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Never had I thought that I would be anxious to the city that had treated me so cruelly. Truly, I had been excited to return to Sirmiq because it was the only home I had known before. I only had pleasant memories of when I was with Midnight because that was the only time where I did not fear for my survival. Even though the absence of Midnight disheartened me, I thought that seeing the city we had survived in would make me feel better.

From what I could see now though, it did not make me feel any better. The city had changed a lot. Alec had told me that the flooded river destroyed a good portion of the city but I hadn't really excepted for every building that once bordered the river to either being nothing more than a pile of rubble, or now a completely new building. Not only was any sense of familiarity thrown out but there was an aura of anxiety that seemed to be affecting everyone in the city.

Concealed within a small room of an inn, I stood on the bed watching those who had returned to Sirmiq running around outside. I had seen the city before but this wasn't just that they were busy. I swore I could see the fur on all the adults being bristled all the time; their movements seemed rush, their interactions had no friendliness to them. They were all stressed and it made them all short tempered.

In the street below me, I watched as a caribou accidentally run into a larger bear. They both slipped on the melting snow, and landed hard on the dirty road. Even from my room I could hear them throw insults at each other but they seemed too busy to really fight over it as the bear quickly picked himself back up and continued on his way.

I turned away from the window and looked at the room I was in. It was small, and resembled nothing of the large room that Midnight and I had visited that swift fox in before winter had settled in. Alec had told me to stay there while he went to the docks, but I didn't have much to do other than stare out the window. Seeing others stressed only made me more stressed; especially since I had a sinking feeling that I was somehow to blame for it.

Alec had been quiet lately but I could also sense the same stress in him while we were on the road heading toward Sirmiq. He seemed worried the whole way, on edge as if expecting to be attacked at any time. Which made the trip a bit unpleasant, even though Alec kept his word on attempting to train me to at least protect myself. It must have been because he was stressed but he had no patience with my slow learning. I think I received more bruises and cuts from being hit with a wooden sword more than I received knowledge on how to defend myself. I had a few small triumphs at least when I managed to successfully block or deflect one of Alec's attacks.

Remembering my training, a bruise on my arm started to feel freshly sore. I sat on the edge of the straw-made bed and rubbed my sore arm a bit. My paw brushed over the silver ring that I still wore, and it distracted me from my thoughts. Glancing at it, I could almost hear the growl of the shadow wolf that had so violently protected me before. Whatever this piece of jewelry once was, I was glad that Midnight had given it to me. I couldn't confirm that these shadow wolves were somehow linked to the arm ring, but I had strong suspicions.

From behind the closed door, I heard distant pawsteps draw closer quickly before they stopped. Immediately after they had stopped, the door creaked and swung open allowing for an uniformed guard to enter the room. A small breeze pushed its way in the room, carrying with it the scent of the wolf I had come to know as Alec. On his scent, there was a faint trace of the sea breeze. I knew he had come from the docks, and I could still smell it on him.

"Snowy," the wolf greeted me. He stayed in the doorway, holding the door open while he stared directly at me. "Are you ready to go?"

We had been in Sirmiq for less than a full day, and I was more than reluctant to continue with this journey at this point. I didn't know what I had hoped for, but I was anxious to have the journey done with. I didn't hesitate for too long and nodded in response.

Alec held the door open for me as I passed through it before he shut it behind him and followed me down toward the lobby of the inn. He immediately led me out of the tavern and out into the street.

I quickly realized that the aura hovering over the city had affected Alec as well. He was walking at a fast pace that made me almost have to jog in order to keep up with him. There were others who seemed determined to let nothing slow them down, so I had to really put effort into making sure that Alec's tail stayed in front of me.

The closer we got to the docks, the thicker the crowd became but I found this to my advantage. The thick crowd forced Alec to slow down which made it less of an exhausting effort in attempt to keep up with him.

Even though the crowd of adults blocked most of my vision, I could see the masts of several ships docked in bay, and a good majority of them actively had crew working on the masts, or sails.

