He was embarrassed by how much of a difference it was.

Hoodie versus no hoodie.

He'd wanted to deck Senior for even-

He sighs.

It didn't matter.

It's not like he'd made him do it, but still.

The thought of taking off all his layers had shot ice through his veins.

He wasn't sure if it was just because it was Deez and Gil- Or if just anyone seeing them in general.

Either way, it had left him feeling off his game and uneasy.

He eyes Deez and Gil through the stiff rain.

If it weren't for the random flashes of green, it would have been impossible to see anything.

Even with the lightning, they had to walk in a tight line or risk losing sight of each other.

Gil still had a bump on his head the size of an egg- which, yeah, not fucking good.

Deez, though fixed, was still pointedly mad at them and looked just as bad as Gil in the sleep department.

And as loathe as he was to admit, he wasn't in top condition either. Not if Gil looking over his shoulder in concern several times a minute was any indication.

Then again, he didn't have the best track record of listening or following instructions, so there was a chance it was just that.

That Gil thought he was a flight risk.

He was trying so hard not to think about what they were doing.

What they were looking for.

Sticking to what coast they could.

Like they were going to-

T!

Ugh.

And then there was that.

Why was she still here? It kinda made sense when he'd been alone but-

You do realize this is my body too, right?

The world spins as he rolls his eyes.

He trips over loose rubble, sliding until he lands hard on his back. He bites back a curse as his landing jars his arm, ignoring the way his eyes water.

Nope.

Just nope.

How fucking tired was he.

Tired? Or addicted to the ointment I make?

Fuck. You.

Shouldn't have given it all away.

He grunts as he turns to glare up the dark sky above them, though it was hard to see more than maybe a few feet with the rain still pelting them.

When was the last time he even saw the stupid fucking barrier?

How, exactly, do you think you've been functional for so long? Even you don't have that much willpower. So stop pouting and get up. The last thing we need is to think, so appreciate the pain and focus on following.

"You okay?" Deez calls back to him.

Her worried tone makes Gil slow and turn.

Of course she caught that.

He sighs, "I'm good," He grumbles as he turns and carefully pushes himself back up.

"You said you could keep going," Gil frowns.

"What?" He shrugs, "I'm still going. I just don't have like, night-vision and shit."

"True." Deez frowns before she turns back to Gil, biting her lip as she looks over the bruise on the side of his face before and sighs, "If you let me walk, I can help navigate."

Gil snorts. "No."

Deez rolls her eyes, "It would help me feel better about how hurt you are too."

"She ain't wrong Dude, you look like-"

"I fucking dare you, you to fi-." Gil glares.

A grin curls his lips "-shit."

"Gil!" Deez huffs before she grabs his face between her hands and forces him to look at her, "I'm not hurt. Let me walk."

He watches as Gil studies her, brow furrowed and lips pursed as his eyes dart from him to Deez and back before he lets out a long-suffering sigh. "Are you sure, Treasure?"

"Yes." Deez rolls her shoulder as if to prove a point, "It's stiff, but it doesn't hurt at all. Let me help."

"If you really want me to," Gil kisses her before he hesitantly lowers her to her feet.

"T's tripping over shit in the dark-"

"Hey!" He glares. "Leave me the fuck out of it."

"-and I can only imagine how bad it would be if you did the same right now." Deez finishes before she crosses her arms over her chest and sticks her tongue out at him.

"Keep it up, and I will bite it." He huffs.

"You'd have to catch it," Deez grins smugly before she looks down, "And I can see how much shit is on the ground between us."

Don't-

He stumbles at another roll of his eyes, taking several deep breaths before he can swallow the bile.

Idiot.

Deez shakes her head before she holds her hand out.

The tiniest red flame licks her wrist before she starts walking, but it was enough to let them see.

"I thought you couldn't see anything?" Gil frowns as he waits for him to catch up.

"I mean," He gestures to Deez's flame.

"You threatened to bite her tongue before she lit up." He frowns.

He pauses, "I could hear it." He lies.

"Uh-huh."

"Do you guys need the flame or not?" Deez glares back at them.

"Sorry, Treasure, it's helping." Gil quickly assures her.

He glares as he feels Gil's arm drop around his shoulder and freezes.

"Come on you pain in the ass."

"I can-"

"Deal with the help or get carried."

He grimaces at Faustina's laughter.

It's like he knows you or something.

Shut it.

