“…hmm hmm…hmm hm hm hmm hmmmmm…”

Aloette leaned against the railing of Nyra’s ship, taking in as much of the sea breeze as she could. She was already used to the sensation from the edges of Intide, but feeling it push against her as she sailed was something else.

Ironically, breathtaking.

Sadashi, meanwhile, was struggling to stay on both feet.

“…there we go…there’s that drowning sensation again…”

“Did you say something, Sadashi?” Aloette said, turning to him at the steering wheel, as he dismissively waved his hand.

“Just powering through.” He admitted, throwing his head back. “Now that the adrenaline of the break out’s worn off, I’m starting to feel my body again…”

Aloette smiled and hopped over to his side.

“Well at least we get this gorgeous view!” Aloette noted, pointing to the cloudless sky. “I felt so cooped up in Intide, and now my sailing soul can truly be free!...even if only for a limited time. I’ll be back in Intide before I know it, all the wiser and more cunning!”

Aloette giggled to herself. “And who knows? Maybe I’ll ‘borrow’ one of King Syrille’s ships and go on another adventure.”

Sadashi rolled his eyes, still focusing on steering. “I have a feeling you’ll be over it by the time we’re done…”

“Hardly!” Aloette declared, hands on her hips, as she faced the ocean ahead of her. “This is my maiden voyage as a pirate! Treasure and journeys abound! Eyes set on adventure! And I get to captain a ship! Oh, the romance!”

Sadashi grabbed the brim of his nose. “…you’ve never been to sea before, so you’re not the captain.”

Aloette turned and shook her head. “Of course I am. I’m the captain, and you’re the…”

“…acting helmsman.”

“Acting helmsman!” Aloette agreed. “And I don’t want to give you all the responsibility. That wouldn’t be very nice.”

Sadashi sighed. “You can’t just call yourself the captain. As far as I’m concerned, I’m reuniting you with Captain Everd…your father, so you’re a passenger on this trip.”

“Passenger?!” Aloette complained, stomping over to Sadashi. “I’ll have you know I plan to get very into the action on this trip. Swashbuckling, treasure hunting, bouts against fellow pirat-“

“If everything goes according to plan, we won’t be doing any of those things.” Sadashi reasoned, right as he stumbled on one of his feet and winced hard.

“Sadashi?” Aloette asked, as he raised his hand.

“…I’m fine. Just lingering effects of a week without food.” He pointed out, pulling himself back up. “We’ll find a place to dock for the night and head out in the morning.”

Aloette grew an excited grin. “…you know, if you need to rest, I could take the whe-“

“Don’t you dare touch this.” Sadashi snapped back, before realising how harsh that sounded. “…sorry, just…let me handle this. I have a lot more experience and I know where my limits are.”

Sadashi nodded his head to the ocean. “Just enjoy the view for now.”

With a disappointed sigh, Aloette turned to the edge of the boat. “…aaalright.”

Aloette wanted to be madder, but the evening sky was just turning to orange with the approaching sunset and looked, without exaggeration, like the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.

Dammit. He was completely right, this is incredible. Aloette had to admit, resting on the railing. …I finally get to appreciate the ocean and all its beauty.

She rested her head and watched the waves push against the side of the boat.

Just like you, huh dad?

~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~

A few more hours passed before Sadashi found a small outcrop he felt comfortable enough parking the ship near.

It was well and truly night at this point, almost a full day of sailing after leaving Intide. Hopefully it was enough to outrun Syrille’s forces, or Flint and Nyra, no doubt in pursuit to get Sadashi’s head and steal Nyra’s ship back.

Sadashi let out a heavy breath, still feeling his stomach fighting against him, as he pulled himself away from his duty and headed below deck.

The warm glow of lamplight accompanied Aloette, pawing her way through Nyra’s belongings, with what looked to be a…makeshift kitchenette by her side?

