"Listen here, young lad," Rabbision said, after taking a swig of his drink. "Legend has it that there is a ship that comes around here, but only sometimes, and if yer lucky you will see it."

He took a sip of his drink before continuing.

"On the third night after a green sky, the ship arrives lurking just out of sight of the port," Rabbision continued.

"Some say they see a man with a skeleton head, others think they see a man waiting to bring them doom."

I nodded in response to his story, but I doubted it was true. Rabbision would tell these sorts of tales to me on board the Sarabella. That was a short time before we had to take shore leave at a local port because our captain came down with a nasty sickness, and we could not go further to deliver our cargo of spices, gold, and silver to a buyer. Rabbision and I decided to go down to the port while the other crewmembers stayed to guard our riches, so no filthy robbers stole anything and could care for the captain. There was no worry about a mutiny taking place while we went away. This was because our captain was a rare type. He was fair and didn't give us the cat' o tails. Being humble and meek with his men served to gain him popularity. We heard he'd once been a robber of boats but made a name for himself as a respectable merchant. When Rabbision and I were done with the shops in town, we went to a local tavern. I didn't drink, but I sat in the smelly, sweat-filled air with my crewmate because it felt safer.

"Don't try ta fool me, boy. I know you didn't believe my story, by the looks on your face," Rabbision said.

I didn't respond. I just tightened my grip tighter on the supplies I'd bought. But then something made me stop and listen.

"It's go'ing be a stormy night t'onight ain't it," one of the pirates from a group blurted drunkenly.

"M'abye we going to catch that ship when it comes n'ear and takes all the riches!" He threw his glass right by our heads, making me jump. It shattered, and he let out a loud drunken laugh. Rabbision and I exchanged glances and nodded to one other, rising afterward. My crewmate left his coins to the barmaid, and we went out the door. Looking up, I could see that the sky was already changing to dark grey, and the clouds were moving in. I pointed to our ship on the horizon, making it clear I wanted to go there.

"Not yet, boy," Rabbision said quietly. "There be pirates in there, searching for riches. We best go somewhere, hide from 'em till they go away."

I nervously agreed before we went to another place. Rabbision and I sat in silence for a while, waiting out the pirates, occasionally lapsing into a conversation before we would hear the pirates again. Eventually, at nightfall, we felt it was safe and returned to the ship. On our way, one of our crewmates ran into us.

"We were looking for you two!" he said. "The captain worried that something bad happened while you were out!"

"We waited those robbers out," Rabbision replied. "Now, let's go back before one of them finds out who we are."

I handed my supplies to one of the crewmembers who met us on the bottom deck and went up to the top bridge. I bent down and put my head on my arms, watching the first raindrops begin to fall. Suddenly, something brushed up behind me. I flinched and almost fell backward.

"Easy son, it's just me," Whitsun said gently. "I was just wondering if you were doing all right." The captain's first mate gave me a gentle smile.

I took a breath and slowly nodded. When I regained my composure, I slowly rose and looked on the horizon again. As I did so, I let out a small gasp. There was a ship out on the horizon, moving quickly. Whitsun quickly ran down the stairs and told everyone. They debated whether we should wake the captain. Then suddenly, it was next to us. The fight-or-flight response activated itself immediately, and we all drew our swords. But then, I noticed something strange. There was not a single person on the ship's deck.

Confused, I stepped closer to check. The smaller ship was almost on us, and it was still devoid of anyone. Then, something even stranger happened. We'd been in a patch of fog for some time now when the rain started, but then it began to dissipate as we left the port. As it completely disappeared, the ship vanished into the disappearing fog. We all stood, standing in stunned silence, watching it completely disappear into the night. Then Peridia spoke up.

"I think it was an optical illusion," he stated snootily. "The sea is playing tricks on us."

"I don't know what it was, but what I do know is that you all should head off to your places now," Whitsun said. "We don't want to wake the captain; he needs all the strength he can get."

I could tell he did not believe Peridia but decided to go to my cot anyway. As I went down below, Whitsun blew out the last lantern and went up to the helm to steer the ship for the night.

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