#Shipwreck Debris

[deadzonedenizen]

Playing With Fire

It was a weird sight, as would any dream be.

Everyone in the Celestial Realm was scattered, enjoying their time in the Anti-Gravity Arcade. Wearing modern clothing, they were either playing with the games, raising their glass of heavenly wine in a toast, or roller skating on the dance floor.

Whatever it was, laughter and joy was in the air, only boosted as Gibby entertained a good chunk of them as she juggled torches for the crowd to watch. Wearing a jester outfit and on nothing but a unicycle, she paddled around the dance floor, gliding past the roller skaters with little difficulty.

The jester's giggles were contagious, infecting every celestial she paddled past. Leaving a trail of stardust, she lit up the room with her glow and her liveliness. She watched each celestial she passed by, all with such cheerful faces. Everything was going great, until time seemingly slowed down.

Gibby caught a glance of a still figure between the two celestials she passed by. A monkey demon, eyes eerily following her, their burns sending pangs of guilt down the jester. 

Time resumed back to its normal speed, and everything went back to its lively atmosphere. Distraught at what she saw, Gibby looked around for the monkey, not taking long to find out they were gone. Maybe she was seeing things?

Gibby shook her head, getting herself back to focus. Keep up the act, keep making them laugh, keep ignoring their burns. Keep ignoring their stares, keep ignoring their wounds, keep ignoring their presence. Cold droplets of sweat formed as Gibby faked her smile for as long as she could, breaking out of her trance as she heard someone call her name.

Right, her main performance. Gibby paddled up the platform where Bell was behind the DJ booth. Wearing Bong Water's shades and party clothes, he immediately lit up as he slung his arm around the gibbon.

"Gibby! How's the life of the porty doing?" his 'porty' self  greeted, taking his hands off the disks to catch one of the torches Gibby was juggling, the other two safe in her hands. "You need anything before the big gig, comrade?  Maybe some soda, or a snack?"

"N-No thanks." She stuttered, cheeks squished against Bell's. Her eyes glanced back at the crowd, the amount of burned monkey demons standing unnoticed by the others, growing in numbers. "I-I just might need some rest after this."

"You sure? You don't look so swell, Gibster." the odd fusion of Bell and one of MK's clones let go off her, pointing the torch at her carelessly. "I have a feeling it's not just rest. If anything, you look like someone who portied too much and got into snorting the wrong stardust."

"W-why would anyone snort stardust?" Gibby was perplexed, but quickly went back to what she was here for as the crowd started to chant her name. "Let's talk later. Time to give everyone a good show!"

Bell shrugged. "Suit yourself." he then played with the disks before grabbing the mic. "PORTY PEOPLE, MAKE SOME NOISE!" Disembodied air horns blew as everyone cheered, signaling him to keep going. "Who's ready to see your favorite jester do her grand fire trick?!"

Gibby couldn't tell if she was nervous at the crowd cheering at her, or the burned figures staring at her. She tried her best to shake it off, tossing one of the torches into the air and started juggling it with the other torch. The crowd let out oohs and aahs as Bell tossed the third torch at Gibby's direction, her successfully catching it. 

Now juggling three torches, she spun in her unicycle. Everything was finally going back to its cheery mood. At least, that was what she thought before time slowed down again. Seeing through the huge claw machine, she saw Rasmus in the Magpie Prince's clothes, wings hanging slack and face veiled by shadow. 

Hanging by nothing but rope binding his arms, his feet dangled above the incinerator in the claw machine. It all happened so fast. Gibby cried his name, banging against the glass. The torches fell, and the fire spread. People screamed, the monkey demons stared. It was too much, all too much!

Gibby grabbed the claw machine's joystick, doing her best to ignore the approaching figure. Trying and failing to win the immortal peach, she tried to aim for the container of immortal pills instead. Every failed attempt was being observed by the towering figure's third eye, his unfriendly dog beside him.

"Stop this." His voice commanded sternly, doing no effect as Gibby kept trying to win any items of immortality. Every failed attempt led to the prize falling into the incinerator, causing more flames to burst out.

"You're only making it worse." Gibby knew he was right, but was too stubborn to stop. If she could reverse this, if she could bring them back, then it will all be fine, right? She had to keep going, she had to keep playing the game. If she could win the prize and give them immortality-

The rope snapped.

"...-by?"

The prince fell.

"...ibby."

The glass shattered.

"GIBBY!"

Gibby jolted up, awoken to see Bell at the foot of their shared bed. His face read of worry, never seeing the gibbon squirm and cry so much in her sleep. Gibby wiped her tears off with her sleeve, not doing much to hide the redness in her eyes.

"...Nightmare?" Bell asked, patting his hand in a circular motion on Gibby's back, feeling her hiccup as she nodded in such a shaken manner. Glad she was awake, she jumped to hug him, snuggling to his chest until his body warmth calmed her down.

"T-thanks." She sniffled. "F-for waking me."

Combing through her mane, Bell nodded back. "No problem. Look, if you need some space, you can stay here, okay? No need to come along to watch me play." He assured her. It's been weeks since he took Alix's offer to play piano at the theater, and things have been going as expected.

Nothing much has happened there that would make Bell think about needing Gibby in case of a threat appearing. More demons are after him for harvesting, but it's not like he wouldn't be playing from backstage. Nonetheless, Gibby shook her head adamantly, hugging her friend tighter. "I'm coming. I promised to stick to your side, remember?"

Bell sighed, not really able to argue with her when it came to promises. "Alright, alright. Let's get ready. Pigsy and Tang said they might look around for any performances they can buy some tickets for, so how about we come in early? Sounds good?"

"Okay..." She voiced, muffled by Bell’s clothes. "By the way..." Finally peeling her face off of him, she had her normal peppy smile back.

"Have I ever told you how slow your heartbeat is?"

-Chapter 45: A Lantern's Glow

[catmint1]

All I'd ever wanted was to forget. but even when I thought I had, pieces had kept emerging, like bits of wood floating up to the surface that only hint at the shipwreck below.

—Sarah Dessen, Just Listen

[hedgehog-moss]

I usually buy one stere of firewood per year, one and a half at most, but this year I saw an ad at the farm store promising a discount if you ordered 5 or 10 steres and I thought, well, I have a brand new wood shed, so let's go, five steres, why not!

Then a big truck came to my house and threw up this lava flow of wood in front of my shed and I realised that my mental representation of 5 steres, in terms of volume, was a bit off.

But that's okay! My friend D. was coming to visit. She's very convenient to have around in early autumn because she enjoys the real-life Tetris aspect of stacking wood—not only that, but she's uncannily talented at spotting blackberries, and September is blackberry season. (I do also invite her in other seasons so she doesn't feel exploited for her gifts.)

I was a bit concerned about the wood-stacking part of her visit though, partly because of the truckload of wood awaiting us and partly because this year's wood is completely shapeless and looks like whimsically sea-sculpted debris from an ancient shipwreck.

(On the left: the pretty logs that /I/ cut, which are shaped and easy to stack. On the right: the nonsensical wood that I bought.)

(My friend saw this and almost went on strike. She was like, "Not a single log has a shape that makes sense with the others... it sucks. That's not Tetris 😠") (Me: "Think of it as having reached a higher, more challenging level of Tetris." Her: "😠")

On top of that, because of the cold and rainy summer we've had, blackberries were very scarce this year, like everything else. Brambles are so ubiquitous in my woods I used to think I would always get more blackberries than I know what to do with, but last month I actually had to go look for them which I'm not used to doing. Every fence is usually covered with blackberries in September, and in some parts of the woods there are hazel trees taken over by brambles so that blackberries are dangling in front of your face temptingly and you don't even need to bend down to pick them. But not this year.

I feared this visit would be quite disappointing for D. if the wood stacking and the berry picking were less fun than usual—but the fact that blackberries were much harder to find than the previous years made her amazing berry-dar all the more necessary and appreciated, and she enjoyed our blackberry hunt. We'd get lost in mazes of giant broom bushes and I'd be like, let's go somewhere else there are no blackberries to be found here, and she'd stop dead and go, "Here!" And here they were!

I don't know how she does it.

One fun thing that happened is that at one point, while D. was somehow finding kilos of blackberries in a field I'd already searched two days before and which had seemed empty of berries, I wandered away into the forest to photograph some pretty mushrooms. Then I heard a strange bird call which, when I looked up and paid more attention to it, sounded more like my friend calling my name from afar. I figured I was being called out for getting distracted from the berry harvest, so I returned to the field. She was crouching down at the other end of the field with her back turned on me and didn't look like she'd just called me.

Half an hour later, when it was getting dark and we were about to go home, she told me, "Hey, did you have something to show me earlier? When you were in the woods." Me: "No, why?" Her: "You called my name."

...

Me: "I didn't call your name. You called MY name." On second thought, she said that it sounded quite shaky and high-pitched, not like my voice, more birdlike. Me: "I initially thought it was a bird too!" Problem: our names sound nothing alike.

We stood there mystified for a minute, wondering if there could be a bird capable of articulating both of our names, or if it was some other animal or thing that somehow knows our names. (We were quite sure there were no humans in the area, because Pandolf is very good at sensing nearby people and always wants to go say hi to them.)

We looked at the woods, then at my car parked nearby, then went, "Okay! Time to go home and never investigate this further 😊"

My friends are a good influence on me—there were people a bit concerned about my sanity in the notes of that post where I talked about going out into the woods at night because something was screaming, and I think they'll be happy with the moral of this story! We went home and sat by the fire eating blackberry tart and talked about what a great decision it was, all things considered, to not try to figure out what sort of creature wanted us to wander deeper into the forest at dusk. The end.

[mint-yooxgi]

Promises - Yandere!Kraken!Felix

Yandere AU & Kraken AU - First Person POV

Genre: Mature, Smutty Themes, Internal Monologue

Pairing: Felix X Implied Chubby!Fem!Reader

Words: 1,958

Warnings: Implied violence and shipwreck, kidnapping, Felix is a type of Sea God in this, mentions of past sexual relations. Tentacles. This is a Yandere story, it will contain themes such as stalking, violence, obsession, possessive natures, and just general overall creepiness and swearing. You have been warned.

A/n: Did I base the start of this drabble on the ending scene in Dead Man's Chest? Perhaps. Is this a bit tamer than the others. Maybe. Either way, I still hope you like it! I've been slowly easing myself back into writing, so I'm happy with what I've been able to do. Plus, I just fucking love the banner I made for this hehehe... Anyways, Feedback is greatly appreciated! Enjoy!~

The Thirteenth of The Feral Drabbles

They thought they could keep you away from me.

They really thought they could keep you away from me.

It’s laughable. I thought it was a known rule for sailors not to anger the sea, but alas. Here we are.

The frantic screams and shouts don’t deter me for one second. I know what I came here for, and I’m not leaving without you. You’re mine. I warned them what the consequences would be, yet still they refused to give you to me. Even after we promised ourselves to each other! Can you believe that?

Oh, that sounds so harsh. It’s not like you didn’t also choose me. It’s these… these… things keeping us apart. They don’t understand our love. Think I’m corrupting you, or something.

Such bullshit. The only thing I’m corrupting is their ability to live.

They hid you on the third level, thinking you’d be safe within the deepest confines of the ship. Little do they know it’s the worst place you could be. It’s like they want you to get hurt, like they want me to kill you. Such things I would never do. 

Still, despite my anger as I tear this floating piece of wood apart, I’m careful. Your safety is my top priority, and I’ve already ensured that. Right now, you rest, cocooned inside a few of my tentacles. Magic surrounds you, ensuring none of their attacks have any effect on me or you. Like hell I’ll allow them to disturb you now. Besides, you passed out shortly after my assault started on the ship, but you don’t have to worry. I’ve got you.

I can still remember when we first met, how you told me you didn’t fare well with sea travel. Yet another offence they’ve made against you. I’ll never forgive them for their transgressions. Sinners need to pay, and I am here to pass my divine judgement on those that would call themselves ‘heroes’.

Do not fear, My Beloved. Once I finish smashing apart this pathetic excuse of driftwood, I’ll take you home. 

Where you’ve always belonged. 

With me.

These planks are so brittle, it’s almost laughable. Your captor’s pathetic attempts to defend themselves are cute, in a way. If not for the fact that every time I start to pull you out of the wreckage, more of them show up to try and hinder me. I don’t know why they’re so obsessed with protecting you now when they’ve never done so before.

I’m the one who always saves you. I’m the one who ensures you no harm. Not them.

No matter. They haven’t seen everything that I can do. My capabilities far surpass what their puny, closed off minds can comprehend. I’ve got magic beyond the darkest depths of the ocean, strength greater than the harshest of tides. There is no being, save myself, that could keep me away from you.

I don’t even know why they try.

Finally, I’m able to pull you out of that godforsaken wreckage and unleash my full wrath upon these wretches. The boat snaps like a twig as I pull the debris and all remaining survivors below the surface. 

None will survive. They don’t get to. I won’t let them.

Honestly, it’s kind of fun tearing stuff apart. I’ve always enjoyed making a mess of things. I only wish you could be awake to see just how strong your lover can be. After all, I’m doing this for you. I warned them about what would happen should they lay their filthy, traitorous hands all over you. I’m simply staying true to my word!

You know firsthand that I’m a very truthful guy. I would never lie to you, My Pearl. I would rather be slow roasted over an open fire than even think to deceive you.

Aren’t I so loyal?

Oh. Right. You aren’t awake to hear my teasing. Teasing which you seem quite fond of whenever I’m with you.

I think you just like hearing my voice…

That’s okay, Beloved. I will speak for as long as you desire me to. Besides, the feeling is quite mutual.

