"Name and Profession." The Captain stated dully.
     "Thalia Kal." Thalia replied. "Skylord."   
     A teen near the back of the crowd raised an eyebrow. The Captain's eyes narrowed. "A what?" He demanded.
     Kevin and Logan exchanged nervous glances as Thalia nodded, holding her ground. "A Skylord." She comfirmed. She bowed her head respectfully. "Skylord Kal, at your service."
     "I couldn't care less what your name is! As long as it starts with Skylord, I won't have you on my ship." The Captain shouted. "Go fly off somewhere else!"
     "My ship crashed nearby." Thalia replied. "I've got to get back to Skyhold somehow, and I've got no other choice."
     "I'll not be having your kind aboard my ship!" The Captain barked. "Now get off before I make you get off."
     "Captain, please." The teen at the back who'd raised an eyebrow rested a hand on the captain's shoulder. She spoke with a distinct German accent and had an air of galancy about her. "Do let her stay. For me. You owe me one, remember."
    The Captain scowled. "Fine." He spat. He glared at Thalia. "One complaint out of you, Skylord, and you go off the plank!"
    Thalia watched him go as he walked away. Kevin turned to Logan and 'introduced' himself. Thalia glanced behind her at the two and was about to make conversation when the teen from before tapped her shoulder. She looked up at him and he smirked. "So you're Kal's girl, eh?"
     "What?" Thalia asked. "No, I'm just Skylord Kal... First Skylord of my family." She said quickly.
     "Thought so." The teen said. "Only a Kal would dare to hitch a ride with a Sealord. But the question is... Since when were there two Skylord Kals? I only know of one, and his name is Damon..."
    Thalia scowled. "Who are you?" She asked.
    The teen smiled and held out a hand. "Call me Ziska." She said as she shook Thalia's hand. "I'm a Skylord in training myself... I'm spending six months here as assistant to the Captain, undercover of course. Leadership training, you see. And a practice in patience."
     Thalia's eyes narrowed slightly. "What are you getting at?"
     "Be nice, I got him to let you stay." Ziska said teasingly. Thalia rolled her eyes. "I know you're not a Skylord. But the question is, why are you pretending to be one?"
     "Confidential." Thalia turned on her heel and started to walk away, but Ziska just smiled and clasped her hands behind her back.
     "You'll just tell me in the end, Sweetheart." She said.
     "Oh?" Thalia looked back, mocking her accent. "And how do you know that?"
     Ziska smirked. "Because you want to know more about me." She said. "And pretty soon you'll find out."
    Thalia rolled her eyes and turned away. As soon as she did, her expression grew nervous.
     "Something wrong?" Thalia looked up and smiled. Finally, someone she knew she could rely on.
    "Not really. You?"
    "I'm fine." Logan grinned and held out a hand. "Logan Keyes." He winked.
     Thalia grinned back and shook his hand. "Skylord Thalia Kal."
     Logan lowered his voice so only the two of them could hear. "Y'know, that kinda has a nice ring to it."
    Thalia rolled her eyes, but before she could say anything, a voice came from nearby. "Another passenger, Captain!"
    "Better not be another damned Skylord!"
    Thalia sighed. "It's great to be appreciated."
    Logan rolled his eyes. "Let's go greet this 'newcomer' shall we?"
    "Oh yes, let's." The two started to head back to the front of the ship as the Captain greeted the newest arrival.
    "State your name and profession."
    "My name is Venom. I'm a traveling priestess." Venom replied.
    "Priestess?" The Captain asked. "Of which religion?"
     "Oh, what a very rude question!"
     "Alright, ugh, just get aboard." The Captain nodded off the the side. Venom nodded back and headed over to Kevin.
     "Ready to go, then, sir?" A sailor asked.
     "Aye!" The Captain replied. "Weight anchor lads! Hoist the- OI!" The Captain yelped as Jack appeared suddenly beside him.
    "Sorry, mate." Jack said. "Couldn't miss my stop, then, could I?"
    The Captain sighed. "Name and profession." He growled.
     "Name: Jackson Stillman. Profession: Rogue." Jack reported.
     Jackson? Kevin thought to himself.
     "Then get aboard." The Captain turned to his crew once again. "Let's get going before anybody else can show up!"

The ride throughout the day was somewhat uneventful. Besides the time at around noon when Venom almost shot one of the sailors for flirting with her, nothing interesting had really happened.
    It was at dinner that night when Thalia realized that she was in greater danger than she realized. She had been under close surveillance from all the crew members as well as the captain just because of her title all day. They mistrusted her completely even though most of them didn't even know her first name. The only ones who would even be willing to talk to her were her fellow undercover friends.
     She sat at a table with the four of them that night, picking at her food while Jack and Kevin had an enthralling debate over which Drake Columnade book was the best.
    "No, it's the third and I'll tell you why." Jack said, leaning on the table and pointing at Kevin.
    Kevin leaned on the table as well. "Do enlighten me."
    "Martha Rita comes in."
