Love Beyond Tides

Into the Storm's Embrace

There exists a universal verity. The briny deep resembles the dual countenance of a coin, possessing the allure of beauty and the menace of peril. At times, it manifests both. Thus, it is perpetually unwise to underestimate the dominion of the sea. Diana never had. She held a reverence for its might and loveliness, having borne witness to them firsthand on numerous occasions.

Yet, little did she contemplate that she would one day encounter its wrath.

This ship was her home. It was all Diana knew. As the vessel tilted at a precarious angle, the ship, a treacherous dance partner, seemed determined to cast her into the abyss. Her hands grasped at the slippery, rain-slicked wood, but each attempt to anchor herself proved futile. A sudden, violent lurch of the ship sent her sprawling across the deck, the taste of salt and desperation on her lips.

"Diana," her body was yanked upright before she had a moment to process it.

"I be alright," she was quick to brush off Jax’s concern. But she wasn’t alright. Rain, driven by furious winds, stung like a relentless barrage of needles against her exposed skin. "Keep it moving."

The intermittent lightning illuminated Jax’s knitted brows. "Aye," he conceded but the pirate kept a firm hold on her upper arm.

Together, they moved quietly despite the chaos aboard. Diana double-checked that they hadn’t been noticed. The captain's shouted commands grew distant, drowned out by the deafening roar of the wind and crashing waves. Nodding satisfied, she squeezed her frame around the cabin and brought her father’s prisoner to the ship’s stern.

"The tiny escape skiffs be at hand," Diana pointed to the jolly boats. There was a gut-wrenching crash. Diana’s back hit the cabin wall with a thud, not falling to the slippery deck, only thanks to Jax.

"I be grateful for yer aid, lass, but-"

She held up a hand to silence the rugged man. Diana crouched, in a practised movement, she revealed a secret room. "Lurk in this refuge, 'til the tempest blows over," she competed with the roar of the winds. Diana bit her lip then gave him the room’s cover, "until the storm pass or 'til it sends us to Davy Jones' locker." Suddenly shouts from the crew arose. "Go!" she urged Jax.

Captain Drake regarded Diana with a countenance marked by concern and resoluteness, sensing a pang of melancholy at the prospect of parting ways. "Join me, lass." The pirate did his best to sound charming, but having gone many days thirsty and now in the middle of a storm, anyone would forgive the roughness. " There be no wisdom in lingerin' here."

Their eyes locked. Diana’s chestnut hair was now drenched and clinging to her like a second skin. Her clothes were now heavy, weighing down her round figure. The flickering lanterns aboard cast a dim glow, revealing the shadows that danced across their faces. Another flicker of lightning, the deafening clash of thunder that followed took her words with it. The storm intensified its furious dance, and the ship, already battered and listing, entered a realm of heightened chaos. Her hand touched the pirate's, a fleeting connection amid the maelstrom.

Jax could only watch as Diana’s figure vanished into obscurity. Troubled by the melancholic smile, incongruous upon such youthful countenance.

Diana pressed her lips together as she trudged forward. She acted as if her limbs weren’t shaking from the sting of the cold penetrating her bones. Diana took hold of the rain-battered railing. Each desperate grasp met with resistance as if the ship itself resisted her attempts to live.

Suddenly she froze in her place. There was a familiar, yet ominous feeling bubbling in her gut. The air crackled with an eerie anticipation. Diana found herself crouching, making her already short frame, much smaller. Her eyes flitted around the darkness, clutching for dear life as the waves battered the creaking ship. Without warning, a blinding bolt of lightning streaked across the ink-black.

It illuminated everything.

Her vision went white and her ears rang from the explosion. Then an acrid scent of burning wood permeated the air.

"Fire!" the voice of the helmsman cut through the ringing. Although it was dampened by the echoes of thunder.

The reverb like cruel laughter.

The foreboding in her gut dissipated, and Diana raised her eyes. The mast, once reaching defiantly toward the heavens, was now a conduit for the heavens' wrath. The crackling energy danced across the rigging. Its brilliant display of destruction contrasts with the storm's chaotic backdrop. If she had prayed for any form of warmth, she would quickly be regretting her choice of words. Despite everything, she felt a bit of relief. If she hadn’t freed Jax, he too would be a blazing display on the open sea.

Would anyone, let alone a proud pirate, want such an end?

Diana, keeping her grip on the railing, quickly stood but froze in her tracks. As did many others. The blaze revealed an enemy, sending shockwaves of terror through the beleaguered crew, but it was revealed too late.

