Days slipped by aboard the Flying Dutchman, its flooded halls and splintered walls became the boy's entire world, while Karna, tasked with nearly everything aboard, taught him the ropes in passing, as she worked.
Karna's walls were high, her presence held at arm's length. Her teachings came devoid of warmth or expectations. Whether he grasped them or not hardly seemed to matter—she'd been through this before. In time, he'd fold, tossing the weight of it all back unto her shoulders.
Why would he be any different?
The Dutchman groaned as if it were sick of the same old routine, until one day, a bizarre turn of events broke that pattern, forever…
It was early morning, but here where the dawn never comes the dark persisted at all times. Karna pounded heavily on a wooden door, striking it with the outer ridge of her clenched fist. The blows fell in a rhythm that slowly came to a stop, followed by a pause—then a wrathful slam. "What is he… deaf?" she muttered under her breath.
"Wake up kid!" she barked. "don't make me come in there."
"....." She paused for a breath—just long enough for silence to overwhelm what little was left of her patience, "To hell with privacy!".
Her tail struck the door, it's rusty hinges gave way, breaking with a sharp metallic snap. Freed from its frame, the door floated upward, until it met the ceiling with a resonant thud.
The chamber was still, save for the slow drift circulating within. Karna's gaze swept the room, settling on the bed, enclosed within a clear resin dome that held a shimmering pocket of air.
The whole thing was buried under a mess of odds and ends.The boy was nowhere to be seen.
Karna's jaws clenched like a vice, her teeth ground in frustration as she let out a low grumble under her breath.
"Come out!" she snapped, "I know you're in here." She said, as if to bait him out.
She lingered for a breath then another. The stillness held.
With a bitter exhale, she turned and made her way out.
Karna's brows drew together as she propelled herself through the winding halls, the set of her jaw tightened. The ship groaned around her, though to her, its cries had long since dulled into background noise.
Her voice came low, just beneath the breath. "Where'd you run off to now…"
The water ran cold as deep water currents passed through the numerous cracks in the Dutchman's hull, the liquid wind whispered a song that would frighten even the bravest of souls.
A faint shimmer rippled in the distance, a boy crouched low against the base of the fractured hull.
A fair distance away, Karna came into view from a shadowed passageway, her pace slowed as she finally caught sight of the one she had been searching for.
"So this is where you've been," she said, her words held some semblance of relief as she slowly approached. "What did I tell you about wandering off? keep this up and I'll be left with no choice but to put you on a leash"
The boy turned around to face her, surprised. "miss Karna?…" he called out, questioning his own sanity 'is she worried... no way, that's not like her at all'. Within his hand he held a brush dunked in bubble resin.
"Sorry about that," He turned back to face the hull once more and re-immersed himself in his work. "the Dutchman really needed repairs done down here."
Karna drifted beside him and peered over his shoulder, and what she saw amazed her. Her gaze fell on a Bubble patch—a broad smear of bubble resin pressed carefully over a jagged crack.
A Bubble patch— a rarely used emergency repair technique in which bubble resin is used to temporarily seal a hole in a ship's hull, this could very well be a lifesaver, the difference between a ship that continues on its journey or one that finds it end at the bottom of the sea. Although, down here beneath the surface where everything's already sunk, it's merely used to keep out the cold from leaking in through cracks in the walls.
Karna leaned in and brought her hand onto it, 'impressive...' she thought to herself as she brushed her fingers across its elastic surface.
It was the technique she'd shown him just a few short days ago 'he's, come a long way... all that potential, gone to waste'. Karna bit her lip, suppressing the emotions rising within her.
The boy's grip tightened around the brush as he carefully spread a layer of resin over a jagged crack. A thin layer of bubble resin took shape and began to settle over the fracture on the wall, when a sudden current hammered into the wall. The sudden spike of pressure distorted the patches he built until they buckled and burst with a sharp hiss. He winced as a stream of cold slipped through the damage once again. "Ahh!... not again, why won't you hold?" he muttered, clutching his head in mounting frustration.
Karna sighed. "You've still got a long ways to go, kid." She surged forward with a smooth, deliberate thrust, gliding to his side.
Before he could react, she swept the brush from his hand as she swam past.
"Wha!—hey!" he blurted, he hand reached out instinctively only for Karna's tail to slip through his fingers. He watched as she glided across the inner hull, brush in hand. A single, sweeping motion tore through the darkness as resin spilled behind her like negative script. The arcs she traced, like circuitry, formed patterns that brought purpose to its design. It was beautiful and it was all done in a single stroke.
At the final pass, she slowed to a halt and studied her work.
"That should do it," she said, as she turned around to face the boy. "Bubble wall"
In the next moment, a powerful current crashed against the hull behind Karna. From the sealed wall, a halo of bubbles erupted outward in a sudden, thunderous bloom, expanding in graceful waves that fused together to form a translucent barrier that glistened like polished glass.
