days. However the biggest worry was Elly and if she was okay. It had been hours since they had landed and she had still not stirred.
He opened another crate only to find some cut up rope and a collection of other junk. Fei sighed and moved to the last crate, finding nothing of any use. His depressed mood suddenly brighten when he heard a soft groan from the upper decks. He dropped the crates lid and rushed to her.
It was times like this that Elly wished she could just go back to sleep, sometimes sleep was just easier. She could hear footsteps coming. She tried to open her eyes to see who it was but the light was blinding and she quickly closed them. "Fei"? Elly whispered.
"Good your awake, Elly", Fei said relieved and dropped to her side.
Elly cringed, "Yeah, barely. It hurts though."
"Hold on, stay still and I'll be right back". Fei ran to grab a bucket and filled it with salt water from the ocean. After getting a towel he hurried back to her. Elly opened her eyes slightly, she could make out some red on her face. She gasped and touched her face, "Am I bleeding"?
Fei nodded, "Only a little, don't worry nothing big"
"Mmhmm", Elly mumbled.
"Here let me help you up so I can clean off those scratches.
Elly try and sit up". Fei supported her as she sat up. She leaned against the boats structure. Fei got the towel wet and looked for a moment into her face. She had a couple of wounds that he was sure would heal up quickly but the blood had dried hiding her beautiful features. Her blue eyes stared at him. So familiar.
Elly noticed him staring at her and felt her stomach turn
quickly and then she pushed it away. "Fei, is something wrong"? He did not answer but instead wet the towel again and placed it gently on her cheek. She winced and turned in pain.
"Come on Elly you gotta let me clean you off. I know it hurts but the salt will help it heal. So please hold still". She nodded and allowed him to clean off her face holding back the urge to scream. Although at the same time she noticed the gentleness he took in taking care of her. She closed her eyes and felt herself lifted to another place at another time. Before she knew it he was done.
Fei dropped the towel back into the bucket, "There now, all done". With that he handed her a glass of clean water and she drank it all down. Fei laughed at her urgency to drink it, "Feel better"?
Elly set down the glass and nodded, "Yeah thanks. How long was I out for"?
"Four or Five hours, I didn't really count. You must have
really gotten hit into the controls". Fei drifted off in his speech but soon his thoughts returned, "Hey do you think you can walk. I have to go search storage".
"Yeah", she nodded, "I feel better. Still sore but nothing I
can't handle".
"Okay just don't push yourself". Fei gave her his hand and she stood up carefully. She brushed of her uniform and ran her hands quickly through her hair. Feeling a little bit better she followed Fei. He had jumped into some sort of compartment. She looked down into the pit and saw him scuffling among crates and boxes. "What are you doing"?
His voice echoed from below, "Looking around in here. Damn
there's less than two days worth. . ."
"Of what"?
He confirmed her guess, "Food, hey we are lucky we found any".
Elly sighed they would need food to survive in. . .well wherever they were. "Fei, where is everyone else, are they okay? Or are we the only survivors"? She worried about their safety and who knew where the others were. "Fei"?
Fei climbed out and was obviously trying to escape the question, "I'll go catch some fish".
"FEI"? Elly said in a strong voice that did not fully cover her worry.
". . . . . They're. . . okay", he told her without even turning around.
Elly starred at him skeptically, "What"? She asked wanting him to reassure her.
"They're okay. . . .doc, Rico, Hammer . . . .They're all going to be okay. Now I'll go catch some fish".
Elly shook her head, he was obviously worried, but she did feel better, "Don't be silly, it will be dark soon. Let's just eat some of the food here and worry about tomorrow when it comes". He did not look totally convinced so she continued, "Come on the light won't last much longer and we should get some rest".
"Okay, fine. Let's eat a little bit and get some sleep. But we had better be careful about portions". Elly nodded with a small smile and climbed down below. Fei stared at the sky wondering how they were ever going to get out of this. Sighing he joined Elly to find some food.
Fei's stomach growled. He and Elly had split the food up and found that it was not going to last to much longer, likely not even another day. It was time he decided to take food matters into his own hands. It was very hot here and mid afternoon did not help the heat. However heat was better than hunger and so he left the cabin to catch a fish.
