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Scar hurries down the steps away from the ship’s wheel, his First Mate at his heels. He barks out orders to the rest of his crew, preparing for the approaching storm.
He pushes down on his cane as a rough wave hits the both, making everyone else stagger. His first mate barely keeps his balance. Once recovered he faces Scar, “I don’t think we have enough time to secure everything.”
He falters, staring at him, “Everything else should already be secured!” Scar’s eyes flick around on the deck, “Where’s the Quartermaster!?”
He doesn’t wait for a reply before heading towards the staircase, throwing open the door and making his way below deck. “He should be in the storage room,” his first mate says, hurrying after him.
Scar huffs, “Go help prepare, I’ll handle this.” If he was less focused on finding the quartermaster, he’d have seen the wide smirk growing on the first mate’s face.
He hurries into the storage room, frowning to see it empty of people, and all supplies locked up. He repeatedly taps his fingers along his cane. Something is very wrong.
Scar jolts at the sound of thunder and another harsh rock of the boat. He mutters a curse, hurrying back up onto the deck. He throws open the door and immediately grips the doorframe, wind and rain immediately slamming into him.
He grimaces, peering out into the rain, he needs to make sure everyone is inside before locking the door. Just as Scar goes to close it, he spots someone slumped over gunwale.
Scar grimaces, he really doesn’t want to go out there, but he will not be known for abandoning his crew. With a deep breath, he grabs his hat and ducks his head, walking out into the storm.
It batters him so hard that he can barely keep balance, barely breathe. He puts a hand on the person’s shoulder, startling as he recognizes his quartermaster.
He looks up at Scar, shouting over the storm, “I think I saw someone out there!”
Scar stiffens turning to stare out at the water, waves rippling hard. He searches the water, but it’s obvious that anyone out there would be bested by the storm, even the best swimmer.
He goes to tell the quartermaster that, but feels a dagger dig into his back. A voice growls into his ear, “This is a long time coming, Captain. ”
Scar whirls around to exclaim mutiny, but the pain blinds him enough that the quartermaster pushes him over the gunwale. But not before snatching his hat. He’s not sure if that’s more offending or not.
He doesn’t have much time to think it through before he plunges into the freezing cold water. Scar quickly swims back to the surface, but a wave immediately pushes him down again.
It’s a horrible thing, to think of your fate before it happens. He’s a strong enough swimmer to breach the surface, only able to take a deep breath before going under again. He can’t keep this up for long, the storm too strong for him to fight against for an extended period of time.
Scar forces his eyes open, searching for anything around. He knows deep inside that it’s hopeless, they’re in the middle of open sea, there’s nothing around for miles. He still can’t give up.
The next time he surfaces, a wave slams him straight into the ship. His ship. Which he thought he had swam far enough away from. The hit is so strong to his head that he’s dazed as he’s pulled under again.
Instinct has him holding his breath, but he’s down too deep to know which way is up. Scar desperately looks around, but the storm makes everything too dark to tell.
A wave throws him into something else, and Scar fumbles to grab it. His hand wraps around a chain. The anchor! He wastes no time in trying to climb it, gripping it tightly.
But Scar’s running out of air and the chain is slippery, making it near impossible to make progress. He closes his eyes and tries to concentrate on climbing, but he feels his body weakening.
He uses all of his strength to not let instinct take over to take a breath, although he’s growing lightheaded. Scar’s grip loosens against his will, he’s going to die from his own crew.
Scar’s going to die from the crew he built from the ground up.
Betrayal burns deeper then his lungs burning for air.
A hand grabbing his arm startles him, and he opens his eyes to see a face a few inches in front of him. Scar inhales sharply in surprise, immediately regretting it as water enters his lungs.
Hands grip his face as everything goes dark, the stranger’s face being the last thing he sees.