Papers littered the floor of Aodh's cabin once again, though several of them had been reduced to cinders, others crumpled, tossed and forgotten. The increasingly agitated druid set once again to work and scratched the quill across the parchment in short, dashed letters. Teeth gritted, he paused to wait out a large swell in the ocean before he set to work again. Where was he? Tidal energies? Sea air? Aodh spotted some dribble about the sorceress and the two guardians and immediately began to scratch it out. The pen broke through the page and stabbed him in the ankle; he stopped with a hiss, tossing the paper onto a candle and inspecting the wound.<br/><br/><br/>A small dot of blood bubbled forth, which Aodh quickly wiped away. The skin underneath had taken a gray tint which he could not rub away. He brought his leg to his mouth and tried to suck the ink out of the wound, to no luck. Aodh abandoned the pursuit. Drawing a finger across his tongue, he began to put out the glowing scraps of parchment that were left from his last attempt. He had been rambling again, quite pointlessly, about his experiences. His writings became more and more like journal entries than real observations, and it drove Aodh to frustration.<br/><br/><br/>He needed air, desperately. Aodh snuffed out the candles in his cabin and blindly wandered out, drawing a cloak off the door before doing so. When the door opened, Mausen was immediately on its feet and turned to greet him, it's tongue lolled out of it's mouth. Aodh walked to the bow-side exit in silence, and the dog followed obediently, without a word needed to be said. It knew it's master all too well.<br/><br/><br/>When Aodh stepped outside, it was still quite late; the night air refreshed him deeply, soothed his frayed nerves. For a brief moment of lucidity he wondered why he had ever wanted to close himself to the world. But the peace was short lived. Another swell nearly took the druid off his feet, to the muffled amusement of the sailors. He retreated to the bow, as far away from anyone else as possible.<br/><br/><br/>The night was young. The moon shone pale off the deep waters and cast it's reflection across a thousand knife-like ripples. Aodh sweeped his eyes across the horizon, a vain attempt to find land in the darkness. Not even his focus mind saw the intruder swoop down upon the ship, and when Mausen began to growl quietly, he simply set a hand upon the dog's head. There would be none of that tonight.