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Luna stood at the starboard railing, her eyes fixed on the horizon. An empty plate from lunch sat on the railing next to her and her fork hung limply from her mouth. It had been a few hours since Marcus’ funeral and his death weighed heavy on her mind. She was grateful for the help he gave her. If she had taken too long dealing with Arbor’s lackeys, either he would have gotten a lucky shot off on her or the rest of his men would have shown up and wore her down with numbers. Still, she couldn’t get over the guilt she felt. It was because of her that he died, that he’d never get to see his precious home return.

“You know, Erik’s gonna have some words for you if you drop that,” Rufus said as he came to stand next to Luna, leaning back against the railing.

Luna sighed, took the fork out of her mouth, and placed it on the plate. She didn’t know him all that well, but Luna heard enough to know that Erik was a crotchety old man in the best of times. If she lost one of his utensils, she’d never hear the end of it. After a few moments, she asked, [color=lightblue]”Why aren’t you guys pissed at me? I mean, I get it, I’m my mom and dad’s daughter, but Marcus is dead because of m–”[/color]

“Alright, I’m gonna stop you right there,” Rufus said, suddenly serious. He was quiet for a moment, then turned to Luna. “I know it sucks. I do. But Marcus made the choice to fight by your side, even though he knew it could kill him. He had the resolve to do what he could to help you, not just because you’re our princess, but because he [i]wanted[/i] to help you. So don’t blame yourself for the choice he made, alright?”

[color=lightblue]”But if I were stronger or faster, then I could have–”[/color]

“Could have what? Saved him? Yeah, maybe,” Rufus interrupted. “Maybe not. The only thing we know for sure is what’s already happened and there’s nothing we can do about that besides stand up, dust ourselves off, and take a page from his book.”

[color=lightblue]”What do you mean?”[/color]

Rufus flashed Luna a smile. “Resolve ourselves to do what we can and keep moving forward.” 

[color=lightblue]”Resolve, huh?”[/color] Luna echoed. Even if she hadn’t realized it, that was a constant theme in her life. Her parents, when they did everything in their power to protect her despite the impossible odds. Marcus, when he came to her rescue. Even Sol had to have incredible resolve to take on his impossible mission.

Rufus took a couple of steps away from the railing, then turned back to the half-Mink princess with his hand extended. “So, are you gonna keep moving forward with us, princess? Or, should I say, ‘Captain’?”

Luna opened her mouth to argue that she couldn’t possibly lead everyone, but stopped herself. The look in Rufus’ eyes told her that not only he, but the rest of the crew, had already made the decision, one that was probably made when she went to bed the night of the party. It was pointless trying to argue and she was sick of doubting herself, anyway.

Luna cracked a smile and took her second-in-command’s hand. [color=lightblue]”Alright, fine,”[/color] she said. [color=lightblue]”I’ll need help pulling someone away from the brink of stupidity, anyway.”[/color]

As she pushed herself away from the railing, her elbow bumped against the plate that held her lunch. It and the fork that rested on top of it both fell into the ocean below. Luna’s sharp ears could hear Erik swearing profusely below deck, as if he had sensed a disturbance of some kind.

[color=lightblue]”Oops…”[/color]