A New Friend
By the time Flora dispatched another flock of gulls, a pearlescent moon had risen to a shrouded, ink-black sky, and the teenager was feeling the effects of eating so much fish in so little time.
Bile coiled in her innards like poisonous snakes, and she hurled it all out into the ocean with multiple, painful heaves, leaving a scratchy, slimy aftertaste in her throat. Flora slumped against the boat with a grunt when the retching was over. The bile may have been gone, but now her temple was throbbing painfully like an irritated heartbeat. Small bites next time! She berated herself, even though she hadn't been able to control her hunger, and there was a slim chance her migraine was caused by the seagulls' insufferable squawking and biting rather than famine.
The young sailor dragged her fingers down her face, and drew toward her new food supply. Fish tended to rot faster than most food items, and between that, the weight, and the gulls, Flora had been forced to dump most of the heap into the sea, keeping an amount she hoped would last a while before they went bad.
She went to adjust the pile she had cluttered in a shady section of the longboat when something gently brushed against it on the starboard side. The girl stiffened, and the boat bounced around like a buoy when it came again. It wasn't so gentle this time. Flora's back crawled. Not again!
The girl peered into the shadowed waters and her throat tightened.
Sharks. Lots of them. The seagulls hadn't been the only ones drawn to the fish heap.
Oh for the love of-!
Flora bared her teeth and grabbed hold of her oar. Unlike the gulls, which left her alone for a few hours at most, these bull heads seemed to come back every half-hour no matter how hard she smacked them with the paddle! Will you go away already!?
She raised the oar, ready for the first shark to come close for one more go. Right on the nose, the riled flower reminded herself, they don' like that. Flora couldn't remember where she got that information, either from Athair, the Glory's crew, or gossip from her worldly travels. There was no time to debate on it.
A sickle shaped fin grazed the surface of the sea nearby, the shadow that carried it circling aimlessly before heading straight for the boat. A hammerhead. Her knuckles cracked as she tightened her grip. Come on…!
The hammerhead reared for the railing, and Flora made her move.
THWACK!
The shark silently yelped upon impact and swerved away. HA! Flora laughed, and then faltered when her temple pulsed and her innards twisted again. She took a quick moment to sit down and rub her head, the pressure briefly reliving the pain until a nudge from the boat's port side made her stop. ARRRGH!
The girl swiveled around as a number of sharks started pressing against the boat, a few of them biting at the wooden texture out of curiosity. Oh no you don't!
Flora stood up and threw herself at the sharks, giving each one that came too close a painful whack on the head or nose! A few of them, she noticed, had a few scars sliced into their faces and bodies, indicating they would not be going away without a good fight. Bloody hell…her wilted form sagged.
Will this night never end?!
She slumped onto her knees, panting. When she looked up, there was a scarred great white heading straight for the boat. An oath expelled from her windpipe, an especially nasty one that would have made Milo gasp, and she held the oar up for another go when a grizzled howl suddenly roared from the depths.
The girl fumbled, and the sharks turned tail and started swimming away as fast as possible. Only the great white hesitated before chasing after its brethren, leaving Flora alone at last, for a moment at least.
The waters rippled, and Flora dove into the longboat as the eel-like sea serpent rose up from the ocean like a dark revenant of the night. Moonlight glistened against a salmon-pink scar, and Flora sighed with relief. It was the beastie she knew; she'd been right when she thought she'd see it again soon.
Him. It's a he. The girl reminded herself. "Th-thank ye for that…"
The serpent tilted his head as Flora carefully stood up from the bottom of the boat, his kelp-green eyes shimmering with curiosity. "C-could have used your help a little earlier…" The teen joked, miserably. "Wh-why have you come back?"
The great eel tilted his head the opposite way, remaining silent. Stop talking to it. The back of Flora's mind growled, cynically, it can't understand you!
It was an egregious notion, yes, but the serpent understood her before, seemingly at least, so why stop now? "W-well?"
The serpent tilted its head again and drew closer with a low garble. At first, Flora thought he was trying to answer her, until he opened his jaws. "Wait, wait, NO-!"
Too late, another pile of freshly caught fish poured out of the serpent's maw and splattered all over Flora. In a matter of seconds, the girl was buried beneath another heap of slimy corpses even larger than the last, drenching her in scum, intestines, and serpent saliva.
