Curse his ability to sleep anywhere. Z had only planned to sit against the quarter-deck's railing and rest his bleary eyes, but it surprised no one that he had fallen asleep. It had, of course, been somewhat embarrassing to have Blue wake him up with a pleasantly gentle kick to his foot. Her expression was one of disappointment — he had neglected to remove his pegleg — but she also seemed ready to start the day. He, however…

"What?"

"The galleon?"

"Oh. Yeah." Right, that galleon. Of course, she'd be worried about it with him in his state. "It's at Lone Cove now."

She looked in that direction, wary. "Really now?"

"Uh huh," Z replied, nodding. "Watched it go all that way and stop on the other side'a the island."

"All right, I believe you. Now, why are you—"

"I jus' closed my eyes for a few minutes."

"Uh huh."

Blue wasn't convinced but she didn't seem to want to push the subject.

A little while later she suggested, "How about we go north to that little island? It puts more distance between us and the galleon."

"North t'… Scurvey? Sure, that works," Z responded.

In the morning chill of the Wilds, both of them greatly appreciated the hot splashtail that they split for breakfast. After that, they got the ship moving towards their destination.

At some point, Blue had placed herself in the crow's nest. When she inquired about their lanterns, he realised later that she was confirming for herself what he had said about the galleon.

"It can mean a lotta things," he started, lazily leaning on the wheel. "Means they're not afraid'a gettin' spotted, or they're too lazy to put 'em out an' use their handheld lanterns t' see around."

"Lit lanterns on a ship make it easier to see?"

Her question sounded rhetorical, but he responded nonetheless: "Yea, a lot. An' all the lanterns being on on a ship make a ship shape, y'see?"

"Hmm. So dousing the lanterns hides the ship. It is good for… both hunter and prey."

"Now y' get it. It's weird t' see a ship lightin' themself up like that."

"Perhaps they are busy and need the light."

"Maybe. Or maybe they're invitin' us t' go over and tussle with 'em. I dunno."

Ultimately, neither of them knew what exactly the galleon was up to and so long as it kept to itself, that was fine by them. As much as Z liked fighting other ships, even he had to recognise that a sloop's likelihood of winning against a galleon was quite low. Blue was right to not want to fight them, even if it was no fun.

The wind and waves meant it took them a while to reach their destination. If Blue was annoyed by their travel time, she didn't show it. Z was certain that she was thanks to the galleon's presence on the edge of the Shores of Plenty ruining her general mood.

They would cross the channel soon enough. If they really wanted to, they could cross now and stop at Picaroon Palms. It was close enough that it was a feasible plan in Z's mind, though he decided against voicing this. Instead, they occupied themselves at Scurvey Isley.

They still had time to cross the channel before it was too late in the night. Z voiced his idea a little later.

"No, you need to rest tonight."

He wrinkled his nose at her. It was true, he had hardly slept at all — by his own admission, too — but that didn't mean he wanted to idly sit. Sleep sounded so good, though.

"Fine. We'll… we'll—"

"Find something to occupy your time until you go to sleep. I am certain you can manage."

He made a mocking noise but conceded nonetheless to doing exactly that while she busied herself with her books until it was a more appropriate time for them to go to sleep. Before they did that, they had a quick conversation about the galleon's presence and determined that it was unlikely to be an issue. With the decision made and their mutual exhaustion, they slept at the same time in their respective places.

Z awoke to the ship in an unremarkable state. Blue was not down there with him preparing breakfast, and when he finally made his way onto the main-deck, he saw the canopy was empty. Unsure of where else to look, he tilted his head upwards and spotted her feet hanging off the edge of the crow's nest where she sat.

He called up, "What's the word?"

Leaning over to look down at him, Blue regarded his presence for a moment before moving, sliding down the ladder.

"The galleon is still at Lone Cove. I have no idea what could be taking them so long there but I have spotted no rowboats or merfolk between us and them."

Z chuckled. "That's good. Not so great that they're still there, though."

"What do you suggest we do?"

"Well," he started, considering the question and their options; "We don't want t' move closer t' 'em. And we don't want 'em gettin' any ideas about us. So… we could make a straight shot for Salty Sands, pass Picaroon entirely."

Blue crossed her arms, expression thoughtful. She didn't seem convinced and made her way to the map table; he followed to see her looking over his proposed path.

"The wind is not bad, not great, and we would be against the ocean's current."

"If we go too slow, we can always stop at Picaroon."

Blue looked at the map for a moment longer before nodding. "We had better get moving then."

He was still getting used to her agreeing with his ideas, but this pleased him.

Blue had him take charge of the ship while she got them something to eat. Once again they shared a freshly fried splashtail, staving off the cold of the Wilds. Thankfully, they only needed something to make the cold more tolerable for a little while longer.

