"This... is a lot to take in, even for me." Ram said slowly, eyes still locked on the small boat drifting behind them- and its sole occupant, Oliver, as he worked on doing... something. "He just... pulled out an odd looking blanket... and then attached a small box to it that growled... and now there's a boat..."

Poli chuckled softly at the description, even as she tried to explain it in as simple a way as possible for them to understand. "Ok, well... the 'blanket' was basically the shell of the boat. It's made from a material that your people don't have, and is very tough and flexible- and it doesn't absorb water. The small box... is an air pump; the 'growl' was just it pumping air into the boat to give it its shape and help it float..."

"Obviously there is a bit more to it, but that is the simple explanation."

Ram nodded, following along with the bare-bones explanation. "Ok, that's simple enough, I guess... But I don't really see how it will help us. Even if it's filled with air, it won't be much faster than one of ours..."

"That's where the motor comes into play." Poli smirked as the low purr of the small engine reached them.

Turning his gaze back to the small boat, Ram was stunned to see it skipping across the waves as it rapidly caught up with them- though their ship wasn't moving quickly, he knew it would have been impossible for his men to row that fast.

Pulling up alongside the ship, looks of stunned disbelief from the crew met Oliver's carefree smile. "Come on down, Ram, and let's get moving!" He shouted up with a wave.

No one moved for several seconds, and Poli took in their shock and uncertainty- and Jal's look of wide-eyed excitement- before shaking her head down at her boyfriend. "Give them a minute to process it, Oli! You kinda just turned their world upside down, you know!"

"Actually..." She smiled softly as Jal nearly vibrated in place at the sight of the boat. "Why don't you take Jal around for a minute while I explain things to Ram a bit better? That might help things go a bit smoother."

For a long second, the couple simply stared at each other, Oliver's blank face giving her no hints about what he was thinking. Just as Poli began to grow nervous, his eyes flickered to the girl staring hopefully down at him and his gaze softened.

"Yeah, ok..." He said slowly, waving the girl down. "Just... be careful climbing down, Jal. And mind your horns and nails; we don't want to puncture the boat and end up swimming, ok?"

As the young girl scrambled down the rope ladder hanging from the side of the ship, Ram shifted uncomfortably: Here he was, anxious about trusting his life to a boat filled with air... and a girl not even a third his age jumped at the chance. Did that make him a coward? Or her reckless and ignorant of the risks?

Or... maybe he just struggled to adapt, having grown hide-bound and complacent with his age...

"Is... is that really safe?" He asked hesitantly, before shaking his head. "I don't mean the boat, of course. I doubt Oliver would use it so casually if it was a danger... But... taking a young girl to just sail around for fun? There are a lot of dangers on the sea, and I don't mean just the pirates..."

"It's fine." Poli quickly reassured him. "Oli would never voluntarily risk harming a child. Especially Jal, as he feels kinda responsible for her..."

"But right now, we need to go over the plan." She continued with a grin. "If you're going with him, you need to be ready for things to get even weirder, because that's not the only surprise he'll be pulling out..."

"The basic outline is simple: you and Oliver will use his raft to scout ahead of us, moving from island to island... But you'll be getting off on each one, crossing it quickly, and scouting from cover. Just to be safe."

Shaking his head, Ram sighed, already having an idea of how things will go- or an idea that he is going to be shocked by something else ridiculous and unbelievable, at least. "Crossing the islands on foot would be too slow... He has some way to cross them quickly, doesn't he?"

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Yes, yes he does..."

Jal whooped with excitement as the raft zipped along, her short black hair whipping in the wind. "This is incredible! How fast can it go? Can we go faster!?"

Oliver chuckled at the simple, childish glee; he had felt similar his first time on a boat, until... suppressing a grimace, he pushed down the memories of going fishing with his father- and how such trips inevitably ended.

"It can go faster, but we're not going to do that. No sense tempting fate more than we already are..." He chided gently, smiling at her enthusiasm.