    Kevin rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but she doesn't go full badass until Storm of Medusa."
    "Regardless." Jack retorted. "One way or another, Martha comes in the third book and therefore it is the best."
    Kevin shook his head. "Four is the best because that's when Martha becomes a really complex character."
    "But she arguably becomes a better character at the end of book three." Jack pointed out.
    "Hardly!" Kevin said. "She has the biggest character development during book three!"
    "You're both wrong." Logan said from where he sat beside Jack with his arms crossed. "Escape from the Dogma is the best."
    Venom let out a groan and rolled her eyes. "Ugh... Ladies, ladies, you're all pretty. Now would you shut up and eat?"
    "I'm an Ilex." Jack said. "I do what I want or nothing at all."
     Venom sighed and took a bite of her fish. "Like it or not, Stillman, food is sort of a necessity to life."
    "Pft!" Jack scoffed. "I don't have a life!"
    "You said it." Kevin said from behind his glass. "I didn't."
    "You wanna tell me something, Kenny?"
    As his friends bickered, Logan noticed Thalia picking silently at her food, not eating any of it. He raised an eyebrow and nudged her shoulder with his. "Hey, TK." He said. "You alright?"
    Thalia looked up and gave him a fake smile. "Yeah of course!" She said. "I'm just..." She looked away distractedly. "Tired..."
    "Well maybe you should get some rest." Logan suggested.
    Thalia nodded and stood up. The others noticed and looked up at her. "Hey! Where're you going?" Venom asked.
    "I'm just turning in early." Thalia replied. She smiled at her friends. "See you tomorrow."
    The four watched as she walked out of the mess hall. As soon as she was out of sight, Venom, Kevin, and Jack continued to bicker. Logan just watched the trio silently for a moment, but he glanced after Thalia every few seconds. What had her so worked up...?

Thalia walked down the corridors of the lower decks of the ship, her mind whirling. Although her head told her she could go to the passenger's quarters, her feet carried her to the main deck. As she went, she couldn't stop the rush of thought barraging her.
    Why had Sky made her dress up as a Skylord for the journey? Surely he'd known about the old war between Skylords and Sealords, so why had he made her be one? Was it some sort of test? Was he teaching her to deal with people who didn't like her? Why? She already knew how to do that. She had to do that every day.
     She shook her head to herself and stepped out into the open air on topside. She sighed and walked over to the railing. She leaned on it and looked out at the waves lapping softly up against the side of the ship, and the nearly full moon shining down on the water peacefully. Far more peaceful that her mind.
    The crew of the captain, Sealord Trexer as Thalia learned, hated her. Even though they knew absolutely nothing about her. They simply loathed her to the core just because of her rank. And it wasn't even her real rank.
     Thalia sighed. Oh, what she'd do to just... Get rid of it. She'd love more than anything to just drop her disguise and tell the damned crew she wasn't a Skylord at all, but she knew she could never do that. She had a commitment to the Sky Army. A promise. This was her duty, and if she were hated for it, than so be it.
     "You okay, Skylord?"
     Thalia looked up and sighed a little. "Hey Logan..." She looked back out over the sea. "I'm fine..."
     "You don't look like it." Logan said, hopping into a seat on the railing beside her. "You wanna talk."
     "Not really." She looked up at him. "Thanks, though Ginger..."
     They were quiet as they both looked out at the ocean from opposite sides of the ship. "Y'know... When I was a kid, I wanted to be a pirate." Thalia said.
     Logan snorted. "You? Noble Thalia Kal, Skylord? Seriously?"
     She nodded. "I wanted to be a thief, not even a Skylord one. I wanted to sail on the ocean... Fight like a swashbuckler, steal from the richest of kings, become famed for being just plain dangerous... My father obviously disciplined it out of me. Guess I'm just not cut out for the ocean... Still makes you think what life would be like if I had run away... Chosen that path..."
     "Well... I hate the ocean, but..." Logan looked at her. "Listen, Thalia... Everybody's got that one thing in their lives that they wish more than anything that they could go back and change... But the thing is..." He smiled. "If it weren't for that one thing... We wouldn't be who we were today. We wouldn't be the same. It's the bad things that shape us as well as the good. Its like yin and yang, black and white, Skylord and Sealord; take your pick. One without the other simply can't exist."
    Thalia looked up and smiled a bit. "Thanks, Logan..." She sighed. "But still... How could this damned boat ride get any worse..."
    Logan opened his mouth to reply, but all of a sudden, a massive boom split the air and the whole ship shook violently. Splintered wood flew up from the outside of the ship below Logan and Thalia. The two fell forward off the railing, crashing roughly to the wooden deck. They both scrambled to their feet and looked in the direction the cannon had come from.
    The source was an old-wooded ship sailing a few hundred feet away from the Raymond, a Jolly Roger as its flag. "Damn..." Thalia muttered. "I shouldn't have jinxed it..." No sooner had she said so than there was another explosion and a second massive jolt in the ship.