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liloinkoink · 1 year

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cherri got an ask abt the martyn ghost ship au, so i agreed to post a bit of it. here's smth vaguely before the plot, abt... hm, would it be cliche to say an anglerfish?

They hear his voice long before they see him.

“Please help me! Somebody, please! I-I need help, please, I need help!” His voice sounds ragged, like he’s been calling for hours, and he’s running out of time to keep begging.

The man stands on the bow of a ship speared through on a tall rock, waving a piece of a torn sail. His movements aren’t particularly quick or large, like he’s running out of energy, though they pick up as he notices the Ochanoma approach. He jumps halfway onto the railing, waving his flag and screaming, “Help me! Please help me!”

They stop. Of course they stop! The man on deck nearly weeps with relief as the Ochanoma pulls up beside his ship, dropping his sail and running to the bannister.

“Oh, thank the gods, I-I thought I was going to die out here!” he says, “Please, my ship ran aground in a storm, I-I-I lost all of my crew, th-there’s nothing, I don’t have any food left, I-I can't sail, my-my ship, it's ripped open, I’m going to die out here!”

“You’re not going to die here,” Rosa says, raising her hands, placating the hysterical stranger as best she can, “You’ll be fine, you can come with us. Can you make your way onto this ship?”

“Thank you, thank you so much, I’m starving,” the man says. He climbs onto the Ochanoma with no issue, pulling himself up and over the taller ship's railing. He stumbles over to Rosa, grabbing onto her arms with both hands, pushing into her space. His eyes are wide and wild, and his palms are freezing cold. “I- We weren’t without money. If you want something to— I can repay you. Below— below deck, there’s a— anything you find down there, you can have, just please get me out of here.”

“I— thank you,” Rosa says. She looks over her shoulder, stepping back and away from the man’s grip. He lets her go, though he sways slightly on his feet, just a little unstable.

“No, thank you. You’ve really saved me. I thought I was going to starve,” he says. There’s something strange in his voice, some sharp edge to the words, to the relieved smile that he’s trying to give her. There’s an air to him Rosa finds horribly unsettling, but she doesn’t know how to place it.

It must be trauma, she thinks. He’s just shaken. With some food and some rest, he’ll be fine.

Still, Rosa’s hand hovers at her waist, above the hilt of her sword.

“Ricky, take a crew and check out his ship,” Rosa orders, taking another step back toward her first mate, “See what you can find that’s valuable and take it. Especially if there’s food.”

“On it!” Ricky says. He waves about half of their crew over, and one by one, they board the rotten ship of the strange man.

Something makes Rosa keep watching as they begin to disappear below deck of the other ship, though her eyes drift from Ricky to the man.

He’s covering the bottom half of his face with his hands, though Rosa isn’t sure why.

Shock, she reminds herself. It must be shock. She doesn't know what else it could be.

“Daisy, take… take him below deck,” Rosa says. Something about him seems… dangerous, not right. She wants him out of the way, behind a door they can lock. “Find him somewhere to rest. Tell the cook we need a quick meal for him.”

“On it!” she says. She walks up to the man’s side, offering an arm for him to lean on. When he pulls his hands away from his face to take it, he’s grinning from ear to ear.

Somewhere in the heart of the sinking ship, someone screams.

“Thank you,” the man says, grabbing Daisy’s arm. His fingers are white against her skin, and he leans down, smiling into her ear. “I’ve been so hungry.”

Daisy rips her arm away, jerking back, but the man doesn’t need her support. He reaches for his waistband at the same time Rosa’s hand closes around her sword, but the thing he pulls out isn’t a weapon; The man brandishes a stick.

It’s… a board, maybe. Probably a railing. The end he holds it at is jagged, and the end he holds out has been sharpened to a point. He thrusts it at Daisy, grinning somehow wider.

“What are you?!” Daisy yells, “What did you do to them?!”

“Hey, I didn’t do anything,” he says. His stance is stable, now. His shoulders are relaxed, all the fear and mania melting away into nothing. His knees, though, are bent, ready to lunge. “I’m just the lure.”

Rosa doesn’t wait. She yanks her weapon free, charging the man at full speed. He laughs as she approaches, and the sound is surprisingly free of cruelty.

“Ohh, you’re fast!” He says. He takes a few steps back as she swings, beating her blade aside with the railing.

“What did you do to my crew?!” she demands, “Give them back!”

