VOYAGE I: Onwards To Utopia

Chapter 2

Cactus

Somewhere near the kingdom of Skyrein, another pirate crew sails in the skies. A maroon ship soars above the clouds. Their captain Jun stands on the quarterdeck, steering his ship called the "Cactus"

Up the crow's nest, Byeongkwan looks vigilant through his spy glass. He eyes beyond the horizon checking for signs of anything that could be alarming. When he confirms that it was smooth sailing, he retracks his spy glass and places it in his side, then grabs a rope and swings down the main deck. He runs up the sterncastle deck where is captain was to report.

"Nothing seems off captain, its smooth sailing."he states and Jun nods.

By the forecastle deck, Sehyoon is cleaning his cutlass with a cloth. He shines the weapon and shoves it on the side of his belt.

Inside the navigation room, Donghun sits in front of a desk. Maps unraveled in front of him as he uses a compass (the one used to draw perfect circles) to identify their location and the closes skylands (sky islands) near them. His sister Shinji sits silently on a chair in the corner near a window, holding little bottle with a flower inside between her fingers as she stares into nothingness.

Below deck in the galley, Chan is busy preparing lunch for the crew. He leaves the stew to simmer. "It'll take a little while for the stew to cook, I'll just go check on my plants in the room."he mumbles to himself and leaves the kitchen. Chan shares his room with Jun so there were two beds, two chests for their clothes, a wardrobe, table and a shelf filled with succulent plants. Yes, he loves cacti.

Jun enters the room and sees Chan admiring his precious plants, he takes something from the wardrobe and stops in his tracks when he smells something."Something smells burning."he furrows his eyebrows.

Chan almost drops his cactus, as he runs back to the galley while screeching."My stew!!!"

**

When night approached, A.C.E and the crew had dinner and cleans up. The other crew members swept the floors and wipped the table, while the others did the dishes.

Donghun tucks his sister in to bed. He cared for his sister so much, since they only have each other after that one tragedy. Another reason why he cares for her so much is that she is unable to see. She was blind.

Shinji is five years younger than Donghun. They lost their mom from illness and their drunkard father abandoned them.Thats why they ended up in A.C.E and the crew.

"Goodnight Shinji."he says walks to the door. He can't sleep for now or else they'll end up who know where in the morning if he doesn't navigate.

"Goodnight, brother."she whispers before falling asleep.

At the sterncastle deck, Junhee took the first shift in steering the ship. Sehyoon will take over after four hours.

"Donghun, are we in the right direction?"Jun asks, turning to Donghun.

The navigator looks up at the sky, looking for that one star that would determine whether they were going the right was or not. When he spots the star he turns to his captain.

"We are going the right way, I guarantee that we'll reach Sunie in the morning."he leans on the wooden banister.

"Brilliant, why don't you get some sleep?"Just asked while keeping his eyes fixed straight.

Dongun straightens his stance."And leave you here alone? I'll hit the hay when Sehyoon takes over in a few hours. Besides,"he takes a spy glass from his coat."Its a wonderful night for stargazing."

After a couple of hours, Sehyoon emerges from below deck. The white-haired male heads up to the sterncastle followed Byeongkwan, who was still in his sleepwear and was wearing a sleeping hat that fell on the side of his face while he carried a stuffed bear with him.

"I'll take it from here captain."Sehyoon takes the wheel.

"I'll see you guys in the morning."Jun bids and heads below deck to get some sleep followed by Donghun.

"Goodnight Captain."Byeongkwan says and yawns.

Byeongkwan sits on the floor, hugging his bear. Sehyoon's eyes flew to the sleepy younger male on the floor.

"You're obviously sleepy, Kwan. Why don't you go back to bed."he says.

"No, I'm fine. I'd rather sleep here on the floor that let you steer here alone, don't mind me."Byeongkwan replies, almost muffled by the teddy bear that he was snuggling.

Sehyoon could only smile in amusement, as he waited for hours to past. Not long later, when the sky started to brighten and turn into a shade of pink to very light orange, Chan comes out from below deck carrying a tray with three steaming wooden mugs.

"Here's some tea."he hands the two their mugs, and takes a sip of his.

"Thanks Channie."Sehyoon gives him a small smile, before sipping his drink.

"Thank you Yuchan, I'm already freezing here."Byeongkwan mutters, while engulfing tge steam from his tea.

"Its your fault for sleeping here on the deck."Chan flashes an amuses smile.

"Whatever."Kwan murmurs, then drinks his tea.

The sun then rose from the east and up to take its rightful spot in the sky. The darkness brought by night was now gone and from the distance, a silhouette of a skyland could be seen.

"We've arrived at Sunie."