The air was cold and sharp when I awoke, the rising sun barely peeking over the horizon. But amidst the endless waters, there was an island with a large rocky hill and a couple palm trees.
"Land ahoy!" I roared for once, my mates gathering to see the island. The captain rose from his cabin and strode up the stairs to the quarterdeck, turning the ship towards the island while glancing at me briefly. As we made eye contact I felt my face heat up, and looked away, focusing on what could possibly hide on the small piece of land.
Not long after we were close enough to get into smaller boats and row to the island, leaving a few mates on the ship to watch for possible danger. I decided to explore the north side of the island, moving slowly through thick bushes and strange plants with sharp leaves, which I have never seen before. What lay before me washed all that frustration away; there was a cave going into the rocky hill, dimly lit by an unknown light source somewhere deep inside. My right hand brushed the rock walls as I entered, the cool air delightful against the hot skin on my face. As I ventured deeper, I noticed that the glow was coming from carvings in the walls, which I wrote down in my notebook and tried to figure out the meaning of. There was a circle and a half circle, a few straight lines with bent tops, and one wavy line. What could these possibly mean? I would have to figure it out later, for we didn't have all day. Leaving the cave, I searched for anything else such as gold or silver, but found nothing. As I followed my tracks back to the south side of the island, I couldn't help but wonder if this was somehow connected to that sea serpent legend.
"No, Vincent. That's silly." I whispered to myself as I shook my head, trying to clear my mind. I saw the pirate who's always near the captain, and strode over to him.
"Found anything shiny?" He asked while raising a satchel that clinked as he moved it.
"Not shiny, no, but I found some strange carvings that… glowed? You believe me, right?" My voice was filled with confusion and uncertainty, but he just smiled and said:
"Aye, I believe you. We're heading back now, think we got all that we could from this island." We walked back to one of the boats, and he started rowing.
"I never got to ask– what's your name?"
"Hayes, the captain's right-hand man." He laughed, and before I knew it we were back at the ship. Hayes let me get back up first before climbing up himself and putting the boat back where it was.
"Aye, mateys! This was a decent catch, but we got to keep sailing so step to and get moving!" The captain ordered them all, and I was about to follow but got stopped.
"Not ye, lad. I needa show ye something." Motioning me to his cabin, we walked over and when he opened the door my jaw dropped. Shelves filled with books rose to the top of the room, the desk by the window also filled with books. On the windowsill behind the desk lay a skull with a dagger in it, right through the left eye. He saw me staring, and walked over to pick it up and showed it to me.
"They call me Daggerskull. Ye know why? When I was still a lad, I killed an enemy captain by stabbing him with this very dagger." I had heard about a Daggerskull from drunk sailors by the docks, but I would have never believed I would be part of his crew. I then remembered the symbols I had drawn in my notebook as he went to put the skull back, and took it out.
"On that island I found a cave with some symbols, do you have any idea what they could mean?" I asked, showing him the notebook. He leaned over and studied the symbols, his eyes suddenly opening wide.
"Blimey! That is a moon and a waterfall, do you know what this specific moon is called?"
"...No?"
"That is a waning crescent, and it means surrender and rest. What place do folks go to to rest that has to do with waterfalls?" I thought long and hard, and when I figured it out the hairs on my neck rose. In unison, we both said:
"The Healing Springs!" So there is more to this, then.
"But where exactly are the Healing Springs?" I wondered out loud, mostly to myself.
"Right here, look." Daggerskull showed me a map with the name at the northeast edge of the map, most likely weeks of sailing away. There was nothing left to do now except sail, then.