The journey to the Devil's Roar had begun and Jackson seemed… understanding of Blue's condition. On the first night aboard the brigantine, they all had dinner together on the main-deck. Blue had felt like fishing, an attempt to bring about any semblance of normalcy, so they were all well-fed. Z had mentioned many times over that such a diet was especially good for their health, and if she was going to be dragging them down, she supposed that this was one way to help negate that.

The thought did linger on her mind, however. She found that she wasn't quite willing to just sit down and tell Jackson all about her troubles, but how much had Z told his friend? He seemed to understand that things were not the same as before, but… well, Blue decided that thinking such thoughts was not the best way to spend her time. As far as she could tell, Z had practically offered to handle those matters, anyway. Any problems that came up could be taken to him if she liked, she supposed.

Who slept in the bed was a matter that didn't come up. As he had procured the ship, that luxury normally would have gone to Jackson, but he seemed more than happy to offer it up to Blue. By the time the conversation came up, she was too tired to even try arguing and simply took to it. Besides, it wasn't as though she could sleep in a hammock, and while she could sleep on the deck, she didn't have Z's gift to sleep well anywhere at any time — it would have been a counterproductive argument.

Blue found herself quite pleased with the bed anyhow. While hers aboard the Forlorn Phoenix was rather nice and well lifted, most sloops that had a mattress only had that — the mattress, placed upon the floor. The bed of this brigantine was barely off the ground, lower than hers. Yet, thanks to that, she was able to lie on her stomach and rest her right arm on the floor beside the bed, satisfying her desire to sleep some way other than on her back.

Backtracking to Plunder Outpost from Golden Sands only took them two days. Not needing to tend to any injuries helped, but mostly it could be attributed to the brigantine's incredible speed. For as fast as she was, the ship also slid gracefully over the waves, producing a smoother ride than any other ship Blue had ever been on.

The outpost itself was explored cautiously. Though there was no reason to believe that anyone was there, their past visit had left them uneasy. Once it was ascertained that they were alone, dinner was had in the form of more fish Blue procured as the tavernkeeper had been less accommodating this time around. It was hardly a problem — Blue found that fishing was not so troublesome. Some of the larger fish that were landable took longer than usual for her to bring in, but that was the least to be expected, she supposed.

It was the next day that Jackson approached her. She was standing up at the prow, leaning against the raised boards that made up the base of the bowsprit. She greeted him with a polite nod but couldn't fathom what he might want to talk to her about other than the obvious.

"Hey, so, I been wonderin' about somethin'."

She stood upright and faced him. "Shoot," she said, certain she knew what he wanted.

"So, Z said something about something happenin' and, uh… well, I was wonderin' if you wanted to talk about it."

Blue hadn't thought about it like that. She and Z hadn't discussed the matter in any detail, she didn't feel the need to, and upon thinking about it, she found that she wasn't terribly interested in that. The nightmares were bad enough.

The look on her face must have said enough because Jackson recoiled and looked a tad embarrassed.

"I mean, obviously y' don't have to, I just wanted to make the offer in case ya did."

She considered that for a moment. She had no reason to believe he was doing anything but being considerate and there was no reason to assume the worst out of him, either.

"I appreciate that," she said. After a quick moment of thought she added, "My memory is somewhat fragmented, but I almost lost my arm."

"Z mentioned that."

She nodded. "It is still… problematic. I only have so much range I can move in it. Lifting objects is difficult. I cannot, say, fight with that arm."

His eyes lit up with a curiosity that he could not withhold. "So you're fightin' with your other arm?"

"We are working on that."

"Ohh." A smile crossed his face. "You're gonna be a real good sword fighter when your other arm heals up."

She could feel her expression becoming impassive, refusing to show how she truly felt about that, but also unable to fully force herself to stay positive like his view of it was.

"That is the hope."

A stop was made at Ancient Spire Outpost to rest through the night, get a meal, and refresh their supplies. After that, they made southwest for the Devil's Roar proper.

"What are we doing out here?" Blue finally asked when they stopped at Ashen Reaches and crowded around the table beside the bed.

