A loud thump just above his head snapped him awake. He had passed out for only a moment but it was enough to calm him down so he didn't move as much with dry skin.<br/><br/>Donta raised his head slightly to look at his options. He was alone and slowly dying on a pirate ship, covered in gunpowder and drying out. He felt stupid to let his curiosity get the better of him and his impulsiveness will now be the end of him.<br/><br/>No. He needed options. He needed to survive. What could he do. There were barrels around him, full of unknown contents. They could all be full of the intoxicating 'Rum' he learned of, but even beings of the surface needed clean water to live, right? One of these has to be drinking water!<br/><br/>He knew that fresh water existed and tried swimming in it once, curious at the time about how the ocean never dried up and followed a river upstream until the water became bland and warm. Fresh water wasn't so bad. Certainly better than how he was now.<br/><br/>With his bone weapon, he poked a nearby barrel and it scooted slightly across the wooden floor. Empty. Another beside it moved with similar ease. The next, finally showed some resistance to his prodding and met his poke with a dull thunk and his ears clearly heard the sloshing of liquid inside.<br/><br/>Now the main bet. The chance that inside this barrel was water or rum. A chance that his life could be saved, or at least, his death would be anesthetized. He pulled himself over beneath the cork in the side of the barrel and groped for it, yet his claw merely scratched the barrel as he missed, flailing at it because his vision began to blur. One last swipe and a chunk of cork broke off, landing between his eyes on his forehead. Without the strength to continue, he flopped on his back directly under the cork standing between him and uncertain relief.<br/><br/>He had come so close, yet was unable to continue. He closed his eyes and waited for his strength to leave him.<br/><br/>*Creeeeeeakkk*<br/><br/>One eye opened. It was his mind playing tricks on him.<br/><br/>*Grooooaaaannn*<br/><br/>The other opened and locked on the cork that was slightly further out from the hole than he remembered, or perhaps it was wishful thinking?<br/><br/>*Pop!*<br/><br/>The cork seemed to leap out of the hole and bounced off a beam, then hit him square in the forehead. He felt a dull pain then instant relief as warm, fresh water flowed out and over his head and upper body. It was like a breath of fresh air to surface dwellers. He laid there under the flow until it stopped then reached up to wipe the gunpowder from his face and neck, making sure to get it off his gills.<br/><br/>"Whew." he muttered, then sat up. He should leave. If these people found him and realized he had wasted their precious water, he could be killed or worse, eaten. He heard how surface dwellers catch other fish for food. Maybe that's why no others of his kind have returned to tell the tale of them and why they remain a mystery today. Maybe they were eaten.<br/><br/>He struggled to his feet and made it to the port hole he came through, using his weapon to aid in walking. Looking out, his enthusiasm vanished when he saw the approaching storm and the swelling seas. Even a human wouldn't willingly go outside during a tornado. There was no way he was jumping in the sea while a whirlpool was within sight. Not while he knew he couldn't find a cave or shelter underwater in time. He would be safer on this ship, oddly.<br/><br/>Maybe he should show himself? Maybe they would be friendly? He could apologize for the ceiling and the wasted water and they would forgive him. Maybe he could help to pay for his wrongs. He sighed. It was more likely they would put a cutlass to his throat for stowing away here than listen to what he said. That's how it was in the book he read. But still, he couldn't stay here forever and he couldn't be dead weight. It wasn't right.<br/><br/>The ocean below began to bubble like it was being boiled. A sure sign that the water beneath the surface was in turmoil even if it didn't look like it above. Donta knew what it was like to try and swim in that. He barely made it out of that last storm alive and he swam all of his life. If a Human fell in now, they would surely die.<br/><br/>The boat started swaying in the building sea and he held onto the porthole to steady himself. What should he do?