Tidal Waves

17. Sunrise

"Good morning!"

Raven opened her tired eyes to see green eyes staring down at her. Kory backed away when she started to sit up.

"Morning..." Raven groggily replied, rubbing her tired eyes with her hands. "What time is it?"

Kory giggled at her tiredness. "It's dawn. The sun will be rising soon. I always wake this early, so I apologize if you wished to sleep in. Next time I'll let you rest."

Raven's eyebrows lifted at the information, remembering the invitation from the night before. "It's fine," she assured the other girl, watching as she fixed her long hair. "I needed to be up this early anyway. Thank you for waking me."

"Of course!" Kory said and flashed her a warm smile, using a ribbon to tie her immense red curls back. "It feels comforting with a roommate. Don't get me wrong, I love the boys, but having a friend who is a girl is much more relaxing."

Raven couldn't help but smile at the other girl's words. "I'm glad you feel that way. I enjoy it as well."

Kory stood up from the vanity. "Do you need help fixing your hair?"

Raven pondered her offer for a moment. Kory seemed good with hair, so she could probably fix it faster than if she did it herself. That way, she could make it outside in time to see the sunrise.

"If you don't mind," Raven decided, watching as the girl swiftly ma ever way towards the spare be with a comb in her hand.

"Not at all," Kory cheerily responded and immediately began combing through Raven's long hair. "Your hair is beautiful. As black as the night sky."

The comment easily made Raven blush. No one had ever complimented her hair. "Thank you. Yours is pretty, too."

Kory smiled, using her fingers to separate the hair in the front into strands, and began braiding it. When she was finished, she used small rubber bands to tie them off and brought the rest of her loose hair into a low ponytail.

"Finished," Kory informed, a smile on her face as she admired her work. Raven used the mirror she handed her to judge the look.

To her dismay, it looked great. "Wow... thank you. You're quite talented."

"I love hair," Kory commented, a bittersweet expression on her face. "My sister and I would style each other's hair all the time when we were younger."

Raven wanted to ask her more, but she decided that there would have to be another time. If she stayed any longer, she might miss her chance.

"I'm going to go see what everyone else is doing," Raven suddenly spoke, giving the other girl a warm smile. "I'll talk with you later if you want. We can share our stories."

Kory's eyes lit up at the suggestion. "I would enjoy that. I shall go help prepare breakfast as well."

With that, the two girls left the room, parting ways once they reached the hallway. Raven made her way to the main deck, a relieved expression on her face when she noticed the sky was still a light shade of blue.

Just like she'd expected, Damian was standing atop the crow's nest, a spyglass in his hands with one end pressed up against his good eye.

Raven grabbed onto the ladder and started to make her way up, carefully holding on so she didn't slip.

"Oh wow, you actually made it."

Damian removed the spyglass from his eye when he heard her reach the top. His gaze remained out toward the sea.

Raven scoffed at his comment. "Yes, I did. What's my reward?"

"Proving me wrong," Damian answered, the corner of his lips twitching into a smirk. "I can see Seattle in the distance. We should be there by noon."