Gods- I can’t wait to see your face when you wake up in our home, and I get to tell you everything that I’ve done for you. Finally, we can be together, free of oppressive opinions and suppressive stares. Where I’m taking you, we can be ourselves, and the magic of my ocean will keep you safe. Eventually, when you’re ready, you’ll even become like me, too. 

Won’t that be incredible? Just thinking about it makes my whole body tingle.

Or maybe that’s just the change in depth.

I promise my home isn’t too much further out, and it’s in a safe area. You’ll be able to live here with me free of any restraints. I’ll be your comfort. I’ll be your guide. I will provide for you everything you will ever need. 

There is nothing stopping our love now.

I’ll even make sure that no sliver of the wreckage I just caused gets to you. The currents listen to me. They’re my friends, and soon they will be yours, too.

Either way, I’m glad that’s over, because now I can focus on you! I know that you’d be celebrating with me if you were awake, but for now, I’ll simply revel in this sweet victory alone. Having you safe in my arms is enough reward, and when you wake, the true celebration will begin.

Hmm, I wonder what we should do first? Should I take you to the reefs so you can see all of the colourful coral that I’ve grown just for you? Should I present you to the schools of fish that always seek refuge around my house? Get them to revel in your beauty? Or maybe I’ll worship you in the den of our own personal sanctuary, where nothing - no one - will be able to interrupt.

My Beauty.

My Beautiful, Beloved Pearl.

I’ll admit, there’s a certain ring to those names that I enjoy. It calls to me like the cavernous songs of the sirens. An enchantment I can never seem to escape: you.

Not that I want to. 

No. Never. Not since the very first time I laid eyes on you.

You’re addictive, you know that? One glance caught my attention. One melodic note of a spoken word, and I was hooked. Your eyes are deeper than the darkest sea, and I could swim in them forever. You hold me, transfixed, with your gaze whenever you look at me, and I never want it to stop.

Honestly, I can never grow tired of you looking at me. I want you to look at me, and only me. I want to be the first thing you see in the morning when you blink those glorious eyes open, and the last thing you see when you go to sleep at night. I want to wrap you in my arms and hold you close, whispering the sweetest words of all the worlds in your ears, and hear you do the same for me in return.

There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you, Beloved, and I will never hesitate to prove that to you. With me, you will never have to settle for less than what you deserve, for I will always give you every single thing your heart could ever desire.

Fuck- I can still remember the way your body trembled from the very first touch. The more I trailed my arms over your body, letting the tips of my tendrils caress your skin, the more your whole being warmed. You fit so perfectly in my hold, that I long to always touch you - to always be near you, and obey your every whim.

I am but your loyal servant, sent to worship the very depths of your soul. Your entire being calls to me, and I could bathe in your warmth for all eternity. Right now, it’s that warmth that I crave more than anything. That glorious nectar that seeps from between your legs beckons to me. One taste isn’t enough. I need to feel you flooding my every sense once more.

Sweet.

Addictive.

I could spend ages defining it, but nothing could ever truly put into words just how ethereal you are to me.

People always thought my existence was mere myth itself. Rumours and legends only meant to scare those away from pursuing adventure on the high seas. Nothing more than a fable to tell their children at night to ensure they don’t go off swimming in the bay alone.

They have always been, and will always be, wrong.

I’m as real at the tide, as sure as the sand that resides against the ocean floor. There is nothing in these waters as deadly as I am, and all those that oppose us will face my wrath.

Well, where we’re going, we won’t have to worry about being disturbed at all. Plenty of room for the both of us. Plenty of privacy. No one dares disturb that which should be left undisturbed. At least, those smart enough to.

That is, of course, unless I use my magic to let those sirens get a taste of their own medicine. Water echoes even the smallest of sounds, and yours should be heard for miles around. I can still hear your glorious voice calling out my name as you bathed me in your own sacred waters, and I want all to know that you are mine, and I am yours. For all eternity. 

I’ll admit… I’m addicted to you, and I can never get enough. Though, from the way I remember your hands clinging to me that night only days ago, I don’t think you can get enough, either.

Good thing we have forever to spend fully satisfying each other!

Ah… looks like we’re finally getting close to home. I can see the familiar drop off up ahead. Don’t worry, Beloved, there’ll be plenty of air for you to breathe inside. I won’t always have to keep you covered in a veil of magic. Though, I would always like to have an arm around you. Feeling your skin pressed against my own is a sensation unlike any other, and I long to never let you go.

Perhaps I should tidy up a little more before you wake. I always have way too much energy after destroying a ship. Something about adrenaline and all that.

Perhaps when you wake up you could even help me with it… You might be a bit tired and disoriented when you wake, but my magic can help with your exhaustion. You seemed to like that that last time I used it on you.

How else could we have gone as many rounds as we did?

Oh, you flatter me by pulling yourself in closer to me subconsciously when I shift into such a basic form. It easier to move around like a human within my home when it’s drained like this, and besides, I haven’t exactly shown you my entire true form yet. The last thing I want to do is scare you as soon as you wake up. You’ve already suffered the trauma of being stolen away from me today. I don’t want to make things worse.

There. All you need to do is rest now. 

In my arms? Well, who am I to pull away from My Pearl when you’re clinging onto me so tightly in your sleep? 

I truly can never say no to you…

Just rest, Beloved. This creature shall keep you safe, tucked away deeply in his heart for all eternity. Once you open those glorious eyes of yours, our own adventure will start.

Just you and me, forever. 

I promise.

[ltwilliammowett]

Flotsam and Jetsam

Flotsam and jetsam are terms that describe two types of marine debris associated with vessels. The word flotsam derives from the French word floter, to float. Jetsam is a shortened word for jettison.

Shipwreck on the Norwegian Coast, by Johan Christian Clausen Dahl 1832 . It shows how Wreckers collecting the lost property of a wreck (x)

Flotsam is defined as debris in the water that was not deliberately thrown overboard, often as a result from a shipwreck or accident. Jetsam describes debris that was deliberately thrown overboard by a crew of a ship in distress, most often to lighten the ship's load. In the same vein, lagan is the heavier items aboard ship allowed to sink to the bottom, but marked with a buoy or float for later salvage by the owner or in his name.

Under maritime law the distinction is important. Flotsam may be claimed by the original owner, whereas jetsam may be claimed as property of whoever discovers it. If the jetsam is valuable, the discoverer may collect proceeds received though the sale of the salvaged objects.

[mikeepoo]

Judy, a purebred pointer, was the mascot of several ships in the Pacific, and was captured by the Japanese in 1942 and taken to a prison camp. There she met Aircraftsman Frank Williams, who shared his small portion of rice with her. Judy raised morale in the POW camp, and also barked when poisonous snakes, crocodiles or even tigers approached the prisoners. When the prisoners were shipped back to Singapore, she was smuggled out in a rice sack, never whimpering or betraying her presence to the guards. The next day, that ship was torpedoed. Williams pushed Judy out of a porthole in an attempt to save her life, even though there was a 15-foot drop to the sea. He made his own escape from the ship, but was then recaptured and sent to a new POW camp. He didn't know if Judy had survived, but soon he began hearing stories about a dog helping drowning men reach pieces of debris after the shipwreck. And when Williams arrived at the new camp, he said: "I couldn’t believe my eyes! As I walked through the gate, a scraggly dog hit me square between the shoulders and knocked me over. I’d never been so glad to see the old girl!" They spent a year together at that camp in Sumatra. "Judy saved my life in so many ways," said Williams. "But the greatest of all was giving me a reason to live. All I had to do was look into those weary, bloodshot eyes and ask myself: 'What would happen to her if I died?' I had to keep going." Once hostilities ceased, Judy was then smuggled aboard a troopship heading back to Liverpool. In England, she was awarded the Dickin Medal (the "Victoria Cross" for animals) in May 1946. Her citation reads: "For magnificent courage and endurance in Japanese prison camps, which helped to maintain morale among her fellow prisoners, and also for saving many lives through her intelligence and watchfulness". At the same time, Frank Williams was awarded the PDSA's White Cross of St. Giles for his devotion to Judy. Frank and Judy spent a year after the war visiting the relatives of English POWs who had not survived, and Frank said that Judy "always provided a comforting presence to the families." When Judy finally died at the age of 13, Frank spent two months building a granite and marble memorial in her memory, which included a plaque describing her life story.

Purloined in it’s entirety from GH85Carrera

[wolfythewitch]

Wolfy, I remember you promised Odysseus' scar lore. Where is it 👀

Haha it's not that's complicated, he has like 3 main scars on his face that I draw and a bit more on his body

For the cyclops/laestrygonians thing, it's when they start chucking boulders lmao. I'm thinking maybe Laestrygonians, one of the rocks thrown landing on some loose stone/debris and breaking apart like shrapnel. (Though if you're following it through the epic the musical, it would've been during the cyclops saga)

Thrinacia is when Zeus shipwrecks the crew, and rocks on phaeacia is when Poseidon rouses a storm and he tries to go to land on Phaeacia's rocky shores

[archangeldyke-all]

mermaid reader and pirate/sailor sevika

sevika would be such a good pirate! she's ruthless and driven and really fucking smart, could you imagine her in one of those billowing white shirts??? i just nutted.

anyways, let's be cliche. it's so fun.

men and minors dni

you're out swimming when you come upon a shipwreck. judging by the wreckage still in flames, it had happened pretty recently. you swim closer, eager to see what kind of treasures were on board. as you approach the debris, you hear a groan. you freeze, your eyes scanning the water for a sailor as you sink into the water, just your eyes above the waves.

it's been a while since you had a sailor, and human is always a nice treat when you've been feasting on fish for a while. you bite your lip as you start slowly swimming around the various floating barrels and shrapnel.

there's a few dead men bobbing on the surface of the sea face down. you scrunch your nose in disgust as you navigate the bodies, swimming toward the moaning that's echoing over the waves. humans only taste good when they're still warm.

as the last remaining yards of the main mast sink below the surface, a loud, animalistic scream sounds out from behind you. you whip around. your eyes catch on a moving figure. as you swim closer, you're eyes adjust, and you realize that it's a human hugging onto a bobbing barrel. you grin, your sharp fangs descending from your gums as you duck beneath the surface and swim under the barrel.

two feet below the floating human, you can only see their flailing legs. you smile. human legs are so strange looking. you reach out to run one of your long, sharp nails down their pant leg, laughing when they start to panic, flailing around in the water. "what the fuck was that?!" you hear their garbled shout out above the water. you giggle, then wrap your hand around their ankle. a loud shriek rings out and they nearly kick your face with their free leg. you dodge them and swim away, slowly rising to the surface behind where they're scrambling to straddle the barrel and get their body out of the water. you chuckle.

the sailor whips around to face you, and you both simultaneously gasp.

it's a woman, you think in shock. her breasts are heaving, and the thin white shirt she's wearing is doing nothing to conceal her chest now that it's soaked. her silver eyes are wild, her black hair is plastered to her face, her brown skin is dotted with drops of water. a pretty woman.

"fuck." she whispers. you giggle again, swimming closer to her as she scrabbles at the barrel in fear. "fuck fuck fuck." she curses. you stop ten feet away from her.

"i've never seen a human woman before." you say. she freezes.

"y-you can talk?" she asks. you giggle. humans always ask that.

"what are you doing out here?" you ask. the woman blinks at you.

"are... are you gonna kill me?" she asks. you shrug and smirk.

"dunno." you say honestly. "never killed a woman before."

it's silent for a moment. then, "aren't you supposed to sing?" she asks. you burst into laughter.

"only if i was trying to lure you. but... you don't really have anywhere else to go, do you?" the woman studies you and you study her. "you're very pretty." you say. the human laughs. what a lovely sound. "what are you doing out here?" you ask her again.

"i... i was captain of this ship." she says. you blink.

"women can sail?" you ask. she scowls at you.

"'course we can." she grunts. "they just don't want us to."

you consider this, looking the woman up and down. she's shivering now, the shock and adrenaline wearing off. "doesn't look like it went very well." you say, gesturing to the floating bits of ship surrounding you. she growls.

"that's not my fuckin' fault! my navigator got scurvy!" she spits. you swim closer to her and she shuts up, gulping. you frown.

"are you scared of me?" you ask. she huffs a laugh.

"obviously." she says. you frown.

"why?"

"fuckin' look at you!" she says, gesturing her free hand at you. you look down at your body. "gills and fangs and shit! i thought mermaids were a fuckin' myth!"

you pout, sucking your fangs back up into your gums. "there. better?" you ask. the woman shrugs.

"depends."

"on?"

"are you gonna kill me?" she asks. you grin.

"dunno." you say again. she groans. "what's your name?" you ask.

"sevika." she says.

"how'd you get into sailing?"

"dad was a fisherman." she grunts.

"which flag do you sail under?" you ask. you've had horrible experiences with sailors who wave the flag with the red X on the white sheet, a few of their ships tried to hunt you for weeks. ships that fly the red X on the blue sheet carry tasty sailors, always fattened up and full of liquor. the woman before you chuckles.

"none of 'em." she says. you raise an eyebrow at her. "i... technically was not the owner of that vessel." she says, gesturing to the bottom of the sea where her ship has sunk. you grin.

"you're a pirate!?" you gasp. she shrugs.

"i guess."

"a woman pirate!?" you ask again. she chuckles at your excitement.

"yeah." she says. you swim in an excited little circle before reaching your hand out to sevika. she flinches away from it and you pout.

"come on. i'm not gonna kill you." you say, shaking your hand at her. she eyes you warily.

