The first thing Kenmei noticed was the feeling of her body rocking. At first, it was subtle, until her consciousness began to return. She could feel her stomach rolling and churning with the movement, and the nausea was only heightened by a throbbing pain in the back of her skull. Though, as she felt the need to vomit, she realized that her mouth was covered with tape of some sort. Choking it back, she struggled to open her eyes, her surroundings so blindingly bright that it only worsened the pain in her head. Blinded by heightened sensitivity and searing pain, she tried to make sense of what happened to her. As feeling began to come back into her numbed body, she noticed that both her wrists and ankles were tied together, and she could not move.

Trying to move her arms, she could feel the sharp edge of plastic cut into her skin. Zip ties? With her arms behind her back, she was unable to see, but she could feel the pressure of plastic on multiple sections of her body, and zip ties were the only thing that came to mind. The sharp edges dug into her flesh, and the more she wiggled, the tighter they seemed to become. Though still unable to move her head due to the throbbing pain, her eyes began to adjust first to the brightness, allowing her to glance around at the multiple sets of legs around sitting, some standing, but at least five in all. These legs were joined by the ringing sound of voices in her mind, and it was only when a foot nudged her that she realized they were addressing her.

"Oh, look who's awake, just in time."

"Should have thrown her over while she was still asleep. That would have been a rude awakening."

"No, I think it's better that she's awake. More satisfying when we throw her over."

That last voice pulled Kenmei from her stupor and she looked up, immediately feeling her body and mind swell with a variety of emotions. Sadness, fear, betrayal, all ravaged her mind as she stared up at her father's smug expression. Keneiji had his arms crossed, nudging her in the stomach with his foot, harder than before. "Such filth. I should have known this was your plan all along, you stupid bitch."

Kenmei cried out in pain from the pressure on her stomach, clenching her eyes tightly shut. Though she hated him, she still could not believe that he was a part of this abuse, even encouraging it. As tears began to stream down her face, she could feel the edges of the tape on her mouth loosen, and she felt stupid for the passing thought that it was an annoying feeling. It didn't matter what was annoying to her or not. The rocking told her that she was on a boat, and she knew that she must have been taken far from the shore, to be disposed of. She wished for a quick end, for a bullet to the head, but she knew she would get no such mercy. Drowning was to be her fate, and she found it ironic. Something that she had wished for a few months ago was finally about to be delivered to her, and she wanted nothing more than to stay alive.

Her body rolled to the side as the movement of the boat finally came to a stop. Now on her stomach, her cheek pressed hard against the cold floor of the boat, and she could feel her tears pooling against the side of her face. The voices around her were muffled by her own panicked thoughts, trying to think of a way to escape this torment. Nothing came to mind, and she felt herself falling into helplessness, knowing she should accept her fate. Feeling the vibration of the engine of the boat turning off, she felt oddly comforted by the slow and steady rocking of the waves. It was comfortable, and if not for the situation she was in, she could see herself easily falling asleep.

Her thoughts were jerked back to reality as someone came to stand right beside her. As they squatted down, her hair was moved out of her face by a tender touch. Stomach lurching at the sight of Sinbad, she flinched away, but was struck with a sharp pain at the back of her head. She tried to focus on him through dizzy vision as she heard him sigh, feeling disgusted by the presence of his fingers in her hair.

"You know, you could have had a really great future. Great pay, benefits, and the security of a comfortable life." He spoke with a pleasant tone, as if he were talking to a friend. Kenmei gave a small cry in pain as he pressed his palm to her skull, pressing it into the floor of the boat.

"But, you had to go and ruin it all for one miserable animal. And you know what's funny?" He leaned in a bit closer to her, and Kenmei felt the urge to slap the friendly smile off his face. "It's dead. We saw it on the way out here, floating just by the facility."

Kenmei could only stare up at him in shock. She couldn't tell if he was lying or not by his expression, but it didn't matter. She had seen Judar be shot, and it was very possible that it had been fatal. Grief suffocating her, she began to struggle, pushing his hand off of her head and pulling against her restraints. She could feel the plastic cut her and the warm feeling of blood coat her skin. Obviously irritated by her outburst, Sinbad stood. Keneiji took over, putting his foot on her head and pressing his heel into her temple. Crying out, Kenmei stopped her struggles, gasping for breath behind the tape that silenced her.

