I got several people here saying that this didn't have much plot, and I just wanted to say that the first chapter was all exposition, so there's no need to worry about it. The plot sort of picks up more here, or the action does at least, so it should be more entertaining. Also the wife must take the name of her husband, as custom dictates, so Jack would not get Elsa's name, and Emma's husband would not get her name. Remember, this is set a while back so there are issues with that sort of thing. Also Elsa's last name is scandinavian so of course it's awful, I am aware of that. Okay, I hope you all found those answers satisfying and hopefully you'll like this chapter better than the first. Don't expect to get new chapters every single day, but for now we'll update two days in a row.
It wasn't until late that night that he knew that wasn't going to happen. He woke up to the sound of men shouting, and it took him a moment to remember where he was. The ship was rocking severely from side to side, and he it was so cold that he could see his breath. It seemed that the wind from earlier in the day had grown into a snowstorm. There was no other explanation for this kind of weather. He had taken off his jacket, cloak, and boots to sleep, but he pulled them all on in a hurry now. There was something wrong, otherwise the crew wouldnt be yelling like this. As he left his cabin he sent a silent prayer up to Hodr and one to Skadi as well for good measure, that they wouldnt let this winter storm kill them.
The deck was a mess, a flurry of movement so confused that it was hard to tell what exactly was wrong. It was windy, that much was obvious, and even with all his layers he was immediately cold. He couldn't help but feel sorry for all the crew members, with their threadbare old cloaks. They must be frozen half to death. Jack looked around for someone who he could ask about what was happening. His eyes settled upon the cabin boy, who was huddled up in the corner created by the stairs, that went up to the back of the ship where he thought the rudder might be, and the wall of his cabin. He looked absolutely freezing, so Jack scooped him up, much like he would Emma, and carried him inside.
He wasn't sure how old the boy was, but he wasnt much bigger than Jack's sister, though she was small for her age which could make him a little younger. He could feel the poor kid shivering, and grabbed his thick fur blanket to wrap around him, hoping it would be enough to warm him. They couldn't afford to have a sick person on board, if he got anyone else sick it could become an issue. If they were bad enough not to be able to work... He didn't actually know what would happen then, but it didn't sound like it would be anything good.
"What's going on out there? Has the blizzard blown us off course or something?" He knew asking might be futile, this boy, Erik was the name he remembered from earlier but he wasn't sure that was right, was shivering so hard that he might not even be able to speak.
"The wind is too strong to use the sails, and the oars got broken off by the ice. We can't steer ourselves anywhere." Erik responded through chattering teeth.
So, it was worse than he had originally thought. If they couldn't steer themselves then they were done for. The wind could do whatever it wanted with them, it could overturn them. This could easily be the death of him. No, of everyone on this ship. He had to do something.
"Erik. It is Erik right?" He didn't wait for an answer, he needed answers as soon as possible. "Do you know a lot about boats?"
"Yes. Of course, your grace."
Under normal circumstances Jack would have told the boy that formalities were unnecessary, but right now they didn't have the time for that. "Do you think we would stand a better chance in the life boats? Against the storm I mean, would we be more likely to make it through this thing?" he knew he was grasping at straws, but there had to be a way. He couldn't die here, these people couldn't die here.
Erik shook his head. "I don't know, maybe. It would be easier to steer, and they have oars too. They're smaller, so the wind would be less likely to turn us over. It might be our best chance."
He nodded, glad that his initial assumptions had been correct. It may be a long shot, and he knew that just as much as the shaking boy in front of him, but a chance was the best they had right now. "Okay, I'm going to go talk to the captain, you stay in here and warm up. I'll come and get you when I'm done and we'll go to the life boats." he gave him a reassuring smile and left.
Outside the wind had gotten worse, and he was nearly swept back into the wall by it. Snow was falling so thickly that it was hard to see anything, and the deck was blanketed in white. It might have been pretty if he didn't know that he might die tonight. However, it also made it hard to identify the people on the deck, and he couldn't even hear the shouting anymore, though he knew the crew members had to be yelling to one another.