Elly had not even noticed that Fei had gone off. She was down below trying to figure out what to do about the gears. The gears were in the lower compartment. If only they could get them out of there. However the gears were submerged in water and most likely were in desperate need of repairs. She could not even get to them. If she tried there was a possible chance of running into electricity problems and electrocuting herself. Elly hung her head and sighed, "I knew it, I thought this thing was floating unusually. But even knowing that there's no way to get them out....right"? She called to Fei up above.
The fish slipped from Fei's hand and fell back to the sea. "Hey Hold it........You little", he said only half listening to Elly talking from below. The fish jumped again but Fei missed.
"Their right under us, but covered by water and a thick wall. It is most likely Wetall and Vierge. For better or for worse they have stuck by us this far......but, they are worthless to us now". Elly climbed up to the deck as she finished her sentence. "It appears our gears are under here, Fei, but we can't reach them.....", Elly looked over to see Fei grabbing for a fish. The fish flew from his hands and out of reach. He swore under his breath and jumped again as the fish spun past him and dove back into the water. For a minute Elly forgot the gear problem and giggled at him, "What are you doing, Fei"?
Fei lunged for the jumping fish again and missed, "What am I
doing? Can't you tell......? I am trying to catch a fish. This ones been jumping up and down in front of me trying to make me look like a fool.....You little punk, I see you".
Elly stopped laughing. "You aren't going to catch it and eat it are you"?
He shrugged, "If we don't eat we are going to die..........All right, I gotcha", Fei successfully caught the fish and threw it up to the deck. It landed right by Elly's feet and she stepped back obviously disgusted. Elly looked at him in disbelief, "your joking. You'll get sick".
"You're not going to eat? Now let's see we need something to cook it in". Fei went down below to find some sort of cooking tools. He came up with a tinder box and an old metal pan, that Elly thought looked as disgusting as the fish. Elly realized he was being serious and shook her head a little worried that he would hurt himself. "Come on, Stop it. I'm not to blame if you get sick and die".
"Don't worry", he told her, "Once it's in your stomach, it's all the same".
"Elly looked away, "Well I'm not going to........", She trailed off as she saw what drifted over them in the sky. "Fei look".
Fei set down the stuff, "What did the fish get away. What are you talking about, the fish is still here". He looked to where Elly pointed. Floating thousands of miles over their heads was a circular flying object. "That's...the thing I saw in the desert. It's flying higher this time".
That's Shevat", Elly told him. "That's it's usual altitude".
"Shevat, where have I heard that before". The name sounded very familiar. Then Fei remembered the conversation with wiseman. "Yeah that' s right. That weird masked man said my father was in the military....so that saucer is what doc and the masked man said was the country my mother and father lived in".
Elly stared at it pass by not taking her eyes off of it. "Really I wouldn't know... It's a country outside the reach of Solaris. Shevat uses the same kind of barrier that Solaris does, so you can't reach it by conventional means". Secretly it amazed Elly, it was the one place that Solaris held no power over. In a way she was almost glad for that.
"How can something that fly's that high in the sky be a country"?
She looked at him, it amazed her too. Few people ever went there other then it's natives. "Yes I don't blame you for being surprised. It usually hovers over the Aquvy Islands area. You probably saw it on some sort of mission. That's why it was floating so low".
Fei sighed trying to understand his feelings about that country, "Shevat...", he whispered before going back to his fish. Elly groaned at him.
He started up the fire and grabbed the fish. He wanted to cook it before it got dark and dusk was quickly falling. Elly grabbed the last can of food from down below. "Come on Fei, just eat this". Elly climbed up to see him cooking the fish.
"No, we had better save that until an emergency", Fei told her.
"This is an emergency. You are about to poison yourself with that disgusting thing and you don't consider it an emergency", Elly snapped at him. If there was one thing about being a Solaris officer it was that she hated when people did not listen to her, especially when she knew they should.
"Relax Elly, don't get yourself worked up. It is only a fish. People eat fish", he told her.
"Not fish that are that ugly". The fish was cooked and he took it off the fire.
"Come on just taste it, you may like it".
Elly looked away, "Sorry not happening".
