The Pequod Captain: Ishmael's Story
ALL HANDS!
The child thundered, slamming her giant harpoon upon the ship's deck.
The Captain stands tall in the middle of a wild and calamitous Lake, on top of her precariously swaying ship.
The Captain wishes to hear your voices! Answers, you dogs! ALL HANDS!
AYE!!!
First of the crew to roar was the one covered head to toe in tattoos.
What about the rest of you?! Cat got your tongues? ALL HANDS!!!
AYE!!!
The crew, their hearts united as one, screams their reply from the top of their lungs to the child's thunders like the roaring waves.
All of you here must already know where this ship has set course to.
Indeed! We have set course to brave the Waves head on!
But no sailor shows any signs of fear or anxiety.
They merely look up to the child with conviction in their eyes. As though this was what they had been expecting all along.
You must also know what the Waves bring.
Yes!
Tonight, we will fell a Whale!
What Whale is that, men?!
THE ALL-WITHERING CRIMSON WHALE!!!
It's a rather long name, but they have no trouble chanting it in unison.
But that wasn't the answer this child was looking for. The child slowly but emphatically shakes her head before shouting.
WRONG!
That Whale is a culmination of our goals, our tenacity! It is our purpose!
AYE!!!
Its terrible limbs will constrict around us, strangle us!
Its nightmarish suction cups will attempt to latch onto our ship! Onto the flesh of our dearest crew!
…….
There is no reply. But this silence is not one of fear.
Instead, they...
... smile.
They all wear a giddy, toothy grin as though a long-awaited present had arrived at their doorsteps.
I like the looks on your mugs!
Just as I expected. The crew of the Pequod has no fear for such insignificant things.
Concern yourself with naught but following your Captain's compass! Captain Ishmael's compass!
At the end of that path lies all of our victories! The purpose of this voyage!
AYE, CAPTAIN!!!
Captain, I see a storm ahead! Thunder and lightning strike at the wild sea!
Another child barges out of the cabins.
There is a look of urgency in his eyes, yes; but there is no fear. In fact, he wears a slight smile.
The time is upon us!
Blinding strikes of lightning and heavy rainstorm rage over the Pequod and its crew.
Yet no one moves. No one hides. Not even their eyebrows twitch.
First mate!
I await your orders, Captain.
Leave the wheel to the second mate! Give the order to stay on course toward the Crimson Whale!
As soon as the second mate has the wheel, grab your harpoon and join me by my side!
I shall relay it posthaste!
Harpooneer!
Wait for an opening at the stern of the ship, then make your strike count! Skewer the beast with all your might!
AYE!!!
As the crew exchanges rousing speeches with one another, something crimson begins emerging from the depths of the Lake. It begins to approach the water's surface.
There's the bastard! The Whale's tail opens!
Welcome to my ship...
The child calmly watches as the Whale's gargantuan body breaks through the Lake's surface.
SAY MY NAME!
ISHMAEL, CAPTAIN OF THE PEQUOD!
INDEED!
The child twirls her massive harpoon before aiming it straight toward the Whale's tail.
Crimson Whale, you shall know and call my name as well.
You shall call me... Ishmael.
The gaslight inside her harpoon burned brighter and hotter as though it was responding to the crew's passion.
Let the flames of my harpoon be your guiding light!
And everything shall come to be! My purpose awaits! Your purpose awaits!
AYE!!!
There is burning fervor in the eyes of the crew. But their gaze is fixed onward, clear and focused.
The child takes a sweeping look at her crew and their conviction...
ALL HANDS!
... before leaping head-on against the advancing Whale.
CHARGE!