"right. i'm sure you say that to all the boys before you sink those freaky teeth into their throats." she says. you grin and giggle.

"well yeah, but you're not a boy." you say. she hesitates, still, and you huff, crossing your arms over your chest. "fine. i'll just leave you here to starve to death. or maybe the dehydration will get you first. you'll start drinking the saltwater to quench your thirst and that'll be it. or maybe the sun will just cook you to a crisp when it rises." you say, slowly swimming away from the pirate. panic starts creeping over her face as you speak, and when you dip beneath the water, you hear her scream.

"wait! come back!" she shouts. you giggle and pop up six inches away from her. she jumps in surprise, her grip on the barrel slipping, and she starts flailing as she begins to sink. you quickly hook one of your arms under hers, pulling her back up to the surface and holding her as she gasps and sputters for air. "thank you." she says, as she clings to you. you smile.

the woman falls asleep in your arms as you swim her to a small deserted island nearby. on the shore, with half your body still in the water, you gently tend to her wounds, cleaning them out with saltwater before dressing them with strips of her shirt. she shifts and mumbles in her sleep, but doesn't wake. you admire her for an hour or two, pressing your ear to her chest to listen to her lungs, poking at her legs and studying her toes. when the sun begins to rise, you spend an hour catching and killing fish for her, dumping the headless bodies into a pile beside her sleeping body. it occurs to you that humans drink freshwater, so you begin to swim around the perimeter of the island, looking for a river or stream where you can collect some water for your new human friend.

when you return to sevika with a sack you'd made out of leaves filled with fresh water over your shoulder, she's starting to wake up. you claw up onto the beach to lay beside her, watching her twitching eyelids blink awake.

"you're real." she grunts. you smile. "thought i imagined you." she says, sitting up. there's sand in her hair, and you reach up to brush it out.

"your hair's so soft." you say as you twirl a lock of it between your fingers. sevika looks around her, taking in the island and the supplies you'd piled by her legs. she looks back down at you.

"you brought me here?" she asks. you nod. she blinks. "and the fish?"

"figured you needed to eat." you say. you nod to the freshwater. "got you water too." you say. "the kind you can drink, i mean."

sevika laughs, slightly hysterical as she takes in the scene. you frown.

"this is like... fifty pounds of fish." she says. you blink at her.

"yeah?"

"that's way too much fish." she says. you pout.

"i thought you'd be nice. you're a woman pirate for fucks sake, you're supposed to be cool! but all you've done since we met is call me scary lookin' and insult my fish!" you say as you start to shove yourself back down the shore and into the water. "i saved your life! and i didn't eat any of the fish i got for you. i mean, except for the heads. and i brought you to land and everything! you're fuckin' heavy, you know, and i swam you all the way here! and i haven't insulted your freaky ass legs once!"

you feel better back in the water. you duck your head under and swim ten feet away from the shore, twirling in a figure eight as you refresh your dehydrated body. when you breach the water, sevika's waist deep and scrambling, her hands reaching out as she searches for you in the waves.

she spots you and her shoulders slump in relief. you back away as she starts trudging towards you.

"would you quit swimmin' away, asshole? i'm trying to get to you!" she shouts. you roll your eyes at her but stop swimming, allowing her to doggypaddle over to you.

"you should be careful. the tide'll sweep you out and then you'll be lost at sea aga--mmph!"

sevika cuts you off with a kiss.

you've never kissed anyone before. some of the girls in your pack like to play with their food before they eat-- pressing kisses to enchanted sailors before tearing their throats out-- so you've seen it before. you just never got the hype.

at least not until now. because now, sevika, the pretty woman pirate, is pressing her chapped lips against yours, her warm human hands gently cupping your jaw as she hums against your mouth. now, you feel a whirlpool in your stomach. now, you feel an altogether different kind of hunger for human flesh in your chest. you wanna taste her, so you dart your tongue out to brush against her lips. she moans against you, one of her hands wrapping around your waist, pulling you against her chest. you shudder in her arms. she's strong.

sevika pulls away with a gasp after a while, and you hold onto her shoulders to keep steady as a dizzy feeling swirls in your head.

"i'm sorry." she says. "you're right. you've been nothing but nice to me and i've been a bitch. it's just a lot. i nearly died and then got rescued by a mermaid who chose to save my life and make me breakfast instead of singing me to my final sleep." she says. your eyes are locked on her lips, your tongue licking your own as you watch them move as she speaks. "you're beautiful." she says. "like... devastatingly beautiful. i can see why so many sailors would be allured by you." she says. you smile, your eyes flicking up to hers.

"we don't really eat that many humans, you know. before you guys had boats, our diet was mainly fish." you say. sevika grins.

"so... do you wanna eat some fish with me now?" she asks, gesturing to the tiny mountain of headless fish waiting on the beach. you bite your lip.

"promise you won't kill me and sell my body to scientists or something?" you ask. sevika laughs and kisses you again.

"yeah. 's long as you keep letting me kiss you." she whispers.

those terms seem pretty agreeable to you.

taglist!

@lesbeaniegreenie @fyeahnix @sapphicsgirl @half-of-a-gay @ellabslut @thesevi0lentdelights @sexysapphicshopowner @shimtarofstupidity

[cillianmesoftlyyy]

Wary Sailor Pt. 5 | Matthew Joy x fem!reader

Summary: The Essex sinks and the crew is forced to test their luck. As Matthew's luck begins to run out, he waits for his Siren to save him.

Warnings: Shipwreck, thalassophobia, stranded at sea, abandonment, and drowning. This is a long installment but it is also the last installment of the series! Thank you for bearing with me. I think the end makes it worth it. I've been really busy so I apologize for the quality of this piece. It's sad... sorry.

word count: 3174k

Last Goodbye- Jeff Buckley 🎶

I Know the End- Pheobe Bridgers 🎵

Fear Not This Night- Clamavi De Profundis 🎶

Not proofread, sorry folks!

“Absolutely not, that is OUT of the question!” Captain Pollard slammed his pale fist against the table. “We cannot alter our course just because my second-mate says so.” 

“With all due respect sir, I believe it would be a death-sentence for our crew to chase the storm just to track down a whale that seems to have something against you,” Matthew’s lip curled as he tried to keep his composure. 

“I am the captain of this vessel, not you Joy. I’d like to remind you of that fact.” 

“It is a fair observation, sir. The men are all worried about the true intentions behind this choice,” Owen piped up from the corner of the room. 

“I don’t take orders from either of you, do you understand?” Captain Pollard’s voice was harsh as his tongue crushed against his teeth. He raised an authoritative eyebrow and Matthew swallowed. 

“I have reason to believe that this will only lead to disaster, sir. It is my job to speak on behalf of my experience and the lives of the men under my command-”

“And WHO, Joy, is under my command?” The captain leaned forward and clasped his hands together. The lantern above their heads swayed. 

Matthew met his eyes and clenched his jaw. Y/N’s warning swirled around in his memory like a tidal pool. How could he balance respect with advocacy? He had to talk some sense into the Captain before it was too late. 

“Answer my question, second-mate.” The captain’s eyes narrowed. 

Matthew unfocused his eyes on the man and swallowed down everything that he would have liked to say. 

“We are, sir.” 

“That is exactly right, Joy, and as captain I command you and the rest of my men to chase the storm. It will dissipate soon and in that time, we will have the whale.”

The lantern sailed across the room, smashing against the wall of the ship. The wick’s fire lay exposed and set some of the floor on fire. Before Matthew could throw anything on the fire to quell it, the ship jerked once again. The men scrambled to stay upright, their eyes met each others’ in the dark. 

“What the hell was that?” Captain Pollard asked breathlessly, fear showing in his tone. 

“That wasn’t a wave,” Owen whispered. 

“No, it wasn’t,” Matthew didn’t have to say the word whale. They all knew. 

…

Matthew grabbed his coat on the way up to the deck. Men ran around him, shouting orders and carrying rope. The harpooners prepared their weapons and watched from the railing. The shiny white back of the whale slipped below the surface a few yards out, its tail flicked up into the air and slammed down on the side of the boat. Matthew was knocked off of his feet and rolled, cringing from his sore back. Part of the sail and railing fell into the ocean below, men scrambled to stay onboard and not be dragged down with the debris. He watched helplessly as the boat started to break apart beneath his feet. 

“Everyone get to the boats! Grab as many supplies as you can in case we need to abandon ship!” Matthew yelled. Owen reached his friend and grabbed onto Matthew’s collar. 

“We need to get off this ship, Joy. If we stay here much longer we will have to go down with her.”

“Take your men and I’ll take mine.” 

“We need to wait for Pollard’s orders.”

“Fuck his orders, come on.” 

Matthew ran to the railing and helped loosen the ropes holding the smaller whaling boats to the deck. Men dropped food and drinking water into the bottom of the boat as the ship groaned and splintered beneath their feet. 

There was a deafening explosion at the stern of the Essex, a plume of fire rose into the air. The men were silenced by the violence and panted, watching the fire catch quickly and begin to burn. 

“She hit the oil canisters! Abandon ship! Abandon ship!” Pollard tripped across the debris-ridden deck of the sinking ship. 

Pollard, Owen, and Matthew each manned a boat and organized the men into the whaling boats before they were lowered into the water. The ship burned quickly. The explosion had killed many of the sailors who had been standing on the deck. They were already a dwindled crew by the time they pushed off from the ship and rowed to a safe distance away. Matthew watched with watery eyes as the Essex sank in a fiery blaze. 

…

They’d been on the boats for hours and the late afternoon sun was baking them alive. They’d connected their boats together in an effort to share supplies and keep an eye on each other. Matthew tried to push his fury and genuine shock down so that his men couldn’t see it. The whole event had only lasted an hour, ridiculously short. Everything that they’d owned went down with the whaling ship, friends too. 

Matthew wiped sweat from his brow and tried not to glower at Owen and Pollard who spoke to each other out of his earshot. He looked down at his hands which were starting to turn red in the direct sunlight. The men in his boat were slouched against one another or lying at the very bottom between the slats. He caught himself thinking about that night he’d taken the Siren for the first time. Memories of fleeting risk seemed like child’s play in comparison to life-and-death decisions the sinking had prompted from everyone. 

He looked out at the infinite expanse of water and tried to call her to his mind, they’d done as much before when he was drowning. Surely she could see him now, surely she would do something to help them. She knew something like this would happen, she’d warned him about it. He hadn’t even had time to try to avoid the disaster, it all seemed so unfair…

The boat beside him splashed up and down abruptly. Matthew caught his breath and watched as the bottom of the boat slapped the surface of the water as it returned to its first position. Everyone froze. 

“It’s back,” Matthew whispered and as he did, the water beside him burst up into a fountain of waves. A great big eye and white blubber body surged up into the sky above him and tumbled inches away from the boats. 

“Disconnect the fucking boats!” Matthew ordered and cut the ropes holding the boats together. Being connected made them a larger target and a weaker link. Every sailor pushed away and soon the four boats were separated by yards of messy waves. 

The whale emerged again, this time boring into Matthew’s boat. Matthew fell back as the boat broke down the middle and men went flying. He fell into the water and pushed away from the boat so he wouldn’t get caught. Air bubbles escaped from his mouth as he opened his eyes underwater. He could see the whale swimming through the wreck, knocking men out of its path or pushing them deeper. Matthew swam to the surface and whipped his head around to clear the hair from his face. The men in the other boats were aiming their harpoons at the vulnerable side of the beast. Matthew grabbed a hold of a barrel of water to keep himself afloat. Some of his men began to resurface but most did not. Those that did each found a piece of floating debris and watched as the other men tried to kill the whale. 

Matthew’s heart was beating a mile a minute and he couldn’t catch his breath. He watched as the back of the whale’s fin rose high into the sky above them, blocking the sun, and then down it went onto one of the other boats, breaking a second one. The wave created by the tail scattered the men even farther apart and sent Matthew spiraling out of control. His head slammed against the side of Owen’s boat and knocked him unconscious. 

“Kill it! Kill it!” Captain Pollard nearly screeched, blood dripping from a cut on his lip. 

…

Matthew came-to on Owen’s boat, nestled between people’s legs. 

“Joy?” Owen’s voice pulled him from his dreamless sleep. Matthew blinked behind his eyelids and tried to speak but his throat was dry. He licked his cracked lips. 

“Howw… how bad is it?” Matthew groaned and went to touch the back of his head. 

Owen swallowed and looked back at the men in the boat. 

“It’s really not that bad, Joy. It’s just a little bleeding and some bruising. You’ll be fine.” 

Matthew didn’t feel fine. Things didn’t seem right. For instance, the men around him looked more scruffy than they had the day before. They looked older and sickly. He furrowed his brow and looked around the boat.

“You were out for a few days. I mean you woke up multiple times but you weren’t actually aware.” Owen admitted. 

“Days?” Matthew repeated softly and Owen nodded. Matthew tried to sit up but his head began to pound painfully. He raised his hands in front of his face to block the aggressive glare of the sun. 

“Try not to move, you need to recover.” Owen straightened the blanket over his friend. 

“The sun…” Matthew groaned and his voice broke. His mouth was horribly dry and tasted like dried blood. 

“I know but the sun will set soon. Just close your eyes.” Owen tried to block the sun with his shoulders and the shade was a welcome relief for Matthew. He began to fall asleep again, rapidly losing his ability to stay awake and aware. 

“Owen…” he whispered, “did she come back… for me?” 

Owen’s face began to blur as Matthew fell asleep. He didn’t stay awake long enough to hear his response. 

…

When Matthew woke up again he was being half-dragged and half-carried through the water. He flailed about between the arms of his savior. 

