Random Writing

Sea

The world's oceans have been replaced by vast forests inhabited by strange creatures. You are on an expedition to find a lost ship in what used to be the middle of the Atlantic.

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They tell me it was called Artemis, and it was lost nearly twelve-hundred years ago at the bottom of what once was the Atlantic Ocean. It set sail, full of wealthy passengers who had paid a good fortune to cross the vast waters and now someone else, a descendent of one of the passengers perhaps, has paid a good fortune to discover exactly just what happened.

My team consists of three people one of which will be completely useless and is only coming because the Director insisted. The other is my partner, Malia. She and I have been inseparable since her parents abandoned her seven years ago and mine took her in. She is the sister I never had.

"You all ready to go yet?" she asks striding up to where I lean against the arm of the lone, torn couch in the newly refurnished office. The customer- Collin I'm told his name is- sits at the far end, casually avoiding me.

I pick myself up and take a few steps forward, swinging my blade excessively. I smile to myself when the man still seated on the couch flinches. "You're the one we've been waiting on, Lee." I turn to the boy. "You still coming with?"

He nods rapidly. "Yes please." His voice wavers betraying how nervous he really is. I smile again. This man has known nothing but comfort his whole life. He doesn't know of the hardships me and my family went through. He has probably never left his precious little city.

I nod and turn to face Malia again. "Let's get on with it then. I'd like to be home for dinner."

Lee smiles and follows me out of the building and into the cold, harsh winds of mid-winter. Snow covers the ground in a blanket of white. In this weather it is easy to imagine the world is the same as it was two hundred years ago when the Greenlands were once large bodies of water.

The only sound to be heard is the soft crunch of boots on week-old snow and the light patter of water falling daintily from the tips of the trees. For now, that is a good thing. When we get further into the Green, it is better to hear than to be deaf to the world around you because if you tune out for even a second, it could mean your death and your partner's.

The great trees approach quickly and we take shelter underneath them just as fast. Birds don't haunt these woods as they do others. They are smarter than that. They know that these woods are home to none but the beasts.

"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Collin asks.

"Of course I do. I have a map." I wave the flimsy piece of parchment at him.

He sighs. "That's not a map. That's a child's drawing."

I look down on the few flimsy lines scribbled on the page. It makes perfect sense to me, but I grew up in these woods. I know every path, every tree, every speck of dirt on the ground. Even covered in snow.

"You aren't the one who needs to read it, Collin," Malia says saving me from having to answer him. "Kay can read the map and that is all that matters."

"Can you?" he asks her.

"Shhh," I say before anything else can be said. I hold up my hand in a fist and place the other on the top of my axe. Malia knows to get down and be silent but the man does not.

"What is it?" he stupidly asks.

"Get down and be quiet," I hiss, my eyes scanning the trees around us. I send a quick glance to the map before looking around again. Then I hear it. The growl. The whine. The noise that tells you when death is near.

I raise three fingers in signal to Lee. She will know what to do- how to get him to safety. Her soft curse is followed by the shuffling of footsteps behind me and their quiet decrescendo into silence once again.

I stalk forward, my axe now drawn and ready. I can hear the monster and it is only a matter of time before I can smell him too.

It doesn't disappoint. I'll give it that. The horrendous smell- a hideous blend of rotten eggs and body odor- reaches my nostrils just seconds before its face appears in the trees ahead of me.

The first thing I notice is its eyes. Disgusting, bulbous monstrosities set in place above its nose which drips snot into its wide open mouth. Foot long tusks protrude from its bottom jaw and saliva dribbles slowly to the ground.

I smile. "Hey there."

It lunges and I leap out of the way, ducking into a roll and coming up behind the dumb thing. For all their appearance, they sure aren't the smartest things. "Over here."

The beast spins in a circle, its pointed tail swinging in a wide arc behind it and nearly cutting down the nearest tree. Again, it charges missing me by miles. I take the opportunity to leap into the nearest tree and drop down on top of the thing when it runs back around. It squeals in surprise and I howl with delight.

I live for this. I was born for this.

I raise my axe above my head, gripping the monster between my legs and swinging down with all my might. The blade sinks into its back and its yellowish bloods sprays out of the wound. I beat the thing again and again with the blade of my axe, more and more blood pouring out of the wound each time.

Before long the beast is dead. Its howls die out slowly but surely and eventually I pull myself away from the mound of death.

"You can come out now."

Lee drops from a tree, landing in a crouch, and is followed soon after by Collin though his landing is not so grateful. "Well that was fun," Lee says with a smile. "My turn next."

"You two are sick," Collin says. I ignore him.

"We're close," I say consulting the map again. "And like I said, I would like to be home for dinner." I push on hoping that at least Lee follows. I couldn't care less about Collin.

The trees pass by in a blur and as I push through a particularly thick patch of thorns, a large shape comes into view.

I've never seen a ship for myself but I've seen plenty of pictures and this matches up to most.

The large, metal exterior is rusted in spots and gone in others, but most of it is still there. Moss hangs in great curtains from the top of the structure to the bottom and trees sprout up from within reaching as far as the highest ones.

It is hard to imagine that this thing once sailed on top of water what with the several holes in its hull but I am not here to question the engineering. I am here to discover how this ship went down and why.

"Amazing," Lee says followed by Collin's sharp intake of breath. I start forward aiming to climb to the top and see what I can see.

It is easy to find hand and footholds, at least at first. The dented shell makes sure of that. But as I climb higher, there are less and less, the metal more intact, and so it takes me longer to reach the top than I had anticipated.

Something flies out of one of the rust-holes on the ship and nearly knocks me to the ground. I curse to myself as I struggle to regain purchase. I look behind me and catch sight of a bird, brilliantly red its black eye staring at me. Past me...

I turn back around and peer into the hole.