One in particular grew larger as Alec steered me toward it, and from my view I could see an otter on top of the mast, going along it and checking ropes. It was unusual to see an otter in Sirmiq but I could recognize the form. Closer we got to the ship, I noticed more of the crew over the ledge were otters. From my perspective, it would appear that the whole crew were otters.

On the dock itself, the crowd had instantly thinned. A plank had been set up from the dock to the ship's deck, and standing at the base of it was one large otter.

"You're back," stated the otter bluntly when Alec approached him. "With the kit this time."

"Here he is," Alec gestured an open paw toward me.

"Hurry on up," demanded the otter. "Show the kit to the first mate so we can get going. Mika has been delaying our departure until you arrived so don't delay us further."

The otter guard allowed for Alec and I to past, but while we were walking up the plank, it started to dawn on me that this was the final part of the trip that Alec would be accompanying me. He had told me about it before but I had no wanted to listen to it and I had ignored it until now because I didn't want to think about it. Alec was going to leave me on this ship, this one full of otters that I did not know at all. He was going to abandon me here.

I didn't even realize when we walked onto the deck. My thoughts were distracted and I was following Alec without my conscious aware of it.

Anxiety started to swell and weigh heavy on my chest. I only felt comfortable around a few others before in my entire life, Midnight being the first one and Alec being the second but now I'd be left without either one of them. Left alone. Not only would I be alone like I was before I met Midnight but I was among all these strangers that I could not hide from. I would be on a ship! I have never been on a ship before.

My anxiety started to accelerate as a felt a burning sensation flooding through my neck. It made my head feel dizzy with the anxiety alone. It was beginning to overwhelm me.

Why was he going to leave me? I don't know if I did something to make him angry, but it couldn't have been that hard for him to just come with me. He took away Midnight and now he was going to leave me? How mean could he possibly be!

The burning sensation that made the fur on my neck bristle started to sting my eyes too. My vision was blurred with tears forming from the stinging.

Alec hadn't taken notice to me though and had already started conversing with a specific otter on the deck.

I didn't know who she was, I didn't want to stay with her. I didn't want to be on this ship. "I don't want to go."

Even though I had not meant to say it and it was soft, Alec's ears picked up what I said. He turned to look at me, and I looked up at him pleadingly. "Please don't go," I begged. "I don't want to go. I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Snowy," Alec said. His tone was surprisingly sympathetic, as if his stress was being held back now. He knelt down on one knee to and looked down at me. "Stop crying. This is the safest thing for you. You have to go, it's not safe here anymore. Especially for you."

"No," I said stubbornly. I shook my head trying to clear my vision from the tears in my eyes. "It's safe. I'm always safe when I'm with you. Bring back Midnight and we will help you with anything! Anything!"

Sobs started to cause my body to flinch even though Alec placed his large paws on my shoulders in an attempt to stabilize me.

"Enough Snowy," Alec said sternly. Even though he spoke firm, his eyes betrayed his empathy. "The assassins that attacked you are coming back and I cannot protect you anymore. The enemy thinks that you are some sort of demon because of what happened with the 'shadows' so they will be coming back to find you and they won't let us protect you any longer."

"N-No," I sputtered. I couldn't accept that I had to go this journey alone from now on. My body was wracked with sobs that I could no longer speak straight. "Y-You took Mi-Midnight away! You can't leave m-me alone!" Anger had destabilized my voice even further. Alec was surprised by the outburst that he didn't react which left me room to continue speaking. Albeit more softly this time. "I don't know what is going on. I don't know how to do this and I don't like it. I just want to stop having everything change." I looked up at Alec. "Please don't leave me. I don't want to go."

Alec stared at me for a moment before he let out a reluctant sigh. "Snowy," he said softly. Even though it was still loud and busy around us, I could hear Alec sufficiently. "You're handling everything better than older pups. You're younger than my pups and yet show extraordinary maturity. I know all this is hard but we all have really tough times coming. You'll have an easy job for you here on this ship, so just focus on that and keep your best friend in mind. Midnight will be waiting for you."

