A Bumpy Road...Er...Sea...

[»Kamui Syvil VII]

Yibbles also fell asleep quickly, comforted by the warmth of Alexia's body and the lullaby. Sakurako shuffled along the floor, moving forward until she came to rest her head on Kamui's leg and closed her eyes. With his free hand, he reached down and stroked her fur, "Sleep well, girl."
Yawning, he looked at the sleeping child snuggled against him and over at Enelya, "Sleep well..."
He stared at the ceiling for a few moments, beyond which he knew the starry night sky to be. He felt relaxed, cautiously optimistic that this would be a nightmare free night. Yawning again, he closed his own eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.

[Chani {♥}]

Alexia slept soundly, drifting past her nightmares, for the most part. Her leg twitched occasionally in her sleep, but when she woke in the morning, she didn't remember having any dreams at all. She hadn't woke up screaming with cold sweat dripping down her face or people trying to pin down her flailing limbs and looking at her with concern.

Enelya was sitting in a chair, no doubt pinned to the lightly rocking ship's floor. Alexia was reminded of her mother, who always conducted herself with refined posture, who always kept her spine straight and her head high, who almost always crossed her legs at the ankle, and who was often hovering over a book as Enelya was now. There were strange markings on it, definitely Drow, though Alexia did not know this. She tried imitating Enelya's posture as she sat on the floor, watching. Enelya made not even the subtlest sign that she had realized Alexia had awoke. That is why Alexia started when she spoke.

"There is food over there on the table," she said, turning an old page carefully and not looking away from the book. "The captain says we should arrive by nightfall." Alexia stood up, but she did not move toward the table. She watched Enelya for a moment more as the Drow read.

"What's that book about?" Alexia asked curiously, staring at the letters on its cover confusedly.

"Lloth," Enelya answered. Her accent had changed as she said it, so Alexia figured it must be a word in Drow that meant a genre of some sort. "The Spider Queen." Alexia wrinkled her nose.

"Spiders are gross," she commented, walking over the table and grabbing a couple apples and a stick of celery out of a cloth bag. "And mean, too," she added, annoying Enelya and going back over to sit next to Yibbles. She broke the celery stick in half and gently prodded his nose with it to wake him so that he might eat.

"Spiders are beautiful," Enelya argued, marking her page with a strip of silk and closing the book. "And they do what they must to survive. You shouldn't be so quick to judge, girl." Alexia shrugged.

"I've never met a pretty spider who wouldn't eat me whole if he was big enough," she said, biting off a bit from her own half of the celery stick and chewing. Enelya decided that arguing with a young human girl about whether or not spiders were gross was pointless and tiring.

[»Kamui Syvil VII]

"Spiders give me the willies," Kamui said, opening his eyes and sitting up, "but I must admit they play their role in the natural order. Mean or not, who's ta' say?"
He gave a yawn and stretched. He had slept reasonably well.
Yibbles' nose twitched as it was prodded with a celery stick. The piglet began to nibble on it, yet did not open his eyes, as if eating while still asleep.
"Lloth, or Lolth in Common, resides in the Abyss, the abode of demons, for she is a powerful demon lord." He said to Alexia, now at the table, filling his arms with food. "Most Drow worship her a deity, isn't that right, Enelya?"
He sat back down and began to eat. "Personally," he said between bites, "I don't recognize her as such, bein' a Christian, but I don't underestimate her impressive power."
He gave a shrug and added as an afterthought, I've never met her, but my great-grandfather on my mother's side had a thing for her."
He shivered, "Ugh... spider ladies freak me out..."

(And that's the amusing thing [at least to me] about having your character's great-grandfather who's a demon lord, when you can say things like that...)

[Chani {♥}]

"Me too!" Alexia agreed. Though she had never met a spider lady, she was sure that it would "freak" her out if she did. Also, Kamui was something of a role model and friend to her by now, so she was desperate to show him that she was like him.

Enelya's face revealed a smile as Kamui mentioned his great-grandfather. However, it was gone quickly. She didn't believe him in the least, but the way he had worded it had caused her to have to prevent herself from laughing outright. It was just not like her to do that. She looked back down to her book as if nothing had happened and began reading again.

[»Kamui Syvil VII]

Kamui sat cross-legged on the floor, eating in silence, well near silence, for his manners weren't the best. He had passed some to Sakurako and she was eating almost as voraciously as Kamui. Once the food was all gone they both burped, nearly at the same time.
"I thank you for the food, Enelya." He stood up and brushed himself off. "I think I'll go out on deck an' work off breakfast with a lit'le mornin' exercise."

[Chani {♥}]

Enelya nodded, and Kamui was lucky to have even gotten that from her.

"Ooh, can I go, Kamoo?" Alexia chirped. Enelya looked up from her book harshly at the young girl.

"No, you need to stay here with me," she said firmly.

"But you're boring," Alexia sighed. "Please?"

"You'll fall overboard and drown," Enelya argued. "On top of that, the sailors don't need you getting in their way." Alexia's bottom lip puckered out and she looked to Kamui expectantly.

Spiteful brat, Enelya thought bitterly.

[»Kamui Syvil VII]

"Aw, let 'er come, eh, Enelya. It stinks ta' be cooped up when you're a kid." He said, walking to the door, Sakurako following.
He stopped in the open doorway, "Besides, I'm a good swimmer should anyone fall overboard. An' this is a passenger ship, surely they have an area for people wantin' a lit'le fresh air."

