Welcome to The Sea (1)

I opened my eyes, I was laying on sand. My head throbbed, what happened? One second I was on my boat and the next- shit. The storm caught us, that's right.

"MARK! MARK! FOCUS ON US!" A woman spoke, she sounded very familiar, my mind wasn't in the right place I knew that. I felt a type of warmth arise in the atmosphere. "SHIT!" The girl screamed, I was slowly gaining myself.

I looked at the girl. Oh, that's Kiko. "BACK UP FROM THE SHIP!" A boy screamed, Kiko quickly grabbed me by the arms and dragged me back, I felt a sharp pain when she dragged me.

I looked where the heat had risen suddenly, my eyes widened. My boat was on fire, my crew were scrambling to try and get as much belongings as they could before it erupted.

"Kiko!" I yelled, she looked at me. "Great, you've come to your senses." She wiped blood off of the cut from her forehead. "Brady! Amy! Help me!" Kiko hollered, I looked at Brady and Amy, they were urgently tending to a severely injured crew member… one of their arms was missing and they were burned, severely burned in fact.

I stood up on my own, it felt as if I was carrying 500 pounds on my back. "Mark! Don't stand up!" I stared at the boat, something felt odd. That's when it hit. "Kiko! Did you grab the map, the one that was rolled on the counter in my office?!" Kiko's eyes widened. "Shit… no. I'm sorry…"

My eyes widened, no no. This can't be. I started to sprint towards the boat with urgency. "MARK!" Kiko chased after me, the pain got worse and worse. "THE MAP IS IMPORTANT TO UN-" the boat exploded in front of us, sending both Kiko, I and the crew that were close by flying.

You know what? Let's go back to before this catastrophic event occurred, I'm sure y'all will love that!

We were in a floating city, the city of Dunk to be exact. Moments before my adventure up north, I sat on the dock, my legs dangling down the 50 or so foot drop. "Yer know that's a pretty dangerous drop!" Kiko sat next to me and smiled. I had bright red hair and green eyes that glistened because of the light. I wasn't in my pirate outfit yet, I was just in a blue shirt with a name tag on it. "Skipping work again?" Kiko held a smoothie and took a big sip from it.

It was a strawberry smoothie, in which she knew it was my favourite. Being childhood friends is hard y'know? She knows everything about me, my favourite movie, my favourite book, literally everything. She probably even knows how I sleep and I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest.

Kiko had curly green hair and bright blue eyes, diamond earrings on both ears, she was slightly taller than me and I hated that, I was 5'7 and she was 5'9. How unfair!

"You're already pretty popular here, I guess that's the perks of The Founders great grandson." Kiko chuckled, I couldn't help but stare at the strawberry smoothie.

Kiko noticed this and snickered. "You want the smoothie?" I nodded quickly. "And I don't care if I am popular here, it's normal now." I sighed, I despised the popularity and the amount of sketchy interviews I've been offered, no thank you scruffy man I will not take an interview in an alleyway. I prefer to not be used as ransom.

Kiko snickered. "Come and get it." She stood up and took a sip before running off, I stood up, sighing. "Why now of all days?" I chased after her, Kiko tossed the smoothie into the air, the contents inside floating up as well, but it wasn't enough for it to fall out. She has done this multiple times to me!

She turned into an alleyway and jumped on a trash bin before jumping on the wall, flinging herself towards the edge of a balcony, she grabbed it and pulled herself up. While I was in quick pursuit, I can't lie that these were fun… SOMETIMES.

I took a different route, I ran towards the outside dining area of a restaurant. I hopped over the black metal fence and landed on the table, luckily I didn't topple over their food. "Mark!" A customer smiled in amazement, I jumped towards the same balcony that Kiko grabbed onto.

She was already halfway to the roof, it felt as if we were in slow motion. With the smoothie still being in the air, I climbed up, standing on the bar before lunging towards the edge of a window, grabbing it.

