Chapter 9 CARIBBEAN SEA SEPTEMBER 1685
Flying Dutchman sailed along at an even pace, keeping a sharp eye out for wrecks.
It was storm season and most shipping in the profitable West Indies stopped.
Any ship that was unlucky enough to get caught there was practically doomed along with her crew.
Flying Dutchman hated her job sometimes.
Finding the bodies of dead sailors strewn about the water wasn't her idea of fun. But someone had to do it.
Someone had to help those poor souls.
"Debris, dead ahead!" came the cry.
Flying Dutchman sighed. If there was one thing she hated more than finding dead bodies, it was the human's gunk.
Fishing nets were some of the worst.
This one looked like it'd been washed overboard in a storm. And what's more, there appeared to be something in it.
Curiosity drove her and she approached albeit cautiously.
There was no guarantee the creature, whatever it was, wouldn't turn on her suddenly.
As she drew closer, Flying Dutchman's crew, every single one of them including Vandecker, backed away.
"It's a giant squid!" Jones breathed in awe.
"Actually it's a cephalopod." Vandecker corrected.
Jones scowled and was going to snap a harsh retort when Flying Dutchman intervened.
"Stow it, the both of you!" She growled.
They sighed and nodded.
She turned her attention back to the poor creature trapped in the netting.
It seemed to be alive, thrashing weakly as it noticed the ship coming towards it.
"It's okay." Flying Dutchman soothed it, unsure if her gift of language had interpreted the creature's speech correctly.
"I'm not going to hurt you."
It seemed to understand and quit struggling.
Flying Dutchman looked it over, admiring its thick muscular hide and its big wide hazel eyes, staring up at her through a mass of tentacles.
Flying Dutchman smiled reassuringly at it as she set to work untangling the net.
Soon it was free and it splashed around joyously before facing Flying Dutchman.
The crew tensed as it gripped her heel.
Flying Dutchman felt herself being pulled under.
Her crew had no time to react.
"Gah!" Flying Dutchman gasped as she vanished below the surface.
The thing pulled her along a short ways before letting go.
The first thing Flying Dutchman noticed was she was floating.
The second thing she noticed was she was sailing. She was actually sailing underwater!
The thing did a twirl of joy in front of her.
"How is this possible?" Flying Dutchman breathed.
"It's possible because of your powers." replied a voice inside her head.
The sound of it appeared to be female and startled, Flying Dutchman looked around widely for the source of it.
Again, she turned her gaze back to the creature, seeing it staring back.
There was curiosity in that gaze as well as something else Flying Dutchman couldn't quite distinguish.
"I've never sensed a more unusual ship. You are really something, Flying Dutchman." It said.
"Who are you?" Flying Dutchman asked.
"I have no name but the ones man provides me with. Beast, Leviathan, Kraken." It replied.
"Such names do not suit you." Flying Dutchman said.
"Don't they?" The creature, the Kraken, mused.
"I feast upon human flesh to survive. I track them across trackless seas, finding them in their riggidy open boats. Your kind is so fragile. You break so easily." She replied.
"Why don't you break me then?" Flying Dutchman asked, half a challenge entering her voice.
"As I said, you are different." The Kraken said. "The scent of the stars is strong on you. It is such a scent that I have only smelled once, upon another ship years ago."
"Britannia." Flying Dutchman realized.
At the Kraken's questioning look she explained "She's my mentor. She teaches me the ways of my ancestors, the Ancients."
The Kraken nodded, a simple bob. She understood.
"Now you know the extent of your abilities. You can sail above as well as below the water with minimal threat to your crew." She said.
"Remarkable, absolutely remarkable." Flying Dutchman whispered, in awe of it all.
The Kraken regarded her seriously.
"Now there is the matter of releasing me from the net." She said.
"Oh, what about it?" Flying Dutchman asked.
"You freed me, you saved my life. For that I am in your dead, Flying Dutchman." The Kraken replied.
"And now I'm guessing you want to follow me?" Flying Dutchman guessed.
"That is correct. Wherever you go, I'll go. Whatever your needs are, I will fulfill them. According to the Ancient Laws, you are my master now. I am bound to you and you alone." The Kraken said.
"I don't know what to say…" Flying Dutchman whispered.
