#sea of barmea

[lizard-shifter-noms]

Wayward Waters Epilogue

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Ayy, Epilogue already? that was fast! but i have good news!

i have re-edited arc 1 (removed typos, made it more comprehensible etc. also shorter chapters so its not a wall of text anymore) so i will upload that some time after!

this Story contains Vore, Dont like dont read.

have fun reading!

and as always Reblogs are appreciated! (Also ASK’s are open so feel free to bother me!)

AO3 Link for those that prefer the layout there;

AO3 Wayward waters

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After the Victory Rose had anchored,  with the smaller Halcyon close behind we were finally home.

Not wanting to spend too much time in Tunstead lest there was a repeat of Naroa Island and someone didn't like that there were Nonhumans visiting.

Not like Rikaad would allow that but there were always assholes.

So instead we went straight for the castle, none of the crew of the Halcyon having seen a building this big before, or confusingly built.

Which was very evident as half of them got lost in less than half an hour.

At least Imugi had fun doing figures around the spikes at the bottom of the cliff.

We found them about two hours later, Jamie having been chased out of the kitchen like some raccoon and Ronan got brought outside by Norrin, who had scruffed him like a disobedient dog.

For some reason the Grumpy young man Leon came with us to the castle and refused to say much or leave.

We left him for now,  with Nea and Norrin around there wasn't much he could do.

I shooed the Crew to Okaleys tower,  he would have more information about the blue bracelet anyway.

Yamet had opted to tour the kitchen, stating the others could tell him later and that he'd rather see if he could trade recipes.

The tower itself was as askew and unorderly as always,  and we hadn't even knocked.

The door was missing completely anyway for some reason so we simply walked in.

I did come as a surprise though that Nea was in here,  holding a brown creature with white spots on its back.

At first I thought she was holding a fawn, but then I noticed the longer neck and nubby horns as well as the claws and long tail.

“Nea? Where the FUCK did you get a baby Drake?”

The thing in question made horrifyingly pitiful bleaking noises,  pawing uselessly at the air as Nea held it like a particularly squirmy cat.

Though it was more the size of a young goat.

“I found it! So I get to keep it!”

I was not about to Argue with her, she'd kick my ass,  Instead I stared confusedly at Oakley, who was painting the cat blue.

Oh so one of those days where nothing made sense involving him.

“Oakley, why are you painting the cat blue?, and why does Nea have a baby Drake?”

He turned to face us and shrugged.

“No idea what the insane lady here is doing but i'm trying to figure out what magic affinity our dear kitty here has! 

The paint is made of lapis lazuli by the way!

Now say who are those people behind you and why is the Zoa trying to pocket some of my Gems?”

I looked over at Jamie who hastily put some sort of clear crystal back onto a shelf.

“Uh, those are friends i made while on the ocean, long story i'll tell you later, but uhh we found another Bracelet, its blue this time”

I pointed at Ronan who in turn pointed at the Bracelet on his arm.

In less than a Second Oakley had gripped his arm with one foot and was hanging onto the wall with the other, inspecting the new Bracelet up close and with no regard for personal space.

Ronan just stared confused at Oakley, though to be fair he was already used to having to be a Perch for jamie.

“Did the creature look anything like the Ardua?”

No that it did not.

“Uh, no, it was more like a seal with big and flat hands and a long tail with a fin, does it have its own name?”

Oakley Jumped of off Ronan and walked back to where he was, rummaging through his coat a bit before pulling out a Book.

While he flipped pages, and apparently had trouble reading it? The Cat, Gloxinia trailed blue paint everywhere, jumping up the windowsill and bapping at the very confused baby Drake Nea was still holding.

The poor thing probably had a very weird day,  getting manhandled by a quite frankly rather crazy woman and then getting disrespected like that by a cat.

The thing bleaked again, trying to wind itself out of Nea’s Grip,  yeah that would be futile.

“AHA! Found it! I think translating is gonna take a while seeing as the author changes the stupid coded letters every five pages! 

And language as well!, tell ya what, imma deal with Nea now and then go back to translating, you can come back after Dinner or so”

That was reasonable, and Jamie and Akeem had left already anyway, leaving only Ronan and Imik here.

