To Ash, Nate Hummer looks like he hadn't aged a year since they last saw each other. Granted for her, it had only been a couple of days at most, but it felt like a lifetime. Admist the weirdness of time travel and saving the world and futures upon futures, it was nice to see a familiar face.

Even if it was his stupid face.

Ash surged forward at his stumble, catching him only seconds before he faceplanted on the hard wooden deck. He was icy cold to the touch, with goosebumps up and down his bare arms. The frost on his dark hair skimmed across her face. His lips were thin and pale, and his body heavy with the weight of unconsciousness. But he was alive and that was good.

For a second everything was quick in the cargo bay. But the silence was broken quickly by a sharp beeping from Nate's white watch. (Ash couldn't remember him ever wearing a watch but that was beside the point.) The sudden change in temperature had caused the screen to fog up, but luckily not outright break. With a wipe of her hand the display was revealed, but it didn't show the time. Instead it had cooridiates and a blinking timer that must have run out: the zeroes all flashed red.

And the next moment the ship lurched to the side.

Outside the boat the waves had suddenly without any warning, become restless. The water piled up building waves horrifically tall that crashed down the raft mercilessly. The ice raft flipped in a second plunging everyone who had just finished drying back into the water. The ship itself lurched to the side, throwing Felix and the sleeping Carl, blindly on to the soaked deck.

The sea animals had deserted them, in a quiet panic. Thunder boomed over head, lightning scratched the skies, and above it all another screech was heard faintly.

***

Start Main Chain Here! :)