Crossing the space of open water between the regions was uneventful. Blue had spent the time up in the crow's nest once more and Z wondered why exactly that was. Even considering the megalodon attack last time — last time, what an odd thought — didn't clarify anything in his mind. That was the last place anyone should be in case of a megalodon attack — they'd get launched out into the water, far too far away from the ship to get back before the sharks got them. He supposed she could watch for anything large in the water from there and keep an eye on the galleon at the same time, as well as watch for any other ships they didn't see over the waves.

The sun was beginning to get low in the sky when they passed Picaroon Palms. Z was more than happy to keep going and Blue didn't speak up so onwards they went. When they reached their destination, there was only lingering light left in the sky, the sun now beneath the horizon.

"I am starved," Z declared as they tied the sail ropes for the night. Blue gave him a look that he wasn't sure of. "You haven't eaten either—"

"Fine, I will catch another fish for us."

They must have been out of splashtails. That would explain both her annoyance and why she was currently getting her fishing pole out.

"Uh, thanks," he sheepishly muttered. "Anythin'—"

"Find a coconut or two for us to drink from in the meantime."

Well, he was going to offer to do something helpful, but that just felt mean. He stifled the beginning of an argument and nodded, going downstairs to do as told. A bit of coconut water went well with just about anything anyway, he reasoned.

Z purposefully took his time selecting a pair of coconuts before bringing them to the main-deck. The size of the fish that Blue was bringing out of the water was astonishing. It was definitely a splashtail, but it was huge.

"Are we eatin' all that?"

"I see no reason not to," Blue said, looking him over before spilling the contents of the fish's body cavity over the side of the ship with a plain dagger. "We have not eaten much today and you have praised my diet before."

He made a thoughtful noise and then nodded. He could eat half of that; he wondered if she could. They'd find out in a little bit. While the fish was cooking, she also changed into one of those overflowing nightgowns she was so fond of. He sat at the desk, tapping open the coconuts with the voting dagger Blue had been using earlier.

As she had said, they hadn't eaten much that day. He shouldn't have been surprised that each of them was able to eat their own halves of the fish and a coconut.

Dinner had been shared mostly in silence and then Blue set off to sleep. There was a predictability with her, a routine that he had come to appreciate. His usual crews all had their own tendencies, but outside of combat, there was very little routine. Blue liked to eat in the morning and the evening and she slept at night — that was far more than he could expect out of the others. Her sleeping meant that they couldn't use the cover of darkness to travel, but he appreciated knowing what she would generally do throughout the day and he didn't mind getting regular sleep himself.

It had been a huge risk to hope that Blue would accept him again, but he was glad to have taken that risk.

Z was up rather early the next morning. The first thing he did in the dark was climb up to the crow's nest and get a horizon check in. All he spotted was the same galleon they had been keeping tabs on, now all the way down at Cannon Cove. Nothing else jumped out at him. They were quite alone up here in the north.

He and Blue had started making a habit of hanging their legs off the side of the edge of the crow's nest. She didn't go up there very often, but yesterday she had practically spent the whole day up there. Had the galleon unnerved her that much? Or perhaps it was just an easy way to keep distance between the two of them. Whatever the case, he hadn't minded her constant vigilance.

As for now, Z decided that he was quite comfortable up there, leaning back on the railing. The darkness made the decision to doze an easy one. He closed his eyes and when he opened them in what felt like a mere moment later, the sun was rising over the horizon's edge and the island birds were louder. The canvas was empty once more and he could hear and smell a fish frying. The latter had probably been why he'd awoken.

After stretching, he made his way down the ladder. He stretched again and tapped his pegleg on the deck before starting down the stairs. Blue was never startled when he announced himself in a way such as that and this time was no different. She was dressed and sat on the bed overlooking another large splashtail on the stove — he must have slept through her catching it. They nodded to each other as he sat at the foot of the bed.

"Good morning."

"Good morning."

Blue leaned forward to flip the fish over. "What is the plan today?"

"Well," he started, scratching at his shoulder; "The gally's still over at Cannon Cove so they're pretty far out. If they're pickin' anythin' up they'll prob'ly head t' Golden Sands, but y' never know."

"So we should sit and wait for a while longer?"

"Or we can go check out the other islands nearby."

She held a thoughtful expression for a moment. "And… what, meander?"

He nodded. She considered this for another moment before nodding back. That was unsurprising — she seemed to like exploring. There was nothing for them on this little island and he knew Blue to be an island hopper.

"We'll head t' Smugglers' Bay. If we're lucky, someone'll be waitin' for us there."

Blue gave him a look; he looked back.

"Is this a… fun sort of 'waiting for us' or—"

Z couldn't help laughing. He supposed it was only fair that he clarify what all he meant.

"Sometimes there're roamers on the bigger islands. Sometimes the little ones, too. But some of 'em are more lived in than others."