He decided that the best course of action would be to tell the men he could see and have them spread the message. Hopefully everyone would hear it and even more hopefully it was the right decision and it would get all of them, or at least most of them, out of this alive.
He had told eight people before it seemed that the word had spread, and everyone was at the lifeboats. One of the men told him to get in, since he was a prince and too valuable to be left behind, but he told them that he could wait. These men had been out in this cold all day, and right now his fingers were working much better than any of them. He was more useful in helping to untie and lower the boats.
In fact, he was soon able to get all but one boat lowered, and the majority of the crew down. Those who were left could fit in the last boat along with him. They all got inside in a hurry, and two of the other men started lowering the boat. It was different, lowering it from inside the boat, and it went slower than usual. Even so, they were completely past the deck before he remembered Erik.
"Stop the boat, I forgot something."
"Can't it wait boy? We have to get loose of the ship."
"No, it's Erik, I left him in my cabin. We can't just leave him." He didn't wait for them to raise the boat up, he just jumped and grabbed the edge of the ship, thanking all his years of climbing trees for letting him get this good at climbing. He had a little trouble because of the ice, but after a few seconds of scrabbling he was up over the side and running towards his cabin. He opened the door and unceremoniously scooped up the boy, and the furs along with him. He was small, and he could use the extra warmth. He didn't bother explaining anything as he dashed back to the life boat. Thank god it was still there, he had almost expected them to leave him. It wouldn't have been unbelievable. He figured that it must be because he was royalty, and that made him more valuable. If they saw him through this safely they could be knighted, they might even get a lordship out of it. That made him happy though, these men could have whatever they wanted as far as he was concerned, but it looked like they were all going to make it out of this alive.
It seemed that way at first. Just after they lowered themselves into the water, there was a terrible cracking sound, like splintering wood. They tried to paddle away from the ships, but no matter how hard they tried, the wind and waves kept throwing them back.
Jack knew it was over before the crew even said anything. The ship was going down, and it would suck them down with it. It was like the games he used to play. He would toss rocks into the water during the spring or fall and watch it suck down leaves or petals from the fruit tree blossoms along with it. He never quite knew why it happened, but he knew that it did every time without fail, and it would happen now too. They were petals, ready to be sucked into the freezing black abyss all around them. Right now they sat precariously at the edge of the swirling water that had already begun to pull them closer.
It was like everything stood still for a split second, and he was able to think clearly just for that moment. He knew what he had to do. He hurriedly removed his white sash and wrapped it around Erik's hand, looped it under the bench seat that the two of them were sitting on, and wrapped the other end around his own hand. "Listen Erik, We're going to go underwater, but I need you to hold on to that as tight as you can. The boat is wood, so it should float to the surface faster then we would on our own. If you don't hold on then you might drown, so remember it is very important that you don't let go."
Then before he knew what was happening they were plunged into the icy water. It was cold, that was the first thing that he was able to register. So cold in fact, that it seemed to suck every wisp of air from his lungs, leaving him struggling not to breathe in, as his body kept trying to make him. He couldn't move either, it was like he was frozen solid, though he knew that wasn't the case. He could see the blurry figures of men down below him and realized that the moon must be full. It was so bright out tonight that he couldn't remember how he didn't realize that. After all, what could possibly have been going on to make him not notice? Whatever it was, he knew it had something to do with holding onto this piece of fabric with the boy beside him. He thought it was a boy, they were small enough not to be a man, and he couldn't imagine a girl being in this could water with him. Girls had other things to do. Things that didn't involve being this cold.
He was so so cold, and it was so dark, even with the bright moon. His hands didn't seem to be working properly, he could feel the fabric slipping out of his fingers, but he couldn't stop it, he was being sucked down, looking up at the surface and the boy with his little lifeboat, and the great big moon up above him. It looked like it was right there, so why wasn't it pulling him out? Why was it just watching?
Mani, help me. I don't want to die.
The last coherent thought in his mind. A cry to the moon god to help him.
So basically Selene is mostly pagan, being a northern and Scandinavian sort of country. All the gods mentioned are Norse ones, including actual Mani the moon god. See it's funny because it's like Manny. Manny Mani, yeah I think it's cool maybe no one else does.