The grey in her eyes billowed and flashed like thunderclouds, and she pulled herself out the heap in a furious fit. She should've been angrier than this, in fact she could feel all of the stark feelings of rage, exhaustion, and revulsion that she'd felt all day broiling inside of her like black hurricanes thanks to this final straw!
Yet when she turned her glaring eyes toward the sea serpent, ready to take her fury out on it no matter the consequences, she found that she couldn't. The serpent had its head angled toward the moon, his mouth curled up into what looked like a delightful smirk. It looked so proud, so smug and filled with pride at its accomplishment that it was almost laughable.
The fury eased, if only a little, and an irritated grumble huffed out from the side of Flora's lips. "Thank you…."
The serpent garbled, as if to say: "You're welcome!"
Flora blinked at the apparent response, and then burst out laughing to her own astonishment. The serpent's expression was so sincere that it was impossible not to!
As the girl cackled into the night, most of her wrath slowly eased away, and what started as a struggle between life and death to a debt repaid, began to bud into something more.
A pattern developed in the days that followed. The sea serpent would disappear in the morning, and then returned with another heap of fish at the ready by noon. Sometimes the heaps were for itself, but for the most part they were for Flora. It took the young sailor at least two of these days to assure the serpent that she had enough food and was slowly getting her real strength back. Yet even when the message finally got through, the beast refused to leave her side.
She was still clueless as to why. Did the serpent somehow feel that its debt was still unpaid? Was it simply loyal in nature? Or perhaps…is it something I did? Or did someone tell it to stay with me…?
There was no way to tell. Whatever the reason was, it didn't change the fact Flora was grateful for the serpent's company. His presence kept the gulls and sharks at bay, giving Flora the time to eat, rest, and recover from her fasting, as well as some much-needed company. She finally had someone to talk to, even if the eel only understood her half the time. It brought back memories of Mildred, although the horse had been easier to communicate with.
The teen learned something new about the beast every day. The head bore traces of both an eel and a regular snake's although it lacked a forked tongue, the bulging eyes never blinked for they didn't have any eyelids, a second pair of yellow appendages trailed down from the latter end of its fin like extra tails, and the spiny fins on the side of its jaws rattled when it was irritated, a trait Flora learned the hard way when she tried to touch the beastie one day.
The serpent had sniffed her palm and then hissed and bared its teeth, causing Flora to flinch and back away. The eel understood that she saved its life and wanted to return the favor, but it didn't completely trust her, presumably due to the injuries it sustained from the Glory, and she didn't know how to earn said trust aside from feeding it spare fish.
Nonetheless, Flora's heart leapt with joy and fascination whenever the serpent breached the sea, weaving and dancing across its surface like a trail of living rubies. More than ever, she wished she had a logbook so she could write down everything she was learning about it, perhaps include an illustration, attempt a song or poem based on it, or jot some questions down to be answered hopefully in the future. Such as: Was it a solitary creature? Did it live on the bottom of the ocean? How much did it eat? How or where did it sleep? What was the purpose of its appendages?
The sea serpent brought some much-needed merriment to Flora's life after weeks of misery. It was a good distraction, as by now the girl knew that she was well and truly lost within uncharted waters.
The starlit route Flora had taken ceased to exist shortly after the sickness took hold and she couldn't focus on staying her course. Even when she tried to find it a few days into her recovery, a nauseating pit of unease informed her that it would do no good. The boat had drifted too far out of line during her affliction; even if she followed the correct constellations, there was no guarantee they would take her to the Caribbean. Hell, with her luck she could wind up in the Philippines or the legendary 'Farthest Gate' for all she knew!
Damn it all!
Flora punched the bottom of the longboat when she realized this, earning a look of confusion and concern from the serpent as she did. She flexed her fingers, grimacing at the pain that ebbed from her knuckles, and then buried her head into her hands in dismay.
Why-how-could she have believed that she would've made it to the Caribbean in the first place?! She thought there was no choice before, but what if she made a mistake?! If it hadn't been for Athair and the serpent, she would have been long dead because of it!
Mistakes, mistakes! Is all I can make?!
