Darklett Odyssey - Sailors are Superstitious

It's been a couple days aboard the ship, and the waters have been rough. Storms have struck the ship several times, but the crew has persevered with little to no damage or injuries.

The crew is going about their post-evening meal duties, coming out of the mess area of the ship to go to their posts. Believe it or not, Darklett isn't scrubbing the floors. No, instead he's going up into the crow's nest to be lookout. It's been an uneventful last couple of days at sea, and the major wants to be the first to know if their time on the deep blue is close to ending.

It's not. It's really not, and things have just gotten more complicated. Dante arrives on the deck from down below looking a little taxed, rolling up his sleeves as he goes. That the ship's captain has taken sick isn't something he'd like to advertise; but it's kind of unavoidable, since this requires Dante to step into the position. Already there's a low buzz of talk about it among the sailors.

Darklett pulls himself up into the crow's nest, and there's a nice, stiff breeze, especially from up in his position. He holds onto the railing of the area, clothes and fur rippling with the wind. The sun disappears behind thick clouds, which become darker as the ship sails on.

"Darklett!" Dante calls upward, eyeing the clouds in the distance. The smooth motion of the ship is becoming more jerky, and there are some whitecaps visible on the ocean as the sky darkens. "You're gonna want to get down from there, mate!"

"...Yeah." Darklett doesn't even say this loud enough. But there's lightning in the distance, and he doesn't need to be told that being very high is a very bad idea. He just got up there, but he's on his way back down... When suddenly a gust of wind picks up, swooping to the ship and catching Darklett off balance. Lucky for him he gets back up off the ladder and into the crow's nest. Water starts pouring from the skies.

Now the deck is slippery, tilting steeply side to side. Dante makes his way across the slick surface with sure steps, going up a few steps to the higher deck in the rear, where the steering wheel is located. This he grips onto, a rung in each hand, straining a little to keep it in the right position while sailors climb down from the rigging. The sails have been furled up, and now except for a few they take cover belowdesks. Dante's eyes cut upward. Great, he's stuck. "Darklett!!"

Okay, the wind's died down a little. Darklett tries to slip down onto the ladder again, and gets a few rungs down when the wind picks up again. It feels like the tower is swaying with the force of the wind, and lightning begins striking all around the ship. Rain is coming down in torrents, seemingly all at once as visibility nears zero. For the moment Darklett hangs onto the rungs, keeping his body close.

Dante is going to be /really/ ticked if he has to go rescue that hare. I mean, who climbs to the nest right at the start of a storm? Seriously. The tod digs his feet against the wet deck to shove his weight into the stubborn wheel. You will do as I say! For now Darklett gets no assistance.

Chancing his way down a couple more rungs, Darklett manages to get down slightly before the wind picks up again and he has to hang on. He's a third of the way down, which means he's too far down to go back up but too far up to just drop as rain pelts all the crewbeasts still on the surface of the ship.

Poor, stupid buck. Dante growls a little and wrestles the wheel back to the right position, then lashes it in place with rope. He takes another coil with him, slung over his shoulder, as he goes across the deck, sliding a little, battered by a particularly large wave, aimed toward the base of the mast that Darklett is stuck most of the way up.

Darklett forces himself to go down another few rungs on the ladder, making sure he has a good grip before trusting it. The ship's rocking and the stiff winds don't help the matter at all as he inches his way down.

Dante gets to the base of the mast. The rope he knots off one end of at the side of the mast; something to keep him, or both of them, from being tossed over. And up he goes, then, nimbly, one hand over the other, to where Darklett is. "Having fun yet?" the tod calls out over the gale, grinning a little.

"What are you doing?" Darklett looks down at his now blocked path to the deck. Okay, good one, Dante, now what do you plan on doing?

"Saving your arse, probably," Dante responds. With one arm hooked through the ladder rungs, keeping him in place, he winds the middle of the rope around his waist, tying it off - then passes it up to Darklett. "Get that around you. /Don't/. Let go of the ladder, you sod."

Very cautiously, Darklett reaches down and grabs the rope, elbow going around a rung as he work on tying the rope around his waist with just one paw. Another gust picks up, whipping against both Darklett and Dante. He reaches down, carefully again, trying to tighten the knot around his waist.

"Ready?" Dante shoots up at Darklett with a bit of a growl. Water runs down over his face, eyes squinted.