Eyes filled with wonder and joy, Jal grinned at him. "This is... I don't even know what to say! What land do you come from that has such marvels? I've never even heard tales of things like this!"

"That's because I'm not from this world..." He said softly. Seeing her eyes widen in shock, he sighed and patted the spot next to him. Slowing the boat as she sank into the seat next to him, he started to explain. "There are many worlds, Jal. So many, in fact, that I don't even have the words to express it. I've been to a dozen already myself, and even I have a hard time believing it."

"Other worlds?" She choked out. "But... how? I don't... I mean, I can't even..."

"Yeah, it's all hard to explain." He said gently, patting her shoulder. "That's part of the reason Poli and I are hesitant to adopt you. Our world is just so different from this one, it would be a challenge for you to adapt."

"Things like this-" He said, waving at the raft. "are common on our world. Hell, there are crazier things than this. Things that you can't even imagine."

"Like what?" She asked, a note of wonder and curiosity creeping into her voice once more.

"Jal... the point I'm trying to make isn't about the things on my world." He said slowly as he struggled to find the words- her simple, child like acceptance of something that should sound insane surprised him... and confounded him a bit; wasn't finding out about intelligent life on other worlds supposed to be a shock? Or at least difficult to comprehend?

"It's... look, what I'm trying to say... is that us adopting you isn't a small thing." Seeing the budding disappointment in her eyes, and the way her shoulders slumped, his words came out in a rush. "And I'm not just talking about for me and Poli. Coming with us means trying to adapt to an entirely different world, surrounded by strange people and things. Just learning the language and trying to fit in will be a challenge, but add in all the other stuff that we take for granted but would be new and alien to you..."

"And that also doesn't take into account that traveling to different worlds and doing crazy and dangerous things is kinda what I do now..."

"This is a big, world changing and life altering decision for all three of us. Literally. That is why we're taking our time and being so careful in considering it, and why you should as well."

Jal sat quietly for so long, Oliver started to get nervous; had hurt the girls feelings? Or disappointed her in some way? He wasn't trying to crush her, just to lay out the truth so she could really think about what she was asking. It was just too big of a deal to take lightly, and he didn't want there to be any confusion or miscommunication...

"Tell me something from your world that sounds impossible to believe." She said softly, before quickly clarifying. "I just mean... if I was going to your world, what would be the hardest thing to believe? If I can accept the craziest thing, maybe I'll be ok going there?"

Oliver's heart nearly broke at the hesitant hope in the girl's voice; he had no idea why she had latched onto him so strongly, but it was obvious she desperately wanted to stay with them.

"Uh, ok... The craziest thing?" Oliver wracked his mind; what would people of another world call crazy or impossible? Preferably something she could at least somewhat envision and process... "Well, there's a lot of stuff... Ships? Yeah, ships are a good place to start..."

"We have a lot of ships, some so large you wouldn't believe. Like cruise ships; they're practically floating cities with hundreds- or even thousands- of crew members and passenger cabins. They even have restaurants and bars on them. And theaters, sometimes swimming pools and casinos..."

Wide eyed, Jal listened eagerly to details of his world. "Giant ships? That's awesome! But is that the strangest thing...?"

"Ah, well... maybe the moon landing? That's pretty crazy, right? That we sent people to the moon... Cell phones are pretty crazy, too... Honestly, there's so much stuff that you would find crazy or strange, it would take me days to talk about it all... And there are probably things I haven't even considered..."

Oliver sighed, realizing his words had had the exact opposite effect of what he intended: instead of making her consider the decision more carefully, she was only growing more eager by the idea of going with them...

Though a part of him wasn't really surprised. He could imagine the twelve year old him being just as excited by the idea of going to another world- though he knew he wouldn't have been willing to leave his mother like that... But Jal didn't really have any family or friends to leave behind.

She was asking them to be her family... and Oliver was less certain now about what he should do...

Of course, he didn't have to decide now- he still had a job to do, and it would be weeks before it was over.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.