Lucio held Bastion in his hand, the old bird resting there comfortably as the sailor ran his fingers down its back, the chaf staring worriedly at the dark clouds beginning to roll in from the east. His teeth were exposed as he bit his bottom lip, the prospect of any storm rolling through remaining one of his greater fears. Such things were deadly enough on land, but atop the ocean, they were downright apocalyptic at times.
Still, his free hand clutched onto the side of the Splitstream, a formidable ship to be sure. Most other ships that crossed the ocean, including the now-destroyed Hanamura, would travel around the storm paths, but Captain Morrison traversed the deadly seas, his ship proving, time and again, its roughshod sort of resiliency.
He turned his head as voices approached behind him, catching his Captain's specifically as Captain Morrison conversed with Junkrat, "I see now, yes."
"Those clouds're downright deadly, sir!" Junkrat exclaimed.
Jack nodded, "Jamison, go gather the crew. I want a meeting with all of them."
Junkrat obeyed, skittering off back into the ship while Jack continued on, stopping beside Lucio as he leaned over the side of the ship, staring at the storm with weary eyes, "Well, Lu? What are you thinking?"
"You give me too much credit, sir," Lucio chuckled nervously, "I've always deferred to your expertise on such things."
"You have, huh? It's nothing more than rudimentary knowledge; you simply out-run the storm," Jack shrugged, "Though, this one's catching up to us, so… It might be more arduous than most storms we encounter. The Splitstream is light enough to be fast, while heavy enough to bore the brunt of most winds."
Lucio grinned, "I don't doubt the worthiness of your ship; I've put my trust into it enough. It's just, this trip specifically- I don't know, ever since San Francisco…doesn't it just feel different somehow?"
His Captain groaned, "Don't Tell me you're buying into McCree's nonsense."
"No! I mean, not really," Lucio confided quietly, "But I mean, even if he's just being superstitious, you have to admit- we blew up the flagship of the Shimada Company, for crissakes! This isn't a normal journey."
Jack shrugged again, "Aside from human intention, there's been nothing strange. Storms happen, we go without catching fish; nothing abnormal- we're not catching beluga whales in our nets or anything. I'd admit, that would compel me to believe something were up. We've overcome far worse than a lack of fish, ill remind you."
"I suppose so," Lucio chuckled lightly, dipping his hand low as Bastion hopped to the deck to wobble of on some unknown task, "Even that time we wound up with Bastion, there. He must'a flown out to sea in some effort to perish, but ended up near dead on the ship instead."
"God, I remember that hunger," Jack recalled with a somber grin, "Four days without food and that bird falls down upon our ship like manna from heaven. Looked like a buffet fit for twelve Kong's by the time I caught a glimpse of that thing wound up in Jamie's arms so it could get away- I thought that man would'a eaten it feathers 'n all!"
Lúcio's eyes narrowed in thought, "I can't even remember between the haze of hunger and the passage of time; who convinced us not to make a meal of that bird?"
"I don't even know," Jack admitted lightly, "Probably Lena, But I couldn't tell ya. Point is, we've survived much worse on these seas. The ocean will care for us in due time."
"I sure do hope so," Lucio groaned unsurely, turning to find the crew filing out from within the ship, "Well, Cap, do your thing."
Captain Morrison nodded as he approached his crewmen, a few of them noticing the darkening sky for the first time. Angela's eyes ran wide as she walked with her head turned, a fear welling up from within her as she thought of her mother. She bumped into Hana before she remembered where she was, the officer shooting her a glance from over her shoulder as Angela apologized, the two reorienting their attention as their captain began to speak.
"Alright, crew; we've got a storm coming, so I want us all on the same page. We've got a few crates on-deck that need to be tied down as secure as possible. McCree, you got that?"
"Aye, Capt'n."
"I need our stores counted and if we have anything on-deck that we need inside- on the chance this storm lasts, we'll need whatever's necessary in the cabin. Hana, you and Lucio take care of that," Jack ordered, nodding to match the crewmen, "Junkrat will secure everything below deck, and Lena and I will bring the auxiliary masts down. Hana, are we back on course?"
"Uhh, for now, anyway," she shrugged.
Jack nodded, "Alright, well we'll ride out this storm and hope for the best. I don't want all our masts getting tattered, so Lena, get up top and I'll untie down here and collect them."
"Aye aye, Captain!" Lena cried with a fierce salute, as though trying to outdo Jesse's reply.
"Alright," Jack nodded with a pensive sigh, "Turning toward his daughter, "Angela, this you're your first- Angela."
He called out to her, her attention having been taken by the rolling black clouds at the horizon. She stared off with sunken eyes, as though realizing something hidden so deep within her mind, though her father could only watch her with confusion.
"Angela!" he repeated louder, but to no avail except for Angela to speak up herself in explanation.
"I don't think that's a storm…"
Jack's brow fell before turning to view the clouds again, everybody else participating as well before they all sauntered toward the port side for what bit closer of a look they could get. Sure enough, the clouds that roiled beneath the sky appeared far more localized than moments ago, like a dark saucer clinging to the sky above, covering the ocean below it at the horizon with a pale dark air that seemed to annihilate the sunlight within its grr waves.
