They had been on board the Clear Water for a week now, and Brightswim, as the crew had decided to name the dragon, was doing, if not better, then at least not any worse.

The full name they had given her was "Swims Through Seas Bright, as at Home in the Sea as Sky". They had also, after some debates about autonomy and anatomy and language, decided they she was a "she".

The full name was a bit of a mouthful, and they were still refining it, but for now, it was what had stuck.

She hadn't taken any more dips into the sea as of yet, but not for lack of trying. After her third rush towards the railings, they had threatened to tie a rope to her, making it clear with simple words and gestures what they meant. They had felt sorry for her though and had instead filled an old barrel with sea water for her to splash about in.

It didn't stop her from making a break for the edge of the ship every now and again, but they were confident she would get over it in time, once she realised the consequences of jumping off a fast-moving ship.

As for herself, Littleshy had never been so busy! The sailors had decided that if she was going to put them so off course, then she was going to muck in and do her bit. She had learnt how to splice ropes, scrub decks and how to check all the various parts of the ship for signs of rot or disease.

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The growth mage had checked her over and declared her "talentless", so that was one chore she got out of at least.

She went to bed in her little cabin each night exhausted but happy.

The last couple of months had been a big turn-around for her, and she still found it hard to believe how far she'd come. From the scared child hiding in a barrel in the back of a junkyard, to this. She didn't even have words to describe it. Now she was on a ship, on her way to the foreigner's land. Free.

From scut work, starving, and being indebted to the local gangs, to being completely free. Sure, she still had obligations, she had to work her way on the ship, and there was the question of what would happen to her when they hit shore. She couldn't exactly leave, being surrounded by ocean, but none of that mattered.

She was still free.

She wondered why she hadn't left earlier, but in reality, it had never occurred to her that it was a possibility. She had assumed that she would be followed or tracked down, her ankles broken and anything she'd earned along the way taken from her.

But that had been her mistake, assuming that people cared. Instead, it seemed that nobody had even noticed she'd gone.

She scrubbed harder, preparing the railing for a new coat of paint.

It was possible that all the people she'd known back home, all those she made payments to, all the other kids on the street, it was possible they just all assumed she was dead. It was what she would have thought anyway, if somebody she knew went missing.

There was something sad about that, that she had nobody in the world who noticed her go. Nobody.

Still, it was strange that nobody had come after the dragon.

She wondered about that…