Chat Noir was a unique ship.
She had found the dark ship by the smallest chance when she was fifteen years old, scrambling to truly start her life as a pirate.
She came across it sitting in a bay off the shores of a small town, the ship itself nearly hidden in the night, just as black as a moonless evening. With a resolution and help from Jagged Stone, Ladybug had sailed Chat Noir out into the open waters.
Her own ship.
Personally, Ladybug declared him to be her greatest prize. Her treasure. Her unique, fearsome treasure.
Chat sailed silently and swiftly through the water. He blended into the night with the timer's dark coloration. And when Ladybug and Chat Noir struck their prey, their attack was fast and efficient.
In these two years, Chat Noir has taken Ladybug far in life.
Ladybug adored Chat Noir. The ship was the greatest treasure she ever found.
Even if Jagged grumbled and insisted that the ship she chose was haunted. "I think a witch enchanted it," he had declared. If this was true, all the better. There was power in witchcraft. A fear of it. A fear that kept many other pirates away, afraid to be hexed or jinxed by Ladybug and her haunted ship Chat Noir.
Unfortunately, magical or not, a ship was a ship and there were limitations and challenges all ships faced. Like storms.
Ladybug gripped tightly to the rope, listening to it whine in protest as she was pulled against it, stretching it out as it kept her secured on Chat Noir. She stumbled when Chat dropped flat, shaking slightly from the tumbling waves pushing at the hull.
Grimacing, Ladybug called out, "Steady!" watching her crew hold tight to their own ropes, ensuring they don't get thrown off. This had to be one if the roughest storms she'd seen in a good while. Rough enough to unnerve her.
Rough enough that her thoughts fluttered to the mer. Mers who were said to be capable of making storms. Did he possibly do this? Was her freeing him not enough?
Did the shark named karma turn and sink its teeth in her?
Ladybug pushed those thoughts away. Mer related or not, it was a storm to get through. And as needle-sharp rain poured down on her and savage waves pushed her about; Ladybug sought to see them all make it in one piece.
Hand gripping her safety line tight, she shouted to Ivan, "Try to keep us straight! Sail us out of the storm!"
"Yes Captain!" he answered over the wind, keeping a tight grip on the wheel, struggling to keep it straight.
Beside him, Mylene helped in keeping the wheel straightened, the couple glaring past the rain.
Ladybug turned, watching her crew, making sure they were all accounted for, and things were running smoothly.
Just a little longer, she told herself. They'd be out of this soo—
She tensed at a deep bellow of thunder and a harsh shove of the wind, one that sent her skidding across the wooden floor of her hull, her bare hand stinging from where the skin rubbed raw against the rope.
Unnerved as she held tight to the rope, Ladybug shouted out, "Any sign of the eye?"
That was another chance. Sailing out of the storm's path or slipping in the eye.
Over the howling wind, she heard Alya shout back, "No sign yet." She slid nearer adding, "I don't even know where the edge of it is."
"It's got to be somewhere!" Ladybug shouted. "Keep looking! We need to get out of this storm!"
Chat echoed her, moaning loudly as waves pushed the ship around.
Ladybug spared a wary look around, grimacing. What to do, what to do…
There was always a way out, always something that she could do. She just had to be clever, be sure…
"Go with your instinct," was a common phrase told to her. Her instinct still had yet to fail her.
Absently, she tugged at the rope, eyeing the mast where Alya clutched the crow's nest. The rope secured around her, Ladybug charged, jumping up and grabbing the metal holds, scaling up to join her best friend. Alya leaned over, offering a hand to her and pulling her up into the crow's nest with her, both wincing as the wild winds shoved and slammed against them. They squinted past wind, hair, and rain and sought the dark, angry horizon for some escape.
"It's just an endless dark cloud," Alya shouted over the wind, gripping the wood hard as another gust shoved her, shivering a little at the cold splash that joined it.
"There's always an end," Ladybug encouraged, loosening her rope for a moment, loose enough to pull off her red and black coat, handing it to Alya.
The redhead snatched it up, shivering as she nestled down into the warm coat. A coat Ladybug specially made to be warm and protective, but still light enough to move around quickly. Ladybug leaned on the curving wall for stability as she re-tightened the rope, she made a noise of protest when the wind snatched her hat away.
She peered after it, blinking as she noted a different coloration in the sky.
