Amongst mermaids and humans

Silence accompanied the captain of the great ship as she stayed in her quarters a little longer. Changed into her usual attire, fit for a Pirate Queen who took no seaweed from anyone, Cutlace sat at her desk, the left gathering of fingers curled against a feather pen dipped in the ink from a squid. That squid actually was to be her dinner tonight. She was excited for this treat, and yet no human being would be able to sense it on her face. There were many matters at hand that had to be dealt with before she could show a smile to her crew.
And of course, she had to keep the title of the alpha in this pack by staying stoic, didn't she?
Bowing her head, tresses of chocolate toned hair hung against her cheeks. Focused eyes scanned along the map in front of them, detailed with various markings, hints, coding that the one to handle it could decipher, and no one else. Not even the first mate, wherever she may be.
Turning her head for a moment, it was then she had noticed land coming closer in their view as the ship headed West. This was a splendid sight to behold, indeed. Especially since she hadn't had her tea delivered to her yet this specific morning. A growl rippled along her scarred lips as she pushed back from her position at the long, wooden table. Raising from the chair, which also matched the room with some red velvet lining and cushion, the captain strode over to open a drawer from her end table. Standing beside the bed, which she had made herself, not trusting anyone on the ship to keep it tidy for her much needed rest every night, her shoulders rolled slowly against her back, working out a knot against the muscles. It was a pity none of the stranded fellows they had come across during expeditions hadn't learned proper techniques to become her masseuse. If only, if only.
Bringing the drawer out, a black, leathery, kind of large object wiggled back and forth from the force. Taking the eye patch in hand, Miss Cutlace pulled the rubbery strand back until it was nestled comfortably in place on her skull. The patch shielded her blind eye from the crew, and the world in general. To leave it uncovered would result in an unhappy woman, the crew wouldn't dare ask of the story behind it. However, all that laid now in the spot was a clouded over orb, a pale, copper like scar slicing through the skin from one end of the eyebrow to just below the inner corner of the eye. It could have been worse, and could have looked much worse as well. She didn't mind it, for now she had even better senses that before. And, it did make her look quite bad ass, indeeeeed.

The door to her room was knocked upon.
"Aye?"
As she stared through the window in front of her once more for the day, her snake-like voice bounced off each wall, until it slapped the crew member in the space.

A shaky little man of middle-age stood near the still opened door, clearing his throat as his hands fumbled against the front of his tattered pants. A cotton, blue shredded material tied along his neck, matching the wrap along his bald head to protect him from the ever merciless sun. His torso was bare, and told many stories with each and every type of physical marking, whether from birth, or made in the past years by himself, or someone else against his will.
"M.. Miss.. Captain. I was told t' inform ye', a man was spotted along the path we be headed. Should we change course?"

"Hm."
Running a hand through her hair, Renee' turned around to eye the man. As her gaze fell along him from head to toe, a curve to her lips was brought on by a smirk. Turning to the left, her hands outstretched as she came to a birdcage. A large red parrot was perched quietly beyond the golden bars, it's blue wings folded against it's body as it stared into her soul with beady, black eyes.
"What say you, Benjamin?"

Raising his head higher, the parrot whipped it's wings up to it's sides, the span showing for it's true length as they stretched outwards. A terrible noise erupted from it's large, gray beak, ringing against human ears for longer than a minute.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAHK. BRIN' HIM IN. BRIN' HIM IN."

"Well."
Only her head turned as Renee' looked to the crew member again, a glint in her showing eye.
"You heard the man."
Watching as the individual bowed in respect quickly and left the room in quite the haste, she shook her head and looked back to the bird. Smiling at him, her hand took to the cage door, opening it while her other limb was offered. Benjamin jumped up to lay his claws against her forearm. Carefully, he climbed up along to her shoulder, resting himself in the position he preferred overall others. As her fingers came up to him, he leaned forward with his beak and nipped softly against the tips, a sign of affection.
Smiling slightly, Cutlace patted him on the head as she headed towards her desk once more. Folding the map away into a drawer, a click gave out as it was locked into place, the key tucked against a secret pocket on the inner section of her bustier. Making her way to the large doors that would lead her to the main deck of her Bloodwake, Renee' peered up to her friend, nodding to him.
"It seems we have found a new toy to play with."
"RAAAAAAHKKK NO MERCY. NO MERCY, RAAAKH."
A chuckle gave way, Captain Cutlace nodded her head.
She was proud to have such a clever bird on board.
​
 
After a while, it had suddenly become dark. Was it night already? The man on the raft sat upright again, looking out toward the sky, but something was blocking his view. At first it was a dark blur, but after taking a moment for his eyes to adapt, it appeared to be a ship. From this close, it appeared large in scale, huge really. Intimidating too, like it should've had a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth or some long, blood-drenched claws.

