For weeks the ocean offered only tests. Days passed with the sun a merciless coin overhead; nights came with fogs that made compasses lie; storms arrived like sudden verdicts. Once, a current tried to steal Sparrow into a reef groove carved by the bones of old whales. Jano worked the rudder until his palms bled; Pilar lashed what could be lashed; Finn sat on the stern and sang to the stars. When they finally pulled free, the crew understood that the sea did not give passage without being spoken to—softly, with respect, and always in return for a story.