Across the Ocean Main Quest

Across the Ocean CYOA: A young filly sets out to explore the Naue islands and oceans off the coast of Baltimare. What strange and interesting places lie beyond the horizon?
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The morning air was humid with a slight chill, as the sun had not yet risen all the way. Perfect conditions for adventure.
Of course, there was hardly a time that wasn't good for adventure.
There was one problem, however. Every adventurer worth her salt needs a good craft, and every good craft needs an equally good name. A ship with a stupid name would make a laughing stock of any serious adventurer.

The thing is, you're not that good at coming up with names. ...Or making a craft that can stay afloat for more than a minute.
But hey, that would be an issue for another time.
The title is everything, after all - or at least half the struggle, anyway.

Come to think of it, you wonder why you're trying to go this alone. Sure, saying you built the most awesome craft on your island all by yourself would be impressive, but let's face it: you aren't exactly the best craftsmare there is.

You could look around to see if there are any books - hopefully with pictures - on how to make your raft better.
You also think your friend might know how to help better, but you're not sure exactly where on your island he is. You don't think he could be too far away though.

You look through the few books you brought out to the workshop with you for inspiration, but you don't find anything useful after a quick skimming.
Maybe your friend could help you better.

You decide to try to find your friend Bodi. After a quick descent down the pathway from your house, you walk over to a small set of rocks sticking up out of the tide - his usual spot for meditation - and sure enough, he's sitting right there.
You're not sure if you wanna disturb his meditation, but then again he does this a lot, and you really need help with your amazing leaky sinky raft.

You're not sure if you should disturb Bodi or not. In fact, you seem rather torn between leaving him be, and getting him to help you.
You contemplate this for a while, tossing the idea over for a minute or so.
"Hey! Bodi!"
You got tired of waiting.
There's noo answer to your call, so you try it again. When he fails to notice you, you toss a pebble at his shoulder.
"Huh? Oh hey," Bodi says, turning to face you with a small smile.
"Sorry, I didn't hear you before, heh. Anyway, what did you want?"

"Could you help me out with something?"
A few seconds pass in silence as you stand beaming at Bodi. After he realizes you didn't have anything to add to the question, he leans his head forward a bit and raises his eyebrows.
"Yeah, sure. But, like... what did you want help with?"
Before he can react you belt out the reason you came over here a little louder than you meant to: You need help with your ship! Well, it's more like a raft, but a ship sounds more impressive. After blinking a few times to clear the slight ringing in his ears, Bodi nods and smiles.
"Oh, so you're working on your raft again, huh? Glad you're not giving up on it yet."
As the two of you walk back towards your raft, Bodi lists how he can help you.
"Well, I don't know much about shipmaking, man, but my guardian taught me the basics in case I needed it."
After you both arrive to your glorious craft, you put a foreleg around Bodi's withers and gesture broadly towards your, well, project, for lack of a better term.
"Huh..."
He pauses for a moment before smiling again. "Yeah, I can help you build a better one."
"Well Congrats!!" You shout excitedly, thumping him on the back. "You've been promoted to first mate, buckeye!"
"Heh, thanks," Bodi says after rolling his shoulder a bit. "But we're not sailing that anytime soon. It needs, like..." He pauses for a bit to chuckle. "to stay above the water. No offence, man, but we need to go get some straighter beams. And some more rope. Also, some kind of like pitch would be rad."

You nod and agree to get the beams if he can go find the pitch and rope.

"Sure thing, man. I'll be back in a little bit" Bodi says as he leaves you to your work. After he leaves, you rack your mind for where to find straighter beams... or anything else that would work for a raft's base.
Now, where to find some long, hard wood around here. You meander around the back of your shed until you see an old table. Your eyes light up when you see it. It's perfect!
Well, maybe not perfect yet, but it's a heckofa lot better than the kindling you made earlier. You're pretty sure that gravel would stay afloat better than what you had before.
You drag the table to your now empty work area and flip it upside down. There, that should do it! You also beef the flag from your old crappy raft and lay it on the ground next to the new and better raft.
Bodi said he'd go and get pitch and rope, but you still need some glue and maybe a few other things you can't think of at the moment.

