Morning came. Noah stretched inside the boat. The seashells he'd gathered yesterday clattered against his feet. Noah spread the map out again. Near the side of the beach, there was a drawing of a tiny hole.
"There... let's go over there!"
Noah pointed his finger at a dark crevice at the edge of the beach. Lin yawned from beneath the water. 'What a pain. Why do you want to go into a dark place like that?' Still, Lin pushed the waves and moved the boat toward it.
The boat stopped near the crevice. It was a small cave. Noah hopped out and cautiously stepped inside. Since the water flowed into the cave, Lin was able to follow him. It was very quiet inside. The only sound was the occasional drip, drop of water from the ceiling.
"Whoa..."
Noah suddenly stopped. Shiny stones were embedded in the cave walls. Noah pulled out his silver spoon and tapped one of the stones. It didn't budge. Feeling mischievous, Lin shot a thin, sharp jet of water at it. One of the stones popped right out and fell into Noah's palm.
Noah was so startled he fell back onto his bottom.
"Huh? The stone fell!"
Noah tucked the stone carefully into his pocket. Lin laughed to herself. 'It's just a glowing rock, kid. You can't even eat it, so what's the big deal?' But seeing Noah so happy made Lin feel pretty good too.
Further inside the cave sat another old wooden box. This one didn't look like it had drifted in from the sea; it looked like someone had hidden it there on purpose. Noah grunted as he tried to pry the lid open. Lin used water pressure to shove the gap in the lid open with a crack.
Inside the box were a pair of sturdy leather boots, some fishing line, and a small mirror. Noah had never seen a mirror before. When he saw his own reflection, he was so shocked he fell backward again.
"Who's this? Is someone else in the boat?"
Noah shouted, checking behind the mirror. Lin wanted to laugh until her sides split. 'That's you, you dummy!' Lin created a bunch of bubbles to blur the reflection of Noah's face. After wrestling with the mirror for a while, Noah finally seemed to realize it was him. He gave his reflection a big grin.
"Hello, Noah!"
Noah tried to put on the leather boots, but his feet were still way too small. He placed the boots neatly in a corner of the boat. Then, he tied the fishing line to his silver spoon and tossed it into the water.
"Water! I'm going to catch my own fish now!"
Lin was speechless. 'Do you really think you'll catch a fish with a silver spoon and no bait?' Nevertheless, she herded a small fish swimming nearby and sent it right toward the spoon. The fish got tangled in the line by mistake and was hauled onto the boat.
Noah danced with joy. He seemed to think he was actually a master fisherman. Watching him, Lin thought to herself—with this kid around, there would truly never be a dull moment.
Noah spent a good while giggling at the fish he had caught. He seemed to think that tying a fishing line to a silver spoon was a stroke of absolute genius. Lin watched the spectacle from below, swaying her tail lazily.
"Hey, I herded that toward you. It wasn't your skill."
Lin spoke through bubbling water, but of course, Noah couldn't hear her. The boy pulled out the shiny stone he had tucked into his pocket earlier. Inside the dark cave, the stone emitted a faint blue glow. Noah held the stone up to the mirror. The Noah in the mirror was holding a stone, too.
"Water, look! Now there are two stones!"
Noah reached out to grab the stone in the mirror. When his fingers touched the cold glass surface, he tilted his head in confusion. Lin found the sight so ridiculous that she used a stream of water to tickle Noah's ankle. Noah burst into laughter and toppled over.
Just then, a strange sound echoed from deeper within the cave. Creek, creek. It sounded like old wood screaming. Noah stopped laughing and pricked up his ears. Lin tensed up, too. The vibrations in the water felt different than usual.
Another small hole was discovered beyond the cave wall. Noah crawled toward it on all fours. Lin thinned out her body as she felt the water passage narrowing. Beyond the hole was a small space, and there sat a solitary, weathered rocking horse.
"A horse! A wooden horse!"
Noah, excited, hopped onto the rocking horse. Lin was dumbfounded. Riding a rocking horse inside a boat—she wondered if he'd lost his mind. But every time Noah rocked the horse, the stones embedded in the cave walls began to glow brighter. It was as if the movement of the horse was waking the cave up.
Lin instinctively felt something was wrong. Dust and pebbles began to rain from the cave ceiling. Lin quickly extended a stream of water and snatched Noah around the waist.
"Hey! Get out now! It's collapsing!"
Noah shrieked in surprise as his body was suddenly yanked backward. Lin tossed him onto the floor of the boat and conjured a powerful wave to shove the vessel out of the cave. The moment the boat cleared the exit, the entrance collapsed with a deafening thud.
Noah lay flat on the boat's floor, staring blankly at the caved-in entrance. His hand was still clenched tight around that one shiny stone. Lin broke the surface, panting heavily.
"You brat, you're going to be the death of me."
Noah stayed still for a long time, clearly shaken. Then, he opened his palm to check the stone. It wasn't glowing anymore. It looked like an ordinary black rock. Looking disappointed, Noah tossed the stone into a corner of the boat.
But Lin saw it. The moment the stone touched the floor of the boat, the old wooden planks seemed to become just a little bit sturdier. Lin stared at the stone with an intrigued expression.
