Right to work.

Johanna bolted awake at the sound of a loud thump, immediately rolling into a crouched position and looking around for the source of the noise. Her conscious mind didn’t catch up with her body’s reflexes for another few seconds, and the previous day’s memory hit her in a sudden rush. Right. She was in King’s house. She slept on the floor. Johanna looked down and noticed that her feet had been untied, which meant it was morning, and King had woken up before she did. As Johanna slowly stood up and stretched out, King suddenly dropped back into the room.

“You’re up. Good. Follow me.” King walked past Johanna, opened the door, and left. The captain was somewhat shocked at his utter lack of tact, but it was probably best not to waste time, so she didn’t voice a complaint as she followed along after him.

Walking out of King’s house, the door swung shut behind Johanna, and looking back, she could only barely make out the outline of the entrance carved into the trunk of a tall tree. King’s architectural skills continued to impress her. “Are we heading to the well, then?”

King didn’t respond, but the way he walked off into the jungle, Johanna knew she was meant to follow him, so she did. More refreshed and level-headed than she was yesterday, Johanna began to get something of a feel for the terrain, although navigating it still proved somewhat difficult. She accumulated a few scrapes along the way, but never completely lost sight of King. Granted, he was clearly taking his time for her sake, but still, she no longer felt completely helpless navigating the thick vegetation.

After about a half-hour of walking, the pair eventually arrived at their destination: a crystal-blue pool of water in a peaceful clearing. Johanna paused at the treeline to marvel at the sight, but was brought back to reality when King roughly shoved a wooden bucket into her hands.

“Fill that, and the other one there,” He pointed to another bucket on the ground next to the pool, "Then take them back. Search to the left of the door and you'll find a hidden chest with two empty buckets. Switch the empty buckets with the full ones, then bring the empty ones back. I'll meet you here when you're done."

Johanna nodded. "That's it?"

"That's it."

Johanna took the bucket to the edge of the pool and looked in. The water looked clean and perfect. Johanna carefully knelt down next to the pool, and lowered the bucket into the cool water. The bucket was not especially large, holding a little more than a gallon of water, and Johanna didn't foresee much difficulty hauling the pair back through the jungle. As she turned to grab the other bucket and fill it as well, she noticed that King had vanished. She had expected as much, to be fair, but it was still unsettling how easily he had slipped away, leaving her alone once more.

With two full buckets in hand, Johanna began the trek back to King’s home. Backtracking wasn’t particularly difficult, Johanna’s strong navigational sense was always a boon at sea, but the walk back was slow and deliberate. Although each bucket had a simple rope handle, neither had any sort of lid or covering, and if she moved too quickly or, gods forbid, stumbled, she risked losing much of the water. As a result, the trip that took a mere half-hour one way took twice as long heading back, and Johanna’s shoulders were sore when she eventually placed the buckets next to King’s door.

“Okay. Hidden chest.” She spoke aloud to remind herself of her next task, then set to work searching. The chest was camouflaged more than hidden, but she found it quickly enough, switching out empty buckets for freshly filled ones. She didn’t know why King felt the need to leave a pair of buckets at the pool, but he had already made it very clear that his instructions are to be followed to the letter, so she collected the empty buckets, and set off once more through the jungle.

The third trek took the least time, and Johanna arrived at the pool again shortly. She unceremoniously dropped the empty buckets next to the pool, then looked around for King. He wasn’t there, or at the very least, she couldn’t see him. Perhaps he hadn’t expected her to complete her task so quickly, or perhaps whatever he was doing had taken longer than anticipated. Either way, it looked like she finally had a few minutes to herself. She sat down at the edge of the peaceful pool, took in a deep breath of jungle air, and took some time to plan out her next moves. She had no doubt that she could continue to follow around King for a while, trading favors and eventually reaching some sort of long-term arrangement, but becoming too dependent on the man might prove dangerous. So perhaps it was time to start looking for ways to become more self-sufficient?