Another Fairy Tale /Ateez

Chapter 31 - Nine against the world

I'm the leader, both captain
my family name is different
cut in line, but we're always in the front
Attention, front and back, from side to side

- The Leaders, Ateez

"Take it!", someone yelled at Rory, but the wind was too strong to actually make out who was screaming. A rope came into her vision and she held onto it, already freezing because of the cold water. She was pulled onto the ship and saw Jongho. 

The rain was splashing against the deck and Rory had trouble keeping her eyes open. Scared she looked around, the storm getting worse every second. The ship itself had changed as well. It was no longer small and wooden. It was bigger and the floor was out of metal but Rory had nothing against it, knowing the wooden ship wouldn't have survived such a storm. 

Jongho pulled her inside, where all the boys were anxiously waiting. As soon as Yunho spotted her, shivering but alright, he sighed in relief and hugged her, not caring about getting wet as well. The past few minutes he had been worried about her, not sure if they would spot her in the water. 

"What the hell is going on?", Rory asked, her lips blue. San gave her a blanket but she knew it would be no help since they had to go outside soon. Still, she gave him a thankful smile. 

"Uhm, I think we're really close to Wonderland.", Hongjoong explained. 

"You think?" 

"The storm suddenly came up with no warning. It has to be like a last step or something. Like a challenge we have to win in order to get to Wonderland." 

"But how do we still know where Wonderland is? We can't see anything?", Rory asked. She had no idea of sailing, but she knew without stars there was no use. Hongjoong pulled out the compass of his coat, making Rory gasp. She had completely forgotten about it. 

"Whoops." 

"Now that this is cleared-", Seonghwa wanted to continue but Rory cut him off. 

"Didn't Ra say the King's ships were still here?" 

The boys' eyes widened and they all stared at each other. Hongjoong gulped and opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a loud crash from the outside. 

In a second he got his act together, knowing his team would rely on his orders, and pulled off the ropes from the wall. With fast moves he gave everyone a rope. "Bound yourself to a mast or something. The storm is getting wilder and I have no intentions of accidentally recreating Titanic." 

"Grab your weapons!", Seonghwa yelled when the others already wanted to go. "We don't know if we need them." 

It was way more difficult to navigate the ship now. Rory clung onto a mast, tying her rope around it. "I never wanted to go bungee jumping." 

The other boys had trouble to hold the sails. In order to make sure they wouldn't drown, they had to take the sails down, but it was way more difficult thanks to the rain. Hongjoong and Jongho were trying to keep the ship on track, both holding onto the steering wheel, their hands red. 

A flash lit up the dark night and a few seconds later thunder arose, making  the group aware of their dangerous situation. San had to climb up to the lookout to tie down the sail but now he knew time was running out. Desperate he pulled out his dagger which was already glowing bright red, signalling danger was near, and cut the rope of the sail. 

The next flash hit the lookout, making San yell in fear. His hand lost grip on the rope and he tried to hold onto something else. At the same time the lookout started catching fire, definitely not the light they had wished for.