As Gioff was one of the most respected of the elders, if not just the eldest but also the oddest, Zho decided to take the leave now gesture to its inevitable conclusion. If this was how the eldest elder felt about his being inquisitive, then he would take it upon himself to leave, and completely.
After a day of repairing fishnets, and earning a few gold coins doing so, Zho began his plan. He would need to act fast, and knew that he would need rest. Still, the allure of the glow on the horizon and the light in the sky beckoned to him.
He wanted to stay up.
Instead, he pushed a small boat from the shoreline and rolled it around to where the creek tumbled over the sands and into the sea. He pulled the small boat ashore, and to where the creek deepened enough to hide it amongst its deeper waters, under the canopy of low coastal oaks. There, he tied the boat up.
Moving catlike, he returned to his home. His mother was asleep on the mattress spread out on the floor of the small dwelling. Quietly, quietly now, he grabbed a linen bag and filled it with all of his clothing. Then, he turned towards the kitchen area, and quietly pulled clay jars of honey cake and smoked fish from the shelves. A loaf of bread was carefully wrapped in a towel, and tucked into the linen sack.
The last thing Zho would need would be a way to transport water, so he looked around. Nothing was to be found. They had large jars for spring water, but they were too big to be easily carried. Besides, he did not wish to leave his mother with no way to get water. He decided to leave, for earlier he had seen the answer to this problem.
-
The answer was hanging on the side of elder Gioff's house, a water skin. Zho didn't know what sort of animal was used to make the water skin, probably a deer or a calf. But it was large enough to carry a lot of water.
Zho also suspected that Gioff knew something else, and since the old man would not provide answers, then maybe he'd provide the means for getting them. The skin was the answer. And it was hanging, tantalizingly, on the side of the old man's house.
-
Once Zho had the skin filled, he swung it over his shoulders and walked back into the woods and to the creek, where the boat and the rest of his supplies were waiting. He laid it near the prow of the boat, and took one last look back towards Seaside. No lights, no sound. They had no need for a nightwatch, as there were never any crimes. No one saw him, no one suspected.
He then waded into the water to the front of the boat and began pulling it downstream, to where it grew shallow and spread out like a fan to the sea.
As he reached the shallows, he felt the sandy bottom give way to what felt like rock. He had never ventured here, no one did, and it felt strange to him. It was hard, rough, and even, and sloped up towards the beach. Soon, the boat was dragging on this surface, and shortly the water was ankle deep. Zho moved to the back of the boat and began pushing it up, over, and down, through the shallow fresh waters and towards the sea. With a splash, the boat kissed the small waves, as the water turned salty, and was now waist deep.
-
Rowing into the deeper offshore water was the hardest part. Zho rowed for what seemed like hours, mesmerized by the glow far to the north. He kept the prow of the boat aimed towards the glow, as he rowed towards deeper waters. He rowed until he was further offshore than the fishing boats ever went. They never ventured too far, keeping land in sight. Zho was at a point where the shoreline disappeared, hiding beneath the starlight glow far to his west. The waves were bigger here, but still manageable.
Suddenly, a current grabbed the little boat, and Zho found that he didn't need to row at all.
It was pulling him, pushing him, north.
And towards the glow.
-
It was now later than Zho had ever stayed up. He knew that soon, the eastern horizon would begin to glow, and the Sun would soon follow. He wanted to sleep, but somehow it evaded him. He looked to the north and the golden glow. It remained steady, and grew no brighter.
But he did see star-like lights, each climbing towards the east, until they disappeared from view. He did not see one or two, but what was probably a dozen or more.
And to his surprise, he saw other stars come from the west, and arching down towards the golden glow, slowing, and growing brighter as they got closer, before moving almost vertically and disappearing from view.
When he was younger, Zho's father Kha would sit with him on the dock during the colder seasons. They would look up into the starry skies, and his father would point out the stars to him. He knew many stars. Kha would also point out the strange, moving stars that could be seen from time to time. Some of these had names, like Bringer of Sunset, or The Storm Watcher. The elders forbid anyone to look at the sky too long. There were rules. There were also legends that said if one looked at the night sky too long, the stars would make them blind.
Zho had seen that happen, but it never happened to his father. Instead, his father disappeared offshore, during a sudden storm. Neither he, his boat, his nets, or his floats, were seen again.
-
The night air was more humid now. Looking southeast, Zho could see a lone bright star against the glow the coming dawn. He knew this star was a wanderer named Giuve. It sat alone, the fainter stars soon disappearing into the charcoal gray of an early morning sky.
It would be light soon, and from where he sat, Zho realized that he was very far from any shore. On all sides, more of the same. Waves and waves of sea.
He was alone in a world of dark blue.
Getting interesting.
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