Alexei missed being a whaler - not part of the gang that assassinated former Empress Jessamine Kaldwin, just a regular whaler. The seas, although treacherous and untrustworthy (doubly so when taking down a whale), was stunning in a terrifying way. The depths seemed to weigh each and every person's worth, no matter their purpose on her horizons.
He would have gotten a job on a merchant's ship if one were available. Pirates were easier to deal with than massive whales. Sure, human pirates were more intelligent, but just one of those whale tails could bring down their sturdy ship a lot faster and more efficiently.
However, a whale's unpredictability wasn't why Alexei went and recruited himself into the City Watch once he landed on dry land and collected his coin.
The creature Alexei's ship encountered was far more unpredictable than any whales.
At first, there was merely this deep bellow from below them. Everyone stopped what they were doing, looking at each other with confusion, thinking it was some kind of prank. No man made noise could fill everyone with the same unknown dread and anxiety as that one. A pod of whales couldn't reach that volume, and their song didn't bring this feeling to anyone.
Alexei didn't know what to call it. It didn't sound like a roar, it didn't sound pained. The only way to describe it seemed to be a dreadful wale making itself known.
Even the birds scattered at its call. The entire ocean seemed to silence itself, save for the waves gently lapping at the hull of the ship. The waves picked up gently, a massive shadow rising from the depths, mere feet from them. From Alexei's perspective, it looked as though 15 or so of their ship could fit comfortably in the area of that shadow.
When it broke the surface, the crew was frozen for an extra moment, and then in chaos. One wave was nearly enough to capsize them, men flew overboard in seconds. They lost whatever whales they had strung to the back of their ship.
The roar that thing made afterwards was something Alexei wouldn't forget, no matter how hard he tried. It was deafening, ingraining itself in his head, and terrified him. The sea had decided it was time to judge them that day.
It had the same coloring as a whale. It was missing a few pairs of tusks, only having these tentacles splashing and flaying about, searching for its pray.
"What the fuck are all of you starin' at!? Get these damned harpoons ready!"
"Sir, we can't fight that!" Alexei argued. He knew when it was best to flee and when to fight. He knew no harpoon would do any damage, not against a beast of that size. No, a harpoon would do nothing but piss it off.
His crew seemed to agree with Alexei. They were already preparing to leave, not bothering to look for any missing men. There was no doubt they had met their early demise.
As the ship began to lurch away, the captain continued barking orders to to stay on course, to charge it; threatening to dock wages, even going as far to threaten to kill the younger sailors. It may have worked, if they feared the captain more than the sea beast.
It was awful, but Alexei wished they could have been tested by the Void with the Outsider instead of this monster.
Strangely enough, the beast didn't move. Alexei couldn't see eyes on it, but it's tentacles flayed about, gradually getting closer to the ship.
Another wave came over them, sweeping another unprepared soul overboard. Alexei couldn't think of it much, running about and getting whale oil ready to bring the ship to full speed.
Not soon enough, the whaling ship was bustling away from the sea beast. The crew could finally relax.
It sank.
That was the last Alexei saw of it. He never saw his old crew again, and no one else had a similar experience.