Scrub, scrub, scrub and soap. A simple rhythm that gave Thiemo the chance to think about all that had happened on Dragmire as he stood on the deck of the Northwind. A chain on his left leg took the option of swimming to land should any come into range out of his mind. And even if it did, Aura was down in the galley, spending her time preparing foods of all varieties. Even meat, something he had wanted to spare the filly of. But their captors or owners, depending on who you asked, were griffon pirates. So the menu consisted of barely anything except that. Rabbit, pork, and chicken. For a stupid remark about cannibalism with the last one, he had earned himself a bruised temple.

“You’ve missed a spot there, slave.” And then there was the pony who he had to thank for that: Trixie. Thiemo had been cautious when she said she knew a safe way from the island, but that she would sell him and Aura to pirates was something even he hadn’t expected. Under false claims that this was a trading ship, she had lured them on board where they were taken hostage immediately. “And when you’re done, you can refill my drink.”

Thiemo tried to ignore the unicorn that laid at the edge of the railing in a deckchair and enjoyed the ride she had paid for with the bits she earned from the pirates. “The last time I saw you, you could walk on your own pretty well.” This was apparently not what Trixie wanted to hear, and without further ado, a small electrical pulse shot through the chain at his leg. Thiemo gave way a little and had to support himself with the broom.

Trixie waited patiently until he stood straight again before she levitated her glass over to him. “Do I have to make myself any clearer, slave?” Thiemo just grumbled and grabbed the glass with straw and umbrella out of the air. A bucket full of dirty water in one hand, the glass in the other, and the broom under the arm, he disappeared under the deck and stepped inside the small chamber for utensils to the left. Unfortunately, there was nothing here he could use as a weapon; he had checked already. A quick glance over his shoulder told Thiemo that he was alone, and he quickly dipped the glass into the water in his bucket. A bit of this strange chemical from the shelf gave the drink a green flare, and he went upstairs again, pleased.

Trixie lowered her sunglasses she had pulled out of her head a while ago and watched him as he walked towards her. “You’re welcome.” She just nodded and placed the drink on the small tray at her chair. Why the pirates had something like that didn’t matter to him. Satisfied, he went down to sluice out the broom and could only hear in the distance how the blue mare began to gag. But it was enough for a grin.

It was only a matter of time for Thiemo now. The human knew that the reason why the pirates had not touched Trixie was because she wielded magic, and unlike him, they couldn’t simply disarm her. Now she was trapped on this ship just like Aura and him. As soon as these cormorants were far offshore, Trixie would be put into chains as well, and they would get the rest of their bits back. For thinking that she was so smart, Trixie had stepped into a very obvious trap or she had expected that and prepared something. Thiemo held out hope that it was the latter one since he would rather fight with her than with one of the twelve crew members of the Northwind. Ten griffons and two diamond dogs. The dogs were booty of the pirates like them at one point but seemed to have accepted their fate. Their ankles were no longer decorated with a chain, and they were granted a fair bit of freedom. To put it short, their wills were broken. They were the guards for Aura, which made it impossible to coordinate with the filly since they would tell the Captain about it immediately.

These two were now staring at him as he came into the galley and emptied a small bowl of soup. The griffons took their meals separately from them in the crew room. Basically the third of four rooms on the ship. The last one was the cabin of the captain, a well-fed example of the griffon species, almost so fat that his stomach was sliding on the ground. Thick cheeks graced his black, feathered head and a small moustache on his beak. The latter was clearly fake and more than once had fallen to the ground in front of Thiemo. But no one said anything since they didn’t want to risk the wrath of the captain. Wrapped in his red jacket with golden buttons, he sat in his chair all day long and fed on more supplies than the rest of the crew combined. And that was the biggest problem. The key to the chain, which was long enough to reach across the entire ship, was on the desk of the stuffed turkey. So he had just two choices to get it. At night, when everyone besides the designated guard was asleep, or at the moment they moved against Trixie. Surely they would do it all together to get it over with as quickly as possible. It was clearly the smaller timeframe. Both scenarios had the problem of the chain itself. It clearly gave away where exactly he was.

With a deep breath, he slammed the empty bowl on the small table between the vegetables and smiled briefly at the two dogs who looked at him from the corner of their eyes while they plucked a chicken. Aura sat to the side and was kept busy peeling onions. In that moment, he had an idea, but he had to pull Trixie on his side for that. After all that had happened and the little prank earlier, it wasn’t going to be easy. Yet it was their best shot. “I’m going back to work,” he said to Aura as he stood up. Hector, one of the diamond dogs, followed him with his eyes as he disappeared down the corridor.

On the deck, Trixie reclined in the blazing midday sun, an empty bowl of the same soup on her tray and seemed to be snoozing. Thiemo stepped in front of her so that the sunlight no longer landed it to her body and snapped his left hand against her muzzle. Startled, she jumped up in her chair, pushed the bowl off the tray in her panic, and took of her sunglasses. “How dare you disturb the Great and Powerful Trixie?”