The line of thinking placed Flora in a foul mood for the remainder of that day, to the point where the serpent gave her a wide berth as he did when she tried to touch him. Almost as though he were afraid of her…
Four days after the sea serpent saved her life, Flora had fully recovered from her fasting. Her temples and stomach often flared from her raw meals, but she was able to fully maneuver without stumbling or kneeling over now. And she had a small idea on how to get back to land.
She couldn't rely on the stars, at least for the time being. No, what she needed right now was a landmark and a compass.
Her mind flashed back to a tale she heard upon coming to this conclusion. Specifically, a tale about Jack Sparrow's compass and how it had the power to point to whatever one wanted most in the world. A fiery knot twisted within Flora's torso and she scowled. Oh what she would give to get a hold of that compass, if only it didn't belong to that weasel of a sparrow!
Flora grumbled and rested her fist against her cheek. No, she will have to rely on a normal compass. A normal compass, and some form of landmark so she had a better inkling on where to go.
There was just one problem: How on Earth was she going to obtain a compass in the middle of the ocean?!
The girl leaned over the boat railing and took a gander into the dark depths around her. There was nothing to be found. Of course there wasn't, what was she thinking?
Huffing, she leaned back into the boat just as the serpent reemerged from the sea with a large fish struggling to escape from his powerful jaws. Flora lifted her head and watched the fish disappear into the serpent's gullet with a few gruesome chomps. "Ye won't happen to know where to find a compass, would you?"
The serpent gave her a blank look, and a palm met her forehead like a brick. I must be going mad…
Flora dragged the hand down her face, and then squinted at the endless blue surfing up and down around her.
Up and down…
Down and up…
The lapping rhythm seemed to be mocking her now, as though the sea itself were laughing at her predicament.
In response, she gave the foaming waves the darkest and most miserable glare that she can conjure. There has to be a way back to land, she growled. There must be!
Flora sat up from the boat in a fitful stupor, thinking, searching, feeling, for a way out of this conundrum.
Up and down…
Down and up…
Then, wither she intended to or not, her sea-farthing instincts and feelings stretched out from her being, and brushed against the sea serpent.
Flora froze, a bristling sensation slithering across her body and burrowing into her mind.
What. Was. That?!
She swiveled onto the serpent. He was staring at her now, coiling, a message gleaming through his eyes.
What was that? What is wrong?
Somehow, the meaning was clearer than it was when he informed her of his debt four days ago.
Flora's blood ran cold and she gripped her head, heart pounding and eyes bulging. I am definitely going mad…!
It was all too plausible at this point, and yet the more she dwelled on it, the more she realized that what she felt was true. In that fleeting moment, she somehow connected to the serpent and he knew it, like she did back aboard the Glory.
NO! No I did not! Not again!
She clung to herself, shivering as she tried to deny it all, as usual. It wasn't me. It wasn't me! It was…She faltered. It was…wasn't it the locket?
Was it? She'd thought the locket connected her to the beast back then, but didn't she have an epiphany shortly after? Informing her that the locket wasn't why the serpent halted in its rampage?
Flora carefully pulled the locket out from under her shirt. Not me, she thought desperately as she held onto her most precious treasure. It can't be…
Yet as much as she wanted to deny any more abnormality, this was a question she needed an answer for right now. She couldn't afford to wait any longer.
The girl gulped and tightened her grip on the locket before standing up. Just this once, she swore to herself, just this once…I need to know.
She turned to the serpent. He had moved closer to the boat, eyes flashing with confusion and question. Maybe he wanted to know the answer as well.
The flower exhaled, and then lifted the locket for the beast to see. "Do-do you know this?"
The serpent paused, his gaze flicking onto the music box. "Have you-have you seen this before?" Flora's heart fluttered. If he has, then-then maybe he knows where my parents are! Maybe he's seen them!
Time slowed to a crawl as Flora waited. The beast observed the locket and gave it a short sniff before looking at her. The girl wavered. The serpent's expression was uncertain. It wasn't the locket after all. It wasn't my family…
Hopes crushed, Flora went to put the locket away and the serpent hissed, the movement too quick with her hand in sight. The girl recoiled and quickly grabbed at the locket when she almost dropped it. Her heart cracked at the thought of losing the only memoir of her family, and she shot a glare at the serpent. It was growling at her again, eyeing her hands with contempt.
