Into the Dark, part 12 (after battle)
Ishmael stares wordlessly at Queequeg.
I... I thought you... everyone... died.
Me too. Also thought you dead.
Where I was, we bury dead people. No burning.
In earth. In hearts. Deep. Never to dig up again.
Because, we have to forget.
Did you bury me... too?
I...
... want to see sunset again.
That keeps me going. Breathing. Throwing harpoons.
... I thought you didn't like the outside world?
Sunset, always warm. Wherever it sets.
…….
<I'm hearing a terrifying cry... coming from far away...>
It's the Mermaids' cry...
Our future. If we fail to escape.
Cry and cry. Trying to kill all we see.
Then melt. Very slowly. And later...
Float away. Like we were never here.
Don't want to be Mermaid.
The Pallid Whale. Have to kill it. Only then, we get out.
<…!>
I see another vision of Ishmael.
It's growing more and more frequent... Maybe it's the influence of the Golden Bough.
Crying.
Every night, a terrifying cry echoes from the holds.
Pip, it's your turn to go down there.
The Mermaids cried every single night. So, we had to lock them deep in the holds.
Pip doesn't wanna go down there... It's scary.
That's just the luck of your draw, Pip. I'm sorry, but... you gotta accept it.
Isn't it weird, Queequeg...?
Why are we... doing any of this?
…….
Ishmael. Steel yourself.
We'll see Pallid Whale. Soon.
Which means all this be over. Soon.
Yeah. It'll all be over, soon...
So when this voyage is over...
What is this mess? Can you not even man your stations properly, you deckhands?
Captain! Pip doesn't wanna go down there. Pip's scared to death. It's so scary down there.
Every night Pip hears. Every night he scratches at the locked door.
Get a hold of yourself, Pip. That's just a Mermaid.
Pip knows, Pip saw... That was...
That was our mate Stubb, Captain. The Pallid Whale ate Stubb and the boat he was on, and...
Pip. Turn away from the sound of the holds. Look far beyond to the Great Lake.
The Pallid Whale's day of reckoning draws near.
The louder the Mermaid cries, the closer we are to our goal.
That creature will lead us to the Pallid Whale.
…….
That night, I snuck into Captain Ahab's quarters.
To enter the Captain's quarters, unauthorized, was like breaking a Taboo. Every sailor knew that.
If I was caught... I would've had to accept whatever punishment they decided to levy upon me for committing a sin that may as well have been a mutiny.
But I don't know what I was thinking when I walked in there.
...!
C-Captain Ahab... I...
…….
C-Captain?
The Captain's eyes were locked on the map of the Great Lake stuck to the ceiling of her quarters.
She did not stir.
I looked at this sight for a moment... before stumbling out of the Captain's quarters.
I had to.
So, you went into the Captain's quarters, huh?
M-mister Starbuck...
Captain never gets a proper shut-eye. Even when she sleeps, she sleeps with her eyes wide open.
She's always looking for that Pallid Whale somewhere in the Great Lake. Even as she dreams...
Captain ain't sleeping. She's awake. Always is.
Yeah... on the Pequod, the Captain had a tight leash around us.
We were merely gasping on what little air she permitted us.
Go and get some rest. Like Captain said, that Whale's gotta be close.
I don't always understand the Captain, and sometimes I wish she'd entertain some different ideas...
... But we won't have to suffer much more of that.
We'll all be free soon.
Once we kill the Pallid Whale and leave this ship... We...