No doubt Akeem went after Jamie to prevent chaos,  and they took the clear crystal from the shelf again.

Nea set the confused Drake on Oakley table where it did a wide stance as if it couldn't decide between fight or flight,  not that either would be a good idea with Nea here.

“So! Arthur got all pissy when I brought ta lil guy with me! Said just cuz i got rid of tha big one din’ mean i could keep tha smaller one!

I say tha only one that can tell me what ta do is Rikaad! 

And i want you ta tell me what exactly this is so i can ask to keep it,  or him or her or whatever!”

The thing in question made another bleaking Noise, sniffing at the table and looking over the edge of it.

Ronan put his face close to it and the thing screeched horribly, scrambling and slipping on the old wood and nearly falling off.

In response to that Nea tossed Ronan out, literally, she tossed him out the window and Imik walked out after him to make sure he was okay.

Since Ronan had landed in a bush he only had some dirt on him, and after that they both wanted to look around the castle more instead of being near Nea.

Yeah, fair, I did however want to see how the entire Drake thing would play out so we parted ways and I went back inside where Oakley was just telling Nea that the little guy was a male.

“I'd say it's a young male,  the spots have the same reason as fawn spots, they fade with time and he should get some more tan and brown colors. 

I can't say what species exactly yet but it's possible he'll get stripes,  or colored horns.

If you're sure you wanna try taming him go ahead, i can't guarantee anything but i sure am gonna watch you try, you'd probably be the first to do that, well to be fair you gotta be a bit insane to try”

A bit was good, but I also wasn't exactly fond of anyone trying to kill something so young, and thus far the little guy hadn't done anything.

As it was he was even afraid of the cat, who was still covered in blue paint and attempting to groom him.

All that did was cover him in blue paint too and he looked rather miserable at that.

While Nea argued with Oakley about what size he could reach, apparently Nea had expected something big like a dragon but Oakley estimated something slightly larger than a horse,  so I held out my hand to the strangely fluffy creature. 

All in all it looked scraggly and scruffy,  the only scaled parts being the legs and sand colored underside as well as the rather beak-like snout that seemed to be made of cartilage.

It tentatively sniffed at my hand, bonking its head against it.

Then Gloxinia wanted all the attention and I had to pet her with the other hand while the goat sized creature was inspecting my hand with its amber colored eyes.

Maybe Ronan would have some tips for Nea since he’d sorta raised Imugi already.

I was handed a blue stained cat by Oakley who told me to go wash the color off before she decided to lick it off.

“You want me to wash a cat? 

A cat of all things who are not known for liking water?”

“Yeah! Good luck!”

And with that he shoved me out, not even saying if he'd figured out if Gloxinia had any magic or magic type.

Well, better get this over with,  I wasn't even sure if the paint was edible so she probably shouldn't lick it even if that was how cats normally cleaned themselves.

Ignoring that my own shirt had gotten blue in places,  I went to the next best water source and tried my best to keep a hold of Gloxinia who definitely did not like water.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

I looked up to see that Leon guy.

“Oakley put paint on the cat, i'm trying to get it off before she licks it,  but i don't think she likes water”

Leon stuck his hand into the water bucket,  taking it back out and flicking water at me.

“Yeah no shit, thats cold water, why the fuck would wold a cat like that, try warm water next time dipshit”

Rude, at least I was trying, and not letting her eat paint.

“You do it then! If you're so much better at that!”

At the moment neither the cat nor me were happy about it.

“Aight, bet”

With that he grabbed both Gloxinia and the bucket, slinging the cat half over his shoulder and dragging the bucket to who knew where.

Well, at least I didn't have to do it now.

And judging by the fact that Gloxinia tried rubbing her head against his ear she was also rather happy about that.

Whatever, if that guy thought warm water would make her hate it less he was free to try.

Now where did everyone else go? 

Hopefully none of them got into trouble.

As it turned out they just had gotten lost in the castle again,  which we only found out because Jamie walked along the outside of it to try and get someone that knew where the fuck everything was.

