The sun shined hot and bright on top of everyone. The Crusty Waters creaked and groaned slightly as it was rocked by the ocean and was pushed by the wind. You stood nervously in front of your fellow crew members on top of the deck. All the anthropomorphic animals looked at you expectantly as you played with your fingers. You looked to the side, and you saw Sun and Moon giving you thumbs up for encouragement. You took a deep breath and addressed the crowd.

"Hello, everyone. First off, I'd like to say again that I am happy to be back home and it's super good to see all of you." Your crewmates cheered in response. Once they quieted down you continued. "While I was kidnapped, I came across a Zulon's Heart… and the flower spoke to me." The crowd murmured when you told them this.

"What did it tell you?" Monty yelled.

"It gave me directions… and I think they're directions for where Zulon is." The crowd became a bit louder when you said that.

You heard someone shout about being owed ten quartzers for betting you had magic powers. Others were speculating on what Zulon would want with you now since you've been in this dimension for over half a year by now. Others openly showed their distrust of the god while others were openly amazed. Eventually you had to shout over everyone to get their attention again.

"The reason I'm telling you all this is because I feel compelled to follow the directions I was given. I don't need to follow the directions; I want to follow the directions and I'm asking you all to be willing to follow with me… It's okay if you don't want too, though. I can go on alone, but I'd rather not leave you all again even if it's of my own choice this time." Your crewmates murmured among themselves when you told them this. You believed that your crewmates would rather not follow you to the god that normally gives them so much grief in this world, so you were emotionally preparing yourself for travel out on sea by yourself. You interrupted the murmuring. "Alright, let's vote. Raise your hand if you don't want to follow the directions with me." Nine people raised their hands. "Okay. Now who wants to follow the directions with me." Your jaw dropped when the rest of the crew raised their hands. You just stared at the sixteen people who had their paws and claws and feathers up in the air as you don't know what to say. Moon came over and rested his hands on your shoulders and Sun spoke up.

"Alright everyone, the directions Starlight told us is, west of the setting moon and follow the heart cluster. Monty. Make sure we're heading in that direction properly. Everyone else. This may be a long journey. It's way out of the way of where we usually go, but other than that, we can treat this like any other expedition that we've been on." The crowd cheered and then parted as everyone went to do their jobs for the day.

You felt Moon rub your shoulders and he bent down to ask quietly, "Are you okay?"

"A-a-um…," you chuckle, "I'm just surprised. I kind of thought more people would want to not go or the vote would be closer to a tie or something like that."

Sun came over and affectionally ruffled your hair. "Ah, you give yourself too little credit."

You crack a wide smile and shove Sun's hands off you. "I better get to work… Before I go though. Kisses?" And you tap your own lips for emphases at the two captains.

Sun smiled and he bent down to give you a kiss on the lips. Then Moon offered his hand to you, and you kissed his palm. The three of you then heard howling and you turned to see Roxy in the middle of tying down some rope and she yelled, "Yah! Way to canoodle with the captains!"
You went over to help her as you yelled, "Ah shut up!" It only made Roxy cackle.

You and everyone else had no clue how long the journey would be, or what the God would look like, or where your destination is going to look like. You just know that once you were headed in the right direction you started to feel better. Like, for once in your life, you were going in the right direction. Depending on what the god can do for you, these last few weeks or months are going to be the last you'll be spending with your crew and captains. You're going to spend that time being with them to the best of your ability.

# # #

You were in the kitchen with Freddy as you were helping him with cooking dinner for the crew. There was some left-over mead in the barrels that was too low to properly share with everyone, so he used it as the broth with the vegetable stew that he was making.

"Have you done that before?" You asked as the stew started to warm up.

"Yes. It's an old family recipe. It's one of the ways we used every bit of food in our storage back on my island."

"Oh, you grew up on an island like Bonnie did?"

"Most of us did. Not everyone grew up on the isles." Freddy stated humorously.

You could only shrug. "Was it lonely? How many people were on your island?" Freddy pointed at a ladle hanging off a wall and you grabbed it and handed it to him.

As he was stirring the pot, he said, "Well if I remember correctly, Bonnie grew up on an island made of six ships. In comparison, I grew up on an island made of three ships. It may have more now. It has been a while since I've seen it. I don't think it was lonely… I do remember being bored a lot."

"Oh yah? I can imagine. What did you do to make it not boring?"

"Mostly did chores. I was the oldest kid on my island, so the adults didn't have time to play with me and the other kids were too young to play games that I wanted to play."

"What was a game that you liked to play that the rest of the island couldn't/wouldn't play with you?" Freddy pulled out the ladle from the pot with some stew on it and he held it out to you for you to taste test it. You blew on it to cool it off and then gave it a slurp. You immediately gagged. It was like drinking salted beer with unwashed beets.