"And Smugglers' Bay is one such island?"

He nodded.

"Very well then. We will go there and… expect a welcoming party?"

"Hah, now y're talkin'."

No matter where one might have found themselves in relation to Smugglers' Bay, it was a massive island, far taller than any ship and large enough to house many galleons within its namesake. Hiding the Forlorn Phoenix behind its bulk at the northern shoreline was an easy task.

Z was quite glad that his shipmate hadn't asked why they didn't stop the ship inside the island. Her cautious nature really must have saved her from a lot of unnecessary interactions with other crews.

After making sure that they were prepared for a fight — just in case — they disembarked. There was no way to climb the sheer cliff that ranged across the back side of the island so they had to trudge up the hill until they reached a ladder. It was up against the very northernmost part of the cliff wall, which also happened to be the tallest part of it. At the top nearby, there was a plank hanging off the edge of a small platform, used for… well, Z wasn't quite sure what purpose it might have had. It was too far to be used to dive into the ocean; directly below it was a gathering of giant rocks, a skeleton atop them. He and Blue probably could have debated for hours and still not known what this was meant for besides breaking every bone in one's legs.

From there, they stepped around either side of a rock formation just before them, eyes flicking about.

"It seems… quiet," Blue commented lowly as they regrouped on the other side of the formation.

Z pointed to the western half of the island. "There's thick tree cov'rage over there… Below us, there's a cave. Over there—" he gestured to the eastern side of the island "—seems to be nothin'. We'll check it last."

She nodded. "What first, then?"

"The cave's right below us and on about the same level as the forest is."

They nodded to each other and Blue followed him to the exact positioning of the cave mouth under them, splitting up and going to either side of it. He climbed down the stone wall as far as he could and leapt the rest of the way; Blue handled the downward movement with far more grace than he did, using vines to lower herself almost the entire way down.

The cave opening was closely examined; nothing stuck out to either of them. Blue and Z looked at each other before nodding once more and stepping into it. The way curved to the left before opening up into a single chamber illuminated by glowing fungus. It was full of barrels, boxes, and other crumbling containers that had been left behind. Water leaked in through the ceiling and pooled at the back, strangely clear.

Just to be certain, Z pushed the lid of a barrel open with the tip of his sword. There was nothing to be afraid of inside it, though the rotting fruit was quite bothersome. Blue checked out a box, causing another to fall from the pile; nothing had been inside either of them. The next thing she checked was a sideways barrel that had some cannonballs in it. They looked at each other before picking up as much as they could comfortably carry. Blue found another barrel of good supplies, mostly planks and a few old coconuts. Then they finally exited the cave.

Back in the sunlight, they looked about the immediate area. To their right was what remained of a shelter that someone had built some time ago, the palm leaf roof dried out and the wooden supports beginning to pull away from one another.

Z took a few steps down the path and looked about. Everything was as he remembered it, including the cannon that perfectly overlooked the bay. Blue came to his side, her gaze resting upon it, a light sense of understanding crossing her face.

"We should—"

"I believe the island is deserted," Blue interjected.

Z scowled slightly but looked about once more. No, if anyone was here, there would be signs, and so far there had been none. The cave was the best place to hide or set up an ambush, but it had been long since abandoned.

He suggested, "Why don't we check the forest before we decide that?"

It took a moment for Blue to nod in agreement. She started in that direction before he did and he had to jog a few strides to catch up to her, looking ahead.

"Spread out a little, yea? You take right, I'll take left."

"Very well."

After a short walk, they came to a point where the island split into different levels; continuing forward took them down while turning right would take them upwards back to the highest point of the island. They followed the way down, splitting up as agreed upon. They stayed within each other's sight as much as they reasonably could.

Any signs of activity were scoured for: newly constructed buildings, recently lit fires or lamps, trash that had been left behind… They had seen nothing of the sort so far. As they neared the end of the trees, he heard Blue yelp. Considering the circumstances, he was confused but brought his sword before himself nonetheless, cutting through the brush as he urgently made his way to her.

She had only been out of his view for a moment. When she was back in his sight, Blue stood awkwardly, leaning on her cutlass and looking quite frustrated. Nothing seemed amiss…

"What's—"

A sharp hissing noise in the bush before her caught his attention.

"Ah." He chuckled. "He getcha?"

"Obviously," she deadpanned. She lifted her injured leg, testing it before placing her foot back down with a small hiss of pain. What a day to wear short boots.

In one smooth movement, Z took a step forward and brought his blade down upon the bright blue snake. It hissed one final time before yielding its life force. He picked up its squirming body by the tail and looked from it to Blue.

"You look—"

"I feel sick." Her words were heavy and deliberate.

"Yea." They had found nothing at all so he agreed with her now. "There's nothin' here; let's go back t' the ship."

