Published: March 23rd, 2023.
First-Person Point of View
"It's a freighter!" "It just appeared out of nowhere!" The sailors were in awe of the gigantic boat that Anne saw. None of us saw it coming, but it was a pleasant surprise for everyone — except for Jotaro.
Joseph was the first to notice and take action to figure out what he was feeling. "Jotaro, something's bothering you, isn't it? You worried another Stand user's on this thing, it's not ideal, but we could handle it!" He was trying to ease possible nerves.
"Not quite. Strange they lowered the stairs, but there's not a single soul to be seen anywhere." Jotaro's scrutiny made our entire group aware of the absence of sailors on the larger boat we were hoping to go on.
"Maybe it's a ghost boat. Like a ghost town, but a boat. Maybe they disappeared because this boat is HAUNTED!" I leaned over to Polnareff, and put on my best scary storytelling voice, to which he then got a scared look in his eye.
"Pshhhh, we could totally deal with ghosts! They're probably just weaker Stand's!" Polnareff was confident in his abilities, plus, if the boat was empty, void of people, there would be no Stand user on board!
As we got close enough to the freighter, Polnareff was the first to jump onto the stairs that were already brought down. I did feel eery about it, was it ready for us? Were we ready for it?
"The ship came all the way to rescue us! There has to be some crew onboard!" Polnareff was being rational, and it somewhat calmed my nerves.
"Yeah, maybe we just didn't see anyone because the boat is so large?" This question was more for me, because, weren't there supposed to be people on the deck?
"And you know what! Even if they're all Stand users, I'm getting on this boat! I'm done drifting in circles" Polnareff kept going. He kind of lost me there. If they're ALL Stand users, we totally didn't stand a chance! HA!
We all looked at each other and began boarding the boat. Anne and I were the last ones left on the lifeboat. Jotaro and Mr. Joestar noticed our hesitation and stopped to wait for us.
I reluctantly got on, still feeling uneasy about the situation. But, I'm also always nervous about every situation, so I had to push forward.
I turned to Anne and motioned her to come on with a slight smile of reassurance. At the same time, Jotaro actually offered his hand to her. "Take my hand, kid. I'll help you up." Although quiet and cold at first glance, Jotaro emanates kindness.
Anne ignored his offer and jumped onto the steps and immediately held my hand. She and I now were walking up the stairs, Mr. Joestar and Jotaro following behind us.
She turned around and I followed suit, curious as to what she wanted to look at. Turns out, she just wanted to tease Jotaro by sticking her tongue out. What a silly girl. I am starting to enjoy her company!
"Good grief." The catchphrase of Jotaro sounded more defeated than usual.
As we gained elevation on the stairs, the deck became more visible. It truly had no one on there. Everyone was extremely confused, and we spread out to try to see if anyone was tucked away anywhere and to figure out what was where.
On the boat, there was a large accommodation, possibly where the boat's inhabitants were. Plus, the wheel of the freighter wasn't visible on deck, so it was most likely below, inside the accommodation.
~~
Turns out, the navigation system was below deck! Our group entered the control room, hoping to find someone navigating us so that we weren't truly on an empty boat.
"What's with this ship? There's no captain in the control room! There's no engineer in the radio room!" Joseph bellowed, shocked at the sight.
"Forget that! No one's steering this thing! Where the hell are we going?" I was absolutely, utterly flabbergasted.
"Look at this. All the gauges and machinery are working just like normal." I nodded, pretending to know what he was talking about. I am not a boat engineer. How am I supposed to know what's normal?
"Maybe they're all just in the bathroom with a bad case of the runs!" Polnareff, bless his soul, was trying to ease our situation.
Mr. Joestar ignored Polnareff, and cupped his hands over his mouth to amplify the volume of his voice, "Hey! Isn't anyone around?"
While he was calling out for people, Anne and I walked toward the other room. I made sure to go in front, just in case. Can't let a child be my shield when I have one, am I right? The sight inside the room was extremely... weird.
"Guys, come here, quick!" Anne called out to our fellow group members. This was something they needed to see.
We all headed inside together, to take a closer look.
"It's an ape! An ape's sitting in that cage!" Anne said out loud. Nuh uh! Not an ape!
"It's an orangutan." Kakyoin corrected her. This orangutan had such a menacing look to it. It made my skin crawl.
"Who the hell cares about a friggin' ape?" "Not an ape," I interjected Joseph's comment. He rolled his eyes at me and I stuck my tongue out.
"Let's split up and find whoever's been feeding this thing." Oh god, I really did not want to split up. I decided to stick with Anne, someone's gotta stay with her. And, she was growing on me.
