The weather started to change little by little. Their journeys felt like a day but the first week of October was already finishing. "Good news and bad news," said Marcel while coming down the stairs. "What is it?" everyone turned around and was shocked to hear. "Good news is that we might have enough for the winter bad news is that we don't know how harsh the winter will be" he continued. Anna and the one they freed from the slaves were confused. Marcel and the others never mentioned their other goal. "What do you mean by that?" asked Anna. "Our hometown in Fley Harbor will face a harsh winter this year and the resources will be scarce there. We came here hoping we would go back with enough supplies to last the winter" Greg said. "Oh... I wish we could help" said the slave. "You are helping us enough being in our crew," said Marcel. "But you never told us your name," said Tim. "Sorry, I was a bit scared to speak," he said while looking down. "Whenever you have something to say just say it, we are not judging," Greg said. "Of course, there will be moments when we will have different opinions or argue over things, but eventually things work out," Fred said. "Thank you! My name is Duke, I am happy to be part of your crew" Duke said with a smile. "I couldn't help but hear that you want to spend the treasure on supplies," said Jose while coming from the kitchen. "Yes, we are not even close to meeting Captain Frown's requirements and we don't know when the next blue moon is," said Marcel. "But your ship is old and damaged, you will not make it far with a lot of resources, and neither will the ship make it through the storms," said Jose. "Then what should we do? Fley Harbor depends on us" Marcel said. "Why not go here?" said Jose while laying down a map on the table. "What is there?" Rob asked. "There is an island known for building ships. You can purchase a new ship there and then look into moving supplies" said Jose. "But that will cost us a lot of coins," Hulio said while looking down. "The weather is not severe yet, you could probably make up for the ship afterwards, or venture in the winter rather than not make it at all," said Jose and pushed the map to Marcel. Marcel looked at the others and asked them their opinion. They all agreed with Jose, better safe than sorry and they will see what they will do afterwards. The ship was already prepared to leave because of the supplies they bought before. It was early in the afternoon and Marcel preferred to go in the morning. The island was far from Black Lagoon and they were worried about sailing it through the night. In the evening a storm started and everyone was happy they did not catch it on the sea. Early in the morning they left the port and headed towards the island. This island was called Mermaid Cove, the only island in the Flakin Sea that was making high-quality ships. It took them three days and two nights to reach Mermaid Cove, but they were lucky that no storm stayed in their way, only a couple of raindrops.

As they were approaching the docks they were seeing a lot of huge ships, or decorated ships waiting for people to purchase them. As soon as they left the ship a couple of people came and asked if they wanted a ship, what they were looking for, and the price they were looking to pay. Marcel was polite and refused everyone at the docks and instead followed Jose's advice to search for an old couple. This old couple worked at Captain Frown's ship together with other talented carpenters. All the ships they worked at they did with passion and they were yet to work on a ship that would challenge their mastery. Luckily for them, that time was about to come. Marcel and his crew split up to find this old couple. After a couple of hours of asking around and searching they finally found them. Their store was on the other side of the docks and not many people were making it that far to purchase one ship. When they arrived at their shop it was dirty and filled with logs from each type of wood. "Welcome, welcome!" said a hoarse voice from inside. Marcel stepped inside the shop. "Excuse me, are you still taking orders?" Marcel asked while making his way through the logs. "Depends who asks," said a lady from the right side of Marcel. "We were told to ask you for the best ship," said Greg walking behind Marcel. "By who?" the man revealed himself. "By who?" the woman revealed herself as well. "By someone from Captain Frown's crew," said Marcel while watching the couple. "Captain who?" said the man. The woman slapped him and said, "Captain Frown, you forgot you worked with your sibling on it for one hundred days?". Everyone was shocked when they heard. "Oh... Yes... I remember," the man said while rubbing his head. "It has been a while since someone challenged us at something that grandiose," the woman said approaching Marcel. "But you... Are you not too young to ask for something like this?" she continued while measuring Marcel and watching his crew. "Perhaps you are right, but we need a new ship, ours is old and damaged and we need it for something important," Marcel said while intimidated by the woman. "Hmm... Important you say. What important thing will require our best ship?" said the man and sat down. "May we sit?" Marcel asked and the old man gave his permission by waving his hand. They explained why they needed the ship and did not miss any details. The old couple was impressed by the story and they agreed to build them the best ship they could. The only problem was the material, despite being filled to the brim with wood, their shop did not have Petrified wood, one of the strongest and lightest woods you can find. They also said it would be too expensive for them to buy it from vendors. The old couple looked at each other and agreed to give them a map that would guide Marcel and his crew to a place where this wood could be found. Their only condition was to take their niece with them on this journey. The old couple's niece always dreamt of going to sea with pirates, and the old couple considered Marcel along with his crew fit for their niece to sail with. Most of the pirates were dirty and old and they did not inspire trust.

