Cresting Waves

Zayn is woken by an awful rocking of the boat, so bad that it literally pitches him out of his hammock. He hits the floor with a thud and almost immediately begins to roll in the opposite direction as the ship tilts.

"Aaaggghhh!!" He slides right into the side of the wall and hits it hard. He's definitely going to have bruises from this. He doesn't even want to attempt to get up, and it's a good thing he doesn't because at that moment, something heaves the ship up with such force Zayn feels his body go airborne.

The rest of the day shift crew have also been forced out of their slumber and onto the floor, most of them staggering on sea-steady legs and making a break for the door. "Tempest!" One of them shouts, and Zayn's blood runs cold. He can't swim. Nobody down here knows that...If they capsize, or, heaven forbid, sink-it'll be a one way ticket to a watery grave for Zayn.

He needs to get on deck. He needs to find Liam.

Zayn stays on all fours to get to the door. He figures he's got a better chance of staying upright like that rather than getting to his feet.

Up the stairs and onto the deck isn't much better than being below. Waves crash against the side of the ship, raining icy water over everyone aboard. Zayn struggles to his feet, squinting and wiping salt water from his eyes as he tries to search for Liam, Harry, anyone.

"Zayn!" A hand grabs him by the back collar of his shirt, pulling him against a broad chest. Liam. "What the hell are you doing?! You need to be roped down right now!"

Zayn tries to open his mouth to say 'what?' and gets a lungful of seawater instead. Liam tugs him over to a mast, lashing a rope around Zayn's waist tightly. Said rope is tied to the mast, with a considerable amount of slack to allow for movement around the ship. A tether. Glancing around him, he sees that almost everyone else is also tied to the ship, to keep them from being tossed overboard. But Liam doesn't have one.

"Liam, where's yours?!" Zayn shouts over the rush of water hitting the ship. "Liam!" He circles his hand around Liam's arm where he's tugging on the knot around Zayn, securing it.

Liam doesn't answer, just presses a wet kiss full of salt to Zayn's slack lips. Zayn watches as he bounds away across the deck and up the stairs to the helm, heart racing.

Another mighty wave crashes against the ship, throwing Zayn to his knees. He grapples for the rope around his waist, using it to tug himself closer to the mast and holding the base of the rope tightly once he gets there. Shaking water out of his eyes, he searches for everyone important to him. He can barely make out the smudged silhouettes of Tommo and Liam at the helm, and Harry's tall dark head stands out not too far from himself, tied to the same mast.

Calum and his boys are at another mast, valiantly trying to get the sails wrangled. Zayn doesn't see Luke anywhere, but he hopes the faerie is tucked somewhere safe and dry. Which clues him into someone else who's missing.

"Harry!" Throwing manners out the window, Zayn cries out Harry's given name, reaching for the other man's tether and giving it a tug, trying to get his attention. Zayn watches as Harry secures something to the railing before turning, his wild eyes meeting Zayn's.

"Malik!" Harry staggers towards him on the tilting deck until he's close enough to grip Zayn's forearms, tilting their foreheads together. "Do you have a knife?!" Harry shouts at him.

"What?!" Zayn shouts back, confused. "Wait, Harry, where's Charlie?!"

The large dog is nowhere to be seen, and Zayn hadn't noticed him downstairs either. He hadn't gone overboard, had he? Harry frowns, his already pouty mouth pushing out further. His wet hair is plastered to his face, green eyes ringed in red from the burn of salt.