#i rather just fish and crash my boat against rocks

[rising-blood-moon]

Honestly I was hoping that I wouldn't be a pussy and play Dredge on normal mode because, whats the point of playing a cosmetic horror game without the horror?

But then I spotted the anglerfish boat in the distance and went "...Nahhhh, not today"

[bvidzsoo]

Lullaby of the seas

Author: bvidzsoo

Warning: violence, blood, mentions of eating humans but nothing graphic

Pairing: Choi Jongho x female reader

Word count: 15,2k

Summary: Choi Jongho could be described as a dreamer; he loved folklore and fairytales. His father was a sailor and often brought his son out on the sea with himself, thus they lived off of selling fish and pearls. Jongho was well raised and always kind, a very hard-working son, therefore it came as no surprise that he accepted the job offer of a mysterious pirate when his father's house got destroyed by a storm. Jongho was quiet and didn’t bother others, did his job very well and secretly fantasized about meeting a mermaid one day. There was one tiny problem, the seas they sailed had no mermaids in them, only vicious sirens out for the blood of unassuming pirates and sailors. (Reader is called Sunmi in the following oneshots.)

A/N: Second part of the series is up, lovelies! It's like the Flash possessed me or something by how quickly I finished this part lol; I'll try to post San's part before I go on vacation, but no promises. I hope I did alright with this part, and don't be shy, leave feedback, let me know your thoughts! Enjoy now!

Taglist: @pingyu-in-wonderland @marievllr-abg @lelaleleb @loveforred @horanghae8 @jeonghanscarat7 @orshii @mundayoonimnida @m3tavita @silentcry329

Series Masterlist ↭ Previous Part

               I sat on a rock, close by the shore, watching the waves crash against the beach, occasionally washing up pearls and seashells. The light breeze was slowly picking up into a more powerful wind, blowing my wet long, black hair in my face. The sun was setting in an hour, the air not as warm as it was throughout the day, and I took a deep breath, closing my eyes as I exhaled. This was my home. The sea. The ocean. The water. I have never touched land, or walked on it, as I lacked legs, as humans called them, to be able to do so. Instead of legs, I had a long-scaled tail, sturdy and strong. The black scales traveled up my stomach in an uneven pattern and covered my breasts scarcely, creating the illusion that they were molded into my skin. Despite sitting out in the sun quite often, I was rather pale, the only color on my face being my red lips which hid my sharp teeth, perfect for hunting. Despite popular beliefs, folklore was the one responsible for twisting the truth about Sirens, we only ate once a month and it was during the full moon. We recharged through the energies of the moon and through the blood of the sailors we took as our prey. Our beautiful voices lured them in, creating the perfect distraction for us to group around their boats and then attack as they were just waking up from the daze our lullabies put them into. No matter how cautious they were, they usually never made it out alive. The Raging Sea was our territory and despite sailors and pirates knowing about it, they still tried their luck and travelled through it. If the violent storms didn’t kill them, the sirens lurking in the depths surely did.

I opened my eyes and they fell on a large ship in the distance, sailing away peacefully, unassuming of the doom they were about to face tonight. It was a full moon and the swarm was hungry. Last month we didn’t find enough sailors for ourselves and had to share our prey among us, something which left us weaker than usually, thus we were starving, bloodthirsty and slightly desperate. Their blood wasn’t the only food, human flesh was tastier than anything else. Some were sweeter than others, mostly women, but we rarely had the pleasure to kill one, so we had to suffice with the disgusting sailors. Pirates were harder to trick, but if you stayed persistent, they’d willingly come to swim with you which made our job so much easier.

Bubbles travelled to the surface of the salty water before a head popped up to the surface, light green eyes staring into my icy blue ones, “Here you were.”

It was Serena, we were from the same swarm and she was someone I considered a friend. We usually stuck together when hunting in case anything went wrong, someone was there to help. Sirens didn’t make connections between each other like humans did, but I trusted Serena enough to allow her to approach me whenever she wanted. Despite living in a swarm, each one of us went on their merry ways, only reuniting when the full moon was to come up. We were stronger together than alone.

“Do you need something?” I asked her as she swum around the rock before pulling herself halfway out of the water, forearms resting on the solid surface. Serena’s head tilted and she smiled, her sharp teeth showing.

“Are you contemplating again?” She asked amused and I looked away from her, eyes focusing on the ship again. She followed my sight of line and her smile disappeared.

“About what?”

“Life.” Serena said, her expression mirroring mine. Our sharp eyes were narrowed and mouth slightly salivating at the sight of so many humans. We couldn’t help it; we were hungrier than ever before.

“I was actually fantasizing about the taste of those sailors.” I said to Serena, her eyes looking back at the ship.

“They are actually pirates,” She corrected me and then chuckled, “Silas asked us to meet near the cave, I came to let you know.”

I hummed and jumped off the rock, the cool water washing over my warmed-up body. My skin was slowly drying out from staying in the sun for so long and out of water, but it instantly rejuvenated once in the salty water. My body was light in the water and once Serena was underwater too, we swam off, headed to the cave. Our feast was soon about to start.

            The sun had set hours ago and the pirates lowered their small boats into the water, getting into them with torches in their hands. The swarm watched from afar as they started paddling towards the small deserted island. There was nothing on it except for a little green here and there and perhaps pearls, it made no sense that they were headed towards it, but nobody seemed to care. To be fair, even I could only think about their warm blood gushing into my mouth once I ripped their throats apart. There were fifteen of us in the swarm, Silas being our leader. He looked at everyone before slowly immersing himself fully underwater, everyone following after him. Our scales had a light fluorescent color in the water at night, making it easier to see each other. And even if they didn’t, our light eyes glowed in the dark, making us scarier looking than we already were. We were creatures of the sea and darkness, designed to be alluring in order to survive. We didn’t have much purpose besides feeding and playing into humans fantasies about peculiar creatures. I’ve heard many talking about mermaids while they sailed the seas, if it wasn’t a full moon we usually wouldn’t harm them. I liked to follow them closely on those days, letting them catch a glimpse of my tail in order to make them think they were hallucinating or seeing a bigger fish maybe. I heard the stories about mermaids, how friendly and sweet they were. But in reality, there were no mermaids. Only Sirens. And we weren’t friendly nor sweet. We were dangerous and lethal.

The swarm traveled carefully, making sure to remain unseen until the right moment. There were three boats in the water and five of us swam underneath each one, listening to pirates’ conversation carried by the water. The sea was quiet tonight, the full moon high up on the sky, luminating their dark paths. It was as if nature was the quiet before the storm, the storm being us. I watched as a pirate leaned over the boat slightly, his face blurry through the water and I smiled. Wasn’t he so eager to get into the water? And he wouldn’t have to wait for so much longer. Silas’ whisper carried around us like a caress, resounding around us softly and clearly, as he let us know that it was time. Serena smirked as we made eye contact and then slowly surfaced, showing her face to the pirates. I swam up as well, only peaking my eyes out, nose and mouth still underwater. The men were staring at us in awe, looking at us as if they’ve seen the biggest treasure of their lives. My eyes ran over the boat filled with six men and I found one who looked horrified. His mouth has fallen open and if I didn’t know better, I would’ve said he stopped breathing by how red his face had gotten. He was shocked, but intrigued at the same time, as I swam closer to the boat, our eyes locked onto each other. His were a dark brown, and he pushed one of the man to the side to get to the edge of the boat. I pushed my head fully out of the water and smiled at him sweetly, hiding my teeth. His eyes were wide as he stared at me and I sighed dreamily, making his eyebrows furrow.

“You’re real?” He whispered, more to himself, as I parted my lips and allowed the first note to slip through them. Our voices were angelic, high and melodic, they could lure over even certain sea animals. I didn’t think the pirate’s eyes could get any bigger than they already were, but it did, so I continued singing the lullaby, holding eye contact all the time. His body slowly seemed to relax as my voice carried higher and higher, slowly waddling closer to his boat. The pirate was fixated on me, eyes slowly dazing over, mouth slightly opening. His brain was fogged and body probably going numb from the Siren song. It was like a sweet poison, overtaking your whole being, rendering you completely helpless, allowing us to be in full control. I reached the boat and touched the side of it with my hand, nails long and pointy, as the pirate leaned closer, over the boat. His cherry-colored lips were pouty and his skin tan from staying out in the sun. I smiled at him as a few of the sirens already brought their prey into the water with them and I allowed my hand to reach the edge of the boat, lightly graze the pirate’s lips. He smiled dazed and gripped the sides of the boat, my song luring him inside the water. And as he got rid of his jacket, the muscles on his high cheekbones twitched. I ignored it and gripped the boat, next to the pirate’s hand, our skins touching. His was extremely hot compared to my freezing one. I smiled sweetly at him again, nodding in reassurance. He seemed to be taking his time in getting into the water compared to most of companions, who were already in it. But I remained calm and patient. I caressed his hand with my other one, and his eyebrows furrowed. Perhaps my song wasn’t powerful enough, so I raised my tone, taking his hand in mine and lightly pulling on it. He started getting up from his seated position, finally manipulated into coming inside the sea. But the muscles of his face twitched again and his lips pulled into a straight line, suddenly snatching his hand out of mine. My eyes widened but I didn’t let that discourage me as I continued singing, voice louder and more aggressive as I maintained the eye contact, but the haze was starting to disappear from the pirate’s eyes. What was happening? Was I not powerful enough anymore? That was impossible, the full moon enhanced our powers.

“No, no, no—” The pirate started muttering to himself, shaking his head as he started blinking, “No—Stop!”

I gasped as my lullaby came to an end, watching the pirate jump up and shake his dazed mate, “No, stop listening to them! These are sirens, they’ll—”

The man behind him screamed as a Siren bit into him and pulled him underwater forcefully, snapping a few pirates out of their daze. They looked horrified as they jumped to their feet and grabbed their weapons. Silas’s high-pitched wail pierced the pirates ears as the ones in the water fought for their lives, only to have their necks pierced by the sirens sharp teeth.

“Father!” The pirate I tried to lure into the water screamed at the dazed man still sitting, hand in water, Serena whispering sweet things to him. I smirked and went underwater again, wanting to antagonize the pirate a little bit more. Chaos had already erupted, and the pirates in the water were lost forever, however, the ones in the boats searched for their weapons, wanting to harm us. As a bullet pierced through the water I hissed and crashed into the bottom of the boat forcefully, rocking it quite harshly. I heard thuds and got back onto the surface, watching as my pirate fought against Serena as his father still didn’t snap out of the daze. Gunshots echoed through the night and a siren wailed loudly, making my head snap in their direction. Their eyes were wide open as a bullet pierced their forehead, making me cry out loudly. It pierced the humans eardrums and I looked back at the pirate now aiming his shotgun at Serena, and I knew what I had to do. I quickly swam to the boat and jump out, gripping the pirate’s arm as I pulled him with me underwater. He had dropped his gun in the boat in shock and tried to swim away, but I wrapped my hand around their torso and head, holding them against myself. The pirate startled struggling and just to spite him more, I started singing, smirking at him when he realized what was about to happen. I opened my mouth wide, sharp teeth visible, as the pirate started choking on water, kicking anywhere he could to no avail, as my teeth sunk into his neck. I moaned at the taste of blood in my mouth, my body warming up from the top to the bottom. I closed my eyes as I took us deeper underneath, losing myself in my lust for his blood, sweeter than anything I have ever tasted before. I could feel my skin glowing, buzzing with electricity as I drank more, saliva mixing with blood at the thought of the taste of his flesh. I couldn’t imagine how tasty he’d be if his blood was this sweet. But as he finally stopped flailing around in my tight hold, something sharp pierced my neck. It was plunged deeper and the sudden pain shooting through my body made me release the pirate and scream loudly, the sound echoing around in the water, getting everyone’s attention around us. It was loud and filled with pain and I tried to swim away, panicked, but something grabbed my tail and started pulling me upwards. Bubbles left my mouth as I screamed for help, but Serena was nowhere. I knew nobody else would help me. Despite the fresh energy coursing through my veins, I felt power slipping from my fingers and tail as it went numb, the water around me colored a deep red. I was loosing blood dangerously fast and when my head suddenly hit the surface I choked, breathless and kicking around to get back underwater, but I was pinned against the sand. Someone was coughing on top of me, wheezing and groaning in pain. Our eyes connected for a second, revulsion reflecting on both of our faces, before I gasped for air, the world going black around me.

            Falling unconscious in water could be just as scary as falling unconscious on land for a Siren. We could breathe underwater, but still needed to come up to the surface to take in some fresh air, or else our lungs would start burning, making us choke like any human being. Falling unconscious on land, however, nobody knew the repercussions of it as we’ve never ventured close enough to find out, but it most certainly meant death as our bodies dried up fast, scales itchy and head dizzy from staying out of the water for too long. So, waking up panicked and confused was rather understandable as I kept banging against something hard, my body curled up as if I was confined in a small space. When my eyes opened, I gasped, taking in my surroundings. All I could see were men, so many of them, walking around, talking loudly, peeking at me in horror. I swirled around in the water, heart beating fast as I slowly realized what was happening. I was captive. In a glass box of sorts, enclosed in a small space. I couldn’t even stretch my body fully, tail curled up, as my box was put on display in the middle of the ship, held down by several thick ropes. I was on a pirate ship. The pirates we attacked during the full moon, were here now, holding me captive.

I started breathing fast, heart beat accelerating even more, my lungs asking for fresh air as I started choking on the water. I looked around in my little cage, and noticed that the water didn’t reach the top of the box, and there were little circles cut into the top of it in one corner. So, holding onto the glass on both sides, I pulled myself to that corner as I raised my mouth and nose out of the water, taking deep breaths of air. I closed my eyes and tried to relax, pretend that I was in the sea, coming up for some air. If I didn’t stop panicking, I would die from choking. And that was a dishonorable death for a Siren, I’d rather die at the hands of a pirate. However, my little bubble of fantasy was destroyed quickly as something starting banging against the glass, making me jump and hit my head in the top glass. I heard muffled laughter and turned my head only to come face to face with a man. He looked amused as he tapped the glass again, taunting me with his wide smile. I snarled my teeth at him, but he didn’t look frightened as his eyes ran over my body. His blond hair was longer at the back and black was smeared around his narrowed eyes. The white cloth tied around his right forearm told me that he was the captain. His mouth started moving, but the glass was thick and I couldn’t make out their words, so I watched their lips move, trying to decipher what they were saying.

“Nice catch, isn’t she?” He said to his men, who seemed afraid enough to keep their distance from my glass box, “Wonder how expensive she’ll be.”

A strikingly beautiful man showed up, his wavy black hair pulled in a ponytail, a shiny golden compass around his neck, “We’ll ask around once we dock down in the Sun Set Kingdom.” He seemed to be the least interested in me, not even glancing in my direction as the captain turned his head back at me, a menacing smirk slowly sneaking onto his face. I could feel myself itch from his gaze, fury and helplessness overtaking my body.

“Thanks to you I’ll be filthy rich, gorgeous.” It was as if he knew I would understand his words, his lips articulating his words slowly and obviously, making me scream out. The pirates held onto his ears as I screamed, starting to throw my body against the glass. I wouldn’t let them sell me off to anyone. I couldn’t die like this. This would be a disgrace to my species, centuries of anguish to follow. If the world finds out we truly exist, we’ll be hunted down for the mere sick enjoyment of humans, eliminating our species. I couldn’t be the cause of it, the thought made me sick. It didn’t matter that my body was aching from how violently I was throwing myself against the glass, banging on it with my fist, even trying to break it with my tail knowing it was strong, but nothing was working. It seemed that it was unbreakable, but the mocking laughter of the pirates egged me on more to keep on trying, refusing to appear helpless and frail. As my lungs started burning from exhaustion, I knew I had to stop and take a breath, there was suddenly commotion in the crowd gathered around me. I pushed my head to the little circles, and took deep breaths, watching what was happening. A man appeared to be pushing everyone out of the way, screaming something. I tried to make the words out, but all I got was ‘stop’ and ‘get away’. The voice sounded almost familiar and when I turned around, my eyes fell on a very familiar face. I gasped as my icy blue eyes widened, dark brown ones staring back just as shocked. I snarled my sharp teeth at the pirate, hitting the glass with my fists, hatred radiating off of me. He was the reason I was here. He was the pirate I tried to kill, the one I bit, but then he stabbed me, brought me to land, and captured me. My eyes fell on the bandage around his neck and it made me touch my own neck, feeling the bump of a wound. It seemed to be sealed, and my eyebrows furrowed as I looked at the pirate, who seemed to be watching my reaction. I snarled again, and crashed against the glass, trying to scare him off like I did to the others who have already scattered around, but this pirate didn’t budge, he kept on watching me, eyes slightly wider. He seemed to be amazed, eyes taking in my body, freezing on my tail for a second, making me crash it into the glass, the pirate jumping in reaction. I was glaring at him hard, baring my teeth at him when he stepped closer to the glass, a hand touching it. His eyes carried resentment as his lips opened, “You should’ve swum away when I snapped out of your song’s control.”

I understood, because he mouthed it slowly, his eyebrows furrowing when I didn’t react. I just turned my head to look away, done with entertaining him. He did not deserve my attention. He made me wonder how he snapped out of the daze induced by the Siren song, but he’ll never hear my voice ever again. I wasn’t going to utter one word to these monsters. Despite the pirate’s fascination with me, he didn’t seem too keen of me, as I watched him walk up to an older man, who was holding a wooden cane, the resemblance between them quite obvious. So, his father survived too, what a pity.

            Time seemed to jumble together, I tried to keep up with the rising and setting of the sun, but after a few days I lost count of it. I assumed I had been on this ship for around a week now. The Raging Sea could be tricky and hard to navigate, yet these pirates somehow sailed it without many difficulties. They seemed to avoid the storms best and travel around them, their navigator quite talented. Perhaps if I had known that their navigator was the pirate who captured me, I wouldn’t have thought that about him. The Sun Set Kingdom and the South Kingdom weren’t very far from each other, if you were lucky enough you could sail through the Raging Sea in two weeks, however, the constant storms made it sometimes impossible to get through it. Sailing out into the Black Ocean was even more dangerous due to its huge creatures, best you could do was say a prayer and hope someone in the Heavens blessed you to have an easy adventure, that is, if you believed in such a thing. Humans easily believed in anything, you just needed to appear even a little bit confident when trying to sell your idea, and there it was: a new belief, a new tale. I suppose the confirmation of our existence would just send them into a frenzy of confusion about what was real and what was not. Humans were afraid of the unknown, and I was considered already a dangerous creature. The fearful glances of the pirates working on deck never seemed to cease and if I happened to be looking at them, they’d shudder and look away, avoiding eye contact. I knew the fact that I was a Siren wasn’t the only scary thing about me, without my songs, my appearance was rather odd than beautiful.

However, there were some more daring pirates, who seemed to fear no God or even their very own Captain. I heard it loud and clear when he shouted that nobody was allowed to get close to the glass cage, touch it, or even think about opening it. I was a prize he wanted to sell, assuring his riches for a lifetime. However, three pirates seemed to be stupid enough to not listen to their captain as one evening, while I was thinking about the ocean, they approached me. It was a windy evening, waves crashing into the ship, rocking it left and right, yet the sky was clear and non-threatening for now. Here, the weather changes abruptly, but this being my home, I knew it wouldn’t storm just yet. My skin wasn’t as smooth anymore as it used to be, the water they kept me in stale and rather smelly. I was lucky they were smart enough to allow me to breathe fresh air, as I found myself needing it more often than usual. Being out in the sun all day long was taking its tool on me as well, my body not used to the constant heat. I would sit on rocks quite often, but never for too long during noon, and then I would retreat to the depths of the sea, where it was cool and dark. I sighed loudly as I watched the waves crash against the side of the ship, some water getting on deck. My hand reached out, almost as if I had forgotten I couldn’t reach it, missing my home like crazy. I probably should enjoy the little time I have left of being close to water, once we hit land, there’s no guarantee to what’s happening to me. Letting my guard down, thinking that I was finally alone on deck, was a mistake. I started humming to myself, missing the voices of the other sirens and our little games of hide and seek. Our songs weren’t just for luring in the humans, it allowed us to communicate between each other as well. The melody I was currently humming was the one Serena and I would sing whenever we finished hunting and were searching for each other, making sure we were alright. I could imagine her singing it after our last hunt together, never getting a response. At least she knew I was gone and she wouldn’t search for me, stray away from the swarm and endanger herself.

The sudden crash of something hard against the glass made me jump and I whirled around fast, eyes falling on three pirates who were smirking and slurring their words. They were swaying as they stood, probably drunk, holding tridents in their hands. One of them had a giant key in their hand and my eyes went to the giant padlock holding the top of the glass secured to the rest of it. I knew these dumb pirates could hurt me, but if I outsmarted them, I could escape. So I watched them innocently and figured out that they wanted to kill me before we’d get to land and sell me themselves, betraying their Captain. I chuckled, knowing very well they were just as dead as me once their captain finds out they are traitors. The one holding the key pushed his mate forward, and he crashed into the glass. He stared at me frightened and when I smiled and raised my eyebrows at him, his eyebrows furrowed. The other man, who was clutching his trident harshly, kept his distance, visibly afraid. The pirate with the key went to open the padlock, and that’s when I started humming loudly enough for them to hear me. Their bodies tensed, eyes widening as I lured them in with the song, eyes softening, lips pulling into a smile. The most frightened one dropped his trident and fell to his knees as he crawled towards the glass cage, watching me mesmerized as I got closer to the glass, bewitching them. The other pirate pushed himself against the glass, his weapon still in his hand, but he had obviously forgotten about wanting to kill me. The one holding the key, however, moved accordingly to my own will, leaning up on his tiptoes, hands gripping onto the padlock as a rather harsh wave crashed into the ship. I didn’t let that distract me as I continued singing the lullaby, pitch higher than before, icy blue eyes glowing in the dark. The three pirates became my puppets and I could feel my heartrate pick up as the one with the key finally inserted it into the padlock and slowly started turning it around. I pushed myself against the glass, hands on the top of it to break free once the padlock is unlocked, but the serenity and spell broke when someone came rushing down the stairs, screaming.

It was that one pirate again, my pirate. The one I almost killed, the one I wished nothing more than to kill. He almost fell off the stairs as his feet tangled together in his rush, a thick looking notebook clutched tightly in his hands. He was screaming at the pirates to stop listening to the song, but it seemed as though they were too deep in to even hear his words. So I continued my song, smirking at the desperate pirate as he shook the one holding the trident, and once he realized what was happening, tried to stop the one from opening the padlock. I was so close, one more click, and I’d be free. I started pushing against the glass, struggling to open it, I was so close.

“Kim Hongjoong!” The familiar pirate shouted at the top of his lungs, physically having to remove the pirate from the padlock, fighting against him as he cried out that he needed to open the lock. Seven other men came bustling down the stairs, eyes wide and sleepy as they assessed the situation. Everyone but the captain seemed to be wearing more casual, comfortable looking clothes, as they realized what was happening. I raised my voice higher, louder, allowing my voice to travel to their ears as well, watching as one of them tensed, appearing to be in a daze.

“No! Stop listening to her!” My pirate screamed again, somehow pinning the one with the key against the floor boards, struggling to hold him down because of his violent kicks and screams, “Think about something, don’t allow her voice to get inside your heads!”

But that one pirate seemed to be already under my influence, and I beckoned him over with the wriggle of my finger, a smile appearing on his lips, “Take Wooyoung away!” A taller man next to him, who seemed to be struggling against my lullaby as well, grabbed Wooyoung and dragged him away, slapping him hard when Wooyoung started screaming that he had to get to me. It all happened quickly, the remaining five pirates helped out my pirate in keeping the man down, taking the key from him and handing it to the Captain. His body seemed to be shaking, forehead sweaty as he approached me, eyes ablaze. He was fighting the siren’s song, but was close to giving up.

“If you don’t stop—” He gritted out, suddenly raising a shotgun against the glass, “I will kill you this second.”

Dying by a bullet wound seemed unworthy, but at least I wouldn’t get exposed to the horrors of other humans on the mainland. It seemed like a reasonable death all of a sudden, so I didn’t stop, just continued singing and closed my eyes. I heard the click of something, and I knew it was coming.

“No! Stop, Hongjoong!” I knew that voice, it was that pirate again, “Don’t kill her, please!”

The melody froze in my throat, eyes opening and falling onto that one pirate again. His eyebrows were furrowed and he was breathing hard, clutching that notebook again, looking at the Captain with pleading eyes, “Please.”

I took the momentum to my advantage and tried to open the top of the glass again, but the Captain acted first, locking the padlock again, throwing me million steps away from my escape. I screamed and bashed myself against the glass again, wanting to tear their throats apart. The pirates who came here initially to kill me snapped out of their dazes and looked around them frightened, bodies shaking as one of them started crying. I snarled and whipped my tail at the glass, making them jump.

“What were you doing here?” The Captain demanded to know, voice commanding. The three pirates lowered their eyes to the ground, shaking their heads and saying nothing. I glared at them, hissing when they wouldn’t state their reasons. My pirate noticed my anger and looked at me, approaching the glass cage. I refused to look at him, he once again stopped me from escaping.

“I asked a question!” The Captain shouted and the men shook their heads again, bodies shaking. I went to take fresh air again, lungs beginning to burn from exhaustion and my eyes fell on the Captain. If my Siren song couldn’t cause chaos, my words definitely would.

“They were here to kill me.” All heads whipped in my direction, shocked at the hear of my voice. It wasn’t as majestic as my voice when I sung, it was rather husky and scratchy, my throat currently burning too.

“She can speak?” One of the pirate’s who came down with the Captain wondered out loud, dumbfounded as he looked at me. But that was all I would say.

“Of course, she can.” The familiar pirate spoke up softly, eyes finding mine, “The only difference between a mermaid and a human are the tail and legs, San.”

The pirate looked at me as if asking for confirmation, but I just averted my eyes, disgusted by his attempt of making conversation with me. I was not a mermaid, I thought that was clear by now.

“Judging by your current positions and your missteps in the past,” The Captain spoke up, jaw clenched and eyes glaring down at the three pirates, “I’m ought to believe the monster.”

These humans were the real monsters, not me, “She’s not a monster!” My pirate snapped; eyebrows furrowed as he looked at me. Why was he defending me? What was it in for him?

“Whatever, Jongho,” The Captain muttered tiredly, “Takes these three to my office, I’ll take care of them.”

And just like that, one by one, all pirates retreated back to their previous activities, neither throwing a second glance my way. All except one. The one I tried to kill, the one that tried to kill me, my pirate. He lingered behind, almost by the stairs when suddenly he ran up to the glass cage, tapping the window softly. My eyes pierced into his as I glared at him, snarling.

“My name is Jongho,” He said cautiously, almost afraid to do so, “And yours?”

Siren’s names were sacred, so I huffed amused and turned around, ignoring his burning gaze on the back of my head. I refused to let him know my name. Realizing he wouldn’t get an answer, he walked off, notebook already opened as he made his way up the steps, a pen in his hand. He was peculiar. His resentment towards me was very obvious, yet his eyes held fascination each time he looked at me. I couldn’t decide whether he wanted to kill me or protect me.

And it only became more confusing as the week went by and this pirate continued to approach me more than once a day, talk to me, ask me questions. I didn’t answer him, I didn’t even listen to him at most times, glaring and imagining all the ways I would rip his throat out during the next full moon. I couldn’t bear being in this cage anymore. My bones were aching, my tail was numb from not using it for so long and the smell inside started making me nauseous. The circles allowing the air inside seemed to be getting smaller, suffocating me rather than offering fresh air. I was slowly going mad, banging against the glass, desperately trying to break it. I needed to get back into the sea, I had to save myself.

            Two more days passed by barely, nothing happening as the pirates carried on with their usual shenanigans. My pirate, Jongho, as he had called himself, seemed to be glued to the glass cage, refusing to even sleep in his usual place, afraid someone would try to attack me again. I didn’t understand his concerns and why he was going out of his way to keep me safe when it was clear he hated me for what I did to him. I hoped he knew I would do it again, no feelings of any sort tying us together. A soft-spoken pirate, whom I noticed would check up on Jongho’s wound from time to time, seemed to be the only one able to convince the pirate to retreat to his quarters and leave me alone, scared for his safety. Jongho refused him numerous times at the beginning, but when the strikingly handsome pirate interjected with their conversation, Jongho finally seemed convinced enough to leave me alone. I couldn’t have been more thankful for the two for making the man leave, I have had enough of him. He talked a lot. He asked a lot of questions. But I also noticed he muttered a lot to himself whenever he was working on the maps, making strange lines with some sort of pencils and rulers. His eyebrows were always furrowed when he watched the stars with his binoculars at night, checking the direction of the wind every half an hour. If something seemed to confuse him, he’d curse to himself quietly and would start from the beginning, never giving up. The other pirates seemed to rely on him a lot, I figured that he was probably their navigator, his father helping him out from time to time. The two seemed to be quite close, often helping each other out. Jongho’s father was repulsed by me, it was quite obvious, and he screamed at his son often for not staying away from me, scared that I would bewitch him again, but Jongho remained persistent and kept on insisting that someone needed to keep an eye on me and who was better than him? Apparently, he knew everything about my species there was to know. I highly doubted that as all these stupid pirates seemed to think I was a mermaid, but Jongho was right in one thing. He somehow became immune to my Siren song, blocking his mind from my melody’s allure. I did not know such thing was possible, and even Jongho seemed surprised at his discovery. The thick notebook was with him at all times, and I found him doodling something in it while sneaking glances at me. I did not want to know what it was, I just wanted to be free.

