As the railing broke there was a moment where Akeno felt weightless, a moment where she experienced the dizzying sensation of being suspending above nothing, before gravity and Verity reasserted their grip on her and dragged her over the edge.
The fall that followed was short and ended as abruptly as it had begun. Ice cold water slapped her in the face and stung her cuts and bruises with salt; it was a better outcome than landing on any of the several wooden boardwalks or boats that cluttered the area, but only marginally. She opened her eyes to an underwater world, saw only gloom, and closed them again immediately. They opened again, just a crack, as she squinted against her instinct to protect her eyes.
She flailed, her body fighting off the sudden numbness that had seeped into her limbs with the cold as she tried to reorient herself with no understanding of which way was up and which way was down. Spinning around aimlessly, she tried to spot something, anything, which would let her know which way was the surface.
Was it lighter in that direction?
Was that dark patch the underside of a boat?
Was that shape Verity?
Somewhere along the way she had let go of the harpoon she was holding and between the murk and her lack of sense of direction she couldn’t see or tell which way it had sunk.
She was blind, adrift and unarmed.
Upset
...One leaves. ((content warning: more eye gore))
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Wham Yubeesling
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Several metres below, one of the shapes moved. Jerked its body to face the surface. Squinted its one remaining eye. Held its breath.
Its hands moved and grabbed the harpoon embedded in its face. Pulled. Tried not to scream. Pulled again. Again. Again.
And with one last tug, the harpoon was yanked out of its socket, part of the eye still attached. The shape didn’t react. It just kept holding the weapon. Focused its attention on Akeno. Swam towards her.
Its hands moved and grabbed the harpoon embedded in its face. Pulled. Tried not to scream. Pulled again. Again. Again.
And with one last tug, the harpoon was yanked out of its socket, part of the eye still attached. The shape didn’t react. It just kept holding the weapon. Focused its attention on Akeno. Swam towards her.
After a few more moments of floating in the void her sense of equilibrium began to settle in again and she was finally able to recognise it. The way up, the surface; or at least, what she assumed was the surface. There was nothing but more gloom below her, while above her had patches of light and the occasional dark blot; boats, jetties, other detritus and open water in between.
She kicked her legs, swung her arms, and began to swim in that direction.
She kicked her legs, swung her arms, and began to swim in that direction.
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Wham Yubeesling
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And then a hand grabbed Akeno’s ankle.
And then another hand swung the harpoon in an arc. Sent it straight into Akeno.
And then a face below smiled, showed its teeth, as it pulled the harpoon, drew a line, and cut Akeno open.
And then another hand swung the harpoon in an arc. Sent it straight into Akeno.
And then a face below smiled, showed its teeth, as it pulled the harpoon, drew a line, and cut Akeno open.
Pain.
Akeno barely had time to register the fact that something had grabbed her ankle, halting her upward progress, before something sharp and burning was stabbed into her gut. She opened her mouth to scream only for it to be instantly filled with water. Her hands went to her stomach and she grabbed at the foreign invader, fingers wrapping around another hand which was tightly gripping whatever had been stabbed into her. It dragged the object sideways across her stomach and Akeno tried to fight it.
She kicked out instinctively, long legs lashing out at the thing below her, flailing at an unseen threat. Her leg jarred as it made contact with something solid and she felt the hand around her ankle let go. The thing began to pull away and Akeno let go of the hand to let it sink away; the object in her stomach was ripped free and she felt her body spasm at the fresh wave of pain that sent through her entire torso.
It was too late.
Looking down at herself Akeno saw only red; a cloud of red slowly spilling out of her stomach to fill the space around her, slowly seeping into the water around and mixing together. She held a hand to her stomach to stem the bleeding and kicked her legs. Swimming upwards. Towards the light.
Her head broke the surface a moment later. She was closer than she had expected. Turning, she saw a ladder nearby, a way to climb out of the cold water and get back onto relatively dry land. She swam towards it, kicking with increasingly numb legs and paddling with one arm to bring herself closer to escape. It was slow progress, fought each step of the way by gentle waves that pushed her back and reversed her progress.
