The Adventures of the "Four Muskytears"

🌊 Off to Sea [1/3] 🌊

Captain Polar's POV:

I looked down at my captain's boots, my shoes squeaking on the wet deck of my boat.

The wind picked up, howling into my ears as I sat in my captain's quarters, gazing out into the roiling sea outside.

Angry, white-capped waters roared across the ocean, violently rocking my boat into the storm that was approaching.

"Captain, this is Riptide coming in," A scratchy voice came from the radio box beside my boat's control panel. "I need you and your ship getting back to shore now. Eddie's telling me there's a violent tropical storm coming in, and I don't want you getting stranded like when you and your friends thought you'd like to live the daredevil life."

I nodded, chuckling to myself. "Got it. I'll stay out of trouble. I'll head back to Port Starboard."

Reaching for the controls, I sat up in my seat, adjusting my captain's hat with my free hand. "By the way, we have a meeting place up? After I arrive, I'll meet you somewhere so we can discuss what we do after this storm... If anything's damaged, of course."

Riptide let out a slightly glitched sigh through the radio. "I'll think about it. Just get back before anything worse happens."

As if on cue, a bolt of lightning split through the afternoon sky, a resonant crack echoing through the humid air.

"Yep, definitely coming back." I squeaked, quickly turning my boat around. "I'm getting out of here."

Putting my boat's engine up to full throttle, I sped back toward the shoreline, feeling the storm chase me as I tried to evade the oncoming downpour.

A light drizzle began to fall, sprinkling my windshield as the silhouette of Port Starboard began to come up in my view.

Gradually slowing down, taking note of the Slow Wake signs in the water, I began to look for my boat's dock, searching for the familiar wooden shack I used to call home.

I noticed that I had a ridiculously tight grip on my controls, so I took a moment to stop strangling the poor handles and relax my hands. I was out of danger... For now.

"Oh yeah, we're meeting by... Arghby's?" Riptide's thick Norwegian accent echoed through the old radio once again. "Arghby's. That's what Fjord wants."

Stifling a laugh, I spoke back into the radio. "Captain, do you mean Arby's?"

Riptide groaned. "Ugh, same thing, Polar. Anyways, just meet us there... Fjord and I are heading inside for a table."

Before I could reply, the radio crackled, and the captain's voice dropped from the little box. Thunder boomed in the distance as I brought my boat toward my dock, next to the little shack I lived in for most of my childhood.

Shutting down the engine, I slid the side door open and stepped out of my quarters, taking in a deep breath of the comfortingly warm ocean breeze.

I hauled myself onto the dock, my navy blue boots creaking the old, wooden floorboards that made up the ancient platform.

A thick, hardy rope was coiled around a wooden beam toward the edge of the dock, which I used to deftly secure and tie my boat in place before heading toward the mainland.

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝

It took me about ten minutes to make the trip through Port Starboard to get to the local Arby's, the local wet markets being presented vacant due to the coming rain.

As I approached the building, I took a moment to glance at myself in the reflection of a puddle.

My wavy, jet-black hair was unkempt, loosely wrapped up in a braid. Stray locks of it swooped just over my eyebrows, casting a pale shadow over my dull, cobalt-blue eyes. Dark circles, as the results of some restless nights, rested underneath my eyelids.

I couldn't present myself like this to my fellow captain, so I decided to at least fix myself a bit.

I undid my braid, swiftly combing through my hair with my fingers and putting my hair up in a neat ponytail. I tugged at my navy blue collar, straightening my captain's coat and taking off my hat.

Smoothing out my hair, I walked into the restaurant.

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝

"Glad you made it, Captain Polar." Fjord's calm, cool voice chuckled from across the restaurant. I glanced to my left, and the two captains were seated in a booth, opposite sides from one another. "Come sit with us, we have a lot to talk about."

I nodded, striding across the room, noticing Riptide motion to sit beside me. Slipping beside him, I took a seat with them at the table.

"You seemed a bit panicked when I spoke to you on the radio. How's Norski? Doing good?" Riptide asked, his emerald green gaze searching into mine.

I nodded, the edges of my lips curling up into a smile at his reference to my boat. "My boat's fine. She's been through worse times than this."

"It's just a tropical storm, according to meteorologists on the radio." Riptide replied, ruffling his chestnut -brown hair. "It's really just your average thunderstorm, nothing too bad could happen."

"Never say never, Riptide." Fjord grimaced, crossing his lanky arms. "We're in the middle of hurricane season. At any moment, this 'average thunderstorm' could become a Category III hurricane. Y'know what? Betcha twenty sand dollars that this storm's gonna sweep through this place like a tornado."

"I rebuke it," Riptide snapped at him, turning to face the dusty-blonde captain. "If you knew anything about this place before you got here, you'd know that Port Starboard has never been taken down by a hurricane in the past century and a half. We've always been lucky with avoiding damage from storms like this."

"Oh yeah?" Fjord retorted, glaring at Riptide. "What if that luck runs out, huh? What will we do then if the entire port gets destroyed? Hope that luck will have our backs, like the last century and a half?"

Before I could stop the argument from escalating, an earsplitting crack echoed through my ears.

Fjord's face had switch from a look of defiance to an expression of shock, his stormy-gray gaze widening as he watched the lights flicker. "Did lightning just-"

Unfazed, Riptide replied to the stunned captain. "Yes, you narwhal. Lightning just struck somewhere nearby. It's almost as if it wanted you to shut your trap."

Fjord rolled his eyes. "At least lightning doesn't strike the same place twice."

The second thunderous boom came, splitting the sky in half and nearly shattering the sound barrier.

After that, all that came next was darkness.

Silent, unnervingly lightless, darkness.