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The date was 1508 in the port of Greenland. Amanda Mill was frozen to the bone as she hurried to the local Inn. A snowstorm was on the horizon, and she did not want to be caught in the middle of it. She burst into the Inn and everyone turned to look at her. A heavy looking old man with a thick white beard chuckled and said, "Well, don't just stand there. Come sit down!" Amanda wiped her burnt orange hair out of her face and flushed out of embarrassment. She then took a seat at the round table near the pub. She sat next to a young black-haired man. The old man smiled at her and continued telling a story. It was very entertaining, a story of fantasy and dreams she thought to herself. 

The young man leaned over to her ear and whispered, "Ya' know, this all happened." Oh wow. Her expression changed from enlightenment and amusement to serious and focused. Just as the old man got to the part about boats her expression changed again. Amanda was terrified of boats ever since a few seasons ago, Amanda and her parents were taking a ship to Iceland to visit her grandparents. Along the way just off the coast of Norway they were attacked by the great sea dragon Leviathan [ li-vahy-uh-thuh n ]. She and few of the other passengers and crew barely escaped from the it. While her parents had suffered with the majority of the crew and passengers. Amanda started stressing but what calmed her down was the tales of a sailor. That was what mystified her. How could a sailor be brave and heroic? She thought to herself. All they did was tighten sheets and clean the deck. The captain did all the work, he was the one who steered the ship, he was the one who saved me from the sea dragon! But little did she know, until now of course, the crew were the one that kept the ship moving and protected the passengers and themselves from the Leviathan and other dangerous serpents and dragons, not the captain. That is what made them heroic. IF I were a sailor I could help protect and save people, like my parents.... The thought troubled her, the sailors could have helped protect her and her family. But they didn't.

 She went back to listening to the story. "... The huge octopus rose out of the sea in front of a large battalion of ships exposing a huge mouth large enough to swallow handfuls of ships at a time! 'The Kraken' cried the leader of the fleet. The sailors shouted with pure heart in their voices. 'We will not let you take our souls you foul beast. We live and protect those we love, and you will burn in hell along with all the creatures made by the devil.' They raised their spears and went to war." The old man finished the story without any other words. He rose and strode to the bar. 

That's it?! Thought Amanda. That can't be it! A story with such peril and adventure cannot end with such an un-eventful closing! The other young men at the table had already seemed to have moved on past the story. They chatted about girls and other non-important things. Amanda stood from the chair and went to sit by the old man again. "What is it girly? Want some ale? I don't have any spare money for young'uns like you." He said with a sneer. "No thank you, and you should refrain from calling me 'girly'. My name is Amanda Mill." "So? What do you want?" "Well I was hoping that you could tell me where you heard that story from." "The one I just told?" replied the old man. "Yes sir. It was interesting and the man with black hair said it was all true. I just wanted to see if I could ask the one you got the story from if he could tell me more on the topic." "Don't call me sir. It makes me feel older than I really am. Call me Andrew." The old man, now Andrew, said with a chuckle. But you just referred to me as a 'Young'un' and that alone makes you sound older than you really are. Amanda frowned at the thought. Why do you seem to keep on changing your personality with me? First its friendly embarrassment, then you smile at me, then you're rude, and just now you joke with me! Can't men pick one attitude and not be jumping all over the place? "What is it Amanda? Didn't like my joke." Andrew's tone was unreadable but he's eyes showed laughter. Huh. Amanda's frown deepened. "Why the long face?" He said in reply to her silence. Amanda sighed and with a plain tone she said, "Are you going to tell me where the man who told you the story is or no?" "All right, all right. You Young'uns have no patience." There it is again! Young'uns! He acts like a young man then refers to himself as an older guy. Why wont he choose an attitude. But he was right. Amanda had no patience. She focused on the small things he said and let it get to her. And the noise of the pub did not go well with the headache she seemed to be causing for herself. "You all right?" he said in a joking manner. "Yes... yes I'm fine." But she was not. She had so many questions going though her head. Will this man answer my questions? How do I... "Are you sure your okay?" Amanda's anger continued to rise. "No, I'm not." "Why?" "Because I want to know were you got the story from!" Amanda was furious. Why can't he give me an answer already! "Geeze, I was just showing you some concern! The man's name is William he was a captain to the Iceberg a ship in the fleet from the story. He lives behind the main center of the port. He has animal pelts hanging over the front window." 

