Darkness gave way to a green-tinged light and Blue was unsurprised to find herself aboard the Ferry of the Damned once more. It was cold, foreboding, as though all of it could collapse away into nothing without warning.

Collecting herself, Blue got to her feet and took in the view of the Ferry's deck. The pirates that she had spotted on her initial visit were no longer there; instead, a trio was stood near the door of the captain's quarters. If they noticed her, they paid her no mind. Above them, the captain floated at the helm, busy with a book he wrote in.

What had brought her to this point was slowly coming back. She recalled setting out from Plunder Outpost and skirting along the southern edge of the Ancient Isles, stopping at Devil's Ridge to rest with her obnoxious new shipmate. They then set out for Ancient Spire Outpost before they were to cross the vast open water to the Wilds; a sloop was already at the outpost and then the galleon came hurtling in with a crosswind.

Standing near the Well of Fates, Blue considered the pirates on deck with her. They looked familiar enough and after some more thought, she realised that yes, she did recognise them: the galleon crew. At least one of them, the only woman of the group, should have remembered her, but the pirates didn't even seem to notice her presence. Blue was thankful for the respite, even if the groping hands near the floating brazier still disturbed her. She extended an arm to dip her lantern into it and did a double-take. Only once had she been told what Flames there were, but that didn't seem right. The sound of footsteps approaching her didn't allow her any time to consider the colour her lantern held.

"Had a rough go at it, 'ave you?" His voice was far nicer than he looked.

This one couldn't have recognised her if he was being so friendly. She couldn't help outwardly showing some amusement with a grin. "Something like that." Now she gave the other a small bow and polite smile in proper greeting. Caution compelled her to be ready to reach for a weapon, yet she also felt as though something was keeping her from doing so. The others also brandished no weapons, holstered or not. Blue thought this strange. Perhaps there was no reason to be concerned with fighting, anyhow; all of them were already dead.

"Friends of yours?" she inquired, gesturing to the pair that hadn't come to greet her.

"Aye. My twin sister and our half-brother. We're waitin' for our uncle, but he 'asn't shown yet."

Skirmishing with this crew could — and likely should — have gone quite differently. A galleon manned by a family had the potential to be much more terrifying than that of some ramshackle crew that got together by chance. Blue wondered if their surprise advantage had been that effective or if this crew was simply lacking.

"A shame." She was curious how long she and they had all been here. She could discern no way to tell how long time had passed in the Sea of the Damned; somehow, taking her watch out seemed a poor choice. She didn't know a way to measure the time here and she couldn't help wondering if they did. There seemed no good way of asking and she refused to outright do so. "Did all of you die together?"

"We did. Took a fight we should have won, then we were ambushed on our way to salvage supplies. We couldn't take another fight; didn't want to, neither. Wish we'd 'ave 'ad someone just come tell us t' leave. 'Fraid our beauty of a gally's scuttled now."

No luck. At least she knew now what had happened. "So it would seem," Blue agreed. "The four of you have had a bad time then?"

"Aye. A worse time than you 'ave, I'd say." The two of them glanced to her lamp and had a laugh. Now she was certain something was wrong.

"I think I would agree to that." She had not fought this one; she had not even met eyes with him. The others of his crew, yes, Blue recognised, but not this one. The man did not make any moves that gave her reason to think he was playing her. He seemed to genuinely think she was a passerby on an unrelated journey.

"The three of you are waiting on your fourth, then?"

"Aye, that we are."

As they conversed, the door of the captain's cabin wrenched itself open. No one responded to it, not the ship's captain, not the two pirates off on their own still, and not the one that she was speaking to. Blue was starting to think that only she could see and hear it.

"If he shows."

She did her best to not show it, but she was surprised by her company's additional comment. Could people really just not show up on the Ferry? Where did they go then? She didn't know anything.

"You will have a lot to discuss when he does," she replied with a reassuring tone.

"That we do. We've gone over what 'appened, now we just need to decide what 'appens next, where t' go meet up and if we get ourselves a couple'a sloops or a nice brig to cram into." The pirate carried himself with some unease. "Our uncle's our captain, y'see, and I ain't lookin' t' take his place. Them twos look up to me 'cause I'm older, but I'm as indecisive as a virgin in a bawdy house on the best'a days."

That was a very interesting comparison that she allowed a chuckle in response to. His comment regarding where they ought to meet had her wondering: if someone did not have a ship in this place, then where did they go when they walked through that door? There was another question.

"I thought she was your twin sister?"

