The sun was high in the sky as the Rising Tide pushed further north towards the Kingdom of Arlington. It was balmy and warm, causing Melody to reconsider her attire. Jim was standing at attention nearby as she fanned herself and sought shelter in the shade. This was so boring, exactly what she was afraid of, and Jim was not inclined to speak unless spoken to. She had brought a book with her, but she would rather be having a real adventure as opposed to reading about one. She glanced at Jim, wondering what could be on his mind.

Jim stood in the shade keeping an eye on Melody. He honestly wasn't sure why she needed a bodyguard while on a royal ship with a trusted crew, but orders were orders. This was his final test as part of his four-year training with the Intergalactic Space Academy, which he had joined when he was just 17. All he had to do was blend in with the local population and survive without the use of the advanced technology that he had grown accustomed to. If anyone learned his secret, it would result in immediate expulsion. He had, however, been allowed to keep a communicator for emergencies only.

They had only been sailing for about an hour or so, but he was already bored out of his mind. In his younger years, he would have scrapped together a solar surfer from spare parts and sneaked off for a little fun. But he was more mature now, and had greater responsibilities to care for. One little slip up and he could kiss his scholarship goodbye. He wanted to build a better life for he and his mother, Sarah, who was managing the Benbow Inn back home on Montressor. The inn was originally destroyed by bloodthirsty pirates seeking the map to Treasure Planet, but with the handful of coins that Silver had managed to save from the crumbling planet, he and his mother rebuilt it. That money was long gone now though, and he needed to secure his place in the academy in order to provide for his mother. Living the responsible life certainly was more stable, and he always knew what the next day was going to bring. Therein lied the problem though, he always knew what his day looked like. He really missed the danger and adventure of sailing on the RLS Legacy in pursuit of treasure, and fighting off treacherous pirates. Those were the good old days...

He suddenly realized that he had been daydreaming, and Melody was nowhere in sight!

Regaining his composure, he walked the length of the deck, glancing around with his sharp eyes. She couldn't have gotten far...

Then he saw a curious shadow moving across the wooden boards at his feet, and upon looking up, he saw none other than the princess, swinging from the ropes above!

It only took a moment for Jim to decide what he was going to do about this...

5 minutes earlier...

Melody had just put down her book in resignation when she noticed that Jim's gaze seemed foggy and faraway, as though he was looking at something far beyond the sky. So she slowly got up from her lounge without him noticing and crept away to find something fun to do. Once he was out of sight, she hid behind a stack of crates and began to remove her heavy skirts and bustle, leaving herself wearing nothing but her tan corset and linen pantaloons. When her wardrobe change was complete, she pulled herself up onto the crates and then hoisted herself into the rigging, climbing upwards into the shrouds of the ship.

The wind was whipping at the sails and causing the ropes to sway to and fro, so Melody took it as a challenge to see how high up she could make it before Jim noticed that she was gone. Taking a deep breath, she leaped from the rigging to a single rope as the ocean breeze pushed it towards her, clenching her fists tightly once they made contact. The feeling of free-falling, if only for a second, was exhilarating! She repeated this maneuver until she had almost made it up to the crow's nest, which she was careful to avoid, lest the sailor who was posted there as a lookout should catch her.

She stopped for a moment to rest in the upper rigging, and clutched her locket in one hand. Carefully, she opened it, revealing the blue pearl safely cradled inside. She still wondered why her Grandfather had given her such a valuable gift, much less given her no explanation as to its purpose. Could it be a family heirloom? A priceless royal trinket? Or something more?

"Ya know, if all you wanted was to be left alone, you could have just said so."

Melody snapped her locket shut and whirled around to see Jim hanging from the rigging behind her. He laughed at her surprise.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," he said sincerely. "Whatcha got there?"

"Uhhh, just a gift from my grandfather," she answered vaguely. "How did you get up here so quickly?"

"I might ask you the same thing! And forgive my forwardness, but, where is your dress? " he glanced down at her pants.

"On the deck," she answered nonchalantly. "I couldn't very well manage to get all the way up here in such restrictive clothing."

"No, I suppose not," he smirked at how she obviously didn't see a problem with any of this. Honestly, he was just relieved to actually be doing something. "I also suppose I should try to convince you to come back down."

"You'll have to catch me first!" and with that, she swung past Jim on a nearby rope.

"Why, you little minx!" Jim feigned offense at her abrupt departure before swinging after her.