"You're one to talk." He glares up at him.

"I'm not as bad as you." Gil glares back.

"Bad is relative, I'm-"

"So help me if you say used to it."

"Same." Deez lifts her flame over her head.

"Uh-huh," Gil scoffs at his non-answer. "That's what I thought."

"Are we fucking looking? OR are we being twats?" He grumbles.

"You do both all the time." Deez chuckles as she looks back over her shoulder, "You've even bragged about how good you are at doing both."

"Brag seems a bit of an overstatement…"

"Yet, so, so, so fitting." Gil pulls him closer, making him grimace.

"Mmfff." He grunts at the jarring of his arm.

"Sorry," Gil sighs but doesn't give an inch.

He looks up in time to see the faint red glow around Deez extinguish and only manages to pull Gil to a stop right before they would have walked into her.

"Dude?"

"The- the docks." Deez studders in shock as she looks around, eyes wide in horror under her faded blue hair plastered to the sides of her face, "The docks are-" Her voice cracks, "they're gone."

He turns to the wharf.

It was hard to see through the rain.

Hard to see without the lanterns lighting the paths.

But the shape was all wrong.

He jumps when a bolt of lightning arcs overhead, illuminating the wharf-

Or what had been the wharf but was now nothing more than the sea.

His stomach drops.

Faustina's cry of despair makes him falter.

The fuck-

"All of it." Deez continues blankly, her head slowly shaking in disbelief, "The shops." She presses her hands to her face, as if that could somehow change the night terror she was describing, "everything."

Everything was gone.

Wiped out.

But that's not what-

Tears blur his vision as he chokes on a-

Sob?

Yell?

Scream?

All of them?

His heart slams into his chest as one by one familiar dirty faces flash before him.

His fists clench by his side.

Shaking.

How many-

He chokes on the bile as it crawls up his throat.

How many-

Did any make it?

Useless.

Worthless.

Guardian?

His hands curl into shaking fists at his side when the familiar weight of failure settles over him.

Where the fuck had he been?

He glares at the waves as they break against the newly found shore, which was as far as he could see in this endless darkness.

How the fuck was he supposed to avenge them?

How was he supposed to-

"T?" Gil questions in confusion.

"Off!" He snaps so viciously Gil steps back.

He drops to his knees and braces himself with one hand, grunting as pain spears through his chest and stomach.

NO!

There were so many that stayed there.

Worked there.

And he hadn't been there for them.

Loose rubble bites into his flesh as he drags his fingers through it blindly, digging as if he could somehow stem the pain.

Escape it.

Hide away.

It wouldn't be real if he could-

Useless!

Of fucking course it was real.

It was right in fucking front of them!

The thought pushes him over and he loses the battle with his rebelling stomach.

How many?

How many urchins-

It had come so suddenly.

-had any of them-

Don't!

Please, just, don't.

"T!?" Gil questions as he appears next to him and pulls his hood out of the way.

"It was-" Deez shivers as she wraps her arms around her waist, "It was bad everywhere." She eyes the turbulent sea, but her face was still blank.

"Deez?" Gil turns to her with a frown, before he looks back at him. Stumbling back a moment later as he lands on the rubble. "No." He puts the heel of his palms to his eyes. "They got out." He states with unwavering determination.

"Uma." Deez chokes as she bends at her waist, still hugging herself tightly.

"They're fine." Gil shakes his head. "They're them. We'll find them. They're fine."

Deez falls to her knees with a heart wrenching scream.

"UMA!"

Silence.

They'd all been so silent.

Painfully, agonizingly, silent since they'd picked themselves up and started their trek along the beach.

Or what was left of it.

He swallows.

How had the Isle changed so much?

How many people had-

He shakes his head.

They were fine.

They had to be.

Needed to be.

He and Deez made it.

T had made it.

So, Uma and Harry had to have too.

There wasn't another option.

Another question.

They were fine.

It was just the docks that were gone.

The docks and all the buildings on it were rickety at best.

He glances back at T.

He wasn't sure he'd ever seen the boy get sick. Not like that.

And then, he looks down at Deez.

She hadn't let go of him since he scooped her up.

Hadn't pulled her face away from his shoulder.

That scream had been so piercing.

Like a tarpon through the heart.

He takes a deep breath.

They were fine.

Had to be.

Had to.

That's why he was leading them to the beach.

To show them.

Harry and Uma would find them.

They wouldn't let them down.

