The pliosaur did not care about the boy swimming up to her; this much was apparent to Caleb, so he decided to use the opportunity to free his friend. Swimming up to the beast, the swordsman waited for the opportune moment and stabbed the sea creature in its left eye with his sword. The beast roared in pain, releasing its prey as it writhed in agony. It then swatted Caleb, who was far too close to the pliosaur to dodge, knocking him away and disorientating the boy.

Thankfully, Edward was still alert, and he saw his friend was in danger. In an instant, the hippocampus transformed form a half fish into a full fish and swam towards Caleb to try and bring them both to the surface. The sea creature was not giving up on its prize that easily though; with its one good eye, she found Edward and the boy who had stolen her meal, and glared at them with a primal rage. 

She was about to charge straight at them, but suddenly her anger changed to fear, and the pliosaur swam away in a rush. Edward was also scared; what had replaced the sea creature was something far more fearsome. The massive sea serpent had been looking right at the beast with those purple eyes...wait, purple eyes?

In an instant, Caleb knew that this was Rainbow’s work and that they were safe. In fact, he had saved their lives. For the second time, in the boy’s case. He nudged to Edward and pointed up. The fish dutifully obeyed, bringing them both up and out of the ocean. Edward gracefully lunged toward the back of the boat, transforming into a full horse and landing them both on the deck with no trouble at all. Once they rose to the surface, Caleb gasped for fresh air. Edward may have been fine underwater, but Caleb was not.

“Are you two alright?” Rainbow asked as he heard Caleb gasp for fresh air. Edward may have been fine breathing underwater, but the boy was not.

“Yeah, we’re good,” Edward answered cheerfully. Even after surviving a near death-experience and bleeding all over, the hippocampus was still the same optimist as always. As he said this, Ribbon brought the group a first aid kit. Flower had even grabbed some bandages and dropped them next to Rainbow.

Looking over the young horse skeptically, Ribbon said “well, at least let me dress up those wounds.” He grabbed some bandages and got to work. “Oh, and uh, good work, Caleb” he added.

“Thanks. And...thanks for saving us” Caleb responded.

“No problem. Sorry I overreacted with the ropes,” Rainbow conceded, “I was trying to teach you a lesson, but sometimes you need to react quickly. If you didn’t jump in just now, Edward would probably be dead, so...thanks for being alert.”

“Thanks Rainbow, apology accepted” Caleb said, and he meant it. The boy knew that Rainbow didn’t have any malicious intent and wouldn’t have saved them if he did.

“You two should rest more,” Rainbow told them, “I’ll take care of any work we have for now. We still have a doctor to find, after all.”

-----

A few days had passed. Edward had healed up nicely and the crew of five had made steady progress towards their destination. They had bonded, shared stories, and were now listening to Rainbow tell them about Thorn City.

“...from what the Captain told me, it’s supposed to be a magnificent, bustling place. The city-state is apparently the center of trade for the continent and people of all races live there. And there are tons of parks and nature is everywhere. The center of government is apparently a huge oak tree whose roots span across the entire city.”

“Wow! That sounds cool!” Edward squealed, “I bet the views from there are great!”

“Yeah, but apparently it’s also defensive,” Rainbow said, “if they’re invaded, the roots can rise up to be used as weapons. I hear the buildings all have ivy or potted plants on them for similar reasons.”

Caleb admitted that this place sounded nice. But he did have to wonder “so if you’ve never been there, how will we know where to go?”

“Easy, kid. I have Sara’s address,” Rainbow stated as if it was obvious, “so we can find her first. After we return Ribbon, then we can ask her where to find Roger.”

The boy petted Ribbon as he listened to Rainbow. Caleb admitted to himself that it would be bittersweet when the dog was returned to the Captain’s wife; she deserved to go home, but he would also miss her.

Rainbow was about to continue, but he noticed something in the corner of his eye. He took his spyglass to examine it and saw what looked like a very large oak tree in the distance.