All Hands On Deck (2): Something To Fear

The Migrator began to pick up speed.  It was now a few feet from the shore.

Rockhopper had to act quick.  He had no clue what to do!  He looked down at what he had with him.  He knew if he was going to catch his ship, the toolbox wasn't coming with him.

But, that's when it dawned on him; the toolbox most certainly wasn't coming.  But....

Rockhopper opened the toolbox.  He grabbed an axe and threw it with a grunt.  It pained Rockhopper to see the axe go through the remaining nice wood at the front of his ship.  The blade stayed there, with the handle sticking out.

Rockhopper kept his momentum going.  He threw another sharp tool with a good handle and then another.  He kept going, trying to get them in a straight line while also trying to go quickly.

Soon, Rockhopper ran forward and jumped for his ship.  He got his hand around one of the handles and held fast to it.  He dangled from the side of this ship, as his weight began to pull the axe out of its hole in the ship.  He took one hand off of the handle and grabbed for another one above him.  He caught hold of it and pulled himself up, getting closer to the edge of his Migrator.  He used the handle below him as a place for his feet until the weight proved too much for it and it fell into the ocean.  All the while, the boat continued to obtain speed, with Rockhopper feeling wind slice him all over.

He got his hands around another handle and then stopped as he heard a female laugh from above.

"That red bum won't last long there," the silky voice said.  No one answered her, but she went on.  "This has been just the answer I've been looking for."

Rockhopper waited a moment, but there were no footsteps, nor anymore voices.  Because of this, he soon continued his way up to the edge of his ship, hanging precariously several times and being the victim of several close calls.  Being his first adventure at sea, he felt alive.

He reached the bars of the railing that ran around his ship.  He held onto them and peeked over at the front of his ship.

He found no one at all.  There was no indication that anyone was there or had been there since he had left.  Nothing moved.

He began to convince himself that he had imagined the woman's voice.  He was awfully hungry, after all...

Then, the gust of wind came.

There was nothing to indicate that it was coming.  There was no sound of something coming towards him.  It just happened.

A great force pushed into him.  He lost his balance on the handle of the axe below him and gravity began to pull him down.  At the same time, his right flipper was torn from one of the bars, leaving only his left hand to support him.  His right flipper grabbed wildly through the air as his foot pressed down unstably on one of the axe handles below, tearing the tool out of the ship.  As it began its descent, the blade cut Rockhopper's foot, causing a mild, yet painful cut.

Rockhopper clung to the bar with his one flipper until he was able to stabilize himself by balancing his feet on a window ledge.  He retained his grip on a second bar with his right appendage and then quickly got onto his ship, leaving cover and carefulness behind.

Another gust hit him.  It was an invisible force that slammed him against the railing.  Rockhopper looked around.  The gust had come from a strange angle; there was no way for natural wind to twirl in such an awkward angle.

And then the woman made herself known....partially.

"You should have let your baby leave you," she said.  Rockhopper scanned the area, terrified.  He found no source for the sound.  She continued.  "You'd be far better off, stranded, abandoned, then you will be with me now..."  She laughed.

"Who are you?  What do you want?" yelled Rockhopper defiantly.

"Oh, my dear boy, you seemed intelligent.  Surely, you can see that I have the upper hand, that giving you information would not benefit me in anyway."  She paused.  "All you need to know is that this is no longer your ship.  And, if you are smart and jump off right now.......if you swim right back to that island and somehow scrape out a new life.......this will no longer be your fight."

"I am not leaving!  You're going to have to try a lot harder if you want this boat!" Rockhopper yelled, looking around to see if he could spot any disturbances.

The voice chuckled.  "I saw on your map that you are from a little place called.....what is it?......Club Penguin?"  She paused, as if to let the iciness of her voice sink into his skin.  "I'm going to head there and takeover, have a better life then I did on that dump...."

There was a very long round of silence.  And, then, Rockhopper heard only a whisper right next to his ear.

"But, before I get there, I'm going to remove you from this ship by force."

The gust of wind, which had been pushing the ship forward at an outrageous speed stopped for a moment.  And then, the ship began to go in circles.

The force.....whatever she was.....had changed the course.

Rockhopper, disoriented by this sudden change in events, staggered to door that would lead to his ship hold.  It took him quite a long time, as occasionally a gust of wind would hit him and prolong the journey. Eventually, though, he did reach the door.  It was a welcome sight, but he still had work to do.

He wrenched open the doors and jumped into the hold.  The force, seeing him do this, began to tip the ship back and forth, feeling that she had misjudged the red penguin's perseverance and eager to wipe her hands of this matter, which was substantially beneath her.....both literally and figuratively.

Rockhopper was hurtled from side to side, his various supplies doing so as well.  Bottles shattered as they hit the hard wood; barrels weakened with each toss of the ship, coming to the point where the sides surrendered in their battle to keep the delicious enemy inside and allowed pink liquid to escape their grasp.  This woman.....she was a very worthy opponent....

To add to the chaos, the ship rose from the water and began to go into warp speed.  Rockhopper's eyes succumbed to the blur of the travelling and gave up on trying to focus.  Eventually, though, the ship made a hard landing into the sea and the intense pace of travel came to a halt.  In fact, everything stopped.  For a moment - one beautiful moment - Rockhopper laid on his back, coming to his senses, and wondered what to do next.

Please note the "a moment" part.

Because, yes, the force did not just pack up her bags and decide to give the poor, little sea novice a break.  No, no, she most certainly did not.

Quite suddenly the two long sides of the ship hold burst as though a giant explosive had been placed on the outside of each side.  The wood and metal that had once resided there flew toward Rockhopper at a startling speed, leaving two gaping holes, nay, two gaping, giant, messy ovals on the long sides of the room.  However, none of those shards of debris met Rockhopper has he laid on the ground of the ship that he had crafted with hours of work and gallons of sweat.  No, I'm afraid our favorite hero had a far worst matter to deal with.

Because the force then, not a millisecond after imploding two of the sides of the ship, lifted up the ship once again and flipped it around once in a 360 degree circle.  When that had been finished, she dropped the Migrator back into the water messily.  After all, the force did not work for perfection; she worked for results.

Oh, and yeah, when the ship hit the water with a loud thud and sent water into the air, it had one less passenger.  No, I'm not talking about the force, who had been hovering above the ship since it had first began its spinning on the face of the water.  No, no, my dear reader, I am talking about that young red penguin.

 Because, as it happened, Captain Rockhopper had rolled right down the floor of the ship as it had spinned in the air.  He had rolled right to the edge of the wood base, where the wall would be.  But, whoops, there was no wall.  He had fell a dozen or so feet.

The cold water greeted him with distaste.

To Be Continued