Journey (GI x SBI) *Discontinued*

Chapter 4

May 15, 1965

Tubbo and I walked along the waterfront in quiet reflection. The day started with an unsettling series of happenings and things were only getting more and more weird.

Sometimes life has a way of hitting you squarely on the chin... and this was one of those times. I was lost in my thoughts when -- BAM -- a small, wiry, well-dressed man slammed into me, his head colliding with my chin. As my body spun round from the collision, I caught sight of three men in hot pursuit. Before I could focus, the man lept from the boardwalk onto a small boat banging against a rusty buoy five meters below the causeway.

The boat appeared hardly seaworthy -- weathered wood planks barely held together by rusted fittings. Despite the man's almost fragile frame, the small boat creaked and moaned with this unexpected passenger. To my shock and surprise, the man deftly began to row from the waterfront with amazing alacrity and speed. The three men in hot pursuit yelled at each other in sincere befuddlement, as they hurriedly plotted their next move. With each passing second, the man in the seemingly compromised boat swiftly created evermore distance between himself and his enemies.

One of the three men pointed to the horizon. A medium-sized ship -- a fusion of a Chinese junk and Spanish galleon -- was making a beeline toward the man in the dingy. The body language of the three pursuers immediately became defeated. I could not have predicted what came next. In a sudden, almost gracefully mechanical move, the hull of the ship opened like a baleen whale consuming krill. In an instant, the small man on the small boat disappeared, as if eaten by a sea monster.

The guards turned to me and Tubbo,"He didn't hurt you two, did he?" We shook our heads.

"No... My cloak is a bit torn from bumping into him though." My hands were scraped and shaky, but the guards didn't need to know of small injuries. Tubbo merely shook his head. He didn't like to talk to adults much, which was understandable.

"When you get home, you can brag to your parents that you had a run-in with Liyue Harbor's most deadly and dangerous fugitive."

Tubbo and I looked at each other with a crooked gaze. We'd both seen plenty of sketchy characters in our days -- that came with the territory of living in a vibrant trade community. The man responsible for my torn cloak more closely resembled an accountant than a hardened criminal. But the other-wordly maw of that ship and the slight man's sudden abduction belied this superficial assessment.

With a firm rap on my back, one of the soldiers smiled and walked away, giving his companions a "let's get outta here" nod. This was not a usual day. That was no usual man. And, those were not usual soldiers. I couldn't explain it at first, but something didn't smell right about those soldiers. When they were about five meters away from me and Tubbo, I recognized something odd -- it was subtle at first but then it came into swift relief. Those soldiers were not wearing the highly-buffed boots of a soldier. Rather, their feet were shorn by the rugged boots of a pirate! It seems that our fugitive -- the proverbial sheep in wolf's clothing -- was being chased by a real pack of wolves.

I grabbed Tubbo's hand and dashed back in the direction of our house. My mind was racing. Pirates! Chasing some fugitive!

Despite my thoughts however, I smiled. As we rounded the corner to our two-story house, I knew that I had done enough; I had actually done more than just buy flowers. I had found information that could help us find our father. Liyue Harbor had always been a mysterious haunt, but lately things had become downright unsettling.

Tubbo and I entered the doorway without exchanging words. As if in a trance, our thoughts about today's events carried us to our respective rooms. As I reflect on the moment now, it was positively naive of me to think that the events of the day were complete. Whenever I felt sad or lonely, I always found it grounding to look out into the open sea. I'd often sit by the window and play my wooden flute to the circling gulls.

Just as I had completed a second tune and my heart had finally stopped racing, a spector came into view that nearly tipped me over the window sill. A young woman, around my age, levitated outside my window.

Her long dirty blonde hair tumbled down her back, light-green wings waving gently in the air. She wore a white silk dress which ended at her knees, a green cloak pinned to the dress shoulder with what appeared to be a smiley face. A purple lace scarf was attached to the other shoulder as well. It was tucked into a golden belt and flowed down the front of the dress. She wore a mask which hid her eyes, which prevented me from seeing them.

I found myself falling into a trance, as I observed the gossamer visage. What felt like an hour transpired over just a few seconds. It was as if time stopped. I was abruptly shaken from the trance when this floating maiden came crashing toward me at alarming speed. Before it seemed her torso would either crash through either my window or my chest, the woman halted in midair. As we stared face to face, the woman emotionlessly removed her mask.

Her eyes were like two emeralds spinning in a kaleidoscope. Her mouth slowly moved to form a simple word: HORIZON. She pointed out toward the boundary of the harbor. I ran to my nightstand and opened the top drawer. I grabbed the brass handscope and returned to the window in a single motion. With the scope to my right eye, I looked out toward the horizon. The odd ship we saw just two hours before was heading out to open waters. When I read the ship's name on the hull, my heart sank into my stomach. The ship was named, The Silk Flower.

I stared back at the woman. She gave me an uneasy smile before fading into nothing. I walked over to my bed. Sighing, I sat down. The day kept getting weirder and weirder.

Before I knew it, Mom called us down for dinner. When we gathered for dinner, the table felt empty without Wilbur and Tommy. None of us talked during dinner. Without Wilbur to lead us on the rest of our 'mission,' we hadn't a clue what we were supposed to do now.

That was one of the more calm days in the months to come. I could laugh at my past self. So naive, so curious. So full of joy. I wonder how the path of my family would have changed had my father not received that mysterious letter. One can only guess.

The silence at the table continued. Silence is often the byproduct of helplessness. Collectively, we felt aimless. Without a plan, we were a ship adrift in the Doldrums.

Tubbo attempted to break the silence by asking me to pass the butter. As I reached for the butter, there was a sudden clash of glass from the front window. I recall a black iron ball rolling toward the table, emitting an eerie green smoke. Before I lost consciousness, something in my peripheral view caught my eye. The ghost-woman from earlier. A look of fear frozen on her face. Then everything went dark.