⊰ O N E ⊱

THE STORM

The ocean's crests swelled, waves slamming into the ship without mercy. Gritting my teeth against the biting wind, I tightened the rope that someone had left loose on the mast. I swear this crew is incompetent, I thought, I always end up fixing their mistakes.

"I'd say we only have a few minutes before the rain hits," Yoongi said as he walked up beside me, angling his head toward the menacing black sky. His brown eyes peered beneath the hat he wore and fixed on the storm clouds above. The breeze picked up, whipping the long hair that hung from my bandana.

"I'll stow the sails," I stated before turning on my heel, headed towards the back of the ship. After only a few steps, a rough hand grabbed my upper arm and stopped me in my tracks.

"No. Go tell Jungkook and Jin to do it. Then meet me in my quarters," Yoongi ordered. I nodded, failing to read his stony face. As soon as he released his grasp on me, I went to find the two men.

After searching the top of the expansive ship with no luck, I decided to look below deck. Masculine grunts and yells met my ears as I descended the ladder. Jumping the rest of the way down, my boots landed on the wooden floor. Sure enough, the two scamps were sat at a table while they arm-wrestled.

"Jin! Kook! Cap'n needs you to stow the sails before the storm hits."

Jungkook looked up at me, causing Jin to shout in victory as he took the chance to overpower his opponent. Jin jumped up from the table, hollering in joy and letting out a few of his distinct laughs. I felt my lips tilt up at the sound, rolling my eyes.

"Kat, you distracted me!" Jungkook grumbled as he stood up. "And how many times do I have to tell you not to call me Kook? I'm a grown man," he grumbled.

"Yeah, sure you are," I teased, letting out a laugh at his pout. "Now get up there! We need to be ready."

As soon as I finished talking, the two of them were racing each other to climb the ladder. I followed them up and heard rain hitting the deck. Warm droplets soon met my skin and dampened my clothes as I crossed over to the stern of the ship.

My stomach twisted with nerves as I wondered what Yoongi needed to speak to me about. Lately, I'd noticed a tension between us. Something was different and it made me less comfortable being alone with him. It'd been four years since he saved me and took me in, but there was still so much that eluded me about him. He was a mysterious man, to say the least.

I cleared my head as my hand reached out to knock on the door of the captain's quarters. Not even a second passed before it was pulled open and a hand latched onto my wrist, tugging me inside. I stumbled forward from the sudden movement, running into Yoongi's solid chest.

"Sorry," I mumbled, keeping my head down and feeling my cheeks heat up.

A chuckle left his mouth as he held onto my shoulders, gently pushing me back to form distance between us. His eyes matched the color of the boat's rain-soaked wood.

I cleared my throat to break the silence and he let go of my shoulders, making his way over to his desk. I waited for him to sit, but instead, he leaned against the table and crossed his arms as he stared.

"I wanted to talk to you about our relationship."

"Our relationship? What do you mean?" Wasn't he simply the man who saved me and recruited me to be part of his crew?

"Hoseok has been struggling to follow orders lately. It seems he's forgetting that I'm the captain here, so I'm relieving him of his duty as first mate." Yoongi paused for a moment, watching me carefully before he continued, "I want you to be my second in command."

I gaped at him. "Me? Are you sure? I've been here the shortest amount of time. Don't you think the crew will be upset about this?" Being promoted was the last thing I expected. It wasn't that I didn't think I could do a good job, it was just that I knew the crew wouldn't be thrilled to have a woman ordering them around all the time.

"What they think doesn't matter. This is my decision and I'm choosing you because I trust you and I know you're loyal to me. Besides, it wouldn't be the worst thing getting to spend more time together, would it?" His gaze traveled over my face as he awaited my reaction.

My heart stuttered in my chest. It wouldn't have been a big deal, except the way he said it made it sound like there was a double meaning behind his words.

"I won't let you down, Cap'n," I muttered, bowing slightly.

As I came up from my bow, he pushed himself off the desk, his expression intimidating. I fisted my hands as he slowly closed the distance between us. Fighting back the urge to step away, I held my ground and met his eyes as his face came only inches from mine. I glanced at his thin lips, noticing the smirk that spread over them.

"Call me Yoongi, Katherine," he purred as he leaned near my ear, emphasizing my full name which was rarely used. His flirtatious behavior left me speechless. What changed to make him suddenly act in such a way? I'd never called him by his real name—not out loud, anyway.

"Yoon-" before I could finish, the ship lurched, sending me stumbling forward and hitting my head against his. Both of us groaned and held our foreheads. Piercing thunder rumbled above us, and we looked at each other knowingly.

"Guess we'll have to finish this conversation later," Yoongi said before slipping through the door and rushing outside, leaving me with a fluttering heart and a pounding forehead.

I quickly collected myself and followed after him, the rain immediately pelting into me. Another large wave caused the ship to reel at an angle and I reached out to grab the carved railing for balance. Yoongi shouted orders at the crew but his voice was nearly drowned out by the deafening storm.

"Kat, Cap'n asked me to take you below deck and tie up all the loose cargo." Namjoon approached as he yelled over the rain.

When he reached me, he grabbed my hand and I followed him down to the cargo hold. We fought against falling as the ship continued to tilt and the floorboards continued to groan, doing our best to tie down any loose barrels, boxes, and other goods stored in the room. Just as I was finishing a knot, Namjoon let out a deep shout that caused me to jump.

"What's wrong? What happened?" I stumbled to his side. He was staring out of a small porthole, pointing a quivering finger at whatever he was looking at with wide eyes. I quickly followed his gaze out the window only for my jaw to drop.

"A-Are those... Is that...?"

Before I could finish my question, Namjoon answered me.

"Sirens. A whole swarm of them."

In the next second, I was bolting up the stairs, up the ladder and onto the deck, sprinting to the side of the ship. I latched onto the railing for dear life as the boat continued to fight the sea.

Finally, I caught another glimpse of the rushing water where there were at least a dozen sirens. They swam incredibly fast, keeping up with the speeding ship. Their torsos were bare, some with slim and feminine backs while others had wider, more masculine builds. Their tails were like nothing I'd ever seen before, stretching out long and glimmering in the water like liquid gold and silver. Each tail was colored differently, some with thin, pointed flukes and others with broad, rounded ones. They soared beneath the surface of the water, occasionally leaping out like dolphins.

I was mesmerized by the beauty of them all, but my trance was soon broken as someone shouted my name.

"Kat! Dammit, why are you out here?" Yoongi, along with Jungkook, Jin, Hoseok and Taehyung, came rushing over to me. "You don't know what they're capable of. You need to get inside now, before-"

He was cut off by a loud, piercing screech coming from the ocean below. Soon the single screech became many, and we were all shielding our ears from the unbearable sound.

Slowly, the ghastly screams lessened, though they were still going, and we were able to remove our hands from our ears so we could listen to the captain's orders.

"Forget it. We need to fight back or they won't leave us alone. The three of you, go grab rifles," Yoongi nodded to Jin, Hoseok, and Taehyung. They followed his instructions without hesitation. "Jungkook, Kat, go find Namjoon and get him to help you with the fishing net." Then he paused, dark eyes gleaming as he let out his final sentence.

"We're catching a siren tonight."

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