I walked ahead of her, but she strayed behind. I turned to see what she was looking at, and it was the orangutan — who was looking right back at her. I chalked it up to the animal being curious about people.
"Come on, let's go Anne," I called out to her, and she quickly ran over to me and gave me a hug. I held her hand and we continued to walk to the deck, following our friends.
Avdol was with a group of sailors, but I couldn't hear their conversation. They were analyzing a part of the boat that had a large, overhanging hook. As we walked up to them, the hook started to swing. Something was wrong.
"Avdol! That sailor! Watch out!" In a motion that seemed like it was being physically controlled, it hooked the sailor through the back of his head — instantly killing him.
We all screamed — Anne included — and I attempted to cover her vision with my hands. However, Jotaro had gotten there first, so my hand covered his.
Jotaro pulled his hands away, seemingly unphased by our premarital hand-holding. I meekly apologized and turned Anne towards me, pulling her towards my chest so that she didn't have to see the aftermath.
"Good grief. That isn't any way to greet a child, now is it?" He looked at Anne in my arms. This was way too violent, and something a kid should never have to see in their life. But poor Anne was unfortunate.
"You're okay." I whispered, stroking her hair. Tears welled up in my eyes. I wasn't being sensitive, someone just died a gruesome death in front of me. I have feelings and am not desensitized to death and gore. I was honestly scared.
"No one was touching the controls!" One of the sailors cried out. What the fuck was going on?
The voices of other sailors followed, "Nobody touched the lever. The crane moved all by itself!"
"I saw it! That crane impaled him on its own!" I was trying to hide my fear as best as I could, for Anne, who I was holding. I'd protect this girl with my life. She was just a child.
"Careful! Something's someone hostile here." Joseph warned our group. No one should be keeping their guard down at this point, especially with dangerous objects that could impale you.
Joseph turned to the group that was in the vicinity of the hook and warned them not to touch any further machinery. He was absolutely right. It probably was a Stand user, but we had no clue where they even were. This was a game of cat and mouse, where we were the prey and had no idea where the predator was.
"If it moves or runs on electricity, don't lay a finger on it! If you want to live, then you'll do exactly as I tell you. Get into the cabin below until I tell you otherwise!" Mr. Joestar was a natural-born leader.
The sailors were now walking towards the entrance to the cabin, and Anne dwindled, slowly following them. It seemed as if she didn't want to go. But she had to.
"Did anyone see a Stand just now?" Mr. Joestar asked all of us.
None of us did.
"My apologies. I was the closest to the crane, yet I sensed nothing." Avdol expressed his regret, but I didn't really blame him. The entire situation was extremely sinister.
"All right, I'll send my Hierophant to investigate." Kakyoin's Stand probably had the longest range of movement out of all of us, so this was a good idea without us physically moving around. He summoned it, and it slipped through the cracks, heading to the cabin below.
As Kakyoin sent his Stand down, I noticed Anne from the corner of my eye. She was watching us from the door of the cabin.
Third-Person Point of View
Anne stared at the group, who were conversing. Why were they out there, but everyone else had to go in?
"I have no idea what's going on, but scary things keep happening whenever you guys are around. Could you guys be jinxed? I've heard about people who cause disasters that endanger everyone. If that's what you are, I'd better stay away. Even if (Y/n) is really nice..." Anne thought to herself.
First-Person Point of View
I turned my body to walk toward Anne, and the group turned to see where I was going. I could hear someone following me too.
It turned out to be Joseph, who kneeled in front of Anne to talk to her face-to-face. "I can tell you one thing for certain: Whatever happens, we are on your side. Stay safe, and make sure you stay with the others. Got it?" Anne nodded.
"I'll go with her, Mr. Joestar. Is that okay with you, Anne?" I looked at her, as warmly as I could. She didn't reply to my question, instead, she grabbed my hand and yanked me through the door. Guess it was okay!
Anne and I headed down to the cabin room, where the rest of the sailors were. But of course, on the way to the room, we had to pass the orangutan.
"That orangutan gives me the heebie-jeebies, I'm scared to even go near it again." I exaggerated a shiver with a 'brr' and Anne giggled.
"Why is there even such a big animal on board? It's so weird." She asked me, "I... don't know..." We had arrived at the door. Behind it, was the very thing we were talking about. I became silent, as if the orangutan could understand us — I wouldn't want to talk shit about it, in front of it.
A whooping sound came from its gray lips as we entered the room. It was just... sitting there. Legs crossed, and hands clasping the very bars it was trapped it. It seemed content where it was, for some reason, until the second we walked in. As if, it was putting on an act for us.
