[Salamander]

It was a cold night, and the sea was black and infinitely deep. A waning crescent moon hung in the sky, obscured by misty grey fog. Faint flashes of lightening lit up the clouds, and a deep, rolling thunder sounded from within. Across the harbor, there was not a ship to be seen. Not even the old, crumbling lighthouse dared shine its beacon tonight. The people of the island knew all to well what lurked below the surface. They huddled in their homes, doors locked and windows boarded. The bravest sat together in a silent tavern, though not even they dared venture outside alone. Men and women stared out at the sea in both fear and reverence. Their eyes strained to catch a glimpse of it, though in reality they hoped they wouldn’t see a thing.

Down in the icy depths, something was roused from its sleep. The creature yawned, their rows of sharp teeth glinting in the pale light. One eye opened, then two, then four. Muto lifted their head, their eyes glimmering in the darkness. They glanced up towards the moon, noting its late phase. They knew they needed to prepare for when it disappeared entirely. They opened their mouth to taste the water, and was rewarded by the distant tang of blood. That seemed to wake them up somewhat. Their body shivered, and suddenly lit up with tiny, pulsing patterns of blue and green. They rose from the reef, propelling themselves with a flick of their powerful tail.

They could see it on the horizon: the silhouette of a whale and her calf. The little one was bleeding profusely, and was trailed by numerous sharks. Muto didn’t enjoy killing younglings, but this one would be dead within the hour anyway. Their slender body easily cut through the water as they approached. The sharks darted out of their way, but the whales had not yet noticed them. As they neared, however, an unfamiliar shadow cast over them. They glanced up to see a large, foreign vessel. This surprised them, as the local humans never dared traverse dragon territory at night. The enormous ship was only just longer than them, so they could swim underneath it without being spotted. They cautiously brushed against the wooden hull, testing its strength. Then, they rammed their tail into it full force. The ship rocked dangerously, eliciting alarmed cries from the crew. Water splashed over the side of the deck, but it was not enough to upturn it. Muto huffed irritably, not in the mood for a full-fledged sea battle. They darted off and returned to their hunt. Within a few minutes, anyone above the surface would see a burst color in the distance, accompanied by a great splash, a whale's song of mourning, and then silence.

[Witchy]

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XXXXXX Octavian let out a shuddering breath through clenched teeth. It was unbearably cold down in the little cabin he had been given by the captain of the ship he was traveling aboard. The cool night air carried by the sea winds seeped between the small crevices of the ship's lower deck, and the heavy wool blanket Octavian had pulled up to his neck was doing little to nothing to keep him warm — and neither was the tunic he'd worn to sleep in. The man gave a sigh and watched the frosty plume of his breath quickly rise and dissipate into the darkness of his sleeping quarters. It's not really that cold, he tried to convince himself as he pulled the blanket tighter against his body. You won't have to deal with it much longer. It will be dawn soon, and you'll get to feel the warmth of the sun soon enough. Octavian rolled over onto his side and faced the wall. He gave another sigh at the misfortune he had to endure for the time being, but he eventually willed himself to fall asleep. He closed his eyes and snuggled deeper under the blanket to get closer to warmth that wasn't even there.
XXXXX It was if fate had some cruel sense of humor, however, for not a moment after he had closed his eyes Octavian snapped them open again when he felt the entire ship rock. A sharp yelp was forced from the man's throat when he was violently tossed from his cot and onto the floor. Octavian scrambled to his feet quickly, just barely missing being hit by the bedside table as it toppled over and sent everything that was left atop it rolling and shattering along the floorboards.
XXXXX What Octavian had just felt was nothing like the gentle, albeit nauseating, lull of the calm sea he'd experienced for the last few hours he was lying awake in bed. It felt like the ship hit something jutting up from the sea — or something had hit them, was the following thought that came to Octavian's mind, making him gulp. At the moment of impact Octavian heard the startled cries of the crew as they ran about in a panic. The ship was still rocking violently, sending everything in Octavian's cabin sliding this way and that, and flying from selves. He grunted as he was thrown back towards his bed, sliding across the sheets and slamming back-first into the wall with a loud thud!
XXXXX "I hate the sea!" Octavian roared in anger and he pushed himself back onto the floor. He rushed toward the door as fast as he could and threw it open. He was immediately greeted with the sounds of disarray and the crew members hurried footsteps as they trampled their way across the upper deck. Octavian made his way up there as well and was going to ask what it was that they hit, but by then the ship had already began to settle, bobbing up and down in the water as if nothing had gone amiss. Upon seeing the large puddles of water across the deck, he stopped and gritted his teeth — if the hull had been breached then he would be the first one on a dinghy.