"Ready?" Darklett looks down at Dante. "...Ready for /what?/ Climbing down? I could've done that without-" His shouting is cut off by a boom of thunder, and a gale blasts Darklett and Dante, one of the hare's paws slipping free of the ladder. When the gale dies down he falls towards the mast again and grabs at one of the ladder rungs, holding onto it for dear life. "Just /go!/"

That was funny. We know it was funny because Dante is just /cackling/, shaking his head, amused as ever as he starts to descend again, the stretch of rope between them a little loose as the pair climb down toward the deck, though it goes slightly taut a few times.

The wind and the storm have stirred up more than just the waters and the ship's crew, it would seem. Because there is suddenly a large *THUMP*... that shifts the boat. Or was that just the waves doing that?

They'd made good progress, but with a sudden wind and that thud, Darklett goes flying off. The good news is they're not that high up and he's not pulling Dante down with him. But he hits the deck and goes skidding across the slick surface, which might yank Dante down if he can't hang on.

"For /that/!" Dante shouts over at Darklett. No need to be alarmed, folks, it's just a flying hare. Dante braces himself against the pull and drag of a falling Darklett, then resumes his descent. A cautious look goes in the direction the 'thud' came from.

And then another thud! Well, this one's closer to a ramming, really. And it shifts the boat in the opposite direction, against the waves. The boat's hull groans its protest.

The crew dashes to the deck to see what the sudden jarring of the ship is coming from. One of them helps Darklett to his feet as they all brace against the second ramming of the ship. "What is that?" Dark calls out over the driving rain, trying to stabilize himself.

Dante grunts. "It's not a rock," he mutters, shaking himself, using a grip on the rope, still attached to the mast, to steady himself. He takes a few steps, working with the rocking of the ship, toward the railing, grasping it and leaning over a little to look down. Not that he expects to see anything.

And, of course, out of the water looms... admittedly probably the most terrifying things a sailor will ever see. It is all teeth. All teeth and gnashing jaws. Or at least it will be from Dante's perspective. If he doesn't scoot, he's going to make a pleasant snack.

Dante scoots, yes he does. The fox backpedals with a sudden cry of, "Bloody hell, SHARK!"

Due to Dante's movement to the railings, Darklett is actually tugged along with the tautness of the rope. He decides to lose this, though, untying himself and letting the rope fall down. "Shark?"

The crew is less questioning and more alarmed. "Shark?!" "Shark!!"

And one of them gives Darklett a look like he must be an imbecile.

A really, really big shark. A huge one, that attaches itself to the ship's railing instead of Dante, and rips a good chunk of it clear and free. And back into the water the shark goes.

Dante cringes. Sirius is not gonna like that. "Harpoons!" he shouts, and the call is echoed across the deck. One is handed to Dante, another is shoved at Darklett. Make the new guy do it, yo. The fox takes slow, advancing steps toward the spot on the railing that's now missing a massive bite-shaped piece.

Darklett takes the harpoon, looking at it and feeling rather... At home with it. That's good. He gets close to the railing and he looks over the edge, waiting for the shark to surface again. He side-glances at Dante unsurely.

The crew? They start rumbling as they steady themselves against the storm. Over the rain and the near constant thunder one can't make out what they're saying specifically, but there's a lot of evil glances at Darklett's back.

This shark is no flunky, though. The ship is rammed from behind, opposite the railing they are leeeaning precariously ooooover. And then there's a shout from below about some sort of leak. That's bad on a ship, right? Might want to shore that up!

"Bugger /me/!" Dante mutters, hanging onto the edge of th splintered rail to keep from going over. He backs up, points. "Get down there, plug that up!" And another jab of his finger, at Darklett and the others with harpoons. "Half on each side! Whoever gets the slaying blow will be /well/ rewarded!"

Darklett grabs onto the railing with his free paw, trying to keep himself from falling over. He nods to Dante and charges to the other side of the ship, eyes peeled over the railing, waiting for it to show its face again. Hey, a reward wouldn't be so bad, maybe. Some crew members scramble down to start bailing out and patching up the leak, but many stick around on the deck.

Still, though. Murmuring and gesturing towards the unwitting hare.

... Hey. Hey! There's a fin cutting through that wave towards the aft of the ship!

And in good ol' mass hysteria style, once it's noticed most of the harpooners go that way. "Dammit /what/ did I just say!" Dante growls at them. "Back to your sides!"

A young sailor with a bit of bravado chucks his harpoon toward the fin!