And it seemed like my wish would become reality faster than I thought so. Except, it wasn’t exactly in the way I imagined it to be. And it just so happened on the night Jongho decided to finally leave me alone. But that was perhaps better, because I was woken from my slumber to the violent rocking of the boat, and fireballs flying in the air. I watched with wide eyes as a fireball flew over the deck, dangerously close, yet missed anything important. I didn’t understand what was happening until all the pirates ran up on deck, each holding weapons of all sorts in their hands. Most were shotguns and the tall one who took Wooyoung away seemed to be the one in charge of all the gunners. He was shouting orders left and right, instructing the rest of the men when to fire and when to duck down. He seemed to be the most skilled as his shots never missed their target. When another fireball wheezed through the air it crashed into the mizzenmast and broke it in half, sending flying wood all over the deck; I finally realized the ship I was on was under attack. An enemy was trying to kill us. I started laughing bitterly as a pirate screamed, his clothes caught on fire, barely believing that I would die from getting attacked by an enemy ship. It was the most hilar thing in the whole four seas and four kingdoms, I couldn’t believe it was real. Well, if I had luck, then I would die and if I was unlucky, then I’d be taken by the enemy ship and either sold off or killed on the spot. My future didn’t seem too bright at the moment and I found myself laughing at the chaos unfolding around me. I was right in the middle of it, yet remained safer than anyone else on this ship. I watched as the pirates protected their ship fiercely, the captain and two other men on his right and left, leading their crew and throwing small things overboard, them exploding once they landed on the other ship. I figured they were some sort of explosives; I have never seen them with my own eyes. I watched two men trying to fix the damages at lightning speed, one was the soft-spoken man, thought he was called Yeosang, and the other one seemed smaller than a regular man, but it wasn’t my place to question their appearance. I watched Jongho do his best in getting the ship away from the enemy as fast as he could, Wooyoung next to him, barking orders, pulling on several ropes as he was trying to fix the sail of the mizzenmast. Another hard rock of the ship sent the pirates tumbling down and I crashed into the glass rather aggressively as one rope holding the cage stable broke. I watched wide eyed as nobody paid attention to me, a siren being least of their concerns right now. And to my utter shock, three bullets came flying into the glass, but it was so thick that they remained stuck in it. I watched amazed as a thin crack ran from one of the bullet holes down to the bottom of the glass. This was my chance to free myself. Nobody was paying attention; nobody was here to stop me. Freedom was just a few steps away. So, gathering all my energy, I started throwing myself against the glass, groaning and panting when the little crack didn’t seem to expand. I was growing frustrated and I screamed and I whipped my tail against it with all the force I had left in my body, but nothing happened. I felt helpless, useless, and defeated. Cannonballs going off from underneath us deafened the humans on the deck for a second, my sensitive ears started ringing. I have never cried in my life before, but for the first time, I felt a lump in my dry throat, squeezing and squeezing. I had to try once again, get out of this prison. So, once again, I banged my tail against the glass, letting out a frustrated wail as nothing happened. The cannons went off again, shouts coming from all directions on the deck, and then something miraculous happened. The Heaven’s listened to my cry of help.

The glass started breaking more, the little crack growing, expanding all over it. I took a deep breath and held it for a second, placing my hand against the broken glass, lightly pushing it, not expecting much. But it broke. To a million of pieces, the salty water crashed against the floorboards and so did I, falling face first onto it. I gasped loudly, my heart beating fast as the muffled screams and shouts loudly enveloped my surroundings all of a sudden, the rocking of the ship more violent and real, now that I wasn’t confined inside the glass cage. The chilly air hit my skin like rocks, and I gasped for air, lungs filling to the brim with clean and fresh air. Breathing has never felt so good before. I couldn’t believe I was free. I didn’t even notice the shards cutting into my skin as I pushed up onto my forearms, wincing at the sudden pain shooting up my tail. My numb body was finally able to move, I could finally stretch out. I could finally escape. But as I started crawling towards a hole in the side of the ship, the pain in my tail became more and more unbearable, making me let out a painful scream. It paralyzed my whole body and I started shaking, scratching at the scales covering my body, itching terribly. What was happening to me? Was it because I was out of fresh water for so long? Was I dying? And as the pain became unimaginable, veins showing through my translucent body, head thumping and eyes popping out of its sockets, my body started convulsing. I couldn’t control it, all I could do was take it in, accept it, and scream. But my throat was so raw, no sound made it out anymore. I wanted to reach the water; I needed it. The Sea would heal me, the Sea would save me. Something started streaming down my cheeks and I would’ve laughed if I could’ve, I was crying. Sirens never cried.

And as my back arched of the floor, hands clawing at anything they could, it all stopped suddenly. My mouth was open, about to let out a gut-wrenching scream, but it all stopped. It just…stopped. The pain. It went away. As suddenly it came, as suddenly it went. I was gasping for air, touching my face and neck. Something felt wrong. My body…felt heavier. My tail…I couldn’t feel it. So shooting up in a seated position, I screamed at the sight. My tail was gone and instead two dangling abominations took its place. I had legs! I started shaking my head, muttering no to myself over and over again, pinching the skin and crying out when it hurt. I could feel them, but I couldn’t move them. They were so heavy I didn’t think I could even stand. How was this possible? Where did my tail go? Was I no longer a Siren anymore? My heartbeat picked up at the thought again, and I turned around, eyes falling on the sea through the hole. I needed to get into the water right now. But as I wanted to turn around and continue crawling, a burning wooden plank from the mizzenmast broke off, plummeting straight towards me. So, this was it, I would die on a pirate ship as a human, bringing shame to my people. I closed my eyes, unable to save myself, awaiting the excruciating pain, the heat of the fire, but it never came. Before the burning plank could kill me, a body crashed into mine, making me yelp, as we tumbled to the side, tangled together. I lightly hit my head in a barrel and groaned, my body feeling numb from the torment it went through in the past few minutes.

“Why wouldn’t you jump away if it’s falling straight at you—” The panicked voice stopped screaming suddenly, pushing themselves off me, “It’s—you?”

I turned my head and came face to face with a shocked Jongho, wide eyes running over my body before he stiffened and his face became red. He suddenly stood and ripped his long coat off of himself and threw it down on me, turning away, “Put that on.”

Despite the chaos going on around us, I looked down confused and realized I was totally naked, oh. I chuckled, finding the whole situation hilarious as I pulled Jongho’s coat over myself, mimicking the way he wore it.

The blast going off not too far away from us sent Jongho into action, making me gasp and tense, when one of his arm’s went around my torso and the other underneath my now, legs, more specifically knees. I started pushing Jongho away as he held me firmly in his arms, baring my teeth at him, about to sink them into his neck, but he threw me a glare and hissed, “Stop it, will you! I’m trying to save you!”

His words made me freeze and I stared at his profile as he ran around the pirates, avoiding bullets and explosions as he brought us to relative safety, having run down the steps, placing me down next to them. It seemed like I weighed nothing to him, he showed no signs of struggle to hold me despite my heavy good for nothing legs.

“Stay here until I come to get you.” He pointed a finger at me and hesitated for a second, until I nodded at him. Where could I even go? I couldn’t walk or run like him. My legs weren’t usable, they were an abomination, turning me into a freak I never was. I allowed my thoughts to take me away from the reality I found myself in, tunning out the battle sounds, cries and shouts. All I wanted was the sea and my tail back.

            I had no idea for how long it lasted. Or how many died. Or if anyone even won. What was the reason of this attack? All I knew was Jongho coming back and lifting me up in his arms again, as if I was a feather, taking off towards another set of stairs. I held onto him tightly, watching his clenched jaw, his skin glistening with sweat and eyebrows furrowed. I had no idea where he was taking me or what he’d do to me, but I had no energy in me to fight back. I was even more useless now that I had legs. The ship seemed to have quieted down, no more screams and shouts, no more cries of pain, no more gunshots and cannonballs. The fight was over.

Jongho kicked a door open with his foot, and my eyes took the room in quickly, figuring it was a living quarter of sorts. There was a bed fit for one person, a huge desk littered with maps, notebooks, books, pencils and pens and ink. The floor next to the desk had even more rolled up papers, maps and books. There was a closet too, not too big, and next to it a wooden chair. The tiny window allowed me to see the moon, and I sighed as Jongho placed me down on the bed. It felt weird, the texture underneath my legs. It was soft and it didn’t hurt me. I touched it with my fingers, eyebrows furrowing.

“That’s called a blanket.” Jongho muttered as he started unbuttoning his shirt which was covered in dirt, sweat, and even blood. My eyes pierced him, watching carefully his every move. He turned around before opening his shirt, obscuring my eyes from the sight of his torso as he walked to his closet, opening it. He pulled out a clean looking shirt and dropped the one on him onto the floor, the muscles of his back showing. He was well built and strong looking, it shouldn’t have been a surprise that he carried me so easily. The view was gone as Jongho pulled the black shirt over his body, doing the buttons up to his chest. He grabbed another shirt from the closet and walked closer, his eyes watching me carefully. He was wary, as he should be. I was also wary of him; I couldn’t know what he’d do to me if I didn’t stay alert.

“Put this on,” He spoke up, handing the shirt to me, “I’ll be right back. You need more fitting clothes of which I don’t have.”

And with that, he turned around and quickly left, not closing the door fully. I stared at the shirt for a few seconds before deciding to put it on, the coat currently on me offering no warmth, I was freezing all of a sudden. I mimicked Jongho’s actions, pulling the shirt over my back once the coat was off, pushing my arms through the sleeves of the shirt, and one by one started doing the buttons. They seemed a little difficult at the beginning, but I got the hang of it as Jongho came back inside, eyes falling on me. Since I didn’t know how much I should button up, I stopped at my chest, looking up at Jongho when he cleared his throat.

“That’s too low for you.” He muttered and placed the soft looking garments in my lap, hands going to the buttons of my shirt. I recoiled and he pulled away quickly, holding his hands up, “I’m sorry, but you should do two more buttons.”

I just stared at him, with no intention of doing what he just told me, making Jongho sigh. He slowly approached me again, hands going to the buttons, letting him touch me this time as he made quick work and did the two buttons he said I should do. My eyes fell on his chest, on the black pearl he had on the string around his neck. As he went to step back, my hand flew out swiftly, gripping the pearl and stopping him. Jongho froze and fell forward a little when I tugged on the pearl, examining it from up close. He was hovering over me, arms in the air once again, eyes looking at the wall as my nose scrunched after smelling the pearl. It seemed to be authentic, and it was a black pearl. Those were really rare.

“My father and I used to be fishermen when I was younger,” Jongho spoke up, making me look up at him, “I like collecting pearls, that’s why I have this one. It’s rare.”

I nodded and slowly released the pearl, eyes never leaving Jongho’s. He gulped and pointed at the things in my lap, “There’s undergarment and pants, you should put them on.”

I looked down at them and gripped them, holding them up to my face. There was a thing which seemed to be smaller than the other one.

“The smaller one is to protect your genitals, and the other is to cover your legs. They are called pants.” Jongho explained as I had no idea what I was supposed to do with these, and looked back at him, but he had already turned around. I frowned, not quite understanding why. I placed the pants on the bed next to me and held the smaller ones up, looking down at my legs. How did I even moves these things? I bit my lower lip, trying to lift them, at least one of them, but they weren’t moving. Why? They must work like arms, so I tried again, but they didn’t even lift an inch off the bed. I groaned frustrated, but Jongho remained with his back facing me.

“I can’t—” I croaked out, embarrassed, “I can’t put it on.”

Jongho sucked in a breath, “Why?”

“I don’t know how to move my legs.” I whispered; eyebrows furrowed as I stared down at my lap. Jongho whirled around, eyes wide and a shocked expression decorating his face. He seemed embarrassed, as if what I just said was normal.

“I didn’t think you’d—I’m sorry.” He apologized, making me look at him confused, “Of course, you don’t know how to move them…may I help?”

I bit my lip and contemplated a little, nodding at last. I wouldn’t be able to do it without help, if he was offering it then I would take it. He seemed a little reluctant and hesitated when I reached my hand out holding the smaller pants, his eyes avoiding mine as I looked at him. He took it and then got down on his knees, fist clenching before his hand touched my calf. I gasped and gripped the blanket on the bed, skin very sensitive on my legs.

“I’m sorry!” Jongho apologized quickly, looking at me with a panicked look in his eyes.

I cleared my throat, “The skin is sensitive, that’s all.”

He looked at me for a second, before nodding and proceeding with his previous actions. He lightly touched my left calf before gripping it, his cold skin making goosebumps erupt all over my body. The feeling was new, unknown, intriguing. I watched as he tried to avoid skin contact as best as he could as he placed my legs through the holes of the small pants and then started pulling them up my legs, stopping bellow my thighs. He gulped and his eyebrows furrowed before he looked up at me, face flushed.

“I can’t—I can’t pull it all the way up if you’re sitting.” He seemed flustered; I did not understand why.

“Well, I can’t stand up.” I muttered, and Jongho nodded, seeming to think for a second.

“I’ll support you and then you can pull it up yourself.” I nodded at the solution and watched as he gulped again, his finger lightly grazing my thigh as he stood, gripping my forearms before he helped me up. I tried to stand on my own feet, but they weren’t working, without Jongho’s support I would’ve fallen. I gripped the smaller pants and pulled them up until they allowed me to, noting how Jongho was looking over my head, eyes never falling on me. These legs weren’t long enough as I appeared to be a lot shorter than him. I cleared my throat and he glanced down at me cautiously before sitting me back down and doing the same with the real pants this time, these being a struggle a little bit as they were tighter. The feeling was totally new, warmth covered my whole body, finally I stopped shivering. The pants seemed comfortable enough as they hugged my legs and I touched the fabric, hardly believing that I was wearing one. The silence was interrupted as hurried footsteps ran down the hallway, nearing the room we were inside, and the door was kicked open. I jumped at the loudness of it, eyes falling on seven other men. They were the same men that came up onto the deck the night those three pirates tried to kill me. The Captain stepped inside, followed closely by the strikingly handsome one, and the others seemed to push each other around in order to see inside the room. It was a peculiar image as one of them cried out before kicking the other one for biting them in order to get them out of the way. Did humans also bite each other? To my knowledge, they didn’t feed off of blood.

“Where’s the mermaid—”

“Hongjoong, I told you she’s not a threat—”

“Is that the mermaid?” The Captain asked horrified once his eyes fell on me. I looked at him with a glare, fed up with them using the wrong term about my species.

“I’m not a mermaid.” I snapped, flashing my sharp teeth at them, “I’m a Siren.”

There seemed to be a moment of silence filled with shock before the man standing behind the Captain spoke up, “Where’s your tail?”

I scoffed, slapping my thigh, instantly regretting it as pain shot through my muscle, “I would like to know that too.”

The Captain walked closer, grabbing my chin tightly, making Jongho protest, “Don’t be smart now, monster, what did you do to your tail?”

I slapped his hand away and hissed, annoyed that this man wasn’t afraid of me anymore, “I cut it off.”

I heard chuckles coming from the doorway, the other seven men looking at each other amused as Jongho seemed unimpressed and the Captain, drew his sword out, “Your legs will be the ones cut off—”

“Captain,” The strikingly handsome one spoke up calmly, placing a firm grip on the Captain’s shoulder, “I think she’s honest. She made no attempt to walk away from the falling plank back on the deck, meaning she’s never had them before”

The Captain huffed and placed his sword away, shaking the other man’s hand off himself, “Then where is her tail, Seonghwa?”

The two men looked at each other, but the handsome one, Seonghwa, shook his head, “I do not know, Hongjoong, I did not see what happened.”

Silence fell over the room, everyone confused as to how to proceed, until Jongho spoke up, “She could be shapeshifter. They have a tail in water and legs on land—”

“I’m a Siren.” I snapped, shooting him a glare.

“Is this your first time out of the water?” He asked and I looked away as I nodded, not too happy about admitting to personal things about myself in front of a pirate crew.

“You could be a shapeshifter siren, then—”

“Ten seconds ago you still thought I was a mermaid.” I threw Jongho a glare and he sighed, massaging his forehead.

“That is not exactly true,” He tried to defend himself, “Based on my studies you exhibited no behavior of mermaids, so I knew you were something else—”

“Mermaids aren’t even real—”

“Enough!” The Captain exclaimed and both Jongho and I shut up, looking at the wall, “I don’t bloody care what you are, just get that tail back so I can sell you.”

I snarled at the Captain and would’ve clawed his eyes out if I could walk to attack him, “Everyone, get back to your posts, we have a long night ahead of us to fix the damage Lee Yuri left behind.” The Captain’s mouth twisted, seemingly disgusted at the mention of the woman, his expression annoyed. Everyone yelled a ‘Ai, Captain, ai’, and then started leaving, but Jongho was stopped from doing so.

“Not you, mermaid boy, keep an eye on your monster.” The Captain said, holding him back from leaving the room. I sighed at the use of that term again, fed up with it.

“She’s a Siren, not a monster.” Jongho muttered as the Captain left too, slamming the door shut behind him. I looked at Jongho and he sighed, looking at me.

“You can sleep meanwhile I check the maps; I promise not to touch you without your consent.” Jongho said as he walked closer, making my eyebrows furrow.

“I’ll bite your finger off if you touch me while I sleep.” I threatened menacingly, making Jongho chuckle as he helped me lay down.

“I do not doubt that.” He whispered more to himself, pulling the blanket over my body, the feeling foreign. The bed felt comfortable. Very warm and cozy. It also smelled like salt water; it reminded me of the sea I missed so much. I sighed and closed my eyes, my back facing Jongho as he sat down at his desk, papers shuffling.

“You can call me Y/N.” I found myself whispering, making up a name on the spot. I would never let a pirate know my real name. Jongho hummed and said nothing, the sound of scribbling resounding in the room. The soft rocking of the ship quickly lulled me to sleep.

            Time moved faster than the ship we were on, slowly, we were approaching the Sun Set Kingdom. You could see the shore in the distance, it would take around three more days to reach the mainland. I couldn’t ignore my feelings of distress whenever the topic was brought up by Jongho, who by the way, kept me prisoner in his room. Everyone else seemed afraid of me, not forgetting that I was still a Siren as a few days ago the tall pirate, who’s name I learned was Mingi, mocked me that I was a regular human now, so, I almost made him jump into the shark infested water, proving it to them that I was still a Siren. Jongho was rather appealed each time someone called me a monster, defending me, leaving me confused each time. He seemed to have gotten used to my presence in his room and spent most of his time with me willingly, either scribbling in that thick notebook of his, silence engulfing us, or he would ask me outrageous questions about my life. I rarely answered him, throwing him a glare each time he’d bring up the Siren topic, which he seemed to be obsessed with. Despite my protests, he also started feeding me fish, seemingly thinking I was some sort of pescetarian…that is until I threw up on him, he finally stopped playing smart with me. After that I explained, once again, that I only ate during the full moon and my meal was human flesh and blood, not fish. Those were my favorite’s and anything else made me sick. Jongho seemed terrified a little bit when he learned this information, muttering something as he started writing in his thick notebook. I started figuring out that he was probably noting down everything I said, it was probably his diary. His father, however, hated me and had a knife pointed at me each time we crossed paths, saying that he’d slash my throat if I dared to lay a finger on his son. To my amusement, I told him that I had to touch Jongho quite often as I couldn’t move on my own, almost getting my head cut off if it wasn’t for the Captain screaming at the man to stop. They were still trying to figure out how to get my tail back, and it was rather hilarious as I sat on top of a barrel, watching the men throw ideas at each other.

“Here,” The smallest looking pirate approached me, handing me a dark colored fabric, “They are undergarments, Jongho told me he borrowed one from me. You can’t have just one though.”

I took in the pirate’s appearance, the long curly hair and feminine voice confusing. Her hair was a vibrant red and her lips were plump, a little gap between her two front teeth as she smiled at me brightly, “What are you?”

The pirate chuckled, looking at a man who was carrying a list in his hands, checking the barrels on the deck, immersed in his job, “You’re quite brazen, aren’t you?”

“Am I supposed to be any other way?” I asked confused, not quite understanding this weird pirate. They just shook their head, pulling the bandana wrapped around their head off.

“I’m a woman.” I watched her open her shirt, showing the fabric wrapped around her breasts, flattening her chest. I knew she wasn’t a man, her voice too soft and face not as harsh as a man’s.

“Then why are you pretending you’re not one?” The woman chuckled as she buttoned her shirt up, making eye contact with the man checking the barrels. His lips pulled into a soft smile, eyes lingering on her for a second too long.

“It’s a long story, but I’m not pretending anymore.” She explained, reaching her hand out, “My name is Taeri, by the way.”

I looked at her out stretched hand and nodded, not quite understanding what I was supposed to do. She chuckled amused and took my hand, making me hiss, and shook it, “Don’t hiss at me and introduce yourself.”

I snatched my hand out of hers, not understanding her weird gesture, “Stop commanding me, my name is Y/N.”

Taeri ignored my words and stepped away, looking around on the deck, “Can you walk?”

“Not without support, Jongho’s been trying to teach me but I don’t want to walk.” I muttered, crossing my arms in front of my chest as my eyes fell on the mentioned pirate, he was checking his map again.

“You’re lucky you’ve got Jongho,” Taeri said quietly as she leaned closer to me, “The others wouldn’t treat you so kindly.”

“I do not care how I’m treated,” I snapped, eyes glaring at the woman, “I belong in the sea, not on land, but your Captain is hungry for a prize he will never get. I am worth more than anything in the four seas and four kingdoms.”

Taeri chuckled patting my cheek, making me pull my head away, “I like a woman who knows her worth.”

Before I could say anything else, she stalked away towards the pirate who had stopped checking the contents of barrels, and they started conversing as the man pulled her slightly closer to himself by her waist. I watched their interaction closely, noting how comfortable they seemed to be in each other’s proximity. The woman didn’t flinch at his touch, she even seemed to be enjoying it. The man was smiling at her and he adjusted her bandana before grabbing her hand and pulling her with him, headed towards the stairs leading downstair. Human connections seemed more complex than the Siren ones. That couple appeared to be…quite fond of each other.

“It’s time for your daily walking lesson, Y/N.” I jumped at Jongho’s voice being close to me, having not noticed him approaching me. I looked at him, analyzed his stance, and noted how relaxed he seemed. He was smiling as he extended one hand, even looking excited. I couldn’t exactly understand why this man seemed so amazed by me, always watching me closely, and paying attention to everything I said or did. He always apologized if he touched me unannounced and kept asking me if I was alright while he did so. I didn’t like people standing too close to me, but Jongho’s constant questions were irritating as I found myself more accepting of his proximity. He wasn’t as bad as the loud pirate he seemed to work with the most, Wooyoung. The first time he tried to touch me, I punched him in the face and ever since he’s been glaring at me whenever we made eye contact. I wasn’t some sort of animal put on display for others to touch or talk to whenever bored.

However, the little freedom I seemed to have was quickly taken away a few nights ago as I had attacked Jongho while he was asleep. I had warned him before, that if he ever fell asleep around me, I would attack him, but apparently he thought I was joking. I found it rather annoying as the Captain placed handcuffs around my wrists, securing me against the leg of the desk Jongho had in his room. He growled at me that he’d kill me if I dared to harm his crew even once more, making me chuckle as I started humming, warning him that I was still a Siren, and I could still make them do whatever I wanted to. Jongho had started training them in how to block the Siren song from getting to them, but the Captain seemed to still have trouble with it, so I loved antagonizing him. The attack I conducted on Jongho which led to my current predicament was a mere experiment, I felt like checking if I still had it in me. I was woken from my slumber by loud snores coming from the desk behind me, and when I turned around, I found Jongho with his head on the desk and eyes closed. I watched him, confused by the sounds he was making, until I realized it was probably snoring. He looked serene in his sleep, body fully relaxed. I could’ve easily ripped his throat out, so enticed by the thought, I found myself sitting up. I still couldn’t walk on my own, these legs were just too heavy for my body, but if I leaned against a wall and held myself up, they worked pretty fine. The were still sensitive and my feet would hurt if I stood on them for too long. I didn’t know having legs was this exhausting. After I reached Jongho, surprised that he didn’t wake up as I crashed into the wall and even fell a few times due to the rocking of the ship, I leaned my head close to his. I gripped the desk tightly, eyes trailing his smooth skin, missing my own being like that. My body was doing a lot better than I expected out of water, but it felt dirty and extremely dry. Drinking water strangely seemed to hydrate my skin though. Jongho sighed loudly in his sleep and my eyes fell onto his neck, the scar of my teeth never disappearing. The wound has healed, but the scar remained. I had a scar on my neck too because of him, at least we were sort of even. Jongho’s eyebrows furrowed and suddenly his eyes opened, making me take action. As he stood up straight, I gripped his neck and squeezed it, snarling at him as his eyes widened. He looked confused as he tried to pry my fingers off himself, making me chuckle. When I showed him my sharp teeth, his body tensed and suddenly he jumped up, twisting my wrist with one hand, making me hiss in pain. I couldn’t exactly react as he gripped my neck and suddenly my head was pinned against his desk, cheek getting squished.

“What in the Heavens are you doing?!” Jongho snapped, voice laced with fury and bewilderment.

“I told you I’d kill you if you fell asleep while I was in the room.” Jongho chuckled amazed, unbelieving what he was hearing. I smirked, but it was quickly wiped off as the door opened and his father walked in. He quickly created a big scene, totally unnecessary, and ten minutes later I was chained against a desk, forced to sit on the floor as the chains weren’t long enough to reach the bed. Hongjoong said if I behaved like an animal then I’d be treated like an animal, and after that I barely saw Jongho anymore, Taeri being the one checking up on me from time to time. She said we’d dock down soon, making me nauseous. That meant I was dying soon.

            I had fallen asleep after Taeri’s visit, head resting against the wall as my lower back seemed a little numb from always sitting. This human like body was a rather painful experience. My head banged against the wall and I woke with a start, startled by the screaming coming from above me. My eyebrows furrowed as I looked around, and realized the ship was rocking terribly from side to side. Something wasn’t right, I could feel it in my bones. I quickly looked outside through the window and saw darkness covering the sky, rain falling rapidly. We had run into a storm. I looked around the room, realizing there were very low chances of survival on this ship, so I needed to leave now. I could use my legs this time, support myself against the wall, and just jump into the water. I had no idea what would happen if I did so, but I hoped I’d get my tail back. I tugged on the chains, but obviously they were too strong for me to break, and suddenly, my eyes traveled up to Jongho’s desk. Underneath all the papers, a shiny thing peaked out. The key. I gasped and leaned up, grabbing it, and hurriedly undid the chains around my wrists. I smiled in victory, excited to finally leave these awful pirates behind, excited to return back home. I could hear the Sea calling me as I carefully stood, trying to find my balance despite the harsh rocking of the boat. It was hard, but I wasn’t about to give up.

Finding support in the wall was hard, but I found myself out in the hallway, half dragging myself half actually taking steps as I walked. It must’ve been a hilarious view, but it was the best I could use my legs. The shouts of orders got louder and louder as I made my way up the stairs, only being able to take one step at a time. My thighs were a little bit numb by the time I made it all the way up the two flight of stairs, feet aching. I did not understand how humans were able to stand on their feet all day long. I had to grip onto the railing tightly as the waves rocked the boat aggressively, struggling to stand up straight. I peaked my head through the corner and watched as the pirates tried to hold the sails still, the Captain trying to steer the ship away from the storm, but that was impossible. At this point, they had to ride it out, we were too deep in it. I took in the situation, wondering whether these men and Taeri would survive this storm, so close to the mainland, yet so far away. What a pity. But once again, I had to take advantage of the situation and I made my way onto the deck, the rain hitting my face, making me look up at the sky and laugh. I haven’t felt water on my skin in so long. It didn’t feel like the salty water that I have missed so much, but it still felt majestic. My clothes got soaked in mere seconds and I fell onto my knees as a wave crashed into us harshly. But I had to get up, so I did, I gripped a barrel and pulled myself up, eyes falling on the railing. I just had to get to it, and from then on, I was free. I have never been so close to freedom before. And so, I started taking baby steps, legs and core tense as I tried to keep my balance, having to forget about the support of other things around me as I had to cross through the middle of the deck. But as I was walking, amazed by myself, someone blocked my path making me look up at them, their breathing ragged.