With a grin, Thiemo sat down on the ground. “Well, I just wanted to ask how you liked your last meal.” Confused, she looked at him, then at the bowl on the ground.

“It was a simple soup. Nothing special. Trixie has expected more from her money. But what do you mean with ‘last meal’?” And now he had caught her.

Now he just had to be carefully not to befriend her too much. “Well, you don’t really think you will enjoy this luxury much longer, do you? I expected you to be smarter.” She wanted to say something, but no words left her mouth. He had to say, she imitated a goldfish fairly well. Quickly, Thiemo checked if they were alone. This had two effects. For one, he was checking that no one was really listening, and it also made Trixie think he was really worried. One of the griffons was in the crow’s nest, too high to listen to what was spoken on deck. Another one was at the steering wheel and a third one was stretched out over some boxes and was sleeping, noticeable from the loud snoring that could be heard over the waves. Probably yesterday’s nightly guard. “I mean, you’re just as trapped here as we are, right? I think they will wait until tonight when you sleep, and then they will overpower you and just take everything. They are pirates, aren’t they?”

Satisfied, Thiemo watched the color disappear out of Trixie’s face as she swallowed. “They… They can come. The Powerful and Great Trixie will handle them. And why do you even care?”

“Wasn’t it ‘Great and Powerful’?”

She glared at him angrily. “That is not the point.”

“Actually, I don’t care. But it is more entertaining to watch a fight than seeing a unicorn getting turned into nocorn.” At his words she, quickly reached for the appendage on her forehead as though she wanted to hug it.

“They wouldn’t! It’s forbidden…”

“And who would stop them? Your princess who’s sitting on her fat flank in her castle all day long? I don’t think so. Also, we are three days out on the sea. We should be about halfway there about now. That means three days without land in both directions. Sure, you could take the dinghy…” Both their looks fell on the holey piece of wood that was swinging in the wind. “But no one can bucket that fast. And then there are the sharks as well.” Thiemo pretended to sigh, and Trixie began to nervously tap her right forehoof on the floor. “Very well, good luck.” With that, he began to stand up and managed to walk at least three steps.

“Wait!” Trixie called out for him. “Trixie know she wasn’t very… friendly towards you, but you can’t let them do that to the Great and Powerful Trixie!” Thiemo had expected that she hadn’t thought of this situation, but neither had he expected her to fall at his feet. He had planned five more minutes of treatment to get through her act of confidence where she would claim that she could handle it. But he couldn’t forget to be cautious now either. He had already been burned by her once.

He turned around on one heel and smiled down at the unicorn. “Well, of course something could be done. Did the Great and Powerful Trixie ever want to own a ship?”

While it was unbearably hot on deck during day, it was ever so colder at night. Not like in the desert, but the wind wasn’t carrying the same heat with it anymore. Would Thiemo have been allowed his coat, he wouldn’t have to rub his shoulders with his hands now. But just like his staff, it was in the claws of Captain Fake Beard. Blakkur was his name. Thiemo had some problems with the names of griffons, and that wasn’t just because he didn’t like them. They were little tongue twisters that probably only could be pronounced right with a beak.

The guard walked past him against without so much as a glance in his direction. After all, he thought the human would be asleep. Thiemo was lying at the railing, waiting for the moment that Trixie would strike. He had told her some bullshit about parley, the right to challenge the Captain for the command. Any moment now, she would step out of her hammock and take out the guard. In that same moment, he thought that he heard a body hitting the hardwood. “About time,” Thiemo said and stepped into action.

“Haste makes waste,” Trixie harrumphed and stepped out of the shadow of the mast. “But Trixie is a wizard, and wizards never arrive too late.” Thiemo stopped and stared at her a few seconds with wide eyes. “What?”

He shook his head. “Nothing, just help me with the fowl here.” Thiemo grabbed the griffon below his forelegs and dragged him over the deck.

Trixie followed him, flabbergasted. “With what?”

“What do you think?” Thiemo stopped and adjusted his grip. “Feeding the sharks.” The pony stared at him, horror reflected in her eyes. “Come on, do you want him to wake up and fall in our back?”

“But you can’t just… that’s wrong!” Thiemo rolled his eyes.

“So is selling people.” She winced. “Or buying people and keeping them as slaves. And what do you think they do with the ships they capture? Hector and Waldo down there aren’t here voluntarily to play servants for these griffons. I bet they are here since they were pups and these pirates have slit their parent’s throats and threw them into the sea.” Trixie swallowed hard. “They are pirates, oh Great and Powerful Trixie, no stewards on a luxury liner.” The paws of the unconscious griffon were wrapped by a bright pink aura of the unicorn, and they lifted him together over the railing. “Hold on!” Thiemo quickly grabbed at the waist of their victim where an epee was wrapped in a sash. “So, off he goes.” With a small push, the griffon went overboard, and a splash told them that they no longer had to worry about him.

