Oarsmen began to curse as the guards closed the door and locked it behind them. One of the oarsmen grabbed Noah's shirt to pull him into a seated position before raising his fist to strike him, before losing his motivation as he saw Noah's pitiful state. Instead, the man just let go allowing Noah to fall hard back onto the rough deck. The other oarsmen just murmured half-hearted curses in various languages at Noah, a few spat on him. One of them even gave Noah a mild kick in his thigh.

The malnourished oarsmen then noticed the questionable goop Noah had been fed earlier scattered across the deck. Their attention shifted to fighting each other as they scrambled for scraps, going as far as to lick the filthy floor to ensure they got every drop. Noah watched their actions with disgust.

The boy crawled through the press to arrive at Noah's side. He grabbed Noah's hand and helped him into a seated position against the wall. The boy then rested his palm on Noah's shoulder. He couldn't avoid displaying the lesion on his wrist, drawing Noah's attention. The failure overwhelmed Noah, bringing tears to his eyes in his half-conscious state. Noah began to murmur quietly, causing the boy to lean in close to listen.

"I'm so sorry that I couldn't save you..." Noah babbled deliriously to the boy.

"It's okay. I'm used to it now," the boy lied with a forced smile in an attempt to comfort Noah.

Noah continued to mumble incoherently as tears streamed down his face while the boy patiently listened as Noah drifted into sleep.

***

The next morning Noah was awoken by red rays of light streaming through the cracks in the rickety hut signalling daytime as the sky once again became illuminated by the fiery clouds.

Noah's coughing caused the sleeping oarsmen to curse as they kicked at him to shut him up. There was no room between the men as they lay over each other or slept upright against the cramped room walls. The boy was sleeping against Noah's shoulder, leaving drool stains on his new shirt's sleeve. Noah recalled that during his unhinged state, the boy had introduced himself as Louis.

Noah rested his aching body in silence. It hurt to even breathe after the abuse his body had suffered. The assault he had endured the night before stacked on top of his already broken body, leaving him unable to move without receiving shockwaves of pain.

There was a groan beside Noah. He glanced down to watch the boy Louis waking up, rubbing his swollen bruised eye. Displaying the welts on his wrists in the dimly lit room as red rays of light from outside streaked in. Some of the beams were disrupted as a shadow walked outside them, accompanied by hurried footsteps. There was a click as the padlock unlocked with a bit of effort, causing the oarsmen to become instantly alert as they raced to stand in a frenzy.

Standing in front of the now open doorway was a tall silhouette blocking the fiery light from entering the room. A command was barked out in a language nobody huddled inside spoke, yet everybody seemed to understand what was expected. The packed oarsmen rushed out the open door as the silhouette stepped aside, allowing the press of stinking bodies to pass until only two remained.

Of course, the two remaining were Noah and the boy Louis who were both battered. Noah was unable to move on his own. The boy hesitated then left Noah's side to leave with his eyes cast down. The man standing in the doorway was the man labelled as 'the boss' from the day before. He watched the boy pass him with a frown. Something seemed to occur to him after noticing the boy's injuries.

The boss took a long look at Noah before asking him a question in the unknown language. When Noah couldn't understand him, the boss sighed then ushered the man who fished Noah from the water using the [Air Manipulation] ability to translate for him.

"Fishbait, the boss says to rest. You are not allowed to die without his say so," the gap-toothed black man said with a wide grin as he closed the door between them.

Noah was later ushered into the second hut by the pair of guards, which was empty for some unknown reason. Many days passed in the broken darkness of the cramped room with Noah waking periodically for visits from the boss. Noah would watch the red rays of light pierce through the room during the day, illuminating motes of dust that would dance as they floated through the air.

While Noah was recovering alone, the oarsmen went outside to row throughout the day. The boss would personally feed Noah the questionable goop he was provided the first day. Occasionally he would receive fresher batches made from its unknown source.

Over time Noah's splitting headache left, and the bruises on his body healed. No matter how much time passed, his lifeforce wouldn't recover. Unlike how it would as he drifted in-and-out of that mysterious world-of-light while castaway at sea. Noah had begun to fear that his abilities would never return.

***

It had been almost two weeks since he had been relocated into the other hut to heal. There had been no more disturbances of the guards tormenting the boy after the boss had caught the white guard stroking his face in public on deck. Noah watched what happened next through a crack in the hut's wall.

The boss had flown into a rage, screaming abuse at the man in a language they shared, spittle had coated the man's face. As the white guard endured the boss's wrath, the black guard stood stiffly nearby as he silently avoided attention. When they thought it was over, the boss suddenly backhanded the black guard off his feet before unloading a savage punch into the white guard's face, causing multiple teeth to scatter as he heavily landed on the deck.

When the white guard attempted to climb back to his feet, he only made it to a kneeling position before the boss grabbed his head with both hands. The boss dug both of his thumbs into the man's eye sockets before forcibly bouncing his head off the deck with a wet thud.

The white guard was no longer moving as the boss walked over to the black guard. Who had been watching from where he'd landed after the backhand. He was now scrambling backward in an attempt to flee, unable to find purchase on the deck slippery with blood from his companion.

The boss's attention was drawn by a wheezing breath coming from the white guard. He recollected himself to regain his calm. He spoke a warning to the black guard before instructing him to take the unconscious guard from his sight. The black guard dragged his accomplice below decks to an unknown location.

The boss approached the boy who cowered away from him in trepidation. The boss crouched down in front of the traumatized boy, placing a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. Offering a tight-lipped smile with eyes filled with compassion. The boss said something to the other ability-user to translate to Louis for him.

"The boss says that Uncle Joey is to feed you the good stuff. If those two idiots touch you again, the boss will slit their throats and make them fish bait. They are still alive because the boss is too soft, and they were part of his original fishing crew. The boss was a poacher, so he had to hire a few dodgy criminals," the gap-toothed man spoke to Louis as he quickly looked around, motioning everyone to turn away.

Uncle Joey was the fishing boat's cook who rarely came up on deck. He was a portly Asian man entirely covered in tattoos, which stopped off at his hands with a permanent frown on his face but smiling eyes, with a good-natured grumpy disposition. It was revealed one day that he was also an ability-user. His ability was particularly useful for survival, allowing him to make the questionable goop that everybody ate.

The goop was made from fish that the boss and the gap-toothed man caught while the oarsmen focused on rowing. Using their abilities to reinforce the fishing net if they pulled up something too dangerous. Uncle Joey would come up to personally butcher larger catches.

The oarsmen pretended to look away. Noah watched through the gap as the bearded ebony-skinned ability-user looked both ways furtively. He reached into his coat to pull out a mouse to show the boy with a gap-toothed smile before placing his finger to his lips in a shushing gesture.

The gap-toothed man placed the mouse back inside his shirt before fishing around some more. He then pulled out an opened confectionery packet, peeling back the wrapper to show the boy that chocolate was inside before pressing it into the boy's hands.