"Oh bloody hell," left her lips.

The impact reverberated through the vessel, sending shockwaves from bow to stern. The world tilted into chaos as the ship succumbed to the dual assault from above and below. The ship, now a tortured creature of the sea, groaned. Every agonised creak as the jagged rock torn at the ship reverberated through her very core. Diana felt sick. The storm, undeterred by the ship's demise, raged on. The air was punctuated with the sharp snap of rigging breaking loose. Her head snapped to the sound but she wished she hadn’t looked. Yes, maybe she would’ve preferred to remain blissfully unaware of the monstrous wave about to crash into the ship.

And unluckily for Diana, she was the first to be violently torn from the deck.

Her scream was silenced as she plummeted into the unforgiving embrace of the sea. The water closed over her, swallowing her whole. Fear gripped her like the icy waters. She flailed, struggling to keep afloat in the inky blackness. Diana had no idea how to manoeuvre her limbs, her body tossed like a discarded plaything in the clutches of a malevolent force. The moment she rose for that air, she was battered by another wave. Even submerged she could hear the dissent sounds of the catastrophe above.

She resurfaced again. In the vast darkness, something brushed her arm. She yelped, trying to get away until she registered the touch. It was wood. She quickly clung to it. A jolly boat? Diana grinned and thanked the heavens as she climbed into the small structure. She clung to it tightly, knowing it would break at any moment in these conditions. Diana looked out, but the waters were too dark. All she could see was the ship. A dying ember on the surface, being dragged down by twisting currents.

This is not the farewell she had in mind for her life-long companion. Diana wished she had known that nothing was forever.

There was a whistle on the ocean… no it's a note. Yes, it sounds like the note before the storm began to rage. But she was too tired to give it any thought. The jolly boat, now half its former glory, continued to get dragged to and fro. Diana clung even tighter. She didn’t have to look to know her knuckles were white. Yes, she bet she’s lost all colour after tonight’s fright.

The unforgiving currents led her to an unexpected refuge amidst the chaos, the remnants of the jolly boat wedged precariously between jagged rocks. She let out a soft gasp, her muscles protesting the uncomfortable stretch as the relentless currents tugged at her, attempting to wrench her away from this precarious sanctuary. Cut and scratched, Diana knew her legs bore the marks of barnacle and rock abrasions. The relentless tugs of the ocean sought to pull her away, but her white-knuckled grip refused to yield. her legs bearing the marks of barnacle and rock abrasions. The relentless tugs of the ocean sought to pull her away, but her white-knuckled grip refused to yield. Her head, heavy with exhaustion, struggled to remain above the waterline. The once-unyielding grip now faltered as fatigue set in. She fought to keep herself conscious, to resist the tempting pull of surrender.

She was so tired.

"Oh?" a voice chimed. It was low, but it reminded her of the gentle lull of ocean waves, calm and reassuring. So much so it was as if the actual storm had calmed.

Diana raised her head, her bleary eyes squinting as hard as she could. She could sense some amusement. "Help me," she croaked. The taste of saltwater on her was now a bitter reminder of her vulnerable state. Her fingers flexed, wanting to physically reach out to him.

"To extend a hand to a being such as myself. You are either exceedingly courageous or remarkably imprudent, my dear," the voice mused. "Pray, mortal, what is it that you desire? Divulge your desires swiftly, for time favours you not on this eve."

"I yearn," she choked out. Her lips trembled, fighting back her tears, "to keep me own heart a-beatin'." A soft hum followed as if it pitied Diana’s situation. Her breath hitched then she burst into laughter, bitter and ironic. Then she sniffled. It was a cruel jest to meet a watery grave when the sea was all she knew.

"I believe we may be able to strike a bargain," the voice chirped after her moment.

Her limbs felt heavy and Diana’s grip on the driftwood slacked. "Bargain?" Her bleary eyes rolled back up to him.

"Yes, a bargain," the voice continued, "Yet in exchange, I seek a favor from you."

But I’ve lost everything.

Her eyes drooped, hopeless. "I be weary," Diana murmured to no one.

Once again, she succumbed to the embrace of the deep. The sounds of the storm, once a deafening symphony, became distant echoes as she descended deeper into the abyss. The chilling waters, unyielding and relentless, infiltrated every part of her existence. Amidst the silent depths, the only resonance was the rhythmic thud of her heartbeat.

The fatigue that clung to her like a heavy shroud made the descent into the abyss seem like a surrender, a quiet acceptance of the tranquil darkness waiting beneath the surface.