I am on a ship; my parents are with me.

A storm has come upon us.
The air is wild and whips into me like frozen spears.
The ship is rocking in the waves, completely out of control. I can hardly stand, the ship is tilting so much.
I fall to my knees, immediately drenched in the icy waters pooling onto the deck.
I try to regain my balance, but it is no use.

We all look up in horror as we see a wave stretching itself into the sky. It is moving toward us, preparing to feast upon our ship.
We are no match for this wave. There is nothing that can be done.
"Mother! Father!" I cry out.
My cries are lost as the wave engulfs us.

The water wraps itself around me, cold and cruel.
It begins to harden. The water is freezing into ice!
I am helpless as it stiffens around me, piercing it's coldness deep within me.
"Mother! Father!" I try to call to them. I just need one more moment with them, but the water has frozen my lips shut.
I am forced to watch as they are frozen into statues and pulled into the endless abyss of water below.

I jerk straight up and find myself safe in my quarters.
I gasp for air.
It was just a dream. It was just a dream.
I hold my arms close to my body, willing them to feel warmth.
My arms are now frozen up to my elbows; my toes are beginning to freeze, as well.

It is common knowledge that my parent's lives were taken at sea.
They left on their ship... and they never returned.
I have been tormented by similar nightmares every night aboard the Gerda.
I hate being trapped on this ship.

I try to spend my days out on the upper deck as much as possible. I do not feel the sensation of being stuck as much up there in the open.
I often sit with Ember. He is frequently found on one the railings, his legs dangling down toward the ocean. I assume this is his favorite spot.
He always has a faraway look in his eyes. He is so distracted that we hardly even talk.
I still find great contentment sitting near him, letting his warmth radiate toward me.
I never leave Ember feeling cold.

I spend much time with Hemmin, as well.
She comes to my room every day and does her mending, usually while telling me stories she has heard over the course of her seafaring life.
I have come to find that I quite enjoy listening to her tales. They have a charm that is very different from the Arendelle tales told at home.

I offer my assistance to the crew members whenever I feel confident that I can successfully perform the task without being a bigger nuisance to them.
They do not seem to appreciate my offers.
Thus far, they have not let me be of aid to them in any way.
Usually, they just grunt and continue on with their work.

I fall back into my pillows, tucking the covers up to my chin.
I try to settle back into sleep.

The boards of the ship groan and creak, as if mourning alongside me.

I spend several hours in a restless half-consciousness.

When I am able to fully gather my bearings, I decide that I cannot possibly take one moment longer stuck in this room.

I dress myself; just in a simple dress. No need to worry about elegance here.
I pull my hair back into a sloppy braid. I rather like styling my hair like this and have been doing it more and more often.
A fleeting thought flashes through my mind.
I wonder if Ember likes my hair like this?
I brush it away.

I push open my door and practically sprint down the hall, up the stairs, and out into the openness of the upper deck.

The sun is just beginning to peak itself out from the blanket of waters. It seems as though it is wondering whether or not it should like to wake up yet.
Begrudgingly, it edges upward at a snail's pace.

I look out across the deck. It is mostly deserted at this early hour, save a few crew mates who seem to be getting a head start on their various duties for the day.
I see that Ember has hardly left his favorite spot, but at least had the intelligence to pull himself away from the railing so that he might sleep without tipping right off the boat. He is curled up into a ball on the floor.
I smile at the sight of him. Just because he looks rather absurd lying there like that, not because of anything at all remotely romantic; so please do not make any such accusations.

I walk across the deck and head inside one of the doors on the opposite side of the great ship, this leads me down another stairway and another hall.
I can hear a rough and slightly off-key voice wafting towards me. I find it surprisingly satisfying in the most peculiar way.
I am drawn towards it and find myself peering through a crack in the door of the ship's galley.
"Anchor we raise, anchor we hoist
Every sailor has made his choice
To each his own
And each be led
Till ye be bones
Till ye be dead
Every man wanting to be free
Every man drawn to the life of the sea
Anchor we raise, anchor we hoist
Ye can't turn back once ye make your choice"

I accidentally push on the door and a loud creaking sound is emitted.
The singing stops abruptly.

"I know you're there, lassie." The cook growls.
No sense in hiding. I emerge fully and enter the galley.

I have offered my help to the cook on several occasions during our voyage thus far.
He has not yet made any move whatsoever in accepting my help.
He merely grunts and continues on with his work, which generally consists of dicing onions. Why one would ever need so many onions, I will never know.
I do know that I am capable of chopping onions.

"I really liked your song." I tell him. "It is quite unlike the songs we usually sing in Arendelle."
He grunts.
"Do you need any help?" I ask him now.
He grunts again.
I stand there for a few moments, watching him slice the vegetables open with his knife. He is completely ignoring me.
For whatever reason, possibly against my better judgment, I grab one of the knives from his broad collection and begin to dice onions without his consent.
I note that he pauses his chopping, as if slightly stunned. However, he does not oppose.

"What is your name?" I ask to fill the void.
"Aksel." He answers bluntly.
"Nice to meet you, Aksel."
He grunts.
"Do you have a family back home?"
"Aye. A wife and two daughters."
"It must be hard leaving them behind." I sympathize. "It was hard for me to leave Anna."
"That's the life of the sea folk." Aksel responds.
"I could never imagine doing this my whole life." I confide in him. "My parents died on a ship..."
"Aye." His knife slows. "I was supposed to be on board the Kaia alongside your parents on that trip. At the last moment, my mate Ingvar took my place."
I put my knife down and look upon him. "I'm so sorry."
"Aye."

We continue to dice onions together all morning.