The man's brow raised as he scratched the back of his head, making a bigger mess of his hair than it already was. He stared at the ship for a while, looking for a name. Before too long though, he gave up. Just shrugged and stretched a bit before laying back down. "Wonder anyone I know is up there.. Hm..", he spoke to himself in a quiet, somewhat scratchy voice as he let his leg dip down into the water. His nose wrinkled briefly, but he didn't draw his leg back up. It was cold, and he was missing a boot, but.. Just screw it. Arms crossed behind his head, the man relaxed, ignoring the cold as he drifted ever closer to the ship.
 
Aqua woke up lying on the edge of a reef, her head hurt a lot after crashing head first in to the water. It didn't seemed like she had any major injuries and she soon were able to move again. As she looked up towards the surface it was pretty dark up there. It didn't seem like the fishing boat were anywhere close, maybe she had drifted away with the fish shoal a bit. It didn't seem like the shore were at the same place as it had been before. Had she drifted further out? Further in? Maybe she had drifted to the other side of the shore.

Aqua started to swim up towards the surface but stopped herself, something were floating up there, she couldn't see what it was though. Suddenly something came down in to the water from the thing, was that a pair of legs? It looked like human feet's. She held herself a bit under the water surface so that she wouldn't be seen by whoever where up there, even though she didn't believe that humans were dangerous it still felt a bit frightening with all the stories she had heard. But how would she be able to know if she never got close to them?

Then she noticed something else, it looked exactly as the thing that had taken all those fishes in its net. Would it take the human now? What if that monster would eat that human? This monster looked even bigger than the previous and still she hadn't seen it that clearly because she still were under water. She had to save that human, if that monster would eat that poor human then she would feel responsible for not doing anything. If she had known that there were humans on those ships and that they controlled it then she would never had done what she did. But now she didn't know such things and she thought the ship were something that was alive. She had to save the poor human up there.

She swam over the surface a bit away from the human that laid on something she couldn't identify. "You must get away, that monster will eat you." She tried to warn the human that looked like a man, she didn't dare to get to close to him so she kept her distance just so he would be able to hear her but not touch her.
 
When Arista dived back into the water she instantly lost Aqua. Being drifted off by the shore. She was extremely tired and was thinking about going home but she wanted to make sure everyone was ok. When she found Aqua she noticed she was swimming at what seemed like a human. With all the spped she had left in her she dived for Aqua bringing her back under the water. "Aqua no." She said as she tackled her. Turning her so that they were now face to face. "Aqua what are you doing?" She said with fear in her eyes. She had so much on her mind. "Did everyone in the net make it out ok? Why were those humans hurting fish? What was Aqua doing?" She glanced back at Aqua clearing her head for the moment. "Aqua don't you know that thing." She pointed at the monster that had trapped all the fish earlier. "That thing was ran by humans. This man is a human. He might hurt you." She wanted to help the man because he looked as though he needed it. Yet at the same time she didn't know if it was the smart thing to do.
 
Suddenly she got pushed down in to the water again, she had no idea if the man had seen her or not but he should at least have heard her warning. But who had pushed her in to the water? First when the voice started to speak again and Aqua got turned so she faced the mermaid she noticed that it was Arista. What was she doing? She was saving a human from being eaten by a monster of course, if it could eat fishes then it could probably eat humans to. Was Arista afraid because that monster could kill them?

Arista pointed at the monster, apparently thinking it should be obvious what it was. "Humans? Is humans in control over that thing?" How could that be? That thing ate mermaids and fishes, it should eat humans to. How could they control such a big thing?
 
Arista let out a low breath. There was a reason why her parents stayed in the lowest part of the ocean. Her parents explored the humans. Watched their nature, they talked about all kinds of things they controlled like the one monster moving above the water. She also knew that some humans were bad and wanted to kill mermaids. "Just trust me. I know humans control that monster. Humans...well most humans are bad. How do you know he's not?" Then again how did she know he was. She glanced above the water to see the man still floating. Would it really hurt if they took him to shore. Turned into humans for a little while and made sure he was ok.

"Then again we could finally have a reason to turn human." She said outloud thinking she had said it to herself.
 
For the first time in a long time, Arlyn was truly starting to panic. Already she could hear the top of the net breaking free of the water, and she could hear the panicked flailing of the first already drawn out into the air. As the net was drawn higher, she felt herself be pulled from the water. Still she was surrounded by fish and had no way of looking to see anything. The bottom of the net had been cut and fish were falling away beneath her, she could feel that. Grasping that shred of hope, she attempted to hurry and swim downward back to the water, but the top of the net was hauled over the side of the ship before she could manage to make it. She fell from the roughly cut bottom and landed with a tumble on the deck, managing to change to her human form just before she did. Hopefully she could make up some sort of story that would keep her from being killed, she thought, or at least buy some time to dive back into the water and get as far away as possible.


