The Tempest At Sea

Darkness. As far as the eye could see. It surrounded them from every angle, not allowing even a shred of visibility. There were exceptions to this, albeit short, split-second exceptions, but the irregular flashes of lightning that light up the dark sky were exceptions nonetheless. Not that it mattered, as the waves that pummelled their transport disrupted all sense of direction, pushing and pulling them in every direction in the pitch blackness.

While their sense of sight was given little to work with, their hearing was given too much. The waves that pounded into their transportation sent booms of noise made it impossible to recognise any other sound. The rain that was pouring down in a torrential downpour didn't help either, the rapid and vicious tapping and crackling of raindrops on wood and metal drowning out sound like static on a radio. And while thunder struggled to make itself known through this intense amount of noise, the wind blew in a whirlwind so fierce, they fought to not have their feet fly off the deck and send them hurdling off into the cloudy black sky.

"Whoa! Wh-wh-whoa!" One of them shouted through the intense noise of the storm.
"Are-Are you okay?! No! Don't let go!" A thunderclap roared over the tempest.
"Crap! Just a little longer... C'mon, hang on!" Another wave smashed into the side of their ship, throwing them across the deck in the darkness. "N-No! I can't... hold on...!"

Suddenly, a new noise was heard through the storm. It sounded like electricity. Not lightning or thunder, but the sparking, zapping sound of static and charges, coursing through the sound of the storm. It was heard five times in rapid succession before the ship's passengers were flung across the deck even further. Suddenly, the zaps swelled into a large, electronic buzzing sound that was somehow louder than all of the noise of the storm. A bright, white light, the source of the overwhelming sound, cut through the darkness and enveloped the ship.

"Aaaaaggggh!" And with that, one of the strugglers of the storm was sucked into the bright light. The only thing that he saw, for a split second, was a cliff, a bluff, shaped like a shark-like creature. Forks of lighting behind it illuminated the rocky outcrop and the sea below it for this split second. And after it went dark, he blacked out completely.

+++

As he woke up, he was greeted by silence. Nothing but peaceful silence. And a splitting headache. He stayed still for moment. It hurt too much to bother moving.

Eventually, he was able to moan out an "Urrgh..." and slowly open his eyes. The image was blurry at first, but as his vision cleared, he saw a great, wide ocean spread out in front of him. The water's surface was almost flat, only a few small waves occasionally lapping out of it. It sparkled in the sunlight that came from the midday sun, perched in the centre of a huge expanse of blue that was the sky. It's vibrant colour reflected by the sea, and small, white clouds floated through the sky near the horizon. Rocky outcrops protruded out of the water in the sides of his vision, which may to be connected to a cliff face of some sort, but he didn't bother to move his head.

It was then that they felt that they were lying in sand, feeling that his arms and legs were half buried in grainy dunes. Under his left leg, he felt a jagged rock, which lifted the leg up slightly in an uncomfortable way. Then, as his headache began to subside and the ringing in his ears died down to let the calming sounds of the waves be heard, he felt they were ready to be barely able to speak.

"...Where am I?" he croaked out. His voice sounded somewhat unfamiliar to him, but he blamed on the sand in his mouth and his incredibly dry throat, both of which unfortunately tasted like sea water. Blegh.

He attempted to stand. As soon as he tried, his legs and arms shook with pain trying to lift their body upwards, his headache returning with added intensity. His ears started ringing again and their vision swirled back into blurriness as the headache pounded away at his brain.

"...I can't..." he moaned, his legs buckling and the sand underneath his hands giving way. "...Drifting off..."

And with that, he slumped back down onto the sand, his sight darkening and all of his senses fading, resulting in the individual blacking out once again.