"Do you have to go, brother?" Hiwari asked as she hugged her brother.
"It's always been my dream to see the entire world," Kinwa replied, "But I will be back one day, I promise. "
"Take this with you son," Kinwa's father said as he handed Kinwa a letter.
"Read it when you miss us," his mother said, as he hugged his parents.
"Love you guys," Kinwa shouted as he ran to the dock where Mr. Lawa was.
"You ready, boy?" Mr. Lawa asked.
"Ready as I'll ever be," he replied as he boarded the ship.
"Where will we be going first?" Kinwa asked.
"The largest of the kingdoms," Mr. Lawa pointed at his map, "The kingdom of Zynthalia."
"There we'll trade everything I brought with me," Mr. Lawa stated, "And buy out all their stocks of Zynthalian crystals at the capital."
"I know a blacksmith that buys them in bulk," Mr. Lawa finished, "In the kingdom of Telomala."
"How long will it take us to reach the kingdom of Zynthalia?" Kinwa asked.
"Around six months give or take a few weeks," Mr. Lawa replied.
Mr. Lawa walked away as he shouted something to a few of the sailors and the ship began to move. The cold water splashed against the large ship, as the wind sent the ship in direction of Zynthalia.
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Men cheered inside the ship as the man rose his cup of ale in a cheer.
"To our new crewmate, even if he only has a rabbit totem!" laughed a drunk man with an eye patch as he rose his cup of ale.
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All the others laughed as they looked at Kinwa, as another sailor looked at the man with the eye patch.
"Well at least he didn't cut all his hair off, thinking he'd look good like that, only thing you do is get warmth from the sun!" a drunken Mr. Lawa scoffed.
"Oi Kinwa..." Mr. Lawa said as he looked at the boy.
"Go fetch... another barrel of ale." Mr. Lawa struggled to say as he sat on a chair in the corner of the room.
Kinwa left the room as he walked, up to the deck. He looked at the freezing ocean and the jagged rocks that were beginning to form in his sight. He lift a barrel as he hauled it towards the stairs and head back down to the others. The door made a loud sound as it opened, as Kinwa dropped the barrel on the floor. All of the sailors had fallen asleep, except one who continued to read a book in the corner.
"They already fell asleep, your free to do as you want," the man said as he turned the page, "Finally some peace and quiet to read."
"Okay," Kinwa replied, "Want anything while I'm here?"
"No," the man replied, "Have a nice night Kinwa, we'll be back at it tomorrow."
"Thanks, Rito," Kinwa said as he left.
The stairs made a creaking sound, as he went back up to the deck, the wind blowing against his hair. Kinwa looked at the icebergs, that passed the ship a singing noise beginning to ring in his ears. The loud, melodic singing continued, as he looked at where it was coming from. A black-haired girl with red eyes, continued to sing from a rock as Kinwa began to walk closer to the edge of the ship.
"Are you okay?" Kinwa shouted as he looked at the girl who continued to sing.
The girl ignoring the question continued to sing, as the freezing water splashed against the rock she sat on.
"Can you swim?" the boy asked once again being ignored.
"Hold on, I'll fetch a boat to get you," he yelled as he ran over to the side of the ship.
The singing got louder, as the ship got closer to the girl who continued to sing. Kinwa began to unravel the rope, as a hand gripped onto his shoulder.
"Don't... even... move...." a man stated as he huffed for air.
The singing got louder, as a crossbow was put on Kinwa's shoulder a quarrel loaded into it. The crossbow let out a click sound, as a quarrel flew at the girl. She screamed in pain, as she fell into the water, the girl's body beginning to float. A tail now showing Kinwa turned around as he watched a crossbow fall to the floor.
"Who did that?" he asked looking around.
"Oi kinwa!" shouted Rito as he reached the deck of the ship, "What's wrong what was all that yelling about?"
Kinwa, looked at Rito in confusion as he pointed at the floating body of the girl.
"Why were you messing with the crossbo- Oi that's a mermaid!" exclaimed Rito.
"That's the death of most newbie sailors," Rito said surprised, "Let's go fetch the monster's carcass, a single scale fetches for the price of twenty thousand Zynthalas!"