“Joy! Stop that.” Owen’s voice reprimanded him. Matthew looked up. Instead of his friend, he saw a scraggly man with an unkempt beard and foul smelling clothes. 

“Owen?” Matthew garbled and Owen chuckled weakly. 

“Do I really look that bad? Well I hate to break it to you but you don’t look so good yourself.” 

“Don’t beat me while I’m down, Owen.” Matthew tried to laugh but started to cough. He was too weak to cough and grimaced instead.

“Where are we?” Matthew asked as Owen rearranged him in his arms. 

“We spotted land this morning.”

“Are we home?”

“No, we found an island. It’s not much but it’s land.” Owen stepped onto the solid beach and lowered Matthew to the ground against a tree. 

“Stay here, I’m going to help the others look for shelter and food.” Owen patted Matthew on his hollow chest. Matthew smirked and nodded. 

“Don’t worry, it’s not like I’m going anywhere.” Matthew laughed softly. 

“You still have your sense of humor, good.” Owen limped away with a small group of similarly starved men. Matthew could only imagine what he looked like. He raised his hands to feel his hair and then his face. He had a long beard and sun blisters buried deep in his face. His hands shook as he moved them to his lap.

His eyes rested on the shore where the bright blue water swept out upon the beach. He could feel himself whispering her name beneath his breath like a prayer. Had she protected them this entire time? Had she ensured that they would find land? 

Where was she now? Matthew closed his eyes and knew he’d be crying if wasn’t so dehydrated. 

“Water… I need water…” Matthew tried to call out. One of the sailors sprawled out on the sand, sat up and patted his pockets for a canteen.

“Here, sir.” The sailor offered Matthew his half-empty canteen and unscrewed the cap for him. Matthew took the bottle with shaking hands and raised the bottle to his lips. He took a few small sips and sighed. Even though he wanted to drink the whole bottle, he forced himself to return the container to the young man with blisters across his face. 

“Thank you,” Matthew nodded and leaned his bloody head back against the tree. “How long has it been since the Essex sank?”  

The young boy raised his head in surprise and furrowed his brow. 

“About two weeks, sir.” 

“Did… did a woman or… a siren find us before we got here?” Matthew struggled to ask. The boy darted his eyes away in discomfort before answering. 

“Um no, sir.” 

Matthew closed his eyes and sighed. He didn’t have the energy to explain to the boy what he meant. In his head he could see the girl again. Her beautiful green eyes glowed in the darkness of his mind and his hands could feel her soft body. 

“Y/N…” he whispered and fell asleep. 

…

“So you’re leaving?” Matthew clarified and Owen nodded. 

“A group of us are going to try to find the mainland.”

“I want to stay. I wouldn't make the trip and we both know that. The men who want to stay can stay with me.” Matthew looked up at the ceiling of the cave they had found away from the beach. They had been on the island for a week now and were running out of food. 

“I’ll tell the men. If we make it back to land… we’ll come back and get you. We’ll come back for you, understand?” 

Matthew nodded and gestured to the men chatting outside in the dark, a fire burning between them. Owen left the cave but his voice carried back to Matthew as he informed the men of their proposed plan. Questions arose from the sailors and Matthew tried to keep himself from sobbing as he accepted the truth:

The Siren had not been back. She had not come when he needed her and he realized then that she never would. She had warned him since the beginning not to trust her but he had. Tears slipped down his face and triggered a headache. His head was bandaged with clean make-shift bandages but the wound still hurt. He cradled his face in his hands and rested his palms against his legs. 

I hate you, Matthew thought. I loved you and you betrayed me. 

…

They left the following day and Matthew was left alone with four other men. They sat in the cave all together and withered away in silence. 

…

A few nights later, Matthew awoke with a start and gasped silently. It had been over a month since the Essex went down. The cave was dark and the sounds of the men sleeping surrounded him. He looked around as best as he could and whimpered softly into the darkness. 

Fear not this night, you will not go astray

Though shadows fall, still the stars find their way

Awaken from a quiet sleep

Hear the whispering of the wind

Awaken as silence grows 

In the solitude of the night

The song reached his ears from far beyond the mouth of the cave, stilling him. He stopped whimpering and fell quiet to hear the haunting music. The woman’s voice was alone, unaccompanied by other voices or music. She sounded like a child singing as she finished a chore. It was a pure and comforting sound that drew Matthew to his knees. He pulled himself up to his feet and grasped the moist walls as he stumbled out. 

The island air was warm and dry around him as his feet reached the sand. He could hear the waves crashing against the beach but the sounds of animals were abnormally absent. He walked further out into the dark, hugging his jacket around his dying body. 

Darkness spreads through all the land and your weary eyes open silently

Sunsets have forsaken all the most far off horizons

Fear not this night, you will not go astray. 

Dawn’s just a heartbeat away. 

And there in the distance, the horizon was starting to lighten as the sun would rise in the following hours. In the meantime, the beach was still dark. Matthew felt his feet carry him to the shoreline where the sand pulled against his ankles. He looked out at the water and forgot why he was there at all. Was he dreaming?

Distant sounds of melodies calling through the night to your heart

He took a few more steps where the water reached his calves. Two hands reached out and touched his scarred face and he flinched away. The hands returned and held his hollow cheeks gently. 

“Matthew,” the voice whispered sweetly but he couldn’t see who was speaking. 

“Who are you?” Matthew whimpered and tried to pull away from the strange hands which were not his own. “Are you an angel of heaven?” 

“Has it really been that long that you’ve forgotten my touch?” 

“I’ve forgotten my own. Who are you?” He asked again, his eyebrows furrowed with suspicion. 

“It’s me, sailor. Your Siren.” Y/N rubbed her thumbs over Matthew’s bulging cheekbones, tears ran down his face without his knowledge. Matthew closed his eyes and shook his head weakly. 

“No, no. She left me weeks ago. I’m dying.” He took a step back but the current caught his heels. 

“Look at me, Matthew. It’s me. I’ve come to take you home.”

Matthew opened his eyes slowly and his lips fell apart. His eyes adjusted in the dark, finally revealing a woman’s familiar face framed in dark hair. She was naked so she appeared to be a star glowing in the dark. 

“It’s not possible. Why would you come back now?” Matthew whispered, his voice breaking. More tears filled his eyes and he tried to control the sobs that threatened him. 

“I never left you, Matthew, but I didn’t know what I could do. I can’t change fate.”

“So this was my fate?” Matthew laughed darkly. He reached out to pet her hair and sniffed. 

“Yes, I couldn’t intervene.”

“I thought you had abandoned me,” Matthew sobbed and curled her hair in his fingers. 

“I’m so sorry, Matthew…”

“But why are you here now?” Matthew trailed his fingers up and down her neck absentmindedly. 

“Like I said, I’ve come to take you home.”

“You were singing…” Matthew noted and stepped closer. The girl cupped his face again and looked up into his bloodshot eyes. 

“I’m singing for you, sailor.” 

She kissed his cheek and reached for his hands. Going slowly, she walked backwards into the sea, singing. Matthew followed her blindly, his mind captured by her ballad and the magical glow in her eyes. Tears streamed down her face as she tried to smile through her song. 

Though the shadows fall, still the stars find their way

Life your voice with the first light of dawn 

Dawn’s just a heartbeat away

Hope’s just a sunrise away

Matthew’s head dipped below the surface and the water consumed him. The song continued in his head as Y/N carried him to his death, ending his suffering and burying the dead.

[qierxing]

Fathoms Below

Commissioned by the amazing rainbowsillz

TW/CW: Toxic Relationships, Unhealthy coping mechanisms and mindsets, Blackmailing, Threats of Violence Yan!Azul x Mer! Reader

You're not exactly a go-getter.

It's not in your species' nature to be so, when one of your greatest strengths is to simply go with the flow and see where the sea currents take you. Even in the darkest trench, you'll always find a way through (using your handy glow in the dark biology).

It is, however, just like you to be curious when the waves take you to the next interesting destination. 

This shipwreck must be recent. Last time you were here, you don't recall broken masts and a proud figurehead buried in the sand here. You float along while examining the wreckage with a meticulous gaze. The glimmers of buried jewelry here and there don't interest you. No, you have no interest in such trinkets.

There's a gaping hole within the port side, jagged wood ripped into razor sharp teeth revealing the insides. It's dark and cloudy with mud and debris, but that's no issue for you. Rot and time have claimed the interior, but there's still some items that survive. As you swim closer, you discover quite a few things littering a toppled desk. 

There's a glass bottle that is scratched and covered in dirt but still intact. Within, there's parchment rolled up, perfectly preserved and safe from the salt waters. You tuck the bottle away in your bag, making sure it's snug inside so there's no chance it would fall out. Another cursory glance has you catching a curious metal object, no bigger than a clam shell, with strangely colored needles inside. You decide to also pocket it, just in case it turns out to be useful.

All in all, it's a fruitful exploration that has you quite satisfied. You are tempted to continue, but the rays of light are already dimming above into sunset, and your parents would not be happy about having to spend hours finding you again, especially not in a new unfamiliar area.

But just as you're almost to the colony where your family has settled down, you hear some strange sounds. Mischievous laughter mixed with crying has you turning your head in mild confusion. Following the commotion, you find a clearing with a large metal pot, surrounded by several other merfolk. You vaguely recognize them as your neighbors, their faces somewhat flickering in your memory. 

"What's so funny?" The quiet question has them turning around in panic, surprised by your unexpected presence. There's some awkward coughs and furtive glances exchanged between the gaggle.

A nearly unnoticeable teary sniffling has you glancing at the pot, realizing someone must be inside. When your suspicious eyes meet the clique's again, their faces sour as they sheepishly swim away, clearly annoyed they were deprived of their fun. 

It doesn't take much to piece two and two together. Sighing, you wait for a moment, then two, but nothing else happens. The mysterious sniffling has stopped but there is no sign of them being willing to leave the dark pot.

The calls of your parents carry on the currents, lulling you back home. You chance another indifferent glance back before swimming off towards home.

—

Apparently, the metal circular item you found is called a ‘compass’ by humans. According to your father, at least. When you pester him more about it, he shrugs and says that human sailors would use it to find their way on their voyages. The red needle would supposedly point you to your path. That was the only thing he knew about it.

You’re absolutely delighted with this fascinating discovery. So much so, that you can barely contain your excitement during class to go and test your gadget. 

"[First] [Last], are you listening?!" You let out a shocked yelp at your compass being swiped away by another finned hand. Your teacher peers down at you with disapproval in her beady eyes. The compass glints in her claws, just out of reach. 

"Pay attention to the lesson. You can retrieve your toy tomorrow." And with that, you watch sullenly as she swims away with your treasure. Snickers echo around you from your classmates but you ignore them, propping open your notebook in annoyance. The day seems longer without your compass in hand, but finally, the bell rings and class is over for the day.

The rest of your classmates waste no time swimming out the door, chattering about plans and playdates and what not, but you still remain in your seat, vindictive and resentful. 

"I can't even test out that compass until tomorrow." You slump over and your head hits the coral slate with a dull thud. Ms. Ulyana can be so stingy sometimes. Besides, you already knew everything taught in the magical theory section today.

"Excuse me?" You don't bother raising your head, still moping about the loss of your precious gadget. 

"What." You're not in the mood to be made fun of or exchange polite conversations at the moment.

"Isn't this yours?" You sit up abruptly, and see a young octopus mer holding the compass in his hands. You vaguely remember him sitting in the back of the room, hunched over his notebook, his glossy silver locks covering his face. 

"How did you…?" He smiles faintly with mischief flickering in his pupils.

"Octo-mers are great at camouflage, did you know?" The boy shrugs casually, setting down the gadget in front of you. “And…” He starts mumbling, fidgeting nervously with his fingers where you can’t hear him. 

“Er, what did you say? I didn’t catch that.” You awkwardly interject. 

“It’s….it’s thanksforhelpingmeout!” He blurts out quickly. This time, you hear him perfectly clear and stare at him in mild confusion. When did you help him out? You wrack your brains but come up empty. Instead of embarrassing him by denying it, you just nod along.

“Well, still, thanks. I’ve been waiting all day to try this out.” You grin. “You’re the coolest, uh…”

“A-Azul. Azul Ashengrotto.”

“You’re the best, Azul,” You hold out a confident hand. “I’m [First]. Wanna be friends?”

He hesitates, eyes staring intensely at your open palm offered. “Y…You want to be friends with me?”

You tilt your head. “I think anyone willing to get into trouble for me is worth befriending.”

“Even if…I’m just a crybaby and octo-twerp?” His lower lip trembles, teary voice nearly cracking.

“Who called you that?!” You put your hands on your hips, raising a tentacle to intertwine with one of his own. “I’ll give them a hearty zap if they do such a thing!” Azul splutters as you administer a gentle shock through your tentacles. It’s absurd enough to make him burst out laughing and you join in happily. 

Within that small classroom, a fond memory is created with that childish laughter.

—

The compass seems to get wonky underwater in the depths, so you reluctantly take to the shallows where the sea pressure is a little nicer to your gadget. 

It's strange to be so close to the sky as merfolk. The clouds remind you of the sulfurous gasses that are spewed in the deeper marine trenches. But it's much more transparent compared to the opaque heavier gas, lighter and much more friendlier looking. 

The red needle points straight ahead, and you breach just slightly, spotting a beach in the distance. Despite reservations, you drift closer, still only keeping your face above to render your sight usable. 

Misty fog clears and reveals palm trees and jagged rocks littering the golden sands. It's no island, since the land stretches further back into the atmosphere, with no end in sight. But there's no sign of life, save for the seagulls circling above and tiny crabs scuttering below. A little bit disappointing for your destination.

