Sailing on the river wasn't that exciting. I enjoyed the songs the assassins crew sang, and one of them, Cooper, taught me a couple. Cooper was an older man who reminded me of a grandpa. He had taken a break from his usual jobs on deck, after Archer shouted at him to stop, and told me about ships and sailing and how it would work when the sun set. He told me that the Night's Jewel never stopped for long.

"When the sun sets the crew below decks will get woken up and they'll take over and the people on deck now will go rest," Cooper said, absently coiling some rope. "Moleck will take the wheel later and Archer will go rest. Night for us is like an alternate day, we rest for meals and in the morning the cycle repeats." A crooked grin crossed his face. "You can hardly see the sails at night unless the stars are out, then it just looks like some of them got removed."

I enjoyed Cooper's company. He was funny and told me any random thought that crossed his mind. He could tell how fast we were going or when something wasn't right with the rigging or the sails or how something needed to be turned so the wind wouldn't blow us onto the riverbank.

"How long until we reach open ocean?" I asked following Cooper to the bowsprit.

Cooper looked up at the sails and tipped his head, squinting into the sun. "I'd say you'll see it tomorrow morning and in about four days you'll see the first islands in the West Indies. After that it'll be no less than half a day to Great Iguana."

"So about a week round trip?"

"Aye. About that," he picked up a dark bottle and took a swig. "It really depends on how long you stay." He plunked the bottle down on a barrel and looked ahead. He sighed and smiled at me. "I'd better go below and get some rest before Archer notices that I'm still here."

As if on queue Archer shouted from the wheel. "Hey! Cooper! Get some rest!"

"I'm going! I'm going!" Cooper called back, laughing.

Archer grinned. "Better hurry or I'll tie you to your bunk so you actually get some rest!"

"I told you already! I'm going!" Cooper winked at me and made his way below deck.

I smiled and climbed out on the bowsprit, sitting on the end and holding one of the ropes that Cooper had said wasn't doing anything by being there.

I closed my eyes and tipped my head toward the sun. My black robes absorbing the heat from it's warm rays. I took a deep breath and smiled. I could almost believe that we were on the ocean, with the gentle up and down rhythm of the waves.

"All crew up! Sun's fallen and time for the moon to rise!" Archer shouted pounding on doors as he stomped seemingly as loudly as he could. He opened my door and grinned. "You too Evie. Unless you've changed your mind?"

I opened my eyes and bounced to my feet. "Nope. I'm going."

Archer nodded. "I'm going to get some rest. Cooper is banned from doing any major work and I'm delegating you to make sure he does that. If you don't mind."

I strapped on my hidden blades and grabbed my kukri from the small desk. "I'll do it. Go sleep."

I jogged down the hall and climbed up the ladder that led to the main deck. The deck was filled with shouts and people checking ropes and knots. Moleck stood at the wheel, telling the crew where everyone else left off. I noticed Cooper off to the side pulling on a rope.

I ran over and grabbed the rope above his hands so that he wasn't holding the weight anymore. "Archer said no major work for you. What were you doing with this?"

Cooper gave me a surprised look before he laughed and let go of the rope. "I should have known he would have somebody watching me. Tie it to the railing just here." He tapped the railing that was at our side. "Archer's worried about me hurting myself. I don't do anything I can't handle... usually."

I smiled and tied the rope tightly around the railing. "How long have you been on the Night's Jewel?" I yanked at the rope to make sure it was tight enough before turning to Cooper and leaning against the railing.

Cooper laughed. "Since she was one of the ships in Thatch's fleet! By golly that was a long time ago. He gave her to Edward as a gift. I guess Edward didn't want her. One day Edward was here the next day there was Archer and Moleck. They renamed her and got new sails. Those two are masterminds! They worked out the schedule so that the ship could always be moving, even when neither of them were around."

"What was the ship's name before Archer and Moleck took over?" I looked to the west where the sun was turning the sky a deep red.

"I believe it was the Sea Princess, though I don't remember for certain," he tapped his forehead and laughed merrily. "This old mind forgets things. For all I know it could have been Red Dawn or something else. Maybe even the Black Pearl or the Royal Dutchman. You'd have to ask Archer or Moleck about that one."

The more time I spent with Cooper the more I started to like him. He told me about an old saying 'Red sky at night, sailor's delight, red sky in the morning, sailor's warning.' saying that in the evening it meant that fair weather was on the way and in the morning it meant that foul weather was on the way.

We spent the night doing little things on the deck and laughing, looking at the stars, or fantasizing about the ocean. Just as he had said during the daylight hours, as the sun started to rise the river opened out into the wide expanse of the sea.

____________________________

Hello again! I know it's been forever, but I didn't really want to write a ship voyage yesterday so I wrote about High Hrothgar instead.

I snuck a movie reference in there. Did you see it?

No questions but feel free to ask.

Thanks for reading this, hope you enjoyed, and may the wind blow strong in your sails and your evenings be red!