"'Member that thing I said about everything out here bein' worth more?" Z said with some rhetoric.

She rolled her eyes. "Specifically, how are we going about that?" she asked, hoping she was more clear.

"'Member that chest y' stole the map to?"

She could feel her eyes light up at that. Z's dumb little smirk widened. Jackson looked between them, dumbfounded.

"Those voyages're the best way t' make money so we do 'em whenever we can't find anyone doin' 'em for us," Z explained. "The Companies really like for that stuff t' be returned to 'em."

"Understandable." She hummed thoughtfully. "And this voyage will… reward us greatly at the end?"

He nodded. "Uh huh."

Jackson looked between them before settling on Blue. "First time?"

"Something like that," she said.

Z leaned forward on the table and spread out the papers they had been given. "We got the usual two riddles, two x-marks the spot, two shipments, and two skeleton crews." He turned and motioned for her and Jackson to follow.

Blue didn't like how far away a brigantine's map and voyage table were from each other, but it was unavoidable, she supposed. The map could also be viewed from on the main-deck at the bow through the grate, so that, too, had its use. The brigantine, Blue decided, simply didn't feel nearly as homely as a sloop did.

"So we got one here at Ashen Reaches," Z started, thumbing through the papers. Jackson made a small mark on the map. "And another over at Fetcher's."

Blue stood a little closer to his side and looked over his arm — these voyages were x-marks the spot maps, dig maps. It made sense that Z had memorised the layout of the islands here if they frequented the region. She suddenly wondered just how many islands he might have been able to recognise by layout alone, those in the Devil's Roar or not…

The papers were handed over to Jackson and Z made the marks as he read the island names out. "Morrow's, Devil's Thirst, Brian's Bazaar — oh, hey, there's two at Fletcher's! We got skellies there."

Blue blinked at him. Fletcher?

"And, uh, the other ones are at Flintlock, and the last one's at Ruby's Fall."

Z had not said anything about it; perhaps she should not, too. Still, Blue's spine itched at Jackson's mispronunciation.

"All righty, so we're startin' here then," Z started, looking over the map and papers; "then we'll head t' Devil's Thirst, Morrow's, Ruby's, Flintlock, Fetcher's" — he said it right! — "and the sea post." He looked up at her and Jackson. "Think we can we remember that?"

Blue made a face and forced herself to focus on the question. "Why not keep the marks on the map?"

"'Cause if somebody gets on our ship, they'll know where we're goin'."

She wrinkled her nose. It seemed unlikely that such a thing would happen, but it had happened before, both with and without his presence…

"Very well… It should be safe in a book then, yes? One of mine that I am keeping beside the bed."

Z visibly thought about that. "Yea, I guess so."

"Then I will work on that while you two go dig up those chests."

"Uh huh. Y' know, y're lucky y' can't join us in the dirt," he teased.

Blue managed to look back at him with a smug smile before they separated into two groups at the stairs. As glad as she was to not be literally dirtying her hands in the mud and sand, it was not because of a choice she had made but rather because one had taken from her.

Z meant well, but it stung nonetheless to have to acknowledge her uselessness.

The Devil's Thirst was not a particularly remarkable island, Blue thought. Like all the large islands in the Roar, it had a volcano looming over it, glowing red crystals that jutted out of its sides. Whether or not they indicated a volcano's intentions of eruption, she didn't know. Their previous visit to the region had not indicated anything certain in her eyes, so she decided to ask.

"Does the colour of the crystals on the volcanoes mean anything?"

Both men looked away from each other to her, their conversation forgotten. They nodded and murmured their affirmations.

She could not help asking, "Really now?"

"Yea," Z said; "if there's an earthquake and the crystals are bright red, y' might as well get the ship movin' out."

Blue made a thoughtful face. "And yet, the protocol is to simply move the ship anytime there is an earthquake?"

"Sloops are tiny things," he explained. "A brig can take a hit or two, but y' should still move it. A gally's the one that can just sit there and just get hit by a volcano. Well, sometimes."