Her eyes widened. There. That's the edge of the storm, that's where they needed to go. She pointed to it excitedly, shouting, "I see it, Ay! I see it!"
Alya squinted out, spotting what Ladybug saw. Beaming, she cried out, "Calm waters ahead!"
"I'll let Ivan know!" Ladybug declared, climbing over the edge. She ordered, "Keep your eyes on it!" and hurried down. When close to the deck, she jumped off the mast, squeaking when she slipped on the soaked boards. Shaking herself, she got up and hurried to the steering wheel, shouting for where Ivan needed to go.
With a firm nod, Ivan turned the wheel, moving Chat Noir towards the lighter skies, directing the boat through the rough waves. Ladybug turned, eyes set on the horizon.
They'd make it, she thought.
She had a good feeling for this.
Ladybug faltered when Chat tilted tediously, looking up to see a large wave rising high above them. She tensed, paling at the sight of it.
"BRACE YOURSELVES!" she shouted, grabbing her rope and tensing as the water came down. A wall of cold shoved at Ladybug's body, pushing heavily on her and sending her skidding across the floor. The rope tugged painfully at her middle, the frosty water sliding over her form in an angry, suffocating rush. When it slid away, she gasped from where she was on the ground, shivering and coughing.
Around her, her crew coughed and moaned; Chat moaning and creaking around them.
They needed to get out of this quick—
"Help!"
Ladybug's head shot up, looking to see one rope was stretched out and hanging over the rim. She jumped up, racing to it, finding Kim hanging over the edge, too low to grab the ship's railing and pull himself to safety. His rope looked weak, looked ready to snap.
"Captain!" he cried, looking up at her with scared, pleading eyes.
"Hold on!" she cried out, moving onto the railing, feeling the rope around her waist giving her a warning squeeze. She was playing a dangerous game. And as she untied her lifeline, Ladybug willingly raised the stakes.
With a bit more extension, she held tight to the rope, twisting it around her wrist for extra security. She dropped down, quickly grabbing Kim and pulling him up.
Kim frantically grabbed her rope, using it to help get himself over and back on Chat. Only as the two started to climb back over, there was a warning roar in the air.
"BRACE YOURSELF!" someone shouted out.
Ladybug and Kim looked up, seeing another wave coming up.
It slammed down on them, rocking Chat violently.
When the cold water dropped away, Kim shivered from where he gripped the railing and the rope, gasping and coughing. This was awful. And when he opened his eyes, he found it was worse.
Ladybug was gone.
It was dark, cold, and suffocating.
Ladybug knew this for sure as she seemed to float in a black, angry void. Her lungs burned, there was a sting in her eyes and nose. She felt like she was in a constant spin, moving in an aimless direction, the surrounding world a loud yet muffled rush. A world that was rolling her about enough she didn't know which way was up or down.
When she opened her eyes to see, scrambling to find out where she was, what was happening, all she saw were silver blurs racing past her.
Bubbles, she faintly thought.
She could almost feel them. A shy tickling sensation running over her skin, almost feeling like a gentle caress, one that felt soothing as the numbness started to seep into her body.
Sleep.
It was a gentle order in her head, a quiet promise.
Sleep.
The pain in her chest will stop.
The fuzzy dizzy spell that took her mind would lead the way.
Just sleep, just fade into the darkness. It'll be ok.
Her eyes closed, her body going limp and just letting this void carry her about.
She barely twitched when she felt something rough cup her face.
She barely registered something soft and warm pressing against her cold lips.
She did feel the hot tingle shooting, and the rush of air blowing through her. She snorted out water and air, a big bubble blasting out of her nose as she coughed and jerked. But the grip on her head stayed, the air continuous. She was faintly aware of moving, feeling water push at her back and glide through her hair.
When she squinted out, she could faintly see green looking back at her.
She closed her eyes again, the sting coming back as her body started to move, awakening and aching. She reached out blindly, feeling something firm and warm under her hands. She reached for it desperately, clinging to it.
In a sudden burst, there was a new sense of cold around her, and she gasped, air and water rushing into her mouth, making her choke and hack. Waves slapped and pushed at her, not giving her a moment to recover, and weak needles pounded on her from above, making her wince.
She could only cling to the firm warmth that held her, eyes stinging, her body aching as she continued to cough.
Exhausted and overwhelmed, she let the darkness sink in on her.
She let herself go, fading away in the arms that held her.