Meanwhile, Yvie dashed through the town. Enele was a modest town built going up into the mountains, and was surrounded by lush forests. A lot of the town's buildings and homes were built from wood or brick, and much of the town was dominated by small family owned stores and stalls. Aurum Isle Smiles resided the furthest up the mountain and was much closer to the town's forests. Although small, there was liveliness from all the people moving to and fro; the streets were clean, and children ran along the sidewalks. She ran past a greengrocer, where a man waved to her.

“Bye, Mr. Thomas!” 

She waved to him before continuing down the street. With every step, she drew closer to the edge of the town where the Aurum Ferry Company building sat. It was a large building made of brick and had a pair of double doors at the entrance. Once inside, the process was fairly quick; a swipe, a tap, and a click were all it took for her to get through it with the help of the ferry pass.

It was a pass that allowed her to travel to any four of the Aurum Isles for free. She came across a long, dark hallway with a bright light at the end and the faint smell of the sea, where she covered her eyes as she exited it. There the ship sat at the bay right before her eyes. The ferry was a large platform, with railings complete with an upper and lower deck. At the bow of the ship were a pair of massive dreadhorses, that casted a shadow over the ship. Although not unlike seahorses; the main differences between them were easily their size and their heads. Dreadhorses could intimidate almost anything with their powerful-looking faces, but were cowards otherwise.

As she gets on the ferry, she takes the stairs up to the deck and leans against the railing.

I’m going to make sure I pay back that debt. I won’t let our family fall apart. She thinks, clutching her fists.

While sitting resting near the rails, a boy ran up and stared out into the boundless ocean. He turned back to his mother who approached.

“Hey mom! How come we’re not getting attacked by sea creatures?”

His mother placed her hands on the railing.

“Well, because we’re so close to the mainland, the water isn’t as deep. If we were farther in the water, we’d need divers to protect the ferry.”

The boy looked at his mom with bright eyes.

"So the farther we go out to sea, the more monsters we see?"

She giggled at his obvious pun.

"That's right."

Yvie smiled while watching them interact, and

Meanwhile, a boy rolls around his house in a wheelchair, with a hammer on his lap. He checks the time on his watch and smirks.

“She should be here soon. I wonder if her sense of direction has gotten better.” He states.

However, despite his thoughts, hours pass by, and Yvie lets out a groan of exasperation while staring at her slate—much like a smartphone, it had directions to her destination. The sun was along the horizon, already setting. The orange glow bled through the sky, cutting into the encroaching darkness that began to take hold over the tightly-knit neighborhood. Various houses filled the area, many small and directly adjacent, with almost no extra space.

“It should’ve been around here.” Yvie groans. She looks up from her slate and leans back against the white wall surrounding the neighborhood. 

“Damn, looks like I got lost,” Yvie states.

Yvie receives a text that reads, “Send me your location.”

Furrowing her brow as she read, she continued attempting to navigate, taking several turns through the city and ending up at the same spot. Letting out a sigh of defeat, she then swipes for a few seconds on her slate. After sending her location, she waits two minutes before someone approaches her in a wheelchair. His hair is made up of locks he styled back, causing them to hang off the back of his head. Around the sides of his head, he has a low fade. His arms are muscular, and he has stubble on his face. 

“Looks like you’re still getting lost five years later.” A man says from the wheelchair.

She sucks her teeth and walks over anyway.

“Oh, shove it, El.” She wraps her arms around him. 

“It's good to see you, Vie. Follow me, I’ll show you the way.” He states.

As the two traverse the neighborhood, it only takes them a few minutes to make it to a house hidden from view by rows of trees.

“You know it was only an hour's ride by ferry to get here, right? You left at noon.” He explains while laughing and pointing to the setting sun.

“I tried, alright? This neighborhood is confusing.” Yvie states.

“Yeah, yeah. Sure. When you were younger, you lived on the streets and still had no clue where anything was.” He says while covering his mouth to hide his chuckles. 

“I can get through town just fine now.” She grumbles while crossing her arms. “And who was the one constantly getting in trouble for playing pranks?”

“And who was my accomplice?” He questions with a smirk.

“Beats me,” Yvie shrugged, hiding the grin on her face.

They continue down the path through the grove and come upon a large metal building. Unlike the other homes, it’s made with scrap metal, giving it an avant-garde appearance. It appears to have two separate spaces added to the sides of the building, forming a shape like an upside-down T.

“How many times have you come to visit and still don’t know the way?” He questions.

He leads her up the ramp to the front door, and they both enter. The floors are wooden, and the main hall is rather short with two doorways leading to both sides of the house, seen from the outside.

“It’s a lot warmer than it looks.” She says.

“That's because of the furnace; it’s burning from dawn till dusk, and it's where I spend most of my time too.” He states.

Both doorways lead to separate furnaces, but only one was lit. He leads Yvie up a ramp to the second level, where there is an abundance of stuff lying around in boxes. Just beyond the halfway point was a vacant room with a desk, bed, and dresser.

“This is your room. You can do whatever you want with it, paint it, add stuff, I don’t care.” He says nonchalantly.

“What about the rent?” She asks.

“Hm… Then 200 loons sound good.” He says.

“That's a little low, you sure?” Yvie asks, placing a hand on her hip.

“Yeah. C’mon Vie, it’s only a room. Plus I barely use the kitchen, so it’s all yours.” He says.

“So what, do you just order out every night?” Yvie questions.

“Well, I rarely cook, and that's if I remember. All my energy goes to inventing,” He says. “200 extra loons is gonna be some killer testing fund…” 

Eli starts drooling.

“I’m convinced you’ve got a hammer for a brain. You need to be getting more calories, you clown. You’re starting to look like a scarecrow.” 

Eli pokes Yvie in the thigh and watches it jiggle. 

“I know you’re not talking about me, miss thunder thighs.” 

“I-I couldn’t help it, it was all the pancakes Marissa kept making.” 

Eli rolled himself down the ramp. 

“Why do you think I stopped eating them?” 

“They were so good, though…!” 

Yvie walks into the room, hangs her jacket on the hook behind the door, and just falls onto the bed. The pillow absorbs her sigh of relief. She turns over and stares at the ceiling.

Tomorrow’s the day of the exam. I can’t mess this up. She thinks.

Yvie began to drift off into a quiet slumber. The only sound that emanated through the house was the sound of ringing steel. The night flew by, like a flock of birds along the horizon. The sun’s rays dyed the sky a bright orange that bled into the dark blue of night. As the sun brightened the sky, winged fish flew overhead, releasing a light mist of water over houses in the district. The door to Eli’s home opened and out came Yvie as she stretched her arms toward the sky.

“Let’s do this.” 

“Don’t go failing now; I’d rather not have a bum in my house for a year.” El states from the shade of the doorway.

“The only bum around here is you. You reek of ashes and smoke. You look terrible with those bags under your eyes.” She says as she leans over, staring face-to-face with him.

“Well, looks like we’ll both be hitting the water today. You better not fail.” He says.

“You know I won’t.” She states.

Eli watches as Yvie walks down the street and disappears from view behind a building.