All Is Found

Chapter 14: Supernova

We left the long boat and went up to the deck. "What the devil?" Silver said as we emerged from below. I saw the dark blue sky starting to turn into a fiery orange color for a moment. The strong winds made the ship rock a bit.

"The star Pelusa, it's gone supernova!" Delbert yelled.

"Evasive action, Mr. Turnbuckle!" I heard the captain yell.

The ship was swiftly turned away from the star but it would be no use. "All hands, fasten your lifelines!" Arrow ordered.

    I ran with the two to the main mast and saw the other members of the crew joining us. My hands were shaking a little as I grabbed a rope and tied it to my waist, before tying the other end to a peg and tightening it. I heard shouts of the crew as they quickly secured theirs. The sky became a fiery orange color and the air became humid and hot. I could see balls of fire and rock zip through the sky as the wind picked up. I watched as some of them went through the sails as if they were made of paper.

    "Secure all sails!" Arrow shouted. "Reef them down men!"

    I followed Jim and Silver to the foremast where days before, I was star gazing. I hopped onto the mast and carefully walked out to where one of the sails was tied to the boat. I knew the other two were behind me as I could somewhat hear footsteps from behind. My hair was whipping around, sometimes covering my eyes but I simply brushed them away. When we got to it, Jim and I worked on tightening the rope to close the sail while Silver was trying to reel in the other end.

I saw a ball of fire heading towards Silver. Before I could shout at him to watch out, it made contact with its target. The reel exploded making Silver scream. He stood up and was having trouble balancing himself, and eventually slipped off. "Silver!" I yelled before running and grabbing his lifeline. I grunted as I caught it and tried to pull him up. It was difficult since I only weigh about a third of his weight. I saw another set of hands grab the rope and looked at Jim. We both then pulled him up. When I saw the cyborg's arms grab onto the mast, we both let go of the rope and went to help him up.

"Whoa. Thanks, kids." Silver said.

"Anytime." I said.

I saw something massive from the corner of my eye and looked. My mouth just opened in horror at what I saw, losing my voice in that moment as well. A massive asteroid was heading its way to the ship. I could see cracks of lava in the rock and the blazes on it.  I watched as three of the laser cannons made contact and exploded, doing very little damage to it. Panicked screams of the crew suddenly mixed with the rushing wind. I used my free arm to try and shield myself but something happened.

    The asteroid was backing up, inches from the ship. That made my heart leap into my throat. "D-Did you guys see that?" I mumbled. I watched as the asteroid was being pulled away from us at something ominous. I squinted to get a better look, feeling my body freeze in fear.

    "Captain, the star!" I heard someone yell.

    "...A black hole!" Delbert yelled.

   As soon as those words left his mouth, Silver ushered us up quickly making me snap out of my stupor. We have to get back onto the ship's ground. The ship tried to get away but its force was too great for the ship. It started heading towards the black hole, with an explosion coming from it. It sent out waves of wind that swept the three of us back onto the deck.

I felt something hot on my arm for a moment but it was gone just as it came, making me hiss in pain. I place my hand over the area and felt something warm and sticky. "Lass!" Silver yelled.

I could see some members of the crew holding onto something to keep them steady, some praying for help, and a few trying to get the others to hurry up on the task before climbing down. It'll be fruitless for them to finish that.

"You heard her men." Arrow said. "Unfurl those sails."

"What?" The Yzma look alike said in disbelief.

"But we just finished—" The body crew member said.

"Tying them down!" The head crew member said.

"Make up your blooming minds!" The Yzma look alike said before they started the climb back up. I immediately ran to the closest shroud and started to climb, with Jim right behind me.

    "Mr. Hawkins, Miss Emma, make sure all lifelines are secured good and tight!" Amelia ordered.

    "Aye Captain!" I said as I hopped down.

    "Aye-aye Captain!" Jim said, jumping down as well. We both ran to the lifelines and stood there for a second. "You take one side and I take the other, we'll check the other once we're done."

    "Sounds good to me!" I responded. I immediately started tightening the ropes on my end while he ran to the other side to tighten his. Once we were both done, we went and checked the other side.

    "Lifelines secured Captain!" Jim said.

    "Very good." Amelia said.

    Another wave came from the black hole, making everyone lose their balance. I tripped over my feet and rolled over against the wall. That made my arm ache from the repetitive action of hitting the ground. I steadied my hands on the ground and pushed myself up on my feet. A quick glance over the edge told me that we're above the black hole. I stared at the emptiness and my heart raced.

"Captain the last wave!" Delbert shouted. "Here it comes!"

"Hold on to your lifelines everyone! It's gonna be a bumpy ride!" Amelia yelled.

The ship was turning to face north as I pulled away from the edge. I turned around and saw Jim gripping my wrist as he lead me to the mainmast. I threw myself on it and held it tight, feeling Jim throw himself on me to protect me. I saw Morph turn himself into a small piece of rope and tied himself up, from the corner of my eye. When I heard another set of footsteps, I glanced over and saw Silver, quickly throwing himself onto us. I grabbed a hold of one of his metal fingers, clenching it tight. I saw Jim, also grabbing the same metal finger as me, but he then used his pinky to hold mine.

I felt tears fall down my face. This had to be one of the scariest moments of my life. I closed my eyes as darkness started to surround us. A moment of silence passed before I heard something boomed. I didn't dare open my eyes until I knew it was safe. I could feel wind rush past my face before there was calm. Once I heard cheering, did I open my eyes. I saw the dark blue sky and twinkling stars.

I let go of Silver's hand and Jim's as we departed from the mast. I saw Morph turn back into his usual self and sighed in relief, even slouching to the ground, making him look like a pile of slime. I wiped my tears away. "I can't believe we survived that." I said.

"Well, I must congratulate you, Mr. Silver." Amelia said, walking down the a few steps to get a better view. "It seems your cabin boy and cabin girl did a bang up job with those lifelines."

I blushed from the praise and looked at the ground with a smile. I saw Jim smiling and looking at his hands. I felt something nudged me into Jim and looked at the cyborg. We both playfully nudged him back, making him repeat his earlier action, with a chuckle.

"All hands accounted for Mr. Arrow?" The captain asked. There was no response from the first mate and we all looked around for him. "Mr. Arrow?" Then we heard hissing as Scroop walked up to captain, holding a hat.

"I'm afraid Mr. Arrow has been lost." He said as he gave the hat to the captain.