The Island of The One Sought- Part 2

The moon hangs high in the sky over The Crow's Nest, just about half full. "They always look at the full moon as a sign, never suspecting the rest." The Navigator- if her title can be distilled to such a term- thinks to herself. She makes a few more adjustments and lets the coordinates calculate effortlessly into position. "This one is my story, I wonder how it will go." Such uncertainty is rare, so even the sense of it paints this as an adventure. She doesn't need to leave the ship, but decides to do so anyway. First she finds her way to the deck, then she finds her way to the shore, precisely where she is meant to be. 

There is a table set up with a Go board. A stool is on either side. She cannot resist a good game of Omok, though no opponent is to be found. "Who is to say I can't make the first move?" She simply slides a black piece into place, in hopes of something blooming, and then examines her surroundings. The shoreline is relatively featureless, with sand extending in a straight line in either direction as far as the eye can see. If there are any clues to be gained in this way their presence escapes her. She finds herself bored almost immediately, quickly confirming her position and time beneath the sun. She turns back inland to possibly walk a ways when she notices a white piece on the board! Such a move being made beneath her notice should be impossible, yet there it is, standing out like a sore thumb. 

She squints suspiciously all around, but the featurelessness of this place is itself a feature; no one could have made that move while following the rules of her realm. She examines the board to see if there might be some strange automatic function to it, but there is none that she can detect. She decides to make another move, as a matter of both interest and experiment. Staring at the board for over 3 minutes reveals nothing, and she considers that she had examined the shoreline for less time. Once again her boredom drives her to try something else, this time walking a short distance inland, though keeping an ear out for any telltale shuffling behind her. The terrain is like a mirage, making it unclear if the sand extends indefinitely, or if there might be something else in the distance. 

She suddenly considers that her lack of observation might cause the anomaly of a move being made, and perhaps her partner cannot or will not show just yet. "If so, at least a game played in absentia will be fun and pass the time." Sure enough, upon her return a second white piece sits atop the board, in a bit of a novice placement, but certainly interesting nonetheless. As she places her third black piece, she hears a voice behind her "You came!" She is startled but gives no outward show of it, only turning around at a reasonable pace, to a recognized voice. She greets me with a smile. "I am so glad you came." I sheepishly move to the board and place my next piece, sitting at the stool. As she sits silently, I notice that her expression is flustered and I realize that she is unexpectedly tongue tied, or at least something like it. I find myself suddenly in a similar state, unable to speak further. 

The sun hangs high, in no hurry, it seems. We play game after game, with her consistently beating me, but with a smaller and smaller gap between victory and loss. Finally, I win. I consider that this might mark a good stopping point, but she makes no move to leave, either directly or via the narrative whisking her away. Instead, she changes the sides for our pieces, prompting me to go first. I make my move as normal, but then she makes a surprising response, placing her piece well to the side. I pause and examine her expression, but she is still uncharacteristically bashful, looking down whenever I try to make eye contact. A few moves into the game I stop trying to win as I notice she has done the same. I realize that she is spelling something in white, with my pieces as the shadow and, despite our language differences, I can read it. Over the span of the game, it simply says "Hi!" Perhaps there is more to our silence than meets the eye. 

Game after game proceed like this, as she lets me win seemingly as many games as she had won at first. She first communicates a message just for us, and then says, as our tallies reach balance: 

"만나서 정말 기뻐요."

"I am so glad to meet you."

The final character dazzles my vision as I soak it in. When I look up I am in bed, staring at the bottom of the top bunk. I feel a warmth inside as I turn to write our shared dream. 

"Our hearts on the board

We'll be found beating in time 

By white and by black

'He left with the moon!'

'As he is likely to do.'

'Still, should we stop him?'

'No, he will be back. 

And with him a new story

Something glorious.'

So we absconded

Turning a few placed pieces

Into an escape

We traveled the earth

Seeing it all in a day

As you are used to

We tested at night

Finding peace in the challenge

Heart beating with heart 

Heart beating in time

Such a simple thing to try

So small in its court

'Just a little left.'

'There will always be enough.'

'So the oil's pressed.'"

"We each have our purposes in this game

We each make our moves without being told

A tile moves without control of name

Shared meaning is garnered by being bold

Winning takes a second seat in the match

Communication here worth any cost

Within moonbeam's sparkle lies the last catch

So that not one character will be lost 

Through patient positioning we've secured

A whole in which we can each claim one part

Competition's spirit for now deferred

So the filled board may reflect our true heart

I hope that in short order you'll come back

So that we can speak despite pieces' lack."

"He disappeared as before, right in front of my eyes. I could tell that he got my message though, and that another 'chapter,' as he'd likely call it, is complete." The Crew of The 5 Wood take notes, wondering jealously, but not asking, what else she managed to spell out with her accumulated victories. They all knew that she had to balance the scales upon leaving, but they also knew what they each would do in her place, and that she was too smart to pick anything but the perfect message, under the circumstances.