This needs to stop…
Flora returned the serpent's burning gaze. "I won' hurt you..."
The beast snapped its jaws, and the girl tried not to flinch. "Pipe down!" She found herself barking instead. "I'm not goin' to hurt you! Haven't I proven that?"
Easy! Her inner-self warned. Don' make him mad!
The girl raised her free hand, holding out the one with the locket to distract the beast as she drew closer. The serpent bared his teeth, glancing back and forth between her palm and the music box. The image of an armless corpse lying in an ocean of blood flashed in Flora's mind and she tried to shake it off. "E-easy, boy…" she gently cooed, trying not to stutter. "Easy…"
Her hand drew closer. Closer...closer..."Easy…"
The serpent watched as Flora brought her hand up near its jaw, unmoving…
Almost there…! The girl thought, daring not to breathe as her instincts reached out. Easy…
The hand met the jaw. The serpent balked and appeared to grimace, but then slowly, and jarringly, it began to ease down...
"There we go…" All the breath winded out of Flora, and she began petting the beast as though he were just another horse. "It's alright now. It's alrigh'."
The great eel let out a purr-like rumble and he suddenly leaned into her hand. "Oof! E-easy now!" Flora staggered a little before chuckling. "Ya like that, don't ya?"
She continued petting, noting how despite its rough, scaly appearance, the serpent's skin was rather soft yet slippery at the same time. "There's a good lad."
The young sailor continued to murmur softly, putting all her effort into letting the serpent know she was not a threat, as well as calming herself down at the same time. "G-good lad…"
She itched the serpent's chin, a feat that the beast greatly appreciated. "You need a name!" Flora suddenly thought. "I can't call ya 'beastie' forever now can I?"
The serpent seemed oblivious to her words, lost within the world of scratching and petting.
Flora dove through a list of possible names in her head. Titles that would strike fear and awe caught her attention, four that stood out being "WarBlood", "Dreadnought", "Leviathan", and "Devil". Perfect!
Yet when she looked at the serpent, his serene expression drove away any possible chance of a frightening nickname.
"Something simple then." The girl decided, disheartened. She went through another list, this time of various human or pet names. After a few moments of contemplating, she chose one that oddly stuck out.
"Jerry." She decided. It'd be easier to remember, though it would fail to strike any sort of terror. The thought made her sag a little, but it was all she had.
Flora wrapped her locket back around her neck as she turned back to the sea serpent. "I'm going call you Jerry." She stated, half-heartedly, "Does that sound good for you?"
The serpent perked upon hearing his new name, which Flora took as a yes. "That settles it then."
Jerry let out a content garble and the young sailor smiled, knowing through their newfound connection that they were now friends. Partners in arms that won't be leaving each other's sides anytime soon…
While it provided some much needed assurance, Flora's companionship with Jerry did nothing to help her out of the deep water she placed herself in. Back and forth she went across the boat for the rest of that day, from port, starboard, stern, to the bow, lingering and brainstorming on any prospect to help her escape from this watery prison.
It wasn't until the morning after the friendship between human and beast was established that she finally got a feasible idea.
She was watching Jerry slither about under the light of sunrise, ripping a chunk out of a fish she was eating as though it were a chicken leg, and recalling the days she rode Mildred along the shores of her island home.
The answer hit her then like a cannon ball, and she dropped her unfinished meal with wide, flabbergasted eyes.
Ride the sea serpent.
Flora nearly choked on her mouthful of food. Riding the sea serpent as though he were a horse?! Calming him down through words back on the Glory was preposterous enough, but this?!
NO! I can't do that; it's impossible!
Yet she kept lingering on the small space between Jerry's head and fin, imagining herself sitting there and directing the serpent toward land…
It won't work! She berated herself. He'll never allow it; he'd sooner bite my head off! He won't even know where to find land!
Would he? Her inner self asked. How do you know? Ya won't unless you try!
Her chest started to ache, and Flora itched at it before gripping the boat railing and lowering her head with a long, defeated sigh.
It was the most maddening and demented idea that she'd ever had, and yet she was at her wit's end. There were no other options but this one.
