Out of the Blue and Into the Black (open) || Fire & ???
Standing at the bow of the tinyship as the storm tossed it about, Fire had to keep a firm grip on the railingat all times just to keep from getting tossed down onto the slick deck. Black clouds dominated the sky, and thunder rumbled almost constantly. The waves grew ever higher as the winds whipped past them. Fire’s hat had long ago stopped being effective in keeping him dry, but he still had to keep the brim down low over his face just to keep the sheets of rain from stinging his face and eyes. His Pikachu, Zeke, was balanced on the railway next to him, his eyes darting about to follow every shot of lightning.
The captain of the boat hadn’t stopped flitting about the deck since the first clouds had appeared on the horizon, but he still took the time to approach Fire and say, “I’m sorry it turned out like this, son.” He had to shout just to be heard over the roar of the wind. His exhaustion showed in every line of his face, and his arms trembled where they clutched at the railing. Fire could hardly blame him—this storm had come out of nowhere, and on this tiny ship, the captain and his Machoke were the only crew members. Fire smiled and shrugged—What’re you gonna do?
A clap of thunder and a burst of lightning exploded in the sky almost simultaneously—it had to be right on top of them. It might have actually hit the boat, had Zeke not drawn the bolt towards himself and absorbed all of its energy. He'd been doing this ever since the storm had begun. His lightning rod ability had made it easy, at first. By this point, though, all of the extra energy was making Zeke antsy—he fidgeted and twitched his head from side to side at every small sound, and Fire didn’t think he was imagining the bright aura of crackling energy that the little Pokémon as giving off. Soon, he’d need to discharge it all.
“Thanks for doing this,” the captain yelled. “It’s a big help.”
Fire smiled and waved him off, as if to say, It’s the least I could do. The smile the captain gave him in return was thin and weak. He nodded curtly before rushing back to the other end of the boat.
Fire went back to staring out over the open water, hoping for a break in the storm and seeing none. The ship’s moaning grew more dire with every passing minute; now, there were snapping sounds mixed in among the creaking. Fire tried to get his mind off of the ominous sounds by thinking about the ship’s singular other passenger. He wondered where they’d gotten off to; he assumed that they were helping out in another place, since he hadn’t seen them towards the front of the deck.
