Rise of the Shark((Void)

"This should be entertaining" Darcey said with a chuckle as she looked down at Brian. Her eyes scanned each and every muscle of his exposed torso. She found his lack of tattoos amazing.

Bryan kept his gaze on the water just as the dorsal fin of the shark appeared to the side and its nose rammed into the boat's side, causing it to rock where it sat. Bryan immediately grabbed a harpoon and flipped it in his hand a few times, his muscles tense and ready to act. At this moment, his hair was tied into a loose ponytail at the base of his neck to ensure that he would be able to see.

Suddenly, the shark came full head toward the little boat and the men onboard the Demon Shark shouted half in excitement and half in terror. Bryan's arm thrust forward and the harpoon landed in the shark's hide. The shark switched directions when the harpoon dug into its skin. Quickly, as though he'd hunted in the water before, Bryan tossed another harpoon into the shark and watched as the water began to turn red with blood. "It's weakening, boys!" He couldn't help but shout as the man behind him tied another rope around a harpoon just in case the current one snapped, which it did rather quickly and the shark disappeared beneath the waves, the boat rocking slowly to a standstill once again.

"He's quite the hunter. No better prey than the white death to prove a man's worth" Darcey said to herself with a chuckle. She was quite impressed with how Brian was handling the shark. It looked big enough to feed the crew. Maybe after the hunt had ended, she would head down to the galley to help Malcom prepare the meal.

(Sorry for the late and short reply. I went out to dinner with friends, and ended up having to entertain their daughter)

(lol It's okay ^_^)

The pattern repeated itself many times. Bryan throwing harpoons into the shark, ropes snapping and the shark disappearing beneath the waves. The Captain could sense the shark weakening and looked back at the man who had come with him. "Prepare one more roped harpoon," he said, returning his attention to the water. "The shark will die after a few more hits."
"Aye, Captain." Behind him, Bryan could hear the man doing as he was told just as the shark surfaces again, heading headlong at the little hunting boat.
"Need that harpoon now!" Bryan stated, open hand ready to receive the last roped harpoon.

A split second before the shark could ram against the boat, the harpoon was placed in his hand and Bryan hurled it toward the shark. It caught him near the base of the dorsal fin and immediately the shark turned around. Bryan finished it off with a well-aimed harpoon to the shark's body. Slowly, the boat began to slow as the shark's last struggle was cut off. The second Spencer had seen the shark stop moving was the instant he yelled for the anchor to be hoisted and moved the Demon Shark close to the captain and his prize.

Bryan was thankful for the crew as they helped him and their other member back onboard while the others pulled the shark aboard. "That's a biggin!" Shouted one man quite happily while Bryan had closed his eyes for a brief time before he looked up at Darcey.
"Good catch for today, boys." He called as the men unfastened the ropes from the shark's carcass. "The sea's been gracious. Haven't had the chance to hunt the White Death for a while. We should give the sea thanks before we portion out the meat."

The crew fell silent, the only sounds being that of the waves and seagulls. After a while, Bryan stirred and nodded over to Spencer. "Get the meat portioned out," he said, smoothing his hands over his hair. "Half of the shark's meat goes for trading, the other half will feed the men."
"Aye, Captain." Spencer said and shouted orders to the men to clean the catch and then split the meat into two, half for trade, half for food. What they couldn't use went for chum.

Darcey watched from the crow's nest in fascination. The great white shark being taken down by a man in a boat who was throwing simple harpoons at the beast. She couldn't believe her eyes when the shark was hauled onto the ship. It was a monster of a shark.
"You're quite the hunter, Waverly. To take down the white death so quickly and efficiently, it's amazing. Would you like me to help Malcom prepare the meat?"

Bryan gave a nod at Darcey from where he stood. "He'll be waiting in the galley for you," he said, waving his hand below deck while the men began to haul the half that they would be able to eat down below while the others began to store what was for trade. They worked like they'd done this all their lives and like they'd grown up alongside one another, but naturally that wasn't true.

Darcey nodded to Brian before racing to the galley to help Malcom prepare the shark. Darcey stopped dead in her tracks when she remembered one little fact: Darcey was a horrible cook. Well, now was a chance for her to learn.
"Malcom, do you mind teaching me how to cook?"

"Not at all, Lass!" Came the gleeful cry of the ship's cook. Malcolm(Damn. was spelling it wrong all along XD) was a rather big guy, standing at about half the height that Bryan stood and with much more broad shoulders. Unlike the ship's captain, the cook had hair cropped so close to his scalp that it appeared that he didn't have any. Malcolm tossed what appeared to be an apron toward the young woman with a chuckle before he broke out a couple of cleavers and placed one on the table in front of her while the other he expertly stuck into a thick slab of shark meat.

"For your first lesson, we'll cut up the meat to make a stew. The boys love shark stew, they do!" For being the ship's cook, stuck in the galley all day, Malcolm certainly was gleeful. Probably had something to do with the fact that the men sang shanties often. Their tune could be heard above at that moment. It wasn't as catchy as the last one they'd sung before Bryan began to hunt the White Death, but it definitely seemed to make things more interesting in the galley.

Darcey began to cut, and trim the meet. Separating bone from meat, and flesh from meat. Cutting things up was one of the only things Darcey was a master at. Her trouble with cooking came from her inability to combine flavours. Most of the time, she just roasted her meat over a fire.
"My mum tried to teach me how to bake a loaf of bread, once. The kitchen went up in flames."

