MAGO - Stardust Crusaders X OC

Chapter Nine: Friday, December 2nd

The next day was equally bright and warm, and Sana couldn't feel her legs any more. The boat was too small for the seven of them, that was obvious, and she was the second smallest person there. She had no idea how the others must have been feeling. Probably a lot worse.

At least Sana had slept a little. Once the night rolled around, everything was so much colder, and so, so still. After a few hours, she'd awoken, freezing cold, and ended up watching the moon over the water for a while. Usually, the moon brought peace, but it hadn't last night. The night was icy and unrelenting, with silence just waiting to snap. Sana didn't like that at all. Something was so ominous about it.

But now it was day, about ten am, Sana thought, and the sun was a bright white in the sky, just as it was yesterday. Nothing had really happened at all. Everyone was tired from only half-sleeping, and being cramped into the same position for hours on end. It was unfortunate, but a part of the journey. If it got them closer to Egypt, then it got them closer to Egypt. Still, it was a lot of time wasted.

Sana regarded the rest of the group. She, Mr Joestar and Anne were the only ones awake. Everyone else was dozing, although Sana had no idea if they were really asleep. It didn't really matter. Mr Joestar and Anne were talking about journeys, and he handed her a flask of water.

Anne had done well, given that this was the first time she'd ever been on a sinking ship. To be fair, it was also Sana's, but it wasn't the same. Although she couldn't help but wonder if Mr Joestar had ever been on a sinking boat. With his transportation luck, Sana figured it was likely. How many plane crashes had he been in? Three, by this point? Who knew what else there was?

Anne spat her water out, her eyes wide.

"Hey! That's the last of our water!" Mr Joestar said. He was right, probably- and she'd just spat it out, without reason? No, that wasn't likely, so-

Sana followed Anne's eyes to find an enormous boat fast approaching them. How had she not seen it before? She'd been surveying the horizon absentmindedly, yet she hadn't seen it at all. Maybe she'd somehow missed it. That was fine, it didn't matter. They were finally going to be rescued, and Sana would be able to stretch her legs, and hopefully feel them again.

"Everyone, look!" Anne yelled, pointing out the ship. Sana wasn't really sure what kind it was, but it looked like it would be well-stocked with provisions, and would have a large crew. Finally. Some peace and some space.

"Woah," Sana exclaimed. It really was huge. A freighter, she thought, that was the word. A vast freighter had come to rescue them.

"A freighter!" one sailor said.

"I- I didn't see it at all," another said, confused. So that made it two of them. Sana frowned. That was odd.

A quick glance around the group told Sana that Jotaro didn't seem convinced, either. Jotaro wore a heavier frown than usual, and Mr Joestar had noticed. "Jotaro, what are you concerned about?" he asked. "Do you think there might be another enemy Stand user on this freighter, too?"

Jotaro shook his head. "No. I was just wondering why no one's showed themselves, even though the ramp is down."

He was right. The boat had pulled up alongside them now, and the ramp was down, but nobody was there. That was strange. Maybe the ship was running on a skeleton crew, and everyone needed to be up top because of some malfunction or another that they were fixing at this exact moment, and the person who'd lowered the ramp had had to go and help.

That was it, the one scenario Sana could think of, and it was such a stretch that she couldn't even convince herself of it.

Nonetheless, Polnareff jumped on board. "They came this far to rescue us! There has to be someone on board. Even if they're all Stand users, I'm getting on this boat."