Once the wind calmed down again, Ibas loosened up a bit, shaking the stiffness out of his body. He lifted his head up hesitantly, but was careful to listen for any humans nearby before slowly lifting his head above the crate he was currently hiding behind. Much to his dismay, there didn't seem to be even a single mouse scampering around at the moment. Even though he had eaten only a few hours ago a single mouse was barely a snack for him! Why couldn't rabbits live on this boat. He had primarily been fed those at the lab and they lasted a lot longer than mice. He supposed he could try sneaking a fish away from the storage, but he wasn't sure if it was worth the risk. He didn't even know what fish tasted like, he just knew it came out of the water sometimes, and humans liked to eat it.
With a disappointed sigh he settled back down in his small warm spot behind the crate, wondering if there would be more mice if he took a nap. As he tucked his head behind his wing, he was startled back up by the loud stomping of a human heading down the length of the ship. He didn't see what the human was doing, but as long as he wasn't noticed he didn't think it really mattered. All they ever did was move stuff around, and occasionally catch a couple of fish over the side of the ship. But as the man walked past as second time, Ibas felt curiosity coiling up inside him, encouraging him to follow the human. And of course he knew this was a bad idea, but he never had much practice with self control and stealthily slithered behind the human, careful to keep himself behind hidden behind the objects on the deck.
The human went into a small cabin at the front of the ship, and Ibas drew himself close to a hole in the wall made by the very mice he had been eating all this time. He listened, wondering if he would even be able to hear anything or if this was a waste of energy. But it seemed the mice had unintentionally made a perfect place for snooping, and the voices of the humans echoed very clearly through the rodent hole, and Ibas heard a short conversation along the lines of " We're getting pretty close to shore.", followed by " I know. "