"Ah, what! It's not that bad, is it?" He then dipped out some of the stew and took a sip, then he immediately gagged. Freddy dropped the ladle into the pot and shamefully leaned against the counter, his head down cast as he just stared forlornly at the stew. "Oh no…"

You couldn't help yourself. You snorted as you picked up the ladle and tried to eat the stew again. "I don't think it's un-eatable." You scoped out some potatoes and took a bite out of the soft vegetable. It stuck to the roof of your mouth like it was peanut butter. You tried not to gag as you laughed and chewed at the same time. "No. No. Yah. It's-It's-this is fine. It's-," you gagged.

Freddy started to cackle over your antics. "The crew is going to hate this."

You nodded. "Oh yah. But we can't afford to throw it out and start over."

"I know," Freddy said with a groan.

"I'll go warn everyone," you said as you left the kitchen.

# # #

The moon above shined brightly down on the lantern lit deck as the wind and waves made the boat creek and groan under its strain. It was a very warm night, and everyone was relaxing and enjoying the night together.

You were sitting on Sun's lap while your legs rested on Moon's lap. Moon had his arm wrap over Sun's shoulders as he was leaning into him, and he had his other hand on your knees. Sun was resting his chin on your head as he was leaning against you. The three of you were enjoying Foxy telling a story about how the Isles were founded with the rest of the crew on the deck.

You felt like you were being stared at and when you looked around, across the deck, you saw Chika and Eclipse looking at the three of you fondly. You mouthed, what, at the two older women.

Chika put a feathered hand over her heart as she swooned and Eclipse mouthed, you look cute, as she circled the three of you sitting together with her stump arm.

You frowned at them and that just made them smile wider at you. You rolled your eyes as you mouthed a mocking, blah-blah-blah, at them. You then felt a tap on your knee, and you turned to see Moon looking at you.

"What's going on?" He asked quietly.

"We're being called cute, and we're being fawned over by the mother figures." You say, just as quite as you point in Chika and Eclipse's direction.

Moon looks at them and waves. The two women wave back. Turning his attention back to you, he said, "I don't know why you make it sound like a bad thing. We are pretty cute."

You chuckle and sigh, then you say, "A-a-a, I'm not saying we're not. I just feel like they don't have to fawn over us like we're a couple of kids or something."

"I mean. Eclipse did have a hand in raising us both, and Chika has taken you under her wing."

"Please. She's like… only fifteen years older than me. I'm an adult."

"Ah, face it Starlight. You're an adopted child of a chicken at this point."

You breathe out a groan as you slid down farther into their laps.

Sun chuckled, then shushed the two of you as he said, "I'm trying to listen to Foxy."

You and Moon apologized in hushed tones, then you went back to listening to the red fox man. Eventually, your eyes drifted back to the two older women. Eclipse was now focused on Foxy, but Chika had her eyes on you, and she had a wide smile on her face that would wrinkle her nose if she had one. You don't know what it was about it, but it made you grumpy. So, you turned your back to her and wrapped your arms around Sun's waist and went to sleep.

You don't know how long you were asleep for, but you felt yourself being jostled and you fell out of Sun and Moon's lap as you tried to get up. You looked around to see that half the crew that was listening to Foxy were gone and Foxy himself was nowhere in sight. You jumped when you felt a hand on your shoulder.

"Sorry. Sorry." Sun said as he lifted his hands in the air. "Are you okay?" Moon and Sun were looking at you with concern.

"Yah? Why?"

"You were crying in your sleep," Moon stated.

You wiped at your face, and it was wet. You wiped your face dry and sniffled as you said, "Oh…"

"What were you dreaming about?" Moon asked as Sun gently put his hand back on your shoulder.

You strain to think back to before you were woken up. You only have a vague impression of pain, fear, and desperation. Along with the color of purple for some reason. "I don't remember, to be honest…"

"You seem to be having a lot of bad dreams most night," Moon stated.

"I have?"

"They have?" Sun and you both said at the same time.

"It's what I've been noticing whenever we sleep together."

The three of you were silent for a moment. "Hmmm. Well. There's nothing to really do about it." You finally say with a shrug as you stand up and your boys follow you. "Let's go to bed. I would love to cuddle some more if that's alright with you two?"

Sun picked you up bridal style with a big smile on his face and said, "I'm always down for cuddling!"

You laugh as you reach a hand out to Moon and he holds your hand as the three of you head for the captain's cabin.

# # #

You are being used as a crutch by Bonnie as the once purple bunny refused to rest because he's bored of being in the medical wing.

You look at the white bunny and say, "Hey, buddy, don't you think you should sit down for a bit?"

"Listen. I may not be dying from my bullet wounds, but I will die of boredom if I stay one more hour in that salty ass room."

You nod. You find it funny that you recently learned that "salty ass" is the equivalent of you saying, "god damn". It makes you chuckle now that you notice it. More importantly, though, you get where Bonnie is coming from with the boredom thing. When everyone else was recovering from Bon Abell's attack, people were bunked together in the medical wing. Bonnie, right now, is all alone. It's not like there was anyone that could stick with him the entire time while he's healing.

