Chapter Text
The storm gnawed at the ship like a starving animal. Waves rose like black walls and crashed against the hull with the sound of bones breaking. Rain came sideways, slicing through the air, and every lantern swung wildly, casting violent arcs of light and shadow across the soaked wooden deck.
That was when the pirates dragged the woman into view.
She was drenched and shaking, her cloak clinging to her like a second skin. Blond hair, filthy and tangled, stuck to her cheeks. Her bare feet left streaks of muddy water behind her. She had been curled inside a barrel beneath sacks of damp grain, as though she had been hiding from something far worse than pirates.
A boot struck her shoulder and rolled her onto her back.
"Look at that¬" A pirate slurred, his teeth yellow and broken. "A woman. On board. Always a curse."
"Found her whispering to herself like some scholar..." Another scoffed, nudging her with the barrel's broken lid. "Could be one of them sorcerer types."
She forced herself upright, breath trembling. "Please. I only need passage. Just out of the city. I can pay, I swear it."
An empty gin bottle sailed through the air and shattered beside her. Laughter rose with the storm.
"Pay with what?" A pirate snorted. "Coin from lifting your skirts. Bet that child in your belly was never wanted either."
She swallowed, throat tight. "You don't understand. The sea is wrong tonight. It's... listening. Watching. If you drop me in, I won't be the only one taken!"
A few pirates glanced uneasily toward the heaving black waves.
"She's mad..." Someone muttered. "Mad and unlucky."
"We're above the Weeping Lagoon..." Another man croaked. "Perfect place to drop unwanted things. Dead cargo or living."
Desperate, the woman tried again. "I know what you're smuggling. All of it. Your goods aren't worth more than your lives. Let me off safely, and I'll tell no one!"
Every pirate stiffened
The captain had arrived.
His peg leg struck the boards with a hollow, rhythmic thud. His missing hand was capped with brass, his remaining fingers thick with rings. His face was gaunt but fierce, and when he leaned forward, she smelled salt, rum, and the copper tang of old blood.
"You've a sharp tongue..." He muttered. "Sharp tongues get cut."
He reached for her.
Her fingers brushed against something glittering. A shard from the broken gin bottle.
With a trembling breath, she grabbed it and sliced through the ropes around her wrists. Before anyone could react, she lunged for the nearest pirate's sword, tore it from its sheath, and swung with all her strength.
The blade sang through the air.
The captain's severed hand hit the deck with a wet slap.
His scream split the storm in half.
The pirates surged forward like a pack of wolves. They tackled her, fists and boots crashing into her ribs, her spine, her jaw. Someone spat curses into her face. Someone else shoved her cheek against the rain-soaked boards until splinters carved into her skin. When she tried to gasp, they forced a rag between her teeth and tied it tight enough to tear the thin membrane under her tongue.
"Teach her!" A pirate growled, "Show her what happens when you harm the captain!"
They dragged her to the anchor.
The iron was slick and cold. They tied her in ways no body should bend, forcing her spine against the curved metal, twisting her legs until something cracked. Rope bit into her wrists and ankles, cutting into blood and bone.
She writhed, trying to beg, but the cloth gag turned her voice into gargled pain.
"Drop her!" The captain snarled through clenched teeth, cradling his bleeding stump. "Let the sea take what it wants!"
They released the anchor.
The chain screamed as it unraveled, metal sparking in the stormlight. The woman fell with it, vanishing over the edge like a broken doll.
The impact with the sea was not death. It was agony.
The cold hit first, crushing her chest and forcing her lungs to seize. Then the drag of the anchor yanked her downward, spinning her violently. Coral tore her skin open. Rocks scraped her face raw. Her cloak ripped to ribbons. Blood spiraled into the dark like dying petals.
Her vision blurred, but she could feel it.
The water was not just water. It pulsed. It breathed. Something ancient was stirring beneath her, coiling around the anchor's descent.
She looked upward, straining to see the moon through the churn. Its pale light wavered like a dying star. Her fingers twitched toward it, trying to shape a spell she had barely perfected.
"If the sea is wrong..." She tried to think, "Let me change with it..."
Her head lolled.
Her heartbeat faltered.
Just before she slipped out of consciousness, she felt something brush her cheek. Soft strands. Cool, gentle.
Seaweed.
But it did not drift.
It wrapped around her.
Held her.
Pulled her deeper, cradling her torn body with a tenderness the surface world had never shown.
The pirates would never know what the sea decided to keep.
🌟🧜🏻🐠🧜🏻♀️🌊🧜🏽♂️🐚❄️