He gave Blue a wide, toothy grin. "Aye! Pa says I came out first, though." They shared another laugh.

With the door open, Blue was becoming restless. She knew now what had happened to the galleon and its crew; it irked her to know that they hadn't needed to fight. If this one soul was anything to go by, the crew was made up of people who did not offend her. She would not have minded having a drink with them in the tavern. No, no, it was Z's alarm that had bothered her. As the ship approached, she had considered their options; he, on the other hand, had been hell-bent on fighting them.

"I ought to be going now."

The others of the crew had become restless, too. Unless she sprinted by them, Blue would have to greet them as well. She moved to do that, polite nods to them as she stepped past, but their sister was not so cool with the situation.

"You were at the outpost!" she accused.

Blue stopped just before the swirling portal. For a moment she was still, then she took a deep breath in. "Yes. Yes, I was." She pushed her hat up before turning to look back at the three so there was no mistaking her identity, taking in their expressions. The other woman looked ready to tear her apart.

"You lot got your asses kicked… somewhere, and then again at Plunder Outpost, yeah?" Realisation was washing over the trio. Blue shrugged. "You gave me no choice, so I fought back. I recall knocking that tall mast over… You lot went and picked those kegs up somewhere between outposts and then our paths converged again." She made a motion with her hands to express this. "You should be more careful in the future."

Giving the crew a polite nod once more, Blue stepped forward to disembark the Ferry of the Damned, unable to help the whisper of a smirk she felt crossing her features as they hopelessly lunged forward to stop her.

Coming back to the realm of the living was a very unpleasant experience. Blue was certain that coming back this time was worse than it had been the first go-round. When she was more aware of herself, she realised she had sat herself in the middle of the bed, pressed against the wall with her head against her bent knees. Just like before, she had needed time to sit and recollect herself. She also realised that it was very dark and that she was the bed's only occupant.

Now curious, she brought herself to her feet, ignoring the lingering malaise she felt; it would fade soon enough. It took no time at all for her to find her shipmate as Z had decided to sleep in the chair, arms crossed against his chest with his feet — … foot? — propped up on the table. He didn't look very comfortable and upon further review, neither did he appear to have intentionally fallen asleep. There was no note, nothing he had been working on. She supposed she ought to be glad he hadn't fallen asleep in the bed; she had known him a day and he had already surpassed a level of dirtiness that she didn't think possible by a human. Then again, the entire galleon's crew was dead, or at least most of it was, and he seemed responsible.

Heading up to the deck, Blue wasn't sure what she was sure about. As she peered about, she found no other ships. The wreckage nearby where the water became rough was surely the galleon's, but what of the sloop? And it was so dark… She checked her watch and was alarmed to find that it was nearly 3 a.m. the next morning.

Blue decided that she was much too tired to do anything. There were no immediate threats, no ships in the area that she could spy — she was going to get some sleep. She might not have been alive the last half a day, but she felt as though it had been one of the most arduous of her life. The distant screeching of some creature did not dissuade her from this decision.

Heading downstairs, she collected a blanket, then paused at the entryway. Why in the world he had fallen asleep there, she couldn't possibly guess, but she could do him the favour of leaving a note. Carefully, a pencil and logbook were retrieved from the shelf beside him; the book was opened to the first blank page and she wrote a small message announcing her presence and if he would please wake her if she had not roused with the sun or before he did. It was quick and sloppy by her standards, but it was sufficient.

The book was left open where she thought Z would see it on the table and she stepped away to head to the sloop's canvas. She needed some rest. And to stop wondering how he had even fallen asleep with that pegleg on.

When Z awoke, the sun had risen high and the inhabitants of the outpost were quite busy with their day. He hadn't planned to fall asleep last night so this came as something of a surprise to him, stretching and wincing. He had slept in better and worse places but as far as this one went, it was a bad one. Two days of fighting had left him fairly sore all over, but his neck complained the most now. He had just wanted to sit down and relax for a little while; he regretted that a lot now.

Slowly, he put his foot on the ground, his half-leg much sorer. That leg was in dire need of the prosthetic removed and proper rest. He wasn't sure he wanted to even take a look at it himself. On the other hand, perhaps Blue could do something about it. Speaking of which…

Sat more properly now, Z discovered that a book and pencil had been moved. His knee-jerk reaction was that it was strange, but with a quick glance back towards the canvas he spotted the culprit; there was nothing to be concerned over. He'd been up late into the night so she couldn't have been back for very long.

Standing, he went to the main-deck to get a better look at their surroundings. The horizon he could see was free of other ships, though he did spot a storm far north. Everyone on the island seemed to have forgotten about the previous day's battle, lazily going about their business. He shooed a seagull off the port harpoon.

Before he had even made it to the quarter-deck, he could see that underneath her blanket, Blue was still wearing the same clothes from the day before. It looked as though she had come off the Ferry and promptly gone to bed. Now the question came of whether or not he should wake her. He could let her sleep, he still had gold weighing him down, or he could kill some time by bothering her instead.

Or maybe not. In his consideration, Z had paced some on the deck and when he turned back to his shipmate, she was staring at him. She hadn't even moved. He hoped he didn't look surprised.

"Good morning."

"Good morning."

Pleasantries exchanged, Blue sat up to stretch and he took a respectable step away from her. Now Z wasn't quite sure what to do with himself.

"When did you get back?"

"After 3." They exchanged glances. "I looked at my watch. Why?"

"Jus' wonderin'. You missed the party."

She paused, then: "Right, the family."

"The what now?"

"Family," she repeated as she got to her feet and stepped past him. Before he knew it, she was on the dock and heading up the hill.

"Hey, where're y' goin'?"

"To get breakfast."

That didn't sound like a bad idea. It was late morning and after two crazy days, Z liked the idea of a kitchen-cooked meal. He stood on the deck as though he were dumbstruck for a long moment before pacing about, meandering until he felt a long enough time had passed so that he could join her without seeming eager.

When he got up the ladders and entered the tavern himself, Z was unsurprised to find her already sat at a table, leaning against it lazily. As he sat across from her, she rose a brow.

"Let me guess: fruit will not suffice today and you do not fish."

Whatever he was going to say, Z couldn't remember. Instead, he sat there with his mouth agape, mimicking the creatures that he did indeed delight eating yet refused to catch himself. Then, "I thought I'd keep y' company?"

"Very well." She didn't seem to believe him, rightfully so, though she seemed to be in a decent enough mood. "I trust you scanned the horizon before you came inside?"

A habit they seemed to share. "Uh huh. Not a thing 'round us."

"Good. I am not sure how much more excitement I can take."

He snorted. "Heh, yeah. Wasn't much of a challenge, though." Blue gave him a look that he could only discern as disappointment. He recalled their brief conversation at the dock. "So, what about that gally again?"

"I ran into three of them at the, er…"

"Ferry."

"Aboard the Ferry. There were three of them there, waiting for their last so they could discuss the matters at hand. I suppose they had been waiting a while and grown bored."

"And they jus'… had a chat with you?"

Blue smiled. "It was you that started a war with them."

Z froze, hesitated to respond, and then simply bit the inside of his cheek. She was right and they both knew it. Even worse, he had become so comfortable with the idea of a shipmate already that he had forgotten that he met her because of that fight.

"I did not cross swords with the one I spoke with. It was only their sister who cared to recognise me, and only after the door opened."

"And by then it was too late…" He chuckled; Blue couldn't help a small grin.

"What I am getting at is that they came to this outpost to sell what they had salvaged and to gather supplies. Whatever you did left them crippled. They were no threat yesterday, gunpowder barrels notwithstanding. If we had announced ourselves to them yesterday, they would have taken their business elsewhere."

"I have a hard time believin' that."

Blue shifted and scowled. Her attention drifted from him to the kitchen and back. "I am not sure that anyone cares what you believe. Your beliefs and the actions of others are two separate entities."

Z leaned back some. Her statement seemed defensive to him. Maybe that wasn't quite right. His thoughts were interrupted by someone stepping through the door that separated the kitchen from the rest of the tavern, two plates and tankards in hand. Blue and the barkeep exchanged some pleasantries as the plates were set before them. Z looked between the plates and her, curious.

"What is this?"

"Your breakfast. I prefer my scraps only feed fish."

He gave her another look and then glanced about the table. Z wasn't about to complain about a plate full of bacon, eggs, and potatoes, but he was unnerved as to why exactly she had gotten him a plate without even asking. He should let it go, he reasoned. Now, if she asked for him to pay her back, then he'd have some words.

The two of them sat and ate for a little while, both ravenous. Neither said it, but they appreciated everything at the moment, being off the ship and water, in a cosy building and eating a meal that didn't consist of fruit or fish and that they hadn't had to make themselves. Then again, with all the fish in the barrel on the sloop, Z wondered if he wouldn't have to worry about making himself proper meals for a while now.

Another thought lingered in his mind. Appetite mostly sated now, he asked, "So y' really think that crew would've jus' up and left?"

