Cold.
It's cold.
Hmm… how long was I asleep?
The sky's already so blue.
Another day, huh. That means another shit day.
How long have I been floating in the middle of the sea… five? six?
It's been almost a week, and I still haven't seen a single ship. No sails. No signs of life. Nothing.
Six days without seeing another person besides myself.
My boat's barely holding together now, drifting wherever the waves decide to throw it. Every creak sounds weaker than the last, like it's slowly giving up the same way I am. This thing won't last much longer. Tonight might be its last.
But I think I'll die from hunger before I ever drown.
I let out a long breath and stare up at the sky.
Should I just accept it? That I'm going to die?
My body sinks back against the wood, rocking with the sea. The sun feels warm on my face, but it doesn't help. It only makes everything feel farther away.
Then something drops near my feet.
I jerk up immediately.
A bird.
Small. Barely moving.
Its wings… broken.
I reach out without thinking, but it snaps at me and bites.
"Hey, what's wrong with you?" I hiss, pulling my hand back. "I'm trying to help."
It flaps weakly, dragging itself away like it still has a chance to escape. One wing hangs useless, twisted wrong.
Then it hits me.
We're the same.
Broken, stranded… just in different ways.
"Well," I mutter, watching it struggle, "at least I can still swim."
It doesn't calm down. Of course it doesn't.
I grab it firmly.
Not hurting it. Just enough to keep it still.
"Stop moving," I say through my teeth. "You're wasting energy."
It trembles in my hands.
I look at its wing closer.
Bad. Really bad. Not something that heals overnight. Not something that should happen out here.
"What even happened to you?" I mumble. "There's nothing out here to crash into."
My eyes drift up to the sky.
Birds still fly up there. Normal. Free. Like nothing went wrong.
So why this one?
Attacked? Or just unlucky?
I tear a strip of cloth from my sleeve. Doesn't matter anymore anyway.
I wrap its wing carefully tight enough to support it, not enough to cause more pain.
"This is all I've got," I say quietly. "So don't expect miracles."
I set it down slowly.
It doesn't bite again.
Just stares at me.
I lean back with a tired sigh.
"Guess we're stuck together for a while," I mutter.
"What's your name?"
"…Brine."
It tilts its head.
"Yeah," I nod once. "That's your name now."
A small breath leaves my nose almost a laugh, but not quite.
"I'm Toven."
The boat keeps drifting.
No direction. No control. Just wind and waves deciding everything for me.
The paddle broke yesterday. I didn't bother fixing it. It doesn't feel like it matters anymore.
A ship… that's what I should be looking for. Not land. Never land.
I stare at the horizon.
Are you hungry, Brine?
Yeah. Stupid question.
I haven't eaten in days either.
"You're probably better off than me. At least you ate before all this happened. Before you fell in my Boat."
I exhale slowly.
"You better pray to the Gods that you heal fast," I murmur. "Because I don't know which one of us gives out first."
A pause.
Then I glance at the sea again.
"…Just pray for a ship or something," I add. "At least maybe one of the 8 Gods will listen to you."
Hours passed, letting the waves carry us wherever they pleased.
I sat in front of Brine, watching him quietly.
"Were you bullied because you're small?" I muttered. "Or did some falcon just crash into you by accident?"
I gave a small chuckle.
"That's funny to imagine."
The sea rocked gently. The wind brushed against my skin cold, but not harsh. Almost warm in a strange way.
"Hmm…. What is it Brine? You have a question?"
...
"How did I get here?"
I blinked slowly, staring at Brine.
"Alright… let's start from the beginning."
I sat up straighter.
"My mother was a whore, and my father was a man I never knew. probably a Noble or whatever, Piece of shit, or maybe nothing at all. So of course, I ended up a parentless child.
Until the pirates took me in.
Not the famous kind. Not the kind sung about in taverns. Just a small crew forgotten, unimportant. But to me, they were everything.
Life there was simple. I ate when there was food, slept when there was time, and worked when the captain shouted. It was hard work, yes, but it was a life. A place I could stand on.
Then everything changed.
We were sailing like always when we saw them.
The Leviathan's Hand."
"Do you know what that is, Brine?" I asked, glancing at him.
Of course, he just stared back.
"Right… you don't know."
"The Leviathan's Hand is one of the greatest ships in the world. That's what they say, anyway. A legendary vessel. Fast beyond belief, strong beyond reason. It survived wars that sank entire fleets. It didn't just survive battles it ended them. Ships that crossed its path never returned.
They call it the hand of a leviathan because once it reaches out… nothing escapes.
And the captain of that ship… is a legend himself." I stopped for a second.
"So tell me, Brine… why would such a ship chase a crew like ours?"
I looked at him again.
Still blank.
"Yeah… I wondered the same thing.
Maybe we offended them without knowing. Maybe we were just in the wrong sea at the wrong time. Or maybe they simply wanted to kill anything they saw."
I let out a breath and cursed under it.
"They chased us not for long, but it feels like it is."
"We ran like cowards, pushing the ship harder than it had ever been pushed. The sea roared beneath us. The sails nearly tore apart from the wind.
And then—
They stopped.
Just like that.
We thought we were safe.
We laughed. Some of the crew cried. Some prayed. Some just collapsed from exhaustion.
We thought we survived.
But the sea doesn't give mercy so easily.
Right in front of us, an island appeared.
At first, we thought it was salvation. Land after days of fear. A place to rest.
But it wasn't just an island.
It was the island.
The one sailors whisper about when they're drunk and afraid.
The island where the Demon resides.
We saw it.
I still remember it too clearly. Too sharp. Like a wound that never closes.
The air changed the moment we got close. Heavy. Wrong. Like the sea itself didn't want us there.
And then it appeared.
The Demon.
I can't describe it properly. I don't think anyone can. The moment you try to understand it, your mind starts to break.
It looked at us.
And it said we had sinned just by seeing it.
That was our punishment.
The Demon didn't even move like a man or beast. It just was there and then it wasn't.
Our ship broke apart as if it was nothing. Wood snapped like dry bones. The sea itself turned against us.
Screams filled the air.
My companions… my friends… most of them died right there.
Those who survived… were not spared either.
They left with curses carved into their skin, their fate sealed.
A curse that still follows me.
If I ever step foot on land, my body will decay. Slowly. Painfully. Until there is nothing left.
So I stayed in the sea.
All Alone.
Floating in the endless sea.
Waiting to see a ship coming."
I looked at Brine again. He was still there, staring at nothing in particular, as if the story meant nothing to him.
Maybe it doesn't.
The sun was setting now, sinking into the horizon. The wind grew stronger, but still warm. The waves rose higher, like they were breathing.
I don't know what became of the few who survived. I stopped asking myself that question a long time ago.
I just drifted.
Day after day.
Night after night."
The Sunset is soo beautifull.
Then—
I saw something.
I blinked.
Far away… on the edge of the sea…
A shape.
A sail.
A ship.
My body froze for a moment.
No… it can't be.
I stood up so fast the boat nearly rocked over.
"Brine…" I whispered.
Then louder.
"Brine!"
I grabbed him carefully, holding him up as I pointed forward.
"A ship. There's a ship!"
My voice cracked.
"There's a ship, Brine!"
It was real. Getting closer. Slowly, but surely.
I couldn't stop myself I laughed.
Not the tired kind.
Not the empty kind.
But something alive.
Something I hadn't felt in a long time.
Hope.
The waves roared louder, the wind pushing the sea between us and it, but it didn't matter.
For the first time in what felt like forever…
I wasn't alone in the ocean.
And I laughed as the ship came closer.