Inktober 2024 - 20 - Uncharted

"Hold on to your hats, folks, 'cause we're venturing into uncharted territory!" bellows the Captain of the ship as he expertly spins the wheel.

"Is this wise, Captain?" whispers the woman standing directly behind his right shoulder.

She is in a law-enforcement uniform, and looks just as serious as her job, a stern expression on her face as she talks through gritted teeth. If he is as concerned as she is, it is not visible in his smile.

"Well, Marshall, I have whirlpools twice the size of this boat to the East, and surfacing bedrock to the West. And I don't have to tell you about the storm front coming from the South; you've seen it for yourself. So yes, I do believe going North is the safest course of action at this point. The moment I get an opening to an area that is on my map, I promise you I'll take us there."

Behind them, a couple starts arguing, the woman lightly punching her husband on the arm:

"I told you this honeymoon was a bad idea!"

"You're the one who wanted to go on a cruise!" he protests.

"I'm not talking about the cruise, I'm talking about the location."

The Captain sighs and turns around to face his passengers. They all huddled behind him as the turbulence started. He stretches out his hands towards them in a gesture of reassurance:

"Folks! Calm down. None of us made a mistake, here. This area is not known for bad conditions, and there were no weather report predicting even the slightest hint of what we're seeing now. Nobody could have seen this coming. We're making the best of an unexpectedly bad situation, but we'll get through this. Please, do not turn on each other, because it is NOT helping."

As the newlyweds hug out their differences and the Captain gets back to his wheel, the Marshall remains tense.

"There has got to be a reason why these waters are uncharted…"

"Yes: because no ship has ever come back from them."

"And that doesn't worry you?"

"I'm more worried about known dangers than unknown ones. I'm navigating as carefully as I can. You can trust me: I was born on a boat, and I'll die on one."

"This is not comforting at all, actually!"

"I mean die when I'm old and wrinkled, like all my ancestors before me. We are a people of the water. We are good at this. Really good."

"Any idea what could be in there to take all the ships down?"

"I've heard all the stories ever told about the ocean and the sea, and as cocky as that sounds, I'm confident I can face any of them. This is what I was born and raised to do."

"I wish I shared your confidence."

"Then how about focusing on how cool it will be for us to get to name this place, when we're the first one to come out of it?"

"You're right about one thing: you do sound cocky."