The chest seemed to grow heavier as they traversed into the silent waters within the ship, the audible groans of the vessel lending a creeping sense of dread over the entire affair. They retraced their path through the broken hull, noting the strange indents from whatever had just passed by. When they arrived at the hole they'd used to enter, they discovered it was too small for the chest to fit through. Seko braced against the floor and kicked the wood but found it still held enough strength to rebuff his attempt. He motioned to Yan, who shook his head and held the chest with an amused grin.

Cria swam back into the hull and pressed her back against a vertical support beam, raising her hand to cast another force of energy. The bubbling on her hand grew to bursting and the force exploded outward like grapeshot rounds from a cannon, splintering the wall and removing whatever means of structure remained.

Heavy chunks of wood and support began to fall from around and above as the force shoved the shattered hull out of its ancient hold. They tried to escape but the tides of falling debris were sucking them in, becoming stronger as the larger portions fell. Seko could see the bottom, another few hundred feet down, and stared at the dark abyss. He fixed his eyes on the depth and tried to rationalize whether they would survive being dragged down with the ship's hull.

It was during this mental calculation that he saw a large figure, similar to a deep mother, darting around below. It was a shark, but much larger. Smaller, more angular creature swam around in a tight school nearby, similarly dodging the falling obstacles. The creature, eyes a deep black, turned upward and aimed for him. Another falling bit of hull shook his vision of the creature, and when we returned his eyes it was gone.

Seko spun wildly trying to find the beast, it was too large to just disappear into thin air... or water. Yan and Cria noticed the strange movements of their companion and similarly tried to find whatever was catching his eye. Then everything grew still. They pressed themselves against a nearby rock and struggled to let their arms rest. The ship no longer dropped pieces into the depths, but it still seemed precarious, as if a simple shift of the waters could knock it over.

He looked up at the light of the sky above and caught the shifting reflection of the day's warmth. Their ship was still anchored and the longboat still sat where they'd placed it, they just needed to get the chest up now.

As he watched the waves above and the light it carried, something shimmered in the way and darkened his view. It was moving, whatever was there was moving. He sat up from his prone position against the flat rock and squinted to fix the image. The gaping maw of a pure white shark materialized before him mere feet away and lunged forward.

Shit! With so little time to react, Seko flung his side of the chest away and pushed off to the side. Yan was sent sailing in the opposite direction as the shark slammed its brunt weight into the rock floor and turned to face Seko. It was only a foot away and he could see into the endless expanse of void that awaited him within. He drew the dagger from his hip and stabbed deep into the beast's flank, it flailed, smacking Seko with its tail as it swam upward.

He saw Cria pointing upwards, towards a fleeing Yan with chest in arms. The two pushed off their own rocks in near unison and used the momentum to accelerate the ascent. Seko felt the pull of the water as he kicked and pulled himself upward. He reached Yan, still some ways from the surface, and tried to spot the creature again. It had vanished once again, but this time blood oozed from the wound it had suffered and trailed behind its invisible frame.

Seko tapped Crias arm to point out the incoming danger and recieved a sharp pain in his leg in response. One of the smaller creatures, a strange mixture of eel and shark, dug its jaws into his right leg. He kicked the beasts face with his other leg but only managed to dig the teeth further into his body. Seko tried to scream in pain but felt the sound die on the water, he pulled the arc pistol out and steadied a shot against it but was cut off by another blast of force.

They shot upward at a speed Seko would have considered impossible, were he not having to keep his body together from it. Breaching the water like projectiles, they each landed some feet from the dingy, but swam to it with the haste of near death. Once inside Yan threw down the chest and pulled up the stone. Cria, apparently not wanting to bother with the oars, took position on the rear and raised her hand again.

"Brace me! And someone figure out how to steer!"

Before either man could move, a slow jet of wind erupted from her hand and the dingy lurched into motion. Seko ran to brace her as the force started to push her back. Yan grabbed one of the oars and pressed it between his feet, hands still holding the upper most portion. He shoved his legs into the water and instantly the dingy shook from a newfound direction.

"I need you to steer!" Yan called, trying to pass the oar off to Seko "I'll hold the rudder, just get us to the ship!"

Seko, back bracing the onslaught of wind exploding from Cria, grabbed the oar and readied himself to turn. He forced the hard right, aimed directly for the aft of the Pasongunan, and leveled out as they approached. The methodology was unorthodox, but it was surprisingly effective.

"Cut the wind!" Seko called.

Cria dropped the spell and collapsed into a heap on the floor. Seko used the last of their momentum to direct the dingy alongside the ship and tried to flatten the oar face to slow their speed. Yan jumped up as they slowed and grabbed the chest, flinging it over his shoulder with some difficulty.

"Get Cria," Called Yan, climbing up their vessel's side ladder.

Seko gripped Cria as if to lift her, but she instead stood shakily and silently started up the ladder. With a degree of comfort at her being able to move, Seko followed. When he reached the deck he saw Yan and Cria collapsed and gasping for air, and feeling very much the same he decided to join them.

"Maybe the Sharks ate them!" Yan called from his sprawled position on the deck.

"Okay," Seko cried "You're right, you're right."

"Maybe the sharks..." Cria mumbled "Maybe next time you can shut your hole."

Stolen story; please report.

"Spoil sports the both of you." Yan drew himself up and pulled the chest closer. It was still filled with a number of the gewels, more than they'd need by at least double.

"Are you three alright?" Eado stood over them like a mountain, blocking out the sun from their vision.

"Move..." Seko groaned, waving his arms "The warmth... I felt like I was gunna die."

"It looked like you were too," Yan said, "look at your leg."

Sekos leg, the one that had been bitten, was torn and ripped, revealing the gruesome inner workings of the creators toiling. He wouldn't stand on it now, not after having used it to climb. He didn't think he'd survive walking on it now anyway. He raised a hand for Eado, who grabbed him and pulled him up.

