"So... where are we going?"
The blond boy looked genuinely confused, his eyes shifting between Lue and the endless ocean ahead of them.
"Tianzhu. Or Huangzhi..." Lue answered, turning his gaze toward the sea. It was already night, and the ocean looked as beautiful as ever beneath the pale moonlight, the surface covered in a thin layer of fog that made it difficult to tell where the water ended and the sky began.
"Tian-what?"
The boy scratched his head, clearly trying to remember the name.
Then his expression suddenly changed.
"Wait... you mean Muziris? Kerala?"
"Yes, yes. Kerala."
Lue nodded, relieved that he finally understood.
The boy looked at him for another second before smiling.
"What are you called? I'm Asher."
He looked directly into Lue's eyes as he said it, as though introducing himself was the most ordinary thing in the world.
Lue paused.
For a moment, he simply stood there.
He hadn't expected such a normal question.
There was no suspicion behind it, no demand for an explanation, no questions about where he had come from or why he had been on that ship in the first place. Just a name.
"Lue..." he finally answered. "I'm Lue."
"Lu... Lue?"
Asher tilted his head, quietly repeating the name to himself.
"I've heard that somewhere before, haven't I? Hmm..."
He frowned for a second, trying to remember, but eventually gave up with a shrug.
"Lue it is, huh? Cute name you've got, boy."
He laughed to himself.
Lue didn't know what to say to that, so he simply turned back toward the ocean.
Asher did the same.
For a while, neither of them spoke.
The only sounds were the gentle creaking of the ship and the waves moving beneath them, and somehow, after everything that had happened, the silence didn't feel uncomfortable.
It felt almost like peace still existed somewhere.
Maybe Asher hadn't asked any questions because he simply didn't care enough to ask.
Or maybe he was searching for the same thing Lue was- a reason to leave that ship behind, a reason to go somewhere else, even if he didn't know where that somewhere was yet.
Perhaps he just wanted something to change.
Whatever the reason was, Asher didn't really mind.
He had nothing better to do anyway.
The darkness slowly gave way to morning, and the first rays of sunlight fell lazily across the deck, warming the wooden floor as the ship continued its journey.
Lue had been sitting there for nearly for who knows, quietly watching Asher sleep.
Asher suddenly stirred.
"It's morning alrea- "
His eyes opened.
He looked straight at Lue.
"MY GOD!"
He fell backward so suddenly that Lue almost flinched.
"Good morning." Lue just looked at Asher, as he stared at him from the floor, with his sleep completely gone.
"How- how long have you been sitting there?"
"You were sleeping, so I waited."
Lue looked down at him with a completely serious expression.
Asher opened his mouth, then closed it again.
"You should have just- "
He stopped himself and sighed.
"Whatever. Where are we?"
He got back onto his feet and looked over the side of the ship.
Then he suddenly started moving.
He quickly gathered a few of his belongings and shoved them into his little bag before grabbing Lue's hand.
"This is our stop, Lue."
Before Lue could even ask what he meant, Asher was already pulling him toward the exit.
The crew noticed them.
One by one, those cold eyes followed the two of them as they hurried off the ship, but Asher didn't seem bothered in the slightest. If anything, he looked happier than he had since they'd met.
As they finally stepped onto the shore, he turned around and raised a hand toward the ship.
"Kátharma! My farewell to you!"
He grinned.
The captain stared down at them from the deck.
Neither Lue nor Asher waited for a response.
They simply turned around and disappeared into the crowd.
The market was already alive with noise.
Merchants called out to passing customers, people pushed their way through the crowded streets, carts squeezed between groups of strangers, and everyone seemed far too busy with their own lives to spare even a glance at the two boys who had just arrived from the sea.
Lue preferred it that way.
Nobody was staring.
Nobody was asking questions.
Nobody cared.
He instinctively reached up and pulled his hair forward, trying to cover as much of it as he could.
Asher noticed immediately.
"You want to change your hair colour?"
Lue looked at him.
"Can we?"
There was a sudden brightness in his eyes that Asher hadn't seen before.
"If you wanted to..."
Asher looked closely at Lue's long, shining white hair.
He stared at it for a moment before narrowing his eyes.
"Are you an old man?"
Lue looked genuinely confused.
"What? No."
"Sorry, sorry."
Asher laughed, raising his hands.
"I'm just joking."
He glanced around the market, thinking for a moment.
Then his face lit up.
"I know what we can do."
Once again, he grabbed Lue's hand and pulled him toward a nearby merchant.
Asher leaned toward the merchant and whispered something into his ear before placing a few coins into the man's hand.
The merchant listened, nodded, and reached underneath his counter.
He brought out a handful of seeds and began grinding them together until they became a dark, thick paste.
Lue watched the process carefully.
When the merchant finally approached him and reached toward his hair, Lue's hand immediately moved toward his sword.
"Slow down."
Asher stepped behind him and quickly caught his wrist before he could draw it.
"He's trying to help. Trust me."
Lue stared at the merchant for a moment.
His hand remained near his sword.
Then, slowly, he let go.
For once, he lowered his guard and sat down, allowing the strange paste to be worked through his hair.
It felt uncomfortable, and Lue wasn't entirely sure what they were doing, but he stayed still.
After a while, Asher suddenly stepped back.
"Done!"
They washed the paste out, and the merchant handed Lue a small mirror.
Lue looked at his reflection.
For a moment, he didn't recognize himself.
His long, shining white hair was gone, cut much shorter and darkened enough to blend naturally with the people around him.
There was nothing unusual about him anymore.
He looked...
Normal.
"Thank you."
Lue bowed politely to the merchant before reaching into his belongings and handing him a bag filled with gold coins.
Asher froze.
"Wha- "
The merchant's expression changed instantly.
He got to his feet and began bowing repeatedly toward Lue, almost desperately trying to show his gratitude.
Asher stared at him, then slowly looked at Lue.
"We might need those," he whispered.
"I have plenty."
Lue didn't seem particularly bothered by it.
"We have to move now."
He reached for Asher's hand and started walking through the crowd.
Asher followed, still looking back at the merchant every few seconds.
"To where?"
Lue glanced at him.
"Syanandurapuram."