Besse woke to the sounds of thumping and frantic running of the crew men from above.
She lifted her head and sniffed the salty ocean air, giving her a calm feeling amongst the anxiety she was blanketed in. She noted that the air had an electrical charge to it, making her hairs stand on end and goose flesh to decorate her skin.
Then came the horrible pain from the lashing Pistol-Grin gave her the night before.
Hot pain engulfed her as she slowly screamed out. Her body lurched forward to get away, only to be stopped by the chains.
She pulled but the metal cuffs bit into her wrists hard enough that she started to feel blood trickling down her hands.
Glad the cloth was gone from her mouth, Besse screamed for the men to come release her, but the franticness above drowned out her cries. She waited till the pain had dulled before she listened to what was going on.
She could hear the crashing of the waves hitting the sides of the ship, the sound of loud thunder mixed with cries from the crewmen and shouts from the Captain. No wonder the air felt charged, there was a storm brewing.
Though, depending on how long she was out for, the storm may not be too far away.
"Turn ta prow! Angle against ta waves!" She heard the Captain bellow out when the thunder died down.
The sudden silence was more deafening than the thunder, making Besse bite her tender swollen lip.
Silences were never a good thing, it was the calm before the storm.
The Captain must have shared his thoughts with her, because he was taking advantage of the silence and barking more orders to his crew, his voice becoming more frantic as the seconds ticked by.
The ship rocked gently, barrels that had tipped over rolled back and forth in the hold.
If there was anything to be grateful about when being chained up in the brig, was that the barrels and anything loose would be stopped by the door.
Suddenly, a large thunderous crack broke through the silence as lightning lit up the sky. The tiny window that was located way above Besse's head showed just how bright it was. The ship tipped to the side, a wave coming up and hitting the side so harshly and high that a little bit of sea water came through her window.
Besse cursed loudly before angling herself to shout out the window the best she could.
"Cap'n! Release me!"
The wind was blowing crazily at that point, she could feel how cold it was from the way it blew into the brig and practically swirled around her.
She shivered, trying to cover herself with her arms.
"Cap'n!" she tried again. "The Sea God will torture ye if ye leave me like this! Ye know the brig is a death sentence far us pirates!"
The brig was the lowest area of the ship, no one could care less about the prisoners if the ship was rammed by another and the whole bottom area takes on water.
Though she loved the sea, she did not want to drown in it. Not quite yet.
She struggled against the chains some more as the storm outside started to pick up. She knew the men had tied themselves to the ship at this point, the best possible way to avoid going overboard, so no one was coming to get her.
Gritting her teeth against the pain, Besse tried to make her hand small so she could slip out of the cuff. The tightness and the sticky blood was not helping.
As she considered her next move, which would be breaking her wrist since she had no saliva in her dry mouth nor any type of liquid to help ease the process, she felt something brush against her leg.
Thinking it was a rat, she ignored it.
Rats were common in the hold, especially when hiding in some of the goods they buy from the ports. Besse seeing a rat never bothered her.
Just as she was about to try again, hoping fresh blood would actually help, Besse felt another brush on her leg.
Making a fist with her other hand, she brought it as high as she could and delivered a mildly harsh bottom-fist punch to the creature without looking.
Besse froze in her position.
Something was not right.
She slowly turned her head to look at the rat that was hopefully under her fist and was, hopefully, a very fat one since this thing felt very squishy. And wet.
Gulping, she lifted her fist.
And screamed.
She scrambled backwards as far as she could go while never taking her eyes off the thing.
A tentacle.
So similar to an octopus's arm, yet it wasn't.
The arm was as black as night while the underside, which held two sets of suction cups running up the length of it, was blood red. It was wet and squishy, though as it moved she could see the muscles flex and bend like a regular arm.
Besse could not understand what she was looking at.
She knew, without a doubt, it was not from an octopus. It was too long and too... muscular to be of a normal aquatic animal. She had helped cook both octopus and squid with the Ship's cook too many times to not know what they looked like.
The arm seemed to have a purpose as it lazily moved back and forth across the floor boards. It moved up the walls and onto the ceiling, then it trailed back down onto the straw bed. It pulled back enough to cause the bucket to fall over, making it pause for a second before wrapping itself around the bucket then squeezing it so harshly it made the wood snap.
Pieces of the wood flew past Besse while one metal ring nearly collided with her skull, the other ring went off to the side. She dodged the one at the last second, causing her to squeal.
The arm paused, then slowly reached out to her.
