The darkness of night covered this endless sea, and small lights provided the only relief. The ship was drifting on the sea and it was very loud outside the door of Ken's room.
When he opened the door, he saw many men running in different directions to complete their duties. He was already wearing new clothes and had taken a fresh bath.
Ken combed his hair and came out of the room as he was bored with laying down on the bed.
He walked out of his room toward the bow of the ship and started looking toward the sea and its vastness. It was black as ink. In the sky, there were light grey clouds and a chilly wind brought a feeling of exhilaration.
Yellow bulbs lit the ship. They were decorative and hung on between the masts of the ship. Also, there were tables and chairs arranged for the captain and guests, covered by white clothes.
The environment of the ship was very beautiful and charming. The party was going to start within half an hour.
All the members on the ship were very excited. Ken saw their excitement and teamwork. Within a few hours, they had changed the scenario of the ship and it looked like a party place.
With numberless lights and food they were serving, it seemed like a seaside hotel. Then suddenly he saw Diana coming from the bowels of the ship.
"Hello" Diana greeted him with a smile.
Ken behaved like he didn't listen to her. He knew she had a good impression of him, but did not want to complicate things too much because he did not know if it was good for them or not.
She tried again to take his attention" Hey, you are looking good," Diana complimented him while standing near him, as this was the best way to start a conversation she assumed.
"Everyone is busy preparing for the party. It seems like they expect to enjoy this event a lot". Ken lightly replied, while keeping the same face.
"Come with me, I would like to show you something". Diana took his hand and guided him to the hold.
Ken thought her hands were soft to touch. He may enjoy the feel of her hands besides getting to spend time with her, if it was some other time. It feels so good to have her. But he was not there to think about such things.
He had a long way to go, and that's why he doesn't want to be involved in such types of feelings at all.
After going down for about 11 steps, Ken saw that she had taken him to the galley. There were many people busy cooking. They were cooking for the feast, which was a highlight of tonight's party.
Some of them were grilling fish, some of them cleaning crabs, nearly 3 women cutting the vegetables and fruit.
There was a big pan in which a huge amount of trout was marinating in a mixture of wine, vinegar, and spices for flavor.
The galley was very warm because of the cooking, and Ken immediately began to sweat.
"Taste this, Ken," Diana said while forcefully pushing a spoon full of fish in his mouth.
"Amm. It's delicious." Ken complimented the food while savoring the meat. He had never tasted food like this before. The meat was very delicious and soft and started melting on the tongue like butter melts on a hot pan.
"This is a special recipe made only by our people just for such occasions. When we start a journey, we always have a party like this. It's like an offering to the sea god. We believe our journey will be safe if we do this." Diana informed while showing him different spices of red, yellow, and green colors.
Ken was looking at her. She was busy telling him about the recipe. He was looking at her beautiful face and attractive eyes. Her hair color was pleasing to the eyes, too.
'No focus Ken, you don't have leisure to be involved in these kinds of things.' Ken came back to reality and tried to change the subject.
"It's boiling here." Ken says, while stretching his collar. He did not know what to say, so he blurred out the first thing that came into his mind. He knew she was attracted to him, maybe because he differed from all those people she usually stayed with.
Still gripping his hand, Diana nodded and replied. "Yeah, you are right to let's go outside to the fresh air"
Then she stepped up on the stairs and said "Let's go now".
He was not giving her a valuable response, but she was continuously trying to come close to him, as he was looking attractive and young. But he didn't want to hurt her, as she helped him when he needed it.
When they came to the poop deck, they saw it was a charming and inspired scene. The ship was glowing from the lights and seemed like a big whale dancing in the sea.
In the corner, four men were playing music with different instruments. They were playing old traditional music with the help of different musical orchestras.
Suddenly an announcement sounded on the deck, and it attracted everyone's attention.
" The captain of the ship, and the Queen of captain hearts are coming along with their brave boy. Put your hands together to give them a warm welcome".
They came and people started cheering. The captain, with his beautiful wife and son, sat at a big table. Everyone started clapping loudly. The delicious smell of cooked food and the sound of their cheering disturbed the animals that lived in the deep sea.
The son of the captain, Steve, was an innocent boy with brown eyes and silver-colored hair. He always gave a sweet smile to everyone.
His facial features were likely to be his father, and his skin was a beige color. He wore a white shirt with a black belt and black pants.
The Queen of John's heart was an adorable lady with a delicate slim figure, grey-colored eyes, and an off-white complexion.
She was exquisite, like a real queen. She wore a long red maxi dress that enhanced her features. Her hair was blonde.
Everyone was busy celebrating, eating, and drinking wine. They were unaware of the coming danger.
Ken, Diana, Oliver, John, and his wife Marina were enjoying food at the same table. A man poured precious chardonnay wine into their glasses.
Ken tried his best to drink as little as possible because he wanted to be sober to face any kind of danger.
Even while enjoying it, Ken was alert and was ready for any kind of possibility. That's when he suddenly felt a slight jerk to the ship.
"Something hit the boat," Ken beckoned to Diana.
"Come on, Ken, there is nothing like this. It's just in your head. Stop overthinking and enjoy the party." Diana shouted in his ear, as there was a lot of noise around there.
Ken was on alert, but he felt nothing again. He started checking by his side, but there was nothing. Dancing started, and everyone started dancing with their partners. Oliver had no female partner, so he joined Steve for dance. John and his wife started to dance along with other people.
Diana asked Ken, " Would you like to join me for a dance?"