"Aithur," Seko called

"Aye, Captain."

"Set sail for the Island Crescent, Yan can give you the directions."

"Aye Captain, We'll see it done."

Eado dragged Seko into the Quarterdeck and through to his small room, when he couldn't fit properly inside it he went to the navigation room and cleared a table. The ships chief medical officer, and really the only person with experience, Reeves was called and brought up to inspect the wounds. He flinched as Reeves' hands were placed on the gashes and magic was channeled through. He felt the itch of scabbing but resisted the urge to scratch.

When Reeves removed his hands the wounds were mostly gone. Small scrapes and wounds remained from the encounter, but he was otherwise completely healed. They let him test his weight on it, then allowed him to stand fully when it proved safe.

"Thank you as ever Doc," Seko said, slapping the mans back

"Not a doctor, but you're very welcome." Reeves Said "I'm glad we got you when we did."

"As am I." Seko made an overdramatic bow and Reeves sighed.

"I'll be in the Arc room if you should decide to try and kill yourself again."

"Aren't you getting a lot of practice?" Seko asked. Reeves frowned and slammed the door as he left.

"You are lucky." Eado said

"Regularly," Seko said "What do you mean by it this time?"

"I mean that you are lucky. You knew the risks when you went under, I am not about to tell you it was wrong."

Seko paced the room and winced at the pain of every other step, that would take a short while to adjust to, but it would heal long before they arrived at the crescent island. The place that held the key to the treasure. He was growing tired of the chasing, but if they only needed one more, well that was fine he supposed.

The deck at night was peaceful. Some of the crew remained on as guards for the nighttime, but most got to enjoy the benefits slumber could offer. Seko would have joined in sleeping were it not for the pain in his leg, so instead he stretched and decided to walk the ship. Most of the crew that was supposed to stay awake had actually passed out with their rations in hand. He let them sleep, it'd do them no good now, not with day so close.

Seko tried recalling the highlights of the day, ignoring the near death he'd experienced. He couldn't dwell on it, not now. He could push that off until some other time, he had to focus on the next item on their list now. The key. Whatever the key unlocked would be worth 1000 raids. Thats what Yan would have said, wasn't it?

It didn't matter. They'd survived another day, and that was something that everyone involved could agree on. Seko didn't really want to dwell much further on the near loss of life, it was starting to become a habit. It wasn't an adventure until they nearly died in the pursuit of wealth and fame. That was the way Yan wished it to be, and thankfully for him it was the way things often went.

Seko didn't really find much joy in the concept of risking his life for small aspects of an otherwise larger picture, if he'd wanted that life he would have stayed in the Empire and risked his life for the meger pay that the naval forces would have provided. Trapped in a looping life of constant disappointment and wasting of space. He'd of been stuck as a crewman, never raising above that rank and with no hope of going anywhere.

Still, maybe the idea of relative safety within the Empire would have been better. He could have started a proper family and tried to rebuild his families wealth from the inside. Perhaps he could have used some of the favors still owed to his father to gain a change of rank, maybe that would have given him a better chance.

He sighed and rested against the railing, watching the lapping black and silver waters as they crashed against the Pasongunans side. It was peaceful at night, more so than they deserved. They were pirates, their life was meant to be filled with conflict and riches, they weren't supposed to have peace and quiet, weren't supposed to enjoy the small pleasures of regular life. Or maybe that was just the way he'd started to see himself and the world around him. Maybe they were more normal now than he'd expected, more prone to the same faults of every other person in existence.

Peace. What would he view peace as in a year, if he truly did leave this life he'd become used to. Where would he be in this world, so far from the sea and so bent on residing once more on the lands. Would he truly be at peace if he no longer lived this way? Would he truthfully find peace in a world away from the sea?

"You seem a bit lost there," Eado said, sidling up and adopting a similar stance against the rail. "Trapped in your head again?"

"What do I do after this Eado?" Seko asked. He hadn't meant to ask the man, but the words had spilled from his lips faster than he'd been able to fight.

"Are you planning on leaving us?" He asked.

"I...Aye."

Eado nodded slowly and seemed to think deeply on the issue. Eado was a large man, both in stature and in ideas. He'd been a steadfast companion of theirs for some time now, and his council had aided them in more than a few occasions. Seko had grown to rely on the mans stable emotions and view on the worlds events.

"Well," Eado started, voice low "You best decide where you plan to go after then."

Seko smiled and breathed out a silent laugh "You're the second person to say that."

"The First?"

"Vel, before we left. It was actually her words that made me think about my place here."

"You do not feel you belong here anymore?" Eado asked

"Less than that," Seko said "More that I just want the life I had before. I want to rebuild and earn my place in this world. I don't care for fame or wealth gained from the noble life of the sea. I want my place on land once more."

"Then go, earn yourself a place in the lands once more."

"Were it only so easy." Seko groaned "I don't wish to abandon Yan, nor the crew."

"Aye, Yan would be a true danger to himself and others should you leave, but we would survive."

"We shouldn't be surviving Eado," Seko reached out to the wealth just beyond their reach, trying to grasp the figment of his imagination as if it were real. It remained just out of his hands, as it had always. "We should be thriving."

"That comes with time." Eado said "We do not reach that overnight."

"We've been at this for over a year now, Eado, how much longer do we need to struggle before we reach a stable land."

"I do not know," He said solemnly "But we will get there eventually. You need only have faith."

"Faith," Seko scoffed. "I have faith, faith just hasn't rewarded me yet. Where are the gods anyway, leaving us mortals to our own damnation."

Eado smiled and rested a hand on Sekos shoulder "Faith, rewards us in ways we least expect. You will find your peace, eventually."