Seastuck - Chapter 4

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It didn't take long to reach the water's surface, but when Dave finally got there, he was so overwhelmed by the sight before him that he almost sank back down into sea. Floating just over ten strokes away was a huge ship, its sails pulled up and anchor down. It had been hard to figure out what it was underwater – it looked like a whale or something – but with the moon's light unhindered, it was easier to see.

The ship itself was enormous, with carvings covering every railing. Twin masts stood tall against the dark sky, illuminated every so often by bright bursts of multi-colored lights that sparkled like stars. Every window on the ship was lit up, which made the whole scene seem even more enticing to Dave. If he tried hard enough, he could hear cheers and laughter from the ship's deck. His heart was suddenly racing.

There were humans there.

Throwing Bro's orders to the wind, Dave swam even closer to the large boat. He felt his heart skip a beat at the thought of being so close to the humans. There was no reason to talk to them just yet, though. First, he'd watch them. And if one of them spotted him, he'd make a speedy getaway. No talking whatsoever tonight.

Oh hell, he was turning into a pussy. He smacked the palm of his hand against his forehead, nearly knocking his shades out of place. He was turning into a skittish mermaid like the rest of the kingdom. What the hell was he doing? He was acting so out of character that he was tempted to just flop up on deck and start doing the Jitterfish dance to prove that he wasn't being a pussy.

But that wouldn't end well. And he would, without a doubt, end up looking really stupid.

Still, he had to admit that he was nervous. As he began pulling himself up the side of the boat, he noticed his hands were shaking. They hadn't done that in a long time, and that only happened when he was either sick or extremely nervous. But there was a reason, and a very good one: he was going to see the humans up close. Even cool kids get nervous sometimes, and Dave was no exception.

Yeah, and a starfish can sprout wings and breathe fire. Smooth, dude. Real smooth. Now get a grip on yourself and keep climbing.

Dave settled onto a rung in the ladder built into the side of the ship and peered through a gap in the railing, taking in as many sights as he could at once. The people aboard the giant vessel danced and guzzled their drinks like there was no tomorrow, hooting with laughter and clinking their glasses together in a never-ending string of toasts. Dave began to wonder what they were celebrating. The crew's smell reminded Dave of sea water and something that died and rotted in the dark. It made his eyes sting.

Suddenly a snout appeared in Dave's face, and an extremely slobbery tongue slapped against his cheek. The merman flinched at the contact, cringing at the similarity between this creature's greeting and Terezi's licks. It was just as disgusting, if not more.

"Hey, Bec! Come here, boy!"

The strange, furry creature backed off immediately, only to turn and tackle a young man dressed in an entirely different way than the crew. He wore a light blue tunic with a dark blue swirl design sewn into its left breast pocket. The boy's pants were darker, almost black in the light of the moon and the strange fires in the sky. His hair was jet black and messy, which Dave thought was strangely adorable.

And his eyes. Dave could feel his guts twist in the strangest way when he saw the boy's eyes. They were a shade of blue that he could only compare to the sky; crystal clear and twinkling, they drew him in until he almost couldn't keep himself in his hiding place. He wanted to get up on deck and grab the boy's attention. Forget his questions about humans. He wanted to know more about this one human boy with the clear blue eyes.

But before Dave could reveal himself, a tall, extremely buff man approached the blue-eyed boy. His expression was frozen in a sort of grimace, and he walked as if he had something shoved up "where the sun don't shine".

"My Prince, it is time to receive your gifts. You do not want to keep your...friends waiting, do you?"

Dave was immediately put off by the large man's stiff posture and snobbish attitude. He said the word "friends" as if it had a rancid flavor.

"Heh! Wonder what's up his bum!" a familiar voice cackled. Dave nearly lost his grip again on the side of the ship as he spun towards the source of the noise. Terezi coasted towards the merman, grinning like a moron, and would've rammed right into the side of the ship had her friend not taken action.

"Rezi, get your feathered ass down here!" he hissed as he grabbed the bird's beak and pulled her down against the ship. After a moment's pause, Dave uncurled his hand from around Terezi's beak and glared at her. "What the hell're you trying to do, get me caught? If you're gonna squawk at the humans, do it when I'm not around. Cuz I'm busy."

"Oh, Dave, I would never try to get you caught!" Terezi chirped with a sly smile and a twinkle in her blind red eyes. She cackled and added, "In fact, I wanna spy with you! Adventure is out there!" -she paused- "Oh wait, wrong line."

"Whatever, feather-face. Just keep your beak zipped." Dave interrupted, turning back to the scene before him, his eyes immediately drawn to the boy once more. "He's...kinda cute, in a weird way..."

Terezi cocked her head to the side, sniffing the air. "I dunno...I don't think you'd get along very well with him. After all, he's really furry and slobbery and-"

"Not that one, featherbrain. The one in blue."