I was inching closer to Kiko but this wasn't enough, she will beat me. I turned to the building close to it and quickly used my legs to push myself towards that building. I was aiming straight for the smoothie, Kiko noticed that and snickered as she reached for the roof. "It's mine now!" Kiko cheered and reached for the smoothie, I lunged myself up the roof, landing on the edge.

I jumped up and grabbed the smoothie, taking a sip of it. "The sweet taste of victory!" I snickered, Kiko blinked, she was surprised. She smiled. "Good job." She sat on the roof, I sat next to her. "Want some?"

She looked at me and nodded, taking a sip. There was a moment of silence. I opened my mouth, looking at her. "I want to travel the world." I spoke, Kiko frowned, she handed the smoothie back.

"You sound so much like my brother, you know what happened…" Kiko warned. "I know, and what happened to him was really horrible… but I want to see the world, and I can't do that without you." I chuckled nervously. "Who wouldn't want their childhood friend to go on an adventure with them:"

Kiko smiled faintly. "Okay. If it makes you happy. But has your dad agreed on it?" She asked. I took a sip of the smoothie. "No. I haven't told him yet. I will tell him."

Kiko smiled and stood up. "You know where to find me." She winked, backing off. "See ya, captain." She giggled and blew a kiss before jumping off, scaling the building. I felt my cheeks flush. "I don't remember when she started acting like this." I rubbed my face, feeling the warmth, was I blushing?

I finished the smoothing, quickly scaling down the building and into the sketchy alleyway, I threw it into the garbage. "Do you have money?" A homeless person raised a metal rusty cup, he had no money at all. "Yeah, let me see." I smiled and dug into my pockets, finding a quarter. "I know it isn't much, but here you go." I reached for the cup and dropped the quarter.

I walked off, but the homeless man kept his eyes on me. I felt his stare, it felt odd. Very odd.

I ignored it and continued marching home, it should be nearing 6PM, meaning dinner will be ready by 6:30 as always.

I reached the apartment complex my dad and I are residing at, I grabbed my key and walked inside. "Hello Mark! Welcome back!" The guy in front of the counter spoke. "Thank you Ray!" I smiled and went up the stairs.

Ray smiled. "What a wonderful guy." He chuckled and began to clean the counter, the bell rang and he turned to see the homeless man I had encountered, there were 3 others behind him. "How may I help you?" Ray looked at them.

I entered the apartment and there sat my dad on the table, he was working on paperwork. "Hey kiddo, you're back." He smiled, I sat in front of him. "Hey dad." He tipped his glasses and looked at me, he had red hair and blue eyes, he was getting old and tired.

"I… uh…" I twiddled with my shirt, why was I nervous? I shouldn't be nervous. "I want to travel the world… with a boat… and with a crew…" I spoke, my dad stared at me. "No, absolutely not. You are not ready to face what was out there… in the ruins."

"But-" my dad sighed. "No buts. You already know what happened to Kiko's brother, and I do not want you to end up like him-" a gunshot roared throughout the building.

My dad stood up. "What was that?" I listened. "A gun-"

Blood was splattered on the counter in the lobby as the homeless man lowered his gun, he dug into his bag and put on his pirate hat. "Kill everyone here, make sure we get either the dad or Mark." He looked at the other 3 as they put on their pirate hats. "After that we can notify the others!" One of them spoke with excitement. "Yes, yes." He snickered, blowing the smoke from his gun, Ray laid on the ground. He clenched his chest, blood gushing out. "Help!" Ray shouted.

The pirate looked at his crew. "Go get them. I will take care of this kid." He hopped over the counter and aimed his gun at Ray. "PLEASE DON'T!" He aimed the gun at Ray. "Where is he?"

"Room 112! Don't kill me!" He winced, the pirate aimed his gun. "The name is Blake." He grinned and shot Ray in the head, blood pulling out. "Now… it's time to get the two fucks."