The stories you heard from elders were always about wild islands with treacherous fauna and mysterious treasure buried deep underground. Maybe even a group of thieves lurking around. This was just a barren reef that held naught but the bones of those unfortunate to wash up here. 

Still, you move forward, trying to see if there’s anything at all on the sand. Some multi-colored sea shells here and there, hardly in the condition to be collected, let alone be traded for with others. You glance at the compass in your hands with an annoyed huff.

“Useless thing…” You mutter under your breath. It’s a childish hope, but you had thought it would lead you to somewhere amazing, that you could tell your own tale about. That way, Azul could finally stop scoffing at you for your ‘ridiculous’ dreams and prove everyone else wrong.

The item barely makes a sound when it meets sand, and you turn away. The disappointment has already dampened your spirit to the point where you want to find the darkest nook and curl up and sleep.

A throat clears behind you, and you freeze at the unexpected sound.

“I believe this is yours?” The voice is tinged with specks of haughtiness that has your hackles raising subconsciously. 

A human boy has the compass you tossed in hand, inspecting it with a thoughtful look, before turning that gaze to you. His purple eyes are mesmerizing; they remind you of the vibrant sea shells in the various reefs dotting the Coral Sea. It takes an embarrassing moment for you to compose yourself to finally reply.

“It isn’t anymore.” He raises a judgemental eyebrow, and you almost shrink in on yourself. 

“Why not?” You cross your arms defensively at the judgemental tone. “It isn’t good to litter, you know.”

Your ears burn at the pointed accusation. Is a human seriously going to lecture you about pollution when they’re one of the causes for said situations? 

“That item used to belong to humankind, how is it littering when I am merely returning it to its place on land?”

“In this condition? I’d be surprised if it still works.”

“Well, it clearly didn’t work when I was trying to use it.” You fold your arms petulantly as the boy’s eyes slant in judgemental surprise.

“What use does merfolk have for human gadgets?” You bristle at the questioning tone. “I thought your kind has no need for these kinds of things, since you have an innate sense of direction.”

“So what?” You snap. “Who said that mers weren’t also curious about exploring either?”

“Exploring?”

This back and forth ends in a humiliating embarrassment when Vil (he introduces himself with an air of elegance that makes you think of royalty) informs you that the compass is not some kind of magical gadget that can lead you to your desired location. You thought he would be more smug and condescending about it, but he only patiently explains the usage of the compass and how the red needle is only meant as a stalwart guide, as it will always point north wherever you are. It’s a little disappointing, but still. You could see how it was useful as a human.

“That sucks. I wanna explore a new land one day and be able to tell all about it to my folks.” You flick your tentacle and splash some water out in musing. Vil has settled on a rock near you and now the animosity has simmered away into genuine curiosity for each other. It’s nice. When was the last time you were able to talk this freely about your dreams?

“I’m sure you can,” Vil smiles, and your breath is momentarily taken away. 

It feels good to have someone who believes in you, for once.

—

"...I think he’s a good person.”

The sound of someone choking makes you whip your head to see Azul keeled over his large book volume. After recovering, he looks up at you with incredulous disbelief in his sapphire eyes.

"You can't be serious? He's a human!" He spits, hostility coating his words like tarred ink. 

"Ugh, so what?" You puff out your cheeks. “Why do you have a problem with this anyway?”

“Because he’s a human! And besides, how do you know he won’t do something suspicious like sell off your fins or tentacles once you turn your back, huh?!” Azul retorts, making you roll your eyes. 

“This is not the age of the Sea Witch, Azul, it’s the modern era,” you coldly reply. “And that’s rich coming from you. Did you get that tome from the library or someone else?”

Azul flinches, cheeks blotching into a mottled dark purple as his tentacles writhed around the book as if to protect it from your disdainful gaze. Of course. Last week you swore one of your classmates had become mute, and another one’s P.E grades had dropped drastically, despite performing well in the past years. Azul sure has been working hard perfecting his unique magic these days.

“I earned this book fair and square!” Azul protests. “That human is another thing completely!”

“His name is Vil.” It’s like talking to a stone wall. You knew Azul disliked hearing about Vil, but not to this extent. “And he’s my friend.”

“I’m your friend too!” Aquamarine eyes narrow as your closest friend snarls at you. “Doesn’t that mean anything?!”

“Not when you’re insulting my other friends!” Without meaning to, your own tentacles begin to thrash in irritation, buzzing with the hum of electricity. “Ugh, forget it. I knew you were going to be like this, just like when you make fun of me for my weird treasure hunting.”

You’re not a fast swimmer, so even if you storm off, it must look silly, just floating away as your tentacles drift behind you. Despite the desperate calls of your name echoing behind you, you don’t turn back at all.

—

Perhaps you should’ve thought about at least making up with Azul before you made your decision.

“How are you going to explore the world if you can’t even leave the sea?” Vil had said with a disapproving frown. “You can’t let sentimentality shackle you from your potential.”

The words echo in the back of your mind. Sentimentality. Yes, that was one way to put a label on your relationship with Azul. You can’t deny entirely that reaching out that hand to him that fateful day was entirely out of a genuine desire to make friends. That little regret permeates the way you end up having to cheer Azul up from another self loathing session or whenever you’re having to reassure him that you won’t ever leave him all alone. It’s not that you actually believe in your words, but rather, it was the quickest way to quiet his tantrums. And although Azul matured greatly in magic and smarts, he never did quite grow out of his childish belief that you would always be there to coddle him. Not even when those sly eels attached themselves to him, taking over your role of being an actual friend.

So you take to the surface with your parents’ tearful blessings, leaving only a brief message with an acquaintance you made in your elementary school days. Rielle had hesitated, but ultimately wished you luck up on the surface. You can’t blame him. If you were braver, you would have made the effort to say the bitter words to your friend yourself. But that would be wasted time on a flood of tears and ink and even worse, a complete meltdown that would take days to mend.

When the volunteers handed you the transformation potion, they told you that although you trade your fins for legs, most mers have to adjust for a long period of time, having been so accustomed to swimming and utilizing your unique biology. At the time, you threw those warnings to the wind and chugged down the potion. Nothing would matter if it meant you could break away from the sea foam. You hadn’t realized the gravity of this until you’re stumbling over yourself and constantly ending up with aching bruises on your knees and shins. 

You hadn’t quite realized, until Azul is the one pushing you back and shrugging your apartment door shut behind him with a deafening click. Although it took you weeks to figure out how to walk without falling, Azul moved with an ease as if he’s always been human. It almost makes you envious enough to forget that he’s pinning you back on a wall, pupils dilated and breathing heavily like a madman. 

“Azul, let go! What the hell? How did you even know where I lived–?!” You’re not entirely panicked, more confused and annoyed. Even if he was erratic at times, he was still that baby octopus. He wasn’t exactly like the Leech eels who were known for their sharp teeth and ability to maul things to shreds. 

“It wasn’t easy, you know,” Azul mutters, a thin sharp grin strained across his face. “Do you know how hard it is to follow your tracks after you abandoned me like that?!” You scoff. One month and he’s already thinking it’s the end of the world that you weren’t glued to his side night and day. 

“Abandon? Please. You must be insane to think that me going to the surface to study is the equivalent of abandoning someone,” you spit back in his face and he recoils only slightly, but still remains steadfast in his strong grip over your hands. Even as you wiggle, he gives no indication of letting go. 

“Well, that doesn’t matter now,” you bristle at the way he ignores your reply. Bad habits die hard– he’s always loved ignoring anything he didn’t want to hear from you when convenient. It’s almost relieving in a way, to see that he hasn’t changed a bit. “We’ll be returning back to the Coral Sea.”

“What?!” Now you’re angry. It’s one thing to hear Azul to be delusional, it’s another to have to entertain those delusions. “You must be out of your Sea Witch’s mind to think that I’ll–” Your words die in your throat when something cold and hard presses to your jugular, digging into your voice box.

“You will.” Azul’s pupils are still dilated, black taking over sapphire pools and leaving only a cold abyss. Your eyes dart down, following the magical pen that gleams with a silvery gemstone that makes your heart almost stop in place. “You will, and you know why, my dear?”

“Because I earned you first, fair and square.”

[deadzonedenizen]

Sv dsl fmwvihgzmwh gsv dliow'h zuuzrih, sv dsl rh zwvkg rm dszg oruv ivjfrivh

"So you're probably wondering about what bargain he was talking about?"

The horned twins looked at each other, then at the boy in blue. One crossed his arms, and the other rested his hands on his hips as he bent over. "Yeah!" "What gives?!"

"I won't ask too much from you." Bell waved off nonchalantly. "But I do need you to help with something."

"And that is...?" Yin narrowed his eyes, only for the boy to smile enigmatically.

"I need you to tell me how I can make blood oaths."

 The two of them stared at him, and then each other...and burst into laughter.

Bell raised a brow, not being fazed as much. Gibby on the other hand scowled.

"Eugh, bullies..."

"Y-you, you want to know..."

"How to make blood oaths?!"

"I mean, you're kinda required to." Bell shrugged. "It's not Red that sent you here. It's Iron Fan. According to your blood oath with her, you'd help her with other tasks as long as it isn't as big as looking after her son. That's how it works, right?"

Both of them finally stopped laughing, but were now towering over him as if they were trying to intimidate him.

"Well, good luck with that." Jin began. "If you wanna make blood oaths, you gotta find a magpie feather."

"And not just any magpie, either! But one of the magpies that make up the magpie bridge at the heavenly river!" Yin added, almost in a bragging way.

"Magpie bridge?" Gibby echoed. "The one between Zhinü and Niulang?"

'Who?' Bell asked, her bending down to get closer to his face.

"You know! The cowherd and weaver girl!"

"Yeah, if you get your hands on one of those feathers, you got yourself a quill that uses the blood of whoever's using it." The silver horned demon continued, not exactly responding to Gibby. "It doesn't hurt, but good luck trying to find one in the first place!"

"Especially after we ransacked that merchant back in the demon market and sold his stuff-" He added, only for Jin to quickly slap his mouth shut.

"Shhhh, we agreed not to talk about that!"

"Soooo..." Bell trailed his eyes to their pockets. "You don't suppose you have an extra one I can borrow? I mean, there are two of you."

"Sorry, but that's not how it works." Jin smiled mockingly. "You can't use a quill that belongs to someone who doesn't have anything to do with the oath."

"Shame." Bell breathed, seemingly not that disappointed. "But I wanna know. What happens when you break an oath?"

Both of them raised a finger and opened their mouth...before stopping to think.

"Huh, now that I think about it..."

"I don't remember."

"You don't remember?" The boy repeated.

"It's been so long since someone broke an oath." Yin rubbed his chin in thought. "All we know is that something bad happens."

"Well that's not ominous at all." Jin commented, his hand moving on its own to scratch his back.

-Chapter 23: Koreatown Cravings

[hoodjam]

coastal love

a/n1: hey babies, I missed you all so much!! I’ve been so busy but I’m here with an actual story! this is something new for me so I hope yall enjoy 🩷

warnings : tw: death, nudity, very short

The lone sailor waded in the waters, desperately fishing for the deep sea fish that was rumored in the area.

“Damn, fish! I almost had it on the hook when it swam off on me,” the man pouts, slightly sour he blindly follows the fish into the deep blue ocean.

“fuck me, it’s gettin’ dark too, damn, fuck shi-“

“HELP ME!” A woman screamed, sending shivers down the sailor's spine. “SOMEONE, PLEASE.”

A sudden feeling of heroism fell over the man, sending him to stand in his tiny boat looking for any signs of a distressed woman. Scanning the area he saw her, hair wet, clothes tattered, as she clung to a rock with her last strength.

Adrenaline raced through his body, beginning his paddling to rescue the lady.

During your frantic screaming to be saved, you noticed the man rowing towards you, and your heart was filled with relief. “Thank you, sir,” you coughed out, showing him your pearly teeth.

“No worries, but what’s a lady like you in waters like this?” The sailor questions, after stopping his boat near the rock.

You stay silent, watching the man reach his hand towards you to help you into the boat.

“Oh, I was in a bad shipwreck nearby. The storm swept me and my mates away. I’m the only survivor.” You explain, reaching your hand to meet his.

But he pauses, “Hm? A storm? There hasn’t been a storm in a few weeks,” He stares at you, slowly reaching his spear, “there’s no way you swam for that long.”

The sailor grips his spear, mind reeling that more than just deep sea fish is real.

In an instant, your eyes flicker black, as you leap out of the water tackling the man into the ocean. Your tail bright blue, shimmering in the sun was the last thing the man saw.

Deep hunky laughter fills the air, men scattered across the deck, as the vessel they ride on glides on the sea.

“Men! Tonight we celebrate a successful loot of the ocean’s treasure,” the captain of the crew states. His shoulder was broad with years of experience, mouth curled in a smirk not even his scar could taint.

“Once we port, we’ll enjoy the lands’ women! But tonight we drink!”

“Aye!” His men exclaim, mugs already filled with the golden liquor, which makes them light on their feet.

However, before the festivities could start, a drop of rain landed on the captain’s face. Frowning, he looked around his vessel seeing the swirling clouds heading in their direction.

“Men get into positions, we have a storm to bear.”

Without any questions, his crew stationed themselves throughout the ship, with Toji at the helm.

“Gojo! String up the sails, Geto strap down the loose food and drinks, and Sukuna, be ready for any repairs.” Toji barked more orders to his team, a team he trusted with his life.

Heading to the helm he turned the wooden wheel away from the storm, bracing himself, preparing for the worst.