I understood what Alec was saying but I was still concerned about being left alone. I've had food stolen from me, I've had adults watch me starve so I had no idea what to expect from these sailors.

"Why can't you come with me?" I asked. Alec's attempt to encourage me made me calm down but I was still terrified of being left without anyone I knew; especially because I was being left with other adults that would no doubt have expectations of me.

"You know I cannot leave my family," Alec said. "They need my protection more than ever." The adult wolf sighed and looked around. The otter that he was speaking to had wandered off back when I first started to cry, which had allowed for Alec and me to speak a little more privately. "I don't know if we will ever see each other again Snowy. There are a lot of changes coming and I am scared too. All we can do is to make ourselves safe, and that is what we're going to do with you."

What I really started to understand from Alec is that no body is happy with what is going on. I was not being singled out here, everyone was suffering. For me, I'd just have to put up with it. Like Alec told me to, I focused on the hope that I'd be able to see Midnight again and that we could continue living our lives away from this hateful world of adults.

"Oy, are you hungry?" the words were spoken in a strange way. At first I hadn't realized that the question was directed at me until an otter placed a paw on my shoulder. He practically shoved a large ripe fruit into my paws.

I looked down at the food in my paws a bit hesitant to eat it. It was certainly true that I was hungry since I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast Alec and I had in the tavern.

"Eat it!" encouraged the otter. He looked to be about the same age as the Velox fox that I had met.

I obeyed the otter and took a bite out of the fruit. I was pleasantly surprised to taste it was still fresh; most fruit this time of the year had at least wilted.

"That's good for a northern like you, isn't it?" questioned the otter, noticing my obvious delight in the fruit. "There is more down below, and that's where you'll be staying. Now say goodbye to the wolf so I can show you where all that fruit is."

I glanced at Alec again who still had a sympathetic expression. I was surprised when he put his arms around me and pulled me into a hug; nearly squashing the fruit between us.

"I don't know how you managed to anger the Enes," Alec said softly. "But I know that this was all beyond our control."

With that he softly released me and walked back toward the plank to depart the ship. I hadn't expected the hug and it pacified me long enough that I wasn't sure if I should be upset and try to stop Alec or not. I never got a chance to find out if that is what I wanted to do.

"Come on, fox pup," the adolescent otter encouraged me, pulling my attention off of Alec. "You can eat all of that too if you want."

While I took another bite, the otter led me toward some stairs that were off to the side of the ship deck. He led me straight down into the lower decks of the ship.

"The food is down here in the kitchen," explained the otter. "You'll be helping me and the chef. Fox, you and I will be preparing the food and it's great because we can eat almost anything. What is your name anyway?"

"Snowy," I answered meekly. It was dark and my eyes didn't adjust all that quickly but I could still see the tall silhouette of the otter so I stayed close to him. It was easy because the adults were a lot taller, and they ignored both of us.

"My name is Nervelli," replied the otter with a strong sense of pride in announcing his name. "I'm the cook's assistant but my mother is the protector of the Captain. Do you know who the Captain is?"

Nervelli glanced over his shoulder at me, and I responded with a slight shake of my head.

"He is Sunil Mika," answered Nervelli, emphasizing the name as if I should recognize it. "He's one of the sons to Lord Mika. Have you heard of him?"

I admit the name sounded familiar but I again answered with a shake of my head. We were still going deeper in the ship, and the only light that allowed me to see the otter was coming through small ports of the side of the ship.

"Lord Mika is one of the three great Lords. One of two now that the Leakhos bloodline has been broken. I know these things because my mother is the guard to the Captain."

"You said that already," I mentioned now that we were entering a brighter room. There was a small fire in a stone oven, and all around was barrels and hanging racks with food.

"Right, anyway," the otter quickly moved on to a different topic. "This is the kitchen. You'll spend a lot of time down here. Let me show you what you do."

