I showed Barry the place on the map where we needed to head next. Hubert was going to get laid to rest as soon as possible. He kept his side of the arrangement and gotten us this far, but more importantly, I had made him a promise and I intended to keep it. So many times I had lost focus or focused on the wrong things. I don't want to lose who I am even under these strange circumstances.

Barry went to the helmsman and gave the order. Some shouts rang out as commands were given and followed and the small crew flew into action. I knew I had something else to do while we traveled. Those attribute points were burning a hole in my metaphorical pocket. As I considered my options, I walked up the stairs to the highest rear deck of the ship.

The more I thought about it, the more I knew that I needed to focus on melee combat. Ranged combat is great and my preferred method of engagement, but pirate fighting has been overwhelmingly close-quarters. I decided to put all five points into Brawn to give my swordplay a little more of an edge. I looked at my attribute page and thought I was rounding out pretty well.

Brawn: 20

Muscular Strength

Affects strength, melee combat, and bodily fortitude.

Precision: 20

Hand-Eye Coordination and Vision

Affects accuracy in everything from ranged combat to pickpocketing.

True Grit: 15

Mental Strength

Affects fight or flight response, courage, and mental fortitude.

Nimbleness: 20

Speed

Affects the ability to move quickly, jumping, and dodging.

Blessing: 17

Luck or Favor

Affects looting and other actions in a positive way.

As I was admiring my stats I felt a small tap on my ankle. I looked down and saw Shelldon standing there with Hubert strapped to the top of him.

"We be getting close lad," said the skull. There was a bit of sadness in his voice and it was oddly off-putting. "Place me on the taffrail. I wish to look upon the sea one last time."

I unlatched him from Shelldon and held him with a hand on each side. That's when I realized that I had never heard the term "taffrail" before.

"Where's the taffrail again?" I asked quietly.

I think I ruined his special moment because he sighed louder than I had ever heard him sign before.

"Wait, how do you sigh without any lungs?" I asked stupidly. I knew full well that almost no part of his existence or functioning made sense.

"How do you talk without a brain? Some mysteries will ne'er be solved," he retorted. "The taffrail is that thick railing there." He couldn't point, but based on the context I knew what he was referring to.

I placed him on the railing and took a step back trying to give him some time to process his feelings.

"Hey, dum dum. It be difficult to watch the sea when I'm facing toward ye," he said. I gave him the ol' whoopsie daisy and turned him around. "Now leave me be for a bit."

I gave a quick affirmative and walked back toward my quarters. On the down, I saw Shelldon walking around with his empty saddle on.

"Shelldon, come over here, buddy." He ran over and looked up at me. "Seems like you won't be needing that saddle anymore." I bent down to undo the leather strapping that held the leatherwork in place, but he took a step back. "Well, I can't ride in that thing."

He ran over to Chum and prodded him gently a few times. The penguin looked at him and then turned towards me. I gave him a shoulder shrug as I didn't know what the turtle was trying to communicate. I waved them both over and the disparity in the speeds that they traveled was humorous to me. Shelldon was over to me in half of a second while Chum waddled over as if he was already winded.

"Are you wanting to see if Chum could use the saddle?" I asked the turtle. He stamped once so I turned to Chum. "Do you want to try this saddle?"

Chum waddled over and attempted to jump up unsuccessfully.

"May I?" I asked. With permission given, I placed the penguin in the saddle on the turtle's back. The straps wouldn't really hold Chum, who was decidedly larger than a human skull, but I was able to make him somewhat secure.

Shelldon took off as if a firing pistol had been shot and zoomed around the main deck. The second time around the strapping gave way and the penguin fell backward off of Shelldon who stopped soon after.

I had started to run over to make sure Chum was okay, but he quickly got up and was excitedly flapping his flippers. At first, I thought he was upset at Shelldon, but as he attempted to get back in the saddle I realized that he loved going that fast. He even waved me over to reattach him.

I got him back in the saddle and tightened the straps the best I could. Before Shelldon took off I told him to slow it down just a bit. The unlikely pair shot off again and this time Chum stayed on for a few more rotations before tumbling off backward.