"Mr. Hippo is going to be so mad with us."

Bonnie chuckled. "Let him be mad."

You helped him up the stairs and onto the deck. Everyone was milling about, taking orders from Monty and Freddy as they were making sure they were following the directions that you received. Chip walked by and yelled, "What are you doing out of bed, Bon!"

"Oh, keep walking you fat bear. Let a sore bunny be." Chip smiled and gave Bonnie a passing rude gesture before going back to work.

"Do you want to sit down?" You ask when you feel him starting to lean against you a bit harder.

In the sunlight, you could see Bonnie had a wrap around his left leg and thigh. His right arm was in a sling and his head and left ear were wrapped up in bandages. You originally thought that he was shot in only one place, but obviously that's not the case. Mr. Hippo did a good job of keeping his wounds and bandages clean.

"I've been laying in bed for weeks now. I want to walk."

"Okay. Okay. No need to get fussy with me." You say to appease him. You hold his soft fuzzy hand on your shoulder and start walking with him. He slowly lapped the deck of the ship and the crew kept telling him that he needed to rest.

"Let me enjoy my walk you nags," Bonnie yelled at the tenth crew member that told him to go sit down. He had a playful, but tired ring to his voice.

You say nothing, as you understand Bonnie's blight, but you do want to sit him down since it looks like he's straining himself… and he's starting to feel heavy to you too.

"Bonnie!" You and the white bunny man turn to see Mr. Hippo charging at the two of you. "You are still healing!"

Bonnie sighs as he fully puts his weight on you. You stagger under the weight as he laughed at your struggle. "Get your salty ass off me you furry!"

"You know, you still have yet to tell us what you mean by, 'furry,'" Bonnie stated.

"And it'll be a question answered in another day," Mr. Hippo said as he took Bonnie by his good arm and wrapped it over his shoulders. "You are coming back downstairs with me. It's time for you to take your medicine."

Bonnie sighed in defeat as he limped with the doctor. "Alright. Alright." He then turned to look at you as he was walking away. "Thanks for walking me, Tiny. See you around. Bye everyone else."

"We'll visit you more, Bon," Happy shouted as he waved goodbye to the white bunny while they walked back downstairs.

"I haven't seen you visit him once, yet," you playfully accuse the light green frog man.

"Hey, not all of us can get away with not working because we're canoodling with the captains."

You start speed walking over to Happy, with a smile on your face and pounding one fist into the palm of your hand. "Get over here you green bastard!"

Happy dropped the mop he was holding as he ran away cackling. You sprint after him while you heard your crewmates making bets on who would win this fight.

# # #

You opened your eyes to darkness and to the slight snoring of Sun sleeping beside you. You could feel Moon's hand on your stomach as the lunar stickman was spooning Sun. You rubbed the sleep from your eyes, and you felt your warm tears on your face. You sigh in frustration as you wipe away the tears. You slip out of Sun's grasp and move Moon's hand off you as you get out of the bed and quietly walk out of the captain's cabin.

You walk through the star lit night and you cross the deck to the railing and lean against it as you look out across the ocean. You searched high and low for anything that might be a threat or is following you. You would have climbed up to the crow's nest, but you didn't trust your sleepy motor functions currently. With a yawn you walk over to the other side of the ship and do the same thing. There wasn't anything you could see or find, but it didn't lessen the fear and worry that's been growing inside of you since you've been having these nightmares that you, for some reason, can't remember having. All you can remember is how they make you feel.

With another yawn you stretch, then you lay your head against the rough wood of the railing. You were sleepy tired, and you were tired of this looming threat that feels like you shouldn't be having. Unless for some reason, you can feel The Voice's presence. There's nothing stopping it from following you, even though you two couldn't get along.

"Voe? Is that you?" You're met with silence. "Voe, if you are following me, please speak up. You're making me feel anxious…" Still it was quiet. You sigh as you lift our head to look up at the stars. Your eyes then drift over to the helm where there's the faint orange glow of lantern light. You walk up the stairs from the deck to see who's at the helm tonight. It was Monty.

"Not your turn yet to switch out with another driver?" You asked as you reached the top of the stairs. He turns his head to you and shakes his head. "Mmm… Tired?" You ask.

"A little. It's always weird when we decide to sail through the night." Monty then yawned and a gator-like hiss rumbles out of him.

You stand beside him and look at the night sky with him as the wind pushed against the sails, making a slight flapping sound in the background.

"What are you doing up?" He asked you.

"I'm rediscovering my insomniac teenage years."

Monty snorted. "Uh-hu… Nervous about what we'll see when we reach our destination?"

"I suppose. Mostly I'm too focused on the goal to really be nervous? I don't know… What about you and the rest of the crew? Heard anything that no one wants me to hear about?"