"Everything you did was in vain! Your little lover is dead, and the escaped animals won't be safe for long. Do you think we're stupid enough to not put some type of tracking device in them? We'll find them all, one by one, and you will be the cause of all their suffering." Keneiji increased the pressure, and Kenmei felt as if her skull was going to crack at any second. Her mind was distracted from the pain for just a moment as she thought she heard a thump against the bottom of the boat, but she couldn't be sure.

She screeched out in protest as she was suddenly lifted up by the arms, continuing her struggles. Yelling out and making as much noise as she could behind the tape, she hoped that someone would hear her. But, as she caught a glimpse of her surroundings, she knew that no one would save her. Land was nearly a mile away or more. The boat was small, and was obviously use only for the purpose of disposing betrayers, as red stains covered the seats. Rope and weapons were also visible, and she knew that others must have suffered a worse fate than she.

As she was dragged towards the edge, the boat suddenly lurched, nearly sending both her and the man dragging her overboard. All eyes were on the floor of the boat, the sounds of thumbs and scraping more apparent, as if someone were digging their fingernails into it. The water around the boat was churning violently, and Kenmei was worried she might fall into the water on accident. Once again, the boat lurched, as if it were being lifted up on one side.

Kenmei let out a pained cry as she was dropped back to the floor, rolling over onto her side so she could see better.

"Hurry up and start the damn thing!" Keneiji's voice reached her ears, and she saw him standing beside the driver, holding onto one of the seats to keep himself steady.

"It's them! We have to go!" Sinbad was next to yell, as far away from the sides of the boat as he could get. Keneiji and Sinbad both stared in shock towards the back of the boat as a scream broke the air, followed by a loud splash. Kenmei tilted her head to see, noticing that the man who had tried to throw her over was gone. Gurgled cries for help were heard only for a moment before it was silenced, and Keneiji went back to harassing the driver. "I said start it!"

The man shook his head helplessly as he tried to turn the key and press the button to start the motor, but there was not even a sputter from it. "I-I can't, sir! They must have done something to-" He was interrupted as scaled arms reached up over the side and snatched him, dragging him over the side to his demise. Kenmei gasped, forcing her body up, able to sit up and lean against the side. Though she felt as if she were going to be saved, fear prodded at the back of her mind. If it was true, that Judar had died from his injury, then those attacking would not spare her.

She screamed as the boat lurched again, this time nearly being tipped completely over. The remaining worker cried out as he tumbled over the side, and Kenmei could see the red water that surrounded the boat. A flash of two seperate tails, green and blue, was seen at the surface as the man was pulled down. Kenmei fell back over onto her side as the boat came back down onto the water roughly, wincing. So much strength went into lifting this boat like that, and she wondered how many there were around them. Her ear once again pressed against the bottom of the boat, she could hear their wails and screeches. This was their chance for revenge, and with two of the corporate heads in the boat, they weren't showing any mercy.

Still, Sinbad and Keneiji obviously knew their plots, and were ready with weapons in hand, standing in the middle of the boat. Without warning, one of the creatures lept from the water, attempting to snatch onto Keneiji with a fearsome hiss. Reactions fast enough, Keneiji brought his large knife around, stabbing the create in the abdomen. Screeching and flailing in pain, the creature fell back into the water, taking the knife with it. The boat once again began to lift up, the angered screams now audible above water. This time, however, they did not release it, and Kenmei only had a second to hold her breath as the boat was capsized.

After a moment of swirling and tumbling in the water from the pressure, Kenmei finally opened her eyes, her lungs already burning. At first, she could see nothing but red, until the blurry figure of her father came into view, struggling to reach the surface. Before he could, Kenmei watched as he was torn into, the water only becoming more dense with the sickening color of blood. As the pain in her chest grew worse, she noticed herself sinking, slowly falling from the red stained water into the deep indigo below. Hopeless, she did not struggle, only watching the sun shining on the surface of the water as darkness began to creep over her.

I guess, in the end, I am getting what I wanted. I only wish that… I could have told him how much I loved him… I hope that he would have forgiven me…

There was no sadness, no pain. Only blissful relief that everything was finally over. Though she wanted nothing more than to live, she accepted her fate, and welcomed the chill that swallowed her.

As her mind slipped away, the last thing she saw was a flash of red scales, and hand reaching out towards her.