Malcolm gave a hearty laugh as he tossed the flesh of the shark into what he called the chum bucket before slamming the cleaver down into the table and scraping together the bits of meat that had been nicely cut. "I'm sure the Captain will take it out of your hide if you blew a hole in his Demon Shark," he said with a playful tone, popping in some wood into the stove before setting it alight. Once he'd shaken the fire off the match, he closed the lid and plopped the chopped meat into the pot on the stovetop before he turned back to the table and the stacked shark meat that was yet to be cleaned and properly stowed away.

He wiped his hands on the apron he wore and nodded to the rest of the shark. "What we've diced should be enough to feed the boys for tonight. Go on and clean the rest of the meat and then store it away for later. Can't have our meat stores dwindle, now can we?" He laughed again when the boys up top began to sing their Captain's favorite shanty. "Loves that song, he does."

"Blow a hole in his ship on my first day? No thank you" Darcey said with a laugh before she returned to the shark meat. A fire on a ship wouldn't be ideal, even if you were surrounded by water on all sides.

Malcolm shook his head at Darcey before he turned to the boiling water. He stirred the meat around about for a moment before letting it finish its cooking while he picked up garlic, basil and a variety of peppers and salts and strewed them out onto the table. From there, he proceeded to use the cleaver again and sliced up the garlic into mince and did the same with the basil. Slowly, the water in the pot began to transform from water to a thick, stew like substance with the help of Malcolm. "Feel free to watch once the meat's been stored," he offered, sliding the garlic into the pot and giving it a good stir.

Darcey carefully stored the meat, and set aside a small portion of the meat. She looked around the galley, and eventually found a barrel of salt. She carefully buried quite a few pieces of shark meat in the salt, and closed the barrel.
"On my ship, we always made some junk from our hunts for when times got tough. Saved our hides once or twice" Darcey explained before she moved to the stove to watch Malcolm work.

Malcolm didn't comment and instead offered the young woman a grin before he added a bit of flour to help thicken the stew just a bit before he added a pinch of salt and the basil that he'd prepared. It didn't take long for the stew's smell to waft into the air and it smelt wonderful. "Ah, it'll be done in a minute or two," Malcolm said at last, wiping his hands again on his apron. "While that's a-cooking, time to give you a crash course in flavor. Salt always brings out the best in every meal, but don't over do it or it'll be just like drinking salt water. Garlic is a favorite of mine and the men enjoy it in the stews I cook. Add enough that it gives it a bit more flavor than the salt, but not too much or it'll overpower the meat and broth." He continued to explain about flavor and what tasted best with what just as the stew got done and he gave a nod to the pot. "Time to serve it to the men." Malcolm said as he got out several bowls from a cupboard and strewed some of them across the table.

Darcey paid careful attention to what Malcolm had said. It was all so very interesting to her. She never really had any interest in the culinary arts, but watching Malcolm work seemed to spark something inside her. When he started to dish up, her mouth was practically watering. The smell had affected her like blood would a shark.
"How may I help you now?"

"Go call the men," Malcolm answered and gave a hearty laugh as he sloshed the stew into the bowls already on the table. "They know the drill. First one to the bowls gets the first taste. Just makes sure you don't get run over."

Darcey nodded before she raced off to call the crew. She came flying out from below deck, her coat flapping around in her wake.
"FOOD'S READY" Darcey shouted as loudly as she could. She quickly leapt out of the way to avoid the inevitable stampede of hungry crewmembers on the way to the galley.

Bryan landed beside Darcey with a laugh as he watched the men rush down below. "Always the same," he laughed with a shake of his head while his hands went instantly to his hips as the last crewmember dashed below deck. "But it never gets old, watching them race down below to get one of the first bowls of Malcolm's stew. The man is pretty much a legend when it comes to the kitchen. Makes me glad I brought him aboard."

Darcey stood up, and dusted herself off. She hadn't expected the men to be so excited for the food.
"Jaysus, you'd think they've never seen food before" Darcey said with a laugh. "He's actually a really good teacher. Taught me all about flavours. I hope you don't mind, but I made some junk from some of the shark meat. You know, for if times get tough."

Bryan waved a dismissive hand as though he really didn't care. "Bah," he stated with a grin. "The only time when it is tough is when the sea turns violent." He gave a small wince and pressed a couple of fingers to his right shoulder and gave it a rub. He seemed to be in pain but only slightly. "Speaking of storms, we might be in for one later."

"I'll do my part during the storm. But I do have one question for you, Waverly. Where am I to sleep?" Darcey would never admit it, but she was actually scared. If she stayed in the crew's quarters, she'd be surrounded by men. She didn't know the men, so she didn't trust them.

Bryan thought for a moment before he gave a soft chuckle. "I'm sure Spencer will get you settled." He said with a grin in her direction. "If it comes down to it, you can always have the couch in my quarters."

"Thank you, Waverly. It's just until I can find my ship again" Darcey said with a sigh. She knew how she was going to get her ship back, and she knew it was going to be difficult. She'd even have to recruit more men for her crew.

Bryan gave a small chuckle and patted the woman on the back with a hand before he jerked his head toward the galley. "Come on, then. Let's go down and see if the boys left any for us." He teased with a grin before he disappeared below deck.

"You first, captain" Darcey said respectfully with a slight bow. She had respect for the man. He had saved her life, and offered her a place on his ship.