“You’re not a good listener, though,” he says, “I just said—”

“I don’t care whether it was you or something else,” Rosa snarls, “Give them back.”

“I didn’t take them,” he says, “But I don’t think you’ll want to see them like this.”

“What. Did. You. Do?!” Rosa screams. Her next swing is harder, wider, and the man steps out of it easily, leaving Rosa stumbling. He steps into her space before she can recover, grabbing her wrist and shoving it down, bringing her blade to brush the board below.

“If you insist on asking, why don’t you go get them?” he smiles, “After all, you can’t stay here. Your ship isn’t very safe.”

“What?” Rosa asks. The man smiles, then jams the railing into the deck.

Like ice on a frozen pond, the Ochanoma shatters.

“I wouldn’t want to be here if I were you, Captain,” he says, voice pleasant, “It’s not safe. But lucky for you, my ship is right here.”

“I’ll kill you,” Rosa snaps. The grip on her arm suddenly turns bruising, harsh fingers closing on the bones of her wrist and forcing her hand open. Rosa’s sword clatters against the deck.

“Will you?” he asks, and as Rosa stares into his endlessly cheerful smile, she realizes for the first time she can see his ship through his teeth.

“What are you,” Rosa says.

“You asked me that already,” he replies, “A lure. Can’t you tell by my dashing good looks?”

“Rosa! Duck!” comes Daisy’s voice behind her. Rosa doesn’t think twice, and over Rosa’s head sails the tip of Rosa’s own dropped sword, passing through the neck of the strange man.

It does nothing. His neck flickers, wisps of him swirling away like smoke. He blinks, looking down at the metal, only a little bored.

“Ohoho, man,” he laughs, almost impressed, “When did you pick that up?”

The lure turns around, the spiraling strands of his translucent neck slipping back into place. He raises the railing, walking over to Daisy with the point aimed between her eyes.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” he says, and he lunges, driving the point at her face. Her eyes widen, but Daisy was never much of a fighter—she doesn’t think to dodge.

The point hits Daisy in the neck, driving through her throat. It doesn’t stay, though—or, no. The point stays exactly where it is, newly-red and dripping with blood. It’s Daisy that moves, her body flying backward far beyond where she should go. Daisy slams into the bow of the ship with a loud crack, then drops into the water.

“Oops, missed the deck,” the lure says, slinging the railing over his shoulder. Blood drips from the point and through his arm, though he doesn’t seem to notice it splattering on the deck at his feet.

“You fucking killed her!” Rosa screams.

“And the other guys, too, yeah,” he agrees idly, “I don’t get a lot to eat, man, I’ve got to take what I can get.”

“I’ll kill you. I don’t fucking care what you are, I’ll fucking kill you! I’ll tear you apart!” Rose screams. She grabs her sword off the ground, and the lure makes no move to stop her. His disinterest offends her more than anything else, the blasé way he moves across her deck. She’ll tear that bored look off his face with her fucking teeth if she has to, but killing her crew will be the last thing the piece of shit ever does.

“C’mon, you have to know that won’t work,” he says. Rather than respond, Rosa screams, charging him again with another large slash. The lure takes a few steps back, defending himself only with distance, the railing still over his shoulder.

“I don’t think all of them are dead, if you’d like to check,” he says, “Not yet, anyway. You’ve still got, hm, four? Ah. No, three, sorry.”

“Fuck you!” Rosa yells.

“Not without at least taking me to dinner,” the lure says. He takes the railing off his shoulder, sidestepping another hit, and slams it against his own palm, as if something brilliant has just occurred to him. He grins, again without malice. “Actually, I guess you have.”

Rosa doesn’t respond, swinging her blade at the lure’s smiling face. He ducks, the railing coming loose from his palm and pointing vaguely in her direction. He’s still not really aiming, though. Not taking her seriously.

“Fucking fight me, you asshole!” Rosa yells. The lure takes another few steps back, but as Rosa follows him, her foot slams through a break in the deck. The lure watches as the wood shreds her leg, tilting his head as she shrieks in pain.

“Ouch,” he says, “Not really safe here, huh? What are you going to do about the rest of your crew?”

Rosa looks out, to the dozen or so crew members left. They’re non-combatants, mostly, the cook and the navigator and the doctor. They glance between her half-fallen form and the lure above her, uncertain and shaken.

“Why are you all standing there?!” Rosa yells, “Find a lifeboat!”

