Of course they didn't set off immediately, to the continued disappointment of Ling and Maga. Fortunately, Mayari personally gave them their jobs for that week, hence, both of them were busy. Maga didn't get to act though, as was previously proposed by Kisig.
After a week of work, Mayari found Ling and Maga taking their breaks while watching Tala practice her part. As usual, her practice was no different than her actual performance, pressuring the other actors to also perform to their best.
Mayari waited until the scene was done. Afterwards, he sat beside Ling and Maga who were clapping to the point when their hands, and paws for the dragon, were red. The two ignored him as the children waited for Tala to smile and curtsy to her enthusiastic audience.
Seeing this, Mayari just smiled. "Are you guys done for today? You can prepare now for our sailing tomorrow." He told them when the two finally turned their attention to him.
When he heard this, Ling squinted his eyes before asking a few questions. After Ling made sure that Mayari was not jesting with them, he stood up and patted Maga's back to get the dragon's attention. The stage hands were now throwing some sparks and other light effects which was reflected in Maga's bright eyes.
Its eyes brightened further when it heard Ling's news. It stood up and the two children ran towards the tent where they were staying. They only have a few stuffs in their ownership, so their preparations were short and they were left speculating about their next adventure.
"Uncle Mayari still hadn't told us where we were going. Are you scared?" Ling smiled at his friend as he put aside his hide bag.
Done checking its new harness for carrying their heavier loads, Maga was lying beside Ling, watching the boy finish his own preparations. When it heard the question, Maga raised its head to show his teeth like the boy, and shook its head. It was also excited with their next adventure.
___
The next day, Ling and Maga followed Mayari to the port while carrying their hide bags. This time, the two did not care the looks they got from the surrounding people. When they got outside the Sikat Troupe area where the people were more dense, Ling even ran ahead of Mayari, taunting Maga to chase him. It was difficult for the dragon to push through the mass of people, but it still took the young boy's challenge.
"Don't get lost, you two."
"Yes, uncle."
"Awroo~"
The shouted replies just made Mayari laugh, as he apologized to a few men who grumbled after being jostled by the children's play.
They reached the port faster than before. The group of three were already running before they reached the ship, with Mayari was panting behind the children. He had to stop a few times to placate some passersby, then find and ran after the two again. Taking care of these children would be a headache.
On the dock near the big ship, five familiar figures were helping the usual crew. Before going onboard, Mayari led Ling and Maga to these young men first. Meanwhile, the men became apprehensive when they saw this group coming to them.
"You guys, I'm sure you already met Ling and Maga," Mayari smiled at the next reactions of the five and continued with his introductions, "The oldest one among your age group in this crew here is Kana, the captain's son. You've seen the others in our troupe and they will be joining us. The tall, gangly one is Ayuk, Kisig's changed his hair color to brown this time so I'm not sure if you could still recognize him, Did you explain this to your mother?" When the boy averted his gaze instead of answering, Mayari just sighed and continued, "Anyway, these other two are cousins, Ta and Wa'al. I'll leave you with this five while I talk to the captain."
Before he left, Mayari smiled again to the group and added, "Please help Ling and Maga to their quarters after you help with the preparations."
Sailing was not new to Ling and Maga. However, this was the first time the two were actively helping. The first and second time, it was just Ling and he was accompanying his clan for the trade. The third time, the two of them were excluded by the crew, probably because they were planning to discard these children.
Thinking about it, Ling realized it might be the most peaceful sailing he had had. Hopefully, he would not jinx it.
Ling was currently taking a break in the deck while Maga was lying on its stomach with its eyes closed, but it was not sleeping. The sea air was soothing him this time, compared to his first time sailing. It was far better than staying in Kanan Island with it's suffocating atmosphere.
He was a little tired from helping out in this ship. When he saw the crew, he really wanted to help. Most of them have pale complexions, and even though he had not seen them for only a week, it looked like they had not eaten for longer than that. Their skins were dry and their eyes were bloodshot too. He could immediately see that the crew were already haggard even before they prepared to set sail. Maybe this was the reason why it took them a week before setting sail. What could Uncle Mayari had done to punish them?
Ling didn't ask the others about this though, especially Mayari. He understood that Mayari took care of this for Ling and Maga too instead of themselves taking their revenge further. Now, he was more curious with where they were going.
"Ling! Are you done with your chores?"
The voice came from the door leading below the deck. Ling turned his head and Maga also raised its head to look at the person coming to them.
"Uncle Mayari, we were already done and just taking a break."
"Good, good. You have to be ready before we enter our next destination." With his hands on his waist, Mayari took a deep breath as he swept his eyes to the vast sea, his sprinkle of white hair being swept by the wind too.
Curious, Ling faced his whole body to Mayari, leaning on the railings of the ship's deck. "Where are we going, uncle?"
Ling did not expect Mayari to answer, so he was slightly surprised when the older man put an arm over his shoulders and turned him to point his other hand at the distant land. "You'll see it there in a while."
Slowly, the boy, the dragon and the man could see a yellow 'haze' rising above the land.