#bertha in my inbox AND merman seymour???? sign me up

[young-botanical-genius]

"What is a fishy fellow like thee doing all of the way out of water, stuck within a human net, hmm? Thou shalt die if remaining upon land, shall thou not?"

As though he were quite literally a small fish, Bertha took the net — and, of course, the merman in it — up into her hands, sat down upon the crag overlooking the ocean, its tide now low, and began attempting to untangle him while humming a simple melody. Eventually, she started to speak, half to herself, and half to the merman — if, of course, he spoke the same tongue as did the local humans. (Or, as giants such as Bertha knew them, the little folk. What were merfolk but a different, but still little, folk?)

"Ohh, what have those vile little men been doing to thee? Hmm? What had they planned for thee in such ill, harm'd state?"

It would be only a few more moments of handiwork, and then — sploosh! Into the water the merman went, and beside Bertha the net was discarded. Bertha relaxed her shoulders, sat back, and watched the surface of the water curiously. Would the merman emerge and thank her, or swim off with narry a word?

This, shockingly enough, hadn't been the first time Seymour had found himself trapped inside a net.

It was, however, the first time that the merman had encountered a being as large as Bertha; much, much larger than any shark or even whale that could be found within the depths of the sea he called home. So naturally, he had been completely and utterly terrified upon first hearing-- and then seeing-- her approach.

To his horror, she had spotted him there, in his helpless and ensnared state upon the surface, and it had been at the exact moment they met eyes that he had decided to come to terms with the fact that this would be the end of his short and relatively uneventful little life because surely she was going to pick him up and eat him and swallow him in one gulp and then--

She did indeed pick him up, net and all, but then she was... helping him? He remained silent throughout the entire untangling process, feeling too stiff with fear to respond to any of her words. Her tone was jolly and brash, but also warm and perhaps even caring in a way that he hardly ever expected to hear from anyone, let alone a giant. And she wasn't talking about eating him. At least... he thought she wasn't?

Seymour didn't have too much time to think about what she was saying before he felt the net finally give way beneath him, and there was a rush of air around him and a loud splash before he found himself free and surrounded by the ocean once more.

He sucked in a deep breath, allowing the familiar salt water to pass through his gills as he was finally able to process what had just happened. His first instinct was to turn tail and swim back home, deep beneath the waves where the giant that still sat upon the shore couldn't possibly reach him.

But... said giant had just rescued him-- saved his life, even. Who knew how long he would've been struggling in that net if she hadn't arrived? Not to mention the fact that she had every opportunity to harm him, and she didn't. It would've been easier and far less risky to swim away from the situation, yes, but he held his tail steady, considering the gratitude he couldn't help but feel as a result of having been saved.

After a few more moments of internal conflict, that very feeling of gratitude won out over his fear, and he slowly rose up towards the surface, poking the top of his head out of the water to peer up curiously at the massive form that still loomed over the sea. His eyes met Bertha's once more, but he didn't yet speak a word, still unsure of whether further interaction with the giant was a good idea.