She eyed him. "So the gist of it is: be careful always and move the ship to safety."

"Yea."

Blue wanted to strike him but refrained. Jackson seemed to detect this as he laughed a moment later.

"Don't be laughin' yet, y're the one that's gotta go do the riddle still."

That shut Jackson up. Blue allowed herself a small chuckle.

Blue really wasn't sure what to do with herself. She was at the front of the brigantine once more, leaning on the start of the bowsprit, contemplating her place among the crew.

Z moved around the ship as he liked, standing where she was or along the length of the bowsprit or sitting up in the crow's nest. Jackson was generally glued to the wheel or right beside it. They, for the most part, had their places. Off of the Forlorn Phoenix, Blue had no real good idea of what to do with herself. The two men got on just fine as a duo, and while they outwardly showed that they appreciated her being there, she just seemed… unnecessary.

Their next stop was Morrow's Peak Outpost and Blue was very glad for that. An outpost meant they wouldn't have any reason to confine her on the ship. In fact, Blue was the best person to be going around the outpost taking care of their needs. She could handle all of their business here and simply instructed the men to meet her inside the tavern by sundown. They were, of course, allowed to move the cargo aboard the ship right away as it was picked up from the resident Merchant Alliance liaison right beside their brig at the main dock.

After that was buying and trading for necessities and supplies. Their supply of planks and ammunition was fine, but food was an everlasting concern. She supposed that fishing helped alleviate that problem; Jackson had shown some interest in it but had yet to actually pick up a pole. Z — well, she knew he wasn't going to do that except maybe for a stormfish.

Passing by the clothing shop, a thought occurred to Blue. Though there were bodies of freshwater here and there in the Devil's Roar, it was hardly as though one could truly wash the ash from their clothes. At least grog was in good supply to solve the drinking problem… Not only that, but her crewmates tended to just tolerate any tears or holes in their clothing. Blue couldn't stand that, personally, and them walking around in tattered clothing was very shameful. No, she could fix that, and that was one thing she could busy herself with while they were doing what they deemed dangerous or difficult work on the islands.

Rather than buy just them a set of new clothes, for she was unsure of what exact measurements Jackson might have needed, Blue spent her coin on leathers and fabrics that could be used to repair existing sets. These items were brought back to the ship — in a crate tucked under her good arm — and nestled into the hold. Blue did also notice that their cargo was simply placed along the bowsprit, something she disliked for the disregard it showed towards the cargo, but the job was done, technically, and she supposed that could be a well enough done job.

As per usual, her company could be found sitting at a table in the corner of the tavern. They were alone here, so their wariness was… something… of a mystery to her, but now…. now she felt like she shared it, if perhaps not for the same reasons she suspected their caution existed for.

"I have procured supplies for what will keep my hands occupied for the rest of the journey," she declared.

Z didn't even finish that previous bite of food before blurting out, "What's that?"

Momentarily glaring at him for such rudeness, Blue answered, "I intend to make sure that every set of clothing that exists aboard that brigantine will be in tip-top shape by the time we are done with it."

Jackson was the first to grasp her intentions, eyes wide with understanding. "Ooh! Y' mean y're gonna patch up all them holes we got in our clothes?" he said quickly.

"Quite." Blue looked between them when their expressions shifted to one she could not decipher. "What?"

"Well, I guess, I mean, that's not a bad idea," Z said.

"I jus' don't wanna see all yer hard work at the bottom of the Sea," Jackson added.

Blue wiggled a little in her seat, not quite sure she understood. "I have my sewing kit. I simply did not have material to work with."

"No, it's not that, it's jus'… well, we don't really keep our ships for long." That came from Jackson and he looked rather embarrassed. She stared at him until he and Z glanced at each other, then back to her.

"So," Jackson started, patting the table with both hands. "We, uh, well… We…"

"We us'ally jus' ram our ship int' other ships, board 'em, kill 'em, an' then take it fer our own," Z explained simply.

