Death on the Water has been updated! I have created an oc who will be more significant than the Canadian ships that have appeared so far (His bio is at the end).
The next morning, all of Halifax harbor was gripped in a state of fear. "A tug was spotted next to the Champion and scrapped him!" "Champion didn't stand a chance against the guy, or rather, couldn't." "Has the grim reaper come to Halifax once more?"
Hercules had just woken up and was too tired to care about the rumors. However, he was starting to get annoyed with how over the top they were getting. Half of them were probably blown out of proportion for drama's sake, and the other half was just gossip.
He went up to Patrician, wanting to know what had happened. "It appears the city is in commotion." He remarked, looking up at the destroyer. "Yes, everyone is saying the grim reaper is back." Patrician explained, shaking his head. "They say when the explosion happened, he came up here to reap the souls of so many. Which is pointless since everyone who was in the water was blasted to smithereens."
"Now darling, some vessels survived the explosion, but they couldn't speak or see with all the chaos. They could be operated, but they couldn't express themselves the way they used to." Hercules explained.
After some discussion, they decided to go and explain to the vessels of Halifax of what had happened. Hopefully, this would dispel rumors from spreading…
Back at Bigg City, Ten Cents was helping a cargo vessel when he heard a familiar voice in the distance. The voice was rather scratchy, and a bit oily as well. Once the ship left port, he went to go and confront a maroon buoy with a dark brown fedora. Luckily, the buoy was distracted with talking to a yacht.
"Did you hear? The grim reaper has visited Halifax!" Bob exclaimed, unaware that Ten Cents was listening. "Some say he was killing the salvage and did such a good job that no one heard a peep!"
Ten Cents was befuddled. "A grim reaper?" He snapped, interrupting the conversation between Bob and the yacht. "Bob, I've heard enough of your talking to know it that isn't true! Besides, if a grim reaper did come, how would you know?"
Bob glared at Ten Cents and said, "I ain't making it up this time Star Boy. Besides, I heard it from the Canadian guy over there." Out in the dock was a Canadian tramper, whose face was white as a ghost. "You might want to be a little gentle with me now Star Boy. If he's shook up, then the grim reaper thing is real." Bob sneered, rocking side to side with the current.
Ten Cents shrugged and puffed away, leaving Bob and the yacht behind. However, rumors such as this one normally didn't die down quickly. By the afternoon, all of Bigg City had heard about the grim reaper and what had happened to the Champion.
At the Star Dock, Ten Cents had told the other Star Tugs about his conversation with Bob. "He says a grim reaper came in the dead of night and cut up the Champion. I don't know of this is true, especially since people do the scrapping!"
Big Mac shook his head and said, "Ten Cents, there are many rumors of a grim reaper among ships. Some say he was here collectin' the soul of Krakatoa after the munitions accident. I also heard he collected Big Mickey's soul before the guy was sent to England." This drew gasps from his fleet mates.
"If this grim reaper came here, how would anyone figure it out?" Top Hat asked, raising an eyebrow. "They say he can summon a blanket of fog so thick that only fog lights work. All other sources of light are useless." Big Mac replied, sweat rolling down his forehead.
"That might explain that fog I went through during one of my runs." Warrior chimed in. "Even with my light, I could barely see my stern." "And I could barely see the water." OJ added.
With all this talking, Ten Cents grew even more worried. Perhaps Bob was right, and that he shouldn't have doubted him the way he did. While the rest were arguing about the supernatural, he and Sunshine decided to slip out of the conversation to go speak to the tramper.
They finally made it to the dock, relieved to see that the tramper was still there. "Ten Cents, are you sure this is a good idea?" Sunshine asked. "Even if it might be rude, there's one way to find out." Ten Cents said, cautiously steaming up to the tramper.
"Who are you?" Ten Cents asked, "SS Edmonton, but you may call me Ed." The tramper said, smiling for a second before frowning.
"Is something on your mind?" The switcher inquired, wanting to be kind. Ed nodded and answered, "Lots of things. Suppose it might be time to tell you two what I saw out there on the water."
With a loud sigh, the tramper started his tale. "I was sailing out of the harbor when everything became foggy. I mean, it got so foggy that I could barely see what was ahead. We had to drop anchor and wait it out because I wasn't equipped to go out in fog this thick."
Ten Cents and Sunshine nodded, now picturing the events that happened in their heads. So far, the story was slow and nothing significant was happening.
"I suddenly saw an old fishing vessel break through the fog and shout 'He's come to get me, he's come to get me!' I was startled that he managed to navigate through that fog without proper equipment." He added, tears rolling down his cheeks. "Then, I saw him. I could barely make out the features, but he was cross at the fishing vessel. He turned to look up at me and let out a chuckle so loud and deep that I thought it came from Satan himself."
Ten Cents and Sunshine were alarmed! Never before had they heard of a tug quite like this one. "Do you know what he looked like? Apart from the grin?" Sunshine asked nervously.
Ed thought about it before saying, "He was big. He looked as though he was all black, but the fog may have had something to do with it. However, I do remember him having razor sharp teeth."
Ten Cents now had an idea of what this tug looked like. "Do you know what his name was?" He asked in a calm voice, still wanting to know more. The tramper only shook his head, too traumatised.
The two switchers thanked Ed and decided to head back to the Star Dock. "Now that we know who this grim reaper is, we have to stop him and fast." Ten Cents said. "I don't think that would be a good idea though." Sunshine replied. "This tug was big and had sharp pointy teeth!"
Little did they know that Zip and Zug were watching and had heard everything, and were ready to tell Zorran all about it.
Ten Cents and Sunshine, look what you have done. I was originally going to have the Z stacks appear a little bit later, but tension needs to be developed.
Bob is an oc of mine that developed while thinking up of ideas for Wings (which I still need to continue writing x[ ). He's snarky and loves gossiping with the other boats, and hates Ten Cents because the latter usually calls him a liar. He is friends with the Z Stacks, as hinted by the hat.