Dirty black combat boots clomped steadily against the cracking blacktop of the road as she walked with purpose towards her destination. Her dark jeans and baggy grey hoodie did wonders to keep the heat in and the cooling air of the fresh autumn out as it blew mercilessly against her skeletal, gaunt frame. With her hood up over her head so far it covered her eyes she blocked the tragic sight of the dying city from her view and focused solely ahead of her, forcing herself only to see the shifting waters of the sea as she made her way towards the docked ferry. In her jean pocket 1500G sat, heavy, reminding her of what it was she was about to do. Reminding her that she had only herself to worry about, now. Flashes of familiar faces filled her mind; Dr. Trent forcing a smile down at her with deep black orbs full of poorly hidden disappointment, her boyfriend Jet sneering at her with his beautiful tiger lily eyes lacking their usual warmth, her mother glaring into her back with hateful green orbs, and she felt even more compelled to escape the place she once considered a home. Surely nobody would miss her, now. Not after all that'd happened.

Would they even have missed her before all that transpired?

She soon reached her destination. The lone ferry sat idly in its port, bobbing on the occasional small wave that crashed into the shore and sharing in her oneness and solitude. It was befitting that only one ferry waited for her, as if to remind her that she was alone and there was no other way to leave than by herself. The light of the moon bounced merrily off the waves as if to tempt her closer; a temptation she indulged in as she made her way up the pier towards the man guarding the entrance to the passenger ferry. The sound of her boots echoed off of the side of the ferry, alerting the man to her approach, and he looked up from the clipboard he held with obvious surprise. She could only assume not many people boarded this ferry, especially at midnight on a Tuesday, and looking up onto the deck she could see she was correct. Only one figure stood on board the quiet little ferry; a tall person who she assumed to be male wearing a Stetson hat. She could identify nothing else about this character, as he was too far away and stood against the light of the full moon. She could tell that the man was looking at her, but his hat was pulled far over his eyes and provided just enough shadow cover to shield his face from her view.

She didn't let herself dwell on it much, instead refocusing herself towards the ferry attendant. Standing in front of him she could see his gaze was weary, perhaps believing her to be a street rat, but his gaze quickly warmed when she pulled the 1000G needed to pay for her ferry ticket out from her jean pocket. The man accepted her money readily and handed her a laminated paper ticket, a warm and inviting smile on his face and in his wide brown eyes. She didn't smile back.

"Thanks miss! My name is Darryl, and welcome aboard The Setting Sun! Our destination this eve-er, morning is Sunshine Islands, an archipelago about a 6 hours' sail from here. For security and tracking purposes I have to ask you your name and birthday, as well as your age and sex although that last one I already know." The man said in a rushed, sunny tune that made her want to growl in the back of her throat from annoyance. She refrained from being as rude as to growl at the man who had done nothing wrong, instead glaring down at her worn black boots and biting her cheek to calm her anger.

"Name's Chelsea Donovan. Birthday's Fall 3rd. I'm 17. As you can see I'm female. Can I go on board now?" she ground out in barely above a whisper, forcing herself to look up from her shoes as she finished. The man visibly flinched back at the dark look on her face and nodded quickly, looking away from her to jot down the information on his green clipboard and hastily stepping to the side so she could board the ferry. Smirking to herself, happy at the man's reaction, she made her way up the ramp and onto the small passenger ship. Looking down at the ticket she allowed herself to smile only briefly, as if to congratulate herself for following through with her plans, before making her way towards the deck of the ship.

As she walked out onto the deck the man from before tore his gaze from the sky looked at her for a moment before grunting and tipping his hat at her, as if to greet her. She only nodded back at him in response, walking to the other end of the deck and as far away from him as possible. The man's gaze seemed to linger on her only a moment longer, as if thinking of something, before he shook his head and tipped his face back up to gaze at the moon. She watched from the corner of her eye as the moon illuminated his once shadowed features, revealing silver white hair and a stern purple eyed glare. Briefly she recognized the look on his face, as it was one she wore herself quite often, but mostly she focused on his glittering amethyst orbs. Never had she seen such a lonely, deep, midnight purple color. It interested her in a way she didn't like.

It interested her in the same way Jet's sunset orange eyes had, and look where that had gotten her?

Quickly she tore her gaze from him and pulled her hoodie further over her face, tipping her head down to allow her hair to cover parts of her complexion her hood didn't reach. She dug her hands deep into her front jean pockets, her right hand clutching tightly on the silver chain necklace that resided there. The cool of the metal in her hands calmed her just a bit, reminding her to take deep breaths in and out. Slowly, as carefully as one would hold a kitten, she pulled the necklace out of her pocket to cradle it in her hands. The silver heart shaped locket felt lighter in her hands than a feather, almost liberatingly so. She traced her thumb over the sapphire gems that decorated the front of the pendant before snapping it open to reveal the picture inside. Her father's face smiled brightly back at her, all while holding the 4 year old version of herself in his arms tightly like a treasure he never wished to lose. As her eyes bore into his, although only paper, she could swear she felt the warmth and love that she had felt staring into the real pair so long ago. How long had it been since she'd seen those deep, happy, radiant blue eyes?

If she remembered correctly, 10 years.

She bit back the tears that threatened to spring from her eyes and closed the locket gently, holding it tightly in her hand and allowing the cool metal to warm in her palm's embrace. 10 years. It had been ten years, going on 11 in the winter, since she had seen her father alive. It had been almost 11 years ago that he had died, and almost 11 years ago she remembered screaming her agony into her mother's embrace as her father was lowered into the ground. It had been 10 years since then; 10 years since her life changed and never went back to the way it was.

Biting her lip to contain the wail she felt fighting to escape her throat she brought the necklace around her neck, clasping it together behind her after a few failed attempts. Finally letting the silver go, marveling as it shimmered in the equally silver moonlight, she brought her arms around her torso and hugged herself tight. The weight of the necklace around her neck lightened the burden of the bandages that also lie there. No longer did they feel like a collar, but more like a reminder to herself of her own weakness. A testament to what almost was, and what almost occurred.

She could feel the man's gaze on her then, and turning to look him fully in the eyes she was surprised by the coldness she saw there. She had expected pity, sadness, maybe even disgust to be present in those lilac eyes after seeing her moment of weakness but instead he only fixed a calculating and cold look upon her before scoffing and looking down at his brown cowboy boots. She snorted at his reaction, glaring down at her own boots and releasing a bitter chuckle. Of all reactions she had received in her day, that was not one she had ever gotten. It made her want to laugh and cry and be angry all at once. She allowed herself the latter, being it that was the option she was most accustomed to. Glaring even more deeply, she tore her gaze away from her boots and instead glared out at the open sea. If she remembered correctly, her destination was a place called The Sunshine Islands. At that she snorted to herself.

The Sunshine Islands, huh? What a saccharine name. It sounded like hell.