Monty chuckled. "You know I don't gossip." You turn around to face the gator as you lay your back against the railing, by the steering wheel, and you raise your brows at Monty and give him a knowing smile. He looks to you. Then he looks to the stars. Then he looks to you again. Then he looks away from you as he groans. "Ugh, fine..." You broke out into a wide smile as you waited for Monty to continue. "I've heard that Orville is terrified of where we're going. I think the lack of knowing what it is we're sailing to is really getting to her."

"Understandable."

"Pigpatch is trying to decide what tattoo he wants to depict this important part of his life with. He thinks something big is going to happen when we meet the end of this horizon."

"You don't think that?"

"I believe you heard something, but I don't think it was Zulon. I know the god brought you here, but why haven't they come to claim you themselves yet?"

You could only shrug at that. "I mean. Don't you think it's weird that you have all these stories about a god that freely interacts with everyone, and not just with the people they bring into this dimension, but with everyone? But then it's been like hundreds of years since anyone has seen this god?"

"Not really?" Monty shrugs. "They're a god. Time can be different for them." You concede to that.

The two of you stood silently as your gazes rose back to the stars above. Then you asked, "I keep trying to see what the heart cluster looks like, but there are so many stars I can't tell what I'm looking at, at all…"

"Are you looking at the stars themselves or at the spaces between them?" Monty asked.

You looked back at the gator. "Why would I look at the spaces between the stars?"

"Ah. There's your problem then," he stated as he leaned against the wheel, "We follow the shapes that are between the stars." He then points up behind you and you turn back around and look at where he's pointing. "See the black space between the stars? There's a bunch of black space and they all look like hearts. That's what we call the heart cluster."

To be honest, you still couldn't see it all that well, but you're not trained for it like he is. You're sure if he were in your world, the stars would confuse him too, because of the lack of stars. "That's really neat."

"Yah. It is."

The two of you turned to the sound of creaking stairs and you saw a sleepy Sun and a sleepy Chip coming up the stairs. Sun reached for you and asked groggily, "Why did you get out of bed?"

"I didn't want to wake you and Moon up with my tossing and turning."

"Hey, Chip," Monty said lovingly.

"Evening," the brown bear said as he came up to Monty and nuzzled him. "Time for you to go to bed."

As the gator departed with Chip taking Monty's place, you got captured by Sun who picked you up bridal style.

"Sun, why do you pick me up at every opportunity now that we're partners?" You asked.

"You're just so small and it's so fun, plus it gives me better access to do this." Then he planted his round face into the space between your chest and neck. "This is my favorite pillow."

You chuckle then yawn. You wrap your arms around his head to pull him in closer as you gently pet the petals on his head. "Okay. Okay. Let's get us back to bed. Moon's going to wonder where we are."

"He's the one who woke me up. He didn't want to get out of bed."

"Ah."

# # #

You were walking below deck, checking all the supply closets to make sure that they all had one broom, mop, bucket, and soap in them with no extras. You had a few brooms in your arms as you were walking thorough the gray darkness, then from the cargo bay, you heard a lot of thudding. You followed the sound and you heard growling along with the thudding. When you entered the cargo bay you found Roxy punching a support beam in the cargo bay.

"Woah! Roxy! Don't do that! You're going to hurt yourself!"

She froze in her punching. One fist pressed firmly into the support beam. She looked over her shoulder at you and she growled. If it weren't so dark, you would have seen her hackles raise.

You put down the brooms and asked, "Do you want to talk about it? If not. Then here, punch into my hands. It'll hurt you less." You move to stand more in front of the wolf woman, and you presented your hands.

Again, she growled, then you felt a heavy slap against your palm. It hurt, but at least she wasn't hurting herself by punching the hard wood of the support beam. A rough rhythm of her punching your hands filled the silence.

Eventually you tried again. "So. I haven't really seen you act like this before. Did something happen? Was someone a little too mean to you? Is there anything I can—"

Roxy growled like she was screaming, and then you felt a punch to your shoulder, and it knocked you on your ass.

"OW! What the fuck!"

"You're leaving us!" She yelled over you.

You we're a little bit too distracted by the pain in your shoulder and from being knocked onto your ass to register what she said. "Wha- huh?"

"You're leaving us, and you haven't even properly told all of us about it."

You sheepishly play with your fingers. "O-oh… Yah…"

"When were you planning on telling us that you were going to tell Zulon to take you back to your dimension?"

"Uuuuh… When we reached our destination."

"Oh! Oh, wonderful! Just great! You weren't going to tell us at all. You were going to just leave us in suspense."

"No! No, no, no! I just—Look I—," you sigh in exasperation, "I just didn't want to cause you guys any more pain or stuff like that. You guys went to jail for me. I didn't want to make this journey any sadder than it already was going to be."

"Yah! Well, that's our decision to make, not yours!"

You look down at your knees in shame. "You're right."

There was a beat of silence, then Roxy growled, and you heard her kick the support beam. "Stop making it hard for me to be mad at you!"

You chuckle at that. Then you asked, "How did you find out?"

"I learned from Chika when she was crying over you leaving and she learned it from the captains."