Fei shrugged, "Have it your way". Elly opened the can of food and took a bite. Fei watched her and suddenly laughed.
"What's so funny"?
"Nothing, forget it". However he couldn't help but laugh again.
Elly stared at him, "What, What"?
"Just your face...", he said.
"Are you saying my face is funny"?
"No the look you gave me a minute ago, when I took a bite of fish".
"I gave you no look", she insisted. Fei was by now cracking up and Elly could see her self cracking a smile. Instead she tried to keep cool, "Stop it".
Fei collected himself and grabbed the last piece of fish, "Oh yeah"? He said and stuffed it close to her face. Elly fell backwards totally disgusted, while Fei started laughing in hysterics. "Yep that's the look", he cried between breaths.
Even though she had found that totally gross she was beginning to laugh herself. Sometimes she was to serious, "Oh you think THAT was funny. I should have done off with you in the forest". She tried hard not to laugh.
"No, Elly I didn't mean it that way", he said and she could see that his eyes were wet from laughing.
"That's it Fei Fong Wong, you had better run". With that she stood up and hung over him for a second, until he got the message and ducked from her. She took off after him.
"No Elly, No I'm sorry", but he kept laughing as she tried to catch him.
"No way you aren't getting off that easily". She was know
laughing very hard and could hardly see where she was going. If they had not been out in the middle of the ocean they would surely have been been heard for miles. As the game of tag went on the sun began to set. Finally both were getting tired and Fei stopped to take a breath. When Elly saw this she jumped for him. Fei saw her and steeped aside. Elly slipped when he moved and Fei watched her starting to fall. He stopped laughing and lunged for her managing to catch her before she fell into the dark waters below them. He pulled her back and she giggled softly calming down, still holding gently to him, making sure she was safe.
Fei looked at her. Her face was now shadowed by the night and she had begun to stop laughing. Elly breathed deeply to calm her nerves. It had been so long since she had had that much fun, and she was sure she had never laughed that much before. More than anything she felt really safe. Elly was finally able to fully collect herself and she let out a sigh, "I don't think I have ever had so much fun".
Fei nodded, "Yeah I know what you mean". A little reluctantly
he helped her up and she stretched out.
"I am so tired, I think I'll go to sleep, will you be all
right"? Elly yawned.
Fei nodded, "Yeah sure. I'm going to stay up awhile longer".
She nodded, "Okay, good-night Fei". Elly started to walk towards the cabin. Before she went below though she turned around, "Fei"?
"Yeah"?
"Thank you", she said then went below.
"Your welcome", he whispered knowing she would not be able to hear him. He slowly cleaned up the dinner mess and set aside the pots and stuff. He decided he would just put it down below later, he did not want to disturb her. After that was done he sat down on the edge of the boat. His mind was spinning and thoughts were running through his mind of things that he had no energy to even try and figure out. Within a few minutes he fell fast asleep, as the stars shone brightly down on him.
It was still dark when Elly woke up, she figured it must still be sometime in the middle of the night. At first she wondered what had woken her up. It was silent and she could hear nothing. Suddenly the sounds of horrible gagging came to her ears. Fei. She jumped out of bed and ran to make sure everything was okay. Upon climbing up she could just make out Fei leaning over the side of the boat and he was obviously sick.
"Urgg", he cried and hung his head farther over. God she knew she shouldn't have let him eat that fish. She ran quickly over to him and dropped down besides him placing her hand on his back, "Hey are you okay"?
He responded her by quickly gagging again. Elly sighed and sat there feeling guilty. She hated guilt and she quickly placed it off as his fault, "I told you not to eat such a gross animal".
"It tastes terrible", he managed before quickly getting sick again. Elly sighed, he had only tried to stop his hunger and she was being mean. Just like she had done in the forest. "Hold on", she said and ran to get a glass of water for him. She came back and handed it to him. He was trembling but obviously trying to be strong. She held it for him to drink. She had never liked throw up but after being in the army, she had learned to stomach everything from blood to throw up and then some. It was one of the things she hated about her job. But she had learned to ignore how much it disturbed her.
Fei drank it and lay down momentarily okay. She sat there besides him. She decided to not say anything, after all, all he needed was to know she was there. "Thanks", he told her after a few minutes.