Terezi sniffed again, a grin slowly stretching across her beak. "Oooooh...you mean the dark haired human?"

"Yeah. He just seems..." Dave propped his head on his hand, tapping his cheek several times before finishing with - "derpy."

Terezi gave the merman a strange look, asking, "Is that even a word?" before shrugging, mumbling something about the weather, and taking off into the chilly air. Dave waved her off, barely hearing her, then turned back to the party. The muscular man with the long black hair had led the boy across to the other side of the deck to where a large object stood, covered from top to bottom in cloth and tied with a light blue ribbon.

"Now, it is my great honor and privilege to present our most esteemed Prince John with a gift in honor of his seventeenth birthday."

"Oh Equius, you shouldn't have!" John said with a chuckle. He punched the older man in the shoulder, who then started to sweat profusely and mutter things under his breath. Dave smirked and stifled a snort.

"Y-yes sir," Equius said sheepishly. Then, as if suddenly remembering his audience, he stood up straight and swiftly yanked the cloth and ribbon from its place, revealing a massive statue of Prince John. The statue's left hand was planted on its hips, the other was clenched into a fist and pressed against its heart. Its face was turned away and set in a determined expression, as if daring the sky and sea to come at him.

It looked nothing like the boy in the powder blue getup. The real one was slightly awkward and grinning, while the fake was serious with a helping of "I take no shit from anyone" on the side. Plus, the statue's posture was too stiff and the expression was grim in comparison to the boy's buck-toothed face. The prince himself saw it, the crew knew it; even Dave, who had only just seen the him today, could tell that the statue barely resembled the human boy.

"Equius, it's...great!" Prince John said lamely, trying to suppress the fit of giggles that threatened to escape his throat.

Equius sighed and tapped his foot. "My original intention was to present it as a wedding gift, but..."

"Oh, please don't start on that again, Equius!" Prince John groaned. The boy in blue walked to the other side of the boat and leaned on the railing, trying to push the frown from his face. "I don't want to hear about it tonight."

Dave tensed against the side of the boat, willing himself into the woodwork. The prince was directly above him. Any sound, and he'd be caught. Fuck, he didn't want to leave yet. In fact, he wanted to hop the railing and start up a conversation with the prince.

Yikes. Dave, looking to start up small talk. Yeah, he was turning into a girl. A big, fat, finned pussy of a mermaid. He definitely needed to get out of the castle more.

"Highness," Equius began, "you know as well as I do that the entire kingdom desires your happiness. However, the law dictates that you must find yourself a bride by your eighteenth birthday."

"I know, and that means that I still have a year to go. I want to enjoy my freedom while I can!" John sighed and leaned over the railing, far enough for Dave to just barely see his derpy smile. "Besides, I know the right person for me is out there somewhere. I just need to keep looking!" John clenched a fist in determination, his eyes set on the dark horizon. "I know that person is out there. And I'll know them when I see them. It'll just hit me...like lightning!"

Suddenly, a fierce gust of wind slammed into the ship, sending its occupants sprawling. Dave was thrown into the ocean, but he quickly recovered and returned to the surface. Thunder boomed overhead and lighting lit the sky, blinding and deafening in the span of a few seconds. So that's what Terezi was muttering about, Dave thought grimly silently cursing. He hadn't even noticed a change in the wind, or even in the water. This wasn't the kind of storm that appeared naturally...

Oh fuck, Dave thought to himself. This is all my fault. If Bro found out I was at the surface, then...shit! Where's Karkat?! The merman scanned the waves for any sign of Karkat, or even Tavros, but came up with nothing. Even without his shades, which had been knocked off his face after being thrown off the ship, he could barely see anything farther than a few strokes. Which meant it was time to get back to the castle and cross his fins that Karkat wasn't there; but if the crab was, then is was time to lie until his face turned blue.

Out of nowhere, a stray bolt struck the mast of the ship, rattling it to the core and pulling Dave's attention back to it. Smoke soon turned to fire, then quickly into a blaze of light and heat. The crew scrambled to salvage anything and everything they could, but it quickly became apparent that the ship, along with its cargo, was doomed. Smaller boats were quickly filled and lowered, all save for one.

"Your highness, I insist you get in the boat!!" Equius shouted from the railing on the far side of the ship. "Your highness!!"

"Bec, come on! Jump, boy!" John shouted, holding his arms out. The white, furry beast from earlier was trapped on the ship's upper deck, and looked to be too scared to do anything. It just kept pacing and barking at John. Bits of flaming timber and sail rained down on both human and beast.

"Look out!!" one of the crewmen in a smaller boat cried.

Dave turned and saw the huge rock the ship was heading for and felt his throat close up. He needed to warn the prince. There was no way the ship could survive hitting it, and there was no way it could miss it now. He could barely breathe as he opened his mouth to shout at the boy in blue.

