Author's Note: So...this took a while for me to post, but it's been done for a while. However, this is the only chapter I've written so far other than the first one. It'll take a while for the other chapters to be written, but it will be done one day. I am not going to be posting any more chapters until the whole story is completely finished. Sorry.


Chapter 2: An Unexpected Arrival


Enola breathed out a heavy sigh, lifting her gaze up to the sky. She had just been remembering that day, the day that the Mariner had taught her how to swim. Now, that was several years ago. She wasn't a little kid anymore. Enola was now sixteen and looked pretty much the same.

Moving away from the ocean, Enola looked towards the trees and whatnot behind her. She recalled the day when the Mariner had left. Enola really didn't want him to leave, but he had to. The Mariner wasn't used to land whatsoever and desired to be on the ocean, forever drifting. That's just who he was.

Every single day, Enola wondered what he was doing. She wondered if he was even still alive. How would he look, now that several years have gone by? Would he still be the same or would he be entirely different? Enola thought she would never know. It was always the same thing every day. Nothing changed. Nothing happened. When she and Helen had been with the Mariner, adventurous events had always occurred, but now…nothing happened.

Dry land was amazing, really, but Enola sometimes wished to go back out at sea. Helen wouldn't let her though and kept her there. As soon as the Mariner had left all those years ago, she had desperately wanted to go back into the ocean and search for him. Of course, Helen and the others stopped her.

Getting up from her crouched position on a rock, the now grown Enola jumped and allowed her feet to touch the sandy ground, feeling the waves wash up and onto her feet, drenching them. Moving her gaze elsewhere, she could see a white horse trotting towards her. The horse belonged to her.

"Ocean!" Enola greeted her steed, meeting the animal halfway and reaching out her hand towards her. Her hand brushed along the animal's fur delicately. Enola always enjoyed petting her pet, pleased to feel the softness of her fur.

The horse, Ocean, neighed gently and relished in the petting she was receiving from her master. After a moment, Enola climbed up on top of Ocean's back and whispered for the horse to move forward. Ocean obeyed and started moving at a slow trot along the shore. The wind blew through Enola's hair, causing it to whip around her face as she rode the horse.

A couple of years ago, Enola had broken Ocean. It had been tough and exhausting and she had failed many times, but she managed to do so in the end, making the horse hers. Ever since then, she and Ocean had been incredibly close. Enola put a lot of her attention on the animal and would often spend more time with her than Helen and the others.

Contemplating on what she was going to do for the rest of her day, Enola kept her eyes ahead as she continued to ride Ocean. Suddenly, completely out of the blue, Enola caught something from the corner of her left eye. Telling Ocean to halt, the teenager turned all of her attention towards the endless sea.

The female was extremely shocked at what she saw!

There was a very massive ship heading in her direction. It was still a great distance back, but it was clearly visible. The ship was gigantic and bigger than anything she had ever seen! Jumping off of the horse, Enola stared in immense wonder. What kind of ship was it? Could it possibly be the Mariner? Just ruminating about him, Enola longed even more to see the male again. She missed him dearly.

"Enola!"

Hearing Helen's voice, Enola spun around to see her approaching. Helen looked the same, but it was clear that she had aged during the past years. Enola knew that Helen missed the Mariner just as much as she did. Helen and the Mariner had been lovers after all and the Mariner was Enola's best friend.

"Helen, are you seeing this?" Enola wanted to know, lifting her hand and pointing at the oncoming ship. "Do you think it's him? Do you think it is, Helen?!" the girl was becoming very excited now. She felt like a small child all over again.

Helen put her eyes on the massive ship that was slowly approaching their land. For some reason, she felt very uneasy about the ship's sudden appearance. Also, she didn't have a feeling that it was the Mariner, the one she only ever loved. It couldn't be him. Why would he be in a ship as big as that?

"Helen, are you listening to me?" Enola was now a bit frustrated that Helen wasn't paying too much attention to what she was saying. "Don't you think that's him?! It has to be him, right? Who else would that be?!"

"I don't know, Enola…" Helen muttered out, uncertain.

"What do you mean?" Enola retorted sharply, her features morphing into a look of temporary agitation. "Who else would it be?"

Helen sighed. "Enola, doesn't it seem strange that a huge ship would come out of nowhere? I really do have a bad feeling about all of this. We should gather up some weapons and be prepared to defend ourselves," the woman explained. "I'm going to go warn the others. You stay and watch the ship."

"Fine." Enola huffed.

Then, Helen turned around and left.

Enola continued to watch the ship and great interest, really hoping that it was the Mariner. She couldn't wait to see him again! It had been so long and he hadn't even come to visit! Enola had so many things to tell and share with him.

As the foreign ship got closer and closer, Enola became even more impatient. She paced the shore relentlessly while Ocean watched in curiosity. Numerous thoughts ran through her mind and butterflies were attacking her belly.

Once the ship got closer enough, Enola could see people standing on the large ship and she finally noticed the big flag that hung over the whole thing.

It had the symbol of a skull on it…