Isle of She-Beasts

The air is salty. The ocean was calm. The air was a crispy tropic breeze.

A large ship was cruising across the surface of the ocean. Onboard the ship is a whole crew of explorers on a trip to photograph marine biology. Perched in the crow’s nest is the youngest member. A man in his early 20s, with an emerald green hair that matched his eyes, and narrating to himself in his thoughts:

My name is Spike Draco. I just turned 20 a couple months ago and right now, I’m on a ship, as a member of a crew, on a trip to photograph some marine biology.

I love animals. I was born and grew up in the state of Montana, which was part of the reason I wanted to be a wildlife photographer.

Since I was a kid, I’m very much drawn to animals. Mostly cats, dogs, and sometimes horses. I usually prefer to be around animals than people.

Don’t get me wrong, I have some friends who are humans. And I like them as much as I love my parents and grandparents. It’s just, I like being around animals. They’re a lot of fun and I’m always discovering something new about them everyday.

“Spike!” A voice with a British accent called, startling the young man out of his daze. He looked down to see an older man.

“Uh, Mr. Newt Chimera!” Spike greeted the older man. In appearance, he was a rather tall man (6'1"), with brown hair and hazel eyes, and looked like he was around the age of 29. Even though he gave off the appearance of a slight, awkward man, he was actually rather muscular under all that attire. Speaking of which, he wore a blue coat, brown vest, white shirt, bow tie, blue and yellow scarf, dark brown trousers, and brown boots.

“How are you today, Spike?” The older man, identified as Newt Chimera, asked. “Seen any dolphins yet lad?”

“So far, just the ocean and some clouds,” Spike confirmed.

“Hmmm, they’re around here,” The man replied. “We’ll find them. In the meantime, why don't you come down here and take a break?”

“Sure thing, sir.” Spike replied as he began to climb down the Crow's nest.

Shortly after, both of them headed their way to the mess hall, "What do you think Stumpy is gonna make for lunch today, Mr. Chimera?" Spike asked.

"Don't know honestly. I just hope that it isn't Tuna Casserole again." Newt replied with a shudder.

"You really don't care for seafood, do you?" Spike asked.

"Let's just say that I... don't like eating fish." The older man replied glumly. "You know, Starlight's been talking about you lately."

"H-Has she now?" Spike asked with a bit of nervousness. Starlight was one of the marine biologists who came aboard and a damn good swimmer as well. She is currently doing some scuba diving to film some sharks. When Spike first met her, she seemed nice but had difficulty approaching her due to a certain phobia of his.

"Yes, it's been three weeks since we've been out here, and she's been wanting to know you bit more." Newt said rather coyly.

"Well... I would like to know more about her too but well..."

“Spike, do you have a lady waiting for you home?” The man teased, much to Spike’s discomfort. “Surely, a handsome chap like you would—“

“We’ve talked about it, sir!” Spike interrupted. “I’m…I’m still looking. She’s out there. I’ll find her, just like how we’ll find some dolphins to photograph…”

“I’m just messing with you, Spike,” The man smirked. “But y’know, you’re still in your golden years. It’s not too late to find love.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Spike replied.

In truth, Spike wasn’t planning on finding a girlfriend anytime soon. On the account of his gynophobia. Meaning he’s terribly afraid of girls. How and why? That is a story for another time. Spike then noticed Mr. Chimera clutching his head.

"Whoa, you okay sir?" Spike asked in concern.

"Wha... Oh yes, just a bit of a headache is all. I get them from time to time, nothing that a bottle of brandy can't fix." Newt assured him. "You know what Spike, you go on without me. I'm going to go rest for a bit.

"Sure Mr. Chimera, whatever you say." Spike said as the older man take his leave.

After what felt like hours, have passed, the sun had set, and night had fallen.

Spike retreated to below deck, to get some sleep.

The young man was sound asleep to the gentle swaying of the ship, until it suddenly turned wild and bumpy, throwing him out of his bed.

“AAAAHHH!!!” Spike screamed, landing on the floor with a hard thud. “Ow!” The young man got up to rub his sore head, "What the hell? What's going on?"

With the ship still rocking violently, to and fro, Spike nimbly got up on his feet, struggling to walk up the stairs to see what was going on. Spike was certain that a violent shake like this, anyone onboard the ship will be seasick.

Reaching for the knob, Spike turned the door open and was startled awake to a nightmare of a stormy ride. The ship had sailed into a hurricane. Thunder roared in the air, the sky was darkened by thick clouds, with bolts of lightning streaking across the sky, lighting up the darkness in the blink of an eye.

When did this happened? How is this happening? More importantly, why did the ship steer into a storm? Wanting answers, Spike battled his way through the cold, icy, wet wind of the sea, struggling to make his way up to the ship's bridge. He'd like a good word with the captain.

It wasn't easy, but Spike finally made it, onto the bridge.

"Captain! What's going on?" Spike asked, as he threw himself into the room. "Captain? Captain!"

Spike soon got his answer, when a flash of lightning illuminated the dark room, to reveal the captain was on the floor. Knocked out, or dead, Spike doesn't know. But one thing's for certain, no one was steering the ship.

Stricken with fear, for his very life, Spike quickly grabbed the wheel, trying to steer the ship out of the storm. But to no avail. He checked the radar, to get a read on their location, but the navigation device had been switched off.

Turning to the nearest radio device, Spike screamed in distress, "Hello? Hello? U.S. Coastguard? This is–WHOA!" Before Spike could finish, the ship was hit with another tidal wave, sending Spike flying towards the ceiling, hitting his head against a pipe.

With that, his head was ringing as Spike fell to the floor, and his world went black.

Force of Nature (feat. Sarah Murray)