[Salamander]

An electric shock from their whiskers had been enough to kill the calf instantly. The mother whale cried in distress as she circled, watching helplessly as Muto tore apart her child. It was her own fault to lead it into such dangerous waters, they mused. Besides, it was weak. They were doing her a favor, and she would have another calf next year. But… this reasoning did not prevent a knot of guilt from forming inside them. They made quick work of their catch, thrashing violently as they stripped it clean. The sea frothed dark red around them. Once satisfied, they let the bones fall to the seafloor and returned their attention to the human ship. Which, to their chagrin, was right where they had left it.

They circled cautiously, unfamiliar with the sheer size of the vessel. Their luminous pelt still glittered wildly from the adrenaline of the hunt. To anyone peering into the depths, they resembled a writhing a cluster of stars. The crew on deck scurried frantically about, making all sorts of bothersome noise. Muto lifted their head from the water and hissed. They had hoped that a simple warning would have sufficed, but further action was apparently needed. They prodded the hull with their shoulder, causing it to rock once more. It was only a slight movement but a few humans suddenly shrieked in terror. Muto couldn't tell whether or not any had seen them. They were practically invisible at night, aside from their eyes and the patterns of their pelt. They paused and looked towards the cloud covered sky. Though they could not see the stars, they knew the dawn was on its way. Time was of the essence. Their attacks would be less effective during sunlit hours, as their vision faltered in the bright light. They let out a low growl, ramming into the ship once more. This time a bit of the wood splintered. The hull held steady, but a good amount of water crashed suddenly into the lower deck. They wanted to get this intruder out of their sea as soon as possible— even if that meant tearing it apart piece by piece.

[Witchy]

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XXXXXX Octavian could hear the captain barking out orders to his crew somewhere to his left, but even though that was the person he felt had more knowledge of the situation that the scared men losing their wits, Octavian wasn't able to reach him — not with the entire crew still running about in either sheer panic or moving to follow through with their orders of maintaining the ship above water. Octavian stepped forward and caught one of the crew members by the arm, halting his hurried steps to wherever he was headed. "What's going on, boy? What did we hit?" Octavian questioned loudly over the noise. A string of utter gibberish fell from the younger man's lips as he shook his head frantically. Deciding in that moment that the younger male was of no use to him, Octavian gave a low growl and tossed him aside. He stalked over to the starboard, dodging around the scattering mass of people as he went. The man leaned over the railing and searched the water, looking for any clue as to what they'd hit. "These are veteran sailors. How did they not manage to avoid crashing into something that was large enough to cause a disturbance like that? Surely they'd have seen an obstruction like that jutting up from the water..." Octavian muttered lowly. The ship was rocked ever so slightly and Octavian knew then that there was something down there. He had heard the tales of travelers from distant lands peacefully traversing the seas just to have fantastical sea beast follow their vessels and capsize them. We didn't sail into anything, were Octavian's worried thoughts.
XXXXX A sudden cacophony of shrieks and wails of absolute disrepair rose up from the mouths of all aboard, but it wasn't enough to draw Octavian from his thoughts. In fact, the mercenary stayed uncharacteristically quiet even while his mouth was hanging slightly agape as he stared intently at the dark waters stretching toward the horizon with unease. He gasped in surprise all of a sudden, his one eye wide in a mix of shock and horror as he felt whatever it was from before push roughly against the lower portion of the ship again nearly sending him plummeting into the cold sea below.
XXXXX Yep, much to Octavian's disbelief, their ship was definitely being attacked by a sea monster.
XXXXX He stood there with his hands gripping the wooden railing of the ship's rail so hard that his knuckles were beginning to turn white as the gravity of the situation hit him like a sack-full of stones, forming a knot of dread deep in his stomach. The mercenary swore aloud in frustration, pushing himself off the railing and turning on his heel to bolt back toward the stairs that led down to the lower half of the ship. He needed to get to his cabin. His coin purse, his sword, the parchment detailing important information about this job he had taken — his clothes! — were down there. He was not going to be washed ashore and found in nothing but his night tunic! Octavian could barely hear some of the others above deck shouting for him to come back over the pounding of blood in his ears as adrenaline rushed though his veins, fueling his sprint to get below deck. Tuning the frantic crew out, Octavian focused on the task at hand: getting back to his cabin before the hull was actually breached and flooded by this malevolent creature of the deep and the ship capsized.