Ken wanted to join her, but his sixth sense told him that something was wrong. The ocean's waves were abnormal, but no one noticed them because they were busy dancing.
After looking around for a while and finding nothing, he accepted her invitation. "Yess, sure." Ken replied hesitantly.
He placed his left hand on her waist and right hand in her hand and both started dancing together. He pulled her waist toward him, his chest touching her. She could feel his body temperature. Both started looking into each other's eyes. They were enjoying this moment a lot.
Suddenly a big shark arose from one side of the ship and bit the man who was standing on the edge of the ship with half of his body leaning towards the sea. In a matter of seconds, that man disappeared with a loud cry of "help".
The music stopped, everyone stopped dancing. There was a pin drop silence for a moment. Ken tried to chase the shark, but it vanished into the dark water. The cheerful mood shattered, and they started shouting. Their faces turned pale and terrified, then anger rose on their faces.
Ken immediately looked back and shouted.
"Get back. Back away from the sides. Stand in the center. Women and children go inside the cabin. Men get ready to fight. These sharks are not normal. I have never seen sharks that jump so high."
After saying this, Ken immediately ran towards his cabin to get his crossbow while eyeing these sharks. He felt that something was not right, as they were way larger and agile than normal sharks.
Moments after the first incident, a shark suddenly jumped high and lunged towards Steve who was standing on the side and could not comprehend what just happened.
Oliver, who was standing nearby, saw that and took out his knife and tried to stop it. But how could a knife stop a huge shark?
Oliver watched in despair as the shark opened its gigantic mouth and was about to bite both of them.
Then suddenly an arrow sizzled past his ear and made its way inside the shark's mouth.
The shark died and fell still on the ship. Steve hid behind Ken. "I will hide him first"
Ken shouted and hid Steve in his room and then ran toward the captain's cabin along with Oliver.
Ken and Oliver ran toward the deck. When they reached the captain's room, John gave a slight nod of gratitude to Ken and then looked towards the sea.
"These sharks are not usually found in these parts of the sea. They usually live way south. They hunt in groups and usually 5 to 6 form one group. I don't know how many are in this one but we have to kill some to deter others. We usually kill 2 to 3 of them and others run away." The captain told them to work on a plan together.
"Ok then we have to cover the ship from all sides and also we have to catch them in the sea and kill them there." Ken said while setting a strategy with them.
Ken, Oliver, and John were making a plan to deal with this situation. Diana came from the inner room whose door opened in that room where all of them were discussing.
"I want to help you." Diana said while showing an interest in killing those predators.
"No, you don't," Ken told her aggressively.
"But why?". Diana asked.
"Because you are a girl and we can't endanger your life." Ken told her because he was worried about her and he didn't want to endanger a beautiful and young girl's life.
"Don't underestimate me. I am not asking. I want to help too. I grew up on this ship and it's my home. Those sharks ate my family member and I don't want to just sit by and watch them eat more of my friends. If you will not allow me to help you, then I will do it myself. So no matter what you say, I am not changing my mind." Diana tried to insist on him.
Ken didn't know what to say to this. After thinking for a bit, he let out a sigh and then nodded.
John looked at them and continued to explain the plan.
"Okay then, here is the plan… Diana, since you want to help, then we are going to use you as a bait. Attract them toward you. We will put you in the cage, don't worry, it's sturdy enough. You have attracted their attention and they get close to you, we will cut them to pieces."
John finalized the plan and everyone had to follow and they came out of the room. Even though Ken had agreed to let Diana help but John using her as bait made him a little disturbed.
Even if he was not satisfied with it, he did not say anything as the captain's words matter most on the ship.
John had a big sword in his hand and stood at the starboard while Ken with his crossbow positioned himself on the mainmast, with an unrestricted view of any shark. Oliver had a javelin in his right hand and hid under a boom.
Diana jumped and splashed water inside the cage. She shouted and called them. After five minutes, a shark came and jumped high from the water. Oliver aimed at it and the javelin crossed its neck from both sides.
Ken looked at these people with surprise. He had to say that they had some strength packed in their muscles.
It was supposed to be dead, but still had some strength left in it.
Because of the inertia, it fell towards the cage. Diana had a scabbard in her hand for safety, so she pointed it up from inside the cage and the shark fell right on top of it.
This covered Diana in the shark's blood.
"That's a good one," Ken shouted.
"Shut up. I am feeling so dirty. " Diana cried.
'She was not afraid of being eaten, but covered in blood. Man, girls are scary.' These thoughts ran inside Ken's mind as he watched Diana trying to remove the blood from her face.
Two sharks continuously struck the ship from one side. Their sharp teeth were damaging the ship a lot.
Ken fired two times at one shark, hitting it once on the head and another in the stomach and killing it. It drowned down in the sea. He had to say that the power of this crossbow was amazing. It was obviously modified. Again, he thanked Stephen in his heart for giving him such a valuable gift.
One shark hit the ship so hard that John fell overboard. The shark tried to eat him but with his sword; he showed his strength and wrestled with it for a few seconds, then finally pierced its stomach with the sword.
From his fighting style, it was obvious. John was not dealing with such a situation for the first time.
Ken hauled John back on the ship with the help of a rope. They hung two sharks on the bowsprit to scare other sharks. With this teamwork and enthusiasm, they finally scared them and protected the ship.
After dealing with all this, Ken looked closely at the two sharks they hung and noticed that they were much bigger and had razor-sharp teeth. Unlike the traditional ones, these had more strength and agility.
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