Into the Dark, part 1 (after battle)

It is said that Queequeg's ropes, twisted by her powerful grip and her esoteric techniques…

... are tougher than any other rope in the world.

Queequeg told me to not leave her alone in the cold, dark Lake.

That she didn't want the Whales and Mermaids to tear her apart and devour her when her corpse sinks deep into its waters.

I agreed.

The wounds on her skin that only I knew of... the memories of her pain... I didn't want those monsters to heartlessly rip into them, to gorge themselves with her scarred flesh.

So, Queequeg built herself a coffin.

Built hardily and fastened with ropes twisted and knotted with all her strength. So that her coffin would not sink no matter how precariously the ship swayed.

Huff... Huff...

My hands gripping onto that very same rope tied to the coffin... were starting to peel and bleed.

And my dearest friend's hollow coffin was the only thing keeping me afloat on that whirling Lake.

Any... Is there anyone out there?

ANYONE?!!!!!!!!

In that empty lake, stranded amidst the Pequod's desolation, I called out from the top of my lungs.

Please, anyone... say something. Anything.

When I realized that everyone I ever had any ties to had, in the blink of an eye, been taken from this world,

my gasping, wheezing self, barely holding onto life seemed...

Come aboard my ship. And sail with me to the cold abyss of the Lake.

…!

Not even I, drowning yet breathing, could escape Captain Ahab...

Even in this deafening silence, Ahab's echoing bellows strangle me...

Even in death my mates remain trapped with the Captain.

Agh... Argh...

In joy, and in sorrow... I'll never forget...

... the strands that were ripped away from me.

I'll be buried in this Lake forever to my last gasping breath.

Try as I might to escape the rising waters, only loneliness fills my lungs.

Haah... Haaah... Gah...

Always told you. I did.

Rope. Grab tight. Or sink.

You...

How long have you been... here?

Always. Always been here.

…….