A tendril of ice slithered down Hook's spine at the naming of the creature. Merrow. Hadn't Smee spun tales of those evil aquatic beasts; years ago, decades back, breathing life into a darkened pub booth with old Irish lore. They'd never seen one, never encountered the dark beings from the deep, but the name struck a chord just the same. Still, the look on Queenie's face far outweighed his own inner panic, and he forced his face to soften, hand reaching to her shoulder. "You're not going to die," he said, voice lowered. "We'll put him in the brig until we can figure out what to do with him." He added, wanting to calm that terror in her eyes. "Smee might have...some idea of what to do with him."
Queenie flinched at the touch and shook her head slightly. "It has to die! You have to kill it but you can't dump the body cause then they'll know and they'll hunt us down, but it can't be let go because it's seen me now and if it ever saw me in the water they would kill me and everyone around me. It might already know! Oh god, what if it's seen me before in the water? Or maybe it can just sense it on me." Tears streamed down her cheeks and the words came so fast they ran together almost as one, before she paused, hands coming to her cheeks as despair set in. "What if I can never go in the water again?"
"That's not going to happen," he told her, an ache in his chest at her earnest fear. He couldn't be sure of everything, but he'd do all in his power to remove that worry and to destroy that which brought such feeling to her. There was a slight, uneasy shift from the crew; all seemed to be waiting for orders, as well as trying not to appear as though they'd been straining to hear her words. James longed to pull her into an embrace, but her reaction to his touch and the eyes of his men on him, he gave a small nod. "No one removes that net," he called over her head, and turned, summoning his calm resolve that encouraged his crew. "Bind the beast through the netting and throw him in the brig," he stated coolly. "And make a direct course to land; we'll bury him deep in the forest." He angled his head, looking down at the merrow beast. Its icy stare flinched ever so slightly, but defiantly did not buckle at his words.