Deez and T were just being pessimistic.

Right?

It's not like they weren't prone to always thinking the worst.

Though-

He grimaces as he looks down at Deez again.

-how often was she wrong?

He looks up at the clouds above them and sighs.

Still turbulent.

Still pouring.

Still doing nothing for their mood.

Their quickly sinking moods.

He was fine.

They were fine.

Harry and Uma were Harry and Uma.

They were pirates.

Stubborn, stubborn pirates.

They were fine.

Yensid and James were with them too.

They were fine.

He glances back at T.

They'd just stumbled upon him.

Stumbled.

They had planned on looking for him.

But then they stumbled into him.

Randomly.

What were the odds of that?

Sure, it was because he was letting in a giant beast into the hangout.

But, didn't that've stacked the odds higher?

Not only finding T.

But finding T with a talking whale sized spider-

A chill runs down his spine.

Adelaide had been cute in a weird way at the library.

But now?

Now he understood everyone's terror on a visceral level.

He still wasn't sure what to think about T-

He shakes his head. Nope.

-how high were those odds.

Right?

They were fine.

He falters when they get to the beach.

Or, at least where the beach had been, and sits.

"Dude?"

He grimaces at the exhaustion in T's tone.

The gruffness.

How raw it sounded.

Desolate.

Listless.

"Gil?" Deez tilts her face up to look at him.

"They'll come. It's pointless to keep walking. We could miss them." He explains firmly as he plops to the ground.

"Uh…" T turns to Deez.

Deez swallows hard before she wipes her eyes with one hand.

He looks down at her expectantly.

Watching her red puffy eyes and tear-stained face.

But she doesn't say anything, she just continues to stare at him.

T lets out a long-suffering sigh before he slumps behind him with a grunt as he feels his back pressed against his.

"We needed a break anyway." Deez sighs, looking away with a frown as her fingers absently play with his hair.

"Did we?" T groans.

"Yes." Deez deadpans.

He frowns at how hopeless she sounded.

Like she'd completely given up.

It hurt.

Made his chest ache.

And T's shaking wasn't helping.

"It was so stupid to hope it wasn't bad." Deez wipes furiously at her face, "to think it could be okay-" Her voice cracks before she shakes her head.

He glances up when he feels T stand, his brows furrowing with confusion as he drops the bag full of medicine at his side.

"And I'm done."

"T," It was more concerning that he actually managed to grab a fistful of hoodie.

T was never this slow.

"Let go."

He grimaces at the dull tone before he desperately twists his hand in the fabric.

"No," He shakes his head, "You're not-"

"Uma?" Deez's whisper interrupts him.

He looks down to find her staring intently out at sea.

Through the dark rain and out into the swirling fog-covered sea.

"Uma!?" Deez calls out again.

"Treasure?"

"Uma!" Deez screams as she fights to get out of his arms.

That didn't-

He releases her.

-sound despondent.

Deez instantly runs into the shallows.

"UMA!" Deez shouts as she lights her hands up with red flames and waves them above her head.

T whips his head in her direction so quickly he has to catch him.

"DEEZ!" T growls protectively.

As if-

He jumps to his feet instinctively as T hits the ground with a grunt.

Shit.

"Sorry," He pulls him up by the good shoulder.

What was wrong?

He lets go of T as he races after Deez.

"Get the fuck outta the water!" T snaps at his side.

"UMA! HARRY! YENSID!" Deez jumps up and down, splashing water around her as she continues to frantically wave, "JAMES!"

"Treasure?" He calls out, panicked by T's sudden shift in energy.

"WE'RE HE-" Deez grunts as T scoops her with a cry of pain, "No! Gil was right!"

He turns in the direction, eyes narrowed as he desperately searches the horizon.

"Don't give a fuck. Out, I want out, and I want you out." He turns to him, "I want you out!" He snaps as he races back to the shore.

He doesn't even question it as he rips his eyes off the sea and turns to bolt, something about T's tone urging him to take heed.

"UMA!" Deez screams as her flames go out, and she grabs T's hoodie to stay balanced on his good shoulder, "But the ship!"

"Don't care!" T snarls, "Summon them from here. Idiot."

Deez gasps as T slams her on the ground with a hiss. "Uh- Fuck." She blinks as she stares at the shallows, "I- I was in the water." Her hands slip into the ends of her hair as she tugs.

T falls to his knees and good arm and pants in exertion as he-

He frowns.