Besse leaned away from the arm, biting back a whimper as it slowly touched her knee. It slithered up her thigh, her hip, and her stomach. She tilted her head to try to avoid it touching her face, but she quickly looked back down when the arm brushed the underside of her breasts.
An unintentional blush rose to her cheeks at the motion.
Her heart was pounding a little harder as the arm brushed under breasts again. Besse closed her eyes, squeezing them tight in fear of what may happen next.
The arm retreated, letting her release the breath she did not realize she was holding.
She watched as the arm pulled away from her, slowly sliding down her body. The feeling was odd, making her skin tingle and heat up.
When the arm touched the chains, however, it stopped as if shocked. It reared up then went back down to touch the chain again. It wrapped around it lightly, then moved up and down as if to try and figure out what it was touching.
The arm moved higher until it came to the cuff around Besse's wrist. It paused, then gently wrapped around her wrist and the cuff.
Besse hissed as the suction cups brushed against her wounds from the sharp edges of the cuffs. The arm pulled back as if upset that it caused her pain.
It retreated fast, going back through the little window, as if determined to get out. But instead of disappearing, the arm traveled up.
Besse watched with wide eyes as the arm's width became wider and wider the further up it went the ship.
"Sea God?" She whispered.
She was not sure if she was expecting an answer, but what she was not expecting was a loud groaning sound as the ship tipped to the side.
Clutching the chains, Besse listened as she heard the screams of the crewmen from above.
Another groan of protest from the wood of the ship became nearly deafening as the wood broke on one side.
She was on the opposite side, but she could still feel and hear it.
Besse knew what was going on, the Sea God, or whatever it was, was taking the ship.
Their sins were finally getting punished.
A single tear fell down her cheek as she knelt on her knees, feeling defeated and oddly at peace.
"Fight it off! This overgrown squid will not defeat me!" She heard her Captain yelled, most likely drawing out his cutlass and pistol.
Several cheers broke out, but soon it was replaced with squishy sounds, thumps as if something was stomping on a rat, and pain-filled screams. A large boom shook the ship as one of the cannons went off, making Besse's teeth chatter at the intensity of it.
Yet the creature, Kraken, Sea God, made no sound.
It was fascinating for Besse to watch the arm flex as it tightened its hold on the ship. She wished she could see more.
Almost as if it heard her thoughts, the arm moved.
She could see out the little window again, the storm looking dangerous as the rain beat down with the swirling winds. Every so often she could see the rain coming in, to which she would try to get some into her mouth since she was so thirsty.
It had been days since her last proper drink of water.
Perhaps this was her mind going delirious from dehydration.
Yes, that be it! I lost me mind and this be a nasty trick me mind is playing. Any moment now, Pistol-Grin will come through the door and bring me to my final moments.
At that last thought, Besse shivered and bile rose in her throat.
Rather than waiting for that to happen, Besse turned her full attention to the illusion, wanting to drown in it before the worse comes.
As if tired of all the games, the sea god's arms flexed as it squeezed the harsh wood, effectively crushing the ship.
Besse screamed as she curled up into a ball while still on her knees and used her arms to cover her head the best she could.
She felt the ship start to sink. It angled into the water and started to go down. Looking up, she saw the arm pass by the window and disappear.
Besse felt sadness at its disappearance, but she had no time to ponder her emotions.
The brig had a small hole in the wall that was filling the room with water. She watched as the water reached her, touching her sore skin.
She jumped at how real and how cold the water felt.
Her mind began to play catch up with her, making her stare at the rising dark blue water. She took in the fact that the air still smelled of a storm, yet now it was mixed with salt, fire, and blood.
Panic settled in as she struggled against her chains. Besse started to yell for help, calling to her Captain to free her of the chains and possible reality that should have been anything but.
Relief flooded her as the door to the brig crashed open, revealing Captain Craw.
He stumbled in, his eyes wild as he took in Besse on her knees in chains and in rising sea water.
"Besse!" he yelled, sheathing his cutlass. His other hand still held his most cherished pistol, one he got off an admiral during a ship battle.
He ran forward and pulled out a key from his pocket.
"We got ta get outta here, Lass. An overgrown octopus had taken down me ship! There be a small boat waiting inta water, once ye are released we make a break fer it!" He put the key into the lock on one wrist.
He was about to twist it when he froze, his mouth opening and closing several times.
"Cap'n?" Besse whispered as she watched his eyes glaze over.
Panic rising in her again, she reached for the Captain with a shaky hand.
His head tipped forward to reveal a red and black arm pierced into the Captain's spine at the neck.
Besse screamed. She grabbed the Captain's pistol and aimed it at the arm.
"I would advise against you doing that, love."