Andrew, still holding my hands, dropped one and led me back below deck by the other. Sully was sitting on the stairs, leaned up against the wall, asleep. I only saw the boy for a moment as the young captain pulled me into his cabin and shut the door behind us. I pulled my hand free and leaned against the door. I reached out, grabbed his jacket and pulled him close to me. He put a hand on my cheek and leaned down to kiss me again. I closed my eyes and kissed him back, hard. He took my hands off of his jacket and shrugged it off. It landed on the floor behind him. Then, he slipped his shirt off and dropped it on top of the other piece of clothing. As he did this, I unbuckled the belt around my waist and let it drop to the floor with a thud. I heard Sully shift just outside the door. I used one hand to undo the one around my thigh, but I let that drop a little quieter. When I was standing up straight again, Andrew pressed his lips against me once more. He seemed hungrier now that he had on deck. I moved my hands to my bodice strings and started unlacing it as I kissed back.

"You're good at this," he whispered, only separating from me for a second.

I used to do this for a living, I thought to myself. I better be good at this. I tore the long string from my under bust bodice and shimmied out of it. My puffy, off-white shirt fell a little farther down my arms, exposing more of the tattoo that snaked around my back, shoulder, and half of my arm. He grabbed my shoulders and pulled me over to his bed…

When I woke up the next morning, I found myself in Andrew's arms. He was holding me close and his skin was warm against mine. I started to look up, but when I moved my head, it hit his chin. He woke up. He looked a little disoriented at first but soon realized where he was. He looked down at me and smiled.

"Good morning." I smiled as well. He ran his fingers through my long hair. It made me turn a little red. I started to look back down. He untangled his hand from my hair and sat up, taking the cover with him. It left my chest exposed and I turned completely red. I sat up, as well, grabbed the sheet, and held it over my body. Andrew looked at me and laughed at my being so flustered. "It's nothing I haven't seen before." I shrugged. His eyes moved to my left arm. He saw the dragon tail, swirling around my upper arm. "May I?" I hesitated for a second, but nodded. I moved over to the side of the bed so I was next to him and turned my back toward him. He examined it. It started on the right side of my lower back and snaked around my back, over my shoulder, and around my arm, ending close to my elbow.

"It took a long time," I said. "It hurt, too."

"I bet it did," he said, still looking. "It's very intricate." I nodded. He wrapped his arms around me from behind and pulled me against him. He leaned against the wall and I on his chest.

"Will you tell me…what you brought me here for, Andrew?" He set his chin on my head.

"There is a man…who wants you," he said, unenthusiastically. "I bargained with him…" I sat up, quickly, pulling away from him.

"You're selling me?!" I almost yelled, disgusted. I turned to look at him, but he looked away from me with a frown. I shot him a glare. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Andrew opened his mouth to say something but the door opened and Sully walked in.

"Captain…," he started. The poor kid froze when he saw me, half covered and Andrew sitting on his bed, completely naked. "Whoa!" he yelled.

"Sully!" Andrew exclaimed, turning beet red. The small boy stared at us for a few minutes. "Sully, go away!" Sully scrambled out of the room, quickly, and slammed the door shut behind him. Once he was gone, I ran over and grabbed my clothes. I slipped on my shirt and then my black, skin-tight pants. I put the wine red bodice on and laced it up only halfway. I put my black, knee-high boots on and then buckled both belts on me.

"I can't believe you," I said, glaring at the young captain again. I put my hand on the doorknob and looked at the floor. "I can't believe I'm helping you get to the place where you'll be selling me." I sighed and looked back at him. "But at least I'll be getting away from you." I flung the door open and took off once again. This time, he didn't come after me. I ran above deck. Most of the crew was already there. The compass, which was still hanging from my belt, kept smacking me in the leg, reminding me that I should probably go and steer. I couldn't wait to get to India. At least there was someone waiting for me who wanted me.

"Out of my way," I commanded to Snake, the Native American crew member, who was standing at the helm.

"I don't take orders from prisoners," he said, glaring at me. I put my hands over my sword and my gun.

"If I'm a prisoner, why am I walking around the ship freely, carrying my weapons?" He thought for a few seconds. "Now, move away." He backed away, finally. I pulled Andrew's compass off my belt and flipped it open. Some of the crew had stopped to stare at me, but I didn't care. I spun the wheel a little to the right. I shoved the compass into Snake's hands. "We're going to India. Captain's orders. Stay on this course. I'll come back when we have to change directions." The Native American stared at me, dumbfounded. I walked away, lacing up the rest of my bodice, tightly.