Melody climbed as fast as she could, already running out of breath from laughter. Once she reached the end of the rigging, she looked back and saw Jim quickly gaining on her. She had nowhere else to go now, and he knew it. Or so he thought...

Jim had finally caught up to Melody, who was now literally at the end of her rope. He couldn't believe how easily she had evaded him. He certainly knew his way around a ship, but she was putting him to shame! He stopped a few feet away from her, savoring his victory.

"Looks like I win!" he shouted over the wind.

"Not even close!" she stared him down, narrowing her eyes. Before Jim could even process what was happening, she had launched herself backwards, heading straight for the waves. This girl was crazy!

He would surely be fired for this. If any harm came to the princess, he could be sentenced to the gallows for his negligence, and losing his job would be the least of his worries. How could I have been so careless? At any rate, he knew sitting up there berating himself would do neither him nor Melody any good. So he did what any reasonable seaman would do. He jumped.

Melody shot through the surface of the water, descending deep beneath the waves. She was sure to intake as much air as her lungs could fit before she went under, and she knew she could stay under for at least 3 minutes before her body begged for oxygen. She was waiting to see if Jim would follow her lead. While she didn't know him well, he seemed like the fearless adventurer type. He did follow her up into the shrouds of the ship, after all.

Not more than 30 seconds later, Melody heard a large splash. Her ears were able to pick up sounds crystal clear underwater, thanks to her aquatic lineage, so she heard very clearly when Jim called her name. She decided to pretend she didn't hear him, however, choosing instead to startle him this time. She swam up behind him, like a shark going in for the kill. He was kicking his feet to stay afloat as she neared him. With a sudden tug, she had successfully dunked him underwater. He immediately swam back up, sputtering seawater as he caught his breath.

"Melody?" he looked around nervously. "That better have been you!"

Melody giggled and expended the rest of her oxygen, forcing her to surface. She appeared right next to Jim, who nearly jumped a foot out of the water.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," she said sarcastically.

"Me? Startled? You're going to be the death of me is more like it!" He whipped his drenched bangs out of his face. Melody laughed harder at his apparent frustration.

"Oh come on, Jim! Live a little!" she splashed him playfully.

"Yeah, yeah. Just do me a favor and warn me the next time you plan on pulling a stunt like that." He cupped his hands and squirted water back at her, earning him another giggle.

"Aye aye, captain!" she mock saluted him, then dove back under.

Jim rolled his eyes in amusement and followed after her as she swam back towards the ship.

Melody reached up and grasped the rope ladder hanging from the side of the ship, using the wooden rungs to climb back topside. Jim followed a bit slower as the weight of his waterlogged uniform weighed him down. Finally they reached the railing and pulled themselves aboard, coming face to face with Captain Howell.

Jim immediately stood up straight and saluted to his captain. Melody stood at his side looking slightly apologetic.

"Lieutenant Hawkins, is there a reason you and the princess are both soaking wet? Furthermore, I must inquire of her attire, or rather, lack thereof." He folded his arms and waited for an explanation.

"It was my fault, Captain Howell. I leaned too far over the railing and fell overboard. Jim jumped in and saved me," Melody covered for him. "As for my clothing, I had to remove my skirts as they became too heavy for me to swim in."

"Very well, you are free to return to your cabin and retrieve clean clothes, your majesty," the captain bowed as she made her exit. She glanced back at Jim and mouthed the words "I'm sorry" before scampering back to her cabin.

"As for you, Lieutenant, come see me in my quarters immediately after retrieving some dry clothing for yourself. I won't have you dripping all over my office."

"Yes sir!" Jim saluted and marched obediently back to his own quarters.

Henley Howell sat at his mahogany desk, examining the large map that he had spread out before him. Provided that they only met clear weather ahead, they should make it to their destination in a week's time. Perhaps even faster if they continued sailing through the night. A steady knock sounded at the door.

"Come in," he replied.

Jim appeared in the doorway, dried off and dressed in a clean uniform. The captain stood up and beckoned him to come nearer.

"Did you enjoy your swim?" He asked with a stern look.

"Sir, it's not what you think -" Jim began to explain, but Henley held up a hand to silence him.

"Jim, I like you. You have great potential. It would sadden me deeply if you were to waste the opportunity you have landed." His face softened a bit. "I know you intended no harm, and I also know that Princess Melody can be a handful. Just take control of the situation next time, yes?"