[Salamander]

      The humans' howls of fear exhilarated Muto, prompting them to carry on the assailment. They wedged their teeth into the cracked hull and pried off a panel of barnacled wood. The nails came loose with a sickening creak, causing another torrent of water to fill the ship. They reeled back and crashed their tail into the opening, easily splintering through the weakened wood. Several support beams crumbled, and the berth deck above began to fracture dangerously. Several crewmen still hiding in their hammocks cried out in alarm as the floor was ripped out from under them, leaving them dangling above a black and tumultuous sea. As they scrambled to safety, Muto attacked again. The human’s squeals were only adding to their irritation. They crammed their head through breach they had created, roaring as they thrashed and tore at anything they could get their teeth on. They latched onto another beam and wrenched it from its place. Pulling back, they watched in satisfaction as more of the ship collapsed in on itself. While the main deck and most of the cabins remained relatively unharmed, the two bottom decks were all but destroyed. The ship could still escape if the gods blessed it with wind. Both land and daylight were not far off, and Muto could not pursue them into either.
        Water was rushing in fast, enough so that much of the hull was completely flooded. By this time the crew had at least managed to man the cannons, which were being fired aimlessly into the depths. Muto dodged them easily, but was nevertheless uneasy. Luckily, they had a solution to the problem. With some difficulty, Muto fit half their body inside the flooded hull, awkwardly piled upon wooden debris. Their lower body and tail still drifted in the sea below. The humans couldn’t quite fire upon their own ship, now could they? The dragon lifted their head though a rift in the ceiling and glanced around, considering how to continue their assault. They were about to target the captain’s quarters, when they heard rapid footfalls coming from the stairs. Muto turned and tilted their head in bewilderment. What human would possibly be so reckless?

[Witchy]

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XXXXXX The ship was being tossed and prodded and rammed violently from beneath the waves as Octavian made his mad dash downstairs. He could both see and hear the vessel being ripped apart, gutted by the beast as it made quick work of tearing the hull to shreds. Roaring reverberated off the walls of the narrow staircase, causing Octavian to stop suddenly. He almost tripped over his own feet and would have made the rest of the trip down going head-over-heels had he not grabbed hold of a splintered piece of wood in the wall. The thought of the monster not only destroying the ship but tearing its teeth into the poor people who weren't fortunate enough to make it topside crossed Octavian's mind — the vision almost made him sick, but he quickly pushed it from his thoughts before continuing downstairs, though at a less hurried pace.
XXXXX By the time he was at the lower deck the place was already flooded. Up to his knees in water, Octavian could only hope that his belongings hadn't been ruined too badly now. The rocking had ceased a moment ago, but he knew that this was only for a moment. Whatever had caught the creature's attention wouldn't keep it distracted for long. The man exhale a shaky breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and cautiously took a step forward. As fear gripped him, Octavian gripped the nearest wall as if it were a lifeline, all the while cursing his client, the captain, the crew, sea monster, the gods — anyone he could think of at the moment — for his misfortune. It's just water, Octavian, get a hold of yourself! he thought.
XXXXX You don't know how to swim, came the response from the pressimistic part of him. You're going to drown, you're going to drown, you're going to drown—
XXXXX Stepping into his quarters elicted a startled gasp from Octavian. Well, he tried to gasp, but his head was suddenly submerged underwater the moment his foot corssed what was left of the entryway. Panic rose in his chest, flooding his senses. Immediately Octavian began thrashing about in an attempt to reach the surface. He managed to get his head above water, mouth open as he gasped in ragged breaths. "H-help me—" Again his flailing arms caused him to sink back beneath the dark waves.

