A tail for an eye - Eren x Levi

Chapter 5

'Darkness From Night'

Heavy breaths from the impact still filled the boat, as well as creaking wood and flapping sails from above them. Levi looked out the side of the boat once they'd return on their course as though he'd be able to see that thing again. Of course he couldn't, yet he wished he was able to. It was getting darker by the minute and now he could barely see within the water behidn them. Never in his life had he seen such a thing, perhaps most people on land didn't even know of its existence. He didn't want to believe it was the legendary kraken, yet the orange hues, the movements its performed to move forward, the very clear tentacles. All Levi could think was that they were supposed to be a myth, that thing shouldn't exist. It was fictional, it came from stories and stupid yet terrified pirates who's eyes played tricks on them. He had to stop and face the truth through a deep sigh; it existed all right. But this wasn't going to stop Levi.

"Captain, what if it comes back?" The pirate who'd seen the creature asked him in a hushed tone. 

Levi didn't move or speak for a moment, instead looked down at the darl water as the boat stopped rocking sideways, he could barely see a reflection. What would he do? They wouldn't be able to combat against such an animal, would they? To put it quite blunt, they could be taken down by it. That dreadful thought had to be pushed aside though, an attitude like that wouldn't help. He'd prefer a more realistic viewpoint instead.

"It didn't care for us, so it might not bother us again," Levi answered at last. It was somewhat truthful, it didn't appear to show any interest in the boat but simply bashed into it due to its grand size. 

"What else do you think could be out there?" The boy continued to question him, at least he had the common sense to whisper his words.

How could he know that? Very little of the ocean had been explored, not to mention seas closer to other continents could hold much different things within its depths than these ones nearby. Truly anything could exist deep below the surface of the ocean, anything the human brain would allow one to imagine. There was no way to disprove it, at least not at this period of time.

Levi adjusted his hat, "Guess we'll find out."

Before the now slightly shaken pirate could speak again, Levi turned his back and walked along the deck. Various objects had fallen over, mainly cleaning supplies and tables and chairs. Already, pirates were correcting the placement of each item, putting it back in its precise placement. Though inaudible, Levi knew they were gossiping about what had happened moments ago. 

"Whatever it was, it's travelling opposite to us. We'll be fine," Levi spoke with power, gaining everyone's attention. A few nodded in response whilst others bit their lip in anticipation, "let's call it a night."

Most seemed a little relieved they'd be able to relax, but Levi knew it would remain on their minds. He more didn't want them to stay on top of the deck and look out to the water and spook themselves thinking that thing was back. The last thing he needed was his crew scaring themselves on top of everything else. Of course, there was still the night crew that needed to remain awake, yet he trusted their maturity and common sense much more. They were more elder than the remainder of the pirates, they were better at recognising if something was real or imagination.

"Captain?" Zoe asked, walking toward Levi with a different guy taking over the steering wheel, "what was that?"

"I don't want to admit it ... but I think a kraken or something similar." Levi did feel enough faith in Zoe to tell her his thoughts so far. Though she hesitated to hold back in her dramatic antics, she knew the line.

"Really? I thought so, too! Do you think we'll encounter it again?"

"I don't know, I'm not psychic," Levi stated with a bored face, yet his mind certainly wasn't bored with its racing thoughts. She opened her mouth to say something, but he beat her to it, "you should get some sleep."

She closed her mouth and thought for a moment, "Yeah, you too. I'll see what I can find on krakens."

"Save it for the morning." He began walking off as she muttered to herself about being so excited about this and how she won't be able to sleep now she knows there's something else out there to discover about. She truly behaved like a child at times.

--

Hours had passed since the commotion from earlier, most pirates were asleep below deck. Yet Levi sat in his office, thinking. He couldn't sleep on a good night, forget after that. Little light showed in his room, just a few candles and a lantern in the corner. Outside appeared to be completely pitch black now, the small circular window told him that. 

He glanced through an old book on myths and legends on the sea. This book held photos of all sorts of creatures that people presumably spotted in previous travels. Some had been proven incorrect, some were proved, but most nobody knew about. The loch ness monster, scylla, pliosaur and finally the kraken. Not much information showed, to Levi's dismay. It angered him in silence, causing him to slam shut the book and lean back in his chair. His eyes felt tired but his body didn't. Closing them felt heavenly, it felt like the salt splashing around from the water dried up the moisture in his eyes and he just needed to rest them. Removing his eyepatch and hat relieved tension in his head. He frowned, seeing his eyepatch. He touch the eyelid on his blind eye as though it would be a magic touch that brought back his vision. Levi sighed.

A gentle and continuous tap began from the side of the boat. It startled Levi yet it didn't show physically. The second he snapped his head to where the window was, all noise paused. Levi looked away, maybe he was exhausted and hearing things now. No, it sounded again. Much more aggressive this time. He wasted no time lifting from his chair to try and look out the window. No use though, the darkness devoured whatever sight used to be visible. 

"What are you?" He whispered, so quiet that he himself barely heard it.

Levi took a breath and grabbed his eyepatch whilst rushing from the room. Years of practiced allowed him to be able to tie it within seconds. Chills ran down his spine at the cold and salty wind hitting his body. Leaning over the side of the boat, directly above the window to his office caused a slight rush of adrenaline to travel through his veins. It didn't seem like anything was there. He pushed his hair out his line of vision to view better, the wind messing it up.

"Captain?" A voice rang.

He turned in an instance, being bashed by cold wind and feeling his cheeks and nose turn red. He squinted at the figure, "Jean?"

"What are you doing?" Jean questioned, the more Levi blinked the clearer he could pinpoint Jean's features, "has something happened?"

"Shouldn't your duty be finished for the day?" Levi changed the subject.

"I've just swapped with Connie, he's watching now," Jean responded, stepping closer, "Captain-?"

"Weird things keep happening here, Jean," Levi interrupted, looking back out to see and beginning to walk back down to the main deck, back to the warmth of inside, "this sea isn't right."

Jean gulped and kept his eyes on his Captain, crossing his arms, "I know, Captain. That's why nobody travels over this sea." Jean almost smiled a little, "then there's us."

Levi would've found that microscopically funny if it hadn't been for the circumstance. He wished Jean a good night and returned inside to attempt to sleep. No more tapping sounded from the window, but Levi kept an eye on it for the majority of the night.