The Rime Breaker creaked beneath her feet, and Meladee packed her belongings.

She didn’t own a lot: just some scarves and gloves, a few pairs of pants and a handful of shirts. She owned precisely a week’s worth of underwear, and to her shame, they were labeled with the days of the week. She added one good bra to her sack and searched to see what else she could find.

Meladee snatched up her toothbrush and took some toothpaste to go with it. One wouldn’t be much use without the other, and though Meladee didn’t really own the toothpaste, she didn’t think Rime Breaker’s first mate would care.

A few strong waves tossed the Rime Breaker, but Meladee perceived them as a gentle rock.

She searched her tiny cabin one last time. Because she was the only woman aboard, she slept in a private closet. It was tight, but she’d always been grateful for the privacy. Everyone else was cramped too, but they had to deal with bunk mates. She had none.

By turning in a tight circle, Meladee checked the cabin for any loose or forgotten belongings. Her leg brushed the bedclothes, and her shoulder bumped some drawings, pinned to the wall.

Anything else…? My brush! Wait, do I own a brush?

Meladee searched a drawer to find that she had owned a brush, but she demoted it from possession to trash. She wasn’t going to take the squished up thing now. The rest of the drawers held nothing.

With nothing left to take, Meladee liberated her stash of money. Meladee didn’t use a bank. She hid all her cash in her bunk, wadded up inside an old cloth that she used for menstrual blood. When a rag became especially disgusting, she delegated it to financial security. This particular threadbare thing performed with satisfaction.

Meladee picked up her wad of cash. Most of her bills came in denominations of one-hundred or more, which kept ten-years-worth of salary fairly compact. The only time she ventured to a bank was to exchange small bills for larger ones. She’d done a recent exchange, so she had no bills of lower denomination.

Not good if I’m going to actually be paying for stuff. Well, I’ll get my severance on my way out. No way Egon has that amount of money lying around in hundreds. Meladee stuffed her wad of cash into the bag and paused. It would be just my luck to have all this money and then get robbed.

So, Meladee cast a discrete, long lasting enchantment. The purple casting circle hummed over the contours of her bag and dissipated into a fine purple mist. Now, her bag would be impenetrable to knives or any other attempt to open it. Meladee would just have to dispel the enchantment and reapply it every time she needed something.

Time to go.

She left the cabin and climbed above deck.

The Rime Breaker, unlike other ships, was an ice breaker. It boasted a magic engine, steel construction, and a reinforced and enchanted hull.

Meladee looked around the deck and passed two boats, strapped into place. The small, thin boats had rudders and sails for skating over ice. They were never meant to float on water.

As Meladee prepared to disembark, she searched for the Rime Breaker’s first mate, Egon. The fair-haired, tall and strapping Egon often stood out among the crowd of smaller sailors. He had been her friend for ten years and Rime Breaker’s first mate for seven. Though now, she should probably call him captain.

“Anyone seen Egon?” she asked the men on deck.

Several shook their heads, but one man pointed Meladee to the gangplank and dock.

“Thanks,” she said, not bothering to say goodbye to any of the crew.

Many of Rime Breaker’s crew stuck around for years at a time, but Meladee had timed her exit to encounter mostly new guys.

Meladee trotted down the gangplank and found Egon right where they said he would be. He nodded a goodbye to a man, probably a new candidate for inventory master.

“Hey, so you owe me a months pay,” Meladee declared as she sidled up to him.

Egon reached into a coat pocket and counted it out. He looked at Meladee. “I sure do, but does it have to be the first thing you say?”

“I’m leaving. What do you want me to say?” Meladee crossed her arms and waited.

Egon finished the count and handed her several small bills, which Meladee pocketed.

Egon nodded at the bills. “Sorry, I had to piece your pay together from all our income streams, mostly salvage, so there were a lot of smaller bills.”

“I don’t mind. I could use ‘em.” Meladee dismissed his concern with a wave.

Egon crossed his arms. “Well? Anything else to say?”

Meladee stared up at him. “Seriously. What are you expecting from me?”

“I was expecting you’d say something about the Captain.”

Meladee avoided his eyes. “Congratulations. You’re the Captain now.”

Egon waited for more. He stared at Meladee, but she sent furtive glances around the docks.

“That’s it?” Egon prodded. “Captain Arvid liked you best of all. I thought you’d have something to say. Hell, I thought you’d really cry for him, but you cried the least of us.” Egon teared up.

“Look. There’s no point in crying.” Meladee glared. “Sometimes...you just get eaten by a snowpire. Is that what we’re calling it?”

Egon shook his head and regained his composure. “We’re not joking about this. No matter how uncomfortable it makes you. Captain Arvid was killed by a vampire. He wasn’t eaten and certainly not by a snowpire. How goddamned insensitive can you be?”

Meladee looked at the ground and focused her eyes on the dock’s wood planks. “I’m sorry.”

“A vampire’s a vampire, whether or not it’s in the snow. Don’t let me catch you making up cutesy names again. Not for this.” Egon frowned.

“You won’t,” she mumbled. Because I won’t be here anymore. She turned to go.

“And, Meladee?”

Meladee stopped and looked over her shoulder.

“You’re cold. You’re the iciest person I’ve ever known, and I work with secretive sailors for a living. Captain Arvid always said you just needed some understanding, but you have almost no friends. Sure, everyone likes to joke with you, but when it comes down to it, no one really relies on you. Do you know what I’m saying?”

“Fuck you.”

Egon called, “I suppose that’s why you’re running away.”

“Yup. I suppose that’s why.” Meladee took a few steps.

She heard the sound of footsteps behind her, but the sound didn’t fade as she’d expected. Instead, the steps came close, and Meladee felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Despite all of this. We’ll miss you.” It was Egon. “And, if you ever want to come back, you’d be welcome.”

“Don’t like your options for replacement?” Meladee asked.

“That’s not it. They’re all great. I’m offering you a place back here because I think you’re making a mistake.”

Meladee shook her head. “I’ve got to go, Egon. I’ll see you… No wait, I won’t see you, but you get the idea.”

“Goodbye, Meladee.” Egon held his hand out for Meladee.

She caught the motion in her peripheral vision, turned to face him, and clasped his hand. They shook. Meladee gave him one last look in the eyes, showing him steadfast determination in her own. Then, she turned and walked away.

As Meladee strolled along the docks, she tried to walk slow and pretend that she wasn’t dying to get away. If she was honest, Captain Arvid had kept her on the Rime Breaker, and after ten years of his presence, his death had been a shock. But, Meladee was anything but honest with herself. So, when she remembered the auburn-haired captain, she fooled her heart into thinking he’d just left the ship.

Captain Arvid had been the first person to give Meladee a job. After she left her frigid colony, newly destroyed by some monstrous man, Meladee had hung around the docks in some northern city. Captain Arvid played the role of the bleeding heart and offered her food and a place to be.

Meladee never got a good look at the man who destroyed her village, but now, she equated him with the vampire.

No, snowpire. Egon be damned.

Meladee imagined the snowpire to be both the man that killed off her small village and drained Captain Arvid. The snowpire, clad in the fur of white bears, and deathly pale himself, was dead now, thanks to the Rime Breaker’s crew of sailors and mages. If he hadn’t died, Meladee would know exactly what to do with her new-found time. As the events stood, she had no idea what to do next.

Captain Arvid was gone, so she should go too. She pushed his smiling, bearded face to the back of her mind. Or, she tried to. She wasn’t entirely successful, but like she had done with her family and village, she reminded herself, it would just take time to forget.

Meladee sighed. Fucking vampires.

“Meladee!” someone called from behind.

“Oh shit,” she mumbled to herself. She recognized the ship’s surgeon, Clemens. She stopped and allowed the man to catch up to her.

Clemens possessed dark hair and average height. He had friendly eyes and quick hands. Meladee thought, as surgeons go, he was top notch.

“I thought you weren’t leaving till late afternoon. It’s only mid-morning.” He reached for her shoulders but thought better of it. He let his arms dangle by his sides. “Don’t tell me you lied again.”

“I just decided to leave early,” Meladee lied.

“I wanted to say goodbye to you. Maybe discuss this one more time.”

“This is not a discussion, just a decision.” She took a step back from Clemens. “I really want to get on the road…”

“You left early. You’ve got plenty of time,” he objected.

Clemens seemed about to say something, and Meladee worried he would ask her to marry him again.

Suddenly, he tossed up his hands. “You know what. Just go. Just fucking go. I’ve had enough.” He shooed her away.

Meladee read his body language. His arms said go, but his eyes begged her to stay. Meladee shrugged inwardly and turned and left.

“Meladee,” Clemens called.

She turned around. “Yeah?” She noticed his teary eyes and peered over his shoulder instead.

“I really hope that someday, you get better. And, you can form good friendships and...other attachments.” Clemens bowed his head. “I’m going to miss you.”

“Right. Well, bye.” Meladee turned and walked away. Good job making this awkward. Egon. Clemens.

Meladee left the docks and entered the small northern town. Eager to find something to fill her day.