She rolled her eyes. Whether it was his question or because he broke the silence, he wasn't sure. "I am certain."

"I don't think so." He wasn't convinced.

Blue made a face and it wasn't because her bacon was burnt. "They had no supplies in which to fight. I do not know what you did to them, but they hardly fought me back at Plunder. Then and yesterday, they did not want to fight."

This was frustrating both of them. Through numbers alone, the galleon's crew had an advantage. They should have been prepared for combat after spotting two sloops. "I can't imagine why."

"Because… they did not want to. That is all." Blue rose a brow at him. This conversation was becoming impossible. His thoughts must have been apparent on his face to some degree as she had more to say.

"You like to fight. That is fine. But—"

"Do I, now?" If he hadn't already been so agitated, he would have let her speak. Now he couldn't help himself, snapping. "Y're assumin' a lot."

Leaning against the table, Blue picked at her food, a small, haughty smirk on her face. "Am I?" Now he felt like he'd made a mistake by letting his anger get the best of him.

A piece of what remained of her eggs was used to represent Plunder Outpost as she began, pointing to one side with her fork. "When I arrived at Plunder, the outpost was empty so I tied my sloop to the main dock." She pointed to the opposite side, gesturing to the south. "You and the galleon must have come from here. All of you were surprised to see my ship. You ran into me at the tavern." With an amused expression, she looked at him. Being reminded of that just annoyed him more. "I know I did not see any of you or your ships prior to your arrival. I decided to help you because fighting off four people is easier than six," — so she had cautiously assumed at the time that Z had a partner with him — "especially without another set of hands. You still chose to fight me after that."

"You were in the way."

Blue dropped her fork, exasperated. She twisted in her seat, apparently unsure if she should just get up and leave right now. She took a deep breath and gathered herself.

"I took no hostile actions toward you until you did." She took another breath. "You, all on your own, decided to take on a galleon. Even after it was no longer a concern, you came at me again!" For a long moment, she stared at him, letting those words sink in. "Am I incorrect?"

He stared back at her before tending to his food again, having momentarily forgotten about it. Another moment later and he reached over, plucking a piece of bacon off his shipmate's plate. He spotted a slight twitch upon her lip and had to withhold a laugh.

"Maybe. Are you?" He took pleasure in seeing her brow quirk again. "The gally had treasure worth fightin' over and after that, I needed a ship. You had one."

"That does you little good if the Ferry and mermaids return you to your ship, no?"

"Yet here we are."

"And what would you have done had I not accepted you?"

Z shrugged. "I would've figured somethin' out." He reached forward to grab the nearest morsel off her plate, the piece of egg she'd used as Plunder Outpost. Her fork found it before he did and they exchanged looks until she pulled it away. They were both very aware of his attempts to provoke her now.

"Am I correct or not?" she asked. He made a small, indecisive noise and she quickly spoke again: "A yes or no will suffice."

Z narrowed his eyes at her; she was quite keen. "Yes." A response to satisfy her and get out of the corner she'd backed him into. He spoke again before she could interject. "And what? You don't?"

That question seemed to surprise her. "No, not at all."

Blue had spoken with such vitriol that he was taken aback. The two of them were not getting along as well as he had hoped, yet that had been overly aggressive. Z wondered briefly if it was because she was a woman, but that couldn't be right; some of the fiercest pirates he had met were women. No, Blue must have just had a stick up her ass. Or maybe that wasn't right, either. Before he explained it to her, Blue had no idea that the Sea of the Damned existed, or that merfolk would take a pirate who had fallen overboard back to their ship. He couldn't imagine a world where falling off the ship or being mortally wounded was truly the end anymore. Z was intimately aware and comfortable with the unique attributes within this Sea of Thieves, yet Blue hadn't been aware of this. She must have been living by a set of her own that resembled the rules of the outside world.

He hesitated, then found the courage to ask: "You don't… or you didn't?"

"I don't."

The silence that stewed between them while he thought seemed to have calmed her. He was thankful for that, if unsure of her response. Thankfully, she had more to say.

"I do not seek out conflict. Or other people at all, really. I told you that I prefer to employ diplomacy over violence, but that does not mean I am any less capable or proud of my abilities to defend myself." She sipped at her grog, seeming uninterested in the few remaining bites of her meal. "A lot of people seem to think it easy to steal from a smaller ship or crew. Most of them learn the hard way that I am a good shot."