“…the boat’s been docked. What’re you doing down here?” Sadashi asked, as Aloette jumped to attention.

“Well, you’ve not had a proper dish in quite some time.” Aloette said, displaying her hands. “I was finding something I could fix into a nice meal!”

Aloette laughed a little. “I say meal, but my culinary skills are a bit underdeveloped. Evans handled most of that.”

She held up a small loaf of slightly mouldy bread. “So I’m trying to find half-decent ingredients to make us sandwiches.”

Sadashi felt a bit touched, before heading down the stairs to meet her. “…just make one for yourself. My stomach’s still uneasy after the last week. I’ll have to ease into proper meals again.”

Aloette went to digging again. “Alright…but if you get jealous, just remember I offered you one.”

“Duly noted.” Sadashi replied, watching her scrounge through boxes, before recalling their conversation earlier.

…there’s not point being distant…

Feeling he was about to give into his exhaustion, he leaned over and squeezed Aloette’s shoulder to grab her attention.

“…hey.” He started, as she turned to him. “…I know you want to be…the captain, whatever that might entail…and I’m not saying you are, cause you still shouldn’t be…”

He sighed out again. “…I’m just going to layout the plan from here to keep you in the loop, okay?”

“Oh, goodie! Yes, I’m ever so curious!” Aloette insisted, skooching over. “So, are we headed to Pelaga first?”

“No. The complete opposite way actually.” Sadashi explained, before scanning around them, finding a map strung up on the wall nearby and going to grab it.

He brought it back over, before laying it out beside Aloette’s cooking materials.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/ZYxLNKY3/Nestell-Map-Original.png]

“A map!” Aloette let out, grabbing it up. “And what a map it is! Syrille would be furious seeing us wit-“

Sadashi lay his hand on the map, interrupting her, before lowering it back down.

“Just…pay attention. That’s Intide at the top.” Sadashi said, before circling his finger. “And the ring of islands here is all of Nestell.”

He moved it to the dark spot in the middle of the map. “And that unmarked spot in the middle is The Further, where your father is.”

“Ooo…” Aloette let out, before lifting her head. “…okay, so what’s preventing us from just…sailing downward?”

“Lots of things.” Sadashi noted, grabbing a pencil from the supplies. “First problem, The Further’s surrounded by near constant whirlpools and storms.”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Whirlpools?” Aloette asked.

“Vortexes in the water.” Sadashi clarified, as Aloette huddled in. “If we sail into them, we’ll shipwreck immediately.”

Sadashi then drew a small arrow into the dark spot close to Pelaga. “However, there’s a small opening right here. It’s still dangerous, but you can sail through there and make your way into The Further.”

“…and we’re not going to Pelaga?” Aloette noted, pointing onto the map, as Sadashi raised two fingers.

“Second problem, Pelaga’s off limits.” He said, pointing at the line in between it and Intide. “There’s a large mountain range between the islands blocking off any sailing. While it’s possible to make our way through, we’d have to abandon our ship, and there’s no guarantee we’d find another one on the other end without being caught by King Syrille.”

He pressed a bit harder into the map. “And we need a ship to sail into The Further.”

He started drawing a line coming from Intide around the islands. “So we’re taking the long way. And that way, we can restock at…”

He pointed at the second island. “Descrelate. We’ll get a new ship, more supplies, maybe some crewma-“

“A new ship? Why can’t we keep this one?” Aloette moped, as Sadashi waved his arm about.

“Cause this ship’s hot.” Sadashi pointed out. “We stole it from Nyra, a very wanted woman. Which brings up the third problem.”

Sadashi pointed to the third island from Intide. “The Royal Precession, King Syrille’s forces. They’re gonna be onto us, and we have to pass several checkpoints to get where we need. The first being the Royal Precession Headquarters.”

He marked a giant cross over it. “We pass by there unprepared in a stolen ship, we’re as good as dead.”

“…but wait.” Aloette noted, looking up at Sadashi. “Nyra has special privileges with King Syrille.”

