So it seems it can be distracting to upload the whole thing in a single shot, so I'll be uploading them slowly this time round. I hope this stoyr goes as well as I believe it will...
Go ahead and guess what this story is all about. I will be uploading the rest of it soon enough. If you are bored, you can check out my other works, namely "White Memoir" and "The Shining Valkyrie"
Prologue:
The ship drifted on the waves, its crew still asleep. They were on the way to the Vale port from Vacuo. Unfortunately, a few delays in cargo shipment meant they had left Vacuo's port only at midnight. It was going to be long journey and no one liked the idea of staying up late.
The watchman yawned, glancing at his watch. It read 4am. He frowned, his sour mood not being calmed down by the lolling of the waves or the rocking of the vessel. He wondered why it had to be him stuck on this particular hour for watch duties. But he knew he couldn't complain. It was either that or the captain cut his pay.
He gulped down more beer, hoping, however slight the effect was, it would keep the freezing night breeze away. He groaned as soon as he realized he had just downed what was left in the bottle.
He threw the empty bottle into the sea. He wasn't too concerned about international pollution laws right now. He was concerned about his lack of sleep and alcohol.
His mate suddenly woke up, a Faunus with the horns of a goat. He came over, a brand new bottle of beer in his hand.
"You know me too well mate." He grinned, taking the bottle and biting down on the cork.
"Well, who can sleep when you've gone all grumpy?" He chuckled as the bottled was uncorked. "You make an Ursa sound tame when you're like that."
"Do I now?" He said as he spat the cork out. "Well, it ain't my damn fault and you know it. Stupid Schnee Dust contractor was late by a whole friggin' hour."
"And what was his excuse?" He went on, gulping down more beer as he did so. "Said he had to go through a whole lots of security details just to make sure no White Fang fool went and got the jump on him. Pretty stupid I must say."
"Well, you know these corporate business types." The goat Faunus nodded, folding his arms. "All they care for is them profits only."
He blinked. "Don't we care about that too?" He said, shaking the bottle. "I mean, our profit's what gives us our booze and all..."
"Yeah." The Faunus shrugged. "But we don't mess around with the beer man's time don't we?"
He scratched his forehead, wondering if any of it made sense. Considering that he only had limited education, his wondering took quite some time.
The ship suddenly jerked, the both of them falling over onto the deck. Something crashed and he was dismayed to see the beer bottle smashed upon the floor.
"Okay." He fumed. "Who is the damn fool who braked the ship?"
"Ships don't have brakes man." The Faunus replied. "They have anchors. And damn any sailor stupid enough to weigh anchor at sea."
"Then why'd we stop?" He asked. The ship was no longer moving to the up and down motion of the waves. It was completely rooted in place, like it was wedged on something.
The rest of the crew had gotten up and were rushing about to their stations. The captain bellowed orders, obviously worried about his schedule.
"We hit something?" He asked as he ran to his post. "Like a reef?"
"The heck kind of reef is out in the open water man?"
For a moment, the ship stood, perfectly still upon the lolling waves. The moon glimmered down and the stars twinkled. All that was absent was silence as the crew rushed about, trying to solve a strange problem.
Then the ship caved in from its centre, as if it was being sucked down into the depths of the ocean, metal screeching and wood cracking as they were broken to pieces.
A second later, silence, save for the gulls.