Board Thread:What Would You Do?/@comment-34263048-20190608213123/@comment-36855838-20190609054106

Our vessel dove, far beneath the waves, exploring the coastline and the sea beneath popular trade routes, occasionally various creatures swam by, from clownfish to mersharks.

Monsters were truly a sight to behold, they gathered at tge portholes to peer into the vessel, and the first expression on their faces was not of malice or of hunger, but of curiosity.

Some merely came and went in the blink of an eye, others continued to follow us, swirling about the hull and performing submerged acrobatics in front of the submarine.

Eventually, like a whale overextended, we had to surface.

As we breached the waves, we surveyed our charts once more, sure enough we had arrived at our patrol location.

The stale air of our ship was quickly replaced with fresh seabreeze, and the tanks were quickly refilled as well.

Our vessel ready for a dive, we surveyed, and waited.

Morning gave way to afternoon, and then evening, finally twilight rolled around, and I was put on watch.

I settled in for a long, cold night, and as the watchman who preceded me headed for his bunk, I relaxed into the cushioned sair and the lilting melody of some friendly mermaids who had decided to follow us.

Suddenly, a flare shot straight into the sky, cutting the darkness like a razor.

I bolted up, and barely registered the mermaid flopping awkwardly into the water as I pulled up the tranciever from the watchman's station.

"Get the captain, all hands to stations! We've got a distress signal, Red Flare, Red Flare!"

Our vessel dove, and I quickly closed the hatches behind me as I descended the ladder inside.

The normal sounds of activity were suddenly gone, no shuffle of paperwork, no swish of brooms, no clanking as men stalked the interior.

Only my muffled footsteps kept me company as I scrambled to my personal harpoon gun, waiting for the vessel to line up a shot.

We arrived to a scene of utter chaos, the water was churning and thick with monsters, from scylla to mersharks, and all around the hull of a vessel we could barely make out.

Suddenly, a massive tendril split the crowd, easily as thick as an oak, and long enough we couldn't see the emd in this darkness.

Another reached up, and another, and another.

Who fired first I still do not know, but it began a frenzy.

A single harpoon pierced a single Tendril, and others followed suit.

I took aim, and fired!

Each tendril was as eadily speared as the last, and soon all nine were in our clutches.

Our prey secured, we set off for port.

The Kraken dragged behind, but we kept pulling, slowly but surely we returned to our docking station.

---

Our arrival was hushed, the mission still in progress.

Once we were attached properly to the dock, the chains began to winch back into our ship, hoisting a very much alive kraken onto our vessel.

A sailless wooden ship was brought out, and we prepared to retrieve her, while others rappelled down and detached the harpoons, I joined several others on the oarship's deck to colkect our prize.

Drooping like a deflated balloon, the Kraken was still a sight to behold, her more human torso hung limp and almost lifeless, her arms hanging mere inches from the deck.

As I approached, curious, the torso jolted slightly, and then the first tentacle fell free.

Immediately, it wrapped tightly around me, weighing me to the deck, caressing me, squeezing me and then relaxing, over and over.

Unfazed, the others continued their work, and slowly the wounds on the Kraken healed.

The captain strolled up to me as tge vessel began it's return to shore, covered as I was in tentacles, I couldn't move or respond.

"She's taken a liking to ya, just like we hoped! She's yours to keep of course, but we will be calling on you next time we need squid bait. For now, enjoy shore leave with your new wife!"

Once on land, she began drinking water almost constantly, allowing her to refill her boneless body and take on some shape.