Sadashi raised an eyebrow. “…what are you talking about?”

“He lets her dock in Intide and turns a blind eye whenever she does. The Royal Precession haven’t even touched her.” Aloette pointed out, dragging her finger over the map. “So, we sail past the headquarters in her ship, and they won’t try anything!”

“Special prive…?” Sadashi curiously muttered to himself, before addressing Aloette again. “…w-well, even with that being true, I‘m not risking it. They’ll know we stole it soon enough.”

Aloette shook her head. “Sadashi, how could they get news of that before we pass? By the time a correspondence has reached the headquarters, we’ll have already sailed by to the next island.”

Sadashi clicked his tongue. “…I don’t fully understand it, and I only got a glimpse at it, but Syrille’s forces have this…item.” Sadashi explained, grabbing up the map. “It’s called a…telephonic device. It allows them to communicate long distances in a matter of minutes…maybe even seconds.”

“Seconds?!” Aloette cried out, shooting up. “How’s that even possible?!”

“I don’t know, but it means they’re able to stay in constant communication.” Sadashi explained, before rolling the map up. “And with your limited sailing experience, we need a smaller ship that’s easier for me to steer anyway.”

“…right, so we’re already abandoning ship…” Aloette remarked, before scrunching her fists. “Excellent! Another new experience to tick off!”

Sadashi was trying his best to be amused, before handing off the map to Aloette.

“…for me?”

“Can I trust you to keep this safe?” Sadashi asked. “…you’re…part of this journey. So I need to be sure that you’re reliable. Your first task is minding this.”

Aloette stared down at it, before giving a quick salute and grabbing it.

“You can count on me!”

“…great.” Sadashi let out, almost stumbling to his feet. “…don’t stay up too late. We’re heading out early tomorrow, and you’ll need as much energy as you can get for Descrelate.”

Once Sadashi was out of eyeshot, Aloette immediately unfurled the map and started studying it, familiarising herself with all the islands and their upcoming journey, excitedly kicking her feet as she did so.

Just out of her eyeshot, Sadashi caught her doing this, before sighing and smiling to himself.

…she’ll be okay. Sadashi realised, feeling another headache come on. I need to stop worrying so much…what’s the wors…

He stopped himself, before facepalming.

Idiot, you know better than to jinx things like that at this point…

image [https://i.postimg.cc/P59bHCKG/Nestell-Map-Updated.png]

~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~

“…oh, take it in. What a morning.”

Phil took a deep inhale as his ship passed over the cerulean sea.

“You think I would get tired of looking at it, but not really.” Phil admitted, arms behind his back, before calling out. “Good sirs! Anything to report?”

An officer shot out from below deck, before looking up to Phil and saluting.

“Nothing overnight, Admiral. We should be at headquarters within a few more days travel.” He replied.

Phil pointed his hook hand to the officer and smiled. “That…is some great news. I miss land. Alfie dear!”

Right as he said that, another admiral popped his head out from the private cabin.

“Don’t you miss land too?” Phil asked, as Alfie nodded profusely, with Phil turning to the officer. “Poor thing. Terrified by the notion of swimming.”

“I…know sir.” The officer quietly let out, as Phil sighed out.

“Good! It’s good you know that!” He cooed, right as something appeared on the horizon. “What a picturesq…hold on.”

After another minute or so, the shape became clearer, as another ship was spotted in the distance.

“And look at that! Companions for this voyage of ours!” Phil cheered, truly content in his position. “The sea truly is a welcoming place.”

He sighed out happily.

“…Take aim.”

The officers immediately started loading up the cannons on the side of the ship, aiming them at the new ship as they started to pull closer.

At Phil’s beckon, the first cannon fired off, just missing the side of the ship, but still managing to rock it with the resulting splash in the water.