Nervelli opened a barrel and took out a vegetable that I had seen sold in the markets. I had managed to steal one once but found it to be very dissatisfying. It was covered in dirt, and was harder than stale bread, not much better tasting either.

Holding out the vegetable in his paw, I noticed something that intrigued me. The otter's paws had skin connecting his digits. The fur looked surprisingly silky and very smooth. I had never seen an otter close enough to notice that before. I wonder how it felt.

The otter didn't seem to notice my sudden fascination of his webbed paws. He picked up a knife that was in a nearby bucket and cut off a sliver of the vegetable, only peeling its skin. "We peel all of these for the chef so that he can place them in the food that he cooks."

Focusing on peeling the vegetable, the otter had removed the harder outer skin of it in a few short seconds. He placed the peeled white thing in a the bucket he had retrieved the knife from.

Nervelli pulled out another vegetable and offered it to me. "Now you try." He attempted to hand me the knife too but I instantly had a better idea.

"Can I use my own dagger?" I asked.

"You have one?" asked Nervelli at first before answering. "Go for it."

I unsheathed the dagger I carried under my clothes, and was about to make my first cut when Nervelli stopped me.

"Whoa," he exclaimed. "You have a Velox blade. Where'd you get that?"

"It was payment from another fox," I answered, a bit surprised by the otter's enthusiasm.

"The Mika's all have Velox's blade but not even my mother can afford one."

Not knowing how to respond to that, I returned to my task and put the blade to the vegetable. At first it resisted so I put more pressure on it. It cut straight into the vegetable I was holding rather than peeling it.

"It helps at first if you put it on the table to cut it," explained Nervelli after seeing my predicament. Though he instantly saw that I was far too short to be able to do that. "Here." The otter grabbed another bucket, turned it upside down and set it on the floor. After taking the vegetable from my paws he set it on the bucket and sat down next to it, gesturing for me to do the same.

Crossing my legs, I sat behind the bucket and leaned over to attempt this again. How hard could it really be? With one paw, I held the vegetable in place while I placed the blade on the edge of it. Slowly adding pressure, the blade cut through nicely and I had finally peeled off a small strip of the skin.

Maybe it was insignificant to the otter, but I felt immensely proud of myself. I mean, this was the job I was going to do on the ship? It really wasn't that hard. I continued to work around the vegetable until it fully peeled.

"A bit lumpy but good job," Nervelli congratulated me. He stood up and went for the barrel again, and grabbed an armful of the vegetables. "Now we have a lot to do so we should get started."

Realizing that there was a barrel full of these dampened my moment of triumph a bit but I did not complain. Before I could start on another, Nervelli against interrupted me.

"Can I try using your dagger?" he asked, eyeing the dagger that he was so amazed of.

I stared at him briefly before responding softly, "It's mine." I was hesitant to give him the dagger though. I didn't want him to steal it from me.

"I only want to try it, I'll give it back once I'm done with one of these," Nervelli promised. His expression seemed genuine as he seemed excited to use the blade I held. I reluctantly surrendered it to the otter, who took it with a wide, excited grin.

Immediately Nervelli started to peel another vegetable, and this time even faster than before. As soon as he did one, he picked up another and peeled it too.

"Wow, I bet I could filet a thousand fish without ever having to sharpen this," he exclaimed. The otter had a large grin as he picked up a third and peeled it in large strips as if it were one of those orange fruits.

"You said only one," I whined, seeing that he had now peeled a dozen vegetables. Not to mention he did it all in half the time it took me to do one.

"Sorry," he apologized and gave me back my dagger. "Mother said that we need to take good care of you so you don't need to worry. No one will steal anything from you."

Silence passed between us for a short moment, while Nervelli watched me peel another vegetable. I managed to complete it faster this time but I was still no where near the speed of the otter.

"Good," he said after I finished about a dozen. "That's all you'll have to do for the trip. I'll handle doing the harder stuff unless you want to try it."