Underwater, you smiled with glee, “What a feast,” you thought.

The storm was a beast, bigger and angrier than any sea creature they’d fought. With all his might he kept the stern face opposite of the storm, but his strength was failing.

“Prepare to “ the captain was interrupted, feeling his gravity shift as his boat capsized. The last thing he seen was his men flipping before his head hit a beam, knocking him unconscious.

The storm ravaged the pirate's ship, throwing bodies and debris across the darkened sea. Eager for your first bite, you greedily swam through the waters dodging everything except the lone barrel that fell from the sky.

Toji woke up on some sandy shore, the back of his head throbbing in pain from his injury. Getting up with a stumble, his eyes burning from the bright sun hinting at a new day.

He walks the coast, looking for any hints of survivors from his crew, “Is that?”

The captain gasps, seeing you lie on the same beach he washed up on, unconscious, naked, and shimmering with a blue hue.

a/n2 : I hoped you guys enjoyed, feedback is always appreciated.

a/n3 : also, no shade, but I’m so tired of the short ass fics!!! let’s get back into long stories 😩 anyway lmk if yall want a part two

[narrans]

Stellar Allies | Part One

GT July | Stellar Allies | Part One

Words: Studying, Plush, Behemoth, Shipwreck, Alien

Sirens blared all around him. Lights flashed, creating blinding sparks left and right. There was no choice now. The vessel needed to land – and now. The controls and steering mechanisms groaned and tugged against his grip.

This landing wasn’t going to be pretty.

“Just another mission. In and out. Routine. Yeah, routine my juthez! Make contact with the team. It’ll be easy. Communication breakdown is common. Juthez! This is bad!” These thoughts wouldn’t do any of them any good now.

With all his might, he threw himself backwards and attempted to level off the ship, but the damage along the edges of the wings was irreparable. Whatever had hit them knew exactly how to incapacitate their ship to force a landing.

“It’s no use!” the captain pathed. “Get to the escape pods! Coordinates have been sent. Go!”

“Captain!” The second-in-command was shot a single look, which silenced her. The captain leaned over and tapped a few lights on the console, giving the ensign a determined look.

“You heard the order. Get to the pods. I’ll be close behind. Go!”

Relinquishing the controls was the most difficult thing he’d ever done, but it was the captain’s orders and the longer he waited the less of a chance the captain would have to get out safely.

“See you soon, captain,” the ensign pathed as he slid out from the chair and ran to the escape pods. It took only two seconds to slide on the emergency suit, even though it felt like an eternity, and the ensign slid into the pod, slamming it shut behind him. The other places were vacant, showing the other members of the crew had already ejected.

He was the last one other than the captain.

Leaning back and scanning in, the pod rumbled around him before ejecting. The space craft was igniting rapidly from what little the ensign could see as he sped off through the atmosphere and to the ground far below. The wings broke off. The shields were obviously failing. The ensign watched with wide-eyed horror as the ship continued to burn up as it entered the atmosphere.

Something broke free from the ship. Was it the other escape pod? Was it just more debris? There wasn’t time to think about it as the ensign’s escape pod clipped something else, making it spin and spiral.

The ground far below was spinning out of control. Everything was blurring. Nausea swelled inside him. As the pod entered the atmosphere, the ensign blacked out, hoping beyond hope that his pod would arrive at the same emergency destination as the others after hitting some unknown thing in orbit and not somewhere completely off course.

How quickly those hopes would be dashed….

~~~^*^*^~~~

Space. An unlimited source of curiosity. The ever expanding abyss that exists all around us. It is the Dark Forest. It is the potential for greatness. It is the terror of the unknown.

It was here that Clifford Neilson found his true fascination. He had been studying it for years. Well, he and his best friend Jaxon Warner. Both boys were obsessed with the idea of going into space. They stared up at the Nevada sky for hours upon hours once it was supposed to be lights out for bedtime just to gaze at the night sky. They’d memorized the constellations and made their own telescopes before their parents bought them each one for their thirteenth birthdays.

Their love of science and the enjoyment of many of the same media forms made them best friends from early on in their lives. They were inseparable from day one of elementary school and they were still so in the summer before their first year of high school.

So, as they gazed up at the summer sky admiring the view, they naturally were in contact with one another. It was the time for the Perseids Meteor Showers, and naturally both boys were glued to their windows. As a massive streak lit up the sky, Clifford reached over toward his desk and fumbled for his walkie-talkie.

“Cliff to Jax. Cliff to Jax. Do you copy?” hissed Cliff into his walkie. The mechanical button clicked under the pressure of his fingers and a light static filled the air by his ear. There was a click and the sound of jostling on the other end of the line before his best friend’s voice filled the air.

“Jax to Cliff. I read you buddy. Did you see the tail on that last one?” asked Jax. “And don’t forget to say ‘over’ when you’re done talking. Over.” Cliff rolled his eyes, which almost made him miss the next shooting star, as he clicked the button onto his walkie again.

“Copy, and I definitely did see it. I can’t believe how many we’re getting tonight. And don’t you lecture me about radio etiquette. I’m the one who taught you about using ‘over.’ Over.” Cliff’s elbows ached as he continued to lean against them as he absorbed the sky above him. The billions of twinkling lights above him was absolutely mesmerizing. He already knew he’d be asking for an astrophotography set that was compatible with his telescope for his next birthday.

“Hahaha sure buddy. Big ole’ 10-4 on that. Anyway, you logging all of these? I’m trying to guestimate the length of the tails and approximate where they’d land if they collided with earth. Over,” Jax replied. His mocking laugh on the other side of the line would have gotten under Cliff’s skin if not for the next series of massive meteors falling from the sky making beautiful arcs as they burned up in the atmosphere.

“I haven’t actually. That’s a good idea though. We’ve got some record breakers tonight,” muttered Cliff, mouth agape as he stared up. A twinge in his neck as he craned it backward to keep a full view of the sky made him groan. He pulled his eyes from the sky to try and massage the area.

“You okay dude? Over?” asked Jax. Cliff glanced down at his radio and noticed he hadn’t fully released the “talk” button. Jax probably just heard a garbled moan from his side of the radio. Leave it to a friend to call me out on this stuff Cliff thought.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Sorry. Just a tweak in my neck. Didn’t mean to cut out on you. Over,” replied Cliff. He heard his friend scoff over the line and, before he even said anything, Cliff already knew what Jax was going to say.

“From looking up? Shouldn’t you be used to that since you’re always looking up? Over,” stated Jax. Cliff felt himself shaking his head and laughing silently as he understood his friend’s meaning; and it wasn’t just a looking up at space joke. Cliff had achondroplasia, so he was usually looking up at the people around him. It was said in jest and meant as a joke between them, along with the frequent joke of, “You’ll always look up to me,” stupidness, but it still made Cliff smile.

Jax was one of his only friends who didn’t treat him any differently than anyone else, and the jokes that he made were ones Cliff genuinely thought were amusing. He rolled his eyes and clicked his button again.

“Yeah, ya’ big oaf. I can only imagine how your neck must feel. Do giants have neck problems? Over,” grinned Jax.

“Naw, man. It’s in the knees. Always in that deep squat to talk to everyone. Gotta get that replaced. Know any good doctors? Over,” asked Jax. Cliff opened his mouth to retort when a massive streak ignited the sky. All words abandoned him as he gazed up at the dazzling lights. “Woah! Man! Are you seeing this? Over!”

“Yeah,” he mumbled, mind barely registering that he had squeezed the “talk” button as he watched the tail ignite the sky. Cliff’s eyes fixated on the meteor, but then something caught his eye. There was something about how it was breaking apart that didn’t seem like a normal meteor.

Thinking fast, Cliff redirected his telescope to the sky and the place where he could see the tail. He had just gotten it in his sights when he saw seven different pieces break off one by one. What was interesting was the fact each one of the pieces broke off separately with little bursts, each propelling it away from the main body. It was a behemoth of a meteor, at least for average size measures, and was sure to make the news the next day.

Cliff nearly continued tracking along the main body of the meteor but paused when one of those fragments broke off and, to his sheer excitement, saw it hurdling toward him. He pried himself away from his telescope and looked back out the window eagerly, heart pounding a hole right through him.

Sure enough. The piece he saw before looked like it had broken off and was arcing right for the ground and, if he was right, it was probably going to land close. Cliff watched with baited breath as the larger mass continued toward the ground far to the north while the smaller fragment he spotted spiraled and crashed. The teen boy was practically throwing himself against the window as he realized where the meteorite had impacted.

“My dude! Did you see that? Did you see it! It landed! We’ve got a meteorite in the fields! It’s in the park! It’s gotta be!” Cliff was sprinting around his room pulling on a jacket and his science bag while shoving his radio clip through the side pocket. He was pulling on his headphones when he heard Jax’s reply.

“I know! I know! And you didn’t say over! Over!” Jax said. From the rustling sounds Cliff heard in the background, he guessed his friend was also pulling on his clothes.

“I’m on my way down the block. Meet me there on your bike. We’re going after it! Over!” hissed Cliff eagerly. Despite his excitement, the teenager was able to slip out of his childhood home past his parents’ room without issue and, within a minute, was on his Joni peddling his heart out.

He beat Jax by only a few seconds as the two boys turned their attention to the fields that led to the national park right across the way. Both boys gazed in the direction they saw the crash and grinned at one another eagerly.

“You think we can actually make it?” asked Jax. “Before anyone else I mean. I can’t imagine we’re the only ones who saw that.”

“Only one way to find out. It’s probably a few miles in. Fastest peddling will get us there in fifteen to twenty minutes if we’re really going at it,” estimated Cliff. Jax grinned and pushed his unruly hair out of his eyes and under the rim of his helmet.

“Then we’d better get moving,” he said firmly.

Determination and excitement fueled the two boys as they turned their bikes to the swath of desert that lay in front of them. The terrain was tricky and navigating in the dark was also a bit of a beast. These boys, however, were undeterred. With their monochromatic lights geared for seeing in the dark and their knowledge of the terrain, their adventure felt short lived despite nearly thirty minutes passing since they’d left the safety of their home to charge out into the midnight lit desert.

Jax and Cliff both huffed and puffed as they pushed their bikes up the final part of the hill. The entire way, the smell of burning stone filled their nostrils. They knew they were close, and they had the right gear for the job. They’d done their research and had several of the essentials including gloves, tongs, aluminum foil, and even multiple containers to put it in. They’d figure out how to divide it up later.

As they crested over the hill, they saw it – a small crater. It wasn’t very big, but neither of them expected something massive. It was just a meteorite fragment after all. The bigger piece was far to the north, and it was way too far away for them to go after tonight. This piece, however, was going to be perfect for the aspiring astronauts.

“Almost… there,” puffed Jax. He hopped back on his bike and rode the hill all the way back down. Cliff did the same. The bumpy terrain shook Cliff up one side and down the other, but he didn’t care. This was going to be his first adventure harvesting a meteorite. The first of many if he had anything to say about it.

Cliff was trembling with excitement as he and his friend abandoned their bicycles a few hundred feet away from the flickering, fiery mess burning in the ground.

“Safety first,” Cliff instructed as he pulled off his backpack and put on a filtered face mask that he’d used for chemistry class. Jax did the same before handing Cliff a pair of heat resistant gloves.

“Nice and careful. You get the aluminum foil and I’ll get the tongs,” directed Jax.

“Hey!”

“I’m only saying that because my arms are longer. I don’t want to get too close to the fire. You should be happy you get to hold it first,” Jax pointed out. Cliff rolled his eyes, wanting to be the one to use the tongs, but relented with the alternative of being the first between them to hold a meteorite.

“Got it. Ready?”

“Ready.”

They crouched and cautiously stepped forward. The ground crunched under their shoes as they crouched and inched their way closer and closer to the burning place on the ground. Thankfully, nothing nearby was burning to create a dangerous fire.

Their hearts were hammering faster and faster, both glancing nervously at one another as they approached their target. Cliff wondered what the texture was going to be like. Was it going to be rough or smooth? Would it have ridges or be like an ocean smoothed stone? There were so many different reports of what it could be like.

But, as they approached, the boys began to notice some irregularities. For one, there wasn’t a distinct crater. There were skid marks that were parallel that looked more like that of a docking boat in sand and stone. Jax glanced back at Cliff, who noticed his friend looked just as confused as he felt.

Neither spoke and continued to approach. Cliff felt his hands starting to get cold and clammy within the protective gloves he had on. The hair on the back of his neck began to stand on end, and there was something unsettling in the air. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was something off about this area.

Now nearly thirty feet away, they could better see their target, and it made them stop in their tracks. What they expected was a hunk of rock from space, but what they saw was far from that ideal image.

The parallel skid marks didn’t lead to a rock, but a cylindrical tube that was the color of liquid mercury. Something was hissing and whatever it was looked a bit banged up, dents creating odd imperfections in the surface making it look like scuffed silverware. Jax turned around to look at Cliff, mouthing “what on earth” before looking back at the tube.

For a moment, Cliff contemplated turning back or getting Jax’s attention to plan a new strategy, but he knew his curiosity would always get the better of him and already he and his best friend were stepping cautiously forward toward the metallic cylinder. The hissing was starting to subside and, now that they were closer, they could see that it was hissing because there was a small section that was open along the side.

Jax crouched down and, like a military sergeant, he held up his hand with a closed fist, signaling that they should stop. He turned and, in a hushed voice, asked, “Do you see this? It looks like a shipwreck.”

“Yeah. It does,” muttered Cliff as he inched forward toward his friend. “Should we get closer?”

“I mean, I think so. I’m just worried about the hissing and stuff. Like, what is it putting in the air?” asked Jax. Cliff glanced around at the smoldering brush nearby and the tiny flames that hadn’t extinguished yet.

“Well, it’s probably not toxic. Look,” he said as he pointed to the fire. “The flames are still orange. If there were other chemicals in the air, the fire would probably change color.” Jax gave his friend a disbelieving look, actually swinging his head over to stare at his friend before fixing his eyes back on the flames.

“That’s only a little reassuring. There’s a million other explanations for that,” Jax pointed out.

“I know, but it’s what we’ve got. We’re either turning back or investigating. So? Which is it?” The ultimatum made the decision an obvious one. Swallowing dryly, the boys inched forward once again, this time with the intention of moving forward.

Both of them were quaking in their shoes as they were now close enough to glimpse inside the small section of the metal cylinder. Just inside, they could barely make out what looked like some kind of odd plush made of a reflective leather. Tongs in hand, Jax’s trembling hands reached forward and nudged the slit in the metal cylinder open.

The hatch clicked and hissed again as it slid open, parts of it grinding as it clicked open and revealed what was inside. The boys’ jaws went slack as the realization hit them. Neither could tear their eyes away from the sight.

It was an alien. A real alien.

