Sirens In The Water [Ch. 2]

S.S DreamChaser

Day 16

Day had turned into night. The sun had set and the moon had risen. Stars filled the night sky; shining and twinkling. The ship was still sailing. There still hasn't been any sign of land. No seagulls. No waves crashing up onto shores. Everything was quiet, blockheads were sound asleep below deck. The only blockheads who were awake at this hour of the night were Notch, Elena, and Merlin. Leona was below deck with the others.

Notch was at the helm of the ship, tightly holding onto the wheel. Changing the ship's direction if need be. Elena was standing at the bow of the ship, keeping a watchful eye on the horizon ahead. Merlin was in charge of keeping the deck clean of clutter. As for Daniel, he was in his cabin sitting at his desk.

While the others were sound asleep, he was awake. On the desktop, there was an open book. He was holding a quill in his right hand, dipping it into the small jar of ink when he needed to. Ever since the ship had set sail a few weeks ago, Daniel has been writing in that book of his. Documenting what's been happening onboard the ship, what he's seen, and how he's been feeling emotionally lately.

There was only one lantern burning in his cabin. All the other lanterns he had weren't burning at all. The one that was burning was hanging directly over him and the desk. As he sat at his desk with the quill in his hand, he was realizing that he was having trouble on how he should start today's entry. There was so much he could talk about, but where could he begin?

He set the quill down on the desktop next to the book. He sighed as he turned his head over to his left. When he was looking over at his bed, he began staring at all of the paintings he had hanging up. The one painting that stood out was the one of him and Petra sitting on the back of their newly tamed horses. Remembering that day felt like it was forever ago. So much time has passed since that day. Daniel faintly smiled, recollecting the events that unfolded that day. The good and the bad ones.

"You're still dwelling over the past, aren't you?" Petra said as she suddenly appeared next to Daniel's desk chair. He looked up at her and shrugged his shoulders.

"You would be too if you were in my shoes," Daniel responded.

"It's never easy saying goodbye," Petra said, "I know that for a fact. How do you think I felt before I passed away?"

"You were in pain," Daniel said, "Suzanne couldn't save you no matter how hard she tried. The Witch had sealed your fate."

"You're right, I was," Petra said, "but I'm in a better place now. HeroBrine, EnderBrine, Carlily and Jack are all up there with me too. We're constantly watching over you. Don't think we've forgotten about you because we haven't. We may not be with you physically, but we're always with you in there," Petra said as she pointed at Daniel's heart. "In retrospect, we've never left."

"If only there was a way I could travel back into the past, I'd do it to save all of you," Daniel said.

"Our deaths are not your fault," Petra said, "just know that, okay?"

Daniel looked away from Petra. He nodded his head a couple of times. He sniffled his nose once and then turned his head to look back over at Petra. But when he did, she was already gone. As he sat in his chair, he could hear footsteps coming from above his cabin. Someone was walking around outside. But he didn't care to check to see who it was. Instead, he looked back over at the picture of him and Petra on their horses.

"That was a day I shall never forget," Daniel mumbled to himself, "I remember that day like it was just yesterday."

Chasing after the horses, spending time with one another, and most of all forgetting about the challenges of being a King and Queen. Every so often, royals would need to find their escape from doing important things. The only thing about that day, was that it was Daniel's first time ever attempting to tame a wild horse. What an eventful day that was.

Plains Biome, OverWorld

Day

"Try and keep up slow poke!" Petra shouted as she began running faster and further ahead of Daniel.

He was trying his best to keep up with her and the fleeing horses, but was finding it hard to continue doing so. That's when he stopped running and turned around, catching his breath in the process. There was dark brown horse running towards him. It's legs were all black, but it's body was dark brown. The hair on the back of its head flapped around as it continued to run towards Daniel.

He held his arms out in front of him, preparing himself to grab ahold of the horse and jump up onto its back. As the stampede of horses continued, dust began rising up into the air. Just before the horse was due to run right into him, he quickly stepped out of the way. He grabbed ahold of the horse, quickly jumping up onto its back. Once he was on the horses back, it began nieghing. It didn't stop running though.

"Yeehaw!" Daniel shouted, "run faster boy! Run!"

Now that Daniel was riding on the back of the horse, he bagan gaining up on Petra. She was still running on her feet. As he got closer and closer to her, she constantly looked over her shoulder and back at Daniel. Every time she did that, she laughed.

"Told you this would be fun!" Petra said.

Daniel held his right hand out as the horse ran up alongside her. She quickly grabbed his hand. He then hoisted her up onto the horse. She wrapped her arms around his stomach, not even thinking about letting go.

"Yeah, yeah!" Daniel responded with a smile on his face, "Laugh all you want. It sounded harder than it looked."

"It would be harder if you didn't know what you were doing," Petra said, "I've tamed many horses in the past. You wouldn't be riding this horse if it weren't for me being here to walk you through everything."

She then looked over to her right and pointed in the direction where she was looking at. To their right, there was a white horse with black spots on it's body. Daniel looked over, finding the horse that Petra wanted to tame.