“Good, you’re here,” The pirate shouted over the loud thunder, and my eyebrows furrowed, “The more the merrier! I need you to tie those barrels against the mainmast, fast!”

He pushed a thick rope in my hands and my eyebrows furrowed as I watched the pirate run off, helping his mates in need. He was the man Taeri seemed close with, his name was Yunho, she has told me. I felt frozen to my spot as I gripped the rope, eyes falling on the three barrels Yunho was talking about. I wondered if he realized that I was the Siren and just went on, asking for help. I did not understand why, but I found myself walking towards the barrels, the rope already wrapped around the mainmast, I just had to push the barrels closer to it and secure the rope around them. It was rather hard, I could barely walk, let alone push some heavy barrels. And yet, I found myself on my knees, pushing with my whole-body weight, groaning when the barrels barely moved and the rain made it hard to see, the waves constantly making me lose my balance. This seemed to be an impossible task and I stopped, catching myself. Why was I helping them? I was their prisoner. They deserved to die. They took me away from my home and they want to sell me. If anything, their deaths will only bring satisfaction, not an ounce of regret or sadness. So I stopped. I dropped the rope and pulled myself up, ears picking up on a frustrated cry. It was a familiar voice and I looked in their direction, eyes falling on Jongho. He was by the railing, pulling on the rope of the mizzenmast’s sail, as it had sprung free from its place. He was screaming at Wooyoung to bring five men and help him tie it back before the wind rips their sail apart. There were tiny rips in the main sail already, which wasn’t a good sign. I took one step, two steps, three steps, and suddenly, my body was thrown against the wooden floor, head crashing against the barrel I was holding onto. Suddenly, everything was hazy around me, voices muffled and head throbbing. I couldn’t feel my legs nor my hands as I gasped for air, blinking but not seeing. Panick seeped through my body, hard to breathe all of a sudden as I clawed at my neck.

“Hey, hey!” The voice shouting seemed to be at a distance and I felt something colder than the rain pressing against my cheeks, “Y/N, hey! Calm down, you’re alright!”

I squeezed my eyes tightly shut together, when suddenly I felt a light slap on my cheek, the person talking to me demanding me to open my eyes. My eyebrows were furrowed as I forced my eyes open, seeing but black dots covered everything; Yunho was the one holding onto me, “Take deep breaths!”

I did that and found my vision clearing a little bit, but it was still hazy. There were zero chances that I could stand up with the nausea I was feeling. I have never been this sick.

“Everyone get under deck!” Suddenly a strong voice shouted over the thunder, “Right now!”

People started abandoning their previous tasks as everyone hurried underneath deck, but Yunho stayed by my side. He figured I couldn’t walk and suddenly I was hoisted up, carried towards the stairs as he looked around frantically.

“Yunho!” A feminine voice called out behind us and Yunho turned around, letting out a deep breath.

“Come on, Taeri!” And the woman caught up to us and held onto Yunho’s bicep as the three of us left the deck, me confused about what was happening. The hallway was filled with the pirates, everyone panting and drenched.

“We can’t stay up there anymore, nothing we do can save the damage.” Hongjoong breathed out defeated, eyebrows furrowed, “All is left are the prayers.”

A deafening silence fell over the hallway, nobody saying anything as their fates sunk in. I gulped, suddenly feeling the doom looming over our heads. I would survive it; I was a Siren. But nobody else on this ship would. My eyes ran over the people’s faces, searching for only one. Jongho. He seemed nicer than anyone else on this ship. He treated me decently when everyone else called me a monster and was afraid of me. I found myself thinking about how he didn’t deserve a harsh death. He taught me how to walk. He tried to feed me; he brought me water. He dressed me up and always tried to keep his distance if it wasn’t necessary to be physically close. He told me stories of his life before he became a pirate, how his father and him would spend their days on a boat fishing. He loved pearls and even showed me his little chest filled with them, wanting to give me one but I didn’t want it. He was hardworking and dedicated, very good at his job. Yunho suddenly placing me down snapped me out of my thoughts and I realized how fast my heart was beating. I was scared…but not for myself. For Jongho.

“Where’s Jongho?!” And as if the Captain read my thoughts, he called out. Everyone started looking around frantically, checking who was standing next to them.

“Jongho?!” His father called out, pushing people aside as he looked for his son, eyes wide and frantic, “Where’s my son?!”

I gulped, doom settling in the pit of my stomach. Jongho wasn’t here. And he wasn’t on deck. And if he wasn’t here and there neither…he was in the water. I gasped and felt my body tense up as I grabbed onto the wall harshly and started moving without a second thought. I never knew legs could be this strong, they didn’t hurt as I found my balance without holding onto anything. I pushed the few people standing in my way aside, making eye contact with the Captain before I started hopping up the stairs. I couldn’t run, I still didn’t know how to move my legs accordingly, but this was the fastest I have ever moved. My legs carried me back onto the deck and my eyes settled on the water. There was nothing and nobody stopping me anymore from jumping in.

“What are you doing?!” I heard Hongjoong shouting after me as I gripped the railing, heart beating like crazy. The water has never looked more inviting than right now, and without a word, I found myself leaning over the railing, arms out stretched as I fell rapidly towards the water. I was smiling from ear to ear, waiting for the moment when my skin finally made contact with the water. And when it did, all my worries seemed to disappear. I gasped, bubbles surrounding my body and sticking to it, everything so much quieter underwater. My ears stopped ringing, my hair regained its glow and my skin felt new, clean, fresh. The heaviness bellow my waist disappeared and when I looked down, the ripped pieces of the pants floated away, my long and strong tail replacing my atrocious legs. I started laughing, tearing the shirt off my body, a lump in my throat forming. I was a Siren. My tail was back. I didn’t turn human. I was free. I started moving my tail, chuckling at how easily it moved, how light I felt again. But my moment of euphoria was interrupted by screams of help, making me turn around as my eyes fell on human legs. It was Jongho. And he was still alive. I swum over faster than ever, but when I tried to get onto the surface, a huge wave crashed against me and sent me deep underwater, away from Jongho. I shook my head and hissed, searching for him as I couldn’t see him anymore. My glowing eyes seemed to be of no help all of a sudden. I thought he was forever lost, swallowed by the depths of the sea, but I caught his body. Little bubbles left his mouth as he was being pulled deeper and deeper by the current. It looked like he wasn’t even fighting back, face almost serene as he accepted his fate. My heart clenched and I found myself near him in mere seconds, his eyes closed. I panicked, but knew it still wasn’t too late as I could hear his heartbeat now that I was back in the water. I grabbed Jongho’s cheeks, making his eyes fly open in shock, and pressed my lips against his. He didn’t seem to understand what I was trying to do, so I forced his lips open with my tongue and blew air inside his mouth, supplying his lungs with enough air for us to get to the surface. Jongho seemed be dumbfounded as I pulled away and wrapped my arms around him tightly, swimming towards the surface, feeling where the current tried to take us, but fought against it. Our heads popped above the water and Jongho took a deep breath, slightly choking as he started coughing and he clung onto me as I stared up at the tall ship.

“Kim Hongjoong!” I screamed as loudly as I could, allowing my Siren voice to carry it to the ship, above their deck. It didn’t take much for the Captain to look overboard and once again, I screamed, “Go to the kitchen window! I can hand him back through there!”

The Captain said nothing but I knew he understood as he disappeared from the railing, I looked at Jongho, who was smiling in awe at me, “Take a deep breath.”

He sucked in a deep breath and we submerged underwater again as I swum around the ship, towards the kitchen window. Jongho didn’t stop smiling and when I pushed him towards surface, he gripped my arms tightly and pulled me above water too, panting as he stared into my eyes deeply. I didn’t move as a wave hit us, but had to hold onto Jongho to keep him above the water, his body not strong enough to do so. The kitchen window wasn’t open yet, it took some time to get there from the deck. Jongho’s warm brown eyes were soft as he tried to push his hair out of his face, watching me.

“You’re so beautiful.” I felt my body warm up at his words, a little taken back by them. Despite knowing I was a beautiful creature, his words seemed to have an effect on me. I knew my eyes were glowing and my skin was almost translucent again, yet Jongho caressed my cheek and pulled me in. His warm lips were cracked from him biting them so much, but their plumpness made them softer than I imagined they would be. I found myself kissing him back eagerly, wondering where these desires were coming from. Our lips moved perfectly against each other; the waves not even capable of breaking us apart. Jongho held onto me tightly, lightly shuddering from the coldness of the water, holding my cheeks firmly. It felt overwhelming to be held like this, to have lips against mine, to have someone like Jongho call me beautiful. He was the beautiful one, in fact. I’ve never seen a human like him before. So joyous of what life had to offer him. Friendly and accepting despite the strangeness of my nature to him. When I pulled back, I couldn’t breathe properly. I never knew a kiss could steal your breath away. I gazed at Jongho starstruck and he chuckled, planting a shorter but strong kiss against my lips again. I suddenly wondered what love felt like. And if the person who loved you gave you kisses like Jongho’s all the time. How would Jongho be if he were in love with you? Sweet, attentive, and loving?

I could hear the pirates struggling to open kitchen window, they were annoyingly loud. I didn’t want our little moment to end, but I had to hand them Jongho. He was a human, and I was a Siren. We were creatures different from each other. Our lives had no future if intertwined. It was best to let go while you could.

“Sunmi.” I said to Jongho as I heard the window opening, “My name is Sunmi.”

Jongho’s eyes widened at the hear of my real name. One night, when he wouldn’t stop asking me questions, I decided to tell him that the name I told him to call me by was fake as Siren’s names were sacred and only their swarm knew them.

“We’re here!” I heard Hongjoong screaming from above us and I turned around, looking at them. Yeosang, who despite seeming so soft was awfully strong, was leaning out the window, being held by Mingi and Yunho. Hongjoong was also leaning out, held down by Seonghwa and the one pirate who thought I couldn’t speak, San. Jongho and I shared one last look before I swum him closer to his mates, raising him out of the water as best as I could, until Yeosang and Hongjoong were able to hold him by his arms.

“Goodbye.” Jongho mouthed to me and I smiled as I watched him being pulled back to safety, the window slamming shut once his body disappeared through it. I jumped back underneath, swimming further and further away from the ship, feeling the sea calling out to me, guiding me towards my home.

I knew one day Jongho would tell his children about his encounter with a Siren, and if they happened to follow their father’s footsteps and sailed out onto the Ragging Sea, I would make sure to save them if needed, like I have saved Jongho.

Next part (divider)

[alluringwidow]

SEA GRUNKS, The Stan-O-War Chronicles

THE CURSE OF THE KRAKEN

Summary: Stan and Ford encounter a legendary kraken that disrupts their fishing trip, forcing them to uncover its ancient curse.

Characters: Stanley and Stanford Pines

Authors Note: This is a fan-made storyline inspired by the beloved characters and world of Gravity Falls. Sea Grunks: The Stan-O-War Chronicles follows the adventures of the Pines brothers, Stan and Ford, as they explore the mysteries of the ocean and encounter supernatural phenomena. This narrative is a creative expression and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the original creators or producers of Gravity Falls. All rights to the characters and original story belong to their respective owners.

If things go well with this series I plan on writing and doing more for the Stan twins and Gravity Falls in general such as comics, animations, etc so be on the lookout for those! Happy reading hope you guys enjoy!!

Word count: 1008

The sun hung high in the sky, casting glimmering reflections on the vast expanse of the ocean. A gentle breeze filled the air aboard the Stan-O-War II, a trusty vessel that had seen more than its fair share of adventures. Stan Pines leaned back in his deck chair, sunglasses perched on his nose, a fishing pole in hand, and the unmistakable scent of saltwater surrounding him. To Stan, this was the perfect vacation—just him, the sea, and the promise of a big catch.

“Ah, nothing like a day at sea,” he sighed, the corners of his mouth curling into a satisfied grin. “Just me, the ocean, and—” He glanced over at his twin brother, Ford, who was hunched over a table cluttered with maps, journals, and various strange artifacts. “Whatever you’re doing.”

Ford looked up, adjusting his glasses. “I’m studying oceanic anomalies, Stan. The ocean is filled with mysteries that could change our understanding of the world!”

Stan rolled his eyes, turning his attention back to his fishing line. “Right. But I think I’d prefer a nice, quiet day of fishing instead of diving into whatever weirdness you’re chasing.”

Just then, a sudden jolt rocked the boat, causing Stan to nearly lose his grip on the fishing pole. “What in the name of all that’s fishy was that?!” he shouted, scrambling to regain his balance.

Ford’s eyes widened as he rushed to the edge of the boat, peering into the depths below. “It appears we have encountered a marine anomaly!”

Stan clutched the railing, squinting into the water. “By ‘anomaly,’ you mean a giant sea monster, right?”

Before Ford could respond, the water erupted in a violent splash. A massive tentacle burst forth from the ocean’s surface, sending waves crashing against the boat. Stan’s jaw dropped, and he had just enough time to scream, “That’s exactly what I meant!”

The tentacle wrapped around the Stan-O-War II, lifting it slightly out of the water. Stan’s heart raced as panic surged through him. “We need to escape! Documenting can wait!”

Ford, however, was already scribbling notes. “Fascinating! I need to understand this creature!”

“Understand it?” Stan yelled, his voice rising above the chaos. “I’d rather not become sushi!”

As the tentacle tightened its grip, Ford pulled out an odd-looking device that resembled a compass fused with a radar. “Wait! We can’t just leave! We need to understand what we’re dealing with!”

The tentacle began pulling the boat closer to the water, and Stan’s patience reached its limit. “I’d like to keep my limbs attached, thank you very much!”

Suddenly, the tentacle released its hold. The boat bobbed back into the water, leaving Stan and Ford both bewildered and breathless. Stan collapsed in his chair, panting. “What just happened?”

“I think that was a kraken,” Ford said, his eyes sparkling with excitement. “Ancient legends speak of its curse!”

Stan sat up, his eyebrows furrowing. “Curse? You mean like bad luck? I already have enough of that!”

Before Ford could elaborate, the radar began beeping furiously. “It’s coming back!” he exclaimed, his voice a mix of awe and anxiety.

Stan’s heart raced again as the water churned ominously beneath them. “Okay, this is not the kind of fishing I had in mind.”

The kraken resurfaced, its immense body casting a shadow over the boat. Its massive, beady eyes locked onto Ford, who was now standing at the edge of the boat, spellbound.

“Fascinating!” Ford breathed. “We need to communicate with it!”

“Communicate?!” Stan cried, waving his arms frantically. “You communicate! I’ll be over here… fishing!”

As Stan desperately cast his line, Ford grabbed a glowing artifact from his collection and began chanting in a language that sounded ancient and melodic. The kraken responded with a deep, rumbling growl that echoed across the waves.

“Is it working?” Stan shouted, glancing over his shoulder.

Ford nodded, excitement radiating from him. “I think it’s curious!”

Just as Ford said this, the kraken lunged at the boat. Stan jumped up, dropping his fishing pole. “Curious?! It’s trying to eat us!”

In a moment of desperation, Ford hurled the glowing artifact into the water. The kraken paused, its tentacles stilling as it focused on the shimmering object.

“I think it wants this!” Ford yelled, frantically pulling out another device.

Stan stood frozen, his eyes wide. “Great plan, Ford! Just when I thought it couldn’t get worse!”

The kraken reached out with a tentacle, grasping the artifact and calming down, its fierce demeanor shifting to one of curiosity. Slowly, the creature began to retract its limbs, the menacing shadow fading into the depths.

Ford exhaled, a mix of relief and exhilaration washing over him. “See? It just wanted something shiny!”

Stan blinked, still trying to process what had just happened. “I knew I should have stuck to fishing for regular fish.”

As the brothers settled back into the rhythm of the sea, the boat floated peacefully once more. Stan returned to his deck chair while Ford resumed his notes, still buzzing with excitement.

A sudden beep interrupted their calm. The video call device lit up, revealing the familiar faces of Mabel and Dipper on the screen.

“Uncle Stan! Uncle Ford! What’s happening?!” Mabel exclaimed, eyes wide with excitement.

Dipper, ever the cautious one, leaned closer. “Are you guys safe? We saw something weird on the news about a giant sea creature!”

Stan waved casually at the screen, trying to act nonchalant. “Just another day at sea!”

Ford leaned in, gesturing dramatically. “We encountered a kraken, and I think we’ve formed a bond!”

Mabel gasped, her eyes sparkling with wonder. “A kraken?! Can we keep it?”

“Uh, no!” Dipper facepalmed, shaking his head. “Mabel, it’s a giant monster!”

As they said goodnight to their great niece and nephew and they prepared to go to continue their journey, just below in the tranquil waters surrounding the Stan-O-War II, the brothers began to relax when a shadow passed beneath the boat again. Then came there was a sudden tap beneath the boat, making it jut forward, hinting that their day was far from over.

“Uh, Ford?” Stan said nervously, his heart racing once more. “I think we might not be done with our ‘friend’ yet…”

---

[rain-goodreads]

“Some Hellish” by Nicholas Herring — Rain’s Book Review & Fan Cover (+ Speedpaint!)

Hey happy readers!

Rain here. Welcome to my first blog post. Today, I will be compiling my book review, fan cover artwork and explanation for said artwork for the rock-lobsterin’ book “Some Hellish” by Nicholas Herring! 🦞

(You can get the book from Goose Lane Editions using the link here! : https://gooselane.com/products/some-hellish)

I have already put the speedpaint of the fan cover above as an introduction, with the song “Bad Apple!!” by ZUN (Cover by RichaadEB and Christina Vee) playing in the background. Read my explanation below for more details.

Without further ado, here we go! 📚 🗣️

The Book Review (also available on DigitallyLit here: https://www.digitallylit.ca/product-page/some-hellish)

Some Hellish by Nicholas Herring is a charming blend of contemporary, philosophical, and slice-of-life fiction. It follows the expedition of a PEI lobster fisherman and his complicated relationship with himself, his life, and those around him. It is a reflective and empathic journey toward forgiveness, transformation, and love that also manages to balance the harsh realities of substance abuse, self-hatred, and regret.

The story follows a middle-aged lobster fisher named Herring, who leads a semi-impoverished life on the ocean harbours of Prince Edward Island. His life is falling apart at the seams: he buries the family dog on Christmas Eve, his wife and children leave him, he is in a constant losing battle against alcohol and financial struggle, his reputation is quickly dwindling, and his living room is now left with an enormous hole in the floor after a fit of blind anger. After being saved from a drunken truck crash by a group of passing monks, Herring and his similarly troubled friend, Gerry, go lobster fishing on the M&M (Herring's boat), high on acid, to cope with the misery of their lives. After a careless accident, Herring falls overboard and is lost at sea for days, presumed dead. But just when the world begins to mourn his loss, he miraculously survives, coming back to his broken life a new man: determined, bald, and willing to do better.

I found Some Hellish to be a beautifully written, thought-provoking work of literature in which I was thoroughly immersed until the very end, which gave me an equally undeniable impression that lasted even days after reading. It did an honest job of crawling inside the human psyche and exposing man's darkest, most vile contemplations and his most passionate aspirations and perseverance toward fulfillment and purpose. It did not hesitate to call out the thoughts that we hate to-- or would never—admit thinking (ex., secretly wanting a friend to suffer after they've wronged you or admitting to admiring the virtues we lack in someone we hate).

Additionally, it could paint a vivid, realistic picture of the Maritime lobster fisherman lifestyle, describing the realities of its intense physical toils, the general uneducated, drunken, anti-technological societal outlook, the turbulent weather, poverty and often quite disgusting normalcies of animal guts and lack of personal hygiene. (Needless to say, it isn't sunshine, lollipops and rainbows…).

I found the book's honest portrayal of both psychological and environmental aspects admirable, and I caught myself guiltily relating to Herring but happily comparing his unfortunate circumstances to my own many a time.

Though I found the book to be a bit slow in terms of plot progression, as most of it centred around character development and the slow harbour life rather than an action-filled overarching narrative like most stories, I ironically found that its sluggishness and focus on the people and personality rather than plot added to the charm, portraying itself as true-to-life and ultimately a story I enjoyed reading through. (After all, real life isn't a 24/7 MARVEL comic-book story with bad guys to defeat and cities to save… in truth, we're all living Herrings in one way or another.)

My favourite line from this book is:

"Well, at the end of it all," he said, "I guess you could say that I was willing to die so that people could eat. No matter all the stupid shit I've done, I'll always have this. Be able to say this about myself. And that's not nothing, huh." (paragraph 1, page 311)

In all, while Some Hellish may not be everyone's cup of tea (and if you can't stand the thought of reading the obscure existential crises of a middle-aged drunkard for 325 pages, this may truly be some hellish for you…), it is undoubtedly a book that merits its prestigious Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize and one that deserves the recognition and praise it has now. With its poetic disquisition, memorable characters and environment, thoughtful philosophical overtones and humane message of hope, it is a truly unforgettable experience that I strongly urge any stoic, deep-thinker and enjoyer of moving storylines to dive into.

Overall, I give the book a solid 4.7 out of 5 rating.

I recommend this book!

The Artwork + Explanation

Before we begin, I’d like to first warn you of…

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!! 🚨 ‼️

So take caution before reading ahead…

Anyhow, here is the completed fan cover artwork and the explanations for its symbolism! Enjoy.

Thank you very much for reading. I hope you enjoyed this post and hopefully found your new fave! 😉

Thank you as well to DigitallyLit and Goose Lane Editions for the awesome read. 😎

And with that,

Rain out. ✌️

[emoprincey]

Fangs and Cutlasses (Chapter 1)

This is chapter 1! | Chapter 2

Author’s note: Here’s the fic I wrote for @the-duke-of-nuts as part of @sanderssidesgiftxchange. I went with your first wish, dukexiety with pirate!Remus and vampire!Virgil (you have no idea how excited I was to receive that prompt, I’m obsessed with both vampires and pirates, and dukexiety are my absolute beloveds), and I added in a dash of fluffy royaliceit as per the second wish because I couldn’t resist. This ended up being rather longer than I anticipated, so it’ll be a multi-chapter fic. The next few chapters will be out when I have time to finish editing them. Although this fic is dukexiety, Virgil won’t actually be in this chapter because this is mostly background stuff, but I promise he’ll show up in the next one XD 

Fic summary: Remus has come a long way since being exiled from his village. He's the captain of a pirate ship, with his own crew, and a brilliant first mate. But when his brother shows up out of the blue, Remus can't leave him behind again.

And, while trying to repair that rift, he meets a strange man cloaked in shadows who will turn Remus' entire world on its head.

Relationships: Endgame dukexiety, endgame royaliceit with pre-established royality 

Warnings: Knives, swords. 

Word count: 3595 

There were few things Patton loved more than the feeling of the summer sun on his skin.

He sighed contentedly as he leaned back in his deckchair, soaking in the warm rays that danced across his face. At his feet, gentle waves crashed against the shore, sending up sparkling bouts of sea-foam which shimmered like crystals in the golden light.

As he let the heat push his heavy eyelids closed, he could almost imagine he was back in his childhood. The small archipelago he’d grown up on was cloaked in warmth nearly year-round, lying just south of the Meridian Line, a place that the sun’s rays never seemed to abandon, even in the middle of winter. Patton had spent his childhood charging through the shallows with the other children, sifting through rock pools under the warmth, and – when he was older – taking the boat out with his dad to go fishing. 

Since his family had moved to a small farming village further north, he’d gotten used to the cooler days and the sky darkening sooner in the winter. It was a lovely village, but it never felt quite like home. Though he liked the rolling green hills and patchwork fields around the village, the ponds cluttered with plants and the streams that ran through the valleys could never compare to having the vast expanse of clear ocean on his doorstep.

“Hello, love.”

At the sound of the familiar baritone voice, Patton opened his eyes and tilted his head to smile up at his fiancé. “Hey,” he greeted sleepily, his heart fluttering as Roman leaned down to press a soft kiss to his lips.

“I got us some lemonade,” Roman said as he drew back. He sat down and placed two rounded cocktail glasses on the table between their deckchairs. Each glass was filled with the smooth yellow liquid and ice cubes, complete with a twirly straw and a little umbrella floating at the top.  

“Thank you,” Patton said, picking up his glass to take a sip. He sighed, stretching out in his chair. “I’m glad we got this break,” he sighed, gazing out at the sea in front of them. Their set-up was just by the shore of the beach, with a striped umbrella to shield them from the afternoon sun’s rays.

“So am I,” Roman said. The two of them had been working hard on the farm that Roman’s parents owned. The birthing and planting seasons had been hectic throughout the spring, and though Patton had loved caring for the new-born lambs and sowing seeds, he was glad to get some time away with Roman.  

The break certainly seemed to be good for Roman. His pale skin had tanned easily, and there was a healthy glow to his cheeks. The sun brought out more of his usually numerous freckles, until his broad nose and wide forehead were covered with splotches of them, and his russet hair shone beautifully in the sunlight.

Some people, Patton thought, were meant for a life outdoors, and Roman was no doubt one of them.

“We could head up to the markets later,” Patton suggested, “if it’s not too busy.”

“That sounds like a wonderful idea, my love,” Roman smiled, reaching for his hand.

Patton squeezed tightly and leaned back in his chair, letting his eyes fall closed again.

 -----

This seaside town didn’t seem much different from any others Remus had visited over the years. The harbour had been bustling with activity; fishermen hauled in their loads, while tourists rushed to find their inns. The most expensive inns were right on the waterfront, with views out across the harbour and the sea beyond, nestled between shops and restaurants whose outdoor seating was perpetually full throughout the summer. Beyond that, there was a labyrinth of twisting, narrow streets, each bordered by tall buildings with painted white to keep the heat out, with rooves that jutted out and covered the roads in shadow even on a sunny day.

The place seemed to be, first and foremost, a tourist trap. Every second shop claimed to be selling some kind of novelty food for bumped up prices, or had racks of cheap jewellery that the owners would no doubt claim were made with some kind of precious stones. It was all a sham. Although the place looked pretty to any casual observer, it was only when you looked closely that you saw how the paint was peeling from the walls.

Remus wasn’t there for sightseeing, though. His crew were counting on him to bring back supplies, and he couldn’t waste any time.

The first order of business was food. They weren’t running particularly low, but it might be a while before they managed to land again. There were very few places their ship could feasibly dock at, since Remus and his crew had been banned from most coastal locations.

It didn’t take him long to find the market – the stalls always lined a street near the harbour, practically inviting pirates to come and steal their goods.

The street was already crowded in the mid-afternoon, the height of shopping time for tourists. The crowd would’ve provided good cover, if he wanted to swipe a few things from a stall – with all the hands hovering over items and snatching them up, it was hard for anyone to keep track of who’d paid and who hadn’t, and the mass of bodies jostling each other would provide cover for his getaway.

The extra pairs of eyes didn’t bother Remus; people had a habit of turning a blind eye to things that didn’t affect them.

No, the real problem wouldn’t be nosy tourists. The only real threat to him was the city Guard. Near enough all the towns on this coast had them, soldiers parading about in flashy uniforms, flaunting the crest of their various monarchs.

Remus had seen a few of them standing guard around the harbour walls – high-ranking, clearly, with fine navy blue uniforms and chest-plates bearing their king’s crest, hands resting on the hilts of large swords that were probably more for show than anything. Those were the guards the town wanted people to see – polished and imposing. The ones Remus was more likely to encounter would be the lowest-ranking guards, who were more concerned about showing off their uniform than actually catching criminals.

If he was quick, though, Remus might not have to deal with any at all. Behind each stall, crates and sacks of goods were piled high – since Remus would need to bring back a fair bit of food, those would be his best bet. He could easily carry two sacks back to the harbour, as long as nobody tried to stop him.

His eyes landed on a stall selling dried fruit. Full of nutrients, and they would last a while at sea. Perfect.

It would be easier if he had a companion, to distract the stall owner and the crowd while he swiped the goods. But they couldn’t stop long, so Remus had come alone, the rest of his crew waiting back on the ship, ready to depart as soon as he returned.

But Remus could provide plenty of a distraction by himself.

Smirking to himself, he surveyed the scene.

One cart was selling hats decorated with the feathers of exotic birds – well, Remus knew they were just feathers the stall owners bought in bulk and dyed with cheap, bright dye. Another displayed all kinds of games, little spinning tops painted bright colours... and a large box of marbles. That could work.

The stall next to that had scarves laid out across the front of it, with a conveniently placed sign announcing the prices. A couple of the scarves were trapped underneath it. Yes, this would work just fine.

