Catori had been right, and was there to watch the sun rise the next morning. A few hours later, she was helping the first mate unfurl the sails once more, preparing to catch the wind from the dark clouds on the horizon. She brushed her hair out of her face, looking out at the water from her perch on the mainstay.
Damian resurfaced as soon as the sun rose, the endless babble of the fish below awakening him as talks of danger ensued beneath the waves.
"You think it'll be a big one?" Catori called down to Eric, not quite wanting to climb back down yet. She was almost debating climbing up instead, heading towards the crow's nest.
"It's lookin' like it." He called back up, a seemingly permanent grin affixed to his face.
Damian didn’t bother to listen to the other voices on deck creeping up to the rails and peering over, listening to the clear voices of the fish below, describing nothing other than a hurricane.
Movement caught Catori's eye, and she swung to look at the source. "Morning, Damian!" She called, and after a moment of hesitation, quickly used the tangle of ropes to drop to the deck.
“Greetings, Catori.” Damian turned his head around just in time to see her drop down to the deck like an acrobat of sorts. An amused smile lit up his face. “Do be careful if you can manage such a task.”
"I'm fairly certain I can't." Catori said, shooting him a smile as she dug through a pouch, pulling out a small bag of something and handing it to Eric before making her way across the deck towards Damian.
Damian rolled his eyes and said nothing, focusing his gaze back down at the water.
"You get any sleep at all last night?" Catori asked, eyes on the nearing clouds. Some gut feeling told her something wasn't right, but she couldn't be too sure.
“A couple hours.” Damian hummed casually. “I take it you sense it too.” He looked over at Catori, following her gaze to the skyline. “You’re a very perceptive lady.”
"Constant perilous situations help you develop a sixth sense." Catori said with a shrug, tilting her head as she studied the clouds. "Something feels off to you, too?"
“There’s a hurricane coming.” Damian didn’t bother to sugarcoat his words. “It’ll be here by late afternoon.”
Catori nodded, shoulders slumping just a bit. "It's too quiet, I figured it had to be bad. There're no birds." She scanned the empty sky, before settling her gaze back on the clouds. "Do you think we can tough it out?"
“I should hope so, but the fish don’t think it’s promising.” He sighed. “But perhaps I’m simply pessimistic.”
"You likely are." She said simply, glancing down at the water. "But the fish know more than us. That's for sure."
Damian hummed in agreement, feeling surprisingly calm. “I’m packing my bag and strapping it on just in case. We have a little time still, but I suggest you do it by noon.”
"I've got everything I need on me, but I'll keep that in mind." Catori patted one of her pouches, lips twisting up to one side. "I wanted danger, I guess I found it."
“Hopefully we don’t get blown to far off course.” Damian leaned against the railing. “I don’t want to miss anything.”
A light rain began to fall as the clouds got closer, slowly but steadily. "I hope so too." She was fiddling with her pendant again. "Though I mostly just hope it doesn't get close to home."
“I hope it doesn’t get close to your home either.” Damian replied, withholding his own icy attitude towards his family. “I ought to go pack. Be careful, Miss.” He got to his feet as the rain started to fall, moving quickly towards the cabins.
The rain was steadily picking up the pace, and Catori was just starting to get worried. With Damian, a distraction and figure of calm, she wasn't quite focused on the little knot of anxiety in her gut. Grant my family reprieve from the storm. She pushed off the railing, slipping towards her cabin.
Books. Damian had a lot of books. He stowed away as many as he could, often rearranging and swapping them out based on importance. Another thing he realized was that he didn’t have much else in his possession. He had clothes and books. It was just a little depressing.
Catori didn't have much with her. She'd brought nothing but herself and a single bag on board with her, which was turning out to be a fairly helpful thing right. She surveyed her cabin, for anything she'd dropped, and the looked up at the wooden boards serving as her ceiling.
Damian sighed, quickly shutting his bags, lifting the sack of clothes over his shoulder after a decision that if something happened they would be far more helpful than schoolbooks. He made his way out into the deck of the ship, squinting as powerful winds berated his face.
The ship was rocking as Catori made her way back on deck, and it was a miracle she hadn't once lost her footing. She moved out of the way of a crew member, a boy who looked like he had most definitely lied about his age. They were attempting to change course, to dock in a harbor along the way to wait out the storm.
Damian crept up to the edge, grabbing ahold of the rail and watching the frothing ocean. A deep rooted fear of sinking into the oceans watery depths filled him, but as long as he could call for help, a creature of the water was likely to aid him.
The storm was already bad enough, and it was supposed to get worse? Catori looked up at the dark and angry sky as she walked, bumping into the rail on the side if the boat with an oof. She looked down at the water, suddenly incredibly worried about the creatures underneath the surface.
Damian held fast to the railing, his courage slipping away. Alarm built deep in his stomach, forcing him to cling for life. Going down into the cabins was a death sentence to a watery grave. He was certain of it now. Lightning struck the water nearby, illuminating Damian in his current state— small silhouette braced against a vast storm.
A small noise slipped from Catori as lightning struck, and she pressed a fist to her mouth to muffle it. She flicked her eyes up, looking for some sort of distraction from the memories threatening to surface, and the icy fear creeping down her neck, and caught sight of Damian. And he looked about as scared as she felt.
The waves crashed against the ship and Damian felt himself pitch and turn with it. The wooden rail he had a tight grip on grew slick with water, and when the ship pitched sideways again, he went sliding down spwith it, crashing down onto the wooden deck and screaming as his neatly cut fingernails found no purchase to keep him secured.