"Oh." Blue blinked. "I suppose you mean all that literally?" He nodded. "And that includes simply… letting your own ship… drift away and below the waves while you are busy taking a new ship?"

"Uh huh," he said, beaming.

She looked between the men. Jackson had taken on a sheepish grin that turned more confident when her gaze lingered and she could tell that this was true.

"… uh huh…" Blue sipped at her grog — she nearly spat it out, having forgotten how spicy it was. "This is… normal for you two?"

Both of them looked rather smug, Z especially so. "It's come t' be our special way'a doin' things," he said.

"Your… signature tactic, I see," she responded. Her thoughts drifted back to when they had visited Plunder Outpost and accidentally met with Marcus and Rylund. They told her and Z that they had lost Jackson in a fight and it sounded to her as though they might have employed a similar strategy that had backfired on them. "Right."

All Z and Jackson had to give in response was a haughty grin and a chuckle.

"Well, I suppose there is always room for change," she said simply, picking at her food.

Though she didn't look, she could detect her companions' temperaments shift to that of curiosity. It seemed that they weren't entirely sure what she meant, but neither did they feel the need to push the matter. Light conversation of a different topic was made for the rest of dinner.

In the morning, another meal was had at the tavern for breakfast, accompanied by the unique flavours of their house grog. Blue was not fond of them, neither was Jackson, and Z seemed to get more of a kick out of their displeasure of it than from drinking it directly himself.

The voyage took them east to the island of Ruby's Fall. Not long after they had departed the outpost, Blue turned her attention to the cargo on the bowsprit, its presence suddenly remembered.

"Where does this need to go?" she asked. When the men looked curious, she directed their attention to the crates.

Z gave a little "Oh, yeah," of realisation as he went past her and climbed onto the bowsprit. Never would she have ever expected him to simply kick the crates off the ship. She must have looked as appalled as she felt because the moment he looked back at her, he was laughing.

"What do you think—"

"Easy, lady," he said, raising his hands; "we ain't runnin' cargo for the Merchants. All that matters is that we picked it up. We never said anythin' 'bout deliverin' it."

Her eyes felt as though they were as wide around as the sun was bright on a clear day. Everything in her gut was telling her that this was wrong, that it wasn't the way to go about doing things, but after giving it another moment's thought, Blue didn't have a good argument. If they took too long to finish their task, then they might as well have been doing something else, and the whole point of this voyage was the one Chest of Legends at the end of it all… Everything they picked up along the way was nice, the chests for the Gold Hoarders and the skulls they would nab for the Order, but as for the Merchant Alliance… no, if that was all that was required…

She leaned against the bowsprit's base. "You're not wrong," she finally admitted, rubbing at her neck.

Z put his hands on his hips and beamed at that.

Blue almost asked Z to stay on the ship in her stead. She could read and walk about and help Jackson with the riddle here at Ruby's Fall, but when it came to digging the chest up once they knew its location… No, she was better off on the ship.

They were busy and Blue kept herself busy by keeping an eye out. The riddle shouldn't take them terribly long, just long enough to bore her, so she suffered the pain and awkwardness of pulling herself up into the crow's nest. She regretted that about three-fourths of the way up, but she was too high to give up at that point. Besides, the view gave her a useful look around the general vicinity about them, and the sun lowering to the west horizon was rather striking. It was then that she realised that they were taking quite some time with this riddle.

Looking to the island, she could spy Z and Jackson stood before a rock, discussing something. A secondary glance through her spyglass showed her a skeleton where the dirt and rock met.

The sun was touching the horizon when Z and Jackson finally came back aboard the ship, their shovels covered in fresh mud, their hands empty of treasure.

"I can't figure out what this damned thing wants from us!" Jackson had spat when questioned about their tardiness.

Z shrugged. "We found a body t' the western side of the island; I guess it's northwest. But it ain't really crushed, not exactly."

Blue hummed thoughtfully before turning to Jackson. She extended a hand out. "May I?"

"Knock yerself out," he said, happy to be rid of the paper.

Blue looked it over. She went to the final line on it, making a face. "You said you found something to the northwest?"