Remus tugged experimentally on one of the scarves, and the sign wobbled a little. Perfect.

Now, all Remus had to do was snag a thread from the end of one of the scarves on the bracelet of a woman at the next stall, so that when she moved away-

The scarf was pulled along as she walked away from the stall, only a little way before the thread came free, but enough to make the sign topple and crash into the box of marbles.

The marbles scattered all over the floor, the box knocking a fair number of spinning tops off the table on its way down, and the crowd reared back as one to avoid tripping.

While their focus was on the ground, trying not to trip, and some stall owners tried to calm the people while others watched with interest, Remus grabbed two sacks of dried fruit and made for the next street.

“Stop, thief!”

Remus cursed. He was nearly at the end of the street when he heard the voice. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw a man dressed in the royal blue of the town guard, and dashed down an alley as he passed. Thankfully, the alley opened onto another street, this one not quite as busy. Through the backstreets and alleyways, up and down flights of stairs, and even vaulting over low walls and crates, the footsteps behind him never slowed. Remus had lost track of direction – he could be running the opposite way from the harbour for all he knew, but what mattered was finding a way to ditch the guard.

He ducked into another side street, and nearly slammed head-first into a wall. The alleyway was short and narrow, with walls far too smooth to scale.

Behind him, Remus heard the guard chuckle, far too close for comfort.

“Well, well, well,” the guard drawled. “What do we have here? Some thief who thinks he can outrun the city guard?

Remus turned around slowly, surveying the situation.

The guard blocked the small entrance to the alleyway, pointing his sword towards Remus’ chest. No matter how poorly trained a guard was, it would be difficult for any sword not to strike true at this close range.

If he’d brought his cutlass, Remus would’ve been able to best the guard easily, but the sword was far too conspicuous to take into the market. He did have a few concealed knives on him, small and not good for much unless he had the element of surprise, so he just had to wait for the guard to get close enough for him to use them.

“Thieving scum,” the guard muttered, glaring at Remus.

One step. Remus slipped a hand inside his jacket and wrapped a hand around the handle of his knife.

“You know, folks don’t take too kindly to stealing ‘round here,” he sneered.  

Two steps. He was nearly in range now.

“I’m sure a night in jail will do you good.”

Three steps. Remus began to pull the knife from his jacket-

And the guard crumpled to the ground.

Remus blinked.

There wasn’t much that could put Remus at a loss for words, but he had to take a moment to find his voice when he saw the face in front of him, identical to his own, staring between the guard and the rock in his own hand as if he was as surprised by the situation as anyone else was.

“Roman?”

His brother looked up, shocked expression morphing into something Remus couldn’t quite name. “Remus...” he said softly, but then he glanced back down at the guard, and his eyebrows pinched. “What are you doing, being chased by a guard?”

Remus folded his arms in the way he’d always done when one of the neighbouring farmers caught him mucking about in their barns or letting down the wheels of their tractors. “I was just getting some supplies.”  

Roman narrowed his eyes. “What, so you’re some kind of common thief now?”  

“A pirate, actually,” Remus said proudly. “Captain of my own ship and everything.”

For some reason, Roman didn’t look any more impressed by that.

Remus turned his attention to the unfamiliar man next to Roman. He was a good foot shorter than Roman, and much slighter, just visible behind his shoulder. Roman was standing just in front of him, protectively. He had warm brown skin, with dark curls framing his round face, and freckles splashed across his nose.

“I don’t believe we’ve met before,” Remus said with a smile that was probably more than a little strained.

“Right,” Roman said. “Remus, this is my fiancé, Patton. And Pat, this is Remus... my brother.”

“Hey, Ro-bro got himself engaged!” Remus cheered, clapping Roman on the back.

“I’ve told you to stop calling me that,” Roman muttered, but Remus could sense a hint of affection in his voice.

Patton was glancing between the two of them with wide eyes, but after a moment a smile formed on his face. “Well, it’s lovely to meet you Remus,” he said brightly, though the confusion in his eyes hadn’t quite faded.

“The pleasure is all mine,” Remus said grandly, bowing for good measure.

Patton giggled a little at his antics, and when Remus straightened up again, his smile seemed a little warmer.

“What are you doing here anyway, Ro? Bit far from the village,” Remus said.

“Oh, we’re on holiday,” Roman said. “We were just on our way to the markets.”

Remus remembered the mess he’d left behind him there. “Yeah, I wouldn’t go there for a while if I were you,” he said.

Roman narrowed his eyes. “What did you- actually, never mind. What are you doing here?”

“I told you, getting supplies. My ship just stopped for a few minutes, I need to head back soon.”

“You do?” Roman asked, his voice a little smaller than it had been a moment ago.

“Yeah,” Remus said, feeling something strange clogging his throat. “I’m a bit late already, Janny will be on my case about that.”  

He looked at his brother. Roman had the calloused fingers of a farmer, but his features were still soft. He was clean-shaven, because of course he had a steady supply of soap and clean water, and could shave without the rocking of the boat making him nick his own skin with the razor.

Remus felt like an impostor, an imperfect copy, with his greasy, matted hair and patchy stubble; his bushy moustache and battle-hardened glare; his sallow skin and sunken eyes. Roman had the innocent eyes of someone who’d never had to plunge a cutlass into an enemy’s gut, the knowledge that it was his life or theirs never dampening the guilt that burned in his stomach every time he watched the light leave someone’s eyes.

Remus had wanted to keep Roman away from this life, but the thought of leaving his brother again, so soon after having found him, made something twist in Remus’ stomach more painfully than any knife.

“You should come with me,” Remus offered.

“What?” Roman asked.

Remus paused for a moment. Even he was a little surprised by his own words, but now that they were out he couldn’t deny how much he meant them.

“Come with me,” Remus said, more decisively. “On my ship. We do plenty well for ourselves, all things considered, and we could do with the extra manpower. You can bring your fiancé along too.”

Roman’s mouth opened and closed a few times, and Remus would’ve revelled in seeing his loudmouth brother speechless for once if he wasn’t still trying to process seeing his brother at all. “We left all our stuff back at the inn,” Roman said eventually.

Then, surprisingly, Patton placed a hand on his arm. “We didn’t bring much with us anyway,” he shrugged, giving Roman that same bright smile he’d offered Remus earlier. A silent discussion passed between the two of them, and Remus felt a sudden aching in his chest at the realisation that he couldn’t read his brother’s facial expressions anymore.

“Patton, darling, I can’t ask you to come and uproot your whole life,” Roman said.

“You are my life, Ro,” Patton said, with a sappy expression that made Remus want to gag but seemed to make Roman actually tear up a little. “I’ll go wherever you go. I do like the village, but I want some adventure, and I do miss the ocean so.”

Roman gazed at Patton for a long moment, then he turned to Remus. “I guess we’re going. As long as you don’t crash the ship into rocks or something.”

“No promises!” Remus grinned, racing past them out of the alleyway. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to my first mate.”

 -----

Patton wasn’t sure what he’d expected a pirate ship to look like. Perhaps a large vessel stocked with cannons to shoot down enemy ships. The sails might be black and ragged from battles, and maybe a flag bearing a skull-and-crossbones would fly from the top of the mast.  

But the ship that Remus led them to seemed relatively normal, just a little bigger than a large fishing boat. There were no cannons, or imposing flags. The sails were a plain white, if a little faded and stained with age. There was absolutely nothing remarkable about the ship. Patton wondered, briefly, if Remus was a pirate at all, or if he’d just made up a tall tale for his brother.

The only thing that set it apart from the other boats in the harbour was the man pacing in front of it. He was far more finely dressed than the fishermen who frequented the harbour, in dark clothes with gold accents.

Patton wouldn’t even have thought he was a pirate, but from the way he stalked towards Remus there could be no doubting that he recognised him.

“What took you so long?” The man snapped. “We should have left twenty minutes ago. And who are they?”

Remus seemed to ignore the fiery glare the man fixed him with, instead slinging an arm around his shoulders.

“I think introductions are in order! Roman and Patton, meet Janus, my first mate. He’s the one who keeps things ship-shape around here,” Remus announced.

Patton giggled at the pun, but Roman narrowed his eyes at the pirate they’d just been introduced to.

Janus looked the two of them up and down. He had a black patch over his left eye, a thin scar shooting out from the top and bottom like a bolt of lightning, starkly pale against his dark, coppery skin. There was something electrifying, too, about the calculating gaze of his golden-brown eye, that seemed to stare right past Patton’s defences, as if reading his deepest secrets from his face like an open book. It made his spine shiver with something thrilling.

Then Janus clapped his hands decisively, nudging Remus’ arm off his shoulders. “Very well, then. Remus, say goodbye to your new friends, we need to go.”

“They’re coming with us.”

That made Janus falter.

He rounded on Remus, though Patton couldn’t help noticing the fondness in his look of exasperation. “For the last time, Remus, we can’t just adopt every stray you see.”

Roman huffed, folding his arms in a strikingly similar way to how Remus had stood in front of the two of them before. “Isn’t Remus the captain? Surely if he says we can join the ship, we can.”

Janus smirked, which made Patton’s heart flutter, and he could see a slight flush appear across Roman’s cheeks. Perhaps Patton was getting a bit ahead of himself, but Janus was very pretty, and although Patton and Roman were polyamorous, it had been a while since either of them had dated someone else. Perhaps this little adventure could have more perks than he thought.

“Surely Remus told you,” Janus said, drawing Patton out of his daydream. “He may be the captain, but the two of us run this ship together. All major decisions – say, new members joining our crew – have to be approved by both of us. And I just don’t know if we have the extra space to spare.”

“Roman’s my brother,” Remus said. “See the family resemblance?”

Instead of answering, Janus looked up at the sky as if one of the spirits would swoop down and save him. “I don’t have time for this today. Alright. A long-lost brother, and...”

“Roman’s fiancé,” Patton supplied.

“Right. This isn’t a family vacation, you know.”

“We know. We’re serious about this,” Patton said.

Janus looked at him. “And what use could you two be to the ship?”

“Ro took down a guard earlier,” Remus offered. “He’s always been good in a fight, we could always use that.”

Roman raised his eyebrows at Remus, in what Patton thought was probably sibling-speak for, You didn’t say we’d have to fight anyone!

Remus just shrugged, gesturing to Janus as if to say , Don’t worry, I’m just trying to convince him, which made Roman’s shoulders relax.

Janus was looking Roman up and down, as if mentally pitting him against opponents to see how he’d fare, though his gaze lingered appreciatively on his biceps. “I’d have to train this one up,” he murmured, “but he has potential.”

Remus beamed at Roman, as if Janus had just given him the most glowing compliment.

“And you?” Janus turned to Patton. “What can you do?”

“I can sail a boat,” Patton said. “Pretty well, actually.”

Janus looked at him again for a long moment, making Patton’s heart do a little flip.  

With a final nod, Janus turned around, already making for the ship as he spoke. “Well, come on then. We don’t have all day.”

Remus whooped, patting Roman on the shoulder as he followed Janus.

Patton glanced at Roman, and together they stepped onto the ship.

[firesofdainix]

October 5: Sailing | Rope | "I'm too old for this."

this took me a while and it’s not because of the word count... it’s because Nya and Morro are hard to write.

@morrotober

AO3 Version

*

TAGOMJTR Part 2 AU… kinda

*

Morro sighs as he stares at the mutinous crew assigned to him. What he means by the term crew, of course, is a lone young woman who will be responsible for his death, overeager to sail across the seas. He handles a mop in his hand, watching with tired eyes as the woman, or Nya continues to transition between looking at the sea, blue and dark, or navigating the ship, which she should be doing because the boat continues to rock left and right as if they are caught in a tireless swing. Since he would like to be dry for the entire journey (he knows he’s human now, but the fear of a droplet of water scorching his skin remains), he keeps to the center of the ship, stepping from every direction so he would avoid the waves of the water as it sloshes towards the deck because the driver is terrible at maneuvering an actual ship that stays in the water.

“I’m too old for this.” He slowly turns to the right side, closest to the water to the point he could just see the furthest specks of the moving blue waves, as if it has a mind of its own, and the silver light that is cast by the glow of the sun. The ship then turns to the side, and he almost loses his footing over it.

He should have just stayed with Hee-young as she gets a tour with Lloyd in Ninjago City. At least he gets to provoke Lloyd and annoy Lee. And keep close to Hee-young if Lloyd tries to do any funny business with her. (He knows Lloyd would never attempt any business with the girl, but a pettier side regrets not being with her.)

Nya gives him a funny look. “You’re the one who wanted to come with me on this trip.”

Morro scowls at the reminder before bellowing swears Wu definitely would not want to hear him say as he sways to one side thanks to Nya’s neglect over the wheel. Nya, too, swears profanities as she, with an enviable speed, races towards the wheel and steers them before another large, crashing wave of water would touch Morro. He opens his eyes — closing his eyes whenever water or fire comes near him became a reflex, a denial that he was about to die again — once he doesn’t feel as if he is drenched in the cold, wet water.

“Where did you get your boating license? From the pirates?” He answers back snarkily, as he kicks a stray fish back into the ocean. The ship bobs, as if the waters were offended about his response to Nya.

She huffs, “Hey, be grateful you almost didn’t get wet there! It took all of my willpower and my own elemental control to not let it get to you!”

“Well, great job for doing the bare minimum!”

Nya rolls her eyes, but her self-control wins against her less flattering thoughts, gripping the wheel with a rather secure grip. “I have no clue why you signed up to go storm-chasing with me, when you barely want to be near the sea. Come on, even my brother could survive ten minutes in this ship without looking sick!”

She definitely compared him to Kai on purpose; she knows they hate each other, acting as if they were rather adversaries of one another. Morro has always found Kai annoying, like the trickles of fire that seems to be heading your direction even when you do not want it to. He’s always had that same, suspicious look of wariness, and, while Morro definitely thinks he deserves it, Kai does it far too much for him to handle. At the very least Hee-young did not seem too distracted at the sight of him and Kai having a glare-off every time Wu finally acquires the energy to talk concerning something, perhaps Ferris wheels or talking to Hee-young about husbands and Morro being an eligible bachelor despite his troubled past.

(A rather strange topic that Morro has, wisely, dodged and subverted at every given time when Wu pulls the young woman aside. What was his deal?)

… Hee-young getting pulled aside by Wu and Lloyd, who kept asking her questions about her home life, Morro, and the occasional intrusions of Lloyd asking her if she would want to have a tour around Ninjago City with a trained side-eye of resolve over to Morro was one of the reasons why he had agreed to go on a storm-chasing cruise with Nya. He was a bit disgruntled that the person he had asked for the company was being kept engrossed by two people he didn’t want to interact with the most. The former ghost listens to Hee-young rambling, (“A husband?! Eh– but– no wait! I am not looking for a husband… yet! Although, I suppose I do have certain affections over a man, whom I have been well-acquainted with!”) before screwing off to go and listen over the others’ conversations, listing down every boring thing and being done with it.

Nya had suggested a storm-chasing venture as a relaxing vacation, but everyone — even her boyfriend, the annoying blue one — declined.

“Sorry Nya, but… you know I’m afraid of water, right?” Kai tells his sister, pointing a thumb over Hee-young’s general direction. He gives her his trademark smirk that makes Morro want to punt him to the sun. “Plus… the young lady’s gotta have some company…”

Morro glares at the back of his head, wishing he had some way of making Kai regret he ever said that.

“I don’t think I can handle going to wet places,” Cole replies, looking sick. “Not yet, anyway. Sorry, but I’ll get over my phobia once I get used to being human again.”

“I do not think that I will be able to relax in a boat in the middle of stormy seas,” Zane adds, looking a bit down at the prospect of having to decline Nya’s invitation himself.

Seeing that most declined her invitation, Nya slumps down, looking thoroughly disappointed. “Oh, so no one wants to go on storm chasing with me. Okay, that’s fine.”

Her puckered face, the way her lips that are usually drawn up on an exciting smile or aggravating expression were pulled to a rather somber look, her eyes furrowed, her eyes down. Morro, watching the entire debacle happen, decides to step in. He has, definitely, still retains most of his morals.

“If anyone doesn’t want to go, I will.” His voice was loud and clear against the clearly dismal ninja; every one of them turned to him. Their expressions were filled with shock, suspicion, and some general hint of wariness.

“What?!” Kai interjects, but Morro ignores him. Hey, he should have said yes if he didn’t want his sister to go on a trip with their worst enemy. Their former worst enemy, that is.

The only woman of the ninja gives him a bewildered, but also suspicious look. “And why should I let you on my ship?”

Morro shrugs, “Because no one else wants to. I was trying to be merciful.”

His reasons scream that was not the only reason, but he’s not going to listen to his own train of thought.

“We’re still not letting you on a ship, alone with Nya,” Jay says with a frown.

The former ghost turns to look at him with an incredulous expression. “Then give your girlfriend the company she deserves.”

Jay sputters, and Morro rolls his eyes as he tunes out what he was about to say. He is not going to listen to him rambling about his justifications over not going with his girlfriend in a terribly stormy sea. He’d make a great conductor of lightning, if possible.

The dark-haired man looks back at Hee-young, before turning to the young woman in front of him, crossing his arms as an expectant look crosses over his face. “So… is the offer still open?”

Nya opens her mouth, before closing it and nodding. “Yeah, I’ve got a room.”

Now, out at sea, as the gray skies that were comparable to his dreams of what the Departed Realm was like roam around the world like a monster crawling through the darkness like prey, he was semi-regretting his decision. The crack of thunder, like it, was about to break the mast that supports the ship, reverberating around the world as sparks of pink and blue coalesce into the dark skies beyond. The sea seems to enjoy the ruckus, as the waves start to become wilder and wilder, raising their currents like arms waving towards the darkness above them.

Regretting because he did not think he was this… reactionary towards having water spilled over him.

Meanwhile, Nya was having the time of her life, staring at the clouds with an excited face.

Morro looks at the brewing storm, sighing. “Out of all the things you can do, why this?”

She shrugs as she starts to adjust the sails. “I guess to relax, one must go on a thrill-seeking adventure with someone who’s willing to risk their lives, too.”

He couldn’t exactly fault her for that one. He’s done rather hefty or risky tasks as a way to blow off some steam, or rather relax, no matter how much Wu has a few qualms about his way of dalliance. From climbing down the mountain to swimming, to simply becoming a thorn on Wu’s side so that he takes him someplace else. The last time Wu caved, they went to Metalonia so that Wu can teach Morro how good weapons such as swords and kunai are made, and Morro mostly had not listened, as he was looking at the molten metal and iron which shines like the silver moon up in the sky.

The ghost snorts. “Turns out everyone doesn’t share your supposed idea of fun, it seems.”

Nya gives him a quizzical look. "Yet you appear to share the same form of leisure time as I do."

Morro’s eyes flare and the wind whips through him. "I volunteered simply because Braid Girl was getting accosted with questions I don't wanna hear about."

"So, you used this as an opportunity to escape from your girlfriend?"

Morro blinks at the use of that term, but he considers that they are now, by some technicality, friends, as Nya likes to call it. Or, does it now mean something else in this world? "Yeah, I guess."

Nya gives him a smirk he detests as if he has some form of awareness of the subtext behind the words he uses. Before he could — in a hostile way — ask what he said wrong, she sighs and looks up at the sky. "I guess we need a break from our partners, huh?"

Morro tries not to look and act unknowingly. "Sure. The annoying blue one is too taxing for my energy. I would prefer I'm not around him a few months after this." He meets her eyes, intending to make an attempt to relate to her. "I don't understand how you and he fell in love."

Nya looks a little offended and miffed, to Morro's confusion; are they not making small talk? "Because Jay is pretty funny. Yeah, sure, he talks a lot, but I guess that's what makes him so… enticing to talk to. He can go on for hours and hours about some cool model I never got my hands on, and time passes by around us and I'm still not bored. That's how good he is when it comes to helping me remember there is still good in the world." She gives him another sly grin as if she is inspiring him to talk about Hee-young as well.

"Hee-young also has the same problems with talking too much," he begins with an exasperated tone, unphased at the loud sounds of thunder booming across the sky. "She starts to ramble to the point of incoherency, and the subject and topic of the conversation that we currently have is long forgotten in the extent which she uses to help justify herself." He sighs, "But, I can get behind her rambling. It is… simply melodic to hear, even if her voice reaches the highest parts of the note in her head."

Nya chuckles at his statement. But, all the good nature and attempted small talk fades away as the boat starts to rock back and forth, water splashing over the hull with the force of a battering ram. Morro immediately grips the mast of the ship, having run to the driest part of the vessel he is currently inhabiting. Nya swears as this makes her return to focus on her task as the one behind the steering wheel, the captain of the ship, as she starts to sail through the storm that is now chasing them if irony ever exists in this world. It occurs to Morro this is the only time that he might ever attempt to recollect his memories of swimming; it had been useless as a ghost whose main adversary was the fluid, eternally moving water, but now that he was, by all means, buoyant, he wonders if he could apply all of the old, rusty swimming lessons he had once been so forward to learning, to traverse the waves of a river, to splash water around him like some form of self-care.

He tries to recall the swimming positions, but his mind ends up null.

Oh, he's so going to drown. This beats the time he got called a clown by fucking Ivory and Mara. He hated those two.

"Well, this is a bumpy ride," Nya says.

"Of course the ride is gonna be bumpy, we're in tumultuous water storm chasing! For what, for some adrenaline?"

"You were still willing to come with me!"

"And do you know how badly I've come to regret that decision?!"

Lightning flashes across the sky like a thin, white line, jagged and scarred. Thunder follows, growing ever closer as the sea starts to become wild as if a monster has awakened from the depths below. The currents sweep over the edge of the ship, a dark, monstrous shadow hellbent on rage.

"I'm going to die because of you!" Morro yells at Nya, who makes a noise of offense. It wasn't heard from the colliding of a sea, like the whales themselves were howling and the storm that is currently approaching them.

"Again, you agreed to sail with me!"

"To quell my boredom!"

"I did the same thing too, so can we not just blame each other?!" She yelps as the boat tilts sideways, already in a terrible condition even before they boldly come to the Sea proclaiming to conquer the storms from above. Morro hears the sounds of rickety would, croaking and bemoaning as he pulls his weight towards his feet to help get the ship on balance once more. Hey, his life depends on whether or not the boat is about to fall off the edge of the world.

As if the rage has possessed the sea and the sky, the darker clouds cover almost all of the horizon, encroaching the world in a darkness that was unreal. Morro feels something cold drip on his skin, and he looks down to see a wet droplet across his dark skin. It felt cold and wet, but also, a relief seeped deep into his mind as he realized that he did not feel as if he was being burnt with a metal rod any longer. A reminder that he was real, and droplets of rain would not kindle the agony and discomfort he's felt near small, minuscule bodies of water.

Oh, so it was raining.

And he was about to get drenched by the one thing he's been avoiding the most.

"Incoming wave!" The sound of Nya's voice brings him back to the current situation they are facing; becoming people lost at sea.

Morro swears as the ship begins to tilt sideways. Buckets, mops, and other things on the ship were thrown into the wild waters beyond, lost to the deep blue waves of the sea and its storm-filled waters. Before he could get his bearings right, the ship starts to tip to the right, defying gravity and all that is dear. He hangs on to the edge of the ship, staring down at the deep and dark waters with feelings relating to the times he had almost died simply because he was almost touched by water. Certain emotions that pertain to hatred and fear start to rise within him, as the ship comes closer to tipping off the edge— before a part of his mind tells him that he was the Master of Wind. He can control the onslaught of the wind around them, no matter how strong they are.

Calling towards the wind, making them remember who controls them, ears always open to his whims, he moves his arms to summon them into doing his bidding. It takes a few moments — the most grueling moments of Morro’s life — as he flicks back and forth from requesting the wind to obey him, to angrily commanding them to bow their heads to him, like he is flicking his fingers to light a flame that cannot be contained. He realizes that the winds in a storm were too wild, screaming in anguish and anger for the rest of their lives, to the point they will not harbor any intent to listen to his pulsating need for them to stabilize their ship. Nya too, could not control the currents of water in a storm, without having to shout at it to assert control.

So, Morro continues to shout, concentrating, pretending he was not tilting and almost being submerged in the sea due to the heavily tilted boat, entering his mind space as he attempts to find a recollection of things that calm him immensely.

Golden eyes looking at him in the throes of spring.

The sound of delicate laughter splashing over his ears.

The faint whiff of scented candles.

Morro’s eyes glow green and gold, before the currents of the wind that had formerly been against him finally listen to what he abides. With arms spread out, he pushes the ship back into its proper position, and, with the help of gravity, he was able to bring him and Nya back to their original spots, at the center of the ship. The black-haired girl was holding onto the ship’s mast when they have been busy tilting sideways; after finding out that she will not completely submerge in water, she opens her eyes before sighing in relief.

She turns to Morro, a grateful look on her face. It was the first time Morro has seen her smile at him. “Thanks! You saved my life!”

Something warm rises from Morro’s chest; he squashes it with a scowl. Crossing his arms, he hums arrogantly. “I was only doing what you failed to do.”

As expected, she sighs, taking her place behind the wheel as she starts to steer the wheel. Except, unlike what Morro would believe of her as seeking adrenaline (he’s always had the assumption that she is one of the people who takes pleasure in seeking thrilling adventures, even when her brother is the one that looks more like it), the ship starts to steer away from the gray clouds.

Morro blinks at the sudden distance being put between them and the clouds, and how rain does not drip onto his skin anymore, him expecting it to burn like it always does. Even the waters are calm now, no longer climbing onto the boat to claim him as one of them.

“You went the wrong way,” he says with a confused look, his eyes still staring at the gray clouds growing further away from them. To a certain viewpoint, it looked quite beautiful.

“No, I think we’ve had enough adventure for the day,” Nya says with an exhausted smile, letting out a deep breath as she wipes the sweat of her brow. She bites her lip, blue eyes staring at the steering wheel and at Morro, who was, unsurprisingly, relieved not to see the ghost trap again. He could feel his knees shake in amelioration, threatening to collapse. Yet, he didn’t want to drop with a woman like her on the side. Then, Nya speaks once more, a bit shy and hesitant. “... I think we should start hanging out more. Preferably not into storms, however.”

The former ghost looks at Nya as if she’s merged with the sea. “Are you insane?!”

“Uh, no.”

He throws his arms forward, “Are you meaning to tell me, that after this disaster of a ‘leisure trip’, you’re still looking forward to spending time with me?! Don’t you have four brothers and a boyfriend you could simply ask to spend time with you?”

Once the sea was calm and silent, singing only about how serene waves are, as the chirps of seagulls signify their safe return to shore, Nya jumps down from the wheel, to meet Morro face to face. He feels inferior and awkward, standing next to a woman who was twice his height.

“Look, I won't forgive you for what you did.”

Morro frowns, hardening his gaze. “I know, you don’t have to keep on rubbing that message to me.”

She continues, ignoring what he said. “But I would like to get to know you. Master Wu has always talked so highly of you, and even Cole and Lloyd are somewhat interacting with you.” She sighs, crossing her arms, training a firm gaze onto him. “While I don’t forgive you, I think we can be proper friends.”

Morro stares at her, absolutely dumbstruck. He can understand Hee-young and the others; they did not know of his crimes before he waltzed into their life and served them their tormentor’s heads. He finds Cole being close to him unnecessary, as the only times he’d interacted with him were to teach him the inherent meaning of being a ghost, and how not to be ashamed of it. And with Lloyd, he was simply forced by Wu to socialize with him, specifically now that he and Hee-young are talking. He shudders to think about it.

But Nya?

Still unconvinced, Morro questions her reasonings. “Why make an effort to know about me when you’ve made up your mind of the way you perceive me?”

Nya huffs a laugh. “Dude, I barely even know you. You’re lucky you’re not interacting with Kai because he’s made his mind up about you a long, long time ago. I just want to know if…” She becomes hesitant, “If Master Wu was right about you.”

Morro stares at the girl, a warm feeling on his chest blooming, ready to skip out like it was about to escape through the confines of his heart.

Damn it, Wu. You really know how to make your children become interested in one another.

But he’s spent his time bashing Wu in his head for asking Hee-young intrusive questions, correct?

He sighs, before extending a hand. He turns his head away, all reasons were undisclosed. He did not know why he was unwilling to see her reaction, either. “Fine. I’d like to… get to know you too, without your brother and your boyfriend breathing down my neck every time I talk to you.”

She chuckles, and he feels a big, warm hand clasping his. It was rough and hard, contrasting the element of water that has always been so fluid. “Do they seriously breathe down on you?”

He rolls his eyes, “Yeah, every time Lloyd comes to talk to me. I’m not even the one looking forward to our conversation; it’s all Lloyd!”

“Well, Lloyd is good at approaching people.”

“I can see that because he keeps doing it whenever Hee-young gets distracted! Like, pick a hobby or something!”