"Ah." Z still had a hard time believing her. The facts checked out, she had proved her skills twice over now. She had even smart-talked him a few times in their short knowing each other. Z ultimately decided that it was too soon for either of them to tell if her new understanding of the rules would change her mind. Still…

"So, y're a capable coward." He was a little sad that didn't elicit more than a quirk of an eyebrow from her.

"I do believe I recall you saying that avoiding others was smart. Or did you hit your head that hard?"

Z looked at her, somewhat taken aback. It was another moment before he understood that she had made a joke and gave a small laugh.

"We really did not have a chance to discuss what we ought to do about the sloop that was here, did we?" she continued. "Or the galleon, for that matter. Mm, mostly the sloop. The galleon… I concede that I, too, expected the galleon to be a problem, but…" A thoughtful expression crossed her face before she looked at him. When he didn't immediately understand, she asked, "What did happen with the sloop after I, err…"

"Bit the dust?" he blurted out. Blue gave him a slightly annoyed look at that saying but nodded her head. "I sent them on their way after I took care'a the gally. Those mega-kegs do a lot of damage but they ain't a sure thing on their own so I made sure no one was there t' save the ship, 'specially not when they go off up in the crow's nest." He noticed her eyes all over him as he spoke and tugged on the remaining cuff of one glove; he'd have to buy another set or few of clothes before they left the outpost. Again. "There was a lot of fire."

"I see," she said with some amusement. Mostly, she was astonished; the whole thing sounded like chaos. "Mega-keg?"

"Yeah. You've popped a red barrel, yeah? Jus' shot it—"

"A barrel full of gunpowder. Yes, I am aware."

Blue kept to herself and avoided people; she was anti-social, not stupid. He reminded himself of this before he continued.

"Y've seen skeletons pop out of the ground holdin' 'em before, yeah? — They only jus' started doin' that, by the way, still surprises me — but sometimes they pop out with these kegs that are a bit fatter, with nicer paint and some bones on 'em. Those've got a much bigger bang."

Realisation crossed Blue's face like lightning. "Oh." He chuckled. Then she asked, "The sloop — you sent them off? What do you mean?"

"Yeah, full crew: one in the tavern, one in the sloop. Told 'em to go wherever, anywhere but stay. I wasn't in the mood. Why?"

"I was curious."

They sat there just long enough for Z to begin to get comfortable, then his shipmate drummed her fingers and stood. He was curious and made a noise but earned no response as she left. Raising a brow, he downed his grog, what remained of hers, and hurried after. She had waited for him at the bottom of the ladder and once he stepped foot on the ground, she made her way to the ship with a strong resolve.

"Hey, what's goin' on?" he asked. She just motioned for him to keep following as they reached the ship.

When Blue finally relented, it was at the table. She spared a glance to the book that had been laid out before thumbing through a few pages.

"These Flames…" She tapped a finger at a line in the book. "There are six of them per your words, yes?" Z gave her a nod. He couldn't read her expression and watched with growing curiosity as she placed her dimmed lantern upon the table. "Pink is all I care for right now. It represents one's death to a pirate, yes?" He nodded again. "Then…"

"Oh." Z was surprised by the flash of emerald that came from her lantern as she ignited it.

"Green is for…?"

"For skeletons. Huh." He couldn't help a small laugh. "Well, that explains that."

"Explains what?"

"The sloop. Why they left without a fight like that." He leaned against the entryway, taking his weight off his prosthetic. "I thought they had seen me come off the gally and jus' thought I was more effort than I was worth, but now I get it." They each rose a brow at the other.

"Wh—" Blue was bewildered by all of his words. "Do you? Enlighten me, please."

"You were pushed, aye?" She nodded. "Then it's simple as that, really."

"Is it?"

"It is. He was cursed and neither of them were willin' t' risk a one-way ticket t' the Ferry when the fight didn't go their way."

Blue just stared at him until she faltered, looking down at the book as though she had realised something. He wasn't sure at this point, for he, too, realised that he had said something quite telling: coming back from the Sea of the Damned wasn't certain.

With a sigh, he asked, "What part didn't you get?"

Her voice was much meeker. "The Ferry doesn't always open its door for you?"

He shook his head. "Curses can get in the way'a that, I hear. Not sure why, but they do. 'Course, curses get in the way of a lot of things. Pissin' off the Ferryman will get you stuck, too."

For a brief moment, he thought that perhaps he'd made some sense. Blue opened her mouth as though to speak, then apparently changed her mind. He made an exasperated noise and turned, disembarking.

"I'm goin' to go buy meself some things before we leave for the Shores."