"Bollocks…" She moved her nest of tangled hair aside as she raised her head, lingering on the dark red silhouette that was her new friend.
"…Very well…" She groaned at the inevitable conclusion, "If I must…"
The young sailor started gathering her belongings. If, if this worked, then this will be the last time she'll be standing on this wretched longboat. She had to be prepared.
Sword, she checked off a mental list in her head as she attached the sword to her belt. Pistol, knife, locket, spyglass….The girl furrowed her brows at the small pouch of money Carter had given her. She'd forgotten she had it until now….With a grunt, she picked it up and tucked it away. Half of her wanted to leave it behind, but her other half informed her that she might need it when she made port.
When…
Flora exhaled once everything was packed up. All was set now; it was time.
She peered out at Jerry. The serpent had his head pointed upward, gazing intently at two seagulls circling overhead alone. Alone with no other flocks with them. Strange…Flora tilted her head. Haven't seen a sight like that in ages…The girl shook her head and focused on the sea serpent. "Jerry!"
The serpent remained fixed on the gulls. "JERRY!" Flora sagged, then placed her thumb and index fingers into her mouth and unleashed a high-pitched whistle.
Jerry jerked up as if out of a trance and swerved in her direction. "There we go." The teen waited as her new friend started approaching the boat. In truth, it would have been easier to use her instinct to lure the serpent over, but yesterday had been enough. She didn't want to rely on it anymore.
Flora raised her hand once Jerry reached the boat. He paused for a moment, then sniffed her palm before leaning into it. The girl chuckled. The fact this legendary monster of the Seven Seas greatly appreciated petting and affection never ceased to amaze her.
She itched the side of Jerry's jaw so he lowered it to a certain angle. If she can get him to move into a certain position, then she'll be able to climb up onto his head. "A little lower now…"
No good, his head was still too high for her to climb. Maybe if she jumped first…?
"Sod it…" The flower griped as she positioned herself. At the right moment, she'll jump up, grab a part of Jerry's head, and then hoist herself up from there. She shuddered at the thought of accidentally hurting her friend in the process, and how he might react afterward, but she couldn't see any other way around this.
She steadied her balance. At the count of three, she ordered. One…two….three-!
SQUAWK!
One of the gulls screeched right into Jerry's earhole and the serpent whirled onto it as Flora made her jump. The eel angled his head. Strange, he thought he heard food just now. Where was it?
Jerry sniffed the air, searching for a scent. When there was nothing to be found he turned back to his friend, only to find she had disappeared, and the boat was drifting away. Head inclined the other way; the beast pondered where his friend had gone when he noticed the water rippling with foam where the boat used to be. Ah, she decided to swim then? Why wasn't she coming back up? Can he follow?
The serpent opened and closed his mouth as he watched the ring-like ripples, and then dove right through them into the depths…
There was only one other time in Flora's life when she fell into the sea's embrace. It was one of her earliest memories; so long ago that she'd nearly forgotten it until now. It had been another reason why Grandfather Albert wanted to distance her from the waters she'd grow to call home….
She was but a toddler then, barely three years old. She couldn't remember how or why, but she had been lying in the sand near the tide-pools, maybe Marion or Albert himself wanted to show them to her. The world was a hazy blur, but she could recall the echo of the waves washing ashore, carrying with them the song of the sea that coursed through her veins.
And there, standing far out on the ocean's surface, was a woman. An elegant, dark-skinned woman wearing flowing robes of varying shades of blue and green. She was the most beautiful person Flora ever saw, and she was watching Flora with the warmest, most playful smile she had ever been given.
Drawn to the distant figure, Flora had tried to crawl after her and ended up swept into the waves. A blue realm enveloped her for an unknown amount of time. The only thing she could recall afterward was Albert holding her close and crying. And she had been pointing out to sea as if nothing happened, calling someone's name over and over…
As the years passed, she'd been told repeatedly that what she saw was a hallucination. A dream conjured up either by a trick of the sunlight or her imagination, nothing more, and she accepted that. Yet now, as she drifted down beneath the surface of the sea for the second time, the memories came flooding back to her, and part of her began to wonder if it hadn't been a dream at all…
Flora opened her eyes, and the memories of that day faded to the back of her mind when she saw where she was.
