Arthur Kirkland was the best known Royal Navy captain in the world. He was the best at what he did. And that was why he was chosen to be the captain of the crew to chart unknown islands in unknown seas.
Arthur had no problem with it, no problem at all. This could put him in history, so a hundred years from now, kids would learn about him in schools and he would be talked about for a while, like Columbus, or Magellan. So, a nice grin was plastered on his face as he steered his ship through the ocean spray. They were well equipped for anything that could happen to them, like savages or even being stuck in a storm. Needless to say, he was feeling very confident.
"Captain!" a crew member, Jonathan, if Arthur remembered correctly, ran up to him. Arthur wasn't exactly familiar with this crew, it was essentially assigned to him because he never had a crew for himself.
"Yes?" Arthur asked.
"Crow's nest has spotted a storm," Jonathan reported quickly. "It looks like a big one, sir."
"I will have you know that we are well equipped for anything," Arthur stated. But, he was still curious about that storm. So, he let go of the wheel, knowing full well that Jonathan would quickly take it and steer for him. He quickly walked over to the other end of the ship, easily moving around the workers and overcoming the rocking of the boat with expertise. He had been on ships since he was just a boy and he quickly got his sea legs.
On the other end of the ship, he pulled out his spy glass to look at the horizon. Sure enough, he could quite easily see menacing black clouds creeping up, towards them. Arthur hummed slightly as he tucked his spy glass in his back pocket. It was going to be a big storm, he could tell just by glancing at it. His ship could take some damage, but that storm did look big… From what he could tell, they weren't close to an island yet, so they may be in a little trouble.
He kept a calm face as he walked back to the wheel and took it back easily from Jonathan.
"We will be fine," Arthur assured him, staring straight ahead. Even without the spy glass, he could see that spot of black coming slowly and slowly closer. It would take some preparation before they hit it and a lot of hard work from the crew, but it would be nothing they couldn't handle, he was sure of it.
The storm came far sooner than he expected it to. And it was far bigger than he expected. It took all of his strength to try to keep the wheel straight without him slipping around on the deck. The rest of his crew was doing just that. They had to desperately man the sails and there were plenty below decks trying to keep all of their supplies from harm, but they were just sliding around desperately trying to stay upright. Rain was pelting them on all sides and Arthur was drenched right to the bone. He couldn't even see where he was going, but he did want to make sure he kept the wheel straight, in hopes that they wouldn't tip too much. But it was exhausting.
There seemed to be no end in sight, but he did have his crew to take care of…
Finally, though, there was a large gust of wind that lurched the wheel out of Arthur's hands and he was sent flying into the side railing. He didn't even let himself rest before he stood back up and quickly tried to make his way back to the wheel. But their ship hit a massive wave, making Arthur slide all the way to the back of the ship, hitting the rail hard.
"Captain!" Jonathan clumsily clamored up to Arthur. "What do we do!?" he had to scream over the roar of the storm.
"I-I…" Arthur stared up at the storm. "I don't know…" he muttered, so quietly that he even couldn't hear himself. They hit another big wave, making Jonathan slam into the rail, too. When the ship crashed back onto the sea, they heard a massive crack. "Shit…" Arthur muttered and slowly and carefully made his way up to the wheel, where he could see the rest of the ship. They hit another wave and he held on tightly to the wheel to make sure he didn't fall back.
When they crashed down, he could easily see multiple giant cracks all over the deck of his ship. It was going to fall apart, no matter what he tried to do. His ship was built to be strong, but not this strong.
But, like a godsend, a quiet voice that seemed to be trying to yell called out to him. "Land ho!"
Arthur immediately started scouting around, trying to find this "land." When he looked hard enough through the pelting rain, he found a small dot on the horizon, slowly getting closer. Arthur grew a small smile and silently thanked God and promised to pray more when he got out of this.
Arthur opened his mouth to shout something at his crew, but they hit yet another giant wave and Arthur's grip slipped on the wheel and he flew back. He expected to hit the railing hard, but he definitely didn't expect to flip over the edge of the boat.
He screamed and tried desperately to get a grip on the railing or any part of the ship, but he was falling to fast and very quickly hit the freezing cold water. It shocked all of the breath out of him as he slowly started sinking.
In all honesty, Arthur had no idea how to swim. That may seem odd considering his status as a captain, but if you're a really good captain, there should really be no reason for you to know how to swim. So, Arthur desperately struggled through the churning waves sending him in circles so that there was no way he could know which way was up. Eventually, though, he had to suck in a breath to breathe, but all he got was a lung full of salt water.
