Chapter 6

I own nothing of Happy Tree Friends except the kids. All credit goes to Mondo Media

Russell was held back by the pirates as he watched his daughter get hoisted into the air by a rope and Alexander brought the flute to his lips, ignoring his former captain's urgent shouts to stop him. He played a soft melody that lasted longer than he thought it would, and paused for a reaction. Silence lingered throughout the ship until they heard a low rumble from underneath them. The fear in Russell's chest grew as he rapidly tried to think of a way to thwart the plan, and he thought back to the pocket knife he had on him.

He was still for a moment before violently jerking out of the pirates' hold and pulling out his knife, slicing away the hands that came after him to the best of his ability and rushing towards the other side of the deck. Alexander's eyes slightly widened and he readied his sword immediately, but before he could attack, the former pirate evaded him and plunged the pocket knife into his left arm. The blonde called out in response as he backed away in pain, watching Russell quickly free his daughter from the ropes. Russell stood at the rail, daughter in tow, and glanced behind him to see large bubbles sitting in the water below him. He automatically knew that was the Kraken below them, waiting for its meal, and his gaze switched between the ocean and the pirates. "Mama."

"It's okay." Russell pushed her face into his shoulder to hide her gaze, and glanced around to see if there was another way he could find off of the ship. Ignoring the taunts from his former crew, he sped across the railing towards a stray rope as the pirates followed him. "Hold on tight." He instructed the toddler before grabbing the rope and swinging himself towards a yard, landing perfectly on his feet with a slight stumble. "Guess I haven't lost it." He muttered to himself before heading to the other side of the ship as the crew below fired gunshots at him with more yelling. He cried out in pain as a bullet went through his leg, causing him to fall over and land back first on the deck with tight arms around his daughter. He coughed up slight blood before noticing the figures around him with bloodthirsty sneers, reminding him of the mutiny. Due to fast reflexes, he shot to his feet, wincing at the bullet in the leg and backing up towards the rail, glancing down at the boat rocking against the ship. He turned back to the crew, and gave a slight smirk before jumping over the rail and into the boat.

Once he landed, he wasted no time in rowing away from the ship, slightly glancing back at the pirates that gave him dirty looks. The smirk on his face fell when he saw a tentacle rise from the ocean beside him, and bring itself down on the boat. The former pirate pushed his daughter out of the way before he was grabbed by the tentacle and pulled under the waves. "Mama!"

Russell struggled to get out of the tentacles grip, but the more he squirmed, the tighter the hold was. He glanced over only to see rows of razor sharp teeth in the middle of a blob of flesh and tentacles. His eye widened and thought this was the end for him. Although, the Kraken had planned to toy with him by flinging him around like a rag doll in and out of the water, throwing him into the air and catching him a couple of times. When he was above water, he could hear the pirates laugh with joy and Umi screaming in fear through the ringing before he was taken down again.

By the time the beast was finished, Russell felt half dead because of the ordeal, and he had almost thought of falling unconscious like his mind commanded. He then remembered his pocket knife, and hoped it would more than likely be enough to release him so he could take his daughter to safety. He clutched onto his pocket knife tightly, watching himself get closer and closer to the beast's mouth. With a hopeful swing, he struck the tentacle that was holding him deeply, causing the creature to flinch and roar at him in response, releasing the former pirate and allowing him to swim to the surface. Once he reached the boat, the bluenette didn't even try to climb inside. He grabbed onto the edge and began to paddle as fast as he could to make sure he and Umi were safely on the beach.

Once they hit the sand, Russell collapsed onto his hands and knees and coughed roughly, eventually vomiting blood and seawater in the process. He hugged his torso with a moan before lifting up his shirt to see dark bruises around his abdomen, some bruises slightly bleeding from the grip of the tentacles. He never got a chance to look for very long before Umi ran up and hugged him with sobs. Russell winced before wrapping arms around her and lifting her from the ground. "It's okay, I'm here." He soothed with a closed eye before standing up. He glanced over at the shoreline and lifted an eyebrow at the bottle that drifted up towards the sand. He stepped over towards it, wincing as he picked it up and opened it carefully. His eyes widened when he saw a note inside and knew it was from Alexander and the crew: "You have one hour." Russell lifted an eyebrow at the message before assuming he had an hour to warn the town of the raid. He stuffed the note in his pocket and turned his back on the ocean and hurried back into town as Umi glanced back at the pirate ship with a fear-filled gaze. "Mama, what's gonna happen to us?"

"Nothing, sweetie." Russell set her on the ground and bent down to face her at eye level. "Because you, me, Daddy, and everyone else will be fine."

"Really?" Russell nodded and pulled her close before speeding up his pace. "Come on. We need to warn Daddy about the pirates."