Dock Delivery

Off of the primitively designed dock at the very top of Antarctica, Sky and his gang he deemed the "American Explorers" with him all sat around on boxes while waiting for Khalil to get everything taken care of. The gang was overall tired from the three-hour walk, but Sky stood adamantly defensive to make sure nothing would happen.

At the same time, from an area about ten minutes away from the dock, Faith was walking with her hood, covering herself to avoid being caught by Finlis or any other people hunting her. She grew paranoid after her encounter with Finlis, always holding a blade in her right hand to make sure she could attack with it.

Faith was moving to a dock in hopes of taking a boat far away from Antarctica to buy herself some time. Unfortunately, she didn't have any money or other forms of currency besides information to get where she needed to go, so she planned on improvising.

As Faith happened upon the dock in all of her covering, she sat at the very end near the water, kicking her feet in the water while waiting for the captain of the ship to arrive.

While looking around the dock, she spotted Sky and his friends through the holes in her cloak. She decided to keep her head forward, as she didn't want to talk to her father, or even let her presence be known.

The people floating in an out of the dock to bring more boxes and load the ship up with supplies was increasing, until after about ten minutes when it stopped and Khalil arrived.

"Alright! Are we ready to set sail?!" Khalil said enthusiastically. Sky and the others were reluctant about it, as they hadn't been on a boat since Orion's fiasco.

At the very last moment, when all of the Arkians were on the boat, Faith walked up to Khalil and pulled on his sleeves, telling him to keep quiet in the process.

"Oh? What's that? Oh, hi there. What do you need?" Khalil asked Faith. He couldn't recognize her through her coverings and eye patch, so she talked in a voice lower than her original.

"I need to get to Eurasia, is that where this ship is going?" Faith asked him. Khalil shook his head, explaining the real location of the boat.

"Tch, doesn't matter, I'll still take what I can get. Do you need my money to travel with you? I want to stay quiet and away from people, I won't be a bother," Faith told him. Khalil smiled, nodding his head.

"For you, it's free for the first ride. I'm taking Sky Asterio and his friends over to my land, so the ride is free as-is," Khalil told her. With a slight nod, she went onto the ship.

It was made of classic wood that comprised some of the shacks around the area, but there were cages on the floor of the ship that led down to the bottom compartments. Faith avoided the grates on the floor and stuck to the railing near the captain's deck where the wheel was. She avoided everybody, hiding behind boxes and barrels to watch the water fly by as the boat started to move.

Faith was close to the other conversations happening on the boat, so it was inevitable that she heard some of what Sky had to say. In her eyes, the way he spoke was much more confident and he seemed a lot stronger, even though her eyes weren't locked onto him.

"Huh?" Sky mumbled. Footsteps grew closer to Faith, but she couldn't move. If she moved, she would look suspicious. She held her ground for as long as she could until Sky slid a barrel to the side to get a look at Faith from behind.

"Oh, I had no idea you were joining us, who are you?" Sky asked Faith. She refused to be honest with him, tilting her head to look at his shoes, then back out to the ocean.

"Shinigami," She flatly said. She kept her last name out of it to keep Sky away. If he investigated, he could easily find out Faith's real identity.

"Oh, well, nice to meet you, I'm Sky. I have friends here if you'd care to meet them, but I'll leave you alone otherwise," Sky told her. Faith was struck with surprise as Sky continued to talk. His voice had gotten deeper. By now, he should've been about sixteen years old, nearing seventeen. She couldn't see his changed muscle stature, but she knew that he had been changing while she was away.

"Thanks," Faith flatly said again. Sky pushed the barrel back in front of her and she continued to watch out at the ocean.

"Who was that?" Dani asked Sky. He explained the situation and the American Explorers all nodded in unison, understanding her plight.

The day went on and after a while, the sun began to set in the sky. The clouds and sky turned pink and orange, leaving Faith with a pretty sight as she gazed out to the horizon. Sky and the others were eating inside. She was alone.

Until Dani moved the same barrel Sky did and sat beside Faith. Her closeness alerted Faith and she became unsure about her hidden identity until Dani turned to face her head on.

"I can tell who you are with my Eye of Providence, you know?" Dani explained to Faith. She seemed closed off, avoiding eye contact with Dani completely.

"I know, I know. You want to be hidden, so I won't reveal who you are. But, it would do you some good to let Sky know that you're alright. I'm sorry things ended up the way they did. He's a strong man now, much more capable than the things you think him to be," Dani said. She kept her head forward, sliding a plate of food to Faith's right thigh.

"Here, I brought you some, because I figured you hadn't eaten in a while. Are you alright?" Dani asked. She rubbed Faith's back, and she felt the tears coming on. All Faith had to do was to tell her father about Finlis Vega, and her worries would be taken care of almost instantly. However, Faith knew it was her duty to take care of it, so she nodded her head and held back tears.

"Yeah, I'll be okay..." She said. Faith thought about what Dani said, and handed her a note.

"Give this to him," Faith told her. It was a prewritten note about how Faith had been feeling that she wrote for her father when she had the strength to give it to him herself. However, she still couldn't muster the strength.