Saoirse sat, shivering in the terrible black of the void.
She didn't know how long it had been since the ship sank. All she knew was that a stowaway wouldn't get a seat on the rowboats and frankly she would rather just go down with the ship than starve hoping for rescue.
It wasn't so easy to resign herself to death, her body had struggled and fought to survive, found her somewhere miraculously free of water. Still, only a matter of time. The ship creaked, the water lapped at her feet, and there was nothing else left in the world for her. She was already dead, she just hadn't stopped breathing yet.
So she waited, and waited, and wondered if the hull would break before she slowly ran out of air, or if perhaps one of the beasts of the deep would swallow the wreck whole, her and all.
She heard the soft sound of a fin breaching the water before whatever it was attached to could reach her, for there was little else to distract from the sudden intruder in her grave. She held her knees to her chest, drawing her feet hopefully out of the creature's reach. Of all the deaths that awaited her, she dreaded being eaten by something that would take more than one bite to do it the most.
The thing surfaced, and she held her breath.
"Well, aren't you fucked." It said, with a voice like broken glass.
"What are you?" Saoirse asked, unable to see through the unfathomable darkness of the depths. "You... You can't be rescue. It's too soon, and no one knew of me."
"Pirate." The voice said. "The only rescue I have to offer is the swift death of the spear."
"N-No." Saoirse said, her self preservation instincts taking over. "No! You must have a ship-"
"Aye."
"-you could take-"
"Nae."
"Please!" She pleaded. "I can't die like this!"
"You will."
Saoirse leapt into the water, splashing about as she grabbed hold of the pirate. "Please, please I'll pay-"
"What're you gonna offer that I can't pull off your corpse, lass?" The pirate asked, pushing her away.
"I, my body, I can-"
"A sailor has a girl in every port, don't you know." They said, with what sounded like a smile.
"Do you have one on your ship!?"
"This is sad, now."
"I can work on the crew!"
"You won't make it to the surface lass, we're too deep."
"Try!" Saoirse said, on the brink of tears. "Please."
The pirate drew her in, close enough for her to feel her breath.
"If I take you, that's a dive I'm not taking something expensive. If you die, I am emptyhanded. If you live, you will make yourself valuable enough to me to be worth the risk. Understood?"
Saoirse nodded, desperate.
"There are far kinder monsters than me in the deep, lass." The pirate said, holding her tight to her chest. "Last chance to choose the spear. Breathe deep."
Saoirse inhaled as much as she could, and then the two sank beneath the water. She couldn't see anything, even with her eyes held open against the stinging salt, but she could feel they were moving fast. They wound through the broken hull of the ship, and then up, and up, and up, and up until she could see the light of the sun, until her chest burned, until she could hold her breath no longer and the sea swept into her lungs.
She coughed, spewing water violently.
"You lived." Rasped the same jagged voice. "You'll regret that, once I return."
There was a loud splash, presumably her rescuer off to find more salvage. She coughed again, dragging herself to the side of the deck to retch the last dregs of the sea from her lungs before she curled into a ball and wept.
