Ghostwriter

I suppose it's alright there wasn't much response to this one; there wasn't a lot of room given to you all. I will try and give more freedom next time-- this ought not be just my story, after all.

Writing this is fun. However, I think we ought wrap the story up in not too long, here. These characters are rapidly becoming rich with details, and I'm antsy to see them realized. I'm also... losing a bit of steam. You might have noticed-- I went to grab a drink, and took a brief pause.

sorry. puffy. i always get the first letter and number of letters right!

Oh, don't be sorry. I'm honestly the same way; it takes a lot of backtracking to ensure names are correct, especially Yaffenhash. I've never been good with titles of any kind.

she has to get everyone on that vessel, come hell or literal high water. but it's puffy that steps up to the plate

Yaffenhash turns the corner, and raises her voice, entire body perked up. "Hey, hey... both of you, you're gonna wanna get up. We might have to move soon."

Belfry and Dime are in dire straits, but support one another with their weight; stand, breathe, walk. "Alright," says Belfry softly, "just don't ask me to fly again." Her taller reptilian counterpart can't help but laugh, nod, and share in that barely-alive expression for one more moment. She spots Dime grin faintly.

"Hey!" calls Yaffenhash, poking her head over the crowd of tripodals watching the massive, bulky thing escape the sea upward. "Listen! I know what you probably think, but that ship is everyone's only chance, now. That's the reptilian vessel, headed to the skies. We're not safe on the open ocean."

Not many faces tilt to see her. Most discard the words of a snake. Puffy the Solemn, however, turns completely, his bitter form ready to throw a punch... but then he spots Dime, his face meek but his body upright, standing next to the reptilian. He pauses a moment, and locks eyes with Dime, staring intently, thinking so very many things all at once. His gaze dances between the slightly exasperated Yaffenhash to the exhausted Belfry to the blank-faced Dime, and he takes a long breath, putting it all together.

Yes, this is a group of miscreants, and yes, they've been a pain to try and argue with, and yes, he did just try and kill Dime. But he supposes they're the reason he's still here, and as they worked together in frantic unison last night, he also supposes they've all got the same goal in mind.

"...Listen to'er, all of you," he mutters. Isn't loud enough. He turns around, clasps Rocks by the shoulder, and shouts, "Listen to 'er! Get this fuckin' ship moving to that wart in the sky before it's too far gone!"

His wife argues, the captain argues. Puffy argues louder. He's not particularly great at arguing. But amidst his frantic pointing at Yaffenhash and raised, booming, angry voice, he makes some decent points. Even a vessel of this size with cardboard generating endlessly will never produce enough to feed the number of refugees aboard-- and, besides, what if another storm comes? "You saw what happened to the fuckin' island," Puffy shouts. "I don't wanna be on a flimsy boat when the sea gets hungry again!"

"I know you get seasick, drear," Rocks mutters. "That's all this is."

"This is everyone's lives at stake! I don't trust lizards any more than any of you, but if these three little shits wanted us sunk or dead, they'd have already done it."

Belfry lets out a cough, then steps forth. "I freed the mast from the island last night." Dry-heave. Barely steady. "...a-and I don't... really know about this plan, either, but it's a good shot to get out of here."

The people of the ship relent after five minutes; by then, the ship has begun to lift off. However, beneath the waves, more of it reveals itself... the lizards' vessel is tall, and it has been underwater for quite some time. The crew shift the masts, the boat slowly swerves, and they begin to bee-line.

and when they finally sink under... they see that what has been created in all these drownings is an Atlantis situation

Yaffenhash holds herself together.

"Most reptilians aren't great at shapeshifting into mobile creatures," she says, leaning against a mast for support. "Especially not avian. The best most can do is fish-- fast-moving, hard to detect from the surface. So the contingency if anything goes wrong is..."

Dime speaks up, sat on one of the deck's small steps. "S-So you've all been hiding underwater this whole time?"

"Not exactly," Yaffenhash mutters. "But it's a place to rest up before lifting off into the clouds. That one's tall-- we'll make it in time, I think."

Puffy lowers his brow. "Sure. What's the plan after that? What do we do, ram it?"

The reptilian simply shrugs. "That'd probably be enough to breach and get people inside. Somebody would have to get up to one of the higher levels and keep it ascending, else somebody might disable it-- good of the people, or whatever the hell."

"What," Belfry says softly, resting her head against the side of the tall wooden railing, "so y-you just don't care about th-these people anymore? Y-You're just okay with... fighting them?"

"I don't know." Yaffenhash takes a long breath. "...I've got a lot to think about. I'm realizing just how little they've actually prepared for refugees in case of something like this. I think we've got to focus on the people who we've got here, above all else. Once we're up in the sky, we can start thinking of bigger-scale plans."

The boat pushes through waves at impressive pace; sea wind pushes past each person's body, and the bobbing grows in intensity. The gigantic structure continues to lift out of the water, propelled by forces unknown-- but its wide walls can be seen, like a murky-blue target amidst dirty sky.

Puffy huffs. "Okay, so you gotta get somebody to... keep somethin' enabled. Upper floors. There's gonna be lizards in the way?" He pats the slung firearm over his backside.

"Yes," says Yaffenhash. "We'll need somebody to go up to do that, maybe a few people. It'd be great if you didn't hurt anyone, as a note."

After composing himself, Dime speaks out suddenly, lifting up his body and standing on not-too-sure legs. "I'll come."

Behind him, Puffy simply chuckles. "Let's not."

"I'm a cop," Dime stammers. "I... got training. Not much, b-but this is my job. Sh-should've been my job the whole time."

"No shit," says Puffy. His brow lowers again-- textbook move. "You don't look it."

"Yeah, I've gotten that a lot."

The plan comes into focus in the five minutes before impact. The boat's utilities are shifted to act as boarding rails, and the speed of both the ship and treacherous wind picks up. Puffy organizes the handful of tripodals willing to enter first, and hands out some of the ship's harpoon guns-- though Dime refuses the offer with a chuckle, pointing at the holster on his right side. Subtle enough. "Stun gun," he says softly. "They didn't ever let me carry a real one, which was... p-probably good."

"Works even after it's been in the water?"

Dime nods. "People on i-islands like waterproofing, turns out."

They ready at the front of the ship, with the mast facing forth like a battering ram. The gigantic vessel continues lifting, with no apparent notice of their incoming arrival-- and it seems they've got the drop on them.

Puffy stands at the very head, with Dime beside him. After a moment of consideration, he mutters, "Sorry for trying to kill you, kid."

"It's alright," Dime huffs. "Sorry for ending the world."

"Eh, well. We all screw up sometimes."

Belfry and Yaffenhash rest on each other's weight at the center of the ship. It's been some years since they've done something so rash together, and it's exciting the both of them, even through the pain and tension. The vessel rockets through water, and their target begins to loom over the entire crew, all watching in awe, hands ready to do something, but nothing in particular.

"So what do we do?" Belfry asks weakly.

"Get inside and survive," Yaffenhash assures her.

"...But what else?"

The reptilians hold each other close for a moment as the taller of the two mutters, "Hope this works, I suppose."

Twenty seconds to impact.

Fifteen.

Ten.

Five...

...

...

What happens in this ensuing chaos? Where are they going next?

Perhaps more importantly: what is 'endgame'?