With my pants on, I tightly held Lazuli's hand, ensuring we wouldn't get separated, and dashed out of the, using [Heroes Gaze] to search for Talis, Vanye, and Vanimo amidst the ship. However, that attack from seemingly nowhere was merely the start; quickly afterward, the waters we were sailing through turned violent and turbulent to the point where, rather than sailing, we were surfing across the ocean. The weather above swiftly began to pour down, reaching a level of intensity akin to when I first encountered Lazuli.
'Tsk, freaking great, an Icicle Storm. I thought Soom said they only occur in the Asu Sea? We're in the Chailer Sea.' Thought Alexander with an irritated and slightly confused expression as he raised his head, which was being pelted by sharp icicles.
Thankfully, my strength was high enough to where these icicles didn't harm me, but that's not what I was worried about; the powerful wind that followed the storm proved very dangerous when coupled with the turbulent waters; it was only a matter of time before we capsize into monster-infested waters.
"Do you see them, Alex?" Asked Lazuli loudly, her voice barely reaching Aelxander's ears amidst the raging wind and violent waters, only for him to shake his head.
"I see Vanye, but Vanimo and Talis are nowhere to be seen!" Replied Alexander with a frown as he quickly led Lazuli towards where Vanye was while looking up at the clouds, searching the sky for Talis and Vanimo.
"Tsk, she can take care of herself." Said Lazuli with a scoff as she stopped moving, attempting to walk the other way, only for Alexander to yank her onto his back with his superior strength.
"Please, not right now, Lazuli! At least wait until we're safe!" Stated Alexander pleadingly as he glanced at Lazuli while staying low to the ground, practically crawling across the deck.
I got no response from Lazuli, but I just took it as her agreeing; unfortunately, I still didn't manage to spot Vanimo or Talis, but seeing as she enjoyed taking him for flights, I just hoped they were doing that. Vanye was near her room, so while it normally wouldn't have taken long to reach her, parts of the ship were destroyed, and it was constantly shaking from the violent ocean, making it difficult to walk across steadily.
'Shit, now that I think about it too, this ship didn't have any lifeboats. Fuck. What ship doesn't have lifeboats!?' Thought Alexander with an ugly expression as he grabbed the side of the wall just as the ship nearly capsized, causing him and Lazuli to hang from the side.
I refused to believe that a ship didn't have any lifeboats. There had to be at least one lifeboat somewhere on this ship; the only problem would be getting to it before anyone else did.
After a few more minutes of constantly fearing the ship was about to capsize, I pulled myself up from the wall and finally laid eyes on Vanye, who was doing the same as me, crawling amidst the ground. However, as if to spit in my face, the same monster from before once again leaped out of the water, opening its massive jaw as it tore through the ship right in the path of Vanye.
"VANYE! JUMP!" Yelled Alexander loudly as he aggressively waved his hand while his voice briefly overpowered the storm and ocean, quickly reaching Vanye's ear.
I don't know whether it was because of my warning or if she sensed the danger, but she didn't hesitate to leap towards Lazuli and I; at perfect timing as well, since not even a split-second later, the monster's massive jaws tore through right where she had previously been.
With Vanye flying through the air right for us, I outstretched my hand, trying to catch her, yet she was just slightly out of reach, causing me to click my tongue.
"I got her." Said Lazuli indifferently as she glanced at Vanye while holding her hand before yanking her towards them, prompting her to land right beside Alexander.
"Where is Vanimo?" Asked Vanye in concern as she glanced between Alexander and Lazuli, her heart dropping at the shake of their heads.
"Talis is also missing as well; she probably took him for a flight; you know she loves doing that; if he's with her, he's safe. C'mon, now let's focus on getting out of here alive; Vanimo also wants to see you again." Remarked Alexander lightly as he gently slapped Vanye's cheek, setting her straight and getting her to focus while she nodded in response, only for her to bump into him.
Feeling the ship tilt more than ever before, I glanced at the ocean below us, which was quickly getting closer.
