Fen arrived home before Mei and excitedly began packing what little she had in the apartment. She finished more quickly than she had anticipated and was left with her nervous energy filling the room. She held the permit in her hand. All of her dreams were about to become real tomorrow.

Her thoughts drifted to Mei. What would she say? Could she really leave?

The door opened to the their room and Mei walked in. She looked surprised for a moment and then smiled at Fen.

“Before you say anything, I have a surprise for you,” Mei said as she ran to bed. She pulled a wooden box out from under the bed and handed it to Fen. “This is for you. It's from mom.”

Fen held the box in her hands unsure of what to do. How could it possibly be from mom? She had died four years ago. It was simple box with metal latch on the front. On the top was simple carving of three dots and a line underneath.

“Well, open it,” Mei said excitedly.

Fen unlocked the latch and slowly lifted the lid. A letter say inside, it was opened and looked as though is had been handled often.

“Mom gave it to me shortly before she died,” Mei said. Her voice was soft. “She told me to show it to you when you were old enough. Fourteen is an important age, so I thought that it would be a good time.”

Fen lifted the letter and recognized her mother's handwriting. The letter was short, but filled with love. She wiped the tears welling up in her eyes and noticed that Mei was crying as well.

“I read it a lot, and now you can too,” Mei said holding out her hand to Fen. They sat quietly for a long moment. With a sigh, Mei stood and walked to stove to make some food. Fen tenderly placed the letter back into the box and held it to her chest. As she did so, her necklace began to vibrate faintly and Fen could taste metal in her mouth.

Curiously, Fen removed her necklace and held it close to the box. The same reaction happened again. As she looked closer at the box, Fen noticed small runes etched on the bottom of the latch. She placed the crystal on the latch and it began to vibrate more strongly. The runes also began to glow. Fen heard a click inside the box and the latch fell loose of the wood. With it removed, it was easy to see that there was a second compartment to the box.

Fen lifted where the latch once was and second hinge swung open as well. Inside was a second, unopened letter. On the outside is read: To my three.

Fen began reading and quickly realized it was from her father. There were four pages, one each for her mother, Mei, and Fen. The fourth had a drawing of two runes carved onto a block, a crudely drawn map showing the three great cities: Aros, Linara, and Sorol, and a message at the bottom.

“Tenar the metallurgist in Linara will know how to find me. I'll be home soon. I love you, my three.”

Fen read the last lines over and over. Getting more excited each time.

“What is that?” Mei asked.

“Its... it's a letter from dad. I found it in the box. It was hidden.”

“Let me see,” Mei asked. As soon as she had it, she began to crumple the paper.

“What are you doing!” Fen yelled as she stood to take the papers back. They wrestled with each other for a few moments, but Fen was old enough now that Mei no longer had an automatic advantage.

“There is nothing there worth reading.” Mei let go the papers and turned back to the food.

“No, it says right here that he meant to come back.”

“Yeah but he didn't,” Mei said, her voice cracking.

“I can find him. It says how right here. This is perfect.”

“How are you going to do that?” Mei asked, turning towards Fen. “Linara is on the other side of the canyon and months away by horse.”

“I'm going to be a sailor,” Fen said holding out her permit. The pride she had felt in that moment died under the flat stare coming from Mei.

“You're leaving too then,” Mei said.

“No, I'm going to find dad. We are going to be a family again.”

“We all ready are a family!” Tears began to roll down Mei's cheeks.

“That's not what I meant,” Fen reached out towards Mei, tears starting in her eyes as well.

“Go. Go! Leave me,” Mei yelled.

“Mei,” Fen started.

“Leave!” Mei walked to the bed, where Fen had gathered her belongings and picked them up. Fen tried to argue and reason, but Mei silently threw it all out into the hall, tears falling freely from her face.

Fen ran out to gather her things quickly and hurried back to the door, but Mei was standing in the way.

“Leave,” she said in a shaky whisper.

The door was slammed shut and locked before Fen could say anything more. In the empty hallway of their building, Fen felt the weight of being alone. She slid down to the floor with her back against the door and cried. She could hear Mei on the other side crying as well. What was harder was knowing that she couldn't reach her through the door.

Time passed well into the night and both sides had grown quiet. Fen continued to sit on the floor staring at the letter in front of her. He was out there. She could feel it, and she would find him.

Fen carefully smoothed out the wrinkles in the letter and slid the first two pages under the door. She folded her's and the final page of the letter together and placed them in the bottom of her bag. From there she walked to the door that led to the roof.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

It was a warm night; fall had not began cooling the night air. Fen had slept outside on a few occasions and enjoyed it. There were no clouds, and Fen could see many of the stars above them. She new they were supposed to make shapes, but she had never learned them. Instead she imagined her own shapes: a grand ship here with a bright blue star at the tip of its center mast, opposite the ship was a large gryphon, front talons raised and wings spread wide.

The shapes slowly traced along the night sky as the moon began to rise over the city. As it rose, Fen drifted off to sleep.

Fen woke to the sound of the city bells. The bell tower was a long way off at the center of the city, but the sound carried well beyond the outer walls. Groggily, Fen counted the chimes. Five tolls from the main bell followed by a single, lighter bell. Fen jumped to her feet and quickly gathered her bag. The next bell would be the sixth bell and Captain Maolen would be gone.

She tore down the stairs of the building jumping off of the last three steps of each flight. A few people shouted in surprise as pushed passed them. There was no time to apologize. There was no time for anything.

The lamps along the street still glowed with a soft light. It was just as bright as it had been all night, but as the morning sun began to brighten the city their presence became muted. There was only another hour or so worth of marble left to feed the runes.