Darklett grabs the railing and watches everybeast run off, staying put to get prime positioning should it show up again.

The harpoon slices into the wave - and not the fish. Because it's gone. It's gone beneath the surface again. And then it is /there/. That little sailor with the bravado still stands at the railing and the shark is launching for him, jaws wide.

Everyone else jerks back - and no one has the sense to grab the poor little sailor. CRUNCH.

Darklett's head glances to the side just in time to see the shark jump up and claim the sailor. His ears pin down to his head, fur matted due to the torrential downpour, and lightning strikes once more, thunder booming out over any other noise.

And into the water the shark sinks, with its victim. Well, half of his victim.

The other half thuds sideways onto the deck. Blood.. everywhere.

Dante cringes. This is not going well. "He'll be back!" The sailors, though, they're not listening. They've turned their angry looks back at Darklett.

"'e's bad luck!" someone calls, pointing. "Toss 'im over!!"

Currently, Darklett is looking over the railing, harpoon at the ready. So he doesn't even know that they're talking about him; he's just waiting for his shot at the shark.

Dark's out of luck. The shark's enjoying his meal for the moment.

One of the sailors heads toward Darklett, harpoon in hands, and aims to whack the pole of the weapon out against the back of the hare's knees.

Darklett reflexively shoves the harpoon down against the deck of the ship, digging into it as he catches himself, his knees taken out by the harpoon to the back of them. "Hey!" Darklett turns around, hoisting himself with a little trouble back up. It's then that he notices the gathering of sailors. "No. No, no!"

"Toss 'im!" "Chuck 'im over!" Meanwhile Dante looks on, not interfering while a half-dozen sailors wrestle the harpoon from Darklett's grasp, and heft him. Let them get out their mutinous urges on someone who isn't him.

"Get /off!/" Darklett certainly isn't making it easy on them, elbowing and punching at the heads of the sailors that threaten to throw him overboard. "Get off of me!" And yet, they aren't dissuaded. Despite Darklett's flailing protest, the buck is hefted, swung, and chucked off over the side of the ship.

Darklett feels himself flying through the air... Through the rain he can barely tell when he's gonna hit the water, but at least he does it more gracefully this time than when he got tossed by the bird. He gets to the surface and treads water, eyes widened looking for the shark. Or a weapon.

Or the shark! Because there it is. It has broken the surface and it is swimming for Darklett. Nomnom, hare! Dante is at the rail again, and he just... watches. Train wreck syndrome or something.

Seeing the shark coming, Darklett decides to prolong the inevitable and start swimming away. But as he does this he spots a high wave tossing a harpoon towards him, which was floating on the surface of the water. He reaches out for it, and it's just out of his reach... Desperately, he kicks backwards, trying to get the shark in the snout.

Do sharks protest such treatment? This one does. With a snorting sound and a great shake of its head, the shark retreats back into the water. Sailors line the side of the ship, watching as their sacrifice just. Refuses. To be eaten.

Darklett swims a little farther as he feels his kick connect with the shark, sure he's about to die. He gets a hold on the harpoon and turns around, thrusting it out... Into water. He kicks his legs to stay afloat, being tossed around by the white-capped waves, trying to find the shark before it eats him.

The shark isn't long in circling back. Soon enough the fin peaks through the rough waters, waves splashing over it, the shark's mouth wide open and ready to take the second course of its meal.

With a near roar of a battle cry, Darklett takes the harpoon and jams it forward, aiming to pierce the shark from the top and down through its mouth.

The shark is stuck with the spear's sharp tip, blood flowing freely from the wound as it thrashes. Darklett has the harpoon ripped from his paws and the shark retreats down into the water again. He looks around him, trying to locate anything to defend himself with, and finds another harpoon nearby. He starts swimming towards it, long strokes of his arms and kicks with his legs propelling him ineffectively against high waves, but the harpoon floats closer to him, and he grasps it. His head scans the water again, the salty ocean stinging his eyes. No sign of the shark. The ship that had thrown him overboard is swiftly sailing off into the darkened horizon.

It's then that Darklett finds himself floating amongst the debris that the shark ripped from the boat. He tries to grab as much of it as he can before either it or he floats away. The harpoon goes between his legs for the moment as he takes off his shirt, and he grasps the harpoon tight with his knees and starts ripping pieces of his shirt off to tie to bind the jagged wood together. Waves toss him again, and he pants in exhaustion as he desperately treads the violent water, determined to survive.