"No probl...", he suddenly choked and leaned over to get sick again. "....em", she put on a sad smile and placed her hand gently on his back. It was going to be a long day, she decided.
Later in the afternoon Elly sat on the side of the boat. Fei was sleeping but he had managed to stop getting sick so he was probably okay. Her stomach growled and she desperately wanted a shower. She stared into the water and wanted to jump in for a quick swim, just to get clean. Figuring that Fei wouldn't wake up for awhile longer she decided she could take a short swim.
The water was cool and refreshing in the hot afternoon. Satisfied she climbed out and dressed again. Now all she needed was food, but there was not much she could do about that. They had eaten all the food and she was not about to go fishing. There were those rations she had carefully placed away down below. Fei did not even know about them. But what about Fei. She decided to save them for a little bit longer.
A couple hours later Fei woke up. He felt much better but he did not think he would ever eat another fish in his life, however long that may be. He found Elly sitting on the side of the boat. He went to sit next to her.
"Hey how are you feeling"? Elly asked him.
"Much better, Thanks", he said.
Elly couldn't help but add, "Yeah well, I told you not to eat it".
Fei nodded, "Yeah, The last time I had food this bad was doc's cooking. However if we don't eat we are going to die".
Elly shrugged, "I guess there is no other way". She got up and Fei followed her. She brought back up a small pouch of what looked like a big cracker. She handed half of it to him and he looked at it. "I was hoping to save this for a little longer. This should hold us for another day. But it's only for emergency calories so I can't promise how good it'll taste". Elly shoved her portion in her mouth making sure to swallow quickly. Fei chewed it slowly but had a sort of unsure look on his face. "It's all dry and crumbly".
She looked at him making himself swallow. "I thought so, You
don't like it, do you".
Fei could see that she felt a little bad. "Wha N,no. It's
good. Yeah ah, it's great". He could tell she wasn't buying it. So he continued, "Whatever you'd share with me couldn't be that bad, could it". Elly was not sure why but his words helped comfort her. She let herself smile gently at him. "Hey why don't you go for a swim. I did and I feel much better, I'm going down below for awhile". Fei nodded. Elly went down below feeling strangely full and not quite sure why.
"It seems we've drifted farther off". Elly stared out into the miles of seemingly endless ocean. It was night but the stars and the moon illuminated the night sky softly giving off a pale silvery light. Fei and Elly sat on the edge of the boat just watching and waiting.
Fei sighed, "Constantly drifting....sounds like me right now".
"What do you mean"?
"I've just been drifting around being led by circumstances", he said softly.
She looked at his figure close to her, yet somehow he was faraway, "No that's not right". She wanted to somehow help him know he wasn't alone. "In Aveh you helped Bart when he needed it and in Kislev you gave your all to defend, to save everyone". Elly blushed slightly at her next line, "You have even shown concern for me many times", remembering how he had helped her out.
He shook his head, "No, I'm just no good".
"Why", she whispered.
Fei wasn't sure if he should tell her how he felt but somehow he felt he had to. "Probably deep down inside I'm not really trying to help. Somehow I get the impression that all I've done I did because I wanted to be needed". He paused for a moment and Elly waited for him to continue. She didn't know why but she understood how he felt. Living a life that in it you are not quite sure which direction you are going. She had often felt led around, feeling not really in the right place.
"That if I did something for them....Then maybe, I'd have a place to belong. There's a side of me that comforts itself like that. That doesn't mean I don't want to help, but it doesn't mean I really want to help either. It might not be 'nothing', but it sure isn't the 'whole' either". Fei gave a short stiffened laugh and shook his head. "I'd been drifting, led around until I met you Elly. Now were stranded out in the middle of the ocean. I'm sorry I got you involved."
"It's okay don't worry about me. I've been thinking why I'm here. I could've just gone back, but for some reason I didn't". Elly wasn't quite sure why but ever since she had met him. It couldn't be. "Probably because you said that it is better to do something than nothing. I think that is why I felt I had to do something. It's okay not to feel 'whole'. Even if you only feel partly complete, if you repeat that enough eventually it'll be 'whole'. A part is better than zero".