~~~~~^*^*^*^*^~~~~~

Continue

~~~~~^*^*^*^*^~~~~~

@gianttol #gtjuly #gtjuly2024

[riding-with-the-wild-hunt]

"Methought the billows spoke and told me of it; The winds did sing it to me, and the thunder, That deep and dreadful organ pipe, pronounced The name of Prosper." - William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act III, Scene III

[ID: a picspam comprised of 16 images in shades of blue and light brown.

1: A calm sea under a cloudy sky, seen over a stone wall / 2: A crowd of people sheltering as spray crashes over them / 3: The head of a statue draped in pearls / 4: The rigging of a ship / 5: A drawing of a young man reaching out of the sea to grab onto a rock. He is pale and dark-haired, and looks up with an expression of distress and fascination / 6: Old-fashioned script on parchment / 7: The lower body of a person standing on a beach. They have tan skin and are surrounded by billowing white fabric / 8: An ornate astrological clock. The visible hand is shaped like a sun / 9: Ocean waves / 10: The inside of a nautilus shell / 11: Lightning among clouds / 12: A pale-skinned person reclining amid mist or water, viewed in profile. Their arm hangs past their head and their back is arched / 13: A person's arms, hands outstretched in a gesture of offering or accepting. They have tan skin and are wearing a sheer white shirt with puffy sleeves / 14: A hallway surrounded by white plaster columns. Sunshine falls through arched openings, and there is a brown door visible at the end under another arch / 15: Astronomical diagrams / 16: A painting showing several shipwrecked sailors clinging to floating debris //End ID]

[eljeebee]

Summer Prelude: Shipwrecked in Sulani

It was just supposed to be a reconnaissance. Her shuttle was upgraded to “hide” her from the radars when surveying this planet. They know civilization might not even exist there yet based on old reports, but you’ll never know…

The mothership was hidden far from this planet, near the edge of the system, and she was tasked to physically survey the planet and collect any data from it.

P’tonia was sure her shuttle was in good shape – until it wasn’t. Her shuttle’s systems failed, prompting her to land. It burned when it broke through the atmosphere, which normally happens, unless your systems are broken and there are no shields to protect you from the burn. It was all too fast. She remembered scrambling to get herself ejected from the shuttle, remembered it going straight to the ocean. She remembered fighting the debris away from her and swimming ashore.

And then when she reached the sandy beach, she dropped to the ground, exhausted. Sleep took her.

And now…

P’tonia decided to look around, she knows she can’t immediately recover her shuttle, but there might be materials…

So, even if afraid, she walked.

Until…

A…person…stood from her. Curly hair, blue eyes, and their eyes look…kind. Their mouth moved, speaking something, but P’tonia couldn’t understand what they were saying.

Alarm bells rang through her head and P’tonia quickly backed up, holding her fighting stance. Stars, she thought, I didn’t know this planet supports…people. The last report from this planet was from Ach’ska, and it was a long time ago…

“Who are you? Where am I?” P’tonia asked warily.

She blinked. “It seems like we don’t understand each other…”

The person let out a hm. And then suddenly, they let out a harmonious voice. Singing? What for? Is this a threat? P’tonia thought, alarmed.

As the person sang, there were rays of light coming out from their mouth and started circling both. P’tonia froze, “What are you doing? What do you think – ”

The person continued to sing, and as the lights further twirled around them, P’tonia starts to understand the song. At the same time, it calmed her. And when the song ended…

“Are you okay?” the person asked.

P’tonia gasped. Whatever this person did, it made her understand what they were saying!

“I understand you!” P’tonia cried, and then she doubled down, confused when she found herself speaking another language unfamiliar to her, but familiar to her tongue.

“I’m glad to hear it,” the person gently smiled. “I hope that didn’t scare you. What I did was a merfolk spell. It’s not harmful, don’t worry; just something to help you talk to me.”

“Mer…merfowk?” P’tonia echoed, feeling the word through her mouth. Is this what the race are called in this planet?

The person nodded. “We saw a big ball of fire diving straight to the ocean…it must be you. The Sulanians were scared, so I came her to investigate. As a merfolk, I consider myself as the protector of the islands and its waters. I’m not here to fight, though. I only wanted to talk. But if you try and hurt them…”

“Scared? No, no!” P’tonia gasped, “I’m not here to hurt anyone, I promise! I’m lost!”

“I could see that,” they said. “The spirits told me you’re not bound from this world.”

“Spirits?” P’tonia tilted her head, confused. “Bound?”

The person only smiled. “It’ll be a lot to take in, why don’t we go sit down and talk? Come, we can chat inside that shipwreck. The children steered clear from this place when you crashed here.”

They motioned for her to follow. As they walked, the person suddenly paused. “Where are my manners? I’m Perlas of St. Taz! You are standing on one of the islands of Sulani, Mua Pel’am!”

“Mua Pel’am, Sulani…what a beautiful name! You have a beautiful name as well; does it mean anything?” P’tonia cooed. Her worries and fears washed away as she relaxed. If the people in this planet is as kind as they, then maybe she doesn’t need to be defensive? Good, because she hates fighting.

“It means Pearl,” Perlas smiled.

“How wonderful,” P’tonia nodded. “Oh! I am P’tonia Vix, Princess of Galatea. I’m serving…well, was serving in the Ach’ska Memoir, until my shuttle went…garbage.”

“A princess! Well then, Princess Tonya, follow me!”

“Oh, please, just P’tonia,” she bashfully says, “Father taught me that royalty means nothing when serving in the navy, and especially when you find yourself lost in a foreign world. And I’m not really used to curtsies or when people kneel for me, and regard me so highly. I usually keep myself in the workshops and work on my projects…”

Perlas let out a laugh. “Come on then, Tonya. Tell me everything and I will answer whatever question you ask.”

[kaihuntrr]

part nine: your highness.

I mean. I did say it was a big update, yeah? I've been waiting for so long to post this chapter, you will not believe how long I've been wanting to talk about it!

Alternate versions of the art under the cut + the actual chapter mwam

It was one thing to fight a beast.

It was another to chase it.

The ship surged through the waves, engines churning to keep up with the pace of the fleeing scuttler. The monster’s blood tainted the blue seas with its red pigment, creating a trail all the way to itself as it swam. It wouldn’t be too much longer until it would collapse from exhaustion. Martyn looked on, still chilled from the water and the breeze, but his excitement kept him warm.

Still, it was strange.

In all his time hunting beasts, Martyn never understood the ones that fled. This one was incredibly peculiar since it rammed into the ship and left without actually trying to strike any of them. This might be more of the weird behavior that Mumbo had mentioned before; they were getting closer to the world border after all. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume this was because of the world border. 

This was a chance to look into the beasts’ behavior here, but Martyn wanted to see something else: if there truly was a sea prince near the border.

Supposedly, people got swarmed by monsters before even reaching the border. But they had only been greeted by scuttlers, in a class far smaller and weaker compared to the boneback the Canaries had killed just a few days ago, that was strange enough. Why were people dying here, if there was nothing too significant to claim their lives?

It had to be a sea prince. He just knew it. There were no survivors, no floating bodies, just vast open waters with a chill breeze, exactly as the other parts of the ocean. But it was silent. Far too silent. 

“Up ahead! There’s a shipwreck!” Bdubs’ shout alerted the hunters as he pointed forward.

Pieces of debris were scattered along the waters, metal and cloth drifting aimlessly. Martyn took a closer look and gasped.

There were people.

Martyn looked at the others, “Gods– we have to save them! Can the harpoons reach the beast?!” They had to save them. He couldn’t just sit back and watch people get slaughtered. If the scuttler came for them now, those survivors were going to die. They couldn’t handle another attack, but the ship could. They had to get on. 

It looked like the scuttler was beginning to slow down, but he needed it dead now.

“We just need to get a little closer–,” Joel hefted his harpoon over his shoulder and prepared to throw it, but his balance was thrown off as the ship jerked to the side.

A shrill cry reverberated through the air. Another beast. Another scuttler. If scuttlers came in groups, maybe the beast Martyn had killed was a part of its little group. Maybe it was sad. Martyn’s eyebrows furrowed in thought. No, it was probably only angry. Beasts feel nothing more than hunger and wrath. Nothing more.

The bleeding beast stopped and turned back to roar at them. It was ear-piercing and horrid, blood spewing out of the scuttler’s throat before it dove down below the waves. It was quiet once more.

An uneasy, fragile silence, but it was silence nonetheless. 

“Let’s… Let's get closer to the survivors. Quickly.” Grian’s voice was shaky as he looked towards the survivors of the wreckages. He felt Joel give him a little nudge, but Grian continued to stare. It wasn’t normal for him to be in this wrecked state. Joel sighed. He hated to see his brother in such a state.

Joel gave his harpoon to Bdubs, who looked all too eager to take it from his captain’s hands, and walked to Lizzie, glancing between her and Grian. “Do you want to stay downstairs for a while? I can handle steering.” Joel held Lizzie’s hand as she nodded, “Let’s head down, then.” He and Lizzie passed Martyn by and Joel gave him a small smile before disappearing below deck.

Martyn hoped Lizzie was okay. 

The ship moved slower, carefully passing through the water and stopping before a pile of floating wood and a group of people bundled up together. Martyn could see the broken wooden boards and dented metal, sails shredded and scattered across the water. The survivors all sat on a floating piece of debris together, far bigger than the other broken pieces. It was like something shielded them from the disaster.

Scar lowered the rope ladder to the survivors with a smile, “Come on, we’ll get you to safety!” 

None of the survivors went up immediately. Martyn raised an eyebrow as one of the survivors squinted at him.

The survivor wore a black coat with gold linings, split red and black hair, an eyepatch, and multiple accessories. “You… you’re the king’s hunters, aren’t you?”

Martyn nodded. “We are. Why are you asking?” He tilted his head, noticing the weird looks the survivors were giving him. Was there something he said? He wouldn’t want to lie. He wouldn’t want to say more words than needed, either. They needed to get on board.

“Tch. Spoiled brats. As if we’ll accept help from you!” Another survivor spoke up, crossing his arms. He wore an open purple vest, sash, and pants with dusty-rose hair in twin braids. He looked away from the Canaries to stare at his reflection in the water instead.

What?

Martyn looked at the others, as if questioning if he heard them right. They were out on open waters. If Martyn had just lost his ship and survived a monster attack, he would’ve accepted any help he could get, so why wouldn’t they? 

He shivered at the thought of surviving a monster attack. There was no way he was going to lose the Canaries– they were the best at hunting, no beast could tear them down. Not even a sea prince. He knew they would be fine. He wouldn’t be a survivor. He was a hunter.

Cleo placed their hand on Martyn’s shoulder and smiled softly before turning to the survivors, “It’s dangerous to be here. The scuttlers may have left for now, but that doesn’t mean they won’t come back,” they motioned to the rope ladder. “Just get on.”

“If it’s so dangerous, then why are you here?”

“We don’t have time to talk about it here,” Cleo shook their head, “Come on.”

Never in Martyn’s life did he experience such a stubborn group of people. What were the Canaries supposed to do if they continued to refuse? Leave them to die? That was plain wrong. 

A dark thought loomed in his mind. If they refused to come aboard, maybe they could just be bait for the sea prince. Martyn shook his head. Nope. Bad idea. Not good. Do not think of them like that. 

The raven haired survivor turned to the others, “It’s safer to be on a ship than it is on these planks,” she began to climb the ladder. She wore a black hat, dress, and boots with white pants and pink vest. “Drop your disdain for a while. It’s better to come back alive than dead.”

At least one of them made sense.

As she climbed up, Martyn watched as the other survivors reluctantly followed her on board. The raven haired survivor sighed the moment she stepped on board, but gave the Canaries a smile.

“I apologize on their behalf, though I’m not a part of their crew,” the survivor looked at Martyn, her head tilted, “You’re the king’s hunters?”

Scar spoke faster than Martyn did. “That’s right!” He puffed out his chest, “We’re the Canaries; we’re on an important mission!”

The survivor laughed. “Ah, that sounds like fun. I hope this isn’t too much of a detour, but they’re a bit injured,” she motioned to the others, “Do you think you could pause your mission so they could return to shore to recover?”

Martyn took a closer look at them. The bruises and some bandaged wounds made it look like they had been in a fight with each other rather than a monster. 

Who let these lunatics out to sea?

Another survivor walked up to the first, her hair was a fluffy white and brown split with shades that covered her eyes, a fairly fancy cravat with a red sash and brown pants with a black coat and hat with gold lining, “We’re just fine, Katherine,” she crossed her arms, “It’d be better if we were on our own ship though.”

Katherine shook her head. “That’s not true. Just trust me on–”

A scuttler’s roar interrupted her. Their ship jerked and began to rock from side to side as something suddenly jostled the side of it. It had come back from the depths, but at least the survivors were on the ship.

