Cairo

Hesitation is the one and only step between success and failure. Hesitation is that tiny moment where one could think for endless possibilities and only come out with a face full of mindless regrets. Hesitation kills, saves lives, and ruins dreams. Therefore, hesitation must be taken cautiously, precisely, and strategically.

\tLuckily for Leonidas, that hesitation wasn't an issue. He didn't even tend to his wound before bouncing himself towards the remaining evidence. It was still dark, so covering the blood across the floor wasn't a priority. First came the raft, and then the lies to cover his mess.

\tLeonidas quickly rushed to the stern of the ship, hearing the restless voices of Kalvin and the others below him in the interior. After a few seconds of aimlessly searching for a rope that hung on the bottom portion of the railing — he untied it — letting go of the one and only spare raft that remained attached to the ship.

\t"What the hell happened here?!" Kalvin yelled from the port.

\tLeonidas rushed back as fast as he could, carefully glaring above him as the ship continued its path inside the split. Some of the rocks poking out of the mountainside ripped through the sails like scissors through paper. "We're almost through the ridge!" He yelled back, trying to look busier than he truly was.

Kalvin noticed Leonidas running towards him from afar, slightly concerned but not enough to raise an extra eyebrow. "I ain't no ship expert, but those noises don't sound right. All those jumps and hops woke me from my beauty sleep." Kalvin pouted.

Cartuja yawned, cracking his neck in the process. "There he goes again, dismal-in-distress princess woke from his sleep."

"I'll have you know that sleeping is a vital part of recovery and hibernation." Calvin slouched his hands on his hip, making a swaying gesture with his torso.

"Says who?" Cartuja cackled, "Your mother?"

Cartuja started laughing at his own joke, all while Calvin directed his attention onto Leonidas — who was now standing patiently beside him.

Kalvin looked up, seeing the stars through the small cracks and breakpoints in the rocks above them. He noticed something odd for a moment, but dismissed it when Leonidas asked him a question.

"Is everything okay? I'm deeply sorry for the unexpected quakes, it's the only way through the split." His face as innocent as ever, yet his words as powerful as the blade in his pocket.

"Everything's fine…" Calvin sighed, "Do ya need any help out here? I can stay up for a few if need be."

"No, No. Please, get some sleep. We should be on the other side within the hour."

"Where's Cairo?" Rina stumbled on board. Her face twisted with worry and speculations.

"I'm afraid I haven't seen him." Leonidas lied, showing no signs of doing so. "I saw him earlier with the wolf, but I think he said he was going to sleep for the night."

"Cairo and Mooks both asleep at this hour?" Rina questioned, "Doesn't seem right…"

"Guess they must've had a rough night." Leonidas smiled, acting as friendly as can be.

"Hmm." Rina hesitated for a moment, deciding that asking any further questions wouldn't prove to solve anything anyway. She turned, taking a step back towards the inner rooms — when suddenly — she stepped into a warm, dark looking puddle on the floor.

They were on a ship, one that had tedious amounts of water all aboard. However, this puddle was different. It was dense, dark, and didn't smell like the usual salty seawater she was used to.

Rina bent down, tapping her finger into the puddle and bringing her finger closer to a lantern hanging above her. It was red, red like a fully bloomed rose. Red like the ribbon in Paris's hair. Red like a drop of fresh blood.

Rina's eyes suddenly went dark, and her mind didn't know if it should feel angry or afraid. Her heart raced with possibilities, but Leonidas broke her from her concentration.

"Pardon me," He galloped, "I'm afraid I wounded myself a little earlier while trying to steer the ship under control."

Rina turned to him, now seeing the bloodstains on his arm under the lantern light. "How did you wound yourself to this degree?" Her face as hard as a rock.

"When I was pulling the sails — Silly me accidentally let go of the grip, and my body dragged itself along the rigid edge of the railing end." He laughed playfully.

\tRina tucked her innocence to the back of her throat, speaking like a queen to a peasant. "Sorry to hear that… Do you need any help wi-"

\t"Nope!" Leonidas cut her off, "All good up here. Nothing a few bandages and some sweet tea won't fix."

\t"Very well, good night." She jerked her head away from him, walking down the steps and carefully examing the drop of blood on her finger. She even went as far as to sniff it, only realizing that her sense of smell wasn't very well polished.

\tDownstairs, Paris came out of her room, wearing nothing but her underwear and a blanket wrapped around her shoulder. She yawned, head full of bed-hair. "Go to sleep woman, why are you always up this late?"

\tRina rolled her eyes, "Shouldn't you be the one sleeping?"

