This is very much the beginning of something. I plan on going back and writing a bit more to the story. It comes from the following writing prompt.

Writing Prompt: You are looking out over the ocean and there is a vessel before you. Describe the setting and the vessel.

They’ve arrived. Four great masts speared the heavens. Massive white sails filled the sky, blocking out the sun and casting me in darkness. I had been warned they would be coming. I had been told, time and time again, that on this day they would arrive. 

I wasn’t ready, I wasn’t prepared. All I had with me was my sword, my armor, and my small travel sack.

The ship drew closer. Suddenly, ropes launched out from her sides like spiderwebs, flying through the air. A dozen men on the dock caught the falling ropes and heaved, bare backs strained as they guided the ship safely to the dock. 

The wood beneath my feet shuddered as she brushed up against the dock, causing me to stumble. Luckily there was a mooring beam next to me or I would have fallen off the dock and into the black murky water below. 

Resolved, I slung my pack over my shoulder and made my way to the end of the dock to meet my fate. I drew near and the men tying the ship to the dock looked up at me for only brief moments. They knew what awaited me. No one who boarded this ship ever stepped foot on these lands again. 

Since I was the only passenger boarding, I had the privilege of climbing a rickety rope ladder that was tossed overboard. As I climbed down my knuckles knocked hard against the water-worn dark wood of the hull.