“And now?” The unicorn was clearly nervous.

Thiemo grinned. “Now we’re going to visit the blimp in his cabin.” They sneaked over to the door in the wall that was at the ridge where the steering wheel also was. He nodded at her one last time before pushing the door open and entering the room. Nothing in the world could have prepared him for what he saw there. The captain, in a blaze of glory, was lying on his back as one of the griffons seemed to be... roughly riding him. Both griffons looked panicked at the newcomers before the rider jumped off the captain and threw a blanket over himself. Thiemo blinked and tried to get the disturbing image of gay griffons out of his head, with limited success. “Umm… This is mutiny… yes!” Seeking help, he looked over at Trixie, whose face was deep red. Thiemo was sure that his face wasn’t better off at all. “Paws in the air?” He pointed the epee at the two griffons five meters away from him, who still stared at them like deer in the beam of the headlights. Of course, deer from Earth. Slowly, Blakkur did as he was told, which left nothing to imagine. “Damn, cover that thing!”

“What… W-What are you doing?” the cumbersome griffon stammered while trying to get into a sitting position. Just as Thiemo saw what he was planning to do, his pistol and epee were already flying over to Trixie, who had put a hoof over her eyes and only slightly peeked through them.

In that moment, the other griffon decided to show his head behind the Captain and watched the scene. “Well, we—” He was interrupted by a light cough. “Pardon, I mean, the Great and Powerful Trixie is now taking over the command and declares the Northwind as her own by the law of parley.” Both stared at him, confused, since none of them could know what parley was. “Would the gentlemen be so kind to make themselves presentable and walk over board?” The fat griffon threw himself off the bed, where he turned around and landed on his legs, finally managing to cover his privates.

“A captain leaves his ship only in one way: dead.” He tried to swell his chest, but the weight of his stomach pulled him down after a few seconds. “If you have a spark of honor, give me a weapon and let me fight for my life.” Thiemo grabbed the pistol out of the air and checked it.

He pulled back the hammer of the old blunderbuss and threw it back to Blakkur. “Here, take your shot.” An aghast scream came from Trixie as he caught the gun and aimed at them.

“This was a big mistake, human.” A clicking sounded. Then another and one more. “What?” Thiemo used the moment of confusion and stepped towards the Captain. Blood spluttered out of its beak as the epee pierced through the griffon’s chest.

He moaned and gurgled. “No, a mistake was to mess with me and my family.” Thiemo put a foot against the griffon and pulled his weapon out with all his force, throwing the Captain on the bed again where he collapsed. Without wasting a second, he held the weapon against the throat of the other griffon. “I give you five seconds to open the window, and I want to hear a loud splash.” Quickly, he went over to the large panorama window at the stern of the ship, opened it, and jumped out. Only as the splash could be heard did he lower the epee. Thiemo didn’t know much about griffons or birds, but flying with feathers full of water was hard, if not impossible.

With a sigh, he went to the desk of the dead Blakkur. Next to the nautical maps and everything needed to read them was the key for his chains. In one quick move, he freed himself from it and searched the room. Trixie still stood in the entrance, seemingly paralyzed by what just happened. Next to the entrance was a wardrobe and a chest, the only other pieces of furniture in the room. The rest was covered by precious carpets and souvenirs of their raids. Including the coat of a zebra.

Thiemo headed directly towards the wardrobe where he, much to his relief, found his coat and staff. The bloody epee he put into the old wood and swung his loyal weapon around. “That’s better.” Next was the chest.

The second the lid opened, and he wanted to laugh out loud. The thing was filled to the brim with bits and jewelry. Including some of his with the runes. “Trixie demands that you do not touch the loot.” The unicorn stepped towards him with the epee flying in her magic.

“We’ll discuss that later. We still have seven griffons and two diamond dogs below deck we have to take care of.”

“Will you send them overboard as well?”

He shook his head. “This is a large sailing ship. Alone, we have no chance to correctly navigate it. Also, can you read nautical maps?”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie has many talents.” Thiemo raised a brow. “But this isn’t one of them unfortunately.”

“Then, my dear, we should hope that someone aboard does.”

Author's Notes:

It's finally over. I always thought it was kind of a honor if your story makes it to the feature box. It's a curse. The whole weekend I couldn't read a sentence without a notification popping up about a new comment or fav. I always thought that had to be the dream of every author on this page. Well, it's a good feeling to know so many others love your idea/story. But the downside is the high expectations you have to fulfill. It's a lot of pressure actually.

On a totally other note I'm a bit... angry? Don't know really. I mean I put a lot of work in Journey. My other story was just a thing I did in a few hours because I was bored and JBL said I should write something like that. Yes, I blame you JBL! So I find it kind of sad that these stories get so different attention. "The Impossible" feels to me like I sold myself like a cheap hocker, while I'm so proud over every reader I get with Journey. I hope it was understandable what I wanted to say.

Thanks to Gron for translating this chapter.
Special thanks to JBL for proofreading and editing.

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