[Salamander]

Muto watched the human from below with mild interest. They had ducked beneath the water when the man approached, in case it came brandishing weapons. But this one appeared bizarrely unarmed, and now had suddenly plunged into the freezing sea with no warning whatsoever. They shifted their position in the cramped hull, tripping a bit over some cargo before moving their head closer to the human. The pitiful creature was clearly distressed, flailing wildly a few meager feet above them. Muto sighed indignantly, sending a spray of bubbles up and around it. Perhaps they had been overzealous in their attack. A battle of wits and strength was one matter, a slow and painful death another. They swished their tail and propelled themselves higher, now barely inches from the man. If it were to look down, it would see nothing but a flurry of blue light through the darkness. Muto flinched as a thrashing foot collided with their eye. They grunted in annoyance and broke the surface, lifting the man from the water on top of their head. They paused for a moment, all four eyes staring at the creature. Then, they tilted their head forwards, allowing it to slide off and fall unceremoniously onto the few remaining floorboards. They hovered silently, stone still and staring intently. All of the sudden, Muto found it was unbearably quiet. The only sound was the slow creak of the destroyed hull, and the droplets of water dripping from their whiskers. Even the crew above had hushed to a whisper, awaiting the next move of the dragon unknowingly right beneath their feet.

[Witchy]

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XXXXXX Octavian's arms still flailed madly about in the dark water as he struggled to reach the surface. Of course, his frenzied movements were only causing him to sink lower and lower into what he now presumed would be his final resting place, but his attention was suddenly drawn to a cluster of bubbles swiftly rising around him. What in the—
XXXXX Octavian snapped his head down and was greeted with a luminous blue light swiftly rising towards him.
XXXXX The realization hit him immediately, causing Octavian's eye to go wide and his movements became more unorganized as he tried to get away from the sea monster. In that moment, exhausted and frightful, he was unable to hold his breath any longer and Octavian was forced to open his mouth to gasp for air he didn't have. Water quickly seeped into his airways, causing him to strangle and choke as he unintentionally sucked in more water through his gaping mouth. When he was suddenly pushed to the surface by a strong force below him, the feeling of air hitting his cold face caused him to cough up the liquid sitting heavily in his oxygen-deprived lungs. Though water and bile trickled down his face, Octavian didn't dare raise a hand to wipe the gross mixture, too afraid to move for fear of what the beast would do if he did.
XXXXX However, the moment he did muster up the courage to glance down at the beast, the thing tilted its head. The drop wasn't far, only a few feet, but Octavian landed with a loud splash loud enough to shatter the eerie silence that had blanketed the two of them. He'd landed face down, partially on his stomach, but had braced himself for impact using both hands, which had taken the brunt of the landing. Octavian winced at the shock that formed in his palms and raced up to his elbows. The remnants of the floor were covered in water, and for a split second Octavian feared that he might be plunged into the icy depths again, but the wood held out. The ominous creaking of the hull and constant drip, drip, drip of water was all the man could register as he and the sea monster stared each other down; the beast with a look that Octavian was sure was hunger and pure evil while his own gaze of wide and full of fright.
XXXXX About a minute of this staring contest had gone by, though for Octavian it felt like what had passed was a lifetime, and the man suddenly screamed with all the force he could muster.

