Pi wakes so weak he can barely move or think, pinned to the tarpaulin as the lifeboat rocks under a warm, overcast sky. He realizes his collapse has an obvious cause: he has had no water, food, or sleep for three days.

He forces himself to accept that Richard Parker is truly aboard and directly beneath him, not a dream or delirium. The certainty initially destroys Pi’s hope, but the finality oddly steadies him; with nothing left to lose, Pi stops fixating on fear and focuses on survival.

Thirst becomes Pi’s overwhelming torment, worse than the idea of the tiger. Driven by the need to drink, he decides a regulation lifeboat must contain emergency supplies and begins a painful crawl toward the middle of the boat to find fresh water.

At the edge of the tarpaulin, Pi cautiously peers over and sees the hyena behind what remains of the zebra, watching him. Pi finds he is no longer afraid of the hyena and instead feels anger and contempt, believing the hyena will soon face consequences.

Pi uses Richard Parker’s presence to explain the animals’ earlier, unnatural restraint: the hyena’s hesitation, its small territory, and the brief, tense coexistence with Orange Juice. He considers why the tiger has been passive for days and concludes sedation or seasickness are the only plausible reasons, then sets the question aside as he takes stock of the lifeboat in search of water.