"Absolutely sir. Is that all?" Jim asked.

"Actually, that isn't the only reason I wanted to speak with you. Please, have a seat," he gestured to the wooden chair in front of his desk as he sat down in his own.

"What is it?" Jim stationed himself in the indicated seat as Henley pulled a small tablet out of the desk drawer.

"About 20 minutes ago, the energy readings on my scanner went off the chart," he tapped the screen to display a glowing green hologram above his desk. It was a line graph that held steady for a bit, before suddenly spiking to the top, then back down again.

"What do you think could have caused that?" Jim leaned forward intently, examining the chart. "I've rarely seen readings like this before; definitely not here on Earth."

"Whatever it was, it was very close. I might even venture to guess that it's on the ship with us." Henley swiped the graph out of sight and put the tablet away. "I want you to keep a sharp eye out for anything peculiar, you understand?"

"Of course sir," Jim thought back to what he saw, or thought he saw, in Melody's locket right before she hid it from him. Some sort of blue orb. It almost reminded him of...no, it couldn't be. Although that would explain the energy spike. He decided to keep this information to himself for now, at least until he could confirm what he saw.

"Jim? You look as though you have something to say," the captain pressed him.

"No sir, just trying to remember the last time I saw something that powerful," he lied.

"Very well, you are dismissed," the captain stood up. "And don't forget what I said; keep your wits about you."

"Yes sir," Jim saluted and left the captain's quarters.

Melody was waiting a few steps outside the captain's cabin. She had thrown on a simple navy blue frock and let her hair down to dry in the afternoon sun. Once she caught sight of Jim, she ran up to him anxiously.

"You didn't get into trouble did you? I'm so sorry if you did; I didn't mean for us to get caught," she rambled on.

"Nah, just a slap on the wrist. It's fine," he winked at her.

"Are you sure? I just feel terrible about the whole thing. I never should have goaded you into chasing me," she glanced down at her feet.

"Hey, believe me, you didn't make me do anything I didn't want to do," he assured her.

"So...you wanted to chase me?" She looked back up at him, her cheeks slightly red.

"That came out wrong!" he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

"Right...well, I still want to make it up to you. Come with me!" she grabbed his arm and pulled him along.

"Where are we going?" he asked, following her quickly.

"It's a surprise!" she grinned as she led him down below the deck.

They finally reached the galley, which was empty. Melody instructed Jim to have a seat at one of the tables as she rummaged around until she found a tin plate and a couple of drinking chalices. She then opened a couple of the barrels and produced a handful of crackers and some dried meat, which she arranged on the plate. Finally, she found a bottle of wine and filled their chalices about halfway.

"I present to you, your dinner!" she said with a flourish before sitting down across the table.

"Well thank you very much, Chef Melody," Jim was impressed by the small meal that she had managed to scrap together.

"Dig in! Swimming works up a good appetite, so let me know if you want more," she picked up a cracker to nibble on.

"Do you go swimming often?" he asked, picking up a piece of the salted meat.

"As often as I can. I love being out in the ocean; it's always felt like home to me," she took a sip of wine. "For the first 12 years of my life though, I wasn't allowed near the ocean."

"Oh yeah? Why was that?" he inquired.

"My parents were paranoid that I would drown or get eaten by a shark", she answered carefully. While not the real reason, it wasn't exactly a lie.

"Ah, I can sorta relate. My dad wasn't around, but my mother was overprotective of me. She wouldn't let me do anything fun, so I often got myself into trouble surfing behind her back."

"Surfing?" Melody cocked her head in confusion.

"Oh, yeah uh, surfing the waves, you know? It's a new sport," he lied. Way to go idiot, you almost had to explain to her what solar surfing was.

"Sounds exciting! Maybe you can teach me someday," her eyes sparkled with delight at this prospect.

"Yeah, maybe," Jim agreed. Like when, genius? She's probably going to be engaged and married within the next month. He suddenly stood up from the table.

"I uh, I should really be getting to bed now. Thank you again for dinner, it was delicious," he patted his stomach.

"You're welcome," she smiled softly. "Thank you for entertaining me today, it was fun."

"Yeah," he stood in the doorway awkwardly. "Well, goodnight princess."

"Goodnight Jimothy," she answered. He turned back with a confused look on his face.

"I told you to call me Melody," she laughed. "I hate titles."

"Fair enough," he smiled. "Goodnight Melody." And with that he left her alone in the galley.