"Captain! You might want to come see this!" Beomgyu called, jumping down and handing the captain his telescope.
Soobin raised an eyebrow, taking it and peering through it. In the far distance, there were ripples in the water of something heading their direction.
Something huge.
Captain Soobin lowered his telescope and handed it back to Beomgyu.
"Taehyun! Get us off this course now!" He called. The other, who was steering, gave the captain a confused look.
"But captain, I thought we-"
"Don't question it! Turn us around!"
The other nodded, firmly gripping the steering wheel. Beomgyu and Huneingkai rushed to the side railing of the ship, anxiously looking out into the sea.
"Captain! I've lost visual on i—" Suddenly, the ship rumbled, causing the two to stagger backwards. Yeonjun stumbled back as well, looking over the side railing.
The water beneath them stirred furiously, as a giant tentacle arose from the water. Yeonjun's eyes widened with shock, as Hueningkai gasped. Taehyun was at the helm still, tugging at the wheel.
"It's jammed I can't get it to move!" Taehyun exclaimed, Yeonjun scrambling up to help him. The boat rocked back and forth, Beomgyu and Hueningkai clinging onto the shrouds desperately.
There were tentacles on the other side railing too, rising from the crashing waves. Beomgyu reached into his jacket, hurling out a set of knives. The blades plunged into the tentacles, as they curled up and sunk beneath the water.
The boat rocked back and forth furiously, water starting to crash violently along the sides of the boat. Hueningkai gripped the railing tightly, as tentacles started making its way to the ship.
"Captain what do we do?" Hueningkai exclaimed over the noise of the ocean, "It's right beneath us!"
Captain Soobin glanced around quickly, huffed.
"Beomgyu! Get below deck and ready the cannons!" Soobin exclaimed, "Fire somewhere else to distract the thing and we could get away!"
Beomgyu nodded, letting go of the railing. He reached into his pocket, hurling out three more of his knives and taking out a couple more tentacles. As the boat rumbled, Beomgyu quickly sprinted below deck.
"Hueningkai you're with me! Just hang onto something!" Soobin ordered, drawing his sword, "If they get too close, we cut!"
Hueningkai nodded, shakily reaching for his sword and drawing it. Suddenly, another tentacle arose along the side of the ship, wrapping around Captain Soobin's ankle.
The captain yelped, as the tentacle gave him a quick yank. Soobin fell onto the deck with a harsh crash, starting to get dragged off deck. The captain squirmed, reaching for his cutlass.
Hueningkai's eyes widened, sprinting over.
"Captain!"
The boy jumped onto the tentacle that had grabbed the captain. He raised his sword, slashing the tentacle. Hueningkai stumbled back, panting and tightly gripping his sword.
They heard a distorted cry from below, as the tentacle retracted itself again.
"Are you alright Capt'n?" Hueningkai panted, helping the other up.
"I'm fine, just shaken up," The other panted. They heard the loud boom of cannonfire coming below deck, and a violent explosion of water in the far distance. Hueningkai looked back over at Taehyun and Yeonjun, struggling to get the ship turning.
He quickly tucked his sword away and ran over to them.
"Let me try," He said between breaths, "The creature must be holding onto th—"
The ship rumbled again, Yeonjun's tight grip almost slipping. Captain Soobin had his sword drawn, slashing at any of the tentacles which drew too close.
"You guys help the captain! I'll take it from here!" Hueningkai ordered. Taehyun and Yeonjun exchanged a nod, running back to the main deck.
Taehyun reached for his cutlass, counting the tentacles which surrounded them. A few tentacles still had Beomgyu's knives anchored into them.
Yeonjun drew his sword as well, glancing at all of the tentacles as well. There was another boom of a cannon below deck, this time causing a couple tentacles to retract themselves.
Taehyun ran over to the edge, peering over the side. The giant octopus's tentacles writhing along the sides. Suddenly, one of them shot up and wrapped itself around Taehyun's waist.