The sun felt so much hotter up here, and she curled up immediately since she was left stark naked from changing like that. She looked all around fearfully with her deep green eyes and tried to take it all in, reaching up with one hand to brush the dripping brown locks from her face. Luckily the way her hair fell hid the swirling shell earrings that she wore, and her bra-type garment had been lost in the struggle. So, she could hopefully pass for a human fairly easily. Now all she had to do was come up with something believable. Easier said than done when she had no knowledge of how things worked around here.


She could see several humans on deck, and knew that it was only a matter of time before she was spotted, though she was surrounded by fish with her back pressed up against the deck railing.

[It's short and sucks but I didn't want to fall too far behind since there doesn't seem to be any sort of posting order x3]
 
Aqua looked at Arista, the most humans were evil she said but she didn't say that everyone were. That man didn't look evil and if the people on the ship were evil then maybe they would do something horrible to him even though he were human to. "We don't know if he is evil or not, we should get up and check so he's okay at least." She said worried about the man. What if he died, even though he were a human it didn't seemed right to just leave him for death if that was what would happen if they left.
 
Lothar was a humble twenty year old fisherman with no real care in the world. He lived alone, away from the hustle and bustle of the cities and ports, on a beach in a quaint wooden fishing hovel. The fisherman never was a social creature. His home included the necessities: a fireplace, a bed, a wardrobe, a pot to cook in and boil water for a bath, a tin tub to bathe in, and a chest to store his valuables. A pier about 120 meters long stretched out from the sandy coast to the beginning of the deep of the ocean. Tied up at the pier was a simple wooden rowboat. In it contained a lantern, two oars, and a box of bait. Everyday he rowed out a for half an hour, then stopped where ever he was, kicked back, and fished until sunset. His life was quiet and tranquil, and he loved every moment of it.

Not an exceptionally handsome man, but not homely either. Lothar stood at six feet and had broad shoulders and strong arms and good legs. He swam daily for an hour, getting a good amount of exercise. Though he lived alone, he was clean shaven and well kempt. He wore a linen outfit: a sleeveless teal shirt and blue pants. He wore no shoes because he did not need them. Lothar's heart was a pure one. Ignorant of the world around him, he lived his life everyday happily, awakening to each new sunrise with a warm disposition.

He excitedly hopped into his fishing boat, feeling extremely lucky today. 'Going to catch me a beautiful one today,' he thought with a grin on his face as he rowed out. After half an hour passing, he grabbed his fishing rod, attached bait to the hook, and cast it out. 'Gorgeous day out,' he thought. 'Nothing can go wrong!'
 
Arista gave a sigh but nodded at Aqua. "Ok fine." Was all she managed to say. She slowly began to swim towards the body wondering what this man would do when he saw them. It didn't look like he had a weapon so Arista felt slightly more safe. "I just hope i don't see any more of those creatures.
 
Aqua smiled when Stella told her that they would help him, the humans on those monsters couldn't be the same as the once on land. That man weren't evil like those people on the giant things that tried to kill those fishes right? She started to swim up towards the surface with Arista, as she came over the surface she saw that the big thing that Arista said humans were on had came closer to the man. She wasn't certain if they wanted to help the man or hurt him so she just had to see if she could do something for him first. Helping him to land would be the best thing to do.

She were a bit away from the man this time to, still not certain if she could trust him or not, but she were closer to him than the last time. "Excuse me" Aqua said trying to get the mans attention before the ship would get so close so they would notice Arista and her. " do you want help to get to the shore? We could help you to get there." As long as they didn't show their sea shells or tails then there was no reason to suspect them of being mermaids, sure it was weird that someone would swim so far out from the shore but would someones first thought really be mermaid if they saw two girls far out in the water? Maybe, maybe not.
 
The man lifted his head once, looking around briefly to find nothing. Could have sworn he had heard someone call out to him. Must have imagined it. He lowered his head again, relaxing as he had before. "Wind maybe", he muttered to himself, letting his eyes fall shut. Before too long though, he heard another voice, this time much closer and clearer. His first thought was to ignore it, but he eventually opened his eyes again, turning his head to likely find nothing like before.

This time though, he did find something. Someone, a young lady. Pretty, but probably much too young for him. That was his first thought, the question of why some girl was in the middle of the ocean not coming until a bit later. Help him back to shore? Maybe she'd dropped down from that ship he saw before. He turned his head to where it had been. Still there, closer even it seemed. He rested his head again, forgetting the girl for a few moments.

