Mutiny
A hungry crew divides, and Kai must hold the wheel.
By the twelfth day, the crew had been arguing about the same question for hours.
Should they keep sailing toward the island, or should they finally turn for home?
Diego had been pushing the others to give up ever since the storm hit them.
He demanded that Kai change and steer the boat back toward the coast.
"We have been starving for days," he said, "and still there is no island."
Two of the crew had slowly begun to agree with everything Diego said.
They insisted that Kai was chasing a childish dream that would kill them all.
Mara and Lena, however, still believed in the chart and stood beside Kai.
The little boat had into two groups that no longer trusted each other.
For a whole day, the two sides had been trading angry words across the deck.
Diego walked up to the wheel and demanded that Kai hand over control at once.
"I have followed you far enough," he said, "and now I am taking us home."
Kai stood his ground and refused to move away from the wheel.
"You agreed to reach the island," he answered, "and I will not break that promise."
For a moment, it seemed that the two men would come to blows on the deck.
Then Mara stepped between them and reminded everyone how far they had already come.
"We have been fighting the sea together," she said, "so why fight each other now?"
Her calm voice reached something deep inside the , frightened crew.
Diego lowered his fists, but the anger had not fully left his tired eyes.
"Three more days," Kai offered, "and if we find nothing, we turn back together."
The crew had been waiting for some kind of hope, and they accepted his .
An uneasy peace returned to the Petrel, though the between them was thin.
That night, no one slept deeply, and every heart carried its own quiet doubt.
None of them guessed that the very next morning would change everything they believed.