The waters were rough. I hung on to the side of the boat, getting heavily splashed. The sun shined brightly overhead. I held tightly on the chain hanging out of the boat. Whoever had lifted this anchor for sail, had left some chain hanging out. However, it was impossible to climb. I whispered a soft spell, and two purple wings grew from behind my cloak. With one flap I was sent flying into the hole on the side of the ship. My wings vanished. Inside the ship, I saw a lot of supplies, and ammo. Suddenly I heard a noise. I gripped my scythe, and hid behind a box. From the stairway, he emerged. Thimble. He walked over examing the ship. I studied him, lowering my breath. From his pocket he withdrew a small gun. I watched him preparing to ambush him. He placed the gun behind a box, and walked back upstairs. I stared at the gun for a long period of time.

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I lowered the anchor into the deep dark abyss of the water. The sky was dark, but not as dark, as home. We were close to Estern, but I decided to stay the night in this spot. Thimble was nearly passed out beside me. He looked peaceful. I smiled. Before I could stop myself, my thoughts took control. I imagined sailing around the world, except with out Thimble, It would be my beloved Mortimer instead. He'd be strong and feisty, but with a lovable innocence. He would be the one sleeping beside me while I steered a ship. I looked down at Thimble, feeling despair. I would never love again, not in this miserable world anyway. I would never get the chance to be a father again. I stared at Thimble. The thoughts continued to flood. I imagined adopting Thimble and travelling the world with him. It made me smile. However I quickly wiped that out of my mind. There was no way In hell I was replacing my son, with this man child. I began to study him. How did he survive in this world, he was so fragile. Perhaps he could be strong and hiding it. I sighed. I went to wake him up. "Kid! Wake up!" I yelled. He jumped up startled. "Wha?" He gasped. "I've stopped the ship, let's head down to the quarters and get some sleep." I told him. Half awake he nodded. Together we head within the confines of the ship. We went to separate rooms. As I layed in a admittingly comfy bed, I began to hum a melody. I could never get that God damn music box out of my head. That night, I had a dream that about a man with a gun fighting me. A fierce warrior of Estern. I layed there bleeding, until that familiar tune played. I woke up sweating. A felt a sharp pain in my chest and ignored it.

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I raised the anchor from the cold watery abyss and heaved it on board. Thimble watched intently. I stood up and began my walk to the wheel to control the vessel. Thimble, of course followed me. He lasted about five seconds before speaking up. "Are we there yet?" Thimble asked. I looked at him in disbelief. "Uh, no we just started moving." I answered. He nodded. "Okay, how long will it take?" Thimble asked. "I don't know kid, like, seven hours, if the conditions are nice?" I answered again. "What happens if the conditions are bad?" Thimble asked. "We could die." I stated. He nodded. "Are the conditions good now?" He pestered. I started to feel a little bothered and annoyed. "No." I muttered. Annoyingly, he nodded again. "Has it been seven hours?"Thimble asked. I took my hands off the wheal. "How can you be stupid!?!? Of course not!" I shouted. He shook visibly. "Sorry, I don't know what hours, or conditions are." Thimble squeaked back. "Well didn't your family teach you anything?" I asked. Thimble shook his head. "My father hated me, and my mother really hated me, and now they're dead." Thimble replied. I nodded slowly. Finally he was saying something that made sense. His parents were morons, probably abusers, or worse. This kid must of survived by luck. It made me think, could this kid even survive in Estern? That place was peaceful, but Thimble seemed, like an actual thimble. Well to my knowledge, a thimble was a sewing tool, and he'd be treated like a tool and discarded. Again thoughts crept in. If he traveled with me, I could have my own "thimble" and protect him from worse people then me, and if he was annoying me, I'd "dispose" of him. "Okay, your forgiven, but please refrain from speaking." I commanded calmly. Once again he nodded silently. In agreement I continued to steer. During this time, I began to wonder how Thimble's parents died. Not because I thought it was unlikely, I thought because of the million war related reasons. They could of been shot, or been through a robbery gone wrong. Running away and dying from not watching you step is my morbidly hilarious favorite. Perhaps an angel of death just randomly decided to swoop down and kill them. My mind was once again flooded by thoughts. The Nightmare, as everyone referred to it resonated within my mind. People say he single handily started the war back home. He had no soul they'd say, just anything but an angel. It struck when least expected, to kill for fun. They say that nobody survived an encounter with it. Screw those people. I survived that demon not once, but twice. And the worst part was, it was sickingly human. "Sir!" Thimble cried out. I rubbed my eyes, regaining control of my thoughts. "Look!" He shouted. In the evening sky the outline of land emerged. How long had I been dazed? "Are we there now?" Thimble asked. I smiled. "Yes." I responded. Eventually we reached land. From the sea line I could see a wide valley stretch on and on. Thimble and I jumped off the ship. We landed on a beach. "Oh sweet ground!" Thimble cried. I looked at him. "Wait, you've been scared of sailing this whole time?" I asked. He nodded furiously. I laughed. "You sure had me fooled!" I roared. "Now what?" Thimble asked. I looked to the sky and saw the darkness of night coming, though of course it was brighter then back home, that was for sure. "We camp out on the ship before heading out." I announced. he nodded. And with that we headed back to the ship.

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How would I explain to him? He'd be teary eyed, that's for sure. odd considering that I'd never seen the man cry in his life. I looked over the ship and looked at the sunset, and the valley. "Estern." I breathed. I heard footsteps and quickly hid behind a box. They were coming back. I peered over the box and saw them. They headed into the ship. They must be going to sleep. I left my hiding spot, and looked at Estern. In all my life, I'd never seen grass that green. I was so tempted to go and fly about over it. I sighed as I turned to protect him again.