[Salamander]

The sudden loud noise startled Muto, who reeled back in surprise, uttering their own unbecoming croak of alarm. They crashed into the wall behind them, causing a number of ceiling beams to fall on their head. They were submerged momentarily, but quickly shook the debris off, none worse for wear— aside from a pounding headache and an unholy amount of splinters. They grumbled irritably, head half below the water so all that could be heard was a low, muddled garble. Muto was already quite exasperated with the night they were having. They lifted their head slightly and exhaled, at least having calmed down from their adrenaline fueled rage. They glanced around at the damage they had caused, not quite sorry, but rather embarrassed at their immature behavior. They could have easily punctured the ship and left it to drown, but in the heat of it all, they just had to show off. It was then that they became fully aware of their precarious situation. They were still wedged through the crack in the hull, and their long body was twisted uncomfortably through the flooded lower decks. Suddenly extremely self-conscious, Muto side-eyed the cowering human, hoping it wouldn’t notice how terribly stuck they were.

[Witchy]

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XXXXXX Octavian scrambled back and covered his face with his arms, attempting to ward off what he believed was an attack, but he blinked in surprise when a resounding thud shook the room. He lowered his arms to see the beast sinking into the water. Again he shielded himself as more splintering wood and water splashed into his face. A muffled gurgle could be heard a moment later and Octavian peeked over his arm, partially afraid that he may find himself face-to-face with a row full of sharp teeth. However, the sea creature only lifted its head a bit above the water and seemed to be surveying the damage it’d done to the ship.
XXXXX Seeing his chance to get a better look at the creature now that its focus wasn’t upon him, the man lowered his arms and leaned forward, squinting and trying to make out a solid form underneath the luminous blue shimmer that signified where the creature was in the water. While silently eyeing the elongated beast, it soon dawned on Octavian that the creature wasn’t going anywhere. This wasn’t good. It was blocking his only way out, and he needed to get back upstairs to and make it onto one of the dinghies. Octavian sighed through his nose. While the crew was probably escaping with their lives by now, he was stuck down here in the cold with a gigantic monster.
XXXXXThese thoughts were with him briefly even the sea monster gaze at him out of the corner of its eye. He would have grumbled to himself for staying put so long while it was distracted, but remained quiet as he stood up slowly as not to alarm the other occupant of the flooded cabin. He began to glance around the room in search of his sword.

[Salamander]

Muto watched carefully as the human stood to its full height. While it was looking the other way, they wriggled trying to unwedge themselves. They winced slightly as a sharp outcrop of the deck dug into their side. Sparing this human had been a horrible decision. If they had left the thing to drown, they would have been on their way home by now. Muto hissed in frustration, twisting and turning in the hull as they struggled to free themselves. The remaining cargo and what was left of the keel were quickly crushed under their weight. But much of their body and neck were still uncomfortably squeezed into the upper decks. The entirety of their girth filled the hall. If one were to come down the stairs now, they would see nothing but a wall of scaly flesh. Muto glared at the creature in front of them, awaiting their next move. Even in this vulnerable position, one human wasn’t too much of a threat. They were more concerned with the dozens of humans still scurrying about overhead. A few bangs and some faint rustling could be heard, undoubtably the sound of the lifeboats being prepared for departure.

[Witchy]

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XXXXXX Octavian searched around the shallow waters using his foot, hoping to brush up against Behemoth, but his sword was nowhere near him. He grunted, frustrated that he going to have to spend more time in this steadily flooding space. Determined to find his only form of protection, Octavian began moving sideways along the wall at a steady pace, again trying to squint against the darkness while using his foot to search for his weapon. All the while he scooted along the wall, Octavian could feel a set of eyes on him. His movements had obviously caught the creature's attention again, but it still wasn't attacking. At least it’s stop moving for the moment, he thought, but vaguely wondered why it hadn't swam away to the depths from which it had came.
XXXXX The man shuffled closer to a part of the floor that had collapsed into the water before kneeling, this time using his hands to check the cold water. Coming up empty handed again, Octavian was about to cast a glance over to the creature when his fingertips brushed against a solid object. He immediately recognized the feeling of Behemoth's jewel encrusted hilt. Octavian couldn't stop the small smile of triumph from spreading across his face as he used both hands to remove Behemoth from the water with little effort at all. “Praise be to Na'Kaiin,” he breathed. Boldly turning to face the room's other occupant Octavian muttered, "Now to get past you."

