An Opportunity In Chaos

A loud crash and sharp pain awoke Ark from his rest. His vision was blurry, delirious from having just awoken and hitting his head as he was tossed around. Blinking rapidly to clear his vision he saw the startling sight of crates, boxes, and his cage being tossed around the cargo hold from the rocking of the boat. Panicked voices and rushing feet could be hurt above him, signifying something serious occurring. A brief pause in the rocking caused Ark's cage to come to a stop directly in front of one of the ships many portholes. Looking through the glass he witnessed a sight so terrifying he couldn't move. Massive tentacle-like arms the size of buildings rose out of the water, with suction cups the size of dinner plates cups, surrounded by serrated dagger-like claws. The tentacles wrapped around the ship like a snake constricting its prey. Creaks and cracks could be heard has the hull bended and broke from the pressure of the arms.

Ark watched horrified as one of the massive green tentacles raised up into the air, its tip angled towards the ship like a spear. Quickly realizing what was about to happen Ark threw himself against the far end of his cage, struggling to get out or simply move the cage away from the encroaching danger. His efforts were futile as he had to watch helplessly as the tentacle shot towards the ship. Time seemed to slow down as he watched it slowly get larger and larger. He screamed, begging and pleading for someone, something, anything to help him. As he struggled fiercely against the bars he felt the same energy building up in him as before. Stepping back he ran forward and threw his shoulder against the bars of the cage with all his might. A horrible screeching noise filled the air as the bars bended just far enough to allow his skinny body through.

Not taking time to revel in his newfound freedom he dashed for the stairway leading to the upper decks. Before he was even halfway there a massive crack was heard and the floor seemed to give way beneath his feet. He tumbled onto his back and looked back at where his cage once laid, now only a mass of crushed and bent metal thrown across the floor. Where the cage once stood was tentacle that must have been 7 feet in diameter, it writhed across the deck tossing cargo everywhere and crushing the support beams of the ship, before sliding out leaving a massive hole in the hull that was rapidly filling with seawater.

Scrambling back to his feet Ark dashed up the stairs, through the crew quarters, and finally up the stairs leading to the upper deck. As he left the confines of the ship he felt a fierce wind blow across his body, laden with water droplets it was hard to stay standing. Fighting through the wind and rain Ark got his first glimpse of the horror that had been attacking the vessel. Although the body of the creature remained hidden underwater its eight legs reeked havoc on the ship and crew. The tentacles coiled around the ship, threatening to split it in two. The crew was hacking at them to no avail, trying to get it to release its death grip on the ship. The ship was leaning heavily to the port side, nearly tilting at a thirty degree level. Some sailors couldn't keep their grip under the conditions and slid screaming off the side of the boat.

"Hey what are you doing out here brat!" screamed a voice from behind. Turning around Ark saw the filthy man with the blonde hair approaching him with a drawn sword.

"Fucking runt I'll..." Interrupting him was a sharp crack of the ships mast snapping in half.

Already on edge Ark quickly reacted and through himself to the side dodging the falling mast by a foot. The man was not so lucky, he lay pinned by the past, only his torso peeking out of it. He was screaming in pain with blood flowing out of his mouth. In a daze Ark walked towards the man and knelt in front of him. His eyes seeing red and his rage consuming him Ark picked up the fallen sword and stabbed the man through the eye. He kept on stabbing and stabbing until his rage settled, looking down at the pulp that was once the mans face Ark felt a strange mix of disgust and satisfaction.

More pressing concerns brought him out of his self reflection as he could feel the ship start to reach its limit. Knowing it was only a matter of time the crew was abandoning ship, some grabbed lifeboats and lowered them into the sea, while other less fortunate ones opted to dive into the water, hoping to find some wreckage to hang on to. Getting a running start Ark ran and dove off the edge of the boat. He crashed into the water and sunk a few feet before swimming back up to the surface. His arms flailed, searching for something to grab hold of. His forearm hit a broken piece of hull with a painful crack. His arms ached as he summoned his last bit of strength to pull himself on top of the wood. Looking back at the boat he saw that it had splitten in two, being gradually pulled under the water by the tentacles. Too tired to even lift his head he laid sprawled out across his raft darkness consuming his vision.