“STUPID…MASSIVE SHIP! SHIT! TOO CLOSE!” Sadashi cried out, desperately trying to steer them off to another direction. “Aloette, think you could load a cannon?!”

“D-Definitely not!” She cried, holding desperately onto the banister of the ship as it rocked, right as Nyra’s map fell out of her pocket.

While Sadashi did his best to quickly course correct, Aloette made her way over, before drawing his attention to a note made on the map.

Right as another cannon was about to fire off, one of the officers spoke up.

“Sir! Hold fire! That’s Nyra’s ship!”

“What?!” Phil let out, jumping to the edge of the boat, before finally getting a glimpse of the skull decoration on the sail and waving his arms. “Cease fire! Cease it!”

The officers stopped what they were doing, right as Alfie stepped out of the cabin, spyglass in hand, and made his way up to the helm to get a better look.

“Phew…Syrille would’ve had my head.” Phil let out, before going up to join Alfie. “She knows the procedure. What’s she doing pulling this close?”

Alfie tapped Phil’s shoulder and handed him the spyglass.

“Nyra’s not on deck.” Alfie said, as Phil took a closer look. “Suspicious…”

Phil sighed out, tapping his fingers rhythmically on the spyglass. “I’m sure she’s just below deck. We would have gotten news if it’d been hijacked.”

Right as he said that, Sadashi raised up a flag with a small cross pattern on it, as Phil happily handed the spyglass back to Alfie.

“See? There’s the signal!” Phil insisted, before leaning over the railing to address the other officers. “We’re all good, fellows! Let her through!”

The officers lowered the ships cannons, before Nyra’s ship took off a minute later.

“…phew…nicely done, Aloette.” Sadashi thanked, letting go of his held breath. “Apologises. I’m already not the most skilled helmsman, but my weakened state must have thrown off my aim and cruised us right into them…”

Aloette cautiously watched the Royal Precession ship disappear behind them, before letting out a breath of her own. “…we made it out unharmed, that’s all that matters. I don’t think that trick will work a second time though.”

“Agreed. We’re ditching this ship as soon as we can.” Sadashi said, as they continued their course to Descrelate.

“Could you imagine what Syrille would’ve done if we’d fired so thoughtlessly like that?” Phil bemoaned to Alfie, right as the ship turned its trajectory back to the Precession Headquarters. “I’d hate to even think of it! He can be so vicious even at the best of times.”

“Admirals!”

Phil and Alfie turned to an officer, with what looked to be a seashell pressed against his ear.

“Oh, goodie! We can try out that new telephonic thing!” Phil exclaimed, before happily leaning over the railing. “Anything to report, my good man?”

The officer scribbled down notes as he received the message through the shell.

“…it seems Nyra was seen leaving Intide with the prisoner Sadashi Sicer!” The officer reported. “Her intentions are unclear, but it’s believed she was breaking him out.”

“…”

“…”

“…u-uhh…”

Phil stood in abject silence, taking in the admittedly terrible news, right as Nyra’s ship, the ship he let through, the one potentially holding a wanted, death row criminal on it that Syrille had personally planned to execute outside of his castle, disappeared into the distance.

“…Ch-Change course!!! Follow that ship!!!” Phil demanded, right as the officers jumped to attention. “Don’t let it out of our sights!!! Alfie!!!”

Alfie gave a quick salute, before kissing Phil’s cheek and jumping up to the crow’s nest, spyglass at the ready.

“Perfect as always, thank you Alfie!” Phil declared, slamming his foot down. “Sadashi will be ours!”

“…hurgh…” Sadashi let out. “Just felt a chill down my spine…”

Aloette quickly shuddered. “A-Are there ghosts on this ship?”

Sadashi’s eyes drooped. “Ghosts aren…oh, look.”

Aloette jumped up, before quickly putting things together and turning around frantically, leaping to the bow of the ship to get a good view of…

“…Descrelate.” She let out, feeling excitement well up in her. “Our first destination on this journey.”