The streets were full of people, most were heading to work while a few returned from an night shift at the docks. There were no carriages or carts in this section of the city. No one could afford that, so most people shuffled down the center of the street.

Fen weaved in between them a swiftly as she could. The majority of people in the street were in no rush, which made navigating the crowd easier. Maybe she would make it.

As Fen rounded a corner, she ran head first into the back of a tall man. He cursed as he stumbled forward a step. Fen fell backward, scraping her wrist and arm as she tried to break her fall.

“Watch it,” the man grumbled as he turned back the way he was looking.

Fen noticed the crowd that had gathered in front of her. A pair of men were fighting in the center with a woman off to one side crying, asking them to stop. There was no way around the crowd, and there wasn't enough time to wait it out. She would have to back track to the next street over, but it would take her out of the way. Fen increased her pace.

As Fen turned onto the new street the number of people on the street diminished. This street took her away from the docks as well as the larger looms and tanneries. She passed a particularly large tenement and remembered a short cut had found a few years earlier. Two buildings later she turned down a narrow alley.

The alley had just enough room for her to run passed the piles of rotting trash. The alley followed the corner of one building, and as she turned Fen could see the street ahead of her as the alley widened. It would put her on the opposite side of the crowd and back on track.

Fen slowed as she neared the edge of the alley. A group of people stood with their backs to her. One was leaning against the wall and noticed her. He tapped one of the others on the should and pointed in her direction. The group turned around as Fen slowly approached. Her stomach dropped as she recognized the faces. Roe smiled at her with a bandage across his nose.

“Hey look Roe,” Tawn said. “Think she's come to apologize for the other night?”

“No,” Roe said as he rolled his shoulders. “But I'm going to make sure she's sorry.”

Fen cursed and began running the way she came. She was already getting tired from the running she had already done, but the sound of the three boys spurred her on.

As she neared the entrance of the alley, Fen grabbed hold of a pile of old crates to her side. The wood was softer in her hands than she expected. She pulled them down hard behind her as she ran passed. The fell across the alley with a muffled thud. Fen looked back as she turned out of the alley. The boxes slowed the boys down for a moment.

Back on the street, Fen's lungs burned. In the open she couldn't run as fast as they could. Hopefully the boxes in the alley would buy her enough time. Turning onto a new street, Fen was forced to stay on the walkways. It was more crowded this way, but better than competing with the horses and carriages that occupied the center.

Behind her she heard Roe's shouting as they spotted her in the waves of people. Fen could see the stairway out ahead of her that would lead her to the docks. It was on the opposite side of the street.

Fen stepped down into the gutter and began running alongside the carriages. Drivers shouted at her as she ran dangerously close to the horses. Their hooves pounded beside her. For a moment Fen was able to steal a glance behind her. Roe and the other two were getting closer. She could see the anger in his eyes.

The carriage beside continued ahead of her at a faster pace. In that moment, Fen cut across into the street. She found herself in the middle of a lull in the traffic. Ahead of her a carriage driver yelled at her, waving her off to the side. She barely had enough time to dive onto the opposite walkway as the carriage ran by.

Fen stood to her feet. Her knee buzzed with pain along with her lungs and arm. Behind her the three boys shouted at her as they tried to find a way across the street. In front of her, the grand stairway led down to the docks. By the time she had reached the bottom, she could hear Roe shouting from the top of the stairs.

Fen ran along the docks trying to figure out which ship was the Captain Maolen. Fen had always watched the ships from a far, and at a distance everything seemed organized. Up close it was chaos. As she cleared the first large ship, Fen spotted the white ship she had seen the other night. It was preparing to leave. Fen ran towards it still unsure if it was even the right one.

As she got closer, Fen spotted the captain speaking to someone carrying a clipboard. She was wearing a white coat today, which made the red ropes on her should stand out.

Captain Maolen looked at her and smiled as she approached. Fen was nearly to her when a hand caught hold of her shoulder and spun her around. Roe stared her dead in the eyes. He was breathing hard and glared.

“I hate running,” he said between breaths. The other two fanned out beside him, expressions just as angry.

“You should run more often then,” a familiar voice said from behind Fen.

Captain Maolen walked calmly behind Fen and placed her hand on her other shoulder. Fen looked down and saw sharp, dark fingernails that reminded her of claws.

Roe took his hand from Fen's shoulder. He glared up at the captain. As he did, his expression changed and he looked away. He seemed uncomfortable and Bit whispered something into his ear.

“I know!” Roe snapped.

“I think you should run that way,” the captain said nodding the way they had came.

Roe muttered something under his breath as he took a step back.

“Now,” Captain Maolen growled. Something about the sound made Fen feel uneasy.

Bit and Tawn were already running before Roe looked up and glared one last time at Fen. He glanced up at the captain again before turning to run after the other two.

Captain Maolen took a step back from Fen as she turned around.

“Thank you,” Fen said.

“Did you get yourself a permit,” Captain Maolen asked.

“I did,” Fen said. She excitedly rummaged through her back and pulled out the permit. The captain took it from her quickly. She raised an eyebrow as she read it.

“Port Master Seland Yul, how did you manage that?” She asked.

“It's all about who you know,” Fen said, trying to act as casual as possible.

“Well next time we are here, you'll have to introduce me. I've been trying to meet with him in over a year.”

Fen panicked for a moment not sure on what to say.

“Never mind that,” Maolen said nodding in the direction the boys had ran. “Welcome to the crew. From now on any problem of yours is my problem and a problem for everyone aboard the Horizon's Promise.”