Scratching and screeching came from every direction. It was the sirens. There was more of them. Arven and the others burst out of the cabin and Aijun stood up on all fours. He could smell them. It smelt like salt water mixed with rotten flesh.

“Aijun… remember when you said you would give me control?” Jonathan asked. Aijun knew he wasn’t used to this form enough to use it to fight. He knew that if he tried attacking these sirens, he would end up dead. This would be the first time he willingly gave over control of his body to Jonathan.

Jonathan felt Aijun fall back as he was thrust into the front of Aijun’s mind. He had full control of the body they shared now. Jonathan took a long breath in. His mother had taught him about how to use his senses to his advantage. If he focused, he could use his hearing, and his sense of smell to pinpoint how many there were, and where they were coming up.

He growled as he stalked toward the left side of the boat. Just as he did, the first siren climbed over the railing where Jonathan was waiting for it. He surged forward and bit down on the creature’s neck.

Arven and Emma both had long swords in their hands. They stood back to back as the creatures started climbing over the railing. Finn was too tired to change again. If he changed again, he was worried he wouldn’t have any influence on the monster within. So instead, Finn hoisted Adrik over his shoulder and started carrying him toward the cabin.

Jonathan jumped in front of Finn. What was he doing?

“He’s not safe out here!” Finn argued with the wolf. Jonathan wasn’t sure why he hated Finn so close to Adrik like that. But it didn’t matter. Finn was right, and Jonathan was standing right in the way of his safety. Aijun growled in the back of Jonathan’s mind.

Arven took down another siren by slashing it’s chest wide open. There was nothing deterring them from coming aboard. And the more they killed, the more seemed to climb out of the depths to eat them alive. Were they trying to revenge their fallen sirens?

“Siren’s are passive predators. They don’t attack without a good reason!” Arven said to Emma. Emma sliced an arm off of a creature and grimaced. She hated blood and gore. Her nightmares would consist of that for at least a week after this.

“What are you saying? Do you think Adrik is causing this?” Emma yelled over the screeching of the sirens. Arven’s ears were starting to bleed again from sensitivity. A siren grabbed at his sword but he manages to slice it’s hands off before stabbing the siren through the heart.

“Maybe. Tell Aijun to try and wake Adrik up.” Arven said. Emma looked over at him for a split second. She didn’t understand what he was thinking. Aijun and Jonathan were busy killing sirens with them. Why not have Finn try and wake Adrik up?

Nothing made sense but she eventually made her way over to the wolf. The way the wolf moved was so natural that she knew immediately that it was Jonathan, not Aijun. Jonathan subdued another siren before looking up at her with a bloody snout. Emma’s own sword was bloody, but nothing like the animalistic side Jonathan had going on. And certainly not like Finn’s monster either. How come all the men she knew were bloody monsters?

“Wake Adrik up. Any method you can think of, try it. He might be the cause of all this.” She swung her arms out to gesture at “this”, and a not-quite-dead siren took a chomp out of her forearm. Emma screamed louder than any of the sirens as Jonathan attacked the siren. He went for the throat and didn’t let go until he was sure it was dead this time.

Emma dropped her sword and knelt down. She ground her teeth together to keep from screaming again. The pain was dizzying. There was so much adrenaline pumping through her that it barely hurt after the initial bite. Emma could see the pointed and jagged teeth marks in her arm and looked away. She picked up her sword and did her best to ignore the pain.

Jonathan turned on his paws and headed for the cabin. Luckily the door swung open at the exact moment he needed it too. Finn stood at the door and was gripping his sword with white knuckles. He heard Emma scream. Arven was doing his best but was quickly getting overwhelmed by the amount of creatures.

“Tag me in,” Finn held out his free hand. Jonathan bumped his nose with Finn’s hand, even though it was the weirdest thing he has ever done as a wolf. He let Jonathan through and closed the door behind him. Finn pulled out his sword and started piling up the body count.

Jonathan wandered over to Adrik’s unconscious body. He was still breathing, but it was labored. Aijun forced through Jonathan and made a whining noise. They could hear Adrik struggle to take in one breath after another. If they didn’t do something soon, Adrik would die like this.

“Can you turn back now?” Aijun asked. They seemed to share the same space simultaneously for that moment. Aijun could hear Jonathan’s answer without Jonathan actually saying anything. They were finally in sync with each other.