You realized that you probably shouldn't have put the can of nails away, so you go get them and put the can inside the tableraft. And as for a sail... well, you have a blanket? Well, it's more like a canvas than a blanket. It was some ugly thing your mom used to use in the sunroom, but it's been in storage forever, so you figured she wouldn't notice it was missing.
You'll have to wait until Bodi gets back before you can put a mast up. Everything you have is too small to use, and the wood you think would fit is a bit too heavy for you to lift on your own. You keep the flag near the tableraft in the meantime however.
You know, standing inside this thing, you realize that it's a bit small to go sailing anywhere with. You might need to make it bigger somehow. You figure you'll ask Bodi about that too when he shows up again.
So... nails, sail, table, flag that we can't install yet... Oh wait, how's this thing gonna stay afloat? It's heavier than the bundle you had before. Maybe you should put something underneath it?


You wonder if you have any empty bottles or something similar around the yard you could use for the cause. You know that whatever you use, it has to be able to withstand the conditions of the sea, so that rules out the pool floaties you have. As you walk around the back of your house, you see some old plastic barrels that your dad used to use for storing cleaners in. Those might work!
About the time you get the barrels back to the work area, Bodi returns from his own search for materials. He has a small wagon loaded with jars of a black sticky substance, and a small coil of rope as well.
When he sees the progress you've made, he stops, looks between you, the barrels and the table and lets out a small chuckle.
"Well... I guess that works. It wouldn't work very well without the barrels though, so good thinking on that, man. But... the table looks a bit small for both of us."

You nod and tell him about the mast as well. "Ah. Well, like I guess we could try cutting it and adding some stuff to the center - like a piece of flat wood or some logs or something. And yeah, I can totally help with dragging a mast beam over."
After a good while later of working and sawing the table, you start to get hungry and realize that you've spent the better part of the morning working on your amazing raft. You ask Bodi if he's hungry as well, and you're answered with a nod. "Yeah man, I suppose I'm a bit hungry. Were you gonna take lunch?"
A lunch break does sound pretty good by this point. You could still work a bit longer if you really wanted to though.

You decide it's time for lunch. Setting down your tools, the two of you make your way back towards your house to raid the pantry for whatever you can find to eat. You think that there's a loaf of bread and maybe some cheese you could pilfer.
"Hey Bodi!" You call, spinning around and trotting towards some shrubs. On a whim, you decide that you need to forage for food, even though you have stuff inside the house.
"Yeah?" he responds, watching you curiously to see what you're up to.
"You're good at building... but do you know how to build food?" You ask with a laugh, grabbing some berries you forget the name to. Your mom uses these in food sometimes though, so you know they're not poisonous or anything.
'Heh, yeah," Bodi replies with a chuckle, "I think I can make food, man."
"I, am not a man." You retort, sticking out your tongue at Bodi. "I am a filly!" Your expression looks more comedic than you intended however, as you're carrying a branch of berries in your mouth. Bodi answers with another chuckle, shaking his head slowly and grinning.
Having found some good food, you both retire to your house for lunch, scavenging the pantry for some bread, apple juice and a few wedges of cheese. With your berries, it makes a good midday meal.
"Well," You begin to ask after the two of you finish off your meal. "ready to get back to work?"
"Sure. I'm up for anything, filly-man." Bodi answers with a smile.
You turn away to burp into your foreleg; your belly's way of saying it's full. You should probably get back to work if you wanna finish the raft today and have time to test it out, but you don't have to if you don't want to.

You want to get the raft done as soon as possible so you can test it out tonight or tomorrow, depending on what time you finish.

Returning to work, you manage to finish sawing the table in half, attach the center boards to the raft, and coat the entirety of the craft in the pitch that Bodi brought. Since it needs to cure, you actually aren't able to lash the barrels to the hull for a few hours.
You have other work to do, however. While the pitch dries, you begin crafting the cabin of the raft - Bodi mentioned that a cabin might be a good idea to keep things dry. The only thing you thought of to use was your toybox, but sacrifices are necessary sometimes for progress.
One messy room later, you manage to drag the toybox to the work area and remove the lid so you can get things ready to use it as a cabin. Bodi will need to coat that in pitch as well.
Whatever he's using smells terrible, and the smell is really strong. It makes you a little light-headed, but you're thankful that there's ventillation where you're both working.