She kept swimming, kept kicking, kept paddling; kept a hand to her stomach, kept her eyes on the ladder. Kept trying.
Akeno grabbed onto the ladder and clung to it holding her against the pier and keeping her head above the tide without having to constantly tread water. Damn, it was freezing; she could barely feel her legs, barely feel anything below the waist with how cold it was. It had soaked her clothes, into her skin and was leeching all of the heat from her body; it left her feeling chilled to the core, except for the hole in her stomach, which felt red hot. She needed to get out of this water as soon as possible; pull herself up by the ladder, make sure Verity wasn’t nearby, go and find Ivan and the others so she could help them kill Fisk and then get this hole in her stomach look at. All she had to do was pull herself up first.
All she had to do was pull herself up.
All she had to do…
Akeno barely had time to register the fact that something had grabbed her ankle, halting her upward progress, before something sharp and burning was stabbed into her gut. She opened her mouth to scream only for it to be instantly filled with water. Her hands went to her stomach and she grabbed at the foreign invader, fingers wrapping around another hand which was tightly gripping whatever had been stabbed into her. It dragged the object sideways across her stomach and Akeno tried to fight it.
She kicked out instinctively, long legs lashing out at the thing below her, flailing at an unseen threat. Her leg jarred as it made contact with something solid and she felt the hand around her ankle let go. The thing began to pull away and Akeno let go of the hand to let it sink away; the object in her stomach was ripped free and she felt her body spasm at the fresh wave of pain that sent through her entire torso.
It was too late.
Looking down at herself Akeno saw only red; a cloud of red slowly spilling out of her stomach to fill the space around her, slowly seeping into the water around and mixing together. She held a hand to her stomach to stem the bleeding and kicked her legs. Swimming upwards. Towards the light.
Her head broke the surface a moment later. She was closer than she had expected. Turning, she saw a ladder nearby, a way to climb out of the cold water and get back onto relatively dry land. She swam towards it, kicking with increasingly numb legs and paddling with one arm to bring herself closer to escape. It was slow progress, fought each step of the way by gentle waves that pushed her back and reversed her progress.
She kept swimming, kept kicking, kept paddling; kept a hand to her stomach, kept her eyes on the ladder. Kept trying.
Akeno grabbed onto the ladder and clung to it holding her against the pier and keeping her head above the tide without having to constantly tread water. Damn, it was freezing; she could barely feel her legs, barely feel anything below the waist with how cold it was. It had soaked her clothes, into her skin and was leeching all of the heat from her body; it left her feeling chilled to the core, except for the hole in her stomach, which felt red hot. She needed to get out of this water as soon as possible; pull herself up by the ladder, make sure Verity wasn’t nearby, go and find Ivan and the others so she could help them kill Fisk and then get this hole in her stomach look at. All she had to do was pull herself up first.
All she had to do was pull herself up.
All she had to do…
Akeno let out a harsh gasp, starting to breathe heavily as panic started to set in. She couldn’t do it. Her hands were gripping the ladder so hard her knuckles were white against her skin, her arms were tensed, biceps flexed as she pull all of her strength into them, but she couldn’t pull herself up. It was taking everything she had just to hold herself steady in the water like this, to keep herself close to the pier.
Her head fell forward until her forehead was resting on a rung of the ladder. Everything below her waist was numb; even her stomach wound wasn’t hurting as much as it was a moment ago, which seemed like a bad sign. The pool of red surrounding her was getting larger by the second.
All she had to do was hold on.
Someone would find her eventually. Ivan and the others would be able to kill Fisk without her and then they’d come looking for her and find the broken railing at the pool. They’d see her down below and come fish her out of the water so that they could fix this hole in her stomach.
All she had to do was hold on until then.
Akeno closed her eyes and waited. Her breathing evened out; having a plan always calmed her nerves. All she had to do was hold on until then...
