I poked my head out from behind the door and stared at the new boy as he read his book in the ship's library cabin. He had come here as soon as Koukyuu mentioned it. Whatever he was reading seemed fun. What could it have been about?

I got closer to get a better look at the title.

"Tamara, what are you doing?" Mira asked.

I jumped and smiled at her. Oh no, she caught me snooping! Hopefully, Jude hadn't noticed. He was a shy kid, so he might've tried avoiding me if he found me weird.

"Have you seen Jude? Lunch is ready. Koukyuu wanted me to gather everyone."

I nodded and pointed to the table. My eyes widened; Jude was gone! How had I not noticed him?

Mira looked around. "Hmm, I don't see any piles of snow." Snow! It must've absorbed the sound of his footsteps that I couldn't hear them!

I looked behind me. The door was closed, but I doubted he could've gotten past Mira. Plus, there was no sign of snow. My eyes shifted toward the stairs. Could he have gone up? No, there were no piles of snow there either.

My ears twitched at the sound of pages turning underneath the table. I gently tapped Mira's armor and pointed at the floor.

Mira laughed slightly and tip-toed toward the table, but her armor quickly gave her away as the book closed.

I dashed to the other side of the table and held out my arms.

Jude gulped. "H-Hello, Tamara." I'd scared the poor kid.

I gasped and held out my hand toward him. Whenever my big brother did this, I felt at ease.

His light-blue eyes stared at my hand. He gripped his book. "I'm not done reading it."

I shook my head. That wasn't what I wanted! Though, I wouldn't mind reading it when he was done with it.

Mira chuckled. "Jude, Tamara wants to tell you to come with us. Lunch is ready."

"O-oh! Sorry. I got sidetracked by my books."

I leaned forward a bit to get a closer look. It had dragons on the back cover! Was it a book on Wynaga? The interdimensional wars with them? Or maybe it was a fantasy novel!

Jude quickly moved the book away. "I-I'll let you read it o-once I'm done. U-unless it ends up b-being so good that I w-want to reread it."

If he did that, I might actually want to snatch it from him. I loved good books, but they were so difficult to come by these days. My big brother and sister worked hard to find whatever they could whenever they were abroad. Hopefully, they found some during their latest adventure. Not that I would've been able to read them anytime soon. Unless they sent them by mail! Hmm, perhaps I should've asked them to.

"Come on, let's go!" Mira said, waving her arm.

I nodded and followed after her. Jude did as well but stopped and knelt down on one knee and gripped his leg. Oh, no, had he sprained it?

"Are you alright?" Mira asked, moving past me.

Jude nodded. "Y-yeah, i-it's just my leg went to sleep. T-think it's because of sitting for so long."

Mira sighed. "Here, you can ride on my shoulders." She grabbed the boy and put him on her back.

"T-thanks!" Jude said, beaming. Why was he so happy? Did he love piggyback rides? Then again, who didn't? Sadly, I was already too big for them, according to big bro... I pouted. That meanie!

"It's nothing. I'll put you down as soon as you feel better, okay?"

He nodded. "O-okay!"

Mira dashed away, but Jude didn't mind the speed she was going. The kid actually laughed.

I smiled. He really did seem younger than his age. Hmm, would Mira mind giving me one if I asked? N-no! I was a big girl now! Augh, but I wanted a ride too!

"H-hey!" Carter said, waving at us as we arrived at one of the tables in the cafeteria. He seemed better now. Earlier, he had been throwing up. The waves here were rougher than on the way to Hoin.

"Is the kid alright? He isn't seasick too, is he?" Aurelius asked, blinking as he stared at Jude.

"One of his legs fell asleep," Mira said.

"I-I'm feeling better now," Jude said, jumping off. He ran over and sat down on an empty seat beside Huo.

"Oh, a book on dragon biology?" Huo said. Oh, so that's what it was about! Guess my hopes for a fantasy novel were for nothing. But biology was fascinating too!

Jude pulled his book back and hid it in his bag.

Huo sighed. "Relax, I won't steal it. Besides, I have already read that. Princess Sarah got it for me."

He gasped. "Y-you know Sarah?"

Lidia nodded. "Yeah, she's one of the patrons of our orphanage, alongside her brother. They took over from their late parents; may Suilong hold them in everlasting peace."

So, they're from Sera. That princess of theirs, she was the one Aida had hurt, wasn't she? Poor girl.

"S-Suilong?" Carter asked.

"Our national god. He's the Source of Water; the one said to control all water prana. Each element has one. Most, if not all, have one nation that worships them. Ancient Rios worshiped him too under the name of Atlcoatl, the Serpent of the Seas."

"All of Vandevale worships his twin, except for the Minese ruled parts," Aurelius said.

"Oh, yeah! I read about that! He was seen as the twin of the Source of Wind in ancient Rios religion," Jude said.

"Rios, huh?" Koukyuu said, smiling.

"What's with that fond smile?" Nate asked.

She chuckled. "I was just thinking of an acquaintance from there, is all. Her water magic is some of the most impressive I've seen."

Lidia chuckled. "Suilong must've truly blessed her."

"Same with Noe," Huo said, staring at the plain rice in front of him. Unlike the others, he had no pork. Nor did it seem he was ever given any.