Over the next three or four days, as we drew closer to India, I stayed away from Andrew. I spent most of the time with Chaac, who barely spoke any English, and Diego. Snake started to warm up to me after I cooled off. He invited me to sit with him and some of the crew when he told his tribe's stories of creation and other things. They fascinated me. The stories were exciting but sometimes confusing. On fourth night, after everyone had started to head down to their bunks, I got up from where we were sitting and went over to the helm. Snake came over to me, holding a lantern and the compass.

"You going to stay up all night, Dragon?" he asked me, passing the compass over to me. I opened it and he held the light up for me.

"Yeah…," I started, looking closely at the compass. "We should get to India by tomorrow afternoon."

"Do you want me to stay out here for a while with you?" he offered. I flipped the compass closed and hung it on my belt. I smiled up at him.

"No, it's alright. I know you're tired. Go ahead to bed." He started towards the stairs that led below deck. I grabbed the lantern from him before he went. "Ah…leave this with me, please."

"Goodnight," he said. I nodded. He turned and left, mumbling under his breath. I thought I heard something like, "…a great navigator…" and, "…sad to see her go." I smiled, watching him leave. Once he was gone, I put the lantern on the ground and slowly walked to the bow of the ship. I leaned over the side and looked down. I couldn't see the water, but I could hear it. I vaguely wondered who the man I was being sold to was. The thought of my brother hadn't even come to mind. I figured it was just some man that I had met when I was a prostitute. There were quite a few, although drunk, who became quite attached. Would he be nice to me? Or…would I have to find some what to get away from him? I was too caught up in my thoughts to hear someone walk up behind me.

"Dragon Eire?" I heard Andrew's voice come from behind me. I hung my head, my forehead almost hitting the wood on the ship. I didn't want to talk to him. I stood up straight and turned around.

"What do you want?" I asked, angrily, crossing my arms over my stomach.

"I want to explain."

"What can you possibly have to explain? You're selling me to some guy for profit."

"This guy was going to sell Benten and Bishamon's sister to a man that would probably kill her if I hadn't bargained to bring you to him." My expression changed. He took a step closer to me. "But…"

"But?" I tried to step back but the side of the ship was there, so I couldn't go very far. When he saw the I couldn't go very far, he came right up to me. He reached his hand out and put his fingertips on my cheek and moved them into my hair.

"But, I'm not sure if I want to let you go just yet…"

"What?" Before he could say anything, the ship moved violently. It made me fall in Andrew. He caught me by the shoulders and stood me up straight. I leaned over the side of the ship and looked down. Staying in that position, I looked over at the young captain. "Reef?" He shrugged. The ship kept sailing on.

"Must've been…"

"Go to bed, Andrew. It's late." I stood up straight once again and started walking towards the helm again. "We'll be in India by tomorrow afternoon." He followed me.

"But…"

"No buts. It's what you wanted," I said, opening the compass again. He sighed. I handed the compass to him. "This belongs to you; I won't be needing it anymore." He took it from me and pocketed it.

"Didn't you hear me?" he asked, getting closer to the wheel. I turned it violently. Andrew jumped back so he didn't get hit. I could feel the ship turn.

"I heard you."

"So?" he asked, anxious, like a giddy little school boy. I shook my head.

"Go to bed, Andrew." He looked down at the lantern and shrugged.

"Whatever you want…" He turned and skulked away, down to his cabin. I watched him leave. I heard the door close. As soon as I did, I saw Sully come up the stairs. The small boy walked over to me.

"Yes?"

"You know, Andrew has really taking a liking to you," he said. I smirked.

"Go away, kid. He'll be rid of me by tomorrow and by next week, I'm sure he'll have forgotten about me." Sully shrugged. He stared up at the stars for a while before leaving me alone. I looked down at the lantern and stared at the light, frowning. The wind started blowing hard; hard enough to blow out the fire.

In the morning, I was shaken until I woke up. When I opened my eyes, I saw Snake standing over me. I was suddenly very cold. I looked around me. The deck was wet. My clothes were soaked.

"How could you sleep through that?" I shrugged.

"I'm a deep sleeper."

"Well, wet or not, the captain wants to see you." I nodded. He pulled me up by my upper arm and I walked off towards Andrew's cabin.