Lightning rippled through the pitch-black clouds roaring above, followed immediately by the growl of thunder. The waves of the sea tossed and raged as if Poseidon had a vendetta against the Galleon being rocked about. The dark, almost blackened wood, and the canvas of the sails soaked through as the rain pelted down in droves.

Shouts echoed underneath the sounds of the raging storm. Crew running, feet and boots slipping on the wet wood of the deck, trying to tame the chests and crates being thrown about as the ship was brutally tossed in the rolling waves. Captain Matteo had sensed a storm brewing hours prior, but this...this was a beast of God.

Koji was soaked to the bone. His hair dripping, tendrils stuck to his neck and face, the wind spraying stinging drops against his skin as he pushed past crewmates moving chests to the lower deck. "Go! Get t'ose cannons tied!" His voice yells above the sound of the storm roaring overhead, rushing forward to assist two others trying to hold a cannon in place while another tied rope to anchor it.

"T'is storm bout te blow us te the heavens, boys!" One shouted–a half-lunatic Scotsman who always cackled in the face of near death. "We die not today. Now, shut mouth, tie t'is down, Aho!" Koji snarled in return, his wet hands gripping the thick, slick rope on the other side of the cannon as he crouched to tie it to the iron anchoring hoop embedded into the wood.

Despite the loud whistle of rain and wind hitting the ship, the loud and ominous sound of wood cracking has all crewmates freezing. Koji's hands froze, his body stiffening, slowly lifting his head and gaze towards one of the masts, the loud groan and whine sending a cold chill down his spine.

"Look out!" Another bellows as the wood splinters and gives way under the winds. The pillar snaps in half, the weight of the canvas sail and the taut line of rope along the boom has the wooden pole swinging down and sweeping across the deck.

Koji dives along with the others, hitting the deck as a whoosh of the huge pole of wood just barely misses them all. Cracking and sending chunks of wood into the air as the bulwark on that side is taken out. Koji's heart is in his throat, adrenaline rushing in his veins as he scrambles to his feet.

"Go! Get below deck!" He shouts, waving others to go as he moves too, needing to seek shelter below deck until the storm passes over the Black Sparrow. The ship rocks harshly, the bow tipping up towards the sky, leaving many men to tumble on their asses as they're tossed around from the momentum as the bow slams back down onto the waves.

"Rikita, watch out!" Another mate called as Koji was getting his bearings and pushing himself to stand, his head snapping towards the cannon they'd been trying to anchor down, just as the rope pulled taut and snapped.

The cannon rolls loose, spinning and swinging around, and he doesn't get enough time to move before the side of the iron shaft slams into his abdomen. The air leaves his lungs in a whoosh, knocked back right through the gaping space in the bulwark, and he felt himself free-falling. The rigid shock of ice-cold water slams into him as the churning waves swallow him down, sending him tumbling and rolling beneath the foam.

Panic claws at his chest, arms and legs kicking, trying to get his sense of direction to the surface, but the currents keep tumbling him. The darkness of the night and the swirling ocean engulfed him, his lungs burning with the need for air as he sunk lower into the ocean's maw.

The salt stung his eyes, lunging burning, limbs feeling like useless lead weights as he tried to swim against the current. The cold sank into his skin, settling in his bones, his heart pounding rapidly in his ears as dread had him in its claws.

A flash of a black shadow, a ripple cutting through the current. Great, a shark, he presumes. At that moment, on the verge of unconsciousness and his body grew tired, Koji could only pray that a quick death would be granted to him. Whether by drowning or...becoming food to whatever that creature is.

Koji's eyes slide shut, vision fading out and bubbles floating out of his lips, and the last thing he sees before losing consciousness is that black shadow swimming right towards him.

---

A cough racks through Koji's chest, startling him into consciousness. His lungs burned, seawater spewing out his lips as his body evacuated the water in his lungs. His honey-brown eyes blink, squinting and bleary as the sun glared down on him, the clear blue sky looming over him.

His chest rises and falls as he greedily inhales air, his hearing coming back to him as the sounds of waves crash and lap at the shore. The warm breeze gently caressed him, making him aware of the drying dampness of his clothes sticking to him. Then, he registered the warm sand under his back.

He's alive–wait, he's alive!

He pushes himself to sit up on the sand, feeling a wave of dizziness for a moment before it settles. Looking at his hands, patting himself as if to check and make sure he was still intact. His brows furrowed in confusion as to how in the world he managed to survive being plunged into the rolling sea in the night. Lifting and turning his head, his gaze scans over the beach he's found himself on, swiveling on his rear in the sand, and looking at the expanse of thick palms and shrubs just up the way behind him.

An Island. Stranded.

The sounds of splashing in the water have Koji whipping his head back around, spotting a...creature of sorts, half out of the water right at the shore, looking right at him. Koji's eyes widen, startled by the sight, scrambling to his feet–albeit stumbling and falling into the sand in his haste.

"Kuso!" He curses, managing to gain his footing, his boots sinking into the wet sand, and spinning to look back at the creature. His hand drops to his hip, feeling nothing, looking down only to realize his cutlass isn't on his belt anymore, then quickly returning his gaze to the being.

They looked...human-ish. Mixed with some sort of aquatic animal. Realization dawns on Koji right then and there–it's a merfolk. Like the ones in the stories he heard growing up, the myths and tales told by pirates who had one too many pints. Right there, in the flesh, staring at him. The pieces click together right then on how he survived the fall into the dark waters last night.

"You..." Koji swallows hard, his chest rising and falling with ragged breaths, eyeing them warily, his gaze flicking out to the sea, then back to them in the water, "Did you...did you do that? Save me?" He questioned, his voice coming out a bit hoarse from having inhaled seawater in his near drowning, curious as much as he was cautious. He wasn't even sure if they could understand him, let alone if they were friend or foe.