The next few days of sailing were much like the first. Shifts stretched on from sunrise to sunset and paused only for meals, leaving precious little time for leisure. Iris fell into the habit of waking up before most of the crew and discretely blipping down to the cargo hold on the deck below to feed Littletooth and get dressed for the day. She repeated the same process at the end of the day, though finding opportunities to blip in and out without being seen was more difficult when everyone was awake. It worked well enough, however, and soon became a daily routine.

The northern shore of Giantrock Lake had remained visible throughout the second day, though when Iris stepped onto the main deck on the third morning she found that the ship had sailed far enough south in the night that now not even the northern shore was visible, and her eyes found nothing in all directions but open water. It was a humbling experience to realize that even the massive ship she stood aboard was but a speck in the vastness of the lake.

Glimmer had followed the ship from the skies above for much of the first and second days, and could frequently be seen in the distance diving down to scoop prey from the water. She only split away from the ship at night, when she return to shore to find somewhere to rest before catching back up to the ship again in the morning. She was nowhere to be seen on the third day, however, and when Iris later asked, Eli explained that she would likely stick to the shoreline for much of the journey and rejoin them when they departed the lake for the river. He seemed wholly unconcerned about her finding her way back to them, and spoke as if it were a given.

On the fourth day, the work load finally began to dwindle. Even most minor repairs had been completed by then, and the carpentry teams broke down into just enough people to keep up with the constant maintenance of a ship underway. With the ship's current rigging now thoroughly tested over the prior days of sailing, much fewer bodies were needed to monitor and maintain it. Other than the basic manning of the ship, which required no less than two dozen sailors during simple maneuvers and navigation, cleaning and similar chores became one the heaviest work load aboard the ship -- chamber pots needed to be dumped overboard, decks needed to be swabbed, emptied barrels needed to be returned to the hold and replaced with full ones, and pests needed to be exterminated.

The work day graciously ended early in the evening of the fourth day, and the crew celebrated the end of their initial mad dash away from the city by filling tankards with beer and filling the main deck with dancing feet. There were quite a few instruments on board, and more than a few musicians of various levels of talent. The jaunts most commonly played consisted of whatever stringed instruments people happened to be playing at the time, occasionally joined by the occasional pair of small drums.

A short while after sunset, as the celebrations raged on, Eli found Iris leaning on the quarterdeck railing at the stern of the ship as she looked out across the water.

"Is pirate life everything you hoped it would be?" he asked as he leaned against the railing beside her.

"So far, yes," she said, "I've read enough books to know that sailing is mostly boring until very suddenly it's not. It's been, what, four days? We should be due for some excitement soon."

Eli laughed, "based on your story books?"

"Yep," Iris said, "everyone knows stuff always happens the way it does in the books."

"Right," he said skeptically, "what about the others? Do you think they're settling in?"

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"Shouldn't you be asking them?"

"I did," he said, "and I also asked each of them about the rest of you, now answer the question."

"I guess so," Iris shrugged, "I was a little worried about Killup driving Autumn mad, but I think Adan's balanced that out a little bit -- and all the meals have been on time and tasty, so things must be going well in there. Titus is bored, that's for sure, but he says all the healing has been good for grinding experience. I hardly even see Vic, if I'm honest."

"Yeah, once she showed her usefulness in scouting for hull damage it kind of became of her full time job -- there aren't exactly a lot of sailors who can casually float straight through the bottom of the ship and inspect it from the outside. Between you and me though, I think she spends most of her time relaxing somewhere no one can find her."

"What about you?" Iris asked, "how are you settling in?"

"Pretty good," Eli said, "Hedley's not much for talking, but he's a good teacher. I'll start working shifts in the crow's nest by myself pretty soon. Not sure why, it’s not like that guy ever even leaves. He’ll probably sleep up there while I keep watch."

"Must be nice sitting in a box all day."

"You'd think that," he sighed, "but don't forget I have to climb all the way up every morning. I also can't fall asleep while I'm on post, and at the end of a long day I still have to climb all the way down before I can relax -- what was that?"

"What was what?" Iris asked.

He pointed out across the dark waters, "something was poking out of the water, then it sank as soon as I noticed it."

"Hmm," Iris pulled the spyglass from her bottomless bag, extended it half way for a partial zoom, and placed it to her eye. She panned her gaze across the waters, "I'm not seeing anyth-- wait."

"What is it? Let me see!"

Iris passed him the spyglass, "like you said, I saw something poking out of the water, maybe a head -- then it disappeared."

Eli searched the waters with the spyglass with a frown, "I'm not seeing it now."

"It must be the Fish Wizard, right?" she asked, "this is exactly what he did before."

"I don't know, maybe," Eli lowered the spyglass with a grimace and handed it back to her, "but we'll need to inform the captain."

"You'll need to," Iris corrected hopefully.

"Nope, come on," he said as he turned and walked towards the stairs to the main deck.

Iris swore under her breath, but blipped after him.

A moment later, Eli was hesitantly knocking on the door to the captain's quarters. The first mate's voice called out from within for them to enter, and Eli cautiously pushed open the door.

The inside of the captain's quarters was large, but quaint. The furniture looked as if it had been salvaged from a shipwreck, with warped planks and unpolished edges. Cubby-hole shelves lined the portside wall, filled with rolled maps and charts. There was a closed wardrobe in the back right corner, and a large bed in the back left. The starboard wall was mostly empty, save for a few large wooden chests pushed against it. The most notable feature of the starboard wall was the large rectangular fish tank that had been mounting atop a wooden table, which itself was secured tightly to the wall. In that tank was Gerald the fish, who Iris would have sworn began immediately scowling as Eli and Iris entered.

Near the middle of the room was a large table surrounded by stools. Spread out across the table was a large map of Central Giantrock, the bulk of which was consumed by the lake. Captain Clement and First Mate Meredith were leaning over the table, apparently charting their course across the lake.

"What is it?" the first mate barked.

"We spotted something in the water, ma'am, behind the ship and off to the starboard side," Eli said.

"Go on," the captain instructed.

"They looked like heads, sir, poking out of the water and dropping below the surface once we noticed them. We only ever saw one at a time, though. We think it might have been the Fish Wizard."

The captain released a low, rumbling growl.

"It makes sense he would come after us," the first mate observed to the captain.

"You're dismissed," the captain said to Iris and Eli, who both promptly exited.

"You're not convinced?" the first mate asked.

"It could very well be the wizard," the captain said, "but I'd bet my cargo it's the damned mermaids again."

"They couldn't stop us last time, they learned that lesson the hard way. Why would they try again now?"

"This'll be their last chance to free the hydra. Odds against them or not, I reckon they'll take it."