[Salamander]

Well, this could prove a bit troublesome. Muto blinked, eyes darting over the massive weapon. This was far different than the spears and harpoons typically used against them. No human had ever been so bold as to engage them in melee. They snarled, purposely allowing their double rows of teeth to glint in the darkness. With the way the deck was cutting into their side, they could not easily escape without causing significant bodily harm. Considering their possible courses of action, they decided on intimidation. Despite the mysteriously impressive weapon, this human had still been screaming and cowering moments before. Their bioluminescence picked up the pace, now an aggressive display of bright blue and pink. The ceiling was too low for them to properly tower over their opponent, so they instead arched their neck and leveled their head to be eye-level with the human. With another hiss, they widened their four eyes, casting a ghostly green light across the cabin. All the while, they kept a firm gaze on the weapon's blade.

[Witchy]

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XXXXXX The display of aggression only prompted Octavian to give a foul sneer, even as the creature lowered its head and brought itself face-to-face with the human. Brilliant wisps of blue and pink danced across its brownish hide and long neck, basking the front of the mercenary's body in light. Up this close and aided by the light, Octavian was able to make out the detailed features of the creature's face — which, when he laid eyes upon it and saw that it was more fish-like than he'd initially thought, caused him to utter a small noise of surprise. But Octavian still refused to let his facade falter and straightened out his stance, but his grip on Behemoth tightened ever so slightly. He'd unconsciously raised an eyebrow in puzzlement when he saw the long, dripping tendrils lining the bottom of the water dweller's chin, but a sharp hiss drew his attention back to the center of its face. Two more pale green eyes popped open without waring, startling Octavian yet again. He reeled, curled his lip, but continued to hold onto Behemoth threateningly even more.
XXXXX "Alright," Octavian started. "You see this?" he added  lowly, adjusting his grip on the sword as he strode a little bit closer to the beast. His movements may have been bold but he was still cautious, still keeping an eye on the sea monster while he took a stance. "Since I can't get past you, I'll just have to go through you." Without another moment of hesitation, Octavian gave a mighty shout and swung the sword at the creature's lowered head.

[Salamander]

The dragon held their ground as the human approached. They weren’t sure what to expect, having never gone hand-to-hand—or rather, teeth-to-hand— with any land dweller before. The sudden change in temperament was surprising, but more so was the indescribable sting of razor sharp metal piercing their skin. Unable to dodge, the blade made easy contact with Muto’s face, slashing over two of their eyes. Dark blood gushed from the open wound, spattering on the walls and floor. They screeched and recoiled, thrashing about violently. Much of the floor and ceiling began to crumble around them as they writhed in pain. Ignoring the jagged wood scraping into their skin, Muto wrenched themselves out of the hole in the floorboards, back down into the lower hull. Several large splinters of the deck became deeply lodged in their neck as they did so, injuring them further. They crashed down on their back and gasped as the illuminated water around them turned steadily red. Their upper right eye and lower left eye were blinded and swollen shut, at least temporarily; they had no idea how long it would take to heal. Muto struggled to bring themselves upright, their depth perception suddenly hindered. “Enough is Enough.”, they thought bitterly, glaring up at the murky silhouette of the arrogant human. After the way they'd just been humiliated, there was no way they'd let the thing get away that easily. Gritting their teeth, they launched themselves back up towards the surface. With an enraged roar, they breached and lunged out, teeth bared and electricity crackling.