Taehyun flinched, raising his sword about to cut the tentacle when it yanked him off of the deck. He quickly grabbed onto the railing of the ship before it could pull him under the water.
"Taehyun!"
Captain Soobin and Yeonjun bolted over, the captain twirled his sword and slashed the tentacle clean off. The limb fell back into the water with a crash.
There was another violent crash of waves, as the tentacle sunk beneath the water.
Yeonjun threw his sword aside, and grabbed Taehyun's hands, hauling him back on board. Taehyun stumbled back onto the deck, peeling off the severed limb from his body and threw it aside.
The octopus tentacles on the other side slammed onto the deck, breaking the floorboards and nearly crashing through. The three of them stumbled, Yeonjun leaning on the railing.
Yeonjun could see the deck below now that the upper part had been nearly destroyed. The octopus tentacle grabbed onto one of their side cannons, ripping it out and throwing it far into the sea.
Taehyun grabbed Yeonjun's hand, his sword in his other hand.
"You know how to swim, right?" He panted, looking the other in the eyes.
"If worse comes to worse, we'll have to jump ship," Captain Soobin huffed, as Beomgyu ran back onto the main deck. He tripped over a few loose floorboards but leaned himself on a nearby crate.
"Captain I did everything I could! It's not—"
There was another crash and rumble, the ship rumbled again. Beomgyu held up one finger and rested his hands on his knees.
Then he glanced up, reaching into his coat and hurling out a set of knives again. Captain Soobin ducked, seeing there was another tentacle that had risen above him.
It sunk back down, taking the knives down with it.
"This thing isn't giving up, is it?" Captain Soobin scowled, looking back at Hueningkai, "How's the steering going?"
"Captain we can't go anywhere with that thing stuck on us!" Hueningkai shouted, "We have to do something or we're all going overboard!"
Captain Soobin panted, looking around at the ruined deck.
"You see those crates over there?" He breathed, pointing to the wooden crates with his sword.
"Open them, and throw them as hard as you can over the side," He ordered, "It's the last thing I could think of."
Hueningkai slowly let go of the wheel, looking at the others unsurely. Taehyun and Yeonjun hauled one of the crates, prying it open with their sword. They both hauled it to the side railing and shoved it deep into the seawater.
The boat shook again, waves crashing along the sides of the boat. The tentacles retracted into the water, Soobin peering over the edge.
"I think it's going after the crates!" He said between breaths, then turned to the others, "Hurry! Throw more before it comes back!"
Beomgyu and Hueningkai lifted up a crate, hurling it into the sea just like the others had. It landed with a crash, Taehyun and Yeonjun running over to the edge. Slowly but surely, the ship wasn't shaking as violently as before.
"There goes our supplies," Yeonjun panted.
"And my knives," Beomgyu added, wiping sweat from his forehead.
"Those things are replaceable, your lives aren't," Captain Soobin said firmly, looking at the tentacles still latched onto the ship.
"Beomgyu! Throw a few knives here and get it off our ship!" The captain ordered, Beomgyu reaching his hand into his coat again.
He threw a couple more, completely cutting off the tentacles from the side of the ship. Hueningkai looked up at the helm, running over. The wheel was able to turn, unjammed from its place.
"Steer us out of here before it gets back up!" Soobin ordered, running over to help the other. Hueningkai nodded, quickly rotating the ship wheel.
The octopus had disappeared, Taehyun and Yeonjun could barely make out the translucent outlines of its tentacles and the ship started to move again.
"I honestly didn't think that would've worked," Yeonjun huffed, looking over the railing.
"Me neither, I'm just glad we're out of that mess," Taehyun sighed, keeping his eye on the sea below. The waves were still violent, Hueningkai needing the captain's help to steer them off course.
Taehyun could see the faint outline of the giant creature, starting to swim deeper into the water below.
The captain sighed deeply, "Looks like we'll have to make a stop for repairs as soon as we find land."