"I kind of thought you heard me telling the captains when we had the slumber party on the deck…"

"No. I just heard you crying about you missing your old home," she said, sounding defeated.

"Ah…" you were quite for a bit as Roxy slumped even more as it looked like she was becoming lost in her thoughts. "I'm sorry. Really I am."

"I know… I know… I just wish you wanted to stay more than you missed your dimension."

"Yep. Unfortunately, there's a lot I love about my dimension that living here just doesn't fill the void for me."

"I get that." Roxy conceded.

You sigh. "Telling everyone is going to be so intimidating and scary…"

Roxy went over to you, grabbed you by your shoulders and lifted you up onto your feet.

"Come on. I'll help you tell everyone." You picked up your brooms as she waited for you and she said, "Sorry, for punching you, by the way."

"Thanks."

# # #

You were looking out at the shimmering ocean as the sun shone bright and hot on your head, back, and shoulders. You were watching the ship's back. You know the ship is going in the right direction, you can just feel it in your gut, but you can't shake the feeling that something or someone is following you. You attempted to talk to The Voice again, but they're not feeling very talkative if they are the one following you.

You hear the wood creak behind you and Sun walked up to stand beside you. "You doing alright there, Starlight. You've been staring at the ocean pretty intensely for a while now…"

"I don't want to make anyone panic just because I'm feeling paranoid, but I can't help the feeling that we are being followed."

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Sun stand up straighter and he started look around too. "How long have you had this feeling?"

You shrug. "Maybe a week or two after we left South Shallows."

"That's a long time to feel like that."

You turn around and lean your back against the railing as you groaned to the sky and rubbed your eyes. "I know. I know. But we left in the dark of the night and none of the Isle goers could possibly know where we're going, so I feel silly even bringing it up. But I just can't shake the feeling that we are being followed somehow. I think it's The Voice, but Voe hasn't said anything or sung anything and it's making me nervous that it's not them either…"

"Voe?"

"Yah, like Zoe but with a "v"."

"You named The Voice, Voe?"

You look up at Sun to glare at him. "Is that really what you're focusing on in this conversation, sir?"

The solar stickman gives a half-hearted chuckle. "Sorry. Just… There's not a lot we can do about it, is there? We already have a watch in the crow's nest. If we're being secretly followed somehow, then we'll face it when the followers finally face us."

You heave a heavy sigh. "You're right, of course."

"Of course I am. I'm always right."

"Now I wouldn't go that far." You laugh with Sun after you said that.

"Come on. You're done with your work for the day, right?" Sun asked as he took your hand.

You hold his hand back. "I am."

"Then let's play a game together, but first, can I have a kiss please."

You cackle at the request, then half shouting, you say, "Sir, you're insatiable!"

"I can't help it! I love this new way of showing affection. You can just tell me no, you know…"

"I know." You then motion for him to bend down, and you give him a quick peck on the lips. "I like it too. I'm just a bit embarrassed about it. Were you this lovey-dovey with Moon when the two of you first started your relationship?"

Sun was going to answer you as the two of you walked down to the deck, but then Moon popped out of nowhere as he hung from above on some ropes. He was hanging upside down above Sun's head as he spoke to you.

"Oh most certainly. I still have phantom pains from him always holding my hand. I became ambidextrous because of him."

Sun grabbed Moon by his shoulder and pushed him away saying, "I was not that bad, you ass!"

Moon cackled as he swung on the rope he was hanging from. You couldn't help but laugh with Moon and Sun was struggling to keep a frown on his face as he glared at the lunar stickman.

"Some," Moon interrupted his own sentence with his laughter, "Some nights I would wake up and I would think, oh I'm being smothered, but really it was just Sun hugging me half to death in his sleep."

"Oh! Like you haven't done that to me, Moon," you state through your laughter.

"What? No, I don't," Moon said, looking bashful as he let go of the rope, doing a flip, and landing neatly on his feet.

Sun was still holding your hand as he leaned an elbow on Moon's shoulder. "Yes, you do. I've seen it and it's very adorable."

Moon stuttered like he was going to protest, but you spoke up before he could say anything. "I like it though. Being held in your guy's arms makes me feel very safe and warm and loved."

You looked at your partners with a smile and waited to hear the same sentiment, or something of the like, but Moon was staring at you with his mouth open and Sun was looking away from you as he took his hand back to place it over his heart.

"What? Did I say something weird?"

"I just keep forgetting how forward you are with your words," Moon stated.

"Oh, sorry. That got me into a lot of trouble over in my dimension and other things… I can take it back or…?"

"No. Please don't," Sun said with a wheeze as he looked back over to you. He had the same look on his face that you would when you see a kitten, "You're so cute. I hope you know that."

"I know my parents think I can be cute. And I know our crewmates think I'm cute, just because I'm the smallest person here."

"Yah you are," Pigpatch yelled from across the deck.

You spun around to yell back, "Oh fuck off! You're lucky I don't have any shoes to throw at you, you pink ass!"

