Jared went with Ellia, staring up at the beast. He had heard tales about sea creatures such as this and he found the stories scary. But that was years ago when he was but a young boy. He didn't really think they actually existed... but they did... and he was terrified.
Ellia reached the top first and pulled him up, noticing his trembling. She snapped her fingers in front of his face, bringing his attention back to her. "Listen," she said, her voice strong and stern, and her eyes were on his, dark blue and insistent. The fight seemed to have transformed her, and she seemed like a completely different person. "We can get out of this. We just need to be smarter than them. We have only have a couple more rounds to go, and then we're home free. I need you to be here with me, okay?"
She nodded, satisfied. Reaching under the bench, she pulled out an old, rusty toolbox. Inside, a couple spyglasses, folded up and patient, were waiting for their owner. There was also a large spool of strong, thick rope, and there was a worn, dusty book that had seen better days. She gave the book and one of the spyglasses to Jared, and she took the spool of rope and the other spyglass. She fastened the rope to a loop that had been secured to the pole, and she began tying the rope in quick knots, the first one around her waist, and the second one around Jared's waist. She worked quickly and gave them enough slack to freely move around unencumbered by the other's movements. "Our job here is to report what's coming," she said as she worked. "That book is a first edition of the Encyclopedia of the Ocean. It's pretty old, so it still contains some creatures that people now consider to be a myth. I feel like what we just encountered was a black Sea Dragon, although I can't be positive. I'm going to be keeping a close eye on the waters, and I'm going to report some details to you. You're going to have to try and find the creature in that book and report it down to Natalia, along with any facts that may help us beat whatever it is. Can you do that?" (This isn't actually what I was basing the creature off of when I described it earlier, but it's pretty damn close to what I envisioned. Check it out! Spoiler: Warning - Large Image - Black Sea Dragon
"Good," Ellia said. She took her spyglass and held it up to her eye as she peered into the distance. "It looks like our next big one is some weird, hairy beast. There's a couple of them. Pretty big, maybe about three average humans long. Red rimmed eyes." She paused to adjust the spyglass, and frowned. "Prominent ribs. Kinda looks like those dogs with the squashed faces but longer."
Jared opened the book and flipped through the pages to find the right creature. "Red rimmed eyes... Prominent ribs? Oh, here!" He said looking at Ellia. "They're Dob... Dobhar-chus. Dobhar-chus!" He said, trying to pronounce the names.
Cobiah spotted the new monsters up ahead. "They don't look as bad as that last one!" He said, while heaving a cannonball into his cannon, and readying the fuse.
"Report that down to the Captain, if you please!" Ellia told Jared, focusing her spyglass on the next possible target. * * * Jack said nothing. He only loaded the next cannonball into its receptacle, his mouth in a tight, worried line.
Jared nodded and began to climb down the ladder. "Captain!" He called, part way down the ladder. "We have Dobhar-Chus up ahead!"
Natalia cocked her head in thought. In her mind, she ran through the information she had on the creatures, and then nodded. "Thank you, Mr. Raine," she finally responded. "Please continue identifying." She turned on her heel, and ran below the deck. "I need Seatone, Edgars, Curnow, Rohesia..." Natalia paused as she noticed Avice on the ground. "Actually, Jack, please take Ms. Rohesia to the medical bay and stay with her." Jack nodded, and went to Avice's side. He picked her up gently, and then left. Natalia's attention returned. "The rest of you, please come with me. I need you to each grab one of those along with some of that ammo." She pointed to a large crate with rifles in it, and then to the one that she claimed had ammo on it. Stenciled writing crossed the front face. "Warning," it said. "Explosive" * * * Jack carried Avice to the medical bay, his hand steadying her head as he walked quickly through the ship. He pushed open the door with no recollection of the path he took to get there. Most of the medics were on deck, tending to those with the more severe injuries from the sea dragon, but a few remained, and as Jack set Avice onto the bed, they swarmed around her, checking her pulse, shining a light into her eyes, and generally bustling about. Jack sat close by, anxiously watching their every move.
Avice winced at the touches, stirring and swatting at hands, still unconscious. "Screw off..." She managed to mutter, covering her head with her arms, but immediately pulling them back in reaction to stinging.
Jack's lips hinted at a smile, and he stood next to her. He took one of her swatting hands and held it still. "Avice, they need to do that to help your head. You can't swat them," he said gently, hoping she could hear him.
Avice pulled his hand close to her face, where she promptly licked it, after that she calmed down, letting the medics do their work.
(lol) Jack kept his face impassive, although inwardly he was laughing. The medics were able to work much faster after than, and they soon were finished. "She has a minor concussion," one of them told Jack. "She should be a little more... aware in a little while, although she'll need to take it easy for a bit." Jack nodded. "Alright," he said. "Thank you. I'm going to wait here for a while, if that's okay...?" The medic shrugged, glancing sideways at the loopy Avice. "Suit yourself," she said, and hurried away, either to go help another member of the crew, or to get away from Avice's strange, barely conscious ways. Jack suspected the latter. He sat down next to her bed, still holding her hand, and prepared to wait a while.
Jack rested his head against his arms. He gazed off in thought as he considered the situation. A minor concussion wasn't terribly severe... right? He rubbed his eyes tiredly. Several nights with only three or four hours of sleep was really weighing down on him. His eyelids drooped slightly, and within a couple moments, he fell asleep. His face looked younger in sleep. His brow was relaxed, and the worry lines that generally creased his forehead disappeared. (Stuffiluf*squee!*us, you can wake Avice up at any time.)
(Stuffiluf*squee!*us? I like it.) Avice shifted, awakening. She groaned quietly, her head aching. Quickly realizing Jack was asleep, she became still. Her lips became a soft smile as she lightly touched his hand, hopefully not waking him.