"I think I may be of assistance, Captain," said Hugh. He had been watching the animals as he usually didn't do as much work as the other sailors. "I've made quite a few specialty leather goods in my time." The volume of his voice rose in strange ways as he spoke which put an odd emphasis on his words.

"Um. I guess you can take a crack at it. Do you have what you need for the leatherworking?" I asked.

"Thank you, captain. I'm sure I can procure everything I need for this project one way or another," he said with a wink. I decided not to ask him any more questions even though I didn't feel great about his word choice.

"Go with Hugh, fellas. He said he can fix up your saddle," I said to the animals.

As they walked down into the crew quarters I heard Hugh say, "Oh, I'll fix up more than just your saddle." I once again chose to ignore him and moved on.

I walked into my quarters and called for Mae. She fluttered into the room.

"Are you okay, Teddy?" She asked sweetly.

"Not really. I keep having these fits of rage that I can't seem to control." I tossed a piece of bread to my guard rats and laid down in my bed. "I threatened to toss a nice man overboard, I drove you off, and I mildly tortured someone and then killed them."

"Well, that escalated quickly," she said raising her eyebrows disapprovingly. Her demeanor changed to that of a concerned mom and she landed on the pillow next to me. "As far as your anger goes, you are the only one who can control it, Teddy. You just need to figure out how to."

"How do I do that?" I asked.

"I think it would be wise to try and figure out what the root of the problem is. If a sink keeps filling up and overflowing, you turn off the water first." She said sagely.

"Is that another Greek philosopher?" I asked.

"No, it's a Mae original." She said. "It is something that you must discover for yourself though. Just think about what I said."

"I will," I said turning to fall asleep. I tried to think about where all my anger was coming from and what the main triggers were, but I didn't seem to make much progress. I lay there in silent contemplation for a while before slipping into a deep sleep.

Morning came and I woke up naturally to the sunlight breaking through my window. I walked out onto the main deck and it was so peaceful and quiet in the early morning. I looked out over the ocean and was reminded of Hubert. I walked back to where he sat perched on the railing and was slightly surprised that he hadn't fallen off of the ship.

"Good morning, Hubert." I walked up beside him and rested my forearms on the railing.

He chose to respond with, "Morning, meatbag." He seemed less sad than the previous day and there was a calmness about him that I'd never felt before.

"Are we getting close?" I asked.

"Aye," he responded stoically. "We should arrive just after sundown at the spot where ye can be rid of me."

It seemed like a good time to just enjoy the sea in silence so we just rested there for a while and took in the sights. After about an hour with little chatter, I decided to take my leave and just let him do his thing. I made myself busy by checking supplies, fishing, and yapping with the remaining crew members. Hugh hadn't come above deck all day which was starting to worry me a little bit, but maybe that was just how he was when he was actually working.

As sunset approached I walked back up to where the skull sat looking out over the water.

"Just tell me what you need me to do when the time comes," I said gently and trying not to ruin the calm silence of the moment.

He didn't say anything so I just enjoyed the sunset with him and awaited instruction.

The sunset was beautiful and as the last rays of light disappeared over the horizon he spoke.

"Theodore, can I tell you a secret?" He said almost in a whisper. I had no idea what amazing secrets an ancient skull could hold, but I was sure it would be something good. I instinctively moved closer to him to listen to whatever final words of wisdom this entity would ever utter.

"Of course," I said quietly.

"Turn me towards ye so I can speak to ye face to face," he said. I rotated him around and waited for his last words with a look of childlike wonder toward the gift I was about to receive.

"You could have dropped me off anywhere in the sea. It didn't really matter the location and I would've been laid to rest. I just really wanted to see one last sunset and inconvenience you as much as possible." As he spoke the last word he flung open his bottom jaw and flipped backward into the water. He laughed all the way down. After a minute of me not believing that he set all of that up just to have the last laugh, a notification popped into view.

Quest Completed!

Destroy or otherwise put to rest the skeleton army that currently surrounds you and your party.

Reward: 1,000 XP

Between the sunset and the thousand experience points, it was difficult to be anything but mildly perturbed. It had been an interesting ride with the talking skull and part of me was glad that he had been put to rest. Maybe there was hope for me as well.

"Touché," I said looking down into the briny depths. Then I went and asked Barry to take us back to port and went to bed.