Pigpatch chortled as he went back to focusing on his work of sewing up the damaged pillows from the crew's quarters. You turned back to the captains. They were both giving you endearing smiles.

You breathe out a chuckle. "What?"

"Can I have another kiss," Sun asked.

You cover your face as you laugh into your hands. You then felt arms wrap around your waist as you were picked up and you were face to face with Moon. He turned to face Sun and he said, "Chase us first if you want extra loving!" Then Moon ran off with you in his arms. You wrapped your arms around his neck and laughed with him as Sun chased the two of you across the ship.

# # #

You sit next to Chika at the dining table as you were listening to Freddy telling a story about a funny thing that happened to him in his childhood. Your eyes started to wonder as you ate and listened. You saw Bonnie referee-ing Monty and Chip's arm-wrestling contest as twelve other crewmates were gathered around them and were shouting out bets. Moon was laughing about something with Foxy, Pigpatch, and Eclipse. On the other side of the dining room, you could see Sun chatting with Orville and Mr. Hippo as it looked like they were having a very deep conversation. Your eyes wandered down the dining table, you were sitting at, and you saw Roxy and Happy sitting with each other as they were eating. You made eye contact with them, and you smiled and waved. Happy gave you a halfhearted smile and a limp wristed wave, then he went back to frowning at his food as he ate. Roxy only nodded at you, not even giving you a mischievous smile. You deflated a little at that.

You were shaken by Chika as she started cackling/clucking with Freddy as he finished his story. You smiled at their laughter and joy.

"What about you," Freddy asked you, "Do you have any funny kid stories?"

You shake your head. "No. Not funny at least. I live a very boring life. I didn't do anything like use myself as fishing bait or what have you when I was little."

"Something wrong Sug? You seem limper than seaweed out of water." Chika asked.

"I'm sad that I've upset Roxy, Happy, you, and the others with me wanting to leave…"

"Ah," Freddy said.

You felt Chika smooth back the hair on your head. "They just need more time to mourn."

"But I'm still here! I don't want to be mourned. I just want to spend the time, I have left, with you guys as much as possible… We're not even certain if Zulon can put me back in my dimension…"

"It still hurts that you want to leave so much," Freddy said as he mixed his food in his bowl, "We tried hard to make you feel welcome here, but it's still not enough to make you stop wanting to go back home or missing it. Though maybe that's short sighted of us. We're the ones with the history of creatures coming into our world and doing what they will with our home. We never seemed to consider what those creatures feel about being forced to be here."

You sigh as you lean your head against Chika.

"Think of it this way. You are worth the heartache of missing you. You are worth wanting to spend more time with. You are worth the tears. You are an amazing person, not just because you are some strange creatures from another world, but because you are you. I'll always look back fondly on the time I have spent with you." Chika said.

You got misty eyed as you sniffled and said, "Damn it, Chika. You're going to make me cry."

The giant white chicken woman pulled you in tighter, into a kind of awkward side hug, as Freddy smiled at the two of you. It made you think of your parents back home and your promise of seeing the DJ family again. You hope your parents are okay and your heart breaks a bit that you may break your own promise to see the siren family again...

# # #

You were resting against the railing as you were looking down into the water as you watched the boat cut through the waves, causing the water to ripple and foam as the wind pulled at you and the ship. The water shined with a rainbow hue with the setting sun close to the horizon. You and your friends have been traveling in the same direction for about four months now. Almost five. The food stores are at their lowest and everyone has been doing their part to keep the stores as high as they can be, with foraging and fishing, but it won't last for long if they don't come across an island or go back to one of the isles. You then felt a hand on your back. You looked up to see Moon.

"Hey."

"Hey." He said just as softly.

You move to lean your head against his hip as you continued to look out at the horizon. Moon's hand moved from your back to the top of your head as he slowly scratched your scalp.

"We're going to have to turn back, huh…" you ask it like a question, but it was more of a statement.

"We're going to need something. We can only do so much with the foraging that we've been doing." You get the feeling that Moon didn't want to say you have to abandon the quest, but you figured he was worrying about the same things you were. You leaned into him closer as you tried to hide your disappointment. You felt Moon's hand move to your shoulder to pull you in more. "I'm sorry."

"So am I." You said.

For a few silent moments, you and Moon looked out at the horizon. Then you and everyone else felt the boat shudder as you heard a loud scraping noise. It shook the boat so violently that it tripped everyone up. Moon kept you from falling over on your ass.

"What was that," Moon asked when the shuddering stopped.

"We can't be in siren territory. They don't live this far out, right," you asked.

"At this point, I'm not sure."

Again, the boat staggered and the boat shuddered as a loud scraping sound filled the air. You heard frantic running from below deck and out from the stairwell you, Moon, and half the rest of the crew saw Mr. Hippo run out and yell, "We're taking on water!"

Again, the boat felt like it got caught on something and the loud scrapping sound filled the air.

"Go! Go! Go! Go!" Moon yelled. "Happy! Orville! Freddy! Help me and Starlight with stopping the boat! Everyone else follow Mr. Hippo!"

