Vrai
Cool Worm Fact: Worms have no clue what's going on
Sitting glumly on the floor in one of the stock rooms, in a little alley between barrels, Yeka held her knees to her chest and fixed her eyes on the floorboards directly in front of her. They were still in the middle of the storm, and when it went on for hours, the swaying and groaning of the ship still had the power to make her a bit ill. Normally, when they were in danger, she would be called to station herself near the top deck, on-hand. But with the number of sailors the new captain had brought aboard, it seemed somebody was manning every post on the ship already. Nobody had specifically asked her to do anything, and her regular cleaning shift wasn't until afternoon, so she had stowed herself on one of the lower decks to wait out the storm and mope.
Wait - there, near the wall, a movement. Yeka snapped into focus as goosebumps rose on her arms. She crawled out from her little hiding divot, eyes trained on the spot on the floor near the doorway where she had seen the movement. A rat? No, it had been lighter-colored, and bigger. A bird stuck due to the storm. Or maybe even -
She saw the movement again, and this time her eyes caught on to it. It was something filmy and nonliving attached to the wall. Peeking around the open doorway, she saw that there was a scrap of very thin parchment - not writing-level, but the kind they kept salted meats in - floating around on the floor. She picked up the parchment and crumpled it up, then took it back to the barrels and stuffed it through the tiny hole on the top of one that already smelled like salted meat. Then she slumped back to the ground again.
There were a lot of people on the ship, but they had already lost the other ship with part of the "new crew" still onboard. Yeka figured it served them right, although when she thought about it, there was a good chance they had turned around and escaped the storm already. She was mulling over whether she would have rather braved her chances with them when the ship jolted, and suddenly started to lurch at a dramatic angle. Yeka scrambled away from the barrels, and watched as the ones that had been to her left slowly slid to join the others, filling in the gap where she had been sitting. None had broken for now, but the ship was still leaning. There are people on the deck, she thought, panicking. Jerome - she hadn't seen him today. What if he was on the ropes right now?
Quickly, she made her way out of the stock room and to the top deck. It was not long before she heard screaming, and a deep, foreign groan. The sound of it made her think of a bear, but it wasn't like anything she had heard at all. As she dashed up the stairs to the open air, she looked around the ship, trying to make sense of the huge black shapes surrounding them. They were - snakes? No. Tentacles.
A particular voice yelling caught Yeka's attention. It was one of the men from the old crew, having lost his balance near the pinrail, now rolling helplessly down the deck. Yeka got down on all fours and, with the claws on both her fingers and her toes sinking into the wood, was able to reach him in time to help him brace himself against the cabin in the middle of the deck. The Captain - the old captain, that was - had said that she shouldn't mess up the wood too much, but this was definitely an exceptional situation.
If Yeka strained her head to look behind her as she clung to the deck, she could see Hat Woman (Captain Woman now? Maybe Hat Captain - yes, that sounded right) attacking one of the tentacles, beneath the monstrous head of the beast. And if she craned her neck up, she could see another one of the tentacles scraping at the sails. The end of the tentacle bit into the cloth of one sail, and it started to tear a long gash.
Still on all fours, Yeka ran to the shrouds and started to climb up the shaking ropes. She couldn't fight this creature directly, but she had to keep it from destroying the ship. Yet, as she made her way upwards, the tentacle left the sail and slapped the rope she was climbing where it was attached to the mast. It snapped, and she started to fall with a scream.
Wait - there, near the wall, a movement. Yeka snapped into focus as goosebumps rose on her arms. She crawled out from her little hiding divot, eyes trained on the spot on the floor near the doorway where she had seen the movement. A rat? No, it had been lighter-colored, and bigger. A bird stuck due to the storm. Or maybe even -
She saw the movement again, and this time her eyes caught on to it. It was something filmy and nonliving attached to the wall. Peeking around the open doorway, she saw that there was a scrap of very thin parchment - not writing-level, but the kind they kept salted meats in - floating around on the floor. She picked up the parchment and crumpled it up, then took it back to the barrels and stuffed it through the tiny hole on the top of one that already smelled like salted meat. Then she slumped back to the ground again.
There were a lot of people on the ship, but they had already lost the other ship with part of the "new crew" still onboard. Yeka figured it served them right, although when she thought about it, there was a good chance they had turned around and escaped the storm already. She was mulling over whether she would have rather braved her chances with them when the ship jolted, and suddenly started to lurch at a dramatic angle. Yeka scrambled away from the barrels, and watched as the ones that had been to her left slowly slid to join the others, filling in the gap where she had been sitting. None had broken for now, but the ship was still leaning. There are people on the deck, she thought, panicking. Jerome - she hadn't seen him today. What if he was on the ropes right now?
Quickly, she made her way out of the stock room and to the top deck. It was not long before she heard screaming, and a deep, foreign groan. The sound of it made her think of a bear, but it wasn't like anything she had heard at all. As she dashed up the stairs to the open air, she looked around the ship, trying to make sense of the huge black shapes surrounding them. They were - snakes? No. Tentacles.
A particular voice yelling caught Yeka's attention. It was one of the men from the old crew, having lost his balance near the pinrail, now rolling helplessly down the deck. Yeka got down on all fours and, with the claws on both her fingers and her toes sinking into the wood, was able to reach him in time to help him brace himself against the cabin in the middle of the deck. The Captain - the old captain, that was - had said that she shouldn't mess up the wood too much, but this was definitely an exceptional situation.
If Yeka strained her head to look behind her as she clung to the deck, she could see Hat Woman (Captain Woman now? Maybe Hat Captain - yes, that sounded right) attacking one of the tentacles, beneath the monstrous head of the beast. And if she craned her neck up, she could see another one of the tentacles scraping at the sails. The end of the tentacle bit into the cloth of one sail, and it started to tear a long gash.
Still on all fours, Yeka ran to the shrouds and started to climb up the shaking ropes. She couldn't fight this creature directly, but she had to keep it from destroying the ship. Yet, as she made her way upwards, the tentacle left the sail and slapped the rope she was climbing where it was attached to the mast. It snapped, and she started to fall with a scream.
Last edited: