I Wont Hurt You

09:15

Twinkle Toes' singing was drowned out by the chaos erupting around them. The group clashed with dozens of Edge Seekers, the battle spilling across the wreckage-strewn waters. Gunfire roared, steel clashed, and bodies leaped from ship to ship in the frenzy.

In the madness, the group was split apart.

-"WHERE THE FUCK DO THESE GUYS KEEP COMING FROM?!" Max yelled as he fended off another attacker.

A sudden, sharp pain shot through his thigh— a javelin had pierced deep.

"Ah, for fuck’s sake!" he growled, twisting on the spot. Without hesitation, he drove his hand into his attacker's jugular. In one smooth motion, he yanked the javelin from his own leg, gritting through the pain, and rammed it into another foe’s gut.

Both men tumbled overboard, crashing into the water below, their splashes lost in the chaos surrounding the vessel.

A new figure landed gracefully onto the deck.

-"So, you're the captain of this merry bunch?" a voice echoed.

-Max turned sharply, gritting his teeth. "How many of these savages are there?" he muttered—then stopped dead in his tracks.

Before him stood a woman like no other. He stared, momentarily frozen in shock.

-"Savages?" she repeated with a smirk. "Well… maybe Muriel fits the bill, but the rest of us aren’t that bad, are we?"

-Max swallowed hard. "Guess not," he admitted.

-She tilted her head, golden hair cascading over her shoulders as she eyed him with playful curiosity. "So tell me… how does a crew of twelve geezers, a gypsy, an overly obvious man, and something remotely resembling a dwarf end up together?"

Max found himself struggling for words, still caught in her angelic beauty—or perhaps just the sheer absurdity of the situation.

-"Mostly… circumstance," he muttered, voice unsteady.

With effortless grace, she stepped closer, her brightly colored bandanas fluttering in the wind like flags in the storm.

She chuckled, stepping even closer, her golden locks dancing around her shoulders. "Interesting."

Her smirk widened as the wind howled around them, and Max suddenly had the sinking feeling that this encounter was about to change everything.

Max was mesmerized by her emerald eyes, unable to look away. Her lips, pink and full, moved as she spoke, drawing him into a trance. Inch by inch, she closed the distance between them.

Barely two feet apart, she smiled, and in the blink of an eye, her fists flew toward him. Her first two jabs were swift, but Max’s reflexes kicked in, blocking both punches.

-“Fast,” she taunted, twisting at her waist and delivering a lightning-quick side kick. Max was just quick enough to catch her leg, his heart stopping for a moment as his face flushed red.

-"Are you just gonna stand there?" she teased, a wicked grin spreading across her face.

In a moment of silence, he looked as if he was going to speak,the chaos swirled around them, Max’s grip on her loosened, a soft touch offering her balance. For a brief second, she blushed, his fingers lingering against her. Then, with a quick twist of her hips, she used him as leverage for a spinning kick. Her foot whistled through the air, narrowly missing his face as he ducked just in time.

-"You got any fight in ya, pretty boy?" she teased, her voice laced with a challenge..

Max’s eyes flicked to the scene around them—the crew struggling to hold their ground against the advancing threat. He knew they were outnumbered, but something in her presence made him pause, distracted.

-"So, any of those losers your boyfriend?"

She tilted her head, the question slipping right past her. “What?”

-"Nothing," he quickly jabbered, threw a punch toward her.

She moved like a cat, slipping through his reach as he chased her. For a split second, she stumbled — just as a hard side kick came swinging in. She braced. The blow connected, but barely nudged her off course. Both of them froze, wide-eyed. That kick should’ve crushed her. Instead, it just grazed past, like it hit someone else entirely.

-Her shocked expression quickly turned to rage as she yelled out, "YOU'RE HOLDING BACK!"

-"I'M NOT!"

-"THE HELL YOU'RE NOT!"

- "I'm just tired."

- "YOU'RE WEARING A FUCKING EXO SUIT! I SHOULD BE DEAD OR BROKEN!"

- "It's a cheap knockoff! It doesn't work how you think.."

- "I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"

She kicked and punched with every fleeting second, angering her more as he continuously blocked.

-"FIGHT BACK, YOU PUSSY!" she shouted, leaping into the air, slamming her fist down with all her might.

He grabbed her by the wrist, practically catching her in the air, her fist breaking his lip.

