Something even more horrifying happened after that.
Instead of writhing in pain like a normal creature would when having received a fatal blow, it just shuddered and twitched.
The black skin of the tentacle rippled like waves, contracting and squishing together as if it was jelly.
'What...the...hell.'
Kristen, who was just a few meters away from the grotesque scene, felt a fear like nothing she had ever known before grow in her very being.
The blood drained from her face as she continued watching, unable to look away. The crew was now fully awake and yet didn't seem disturbed at all.
Almost as if this was a regular occurrence.
Finally the tentacle went limp and the other ones also met the same fate. An aura she didn't even realise was there also disappeared, a fray of bubbles coming up from the side of the ship.
The mysterious woman dusted her hands off and began giving orders to her crew.
"Don't just stand there! Fix these holes and repair the ship!" Her words were put into action immediately with the workers already bringing out new planks and nails.
With that out of the way she turned back to the three large birds frozen on the top deck.
"Well. That was certainly an introduction." The captain humourlessly joked.
"I guess its to be expected when on the sea."
Lucia was the first to respond.
The woman's face became grim once more before being forcefully relaxed.
"My name is Maria, and it was truly not a pleasure meeting you." She spoke while glancing at the wrecked section of the ship.
"Since you've already helped us once I doubt that having you hitch our ride isn't that much of a deal."
A small bit of relief seeped into Lucia features at her words.
"That's Lucia and Kristen, I am Olivia. Thank you for letting us stay here, we truly appreciate it." She said.
'I DON'T! THIS PLACE IS FUCKING CRAZY! WE LITERALLY JUST BOARDED THE BOAT AND A FUCKING EVIL ASS TENTACLE TRIED TO EAT US ALIVE.'
Kristen had a very different perspective on who should be thanking who.
Still shaken up from seeing someone die without even struggling she eyed Maria up and down before huffing and trodding away.
'Stupid tentacle. Stupid Maria. Stupid-WAIT A GOODAAWMMN MINUTE. Didn't I get attacked by a tentacle in that forest? DID IT FOLLOW ME BACK. Oh hellllllll NO!'
With this new revelation dawning on her she looked around anxiously before realising that barely anyone could even see her body in the night, let alone the panicked expression written on her face.
'Phew. Hopefully no one draws this whole catastrophe back to me.'
While Kristen sulked around the other two were still chatting with Maria and asked where they would sleep on the ship, since they didn't want to go back into that storage room.
"Oh. Uhhh. You could sleep in...the crows nest that's on top of the mast."
Hearing this Olivia and Lucia were thankful that they didn't need to stuff themselves inside another storage crate.
Kristen stopped mid-pace.
Slowly, very slowly, she turned her head.
'…Did she just say crow's nest?'
For a moment she wasn't sure if the universe was mocking her personally.
She looked up.
Way up.
At the very top of the tallest mast, perched like a lonely wooden bucket against the moonlit sky, sat the crow's nest. A circular platform wrapped with railing, swaying gently with the ship's motion.
Kristen stared at it in silence.
Then she looked back at Maria.
Then back at the nest.
Then back at Maria again.
'Oh you've GOT to be kidding me.'
Lucia, on the other wing, dipped her head politely. "That will work."
Olivia nodded as well. "It's elevated and isolated. Perfect."
Kristen's eye twitched.
'Perfect?! PERFECT?!'
Her internal screaming intensified as she imagined sleeping sixty meters above the ocean on a tiny wooden platform while sea monsters apparently used the ship as a punching bag.
Maria seemed amused by the reactions.
"Well," she said, folding her arms, "it is where birds normally stay."
Kristen glared at her.
Repairs were already underway across the deck. Sailors hammered new boards into the shattered railing, ropes were re-tied and two men dragged the severed harpoon line back aboard. The efficiency made it painfully obvious that this crew had done this before.
More than once.
Lucia spread her wings.
"Come on. Before someone decides they want to examine us more closely."
That was a good point as a few curious crew members were already glancing their way.
Olivia lifted off first, gliding smoothly upward through the rigging.
Lucia followed close behind.
Kristen remained on the deck for one last second.
She glanced at the dark sea.
The water looked calm again…but she knew better. Beneath that surface could be anything. Tentacles. Monsters. Entire horrors just waiting for another midnight snack.
'Yeahhhh, nope. I am not dying to some random nightmare creature that comes up.'
With a powerful flap she launched into the air.
Wind rushed past her feathers as she climbed the mast, weaving through ropes and sail lines until she landed beside the other two in the crow's nest.
From up here the ship looked smaller.
The crew were tiny moving shapes below, lanterns glowing like fireflies across the deck and beyond them stretched the endless ocean, black and unknowable under the stars.
Kristen slowly sat down.
"…I hate the ocean," she muttered.