Indebted (working title)

Who we become (part 3)

Near the ship's bow Amobi stumbled across another corpse. He'd killed this one. He could tell by the way his leg had been twisted into an unnatural position. He'd broken that leg. He tossed the body overboard and felt the warm sticky sensation of half-congealed blood on his hands. He quickly, almost frantically lowered a bucket into the water and started to clean himself. The sea's salt polled in his wounds and stung at him like needles, but it was worth it; the blood had to come off, and it had to come off now. He knew he'd only done what was necessary, but that didn't make the blood any less red it didn't make his hands stop shaking as he plunged them into the bucket over and over. The breeze was gentle now. Birds sounded off in all directions, some swooping down to pick pieces from the corpses that had been heaved into the sea. Amobi tried to ignore them, but his ears would not allow it, to him the birds sounded as though they were calling from mere inches away, his head throbbed with every caw. He used to like birds, but knowing they were hear to feast on the dead... the men he and the others had killed, made him feel sick. He caught a glimpse of one, a seagull had landed on the back of the dead slaver who's body bobbed in the water like flotsam. It dug its beak into the nape of the corpses neck and ripped at a sinewy peace of flesh before tearing it away and pointing its gaze skyward to swallow it whole.

"Damn this eye", Amobi Said under his breath. "Damn this eye!", he repeated as he scrubbed his hands more furiously. The world was blurry through his one good eye, but he always saw enough... he always saw more than enough. He fought against every impulse to vomit knowing that if he deprived himself of what little was still in his stomach, he'd likely end up as just another body for someone to toss over the edge. Maybe that's what he deserved.

"No", he told himself. "They were evil. They were monsters! I wanted to save everyone no... I wanted to save myself.". he sighed. His skin was raw now, all of his rough scrubbing had irritated it. He pulled his hand out of the bucket, they were still shaking and dripping with red tinged seawater. He had cuts on his wrists where a man had clawed at him as Amobi crushed his throat. Gashes on his back where he'd been hit with passing blows from swords. They will scar he thought. He was okay with this. The faces of the men he'd killed would be with him always... and now the marks would be too.

"Hey.". said a familiar voice.

Amobi turned to see Ekon trying and failing to mask a look of concern with a grin. For Amobi, it all about the tone people used, and even though Ekon had only said one word, the hint of a sad undertone in his voice told him that he was worried.

"Hey", Amobi replied

"I wanted to show you something. Take a walk with me".

Amobi looked down at his hands again, clean now but somehow still filthy in his mind, he reached for the bucked to dump and refill it but knocked it over instead. The blood and water pooled on the floor in front of him before slowly creeping back his way. He stood up quickly and took a step back. He was hyperventilating now, and he met Ekon's gaze with wide-eyed panic.

"Please..." said Ekon. "Take a walk with me".

Amobi obliged and the two of them strolled across the deck. On the way Amobi locked eyes with Louis who for a brief moment shot him a pleading look but then thought better of it, feeling that calling attention to himself might do him more harm than good. Melody had seemingly given up on speaking he merely bowed his head and starred at the floorboards. Perhaps he'd finally come to peace with his circumstances. Amobi hoped not. As kind hearted as he was he knew this man did not deserve peace. If anyone deserved to be floating dead out on the open ocean it was him, even if Amobi didn't have the heart to do the deed himself. Ekon stopped at the threshold to captain's quarters, the door had been all but destroyed by the storm, becoming something of a suggestion rather than a true barrier. They stepped through the gapping hole in the wood rather than pushing the door open and Amobi gawked at what was left of Melody's "collection" it was, to Amobi, a monument to madness. Art and weapons stolen from the people that these monsters had pillaged hung from every wall. He'd not just stolen them, he'd stolen bits and pieces of home and used it for decoration on his floating prison. A statue of Ikenga, the god of war and strength laid broken on the floor. One of his arms had been severed and the base had been etched with a large "M" insignia

"Melody", Amobi said under his breath.

Ekon held out something that looked like a thick curved pointed stick, that he'd found underneath Melody's desk. "It's an Antelope horn". He explained. "First thing I ever killed on a hunt was an antelope. I killed him on the first throw... they said was a natural. I wasn't a natural though. Truth is I'd practiced throwing it spear for months before I ever attempted a kill. I was hitting the targets I set up every throw, but that was never good enough for me. I did not want to just hit my target and leave it wounded... let it bleed out and catch it later when it finally drops. No... when you hunt, skill is a kindness, a better throw means less suffering. I wanted it to be clean, to be quick. She was Dead before she knew what was happening and I took a horn just like this one. These people aren't like us, Amobi. The things in this room, these trophies... they are not from merciful kills. They are symbols of starvation, of suffering of fear. Those men needed to die."

"And who are we to decide that?", Amobi asked.

Ekon said nothing for a moment, and walked to the door before stopping at the threshold and saying, "We didn't. They did, when they put us on this boat".

Amobi thought on this for a long time, and looked around the room for another moment before becoming too disgusted to continue. He started to leave but before he did, he made sure to grab the heavy warclub that was resting in the corner of the room.

Adaeze was exhausted. Her body knew it, but her mind did not seem to accept it. Every corridor of this place was cursed now. It was stained with pain, and despair, its hallways still reeked of death and human waste. She worried about this "goddess" or "messenger" or whatever she called herself. She worried if Tempest could hear her worrying, if she could somehow sense her absence of trust and read her thoughts. The woman could command the seas what else could she do. It was then Adaeze realized that despite freeing the others and killing her captors, she had never had a moment of relief from the suffocating feeling of having a destiny that wasn't her own. Her fate had changed hands from Melody, to the storm, to Tempest, never once allowing her to truly reclaim a feeling of control on her own being, while Tempest did seem to be well meaning, her seemingly creating a windstorm by mistake when Zion first addressed her, did not exactly inspire confidence. "The others seem to trust her.", she thought maybe they saw something she didn't, or maybe they're just willing to accept hope in any form when the alternative is being dead in the water aboard a ruined slave ship.

She felt a familiar brush against her leg and looked down to see it was Melody's cat again. Adaeze did not know why the thing had taken such an interest in her. She kneeled to pet her and the cat purred loudly before scurrying off into the darkness.

"Looks like you made a friend", Said a male voice from behind her.

She tuned to see a familiar face but not one she could put a name to.

"Cats are pretty good judges of character", said the man.

Adaeze looked at him skeptically and said, "I notice she left when you showed up.".

The man smiled and said, "I'd like to think that was a coincidence. I was on the deck when I saw you coming in here and I just wanted to say thank you".

Adaeze looked at him in confusion. "Thank you? For what".

"Getting us out if the hold, without you we'd have ended up like the others, you know, the ones that drowned."

Adaeze winced as if the his words had stung her

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to--"

"It's fine."

There was a pause and then the man said, "My name is Ekon".

"Adaeze", she replied.