"What's the harder stuff?" I asked curiously.

"Fish mostly," answered the otter. "We shouldn't get that out until the chef is ready for it though. It'll start to stink. For now, keeping peeling these. We will need a lot more."

So I continued peeling the vegetables and with each one I got a little bit faster. It wouldn't be long before I had filled the bucket up with the peeled vegetables.

When I was just two away from finishing the pile Nervelli gave me, the ship suddenly lurched. The momentum applied more force than I intended, and the blade slipped through the vegetable and slicked through one of my paw pads.

Inhaling sharply, I instinctively pulled my paw back and dropped the dagger. My other paw went to my injured one and held it tightly. Pain burned on the end of my paw digit resulting in my eyes welling up.

"Are you all right?" Nervelli asked. I tried not to cry or scream, so I bit my lip and blinked away my tears while I shook my head. "Let me take a look."

I didn't want to release the grip on my paw, but Nervelli was persistent and pried my paw out from the grip of my other paw. Not only did the cut burn a bit more but I could also feel that my balance was suddenly very off. I nearly toppled over while Nervelli was inspecting my paw.

"It's bleeding only a little," Nervelli confirmed. He didn't seem bothered by the new shift in balance and only held my paw tighter to keep me still. "You have thick paw pads, fox."

Releasing my paw, I licked at the painful wound a bit. It stung but it started to feel better once I had cleaned the cut from starchy juice of the vegetables I had been cutting.

I hadn't paid attention to that Nervelli had stood up only to return quickly with a small rolled up cloth. He held out his paw, gesturing for me to allow him to tend to the wound. I obliged which allowed the otter to wrap some of the cloth around the cut. He then tore off the extra cloth and returned it to where he had retrieved it.

"Thank you," I shyly muttered. He had wrapped it tight, but my paw felt secure. Nervelli responded with a soft grunt.

"We've set sail now," he informed me. The otter retook his position sitting on the floor next to me. "Fill the bucket with peeled vegetables then we can go up on the deck. The crew will be heading down to rest, but I think we both could use some fresh air."

Perfecting my prideful skill of peeling vegetables, it was not long before the otter had grown restless. He helped me peel a few more before the bucket was finally full, and then hurriedly suggested we got up on the deck.

From outside the kitchen, Nervelli was right that the sailors would have come down. It was now crowded below deck with otters. A large crowd of them had gathered around a couple who seemed to be playing some sort of game. They were using strange tokens that I haven't seen before on the top of a closed barrel. Those that were not interested were resting in their hammock, writing in a book or reading a book. They all seemed pretty satisfied; it was refreshing from the stressed atmosphere of Sirmiq.

Following Nervelli up the stairs, I felt the ship swaying a bit, throwing my balance off a bit. I had noticed it earlier but I was sitting down so it wasn't that big of a deal, but now it threatened to topple me over. The otter ahead of me didn't seem to have that problem though as he quickly ascended to the deck. Slower behind him, I started to adapt and also ascended the stairs.

The scent of the sea was very strong, stronger than even the docks once I was on deck. Obviously the deck was no longer busy with so many sailors, but I was kind of surprised to hear that it was actually peaceful up here. Besides the crashing of the waves and the wind in the sails, it was quiet; no more yelling of orders and no more chaos of the docks.

Not only that, but I was also surprised that I couldn't even see the city immediately. I knew the ships moved, but I had stepped onto solid ground, and not moved in hours, and yet I had covered a great distance. That was a bit difficult to absorb; I wasn't used to such a concept.

"It's cold here," I heard Nervelli complain. He was leaning over the railing of the deck, using his elbows to support most of his weight. "It's a lot warmer in the south."

I honestly wasn't all that affected by the cold. "Why did you all come to Sirmiq then?" I asked. It was curious that I had only seen very few otters in Sirmiq before. It was so far north that only the thickest of coats could live there.

