Not the Sky Back Home

Halmond stayed crouched inside of the crate, listening to the passengers walking by, talking to one another about the journey they were all taking.
“Do you think the rumors are true?”
“They can’t really be selling Mythril on every corner…”
“…don’t be daft, my brother said he was able to find work as soon as he stepped through the gates…”
If it wasn’t for the eavesdropping, he would have gotten bored only hours after leaving the dock. “However…” he thought, “I might want to step out soon anyways.” His muscles were starting to ache from the position he was taking. Though he stood at 5’8”, the average height for a Calishite, he was no dwarf. “What I’d give to be three feet tall…” he thought to himself while opening the lid of the crate, just enough to let a thin line of light through, illuminating his dark eyes to the environment he currently occupied. He could see the space in front of him that was made to accommodate passing people, but that’s only what he could see. Obviously, there weren’t any crates on top of him, and to the sides he could tell that he was wedged into place, as every time the ship swayed he heard the other crates creaking to keep him in place. He shut the lid and settled down once again. “If only Marhok could see me now… Halmond crouched in the crate, staring at the darkness he was supposed to be apart of, seeing nothing but hearing the cries of his joints. He closed his eyes and tried to shut out the aching by imagining a better time.
“But I want to come out now.”
“Not yet. You have a couple minutes left.”
“But my legs hurt”
“I imagine it might, but that’s why you’re doing this.”
Halmond pushed open the lid of the crate and looked his mentor in the face, but Marhok instead returned the favor to his book, keeping his gaze away from the young boy poking out of the crate.
“I could be suffocating in here and you care about is that stupid book.” He started to climb out of the crate, placing his foot on the cobblestone floor of the basement.
Marhok closed his book, but kept his eyes on its cover. “I could tell you had not, from the amount of childish anguish coming from inside there.” He finally turned his head to Halmond. “If you cannot withstand five minutes inside a crate, then how can you expect to contain the patience to stalk a mark, scout out a building, or even gain passage on a wagon?” 
"You are a survivor, boy, we all are. And I'll be damned if I'm not going to teach you the talent you need to make it out of this sorry village and off to find life on your own terms."
He closed his book, leaving his finger poking in to keep the page, and leaned forward, locking eyes with Halmond."
"You'll be pinching the trinkets of the richest and snobbiest townsfolk of every town before you know it." The right corner of his mouth curved upwards, leaving his expression to resemble a light smirk. "Now, get back in that crate. Learn to ignore the pain." He turned back to his book and flipped to a new page, exacting his classic look of half-closing his eyes and silently mouthing the words he was reading.
Halmond continued staring at his master for another moment before lowering himself back into the crate and shutting the lid, delving back into the dark, cramped, void that he must learn to call hiding place. Marhok had allowed him to drill a couple of holes, “If you insist, not as if it would help…” for air. Halmond looked up at them, letting the glare of the light take over his eyes. The spots of light brought with them a likeness to the night sky, an idea which led him into a wonderful vision of the full night sky that shone above Waterdeep each night. He relished the moments when he could hike on the path leading south of town and up the side of the hill overlooking town. Upon reaching the top the sky would be so huge it would be an insult to the stars themselves if he looked at anything else. The soft grass lay waiting for him to rest his weary body and take an apt position staring completely upwards, the only way to truly feel like you are flying through the void. He would lie there for hours, searching the stars and letting his mind wander out past the furthest star he could see. It was only lying there that Halmond felt a peace that was unlike anything he felt back in his home and around the village.
Halmond lay in the crate, basking in this daydream until he felt pain again, this time in his foot which was pressed hard and flat against the wooden side. He opened one eye, and then another, slowly arriving back into this realm of reality. His foot escalated the anguish, Halmond could feel his toes trying to curl against the lack of space. Finally, he decided he couldn’t endure and shifted his body such that he was eye level with the holes.
He stared into the blinding light, letting his eyes adapt to the brightness for a few moments before seeing the walls of the basement once again. Orbiting his head around the holes, he managed to find a view of Marhok in his chair from the waist down. The book lay open on his lap, though his hands sit clasped together on his lap. Halmond poked out of the crate, propping the lid open with the top of his head. Now he could see Marhok in his entirety, slumped back with his mouth agape, a soft and rhythmic snore escaping his mouth. Halmond moved to step out of the crate, landing his feet softly on the cobblestone floor. He went over his masters chair and took the book, folding the corner of the open page before closing and placing it on the ground next to him. He then gingerly made his way to the ladder leading to the first floor, and finally to the outdoors. Upon opening the front door, he was greeted with the shadows of the evening looming over the rest of the village, as citizens moved about gathering food for supper by getting the last of their harvest into their homes. Halmond retreated from the bustle and made his way to the south path out of town. He hadn’t a moment to lose, dusk was soon to fall.
Halmond saw the sky as bright as it was that day. Eyes wide shut, he admired it from afar, his memory keeping the gap between the then and the now. However, moments later his eyes were opened by a lurch of the ship. They must have laid anchor, have we arrived?
He cracked open the lid of the crate to survey the hallway once again. This time, there was a lack of activity, instead, sounds of excited conversation floated down from on deck. Halmond stepped gently out of the crate and stretched out his aching limbs. “Here’s to you Marhok, you rusty old pitchfork” he muttered as he returned the lid to the crate and started walking to the stairs. Upon reaching deck, he saw the crowd of passengers flocking to the dock, each one taking a wistful look at the city of Mythrite in all its glory. Halmond, however, took a better sight, that of the night sky. It wasn’t the same sky from back home, but it was under this new one that he would make his legacy.