Alter gazed out across the gleaming red sea, almost as red as Determination itself. The sun sat on the liquid horizon, swollen and dark orange in it's bright glow as it illuminated everything in stark shadows and dull light. He was endlessly grateful they had finally arrived.
The villagers were weak, several having died during the awful journey here. Dance sighed wearily beside him, leaning into his friend. Next to the shorter stood two new followers; a small, hopeful skeleton wearing bright colors and a taller clad in shades of green, a bone tail swinging side to side slowly behind him. Beats and Kin. They were wondering the woods, and only revealed themselves because they saw other skeletons amidst the traveling village.

They had been a big help, Kin being a fantastic hunter and Beats radiating kindness around him. Unfortunately, the quieter one never strayed far from his side for long, a little overprotective of his friend. His Wingding accent was thick, the staticy tones of the skeletal language always coloring his words.

But even so, they couldn't prevent all tragedies. A storm had blown in at one point when they were plowing through the snowy peaks. They lost three of the older villagers then. It had terrified Alter; they had simply fallen asleep and froze. They were ice in the snow, skin turned blue and purple as snow crusted their features.
A child, a young boy, broke his arm falling- that at least Alter could heal. Unfortunately, they were too late to save another who drowned in glacier melt, Alter sobbing alongside the boy's parents.

Dance and Alter were left as a the only two capable of fighting off the wolves and bears that constantly attacked the livestock; later having a great relief when Kin and Beats arrived and lessened the burden of dealing with the animals alone. Even so, they couldn't stop all of them. Hunger sapped strength from everyone, skeletons often forgoing their own meals for the humans that needed it more.

Kin soon started asking why they didn't desert Carvahall, which earned him a dark glare from Dance, a vocal whiplash from Alter, and tears from Beats as he imagined what would happen to the innocent humans without their help.
"We stick together. They had our backbones, we have theirs. Don't you have pack mentality?" Dance had responded.
Kin didn't suggest it again.

When they finally reached Narda, the entire village perked up, proud and Determined as hope filled them. Even Kin spared a small smile as Alter flitted about, offering as much help and support as he could as Beats and Dance followed close behind.

Next dawn, Roran left for Narda, followed by Horst, Baldor, Gertrude, and Loring's sons. Alter was given charge of the rest of the village alongside Birgit and Loring. Kin had to take off after the sheep, as a pair of wolves were stalking them again. One Blaster and snarl later, the animals were running for the hills.
Alter was busy healing those that needed it, though he was starting to slump far more than usual, stumbling as he shuffled from person to person.

Beats asked that he stop and rest, but he shook his skull listlessly and went on. The youth furrowed his non-existent eyebrows and alerted Dance, who was lending a helping hand as well. The other dropped what he was doing and started dragging a piteously complaining Alter away to sit down and watch for enemies or Roran's return next to Albriech.

"Make sure this numbskull doesn't get up, would you? He's worn himself out and won't acknowledge it."
"I have not-" "I'll keep an eye on him." "No!" "Thanks." "I need to help-" "You're sitting here and taking a break." "I don't need a break." Alter argued obstinately. "How many phalanges am I holding up?" Dance asked seriously. Alter squinted at him. "Trick question." "One you didn't answer." "D'oh, leave me alone. Someone could be seriously hurt- what if a cut got infected? If someone else dies and I could have done something about it-" "Alter, how can you do any good if you kill yourself?" Dance interrupted. "You're grinding yourself into the dirt. You can't do any good if you don't recharge. So hit the brakes and calm down. The rest of us can handle it, a'ight?"
Alter gave him a long look, then glanced away. "Ten minutes."
Dance sighed. "It's something." He nodded at Albriech with a faint smile before walking off again.

Several minutes passed in silence before one of them said anything.
"This is my first time seeing the ocean."
Alter blinked. "Really?"
"Yes. I never thought it was like this. I thought I understood what it looked like, but this.. it's so big. I can't wrap my head around it. Is this your first as well?"
"First in a long time, yes. And this is such a beautiful color. The sea I remember would turn a gorgeous golden yellow and orange at sunset, and during the day was such an enchanting deep blue with green undertones. At night, it would be darker than the sky, endlessly crashing into the beach. Like an ancient testament of time." He paused, gazing out at the waves in the distance. "But this one… carries a sense of newness with it, wild and still playful in it's youth, unlike back home. The sea I know is peaceful, like myself. It's weathered through the centuries, relentless and untamable, but it's proven itself endlessly and has grown tired…. I'm sorry, I was rambling, wasn't I."

Albriech shifted around a little. "I don't mean to be rude, but that sounded very wise. I'm now a bit curious, can I ask how old you are?"
Alter chuckled softly. "I'm a little old by our standards, but I'm only 582." He smiled bashfully. Albriech leaned back in shock. "Five hundred years? That's older than the Fall of the Riders by four times!"
"I apologise, I forget the shorter lifespans of humans. I don't mean to frighten you."
"I'm not afraid, only amazed. Are skeletons immortal?"
Alter hesitated. "Actually, that depends on the skeleton. Some, yes, are indeed immortal. A select few are even unkillable- but those are the gods themselves. Then it's those who only age after their children are born. There are also skeletons you could say are just below immortality. Like me. Lives that stretch endlessly through the ages until they finally become old and weary when their Soul has had it's fill of life. Those lifespans can vary, depending on that person's speed of living. And then there are the more fixated skeletons, those that have more exact lifespans. On average they last from a century to five. Does that answer your question, my dear?"