After a while, he sat upright, looking over to the girl in the water. "I'd a thought maybe you and yours had tossed me off that boat there. You wantin' to take me up and get me back to solid ground", he said, his words slightly slurred, though you'd barely notice, "Must've been the shinies what got your attention, yeah? Take what you like, but I'd like somethin' in my belly 'fore hittin' land. Maybe somethin' to wash it down, startin' to sober up here. You spot some blades an' a pack in there somewhere though, leave those. Hard to find quality stuff out here in.. Ah.. Where's about are we?"
 
Arista followed Aqua popping out of the water in the middle of the boy speaking. She only knew what half of the words he spoke meant. She instanly became confused with his speech and shook her head in annoyance. "Sometimes being a mermaid can be so inconventiet." She thought to herself. "Excuse me sir. What in the world are you talking about?" She asked with an eyebrow raised. Her glance went from him to Aqua and back at him yet again. She made sure only her neck up was coming out of the water. Not wanting to show him her fin quite yet. "I hope he doesn't have to see it at all." She thought to herself yet again.
 
"What's this?", he asked as another girl popped up, curious as to where this one had come from. Maybe she was already there and he didn't notice. Probably another from the boat. Was the boat full of young ladies like these? His hopes were up, but not so much that he'd show any real excitement. Right now he still appeared tired. "What d'you mean, what am I talkin' 'bout? Speakin' clear English", he said, letting his eyelids fall shut again for a moment, only one reopening to watch the girl as he continued, "You foreign or somethin'? If'n you're gonna be out in these parts, you ought to learn us.. Least our speech. " A short lived thought entered his mind, that maybe -he- was the foreigner here. It wouldn't be the first time a drunken voyage had left him in unfamiliar territory. Didn't matter, anyway. Not like anything really important needed to be discussed. He could drift out here 'til the ocean swallowed him up, and he probably wouldn't even notice.
 
Aqua could barely understand what he was talking about, neither could Arista it seemed. He talked about that they could take shiny things and other stuff they didn't really understand. "We aren't foreigners, we come from around here. But you talk weird." Aqua pointed out. "We can help you to the shore, but not on that.." She thought for a moment, he had said some word for it before. What was the word? She thought for a second before continuing. "Boat, we can't help you up to the boat. If you rather go with it then we'll leave now, but we don't know if they want to help you or not." She warned him.
 
Before he responded again this time, he was silent for a while. Staring straight past the girls, his face blank, completely motionless. "S'not your boat? Didn't see any, else from this'n", he said, pointing back toward the ship with his thumb, "Yours behind it or somethin'? Findin' it hard to think a couple of little ladies such as yourselves'd be way out in the blue without somethin' to carry you 'cross. 'Lest you're fish of some sort", he said with a lazy chuckle. Then came more silence.

With a deathly serious look in his one open eye, he said more to himself than either of the girls, "Don't look like fish no-how. Could be the drink's not worn off so much as I thought. " He looked to Arista, and then to Aqua, examining them for a moment before the serious look in his eye disappeared. "Doesn't look like any scales or fins", the man observed aloud, now scratching at his chin. "Can't be dreaming. Water's cold, bottle's empty, lady-folk.. ", he said to himself, again out loud as he stared at the two, "There. Don't sound like any propositionin' though. "
 
Aqua looked a bit confused at the man and then at Arista. He seemed a bit weird, even for a human. She had never seen humans before but he didn't seem like the once in the tales she had heard. "Maybe we should let the people on that boat thing take care of him, he seems a bit" She whispered to Arista but didn't say the last word, she was certain Arista already knew what she meant with it.
 
Arista turned her head to Agua and gave her a look. She knew exactly what she meant. She glanced up at the ship. "We will be right back." She said to the man. Gently she grabbed Aqua's hand and pulled her a shorts distance away from the boy. "I know exactly what you mean, but if the boat picks him up then he might say something about us. Surely they will belive him. I mean something had to cut their net right?" As much as she didn't want to help this man she knew they couldn't just let him die. They also couldn;t risk the ship seeing him. "So what should we do?" She asked Aqua.
 
Aqua thought for a moment, that was true but how could he know that they were mermaids? It was kind of weird that two girls were swimming around there but it still were a possibility. "Even if we talk to him he doesn't seem to get what we are saying, and we get even less what he are talking about. They will maybe think that he is so confused after drifting around on the water for too long so they will think he is hallucinating or something like that." She said and looked towards the man and sighted. "But I guess we should help him, if they actually would believe him if he told them he saw mermaids or woman swimming this far from land then we can be in big trouble."
 
Arista gave Aqua a slight shrug. "What have we gotten ourselves into?" She thought to herself. With one last galance at Aqua she began to swim back towards the man. "Lets try this again." She said with a smile. "We don't understand much of what you say, but we are willing to help you. That is if you would like us to."
 
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