Sonder didn't move. She thought that if she reacted too quickly, she might lose it.
Instead, she held her position at the railing as if nothing had happened at all.
She didn't want to cause any panic.
Her awareness sharpened. Not wide but narrow, focusing it.
Like threading a needle instead of casting a net.
But finding what she noticed was hard. Here and there she got a feeling of strangeness.
Like smelling something aromatic just to lose it again, desperately trying to smell it again.
But carefully, she followed any hint of that feeling.
And it flickered up again, just for a brief moment. Below deck, but then it was gone.
It seemed to be... skipping?
Not in space, it wasn't teleportation, but in presence.
It was there, and here, and then gone, and there again.
It didn't go far, and not continuously, but it went on.
Sonder shifted quietly. She turned from the railing.
She made no sound, no sudden movements.
If it could avoid her senses, then it might notice if she pushed too hard.
So she didn't.
She walked calmly and measured towards the stairs that lead down.
A sailor stood not too far from them, leaning against a post, staring out into the dark.
He glanced at her briefly.
Sonder gave no sign that anything was wrong.
Neither did he.
She stepped past him and began to descend.
The sounds of the sea were dulled already.
She stopped halfway and reached out again.
And she thought she had it again.
Closer now, but still below her.
Sonder continued down.
Everything looked normal.
She stood still.
Listened.
Nothing.
Then that feeling again.
Stronger.
Just ahead.
Between the cargo.
Sonder stepped forward.
One step.
Then another.
Both her hands were tightly around her staff.
The feeling shifted. It went right, and then left, and then it was gone.
Her gaze fixed on the space in front of her.
"I know you're there," she said quietly.
Her voice didn't carry far.
It didn't need to.
For a moment, nothing happened.
There was a sound. The same scraping she had heard before.
It was close.
It was right behind her, and Sonder turned.
But she wasn't fast enough to see it. Only to feel it brush past her.
Something brushed past her.
Not touching.
But almost.
Like cold air slipping through a crack.
Sonder was ready for anything.
"Who are you?" She asked, without any fear in her voice.
There was no answer, but she knew that whatever it was could hear her.
It was watching, if it could.
Sonder slowly raised her hand.
Not to attack.
Just a small gathering of mana.
A faint glow.
Soft enough not to blind her in the dark.
The light spread just a little.