The young man pondered this awhile before slowly nodding. "It does, but strangely enough I feel no less confused."
"Oh, my bad. I must have not given a very good explanation, then."
"No, you made perfect sense, I just can't understand why I'm still puzzled."
"Ah, I see what you mean. Everyone experiences that feeling at one point or another. I only hope you don't blame me for it."
"I wouldn't, you're not at fault." Albriech continued, going on until they just fell to chatting about whatever crossed their minds. It was a pleasant conversation that dragged on, neither really wanting it to end, as one reminisced of the past and the other discovered fascinating things of faraway worlds.

Soon enough it slowed down, Alter resting his skull on Albriech's shoulder as they kept talking, ignoring the drowsiness that threatened to overcome him.
He gradually started losing that battle, until they lapsed into contemplative silence, skeleton leaning heavily on the human. The sun was setting, a glowing blood-orange hovering over the dark water of the horizon, the seas red as wine, stark orange reflection of the sun shimmering in the waves.
"Alter, the ocean." Albriech whispered, nudging the lightweight figure. Alter was unresponsive, a faint sigh coming from him.
Albriech glanced at him. "Are you asleep?" He questioned worriedly. No response.
"Oh."

The skeleton had passed out, quietly snoring away. Albriech tried to shift him off himself, only for Alter to slump down with his skull in the other's lap. The human was getting more awkward; his watch was over and his replacement was arriving. Nolfavrell paused beside him. "Um." "He fell asleep, I don't know what to do." Albriech explained sheepishly. "I'll get his friends?"
"I got it." Dance was suddenly there, lifting up his left arm slightly as Alter was suddenly glowing blue. "Sorry he conked out on you. I'll get him to a tent so he can catch a few winks. Alright?" He asked, the taller floating up and beside him, guided by a lazy phalange.
"What sort of magic is that?" Nolfavrell asked nervously.

"It's called blue magic, cause, well, it makes you blue." Dance explained with a snort. "It's gravity based, at it's most basic it makes you feel really heavy, but it's also a form of telekinesis. You can pick someone up and put them anywhere…" He paused thoughtfully. "If you encounter a skeleton with every intent to kill you and they use blue magic, you're probably screwed." He regarded them blankly. "I'm telling you this because I trust you. Don't break my trust, okay?"
He didn't wait for a response, instead opting to teleport away with Alter with him.

Roran returned, everyone gathering around a piteous campfire as the group told them what transpired in Narda.
Kin stood near the back, tail twitching as he listened in. There were posters of Roran, wanted posters, as well as one for a cousin of his named Eragon.
Another voice soon took up the tale as they went on about their search for ships.
Barges were mentioned, leading to a sudden outcry.
"Barges? Barges?! We don't want no stinking barges!" One human snarled. He knew that one's name. Too dangerous not to. Loring.

"Everyone, be quiet!" Another called out. Delwin, right? "We'll be heard of we keep this up." Silence suddenly washed over the camp. He continued. "I agree with Loring. Barges are unacceptable. They're slow and vulnerable. And we'd be crammed together with a complete lack of privacy and no shelter to speak of for who knows how long. Horst, Elain is 6 months pregnant. You can't expect her and others who are sick and infirm to sit under the blazing sun for weeks on end."

"We can lash tarpaulins over the holds." Another defended. "It's not much, but it'll shield is from the sun and rain." A murmur of discontent.
"I have another concern." A fierce woman spoke up. Birgit. "What with the two hundred crowns Clovis is due and the money Darmmen and his brothers spent, we've used up most of our coin. Unlike those in cities, our wealth lies not in gold but in animals and property. Our property is gone and few animals are left. Even if we turn pirate and steal those barges, how can we buy supplies at Terim or passage further south?"

"The important thing," the large man, Horst, spoke. "Is to get to Teirm in the first place. Once we're there, then we can worry about what to do next…. It's possible that we may have to resort to more drastic measures."
Kin felt his hackles raise as Loring's face screwed up. "Drastic? What do you mean, drastic? We've already done drastic. This whole venture is drastic. I don't care what you say; I won't use those confounded barges, not after what we've gone through in the Spine. Barges are for grain and animals. What we want is a ship with cabins and bunks where we can sleep in comfort. Why not wait another week or so and see if a ship arrives that we can bargain passage on? Where's the harm in that, eh?" He kept on, adding objection after objection before eventually quieting down as two more took the mantle.
Kin growled, tail slicing through the air anxiously as Beats hugged him fearfully.
Why are we helping these suicidal humans? He questioned fretfully.

He turned to Beats, tense. "Why are we still helping them? They've done nothing for us and I don't know when they'll attack us- but they will. They're humans. Humans, Beats." He slipped into Wingdings for the last sentence, the inhuman words hissing, rattling, clacking from his mouth as he huffed, the static sounds drawing a few frightened looks from the humans around him, causing him to shrink away tensely.

"I trust them." Beats assured him, smiling kindly. "They just want to live and protect what's theirs. Can't you relate to that, Kin?" He studied the smaller's face awhile. Then he looked away. "Whatever." He shrugged, ignoring the pounding in his tired Soul. He was terrified of humans. He knew how psychotic and violent just one child could be.
This was an entire village.

He froze when everyone suddenly fell silent, eyelights shrunken as they frantically flitted about for the reason behind it, landing on Roran as the human stood. He gazed out across his audience, noticing the skeletons' eyelights gleaming in the back before stating utterly blunt.
"It's this or walk."

Roran left, presumably to go sleep.
Kin shivered under his worn coat.