“But you’re—”

“Fine.” Rosa grits out, “Get to a lifeboat. Now. That is an order.”

The lure watches with a mild, polite interest as the crew clamors to the Ochanoma’s lifeboat, his hands folded as he leans against his railing, point driven down into the deck.

“Wow, they all fit on one little boat?” he asks, “Hm, are they gonna be able to get out? That boat’s on the side with my ship.”

“They’re probably getting Daisy,” Rosa says, teeth gritted. She shifts, starting the process of removing her bloody leg from the deck. The lure hums.

“She isn’t in the water anymore,” the lure says. The lifeboat splashes as it drops the last few feet into the water, and Rosa’s eyes narrow.

“What does that mean?” Rosa asks.

“Means you sent your crew to die, Captain.”

The wood of the rotten ship creaks, planks and nails screaming with sudden strain. The bow splits down the side, dozens of boards splintering apart in rows of jagged edges. They sort of follow the lines of the planks, but only as much as suits them—plenty more simply shatter, scraps of serrated edges sticking out into the sea. Most of the planks keep their nails, bent and rusted, sticking out in whatever direction their surely-drunk shipwrights thought was straight.

Rope and seaweed swing out from the inside, as if buffeted by an intense wind. The anchor rockets out and whams into the Ochanoma’s side, shattering another part of the deck and raining splinters down on the lifeboat below.

“Hey, it’s not all bad. You should be proud of yourselves! Not many crews require us to pull out all the stops.”

“No!” Rosa screams. She yanks her leg out of the deck at once, skin coming off her thigh in ribbons. A cavity opens in the side of the rotten ship, sucking in water that rushes to fill the void. Rosa doesn’t see the lifeboat as it's ripped inside, but she hears it—a dozen of her friends, screaming in fear, until the blackness of the ship’s maw swallows them whole.

“Mm,” the lure sighs, barely audible over the creaking of the ship. The wood stitches itself back together like nothing, the ropes falling flat against the ship’s side. “None of your original guys are alive. Thought you’d want to know. All the new ones are still— Ah, no, one’s just gone. Died of fright, I think? No, I lied, he fainted and fell, hit his head on an exposed nail. It’s an old ship, y’know—pretty dangerous down there.”

“I’ll kill you,” Rosa says again, absolutely seething. She turns toward the lure on a bleeding, shaking leg, eyes molten steel. “I’ll fucking destroy you for this.”

“Captain,” the lure says, “You can’t kill me.”

“Yes, I can.” she stalks forward. Her steps are slow, unstable, and she stumbles as she walks. The lure doesn’t move back, though he does raise the railing, pointing it between her eyes.

“No, you can’t,” the lure says, “I can’t die.”

“Everything can die,” she says. Her leg radiates pain, but she can barely feel it. She doesn’t feel anything at all, really, nothing except burning, fiery grief, “You will die.”

“No, you’re not getting it,” he says. Rosa is just a pace and a half in front of him now, raising her sword high above her head. Her eyes burn, red-rimmed, absolutely furious.

“Fuck you.” Rose lunges, slamming her weapon down, but it’s not enough. Her movement is too unsteady, too easily telegraphed. All the lure has to do is extend his arm, driving the point of the railing through Rosa’s chest, staking her heart.

She doesn’t feel it. She stares him down, furious still, but the fires are dimming.

Rosa’s weapon sails through the lure’s head. The center of his face curls like fog, and he sighs, pieces of his mouth twirling away with the motion.

“You’re not getting it,” he repeats, exasperated. Rosa coughs, bloody and wet. “I’ve already died.”

The lure yanks the railing from Rosa’s chest. Her eyes well with tears, though they don’t have time to flow before her knees hit the wood.

“Hah, jeez,” he sighs, scratching the back of his head, forcing it to reform under his fingers. Rosa collapses onto the deck, soaking the wood red. “You fought well, Captain.”

He slams the railing into the deck again, shattering the ship down the hull.

“Too bad it wasn’t a fair fight to start.”

#laughing a bit cherri posted two big fish rens and i posted the one thing from that au that doesn’t actually have ren in it. only ghost ship #if anyone recognizes the movie i stole the names from. lol. lmao even.#lew writes #what do you tag this as for a warning. we have several murders both on and off screen #but none of like. real characters. theyve just got names so i dont overuse pronouns #tw getting impaled. i guess?#anyway. shoutout to fencing. rlly did make my ability to write fights better. but only point weapons

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