Getting back to the ship consisted of Z walking ahead, stopping and waiting for Blue to catch up, repeating many times. She was moving slowly, a limp in her gait, and by the time they were stepping onto the deck of the ship, she was a sweaty mess. Z headed downstairs and heard her following. The plan had been to grab a knife with more precision than his sword to clean the snake's body with, but Blue was now sitting at the foot of the bed, hunched over with her head in her hands. She didn't look like she would last long enough for him to cook her attacker so he fished a mango out of the food barrel and handed it to her.

"Here."

Barely moving, Blue shook her head at him. Z poked the side of her head.

"Eat. Y'll feel better."

"I think I would rather die."

Z wasn't sure if he should scold her or laugh. It was hard not to laugh regardless and he bit the inside of his cheek.

"I'm not askin'," he said with some amusement that he couldn't help. "An' I don't think y're in any position t' be fightin' me 'bout it."

She let out a low groan but slowly moved a set of fingers around the fruit.

Z didn't expect her to eat it right away, but he was going to keep an eye on her while he prepared the snake to be cooked. Speaking of which…

With a couple of pats to her legs, he located her dagger and retrieved it from her left calf. Just as he knew she would, Blue lifted her head to glare at him, but then she put her head back down. He'd been right that she felt too bad to move quickly or fight him over it, but he had expected something more out of her than just an annoyed look.

"Eat," he reiterated.

Z went up the stairs to the mid-deck's map table. There, he easily removed the head of the snake, tossing it over into the water. Then he opened the belly up and removed its contents, tossing those as well. Getting the skin off was a bit harder, but once he got a good cut between it and the flesh, it peeled away easily enough. He kept the skin — someone of Blue's resourcefulness would certainly be able to find a use for it.

When he went back downstairs, Blue didn't look as though she had moved, but the nibbled mango stayed his tongue. He coiled the snake's body up and placed it in the pan on the stove, apparently startling her as she flinched at the sound of sizzling meat.

"Ever had snake before?"

She shook her head. He poked her again.

"Eat."

"I feel li—"

"Like y're gonna throw it all up? Yeah. Eat it anyway. Y'll feel better even if it comes back up."

He wanted to laugh when she groaned, almost certain that she was just being a big baby. Then again, outside of actually being dead, she looked worse than he had ever seen her before. He was just about to suggest she lay down when she did, though she hung her feet down towards the floor.

"Better?"

"A little."

Just as he'd thought. Still… "Y'll feel better with some meat in yer stomach."

"Is it customary to eat your attacker here?"

"Hah, just the ones without legs."

It seemed that they both thought that was funny and the tension lifted some. They were quiet while the serpent cooked, Blue nibbling at the mango more steadily. She still looked awful, but also as though she was improving, if only just enough. A question lingered on his mind…

"So did ya step on it?"

"I stepped on its tail. It made no noise, just… spun around and bit me."

"What a day to wear those short little boots."

"They are sailing-only boots now."

Z chuckled as he turned the snake over. "Well, that won't help if one spits on ya."

Blue stared at the ceiling for a moment. "They spit?"

"Yeah. Y… Y' never noticed before?"

"I make it a habit to avoid them…?"

How odd. Everyone in the Sea of Thieves eventually found themselves bitten or spat upon by the snakes native to it, but Blue… well, with a moment's thought, it wasn't a surprise that this was only the first time she had gotten too close to one. Or at least, it was the first time one punished her for doing so.

"Uhm. Yeah. They spit poison, too. They're pretty toxic."

"So I have noticed."

He stifled a laugh and instead focused on finding a plate to put the cooked snake on. He found one in the bottom barrel — thanks to Blue's help — and did that, wondering if he should grab anything else. She already had a mango, though, so he decided not to.

"Here," he started, setting the plate beside her; "Eat. I'll finish what you don't. Careful of the bones. I'm gonna go empty my pockets out."

Blue groaned something of an acknowledgement at him. He just chuckled and went up the stairs to do as he said, brushing a hand on her knee as he passed by. They hadn't gathered very much from the short exploration of Smugglers' Bay, but they had still managed to pick up good supplies nonetheless. The cannonballs were the heaviest things so he had wanted them gone first, but when he went back downstairs to deposit the planks, he found Blue more tightly curled up on her side.

The meat had been pushed further aside. He didn't worry especially, but he touched her shoulder anyway before seeing that she was still breathing and took his hand away. She had nibbled at the snake as he'd told her to just enough that he was satisfied and didn't try to rouse her. He put it on the empty space on the stove beside the pan for later.

Now Z wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. He could sleep anywhere so that didn't bother him, but it felt like he should have done something… Not that he was going to risk pissing her off by emptying her pockets for her, or anything else. He'd already pushed his luck with her dagger. The best idea, it seemed, was to just pull the blanket over her as much as he could, move the pillow closer, and let her sleep.