"We're helping you all get back on your hindpaws," Nervelli said, glancing back at me. I walked up and tried to look over the railing but it was a bit difficult since it was only a little shorter than me. "News had reached Lontra about the volcano eruption, so Sunil Mika offered to carry supplies up to aid all of you. Though we weren't expecting to take one of you back with us. Where are you going anyway?"

"To find Midnight," I answered. I knew the answer was inadequate, but I really did know my path. Alec had helped me get to where I needed to be but now I didn't know where to go. I assumed that one of the otters knew where to send me to next.

"Where's that?" questioned Nervelli. He wasn't satisfied when I could only shrug my shoulders as an answer. "Well, then why are you trying to find Midnight?" It was clear if he knew that Midnight was a wolf instead of a city.

"He's my friend," I answered. I noticed that the sun seemed to be setting already. It was a lot earlier than usual.

Nervelli took notice in my confusion and explained. "We're sailing away from the sun, so it sets a bit faster. If we sailed east, then the day would even be longer but not by much. I never really noticed it before my mother explained it to me. We were docked at Lontra for about a month, and I noticed that the days were more consistent there than when we were sailing. She said it's because our world is small or something. I didn't quite understand what she meant."

"You must have traveled a lot," I mentioned. The otter stared down at me with those dark brown eyes and he seemed to have taken pride in my statement.

"Yes, I have. I have seen a lot of cities, and a lot of different types of lands. Though this has to be the coldest land I have been to so far. So why are you trying to find your friend?"

This otter didn't talk as much as Midnight, but he sure was a lot more chattier than Alec and the other adults I knew. It wasn't just that he was chatty, but he asked a lot of questions. He certainly was curious about me.

"I wanted to find him for a long time now," I admitted. That didn't really answer the question though so I thought to explain further. "When I was surviving in Sirmiq, everyone was really cruel to me. I was always hungry and no one would help me. The other orphans would always take food from me if I had it so I never really had much of a chance to eat anything. It was cold, and it was painful. Midnight was the only one who shared some food with me; and it wasn't like Alec, Midnight had no reason to give me some food but he did anyway."

Thinking back on the first time I met Midnight made the pain of missing him revitalize. We had only really known each other for about half the winter season, but for everything I could remember that was almost half of my life. I really wished I could return to those simpler days of surviving with Midnight.

"So you're an orphan," Nervelli said. He had turned his gaze back toward the ocean while he spoke to me. "I've seen orphans before. Not very many of them exist in Lontra but a lot of other cities have a few. Especially Kietan since they've been having so much trouble lately. It's because of the Enes, they keep attacking their ships. They don't leave any survivors so it's hard to prove that its them."

"Are those the reptilians?" I asked. I had heard the word "Enes" before but no one ever really explained what that was.

"Yes, the Enes are all reptilians. They own the lands far to the south and across the plains. They have a lot of ships, maybe even more than the Mika's. Lord Mika is constantly preparing his ships to defend themselves. Everyone knows that the Enes had taken over the Leakhos' businesses through force. Now only Lontra and the Mika's are the opposition to the Enes, and they have been getting more aggressive."

I was curious on how Nervelli knew all this but I didn't question him. He certainly stated it as if it was all true, but I doubted that he could have witnessed and known all this himself.

"I thought you would have known all of this," Nervelli mentioned, glancing back down at me.

I shook my head. "An assassin attacked me and Midnight, and some other reptilians but that's all I know."

"You fought off Enes soldiers?" The otters eyes went wide with disbelief and skepticism.

Again I shook my head. "Alec killed the assassin, and these scary shadow creatures killed the other two." I spoke it casually but being reminded of the shadow wolves tearing the flesh of the reptilians made my stomach turn. The ship's movements only prolonged and worsened by turning stomach. I start to feel a bit nauseous.

"I heard rumors in Sirmiq about the Enes being in the area," Nervelli mentioned. His expression of curiosity changed to one of contemplation. "I thought that's why they were so stressed there, but I guess if three of them killed, then Sirmiq is expecting to be attacked."

