Hello, all! Sorry that this chapter came a few hours late-on the bright side, though, I do feel that there's a bit more meat to this one, and hopefully it'll be more interesting emotionally. I very much hope you agree!

To the anonymous reviewer of this story: Thank you so much for your kind words! I'm glad to be able to contribute. To answer your question, yes, I continued this story well past what I posted on Tumblr. (And, to be honest, I think the continuation is actually far more interesting than what I originally wrote.)

As always, I hope you enjoy!

Two nights later, Hakuryuu sat in the shadows. While all others on the ship drank and ate and reveled in one another's company after the day of work, he knew better than to try that. He possessed little in common with any of them. And anyway, he wasn't hungry.

Instead, he sat near the wall, accompanied by nothing more than his own thoughts. He had, at least, found a way to get onto this ship. He had never felt closer to his goal than at that very moment. From his corner, he scanned the crowd, as though believing that if he stared long enough, the person whom he had been searching for all this time would suddenly be revealed to him.

Across the room, out of Hakuryuu's earshot, Alibaba slumped over the small table. "Mor, he can't do a damn thing on this ship. I don't think he's ever even been on a dinghy." He tipped back another swig of wine, then slammed the empty cup down emphatically. "I mean, how does the guy expect to pay me back or whatever if he can't even tie a couple clove-hitch knots, huh?"

"Hmm," Morgiana said.

"Look, I'm not saying I regret saving him, but there's only so many times I can see a guy nearly rip the sails before I snap."

"Did you try talking to him?" she asked.

"Yeah, of course! I tried giving him lots of direction, but-"

"That's not what I meant. I meant...he's over there looking pretty lonely right now, don't you think?"

"Looks to me like that's not my problem."

In the midst of his contemplation, Hakuryuu's attention was suddenly drawn to the far end of the room, where he caught sight of the ruby-haired girl quickly grabbing Alibaba's shirt collar and pulling him forward so that his forehead slammed painfully into hers. She quietly grumbled a few words to him, and a minute later, he got up and reluctantly headed in Hakuryuu's direction. 'Just my luck,' the black-haired boy thought.

Alibaba stood for a moment before him, clearing his throat.
"Uh...hey. We...well, I thought you might be hungry, so I brought over something for you...if you want it."

Hakuryuu looked down at the food, then back up at the blond that held it. "Thanks, but that's really alright...I don't need to eat anything right now."

"Well, you should at least have a bite of this...you'll need to keep your strength up to do more work tomorrow." 'And Morgiana won't let me come back to the table until she knows you've had some dinner.'

Hakuryuu eyed the meal before carefully taking it from him. His face remained all but expressionless as he sampled the fare. In fact, if not for the unnatural greenish tinge that began to color his cheeks, one might have never guessed at his complete and utter disgust.

Alibaba noticed his reaction, though, and it took a significant amount of willpower to restrain the laugh threatening to burst through the barrier of his lips. "Not your thing, is it?"

In what appeared to be a genuinely agonizing process, Hakuryuu slowly swallowed the wad of saliva and, amazingly, succeeded in not gagging. "No...it's fine."

The ship's young captain chuckled to himself. He couldn't help but see before him a spoiled wuss, unacquainted with hardship of any sort. "Yeah, eating hard tack's a bit of a right of passage for seamen...but if it's not agreeing with you, I could always find you something that's a little easier to stomach."

From underneath his sable locks, Hakuryuu glared up at his challenger with a look of unmatched resolve and determination. Then, to Alibaba's surprise, he grabbed another piece of tack. "I said this is fine."

While there were many estimates, no one ever truly knew how many times Hakuryuu threw up that night. What is known is that he took the preparation of his meals into his own hands for the remainder of the voyage.

Exhaustion settled in the Hakuryuu's lower body like a dense liquid, leaving him with a heaviness in his shuffling feet. The day had once again proved frustrating, as he still did not know how to operate a sailing vessel any more than before. The forgetfulness of sleep called him.

"Hey!"

It was the call of a voice that had become increasingly familiar to him in the past few days. He turned to see Alibaba walking hurriedly towards him. The youthful sailor hesitated for a moment before starting, "You know, um...I was kind of feeling bad about the whole thing with dinner the other night."

Hakuryuu cocked an eyebrow. "Were you? You seemed pretty pleased with yourself at the time."

"I was," Alibaba blurted. He then caught himself and quickly continued, "But not anymore. I was just thinking,
maybe...maybe you'd wanna see the nicer side to the seafaring life."

The rescued boy now turned to face his savior with curiosity. "Like what?"

Alibaba grinned. "Well, you'd have to accompany me to the lookout if you want to see."

He stared into the honey of the other young man's eyes,
trying to detect any faltering in the boy's gaze that would hint at deceit on his part. He found none. "...Alright, then."

Together, they walked to the base of the main mast. "Now, I'll show you how to get up there. Just follow-"

Alibaba stopped upon seeing that Hakuryuu had already climbed part of the way up the ship's rigging, skillfully scampering up to the lookout post. He stopped to fix the captain with a small but smug smile-perhaps the first smile Hakuryuu had openly worn since he'd been welcomed aboard. "I may not know how to do many things on this ship, but I can climb."

"I...guess you can." Alibaba slowly began following him up.

Hakuryuu reached the top first and immediately paused to look up. "Wow..."

He was quickly accompanied by the blond. "So you like it?"

"The stars are pretty amazing up here, I have to admit." For some time, that was all they said to each other; the sound of the sea filled up the blank spaces where conversation was missing, and for some time, they were both content in their mutual silence. Then, they weren't.

"Do you know anything about constellations?"

At the sudden question, Alibaba turned quickly to look at the asker before shrugging. "Not really...I never had the patience to study the sky like that."

"I always liked it," Hakuryuu went on. "I used to spend hours trying to find pictures in the sky."

"Hmm...kind of wish I had a talent for that."

"Well, I could show you how to find a few constellations. I'll show you the Four Directions." He pointed upwards, tracing the drawings in the glowing dots as he spoke. "When I was young, I learned that the each of the cardinal directions was guarded by one of these creatures in the sky. There's the Blue Dragon of the East, the Red Bird of the South, the White Tiger of the West, and the Black Tortoise of the North."

Alibaba huffed. "I honestly don't see anything."

"Look, I'll just start by showing you the dragon." He slowly pointed from one star to another, stitching together the pinpricks of light in the sky with his finger. "There's his horn, then his neck, then his body..."

Alibaba squinted into the night. "...Yeah...yeah, now I think I'm starting to see it. I guess that is cool..."

"The best part of those stars is that if you can find them, you can find yourself. They're a compass in the sky."

Alibaba laughed lightly. "Well, why didn't you tell me about all this earlier? You should be the ships navigator!"

Hakuryuu glanced his way. "You think I'd really be good at that?"

"I think so...we'll work out the details tomorrow. But you know, Hakuryuu, you're not as useless as you first seem."

"Thanks. You're not as much of a sanctimonious ass as you first seem."

"Hey,now..."