You were already climbing up the Jacobs ladder to get to the sails. You were untying the anchor ropes when the others joined you on the booms. It took five minutes but during that time, the boat scraped against something again.

"What in the world are we hitting?" Orville yelled; her voice wavered a bit with fear.

"No clue," Happy yelled, "I'll go find out." The light green frog man then tied a rope around his waist and before anyone could stop him, he ran and dived off the boom, into the water.

"I swear, I'm going to kill him if whatever is out there doesn't get to him first," Moon seethed with worry.

You were climbing down the ropes with Freddy as Orville and Moon were keeping an eye out on the water for Happy. You and the orange/brown bear ran downstairs to help with the flood. You ran down to the bottom floor, near the bellybutton of the ship. Water was up to your ankles, and you saw a chain was being made as people used all the mop buckets on the ship to scoop out the water and to then throw it out through the windows of the crew's quarters. You and Freddy followed the chain to the water source in the cargo bay. There were two major slashes through the floor that are wide enough that you could stick your foot through the gap and not touch the wood. Mr. Hippo, Roxy, Chika, and Monty were sloshing through the saltwater, trying to mend the giant holes as quickly as possible. Freddy moved to help them while you ran to the lantern storage to get more light. You lit the lanterns then you joined in the rebuilding effort. You helped Freddy and Monty stuff the openings with a thick clay like glue, called clogging, that starts to harden and dry as soon as it touched the salt water. It took some doing, because the water was gushing in so hard, but eventually everyone managed to plug the holes and all everyone had to do was clean up the water mess.

You were scooping up water with everyone else when Moon, Orville, and Happy came downstairs to join.

Sun asked, "What did you guys find out?"

"Rocks. There's a lot of rocks here," Happy stated.

Everyone looked up at that. Then Chika said, "But we're the farthest we've ever been from the shallows. How are there rocks?"

Happy could only shrug and Moon spoke up. "I had to see for myself, too. There are several of them all just barely breaching the surface of the water. If you look any deeper all you see is darkness."

You then realized something. "Oh! We're in a mountain range!" Everyone turned to you, expecting you to continue. "Mountains are giant rocks that reach for the sky. They can be thousands of feet tall."

"Oh, that's neat. I've never seen mountains before," Chip stated.

"Does that mean we're where Zulon wants you to be," Roxy asked.

Once again, all eyes were on you. You rubbed your arm as you thought about it. "I don't know. I don't feel any different and I haven't heard anything yet." Chika came over to you to pat your head.

"Either way, we need to get out of this situation," Sun stated.

"But how to do it," Moon agreed. "Getting out of our current situation without damaging our ship any further is going to be difficult."

"Let's finish cleaning the water mess first," Freddy stated.

Agreeing, everyone went back to cleaning the water out of the belly of the ship. It took all day to get the belly dried out. So, during diner, Sun and Moon talked with the crew about the game plan on how to move the boat without it getting any more damaged. Eclipse suggested using the rowboats to pull the boat in the direction that they all want. You also suggested making giant oars to row the boat by hand, but that idea got quickly shut down when you were asked what you were going to make the oars out of.

The next morning, the three rowboats that they have on hand were dropped and ropes were connected to them and to the bow of the Crusty Waters. Some people who could swim, like you, Roxy, Happy and other people that you still haven't learned the name of, got into the water to push against the stern of the ship. You did not like being in the water. The idea of being able to see ancient mountains did intrigue you, but the fact that all you'll see is what the sunlight could reach made your stomach drop. You had to constantly remind yourself not to dwell on what's in the dark parts of the water, like a mantra.

Everyone worked all day, taking turns to row the boats and rest on the deck of the ship after being in the water and by the end of the day, the Crusty Waters may have only moved five or six inches from its original spot. Everyone was dog tired as Sun addressed the crew with an upbeat energy that you think is a little forced.

"Good job everyone. At the pace we're going we'll get out of this mountain range in a few days. Now go rest."

The crew groaned as the twilight of the day faded into night and everyone started walking down to the dining room. You went up to Sun and grabbed his hand. He went a bit limp as he sighed.

"Need a hug," Moon asked as he walked over to the two of you.

"Yeeeessss," Sun groaned.

You and Moon embraced Sun, then Moon said, "You know, you don't have to force yourself to be upbeat in front of the crew. I'm pretty sure they can tell the difference."

"I can't help it. I just want to make their day better."

"I get that," you said as you patted Sun's lower back.

"Come on. Let's go eat and then we can all go to bed early," Moon stated as he wrapped an arm around Sun's shoulders. You kept holding his hand as you walked with them. As you were about to descend into the bowels of the ship with everyone else, you looked out to the horizon. The sun was in your eyes as the sea sparkled with its dying light, but then you saw something. You don't know what you saw. It was a movement. A shadow of some kind? Like it was a light within a light. In the moment, you didn't dwell on it long, as you were pulled along by Sun since you refused to let go of his hand, but whatever you saw never left your mind.