I stared out over the water as well. I hadn't really noticed but the water was an inky black now that the sun had set. The moons were waning in their last quarter shaped as perfect crescents but that had left the ocean very dark. The sun had brought its warmth with it and left the ocean cold. Nervelli quickly took notice of that.

"I'm going back below deck," he told me. He pushed himself off of the railing and stood up straight, placing his weight back on his hindpaws. I decided to follow him; I didn't know what else to do while on this ship.

It was noticeably warmer below the deck, probably due to the many candles and lanterns that were lit around. The otter sailors within the ship were still lounging about, but far more of them were now doing more leisurely activities rather than watching the game. Only a few remained playing at the game, with far less intensity as before. Returning to the kitchen, it was even warmer but I hardly noticed since another adult otter took my attention. He was older and had his back turned to us.

"Good evening, Nori," Nervelli greeted the otter.

The adult otter glanced over his shoulder at us with a blank expression. "There you are. I already started on Sunil's meal. I need you to finish up with the crew slop. Have the arctic fox help you."

Nori, the apparent cook on the vessel, seemed to have his attention on what he was cooking. He didn't seem to mind to skip introducing himself or greeting me.

Nervelli went over to a pot of boiling soup that over the fire and check its contents before instructing me to bring him various ingredients. He taught me how to cut or peel a few more things as we made the soup, but the time went by fairly quickly. The soup smelled good, but it was nothing compared to what Nori was cooking.

Normally I wasn't one for what the food smelled like to tasted like. If it was edible it was good enough for me but smelling the food that was destined for Sunil Mika, the commander of the vessel, made me envious. Nori didn't give me a chance envy for long because he was soon done preparing the meal. He covered it with a metallic dish of some type before carrying it out of the kitchen.

It was only a few moments later that Nervelli declared that the crew's slop, as Nori called it, was finished. He had me help him carry out of the kitchen and toward the otter sailors where we were quickly mobbed. With their own dishes, the sailors quickly took a portion of the soup until there was hardly enough left. Thankfully the sailors had all dished up some food before it had all ran out.

With what remained, Nervelli carried it back into the kitchen where Nori had already turned to. I hadn't even recognized that he had returned below deck; it must have been when Nervelli and I were being mobbed.

"Let's eat," Nori suggested after he noticed us both return. He spoke while he divided up the last of the soup into three portions. "Welcome to my kitchen Snowy." I was surprised that he was addressing me now. "You can eat all the scraps you want but don't eat anything that we use for the meals. Understand?"

"Yes," I muttered weakly. The way he spoke was very direct and blunt. I don't know if he meant to do so but it was a bit intimidating to me. I could only stare up at him with my ears flat on my head.

He passed me a bowl of soup, not unkindly. "I sleep in the hammock but you and Nervelli can sleep anywhere on the floor. Just don't contaminate any of the food."

"I sleep near the oven on the sacks of flour," the younger otter told me. "You can sleep near me if you want, it's softer and not too cold with the sacks of flour."

"Okay," I said, my ears perking up slightly.

"I imagine that Nervelli has taught you most everything you need to know," questioned Nori. He only glanced at me with the same tone of his voice, bluntly. He focused mostly on his meal so I nodded. "Good. Nervelli will teach you everything you need to know. Sunil instructed me to make sure that you learn everything you can."

"Thank you," I replied weakly. The blunt tone contradicted that this otter, like Nervelli, were intent on helping me learn. That filled me with a small flicker of familiar hope; one that I hadn't felt since Midnight and I ran that parcel for the swift fox in Sirmiq. They were giving me a chance to learn a craft so that I can actually afford to live, rather than just survive.

The otters and I ate in relative silence for a few minutes until we were finished. Nervelli took gathered the dishes that we had used and stacked them near the fire. He then told me that we'll have to clean the dishes in the morning but first had to gather all of them. I didn't know what he meant by "all of them" until he led me out of the kitchen and into the crew's sleeping area. A stack of bowls had found themselves on a table. The majority of the otters were now sleeping in their own hammocks, many of them opting to wear no clothes despite the cold drafts coming down from the deck. A few were still using candlelight to read but now it was nearly silent where the sailors had before been making so much noise.