When the pitch cures to a point where you can work with the table again, you and Bodi lash the barrels together with rope, and attach the mast pole. By the time you finish installing the cabin, you realize that the sun is already near the horizon. Time sure flies when you're having fun.

You stand back and admire your work.
"Wow..." you mutter. "It looks... really good!"
You couldn't be happier at your craft. Well, you could be, assuming this thing passes the float test. That would have to be saved for daylight though.
"Yup. I think it'll be rad once it's tested." Bodi says with a nod.
Well, there's still a little light outside. Not enough for working on the raft anymore tonight, but there's still things you both can do.

Bodi mentions that he should get going soon, as he doesn't wanna bug you anymore thiis evening.
"Hey, wait," You call, stopping him as he was in the process of packing up. "You wanna stay over? We can work on the flag tonight!" Bodi thinks for a moment before nodding.
"Sure thing. I'll ask my guardian if I can stay over. I don't think she'll say no, so I guess I'll be back over here soon. That way we can test this tomorrow! We need to do something about supplies. Anyway, Later, man!"
Bodi cleans up his area before leaving towards his cottage to see if he can stay over. He'll most likely be back at some random point tonight not too far from now.
In the meantime, you gather the tools that need put away for the evening and return them to their rightful spots before heading inside.
Once in your room, you spread a few blank pages across the floor and grab a few markers. It's time to get planning your awesome flag!
As you soon discover, though, coming up with an awesome design isn't as easy as it sounds.There are so many different things you could use! You suppose you should figure out what you want the flag to mean.

[at this point, the anons came up with an awesome idea for the flag.]

You spend a little while doodling ideas, but you can't seem to think of anything noteworthy. You need something that shows off your team! Out of ideas, you look down at the horseshoe that you were doodling, and you wonder... first you add a wing to one side, than the other... now it just needs something. After a few moments, you decide that it needs a star!
One star later, and you look back at your drawing, feeling excited. That'll work perfectly!
You're inturrupted from your achivement by a familiar voice.
"Hey, she said I could come over. I didn't see you downstairs, so I wondered where you-"
You didn't give Bodi the chance to finish as you sprung up, turned around and proudly showed off your amazing flag.
"Fee! I got veh fwag design!" You exclaimed, paper in mouth.
"Huh. Can I have it for a sec?" Bodi asked. You place the paper in his hooves, and as he looks at it you point out the design.
"See? There's a hoofshoe for me, and wings for you, and a star because it's cool. You like it?"
Bodi chuckles. "Yeah. I like it, man. It's pretty good."

You both head downstairs for dinner, joining with your mom for cooked cabbage and apples. The meal goes nicely, and you make small talk, but nothing too exciting ocurrs. After the meal, your mom helps Bodi get a bedroll set up in your room on the ground while you head to the bathroom.
There's nothing quite like relaxing in a poofy bubblebath, and you smile as you make the bath nice and bubbly. Bodi will be in for a bath after you're done.
After a while you finish your bath and head back to your room, nice and clean from the day's adventures, and ready for another day of adventure tomorrow. While Bodi takes his bath, you think about the raft and how cool it will be when it floats during your test tomorrow.
Bodi returns after a while, and flops on his bedroll as you sit up to look down at him. It's getting late, and while you could just go to bed now, you could also do something like talk about the name of the raft.

