Having turned in early, it was no surprise that Blue rose early. It was far too early to get out of bed in her humble opinion, but she couldn't find a way to lie that was comfortable. The average pirate, she would say, would be a man who was taller and wider and heavier than her. Such a pirate had used the bed before her and had left something of an indent in the mattress, one that she could fit in with space to spare. That was fine — preferable, even — so she supposed that it simply not being her bed aboard the Forlorn Phoenix was what made it uncomfortable. That, and it was supposed to be Jackson's by his right as the one who obtained the brigantine. It all rubbed her the wrong way.

Blue was on her feet and on the main-deck. Wandering around in the dark was not a new experience to her, but nowadays something was usually wrong if she was doing that. For now, it seemed all was fine and so she stood at the railing at the back of the brig and simply looked out into the darkness.

It took a very long time for her to notice the red in the sky.

The weather in this world liked to announce current on-goings in it. She had noticed this before, a cloud that carried a scary likeness to that of a ship or a skull, but she knew she had never seen such a distinctly dark skull-shaped cloud. And while the eyes of a cloud might flash different colours, not unlike lightning in a storm, albeit more colourful, she had never seen one of blood red.

Her gut knew there was something wrong with what she saw.

All the way at the ship's bow was Z. He was sleeping with his back against the raised base of the bowsprit. He and Jackson had certainly been up later than she had; she could smell the drink on him, too. No, he had not been asleep for very long. She was too inquisitive about what she saw to ignore it, though, so she gently nudged his leg with her foot. He shifted slightly to one side but otherwise did not respond. She got no reaction upon a second nudging.

No, it seemed it would have to wait.

Blue really should not have gone back to bed. It was rather late into the morning when she was back on the main-deck and nothing seemed to be happening. She hesitated for a time before inquiring about the peculiar clouds.

"How long has that been up?!"

Blue had thought that Z would have an explanation for what she had seen. Instead, she was met by his own confusion; Jackson's, too. Z's response had been laced with anger and she thought a fear of the unknown was what garnered that reaction from him, but…

"Who knows what might be there t' take!"

No, it was a lust for treasure that spurred his volatility. Blue supposed that wasn't a bad thing. Indeed, upon second thought, she supposed he had a point. She had been curious only for the sake of being so; of course, there was indeed a potential for rare, valuable treasure to be there, and that did not hurt.

Jackson seemed to be of both opinions and was an easy mediator. "Why don't we get movin' and eat on the way? It doesn't look that far."

"It looks like it's over Old Boot," Z muttered, a hand on his chin. Then he nodded and looked between Blue and Jackson. "That's a good idea. Let's get goin'."

There was plenty of fruit in the barrel to pick from, but another moment's consideration and Blue decided that, difficult as it was to do while the ship was moving, fish would serve them better. A normal active skeleton fortress was a dangerous place to be heading to; who knew what they were getting themselves into now? They should do all that they could to be prepared.

She was glad when a large splashtail quickly took to the hook. She was less glad for the added tension in the line.

Said fish was thrown into the pan at the soonest moment after landing it and split into three roughly equal parts. Both men plucked the crispy fins from their parts to give to Blue, something she greatly appreciated, something she found to calm the nerves she had not realised were so agitated.

Once before, Blue had teased Z about not knowing everything about something that they came upon. These had been new encounters for both of them; it seemed this was yet another one to add to the list. She briefly wondered how it was that either of them could meet such unknown danger with eagerness. The existence of the Ferry of the Damned helped, she supposed, but dying and coming back to life was not such a pleasant thing. Still, one could not deny that the opportunity to try again was invaluable.

A moment later and Blue realised what had crossed her mind and she was astonished that she had thought of it without any prompting from someone else. How bizarre.

Another moment later and Blue realised that sign of skeletal activity had disappeared. That must have been what spurred her crewmates' excitement. They were just rounding the eastern side of Snake Island when a sloop was spotted off to their starboard side.

"Fuck that sloop, they aren't pointed at us," Z said. No, he was far more interested in Old Boot Fort, and that sloop wasn't posturing at them whatsoever.

More interesting than the little ship was the island before them. Old Boot had been a small, vertical island with nothing especially out of the ordinary about it other than being a skeletal stronghold. Now it was shrouded by swirling fog that none of their eyes could see through.

"That's new," Jackson had mumbled from the helm.

"It's a galleon," came Z's sharp tone from the bowsprit. When she and Jackson curiously regarded each other before turning their attention to Z, he explained, "In the fog. I see a gally comin' out. Keep turnin' us so we're in front'a them."

Jackson gave a response as he did as told. A moment later he hollered, "Turn the sails straight left."

