Black Hearted

Part 5

Mark headed toward his cabin, watching Tyler escort the merman down to the brig. The merman's heated blue eyes glared at him, until he was carried below deck and out of sight. Once he was out of sight, Mark removed the amulet from his pocket to look it over again. He had seen this before. Slipping into his cabin, he walked around his desk. Setting the amulet down, he opened the journal and flipped through a few pages. He had seen this symbol somewhere before. Suddenly, the door to his cabin burst open. Mark lifted his head to flash a murderous glare at whoever dared enter. The men knew better than to barge in on him without knocking. The Boatswain panted heavily, giving him a slight bow of his head. Mark closed the journal and prepared himself for bad news. He could tell by the way the Boatswain was soaking wet that things were dire. 

The Boatswain cleared his throat, telling him quickly. "My deepest apologies, Captain. But she's taking on water too fast and we used the last of the wood we had for what repairs we could. What should we do?" Mark moved around his desk, storming from his cabin with the Boatswain at his heels. Moving out onto the deck, Mark yelled out to Bob. "BOB! Where is my land!" Bob nervously gripped the helm, answering a bit shaky. "We are looking, Captain!" Mark glanced up to see Wade searching all around with his spyglass. Sighing heavily, Mark grabbed the Boatswain's shoulder, ordering aloud. "Take any man you need below deck. Anything you can brake down to fix holes that we don't need, DO IT! NOW!" The Boatswain nodded, rushing back down below deck. He was just about to join them himself, when Wade yelled out. "LAND HO, CAPTAIN! Off the Port Side!" Mark moved to the side, pulling out his spyglass to check.

It was a small island surrounded by ship wreaks. Mark lowered his spyglass, telling Bob loud and clear. "Anchor her on the far side of that island, Bob!" Wade leaned over the crows nest, shouting down with concern. "But Captain, what of the wreaks?! Shouldn't we be concerned why-" Mark cut him off, snapping up to him. "Fortune smiles on us, Wade! Guide her in!" Wade gave a weary salute and a soft, 'Aye aye, Captain', before helping Bob navigate around the wrecks. Mark then headed down below the deck, catching up to Tyler. Tyler was soaked in water from the waist down, asking him curiously. "Captain, We have stopped the worst of it... but she's still taking in more." Mark patted his arm in acknowledgement, telling him quickly. "Get your men ready to venture ashore. Go to the closest wrecks and salvage what you can to help repair." Mark continued down into the hold and clenched his jaw. The water was up to the mens knees and more water was leaking in from all sides. The men were breaking down tables and chairs to seal off what they could, while others ran up and down the steps to bail water out.

Shrugging off his thick black leather coat, Mark set it on the rail and rushed in to help. He wasn't going to loose this ship! He had just managed to finish repairing a hole, when the ship shuttered violently. Mark had to grab the brig cell to steady himself. The men around him toppled into the water and scrambled to grab something. Mark waited, staring into the iron bars of the cell. Inside, the merman's tail splashed in the water and he tugged at the shackles on the wall. The merman was terrified. Mark knew what was happening though. Bob was beaching her in the shallows. With one final sharp jerk, the ship came to an abrupt stop. Overhead, Tyler started yelling for the men to break up into teams. One to careen the ship and the other to help salvage the shipwrecks. Mark took his time, letting the crew scramble about without him being in the way. His eyes drifting back to the merman. The merman's long red and black tail looked beautiful beneath the water. Graceful even. It was relaxing to watch the way it moved. As his eyes moved up the merman's pale lean muscular torso, Mark locked his jaw. He hated that he found him visually appealing. Especially, when he was dripping with sea water.

Sean watched the Captain closely. He was staring at him like he was disgusted by him. He couldn't imagine why this man could possibly hate him so much.  Unless he was just pissed about the Gam trying to sink his ship. Sean flexed his arms as he pulled against the iron shackles. He hated being tied up in any form. Merfolk were free spirits and it was bad enough that he put him in a cage... but the ship was sinking and being shackled like this... He really didn't want to go down with this ship! Sure, he could breath underwater, but without a means to get away it would just mean a slow death from starvation. Or worse, eaten alive by sharks! The frustration boiled in Sean's veins until he lifted his tail out of the water and crashed it back down to splash the Captain. The Captain didn't even wipe the water off his face, his dark eyes just narrowed on him with an even darker expression.