[Chani {♥}]

Enelya gave Kamui a heavy glare. It was so murderous that Alexia almost felt bad for having brought Kamui into this.

"Pleeease can I go with Kamoo?" she begged, taking Enelya's attention off of her friend.

"Fine," she growled. "Don't make me regret this, I warn you." She looked back down at her book, still glaring. Alexia yipped happily, picking up Yibbles and hurrying to Kamui's side. She grabbed his sleeve. "Let's go, let's go!" she cheered, pulling eagerly. She was surprised at how firmly Kamui stood in his spot. He was bigger than her, yeah, but he seemed a lot heavier than he looked.

[»Kamui Syvil VII]

"All right, all right." Kamui said, laughing as Alexia tugged his sleeve.
"Yib." He gave a whistle and Yibbles groggily got up, yawned, and trotted over to Kamui and Sakurako.
To Enelya he said, after taking note of her glare, and right before quickly walking out the door, "Aw, don't be jealous. We can go for a walk after the sunsets, eh?"

Moving onto the main deck, he looked up at the sky. It was blue and cloudless, looking very much like it hadn't rained at last night. He took a deep breath and exhaled, "Ah! Smell that salty sea air? Refreshin', ain't it? Let's go find a spot where we won't be in the way, okay, Alexia?"

[Chani {♥}]

"Gotcha, Kamoo!" Alexia said. The little girl probably would have followed him even if he had walked off the side of the boat.

Enelya looked up to give a nasty retort, but Kamui had disappeared.
"Why, that insolent...," the rest was merely a mumble as her eyes fell back to her book.

[»Kamui Syvil VII]

"I wonder if they've got a promenade deck...?" He said, mostly to himself, looking around. "Nah... That's usually for fancier ships..."
After a bit of wandering around they came to a relatively empty portion of the deck, aside from a few crates and barrels, which formed a kind of nook.
"Well, this'll do." He shrugged.
He unslung the scythe-like object from his back and leaned it in the corner of the nook, along with his sheathed sword, both in easy reach. It wasn't that he thought they would be attacked, even so he used them as a last resort, for woe and ruin to the unsuspecting soul who tried to claim either weapon.
Sakurako sat in the corner, the weapons to her back, as if guarding them. She looked as cool and stoic as usual.
"So! Adventurer or not, it's important ta' stay healthy an' fit. I usually like ta' stretch a bit first, which can help improve your flexibility an' the range of motion in your joints, which is very important in the martial arts. Then, you know, I don't wanna cramp up later either... Anywho, feel free ta' follow along if ya' want, Alexia, or go play, or whatever. Jus' don't stray too far or Enelya wouldn't be happy."
He then took off his vest and boots, placing them on a crate, which creaked under its weight. Starting out he performed some simple enough stretches, like bending down and touching his toes.

(This should be amusing when Kamui gets into the Yoga asanas)

[Chani {♥}]

Alexia listened to him carefully, before putting on her game face. She was going to prove to Kamui that she was going to be a great adventurer, and if these exercises were what adventurers did, she would do her best in them. The tip of her tongue popped out the left corner of her mouth and she frowned not in distaste but concentration. Her mother had always found that expression so adorable, but Alexia knew Kamui wouldn't make fun. This was serious adventurer business!

She mocked his movements as precisely as she could, even trying to stretch further. She felt the muscles in her body growing taut and then relaxing. After each one, she felt a little more limber. When Kamui had finished his warm-ups, Alexia grinned.

"That was easy! Let's try something harder, Kamoo!" she said eagerly.

[»Kamui Syvil VII]

'Heh. Cute kid.' He thought to himself, watching her mimic his movements out of the corner of his eye.
"Easy ya' say?" He grinned. "Well, this is only the beginnin'. I won't be done till lunchtime, do ya' think ya' can keep up? After some simple stretchin', I get a lit'le more advanced. Have ya' ever heard of a practice called Yoga? This is a classic asana, or pose, called Trikonasana, or Triangular Pose."
Standing straight, arms at his side, he widened his stance and slowly inhaled while raising his right arm slowly to shoulder level. As he exhaled he bended to the left, placing his left palm flat on the ground. Holding that pose, he took several controlled breaths.

(I included a picture, as I don't know how well I described the pose.)

[Chani {♥}]

Alexia watched him, and her expression of concentration returned. She did her best to duplicate his position, nearly slipping twice as she tried to do it with the rocking of the boat. Her fingertips hardly brushed the ground, though she attempted flattening her palm as best as she could against the floor of the boat to no avail. She finally decided to cheat, stretching her legs further apart so that she was lower and could touch it more easily. Then she grinned up at Kamui.

[»Kamui Syvil VII]

"All right. If ya' have trouble with that, put a brick or somethin' under your palm. What's more important is that ya' keep your legs straight, not your hand on the floor. In any case, keep it up a bit longer...," He said encouragingly before switching sides, bending to the right and placing his right palm on the ground while raising his left hand and breathing.
From there, he moved into a new pose. Moving to his hands and knees, he curled his toes under himself and raised his back, making his legs straight while keeping his heels flat. He also drew in his ribs to keep a flat back.
"Okay, now, this move is called Adho Mukha Svanasana, or Downward Facing Dog. It may look a bit silly, but... It can help stretch an' strengthen the whole body. You should maintain most of the weight on your thigh muscles."