-whimpers?

What the- He shakes his head.

T would have to wait.

He rushes to Deez, scooping her up as he pulls her close, "It's okay, Treasure. You're okay. I've got you."

She shakes her head before she points over his shoulder. "You were right. I was in the water, but you were right."

He turns to look back at the horizon, "Shit!" His eyes narrow as a vague outline of the ship comes into view with the shifting of the fog, "UMA! HARRY!" He laughs joyously, warmth curling in his chest as he begins back towards the shoals.

Only to jump and curse when something flies past his hip.

T grunts from somewhere behind him as he looks down to find the water lapping at a dagger sticking at the sand.

"What. Did. I. Say." T snarls.

He grimaces. That had been way too close for comfort.

He lowers Deez slowly before he swipes the dagger. He knew better than to leave it, but like hell was he giving it back until T got some sleep.

"Someone is signaling back!" Deez cries out as she presses her fingers to her lips, "Someone's there!"

Pushing the death threat aside, he lets out a rumbling laugh as he picks Deez up and spins her.

Which turns out to be a mistake as he loses his balance and falls back with a yelp. The world still spinning as a sense of nausea crawls over him.

Deez giggles beside him before she throws her arms and legs into the air, "the ship made it." She cheers as tears leak from the corners of her eyes.

He grins at her. "Told you!" He squeezes her tight to his chest.

Regretting and reveling in it.

His pain.

Her joy.

Their joy.

"You did." Deez admits with a small frown before she shakes her head, "I- I just, the whole dock. The town. Everything was in ruins," she sobs, "I was so scared! It was so hard to hold onto it."

"I know but-"

He pauses at T's pained groan as the other boy staggers to his feet, dagger gripped in one hand.

"T?"

"We-" He pants, "need." He huffs, "to hide." He grunts.

The hell?

He puts Deez down before he pushes himself to his feet.

"Why?"

"Where?" Deez asks at the same time as she looks around.

T looks around before he curses and groans. "If it's Tim who kills me, so help me-"

"I'd step in front of Tim for you." Deez snorts.

"Great." T falls to his back with a grunt of pain.

"I thought you liked it when I was a distraction." Deez chuckles before she twists to stare back out at the ship.

"T…?" He questions with a frown. "Are you okay?"

"No, and neither should you guys be."

"I'll warn you if it's Tim." Deez huffs without taking her eyes off the ship.

T just holds up his hand and flips her off.

He frowns, concerned with how limply it falls.

What was he missing?

He looks down at Deez.

Deez never missed anything, and she seemed just as excited as him.

So, what was wrong with T?

He gently places her on her feet before he walks over to T and looks down to find him staring at the swirling clouds above them blankly.

"T?"

"Mmm?" T responds dismissively.

"What's wrong?"

"This isn't how I pictured my death."

His brows furrow as his head tilts.

That was- He sounded so serious.

He frowns.

He'd never heard T so passive and resigned about dying.

"Why do you think you're going to die?"

"We." T lets out a heavy sigh,

"We what?"

"I think we are going to die."

"What?" He asks as he looks up at the ship, unsure if he was more concerned or confused. "Why?"

"Why are you so sure it's Uma and Harry we just flagged down?"

He blinks, thoroughly confused. "Because it's the ship?" He asks slowly.

"Mhmm." T continues to stare up at the sky.

"T, you're worrying me."

"Good. You should be worrying."

"Kay…" He looks T up and down, his eyes narrowed before he lowers himself to the ground and pulls the other boy to rest on his lap.

Little fucker.

He pulls T's hood down, ignoring the grunt, cursing, and weak dismissive waves before he starts gently prodding.

His eyebrow lifts when T bites back a cry as he stiffens, "how hard did you hit your head?"

T glares back at him, "How hard did you hit yours?" He snaps back.

"Hard." Deez sighs as she sits beside him, "It's Yensid and James, by the way. They're coming to get us in the dingy."

Another laugh leaves him as he wraps an arm around her to pull her to his side.

"Maybe." T huffs.

"Okay." Deez rolls her eyes, "Why this?" She gestures to T, "Why the clouds? It's already storming, and this lightning is green. What are you doing?"

"You two managed to survive. I managed to survive. You seriously think we're lucky enough that they and the ship survived too?"

"I mean. It's what I was telling myself in the cave. You're T, they're pirates. You guys know what you're doing. Us living was the surprise here."

