As they went up on deck Rose hurried to the edge of the ship to look out at the vast sea before her. All her life she had dreamed for something like this, and now that she was here, the feeling in her chest was almost indescribable. The sea waves rose and fell and changed colors before her from sea green to a deep blue. She could see an island in the distance, the sky ahead lighting significantly from where they were.

"What island is that?" She said more to herself but she was surprised when Christopher came up beside her to answer.

"That's Yzil" he said relaxing against the ships railing "Noon in the Abarat. It's a lush forest with crystal clear waterfalls. The Princess Breath once lived there deep in the forest."

"Princess?" Rose asked curious "So there's more than one princess here in the Abarat?"

"Only a few, the Princess Breath was considered the Creatrix, every breath from her lungs created a new creature for the Abarat" he said staring at the island.

"What happened to her?" Rose asked seeing the pain in Christopher's eyes.

"Motley" he said with a dark tone "She captured the Princess and imprisoned her on Midnight to breath life into her stitchlings and create monsters for her Empire."

"Stitchlings?" Rose said.

"Horrible creatures sewn together from rotting flesh, or sometimes fresh skin from corpses. She has a whole sewing circle of witches to create them. She used to fill them with this kind of mud that gave them life. But after the past few years she's ran her resources down and had to find another way to make her army after your mother destroyed the first one."

"Motley's hurt a lot of people" Rose said with sadness as Christopher nodded. Rose looked up at him "She's hurt you most of all."

Christopher didn't meet her eyes but she could tell her words had hit him as he stared out to the sea as they began slowly passing Yzil. Rose turned to look around the ship and found several crew members staring at the pair with wide eyes. She felt herself tense up, wondering if they knew who she was.

"They aren't looking at you" he said "they are looking at me."

"Are you really all that bad?"She asked with a grin

"I've done many bad things" he said

"Everyone's done something bad" she said with a small shake of her head "not everyone's perfect."

"Oh really?" He said with an amusement as his eyebrow rose a tad "Name one bad thing you have done then."

"Okay…." she said thinking for a moment "I stole something once"

"Truly?" Christopher said now with a smile

"Mmmhm it was a pack of bubblegum" she said with a chuckle "I was in the gas station with the other children and saw a pack of bubblegum I had seen advertised on the TV. I never wanted anything like that before, but I couldn't help reaching out and sticking it in my pocket"

Christopher smiled at her tale, not know what bubblegum or a gas station really was but loving the tone and enthusiasm in her voice. "What happened after you took it?" He said.

"I felt awful" she laughed "I was so racked with guilt that I went back the next day and gave the gum to the clerk all the while sobbing" she giggled again.

Christopher laughed "And how old were you?"

"Six!" She said and they both shared a good chuckle for a moment. Christopher felt strange being this content for however brief the moment was. He never laughed like this before, but Rose had a charm about her that he couldn't help but find amusing. His face felt strange as he found himself actually smiling, so much that the edges of his mouth slightly hurt.

"Well you certainly are a world class thief" he said looking back out into the ocean.

"Well I might not be the big bad guy that you are" she said in a teasing tone of voice "But it did teach me a lesson. After all, that's the point of making mistakes, to learn from them."

Christopher grew quiet for a moment, thinking if he had learned anything from his own choices. He had learned not to trust, not to feel, not to become vulnerable, and certainly of all not to get attached. Boa had taught him that much….

"Did I say something wrong?" Rose asked bringing him from his thoughts to the present "You seem upset."

He looked down at her with a slight grimace before grumbling "Maybe some lessons aren't the best to be learned" he said before walking away from Rose to talk to one of the crew members.

"Jeeze, this guy was hot and cold to the max" she thought shaking her head and looking out to the sea.

She could see different ships in the distance all passing by on one trip to another, their lives moving even if there was an evil empire ruling most of it. She shook her head and guessed that's what most of history did while under oppression, until someone came along that put a stop to it. Would that person be her? She looked down at her locket, the colors swirling in the stone much like her eyes did. This stone held something powerful, something she alone could use. Maybe after they reached Nully and found the Abaratara she could use it. She knew Motley had to be stopped, just from hearing Hannibal's story that surely reflected so many others made her want to stop it. But was her power going to be enough? She turned and looked towards Christopher who after a moment returned to her side.

"We should get a few hours rest while we can" he said.

"Alright" Rose nodded, needing time to think about what she could do and what purpose she was going to serve with her time in the Abarat. She followed Christopher back into the captain's quarters and was led into a tiny wooden room with a small bed and a chest to keep their belongings in. Rose admired the cozy space, but yet once again there was only one bed to be shared between the two of them.

"You can sleep in here for the time being" he said as he took off his jacket and placed it in the chest, his fingers running through his dark hair and feeling the shaved sides that no doubt could use a trim.

"What about you?" Rose asked grabbing her bag and placing it also in the chest.

"I'll keep watch outside the door" he said as he took off another layer or what looked like armor and revealed his lanky but muscular frame. Rose liked the way he looked in just his pants, suspenders and white shirt. It almost made him look less intimidating than normal.

"Christopher I thought you said we were safe" Rose said putting her hands on her hips.

"We are, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared" he said sticking his hands in his pant pockets.

"Well what about you? Don't you need to sleep?" She said gesturing up and down at him "You've been up more than I have in the last couple of days. I'm sure you are tired."

Christopher sighed and hated that she was right. He was exhausted, and his mind muddled with feelings of emotion and the past rather than being sharp and in the present. He needed to rest, if only for a little bit.

"You wouldn't mind?" He said looking longingly at the bed.

"Not at all!" Rose said, quick to step out of the room and encourage him to sleep "I saw some spare paper in the next room, I'd love a chance to sit and sketch Yzil."

Thinking of Rose curled up by the window staring out into the sea sketching somehow was the perfect vision to calm his worries, knowing she would just be in the next room while he rested.

"Alright" he said nodding "But if you need anything call out to me. I'm not that heavy of a sleeper, when I do sleep that is."

"You got it" she said throwing a thumbs up, something that made her look incredibly adorable to him as he watched her close the door behind her. Yes, he needed rest. He had never thought of someone cute, or adorable, those thoughts were foreign to him. As Rose headed into the next room Christopher found himself flopping on the small but fortunately soft bed and fell asleep fast.

Rose closed the door with a content smile, happy to help Christopher in whatever way she could. Caring for others came naturally to her, it always had. She guessed that was why she was so popular with the children at the orphanage. As she grabbed the piece of paper and a quill with some ink she felt excited being able to draw for the first time in a while. It would be interesting to use a pen and quill, never having sketched with one before. But soon as she stared out the window and sketched the horizon, she found it easy to manipulate after a bit of practice. She sketched for what seemed like hours, taking in every detail she could see of the island as they passed by, unsure of where they were but was sure they were getting closer. It was a bit disorienting without the passing light of the sun as she was so used to, but if she focused enough, she could see the sky twisting into a different hue as the water also changed its color as they slowly sailed by.

Soon though, she heard what sounded like music up on deck, the sweet melody of a violin as the stomps and claps of the crew echoed out up above her. Curiosity got the better of her as she ventured towards the cabin doors and listened intently. She smiled to herself, loving the sound now as many of the crew members began singing along to a song she did not know. She wanted a closer look, if only for a moment as she gently pushed the door open and looked up the stairs to the deck. Before she knew it though, big hands found her and snatched her right up in the air.