Jonathan stretched his front paws forward and lowered his head. The change started with his paws as the claws shortened and changed to fingernails. The fur sunk back into Aijun’s skin, leaving him bare and naked. Aijun and Jonathan leaned over Adrik’s uncomfortable face. They were together here, and neither of them had any ideas on what to do.

“Why would everyone else except him wake up?” Jonathan wondered aloud. Aijun thought for a minute.

“Because he didn’t fall asleep in the dreamscape like we did. But I don’t know why…” Aijun responded aloud. He felt crazy talking out loud to someone he could converse with in his head. Jonathan felt the same way.

“What if we force him to wake up?” Jonathan asks. Aijun started thinking it over. On one hand, it might wake him up. On the other, it could kill him. Hell, they weren’t even sure waking him up would stop the attacks. They didn’t know anything about sirens to begin with.

“It’s worth a shot.”

Aijun knew from experience that if he needed to wake someone up, a sternum rub was the best way to go about it. He wished he had something better, like smelling salts. But they were rare in any place but high mountain temples. At least, in his home country that was the only place to get them.

“Will this hurt him?” Jonathan asked. Aijun took control of the body and promptly shoved Jonathan back into the depths of his mind. He didn’t want Jonathan to cloud his thoughts or his judgement. Of course this would hurt. And if he didn’t wake up, Aijun wasn’t sure if there was any other way to bring him out of this.

Aijun made his hand into a fist and pushed down hard on Adrik’s sternum.

“Remember kids, don’t try this at home…” He murmured to himself as he started rubbing the sternum harshly. Aijun watched for signs of visible discomfort. It wasn’t working. He would have been awake by now with this method. But Aijun couldn’t stop. He wanted- no, he needed Adrik to wake up. He didn’t have any other ideas besides this.

“Aijun, stop. You’re hurting him-” Jonathan protested.

Aijun was just about to give up when a fist flew out of nowhere and hit him squarely in the jaw. He doubled back and his hand automatically flew to his jaw. Adrik stood up with a crazed look in his eyes.

“Why are you naked, you pervert!” Adrik yelled at him. He held his hand like it was broken. That would be funny. Adrik breaking his hand punching the assassin in the face.

“I’m trying to save your life, you dumbass!” Aijun yelled back. Aijun was a little too comfortable with no clothes on. Adrik’s eyes drifted down- lower, lower… his eyes snapped back up to meet Aijun’s as he yelled at him.

“What the hell is going on?” Adrik stressed the ‘hell’ with a roll of his northern hemisphere accent. Aijun pulled on the pants he had been wearing when Jonathan had changed earlier, and then picked up his wrinkled shirt.

Aijun didn’t answer as he threw the shirt over his head and peered out through a crack in the door. The attacks had slowed down. No new sirens were hopping over the railings, so Aijun took that as a safe gesture.

Jonathan suddenly pushed Aijun back long enough to yell at him out loud. He felt that if he had an audience, his argument would have more of a stance to it.

“How dare you ignore me? You knew it would hurt and you did it anyway? And then you wouldn’t stop-”

“It worked didn’t it?” Aijun growled at himself.

“Oh, this is too weird for me. I’m out.” Adrik attempted to pass Aijun out the door. Both Aijun and Jonathan stopped him by grabbing his forearm and pushing him back into the cabin.

“Look through the crack. Those creepy monster things are still there,” Jonathan opened the door a crack and invited Adrik closer.

“They are called Sirens, Jonathan.” Aijun corrected. Adrik ignored their bickering and peered through the crack in the door. There were, in fact, creepy monster things laying dead all over the wooden deck of the boat. Adrik recognized them from his dream. The one that screeched in Arve’s ears. He wondered if Arve was okay.

“You seem to be accepting Jonathan better now.” Adrik said quietly.

Aijun and Jonathan didn’t say anything. Neither wanted to admit that they loved sharing a mind as much as they loved having their own space. When Aijun was all alone in the dreamscape, it was the best thing that had happened to him in a while, but the thought of never hearing Jonathan again… scared him.

They watched through the peephole as Arven killed the last of the sirens. Finnigan was smiling ruefully. There was greenish blood splattered all over his shirt. It didn’t disgust the monster like it should have. He seemed proud of it.

Aijun opened the door wider and stepped out. Adrik followed cautiously behind.

Emma collapsed on the ground dramatically and sat up against the wooden railing. Arven worked on talking Finnigan into not killing any of them.

“Is that it? Is it over?” Jonathan asked from Aijun’s mouth.

They breathed a collective sigh of relief. It was over.