"Here," whispered Nervelli, handing me a tall stack of bowls. He took a stack of his own and led me back toward the kitchen. The extra weight of the tall stack of bowls through my balance off even more. I had thought I had adapted enough to the rocking of the ship but again I struggled to not drop any of the dishes.

"Set 'em with the others," Nirvelli instructed me. He carefully set down the bowls next to the three that we had used, and I set down my own stack of bowls.

Nori had already opted to strip out of his clothes and lie in his own hammock that was in the corner of the kitchen.

"Let's get some sleep now," the young otter suggested. He went over to a sack of flour, and rearranged them a bit until there was about two wide a little higher of several others that were scattered on the ground, with enough surface room for the otter to lie down.

"You can sleep on the top ones," Nirvelli suggested once he had finished. "We're near the oven so it'll stay warm enough. I'll sleep on these ones," he patted the sacks that were scattered and less stacked. "Don't roll over on me though."

The younger otter seemed to opt for not wearing any clothes ether as he lied down on the make up bed of sacks of flour. He stretched his limbs and body before doing his best to curl up, though with the otter having a thicker tail he couldn't curl nearly as efficiently as I am able to.

"Go ahead and climb up," the otter urged me, seeing that I hadn't moved toward the my own makeshift bed.

Careful to not step on the otter, I stepped over him and climbed up onto the four sack that was a little elevated over the otter. With only two wide, there wasn't much room compared to the makeshift bed below but there was enough room for me to lie down, even if I wasn't curled up into a ball like I usually did when cold. I removed my clothes, and found that the residue heat from the oven was enough to keep me warm at the moment so I lay on my belly hardly curled up at all.

The otter below me and the otter in the hammock didn't make much more noise after that. I listened to their slow breathing while I stared at the embers from the kitchen fire slowly dim until I was left with nothing but darkness.

Earlier in the day, I was terrified to be left by Alec. I had no idea what would be expected me, if these sailors would even be kind to me, if I'd be risking starvation again or anything. For the most part the sailors ignored me except for Nervelli. He was actually very helpful, in a way that reminded me of Alec and even Midnight. I couldn't help but to feel incredibly relieved that my fears were unjustified. Here, I did not have to worry.

Besides, I found the otters to actually be very interesting. Especially their webbed paws. I still wanted to see if they felt any different. Were they born like that even? They must have been because like their webbed paws, I haven't seen any other creature with such thick tails. Not to say mine doesn't get very fluffy and thick, but their tails aren't just fur.

Not to mention of my relief when it came to the fact that they were bringing me closer to Midnight.

The black wolf really didn't seem so far now that I was really making some distance from Sirmiq and drawing closer to wherever he was. If I were able to learn enough then Midnight and I won't have to be scavengers using the skills that Alec had taught us, I could just be a cook for some tavern or something, and we could stay in a city. That was a pleasing idea.

Thinking on my future life with Midnight, and the hopes of other friends like Alec, I slipped into the realm of dreams.

My days onboard the ship started to gain a quick routine. I'd wake up and wash the dishes using the ocean water and then help prepare for every meal. We served two large meals to the crew but Nori prepared several lighter meals for the command of the vessel.

Nervelli seemed eager to teach me as much as he could. He often told me it was so that he didn't have to do it all anymore, which I could understand but I also realized that the otter was keeping to his word. He and Nori would helping me learn a lot of valuable skills about cooking that I'd be able to use beyond this voyage.

Each day, I noticed that the temperature on the ocean slowly started to warm up. By the fifth day of being out to sea, it was warm enough that I enjoyed relaxing out on the deck. I had picked up everything the young otter had taught me, and I was feeling a new feeling I hadn't really felt before. I was now confident in myself. Confident that I no longer would be so useless when I would reunite with Midnight.