The captain returned not long after, clearly having heard enough.
He looked over the gathered passengers and crew, his expression unchanged and unimpressed.
"'Right then," he said.
The murmuring died down.
"We'll do it the right way."
A few heads lifted.
"Curfew," he continued. "When the sun's down, no one on deck 'nless they've got a job that needs doin'."
He glanced at the sailors.
"That means watch stays. Everyone else below."
"And what if it's the watch?" Someone asked loudly. "How can we trust that it's not them?"
"Doing what? Huh?" The captain asked. "You don't even know if its anythin' at all."
The captain's gaze shifted out toward the open sea.
"If 'tis true, then we'll see," he said.
Not comforting.
But final.
The crowd began to disperse slowly after that.
Passengers moved below deck in uneasy clusters.
Sailors returned to their work, though now with sharper eyes.
Sonder remained where she was.
A curfew.
She thought about it for a moment.
If something really was happening at night… then being below deck meant she wouldn't see it.
That didn't feel right.
She could ask.
She didn't sleep much anyway. She could stay up and watch. If something happened, she might notice.
And if something came for her, if there really was something...
She wasn't as easy to hurt as the others.
But then she frowned a little.
That wasn't really a good reason, was it?
Just because she would be fine didn't mean she should get special treatment.
And people were already looking at her strangely.
If she asked to walk around at night while everyone else had to stay below…
They might think she wanted that for the wrong reason.
So she didn't ask.
Instead, she walked over to the captain.
He noticed her and looked down.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" She asked.
"'elp?"
"Yes?"
The captain looked at her for a moment.
Then he shook his head.
"No."
"I won't get in the way," she said.
"I know," he replied.
He shifted a little, then added,
"Still no. Passengers stay out of it. Crew'll handle it."
Sonder thought about asking again.
But she didn't.
"Okay," she said.
The captain gave a short nod and looked away.
There wasn't anything else to say.
So she went back to the railing.
The sea was still the same.
She just watched it again.
And waited.