I was sure in one thing, ships were awfully noisy machines and I absolutely hated them. I hated knowing that we were surrounded by massive amount of deep, dark water and all we had to do was wait until we reached the land. The adventure Pietro mentioned before we took off, was a lie. I've been holed up in a cell my whole life, and that's how being on a ship felt like.

“Houston, we have a problem.” Funske mumbled as he thoughtfully stared down the the pile of papers in his hands. After the awfully sweet, long and unnecessary informative introductions the day earlier, I became to dislike those English men.
Because Pietro seriously knew how to make a fool out of both of us. Apparently, I didn't speak because I had ego issues, I was blind because as a kid I accidentally jabbed my eye with a pencil. And because I was mostly blind from one eye, I accidentally jabbed the other eye as well.
That was the most ridiculous lie I've ever heard.

“I have no idea what I'm supposed to do, but they want to see those papers soon. What is all of this? Why is it needed? Don't they have, I don't know, other people for that?” Pietro whisper-yelled as I trailed behind him. We were under the deck were most cars were, according to Pietro, we had to make important face and look like we were inspecting the cars and every small damage. Considering I was to play blind person, I didn't really care about the inspecting-cars thing.

I could feel the crew giving us curious looks from time to time. And more then once were doubtful, it was making me restless and ichy.

Pietro kept conversing with me quietly, whining over the papers he had to fill, yet, not understanding what he was supposed to write and where. So most of the time he simply drew small ducks and wrote poetry. Or at least, tried to.

I, however, was listing in on conversations around us, quiet whispers of distrust and jokes on our manners and looks. I found myself to be angry whenever someone commented on Pietros childish and crazed personality. I was the only one who could call him stupid.

“I heard captain and inspector speaking, they think these two are some kind of runaways or thieves.” the words were quiet, but not quiet enough for my ears. I halted on my tracks, grabbing Pietros upper arm to make him stop. His curious blue eyes landed on me, yet he made a thoughtful face as he tapped the pencil against the papers as he stared at the gigantic truck before us. By the confusion and curiosity in his eyes, it made me belive he couldn't hear what I could.

“what? How so?” I blocked out the other conversation as my eyes landed on the two deckhands who were eating sandwiches as one of them leaned against a truck five cars down from us. “you know how curious Mike is, so he looked over their information and by what he said, these two have nothing in common with Dutch cargo control guys. He went to notify captain immediately. It's the most action we've gotten on this ship for a while, I bet they are some kind of criminals running from FBI or something. Can you believe it, Dave? If they are, we could be on BBC news.”

I growled and grabbed Pietros wrist, he let out a surprised huff, yet said nothing as he followed me. We had to find a good hiding spot, somewhere not indoors, somewhere where we could possibly, jump off the ship if needed. “okay, okay what's going on? Hey, what happened back there?” I could hear slight panic in his voice as he followed me.

We got odd looks, considering I was to be blind. But we were caught anyways, there's no need to keep playing this madness.
“what, really? They are liars?” “where'd you hear that from?” “has anyone called the police yet?” silent voices made me confident in my theories, we got caught.

Outside, I pulled Pietro between the large boxes. His confused expression made me almost groan, why couldn't he just listen what was going on around us. He was so oblivious to what was happening, only to understand when four deckhands rushed past the cargo boxes, mumbling about finding the two criminals.

“oh.” Pietros eyes widened a she pulled me lower, ducking as his eyes flickered around us, making sure no one spotted us. “oh” I raised an eyebrow at him “oh for fucks sake. What are we gonna do.” he mumbled as he desperately tried to think of something.

I knew a way to get off this ship.

I just wasn't sure did Pietro know what to do. He quieted down when a voice announced from the speakers. “Funske Berkenbosch and Joey Jaager, please come to captains office on level six.” my eyes landed on Pietro as he snorted. “what are we, in school?”

I didn't even stop to think on his nonsense talk anymore. Besides, I wasn't sure he even knew what he was talking about.

I could sense his hidden fear and anxiety as the commotion on deck rised. It was obvious more people were coming outside, their eyes tarting between the possible hideouts. Because everyone knew that by now, we should have shown our faces. I could sense their excitement and fear, someone had gotten proof that we weren't Funske and Joey.

And that meant we had probably already been reported to people whoever dealt with laws. “—what to do, what to do, what to do—” I turned to Pietro, closing my eyes for a second.

I thought about it, thought about it hard. Tried to force myself to change, to be the beast I was made to be. To a monster I was turned into. I concentrated, trying to find that flicker of pain in my spine that could possibly turn me into that large, dangerous creature that could do much damage and always lusted for blood. Only to find out that I couldn't, I could only control my claws, but not my ability to change.

I gritted my teeth, thinking over the way heavy wings on my shoulders felt like, how the scales would crawl up my skin during the change. It didn't work. I couldn't change.