Just when he was about to maybe make it out alive, everything just had to fall apart…Arthur stopped struggling, accepting his fate. He would be famous alright. Famous for being a failed captain who couldn't even make it out of a simple storm…
He slowly became numb and forgot about his surroundings, he barely even noticed that he was being dragged somewhere by something.
Arthur was more than a little surprised when he found himself slowly waking up. He could hear calm waves in the background and felt rather cool. He could feel the slight sea spray and a nice mixture of grass and sand beneath him.
He slowly opened his eyes and was greeted by what looked like a palm tree with small specks of light coming through.
"Lads! He's waking up!" someone called above him. Arthur blinked a few times and moved his head around a little bit. Behind him, was a real palm tree, something he'd seen on rare occasions. In front of him, though, was a beautiful beach. Pure white sand and the sea was a beautiful turquoise that sparkled in the sunlight.
"Captain," someone started shaking his shoulder and Arthur quickly snapped out of his trance to look up at the person.
"Maxwell," Arthur smiled slightly at him, his voice very hoarse. Maxwell was Arthur's first mate. In all honesty, Arthur had no idea what he was doing during that storm, but it must have been something useful. Wait…the storm… "Th-the storm," Arthur tried to sit up, but felt a pain in his stomach and started coughing uncontrollably.
"Don't try to sit up yet," Maxwell said, lightly pushing Arthur back onto the ground. "You did your best with the storm, but the ship fell apart. She's somewhere at the bottom of the ocean. I realize you probably wanted to go down with her, but your crew needs you."
"Where are we?" Arthur asked.
"Uncharted island," Maxwell reported, looking up at the sky. "It's quite a beauty."
"How long have I been out?" Arthur asked, slowly propping himself up on his elbows behind him.
"The storm didn't take too long to pass," Maxwell stated, looking back at Arthur. "Just overnight, sir."
"Right," Arthur nodded. "Any food or water found yet?"
"No, sir, everyone's afraid to go into the jungle without you," Maxwell said.
Arthur sighed, shaking his head. He would have to get up now. "Water will be the most important thing to find," Arthur slowly worked to sitting up and leaned against the palm tree. He took a look at the crew he had left. "How many survived, Maxwell?"
"12, including you and me," Maxwell stated, still kneeling down at eye level with him.
"I see," Arthur sighed and worked on standing up slowly. His crew were all standing in a group on the beach in front of him. "You four," Arthur pointed at a random four. He was sort of crouching at this point. "Find fresh water. If there's a jungle here, there's bound to be fresh water."
"Captain, don't rush yourself," Maxwell tried to say, but Arthur was already standing up, leaning on the palm tree for support.
"I'm captain," Arthur panted. "I need to take charge."
"Yes, sir," Maxwell nodded.
"You three, set about seeing if there's any animals to hunt on this island, so we won't have to live off of fruit," he looked at some of the other trees and found things like bananas and coconuts lining the trees. "You two, make a signal fire, I don't want to be stuck here for too long. Make it here on the beach. Maxwell, you," he pointed at the last crew member left, "and I will start with shelters. For now, we'll settle on the beach to scout for passing ships."
"Aye, sir," the crew mumbled, nearly in unison and each set off to do their designated job except for the two left with Arthur. It took him a moment, but he realized that the one with him and Maxwell was Jonathan, the crew member from when the storm started.
"Once we have that settled," Arthur tried standing upright and only wobbled slightly, "I'll set off with you, Maxwell, and we'll map out this island to see how big it really is."
"Aye, sir," Maxwell nodded.
"Now let's see if we can find some fallen trees," Arthur stood up as straight as he could, he was a proper Englishman and he wouldn't let being stuck on an island change that fact. Then, their party of three headed out, into the jungle.
Voila! New story! I honestly didn't expect this to come out, but in a matter of a few days, I'm seven chapters ahead. And then I saw this challenge of updating on New Years and I thought, why not?
Um, I know what a lot of you are probably thinking. If you've read Lord of the Flies, it seems like this will be a lot like it. In a way, it sort of is, but the main point of that book is not the main point of this one. You will see it soon enough. Oh, and if you haven't read Lord of the Flies, read it. And, if you can, find a copy with a little add on from Stephen King, the stuff he said in that was totally inspirational to me as a writer!
Anywho, please review! Tell me if this is any good. And don't worry, this chapter is kinda short compared to the other ones I've written.
I'm only putting this in the beginning, so pay attention all of you: I. Do. Not. Own. Hetalia. Or. Anything. I. Might. Add. In. Here.
