23 October 2011

Ahoy, Sea Serpent

Choose Your Own Adventure Blog Hop. Ahoy! Sea Serpent?!

To begin, you can start here.
Or do you stay behind?

Overbalanced by the tanks, you fall to the deck. The ship lurches and you slide aft, crash into the cabin's wall. You're stunned by the impact. The seconds needed to regain your breath changes your terror to anger.

Footsteps pound on the deck as the crew rushes about checking the ship for damage. The First Mate spies you lying alongside the cabin's wall and orders you to your cabin. You struggle to your feet, then giggle as you realize that your fins have glued themselves on. The tanks are nearly weightless. Oh no! Dismay chases the giggles away. You manage to get the tanks off to examine them. The tanks are damaged. You head to the storage lockers to get another set. You struggle to walk with the fins while carrying the tanks. Duh. You drop them and free your hands for the trip below deck.

How in the world can you find out what happened to the love of your life? You pass the galley on your way to the storage lockers. Another rumble. This time you're prepared for the lurching and you grab the galley door. It swings inward unexpectedly, flinging you inside where you crash into the freezer doors. You reach for something to grab when the ship tilts once again.

Your hand catches the edge of the storage unit bringing you to an abrupt halt. Time slows, compressed to microseconds verging on eternity. The galley door opens, and a slim figure reaches for your fins. You kick out and then scramble to your feet. The figure slides toward you as the ship lurches again. When the ship evens out, you are entangled with the figure which turns out to be the galley assistant. He signals you to keep quiet.

He untangles himself, reaches for the sliding door and hands you a tiny box. You recognize it. Your eyes flit to the man's eyes. He then reaches for the galley door and shoves you outside. You stand there trying to decide what to think. He points to your cabin. Taking a deep breath, you nod and quickly make your way there. Once inside, you open the box to find the other half of the ring you exchanged with your beloved. Tears gather as you feel relief at this tangible sign that your love had been on this ship.

The galley assistant opens your door and quickly tosses a piece of paper at you. He crosses himself and shuts the door. The note is from your beloved. The ship you are on is a pirate's ship which captured your beloved's ship, and forced crew members and voyagers on board. But the ransom they asked for never came. The assistant promised to help with an escape plan. You quickly hide the ring and the note. Just in time.

The mate opens the cabin door and motions you topside. The galley assistant quickly gets behind you as you flipper your way after the mate. Now what? Your heart is beating so loud you think everyone can hear it. No, it's not your heartbeat drumming against your ears. There's a strange man sitting on the afterdeck beating a steady rhythm on a set of drums.

Captain Contemptuous is standing by him watching the ocean. The crew are hurriedly repairing damage sustained. You are led to one of the lifeboats which doesn't seem to be seaworthy. The man manages to sit beside you as the other passengers on board slowly fill the life boat. There are only 5 of you on board when the Captain gives the order to abandon ship. You freeze as you recognize the creature rapidly making it's way back to the ship. The mate quickly releases the boat.

Wait! You shriek as you realize you've left the ring behind. The lifeboat hits the water, bouncing all of you around. It is only the quick reflexes of the assistant who keeps you on board. Two of the other passengers have fallen overboard. Numb, you watch the ship slowly being destroyed.

The drumming stops. The strange man slides down the ladder and rushes to the side where he jumps overboard. He swims to the boat you are on and gets aboard. He shoves off and instructs everyone to grab an oar and row. The creature's head surfaces near the ship's afterdeck.

The assistant tells you your beloved escaped from the ship only to be caught by the tail of the creature. Legend says whoever goes with the creature is never seen again. He and his brother are taking the lifeboat to their island.

Do you stay with the boat?

Do you try to follow the creature?