You lay in bed thinking about what to name your awesome raft. there's so many possibilities! You want it to be named something adventerous, as you plan on doing just that.
Bodi finishes his bath and enters your room while you're pondering names. Settling into his sleeping arrangement, he looks up at the ceiling, and you look over at him as you ask about names.
"So... I was thinking about what to name our raft! How does 'Summer Wind' sound?"
"Hmm... it's okay." He responds.
"What about 'the Adventure Bringer?"
Bodi scrunches his mouth to one side in contemplation. "Well... it's a bit long, you know?"
You frown slightly in thought and try to come up with more ideas. What seems like a long time passes in silence before Bodi speaks up again.
"What about 'Makawni?'"
"What?"
"Makawni. It means 'the wind'"
You look up at the ceiling, pondering the name.
"What about 'Freedom?'" you ask.
"Maybe," Bodi replies.
Well, it seems that you still haven't agreed as to what name to use.

The two of you toss around ideas for names for some time without really reaching a conclusive agreement.
"The explorer?"
"Hmm... What about Sand dollar?"
"Horizon?"
That last name seemed to strike a chord with you. You run the name by a few more times, getting a feel for the way it sounds.
"Horizon... the Horizon... I like it!"
"Mhm, I like it too, man" Bodi replies. "And it's neat because it also means how we're exploring th horizon with it."
It's settled. Tomorrow morning, you and Bodi are going to make a trial run of the Horizon. You also need to paint the name on the hull somewhere so everyone can know it's name.
But that will be tomorrow. For now, you try to not get too excited - you wouldn't be able to sleep otherwise.
A few more minutes pass in stillness before you speak again.
"Hey Bodi?"
"Yeah?"
"We should make hats tomorrow. I can be the captain, cuz the raft was my idea. You can have a cool bandana for your first mate outfit!"
Bodi chuckles at this, grinning a bit. "Sure, if that's what you want, man."
A few moments of relative quiet pass as you suddenly think of another question.
"Hey Bodi?"
"Yeah?"
"Why do you say 'man' all the time?"
Bodi makes a contemplative face for a moment before he responds. "Well... I guess I'm not sure. Like... uh, I guess I picked it up from my guardian Koko. I guess it just, like, stuck or something."
You respond with a quiet 'huh' as you mull it over while stretching a little. You had always wondered why he always spoke like that.
Things are getting quiet again, though the two of you aren't asleep yet. You could always call it a night now, or you could ask Bodi some more questions.

As you lay there you realize how tired you actually are from all the construction you've been doing. Maybe you can ask Bodi more about Koko tomorrow. As tired as you are, It doesn't take long at all to fall sound asleep.
The next day dawns just as brisk and humid as the last one, but at the moment you don't realize it from under your covers inside your room. By the time you wake up, you notice that Bodi's spot is already empty. He must already be downstairs.
The first order of business once you fully wake up is to use the filly's room. One pit stop later, and you're ready to head downstairs for some breakfast. You still don't see Bodi as you head into the kitchen and get some cereal ready. You wonder where he is for a bit, but you figure if nothing else he's probably back at his normal meditation spot. That colt likes the sunrise a bit too much, perhaps.
One quick breakfast later, and you're ready to go on another adventure! What should the first order of business be? It's a new day, and the possibilities are endless.

You head outside to find Bodi, and sure enough, he's in the same place he normally is in the mornings: on the large rock down the pathway from your house, in a small inlet where the water laps up around the rock's face. He claims it's the best place on the island for meditating. He's probably right however, as it is pretty calming there.
You need to get his attention again, but this time, instead of tossing a pebble at him you decide to drape over his back for the heck of it.

"Heeeeeey, ready for finishing the raft?" you ask excitedly. Today was the day you were going to test the Horizon! The anticipation was getting to be a little bit too much. You could already see yourself sailing across the ocean; sails raised, wind buffetting your mane and the salty air invigorating your body. You wondered how fast your raft could actually sail. You don't think it would be as fast as a boat, but a boat isn't as cool as the Horizon will be once it's finalized.
Bodi comes out of a meditative state and smiles, looking over at you before responding.
"Morning! And yeah man, we're going to finish testing that thing soon. Don't worry: it'll be seaworthy here in no time."
You giggle in giddy anticipation. Your excitement is paused for a millisecond as you remember something.
"Oh yeah, hey Bodi. We still need a paddle or something, right?"
"Mhm," he answers you. "And something to cover the cabin, I think. Do you have, like, a tarp or something we can use?"
You shrug. You're not sure what you have anymore.
"Alright. Well, I have a paddle or two at my cottage. I'll go get them if you wanna get the other stuff prepped for the test float."
You nod and hop off of him, trotting back to the workstation and your beloved raft. Let's see... other than a tarp of some sort, attatching the sail to the mast, making the flag and writing the name on the raft, you're not sure what else needs done before you test it out.

