Ship's Boy by Phil Geusz

hand—the right one was now missing. “I…” I tried to say. “Uh…” But of course no one ever listened to a mere Rabbit.
    “All right, Sergeant,” the voice agreed. “Have it your way. But I assure that I won’t be the one who…”
    And then a far deeper blackness than any I’d ever known before surged up from somewhere within me and carried me far, far away.
     

David Birkenhead’s adventures continue in Book 2: Midshipman
     
    Available for Kindle on Amazon and in print from Legion Printing.
     
    http://www.legion-bhm.com/publishing/