Matteo appreciated the sheer space the ocean around them took up. Yeah, sure, if he thought about it too long it was kind of terrifying—but its depths were overshadowed by the amount of fascination he had by looking at it. Hannah once recalled that Rene had the same opinion.
He didn’t lean over the railing largely because he knew Tara would mentally scream at him if he tried, but he did stand close. Members of the crew—some of which he was starting to recognize and vice versa—occasionally commented when they walked past.
“You’re an early bird, aren’t you?”
He looked back and offered a greeting wave to Hannah.
“I’d rather see the sun rise than need to use lights at night,” Matteo admitted.
“Fair. I’d take dawn over headaches any day. It probably helps that Ren was an early bird.”
“Yeah—if I have any kind of wake up call, it would be Mom and Rene getting ready for the day. My uncle also needs to get up early, so I have his influence too.”
Hannah nodded and prepared to continue before Matteo caught sight of Tara coming out. His sister only came as close to the edge of the ship as needed to maintain comfortable conversation.
“Good morning,” Hannah said nicely.
“Was last night all right?” Matteo asked, slightly concerned. She probably heard from Itzun; it would be a bit of a problem if she didn’t. He looked her over a bit; she wasn’t holding herself as nervously and worriedly as she had yesterday. “You seem to be doing better, anyway.”
“…Something was bothering me,” Tara admitted somewhat quietly. She tried to look over to the side, only to flinch at the wide expanse of water. She then focused on her sketchbook and whatever pencils she brought out, and after a minute looked at Hannah. “Do you have a map of Dakari?”
“What for?” She asked it with nothing but curiosity, but Tara still took an extra few seconds to decide how she wanted to respond.
“We’re…not quite done what we need to do,” Tara explained somewhat awkwardly. “I need a map to know exactly where we should be next.”
“Gotcha. I should have one lying around somewhere, so give me a few minutes.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Tara murmured some agreement and Hannah left. Silence fell for a little bit, broken mostly by Hannah’s brief return to present them with their breakfast.
Matteo sat down a little closer to the inner deck to eat, with Tara sitting down at whatever distance made her the most comfortable. Most of the other crew members just ate wherever they fancied and entertained a conversation amongst themselves—Matteo and Tara being a silent exception. Tara didn’t say much until Hannah came back, offering a newer map to the youngest.
“Will this work?”
Tara briefly stopped eating to look over, nodded, and murmured some thanks. Hannah wordlessly sat the map next to her and went to get her own food.
Tara moved the map so it was roughly in between of them, staring at it as she continued eating. By the time Matteo finished his breakfast, she perked up and confidently placed her eraser in one particular spot near the center.
“Itzun told me last night that whatever the last place will be is in the forest,” she explained quietly, pulling back and continuing eating. She carried on in between bites. “That still seems to be true, so if nothing else we won’t have to worry about people seeing us.”
“Definitely a plus considering the blood binding thing,” Matteo noted. He examined the map a bit. “The area sounds familiar—it might be a park. It won’t be devoid of people, but it shouldn’t seem to odd if we head in there either.”
“Any further planning might have to wait until we get home,” Tara murmured. She sighed, leaning back a bit. “Which is…not exactly ideal, but it can’t be helped.”
“If nothing else, it might be easiest to head back to San Asari, then figure out what sequence of trains we have to take to get there,” Matteo reasoned. “Given its position and status, it’s going to have more options in terms of where trains are going to or coming from.”
She gave some agreement, and they sat in silence for a little bit longer until Hannah returned. Matteo perked up once he saw her.
“Oh! I’ve been meaning to ask.” She cast him a curious look to show he had her attention. “Were you planning on heading back to San Asari with us to talk to Rene? We have a spare room at our house, if so—Mom won’t mind as long as you don’t have knives on you.”
“I promised Ly I’d come right back home as soon as possible,” Hannah replied, sitting down. She didn’t have any food; she might have already eaten. “That means dropping you guys off at Eyset, filling up inventory, then sailing out and in the following hours.”
“My offer from earlier still stands,” Matteo maintained. “We’d be glad to have you if you came by San Asari. You can come back with Lykke—maybe in the new year or sakura season, if you don’t have any plans—and hang out. I really think Rene would enjoy that.”
“I still think you’re a bit naive,” Hannah admitted. She gave a little smile despite that. “But the sentiment’s nice, regardless. I can’t make any promises, but since you’re so determined I can try to convince Ly when I get back—it just won’t be in the next month or so.”
“That’s fine by me. I just like the idea of closure.”
Hannah seemed to understand. After a little bit, they continued on with a different topic that brought Tara in as well. The conversation only broke up when one of the crew members needed Hannah for something, at which point she left and Matteo resumed sea-watching.