Chap. 7

Sokka awoke with a groan. Slowly, he peeled his eyes open, trying to think of what had happened. The last thing that he remembered was the huge ship that had come crashing into his, then.....

"Aahhh!" he hissed, as both his nose and eyes were assaulted by the strong smell of brine that covered the entire room. Sokka shut his eyes hard, as he began to breathe through his mouth. Bereft of his sight, Sokka decided that the best thing to do was get up and use his hands to feel around and get some semblance of where he was. Except that when he tried to rise up, he felt a strong grip holding his arms back down. Partially surprised, Sokka sat back down and moved his hands around, trying to gain a feel for the bondage that held him.

But as Sokka examined his trappings, he found that it was no rope that held him down. Instead he found that he was bound to what felt like a pole by some sort of coral like growth. It seemed to have grown out of the pole and covered his hands, at ten times the speed of normal coral. Sokka pulled at his bonds, but they seemed to be ten times stronger then coral as well- it was like pulling at solid rock. Sokka slumped back down, realizing that he was going to have to figure out another way out of this place...

"Captain Sokka?"

"Bardo?" Sokka called out into the darkness. "Is that you?"

"Yes." The voice of the first mate replied. "Are you all right?"

"I think so." Sokka answered. "This place smells like the inside of a fish though. Where are we?"

"In the bowels of the ship that rammed us." Bardo replied. "Only some of the crew managed to survive."

"Are they pirates? Are we being held hostage?" Sokka asked. "Or is the Fire Rebels?"

"Pirates Sokka. They gave us a choice of service on the ship or death."

"Then the others...."

"Most chose death sir."

Sokka grimaced for a moment, thinking on all of the crew that had been under his care, and wondering who had been left alive. But before he could ask him, Bardo said, "They have extended the offer to you as well sir."

"Is that why they sent you down here? To ask me?" Sokka asked.

"That is why I came down sir."

"You already know the answer Bardo! I wouldn't serve with pirates no matter what!"
"I thought so Sokka. But they gave you a different offer then the rest of us."

"What, first crack at the jewels and gold?" Sokka spat.

"No sir. They need a captain. And when they heard about you...."

"Wait, this ship has no captain? Then how did they....."

"We have a captain. But he's... indisposed. And he thinks that you can help."

"Well what can I.... Bardo."

"Yes."

"You said 'we'."

"....... I'm sorry Sokka. I wanted to live."

"BARDO!!" Sokka yelled, finally popping open his eyes in his anger. But what he saw killed his anger in seconds. Bato stood before him, but the first mate had changed. His skin was pale and clammy looking, as if he had been under the water for a long time. His clothes were torn and ragged. But most horrible of all was the growths on his face- small spikes that dotted his cheeks, and scales that dotted his forehead. Under his chin, his neck breathed in and out, through the small holes that had opened up on the sides. But now that he could see the whole room, Sokka realized that the whole of the place was covered in coral and barnacles that had covered the wood like a blanket. It was like a cancer that had overrun the entire ship.

"I wanted to live sir." Bardo said sadly, as the door behind him opened. Sokka watched with growing horror, as more men entered, men who were covered with other sea based deformities- there was a man with a strange star fish like head, and another with a mast growing out of his back. But worst of all, Sokka saw more of his crew, now cursed with the affliction- Renu, his helmsman, with pincers growing over his mouth, and Inno, his navigator, whose legs had been replaced with scaly growths like a crab's legs.

"What... what are you people?" Sokka asked, as the 'crew' gathered around.

"A crew without a captain." Said one of the fish-men, a man with the long, angular head of a shark, but with tendrils covering his mouth. "And the ship must have a captain."

"But Bardo said you had one! What do you need me for?!" Sokka yelled.

"A ship must have a captain." The shark repeated, as he brought something around from behind his back. Sokka saw with disgust that it was a dirty jar of water, with something floating around inside. After a moment, he saw it was a pale, almost spectral octopus, barely visible in the waters.

"What is..." Sokka began, but got no further, as two of the crewmen suddenly grabbed him and held his head back and pried his mouth open. Sokka struggled fiercely, as the sharkman came up to him, opening the jar and positioning it right over his mouth. Sokka's eyes went wide, and he struggled to close his mouth, as the others held it wide. The sharkman paused a moment, then dumped the jar over Sokka's face. The dirty water flowed down his throat, and then, the octopus finally came down as well, slipping past his tongue and down his throat before he could even notice it was there. The crewmen let go as Sokka began to hack and spit, trying to dislodge the creature from his body. But suddenly, Sokka felt his body go stiff, and his vision began to blacken. Then a voice spoke to him, a voice that seemed to come from the inside of his head.

Do you fear death?

Then everything went black.