Her head fell forward until her forehead was resting on a rung of the ladder. Everything below her waist was numb; even her stomach wound wasn’t hurting as much as it was a moment ago, which seemed like a bad sign. The pool of red surrounding her was getting larger by the second.
All she had to do was hold on.
Someone would find her eventually. Ivan and the others would be able to kill Fisk without her and then they’d come looking for her and find the broken railing at the pool. They’d see her down below and come fish her out of the water so that they could fix this hole in her stomach.
All she had to do was hold on until then.
Akeno closed her eyes and waited. Her breathing evened out; having a plan always calmed her nerves. All she had to do was hold on until then...
She felt water lap at her chin and opened her eyes with a start. The water was higher now or, no, she was lower on the ladder. Straining her upper body she pulled herself tighter against it, knowing without even trying that rising up any higher was impossible now. Her eyes closed again and she waited.
All she had to do was hold on.
All she had to do was hold on…
Her hand slipped free of the ladder and she jerked awake again. Grabbed the rung. Held on tight.
Just don’t let go.
Just hold… don’t… let…
All she had to do was hold on.
All she had to do was hold on…
Her hand slipped free of the ladder and she jerked awake again. Grabbed the rung. Held on tight.
Just don’t let go.
Just hold… don’t… let…
"Akeno. Akeno. Listen. You need to keep your eyes open, okay? You need to hold on.
"Akeno? Akeno!"
"Akeno? Akeno!"
"The others w-will be along in a second, okay? You just n-need to st-stay awake.
"Akeno, please st-stay awake!
"Akeno!
"please..."
"Akeno, please st-stay awake!
"Akeno!
"please..."
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Wham Yubeesling
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In the distance, near the back corner of the cruise ship, a shape surfaced from the water. It paddled, for a couple of seconds. Gasped for breath. Went back down again.
A couple metres away, a couple minutes later, it surfaced again. Paddled. Gasped for breath. Went back down again.
A couple minutes later, a couple metres away from Akeno's ladder, it surfaced again. Paddled. Gasped for breath. Went back down again.
A couple minutes later, a hand came out of the water. Grabbed a rung from the ladder. Pulled its body up with it. It was a wet mat of brown hair bundled everywhere. It was a soaked black t-shirt and a black jacket torn up by the upper arm. It was a large gash right at the tear, bleeding and staining the clothing around it. It was a hand not working right, having problems closing, wrapping its fingers around the rung of the ladder. It was a harpoon bundled with, a balance inside a fist not likely to falter, and it was a stain where there used to be an eye. A socket that looked more like meat. A face half-covered in red.
The body stayed there, for a moment. Hung onto the ladder. It took a breath.
It took a breath.
It took a breath.
It took a breath.
Then, with a final push, it reached up. Grabbed the next rung above. Got its legs onto the ones below. It took a breath.
Took a breath.
Began to climb.
((Verity Stewart, continued in The Martyr Approach 2))
A couple metres away, a couple minutes later, it surfaced again. Paddled. Gasped for breath. Went back down again.
A couple minutes later, a couple metres away from Akeno's ladder, it surfaced again. Paddled. Gasped for breath. Went back down again.
A couple minutes later, a hand came out of the water. Grabbed a rung from the ladder. Pulled its body up with it. It was a wet mat of brown hair bundled everywhere. It was a soaked black t-shirt and a black jacket torn up by the upper arm. It was a large gash right at the tear, bleeding and staining the clothing around it. It was a hand not working right, having problems closing, wrapping its fingers around the rung of the ladder. It was a harpoon bundled with, a balance inside a fist not likely to falter, and it was a stain where there used to be an eye. A socket that looked more like meat. A face half-covered in red.
The body stayed there, for a moment. Hung onto the ladder. It took a breath.
It took a breath.
It took a breath.
It took a breath.
Then, with a final push, it reached up. Grabbed the next rung above. Got its legs onto the ones below. It took a breath.
Took a breath.
Began to climb.
((Verity Stewart, continued in The Martyr Approach 2))