"Just accept it." The Kraken begged.
Flying Dutchman nodded. "I shall then. First things first, I need to keep going in search of other shipwrecks and to do that, I need to surface." She said.
"Simply will it to be done." The Kraken explained.
Flying Dutchman nodded, focusing her will upon the surface waters above.
She seemed to shoot straight up, her bow breaking the surface first. For a few moments, she seemed to hang there, suspended in midair, before coming back down with a loud, resounding splash.
The Kraken's head surfaced beside her. "Not bad for a first timer." She said.
"So I've been told." Flying Dutchman agreed with a smile.
"Where to master?" The Kraken asked.
Flying Dutchman winced. "Let's get something straight here. I am not your master, I don't care what the Ancient Laws say, don't call me that. Call me Dutchman if you must, or Shadow if you want to get personal. But I'm no master."
"Very well, I shall do as you ask Dutchman." The Kraken replied with a dip of her head.
"Thank you." Flying Dutchman murmured.
She set a Southwest course, aiming for San Dominique, a French colony in the West Indies.
As the dark blue waters of the North Atlantic changed to the azure tents of the Caribbean, Flying Dutchman became on high alert.
Pirates and Royal Navy ships alike ran ramped here and while she doubted that either would attack her, she wasn't taking any chances.
She winced as she felt the Kraken's tentacles against her keel.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
"Admiring." came the Kraken's ever stoic reply.
Flying Dutchman snorted, biting back a comment on how the Kraken could "admire" her keel without grabbing onto it.
"It seems you have seen love." The Kraken said.
"Yes." Flying Dutchman sighed. "Britannia is my soul sister."
"A very sacred bond. I try not to interfere with it." The Kraken said. "Those are the only ships I have sworn never to harm."
"How can you tell I am bonded?" Flying Dutchman asked.
"I am in your mind am I not?" The Kraken answered. "The bond of a soul sister gives of a very particular signal within the brain. It is often the first thing I look for in a ship I have chosen to attack. If I find it, I'll leave her alone. The pain of a severed bond is something no ship should ever had to go through."
"I wouldn't know." Flying Dutchman said.
"And I hope you never have to." The Kraken said and the two fell silent the rest of the voyage.
100 miles off the coast of San Dominique, Flying Dutchman opened her jaws to taste the air.
"What do you sense?" The Kraken asked, knowing what her master was doing.
"There's another ship nearby, a dying one." Flying Dutchman replied and set all sails, racing towards the stricken ship.
It turned out to be a pirate ship.
She was a terrible sight, her mainmast having toppled into the water and her fore and mizzen all shot up.
Flying Dutchman opened her jaws again. The scent of death was all around her but she was merely dying, she wasn't dead yet but she would be.
Silently ordering the Kraken to remain hidden, Flying Dutchman approached the poor ship.
"Pirate, can you hear me?" She asked.
"Ugh, yes…" The ship rasped in reply.
She opened her eyes, raising her head weakly at the sight of Flying Dutchman.
"I suppose my time has come." She murmured.
"Not yet, you have a few minutes." Flying Dutchman replied. "Now tell me what happened."
"I was sailing back to Tortuga. I'd just captured a nice juicy prize. The crew was celebrating." She began.
"Go on." Flying Dutchman encouraged as she seemed to hesitate.
"I came under cannon fire. No explanation, no offer of parley just, just death. Everywhere." She whispered.
"Who did this to you?" Flying Dutchman growled, trying hard to keep the anger out of her voice. She wasn't sure if she succeeded or not.
"R-rogue pirates!" She gasped out as her eyes rolled around in her head.
"One last question." Flying Dutchman said. "What is your name?"
"Misty Lady." The ship rasped out.
Flying Dutchman moved forward, cradling her against her side.
"Fare thee well to the Ancients Misty Lady." She replied.
Misty Lady managed a weak smile before she fell against Flying Dutchman, dead.
Flying Dutchman gulped and gently closed the pirate's eyes.
"Kraken, did you hear that?" She asked her friend.
"I don't know what to make of it Shadow." The Kraken answered.
"Sounds to me like trouble's on its way." Flying Dutchman growled.
"If it isn't here already." Kraken murmured ominously.
Flying Dutchman had to agree.