I gulped, feeling the sweat on my forehead because I too, was afraid. My fear had different reasons than Pietro. I couldn't completely understand it, that utmost anxiety that came with thoughts of speaking. But I had to, because I had feeling that Pietro didn't know what I was capable of. I needed to get him off this ship, he couldn't go back.

I opened my mouth, trying to control the shaking of my hands I clasped them behind my back. I could feel the cold, salty air in my throat as I sucked in breath, trying to make my vocal chords work.

Hearing the breath of intake, Pietros head snapped at me with startling speed, his eyes wide, expecting. He ignored the commotion as he crouched lower, his eyes searching mine. “come on, what is it?” his voice was gentle and encouraging as he urged me to speak, he kept his distance, which I appreciated.

I gulped, not understanding why was I so afraid of speaking. I knew it was just Pietro, they couldn't do anything to me. They wouldn't know at the moment, Pietro wouldn't tell them. Pietro isn't like that. He's good.

“y-yo-you” I snapped my jaw shut, feeling my cheeks heat up in embarrassment. Why couldn't I be normal. My voice was raspy, and it almost hurt to speak. “go on, don't worry just tell me, you know I won't judge.” Pietros accented voice was quiet as he reassured me with his blue eyes.

I took another breath of salty air in my lungs as I tried to finish the sentence. “m-must com-command m-m-me, I-” I took another deep breath, not daring to look up at speedster in fear he'd laugh at me. “I-I can-can't c-change w-w-willingly.”

When I was met with silence I looked up, he was frowning. “I'm not like them. I won't tell you what to do, and what do you mean by changing? You're already cool, Joey.” I sighed, feeling frustrated at him.

“r-r-repeat af-after m-me v-v-veränderung” I panted, as if speaking was the hardest thing I've ever done, because it did felt like it. My throat hurt and I already dreaded the pain to come. “f-f-form tw-two”  I closed my eyes, hoping he'd listen. I growled and shrugged his hand from my shoulder.

“what does it mean, little dude? What do these words do?” he whispered, concert flashing in his eyes.

I said nothing. I couldn't say anything, he either was going to listen to me, or not.
I looked up at him, even thought I wasn't sure if he could see my eyes throught the dark glasses he still nodded doubtfully. “Veränderung form two” even thought his spelling was off and his voice was quiet and filled with doubt, the moment he said it I could feel the pain ripple through my back and chest.

I dropped on my knees, hoping that thud hadn't yet caught enough attention. I opened my mouth for silent screams as I could feel my eyes getting wet. I watched in agony as my human nails grew out, turning into long, sharp and deadly claws. Pietros hands held me from my shoulders as he pulled me back into the shadows of the boxes. His grip was strong and I wanted to break free. But the pain was coming in waves and I couldn't hardly worry about something like close proximity.

“what did I do?! I take it back! Undo it, what do I say? Hey, Joey, what do I say to take it back?!” there was pain in his voice, I didn't understand it.

It was to save us both.

I pushed him away, perhaps with too much force, but I couldn't stand his emotions that kept ramming into my mind like constant annoying buzz of the vessels engine. I groaned, feeling my bones break and move into different angles.
The hot trails of growing scales ran up my skin as I arched my back. Why did it have to be such a painful process.
Pietros whining didn't help either, I could vaguely see his troubled eyes as they flickered between me and the men searching us on the deck.

Not much time left.

I could feel my legs and neck getting longer, I watched in sadness as my hands were covered in dark scales.

I was truly a beast. A monster.

I stumbled up, trying to keep balance with my long tail. I was breathing hard and I hesitantly looked up at Pietro, even when I could tower over him and possibly even kill him with on bite, I was still worried.

Hearing footsteps getting closer to our destination, I grabbed Pietro in between my front legs and pulled him close to my stomach, I only hoped he was ready for a cold swim.

I jumped over the railing, hoping that the dark knight would hide my monstrous form from humans eye.

I could sense Pietros panic as I dived into the cold, black water. It felt as if the daggers of ice jabbed at my every scale, I pulled Pietro closer, knowing my body heat would help him.

With my wings and tail I tried to swim as fast and far as possible, I knew Pietro couldn't hold his breath forever.
The water was murky and black as the night, but I knew everywhere was safe but the ship.

When I felt we were far enough, I pushed us both on the surface, flying out of the water in hopes we remained unseen by every possible eye.

It made me cringe when Pietro coughed out the cold water, his breathing hard. I whined lowly, trying to make him understand I didn't mean to drown him.

“what the fuck have I gotten myself into.” he whispered as I helped him climb on my back. I huffed, shaking my neck and tail to get rid of the cold water under my scales.

I guess he wasn't really used to flying, especially on someones back like that.

A/N

I'm curious, where's everyone from?

(if anyone cares, I'm from Estonia)

AND

*Peter Parkers voice *
OmG oMg DiD yOu eNjOy ThiS cHaPtEr? DiD yOu?