Blue said nothing as she turned the main-sail to the side for him. The wind blew from a harsh angle. Such harshness had made their travel very slow and the sun was beginning to set. It seemed some sort of nightfallen confrontation was avoidable.

"Is that a fuckin' skelly gally, too?" Z suddenly shot.

Blue lowered her gaze from the sails back to the fog. Emerging from it was a galleon, clear as day to her eyes. Beside the large ship was another of similar likeness, its silhouette only just visible.

Jackson responded, "Yeah, skelly gally's—" Blue wasn't sure what the last word was, muttered as his voice faded away. Then: "… oh no, no…"

No, that didn't look right to Blue. Skeleton ships always looked like they had been through hell and then recobbled together with bits and pieces of scrap, especially the sails, and they were decorated with blue and green lights. This one's sails were, relative to what she had spied on skeleton ships from afar, only slightly torn apart and its lanterns were doused.

"Oh no." Despite the words, Z laughed. "We're goin' down in flames — that's alliance galleons!"

That looked right. Bright blue and white pennant flags were atop all six masts of the two encroaching ships, signalling the unification of their forces. The wind was behind the galleons, giving them great speed despite their poor sail configurations. With the brigantine turning the way it was…

"Oh, we're goin' right between 'em," came from Jackson.

Blue didn't need to be told — immediately she was on the closest cannon. There was no time to inflict proper damage to the galleon with the torn sails, but there was time for a shot or two on its cannon-line to dissuade its crewmen from firing on them. She took those shots and was only just aware of a cannonball from Z's cannon crashing into its deck, too.

There was a horrible noise of wood cracking and the brigantine shook something fierce. A glance towards the bow answered her question: they had rammed into the first galleon's side. So quickly was Z climbing up its side and one of the galleon's crewmen leaping onto their brigantine that Blue barely registered it all. Jackson calling out the boarder snapped her out of her confusion and then he was dashing past her, pushing her aside as he did. He was too late to defend their capstan, however, but so too did the galleon crew fail to defend theirs, both ships coming to a screeching halt as the anchors fell, the ships groaning and further scraping against each other.

Jackson climbed up the galleon after killing the crewman that had come to their ship and Blue wondered what her role in all of the chaos ought to be. They had been moving very fast and cannonballs had been exchanged on both sides — were either ships salvageable? Was it worth checking? A moment's pause to listen revealed the sound of both ships groaning heavily as they filled with water. With her arm the way it was, Blue wasn't of much use lifting and throwing water around, not that much water, nor was she very good at fighting, but she supposed this was a good time to practise. Or to shoot someone with her musket should that fail.

The decision was made to leap onto the galleon's ladder and haul herself up onto its deck. There was a man before her, just outside the cabin door. His gaze was to her left, however, and he stammered in alarm as Z barrelled into him and they both crashed into the cabin proper. A cursory glance at the deck revealed two bodies by the capstan where Jackson was getting back onto his feet, blood running down the side of his head. It seemed the galleon's crew had been slain.

"Holy shit, I got a Chest'a Legends in here!" Z hollered from the captain's cabin.

She and Jackson turned sharply and joined him. Inside was a plethora of grand treasures, treasures that Blue realised she had only seen once before after they had cleared Hidden Spring Keep of its skeletal inhabitants. There were a number of mermaid gems, too, a precious treasure that all of the Companies vied for.

"C'mon, they got a rowboat. Let's go!" Z said as he went through the second door onto the galleon's balcony. The listing and sinking of the ship had brought the water level to just below the floor they were on.

Jackson and Z were on the rowboat before her. The ropes that secured it to the balcony railing were proving problematic for them in their haste. She joined them on the rowboat proper before pulling her dagger out and freeing them from the sinking ship and shoving off.

Blue was sat on the bottom of the rowboat in the middle of it, facing its side, not completely sure of what to make of the situation. Jackson was rowing them into the night. It was seconds or hours after the galleon had sunk, she did not know which, when Z suddenly laughed. Jackson joined him and Blue couldn't help an exasperated smile.

"That was… exciting," she declared.

"Excitin'?!" Jackson shouted in disbelief. Z laughed harder. "I ain't ever been in anythin' like that before!"

"And who'd'a guessed they had this?" Z said, holding the chest up in his hands, beaming. He sat it back down and leaned on it. "You jus' helped us steal a Chest'a Legends from a galleon!"

Blue rose a brow as she looked from him to it and back. So she had, she supposed. It didn't feel like she had made that much of an impact on the encounter. Jackson laughed again before she could speak and she let the matter rest.