Lena was already slowly encroaching upon the shrouds of netting before Jack could instruct her, "Lena… Go get a look in the nest…"
She failed to reply, through she allowed a kick in her step as she bounded up the mass of ropes toward her nest, leaving the rest of the crew on deck to stare in awe at the wholly unnatural sight before them. Angela felt a shiver coursing throughout her body while her mouth fell open, a shaking voice leaving her every so quietly..
"She was right…"
Her father eyes her with suspicion as Junkrat hopped up with excitement, "Prob'ly those Shimada thugs comin' for round two! I pummeled them fools tha first time; let git 'em again!"
"I can understand them having black clouds surrounding them, but I doubt that's them," Hana muttered with a smarmy frown, "It's probably some weird natural thing like a dark tornado or water spout or something."
"No!" Lena shouted, her body leaning over the thin wall of the crow's nest with a telescope to her eyes, "No, there's definitely a ship in there headed this way! And fast! Blimey!"
Hiding his disappointed glare from his daughter, Jack remembered his position, turning to the others, "Whatever it is, we'll let it pass without incident."
He eyed Junkrat, "Jamison..?"
"'Ey Cap'n, I do some stupid things 'n all, but I nevah disobey my Cap'n!" Junkrat asserted easily, granting him an approving nod from Captain Morrison as he returned to Jesse.
"Let's go ahead and prepare, just in case. Jesse," Jack nodded toward his second mate, the sea dog returning with a nod of his own.
Jesse offered, "Yes Sir. Shall I get Lucio and Hana to continue as well?"
"We'll be good on rations," Jack answered absently, returning his state toward his daughter," Just focus on the crates…and the masts."
Slowly, Jesse allowed his eyes to follow his captain's, catching Angela slinking her back toward he interior of the ship. Jack's eyes narrowed like a lion about to pounce, though Jesse was quick to throw a hand up to grasp Jack's shoulder, yanking him in close to get his attention.
"Jack," he spoke in a hushed tone as he leaned into his captain's ear, "It's cool; she's-"
Jack wrangled himself away, shouting out for Angela to hear, "Where are you going?"
With a start, Angela froze, her body just about to enter back into the ship. She spun to return her father's glare, almost feeling a freezing wind at her back from those piercing eyes, her mouth only able to hang there in shock as she attempted to explain herself.
"I-I, uh, was about to check the, uh, rations and all that st-"
"How stupid do you think I am?" Jack asked suddenly, sending tremors down Angela's spine, "You're going to see our stowaway again."
The deck fell silent as the crew all turned to watch what was going on, the lot of them aghast at this revelation, though Hana merely hung her head low with an anguished groan. Angela's hand clutched the door with a furious grasp, furious that her father would say such a thing in front of everybody, though she knew that might well have been his point. He'd always preached that crews should be as close and open as family.
"I already told you, child, you aren't to see them again. You were to thank her and leave it at that," Jack noted with a cold voice, "The moment you place personal persuits above the crew, you become a problem."
Angela could feel her arm trembling at the accusation, her foot taking her an angry step closer toward her father as she spewed, "I'm a problem?! I've done nothing but excel at any and every task you've given me aboard this ship!"
"Ever since we left Hawaii, you've been lackadaisical, you've been disrupting your sleep pattern and working tired; that kind of stuff leads to mistakes, and sometimes a small mistake can become a big one real quick out here," Jack went on, "I don't give two shits about who that stowaway is or what she did to save you- she's got one trip aboard this ship; I'm trying to make sure you know what's what so you can take fifty trips aboard this ship. We all do to much for this ship for you to skirt your responsibilities."
"And I don't?!" Angela chided, "I'm the one who took any time to know the person we're carrying overseas! If not for me, we'd have no idea that Fareeha-"
Jack raised a hand, pointing a single finger into the air as he spoke chillingly slow, "Don't use her name."
"I fucking will!" Angela shouted, "She the only one who knows what that thing out there is!"
Captain Morrison paused, watching his daughter critically as the crew behind him muttered amongst themselves at her words, Angela taking a moment to compose herself at the moment's silence, "Look, it's fucking insane, but that's the devil out there."
Her father insantly scoffed, shaking his head with an incredulous smirk, "She's already screwed with your mind-"
"Father!"
Jesse stepped forward, holding onto Jack's shoulder as he watched Angela with a low glance, his voice leaving him like a ghost, "You mean Blacktalon. The devil of the seas."
Shrugging, Angela replied, "S-Sure! Whatever that thing is out there! She was in his cave; she's seen him with her own eyes! That's why she has that tattoo on her face!"
Although she was pleading to her father, she quickly turned to Jesse for any sort of support, though the second mate could only shake his head, "Angela, Blacktalon is a children's tale. I tell it to my two kids every night."
"No! It's real! Look out there!" Angela pleaded, pointing out toward the ocean.
As if calling her bluff, Captain Morrison shrugged, reaching into his coat pocket and retrieving a substantial dagger, tossing it toward Angela, who swiped it out of the air as her father crossed his arms, "Fine. Bring her up here. If there's any explaining to do, she oughta do it herself."
