Rise of the Shark((Void)

By the time the entire crew had gotten something to eat, the sky had grown dark with clouds and the setting sun. Bryan's fingers again were pressed to his shoulder and his face twisted into a grimace. "Storm's coming, boys," he called to the crew. "Prepare her for the worst!"
"Is it a baddun, Captain?"
"Feels like. My shoulder hasn't hurt this bad since the previous storm a week ago."

Darcey was quite fascinated by Waverly's way of predicting the weather. It was certainly, unique. She remembered her promise to Brian, and quickly raced off with the men to prepare the ship for the storm.

Bryan's gaze had followed Darcey for a time before they lifted up to the sky, thunder rumbling off in the distance. "Darcey!" He called out. "Check the sails. Make certain they're tightly tied to the mast and check the jibs while you're there!" It definitely sounded like he was mostly concerned with the sails, like he knew full well that there wasn't anything to fret over except the sails and the mast.

Darcey nodded at Brian before she raced off to fasten the sails. She used every ounce of strength in her body, before finally using her own bodyweight to help her. Darcey struggled slightly against the wind before she finally succeeded in her job. Her hands were slightly injured from the ropes, but it didn't stop her from seeing to the jibs.

Not long after the crew had been preparing for the storm, it struck fiercely and without mercy. Rain flew down upon the Demon Shark from above and waves crashed on either side, sloshing salty water across the deck. Bryan had seized the helm from Spencer, who was now shouting orders to the men above the howling wind. As always, Bryan's long hair was plastered to his head and neck, water rolling down the back of his shirt, his eyes closed tight against the lashing rain and his muscles straining hard against the helm. "Darcey! Don't let those sails get loose!" He could hear Spencer shout over the wind. Now the Captain was glad that he had brought the young woman aboard. She definitely seemed like she knew what she was doing and looked like part of the crew in this mess.

"I'm trying my best here, Waverly" Darcey shouted in and attempt to make her voice heard over the noise. She grabbed a hold onto a few ropes, and pulled with all her might. Her hands were screaming in protest from the pain. She realised that her lack of strength would result in chaos."Come on Darcey! You've got nothing to lose!" Darcey grabbed onto every rope supporting the mainsail, wrapped them around herself, and leapt off of the sail. She hung there like a marionette, using her own bodyweight in a desperate attempt to keep the sails from unfurling.

"Boys! Get up there and help her!" Bryan shouted, straining against his own task while Spencer and a couple of others climbed up to Darcey's aid.
"Hold on, lass," Spencer stated, gripping the woman's hands in his while the other two grabbed hold of the rope and pulled it down. "Secure that sail!" Spencer shouted to the men. This was by far the worst storm Bryan had taken on. Realization struck as another wave washed onto the deck, tripping up Malcolm and a couple of other men.

Bryan had really only one choice and turned to Malcolm. "Drop the anchor!" The cook nodded firmly and raced for the anchor, pushing against the winch to send the iron splashing into the raging ocean. Once he was certain the ship was firmly rooted to the spot, Bryan released the wheel and watched as it spun rapidly before he sprang onto the deck to help his men.

Once Darcey had been freed from the ropes, she fell to the deck with a thud. She forced herself to her feet, and tried to help the men with the sails once again. Her whole body was aching, and she felt so weak, but she refused to rest until the men were safe.
"Never... Give... Up" Darcey growled as she finally managed to secure one of the sails. That was all the strength, and energy that she had in her. She climbed down from the sails, and held onto a rope for support, and to keep it stable.

Bryan reached up to a rope before it snapped from its rigging and grabbed onto it, the muscles in his arms bulging as he hoisted the rope down toward him, the rain dripping from the tips of his hair and down his face and back. His clothes were soaked through and he was quite certain there was water in his boots. After a while, Spencer's voice rang above the rest from where he was on the mast. "Captain! I think it's calming!"
"Don't let the sea trick your eyes, Crowley!" Bryan shouted back, tying down the rope that had snapped free before pushing a hand through his wet hair. "It'll get calm before it kicks up again! Big storms like this always do."
"Then we'd best be gettin' her to a safe place." Malcolm commented, jerking a thumb toward Darcey.

"The little lady will need to rest before long. And I suspect the rest of the men want to be safe for the night. Out on the rough seas during a storm ain't the best place for 'em."
"Right as always, Malcolm," Bryan commented with a nod as he passed on his way to the helm. "Better go and hoist the anchor then. Lads! Prepare yourselves! The storm will only get worse after this calm! We head for the nearest safe place and make our preparations there!"

Spencer met up with the captain at the helm, carrying with him the map he'd meant to speak with Bryan about. "There's a cove here," said Crowley, pointing to Gonâve Island. "It'd be a lot safer there than out here."
"Good. See to it that we get there in one piece, would you?"
"'Course, Captain." Bryan made his way to Darcey and held out a hand for her to take, water still running down his face from his hair.
"Come. Let's get you by the fire inside my quarters. You'll feel warmer."

Darcey looked up at Bryan, struggling to see him properly, mostly because of the blinding pain she was in. She raised her hand for Bryan to see, the rope had torn off quite a bit of the flesh, and a tiny piece of bone could be seen. She pulled her hand to her chest, and stood there for a moment, trying to regain her footing.
"I'm sorry... I've failed you, captain Waverly."

Bryan grinned calmly at the young woman and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Let me be the judge of that," he said softly and guided her to his quarters at a pace that she could handle. "Let's get you tended to." Upon reaching his quarters, he kicked open the door and guided her inside, making certain she got to rest on the couch before he shut the door and began to rummage around his desk, looking for something. Inside was quite warm and dry, illuminated by the lamp's light on his desk.

