The Hurricane Pixie
It's true that the giant hurricane pixie looked friendly enough. Of course, most pixies seem friendly, until you get to know them; but still, this pixie's inviting smile was convincing enough to make Kara think that she might be able to get somewhere by talking to her. Maybe she could actually be convinced to stop pushing wall after wall of waves toward the Psyche and its crew with every beat of her glassy wings. "Excuse me! Is there any way you could do that somewhere else?" Kara asked. The hurricane pixie seemed to open her cute little mouth to say something back, but all that Kara heard was the shrill howl of a billion bitter winds sharpening themselves against each other. "Oh wow. You know, I'm not sure, but I think that was a no." Nagle said sarcastically--because just about everything that came out of Nagle's big mouth (which really was abnormally large for his tiny imp body) came out sarcastically. So far, Nagle's only suggestion as to what they should do about the pixie was to blast her out of the water, but cannonballs shot in the direction of a hurricane had a way of changing direction. And besides, Kara had basically taken over as captain at this point, since Nagle had no real interest in directing them anywhere and since Professor Zeus had proven that his sense of direction couldn't be trusted. So she didn't have to take directions from Nagle. Or respond to his perpetual sarcasm, for that matter. "So I didn't catch that." She addressed the pixie. "You know, I'd really like to understand what's going on with you! Of course, that's partly because I don't want our ship to sink.. but it's also partly because I hate see anyone in a state like this. What is it that's bothering you?" The hurricane pixie seemed to mumble something, and a fresh onslaught of ill winds punched at the sail of the Psyche mercilessly until the mast of the ship itself snapped. "Somebody's in a mood." Nagle said. "I figured that one out, Nagle, but thanks for the insight!" Kara snapped. "I just wish that I knew what it was she was in such a bad mood about." "I was talking about you." Said Nagle. "If you're so worried about the woman, why not swim over there and talk to her? I mean, what's the worst that could happen? She seems like a reasonable enough sea monster." "Nagle! Does it look like we have time for this banter?!" A mammoth wave crested onto the bridge of the Psyche as the crew hurriedly stuffed themselves into the many lifeboats that Grumdorf had constructed for just such an occasion. "Hey, I'm just trying to help you be your best self." Nagle went on, seemingly oblivious to the emergency situation rapidly unfolding around them. "Sometimes leadership can be stressful. You might as well try to make it fun, right? Especially if you're about to drown your entire crew anyway?" Kara could tell that Nagle was having fun, in any case. He hadn't cared about captaining at all before this, of course, but now that someone was doing it who did care, he seemed to get a kick out of watching her mess up at it. "If you have a better idea of how to--" Kara began, when all at once, she was lurched off the deck. "Kara!" Nagle shouted down after her, with a note desparation that was decidedly unsarcastic. Kara suddenly felt bad--not just because she was struggling not to breathe in the pulpy water of the Collecuncon Ocean, but also because she could have been a bit more patient with Nagle. He was an imp, after all. She couldn't expect him to come up with much for conversational material besides the typical imp stuff, even if it wasn't particularly helpful. But then again, she thought, as she struggled to free herself from the current of the whirlpool sucking her toward the pixie, maybe he did actually manage to say something helpful. Maybe she should swim toward the pixie. Because swimming against the current the pixie was creating wasn't about to do her any good. With that thought, Kara took one last ragged gulp of air and swam straight into the churning heart of the whirlpool that the pixie floated above.
Comentários