You were sharing a bed with the captains again, this time you were the one in the middle. You tried to get comfortable, and you tried to not toss around so much in the bed, but you couldn't keep your mind off what you saw. Your mind couldn't process it. It was like trying to remember an old childhood memory or having a word on the tip of your tongue. You know it, but for whatever reason it's kept out of your reach. Eventually you climb out of the bed as quietly as you could and walked out onto the deck. You looked out at the water and stared; happy but annoyed that for once it wasn't your nightmares keeping you up.

"Starlight."

You jump and turn to see Moon and Sun up. Moon looked tired, but he was more awake while Sun was swaying on his feet as he fought to stay awake.

"Oh no, guys. I'm sorry to wake you." You say as you walk up to them.

"I've been awake for a while," Moon stated.

"I actually woke up when I felt you crawl over top of me," Sun added.

"Oof… Maybe I should start sleeping in my own bed for a while if I'm just disturbing you two," you say as you look away from them and rub the back of your neck.

Sun closed the distance and leaned down to rest his elbows on your shoulders. Then with a yawn he said, "Nooo. Don't gooooo."

"Did you have another nightmare?" Moon asked.

"No. I just think… that maybe… we're at where Zulon is… Maybe…" you said as you messed with your fingers.

"Guys." Sun said softly.

"You don't sound very sure about that." Moon consoled.

"Guys." Sun said a bit louder.

You sighed at Moon and said, "I'm not. I was just working on double checking that."

"Guys!" Sun practically yelled.

"What!" You and Moon yelled.

"The water is glowing."

You and Moon turn to see what Sun was pointing at and there was a hot tub sized circle in the water that was glowing a shinny gold out of the water. It was making the waves refract with rainbow shimmers through the darkness of the night.

"Woah!" You breathed at the sight of it.

Before anyone could register anything beyond enchantment, there was a sound that came out of the water. It was almost like how a person would scream underwater, but louder and deeper, like the drowning person is whale sized. Then after the watery scream, from behind they heard something breaching the water. Turning, the three of you saw a large, dragon/cathulu-esk/lizard thing fly out of the water. It was jumping over the boat. Some of its tendrils broke and ripped at the wooden surface of the ship. The three of you scrambled out of way, trying not to get hit. Sun and Moon managed to run out of the way, but you felt something snag against your shirt and you were swiftly pulled back. Your body slammed against the railing as you were dragged overboard. You quickly took off your shirt as soon as you hit the water and resurfaced.

"Guys! Get me out! Get me out! GET ME OUT!" You scream, panicked as you didn't want to be in the water with whatever that was.

You could see Sun looking out for you as he yelled, "Moon's getting rope!"

The water boiled and the whale-like human voice screamed. It vibrated your body as you turned to see most of the golden light obscured by its weirdly purple body. Your attention was diverted when you felt a little splash by you, and you turned to see the rope Moon threw overboard slowly sinking down.

"Come on!" Moon yelled. You saw Sun move back to grab more of the rope that Moon was holding onto.

You grabbed the rope and swam towards them to get pulled up faster. As you were being dragged up the side of the ship you could hear feet pounding against the wood as people scrambled to get up to the deck. From behind, you heard that weird thing scream again, and you felt the boat rock as if there was a force of nature heading for the ship. Just as you were about to climb over the railing you felt something sticky and cold and rough wrap around your legs. It spooked you so badly you screamed.

"Get off of them!" Moon yelled as he tried to punch whatever had a hold of you.

Sun wrapped his arms around your waist and was straining against what was pulling at you while you held onto him and onto the railing. "It's okay! It's okay. I got you!" He said, trying to reassure you.

You felt your back pop with how hard you were being pulled at. You almost felt like whatever had a hold of you was only messing with your captains, like it wanted to make them think that they could get you back onto the boat. Then, in one swift motion, you felt your nails break against the wood and against Sun's clothes as you were dragged out of his grasp. You inhaled to scream, but before you could, you hit the water. You moved through the water with such force that trying to open your eyes hurt. You balled yourself up, ready to get smacked against something when, with just as much force, you were still.

You felt the horrible film on your legs, but now you saw light filtering through your closed eyelids. Slowly you uncurled yourself and peaked an eye open. The world around you was soft and golden, like you were swimming in honey. Soft rainbow lights refracted through the bubbles in the golden light. There was a moment, where the world felt like it was beating with the pace of your heartbeat. Then you look down and you think you see a figure smiling up at you and you feel it more than you hear it as a voice says:

"Hello. My kind-hearted love. Welcome home."

Then the world began to spin. And spin. And spin. You still felt that filmy gung against your legs, but it's hold began to loosen. You wanted out of this situation immediately, so you wriggled and writhed as hard as you could. The film struggled to hold onto you just as hard, but eventually you popped out of it's hold like it was an unruly sleeping bag and to your surprise, you began to freefall.