"Hey, uh." Jackson cleared his throat. "Which way's the nearest outpost?"

"South t' Plunder," Z said.

Blue grunted before rising up as high as she could from her sitting position, scanning the horizon. "Where did the other galleon go? They were both heading that way…"

"I have no idea," Z said, "but they ain't at Plunder and that's good enough fer me."

"That is very far for us now."

"Do ya want t' stop now and rest?" Jackson said with an edge of rhetoric.

There was no way she could sleep after that. In fact, now that she thought about it, it was gripping the edge of the rowboat that kept her hands from shaking. Between the excitement of the fight and of such a lucrative steal, she couldn't blame them for wanting to make it to an outpost.

"No. But it will be a very long way to the outpost."

"We're gonna need t' take turns," Z reluctantly said.

"Yea, we are," Jackson said.

Blue nodded in agreement and then she was climbing into the middle seat to get properly situated. When the time came, she could at least try rowing before declaring herself unable. In the meantime, she got as comfortable as she could on a little rowboat with the men and the plunder that she wasn't sure she was deserving of a share of.

Blue was exhausted. Z and Jackson were exhausted, too. All that work for the payment of one item was… of a debatable nature, she thought. There were things she had been paid for that required hard work from her — horrible work in fact — but this didn't feel like it compared somehow. She was sore all over and her arm hurt horribly, so much so that she knew she couldn't sleep even if she tried. Her saviour came in the form of a logbook she had stuffed into her jacket out of habit during their final trip on that brigantine.

And perhaps also Z. After they had exchanged the chest for gold pouches, the three of them had sat at a table and got drinks and food. They had been ravenous; the drink sated their thirst and dulled the soreness that emanated throughout their weary bodies. Blue, admittedly, had not had very much to drink out of habit, but when Z had invited himself into her rented room with a tankard in each hand, she had been very glad to see him.

"Are you going to drink that?"

Sat on the bed with his back against the wall, his foot hanging off the edge, he lifted his head to look at her. He'd been holding his tankard with both hands, sipping at it less and less. He looked between her and it before leaning over to hand it over. Blue was glad to not have to go back downstairs.

"Don't think I've ever seen y' drink that much," he commented.

Blue simply gave him a noncommittal grunt in response, burying herself in her book. There was so much on her mind — yet another reason she could not sleep just yet.

"Say, where is Jackson?" she inquired before Z could pester her otherwise.

"Eh, I dunno. I think he got himself a room."

"Ah." She wrote a few words slowly before a question popped into her head. Why not get a room of your own? She could voice it, but she wasn't sure she wanted to have that conversation in either direction it could have gone. It could be that he simply didn't want to spend the gold on a room, too, she supposed.

With a great sigh, Blue sat more upright. She finished what remained in her third tankard of grog for the night — and she was feeling very pleasantly fuzzy — and forced herself to disregard the idea that she might appreciate his company and instead focused on how Z's presence would allow her to sleep comfortably. She blew out the only light source in the room, a candle on the table, and pushed the chair away from it.

"Fin'ly ready t' sleep?"

She didn't trust her tongue to not get tied up and only gave him another vague grunt before they got settled in bed with her curled up against his side.

There hadn't been very much chatter when they had arrived at the outpost. They sold the chest, ate, and slept. They had all slept for quite a time, in fact. Blue thought that somewhat funny as they sat on the beach of Plunder Outpost in the fading sunlight.

"So what is the plan now?" she inquired from across the Gold Hoarders' tent, beside the campfire that was lit, a large splashtail frying in the pan above it.

"Well, we have a rowboat," Z started thoughtfully.

She made a loud noise of disapproval. "No. I am still sore from what little I rowed us."

He held his hands up in surrender. Jackson made an amused face and said, "I think me an' Z could row from island t' island without much problem."

Blue sighed. "There is still the matter of us being on a rowboat," she said, emphasising each word a little more than the last.

"Yea, so?" Z said with a stupid grin. "It's better than swimmin'."

She sighed in defeat. "I suppose you are right about that." A ship would be better, though. Blue absentmindedly flipped the fish in the pan before blurting out, "It would be nice if a ship would pass by."

Z laughed. "Yea, it would be."

"Uh, guys?" They both looked to Jackson, who sounded rather worried and was lifting his hand to point out to the sea. "There is a ship."

That was quite possibly very convenient for them, though the problem was that the campfire gave off quite a lot of smoke. There was also nothing at all between them and the water's edge — the approaching sloop most certainly saw them. If its crew did not spy them sitting in the sand, they certainly saw the group once Jackson and Z were on their feet.

"Well, now I'm curious," Z said.