"T-To the hull!" Yelled Alexander as he wasted no time and began leaping from piece to piece, climbing through the broken and destroyed ship, slowly making it to the hull while Vanye followed his movements.
Quickly reaching the top or bottom of the hull, I squatted down and grabbed Vanye's hand before yanking her towards me as she landed right beside Lazuli and I.
"What do we do now?" "Tsk, I don't know. So much for my hope to find a lifeboat." Remarked Vanye and Alexander, respectively, as the latter clicked his tongue while the former glanced at the sinking ship.
"Why did the monster even attack us in the first place? Didn't Zartha say ships are coated in something called Oceans Mimicry to fool Monster and conceal our presence?" Muttered Alexander in confusion as he glanced at the bottom of the hull, only for his eyes to suddenly narrow while he quickly squatted down, rubbing his hand across the black-tinted hull.
"Did you figure something out, Alex?" Asked Lazuli as she glanced at Alexander, prompting Vanye to do the same, watching while he insects the hull.
Not bothering to respond, I ran to the side of the ship, stabbed Trina into the hull, and looked at the part of the ship that had yet to sink into the water, only to click my tongue in anger as I pulled myself back up.
"Tch, fucking cheap bastards!" Said Alexander in anger as he tightly clenched Trina, his words confusing Lazuli and Vanye.
"What's wrong?" Asked Vanye with narrowed eyes as she unsheathed her sword, preparing for the worst.
"Whatever fucking company this ship belongs to, they didn't coat the entire ship in Oceans' Mimicry, only the hull of the ship!" Remarked Alexander in anger as he summoned Zartha before tossing it to Vanye, while both she and Lazuli were equally angry.
"C'mon, we can get angry about this later, but I have an idea." Added Alexander lightly as he quickly calmed down and glanced at Vanye, who was curiously inspecting Zartha in her hand.
"Vanye, go to the opposite side and use Zartha, my sword, to cut the hull off the ship; we can use it as a makeshift raft. Lazuli, make sure it doesn't tip over upside down." Remarked Alexander as he pointed at Vanye before glancing at Lazuli, who nodded.
With Vanye and I walking to one end of the ship, we stabbed Zartha and Trian a few inches deep into the hull at an angle, and quickly, we began to run along the hull, cutting right through the wood with ease. Once we got a big enough piece to comfortably fit all three of us, Lazuli flipped it onto its bottom, allowing us to enter when ready.
"Will this survive the ocean?" Asked Vanye as she tossed Zartha back to Alexander, who nodded, causing her to skeptically eye him.
"It will have to. Either that, or we die, and I don't want to die." Remarked Alexander lightly as he glanced at Vanye, who sighed, only to notice several other survivors making it to the top of the hull.
It seems we weren't the only ones who survived the initial attack, though I couldn't help but wince. I would love to help them, I really would, but I wasn't in a position to. I wasn't even entirely confident about our survival; I couldn't do something stupid and risk our lives further.
'Fuck, I can't just do nothing either.' Thought Alexander in annoyance as he scratched his head before deeply sighing and tossing Zartha back to Vanye, who caught it with a raised eyebrow.
"Help me make a few more of those; we can give it to them." Remarked Alexander as he glanced at the survivors, his words causing Vanye to subtly frown before eventually nodding.
With Vanye's help, we made several more, much bigger, makeshift rafts out of the ship's hull, and by the time we finished, there were even more survivors piling to the top, with a few being adventurers, but none seemed to be a threat… Well, except for a small group of three that seemed hell-bent on getting their rocks off before dying.
"If I'm dying, I'm going to at least fuck a human!" Yelled an Elven man as he grabbed the arms of a random woman before forcing himself onto her, while his two other companions behaved similarly.
Before I could stop them, with swift, graceful movements, Vanye's sword decapitated each one of them, freeing the pinned women from their clutches.
"Hmph, you're too nice, Alex. Those men deserved death." Said Vanye sternly as she glanced at Alexander, who sighed, not bothering to argue with her.
"Something we can agree on." Remarked Lazuli lightly as she glanced at Vanye.