But it was too late. The ship crashed into the rock, sending both the white beast and John into the water with a loud splash. Without even blinking, Dave dove into the murky depths to save the human. He didn't care that he had lost his shades, or that he was sporting a few burns where shards of flaming timber had touched him. All he could think of was that he had to save the boy in blue.

Dave spotted the prince slowly sinking into the dark waters seconds later, his foot caught in a heavy fishing net. Pushing his limits as far as he could, the merman dove for the boy. The net was easy enough to deal with; it had simply caught on whatever John was wearing on his foot. Thank the seas that was all John had to lose. Dave's imagination ran wild with thoughts of John losing his foot, or an arm, or even his life. And as he tried to silence these thoughts, an invisible force locked itself around the coolkid's heart, nearly forcing the air from his lungs as he quickly pulled the drowning human to the surface.

He can't die, Dave thought to himself as he hefted John onto a half-burned piece of timber. I won't let him.

The air was filled with the smell of burning wood, and the water was ashy and mud-like. Dave could barely stomach swimming through it, let alone breathing it in. But if it meant saving John's life, he would gladly swim in the gunk for as long as it took.

So, with a lungful of ash and the prince safely out of the water, Dave pushed the small piece of the burned ship towards the southern horizon; in the exact direction he knew the shore would be.

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The sun was just starting to rise over the sea, painting the sea pink and purple with morning light. It was almost painful for Dave to look at; he was used to the dark tint his shades normally provided. But with them lost to the ocean, he could only shield his eyes and turn away.

The beach he had dragged himself and the prince onto was covered in debris from the ship. The water was black with ash, turning the sand a sickly gray. Empty and broken bits of barrel rolled onto the sand, only to be dragged back out with tide. The figurehead from the bow of the ship lay useless in the sand a ways down the beach, its body cracked and broken and its face burned by the fire. It was hard to look at.

Dave shivered and looked down at the prince, who lay sleeping by his side. It had been a harrowing experience trying to get him to shore with the storm still going. The waves had constantly worked against the merman, and had nearly turned him around twice in the darkness. But luck was on his side for once, and he managed to make it to land with the prince alive.

John wasn't too badly battered. Dave tucked a stray lock of the prince's hair behind his ear, running his eyes over the boy's body slowly. John's glasses had been knocked off and were probably chilling with Dave's eyewear in some dark chasm, never to be found again. His shirt was burned and torn in several places, but his skin was relatively mark-free, aside from a few burns and a scratch or two. Dave had to admit, the kid was lucky; luckier than he'd ever really know.

John stirred and moaned softly as Dave's fingers grazed his cheek, forcing the blonde merman to freeze. The boys hand twitched, digging small trenches in the sand. He must've been having a nightmare. Dave let out a silent sigh, twirling a lock of black hair around his finger, and began to sing.

"What would I give...to live where you are?
What would I pay...to stay here beside you?
What would I do to see you...smilin' at me?
Where would we walk? I'm sure it'd be fun,
If we could chill all day in the sun.
Just you and me...and I could be...
Part of your world..."

Dave watched a smile spread across John's sleeping face. His buck teeth were just barely poking into his bottom lip, making him look even cuter. The sight was almost too much for Dave to handle. The faintest ghost of a smile appeared on the merman's face, but he didn't try to hide it. There was something about this human named John that gave him goosebumps and made his stomach flip.

"Your highness!! Your highness, where are you?!"

Happiness: gone. Oh, so very gone.

Dave lurched into the sea, his heart hammering so hard he could hear it in his ears. He was barely hidden behind an outcropping of rocks before another human appeared a little ways down the beach. It was the buff human -Equius?- who had given John the statue on the ship.

"Oh, thank the gods!" Equius said, wiping his brow and hands with a handkerchief. With that done, he quickly set about waking the prince and checking him for wounds, all while chattering away like a frantic mother.

"You highness, you are much too reckless for your own good! Why must you insist on being such a fool sometimes?!"

John, only half conscious and clearly ready to fall back into the sand and sleep, sat up and stared at the sea. His blue eyes were dazed, but still the clear blue that made Dave shiver.

"I...I heard someone singing," -he smiled, showing off those adorable buck teeth- "It sounded amazing."

Dave's heart flew into his throat. John had heard him sing, and had unknowingly given him a compliment. The action was nothing new to Dave, but hearing it come from John – a mere human – made him want to smile.

"Sir, you have obviously consumed too much sea water. We must get you back to the castle at once."

Dave watched Equius escort John up the beach, secretly wishing that he could be the one with John's arm thrown over his shoulder. Just thinking about it made the merman feel like singing again, but that would be totally out of character and in no way cool. He had already sung once today. That was enough.

No. No it wasn't. He had to sing again.

"I don't care when
I don't care how
But I know something's starting right now
Watch and you'll see
Some day I'll be
Part of your world..."