meryoon / yoonmin

Survival of the Fittest

He felt water licking at his legs. That was unusual. Why would there be water in his bed? The next thing he registered was that his entire body felt heavy; as if an imaginary elephant sat right on top of him.

Now, that was even more unusual. He knows very well how sore muscles are supposed to feel, but what he was feeling at the moment topped every single one of his experiences. He heard a disgruntled noise of both pain and panic when he tried to move his arm. It took him a few seconds to realize that he was the one making that sound. His newfound alarm snapped him out of his trace and back into reality.

Yoongi gasped, his entire body trembling from the effort to crawl onto all fours. While exhaustion had a ruthless grip on his body, snippets of his memory of the previous night's horror were flooding his brain. The unexpected assault. The storm. The ship sinking into the greedy hands of the sea. The cries of his men ringing in his ears.

"Fuck," he rasped, trying to shake the noises out of his head. Right in the next second pain shoots straight into his neck and Yoongi grunted lowly in his throat. Turning around he managed a position of half-sitting half-lying in the wet sand. He lifted his trembling hand to feel around his pulsing nape. Yoongi heaved sharply when his unstable fingers accidentally put pressure on his wound.

"Motherfucking asshole, that stings," he hoarsely cursed. He wished he had a flask of fresh, cold water to pour over his gashing injury because it felt absolutely filthy and swollen. The saltwater definitely disinfected it but it didn't help with the stinging one bit. Trying to distract himself he carefully lifted his head to look around.

If it were under any other circumstances Yoongi would have agreed that the place was mesmerizing. Behind him the mountain range stood tall, reaching its height with steep slopes which made Yoongi almost certain that they were the creations of a slumbering volcano. And if the structure of the hills weren't a dead-giveaway then the brilliant buzz of life and fertile vegetation would have definitely proved Yoongi's suspicion.

Vibrant colors assaulted his eyes wherever he looked; the greenery so lively and rich while the waters and the sky gave a beautiful mix of blues, yellow and pink. The sandy beach he was currently sitting on, was actually hugged by the mentioned mountain range, creating an all natural gulf. All in all, it was beautiful but Yoongi acknowledged none of its beauty.

He couldn't when the beach was littered with remnants of the shipwreck. Broken wooden planks, part of a mast which still had a shred of the sail clinging to it, numerous other movables that drifted off in the water and last but not least; bodies. Numerous, lying half in the water and half on the beach.

Yoongi forced himself onto his shaking legs. He swayed when he straightened up because suddenly the tree-line and the sky exchanged places. It felt like minutes but the world slowly stopped spinning behind his eyelids and Yoongi forced himself to move forward. He stubbornly placed one leg after another, not stopping until he reached the body closest to him. Dropping onto his knees Yoongi wrestled the man onto his back. He recognized him. It was Hank, their loud-mouthed cook who made killer steaks.

But instead of the usual smile, Hank used to greet him, Yoongi helplessly watched as the cook's head lolled onto the side, glassy eyes lifelessly open. His usual red cheeks were now ash-grey and swollen as the process of rotting has already started. Yoongi felt like throwing up. As fast as his tired limbs allowed him, the sailor stood up and stumbled a few steps away from his dead mate.

Yoongi knew that this image was now engraved into his memory forever. What a fucking nightmare. The sailor gagged once but didn't throw up though.

"Get your shit together," Yoongi murmured to himself, trying to swallow the lump in his throat.