She was below the ocean's surface, drifting beneath the waves in an ambient, aquamarine world without time that stretched on and on forever. Sunlit rays gleamed down from the open air above, turning the ocean's shimmering surface into liquid gold, and shining into the depths like tunnels of light.
Flora's heart quickened, on the verge of bursting. For so long she thought that sailing and challenging the sea would be enough to connect to it, but this….this…!
Sheer emotion swept through her soul, and before she knew it Flora was swimming, her lessons with Athair paying off. She stroked and kicked through the water, relishing every second of its movements as though it were her own with an idiotic grin on her face. Here! She cried with sheer naive bliss, I'm here!
She stopped to let the tides take her, allowing the sea to tend to her sun burnt skin, sweat, scum and scars before swirling about with a newfound sense of freedom. Freedom! She clamored. Free from that damned longboat, free from the threat of death, free from any doubts or fears! Never before had she experienced such a wonderful, terrible sensation, and she savored every second of it!
Flora was in the midst of doing another twirl through the water like a deranged dancer or dolphin when something caught her eye. She paused in her fit of happiness and looked down. Vertigo replaced the giddiness.
The world descended without end beneath her. No matter where she turned or looked, the path to the bottom of the sea remained the same. There was nothing to be seen for countless leagues down there, a shark or something worse could easily rise up from those murky depths and she wouldn't even know it until it was too late.
Her blood turned to ice, and it quickly became impossible not to imagine the great beasts of the deep waiting in that ever-expanding void. In fact, according to Athair, there were many such creatures that man could not comprehend lingering down in that black abyss.
Down…
Down…...
Down…...
Wait, what was that?!
The girl jumped out of her haunted trance, but when she looked again, she saw with great alarm that what she glimpsed wasn't a sea monster.
Is that…is that sand?
Her heart skipped multiple beats, the giddiness returning in full bloom. If she could see the ocean floor from here, then surely this meant…? Could it be…?
Could land be close by…?
Her lungs suddenly started burning with a crushing numbness and all sense of discovery came to a screeching halt.
Right. She wasn't safe from death's door yet. In fact, she wasn't safe at all!
The teen swiftly made way for the gold-tinted surface, suddenly terrified of the alien world around her. She very nearly breached the sea in time, only for a colossal weight to suddenly dive in next to her and pull her right back down.
Jerry.
The sea serpent coiled around a blinding wall of cyan foam and bubbles, his red scales gleaming against the sunlight above as he peered at his friend with a dubious expression. Not helping! Flora wanted to scream at the beast but feared even thinking the phrase would squeeze more air out of her.
The burning numbness escalated, threatening to open her mouth without her consensus and Flora thrashed back for the surface, its light appearing farther away than it was.
"Don't panic". A phrase from one of Athair's lessons blared through her head, "No matter how bad things get, lass, do try not to panic."
Easy for you to say! She hollered when that piece of advice failed to take hold.
Her lungs felt like grenades ready to explode. She couldn't take much more of this!
Almost there…! The girl closed her eyes as the sunlight glinted more brightly. Almost….!
At the last second, Flora broke through the surface, gasping and coughing as air filled her lungs once more. That was too close! Her first experience swimming within the ocean, and she could have drowned if she were a second too late...She couldn't begin to imagine how Athair would react to this…
Her back crawled and she swiveled around, briefly forgetting that she wasn't in a dream and half-expecting to see her eldritch teacher snarling down at her from the main deck of his ship at any moment.
He never appeared, and his ship was nowhere in sight. However, there was one thing that Flora could see.
The longboat was gone.
The crawling escalated, and her breath grew stilted. She'd wanted to do away with that boat for so long, but now that she got her wish…
A red, sail-like fin arose from the sea and started drifting around her. Flora backed away, and watched the fin coil around for a while as the reality of her recent choices sunk in. What now…?
You know what to do.
She closed her eyes, in both resolve and shame.
There was no choice now. If she wanted to survive, she had to go through with her plan. Ride the sea serpent.
The flower re-opened her eyes and swerved toward where she assumed Jerry's head was. She had to look on the bright side at least. Here, floating within the very seas she loved will make it easier to climb aboard his head. And there is land nearby. There must be…!
