A Colossus watches the seas.


                Towed by the streams, the winds, the waves. Slowed by rust and mollusks latching to his steel body.


                Abandoned, forgotten. Left to rot. Once a proud warrior, it marched the oceans, watching over them with a deathly eye. Searching for his next victim. And once it found it, all manners of horror were set loose. Whips of red and black, spat by the monstrous cannons on his front, arching towards the enemy. From the hull sprouted a swarm, following the enemy with a menacing red eye, followed by a stream of fire and smoke.


                The Colossus roared, delivering hell and fire onto his unfortunate victim. The bullets, missiles, lasers, raced towards the enemy.


                There was a flash of light, red, and the growing of a black cloud, signaling the success of the machine. Then, came the boom. Bounced back onto the Colossus, a final scream, a final message by part of his foe. The water sizzled with the heat, as debris fell around and floated on the wrecked carcass of the ship. It sank, still burning and spitting out fumes. A final wheeze – a gurgle on the water- and the ship fully disappears, taken by the seas.


                Hundreds –thousands- of souls, taken, at the hand of the Colossus. It was the cause of so much pain, so much suffering. At the same time, what many other souls called “home”. He kept them safe, made them victorious, but at what cost? They cheered anytime they saw the thunderous flash of red, ignoring the death toll, ignoring the pain, as long it wasn’t their own.


                But now, they’ve gone.


                The seas are quiet, peaceful. The Colossus swings gently, balanced by the waves. The wind breezes past the vines and leafs, these parting from the trees and flora sprouting from the decks. The roots pierce deep into the ship, spiraling around staircases and pipes, seeping into walls and rooms. The miracle plants branched out from the deck, and leaned, almost as if, curious, towards the sea. The lucky seeds were carried by the marine winds, and landed on the barren craft. They grew, fed by the salts and proteins the sea provided.


                The Colossus was their salvation. The Colossus allowed them to flourish. It stood, heavily, the test of time. The hull eaten by rust, covered by salt, limestone and various critters lodged on his side. His cannons, rotted and fallen, sunken into the deck. Those that stood lay useless. The massive watch tower, which overlooks the entire ship and the seas surrounding it, is in no better shape as the rest. The glass shattered and non-existent. The inside instruments, once used to track and doom his preys, is ravaged, destroyed by rust and salt. Vines climb up the bridge, letting leaves and flours to peek into the room.


                The Colossus sways, lazily… weighted by the intense living mass, latched on top of him. A wave splashes on its hull, spraying water up on top of it.


                A booming thunder is heard. In the horizon, a storm approaches. A black, swirling mass, drawing all sunlight to it and angering the seas. The Colossus gazes his foe, as he knows it will be his last. He has withstood so many torments, many fights… But this is one battle he may not win.


               


                The leaves shake and the branches sway. The wind is picking up, whooshing past the ship, cut by the aerodynamic shape. The Colossus falters, sinking and surging with hardship from beneath the increasingly larger waves. The waves brush the deck, tearing many young trees off their supports. But the eldest hold. The Colossus dips down towards a wave, as he reaches the crisp of the previous, and crashes down with violence. But, it submerges, and regains composure. But not for long. The strength of the waves is cutting holes through the rotted hull, allowing water to pour in.


                Suddenly, a curtain of water and hail crash into the ship, the skies suddenly turning black. The speed of the event is frightening, the wind blasts the ship and tears off leaves, branches and entire trees. The ship climbs a huge wave, and reaches the top. The rest of the area is also dipped in darkness, the massive waves crisped by the wind, giving the appearance of teeth, roving towards the ship. The wind roars past, lashing the craft viciously. Sprays of water hit the hull and the tower, outlining a clear path through the dense curtains of rain.


                The ship plunges back down.


                Then, the base hits the top of the following wave. The ship crashes the top of the wave, momentarily floating in the air. A magnificent aura of foam surrounds the hull, which peers and rises proudly above the waves, above the chaos. A thunder rumbles, the light reflected on the ship.  Such was the force of the impact, the seeds and pollen held by the remaining trees is shot off these. A white crown momentarily surrounds the ship, made of water and pollen. The light of the thunder refracts on the crystal seeds and droplets of water. Then, the wind takes them, and violently carries them away. They have a chance. For all of the death and suffering it brought, the Colossus is offering them life.


                However, the moment of glory ends. The Colossus dips back down, towards the other wave. It hits with so much strength, it ruptures completely the front hull. Water gushes in, drowning the Colossus. The ship is fully submerged by the wave… but it rises. The top peers and bursts out of the surface, a final dare, a final challenge. And then, it goes down again.


                But it doesn’t come back up.


                The Colossus sinks, dying.


                A red trail of rusted, shredded hull, leaves, branches; tailing his descent. Much alike a fallen soldier, killed over the water, threads of blood gently arising from his bullet-pierced corpse.


                The great warrior, the last warrior.


                Finally gets his rest.