Time went on. All in silence. Each of us occupied ourselves with some kind of work to stay distracted, to keep our minds from dwelling on our situation.
Jian went to look for and organize the food supply for the trip. Qinyue spent her time sharpening anything that looked like it could hold an edge.
Mei had finally stopped crying, but the silence she settled into was almost worse. She just sat on a coil of rope, staring into the horizon with eyes that didn't seem to see the ocean at all.
Liangyu kept pacing back and forth, probably thinking of ways to impress his new "master." I just wandered around, examining the ship, taking in every detail, looking for weaknesses or for opportunities.
When night finally wrapped the sky, Longwei retreated to the cabin. We gathered on the deck, a circle of silhouettes huddled in the pale moonlight. For a long time, no one spoke. We just looked at each other until Jian finally broke the tension.
"So..." He cleared his throat. "That happened."