Z nodded; Jackson said, "Yea, but like he said—"

"This says northeast."

The men both stared at her incredulously. Jackson blinked and held a hand out. "Lemme see." The enchanted paper was passed back to him and his eyes darted across the words. "… Oh."

Blue forced a smile. Her understanding was that he could read… Perhaps he could, just not well.

Jackson looked at Z. "Should we—"

"I'm hungry."

"… Yeah, same, actually."

Blue rolled her eyes. "I suppose there is no harm in you waiting here and resting while I get something ready for you two, but then you will be stumbling around in the dark—"

"Fine, fine," Z said loudly. "We'll go while y're cookin' then."

She made a face at him, one that was somewhat annoyed and amused, and he fired his own back at her. He leaned forward slightly and Blue found she was uninterested in a staring contest. She waved them off. "Go."

He chuckled and quickly made his way back up to the main-deck. Jackson rose a brow, looked between her and where Z had been before shrugging and following his crewmate out of the hold.

When they returned sometime later, it was with a simple box with a few pieces of treasure in it. It was all ashen, so that was satisfactory. Blue made sure they were fed and then the matter of resting properly came up. It was getting quite dark and she found that she could swing either way; Jackson and Z were eager to keep the voyage's progress moving along so the ship was taken northwest to Flintlock Peninsula for their next task.

"Is fighting a horde of skeletons at night really the best of ideas?" Blue asked.

Z paused in the middle of stuffing ammunition into his pockets to stare at her. His expression led her to believe that he understood her point exactly, but—

"Sure it is! What's the worst that'll happen? We go t' the Ferry and have t' deal with the rest'a them later?"

Blue didn't hold her glare back at all. He recoiled and sheepishly looked away.

Jackson was less embarrassed. "Yea," he said to her, scratching at his head; "I guess ya got a point there."

She pinched at the bridge of her nose, shaking her head at them. Had they really not given it that much thought?

"I am going to go to bed," she declared. "Do as you will," she said to the two of them before turning away and making for the aft of the ship.

"You should really take your own advice," Blue scolded.

Z only grumbled an acknowledgement, too busy fighting her grip on his chin to give a more serious rebuttal. He was sitting on the edge of the bed while she stood before him, trying to tend to the nasty cuts he had received from a skeleton's blade. Blue only paused before continuing to dab excess blood off his face.

"I don't know what that is," Jackson said, looking over Blue's shoulder, "but that is a pretty bad set'a cuts ya got there." He looked for a moment longer before pulling away, coughing away a gag. "I gotta stop lookin' at that," he said before going back to the main-deck.

"It can't be that bad," Z whined.

"How much does it hurt?"

"Uh, a lot?"

He was of sound mind, so it couldn't be that bad. Still, Blue shook her head. "Then it looks much worse than it feels," she said.

He rolled his eyes and she grabbed his chin again, making him scrunch up his face. That aggravated the wounds and made him recoil more.

"Stop moving," Blue said sternly. Z glared lightly at her as she made him turn his head so she could better look at the wounds. It looked like a sword had been swung in an attempt to take his head off and Z had tried to duck under it, instead catching the blade with his face. She huffed at the gouge in his nose.

"I will simply have to fight the flow of blood while I sew this up."

"Wh— Wouldn't that make it harder t' make the line straight or-or somethin' like that?"

"You're not wrong," she said simply, stepping to the side to face the table and start gathering materials to fix his face up.

"Wh—"

Z slumped his shoulders when she looked back at him. She supposed she could busy him while she got ready to fix him up so Blue turned back to him. She took him by the wrist and stuffed the cloth that was full of his blood into his hand and brought it up to his face. He just whined pitifully when she turned away.

"Y' know," he started; Blue almost struck him. He cleared his throat. "Y' know, the skellies we find on these missions are tougher than most others."

"Is that so?" she asked without looking, threading silk through a needle's eye.

"Yea. They don't really hit any harder but sometimes y' just hit 'em an' hit 'em an' they jus' keep comin'."

