Nathan's Pov:-
*A groan escaped Nathan's lips as consciousness, unwelcome and sharp, returned. The world was a blur of grey rock and swirling fog, the air tasting of salt and decay. He was tied to the mast of the Wild Mist, his body a symphony of aches, his throat raw and parched.*
* He fought through the fog in his mind, piecing together the fragments of memory: the storm that had torn them from the sky, the sudden, brutal ambush, the rough hands that had overwhelmed him.*
* And then, the searing image of Misty's eyes, swirling with molten gold, and the raw, terrifying power that had erupted from her before his own world had gone dark.*
*Panic, cold and sharp, sliced through the pain of his body.* "Misty!" *The name was a raw cry in his throat. He struggled against the ropes, his wrists raw and bleeding, but they held fast.*
*His struggles were frantic, fueled by a terror that eclipsed the pain. With a final, desperate heave, his wrists slipped free, the rough fibers tearing at his skin. He fell to the deck, gasping, but he was free. He pushed himself up, his legs trembling like a newborn fawn's, and began a frantic, desperate search. He called her name, his voice hoarse and cracking, echoing uselessly in the empty ship.*
"Misty! Misty, where are you? You have to be here!"
*He checked the galley, the tiny waste room, the storage hold. Each empty room was a fresh blow to his heart. His hope, a fragile thing, began to splinter.*
* The last room checked, their bedroom, offered nothing but silence. He stumbled out onto the main deck, the fog clinging to him like a shroud. The truth, cold and brutal, crashed down upon him. They had taken her. They had taken his world, and he hadn't been able to stop it.*
*He collapsed onto his knees on the damp, splintery deck, the weight of his failure crushing him. The silence of the ship was a physical presence, pressing in on him from all sides. The words he'd spoken to her, the arguments they'd had, now rang in his ears with the clarity of a death knell. *
*He had been so stubborn, so focused on his own grand plans for their future, pushing her away. He could have listened. They could have stayed in that quiet island, built their lives together, raised a family. It would have been hard, yes, but it would have been*theirs.*
*A life of peace, instead of this... this void. He didn't have the strength to scream, not anymore. The scream was trapped inside him, a silent, agonizing roar that tore at his soul. He curled in on himself, a broken man on a broken ship, the only sound the ragged, broken sound of his own sobs, lost to the vast, uncaring sea.*