The boy watched in stunned silence.
His breath slipped away.
Awe wound tight within his ribs as he made room to honour another within his heart.
"S-SO COOOOOL! I...I'LL NEVER DOUBT YOU AGAIN, MISS KARNA!!" he shouted, eyes wide, sparkling like twin stars with passionate admiration.
Karna scoffed as she crossed her arms, "Save your compliments" though contrary to her words a faint flush crept onto her cheeks.
"We're low on supplies," Her fingers brushed over the red wrap that covered her chest, adjusting it out of habit—a subtle action that carried an irresistible allure only a mermaid could possess. "Someone's got to head out to Fishman Island to restock our empty stores."
Mwa ha ha!!
He burst out laughing, "Fishman Island! That sounds like fun," he cheered, eyes locked onto karna with laser like exitement. "Can I came along miss Karna?"
A shiver ran through Karna's spine, 'That laugh again... I don't know why but it creeps me out.'
"I've been looking for you, haven't I?" she snapped, if looks could kill, the boy would have been six feet under. "You're coming whether you like it or not."
The boy chuckled in that awkward way he did when he was unsure if he was in trouble or not. "So… when are we leaving?"
"Now" Karna said, rummaging through her bag, she pulled out a pair of old hooded cloaks, darker than the deepest trench. Without a word, she tossed one to him, then slipped the other over her shoulders in a single fluid motion. The cloak settled around her like shadowy silk as she turned and began swimming away.
The boy charged into his cloak and took off after her, fumbling with its folds as he struggled to slip it over his head. Its fabric billowed, blinding him, twisting as he paddled forward in a clumsy wobble behind her.
"ack—!" The boy crashed into a wall with a dull thud, his face buried in the folds of his cloak. "mmmnn~ how'd you make it look so easy Karna?~" he pouted, cheeks puffed up like a sulky squirrel. He spun uncontrollably as the fabric twisted around him like a living thing.
Karna swam ahead without a care, "if you can't even put on a cloak, you might as well stay behind" she said, wondering if she'd be better off going alone.
"huh… no wait-I got it, I got it!" the boy cried out in a panic before he finally managed to slip the cloak over his head. The dark weave settled against his shoulders, concealing his entirety aside from his uncovered crown.
Soon thereafter they approached an exit that would lead them to the upper deck. The boy's heart thudded with anticipation — this would be his first time leaving the Dutchman ever since that fateful day.
Karna came to a sudden stop, in front of her stood an old wooden door, she placed her hand upon its handle and gave it a tug but, it didn't budge.
With a firm pull, she managed to pry the door open. Unsurprisingly, its rusty hinge let out a chilling groan—loud enough to wake everyone within a hundred meters of it. "So much for a quiet exit," she muttered beneath her breath.
'how many times are they planning to break this one specific door' she sighed as she ran her fingers through her silky hair, the list of problems on this sorry Ship grew longer than she could ever hope to deal with them alone.
The two emerged into the open waters of the Ship's Upper deck. It stretched before them like the husk of a long-dead leviathan.
Beneath the towering Dutchman, stood a colossal figure drifting across the ocean floor, shackled in chains that bound it to the ship.
The boy's eyes widened as his gaze landed upon it "Oi, Watatsumi!" he called out, his voice barely stretched its way to the Giant fishman's ear.
"Huh? Whoz callin' me?" he said, swiveling his massive head side to side. Bubbles slipped through his lips like smoke as he searched for the little voice that called out to him.
"Up here, Watatsumi!" the boy yelled, his voice echoing from above the waves.
Watatsumi turned his gaze upward towards the upper deck, squinting through the murk "hah?… is it, Gupī-kun?"
"how's your tummy Watatsumi?," the boy said, swimming closer. "Huh? You're not all puffed up anymore...".
Watatsumi flexed with theatrical flair, his arms bulging like a blown up baloon. "Hmph, ma tummy's feeling awlot better!" he declared.
Mwa ha ha ha
Umihihihi
They laughed together, but their moment was short-lived.
A sudden figure cut between them as Karna darted in from behind, her gaze was sharp enough to cut through steel. "That's enough, were late enough as it is" she snapped, dragging the boy away by the hood of his cloak.
Mwa ha ha!
"I've gotta go, Watatsumi—!" he shouted, his voice brimming with excitement as Karna dragged him away, his cloak trailing behind him like a wisp of smoke.
Watatsumi waved his arms above his head, his lips stretched from ear to ear as he said his goodbyes with a warm smile on his face. "owkay, seeya Gupī-kun! Bye bye Karna-san!" he yelled out at the top of his lungs, waking a certain somebody on the wrong side of their bed.