Blue wrinkled her nose. "And.. it has been a long time since you last did one of these voyages for yourself and you became complacent in your abilities due to your constant handling of skeletons that do fall over in one hit?"

He mustered up as much of a glare as he could. Blue simply shook her head.

"And because of your complacency, you nearly lost your nose."

"No, I didn't— it's not that bad, is it?" The waver in his voice told her that he was lying.

"A slight downward tilt of the sword would have lopped your nose right off." As if to illustrate her point, Blue poked the tip of his nose. He hissed and she smirked.

"Now then, hold still."

"We have two here," Z declared as they finished getting the brigantine stopped in the calm waters of Fetcher's Rest. "More skellies and some digs." He wriggled his nose again, the feeling of the stitches in it — and his cheeks — clearly still bothering him, the wounds healing well.

Blue quickly said, "Go find the skeletons first so you are not ambushed." She looked at Jackson. "And make sure that he does not eat another helping of steel."

Jackson gave her a small grin and nod, but the twinkle in his eye told her that he thought she was hilarious. Z looked much more unimpressed.

"I'll take good care'a him," Jackson promised.

"I will hold you to that."

When the men returned, it was with a skull in all four hands and minor cuts. Blue was pleased with this — it meant less work for her, though she supposed that, perhaps, it also meant she was less useful. What an odd conundrum she found herself in. Ultimately, she did not really mind patching up the minor injuries they had sustained — none of the ones of this batch required any actual patching, only a splashing of aloe jelly from the plant she had braved salvaging after spying it from the main-deck.

Afterwards, they lingered on the ship for no particular reason. Blue did not inquire, only mingled with them on the main-deck, taking in the sights of the Devil's Roar from their position at Fletcher's— Fetcher's Rest. Then it occurred to her: if she was hungry, surely they were as well. Why no one spoke up…

"Shall I procure some devilfish?" she suggested. They hadn't indicated it at all, but Blue personally was tired of splashtails. They were tasty enough, but even the tastiest dish became boring after some time. She couldn't, however, have ever expected how much Jackson's eyes lit up at that suggestion. There was an almost childlike energy to his expression.

"Really?" he asked.

"Of course," she responded. "Devilfish do not fight that much harder than a splashtail."

"Nonsense!" he said quickly, jogging over to the stairs. "I can help."

Jackson disappeared downstairs after that to collect two fishing poles. Blue was momentarily dumbstruck and stared at where he had once stood before she looked at Z. She made a gesture to point at where their crewmate had once been, earning a defensive expression on Z's face. He recoiled and his eyes darted around for a quick moment, as though trying to find an excuse or an explanation or… something.

Blue just stared harder at him.

"What?"

She let up, shrugging as well as she could. "Oh, nothing."

His voice was high-pitched. "Whaddya mean—"

Jackson returned and shot them both a curious look. Blue carried a small, pleasant smile as though nothing were amiss and simply took a pole from him and made her way to the bowsprit. He had followed her a moment later and they sat facing opposite sides before throwing their lines out. Z eventually joined them, sitting at the base with his legs crossed. Something about the way Jackson sat didn't sit right with Blue until a little while later when he was flicking his line some.

"Jackson," she said urgently. She was desperate to tell him to sit lower on his thighs before the gigantic devilfish took the hook, but the realisation had come too late for that.

Blue and Z were both gobsmacked by their crewmate being yanked into the water not even a moment later. They both stared at him when he resurfaced, shaking the water from his hair. He looked more surprised than they did when he turned to them.

Z broke out laughing first and Blue could not help joining.

Brian's Bazaar was the last visit before… something. Blue wasn't quite sure how one was supposed to know where to go to dig up a Chest of Legends and at this point, she was afraid to ask. Jackson and Z seemed so certain of things that she simply trusted that they knew what they were doing.

Both residents of the sea post were rather receptive to their presence. Being where they were, she supposed they didn't get many visitors. That made her feel slightly bad about taking cargo that would never reach its destination, but unfortunate events did tend to happen in the Roar, she supposed. No, though she could detect something of a bad feeling in her gut, Blue found that she mostly didn't care about their dumping of the cargo.