The sloop, which had no discernible colours or designs of note on any part of it, made no move to slow down as it approached the island and sailed to the other side of it. All three of them offered a wave of some sort to its helmsman. From the distance, Blue couldn't be sure, but he looked absolutely bewildered. She supposed that were she in his position, she would be, too. The sight of three people and no ship would be strange to anyone, lightly put.

To their great surprise, the sloop came back around the outpost and stopped at the main dock. Blue decided she was far too sober for this. The men simply looked at each other in excitement before taking off in the direction of the sloop. She followed a moment later, taking her time as she was decidedly not interested in the potential murder of a lone sailor.

Blue was astonished to spot the three of them having a conversation.

"So how long y' been here?" Z asked.

The man, who was very plainly dressed, small in all directions, and holding a single unremarkable skull in his hand stammered thoughtfully. "W-Well, I came here once be-before. An… And then I left for a while before comin' back. All my friends w-wanted t' see the Sea'a Thieves, y' know?"

Z made a thoughtful noise. Jackson asked, "Where are they now?"

She joined them in proper now, standing between Jackson and Z. Had she been in high-heeled shoes, she could have stood taller than the newcomer.

"There was n-no room for me on the galleon."

"That's a shame," Z said.

Jackson asked, "What's your name, stranger?"

"Edmund."

"Pleased t' meet ya," Z said, holding a hand out. When it was taken, he went around the man's side, throwing an arm around him. He pushed a little until the hint was taken to start walking down the dock towards the tavern. "You come 'round here often?"

Blue caught up and walked beside them. "Z is eager to meet new people," she said an uncomfortable moment after Edmund had begun stammering fiercely. "Please forgive him." She earned herself a few more stutters and a stupid grin from Z before peeling his arm off the other man and placing it around her own shoulders. She then gave Edmund a gentle push towards the Order of Souls' tent. "Go collect your earnings."

He paused to stare at her incredulously before looking back at the head in his hand and nodding, managing out a "Th-thank you!" before jogging away.

Beside her, Jackson asked lowly, "What are you doin'?"

"We need his ship," she hissed.

Z leaned over some. "We need his ship," he reiterated.

"We simply tell him the truth and hope our story of gold and glory is awe-inspiring to him and he agrees to help us."

"Wha, why?" Jackson asked. "Why don't we get a story strai—"

"We do not have the time to make up a story now and rehearse it," she said sharply.

Jackson rose a brow before yielding. "Yea, I guess y're right."

By the time Edmund had returned to them, Blue had shed Z's arm and they all made for the tavern. The Drowned Rat was not known for its food, and more so for the one choice of watered-down grog it offered, so they made do with sharing the splashtail Blue had caught earlier. Edmund had been greatly appreciative of that, apparently not a great fisher himself.

Z and Jackson did most of the story-telling. They talked about how they had come back into the Ancient Isles and of the short-lived battle with the galleons — Blue knew she had been rather petrified, but she recalled enough clearly enough to know they were embellishing somewhat. It seemed to matter not for Edmund was on the edge of his seat from the beginning to the point that enough thinned grog was in his system to put him in a clearly altered state, though she wouldn't say he was drunk.

"So you guys took on two galleons and won," he said slowly. "Wow."

"I am unsure that we won the exchange," Blue said before her crewmates. "We did lose our ship as well."

"Yea, but we're the ones that got out with the treasure," Jackson pointed out.

Blue made a face, but… "I suppose you are right about that."

"That's amazing," Edmund said, still enthralled with their story. He paused, perhaps to consider everything, and everyone was willing to let the silence linger until he asked, "So what're you guys gonna do next?"

"Well," Z started, voice a little high pitched; "That sort'a depends on you."

Edmund blinked. "Huh?"

"See, we got a rowboat so we can leave the outpost if we like, but it ain't the same as bein' on a ship."

It was a very long moment before realisation washed over Edmund's face. "Ohh."

"Yea."

Blue leaned her elbows on the table. "We will go as far as you are willing to take us," she said politely.

"Oh, i-it's no problem!" Edmund said. "I was heading up to Golden Sands after I finished up here."

"Oh."

"Hey!" Jackson chimed in. "That's perfect! That's where we need t' go."

Perhaps, Blue thought, the man was more timid than she could detect and thus more willing to work for them than she ever personally would. At least, she sort of expected that they would pay him.

Whatever the case, she couldn't believe their luck.