"You're right. I'm sorry". Fei really did believe her but it still hurt. He stopped looking down to look at her. She was staring off into the ocean but was not really looking at it. He looked at her clothes. She wore the official uniform of that of a Solaris Lt. She had grown up in Solaris and he wondered if she was planning on returning. He wanted to ignore that he just didn't want her to leave. Finally he managed the words, "If we're saved will you go back"?
Elly turned her attention back to him. Part of her wanted to stay and parted of her wanted to return, no more like she felt she had to, and she partly wanted her home. She was just too confused. "I probably won't go back to my squad. Right now I really don't want to be there. Besides I could probably do something else. I don't have to be in the army, so I'm thinking about going back to my country". That was at least true.
"Is that possible, what about the army", he asked her. After all she had rather betrayed her post, he would hate for her to get in trouble.
"It's not like anyone knows what I did. They've probably already classified me as M.I.A.", she said. \
"Hmm, I hope at least you survive. I'm sure you'll find what you want to do in your life", Fei tried to reassure her.
Elly wanted to change the subject she thought about what he had said. About comfort and how people need comfort. "You said something about being comforted"?
"Yes", he said.
"Don't be too hard on yourself. Everyone wants to be needed at times. All of us want to give something inside ourselves to others to be accepted. Even me. Remember how you forced yourself to eat those emergency rations".
Elly thought about how sick Fei had been from eating that awful animal. When he had felt better she had shared her emergency rations with him partly because she had wanted to help him. She thought about how his eating them had comforted her so much.
"You forced yourself to eat those rations earlier didn't you. For me to survive it would have been better not to share it. But watching you eat it even though it tasted bad comforted me. I felt glad that I had shared it with you....it made me feel a little better". Elly yawned and smiled.
"For your own sake"? Fei asked her.
Elly gave a quick laugh, did she really do it for herself, maybe. "Yes, for my own sake. Selfish, I admit. But I think it's okay to be like that at first. But little by little you learn about your own happiness...." Elly felt she was repeating words but she continued lost in her sentence. "And someday you are able to share that important part of you with someone else. Someday....", She let her voice trail off. The words disappearing into the night and the ocean but they echoed in her head. She abruptly snapped out of her reverie and feeling slightly frightened, but in a small way safe and warm. "Ah", she
said not finding words. She stood up and Fei grabbed her arm.
He stared stared right at her, "What's up", he asked gently. He could tell that she was pale even in the dark and she was trembling.
She shrugged looking for an explanation for this sudden deja vu she felt. "Nothing", she told him sternly. "It just felt as though I've told you the same thing long ago. It must be my imagination. I mean I couldn't have said it to you before because we have only just met". Elly shivered, "Haven't we"? Elly began to relax she was sure it was just a silly trick of her already weird mind.
She sat down again and took a deep breath, "Yes it's probably just my imagination". She suddenly felt so tired and so she lay back on the hard floor. She sighed and focused her attention to the millions of stars in the sky and the moon which had risen higher in the sky. She wanted to ask more questions of Fei, but she could hardly keep her eyes open. Slowly she closed them.
Fei sat next to her. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was gentle and even. He stared up into sky and then back at her. He thought that he should carry her to the cabin but she looked so peaceful and he didn't have the heart to disturb that. And someday you are able to share that important part of you with someone else. Someday...
Why had that line upset her so much. But more importantly why did he feel like he had heard it before. Whatever it was the awful pain in his stomach had lifted and he was filled with an assurance that he and Elly would not die here on this awful vessel.
Elly sighed in her sleep. Fei knew that they would get out of this situation. They had to. At the very least he had to get Elly off. He would not let her die. He found himself staring at her. Her face framed with moonlight and her orange hair blowing gently across her face. He leaned forward and brushed the lock out of her eyes carefully so as not to wake her.
A knew thought suddenly hit him. No matter what happened to
them on this vessel, they were together and Fei for the moment did not feel alone. He stared up to the stars. Somewhere out there was help and it was on it's way. But only one word kept going through his mind, Someday.
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Well there you have it, I hope you enjoyed it and I would love to know what you think. So please feel free to send any comments, thoughts, or questions. But no flame mail, it is just pointless. I am sure if that you can find something better to do in your spare time than flame me.
~~Sarah~~
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