The milk in the bent pot simmer over the fire as the “No” lingers. A word no kid ever wants to hear. Still, I think it is a necessary response to what was said.

The anger inside Emanuel bubbles up to the surface. He tries to hide it, but his clutching fist shows the truth. I will give credit where credit is due. He doesn’t yell or argue. Instead, he takes a deep breath. His words carry his frustration, but instead of slamming them at me, he places them on the table, forcing me to examine them with extra care.

“It’s our only option.” He starts to say. Vic has blacklisted us. No one will sell me a pair of socks or a bag of flour, let alone a Solar Sail. The only kindness people show is forgetting my face and not letting it out that I am still alive. If we wanted supplies the legitimate way, we would have to travel to the outer reaches of this rock and hope Crane’s words haven’t reached there yet.””

Not even a pair of socks. Those words echo in my mind. I need to make right another pain I caused. I need to make a note of getting him a pair of socks at some point. Please remember slime. Don’t forget.

“Let's go over the facts,” I say. “I‘m not at my full strength. Since Crimson is dead, we know Crane knows we are alive. What's waiting for us if we go down is death and mutilation.

“I can fight.”

“But you didn’t. When faced with Crimson, you didn’t fight.” I say to him. He bites his lip as he looks at the floor. His hands clenched his stained pants. He avoids my gaze as it’s clear I hit a sore spot. Though this has to be said. I don’t want him to risk his life unnecessarily. In the back of my head, I feel the sneaking suspicion that I may have been the wrong thing to say.

“Don’t get me wrong. You have a brain on you. Your planning skills under pressure are amazing. I want to utilize that skill and channel it to ways to help you understand when you should and shouldn’t fight. Violence isn’t the best solution. Still, it doesn’t mean I won’t teach you to fight.

“Wait, you want to teach me how to fight?”

I stirred the hot cocoa powder with a spoon into the pot and used small tendrils to grab the cups. “I want to train you if you will let me. I know I lost my last fight. “

“But you came out alive?” he said, confused.

”That is your first listen.” I respond. “Learning the difference between surviving a fight and winning a fight. The second lesson is learning that surviving a fight is far more important. Who cares if you lose. You live another day, and thats worth more than any gold or glory.

I handed the cup to Emanuel, who looked deep into the coco.

“I want to learn to fight.” He says.

“This is your choice. I won’t force you. You can step away and leave everything to me.”

“No, i want to.”

“I am being honest. I am determined to get you off this rock and somewhere better. You choosing to fight or not fight will not change what i do. I mean it.”

Emanuel takes a minute to think. It brings me an odd sense of joy that he is debating it. It means he is giving what I say serious thought. I grab the hot cocoa,pen a hole in my head, and pour it in. I can tell this is a bit distracting. As the coco moves through my slime and gets absorbed, Emanuel stares at it, his eyes following the coco down my head. I pump the cup down until he is done talking.

“I don’t want to hold you back. I want to be the reason we win, the one who gets us out of this rock.” He says.

“Thats a big goal. Think you could do it.” I say, leaning forward.

“Isn’t it your job to make sure I can? As my future teacher and all.”

“It's my job to provide you with the tools you need to reach that goal, provide guidance to help and be there for you. Reaching the level you aim for is up to you. I can pave your path, but your feet walk down it.

Emanuel stared at me. He looked down at his coco, staring at his reflection. I wish I had insight into his thoughts. My plan was not to get him involved at all. My dream scenario would be leaving him here at the campsite while I make it to the docs and steal the Solar Sail for us both. Thats if I could make it past the obvious beef-up security. If I weren't shot out of the skies, I would fly that ship back to our campsite and pick him up. I don’t want to put this kid through any more hardships.

He looked up from the cup and saw the look in his eyes as he stared directly into mine. It wasn’t the eyes of a single person but a gathering of many. I saw the stare of a warrior, the stare of a child, the stare of an adventurer. I saw multitudes of what Emanuel could be, but not one was a man seeking revenge.

I know he didn’t tell me eveeverything abouts time alone. I don’t know he doesn’t want to burden me, or is angry at the fact that I left him alone. I would understand the anger, but I really hope that itsit'st that reason. All of this leads me down to one question. T—thee that will detdeterminee course of action we take from today on.

“I train you to survive and make it out of a fight with your life,” I tell Emanuel. “We go together to steal the Solar Sail and find a new planet to live on where we can relax and have a good life. I include you in every step of the process. All of this will be true if you answer my next question. It has to be the truth, the full truth. No secrets, no double meanings. Only the truth.”

“Understood,” Emanuel says, noticing the mood shift. He can tell I’m not joking, that at this moment, i am as serious as I can be.

“Before, during the mission, or after, will you go out of your way to kill Crane?” I ask.

“I hate him. M—more than I hateyone else, excexceptr Crimson. I hated him too. Crane th, though, the one who gave the order. He is the one who took my family. All because of what? Money? He was already rich. I—hink just as rich as my family. If I get a chance to kill him, I will.

“But do you seek revenge?”

Emanuel takes another minute to think to himself before responding.

“I want us to leave here and live our lives.”

”Good. Don’t seek revenge. Your life shouldn’t be dedicated to another.”

He takes a sip as I give him a moment to himself. Nothing we discuss should be discussed with a child, but this is our world.

With the conversation wrapping up, I think now is a good time than ever to drink the hot chocolate. Emanuel’s grossed-out stares don’t bother me. Still, I don’t know why he feels so comfortable staring at me like that when I am forced to watch him drink.

Fun Fact

Having a permanent hole in your body that opens and closes is disgusting to me. At least mine closes up, but I’m somehow disgusting. Are you kidding?

An idea suddenly pops into my head as the coco pours into my body.

“Vic owns the shipyard, right?” I ask. Emanuel nods as he takes a sip of his drink. “Like, thats his main source of income?”

“That is correct,” Emanuel responds cautiously.

”Is everyone insured?”

“Oh yeah. My dad taught me about it when I would take over the business. That was one of the few businesses Crane couldn’t get his hands on. A company called the Rock runs all the Solar Sail and business insurance. They have great plans and normally pay out more than it's worth. Which, let’s be honest, a rarity in this industry.”

I lean forward and match the severity of my tone earlier. Emanuel locks eyes, feeling the change in the wind.

“Remember, we don’t seek revenge,” I say, putting the cup on the floor and staring into his eyes. “But we can try to blow up the docks on our way out. If we can. That way, everyone gets money, and Crane is screwed out of money and power.”

I stand up and stretch my slime. “Awesome, that's our plan,” I say, looking down at him.

Emanuel stared at me gap-jawed. Either because of what I said or he could see the hot chocolate floating in my body. Either way, I left him in awe, as any good god should do.

“Alright, let's get training,” I say, picking up his family shield.