"Gladly," Angela replied with a furious face, eager to prove her father wrong, turning into the ship and disappearing.
Jack's lips curvered deliberately as he thought to himself, though his concentration was rebuffed by Jesse, who suddenly gave him a vigorous shrug instead of pulling his hand away, "Are you fucking stupid, Jack?!"
"Captain," Jack corrected.
"No, fucking Jack; you're gonna ruin your relationship with your daughter over a woman who risked her goddamn life for her?!" Jesse exclaimed with a disappointed voice.
Jack pulled his coat further over his shoulders, "Desperate people do desperate things. We know nothing about that woman; in fact, we've evidence to believe some fucking sailboat is chasing us down to get to her. If you know what's good for you, you'll understand- if I can trade a stowaway for the safety of my crew, I'll do it in a heartbeat. If Angela needs a harsher lesson to learn about trust, she shouldn't have put herself in that situation."
"What about trust in you?!" Jesse shouted with outstretched arms.
"Every single thing that I've done, it's been for that girl," Jack reminded coldly, "I'm not about to make the same mistakes I made in the past. I have every intention of keeping Angela safe."
Jesse grit his teeth, his hand clutched into his fist, knowing what was about to happen as he spoke up heatedly, "That girl is not Emmy."
His captain's face suddenly began to curl in frustration as Jesse continued, "Just because your wife died despite your direction doesn't mean your daughter-"
In a split second, Jack threw a fist through the air, clocking Jesse in the face and sending his second mate to the deck as Lucio and Junkrat immediately jumped at their captain to hold him back, though he exhibited no intention of continuing. He merely stared at Jesse as the sea dog curled up, slowly pushing himself up to his feet, his dark eyes peering back up at Jack through his scragily hair running down past his head.
"'bout time you heard that," Jesse mumbled coldly, his hand covering his cheek to soothe the searing pain there, "My sister would've hated your trying to squash that girl's spirit."
Jack didn't move, though Lucio and Junkrat remained tense, feeling their captain's muscles begin to bulge as Jesse continued, "You stole away her uncle so she wouldn't catch a longing for this life. I played that game far too long, it seems."
Captain Morrison's anger continued to build, though it was Lena's voice from high above him that stole his attention, "Hey, boys! Starboard side! That thing's moving fast!"
Jack turned over his shoulder, sure enough, the dark cloud surrounding the ship seemingly corsing through the ocean waters on a near collision course with the Splitstream's trajectory. He quickly pulled his arms from his crewmen, Lucio and Junkrat allowing him freedom as they watched in awe as the darklit ship cruised closer from just upon the horizon, Jack's gaze unflinching as he eyed the ship as well.
"Jesse," he muttered, "Get on that thing about securing the cargo."
And like a cadence unbroken by the previous argument, "Aye, Cap'n."
A small ship, its wooden slats torn and broken from centuries of use rushed through the ocean, unhindered by the water's resistance and not needing the flowing winds to carry it. This vessel was carried by nothing more than the ghostly gasps of the souls piloting it, their oxygen becoming vengeance, and the most vengeful of them all stood at its bow, his dark eyes peering far off as his year-long quest grew closer in his sights. Nothing more than a black robe that leaked noxious fumes and a pale white, ghastly mask denoting his sight, though he hadn't the need to depend on eyes.
This was Blacktalon, the Reaper, his only attachment left to this world being that sense of unfulfillment that comes with the loss of a love so great. That, and that vengeance that came with hunting down the woman that stole the soul of that love that so bound him to this plane of existence. He had been stuck to this portion of his ship for weeks now, awaiting for his target to appear just above the horizon, and now, his patience was rewarded.
A skeletal sailor skittled up behind him, her bones rattling as her own robe swashed along her empty frame. Her skull quickly grew into disuse as she walked, rocking back and forth until it collapsed, rolling along her spinal cord and dangling from her neck beneath the hood of her cloak that followed. Hurriedly, she reached up to readjust herself, turning her head quickly to work her joints back into some sort of use.
"Capitán! The ship is in sight!" she declared.
"I can see that much…" Blacktalon muttered, "Get the crew ready."
The sketal woman nodded, "I will prepare the maker of widows, Capitán."
"Not just her," he ordered, cooly, "All the crew."
She nodded, her body falling into a reverent bow, "Sí, Capitán. I will slow our speed just enough to see what treasures hell has to offer us. I will ready the sheer hulk for its descent."
"My thanks, Olivia," Blacktalon allowed his graciousness.
Picking up her skull once again after picking herself up from her bow, Olivia's teeth clattered with nerves as she weighed the idea of speaking, ultimately deciding upon a quiet, "Eh, Capitán; you did mention back in Phocis… What, pray tell, are we hunting here..?"
"A woman," he replied, the air surrounding him beginning to churtle and come alive as heated waves of steam swirled, "A woman who stole the soul of the most beautiful being that ever walked this earth. My dear Sombra, we're hunting Fareeha Amari, for she has stolen my Moira's soul."
A/N: Sorry it took more than a year to get to this point :p