She wasn't sure how to feel when she realised it.

When the last piece of cargo was being brought aboard the brigantine, Blue detected… something, that something had changed. She ducked down low and went to the captain's table. The voyage had originally been comprised of eight quests, but when she looked, there was but one parchment on the table. It showed a large island with one dig on it, rather than a small island she had expected.

She flinched, startled by Z's seemingly sudden presence beside her. He gave her a curious look and she simply shook her head.

"What island is this?" she inquired.

"Looks like Flintlock," he said, leaning on the table beside her.

"I thought the final dig was supposed to be a small island?"

"Eh, it us'ally is, but not always," he said.

Blue hummed thoughtfully and decided that was satisfactory, even if backtracking was a little annoying.

Flintlock Peninsula was a nice enough island, as far as those in the Devil's Roar went, Blue supposed. She was frustrated at being stuck on the ship, but she had no good excuse to leave it. Jackson and Z had left to go dig up their prize — she had watched them go over the hill nearby and disappear — and should the island's volcano decide to erupt, it was her duty to take the ship away to safety.

With the Chest of Legends between them, they carried it with a single hand each and walked together over the hill. When Blue spotted them, she took that as her sign to descend from the crow's nest. They were just coming back aboard the brigantine when she hopped from its tiny gunwale to the rowboat to the shallow water.

"I am going for a walk," she declared, ignoring their noises of curiosity. "Leave if you want, I am sure I could find a mer."

As she stepped further inland, Blue was vaguely aware of the others' view on her back until she disappeared over the hill. They were free to do or think whatever they wanted as far as she was concerned — she just wanted off the blasted ship.

Flintlock Peninsula was made up of two chunks of island, almost three, with plenty of water in the middle of it all. The northern to southeastern side of the island was barely connected, but connected it was. There were rocks making up dotted lines that connected it to the other half of the island. That itself wasn't strange, but the dock in the middle of the island… that was weird. Blue supposed a rowboat could make use of it, but why anyone had constructed the jetty at all was bewildering to her. She gave it little more thought and trudged through the water past it, heading up this side's even steeper hill.

When Blue had managed to get as far up as she could, she had expected a tunnel that burrowed through the rock and dirt — there was a lot of that in the Roar. What she found instead seemed to be a cave with a kraken skeleton in it. The skeleton was far too large to have fit through the opening in life, so how it got in there was beyond her.

She stepped forward, down the slope and across the stones that were just taller than the puddling of water. The skull of the beast was mounted and hung over its jaw, all of which came together to… indicate a door? But for as much as it seemed there should be a threshold before her, Blue could not find a button or lever or anything in which to open the door that apparently did not exist.

She startled as she backed up into Z while trying to look over the area again.

"How did you—"

"Call it a hunch," he said quickly, taking a step away. He looked over the area with her.

"This room makes no sense," Blue blurted out with more agitation than she realised she had been feeling. "This, for all intents and purposes, looks like a passageway!" She gestured to the arrangement of the kraken's head. "There is nothing to open a door to go further, though."

Z halfway crossed his arms, resting one on the other and bringing a hand up to his chin. He looked about again before shrugging. "I don't think y're wrong, but I don't see anythin' you don't."

"The Ancients make no sense to me," she said, stepping back up to the great maw. She touched at the rock surface before shaking her head.

"Maybe it's not a door," he said with another shrug.

Blue gave him an unimpressed look. "Then what do you suggest this is all for?" she asked, gesturing to the remains.

"I dunno, decoration?"

"You are telling me that the Ancients decorated this room with the remains of a kraken for no reason? And that they left the end of the passage clear for no reason?"

Z shrugged wide.

Blue growled at nothing in particular before kicking a candle that was on the ground into the water. He looked at her, she saw this, but said nothing as she stepped past him. She heard him follow and he remained silent even as he caught up and strode beside her all the way back to the brigantine.

The Devil's Roar, Blue decided, was a very silly place.