The boat left the beach and headed back out to sea. Noah lay down under the leaf roof he'd made, touching his face while looking in the mirror. Lin attached herself to the bottom of the boat again and began to swim slowly.
The sea became quiet again. Noah glanced at the black stone he had tossed into the corner of the boat. It had definitely glowed before, but now it looked like a common rock you'd find on the side of a road. Noah poked it with his toe.
"Hey, why aren't you sparkling anymore? You're boring."
Lin snorted from under the water. 'Do you think that thing changes based on your mood?' Lin bumped her body hard against the bottom of the boat to check its sturdiness. It definitely vibrated less than before. The wooden planks felt heavy, almost like steel.
Noah sat at the stern, fiddling with the fishing line again. He looked like he was debating whether to tie the mirror he found to the line instead of the silver spoon. Lin was horrified.
"If you throw that, it'll shatter instantly, you dummy!"
Lin shot a jet of water right into Noah's face. Noah burst out laughing and wiped his face with his sleeve. He put the mirror down and instead hugged one of the leather boots. They were still too big to wear, but he seemed to like the feel of the leather.
Just then, a strange sound echoed from far out at sea. Hummmm, hummmm. It was a vibration like a massive swarm of bees. Lin lifted her head from the water to look toward the source. Beyond the horizon, the color of the water was changing. It wasn't blue; it was a region turning yellow, like honey.
Noah spotted it too.
"Water! The sea is yellow! Is it something yummy?"
Noah opened his mouth wide and reached out toward the yellow sea. Lin tensed up. That place was known as the 'Golden Reach.' The water there was as thick as syrup, making it incredibly hard for a boat to escape once it entered. Lin tried to turn the boat, but the current was already sucking them into the yellow liquid.
As soon as the boat entered the yellow zone, its speed plummeted.
"Huh? The boat won't go!"
Noah tapped the side of the boat. The yellow water gripped the hull with a sticky hold. Lin had to swim with ten times more effort than usual. She grumbled.
"This isn't water, it's sugar water! I can't stand this stickiness!"
Noah, on the other hand, was excited. He reached out to scoop some yellow water to taste it. Lin quickly splashed a droplet and knocked Noah's hand away.
"Don't eat it! You'll get a stomachache!"
Noah pouted, but instead, he picked up the black stone from the floor. He made a motion to throw it into the yellow water. Lin panicked. That stone was making the boat stronger; he couldn't just throw it away.
Lin yanked Noah's arm with a stream of water. Noah gripped the stone tight so he wouldn't drop it. At that moment, a blue light leaked from the stone once more. As the blue light touched the yellow water, the stickiness vanished, and it began to turn back into clear water.
The moment the blue light touched the sticky water, a hissing sound erupted. The sea, which had looked like yellow sugar water, turned transparent and opened a path. Lin seized the moment and thrashed her tail hard. The boat shot forward like an arrow.
"Whoa! The stone did magic!"
Noah, thrilled, held the stone high in the air. Lin let out a sigh of relief. 'Magic, my foot. You're just lucky.' Lin hated the feeling of the sticky water against her body, so she swam as fast as she possibly could.
But then, something strange happened. The yellow water that had touched the hull began to harden, forming a shiny yellow trim along the sides of the boat. The old wooden boat suddenly looked a bit expensive. Noah scratched at the yellow border with his finger.
"Is this... gold?"
Noah blurted out the word 'gold,' though who knows where he'd heard it. Lin snorted. 'Does gold put food on the table? It's probably just a clump of hardened sugar.' Yet, even Lin could feel it. The boat was much lighter than before. It felt less like it was floating on water and more like it was flying.
Just then, a massive vibration resonated from beneath the yellow sea. Lin looked down. Something like giant mechanical wings was rotating underwater. It was a massive machine shaped like a bee. The thing was sucking up the yellow water as it approached the boat.
"Hey, kid! Look at that!"
Lin shouted, but Noah couldn't hear. Instead, Noah screamed when he saw giant bubbles rising from the back of the boat. The mechanical bee poked its head above the water. Its metallic eyes flickered as it looked back and forth between Noah and the boat.
Fearless as ever, Noah pulled his silver spoon from his pocket. He waved it at the mechanical bee.
"Go away! This is my boat!"
The mechanical bee made a buzzing sound and flinched when it saw the sunlight reflecting off Noah's silver spoon. It seemed like a sentry guarding the yellow water. Lin gathered a jet of water and blasted it right into the bee's eyes.
"Don't mess with my brat!"
The mechanical bee, seemingly dazed by the water blast, spun around once and sank back into the depths. Noah, convinced he had chased away a mechanical monster with a silver spoon, stood tall with his hands on his hips.
"See? I won!"
Lin was dumbfounded. 'Sure, you did it all.' Leading the way with her tired body, Lin finally pushed them completely out of the yellow region. Once they hit the blue sea again, Lin shook her entire body to get rid of the stickiness.
Noah sat back in the corner of the boat and polished the black stone. The stone was quiet again, but the yellow streak on the side of the boat remained shiny. Noah pulled out the mirror and smiled, looking at the reflection of his face and the yellow-trimmed boat.