The sea’s calm is interrupted by the dark-haired girl’s pleasant laughter, ringing in his head.

(When Morro and Nya return to the harbor, they are accosted by the other ninja— or, more specifically, Kai and Jay, who throw themselves at Nya, staggering her off-balance. Morro could already hear the words spilling out of their mouth like frogs hatching from an egg; if she was okay, if Morro tried anything to her, all the pleasantly annoying but humorous statements. She answers them with precise answers, avoiding the assumption that Morro was simply a bad guy, which he subconsciously appreciates. When Hee-young comes to greet him looking red in the face, with Wu giving him a subtly encouraging look for some reason, does Morro understand that it is time to go home, and forget this day has ever happened.

He and Nya exchange letters every month from then on, however.)

[cosmicbash]

steve asks eddie abt the different genres of rock/metal and eddie is just absolutely passionate abt it, filled with his hand gestures and enthusiastic smiles, but steve ends up not paying attention to what comes out of eddie’s lips bc steve’s focus zeroed in on eddie’s excited puppy dog eyes. but that’s okay bc eddie will gladly repeat everything as long as it’s steve

"So uh... you're like a musical guy right? You like...music?"

It was just supposed to be some small talk to pass the time. An innoccuous question plucked from about a hundred other boring ones like "hows the weather?" "Got any plans for the day?" "Go fish?"

But no. Steve just had to settle on music. The one topic that surely a metal head donned in little handmade band patches and sewn on logos to his denim jacket could never resist. And he regrets it for a moment. For that split second it spits out of his mouth to break the uncomfortable silence fallen over the two of them in the empty boathouse ever since the rest of the group left to hunt for more vecna clues and he was sat with babysitting duty yet again.

But then Eddie Munson's big brown doe eyes had dragged away from the ricketly plank for and met his dead on for the first time in over a half hour. Wide and not at all hiding the obvious shift in his mood from anxiety ridden and hopeless straight over to hyperfixation appreciation.

"Do I like music? I'm in a literal band and you're gonna ask if I like music Harrington?" Eddie somehow manages to make those patronizing questions sound playful though. His voice brimmimg with barely hidden excitement over being given a topic to take his mind off of the shitty state of his life.

"Okay, wrong way to word it I guess." Steve's teeth are gnawing the inside of his cheek, but that regret over the conversation isn't quite peaking just yet. And really they can't sit here in panicked silence, he'll wind up overthinking and jumping someone with a knife next too. "But I meant like, you're into rock, or metal or whatever, pretty much the same thing right? So uh, what's that...like?"

"The same freaking thing?? Has Hawkins king finally developed dementia in his time away from school navigating the world of adulthood?" Eddie's laugh definitely feels mocking this time, but Steve finds himself perking up a bit in relief at the glimmer the other mans words show of his usual dramatic and loud mouthed self that Steve remembers terrorizing people in the cafeteria back in the day. "If you said that in a record shop you'd get thrown out on your ass before you can finish spelling the band who released Murmur!"

"Murmur?"

"Oh my god!" Steve felt a little foolish as Eddie took that particular confused mumbel straight to his heart. Body dropping back against the boat house wall rather dramatically. "He doesn't know who REM are yet. He hasn't heard of one of the newest bands out there pioneerring the way to a whole new genre of fucking rock and roll-"

"Newest? Wait so they're not even like big yet? Like Duran Duran?"

"LIKE DURAN DURAN!" That sent Eddie's arms flying up in the air again. "Do you understand the complexities of musical genres at ALL Harrington?"

Settling in for a crash course on the history of rock and music itself was far from how Steve intended for them to pass the time but if it got Eddie out of that helpless funk and lighting up the bright way he is now, even just to make fun of him or flex his great "knowledge" over the topic, then Steve would have to say he couldn't be easily tempted to spend it a different way.

Even if most things the brunette said went in one ear and out the other while he got lost in all the new happy expressions and warm brown eyes batted his way during it.

[missroller15]

A pirate’s desire

A/N: YAYAYAYAY! I finally have internet on my computer so I’m gonna post the first part of this fic, hope you guys enjoy it! Also just a disclaimer, if the characters are somewhat inaccurate or there’s plot holes, I’m sorry! I’m currently on a trip so I was only able to write most of it but actually sharing got complicated but anyways, yeah enjoy! Lemme know if you’ll want a part 2 :)

        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Salty air sprinkled the air as waves crashed against the boat. Jaron squinted towards the setting sun, which now illuminated the seas in vibrant shades of orange and pink. He let out a sigh of content before turning to the crew from atop the forecastle deck. “Men, get your smelly scallywag bottoms to work! We’ve almost made it!” 

His eyes scanned the main deck, looking for someone until he finally found him, with a disappointed glare. Or in other words, the regular look Jaron got from him. “Ahoy Tobias, matey-” Jaron started as he walked towards his direction. 

“Jaron, don’t. Roden and I told you that the pirate accent sounded terrible and that still hasn’t changed.” He frowned, opening up a book of mythology. A wicked grin rested naturally on Jaron’s lips as he replied.  “What you call terrible, I see as a form of uncomfort for you and Roden therefore it’s actually quite beautiful.”  

Tobias rolled his eyes, continuing. “Also, I believe we’re much closer than I’d calculated beforehand. Once we pass Sirena’s rock, then the pod should be near the area.” Jaron clicked his tongue, as he began to pace around. “And what do your books say about catching the fish itself?” 

“Not much. Just avoid hearing their voices. That’s the main warning when it came to hunting them, some sailors became so entranced by their voices that they jumped off their ships willingly to be eaten.” 

His eyes shimmered with fear as his voice spoke quietly to avoid spooking the rest of the crew. Though, not much could be done anyways if they did hear. “Ok, don't listen to the freaky sea song sung by women fish, got it.” Tobias nodded briefly before walking away to presumably do more map studying. A familiar face appeared as he walked up to Jaron. “Roden, you look absolutely terrible.” 

“Yes, because that’s exactly what one wants to hear when they get vomited on. You never were the best with words… or accents” His lips pressed in a thin line, although humor dripped from his expression. Jaron rolled his eyes, once more as he glanced at the horizon. The sun was nearly gone, they’d be at Sirena’s rock any minute now.  “It’s truly a gift you get to interact with me everyday or would you rather have a visit with the hungry ladies down below? I’m sure you won’t be able to make an opinion on how they speak when-” 

Jaron’s expression, although now only lit up by moonlight, tensed. The boat creaked as it passed by a rock, standing north of the island. It wasn’t very large but it was recognizable anywhere. Sirena’s rock, drips of pure white glittered down it. Sirena’s first and last tears of genuine love, as the tellers of the myth like to call it. 

A shriek pierced the quiet air, followed by a splash. All heads jerked towards the direction of the splash, peering over the ledge. Jaron did the same, his breath hitching. A red spot stained the dark seas. No one spoke a single word for several minutes. 

Just then, a cry filled the air for a brief moment. This time however, Jaron along with a few others were able to see for a split second the sailor, before he met death. A green slimy strip of seaweed wrapped around his neck. “The blasted women fish, they’re here.” Jaron muttered to himself, as he snuck down on his stomach to the main deck. 

He found his men, their eyes widened in horror. Jaron felt a tinge of guilt, he may not have mentioned the specifics when inviting the men to come mermaid-hunting. “Alright, matey’s-” 

“No, not the accent.” Tobias snapped. Behind his snarky exterior, hysterical fear was shining in his eyes. How did he even get down here?, Jaron thought for a second before shaking the thought. As he opened his mouth to continue, he shut it when he saw that Tobias wasn’t done. “I can’t believe we’re going to get killed by mermaids, you better have a plan.” 

Idiot, he thought, closing his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, just as he expected, in place of the terrified stances were infuriated glares. Aggressively whispered comments were thrown all around until a terrifying beautiful melody filled the air silencing them. 

“Cover your ears, now!” Jaron commanded in a low whisper as he slowly stood up from his spot to scour the island they were drifting closer and closer to eyes didn’t make it far when a flash of slimy green wrapped around his right forearm, pulling him intensely towards the edge. His left hand instinctively went to the sword that rested comfortably at his hip. With a swift movement, he sliced the seaweed. A whimper followed. 

A weakness, good to know. Jaron thought before he yelled out to his crew.  “Men, attack!”

Shrieks and hisses came from below as more strips of green flew towards the boat. The sailors quickly scrambled to the cannons, stationing them towards the murky waters. Another seaweed flew towards Jaron’s head, it missed by a centimeter and stuck to an empty barrel instead. He quickly picked it up and tossed it over. 

In return, a yelp of pain came. With likely only seconds, he looked around the deck to make sure no other sailors had been lost. From what he could tell, all still seemed to be fine until his eyes landed on Tobias, smacking the seaweed wrapped around his knee with his book. 

There was no time to go down there so his hand flew towards his belt and pulled out a dagger. “Let’s hope this hits both your hand and your book.” Jaron aimed the dagger and with as much force as he could threw it. It stuck swiftly to the wood plank on his right. He yanked it out and cut the green strip. He stood up, the dagger glued to his hand. 

Jaron’s eyes then drifted to Roden who had the most seaweed springing towards him and the cannon he was maneuvaring with one hand while the other was aimlessly attacking. He’d be a good first mate, Jaron thought as another seaweed of green shot towards his chest. He pat his waist and pockets quickly as the plant pulled him harshly to the edge. A few crewmmates, including Roden and Tobias, noticed. I held back from the strength of the pull but it got increasingly difficult as I felt my energy drain. Tobias and another soon came up, pulling me back from my arms. Their jaws were tense, as was mine as we pulled my body back. 

The weight loosened greatly and despite our energy being drained, the excitement began rising at the sight before us. A mermaid, in the flesh. 

Chestnut brown waves framed her beautiful face that radiated complete hatred. Her breaths were quick and short but she did manage one thing out. “Bloody pirates..” 

Charming, Jaron thought, resisting the urge to laugh at the comment as if he hadn’t heard it countless times. Her eyes fell onto his, then the sailor beside him and finally Tobias. Her eyes lingered on him most before they returned to Jaron’s. The hatred, no less intense than before. 

She lunged with a screech but didn’t make it far when a net was tossed over her courtesy of Roden. The scene appeared so similar to an insect getting caught in a web.  “Get her a fishbowl. Now.”  He said nonchalantly. Roden dragged her away below deck with the help of a few others. Tobias followed behind right after. The rest of the mermaids were nowhere to be found once that one was pulled up. 

Jaron let out a sigh as he leaned against the edge. The rest of the crew ushered to their quarters, he stood alone staring into the brightness of the moon. It’s luminous light filled him with warmth, reminding him of his mother’s smile. This was all for her.. Once he got her the cure she’d accept him home again. Maybe, just maybe.

He was snapped out of his daze when a pair of hands spun him around followed by a sharp dagger held against his throat. His eyes met a pair of soft but intense hazel brown ones. “Where is she?” 

Her voice was dangerously low but threatening regardless. “Well, if you’re looking for a female. We don’t stock many but there is a replacement by the name of Tobias.” The dagger was pushed ever so slightly harder causing Jaron to wince. No, don’t let her win, he repeated in his mind. “Where is my sister? I saw her get taken from this ship and I’ll kill every single of you if that’s what it takes to get her back.” 

Jaron was taken aback. He was, dare he say, impressed. The way she spoke of her reminded him so much of how he’d protect Tobias and Roden. His brothers, not by blood but that didn’t make it any less strong of a bond to him. His eyebrows knit in confusion at a sudden realization. 

“So if you’re related to that ladyfish then where is your fishy part?” He raised an eyebrow, half-hoping that the question would distract her for a second to release her grip. To his dismay, no change. Her eyes remained hard and unconcerned. “I was born of man and mermaid, that’s how I can shift. Now tell me where my sister is before I slit your throat.” 

“Wait, that’s possible? Does the rest of the pod know? How were you accepted if you’re a mutant?” He needed to waste time. There was something in him that knew she’d bluff.. He couldn’t explain how he knew, he just did. Or maybe the sea salt was just leaking into his brain causing his braincells to mush. “I don’t answer any questions to a person of cold heart that attacks my family.” 

“Your pod attacked first! If anyone is of cold heart, it’s you.” Her lips that were previously pressed into a thin line fell into a frown as her grip faltered. This was it. He quickly grabbed her wrist tightly winding it behind her back and doing the same with the other. The dagger fell, hitting a wood plank a few feet away. She stumbled back slightly towards the wall. He’s got the advantage now. “Ok, that was all fun and games but it’s my turn to get some answers.” 

She huffed as she tried to manuevar out of his grip. “Yeah, no luck. It’s not a nice feeling, I can understand.” He had a smug grin resting on his lips. “Alright, now tell me what you did to my crewmates and I might release you scar-free.” 

“I already said that I don’t answer to people of cold heart and that I’m not going anywhere without my sister.” She sneered, leaning in dangerously close. Their noses brushed ever so slightly. “Fine then, don’t go anywhere. You’ll stay with her.” 

He called for a crewmate but no response. He tried again with Roden and Tobias. No response. 

His angered gaze fell to her’s. “What did you do to them?” 

“Find out for yourself.” Her eyes remained serious but there was a glimmer of humor in them, hidden deep inside. I released from our position and began making my way below deck, pulling along the somewhat charming yet dangerous girl. His jaw dropped at seeing every single one of his men, asleep. Soft snores came every so often from a few of them. He felt a rush of relief flow inside him. He’d seen enough death for tonight. He regained his composure before turning to the girl. “How did you manage to make them fall asleep? How did you even manage to sneak aboard?” 

“I used a seaweed rope to climb once I saw that all of them went down to their quarters.. Well at least, I assumed all. When I snuck by, I used enchanted coral dust and they all went out like a light.” Her voice said softly as though they’d wake up if her voice was loud. Jaron despite not being the most intellectual, did a bit of research before his hunt and fell upon the topic of coral dust in one of Tobias’ books. He read that inhaling a whiff could cause one to sleep for days.

Jaron glanced over at her. She radiated peace when not angered, it was almost pleasant to view but then he noticed the moonlight glittering in through the windows. His mother. This was for her. He grabbed an old rope that rested along the floor with no particular use and tied her hands behind her back. “I’d apologize but that would require regret… which I don’t have.” 

Her eyes immediately jerked to his, there was a mix of pity and sadness but hatred shined brightest of all. He almost felt a tinge of guilt. Almost.. Maybe he did. 

A/N: There it is! Lemme know your thoughts, fav parts?? I dunno what else to say besides, hope you liked it haha <333

[whitherliliesbloom]

in a place where dreams continue

[ ffxivwrite2021 ] ★ [ masterlist ] ★ [ prompt #25 - silver lining ]

[ alphinaud/wol ] ★ [ 1,422 words ]  ★ [ mermaid au ]

silver lining- advantage that comes from a difficult or unpleasant situation

getting caught in a terrible storm and being thrown overboard may just be the worst thing that has ever happened to alphinaud - or the best.

The Ignia Satella is the safest ship across the seven seas - as Captain Carvallain would be so quick to boast. Even with Alphinaud’s own trepidations and doubts about setting foot anywhere near the ocean, it was only because of the sheer size and reputation of the ship and its crew that the young prince of old Sharlayan finally agreed to take his first maiden voyage across the seven seas to visit Eorzea and meet with the nation leaders of its four city states as per his duty as son of king Fourchenault.

Sometimes, he’d wished that he let his own fears get the better of him, however... because not even halfway through the journey, a storm of crashing waves and deafeningly loud lightning broke, rocking the boat so violently that he had inevitably been thrown off the railings and overboard into the cruel, cold abyss of the dark ocean below.

Alphinaud could not even hope to survive in still waters, let alone in the midst of a storm as waves upon waves carried him further away from the ship. The frantic voices of the crewmates were growing more distant - not that he’d hear them when his ears are clogged full of seawater and the sounds of the thunder mocking his demise. 

Death by drowning had been one of the young prince’s worst nightmares, and to have it be realized so soon after he’d decided to metaphorically and literally take the plunge filled his heart with a crippling, painful regret that ached his heart as he allowed his consciousness to slip.

He doesn’t know how long he’s passed out for - or if he even is alive anymore. But his eyelids flutter open to the blinding sun above his head - cotton candy clouds dusted among a baby blue morning sky. 

His body feels heavy - like a sack of popotos and he can barely even feel his limbs as his navy blue eyes struggle to regain his focus. He no longer feels like he’s floating - or rather sinking... he realizes then that he’s lying on the back and he can feel the rough, grainy feel of sand sticking to his bare skin.

It takes a good several minutes for him to finally come to his senses enough to remember the flashing of lightning, the battering of waves against the wooden haul of a boat and the loud sound of a splash as he fell overboard-

By... by the twelve, he fell overboard. He should be dead.

“A-are you okay?” He hears a voice beside his ear, no louder than a whisper and sweet like a songbird’s. “Can you hear me?”

Alphinaud turns his head to the side, vision still a tad blurry, but focused enough now to be able to make out the shape of a veil of long, cascading hair that reflected the light of the sun over glistening skin, and a pair of gleaming violet eyes that swirled with the color of the galaxies.

When the young prince fails to respond, the stranger draws herself closer with her elbows, the silver circlet she wore like a crown glowing incandescently in the sun and framing her head like a halo. 

Her features are ethereal, unnaturally so. From the beauty of her glowing eyes to the light fairness of her damp skin. Even with stray strands of pure white hair clinging to the sides of her face and neck, she looks like an angel without compare.

“Ah...” 

He surmises that he’s dead, and closes his eyes with a lengthy sigh. 

“To think...I would find myself in the after life so soon and be greeted by an angel....”

Before he can lament his short lifespan any further, he feels his cheek being pinched - not hard enough to hurt terribly... but just enough of a sting to jolt him back to his senses and open his eyes in shock once again.

“O-Ow!” He finally rolls back, sitting himself up with a loud pant and rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands, feeling the wrinkled skin upon the pads of his fingers with a grimace. 

When he finally moves his hands away he’s staring out at an endless ocean, the deep blue waters meeting the lighter sky in the distant horizons with not a ship or hint of land in sight. 

He feels the light nudging of the waters against his legs as the tides push and pull, as if to wake him up from his daydream.

He’s.... not dead. 

No, it would appear that he’s washed up on a beach somehow- whether near or far from Sharlayan, he could not tell. And try as he might, he could not find strength in his legs nor his arms to push himself up to stand.

And thus he can only turn his head to look at the one who had woken him from his unconsciousness, and it is only then that he fully takes in the peculiarity of the woman before him.

The girl’s no angel - even if she looks fully the part... but the light blue fabric of her wet dress does nothing to conceal the long, fish-like tail that sat in place of where her legs should be - the iris purple to cerulean blue ombre of her scales holo and iridescent, reflecting the light as brightly as her hair and eyes. 

Though her skin from her chest above is bare and clear, he also notices blue scales climbing up the sides of her neck and cheeks as if to draw more attention to her delicate features.

“Um...” Her lips part, snapping out of his daydream, “Are you... are you okay now? You’re not still delirious are you?”

Words nearly die at his throat, Alphinaud finds it difficult to speak... but he forces himself to anyway, cringing internally at how hollow and strained his voice sounded. 

“I... Yes, I’m... I think I’m alright. I’m not dead, at the very least...”

The girl visibly relaxes, but stiffens again when she notes the boy’s eyes surveying from head to fin and then back up again.

“Y-you’re... a mermaid???” 

The snow haired girl jolts, expression twisting into realization and fluster.

“O-Oh- Oh no... I...” 

Her cheeks burn a bright red shade, spreading across her nose and to the tips of her pointed ears, and Alphinaud bites back the urge to compliment her cuteness.

“I should’ve left... I’m not supposed to be..” She’s stammering on her words, head tilting to the side and averting her eyes from his gaze. He hears sand crunching as she props her elbows up to push herself back towards the waters. “I-I’ll be going now-”

“W-wait!” the boy raises his voice - though he hadn’t meant to... but the young mermaid girl seemed startled enough to still herself and swallow a gulp before hesitantly turning her violet eyes to look back up at him. “I-i’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you, miss. I just... have many questions.. and I’m not sure I’d be able to get any answers if you leave me here.”

Alphinaud’s come to terms with the very real possibility that he’s stranded - it would make sense for how uninhabited his surroundings seem - with a dense canopy of trees of a tropical forest behind him, a pile of rocks not too far from the sandy beach they sat upon sheltering what seemed to be a coastal cove. 

And though he knows the girl belonged within the safety of the waters, the exact opposite of where a floundering young man like him would thrive, losing the only person here who could potentially speak and understand him scares him as a prospect more than living his days out on a stranded island. 

“You were also the one who saved me, weren’t you?” Alphinaud takes an educated guess, and judging by the sheepish dart of the girl’s gaze away from him before a small, timid nod, he was right. “I’ve yet to thank you fully yet... for saving my life. So, won’t you stay miss? I promise I won’t make you talk about anything you’re not comfortable with.”

It takes a long moment and what felt like an eternity for the girl to contemplate and ponder over her thoughts- whatever it may be... but Alphinaud patiently awaits her answer and finally lets out a wide, warm smile when the girl finally nods once again, tucking and folding her tail behind her and sitting herself up, brushing her hair behind her ear.

“O-okay... I’ll stay.”

[apothecarinomicon]

Spring week 4 part 3

After my hectic experience with the marshbloom, I decided to take a day for myself. Greenmoor isn’t anywhere near the ocean, but Meltwater Loch is big enough that I figured a day spent there could be considered a beach day. And after the couple of weeks I’d had, boy did I need a beach day.

But anyone who’s read this far ought to be familiar with my luck by now. There’s a lot to record, but I’ll try to get it down in order.

 ────⊱⁜⊰──── 

It was a beautiful day—clear blue sky, warm air, and (at least when I first arrived) no one around at Meltwater Loch. I spread out a towel on the beach and laid down for a good session of sunbathing. I’ve never been one for tanning, but  simply laying doing nothing while being warmed by the sun and cooled by the breeze felt absolutely decadent.

After a while of simply existing, I became aware of the sound of a bird calling above me. I cracked my eyes open and recognized the large forms of a pair of gull-drakes flying overhead. Gull-drakes are a strange hybrid, both reptilian and avian. Their torsos and wings are feathered, while their heads, tails, and talons are scaled. They do have beaks like gulls, but their tails are prehensile like their alleged draconic ancestors’. I say ‘alleged’ because no one knows how the hybrid gull-drake came into being. The sheer anatomy and scale discrepancy between the average seagull and the average dragon fossil (they were much larger in ancient times than the pocket-sized lizards we have today) seems to rule out any cross-breeding. Additionally, the typical combination of traits displayed by gull-drakes is too awkward and ungainly to be the result of natural selection. And yet, there have been records of the gull-drake’s existence for just about as long as there have been records—the third-oldest surviving written document, in fact, is a bestiary which includes them along dozens of other species, most of which are now extinct.

Nature is a strange thing.

Digressions aside, there was a reason this caught my attention. Gull-drakes are scavengers, and have been known to leave catches uneaten while they go out to hunt for more. It’s just an evolutionary quirk—they prefer to feast only once per day. This means that, as they leave their nests unattended, some other opportunistic creature could come by and steal their catch. 

It’s easy to identify a gull-drake nest, too—they tend to be very large, and are often positioned balanced atop large, pointy rocks. If a gull-drake catches you stealing, though, it’ll chase you and squawk at you and try to peck you until you drop the stolen goods and flee. They’re not too smart, though, so hiding in nearby foliage (say, a patch of large ferns) will fool them easily.

All of this to say, I managed to get myself a shock fish without a rod, all while only getting chased a little ways by a jealous, stupid bird.

 ────⊱⁜⊰──── 

As I returned to my towel, I heard an unusual sound—the put-put-put of a motor. Machinery of that kind is a fairly new invention, and unless you know how to make it, very expensive.

The woman driving the boat certainly looked like she knew how to make a motor. She was dwarven, with russet hair and a long beard, both held in thick braids. She was (as dwarves are) rather short—I'd estimate maybe one-and-a-fifth meters tall, and nearly as wide—with large hands and feet, and limbs thickly corded with muscle. She wore dark green coveralls and had a fairly heavy-duty fishing rod held in one hand so that it rested on her shoulder.

She shut the motor off as she neared and called out to me, asking if I was the village witch. I said that I was, and she told me that she was friends with my crocodilian patient. She thanked me for helping him, and said he would have been a goner without my potion-making skills. I demurred just a bit, saying I wasn't the only healer who helped him that day. She scoffed and dismissed my humility outright, saying that I might as well have been the only one—that without my care the village doctor wouldn't have been able to do anything.

She introduced herself as Janneth Hillhorn, and I told her my name in turn. She asked what I was doing out by Meltwater Loch and I told her I was taking a day off. She let me know that her cottage was just around the other side of the lake, near Glimmerwood Grove and right on the border of Blastfire Bog, and that I should feel free to stop in any time. I thanked her.

At this point, there was a tremor in the water. It couldn't have been an earthquake because the land wasn't shaking, but the water abruptly became much more active. Ocean-like waves crashed into the shore and Janneth held tight onto the sides of her boat, doing her best not to capsize. I would have been quite alarmed in her situation, but Janneth barely seemed preturbed. I asked something along the lines of "what the blight is going on?!" As the water settled, Janneth told me that this was a common occurence on Meltwater Loch, a quirk that—many said—was due to the emotions of its guardian sea-dragon, Bàs Bàta. I found this explanation rather silly, reminiscent of an old wives' tale. I'd never heard of a sea-dragon before, and given that the name ‘Bàs Bàta’ directly translated to "boat death," I figured it was just a local story told to frighten children and dismissed it out of hand.

Astute readers should be growing worried for me right about now.

Janneth offered to give me one of the fish she'd caught as a thanks for helping her friend. I initially refused, but she insisted. She looked through her basket and pulled out a dentist crab. The gel their claws produce is good for the mouth and plenty else besides, so I accepted and thanked her. She thanked me right back and said (perhaps jokingly?) not to run afoul of Bàs Bàta while I was out by the loch. I forced a laugh as she sped away.

Once she was out of sight, I collected some claw gel from the dentist crab and released it back into the water.

 ────⊱⁜⊰──── 

There was another rumbling as I made my way back to the beach, and as it abated I saw something bob up to the surface of the water close to the shore. It presented itself, et cetera et cetera, I waded in to see what it was.

I scooped it out of the water and found myself holding a glass bottle, like the kind that rum or sweet wine would come in, sealed with a cork and containing a rolled-up sheet of paper. Of course, I opened it immediately. I found that the sheet inside wasn’t quite *paper,* but something more slippery—maybe made of seaweed? It did have writing on it, though. As I unfurled it, a few things that looked like pebbles fell out. I barely managed to catch them before they hit the surface of the water. I put them in my pocket for safe keeping.

The writing on the note was as follows, with no spelling changes by me:

Let it be known that I fink this whole exercise is stupid. And pointless. And probly meant as some kind of sick, twisted punishment. No one but little kids believe in terrafolk, so I don’t know why the instructress is making us do this.

Even if anyfing could live above the water, there’s no way its advanced enough to read. How would it get all the minerals it needs wivout processing the water?

But anyway. I guess I ave to fulfill the prompt. 

Me name is Genoveva, I live in the I.S.A.C.S. (that's short for 'Isolated Sovereign Aquatic City-State, but we all just pronounce it like 'Isax") and I’m in the fifth year of me education. I hate me name. I wish I could ave somefing exotic like a John or a Steve or a Sarah, but I’m stuck wiv boring old Genoveva. If you’re somehow able to read this, that must mean you ave schools on the surface, too. Wat ar they like? Ar they as boring up there? We all ave to sit in a circle and listen to the instructress drone on and on and on.

I live wiv me merma and me perpa and me two baby brothers. Do you ave family? I've got loads of cousins too.

On the rubric it says I ave to include a small gift, so I'm putting some fossil fish scales in wiv this letter. I found em on me way to school this morning and there not of use to me, but I figure you probly don't ave fish on land so maybe scales ar valuable up there.

If you're inclined to write back (no pressure), you can just pop your note in the bottle and put it back into the water. It'll find its way to me—there's magic all around, don't you know.

Signed,

Genoveva Galbrait, 5th year

[An accessible version of this letter can be found here.]

The letter obviously has some pretty complex implications. An entire society under the surface of Meltwater Loch, entirely unaware of the world above the surface beyond fairy stories? What must life be like down there? What kind of society must they have? How do they supply food? Get rid of waste?

What resources might be available there that can't be found on the surface?

I decided that somehow I was going to find a way to visit ISACS, and learn everything I could about it. I bet that would impress the University of Arcbridge. I wasn't sure how I would breathe under the water for long enough, but I was determined to find a way.

Take your final guesses now what happened next.