Anne began to walk ahead, and I panicked. I held her hand out of fear, so as to hold her back, but instead, I walked alongside her.
As we got closer, the orangutan pointed to the keyhole that was above its cage.
"Absolutely not." I shook my head. I pulled Anne back a little bit, just in case. I was scared that we were in reach of its grip, which was much stronger than humans.
"Yeah! We don't know where the key is. Plus, you're too big to let out." Anne was communicating (or at least, attempting to) with the orangutan.
I think she felt bad for the orangutan. Such large, intelligent animals are not to be trifled with though. I felt uneasy. As if the primate would suddenly escape and eat our faces off.
A hand extended from the cage, thank goodness I moved us back, we were definitely not within its range! Within the hand, was a half-cut apple. It was more pointed toward Anne, which made sense. I wasn't exactly the friendliest to that primate at the moment.
"You're giving me an apple?" Anne questioned out loud.
Alarms bells started going off in my head. It was perfectly cut.
"Anne, let's go. Now." I started to slowly shift to the side. Something was off.
"This doesn't make any sense? This apple's been cut with a knife, but it hasn't gone brown yet..." Anne looked between me and the orangutan. There were two scenarios, either that big fucking monkey has a knife, or someone else is on board with us and they have a knife and didn't show themselves when we called out for people.
Anne didn't listen to my pleading, are kids always like this? She knelt down and continued talking to the primate. I went beside her. I wasn't strong enough to just pick her up and walk away, and she wasn't gonna budge if I pulled her along. If you can't beat them, join them (and protect them).
"Hey, so there is someone somewhere on this boat, right? Do you know where the person who feeds you is?" She asked the orange primate. I quickly turned my head to look behind us, just in case this was going to be a moment where the orangutan pointed its finger behind us and someone was just there to jumpscare us. But no one was there.
As I turned back, the orangutan lit a match. A fucking match. My eyes travelled to where it held the match up to, and it lit a cigarette, which was in its mouth. Okay. Whoever handles this monkey needs to go to jail. Who gave it a cigarette?
It seemed as if I was more fearful of the situation than Anne was, who was a curious thing. But now, even my curiosity was piqued.
"You sure are a smart monkey. Who trained you to do that?" As Anne finished her sentence, the orangutan blew out the flame with a puff of its breath. It did not take its eyes off of us, and moved its arm to pull something up and show us.
Do you know what it pulled out? A Playboy magazine. I yanked Anne back and lead us off.
"We're going. Let's go. This is too much." I was disgusted
"No way! A monkey is actually into looking at... pinups of girls?" She asked me, I could hear the shock in her voice. I turned to look at that freak monkey, and all he was looking at was Anne. This was so gross.
I was about to open the door when two sailors opened it before me. I quickly pulled out my Stand, and created a bubble shield around Anne and I, as I got spooked.
They didn't seem to notice it, so I guess they weren't the Stand users. Plus, my shield was intact, so they didn't attempt to cause us physical harm.
"Hey, kids! You should be more careful, especially over there." He motioned to where the cage was with a tilt of his head.
"I've heard an orangutan has five times the strength of the average human. He could easily rip off your arms." Anne and I obviously weren't the average human in terms of strength, so this fact weighed down on me.
"Okay, stop scaring her. Come on, let's go follow them, Anne." I didn't let go of her hand. She gave me a squeeze and looked up at me with her hazel eyes, to reassure me. I think she realized I was more scared of the situation than she was. But she didn't know the capabilities of Stand users, or, what they could do.
The two men led the way, "We're just in the room down the hall. You two can't be alone." Excuuuuuuse me? I mean, he was right of course, but it still hurt! I think I can protect myself and Anne to a certain extent! Sure, I couldn't physically fight, but I can pull up a shield and probably run away without tripping over!
We went into the room, where all the other sailors were, and sat down.
"What a weird monkey." Anne sighed.
"Agreed."
~~
A/N: 700+ reads?!?!?!?!? THANK YOU<??<>S!!!!!! I love all of you so much MUAH (that was a juicy fat kiss for you -- only if consent is given ofc) !!!!!!!
The only constants in life are change, choice, principles...
...and my skeleton notes!
go into the boat.
WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT? A MONKEY???
"ummmm ackshually... its an organtuan" says smartass kakyoin (I want him so bad)
someone fucking dies
anne sneaks off, (y/n) goes with cause why would you leave a kid alone. Smart because we have a shield.
he looks at nudes. ah hell nah lets get out of here.