Changing Tides

Chapter 11; "Well, lets begin the journey."

        I awoke sore. My body ached from the constant tossing and turning last night and my mind still exhausted from the thinking that pounded my brain. Slowly I sat up in bed, a small drizzle of drool hanging on my mouth. I rubbed it away, disgusted.

        Finally after ten minutes of my body waking up, I stood. I gave a well deserved stretch and a satisfying sigh came out of my mouth as I dropped my hands. I looked to where Gansu was suppose to be sleeping, but found it empty. I sighed softly and went to Kakuro, who was watching me intently with his head still on the rug resting.

        I climbed on my large dogs back and urged hi forward. He stood and walked to the door while I lay curled in a tight ball on his back, hanging on with one hand. I opened the door with my free hand and he walked out, in search of the boys.

        Honestly, I didn't want to see Haku but I knew we had to figure this out, whether I like it or not. Kakuro led me to the deck where I found us in the middle of the ocean, with a large mass of land inching nearer and nearer to us. I rested my chin on Kakuro's head gently as Kakuro walked over to the boys. My arms hugged his neck and my legs hugged his upper ribs softly as he sat in between the boys.

        "Morning." I said softly.

        "Good morning, Tsuk!" my brother said happily.

        "What has you in a good mood?" I said looking over at my wide awake brother.

        "I thought of a great plan last night." he said with a smile as he turned to me.

        "And that is?" I said unammused.

        "We can sink the ship, right. Only take what we need, and once we are done with the Earth Kingdom then we travel by ship to where ever we want." he said with a large smile. I sat up on Kakuro and looked at him then looked over to a smirking Gansu. I would have to than him later.

        "Okay," I said softly to my brother. He smiled and looked out to the now closer island.

        "I'll go get ready. We can sink the ship over by those rocks." I said pointing to a rocky edge. He nodded as I turned on Kakuro and bolted to my room. I threw on a pair of my warm seasoned clothes. I just finished adjusting my poncho when I heard a knock at my door.

        "Come in." I said happily. Gansu entered with a smirk resting on his face.

        "Oh Gansu!" I said happily. I was folding the blanket he slept on as I talked. "I cannot thank you enough! I don't know how you convinced my idiot brother, but you did and I can't thank you enough." I said, a smile resting on my face.

        "Of course, I agreed with you, so I talked to him before we came on the ship last night." he said with a shrug. I smiled and placed the blanket in the closet. I walked over to him and grabbed his hands in mine.

        "I really mean it. Thank you." I said softly. Te next thing I knew my lips connected with his cheek and I was back to my closet, grabbing a few things to pack. I turned back to see Gansu standing there slightly shocked. I giggled softly as I pulled a few pairs of clothes out.

         I rolled them up and secured them into a small bundle before placing them on the saddle. I gathered everything we needed to survive in the Earth Kingdom and finished with loading Gansu's stuff on. It was hardly cluttered at all and I was thankful for that, seeing as we only had our sleeping bags and a few articles of clothing for each of us, along with Kakuro's rug.

        I began saddling him up with the help of Gansu. I tightened the saddle on Kakuro and headed to the deck with Gansu by my side. I gave an inward smile and a small blush Kakuro pushed me into his side.