That water-quaking started up again, this time stronger than before. Waves crashed against the beach where I stood, and I felt a great vibration in my chest and in my head. 

And then, it broke the surface of the water.

Giant and blue-green and serpentine, Bàs Bàta rose up before me. A blighting sea-dragon, it stood straight up in the air at least twice as tall as my cottage—and that was just the part of its body I could see. Its head was shaped like the tip of an arrow, with three great spikes sprouting out of the back (the outer two longer than the middle one). It let loose another deep roar, dousing me in spittle. It thrashed about, causing great waves to crash onto the shore, and through my shock I realized its movements might be less characteristic of anger than of pain.

My suspicions were confirmed when it roared again: one of the fangs right near the front of its mouth was missing a chip, and had a great crack running nearly all the way up to the root. That had to hurt. I'd never treated a non-humanoid  before—or, for that matter, a cracked tooth—but I realized even past the moral obligation to help, there was no way I could access the underwater city-state without calming Bàs Bàta down.

I found out later, after I'd scrambled away from the lake and sprinted back to the cottage, after wiping the saliva off of me and getting at least some of it in a bottle for potion use, that the saliva was actually a really useful ingredient in treating shattered teeth. As it turns out, it's a pretty strong painkiller. Unfortunately, I knew I'd need more than just that to make a cure, and with the sheer size of Bàs Bàta, I suspected I'd need to make more than one potion.

That will have to be a longer term project, then, because the events of my relaxation day have worn me out. I've got to get to bed. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

⇦●〇●⇨

[yourdeepestfathoms]

Medusa’s Child (part one)

eyyyy, here’s the first part of Medusa being a mom!! sorry if it’s not very accurate to the myths, i am trying my best. feedback and comments are greatly appreciated! i hope you all enjoy!

---------------------------------

She was first alerted of a presence by an uneven splashing against the nearby shore.

It was the early evening, and the sun was at its best point in the sky, raining down on Sarpedon in just the right way to make her scales light with painless flames. She stretched out on her branch, pressing her bare belly up to the warm rays. Her tail flicked lazily while her mane of snakes hissed and tugged in the direction of the noises. She swatted a clawed hand at them.

  “Let him come,” Medusa murmured in a husky, languid voice, not bothering to open her eyes. “You know he won’t stand a chance anyway.” She ran her black talons down her exposed breasts and stomach, chuckling deeply. “He may as well die with the image of a beautiful woman in his mind. We can give him that, at least.”

There were mixed reactions from her snakes, some spats of disapproval, some hisses of agreement, but they all coiled back down into quietness. Or, as quiet as a head full of serpents could be.

Compared to other creatures across the land, Medusa had a remarkably good childhood if she did say so herself. Her parents were the ferocious Ceto and Phorcys, ancient sea gods that kept the ocean seething with their monstrous children. 

Phorcys was a grey-haired, fish-tailed mountain of a man, with rough red, spiky crustacean skin and huge crab claws that were strong enough to snap off the head of any mortal man that approached his territory. He was faster than any sea creature and stronger than any current in the existing waters. He could create a tsunami big enough to drown Greece with one splash of his mighty tail.

Ceto was quite possibly more terrifying than her father, however. She was a fair maiden with shiny, unblemished skin she never covered up and long, wavy black hair that floated like Kraken tentacles in the water around her. Her eyes were green and sharp enough to cut through obsidian, and her voice was booming enough to crack the earth and drain the entire ocean. She was as venomous as her animal creations, but she taught Medusa discipline and respect at a very young age.

Together, the two of them brought forth a myriad of devilish children. Ekhidna, a dangerous she-dragon with the head and breasts of a beautiful woman and the body of a coiling serpent; Scylla, a giant crab that ate sailors; Ladon, a dragon with one hundred head; the Graiai, three grey hags that shared one tooth and one eye; and the Gorgons, a trio of sisters with the bodies of serpents and hair made of living, venomous snakes.

Medusa was a part of the final group. 

Medusa and her two sisters were born on a dark day, where the sky seethed with storm and the sea seemed to wrath against its gods. Through crashing waves and spitting sea foam, Ceto dragged her soaked, swollen body from the hissing water and into a cave where it was dry. The tide tried to catch her, nipping at her heels like desperate piranhas, but could not chase her all the way up the sand.

Within the cave, the pelting rain and howling gales were muffled by thick stone. Droplets of water dripped from stalactites that hung from the ceiling like dozens of monster fangs. Small tidepools were laid across the ground like traps, seemingly existing to trip Ceto and make her crash down onto her thick belly. But she managed to avoid them, hissing strings of curses to the starfish and crabs and tiny fish that thrived within the wet sinkholes before collapsing to the ground, powerful cramps rippling through her body.

There, Ceto gave birth in the eye of a raging hurricane, her monstrous children writhing out of her womb, clawing and scratching for the world outside of her body.

Stheno was first, born thrashing and hissing and brimming with rage the moment she came out. She was a thin little thing, but her blood red tail whipped around with enough power to crumble mountains. Her red mane of snakes sprung to life instantly, fangs flashing, hissing so loud they challenged the whirlwind outside the cave. The scales upon her head and face made it look like she was permanently stained in mortal blood, and the boar tusks curling out from her mouth looked wickedly sharp. Mere moments after being born, she had lunged at a tidepool and ripped apart a small crab with bronze claws, devouring it in just a few snaps of her powerful jaws.

Euryale came next, sliding out in a slick of fluids and screaming so loud she threatened to bring the whole cave down on top of them. Her white and yellow tail lashed as she cried, sending clumps of wet sand flinging through the air. The mane of snakes upon her skull, which had red snouts that looked like they had been dipped in blood, wailed with her, strange, raspy sounds that vibrated through the air like static electricity. There were small horn nubs protruding from her forehead, which had explained the pain when she was coming out. Stheno tackled her, whacking their tails together, and began wrestling with her.

Finally, out came Medusa, green scales shiny and new-looking. The first thing she remembered was seeing her eldest sister chewing on her second eldest sister’s tail. She had blinked her golden yellow eyes at them, flicking her own emerald green tail like she was expecting something to be attached to it. And then, she was lifted up and saw a beautiful woman gazing down at her. Her mane of snakes snapped at the long black hair cascading down onto her belly.

  “What peculiar little beast you all are,” She remembered her mother rumbling. Ceto scooped up Stheno and Euryale and held all three sisters in front of her. “And what slayers you will all be, indeed.”

And she was right.

Medusa’s childhood passed by in a blur of mortal blood and seawater. Her mother taught her how to strike fear into mortal men. Her father taught her how to swim and fly when all of their wings eventually grew in. And her sisters taught her to hide her prey or else it would get stolen.

She was raised in the darkest reaches of the ocean depths, where granite tunnels formed interlocking caves and caverns below the rolling waves. While most children grew up raising family goats and playing with dolls made of straw, Medusa and her sisters grew up taming sea monsters and playing hide-and-seek venomous lionfish. They created crags of coral along the seafloor with their eyes alone and swept through the ocean currents on scaled wings. When they would go up to the surface, they watched the mortals in their wooden vessels, laughing at the way they attempted to overpower the waves that rocked them mercilessly.

That was when they discovered their deadly eye power.

Medusa was a monstrous teenager, floating along the ocean’s surface, when Stheno presented the idea to her.

  “Swim into their nets and pretend to be dead,” Her older sister had said. Sunlight glinted off her blood red scales. When she smiled, her teeth were like a shark’s. “When they pull you up, give them a scare.”

Medusa gave a laugh. The only thing better than observing a mortal’s stupidity was causing the mortal’s stupidity by interacting with them. Of course, she agreed.

She swam into one of the large nets drifting beneath the boat, startling off a cloud of slippery grey-blue fish. She let herself get tangled up in its loops, tugging on the ropes enough to alert the sailors. After a few moments, the net began to rise, and she faintly heard the giggling of her sister’s vibrating through the water.

Cool sea air hit her bare skin; a series of gasps exploded throughout the vessel. The rough feeling of wood chafed against the scales on her exposed back as the net was dropped into the boat. She struggled to keep in the giggles and play dead as loud murmurs whisked around her. 

The men were wondering what she was, asking themselves how they managed to wrangle up a thing. One of them poked her tail with something pointy and she almost flinched, but managed to tighten her muscles and stay still.

And then, there was a hand grabbing her breast.

The man above her purred out something about her being beautiful and warm and the others should “give it a try.” 

Her eyes snapped open wide. She ogled the man above her in shock and fear and disgust; he was a scruffy and flabby creature with hungry eyes and crooked yellow teeth. His hand remained on her breast as they locked gazes, and then his face did something strange.

It twitched. And his eyes went weirdly blank. And he sucked in a harsh breath.

The man’s entire body jerked like his soul was trying to claw its way out of his back. His brown eyes bulge and roll wildly in their skull, and Medusa could see grey spreading rapidly over the eye balls.

Stone began to march across the man’s flesh like a swarm of fire ants. He tried to scratch it off, but his nails bounced right off. His movements quickly began to stiffen as whatever came over him took hold.

His chest froze solid first, then his hands and feet, his ears, his arms and legs, all the way to his throat. His eyes were no longer brown, rather blank grey. His greasy blonde hair did not sway in the cool breeze. His mouth was open, teeth blunted by rock, and twisted in an agonized expression. One hand was extended outward to his crewmates in a final gesture of desperation.

The man had been turned to stone.

The other mortals on the boat began to frenzy. Some ran away in fear, others brandished their weapons, but they, too, met the same ill fate of their crewmate. One stare and they hardened into a statue against their will.

Stheno and Euryale had been alerted by the noise and they flew up to the ship. Both of them looked shocked at what was going on.

  “What is happening?” Euryale asked. 

  “I-- I don’t know.” Medusa replied, slowly sitting up. She was absurdly confused at what was going on. “I turned them to stone.”

  “How?” Stheno demanded.

  “I looked at them.”

  “Hm.” Stheno lashed out at a fleeing young man and flared her giant red wings open, essentially trapping him. Medusa heard a short scream, and then silence. When her sister pulled back, the man was frozen in an encasing of stone.

The discovery of their power sparked great fear across the land, but amazement inside Medusa and her sisters. Stheno used it the most, killing more men than both Medusa and Euryale combined. She kept her favorite statues in her lair as trophies, adorning them with her jewels and other treasures. 

Euryale rarely ever killed, not because she didn’t like it, but because she never went out of her way to go around mortals. She rather watch them from afar, observing their strange hive mind mentality. 

Medusa was a mix between the two. Sometimes she would simply stay away, other times she liked to see how dumb mortal men were when she came across them.

When they eventually came of age, the three sisters ventured off from the darkness of their homeland sea. Medusa went to an island called Sarpedon, claiming it as her own domain. Mortal men saw it as an arena, however, and often sailed to her home to challenge her. It wasn’t long before her island was filled with the statues of foolish men, decorating her gardens with the trophies of her success.

And another was about to be added to the collection.

There were crashes through her jungle; the stupid man was romping through her home and disturbing her nap!

Sighing, Medusa uncoiled her elegantly long body from the tree branch and carefully climbed down the trunk. Her emerald green scales shimmered in the sunlight filtering down from the canopy of leaves up above, dewdrops from the condensation of her garden sliding like melted diamonds down her tail. She slithered through the weeds, passing by ruined pillars and petrified statues, all of which were swathed with moss and vines. She admired them as she went by, as she always did, as she always would. It was quite lonely on her island, but she rather be alone than have the company of a man.

Emerging from the lush underbrush, Medusa set her eyes on a fleeting boat in the crystal clear water. Strange, she thought. There was still a living person on the vessel. Did they think against their decision to challenge her? No, there were footsteps in the sand… Someone was here.

Medusa flicked her pointy ears and slithered out onto the beach. A bright red crab saw her coming and darted into the splashing waves to hide. A mere crustacean was the least of her concern right now, though. She could eat later.

There was blood in the sand. Small, red droplets clumping the white grains together. A trail led across the bay in spatters that looked like the man had been in a hurry, disappearing into the thriving overgrowth of Sarpedon.

Medusa turned and followed the trail. The man seemed rather smart; there were many hiding spots in the jungle, but she knew this island like the back of her hand. He would not stand a chance.

A spray of bright yellow birds exploded from the trees when she came slithering by. Long-limbed creatures of fur leapt from branch-to-branch, poised and waiting to flee while they watched her. The monkeys always liked to test her. Perhaps that was what made them so delicious. The looks on their faces when she managed to snatch one and scarf them down was priceless.

There was rustling to her left. Medusa pricked one of her pointed ears while her mane of venomous snakes hissed in alertness. She smacked the nose of one of them to quiet them down and then went after her prey.

  “Hello?” She called out in a purr. “Come out, come out wherever you are…”

There was no reply, though there had been before. That particular man had really thought he could swoon her. How could anyone fall for the grating voice of a male?

The rustling sounded again. Medusa whipped around, smacking a tree with her tail and sending a macaw flying off with an alarmed screech. 

  “You are a quick little rabbit, aren’t you?” She chuckled. Fine then. She’ll play with her prey before killing him.

Fleeting footsteps squelched through moist jungle mud. He was quick, but she was quicker. Legs were so hindering, while her tail could get her around with graceful ease. It also made a perfect entrapment tool. Nothing was better than constricting her victim and getting to look at them face-to-face while their life drained away from them.

A squeal caught Medusa’s attention. A smirk came to her lips, fangs flashing in the sun. Finally.

Peering through the leaves, Medusa could partially see the body of the man on the ground, sprawled between two trees. His right ankle was caught in some gnarled roots, trapping him.

It was perfect.

Medusa sprang out of underbrush, claws raised and brandished, fangs bared, wings flared out to their full size. Her snakes swelled up and hissed loudly, mouths loaded with potent venom. Her bright yellow eyes were flashing, ready to strike this man into stone, and--

And she froze.

This wasn’t a man.

It was a child.

[minimalintelligence]

This boat that's keeping us a float (2/...)

So, I'm continuing this. Yep. It's a mess, but eh. I really wanted to thank @gridoc for reading the last part. It really made my day!

____________

Doc awoke as the sun rose above the horizon. He groaned, but nonetheless got up off of the floor. For a second he was confused as to why he was on board some dinky ship, but reality quickly settled in.

"Great." His tone of voice was both tired and annoyed. He leaned back against the wall and let out a sigh. Doc glanced around the room, at the many boring trinkets hung upon the walls. An old sword, some sea shells, bottles of cheap wine, a watch, he put the last one in his pocket. Glancing once more around the room he noticed a sleeping figure on the ground. His mood doing a complete one eighty. "Great." This time his tone was excited.

But his happiness was short-lived when the ship suddenly shook and sank a bit. He held onto the wall to keep himself steady. Doc noted that the ship seemed to be completely still. And though he could hear the wind faintly blowing outside, and the waves hit the sides of the ship, the craft in question didn't move. He was snapped out of his thoughts by a groan.

"Wha..What?" Grian, who had seemingly woken up because of the shaking of the ship, asked. After a few seconds he let out a sound of disappointment and said. "Really? I thought that was a dream."

"Nope. Sorry to say, that is not the case." Doc said startling Grian, who had apparently not noticed the pirate's presence. After a second of silence a grin spread on Doc's face and an annoyed glare appeared on Grian’s. "What pirate?"

"Oh nothing, I'd just assume that an event like that would've been classified as a nightmare, rather than a dream. Unless.." His smile widened as he took a step in Grian direction. "..my presence was enough to turn a nightmare to a dream.."

"No! That's not what I meant and you know it, pirate!" Grian yelled out, his face bright pink. Before Doc could give a witty remark, the ship once again shook and sank a bit. He sighed. "I'm going to check what's happening." Doc said before exiting the room.

Looking around the deck he noted a few things: it was covered in a layer of water, the sails were torn and there was no land in the surrounding area. At this point Doc was confused. The anchor wasn't down, there was no land nearby and it didn't seem like the sea floor was remotely close enough to hit.

Once he went below deck he saw the cause of the stop, along with the cause of the shaking. "Massive jagged stones." Grian said in a dead tone from next to him, startling Doc stightly, but the pirate tried his best not to show it. "They're all around the area, just a few meters under water. Though the waters murky so you have to know what you're looking for to see them."

The ship had been ripped through by such rocks. Though the ship seemed to mostly stop moving after the impact, which meant the holes were smaller than they could've been, but still, water was leaking in, and causing the craft to slowly sink.

"Do you have any fishing boats on this thing? Or do I have to build a raft?" Doc asked, his tone both stressed and slightly playful. Grian pointed above them, when Doc looked up he noted the two fishing boats. One seemingly older and worse for wear, the other one newer and even had a small roofed area.

"They took everything they own with them." Grian said still in the same dead tone. Doc noting the tone of Grian’s voice and the past tense responded.

"Hey just because they're not on board right now, doesn't mean they're dead." He said trying to lighten Grian’s mood. Grian just looked him dead in the eyes, before sighing.

"That sentence is factually incorrect. Completely. 1. They're on this ship. 2. It does mean they're dead." He finished by pointing his finger to the other side of the room. The water in that area was red and you could see some hair floating on the surface. Grian sighed. "Not the first time I've seen that, but I really hope it's the last." Doc looked at the area, feeling uncomfortable, sure, he's seen other people die, sure he's caused it before. But he's never the one to see them once the water calms. It's eerie, and doesn't feel very good.

"So I take one boat you take the other?" Grian said, seemingly back to normal. "I think it would be a better idea if we took the better one together." Doc stated with confidence. "You'd probably die if you took the old one alone."

Grian glared at him. "What makes you think I'd allow you to take the good one?" Doc playfully glared back. "What makes you think you have any choice in the matter?" Grian took a step in Docs direction. "I've beaten you once, pirate, I won't hesitate to do it again." Doc just grinned in response. "I'm sure you won't, but what would you win in this situation anyway? The other boat is falling apart, you'd leave another person stranded in the middle of nowhere alone? And here I thought you Navy men had honour.." Grian's face turned red in embarrassment before he turned and headed back on deck. "I'll get the supplies!" He yelled in an annoyed tone.

Doc let out a chuckle, before grabbing a barrel from the room and placing it under the boat. "Now how do I get you down and out..?"

~

Grian walked across the deck looking for anything useful. He'd already piled up some blankets, towels and cushions. He'd decided to get as much stuff as possible, then decide with Doc what they need. He decided to take some salt with them and some pickles just in case, he saw no use for the wine. As he was grabbing some fishing equipment his thoughts wandered back to Doc. He was confused as to a few things. One why had Doc and his crew even been in the area, there wasn't anything worth visiting around them, two, why hadn't the pirate's crew returned for him yet and--

A loud crash -wood splintering- interrupted Grian thoughts. He hurried below deck to check what had happened. Once he arrived he saw a massive hole is the side of the already pretty broken ship and next it was standing a very satisfied looking Doc.

"Why in the world did you do that!?" Grian yelled, getting Doc's attention on him. "Had to get the boat out." Doc stated in a matter of fact way. "And I think I did it quite well." He finished smugly.

"You know we could've gotten it up together and into the water like that? I was concerned." Grian said the last part under his breath, but Doc seemed to hear anyway. "Aww.. You were worried about me!" Grian flustered though he still attempted to glare at Doc. "I was concerned about the boat, damn pirate."

"Right, sure. What supplies did you manage to get?" Doc asked, his grin ever present on his face. Grian glared a bit before going back on deck followed by Doc. "Pickles, salt, blankets, towels, cushions, fishing equipment, rope, some bottled water, extra clothes and a few other things. We need to decide what's the most important." Doc nodded his head and grabbed a few things: two cushions, the clothes, matches and an oil lamp, the fishing equipment, the salt, a blanket and some other smaller things Grian didn't bother to note.

The two headed down to the hole in the wall Doc had made while getting the boat out of the ship. The pirate hopped over onto the fishing boat first laying down the cushions and blankets in the part of the boat covered by the roof and the rest of the supplies on them. Grian hopped over next. He stumbled slightly but Doc caught him in his arms.

Grian face once again turned pink. "..Thanks, I guess." He said quietly, but Doc's whole face seemed to light up upon hearing that, which only made Grian blush harder. 'I've got to stop being a blushing so much, he's a pirate, not just some...mildly attractive... guy.' Grian noted in his head before sitting down in the boat.

Doc started prepping the craft to sail. Doc felt comfortable in the silence, but Grian felt awkward. He cleared his throat. "So, your crew must be looking for you?"

"Nah, yelled at them not to before we separated. Plus, they wouldn't do it anyway, unless I was gone for over a month. We agreed on that after the first time I got stranded in the middle of nowhere." Grian looked at Doc with disbelief. "How many times have you been stranded..?" The boat started moving north away from the ship. "..Seve- no. Nine. Ren calls me a hazard, but I don't even know how it happens." Doc said.

The boat sailed on, the ocean much calmer this time around. The sky was clear and it seemed that it was going to be a hot day. Grian sighed and hoped they would get to land soon.

____________

[the-awkward-outlaw]

Hello! I have a request to make, if that's okay? Can you write some good fun times in camp between fem reader and Arthur? Like they play a game of side 'n seek mixed with tag then go for a swim in the lake at Clemen's Point and smut happens? Lol.

This one was hot! Thanks for sending it, Anon! Sometimes you just need a good, hot session with Arthur on the beach. 

Warnings: Must I add this? It’s required is it? Fine. SMUT AHEAD, Y’ALL!

It’s a hot day. You’re used to heat of course, you grew up near Blackwater. But today is just hot. It doesn’t help that it rained last night, adding humidity. You find yourself thinking more and more of jumping into a stream or a pond, anything to cool down. 

You’re riding along with Arthur, your saddlebags laden down with skins, herbs, a variety of stolen goods, and even a gold bar. A few days back, Arthur met some guy claiming to be a famous treasure hunter (Arthur said he was probably famous for his idiocy) and bought a map from him. He asked you to go with him to find the treasure and you’d heartily agreed, of course. Any reason you could get to spend time with your beloved cowboy. 

The treasure map had led you to two other pieces hidden in different locations around New Hanover, ending at O’Creagh’s Run where the last map claimed the treasure was hidden on the small island in the lake. Arthur found a small boat and rowed to it, finding two gold bars. He’d given one to you and kept the other for himself. After that, you made your way south to Emerald Ranch to sell your gains. 

You head over to the fence at the ranch, where Seamus stands behind his pile of crates. He folds his arms, trying to look innocent (and rather failing at it in your opinion). You and Arthur sell your items to him, coming out quite a bit richer than before. Arthur of course reminds you to give the gang its share, though you don’t need reminding. 

You’re making your way back to camp now, positioned at Horseshoe Overlook, but it’s so damn hot and you’re just not ready yet to go join the others. Despite the last three days of being with no one but Arthur, you feel like you’ve hardly spent any quality time with him. 

“Arthur, let’s go fishing,” you plead, your eyes wandering south to Flat Iron Lake. He stops his horse and looks back at you. 

“Sure, we can do that. Ain’t gone fishin’ in a while.” 

You give him a cheeky grin. “Race you there!” 

You don’t give him any more warning than that and kick your horse into a gallop. Arthur calls after you, claiming you’re cheating, but you don’t slow down. 

“I’m gonna get you!” he hollers. 

“I’d like to see you try!” 

You reach the trees on the edge of the lake and dismount your horse, aware that Arthur’s still chasing you. Despite the humid heat, you keep running, your heart pounding. You giggle as he yells again. You dart off into the thickest part of the trees, hiding behind a particularly large trunk. 

You can hear Arthur running through the foliage, searching for you. He calls your name but you ignore him, grinning. 

“You playin’ one of your goofy games again, Y/N?” 

Still you don’t respond, but you shift your leg and break a twig. Arthur turns immediately to the sound and grins. He comes over slowly, making no noise. He jumps around the tree and grabs you around the waist, making you scream. 

“Gotcha!” he yells. 

You giggle and stretch up to kiss him. He pushes you against the tree, a wicked grin on his face. You think he might be about to try and make a move, taking you right here right now. He plants his hands near your shoulders and bends down. Just before your lips meet, he opens his mouth a bit, his hot breath washing over your face. 

“Catch me if you can.” 

He darts off around the tree, and you’re too taken by surprise to immediately follow him. Goddammit, he played you! You rush off in the direction he went, but there’s no sign of him. 

“Arthur!” you whine, but there’s no response. Guess you deserved this. Luckily his horse is a dead giveaway, as she’s very attached to him and likes to follow him. You just watch where she goes and then you see his elbow, sticking out from behind a tree. You grin and crouch down, going over to him as silently as you can. When you’re near the tree, you stand up and reach around, grabbing his arm. “I caught ya!”

He raises his hands, smiling. “That ya did.” You reach up and plant your lips on his. Just as he’s about to wrap his arms around you, you push him away. “That’s for teasing me!” 

You run off again, hiding behind a boulder. For the next little while, you and Arthur play your game of hide and seek. Whenever you find each other, you reward the winner with a kiss. On his fifth find, you reach up and kiss him, pushing him against a tree. He groans a bit when you gently bite his lower lip. You know exactly where to hide next. 

“Cover your eyes, Arthur. My turn to run.” 

He chuckles, though you can tell he’s a bit disappointed. He does as you say though and puts a hand over his eyes. You run off, heading towards the lake. You start removing clothes as you run, purposefully leaving a very visible trail. 

When you reach the shore of the lake, you strip out of the rest of your clothes and then wade into the warm water. Arthur’s minute is over, you know it, so you quickly go in deeper until the water is to your shoulders. You lower yourself so that the water is right under your chin. You’re getting a bit chilly in the water, but you stay where you are. 

Arthur easily finds your shedded clothing and it only takes him a moment to find where the trail ends. He looks out into the water and easily spots your head and you grin. 

“What ya doin’ in there?” he calls. 

“Cooling down. Wanna join me?” 

He grins and you watch him strip down, your eyes unashamedly going to between his legs, his length semi-hard. The last thing he removes is his hat, though he’s given you quite a show. He walks slowly into the water, teasing you as he goes agonizingly slow. 

“Will you just get your cowboy butt in here?” you holler. He grins and stops, putting his hand on his hip and cocking it out a bit. He’s trying to lure you over to him and it’s working. You start walking over to him where he’s wading up to his hips. When the water gets below your breasts, he stares just as shamelessly as you stared at him, but you don’t mind. 

When you get to him, you wrap your arms around his waist and reach up, kissing him. His lips part and his tongue comes out to explore your lips, and you eagerly meet it with yours. His hands glide up your back and he lets out a long, deep breath. You press your body against his and you feel his rock hard cock pressing against your hip. 

“Mm, happy to see me?” you grin. 

He responds by leaning down a bit and sliding his finger through your slick folds, making you yelp a bit. “About as happy as you are,” he chuckles. 

You grab his hand and lead him over to the shore. When the water’s around your ankles, he’s gone far enough. He grabs your hips, spins you around to face him and then pushes you down. You immediately spread your legs, wrapping your arms around his neck. His lips crash to yours and he sinks down, his erection pushing into your opening. You groan as he pushes himself as deep as he can. 

“God, you feel good,” he moans against your lips. His right hand leaves the sand and squeezes your breast, making your fingers dig into his back. His lips glide from yours, down your jaw and settle over your neck. He starts to kiss and lick your neck, making you even more excited. You push your hips up a bit and feel him smile. 

He begins to buck slowly, his length sliding in and out. “Oh, Arthur,” you say breathily as he moves at a steady pace. His finger leaves your nipple and glides down your body, finally ending at your thigh. He slides his hand behind your knee and then lifts it up, allowing him to sink even deeper. You hiss as he pushes in hard, spreading your walls further. You start grinding your hips in response, which only causes his bucking to become faster and harder. His head brushes your spot, making you yelp again. 

He chuckles and bends your leg so it’s crooked around his waist and then his hand slides between your sweating bodies, going for your slit. He tickles your clit, making you tilt your head back as he continues to kiss your neck. He keeps on thrusting into your core, brushing your spot while he rubs your center. The stimulation is too much and you feel yourself hurtling towards the edge. You feel your release growing, stars erupting in your eyes as it gets closer. Arthur bucks hard and you’re gone. You grit your teeth, your back arching. You push your hips up as much as you can manage beneath him. He chuckles into your neck and brushes your clit again, prolonging your orgasm. 

“Arthur!” you whimper. You can’t take anymore of it, it’s getting close to torture. Arthur seems to sense that you’re done, so his hand leaves your folds, but he continues to push himself in and out. He’s chasing his own release now. You run your hands over his chest, brushing through his hair. You know this turns him on and he responds, his thrusting becoming less rhythmic and harder. His hips snap and he bursts inside you. He bites your shoulder gently, his hands squeezing your hips as he thrusts a bit more, every push growing softer. Finally he stops, his length growing soft and then he gently pulls himself out of your tender opening. 

He rolls over onto his back, the sun bathing his skin. He couldn’t look more handsome if he tried. Your eyes rake down his face, his neck, his chest, down his treasure trail. He sees your eyes wandering and he blushes. 