A sloop was a fine ship for a lone sailor. It worked well for a pair, too. Three people was pushing it, and four was downright miserable. At least, that's what Blue thought. Worse, though, was that Edmund's sloop was fairly standard, lacking the pleasantries she had become accustomed to. It lacked a bed for any of them to sleep in — instead, there was a tiny brig — so she and Z and Jackson piled onto the canvas. She ended up between them, her feet at their heads and vice versa. She could stand to sleep on her back for the few nights they spent on the little ship.

More miserable was not having anything to do. With three perfectly capable men alongside her, there was always someone that wasn't her to take the helm. There was only so much to be written in the book she kept, lest she begin to record entire conversations any of them had. They did try to include her in the chats, but she didn't care to join and talk throughout the entire day, instead only involving herself as often as felt needed to be polite. Blue spent much of the travel time up in the crow's nest. The climb up and down was difficult, downright hazardous if she wasn't careful, but it was a way for her to be useful and get away from them for a time.

A stop had been made at Plunder Valley. It was along their route, but more importantly, it allowed them an opportunity to bathe. Blue had been dying to clean up after losing their brigantine. The men following suit was nice, but Golden Sands Outpost was so far away still that they would need to stop again to be truly presentable in her eyes. Whether or not they did was up to them — she was simply eager to be back aboard her own sloop with Z. That thought kept her up late one night.

It was late morning when they were on the approach to Golden Sands Outpost. When Blue finally felt like coming down from the crow's nest, the men were all on the quarter-deck; Z specifically was sitting lazily on the canvas, Edmund and Jackson busy talking at the helm.

She heard Jackson saying, "— and her head was out the window! Oh, hey Blue."

She offered a polite greeting before making towards the canopy, sitting on the edge. She heard Z shift and then he was laying on his stomach closer to her, apparently having simply leaned forward and moved his legs out from underneath himself, replacing them with his elbows. There was a dumb little grin on his face and she raised a brow, unwilling to do anything about his behaviour lest she draw Jackson and Edmund's attentions. She simply tolerated it, and when she spied his foot and pegleg playfully positioned in the air behind him, she rolled her eyes.

The Forlorn Phoenix had been moved to the unused dock at the far side of the outpost. That itself didn't bother her, though it did mean there was quite a walk to make. She and the men stayed together until they reached the tavern; they went inside and she continued onward. Until she checked, Blue's mind would not rest, curious if anything had been taken, replaced, or otherwise shuffled about.

Aboard the ship, they were short some ammunition and planks, and the food barrels were empty, but that was fine — she loathed to wonder what condition any food left in there would have been in after all this time.

Satisfied enough with what she did and didn't find, Blue went back to the tavern and they all got a meal and grog.

The topic coming to a close, Jackson cleared his throat and brought another up. "And if it don't bother you none, I'd like to stick with you."

Edmund looked quite surprised by that. "Oh. R-Rea— Sure!"

Blue was so glad he agreed without question. She spied a similar whisper of relief on Z's face.

"That ain't a bad idea," Z said, leaning on an elbow. "You can teach him how t' do some fightin'."

"Uh, yeah!" Jackson responded a moment later, clearly having to think about that matter. "Well, I just figured you two wouldn't want to spend all that time with us lookin' for mine or Mark's family and then sittin' on an island with them and all that. But I can do that, too."

Z gave him a look that said he didn't believe him; Blue ignored the matter in favour of sipping at her grog. "That's very thoughtful of you," she commented.

"Ye-Yeah," Edmund added. "And I'd love to learn h-how to fight better. I know a lot of the ideas, but…"

"Practise makes perfect," she said for him.

They talked for a little while longer before Jackson leaned away from the table. "I guess we should get goin' while there's still sunlight."

And while the wind was favourable for them, Blue thought about it. Something was lingering in her mind, growing from a whisper to a shout. She looked at Z before looking back across the table at Jackson. "Do you want to go alone with Edmund to search for your family?"

He looked taken aback but shook his head. "No, no, I know where they're supposed t' be by now…" His voice trailed off with uncertainty.

Blue was sure of her question, however, and reiterated: "That was not what I asked: would you like more company?"

"Ya mean like… you an' Z comin' with?"

She waited a brief moment for Z to interject. When he didn't, she said, "Precisely."

Judging by his expression, Jackson was pleasantly surprised by this. He shook his head a little in disbelief before smiling. "Yea, sure!"

Blue nodded thoughtfully before saying: "Then rest for the remainder of today and get some good sleep tonight before we head out together tomorrow morning."

Jackson and Edmund looked thrilled by the prospect of sailing together as two ships. Blue didn't mind it, especially considering her state. She did glance at Z, who looked neither excited nor annoyed by the idea. He seemed totally neutral, especially when he caught her looking and only shrugged before downing some of his grog.