They left as soon as they got the map. The old couple's niece was escorted by them at the docks. She looked small and fragile but despite her looks, she was always helping the old couple working on the ships. This island was almost at the border with Neverwinter in the West. Marcel was determined to get as much of this wood as possible. The sky was clear of clouds, but the night was already swallowing the sea. The winter was closing in and the day slowly started to lose its ground to the darkness. Anna and Tim were watching over the old couple's niece while the others were sailing the ship to its full speed toward their destination. After just one night, they were exhausted. The drop in the temperature and the lack of light was making sailing at night harder. The more they went West, the more the weather changed. During the day the sky was clouded and no ray of sun would penetrate them to warm them up. They noticed that their ship started to freeze as well, the water that was splashing from the sea on the deck was freezing making them slip and lose balance while going from one side to another. Marcel and Greg thought that the change in weather would make this journey difficult, but not to this extent. They bought a bunch of warm clothes before sailing from Black Lagoon, and even with them on the wind was harsh. The last piece of light faded out in the sea, as they reached half of the destination. During the night they were all clumped together to stay warm and in the morning they began moving once again. This second night was not as cold as the last one, because they got used to the cold already. Or so they thought. After a couple more hours on the sea, a gust of wind brought snowflakes in their face making the water around their ship freeze. They never witnessed such weather changes. Luckily for them, the sea was not calm and the waves broke the ice around their ship keeping them on track to the island. They were close, they could feel it, but the weather changed once again. The temperatures dropped below zero making it even more difficult for Marcel and his crew to stay warm. Rob and Hulio improvised a fire on the deck taking turns to watch over it and warm up. Once again in the early afternoon, the sun was dissipating in the sea, taking with him any heat he was giving. They were silent, everyone was quiet and focused on the goal. All they had to do was make it to the island, grab as much wood as they could, and then leave. Until that point, they thought they were ready for anything, but this little journey showed them the contrary. They were not prepared for the drastic climate changes in the slightest. They spent the night around the fire, using the last piece of wood they could to keep it going through the night. In the morning a couple of birds flew by waking them up. The ship was not moving. They thought that they anchored the ship, but Fred forgot because of the cold and they were taken by the currents all night. They looked over and were happy to see that they made it to the island.