“Come here, you,” he says, extending his arm to you. You grin and roll over, curling into him and plopping your head on his chest. His fingers trace  across your shoulder. Despite the intense heat from before, this feels perfect. The water lapping at your lower legs helps keep you cool while the sun washes over your naked bodies. Arthur’s hot beneath you and you listen to his pounding heart, which grows slower and steadier as he calms down from your session. You rub your hand up his stomach and to his chest, gently brushing the hair there. 

You look up at Arthur and smile. “I love you, Mr. Morgan.” 

“And I love you, Mrs. Morgan.”

[fifteenskies15]

The Immortal Water Pillar, Tomioka Giyuu

(Tomioka Giyuu x Mermaid! Reader)

Summary: Tomioka Giyuu, The Water Pillar has live long enough, more than you know... But how did that happen? Well, it all started when young Giyuu met a mermaid...

Admin's note: Hello again everyone! I came back and this time I'm with Giyuu content, hopefully this will turn out well... I'm actually nervous about this since this is adapted/referenced from Yaobikuni and because Giyuu ate mermaid (or merman aka reader's) flesh, he's definitely the oldest (and still the most handsome) Pillar in demon Slayer corps, I warn you, this'll be OOC and there will be GiyuShino here

TW: Mention of Giyuu committing suicide (Artwork does not belong to me)

Legend said that there is a woman who accidentally ate mermaid flesh...

She doesn't age and stayed like she was, young and beautiful, got married but then she became a widow, tired of living this life, she became a bhiksuni and travel around the world, and she died at age 800...

She might be dead, but mermaid's flesh did have a wonder for her... She can live for eight century, but in reality... Whoever ate the flesh will surely live forever or became an Immortal.

"Tomioka-san, you're not a human aren't you?" Shinobu said out of the blue, as she and Giyuu were sitting on the engawa while watching the full moon, the question definitely caught Giyuu off guard, he looked at the petite girl who looked at him with that typical smile on her face, but you could tell she definitely put Giyuu in position.

Giyuu remained silent as the night itself, he wasn't sure how to answer that.

Matter of fact, he is a human but...

"....."

"Tomioka-san, you should know that silence could mean as a yes, so I was right that you're not a human..."

Giyuu's blue and lifeless Cobalt blue eyes looked at her as in saying "does anyone know about this?"

Shinobu shakes her head no, "No one knows... At least not yet..." Giyuu keep staring at her, he seemed to weigh option whether he should tell her or not, seeing that he's aware that Shinobu doesn't seem to fancy him that much.

Shinobu however could detect distrust radiating from the man.

"Tomioka-san, You could tell me, I swear I won't tell any soul"

Giyuu still not believing her.

"...You promised"

Shinobu nodded solemnly signifying that she really won't tell anyone.

Giyuu stayed silent as he roll up the sleeve and pull out his sword from his sheathe, the blue color of the blade illuminated by the moon.

"Have a look, Kochō"

Giyuu cut his arm, a long, gross scar on his skin and blood dripping off from his arm, Shinobu were mildly shocked "Tomioka-san, what are you...!?"

Her purple eyes widen as she saw the cut on his arm are instantly healed, no cuts, he wordlessly put his sword back to its sheath

"Tomioka-san, may I...?"

Giyuu nodded and let Shinobu examine his arm, her eyes are filled with wonder and curiosity

"How curious, you had an exceptional regeneration ability, it's even more better than demons, it's quite fascinating..."

She looked up at Giyuu, frowning.

"But how...?"

Giyuu looked back at the full moon, looking wistful "...Kochō... Have you heard the tale of Yaobikuni?"

"Ah... That's the tale of female bhiksu who live for 800 years because she ate the mermaid flesh..."

A flash of realization hit her

"Tomioka-san, you're pulling my leg..."

Giyuu just looked at his feet, another silence blanketed the air, and it's really heavy that it's almost hard to breathe.

"Tomioka-san..."

"Kochō... I'm a human but I actually have live more longer than you know..."

Shinobu were out of words.

"Then...how long...how long have you...live?"

Giyuu thought of it, it's been so long since he lived he couldn't even remember how long he live now.

"If I recall correctly, I'm born in Kansei era..."

Once again, Shinobu rendered speechless, this man, who are known for his reversed personality and distance himself from the other pillars has lived for two centuries...

"I will tell you everything but I'm not sure if you're going to believe me"

Shinobu is not the person who believed about mythical creatures aside from demon such as mermaids.

But if she heard everything from the man who lived for nearly 200 years...

...

Shinobu looked into Giyuu's blue eyes intensely, demanding him to tell her everything "Tell me everything, Tomioka-san..."

"Very well..." He looked up at the night sky and told her everything...

200 hundreds years ago...

Young Tomioka Giyuu and his sister Tsutako lived near the docks, everyday, young Giyuu could see fishermen, sailors and travellers come and go by the boat or a big vessel, aside from that, he could feel the wind gently blowing against his skin, the salty smell of the seawater and wave crashing against the reef, sometimes he watch as the sun rise and when the sun is setting, whenever Tsutako off to the city, he always play at the shore, watching the fishermen taking off to the sea or just enjoying the calm and serene sea.

It was another day Giyuu played by the shore, laughing as he kicked the sand with his small feet, he lift up his hakama and enjoy the feeling of the sea wave against his ankle, smiling and laughing, forgetting the fact that the land were plagued by the demon attacks, he could see the seagull flying, the palm trees gently swaying, Giyuu breath in and out as he taking in the beauty of nature in front of him.

Sometimes he wonder, what kind of place that exist across the big blue sea considering how big this world is.

As he enjoyed the sound of the waves, he could hear a faint sob somewhere, he looked around, there was no one but him

"Hello? Is anybody there?"

"...help me..."

Giyuu craned his ear and followed voice

"Somebody... please..."

He kept following the voice, he didn't realize he's been walking further, but it's a good thing that he remembered his way back

Soon enough, the sobs and plea growing louder and that's when Giyuu find something unbelievable...

He saw a mermaid/merman, her/his tail were trapped in fishermen's net, the mermaid/merman is around Giyuu's age too.

How is it possible?

"Hey, it's okay! I'm going to help you"

The mermaid/merman seems desperate that she/he didn't mind a human helped her/him "Please... It hurts..." Giyuu carefully climbed down the jagged path as he try to help the poor creature, Giyuu had watch several fisherman fiddling with their nets so he knows exactly what he must do.

He can't help but to feel your (E/C) eyes staring at him, Giyuu stopped for a while, examining you "Are you a mermaid/merman?" Although it was obvious, You just nodded as he continued to free you, Giyuu focused on the net and finally manage to free you, you smiled as you sway your (scale color) tail freely, you looked at Giyuu with a beaming smile "Thank you so much for saving me, human, I'm in your debt, how should I pay you?"

"Pay me?" Giyuu ask a little confused "Yes! Paying you because you have saved me rather selflessly I say... So what do you want? Oh wait, I know! I know you want immortality!"

Young Giyuu knows that living as an Immortal being is dream of any people, but there's beauty of growing old and even death itself, Tsutako said to him that no matter how much you want to be Immortal, you will never understand how is it to have a change within yourself, either it's physically or mentally, Giyuu smiled and shook his head "No?"

"No I don't want immortality, I'm happy that I could help you" you pouted then you look at Giyuu hands, there's a bit of cuts, he probably didn't realize that releasing you did hurt him "Your hand..." Giyuu tilted his head then look at his own hand "Oh! It's okay! I'll be fine, I can just lick it!" You widen his eyes and grab his hands in rush "No! It won't do you any good!" You looked around and to see a stone with jagged edge and cut your finger with it

"What are you doing?!"

"Shush!"

You let the blood dripping into his cuts and miraculously his hands were healed, Giyuu looked at it his now flawless hands in awe "How did you do that??" You proudly huffed your chest "I'm a mermaid/merman remember? Our blood had regenerative ability, even if just one drop we could heal those who are gravely injured!" Giyuu watch as the cut on your finger regenerated in a blink of an eye "That's amazing"

"It is, isn't it?" You smiled as you lean against the rock watching Giyuu closely "By the way, I'm (name), what's yours?"

"Giyuu...Tomioka Giyuu" he say as he bow slightly at you "Ah, take it easy, Giyuu!" Giyuu just smiled at you and nods "Okay then" he then looked at you tail curiously "What's wrong with my tail?"

"I think it's pretty" he say sitting down and dip his feet in the cold but refreshing seawater, you peer curiously at his small feet "Wow, your feet are small!"

"Yeah, I know but it will grow soon...hey!!" He fell on his back as you lift his feet and looked at it in awe "Wow! Look at your toes! It's so small! I wonder if humans feet are sensitive?" You cluelessly touched his feet as Giyuu stiffled a laugh "Stop..." You looked at his face and smiled mischievously and tickled his feet, Giyuu burst out laughing "Hahaha!! Ahhh!! Stop!! It's ticklish!!"

You laughed and keep tickling his feet, at the same time you amazed at how sensitive humans feet are, maybe this is why they used a thing called...zori? or geta? Or whatever it's called... It must be used to protect the sensitive human foot

Fascinating!

You stopped tickling him as Giyuu exhaled a relieved sigh "Geez, you could just ask me not giving me a surprise attack like that" you giggled "Sorry, I'm just curious, it's just, you're the first human I ever seen in my life!"

"Really?"

You nodded and looked at him with wonder and curiosity "I want to know more about human things! What did they eat? Why do you all wear weird clothes? How is it feel to run free?" Giyuu smiled at you and seem gesture you to calm down "I will tell you if you tell me how is it feel to be a mermaid"

"Deal"

"Now what do you want to know?"

You thought about it for a while "Why do humans eat fish?"

Well that certainly one heck of a question coming from a mermaid like you "Because they're tasty" Giyuu said "But some of the humans didn't really eat fish you know, some of them eat rice with vegetables"

Your eyes sparked with interest "Rice? Vegetables? I want to try them! It must be tasty!!"

"Hehe maybe when we can, I will come and get you some"

"Please!! I want to try what you humans eat!"

"I will, what else do you want to know?"

"Well..."

That day you and Giyuu spending time talking about human stuff, and you told him about mermaid things, you both talked till the sun begin to set "Giyuu, look! Sunset!!"

Giyuu smiled at how the sun slowly sinking, the once blue sky turned orange "I have seen sunset but I never knew it looked so beautiful here!" He then stood up and give you a sad smile "Well, it's nice to meet you (name), but I had to go before it's too late"

You pouted sadly "Giyuu, wait! Can I see you again tomorrow?"

"I don't know, will you be here tommorow?"

A smile spread across your face as you nodded "Yeah, I'll be here, waiting for you"

"Then I'll be here tomorrow, see you, (name)!" Giyuu waved and run back to the docks as you swim away to place where you stay.

As he reached the docks, Tsutako just came back from the town as well, "Giyuu, where have you been?" Giyuu just smiled happily "The reef near the seashore, I was just want to see a change of scenery" Tsutako smiled at him and ruffled his hair "Well next time I have day off take me with you" Giyuu smiled and nodded, he knows that his sister is very nice so his mermaid friend would like her too.

The next day, Giyuu came with riceball he made himself, he hoped that you would like it, he arrived at the same place, as he wait for you, he once again dip his feet in the cold seawater while humming "I wonder if she's/he's here..."

"Good afternoon, Giyuu!!"

"Whoa!!"

Giyuu jumped a bit as you emerge from the water with a smile on your face, you laugh at him "Hahahaha!! You should see your face!" Giyuu huffed his cheeks and pouted "You almost gave me a heart attack" you giggled and climbed up to the shore so you sit next to him "Sorry, sorry, I just wanted to surprise you"

You peered at the riceball he bought for you "Ooh, is this what human food looks like? It's cute!! Look at how you put the seaweed on it!" You say looking at the food with sparkling eyes, Giyuu smiled and put the box on his lap "This called riceball, it's a simple dish but it's filling when you really don't want to cook, have a bite" he say as he offer you one, you gratefully accept it and take a bite

It's tasty!

"Wow! This is delicious!!" You say as you gobbled up your food, Giyuu ate on for himself and smiled at you "Right? When my sister is away, I always make this for myself so I don't get hungry"

"You have a sister?" Giyuu nodded as he looked at the vast blue sea, "She's beautiful, nice and knows how to cook, someday I want to take her here so she can meet you" You're intrigued, Giyuu is nice and his sister must be very nice too, you yourself didn't really have any sibling so you kind of envied him.

"(name) are you okay? Are you mad that I wanted to take my sister here?"

"Huh? Of course not! I actually really want to meet her, it's just that..." You sighed and take a bite of your riceball "It's just that I'm jealous of you, it must be nice to have a sibling, I have spent my life all alone, my only companions are fishes in the sea, but I can't just tell what's bothering me to them, I need someone who can relate to me and understand me like a sibling did" you say sighing, Giyuu pouted and patted your back, you looked at her quizzically "What are you doing, Giyuu?"

"I'm trying to cheer you up"

"Is this some kind of gesture that most humans did to another?"

"Yup!" He stopped and looked at you "(name), if there's anything that bothers you, you can tell me anything!" You looked at him with hopeful eyes "You will?" He nodded "Of course! That's what friends for!"

Friends...

That's sounds amazing...

"Do you really mean it?"

"Do I really mean what?"

"That you are my friend?"

"Of course we are! I know we came from different world, but that doesn't stop me from being friends with you!" You could feel tears welled up in your eyes, the way Giyuu said it and how it's reflected inside his eyes, he was genuine.

"Waaahhh!! Giyuu!!!" You tackled him to a hug while you cry into his chest, truth to be told, you have met so many humans but none of them are as kind and as genuine as Giyuu... your eyes, the way Giyuu said it... His feelings are genuine

"Hey, hey, it's okay, don't cry" he say as he hugged you back, he could feel something on his lap and to see...pearls?!

You pulled away, wiping your tears away, smiling at him "Sometimes I forgot that mermaids can make a pearl from their tears, well, why don't you keep it?" Giyuu looked down at the pearls, it will be nice if he sell them and the money can be used for his sister but...

...

He scooped the pearls and throw it away to the sea "Huh, Giyuu you sure you don't want it? It would give you a plenty of good fortune" Giyuu shook his head "I don't need pearls like those, I became your friend just the way you are not because of what you're capable of" you smiled again and hugged him, gently this time "You had a pure heart Giyuu"

"What is that even mean?"

"Hehe nothing, just wanted to say it"

That day, the two of you spend time eating the riceball untill the sun began to set.

----

Years pass, and Giyuu had grown up into a fine young man and so are you, Giyuu still visited from time to time, and the more you spend your time with him, the more you realize how handsome Giyuu is.

"Is everything okay, (name)?" You looked away and sputtered "N-nothing!! Anyways... How have you been doing? Especially with all the recent demon attacks" Giyuu's smile falter as he sighed "I have been fine...I trained with someone who live in the mountain so I can defend myself and other people" he looked rather distant, something must've troubled his mind "Are you worried that we can't see each other now that you're going to mountains?"

Giyuu nodded "The man, Sakonji Urokodaki is very kind, his training may be gruesome but he's still allow me to see you when I had a free time"

"I see..." You just sway your tail then looked at him "Anyways, how is Tsutako nee-san doing?" A warm smile spread on his face "She's going to get married next month"

"Really?! That's great!" You say smiling, Tsutako is really nice when Giyuu took her to see you, of course you like her almost immediately "When Tsutako nee-san is married you and I are gonna be aunt and uncle!/uncles!" Giyuu chuckled and nodded "Yes we do, I'm so happy for her"

"Oh! Before I forget..." You began to shed a tear as it turn into a very beautiful pearl "Here Giyuu, I want Tsutako nee-san to have this" Giyuu was astonished "(Name) are you really sure?" You nodded and give the pearls to him "This is my token of appreciation, a thank you give for her, tell her I wish her to have a happy marriage" Giyuu smiled and held the pearl before he put it in his pocket "Tsutako nee-san will love this"

You smiled at him, then you both watch the horizon sky in peaceful silence, you scoot closer to Giyuu and lay your head on his shoulder, Giyuu smile and lay his head against yours "I'm going to miss this once I got to the demon slayer corps..." You pouted sadly since you know you won't see him for the time being "and I will miss you too, Giyuu..."

Giyuu looked at you wistfully and take your hand on his "You won't lose me, when I can, I will come back here to see you and tell you everything that happened..."

You looked at him

"...You promised"

He nodded solemnly as he remove the strand of your hair from your face "You have my word"

You smiled sadly at him, you tried to cherish the moment before he went back to the mountain again and you want to give him the thing you made for him since you know this day would come

"Giyuu, give me your hand"

Giyuu was a bit confused but he did anyways, you handed her a seashell with a pearl on it and there's an engraving on the pearl

義勇富岡

"My name?" You nodded happily "I remember how you teach me how to write your name, I made this so you could remember me when you see it" Giyuu smiled and held the beautiful seashell close to his heart "I will treasure this forever... Thank you, (name)"

You smiled and hugged him as you both witnessed the last sunset together...

"I loathe to say it..."

"Then don't..."

Giyuu sighed and went on his feet "But I must go, tomorrow I have to go back to training" you tried to not cry and stay strong knowing that you won't see him for a long time, "I wish you good luck, Giyuu..." You swim to the sea and give Giyuu one last fleeting look, he looked sad as he waved and mouthed "until we meet again"

You nod and dive back into the sea...

Month has passed, you keep waiting and waiting for Giyuu to come back, he's not coming... But that's not going to stop you from waiting for him.

But this time you're worried, for the first time you swim near the docks where Giyuu lived, you could hear many fishermen or people talking

"... unfortunate... really"

"...such shame...she was a nice young woman..."

...What?

You peer closer and try not to get their attention "Do you know Tomioka Tsutako? It's unfortunate that she's dead right before her wedding day"

...What...?!

"Yes, it's such a shame that she died before the day she became a blushing bride, pity her, pity her"

"That's why many youngster trade their lives for danger to put people's heart at ease and become demon Slayer"

"Come to think of it, her brother is one of them too, right?"

"I'm not sure yet, but let's hope that boy is alive and well"

You felt like being hit, Tsutako is...

...

With tears in your eyes you swim aimlessly to take your mind off the ugly possiblity that will happen to Giyuu, you stopped and climb on a reef, sitting on it and sing a sad melodies, you mourned, you mourned of your friend's death and thinking about Giyuu, how can he deal with this?

"Giyuu, please be okay..."

----

A year had passed and you still wait for Giyuu at the very same place all those year ago, and he still didn't came

Giyuu, where are you now? How are you now?

You looked at the horizon, it feels disrespectful when you see this beautiful scenery without Giyuu by your side, you still remember his smile and how his eyes gleam in happiness Everytime he talk to you

"Giyuu, I wish you were here..."

Your eyes wander around just in case you actually see him, and you did...You could see Giyuu sitting on the sea cliff, motionless"

Giyuu!!" You called at him, but he didn't hear you... You then noticed he pulled out his sword as he stood up near the cliff

...No

No!!

"GIYUU NO!!!"

Too late, he already plunge his sword into his stomach, he then fall backwards and plunge into the sea, you swim as fast as you could to save him, you looked around and see his body slowly sinking in to the deeper sea, sword still stuck on his stomach and the color of ugly red seeping out from his abdomen

Just a little more...!

You manage to grab him and quickly bring him to the shore, you lay him down carefully and pull out his sword from his stomach, you put your ear on his chest, his heart were beating weakly, he's gonna be a goner soon...

You took his red streaked blade and cut your wrist as you let if fall on his stomach, the cut on his stomach is healed and there's one thing you must do when he's awake

You got closer to him, you did a chest compressor so he could cough out all the water, when it's enough, you get even more closer to him and connect his lips with yours...

...

...

Giyuu coughed as air finally filled his lung he looked around and to find you looking at him with worry in your eyes

"(Name), it's you..."

"Yeah, it's me..."

And out of the blue you punched him, hard that he stumbled back, but he doesn't seem to react anything as if he deserves it

"You idiot!!! What the hell happened with your mind?! Why would you do such stupid thing?!" You pulled his collar as his blue eyes didn't even met yours "Answer me!!! Why did you do that?! Did you forget the promise we made here?! Am I nothing to you know?! Is it what Tsutako nee-san wants?! IS IT?!"

You were so sad and angry at him, guilt spread over his now expressionless face.

He should've know there's another person aside from Tsutako and Sabito who cares about him.

"...No..."

"Then why...?"

He looked at you with his empty blue eyes, you realize that there is no light inside it like you used to see "I have lost my sister and I have lost my best friend, I'm punishing myself because I'm not strong enough for them, and I know I'm not strong enough to even protect you, so I..."

You cut him off by hugging him tightly, hesitantly he put his arms around you and hold you like you're his lifeline

"Giyuu, you still have me no matter what happens..."

"I know...and I'm sorry..."

You both embraced each other in silence as you spoke up "Eat me, Giyuu"

...

"(Name), what do you mean?"

"Just eat me!! I can't bear the thought of you dying!!! I won't let anyone and demons kill you! You have to stay alive to protect innocent people from the demons!!"

You cupped his cheeks and pressed your forehead against his "I know this is very selfish of me to ask, but I want you to stay alive, for me, for Tsutako nee-san and your best friend..." Giyuu looked at you with mixed feelings "When the demons are eradicated, I want you to come back here, spending time together like we used to and tell me everything and if you're tired living as an immortal I'll be here" you say joked at the last part as you hugged him.

"(name)..."

"Go ahead, I'll be fine..."

With few hesitation, Giyuu bit your shoulder slowly before he began to "eat" you, blood dripping down from your shoulder, you could feel his tears against your shoulder as you assure him everything is going to be fine...

Then he stopped, he pulled away from you with mouth smeared with your blood, and tears running from his blue eyes "(Name) I'm sorry..."

"Don't be..." You smiled as you recovering slowly, but the bite mark on your shoulder remain there, you smiled at him "To remind me of you and knowing that one day you'll come back..." Giyuu then pulled you into his arms as you hug him back just as much...

Knowing that this is truly the last time you see him...

You patted away and go back to the water as you smiled at him "Run along now Giyuu, protect people with all your strength, no matter how long it takes, I'm here, I'm always here, waiting for you..."

He nodded as he wipe the blood off his mouth "I promise I will come back here..."

"You promised..." You smiled, tearing up.

"...See you soon, Tomioka Giyuu" you say as you dive back, Giyuu watch as you swim away.

"See you soon, (name)..." With that, he left the sea and go to where he belongs to.

Shinobu was speechless as he listen to Giyuu's story, she couldn't imagine what he's been through and what he's seen. "And does Oyakata-sama knows about your unusual condition?" Giyuu nods "He knows and he keep it a secret from everyone...which makes you the second person to know about this..."

He rummaged his pocket as he pulled out the memento you have him hundreds years ago, Shinobu watch in amazement as she saw it was still in perfect condition

"It's beautiful..."

And to her surprise, Giyuu smiled as he looked at it "It is..." The pearl were beautifully illuminated by the moonlight.

"This is what keeps me going...I promised her/him that I will come back once everything is settled"

It's definitely weird, but Shinobu couldn't hold back her smile "You sure secretly a softie, Tomioka-san"

"Be quiet, Kochō..."

Shinobu just chuckled as she and Giyuu keep basking under the moonlight, in his heart Giyuu promised that he will stay alive as long as he can no matter how cruel and painful life can be.

And someday soon, he surely will come back to you.

----

Admin 15: Wow, that sure very long! Anyways, I'm sorry if you don't catch what happened in the story or the GiyuShino reference here, thank you very much for taking your time reading this!

[fortune-fool02]

Il Merman

Merman Caesar Zeppeli x human female reader

Requested by: anonymous

Mermaid AU

I loved this idea! It was so fun to write. Also, it’s not a typo, the title literally translate to The Merman in Italian, (At least Google Translate says it does) Please enjoy.

The ocean held a beauty that no other place in Italy did. Calm, gentle waves that brushed past the rocks, sparkling in the sun’s light and then glimmering in the pale moon light. To lay in it and feel its cool fingers run over your body, washing away the world around you and pull you into a serenity that seemed impossible.

That was why [Name] loved the ocean so much. Whenever she felt off, she would flee to the ocean’s side and listen to the waves crash against the rocks, a soothing sound as a mother’s singing would be to a child. Though, little did [Name] know, there was something under the water’s waves that would change her life forever. 

***

The night was young, as was the Salmon that darted through the water in an attempt to escape the predator gaining on it. The Salmon did not make it far before it was snatched up in the creature’s claws, sharp teeth -fit for the predator- sinking into its flesh. Once he had finished his meal, he tossed the skeleton aside, letting it sink to the seabed before he rose his gaze upwards, towards the surface. 

He was always told not to go to the surface for he would be snatched up by the humans and taken away from the water. But he never listened to them; he was young and curious. Plus, as long as he was fast enough to swim away then he saw no issue, he was one of the fastest in the colony, after all. 

However, he soon learned that that was not the case. As the young creature was too focused on chasing down another salmon that had strayed too far from its school, he did not realise he was swimming straight into the trap until the rope was wrapped around his body and being pulled upwards to the surface.

***

[Name] often came out to the ocean when she struggled to sleep. She loved the way the waves would glimmer in the moon light, another beauty that was overlooked. This night, when she was preparing her small boat for the small journey, she grabbed her fishing net; she needed something to sell on the market in order to actually feed herself and pay for the bills.

As she began to pull her catch in, she felt her body freeze at what she pulled into her boat. There, tangled in the rope as he thrashed around in hopes to free himself, was a man -or, more accurately, something that resembled a man.  

Golden blonde hair that reflected the colour of the sun. Emerald green eyes that held a storm in them, wild and free. Silver scales that covered his entire body, and the gleaming fish tail that replaced where his legs should have been. 

[Name] could not tear her gaze away from him. She had caught a merman. A real, breathing merman. Without thinking, she crouched down and began to untie the rope around him, apologies spilling from her lips -whether or not he understood her didn’t matter to her. Any other person who brought in a merman wouldn’t hesitate to drive their knife through them; or worse, sell them onto the market and force it to suffer. 

That was not what this marvellous creature deserved. He deserved to be free, in the ocean where he belongs. 

As her hands untied the rope around him, the merman slowed his thrashing upon realising what she was doing. 

“Shh, it’s alright. I’m not going to hurt you.” she spoke softly to him, trying to keep him calm and prevent any further harm that may have been inflicted on him. Once he was free from the rope, the merman turned and leaped from the boat and back into the ocean’s waves. [Name] looked over the edge just in time to catch a glimpse of his tail fin disappear under the waves. 

***

That was far too close! He was captured by a human and could have been taken away. He was just lucky that the human freed him from the rope-

He stopped. That human freed him when she could have easily taken him away. Why? His gaze turned back to the boat, watching as it began to drift away towards shore. Confusion mixed curiosity flooded his body, why did that human free him? And why did she look so... sad when she saw him? He has observed humans long enough to know what their expressions meant, and hers showed guilt when she pulled him onto her boat. 

Against his better judgement, he swam back up to the surface, poking his head above the waves enough to see the [Hair colour] human pull up onto the beach, tie her boat up and head into the small house on the rocks by the ocean. For some reason, that sorrow laced guilt in her eyes seeped into his heart, tugging him back to her. After a moment of bouncing the idea back and forth in his mind, the merman shrugged and pushed forward in the direction of the shore. 

There were stories among his colony, whispered when alone, that his kind could shed their tails and walk as humans did when they came into contact with land. Personally, he never thought much of it as he never had a reason to, but now, he wondered if those stories were true or not. Hesitation was knitted into his muscles as he rested the shallows, his tail fin resting against the sand but his body still within the water’s grasp. 

It was now or never, he had to know why that human woman looked so sad. With a surge of courage, he pulled himself onto the sand and out of the water’s reach. Not moments after he did so, his body shifted. His muscles broke apart, becoming individual limbs as his tail fin shedded itself, revealing two bare legs underneath it. Fair skin replaced his sliver scales, allowing him to feel each grain of sand beneath his body. 

A bark of laughter escaped him, it actually worked. But now, he was faced with a new problem. How did one use these legs? He has seen humans use them easily but to him, they were foreign, strange even. Grabbing onto the rock beside him for support, his slowly pushed his body up and stretched his new legs out, getting a sense of how they worked; which way they bent and how far.

Then came the hard bit, the walking. Putting one foot forward, he pushed off a little too quickly and earned a face full of sand as a result. A low hiss slipped his lips at this before he tried again, this time, slower. His patience was not his strongest suit and that came back to bite him in the backside. Still, he did not give up. 

After quite some time of stumbling -almost falling- and limping at one point when he stepped on a rather sharp stone, the merman finally made it to the [Hair colour] human’s house. Unsure of how to enter, he brought his hand up and banged it against the door, flinching slightly at the volume it made. He was unsure of what he was expecting, though his heart told him to keep going, to see this human again. 