“Oh by the gods–,” Grian groaned. He looked at Katherine and the other survivors, “You should lead the others downstairs, it’s safer there.”

Katherine nodded. She proceeded downstairs and shook her head at the crew of survivors, “No time for arguing, let’s go.”

As Katherine and the other survivors headed downstairs, Joel emerged and quickly ran up to meet with the Canaries. “It’s back?!” 

The beast growled, circling around the ship and snapping its jaws.

Mumbo walked up to the others, placing the telescope back in his bag, “Just the one, it seems,” he shrugged. “No idea where the bleeding one went.”

“It’s one less problem to deal with,” Joel shook his head dismissively. He raised his voice to grab everyone’s attention, “Let’s just do what we did earlier! Harpoons, everyone!”

The scuttler suddenly charged forward, ramming itself against the ship’s walls. The sound of something cracking reverberated through the air. 

“Cleo, Bdubs, with me!” Joel waved to the two of them, all three quickly mounted the harpoon guns along the edge of the ship. They fired at the beast just as it crashed against the walls of the ship once more, making it start to rock wildly again. 

The loaded harpoons were attached to thick rope anchored to metal parts of the ship, they latched on to the beast as it dove and thrashed underneath the ship. Blood poured out of the cracks in the scuttler’s armor, staining the water. The monster writhed in pain, but it persisted, attacking the ship again.

“Why didn’t we use these earlier!?” Bdubs complained as he held the harpoon gun steady and turned his head towards Grian. “This is so much easier than chucking them!”

“It’s hard to use the harpoon gun if the beast is biting the ship!” Grian shouted back. He turned and yelled across the ship, “Scar! Martyn! Catch it on the port side! We’ll let it struggle to death under the ship!” Martyn and Scar nodded and ran to the left. They leaned over the rail, holding their hand held harpoons steady, then threw them down in tandem as the beast emerged from the underside of the ship. 

The scuttler shrieked in surprise from the harpoons suddenly piercing into its exoskeleton. Grian turned to Mumbo and Joel, “Mumbo, you and I can take straight shots at the beast, Joel, handle the steering,” he gave the two a smile. “Let’s take it down.”

Cleo, Bdubs, Scar, and Martyn secured their guns as the beast continued to toss and turn under the ship. Any slip ups and the weapons would fall off the ship. Such was the risk of trying to wear it down, but Martyn didn’t mind it. Any method to kill the beasts was a good one.

The scuttler suddenly surged forwards, dragging the ship behind it. Its blood spread across the water as it started to swim in a circle. The waters became faster and rougher as the beast swam in loops, a whirlpool began to form.

A whirlpool.

“It's trying to drag us down!” Grian’s eyes widened as he lurched forward, grabbing onto the rail to call to the crew. “Cut the ropes!” 

If the scuttler was dragging them around, there was only one place for it to be. It had to be in front of them. It was the perfect moment to take the kill as soon as possible. Martyn had to act.

“Wait!” Martyn’s sudden shout caused the others to pause and look at him. “Don’t cut them- I have an idea!” He picked up the spare handheld harpoon at his side and ran forward to Grian and Joel.

“Wh- Martyn–!” Joel quickly ran to Martyn’s harpoon gun and steadied it, the wood beginning to chip under the force of the beast. 

Grian looked at Joel and Martyn with his eyes wide. Martyn hefted his harpoon and used it to motion towards the beast, “If it’s bringing us down, I can jump off and stab it.”

“No- that’s a bad idea,” Grian shook his head. “We have other ways–”

“It’s quicker and more effective,” Martyn gripped his harpoon. Water splashed over the edge of the deck as the beast growled. Martyn glanced back at the others, then back to Grian, “There are survivors on this ship and I did not expect a scuttler to be so much trouble for us.”

Grian shook his head again. “D0n’t do it.”

“Let me.”

“You are not jumping off this ship, Martyn,” Grian growled. It wasn’t normal to see Grian like this. This… angered state. He glared daggers into Martyn’s eyes, surprising Martyn as he swiftly took the harpoon and clenched it in his hands. “That is an order from your captain.”

Martyn narrowed his eyes. There was no use for titles here. It certainly wouldn’t stop Martyn. “If I don’t kill it now, it’ll capsize the entire ship!” he hissed, a sudden surge of water crashing into the side of the ship as if agreeing with his statement. He took a quick glance at his crewmates, holding on to the sides and mast for dear life. “We’ll all die!”

Martyn attempted to reach for the harpoon, but Grian pushed him away. “There should be a better way to kill it–” Grian raised his voice. He gripped his hair and hissed as the scuttler roared. Even under the watery depths, it could be heard from the chaos surrounding them. “I just need some time to think!”

“There’s no time!” Martyn screamed. He was sure he and Grian were being overheard. He placed a hand to his chest, practically begging at this point. “I’ll be fine, let me do this!”

“Martyn,” Grian grit his teeth. He took in a sharp breath, trying to steady his hastened heartbeat, “I’m not–”

“I don’t see why we’re arguing over this–” Martyn leaned closer to Grian and snatched the harpoon from his hands in a quick and forceful manner. He could see Grian’s distraught look as Martyn tried to figure out what was going on.

“Because I can’t lose you again, Jimmy!” Grian stomped his foot on the ground, tears welled up in his eyes before he covered his mouth. For a moment, Grian forgot where he was. The blonde in front of him was unrecognizable as his heartbeat quickened and his hands gripped his face tighter.

Jimmy.

Martyn’s world fell silent. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know how to react.

“I’m not going to die like him, I promise.” Martyn smiled, leaping on the bowsprit extending beyond the figurehead of the ship, holding his harpoon above his head.

“Martyn, wait–!”

Martyn held his breath as he jumped into the water. A sudden rush of cold swallowed his entire body as water flooded his senses. It was a shivering, bone-chilling cold. Martyn quickly remembered how much panic flowed into his body when the cold shock hit. It was a bad decision, but a decision he knew he had to make. It was for the greater good. 

The scuttler groaned as it trashed around, the harpoons stuck into its exoskeleton made it hard for the beast to move but it still looked eager to sink the ship. The rush of the whirlpool pushed him along as one of the scuttler’s beady black eyes turned towards him and it began to slow down.

It saw him. Good.

The scuttler twisted and turned within the lines of thick rope trailing from the ends of the harpoons, its energy waning as it struggled to snap its jaws at Martyn. Martyn just needed to swim closer, aim for its soft spot, and swim up after. It shouldn’t be a problem. Martyn focused on the beast, drowning out the sounds of roaring tides and the creaks and groans of the ship as he swam down, forcing his way through the rippling whirlpool to get closer to his kill. His hunt. 

Martyn gripped his harpoon tight as he swam closer, the beast shifted and turned to its side, leaving itself exposed. That was his chance! He propelled himself forward, preparing to strike as the scuttler bellowed in pain as the ropes continued to tire and choke it out. He was close. It could have been the adrenaline coursing through his veins, but Martyn thought he could hear the beast’s rapid heartbeat sync with his own. 

Goodnight, monster.

Martyn grabbed an edge of the scuttler’s shell and used all of his energy to plunge his harpoon into the beast. He felt the harpoon’s sharp edge stab right through the beast’s soft flesh as blood mixed with salty sea water. 

With one loud screech, the scuttler burst out of the water and knocked against the ship in its frenzy to escape the ropes and harpoons that dug into its back and chest. Martyn gasped for air as he held on to the beast for dear life, digging the harpoon deeper and deeper into its chest as more blood spilled out of it. It dove back down into the water again, bashing its cracked exoskeleton against the ship’s metal side as it let out a deafening roar. Martyn held onto the harpoon as the water closed over his head again and the beast forcefully drug him down into the depths. 

The scuttler thrashed against the harpoon, clinging to its final moments of life as it struggled and flailed and tried to hit him. Martyn twisted the harpoon, causing the spearhead embedded in its skin to tear the wound further and further open as blood rushed out of the bleeding beast. His heart pounded against his chest, full of fury and manic adrenaline. It was over. His eyes stung at the salty sea water. Martyn shut his eyes and kicked himself away from the beast as it sank deeper into the depths. He got to live another day at least.

Martyn took in a deep breath as his head breached the surface. He looked up to see the ship, while in need of repairs, was still in one piece, and so was his crew. “See, Grian?” he shouted as a laugh escaped him. Grian leaned against the railing and sighed, cracking a weary smile. Martyn smiled, “Everything is just–”

The world suddenly turned dark as rope wrapped around his ankle and dragged him under.

The forceful and sudden drag to the bottom shocked Martyn to his core, paralyzing him as his world got darker and darker.

Martyn could barely see the glimmer of light from the surface as he writhed in the watery depths. This monster brought him down with it, like some sick karmic justice. 

This was it, then.

Martyn shut his eyes, the beating of his heart slowed as darkness began to swallow him up. Hunters were meant to die a glorious death, but this death was preventable. Grian was right. This was reckless. Stupid. Nothing but his own hubris brought this upon him, and this monster wasn’t even one of the more dangerous ones. 

He was only surrounded by the haunting abyss, and his own thoughts.

How were the Canaries going to fare without him? How would Grian react, knowing he was right? Grian shouldn’t blame himself. This was Martyn’s own doing. His own fault. The cold grip of the ocean was suffocating. Was this how Ren felt? Alone in the cold? So far from his crew, from his life, from everything? Martyn couldn’t bear imagining it.

He couldn’t imagine how Scott was going to react.

Scott told him multiple times how much this was a bad idea. He should have listened- he should have stayed.

I’m sorry, Grian.

Thump.

I’m sorry, Ren.

Thump.

I’m sorry, Scott.

Thump.

Martyn could’ve sworn it was his own heartbeat resounding in his ears. Maybe it was a push for him to stay alive, to keep his life from slipping away from his grasp but–

CRUNCH.

Thump.

The sound reverberated in the mass empty void. 

That wasn’t his heartbeat.

Martyn opened his eyes. He saw light. A blurry, faint light.

His blood ran cold.

What was he looking at?!

Its eyes were a piercing orange and blue, unlike the black beady eyes of any ordinary beast. It had massive red fins. Something that looked like coral was growing out of its head, adorning like a crown. 

Two details were brought to his attention almost immediately at that moment:

It was the largest thing he’s ever seen.

It looked human.

From the face to the shoulders, it– he? Martyn wasn’t sure– had a human body. Its hair was long and teal, faint tips of orange as it floated aimlessly in the abyss. Martyn could be tricked that this was a human, if not for the strange markings, hair, and everything else that made it look… monstrous. How did a beast look so… human?

A crown made of coral. The creature’s large size. A beast he’s never seen before. It looked nothing like any beast Martyn had fought before.

Thump. 

Thump. 

Thump.

A thundering heartbeat.

It’s–

The beast tilted its head and narrowed its eyes. The low growl that reverberated through the water was enough to make Martyn shiver.

It’s a sea prince.

Its hair whipped around its head as it inched closer and closer to Martyn.

It swallowed, Martyn’s eyes darted from the sea prince’s piercing eyes to the small lump that travelled down its throat. Its eyes widened, the faint light burned into Martyn as it seemingly froze in place. Time stopped at that moment, those wide eyes stuck out to Martyn as it illuminated the dark ocean. It looked… shocked? No. Monsters don’t feel. They shouldn’t feel.

It barely opened its mouth but the sound echoed through Martyn’s ears as it growled. The sea prince lowered itself into the gloom of deep water, then turned around and disappeared into the darkness. The last thing Martyn saw before it faded into the gloom was its long tail swishing behind it, nearly hitting him as the sudden motion lurched Martyn’s body up towards the surface instead.

He couldn’t bring his head above water. The rushing, agonizing sound of the ocean flowed out of his ears as he was dragged onto the deck by several sets of hands. He was placed on the wooden floor with a soft thud.

Clear blue skies. Clouds of lazy white and gray. Passive sounds of birds.

No heartbeat.

He stared at the sky as he heard the distant shouts from his crew. He could feel their eyes on him, but Martyn couldn’t turn his head. He couldn’t blink. He couldn’t say a word.

“Martyn– Martyn, are you okay?” Grian crouched down beside him. “What happened?” 

“Of course he’s not okay– he nearly drowned!” Cleo snapped. They let out a disgruntled sigh and shook their head before kneeling beside Martyn. They placed a hand to his chest, feeling the rapid and unsteady heartbeat of their friend. “Focus on your breathing, Martyn. Deep breaths.”

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Martyn’s eyes remained glued to the sky. “I saw…,” his voice was quiet, prompting Grian to lean closer to Martyn. Martyn took deep, ragged breaths as his eyes glazed over the sky. “I saw…”

Martyn pictured the sea prince’s eyes locked onto him. The unnatural, piercing, yet alluring eyes staring out of the darkness. The crown of corals it wore on its head looked as elegant as they were deadly, viciously sharp points that could pierce the hull of any hunter ship. Its fangs were... haunting, even just a glimpse of it made his skin pale. Something was pulling him deeper into the tides, deeper into the abyss.

It was something terrifying.

Something terrifyingly beautiful.

Martyn took one last breath before his eyes rolled up into his head and he succumbed to exhaustion. His mind faded to darkness, yet those haunting eyes felt like the last thing he saw.