Darcey collapsed on the couch, and gasped in pain as her back met with the couch.
"Damn, must've hurt something else" Darcey thought to herself. She shifted herself to ease the pain, and carefully examined her hands. She felt disgusted with herself. "I guess I should have worn gloves" Darcey said jokingly as she looked at her hands. The warmth of the room seemed to bring her some peace.

Bryan couldn't help but chuckle as he picked out what he needed to tend to her. "Gloves don't necessarily stop the pain from happening," he said simply, approaching the couch with a lot of items in his arms. He plopped down next to her and set a few things onto the ground like a bottle of rum and a couple of strips of cloth before he turned back to her and carefully took one of her hands in his. "Yup. Thought so." He said after examining the wound for a moment. He picked up a needle with something attached to it and gave her a look that told her to stay still. "It'll hurt for a bit, but it should give you some relief. Just stay still."

Calmly and with a steady hand, Bryan stuck the needle through Darcey's palm and began to sew it up enough that the bone beneath was once again concealed. After he was certain it would hold, Bryan clipped what was attached to the needle and grabbed the bottle of rum and a strip of cloth before he doused it and pressed the wet portion into her palm. "The stitches will dissolve over time and the rum will help to keep out any infections." He said as he wrapped the cloth tightly around her palm. Once he was finished, he nodded to her other hand, asking for it so he could treat it the same.

Darcey flinched slightly with pain as the needle was pushed through her flesh. After a while, she got used to the pain. She looked at her hand, and smiled weakly.
"Still, if I was wearing gloves, the damage wouldn't have been as bad" Darcey said as she offered her other hand to Bryan.

Bryan gave a small chuckle and repeated the process with her other hand. "Sometimes it's good to feel pain," he said gently, pressing the doused cloth of rum into her palm again before he wrapped it tight. "It lets you know that you're still alive." He rose after he'd finished the second cloth wrapping and looked her up and down for a brief moment. "Any more wounds I need to treat?" He said in a teasing sort of voice, his now damp hair seeming to glisten in the lamp light.

"No, I think I'm good" Darcey said with a laugh before she leaned back. It didn't feel like she had broken anything, so she must have just been a nasty bruise from the fall. She was the kind of person who would rather suffer in silence than actually say something.

Bryan chuckled and shook his head for a moment before pushing a hand through his damp hair. "Sounds like me when I dislocated my shoulder," he stated with a grin in her direction before he began to pack up the items he'd used and took the bottle of rum from the floor. "Never thought that I'd ever find someone I had something in common with." He teased with a wink before he sat down at his desk with a soft sigh.

"Then I suppose that we have something in common, Waverly." Darcey stretched her back, just to make sure that nothing was broken, and let out a sigh of relief. "Sorry about the inconvenience."

Bryan slowly shook his head and grinned in her direction again. "On my ship, there's no such thing as an inconvenience." He said simply just as he heard Spencer shout outside the door for the men to drop anchor and to make certain that the ship was ready for the most violent portion of the storm. "Looks like she got to the cove alright. Now we just need to weather out the storm here." Bryan had a feeling that he would need supplies to rebuild the ship if she was to get damaged, but wouldn't worry about that until after the storm had passed.

"Thank you for patching me up, Waverly, but I think I should get back to work. Come to think of it, I should probably check with Spencer where I'll be sleeping." Darcey stood up, and made her way to the deck to find Spencer.

"Like I said before," Bryan shouted after her. "You can have the couch here if it comes down to it!" On deck, Spencer was overseeing the preparations of the Demon Shark for the more vicious portion of the storm. The deck was slick with the rainwater and the amount of salty seawater that had splashed onboard.
"That's right," Crowley shouted to the men that were clearing what seawater they could from the ship's deck. "Get her clean, boys! God knows we'll need it clean and secure for the sea later."

Darcey help the men with the cleaning of the deck for as long as she was able, for as long as her wounds would allow. She thought about Bryan's offer to let her sleep on his couch, and she found the offer enticing. When her hands couldn't take anymore, Darcey made her way back to Bryan's room, knocking before entering.
"Does your offer to let me sleep on your couch still stand" Darcey asked respectfully.

Bryan gave a small chuckle and turned to face the door with a grin on his face. "Course," he said simply. "There's enough space between my bed and the couch so that you can throw up a curtain if you want privacy. When this ship was made, it was made to think of everyone aboard, including the men and the captain. Whoever built it gave the captain's quarters a much larger space than most." He said, nodding to the good sized gap between the bed and the couch at the far wall, its back propped against the large window that looked out over the ocean.

"Thank you so much, Waverly" Darcey said happily as she looked to the couch. It looked so comfortable, and the view was so relaxing. "I wouldn't want to ruin your view, so I'll only pull up the curtain at night."

Bryan gave a soft chuckle and waved a hand dismissively. He had a quill in hand and there was a piece of parchment on the desk in front of him with some scratchings on it, possibly a letter of some sort. "The couch is yours for as long as you need it," he said with a grin in her direction before he dipped the tip of the quill into a small bottle of ink. "You can even move it around if you need to. You've that entire wall and some of that one—" he waved a hand behind him to where the wall was bare save for a dresser that harbored clothes and weapons most likely and a mannequin that sat in the corner opposite the corner behind the door that held his mask and hooded outfit. Other than that, the wall was bare. "—to move the couch around to your liking. I have it against the window because of looks and it leaves more space open.

"But feel free to move it if you must."