Rainbow lingered in the doorway a little longer before he retreated completely. Ribbon remained inside and helped herself to Caleb's bed. Caleb didn't mind very much. Ribbon was largely unobtrusive, and it was hard to dislike the dog. Currently she had chosen to curl herself up into a little ball in the center of his bed. It was a very obvious ploy to earn herself the entirety of the bed, and he suspected she would be successful in this endeavor in very little time. She was already pressed firmly against his spine.

Caleb thought that he might stay here forever. The safety of his bed and the warmth of Ribbon were convincing arguments for never getting up. The soft rock of the ocean, and the murmur of water against the hull a soothing lullaby. He closed his eyes again. Unfortunately his stomach had other ideas. The low ruble in the pit of his stomach indicated he would have little peace if he tried to sleep now. He'd missed at least one meal, more likely two. But could he venture out without running into Rainbow?

Reluctantly the boy sat up and swung his feet over the edge of the bed. Ribbon "wuff"ed at him, but allowed him to venture off on his own.  He was disappointed to find the kitchen as unfriendly as before. Though there was food, Caleb wasn't comfortable cooking anything for himself. He wasn't about to ask Rainbow to help him make anything, so he settled for fetching one of Edward's apples. He had crunched through three bites before Ribbon was by his side.

"No, you can't have apple."

Ribbon stared up at him with large, hopeful eyes.

"I mean it, girl. No apple."

Ribbon shoved her nose into his hip and wagged her tail. Her soft eyes pleaded with him as she whined quietly beside him.

Caleb groaned. "Fine." He pulled his small knife from his pocket and carefully cut her a small chunk of apple. He tossed it towards the floor and the dog scrambled after her treat, her tail flying eagerly. Caleb felt a smile beginning to crest. Content with her reward, Ribbon started for the deck, tail wagging like a joyful banner. The young boy allowed himself to trail after her. Perhaps it was time for him to allow Rainbow to apologize. He didn't have to accept it yet, but he was at least willing to listen to the words.

Caleb stepped into the cool evening. The ocean greeted him by caressing his tear stained cheeks with a friendly breeze. The air tasted saltier outside than in, and the sky glittered as if to reward him for making a step back towards friendship. He wasn't ready to address Rainbow first so instead he turned his attention to their youngest member.

"Edward." He knew more than one set of eyes were turned his way. "I have another story for you."

Edward instantly perked up. "You do? Is this one about Prince Hector and the Eegull too?"

"No, this one's much older." Caleb settled himself on the deck and turned his face up to the familiar sky. His eyes roamed the speckles of light in search of the familiar glow. "There." He pointed up and away, back the way they had come. "Do you see those stars? They form the great sea bird. His name is Sycamore. His beak points north, so that no one shall ever be lost." As he spoke, Cable's finger traced the outline of the bird so that Edward could see it more clearly. The young hippocampus settled into his companion's side, eager for his story.

"Sycamore once traveled the entire world, helping sailors and travelers navigate safely on their journeys. One day he found the great traveler, Kayden, attempting to cross a very dangerous part of the ocean. There were serpents and giant monsters setting traps and attacks to try and stop the great traveler. Sycamore flew high above the waters and guided Kayden's ship safely past every danger.

"The monsters were very angry at Sycamore, and decided they were going to remove his eyes, so he could help no other travelers evade their hunger. The largest serpent went to Aranea to weave a net that would trap Sycamore. Aranea agreed, on the condition that she be given Sycamore's eyes. The serpent saw no reason to deny her, so he agreed. Aranea spent three days and three nights working on the finest net anyone had ever seen. At the end of the third night, the serpent took the net and captured Sycamore."

Edward interrupted, unable to contain his excitement. "Poor Sycamore! How did he not see the net?"

"Aranea is the best weaver in all the world! Her net was so fine, not even Sycamore could see it. She is up in the sky too, I will tell you more about her later. Let me finish one story before we begin a new one."

Edward nodded eagerly. "I'm sorry! You have so many amazing stories!"

Caleb was pleased with the praise and settled back into his story without any fuss. "The serpent took Sycamore's eyes, and ran away, leaving him trapped in the net. Confused and scared, Sycamore freed himself only enough to fly up to the heavens to hide, dragging the net with him. However, the serpent went back on his agreement with Aranea, and decided to keep Sycamore's eyes for himself. Aranea was very displeased with this, and so she spent five days and five nights weaving a net strong enough and fine enough to capture the serpent. That night she took all four of his legs as well as Sycamore's eyes. Thus she became Aranea the Eight Legged, and doomed serpents to slither on their stomachs for all of eternity."

"Kayden heard about Sycamore's plight, and so set about finding a new eye as a thank you for having once guided the traveler across the dangerous ocean. Kayden felt guilty about the situation, you see. The great traveler was able to find several piece of beautiful sea glass, smoothed and rounded until they reflected the world in perfect clarity. So Kayden threw these glass orbs up to Sycamore in the sky."

Caleb sat back and pointed at an especially bright star. "That's one, right there. It's called a traveling star. There are several of them, they're all brighter than the rest of the stars, and they drift across the sky. Sometimes one lines up with Sycamore's eyes, can you see how it is beside his head? It will soon be lined up perfectly. It is said that when a traveling star is lined up with Sycamore's eye, people have the ability to see with extra clarity. I'm hoping that the traveling star will line up just in time so that this skeleton doctor will have no problems seeing what will cure my town."