You wonder what your mom would say about your awesome raft. It had to be the coolest raft on the island! Then again, you did use a lot of her stuff...
You figure you'd ask her after it passes the float test. No sense in explaining the situation if all your hard work was for nothing.

Looking at The Horizon, you remember that you still need to paint the name on the side! Rushing into the back downstairs room of your house, you procure some red paint and a brush before galloping out to the raft. A few strokes later, and your raft is official! It has to float now: it has a good name. It would be stupid to name your craft only for it to sink on the first trial.

Well, that takes care of the name. But what was there left to to? You chew your lip in thought before it hits you: your captain's hat! Every good captain ever has a hat worthy of adventure. It just so happens that you have an old play hat your mom bought for you last year that will do perfectly! Rushing inside again, you find the hat and place it on your head.

>Item added: Plain Captain's Hat

Now that you have your hat, you... Oh yeah, Bodi needs a bandanna still! You look around for a while, but soon realize that you don't actually have any bandannas. Bummer.
Well, you have your captain's hat, so that's a good start at least. Bodi still hasn't came back with the paddle yet.

You think about where you can get a wicked cool bandanna for Bodi. The general store across the bridge might have one - you'll check to see if they have one the next time you're there... which might be sooner thatn later as you'll most likely go there anyway to get some supplies for your maden voyage. That is, once you get your raft afloat for good.
As you think about fashion accessories for your first mate, Bodi returns with the paddle.
"took me longer to get it than I thought," he starts explaining. "Like, it was pretty far buried under everything. Koko and I don't use paddles that often, man. We usually stick to boards instead, ya know?"

"It's cool. Oh, and did we need a tarp still? I couldn't find any good ones." you tell him before mentioning your lack of bandannas with an apology.

"Ah, well we might need to buy one or something. And It's fine, man. I don't have to wear a bandanna."

"No. You're getting a bandanna!" You explain, gesturing wildly. "my first mate needs an awesome bandanna! Even if I have to make one myself!"

Bodi responds with a chuckle. "Whatever you say, man."

The two of you then proceed to make the flag, painting and sewing a white horseshoe and wings - and a star - in the center of some red canvas you hoped your mom wouldn't miss too much. It's finished before too long, and the two of you hoist it up to let it fly free and proud.

"It's... beautiful." You say slowly, gazing up at the callsign of adventure. You feel a rush of energy surge through you as you look up at the flag, letting you know that the horizon awaits. ...you also realized that you gave your raft the perfect name.

"Well," Bodi asks. "ready?"

The time has arrived for the float testing of The Horizon, and you couldn't be any happier. You giggle repeatedly as you make a pathway to the nearest body of water, making sure there's nothing in the way of The Horizon.
Now, moving the raft itself was a little more tricky than you imagined, as it weighed a bit more than you realized. It was a struggle at times to drag the raft down to the water, but somehow, finally, you managed to slip the raft into a shallow and calm section of the bank, tying a rope to it so it doesn't drift away on you.

"Ohmygosheeehheeheheewedidit!" You squeal, hopping in place glefully, watching your craft sit in place above the water. Bodi smiles and adds "mhm, it floats, but we still need to see if it'll hold up to any kinds of pressure or anything."

The two of you then proceed to hop, stomp, dance, rock back and forward, and otherwise stress-test the raft like suger-crazed foals. The raft holds surprisingly well! You do notice that you're going to need to put a tarp over the cabin after all. Oh well. Maybe the store will have one that you can afford.

"Well," Bodi says in his usual calm demeanour, "It floats."
No dip, Bodi.

Well, it seems your craft is official after all!

You nod eagerly, ready to be off on your grand adventure... though you should go get a tarp first. And a bandanna.

"you really want that bandanna, don't you," Bodi says with a laugh. You scrunch your face and tell him that he needs to just accept it already. He's going to wear one before the day's over with.

You beam at Bodi and ask if we can use the brand new raft to sail to the store.

"Nah man, remember?" Bodi replies, Pan's is on the top of that big rock face on the other side of the bridge. We'd have to sail a ways away before we could find a good place to moor. We'd be better just to walk it this time."

That's right. You remember that the best way towards Pan's Primitives and poltices, the only general store for a good ways around that side of the Naue islands, was by land. That's just how the topography was. You didn't know why they built where they did, but pan was weird anyway.

You remember that you need bits in order to buy anything. You think you have about 40 or so, but you're not sure exactly what you have.

You tell Bodi that you need to go back home to get your bit pouch before you can head to the store. He nods as you flop off the raft and into the shallow water, splashing everything around yourself and causing Bodi to chuckle before doing the same.
When you arrive back at your house, you trot back into your room and scrounge for your bit purse. It takes you a minute or so to actually locate it, and you drape it around your neck before heading back outside to meet Bodi on your porch.

>Item added: Small coin purse

Along the way, you count up your bits to see what your shopping limit is.

>Total # of bits = 43

"Well, it's not a whole super lot," you say to Bodi. "forty-three bits. I hope the tarp isn't expensive."

Bodi shrugs. "I dunno, man. It shouldn't be."

"Cuz I still need to buy you that bandanna!"

"Pfft" Bodi retorts, snickering a bit. "You and that bandanna..."

The two of you keep walking along untill you come up to the bridge. It spans quite a length, and it's hard to see the other side from here.
"Oh," Bodi says, "Koko said she wanted a few things from Pan's for something she's working on. She already has a tab so I don't need to bring anything." You shrug in approval: you don't mind staying a little longer to get some stuff for Bodi.

From here it'll still be a good half hour or so to go over the bridge and climb up to the store. You can pass the time in quiet, or you could find something to do or talk about to keep you interested.

You have a hunch that the tarp will cost a lot. Hopefully it won't break your bank, but you aren't sure. Maybe you could ask your mom how much a tarp costs? It'd be quicker to go home and check than it would be to trek all the way to the store, only to be disappointed.
    The two of you decide to turn around and go back to your place. You need to ask mom if she knows how much a tarp costs, and if it's too much what you can do to earn bits.

    You find your mother Heartwine, a tall unicorn with a white mane and pinkish red highlights at her desk in the main floor of your house.

    "Hey mom," you begin, "how much does a tarp cost?"

    "A tarp?" Heartwine replies, making a few more notes on some paper she was writing on. "Why do you need a tarp, dear? Are you covering something outside?" You say you're trying to keep water off of your raft, and you need a tarp. Heartwine turns to look at you and Bodi in slight confusion. "Um, I think they're about 40 bits or so, but I'm not sure exactly. You have a raft? Oh, is that what you were doing out in the backyard yesterday?"
    You nod eagerly. "Yup. We're gonna explore!"

    Your mom looks at you in concern. "Dawn, you know that the waters around here can be pretty dangerous. I don't want you going out too far from shore, alright honey? Bad things can happen out there, and I've heard talk that there's been some strange magical storms out on the waters. Nopony can explain why they're there, and I don't want you getting hurt."

    "It's okay mommy," You respond with a wide smile. "Bodi's coming with me! He's good at sailing, and he said that we're going to go to the shore."

    Your mom tilts her head slightly, a concerned smile still visible on her features. "Alright... But do be very careful. I want you back before sundown, you hear? The sea isn't so kind at night if you don't know what you're doing."

    You nod before mentioning the need for bits. You only have 43, and would like to make some extra money for supplies.

    "Well..." Heartwine begins. "You could always clean the house." You frown slightly at this, and your mom responds with saying that the garden could use some weeding. There's also some flowers that she needs delivered to her friend, if you feel like playing gofor. Each job would probably bring you about 5 bits, and the delivery job about 10. What do you do?