The door opened to reveal the [Hair colour] human, whose [Eye colour] eyes widened at the sight before her. She recognised him, even in this form. Before he could do anything, his legs gave out from under him from being pushed too far in such a short space of time; thankfully, the woman caught him before helping him inside and setting him down in a chair, closing the door behind them. 

“What are you doing here? H-How’re you here?” [Name] asked, amazement flooding her mind as she took in the situation. Only hours after capturing and releasing the merman, he was knocking on her door with legs instead of a wondrous tail fin. She grabbed a blanket and went to wrap it around his shaking figure when he turned, baring his teeth at her, a defensive threat. She rose her hands up, showing that she did not mean him harm in any way. 

“It’s to keep you warm.” she told him. The aggression faded, letting her wrap the blanket around him. His hands curled around the blanket, pulling it closer to his body, fending off the coldness that raked him. 

“What’s your name?” The merman looked at her, confusion painting his face. Only now did [Name] notice the two marks on his face, a pale pink birthmark upon his cheekbones. She brought her hand up to her chest, 

“My name is [Name].” she said slowly, hoping he would understand her in some way. The golden blonde merman titled his head at her, 

“[Name].” he repeated, his voice heavy with an Italian accent that made her eyes widen. He was not just a merman, he was an Italian merman! What was she expecting from where she was? 

He brought his hand to his chest, “Mi chiamo Cesare.” he spoke, his voice smooth as the ocean’s waves yet rough from the lack of use. That didn’t bother [Name] though. Her lips lifted into a bright smile that made Caesar smile lightly, knowing he had done good to make her smile. 

For some reason, somewhere in the back of his mind, he had a feeling that this was the start of something special.

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

[checkmate] [3]

Summary: After ten years of fighting and surviving their way through the apocalypse in search of their son, Hugo and Isabel Sulieman finally find Ericson’s Boarding School for Troubled Youth and are ready to reunite with Louis.

Notes: After many hours of writing and rewriting this story, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s going to be way longer than I anticipated [what else is new]. I want to keep the all chapters around the same length [about 5k] so there’s a lot of splitting being done. I think it’s safe to say that there will be more than four parts to this like I had originally planned. 

Anyway, I hope y’all enjoy it! Thank you for reading and for all the positive feedback!

As I’ve said before, this is a part of the contest prize story for @bluebutterfly1​!

Read on AO3

---

Through the crack of the walker’s skull, blood oozes dark, dripping down the handle of the hatchet and onto his hand. Cold, clotted, and disgusting. 

Hugo pushes the dead walker down with a huff just as Isabel finishes off the last one a few steps away. 

They’re repulsive, the walkers. Even now, Hugo can’t over their decaying stench and peeling flesh. These walkers, in particular, are more disgusting- fresher walkers usually are. 

Older walkers- years and years older- are slower, nothing but leathery skin and bone, weak from muscle deterioration and perhaps even hunger. 

Newer walkers are what scare Hugo. Not only are the remains of a humane appearance more present, but they’re stronger, quicker, hungrier.  

Killing them is such a normal thing now, he thinks. It’s easier when he considers it as a prevention of more chaos with every walker he kills. One less fresh walker. One less to wander around and devour innocent, unsuspecting survivors. There’s been too much of that. 

“All clear,” Isabel says, wiping her knife off on the dirty rag attached to her belt. “Can we make this quick?” 

Up close on the pier, the boat is an absolute wreck. Stray pieces of wood jut out of the water, metal stuck swaying with the waves, knocking into the boat. From what he can see, there isn’t a safe enough way for him to climb inside. 

“Yep, it’s terrible. A real mess,” Isabel says. “Worst boat I’ve ever stood before in my life.”

Hugo raises a brow, elbowing her with a smirk. 

“Worse than The Nauti Buoy?”

Isabel wrinkles her nose. “Ugh. I hated that damn thing.”

The Nauti Buoy was the clever name of his brother’s boat, one Stephen prided himself on, even though he stole the name from another boat he came across in his travels to pass off as his own. 

Hugo used to say, “You know how people end up looking like their animals? Well, Stephen looks like his boat.”

Gaudy decor inside and out, painted a terrible antique gold color, much bigger than necessary. 

Well, he thought so at the time. After Stephen’s second divorce, he ended up living in the damn thing. Oh, how proud their mother was. At least he was able to keep his prized watch collection safe and secure, because that’s all that really mattered. 

Hugo only ever brought his family onto that boat once. Isabel grew so sick an hour in that they had to turn the damn thing around and head back to shore. 

Not Louis, though. 

Louis loved being on that boat. Not once did he ever get sick, except Hugo had to warn him about leaning too far over the railing to get a better look at the dolphins he spotted. Nearly fell overboard and gave Hugo a heart attack. 

Seeing Louis’ glowing face as he marveled at the waves and salty air was what inspired Hugo to invest in a boat of his own. 

Louis named it Gus. 

Didn’t really have a reason, he just thought the boat looked like a Gus. 

Hugo smiles. 

“It wasn’t that bad, just ugly,” he says. “What do you think happened?.” 

“I told you, someone blew it to shit,” Isabel says. “What exactly are you expecting to find?”

“Something useful,” Hugo kneels down, pressing a hand against the boat to steady himself as he leans in through a gaping hole. “Clothes, weapons, maybe food.”

“Hey, careful-”

“Look, through there? I can see a couple of crates floating inside. Worth checking out. Here, why don't you go check along the shore, I’ll see if I can grab one.”

“How about I stay right here and help you? I know you’re gonna fall in and I’ll have to fish you out.” 

“I’m not gonna fall in,” Hugo rolls his eyes. “Have some faith in me.”

“It’s not that I don’t have faith in you, Hugh,” Isabel frowns. “I’d just rather prevent a disaster than try and fix one. Who knows what’s lurking around in these waters.”

“What, you think a shark’s going to gobble me up?”

“No, a walker,” Isabel kneels down beside him. “They can move under there much better than we can, and they don’t gotta breathe. If this ship crashed, odds are there were people on it who were thrown into the water. Hence, walkers.”

Well, damn, he hadn’t thought of that. Leaning over the edge, Hugo squints. The water’s pretty mucky, so he can’t tell how deep it is or what the bottom holds. 

“I could out swim a walker, but to put your mind at ease-,” Isabel scoffs “-I’ll look around here some more and see if I can find something to pull the crates closer while you go search the shore, then we can pull the crates out together.” 

“Y’know there’s probably nothing in them but useless, sodden supplies, right?” Isabel says, “I mean, I doubt this was some sort of battleship that carried weapons and first aid. Hell, it probably carried toy cars or something.”

“Toy cars?” Hugo laughs. “If that’s the case, then your little friend won’t need to ride around in your bag anymore. He can drive right beside us.”

“You’re not funny.”

“No?” Hugo smirks. “I’m a little funny, c’mon. Geoff driving around in a little car? Honking at the squirrels? Flippin’ me the bird every chance he gets? Hilarious.” 

With an exasperated shake of her head, Isabel turns on her heels towards the shoreline, saying, “Fine, I’ll walk around. Don’t touch those crates until I get back because I swear if you fall in-”

“I’m not going to fall in,” Hugo calls after her. “I’m as coordinated as the most athletic breed of... cat!” Cats are coordinated, right? 

He wouldn’t know, he never owned one. 

He wishes he owned a cat, but Louis insisted on a damn turtle. 

Isabel snorts a chuckle. “Yeah, okay!” 

“You doubt me?”

“I doubt you.”

“Madam, now you’ve wounded me!” 

“You’ll live.”

“Hey, while you’re over there, let Geoff go for a swim, too! He hasn’t done that in a while. He can scout for water walkers.” 

That earns him Isabel’s lovely middle finger. He presses a hand against his chest, pushing his lip out in a pretend pout. 

“Once again, she chooses the turtle over me.”

That makes Isabel laugh, shaking her head and giving a dismissive wave.  “We meet back in five!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Hugo watches her briefly, taking in the sight of her walking along the shore, stepping over pieces of broken wood and rocks. Her loose top flutters with the rustling wind against the curve of her waist and a strange tingle of emotion cause him to pause.

A lifetime ago, Hugo and Isabel walked along a beach. 

Much cleaner than this one with a much prettier sight. Along the shores of Makena Beach, they walked together barefoot. Isabel wore a dress she bought in one of the shops, one that fluttered in the wind the same exact way her shirt does now. 

She was young, her hair long, curls big and windblown.

Pregnant, about seven weeks along.

“Shit,” Hugo mumbles. 

He wonders what the state of Hawaii is, if their walker population is great or not. 

Not that it matters. 

There’s no way he’ll make it to those shores ever again, much less walk along them with Isabel and Louis. 

He always thought about bringing Louis back there, too. 

After he graduated high school, Hugo wanted to bring him to look at the colleges. He’d get into the best school they had to offer, of course, because Louis was a straight A student- when properly motivated- and there he’d get his degree while studying the culture and history of Hawaii and its people, land a damn good job and make a name for himself. 

He can just see his boy now. Tall and handsome with his mother’s eyes and a beautiful smile... happy and satisfied with his life. 

Louis would fall in love with a pretty girl, propose to her, and have a gorgeous wedding on the beach. They’d have a handful of kids, too. Hugo would be more than happy to become a grandfather. 

A grandfather... babysitting Louis’ children while he and his lovely wife went out on date nights...

Hugo rubs his eyes along the sleeve of his shirt, sighing. 

Nostalgic for what never was, he supposes. 

They need to find that school, Hugo thinks. No matter what, once they’re done here- after they’ve scavenged some useful supplies- they’ll head back to the train station to look for a map. 

They couldn't find one earlier, but maybe they didn’t look hard enough. They only really looked around to make sure it wasn’t someone else’s home, then headed back this way to check out the wreckage Hugo spotted. 

They have to be close, closer than they’ve ever been. From the faintest part of his memory, he remembers the road being long and yet hard to find. He had to pay attention to the road signs, but his concentration was more than unfocused with Louis silently fuming in the backseat. 

“You’re only staying for a year, or until we can... until we can sort some things out.”

“...”

“You’ll have a dorm with a roommate. Mr. Davidson told me he’s a good kid, he just... fell down a wrong path, so I don’t want to get any calls about you mistreating him.”

“...”

“This isn’t going to be like your other school. You will be respectful to your roommate, your classmates, and your teachers. No excuses, no exceptions. Understand?”

“...”

“Louis, answer me when I’m talking to you.”

“...”

Hugo glances back at the boat. 

He hopes there’s something to gain from doing this, but at the very least, he got to see an old-timey riverboat like this up close. Little things..

Hugo pays another look to Isabel as she inspects a piece of soggy wood before pushing away from the boat to move along the pier. Over the edge, the corner of what looks to be a crate sticks up. Dropping down to his knees with a slight wince- damn leg!- Hugo rolls up his sleeves, sinking his hands in the chilled water. 

Thoughts of the cool waves crashing against the shores of Makena Beach haunt him, memories of swimming and laughing and kissing-

“Shit,”  Hugo finds a good grip on the crate and yanks. “Knock it off-”

It barely budges, caught on something. 

He tries again, grunting at the horrible pull in his back. A shock jolts through his bad leg, making him bite the inside of his cheek to prevent himself from yelping. Letting go, he adjusts his position.

“There’s nothing over here!” Isabel calls. “Just garbage!”

With a better, firmer grip, Hugo pulls. The crate loosens, lifting up out of the water. 

“Damn it…” Hugo gives an exasperated sigh. 

It’s empty and broken, it’s bottom missing. Whatever goods filled it are nowhere to be found. 

“Damn, damn, damn,” he mutters, standing to rub his dripping hands along his pants, kicking the useless crate back into the water. “Double damn.” 

He opens his mouth to shout out a complain, but sees Isabel down closer to the water, her open bag beside her. Grinning to herself, she holds onto Geoff as he moves through the water. 

Hugo thinks to make a joke both to tease her and make himself feel better about his lack of findings, but decides against it. Instead, he soaks in the sight of her content smile. 

Moving along the pier, he calls out, “Hey, got a question for you!”

“No!” 

Hugo laughs.

“You ever think about growing your hair out again?”

Isabel’s face scrunches up in a way that tells Hugo that’s a dumb question, nearly losing her grip on Geoff. 

“You seriously asking me that?” she shakes her head. “Hair like that is nothing but a death trap! Remember back in Peach Creek? Damn walker nearly took a chunk out of my neck! Not only that, but it got its nasty fingers all stuck in it and there was skin and puss and-ugh!”

“Oh shit, that’s right,” Hugo grunts, bending back down along the hardwood to fish out a piece of clothing- a sleeve of a denim jacket. “That was a nice place.”

A nice place, indeed, but one of many that almost killed them.

One of the worst moments in their lives happened while staying with the group at the Peach Creek Clinic. 

The people there were sympathetic to their dire situation. After losing their vehicle to a bunch of selfish assholes, barely having anything to their names aside from pictures of Louis and his clothes, the group took them in. 

It seemed secure at the time, with a small group and plenty of medical supplies. Scarce food, though. Hugo and Isabel might’ve stayed there longer but anxiousness about getting to West Virginia sent them back on the road after another incident with walkers breaking in. 

Half the group perished during that attack.  They’re both lucky Hugo was there to take care of the walker before it got to her, but he couldn’t stop it from getting it’s fingers stuck and tangled in Isabel’s curls. 

She was hysterical, tears dripping down her bruised cheeks as Hugo cut out chunks of hair to get the damn hand out. Bodies of their fallen friends surrounded them, and he thought they both might pass out.

When he tried to pick out the remaining pieces of rotten flesh and bone all while attempting to comfort her, Isabel insisted that they just cut it all off. 

One of the survivors- shit, what was her name? Yolanda, maybe? Rhonda?- did a nice, clean shave of her head. Short and close to her scalp, nothing for anyone to grab. 

They left the next morning. The survivors at the clinic were understanding and kind enough to send them with a bag of medical supplies they were able to spare, and fish food for Geoff, since all the fish within the lobby tank was no longer around. 

Through the shallow water closer to shore, the falling sunlight gleams off of something stuck in the sand. 

“Ah-ha!” Hugo grins, ignoring the pain in his knee as he shifts into a better position. Rolling up his sleeve, he reaches in to dig through the mushy sand. His thumb brushes something firm. 

“Why?” Isabel asks, kicking at another piece of wood on her way back towards the pier. Geoff drips in her hands, merry after spending time in the water. “What brought that on?”

“Was thinking about Hawaii,” Hugo winces, leaning further down into the water, fully submerging his arm. 

“Hawa- Hey! What are you doing-?”

“Ah!” Hugo flings himself back, victorious with a muddy knife in his hand. “Ah-ha! Got it!” 

“Huh, look at that,” Isabel says. 

“Told’ja we’d find something useful. You can never have too many knives,” Hugo grins, pulling a rag from his pocket to wipe the mud away. With a dull, scratched to hell blade, the knife will be just as effective in killing walkers as any other weapon. 

“Well, I’ll give it to you,” Isabel says, “a knife is much more than what I found over there.”

“Maybe you weren’t looking hard enough,” Hugo smirks, which dies when he notices Geoff's perpetual glare fixated on him. A childish impulse to stick his tongue out at the damned creature overwhelms him. He bites it back and returns the glare.

“That’s not long enough to help us grab the crates.”

“There wasn’t anything over there?”

"A couple planks of wood,” Isabel shrugs. 

“We don’t need anything fancy, just something long enough to push the crates towards us.”

Isabel looks to the bright sky, searching for any sign of evening coming upon them. They have plenty of daylight left, but Isabel’s patience is running out, replaced with anxiety. She sets Geoff down on the ground. 

“Watch him, I’ll grab the one I was looking at.” 

“Watch him?” Hugo frowns, pointing at Geoff with his brand new knife. “Where’s he gonna go?”

Geoff glowers up at him, beady black eyes slitted and neck extended up towards him. 

Hugo leans down, whispering, “Hey buddy, have you ever heard of caouane, by chance?”

---

They’re a cheery duo, ain’t they?

Thomas smirks. 

Hidden among the greens with a shoulder leaning against the sticky bark of a tree, Thomas listens to their bickering. Can’t make out much, unfortunately, but he’s got the gist. Almost reminds him of how he and Julie would talk long ago. Julie was meaner than the girl- what the hell is that she’s carrying?- but that don’t matter now. 

Julie’s dead and it’s just Thomas and the beauty in his hand, fully loaded and itchin’ to be fired. 

Not that he’s going to go up and shoot the strangers. 

They ain’t dangerous from what he can tell- the girl’s got a fire in her but the man’s got a limp. 

He don’t know what they’re looking for in the wreckage. Maybe they’re hoping to find some of the kids, but there’s no way this is where they’d hide. No, those kids got ‘em selves a school around here somewhere, even if he and these two don’t know where it is.

But, from the sounds of it, they got an idea and sometimes, that’s enough. 

Thomas knows that if he scours these woods long enough, he’ll find the school. The problem is would he find it before these two did? He don’t know how many kids there’ll be, but he knows that if they got two capable adults on their side, then things won’t go as smoothly.

Especially if these two actually find their kid.

Thomas scoffs. 

Bunch of twits. 

What makes ‘em think they got a chance of seeing their kid again? He’d bet his lucky dollar that their kid is roaming around here as one of the dead if he’s not already in a shallow grave.

Hell, maybe they will find him. Their little baby boy, gaunt, rotten insides with hollow eyes and a hunger for flesh… charging at them with not an ounce of recognition… and even as they’re begging him to stop, screaming, “Stop, it’s us! It’s your mommy and daddy, son! Remember us? Remember us-”

No, he don’t remember nothing. The dead don’t remember.

The kid’ll just keep scurrying towards ‘em… arms held out and jaw slack. 

Maybe they’ll be so distraught that they just let their kid chew ‘em both up.

Together. Undead.

The gun is heavy in his hand. 

Quiet laughter.

Thomas, fingers wrapped painfully tight around his gun, squints back over at the pier.

They’re trying to get something out of the wreckage, using a long chunk of wood to do so. Thomas leans up, attempting to get a better look at ‘em. Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out an old pair of glasses. Not his prescription, but he ain’t the picky type. Though they’ll bring on a mean headache later, they help him get a better look at the couple still struggling to get something out of the boat. 

Down on their hands and knees, they work together to fish out whatever’s in there all while engaging in jovial chatter.

Pretty girl, Thomas thinks. Real nice shape. 

Times like these he wishes he’d find himself a pair of binoculars. 

Raspy groans emit from his right. A pair of walkers trod along, interested in all the commotion being made along the shore. 

Just in time. 

More’ll be coming here pretty quick- he saw a whole handful of them about a mile away, mingling together in search of something to tear their teeth into. He whistled at ‘em, then took off back to where he is now. He’s lucky these two ain’t quick in their accomplishments. 

A walker- male, wearing a heavy coat and missing his left eye- hisses through his unhinged jaw as he crawls closer to where Thomas hides. 

He ain’t worried about it. The more walkers that come, the better. 

Ducking down lower, ignoring the age-old ache forever lining his back, he moves closer. Already the strain of his sight through the glasses brings on a fuzzy twinge behind his right eye. 

“I got it, just need to-”

“Careful-”

Behind this tree, he can actually make out most of what they’re saying now.

“On three, alright?” the man says. 

Together, they grunt out, “One… two… three!”

Thomas almost applauds. They managed to find something in the wreckage, and from the looks of it, that something is a crate. Well, he’ll be darned. 

What else could be floating around in that thing? Thomas never paid it much mind upon first discovery- he wasn’t ever going to explore it. Not worth getting his boots wet, that’s for damn sure. 

Also, he ain’t the best swimmer. 

Let ‘em do the grunt work. He can come back and look through it later. 

“See?” The man says, resting a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Fully intact.”

“Don’t celebrate until we get it open.” 

“Really eager to see these toy cars, huh?” 

“If there are actually toy cars in here, I’m going to strangle you.” 

The man laughs, throwing a playful elbow towards the girl’s shoulder. 

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

Thomas raises an interested brow. 

“Don’t be gross,” the girl laughs. 

“You’re right, sorry. I wouldn’t want to talk dirty in front of Geoff.”

Geoff? There ain’t no one else around...

“As if we haven’t scarred him enough in the past,” the man adds.

“Just shut up and open the damn thing so we can go.”

Another gurgle, this time closer. Thomas slinks back further into the bushes, breathing slowly, silently. He’s confident none of the walkers’ll find him. They’re as stupid as dirt with no actual hunting skills, thankfully. 

Thomas can’t imagine anyone would’ve made it as far as they have if the damned dead were smarter than the living. 

Then again, lots of folks are dead. 

Grabbing a heavy-duty rock from beside his foot, Thomas eyes the walkers moving past him. They’re foul, both in appearance and odor. Looks like they got torn apart real good when alive, too, given their shredded clothes and chunks of flesh torn from their arms and waist. 

The one-eyed walker crawls past.

What a way to go, Thomas thinks as he chucks the rock towards the shore, sending it crashing into one of the larger boulders with an echoing crack.

 It draws everyone's attention, the walkers practically wheezing with glee- well, Thomas likes to imagine they’re gleeful to have something to sniff out.

The couple jumping to their feet. 

“Ah, fuck!”

“What the hell was- Oh shit-!” 

The walkers approach the shore, quicker now that they have a meal to pursue. 

Thomas checks the chamber of his fully loaded gun. 

---

Hugo almost had it. 

With his knife jammed along the side of the lid, he was ready to pop it off victoriously.

A startling crack broke his concentration, causing him to lose his grip. The knife slips from the crack and jerks, slicing into the muscle below his thumb.

“Ah, fuck!” Hugo cries out, dropping the knife to cradle his bleeding hand. Blistering pain shocks through his fingers and up his arm. 

“What the hell was- Oh shit-” Isabel reaches out for his arm, holding on with a death grip.  “Walkers!” 

“What?” 

The crate before him forgotten, Hugo whips around.

A group of walkers head down the shore, each groaning and moving as fast as their decaying bodies can carry them. 

What? 

Where the hell did they come from? They made sure to scour the woods from the train station to the boat and take care of any straggling walkers that stood in their way. There weren’t that many. The most they had to deal with were along the shores. 

“There wasn’t a single walker for miles,” Hugo exclaims. “Where the hell did they come from?”

“Don’t know,” Isabel says, staring up at him with wide eyes. She does a double-take when she notices the blood dripping from his hand. “Oh my god, Hugh, what the hell?”

“I’m fine, I slipped. It's just a scratch-”

“A scratch? Seriously?” She grabs his hand, inspecting the wound with wide eyes. "Bullshit, a scratch!"

“Forget it,” Hugo grabs the rag from his belt and ties it around his hand. “There’s only five of them. Nothing we can’t handle-”

“There isn’t only five, look!”

She’s not wrong- on their right, more come hobbling out of the woods. 

Hugo looks from the approaching walkers, down to the unopened crate, down to his bleeding hand. He winces, picking his knife back up. 

“We can handle them.”

“We could handle them if they didn’t already see us!”

“I’ll take the ones on the left-”

“Hugh, we gotta go! Forget the damn crates, they’re not worth dying for. Not now!”

Damn it...

"We're not risking everything!"

She pulls him forward with her down the pier, their boots clanking loudly against the worn wood, making the walkers perk up more. 

Isabel jumps over the side, splashing in the shallow water in hopes of cutting across the shore and into the woods before the walkers get any closer. An easy plan Hugo could follow if it weren’t for the three walkers emerging from their intended destination, blocking their path.

A nasty growl from his right sent Hugo whipping around. A walker- a woman with an exposed neck and chest cavity, missing clumps of hair from beneath her hat- hurries towards him. 

Fuck it. 

Hugo surges forward, grabbing the sticky bones of the walker's throat. The knife plunges through the side of its head with ease, and the walker falls to the ground. Hugo lets out a shaky breath, grunting out at the searing pain throbbing in his hand, painful enough to cause spots in his vision. 

“Hugo, I swear to Christ- don’t you dare get that hand-” Isabel kicks the shin of another walker. It falls to its knees, the perfect height for her to stab it through the head before sending the limp body crashing into yet another walker. A chain reaction of the force causes three of the walkers to fall back. 

“Use your gun,” Isabel tells him, attacking those fallen monsters as fast as she can.

“That’ll just attract more!” 

“So what? Kill these bastards so we can make a run for it!”

That’s assuming that he can successfully kill all of them, which he can’t with his last five bullets. 

There’s more than five left. 

More than ten, maybe. 

He can’t count. 

Where the fuck did they come from? He knows they weren't loud enough to attract this many. 

A walker with one eye crawls along the sand, grabbing at his ankle to gnaw on his boot. This knife breaks its skull with a sickening crack, the odor enough to churn his stomach. 

“Hugo, now!” Isabel shouts, stabbing another walker and pushing through. 

Hugo tries to follow. 

Even in its final death, the walker's grip remains strong on his ankle. He stumbles right into the grip of a heavyset walker, this one much younger, fresher compared to the decaying monsters- stronger.

A full set of rotten teeth snap at him. With his forearm pressed firmly against the chest of the monster, Hugo reaches back to grab his gun from its holster.

The shot rings in his ears, rattling his brain as gore explodes through the back of the walkers head. The earth swerves beneath his feet, acids in his stomach rise into his throat. He coughs, spitting into the dirt. 

Through nausea, Hugo aims. 

Another two shots- two walkers fall to the ground, motionless. 

A third. 

A fourth- fuck. 

Hugo lets off his final shot, hitting a walker struggling with Isabel. Seeing it’s no longer a threat, Isabel grabs onto it, heaving it towards another and sending them crashing. She’s by his side again, huffing, “Let’s go!”

Hugo nods.

He has no idea where the fuck these things came from, or how they showed up so suddenly, but he knows she’s right- whatever the hell is in that crate isn’t worth there lives, not when they’re so close-

“Shit!”

A hand grabs his backpack, jerking him backward. The foul stench of the walker's breath warms his ear and everything within Hugo runs cold. He throws an elbow, twisting himself around in the walker's embrace. 

He doesn’t see the fallen walker behind him. 

They both tumble to the ground. The gun slips out of his grip. 

“Hugo!”

A sixth shot.

The walker's blood splatters across Hugo’s face, and for a moment, he thinks he’s dead. The body slouches over him, unmoving.  

A seventh shot- an eighth- 

Isabel grabs the walker by its shirt, hauling it off of him before dropping to her knees. Her hands move all over him as she gasps out, “Holy shit, please, oh please, tell me you’re okay!” 

Several more shots fire, and one by one, the remaining walkers fall. 

Then there’s silence. 

Hugo reaches for his gun, scooping it up from the dirt before Isabel helps him up. He falls forward onto his bad knee. 

“Augh!”

“Sorry- c’mon-!”

Finally on his feet, Hugo surveys the area. 

All the dead are just that- fallen on the ground. 

“Are-” Hugo coughs “-are you okay?” 

“I’m fine,” Isabel shakes her head, narrowed eyes darting all around the forest. “Pissed off, but fine.” Without taking her sight off the forest, she slips her backpack off to glance inside. “Geoff’s okay, too.”

Terrific.

Because Hugo was so worried. 

Isabel leans down, whispering, “Hugh… someone’s here.”

He assumed so. 

The walkers didn’t shoot themselves. 

“Give me your gun.”

Hugo cocks his head to murmur in her ear, “We’re out of bullets.”

“He doesn’t know that.” 

The snapping of wood and rubber against rocks turns their attention back to the woods where a man walks out, waving over at them with a grin.

“Howdy!” he calls out, voice gruff and accent thick. 

Isabel snatches the gun from his hand before Hugo has a chance to protest, pointing it and stopping the man in his tracks. 

“That’s close enough!” 

“Woah, woah,” the man holds his hands up in surrender, though keeps his grip on his gun just as tight.  

“Belle-” Hugo warns, but the man chuckles lightly. 

“Didn’t mean to scare ya. I mean no harm! Heard the gunshots and saw y’all were havin’ some trouble, thought I’d lend a helpin’ hand. You folks alright?” 

Isabel doesn’t lower the gun, keeping her eyes fixated on the man as he cautiously continues to walk over.

“We’re fine,” Hugo answers. “Fine, no bites, just a little startled. Thanks for the help.”

“We could’ve handled it,” Isabel adds. “Thanks.”

The man nods, saying, “No, you look plenty capable, didn’t mean to say ya don’t. Just didn’t want to see any more folks die, y’know? Not when I could do the decent thing and help.”

He’s close now, close enough for Hugo to better make out the details of his graying, ginger beard and bald head. He pulls his glasses off and pockets them with his free hand, blinking rapidly as he grins. 

“Name’s Thomas,” he greets. “Nice to meet’cha.”