With a swift motion he threw her on the floor tumbling over her.

The two of them lay there, heavy breaths filling the air, their eyes locked. Blood from his lip dripped onto her chest, staining her clothes. Her face flushed, an unexpected heat rising to her cheeks.

She quickly wrapped her legs around him, tossing him to the side, pinning him down. her sweat now dripping down, his heart pounding so hard, it moved the suit by itself, nearly bursting out.

Her face flushed deeper as she noticed the intensity in his blue eyes—like the sea, endless and deep.

She moved closer, her breath hitching for a moment.

He licked his lip, a faint smile tugging at his mouth despite the blood.

-"You really do hit hard." he side,trembling in the voice

-"Sorry," she muttered, her voice softer than expected, catching herself in surprise at the words that had just escaped her lips. She hadn’t meant to say that.

-“I kinda like it too,” he admitted, his voice a little rough, swallowing as if trying to make sense of the situation. "Your touch, I mean." The words hung between them, and they both flushed a deep shade of red.

The tension in the air thickened, almost unbearable,her fingers tightened, the space between them closing inch by inch. She could feel his breath on her lips, her heart pounding louder with each passing second.

She hesitated for a moment, then spoke in a voice barely above a whisper, “It’s funny, isn’t it? Like it was meant to happen... written in the stars."

Her body moved slightly, the stiffness broken ,she rested onto him, leaning closer.

Their fingers intertwined, his hand holding hers, their bodies trembled as if fusing together, melting into one. The warmth between them intensified, and his gaze locked on her eyes, the world around them fading away.

He slowly raised his head, her hair shadowing them like a curtain from the world.
Her scent, intoxicating like a drug, pulled him in deeper.It was a need not a want .She parted her lips as if to whisper, yet she had nothing to say.Instead, she simply leaned closer, caught in the moment.
He closed his eyes, drawn towards her. She hesitated just for a moment, as if it were all a dream, their dream.

They breathed together, the heat radiating between them.

Her breath his and his hers,

A moment's notice from destiny.

…

as loud THUD broke the silence,

Followed by a CRACK.

He opened his eyes, her body jerked, her eyes widened, and her grip loosened her head slamming next to him.

A sharp smell of cigarettes filled the air,,

-"Пожалуйста,"

echoed through his ears the words muffled as the man moved his wooden oar from the back of her head, giving him a thumbs up before moving forward.

His breath hitched as he cradled her limp body, his fingers trembling against her cooling skin. She felt so light, so still—too still. His mind screamed at him to wake her, to shake her back to life, but deep down, he knew. She was gone.

His grip tightened around his shotgun, rage drowning out his grief. He snapped the barrel up, locking sights on the old Russian.

-"FUCK YOU, YOU STUPID RUSSIAN!"

He pulled the trigger.

Click.
Click.
Click. Click. Click.

Empty.

His heart stopped, then plummeted as he stared at the useless weapon in his hands. A hollow, helpless silence filled the space between them.

Then—a noise.

A deep, guttural rumble from beneath the waves. A splash of water rained down, against his burning skin.

He turned just in time to see something rising from the depths.

A massive, towering shadow. The sea split as a colossal blue whale surged from below, its mouth yawning wide. In an instant, one of the Sunriders’ vessels was gone, swallowed whole.

His stomach lurched.

-"FUCK! WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?!"

No time to grieve. No time to think.

He ran, leaping from ship to ship, heart hammering as the sea churned beneath him. The dinghy—he had to reach the dinghy. Behind him, the beast rained chaos, wood and metal crashing like thunder as the ocean swallowed everything in its wake.

The monstrous creature surged from the depths, its sheer size enough to send everyone scrambling. Chaos erupted as the ship trembled beneath their feet.

Max sprinted, leaping across the wreckage, grabbing Twinkle Toes mid-verse.

-"Time to go, buddy!" he barked, twisting just in time to see the whale bearing down on them.

He held on tight as the dinghy rocked violently, the creature stopping just inches away—so close he could feel the rush of displaced air.

Twinkle Toes, unfazed, giggled, reaching out toward the behemoth.

Speaking to it.The kids voice echoed in a language Max couldn't understand, something ancient, something vast.

Max’s breath hitched. His mind reeled.

-"...Fuck me," he muttered. "You're a wizard."