D casually walked down one of the halls on the boat until he came to an open door that led to one of the bunkrooms. He entered the room at the sound of a whimpering noise and saw Slade curled up in the corner on the bottom bunk, but Brock was no where to be found. He slowly entered the room, as not to frighten the seemingly already scared dunpeal. The hunter looked around and spotted two small jars partially filled with pills near by and picked them up in his pale hands.
“Excuse me!” Brock said entering the room and snatching the jars from D.
“...Sedatives?” The hunter asked, turning to the older brother.
“What? He has a hyperactivity disorder. Not to mention he’s retarded.” Brock said with a frown.
“Is that the technical term?” Janet said entering the room with Tabitha behind her.
“No, I believe that might be ‘autistic’.” The scientist said.
“Whatever.” The ringleader turned to Brock. “Remember, map boy, you’re only here because he’s here. So shut your mouth and do what you’re told. Got it?”
“Yes, ma’am!” The navigator said with a smirk.
Janet looked around at each person in the room. “We’re loaded up, so I hope you’re all ready to go.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Two pairs.” Erin said, placing her cards on the table. She, along with Brock and Tabitha, were sitting at a table in the middle of a large room in the ship, playing poker. “What’d you get?”
“Jack.” Brock muttered.
“You need two jacks to get a pair, dude.”
“I think he means jackpot.” Tabitha butted in.
“I meant jack shit you damn morons.” The navigator blurted.
“It’s not like you can tell the difference.” Erin snickered.
“Shaddup, loser.” He snapped.
“I do not want to know where this conversation is going...” Nakoia took a puff of her cigar. “So, what do you think about the world situation?” She said turning to Slade, who was sitting on the floor near her and just looked up innocently at the dunpealess.
D wasn’t paying attention to anyone, not that he ever did listen to anyone else’s senseless babble. He sat on the large windowsill looking out at the ocean and sipping a hot cup of tea. It had been three long days since they left the shores of Portugal, south of Dracula’s castle, in Ireland. On the second day, a storm hit around dusk. No one was hurt and the ship only suffered minor damage, but it took them slightly off course. Along with the seven there, Janet also hired five diggers, who only spoke Spanish, and their translator, a young Mexican man named Adelio.
“Just deal the damn cards.” Brock said with a frown.
“Nnnno!” Erin grinned.
“Gawd, why are you being so childish?!”
“You’re being childish!”
Nakoia, sitting on the other side of the windowsill from D, looked over at him. “We’re officially surrounded by idiots.”
Suddenly, the door swung open and Janet walked in. She was casually dressed with her hair down and had a small box in her hands. “Wanna play chess?” She said looking over at D.
“........You’re scaring me.” D muttered.
“...Huh?”
“I will.” Adelio, who had been sitting at a table against a wall, said to her. Janet smiled and walked over to join him.
A high pitched beeping sounded throughout the room and Janet turned to find the source of the noise, a communications device in the corner of the room. A sleek, headset-like, mobile version of another mechanism used during the twenty-first century, now referred to as a ‘telecommunicator’. She walked over and picked up the appliance.
“Hello? ......D.” She said. “D. Hey, it’s for you.”
The hunter looked over and paused, wondering who would want to call him, then got up and went over to the telecom. He paused again as he took it from the young woman’s hand, hoping it wasn’t... well, he didn’t want to talk to anyone, but he definitely didn’t want to talk to his father or anyone at the castle. The dunpeal lifted his hand and placed the device on his ear. “Yes?”
“D... I’m impressed.” The voice on the other side, which sounded like that of a young man, said.
“...Oh?” The hunter said softly. “Who is this?”
“I haven’t a name to share. I just hope you are ready for this.”
“...For what?” The dunpeal asked, genuinely curious.
He paused and his voice seemed to get softer. “....Watch out for the white shadow...”
“...What?”
The door swung open again and one of the diggers ran in panicking. "Dragón del agua! Dragón del agua!"
Everyone in the room turned to look at him. “What did he say?” Janet asked.
Adelio blinked and looked back at her. “Water dragon.”
“Hello?” D said into the telecom, but all he got was a faint beep as the man on the other line turned his communicator off.
“Gahh!!” Erin screamed as the ship shifted violently and she, and everyone else, fell from their seats. A thunderous, unearthly roar bellowed around them.
"Dragón del agua!” The digger shouted again. “Debemos destruirlo antes de que nos destruya!”
The ship shook again. Tabitha jumped up and ran over to the window, her jaw dropped at the sight before her. When the digger said ‘water dragon’, he wasn’t kidding.
“It’s like... the very waters are rising out of the ocean to attack us...” Tabitha said, her eyes wide with astonishment.
Brock placed a hand on her shoulder. “Let’s study it after we kill it, okay?”