"That one?" Daniel asked.

"Yes," Petra responded.

As he gently pulled on the horses hair, it began running over to the white horse with black spots on it. The sounds of their hooves hitting the ground was somewhat calming to the mind. All in all, there were about ten horses running. They were all running in the same direction. As the horse was getting closer to the one that Petra had wanted to tame, Daniel looked back in front of him.

As the herd of horses continued to run, Daniel noticed that they were headed right for a steep dropoff cliff. He turned his head slightly so that he could tell Petra what he had just realized.

"We need to hurry," he told her, "we're coming up on a steep cliff."

The horse that they were riding was finally running alongside the white horse with black spots on its back. She let go of Daniel, looking directly over at the horse. It turned its head and looked over at Petra and Daniel, huffing and puffing. Petra smiled as she carefully stood up on her feet on the back of the horse. She counted down from three.

Three. Two. One! After timing her jump as best as she could, she jumped. She just barely landed on the horses back. The way she landed made the horse almost lose his footing. If she would've missed the jump entirely, the horse could've trampled over. Luckily, she didn't miss the jump. Now all she and Daniel had to do was put the saddles on the backs of the horses. Once they had managed to do that, the horses would be tamed.

But their time was quickly running out time. They were coming up on the cliff. They needed to hurry before it was too late. Neither of them knew what was at the bottom of the cliff. But they could agree on one thing. Whatever lied at the bottom of the cliff was not good.

"Just put the saddle on," Petra shouted as she pulled her leather saddle out from her inventory. She then set the saddle down on the horses back, right under herself. She then sat down on the saddle and gently began pulling on the hair of the horse. Her horse began slowly coming to a stop, while Daniel's was still running.

As he kept a watchful eye on what was ahead, he quickly reached into his inventory to grab the leather saddle out that Petra had given him on their way here. Once he grabbed it out, he set it down on the horses back. He sat down on the saddle, gently pulling the horses hair back. His horse nighed as it slowed down. All of the other horses continued running. Daniel leaped off of his horse and walked over to the front of it. He began petting his horse.

Petra's horse was trotting as it approached Daniel and his horse. Once Petra's horse came to a stop, she got off of her horse.

"Now how hard was that?" Petra asked Daniel.

Daniel shrugged his shoulders, smiling back at her. He rolled his eyes and shook his head. Not because he was mad, but because he was acknowledging that Petra was right. Taming a horse wasn't as hard as he had once assumed it was. It was far more easier done than said.

"Yeah, yeah," Daniel said, "I guess I got scared for nothing. Did you come up with a name for your horse yet?"

As Petra stood next to her horse, petting it, she answered Daniel's question.

"You know what?" She said, "I have actually. I'll name her Delia. What about you?"

Daniel looked into his horse's eyes, thinking of possible names he could name his horse. After thinking of many different names silently in his head, he came up with one that he thought fit his horse's personality well.

"I'll name him Brownie," Daniel said, "because brownies are my favorite treat."

Petra giggled at that name. She had thought it was a silly name for a horse, but it wasn't her horse to begin with. She had no say in what he shall name his horse. But she did like that name though. That name had meaning to him.

Daniel got up from his chair after he had gotten lost in the memory of taming those horses. Sadly though, neither Brownie or Delia made it out alive after the Golem Monster and Nightmare had attacked the Kingdom. He sighed.

As he was pacing back and forth in his cabin, trying his best to forget about his painful past, there was a knock at his door. He looked up and over at the door.

"Yes?" Daniel said, "who is it?"

A muffled and faint voice responded to him. "Merlin."

Daniel then walked over to his door. He grabbed the handle and pulled the door open. Merlin was standing out on deck. The cool breeze from outside rushed into Daniel's cabin as he held the door open.

"I'm surprised you're still up," Merlin said, "Notch has asked me to get your opinion on an important matter."

"What's that?" Daniel responded as he walked out onto deck, gently closing the door behind him. Once they were both back out on the deck, Daniel and Merlin looked up at Notch. He was still holding onto the wheel as he looked down at Daniel and Merlin.

"We're sailing into uncharted waters," Notch said.

Daniel wasn't following what Notch and Merlin were trying to tell him. That's when Merlin had grabbed a map out of his inventory to show Daniel what they had meant on telling him. They both looked down at the map.

Just a ways in front of where the ship currently was, the map showed the ship sailing towards a large gray area on the map. Why was that part of the map gray? Was it something that Daniel should be worried about? Should he alter the ships course?

"Whatever that is, we're sailing towards it," Merlin mentioned, "might I recommend we change course?"

Daniel looked up and away from the map. He looked over at Merlin, shaking his head from side to side. He was taking a huge risk by continuing to sail in the direction they were still sailing in. No one onboard knew what lied withing that gray area on the map. Could be dangerous, but it could also be something everyone desperately wanted. That something was land. If there was land anywhere within that gray area, it would be a dumb idea to change course. So Daniel made his decision on what it was they should do.