"Miss your little brother? Why not use the ship's phone and try to call him? Fai and Dai gave you their phone number, didn't they?"

Fai and Dai? Weren't those the names of the twins that participated in the games with Princess Sarah?

"Yeah," Huo said, reaching into his backpack. He took out a laminated piece of paper.

"Did you laminate it yourself?" Lidia asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, during the first night we left Hoin. I didn't want it to get wet."

"That's very handy," Kanja said, smiling.

"That reminds me, here," Mira said, handing Kanja a card.

The silver-haired girl gasped. She gulped and put it away. "Thanks, Mira."

"He said to call him when you felt ready," Lidia said, smiling at her.

Kanja smiled back. "It might take a while." She lowered her head.

It seemed that everyone had some kind of issue. Well, minus Aurelius. At least not one that I'd noticed. Or maybe he was simply less open about it. I certainly had my share of skeletons in the closet.

"H-hey, Tammy, want some sauce? It's delicious!" Carter said. My eyes widened. Was he talking to me? I thought he had a hard time talking to girls unless prompted.

I smiled and nodded, taking a seat at the table. For now, the journey was enough. I could worry about those skeletons later.

My eyes lit up as I tasted the sauce on the rice. It was spicy but oh so delicious! I had to have the recipe! Then I could get my brother to remake it for me!

I tilted my head at Carter and drew a question mark on the table.

"H-huh? Y-you w-want to know who made it?" He grinned. "It was yours truly."

Woah, so he knew how to cook!

"Where did you learn to cook this?" Kanja asked.

"M-my big sis," he mumbled.

I had to meet his sister! She probably had lots of other yummy recipes! But first, I had to get this one!

I moved my hand around like I would when scribbling.

Carter blinked. "Y-you want to write something?"

"Think she's asking for the recipe," Nate said.

I nodded.

He smiled. "S-sorry, but it's a family secret!"

I slumped in my chair. Aww.

"F-fine, I'll give it to you. Just stop making that face!" He looked away from me in agony.

I smiled. Though, I wouldn't say I liked making him feel guilty without trying to.

"H-here," Jude said, ripping a blank piece of paper from a notebook.

"I have a pen," Huo said, offering it to Carter.

He smiled. "Thanks, guys." He rapidly jot the recipe down and held it out to me. "Tada! H-here you go."

I smiled, but it was short-lived. I couldn't understand a thing! Wait, maybe this was written in code to prevent his family's secret recipe from leaking out. How, smart!

"Your handwriting sucks more than mine," Huo mumbled as he looked over at the paper.

"Wait, let me see," Nate said. He chuckled as soon as he saw it. "And I thought Hide had bad handwriting."

Carter coughed. "I-I wrote it for Tammy, not you jerks!" He turned and smiled at me. "You understand it, right?"

I slumped in my seat and shook my head.

He lowered his head.

"Wait, but your handwriting with the diagram was better," Huo said, taking the recipe from me.

Carter stared at the pen. "Yeah, but that's because I write better when drawing." He gasped and held his hand out for the paper.

"H-here," Jude said, giving him a new one.

Nice going, Jude! That would give him more space!

"Ohh, it's true!" Lidia exclaimed as Carter doodled. She gasped. "But, wait, why can you write decently when drawing?"

"I-I'm not sure," he said, turning away from her.

A true mystery!

He crossed his arms and tilted his head back. "Hmm, it could be because I used to make a lot of diagrams. I would often show them off to Mom. She couldn't understand them either, so I put extra work into their presentation. I also want to say that my brain works better when I'm drawing. As for why that is, I'm not sure."

And the mystery lingers!

"I've heard that drawing can help with the articulation of concepts, especially those that are hard to picture, but this is the first I heard of them helping one write in general," Koukyuu said.

Carter tapped his head. "Know that my thought process can be a bit weird. Usually, I use vocalizations to get my thoughts out."

Vocalizations? Was he capable of echolocation?

"Oh, right, those 'wha' and 'bam' sounds you made when trying to tell me to 'burn hot'," Huo said.

He nodded.

Oh, that kind of vocalization!

"Speaking of 'wah' and 'bam', how about we go outside now that we're done eating?" Aurelius asked, standing up.

"Alright!" Carter said, jumping up. He stared at the paper and held it out to me. "H-here you go."

I smiled and took it. 

"Think she's saying thank you," Mira said.

Lidia giggled. "Aww, you're so cute, Tammy!"

I hugged her back. Being hugged like this reminded me of my big sister. Even her name reminded me of Dia.

"Y-you're welcome," Carter said before he rushed off.

I smiled. That boy reminded me of the one my fiancee had told me about. Hold on, wasn't his name Cart too? Ahh! I probably should've let Carter know that I had a boyfriend! It would've been bad if he got the wrong idea. Though, my boyfriend had told me to keep our relationship a secret, so not like I could tell him nor anyone. He said that he wasn't embarrassed to let people know he had a mute girlfriend, but I couldn't help but wonder if that was true. No, I had to believe in him. He probably only said that to avoid raising questions. Hopefully, Cart and the others wouldn't fall for me. Perhaps, it was best to not get too close.

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter, if so then please click on that star to get this series out there. Thoughts, theories, predictions?**