Silver Waves

Twenty One

The Mek exploded into action at Nami's gesture. Ren spread her hands wide, and the predators of the deep began to slowly circle the ship. Great whites muscled their way through the water in wide arcs, tiger sharks and thin, whip-like blue sharks swam in close rings, and barracudas darted dangerously through the crowd. More than a few of the pirates took notice, and shouts came from above.

One sailor, alone, leaned a little too far over the ship's railing, entranced by the strange phenomenon, and Sprigg whipped out a hand, the kelp bracer on her arm unfurling, and, before the man could make a sound, it wrapped around him and drug him into the water. None of his comrades saw; he was a nonentity, a low ranking deckhand who was barely noticed at the best of times. The splash he made was mitigated by Nami, who manipulated the water to close silently around the fallen man.

Under the water, the deckhand opened his eyes, his vision surely distorted by the waves and Sen's strange light, but he saw the creatures that the Tribe had become clearly, and his eyes widened. He screamed, but it came out soundlessly, a harmless trail of bubbles. His blonde mop of hair waved as he struggled, attempting to free himself from Sprigg's unrelenting grip.

Nami swam up to the man, stopping just inches from his face, and smiled, flashing her pointed teeth.

The sailor fainted at the sight, going limp in the water, the last of his breath rushing out of his slack mouth, and Sprigg released him. Ren called to a shark, and the creature hungrily carried the deckhand away, having been commanded not to bite into its prize until it was back in the dark, deeper water, so the blood wouldn't alert the rest of the crew.

The Mek had taken their first victim.

-

The Tribe lurked in the shadows below the ship for a while longer, waiting for another target. They had decided to attempt to pick off as many men as they could, one by one, until they were discovered, and had to fight openly. Hopefully, by then, they would have thinned the ranks a little.

As the moon rose higher by degrees, Sprigg dragged six more curious, solitary, unimportant men into the sea, and they were dispatched in the same manner as the first. One of the men was the owner of the superstitious voice Nami had heard earlier, Ked. He was short and so overweight that Sprigg had to use both strands from her kelp bracers to keep him still and trapped. The tough fibers of the plant strained as the sailor struggled, and for a moment, it looked as though he would free himself, before Lena swam up to him, and bent her head, her lips close to his ear.

The man froze, fear painted across his face. Lena smiled, and his eyes widened in panicked terror - a look that the girls were beginning to enjoy - as she let out a long, high-pitched screech, one so sharp that only the other Mek could hear it, and the pirate's eardrums burst. Blood began to leak from his ears into the water, and the man screamed, sobbing soundlessly with the pain, gasping for air, but finding only water to fill his lungs.

The thin lines of crimson trailing from his ears dissipated quickly in the choppy sea, but a trio of barracudas honed in on the coppery smell, and swam up to investigate, swimming in circles around their possible prey. One stopped beside Ren, and almost seemed to listen, waiting for her command. At her nod, the large, silvery predator swam once around it's companions, and they muscled the man away, his body relenting to the pain and confusion, not even trying to struggle as he faded into the dark ocean outside of the glowing circle.

Unluckily, the man that Ked had been speaking to aboard the ship, Elan, spotted his comrade's limp form being driven away by the shallow-sea predators, and the Mek had to abandon their plan of picking off the crew in singles. Every man was keeping close to another, afraid to be taken alone. Many of them wondered how and why Ked had abandoned the ship. It was chalked up to fear, and the pirates decided that their cohort had thought he could swim to land, and get away from the frightening happenings around the Silver Wave. His death was not mourned; the cold-hearted marauders only bemoaned the fact that his share of the work would now be on their shoulders. They still had not noticed the six other missing men, until a sailor called for someone who didn't respond.

-

Nami was waiting for someone. Silent, staring at the underside of the ship, listening to the subtle splashes that indicated the actions of her friends, her shining tail reflecting the blue glow of the ocean floor beneath her, Nami listened. Finally, it came.

Jerrick's voice.

For nearly an hour, his men had begged him to leave his cabin, shouting that something strange was happening. At last, Nami heard the creak of his door and the heavy tread of his boots on the planks, accompanied by a susurrus of shifting footfalls: sailors scuttling out of the captain's path. Following the sound of Jerrick's footsteps, Nami found that he had walked to the center of the deck, and stopped, probably surrounded by his underlings. All was silent for a moment, before Jerrick's voice, calm and controlled, came drifting through the waves into Nami's ears.

"Why," he said coldly, "is my rest being interrupted?"

Some man started to speak, but he was quickly shushed by the rest of the crew, who didn't want to draw their captain's ire. The question had been entirely rhetorical.

Jerrick continued his monologue, his boots clopping as he paced back and forth above Nami's head. "Didn't I expressly forbid anyone to disturb me?"

"Sir-" Nami knew the voice that belonged to the man who spoke next, though its fearful, quavering quality was new.

Nale.

Her already-simmering anger reached a boiling point as she remembered her tormentor's shark-like smile. She enjoyed hearing his unease.

Turning, she met her friend's eyes, pointed upwards, and then pointed to herself. Her message was clear: he's mine.

It was time for the Mek to reveal themselves. The real battle was about to begin.