Page 98 of A Yulean Sister’s Guide to Getting Kidnapped

“Deal.”

We went up until we reached the set of stairs that led to the main deck. The light came shining down, casting a glow over Sage as she looked up at it. After a bit of mental warring, she took each stair up, and I was concerting right behind her.

From the main deck, the weather was just as beautiful as it was when I left. Nice and warm with a light breeze. The sun shone bright with few clouds to mask it. The water a deep blue now, only accented white where the edges of the ship created foam. It was definitely easier to feel the rocking up here, and I could see her struggle with her sea legs a bit. I kept her held tight to me, ensuring she felt secure.

Her eyes darted everywhere. She’d never been up here when the ship was sailing, and did everything in her power to ignore where she was until she left.

But now, her gaze danced everywhere, as if trying to absorb it all at once. “You were right,” she said. “The weather is nice.”

I nodded. “I couldn’t let you miss it.”

She smiled slightly at that, but still looked so wary.

That was okay, small steps and such.

“Come here,” I said, holding her hand. She took it and followed, though her steps slowed the closer and closer we got to the bow.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

I wanted to make a joke about pushing her off the plank, but right now that seemed to be in poor taste.

“Just letting you get a bit of a closer look,” I said.

“I am getting a perfectly good look from here,” she assured me.

I hummed. “Maybe, but it’s prettier over here.”

“I think it will all look the same,” she insisted.

“Just trust me.”

“You’ve been saying that a lot,” she pointed out.

“And I haven’t steered you wrong yet.”

She huffed, but didn’t disagree. I wrapped my tail around her, squeezing her just a bit to make sure she felt safe, and a bit comforted. It seemed to work, as part of her body seemed to relax.

We walked until we stood on the edge of the bow, the entire ocean spread out right in front of us.

“Why did we need to get this close again?” she asked, pressing as far back against me as she could.

“So you could see this,” I pointed a bit far out, as a reef fin jumped out of the water, before plunging back.

The movement obviously scared her at first, but once she realized what it was, there was nothing but interest.

“Woah,” she said, leaning forward a bit more.

Another one popped out of the water, only a short distance from the ship. Its shifty blue colored fins shone in the sun. They were giant round fish, who bobbed to the top every once in a while for air. They had lines of greens and yellows that trailed down their back, and a giant fin that stuck up from their backs. They traveled in packs, so when you saw one, you knew you would see them for a while.

“What are they?” she asked.

“Reef fins,” I told her. “They’ve been around since this morning. I thought you’d like them.”

“They are very pretty.”

We stood like that, my hands rested around her waist and my head propped on her chin as the marine life bounced in the waters around us.

Eventually they thinned out as we got towards the shore, and Connie yelled for everyone to get to their positions to get ready for port. I wasn’t exactly sure how long we’d been there, but longer than five minutes for sure.