\t"Im grabbing some coffee, helps me go back to sleep…"

\t"Coffee makes you sleep?" Rina raised an eyebrow, slightly concerned.

\t"Decaf has like — melatonin in it or something. It's good for the skin and my sleep." She was partially right.

\tRina shook her head annoyingly, walking past Paris like she didn't know her. After turning the golden knob on her door, Rina walked inside her private chamber on the lower part of the ship.

\tA small square window held itself up above her twin-sized bed. A clustered bathroom locked itself beyond a tiny wooden door in the corner. A lamp sat alone on a tabletop, giving light to the shallow darkness in the room like a candle in a cave.

\tRina sat down, placing her finger below the lamplight. She examined the drop of blood very carefully, twisting and turning her finger under the light around her. The blood was dry at this point, and she knew she wasn't some blood expert that can quickly determine who's it was. So, she shut the light off, washed her hands, and went back to sleep.

…

\tBy the morning, Leonidas made sure to clean up the remaining blood scattered around the ship. He also bandaged himself, cursing at Mooks in his head as he continued wrapping layers of white around his arm. He also changed clothes, easily avoiding any further suspicions anyone might get if they saw his wound.

\tThe ship made it out of the split with only a few minor damages around the exterior and the rigid railing on the sides. The main problem revolved around the sales, as some took a much greater beating than the others. Even though there were a few minor rips, any unexpected storm would wipe La Pionera off the face of the planet in a heartbeat.

\tOver by the small kitchen area on the first floor of the ship, Kalvin decided to do the honors of cooking breakfast for everyone. He wasn't necessarily the worst cook, but he always picked the most uncultured dishes for different parts of the day. For example, he was boiling potatoes and searing a freshly peeled tuna fish on a skillet over a small flame.

\tThe flame itself was inside a bundle of sticks in a metal bucket. Perhaps a little overkill for anyone that was actually hungry.

\t"Don't worry!" Calvin cheered with a burst of energy, "The bones will melt off anyway."

\t"There's bones in that?" Paris made a cringing face as she took another sip of coffee. Her hopes of washing down that morning seafood smell with a sip of caffeine didn't work out too well. So — like always — she skipped breakfast.

\tCartuja jumped up from his seat at the table, filled with even more energy than Kalvin. "Don't you worry Kal," He patted him on the shoulder, "Food is food. I'll be eatin' anythin' yu throw at meh." He sat back down, looking around as if he was looking for something — or someone. "Ayo, where be the wolf and the other guy?"

Rina froze, completely forgetting last night wasn't a lucid dream of some sort. Her mind began to panic, and her gaze turned toward Leonidas. "It's half-past nine. How are neither of them awake yet?"

"Rina!" Kalvin barked at her, frowning and displeased. "Leave Leonidas out of this. Seriously, show some respect to our beloved companion. I've only known Cairo and Leonidas for a couple of days, so I can't say much about either. However, Cairo is a man who is still a mystery to me. I don't know his intentions, nor do I care to meddle with his private affairs. For now, we're following Leonidas, not Cairo. For all I know, he could've just taken the raft in the middle of the night and just left without notice."

"The raft?" Rina's eyes widened with curiosity.

"Oh that reminds me!" Leonidas put a finger to his chin, pretending to be in deep thought. "The ship does have a spare raft located towards the back. If you want-"

Rina quickly burst out from her seat and ran outside on the main deck. Little did she know, Leonidas was smiling right behind her poorly executed suspicions.

She looked around as if looking for the faint screams of a young child. Her heart racing fast, and her blood boiling furiously. First, she peaked her head over the port-side railing, seeing nothing but floating seaweed and darkness in the depths below.

The gentle breeze rolling along the waves passed through her hair like windchimes in a field. She turned around, booking it to the stern as fast as she could — looking for something she didn't know.

Metal beams and empty rope lines littered the ship like rocks on a beach. There were so many ropes it didn't even look like any of them had an end or a beginning. Everywhere she looked, nothing appeared. Everywhere she turned, nothing new popped into her vision. Everywhere her thoughts took her, she knew that deep inside the raft was gone.

The longer and longer her heart denied the possibility of Cairo leaving, the closer and closer her mind accepted the realization. Cairo had left, and without even saying goodbye.

She turned back around, stopping by the port to let the wind clear her mind. Her arms leaned against the railing, and her head tucked down against it. Her eyes were closed, but something inside her refused to believe Cairo had left so unexpectedly.

That's when she saw it. It was small, so small she wouldn't have noticed it unless she was leaning against the railing. A tiny red droplet was dried against the white railing, staining it and giving it a luminous glow underneath the sunlight. It was blood, blood that wasn't Leonidas's.