Ninja Stars

Chapter 8

The icy water surrounded his body as he was engulfed by the waves, Mayumi had never felt so alive. He had one thought in his head, and one thought only: save the captain and get the ship out of the storm. All other thoughts and worries seemed to have been destroyed by the ocean’s cruel waves.

Mayumi resurfaced, and started looking around frantically for the lifeboat that contained the Captain. But all he could see were the barnacle-covered bottoms of the lifeboats.

“How am I supposed to know which lifeboat the Captain is in?!” Cried Mayumi.

Then, out of nowhere, a pirate came sliding into view, obviously having been knocked off his feet, just like everyone else who had sauntered onto the deck during the storm. Mayumi, however, could not make out whom it was.

“Hey!” Mayumi shouted. “Over here! Help me!”

But the pirate did not hear him. He just kept kicking and scratching the deck, trying not to get any closer to the edge of the ship. As he was kicking, one of his boots collided with a nearby lever. Suddenly, the ship began lowering a lifeboat into the ocean. When it was just a few inches above the water, the pirate let out another hard kick, hitting the lever once more, and stopping the lifeboat in its tracks.

Mayumi swam closer to the lifeboat to see what was inside. The lifeboat was just low enough for him to see inside, and to his astonishment, there was the Captain, lying unconscious in a strange position that looked very uncomfortable indeed.

Mayumi clambered into the lifeboat with some difficulty, and began hoisting the captain onto his back.

“Oi!” called a voice from above. “What are yeh doing outside in a storm like this?”

Mayumi looked up. The pirate who had kicked the lever was looking down at him. He appeared to have found something to grab ahold of, and was steadying himself with it. He looked down at Mayumi with a weird smile on his face that made him look as though he couldn’t quite tell whether to laugh or be angry at Mayumi for being in a lifeboat in the middle of the night, as if he was trying to escape. But as Mayumi looked up at him, he realized whom it was.

“Charlie!” Mayumi called up to him. “Do a ninja a favor and raise us up?”

“Sure thing!” Charlie replied, turning the lever in the opposite direction.

As the lifeboat became level with the deck, Mayumi wasn’t there.

“Hey! Where did you—,” Charlie started.

“I’m over here!” shouted Mayumi who was now attempting to steer the ship while maintaining his balance on the slippery deck. “Just get the Captain to someplace dry and make sure he’s okay! Whoa!” The ship suddenly lurched forward, as if it had been waiting for days to finally be free and run wild. As it did so, Mayumi’s feet slid out from under him, and he fell flat on his bottom. He did not, however, release the helm from his grip. It turned back and forth as Mayumi was thrown about, making the ship swerve to and fro. Without warning, one of Mayumi’s hands slipped off of the helm, so that he was now hanging on for dear life once again. But he knew that he couldn’t give up. This could not be the end. This would not be the end. Mayumi knew this in the very center of his soul, but he just hung there, thinking about all the passengers on the ship whose lives were at risk that fateful night. He thought about the Captain, laying unconscious in a lifeboat, about Charlie, who was doing his very best to help everyone he could, about all of the other pirates in the crew, who were probably somewhere below being tossed all about their cabins, and finally, his thoughts rested on Ling. Ling. With all that had happened that night he had completely forgotten about the one person who he had come all this way with. Ling. How sweet his name sounded compared to the storm raging around Mayumi.

“I will not give in,” Mayumi thought. “Not now, and not ever.”

Suddenly, a new strength washed over him like the waves swirling down below.

“ARGHHHH!” He yelled, and with one forceful pull, had brought himself to his feet again. He turned the helm as hard as he could in the opposite direction, and almost instantly, the ship steadied itself again. He began steering the ship steadily through the storm, never stopping, never blinking. He hardly took any notice when Charlie slipped past him, dragging the Captain’s limp body down toward the lower decks. Mayumi was going to make it through the storm. He was going to survive.