"Oh shut up," T rolls his eyes before he hesitantly sits up. "You two are more than capable of taking care of yourselves."

Deez shivers before she presses closer to his side and sighs.

"Mhmm." T looks away.

"Town is your comfort zone, the sea is Uma and Harry's," Deez frowns as she looks up at him, "The sea filling up the cave was not our comfort zone."

"Fair," T pushes himself to his feet. "They're probably actually them." He sighs. "If we die, we die. If we don't, all the better."

He shakes his head.

Fucking T.

"That's a-" Deez's brow furrows, "Better? A better way to look at it." She sighs before she shrugs, "I guess?"

"How many thoughtless deals have you made with the OVs?" He carefully rolls his eyes, "Just pretend it's one of those deals and stop looking for the teeth."

Deez leans in closer to his ear, "You know that sounds like you're saying the deals are okay, right?"

He huffs, "What? He doesn't think twice about making deals with those death traps, releasing a talking spider twice the size of your damned dad, and who only knows what else, without looking for teeth. So, why is he looking at them now?"

"Cause you two are here." T shrugs.

"Fair. But, there's three of us, so we'll be careful."

T's snort turns into a grunt of pain.

"Can you please remember that you wanted your shoulder dislocated and put back in place?"

"I wasn't bitching about it." T huffs defensively.

Deez glares, "I'm saying remember it, not stop bitching about it."

"Whatever."

"Yeah," Deez rolls her eyes as she stands, "stop hurting yourself you ass."

He shakes his head.

T might not have been as happy as they were, but it was better than him being so passive. He'd take resigned.

"They're almost here." Deez bites her lip as she watches the waves.

"Cool." T crouches to pick up the bag of medicine before he stands and slings it over his good shoulder.

"Uma and Harry-" Deez closes her eyes before she shakes her head.

He grins, "I can already smell the lavender," He pulls Deez closer, "And hear the begging."

She gives Gil a tight smile.

Uma.

Harry.

Her eyes shift back to T.

No.

She didn't want to slip back into those thoughts.

The creeping, dark thoughts that circled closer with every new thing they saw.

The state of town.

The temple.

Her eyes close.

The docks.

It had broken her.

She grimaces.

Broken T.

How many people were gone?

How many kids?

People she wrote about.

Had taken years to get to know.

Gone.

The docks-

The stupid things that terrified her so completly for so long.

Gone.

It felt like having her legs kicked out from under her.

The loss of stability.

The rush.

The fall.

She'd just gotten out of that when she spotted the ship in the distance.

She sighs as she looks back out to sea.

The dinghy was closer.

Yensid and James were closer.

And that was where her new problem started.

She was happy to see them.

Happy to know they were safe.

But-

Her hands press to her chest, against the sharp fluttering that put the pain of a dislocated shoulder to shame.

Where were Uma and Harry?

Why weren't they the ones coming to get them?

She swallows against the rising lump in her throat.

Where were they?

She wraps her arms and Gil, needing the contact to stave off the building pressure in her chest.

No.

No no no!

They were fine!

They had to be fine.

She couldn't do that again. Do that to Gil.

And she couldn't deal with that, that emptiness again.

The absence of everything.

The nothing.

The all-consuming darkness.

"Deez?" Gil nudges the top of her head. "S'wrong?"

Her eyes trail to T as he silently slips past them.

Protector.

She fixes a smile on her lips as she looks up.

No need to freak Gil out again.

"I'm just- I'm relieved." She quickly explains as she tightens her hold on him, "And I just want to get to Uma and Harry."

He nods with a grin, "Me too. I thought it was going to take longer." He kisses the top of her head. "They're going to-" His eyes narrow as he glances towards the ship before his grin slips from his lips, "need us."

Need them?

Her brow furrows.

Of course they were going to need them.

Family needed each other.

But the way he said it suggested it was more than that.

He sighs, before he stands up, maneuvering her to one side so he could pick up T's abandoned bag.

Was he worried it wasn't Harry and Uma in the dingy too?

He kisses the top of her head as the small craft reaches the shoals.

"Gil?" James calls out in surprise before he jumps out of the Dinghy and races towards them, dragging the boat with Yensid still in it behind him. "Deez? Oh, yer fuckin' alive! Thank all the angry fuckin' Sea Gods!"

Gil's laughter rumbles under her hands, "Like there was any doubt."

