Stories From a Sunk Ship

The Captain

I stood there, with a smile on my face, reading the names of the crew members off a board, then I saw the navigator holding his cross in his hand, "captain, what are you doing?" I looked at him with a wide smile, "I'm looking at the board!" I said pointing at the square of wood in front of me, the navigator looked at me with a strange look, "captain I still don't get what you're doing" I sighed and looked at him,"this board has the entire crew's name carved on it, it serves as a family tree of sorts, it's our family of misfits, pests, delinquents, and thieves, it also serves as a memorial, we are all leaving our past behind when we sign our name on this piece of wood...did I not explain this?" The navigator inspected the piece of lumber, "no you handed it to me, had me sign my name, and then you took it and left." I blinked, than laughed at myself as I got up and headed towards the wheel "how long till we reach the island?" I asked. "'We should reach it in the morning, captain" I took the wheel and began steering the boat properly, felt good. Later that night it was the navigator's turn to drive the ship, I just made my way down below deck to sleep. I let out a great yawn that was echoed by someone, someone young, I drew my sword and looked around "captain, what are you doing with your sword out?" I saw my first mate slowly walking down the hallway, his hand on his own cutlass, "it was nothing, mistook my echo for a stowaway." My first mate snickered "shut up bro." I said walking past him "whatever captain." I stopped dead in my tracks turned and shouted "stop callin' me captain! You're the big brother after all. You should be captain." My brother, just like always when I suggest him being the captain, shrugged and said "why is this such a sore point for you" and as always I return it with and "ugh" and a brotherly punch in the arm. You see, when me and my brother were little, we didn't have much of a home so we resulted to thieving, I was sloppy, always getting caught, almost never getting away with a wallet, but my big brother, there were no words, he walked into a crowd of people, walked out of it with a stack of wallets, we eventually became pirates, he made me captain, but it was him and his endless knowledge of seemingly everything that kept the ship together that kept this ship running, not me. He gave me a hug, a brotherly hug, a combination of reassurance and wrestling a bear, "don't think about our last 'home' it wasn't out place, this is." I smiled, and walked back to my bunk to prepare for bed. I felt like nothing could go wrong in the world.

I hooked my elbow around the railing of my ship as another wave crashed into it, "DAMNIT" I shouted as a second wave smashed the navigator right into me nearly knocking us both to an underwater grave, "we have to turn this damned thing around!" I shouted slowly making my what to the wheel, "captain! I've tried it myself! Something broke the rudder!" The navigator snapped at me "we have to pray God will have mercy on us all." He said solemnly gripping his cross, "well you're certainly are a rain of sunshine today aren't you" I said still making my way to the wheel. Than a wave hit the ship hard and I was cast off the side but my foot got caught by a stowaway peaking out a canon portal, I looked into the gray waters, and beneath the surface, I could see what destroyed my rudder, I gigantic shark, thrice the size of a great white! The stowaway lugged me inside, we both panted heavily, the boy looked twelve and not nearly strong enough to lift me "how did you-" another wave hit splashing thought the cannon portal "right make you walk the plank later fight this devilish storm now" I muttered running back up to the main deck. I slammed open the door and before another wave could fuck things up more I climbed and took the wheel and turned it, to my surprise I got no resistance from the wheel, than I remembered what the navigator said "GOD DAMNIT!" I shouted at no one in particular "THIS STORM CAN GO FUCK ITSELF WITH A SPEAR COVERED IN BARB WIRE" I shouted shaking my fist up at the black sky. Than in gruesome slow motion I saw my first mate, my own brother try and hoist the sails, probably to get a wind to blast us out of here, but as soon as he grabbed the rope another wave hit throwing is starboard, and he went flying, he stayed airborne long enough for the ship try and right itself by swinging port, the mast smashed right into him. Blood. All I could see of his chest just blood. He flew overboard. My brother. My guide in the darkness. My flesh and blood... Dead. I ran, just ran, I didn't go glare at the stowaway, I didn't run to pray with the navigator, I didn't jump overboard for that shark to eat me. I just ran like a coward trying to save his own ass, after all that's what I was doing. I eventually stopped to gawk at the massive wave about to overtake my ship, it looked like a wall of almost transparent death, I gulped down my terror, ran right to the front of the bow and shouted at the top of my lungs "IS THAT ALL!? BRING IT ON!! I DONT CARE!! I WILL MAKE IT OUT OFF THIS AND FIND A WAY TO SKULLFUCK YOU MYSELF!!" The wave seemed to hesitate slightly, but it didn't stop It slammed into my boat, it tossed me back, I barely missed the masts and the wheel, but when the wave seemed to rejoin the ocean I swam up but as I did, I looked down, at what was once a proud vessel, now reduced to a pile of wood at the bottom of the ocean. Wait. I can see the bottom of the ocean from here! I'm close to land! I swam up with new found courage and strength, but as soon as I surfaced all of it was drained out of me as I saw the massive beast of a shark swimming right at me. I reflexively pulled out my sword and gave it a quick slash to the mouth "go ahead try and eat me without a fight" to the shark's credit he did want a fight, I wanted to swim, he swam circles around me I got my sword ready, but sword fighting is hard while swimming, the shark nearly took my arm off before I moved it out of the way, I grabbed his dorsal fin and rode him, "DAMN YOU STRAIGHT TO THE DEEPEST PART OF HELL!!" I shouted about to plunge my blade into his head, but he dived fast into the deep I could barely hold on as he thrashed, but I still cut him up good, eventually I wasn't swimming in water, oh no, I was swimming in watered down shark's blood, I darted to the surface, an eerie darkness crept into my vision, I saw the sun surrounded by a swirling, crackling black mass of clouds, when I did surface, a board from my old ship surfaced with me, I looked at it and realized, this board is where each of the crew members carved there names, it was a hefty board so I floated on it. I looked up at the sun, looked east to the island I'd soon arrive to, looked west to bad memories, and looked down, at what was once my home, and family.

I was covered in blood, soaking wet, and ached all over. I just walked down the dock, the piece of wood in my hand, I just walk up to the graveyard and carved on the piece of wood:R.I.P. To the brave pirates of this crew, they may not have been heroes or heroines, but they were family. And just left it there near the gate, I walk back down the dock, I had no family, no friends, no money, nothing. I looked at the waters that claimed the life of my family, and many other's families too. I jumped in, with no plans of swimming back up.

The End