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"This must be it!" Marcel said while shivering. They could not celebrate yet, they had to take the Petrified wood and return to Mermaid Cove. Marcel and his crew did not know how the wood was looking like only the old couple's niece knew since she was helping around the shop. Marcel and Greg went with her while the others grabbed anything they could throw on the fire. The snow layer on the island made it hard for them to find a lot of resources. Deeper on the island there were some dead trees, but the niece pointed at them while breathing in her hands. Marcel and Greg understood and started chopping everything the niece was pointing at. They grabbed as much as they could and returned to the ship. "This is not nearly enough," the niece said while counting the logs of wood. Marcel brought Fred this time and left Greg on the ship to warm up. Each of them took turns and Marcel refused to stay at the ship to warm up. After a couple of hours, his hands and legs were numb after walking back and forth through the snow. "This should do, we can leave now," the niece said and they pushed the ship back into the water. Marcel fell on his knees and they helped him get up. Anna prepared some soup and it warmed up everyone. The ship was not heavy and moved decently fast through the icy waters. As they were leaving behind the island, the weather slowly started to warm up. Greg was at the helm while Marcel was staying at the fire. "Why were you stubborn?" asked the niece. "Because I am the captain" Marcel answered while rubbing his hands against the legs. "But now you suffer because of the cold" continued the niece. "I would rather suffer myself than see my crew suffering" The words left Marcel's mouth while he passed out. Anna and the niece covered him with clothes and blankets to keep him warm. Greg and Fred tried their best to sail through the night and in the morning Marcel took the helm. The weather warmed up and they knew they were approaching the Mermaid Cove. The wind was helping them and they made it back safely. The niece was marked by Marcel's words and his attitude towards his crew. She admired him. When they arrived at the old couple the niece asked them to build their ship for free. She told them everything that happened and how Marcel sacrificed himself and pushed through for his crew. The old couple agreed and they started working on the ship. "This may take a while, why don't you enjoy your stay and see what other things Mermaid Cove has to offer?" the man said. Their niece showed them around. She also explained to Marcel and his crew the flaws and advantages of the ships that were for sale. Some of them were looking extraordinary, but the material was cheap and would not last long. Others were looking normal and the wood was heavy making it harder for the ship to move. This is the reason why they were asked to bring the Petrified wood. It was the perfect balance between mobility and looks. The taverns in the main town looked like ships, the shops looked like ships, and almost everything on the Mermaid Cove was in some shape or form of a ship. The niece told them why it is called Mermaid Cove. Close to this island, it is said that there are some underwater caves from where the Mermaids were rising and sang for the pirates to draw them into the deep abyss. This was the closest island to the spot where many ships found their demise and it felt hilarious that this island, years later is known for building ships.

After a couple of days, their ship was ready and ready to sail. The old couple insisted on being part of the first time on the water. Marcel agreed and brought everyone on board. Everything was smooth, the helm turned much more easily than the previous one. The sail was smaller but the speed of the ship was bigger. Everything was just better than the old one. After a couple of hours on the sea they returned to the docks and Marcel brought the wooden chest with the coins to pay for the ship. "How much?" he asked while opening the chest. "For you..." the woman looked at her niece "Free!" completed the man. Everyone was shocked to hear the words. "What do you mean free?" Marcel thought he heard wrong. "Even better, the price is..." After a short stop, the man continued, "Once in a while come and visit us with our niece". Marcel and everyone on his crew were confused. The niece came to them and explained. She asked Marcel if she could be part of his crew and go on journeys together. He looked at her and then at the old couple. He saw that they were agreeing with her choice and so did he. With a warm welcome, she was now part of Marcel's crew. "Now, now. It is time to celebrate this beauty!" said the man, "And welcome our new crew member" continued Marcel. They went into town and bought a lot of drinks and food and made a feast at the old couple's shop. They all spend the rest of the day sharing stories and getting to know each other better. "I have not yet introduced myself, did I?" the niece stood up and asked. "My name is Bianca, but you can call me Bia" she continued. "To Bia!" Marcel raised his cup. "Aye!" and everyone else followed. She felt welcomed as if they were a big family. Marcel went out and was looking at the sky. "It is peaceful isn't it?" the man grabbed his shoulder and said. "Yes it is. Nights like this are the real treasure out there," Marcel said. "What should we do with our old ship?" Marcel asked the man. "Leave it to us, we will find some purpose to that wood," he said. "It was a good ship" Marcel let out a sigh. And then they went back inside and spent the night drinking. The next day they left the Mermaid Cove and were returning to Black Lagoon.