"Remain on course," Daniel told Merlin and Notch, "Close the main sail, and slow the ship down."

"You're kidding, right?" Merlin responded, "you really want to sail through that?"

"Absolutely!" Daniel said, "what if there's land somewhere within that area? We've been stuck on this ship for far too long. I'm starting to dread being on this ship. The sooner we find land, the better. Do as I say. Remain on course. Notify me if anything changes. Is that understood?" Daniel asked in a sort of rude and mean attitude.

Niether Merlin or Notch liked the way Daniel was talking to them. Why was he being so mean to them? What did they ever do to him? Daniel could argue that he was just tired. He just needed to get some sleep. And that's exactly what he intended on doing.

"Again, if anything comes about, notify me," Daniel said, "I didn't mean to be intimidating or rude in anyway. I'm just exhausted. That's all."

Daniel, however, knew deep down that it wasn't just exhaustion he was feeling. He was also sad and depressed. Hopefully sleep would help him get over his emotional feelings he was feeling right now. Maybe tomorrow will be a better day. As he walked back over to his cabin door and opened it, he looked back over his right shoulder at Merlin. As he did that, fog began moving in all around them. The twinkling stars in the sky slowly vanished as the fog got thicker and thicker quickly.

"Just be cautious and careful," Daniel said, "I'll see you all in the morning. Goodnight."

He then opened his door and walked back into his cabin. The door closed behind him. Merlin had put the map he was holding in his hand back into his inventory and began walking over to Elena, who was still standing at the bow of the ship.

"What did he say?" Elena asked as she turned around to look at Merlin.

"We're going to sail through this," Merlin said, "he thinks there could be land somewhere in here."

Elena sighed and shook her head. She rested her hands on her hips. "That's what he said yesterday too. He's not the only one who's anxious to get off this ship. I'm never going back in the water ever again after we find land and settle down. No matter how hard one may try and convince me, I'll never step foot on a beach again, muchless jump into the water."

"I couldn't agree more," Merlin said, "do you think you could help me with closing the main sail?"

"Sure," Elena responded.

As they both began walking over to the main mast to close the sail, two mermaids popped their heads up out of the water. They were only a couple of blocks away from the ship. Their eyes were all yellow, and their pupils were black. Their eyes resembled the eyes of a snake or lizard, and their teeth were extremely sharp and pointy. One of the mermaid's hair was red, while the other's hair was blonde. They continued to flap their fins around under water to keep their heads above water. They weren't pretty types of mermaids you would normally see. Actually the complete opposite really. Not only were they not pretty, but they didn't mean well either.

They watched as the stern of the ship disappeared into the thick gray fog. Once the ship was gone, they both looked at eachother.

"They don't even know that they had just sailed right into our territory," one mermaid said, "when do we feast?"

"Slow down, Selma," Alana said, "once daybreaks comes around, we'll attack. But first we need to alert the others. We won't be able to sink that ship by ourselves."

After Alana had said that, they both dove back under water and began swimming downwards, swimming deeper downwards. They didn't need light to see where they were going because they could see perfectly fine at night thanks to having nightvision. As they continued to swim, other fish that were in their way quickly swam away from them. Even other aquatic mammals were afraid of Selma and Alana.

At the bottom of the ocean, resting on the ocean floor, a large temple was seen. Guardians were seen swimming around. They had pointy spikes on their bodies, and a deadly sharp tail stinger. Once they had swam down to the bottom of the ocean, their Queen had swam over to them. She was wearing a pointy golden crown, and held a silver trident in his right hand.

"Your majesty," Selma said, "we've returned with good news."

"What is it?" Queen Helena asked as she patiently waited for either Selma or Alana to respond to her question.

"We've spotted a ship sailing into our territory. We assume that by morning, they'll pass through the exposed boulders. Alana and mine's plan is to guide them towards the rock and sink the ship. From there, the Kingdom will be able to feast upon those who are onboard the ship."

"How big was this ship?" Queen Helena asked.

Alana and Selma looked at each other, trying to recall how big the ship was. They knew it was big. That much was for sure. But they didn't know how many blockheads were onboard. That was the only thing they weren't quite sure on. There could be many or there could be only a few. If there wasn't a-lot of them onboard, it would be a waste of time for Queen Helena and the Kingdom.

Alana and Selma then looked back at their Queen. They couldn't give her exact answers, but they could provide their best guesses as to how many were on that ship.

"Three masts," Selma answered.

"I saw three blockheads on deck. One manning the wheel, one closing the sails, and one being a lookout," Alana mentioned.

"Hmm, they're making it too easy for us," Queen Helena said, "assemble the others. I'll send the Guardians once you've done your part. Is that understood?"

"Yes your majesty," Selma said as she bowed down. Queen Helena raised her head, tightening her grip on her golden trident she had in her hand. Alana bowed as well. When they finished bowing before the Queen, Alana looked over at Selma and smiled evilly.

"Perfect your singing voice Selma," Alana said, "we're going to put on an inescapable show for them."