Flora inhaled the largest breath she could take and dove back under the blue. Jerry was still watching her, debating on wither he should have joined her on the surface until she came back down to greet him.
The duo examined each other for a time, before Flora extended her hand. Do you trust me?
The serpent twined his tail around, and then leaned into his master's touch in response.
Thank you. After a moment's hesitation, Flora climbed aboard the sea serpent's head.
Jerry thrashed and coiled in a frenzy, unused to the feeling of someone sitting on his head. "Easy-easy!" Flora yelped and flailed, grasping at anything she could to stay aboard. "Yer alright!" She'd tried grabbing the whisker-like appendages growing beneath his spiny jaws but that had made things worse, and it didn't help that the serpent's slimy skin made it near impossible for her to stay still!
This was absolutely nothing like riding a horse!
Jerry howled and dove into the sea, squirming. When not even the sea could kick Flora off, Jerry burst back out into the open air, then plunged upside down into the ocean again, and then back up. It was only thanks to a few small, spike-like growths on top of the beast's head that the girl was able to hang on, but how long was that going to last?
"St-Stop!" The sailor hollered at the top of her lungs, only to get a mouthful of salt water. "Ya git, calm down-!" She spat the water out and pounded against the serpent's head with a tightened fist.
It was no good. No matter what she tried she couldn't calm the beast down!
No, that wasn't true. There was one last option she had yet to try…
Oh hell…Her stomach lurched into her throat, and it wasn't because of Jerry performing a barrel roll back into the sea.
Flora shut her eyes as they dove back into the ocean, her grip on the spikes slipping until Jerry breached the surface. If ya don't try now, yer going to lose him! The back of her mind barked. Let go!
I-I can't-
LET GO!
Her eyes shot open, and her instincts reached out. "ENOUGH!"
The serpent halted in place, mouth opening and closing rapidly as though he were panting. It was over. "Th-there you go, boy…" Flora stroked the beast's head, panting herself as she gently eased him down. "As long as you're with me, you'll be alright. You'll be alright…."
Jerry rumbled and flicked his tail. It was hard to tell how or what he was feeling from up here, but something told Flora that he understood, or at least was getting there.
"Th-there we go…" Flora leaned across the serpent's head once he was calm, suddenly exhausted. Ya did it again, she scolded, ya can't keep this up, not unless you want to be normal!
You aren't normal, and you never will be! Her inner-self countered, nastily. Stop denying yourself! You will feel better once you accept who you are and let go!
She grasped Jerry's head with a snarl. "I don't know…who I am…" she growled as she slowly sat back up. Perhaps, just this one ability to communicate with Jerry and calm him down, she'll accept. It was necessary if she wanted his help, and it didn't seem to sap her strength like the makeshift currents did, at least not yet.
The flower bristled at her choice, and then took a gander at the seas around her. It was now or never. "Al-alright…" She gazed back down into the depths and tried not to look away after seeing how far it was from this vantage point. It was almost like sitting back on the masts. "Jerry, l-listen to me now." The serpent carefully inclined his head. "I need you to take me back under… There is something I need to see."
Jerry garbled, as though asking, "Are you sure?"
"I'm certain." Flora adjusted herself, made sure all of her supplies were accounted for, and then grabbed hold of the spikes with newfound confidence. "D-down-Down then!"
The sea serpent snorted and then howled gleefully into the morning light before diving headfirst back into the sea, taking Flora along with him.
Go ahead. Make the How To Train Your Dragon parallels and cue "Forbidden Friendship" when Flora starts to bond with Jerry! Though in truth I really hope I don't accidentally make Jerry into another Toothless. I still want to make it apparent that, despite some cute moments (some eels surprisingly liked being pet), Jerry can easily kill you without a second thought.
If any part of this chapter feels off, I apologize for that. I've been going through a bout of depression, and its taken a toll on a lot of things. That, and I've been watching Stranger Things lately, so I hope that doesn't influence the story. Or if it does, hopefully it's in a good way.
Well, grab your scuba gear, because we'll be taking a trip underwater in the next chapter! Also, who do you supposed squawked into Jerry's ear on purpose? I'll leave that up to you. Also, no, Jerry's name is sadly not a nod to Jerry Bruckheimer. It was all I could come up with, and I didn't notice that connection until it was too late.