She watches as the lines blur together.
Moonless night sky and inky waves, reflecting one another and becoming
one, wavering gently in soothing motion. She is the princess of a
long-dead kingdom, looking for a new beginning and the thought is
terrifying. What would it be like, to be surrounded by land without the
sea in sight? What will happen to the ship - her ship, her mother's
ship?
She lets the air cradle her, lets the ship rock her gently and stares until her eyes water, turning ocean to sky and sea to air. Up here in the crow's nest, nobody can see her, and on nights like these she lets herself think.
They're sleeping belowdecks, with the exception of... someone? She frowns, squinting downward, but can only make out the vague shape of a stocky man at the wheel. She should know who it is, but exhaustion is blurring her thoughts now, even as the grey pre-dawn light brings the waves and sky into focus. She should go now, wake someone else up and drag them up there and collapse into the comforting familiar softness of her bed.
And as Tetra climbs downward, she lets her thoughts turn to the boy sleeping tonight on a pile of old sacks and moth-eaten blankets, and she can't help but wonder if he ever worries...
She grins as her feet touch the deck, and she shakes her head.
She lets the air cradle her, lets the ship rock her gently and stares until her eyes water, turning ocean to sky and sea to air. Up here in the crow's nest, nobody can see her, and on nights like these she lets herself think.
They're sleeping belowdecks, with the exception of... someone? She frowns, squinting downward, but can only make out the vague shape of a stocky man at the wheel. She should know who it is, but exhaustion is blurring her thoughts now, even as the grey pre-dawn light brings the waves and sky into focus. She should go now, wake someone else up and drag them up there and collapse into the comforting familiar softness of her bed.
And as Tetra climbs downward, she lets her thoughts turn to the boy sleeping tonight on a pile of old sacks and moth-eaten blankets, and she can't help but wonder if he ever worries...
She grins as her feet touch the deck, and she shakes her head.