The main center? The marketplace?? Amanda had lived in the port for 6 years and every year the town seemed to change. The center is the marketplace, but the marketplace isn't the center, yet it was all the same. "Are you just gonna sit there? Or are you gonna move?" Andrew said chuckling again. For Amanda though this snide joke was the last straw. In her fury she ran out the door and into the raging snowstorm. She immediately changed her mind and returned, closing the door haughtily. Slowly dragging her feet back to the bar to ask for a room, she ignored the old man. "Hello." Amanda said in a grim voice, "What cha' want kiddo?" asked the Inn keeper. "One room please. How much is that?" "Your hiding from the snowstorm?" "How much is the room, please?" Asked Amanda again. "Oka-" but Andrew interrupted the Inn keeper, "Sorry she's in a bad mood." I just met him! Can't he just mind his own business and drink his ale?! "That would be 11 chromes." Amanda took the money out of her left boot and dropped it on the table. "Thank you, sir." She mustered to say it politely as she was in a furious mood. Room number 21. Third floor. She read. THERE'S THREE FLOORS? Her thoughts bubbled at the idea of it. There doesn't even seem to be 2!

 Amanda creaked up the wooden staircase to the third floor. Most of the other rooms were filled. Candlelight radiated from the closed doors as she passed. She heard music coming from the 17th door, Guitar. He's writing a song. The 18th door, a fussy mother fighting with her daughter to get into her night dress. And the other doors not too dissimilar. One, with the door ajar, a frustrated artist blocked from his view of the city, another with women fussing over a window that wont close. Finally, she made it to her room. She pushed the door open to reveal a rickety bed with one leg haphazardly held together with strips of cloth, and a dresser near the window with a tiny candle on it. She took an incense stick from the hallway and lit the candle. The room could be a little nicer. Some of the other rooms I stayed at had little wool rugs and bedsheets not just a blanket. She had stayed at Inns all her life in Greenland. Moving from one Inn to another when she had been thrown out of her previous room. She enjoyed moving around it had an air of fun to it. Quietly slipping off her worn leather boots she went to bed. As she looked out the window, she thought to herself, this storm could last for a few days, might as well make myself comfortable. At that thought, she fell into a dreamless sleep. The next day was very simple. Waking up, changing, eating, reading, eating, then again sleeping. The next day was not dissimilar, the only change was that she had to pay for the room again. She saw Andrew a few times, but she was still angry for her own petty reasons. But soon, on the 3rd day of staying in the Inn, the storm eased enough for people to crawl out of their little huts and houses and explore the streets once more. She payed her dues for meals and such to the Inn keeper and took her first step outside since the night the snowstorm started. Sigh. What a beautiful day out today. The clouds are covering the sun just as they do every nice day. I miss England. The sun shown more than once a year there. She tried not to think of her parents, she missed them to. Amanda slowly made her way down to the marketplace. Oh. Oh wow. Some of the vendors are already setting up shop again? As Amanda Mill passed the first few shops the merchants tried to coax her over to buy their wares. Most of the market stalls were empty though. She slowly made her way behind the center shopping area and found a neighborhood of rickety looking homes. She moved down the way till she stopped in front of a house with rat and fox skins hanging over the front window. The rats ranged from white to black, and the foxes were white to red. Those poor foxes. They looked as though they just made it to the small summer when there's greenery around. She walked up to the door and knocked three times. An old man, older than Andrew, whom Amanda was pretty sure was in his late 30's answered the door. "Who are you?" the man asked in a rough tone. "Um, I was just wondering if you were captain William of the Iceberg." She asked in a meek voice. The look of the man scared her. He was missing one eye and he didn't wear and eyepatch. One of his legs was missing also and replaced with a wooden peg. She could see scars of suction marks all the way up one arm. "I am. Now who are you and what do you want?" "I'm Amanda Mill. I heard some stories of you at the local Inn and wanted to know if you are really a sailor who protected people you love and slayed great beasts?" The man looked Amanda up and down, seemingly taking in her slight build, and replied, "You make me sound like a knight. Sailors aren't all that heroic, I wish I hadn't wanted to slay great beasts. I should've settled down or simply taken cargo around. But I didn't. Now look at me." William flexed his scarred arm, kicked out his left leg and tapped his eye. "You got dreams to be like me, kiddo? Give them up. Save yourself the pain. Put on a dress and go find a rich husband and get those ideas of a glorious future out of your head." He closed the door then, leaving Amanda alone with her thoughts. Amanda was shocked. She hadn't even had the chance to speak up or defend her questions. He shouldn't tell me what to do! I wanted to know when he was a sailor if he killed evil beasts; now I know. I didn't need his opinion. But he did answer my questions. I know what I need to be now. I need to be a soldier and a sailor. I will slay the Leviathan, avenge my parents and anyone else who was lost to its jaws, and I'll do a great deal better than he did!