Disclaimer: Go read the other Octonauts fic "I Shouldn't Be Alive" by Crystal Draculura Bloodsucker, it's really good.

Trying a first-person perspective chapter for this, hopefully you all like it.

Content Warning: Drowning

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I've always aimed to be a pirate like me grandfather. He's looked after me all my life; without him, I would have been on the streets.

"I know that one day, you're gonna be a great pirate, just like your old man."

Those words have stuck with me for my entire life.

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I was thirteen when I first stepped into my boots and set sail. I was a crewmate aboard a boat called the Maiden Marie, captained by Argo the Strong. They called me Kwazii the Brazen. It was just me, Captain Argo, Meg the Seeker, and Finch the Loving.

I spent three years on that ship.

I thought it would last forever.

It didn't.

The storm came fast and it came strong. Our boat was tossed around faster than a sailfish, and I went flying into the water. Clinging to a lone plank, I was washed out into the vast, lonely ocean. I wound up on an island on a scorching hot day. If it weren't for that mushroom coral, my fur would have burned right off.

From then on, I wandered the lonely seas by myself. I've never seen Captain Argo, Meg, or Finch since. I wonder if they were as lucky as I was.

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I still remember the day when they rescued me.

I was in rough waters in a very cold ocean. I was struggling to keep my raft afloat. The icy air was nipping at me. Hard.

I howled.

I cried.

I didn't want to be there.

Why was this happening to me?

It had been four long years of nightmares, loneliness, and identity crises.

The raft collapsed.

I fell.

I was underwater.

I was gone.

…

I wasn't gone.

I was somewhere bright.

I thought I was dead.

"How did he even get out here?"

I could hear someone say. I definitely wasn't dead.

I could see someone. A bear and a fox.

"There was a broken raft on the surface. He must have sailed out too far.

Yeah. That was a good way to put it.

I sat up and made my consciousness known.

"He's awake!"

The fox was in my face almost instantly.

"Are you cold? What were you doing out there? Can you feel your paws? Can you-"

"Easy, Nymphea." The bear was now in front of me. "Who are you?"

That was a good question. Truth be told, I didn't really know who I was anymore.

"Kwazii," I said as I shook his paw. "Thank you for rescuin' me."

"You gave us a bit of a scare," he said to me. "I thought my heart would stop when I saw you fall in."

Just then, an aardvark entered the room.

"He's good to go, Captain," she said. "The worst of it is just being cold."

"Thank you, Azura." The bear nodded to her.

"Come along, Nymphea," said Azura, taking Nymphea with her.

I was alone with the Captain. We sat next to each other.

"I've been sailin' alone for four years," I told him. "Never have I ever been in such wretched waters."

"I'm used to this," he said. "Born and raised in the Arctic."

"I don't think I want to go back out there." I really meant it. I was shook to my very core; I wasn't sure I ever wanted to be back out on the water.

"We do have an opening in our crew." The captain's shoulders stiffened. "Eight months ago, we…lost our lieutenant in a horrible accident."

I leaned on his shoulder. He has been feeling that same sense of hopelessness I felt after I lost Captain Argo, Meg, and Finch. "I'd be happy to take you up on that."

He smiled and put an arm around me. "Welcome aboard."

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"That was five years ago, today."

Elekai, Deborah, and even Sarabi were wide-eyed.

"Wow," cooed Deborah.

"That was amazing," said Elekai.

I grinned. Nothing beats the satisfaction of impressing other people with your life.

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So yeah, Kwazii's backstory.

FYI: The "identity crises" mention refers to how Kwazii was actually female for a brief period of time before being changed to male.