Sea Wolves

Chapter Three- Wind and Waves

The deck of the ship lurched and shuddered with the force of the water. The sky roared and spat rain out onto the deck of the ship. The world was ending. Another wave hit and burst over the side of the ship. It hurtled towards Akumu then hit her and the rest of the crew with the force of 1000 stampeding Buffalo. She was pushed backwards against the mast but didn't slide away due to the heavy rope holding her in place. The crew grabbed buckets and started bailing the water out. The ship rose up the wave, up and up they climbed until it broke over them and they were enveloped in a world of water and ice. Then as suddenly as it had come the wave vanished and the crew were back, scooping water out of the ship and fighting and endless battle against the ocean. Akumu gasped for breathe but as she took great breathes of beautiful, wonderful air the world was plunged into darkness again as another wave broke over the hull. This wave was stronger than the last and it forced Akumu's head back against the mast. Her head pounded and the world swayed and whirled. She was going to die. The world faded to black and she fell, down, down, down. 

Akumu had some very strange dreams. There was a great, green sea serpent that appeared out of the water and told her that she had to jump off the boat and swim back to her people. She told the serpent that she couldn't swim back, that it was too far to swim but the serpent turned into her sister, running across the water. Akumu called out to her and told her to come back but she told her that she had to run to find the men and that she was doing what Akumu told her to do. Then the serpent rose out of the water again and this time wrapped itself around her and rose into the sky. She told it to put her down but it carried her over the water and then dropped her. She fell into the icy water but her arms wouldn't move. She kicked her legs but they had frozen too, and then,

Akumu opened her eyes. She was lying sprawled against the mast and a weak sun was shining down on her. She sat up. The sky was a pale blue and a few wisps of cloud were visible. The storm had gone and the Vikings were all slumped against the railings. Some had their eyes closed and others were breathing heavily but looked wide awake. Akumu looked down at the rope attaching her to the mast. She fumbled with it and finny it came loose and she was able to slip out of it. Chase was lying on the ground at her feet. It was then that she realised she was soaked through. Her dress was hanging loosely off her and her long hair hung in sections around her sodden face. She shivered in the cool breeze and ran her hand through Chase's water-logged fur. She lay back down against the mast but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't fall back asleep. 

"We've reached black rock island!" Akumu jumped at the sudden yell from the bow. The vikings rushed to where the man who had shouted was standing and looked over at the small section of land on the horizon. Slowly, inch by inch it grew larger, until a dark, towering cliff loomed above them like a fortress. The boat sailed up onto the pale sand and the Vikings jumped over the railing one by one. Akumu looked around. The island was really nothing more than a giant black rock, sitting on a small island of sand. There were no trees, just a few spiky bushes sitting low to the ground. A number of wooden huts sat grouped together on the shore. It seemed that the Vikings had used this island before.

"You coming," Grinned one of the men. He had dark, wispy hair and beard and murky green eyes that matched the sea perfectly. Akumu swung her legs over the railing and landed, crouched on the soft sand.