She frowns at the way James drops his gaze.

And why was he acting like he'd seen a ghost or something?

"Hell. The way they described-"

Oh.

Gil lets out a breath as he rubs the back of his head. "Yeah, I didn't really think about that." He looks down at her, "how bad was the cove?"

She instantly drops her eyes to the rocks and sand under their feet as she shakes her head.

Nope.

Her eyes widen in surprise as arms envelop her.

"I'm so glad you two managed to- It is good seeing you both." Yensid explains as he squeezes her tightly, "the Captain and First Mate are in sore need of you."

"Three." She replies automatically, slow to return the hug.

Her eyes burn.

Uma and Harry were-

They needed them.

That meant they were alive!

She half chokes on a sob as her arms tighten around Yensid.

They'd all made it!

Yensid was real.

And Yensid said Uma and Harry needed them.

"Three?" James brow furrows before his eyes widen, "No. No way-" He looks around the beach in excitement before he bolts and tackles T with so much force it sends T to his ass. "You lil' fucker!" He hugs him. "Where the fuck've you been?" He laughs, straddling him.

"Avoiding people," T responds dryly. "Off."

"T and Gil are hurt." She whispers, unable to release the old man.

Yensid nods in understanding.

"An' Deez dislocated her arm."

Yensid's eyes widen as he blinks down at her, "You-"

"It's fixed now." She quickly demonstrates before she glares up at Gil.

"What?" Gil shrugs, "we were sharing."

His brow furrows, "I see." He responds curiously. "I would love to hear that story at a more opportune time, perhaps on the ride back to the ship?" He slowly releases them before he stands to full height. "James," he calls in concern.

"Aye?" The other boy looks back.

"It would seem T is injured."

"Fuck." James rolls off of T before he all but pulls him to his feet and glares, "course you are." He rolls his eyes before he takes the messenger bag, ignoring the angry protests as he guides him back to them.

Her heart thuds painfully in her chest as she stares at the dinghy.

She'd been so focused on getting to Uma and Harry-

Going home-

She'd forgotten home was on the sea.

The sea that tried to kill them.

"It's quite alright." Yensid offers softly as he places a hand to her shoulder and squeezes, "We, James and I, will see the three of you home safely."

Gil sighs as he picks her up and presses her to him protectively.

Like he knew, knew she was forcing herself to stay beside him.

Forcing herself to not move away from Yensid's grip on her shoulder.

They had to get to Uma and Harry.

And they were on the ship.

And the dinghy was the only way to get there.

She closes her eyes against the tears.

She'd worked so hard to be better at this.

She clings to Gil's ratty shirt as she hides her face.

"Thanks. I don't think any of us are in the condition to-"

"Finish that, I dare you." T snaps as he and James join them.

James snorts, "Same old T. Thank gods some things never change." He shakes his head as he pulls T closer, "I just, how did you guys know we were waiting for the rest of the crew here?"

"We didn't. We just knew it would be dumb ta try an' chase the ship." Gil shrugs, "An' the beach jus' made the most amount of sense to wait at."

Yensid nods in approval, "Good use of deduction, though I'd expect no less from the three of you." He smiles broadly.

"Now," James grin nearly splits his face. "Let's get ya back to your family."

Fucking T. *Shaking my head* just gotta be ruining the moment.

Then again, he's become quite the pessimist since the last book. And all five being alive? It's like they're in a story or something.

Though after seeing the docks, can you really blame him?

So many kids lost.

But, seriously, natural disasters will do that.

And both D and T have dedicated their lives to helping the kids of the Isle. It's a lot.

Don't get me wrong, Gil is feeling the loss too.

It just didn't hit him nearly as hard.

He never got a real chance to have a relationship with them like his family members.

Speaking of the Fam, finally!

I'm dying to know how Harry and Umes have been faring since their discovery.

Thoughts?

It's funny, we never really meant for T to get so close to James, but it makes sense on a level. They've spent an awful lot of time together, and both go outta the way to make sure the sea fam is protected. So, yeah.

And Yensid?

Fuck, how relieved the old man must be.

After all, for all six of them to make it out of that okay? Definitely talk about the odds of that…

It's hard writing these sometimes. Fuck, actually it's just hard writing. Kudos to any of you reading this that write your own stories.

Writing is a fucking bitch of a mistress.

But yeah.

Anyone else stoked for the next chapter?

I know I am!

Much love and appreciation

-Twisted