Yamet however was found in the kitchen, 

talking and working with Myril so we left them to it, whatever they were doing smelled really good so we were not going to interrupt.

As expected when two very good cooks were put in the same kitchen, Dinner tasted amazing, some sort of Goulash that heavily utilized spices.

Yamet was probably the one that had brought the spices.

After that I brought Ronan back to Oakleys tower,  also rather curious about whatever he found out.

We did do a little detour though as apparently Nea had decided to train her new Pet like a Dog, including the command to fetch things.

Well, things, she let it chase a rat carcass she had tied to some other poor Guard that had to run laps to avoid the little beast.

Not something anyone wanted to be involved in.

“Is she trying to train the Drake?”

“I think so, but i don't think she knows how to,  how did you know how to take care of Imugi?”

He shrugged.

“Fuck around find out really, Imugi was easy cuz she loved doing what i was doing, also i was the first thing Imugi saw when she hatched so i guess she imprinted on me? I'm not entirely sure she knew she was a sea creature for the first few months.

Also I gave her treats when she did good things. 

Maybe I can talk to the lady there later and see if I can help! 

I've never really seen a Drake this close! Or young!”

“You do that, 

i'm not entirely sure she won't tell the little guy to bite you though”

I Wouldn't put it past her to do that, Besides we had other stuff to do first.

So, Ignoring whatever torment Nea brought upon everyone else,  I knocked on the doorframe to Oakley tower, the Door itself still missing.

“Ah there you are! Come in! I accidentally melted the door anyway!”

I kept quiet about wondering how the fuck someone could melt a Door on accident.

“Did you find out more about the Blue bracelet? 

Does the water creature also have a name?”

Oakley wordlessly pointed at two chairs and told us to sit down, 

heaving the book he rummaged for earlier onto the table.

Flipping pages around he stopped on a depiction of the creature Ronan turned into, though the drawing on the old paper depicted spots Ronan did not have as well as a different tailfin and a more brownish coloration.

But it was still the same creature, the depiction surrounded by runes and letters that were absolute gibberish to me.

Oakley pointed at it.

“So from what I found out this is a Faraselgi,  and it's basically the same principle as for the Ardua just with a water element instead of an earth one, the rest is pretty much the same.

Well that far we got ourselves already.

“Anything else about it? Or is that all?”

I would have expected it to have at least a few more differences.

“Nope! Aside from the different creatures, which are really just based on environmental factors, it's pretty much the same!

What? Did you think the blue one got superpowers or something?”

Of course not, but after being able to turn into an Ardua I couldn't exactly know what to expect regarding those Bracelets.

“How much is the same? I mean I know about the two hearts thing, 

Is the rest also the same?”

Ronan asked, brow creasing as he tried to read the absolute mishmash of letters and runes, clearly not getting anything from that.

Oakley just nodded.

“Well yes, if you take aside the tailfin shorter hind legs and stupidly big paddle shaped grabbers it is very similar!

Oh also your thoracic vertebrates are longer,  so you sort of got a mock fin on your back, but it's technically bone”

There was the weird thing,  of course there had to have been at least one weird thing about it.

Well, weirder than it already was at least.

“So I got more bones? Awesome! Do they have a function too?”

Leave it to the biologist to find that exciting.

“I don't think so, maybe helps with balance,  don't go around trying to remove them”

A fair warning considering this was Ronan.

“Don't worry! I'm not gonna vivisect myself! 

Jamie and Imik would beat the shit out of me!”

That really shouldn't be his only concern here.

“Well then that's really all since you seem already familiar with it somehow! Just don't go around scaring people or you will find your head mounted to a wall someday!”

With that he picked up the book and shoved it back into his coat,  which shouldn't feasibly hold something that big.

“Hell yeah! Now I know what it's called! I'm gonna go tell the others! 

And Imugi! Imugi first! Before it gets dark! Byee!”

He rushed out the doorway,  well at least there would be a bit of daylight still.

“Does he know where he is going?”

“No i don't think so,  when i go back i'll inform someone to keep an eye out”

Eh, he'd be fine, he had a stupid amount of luck.

Besides, I did want to talk to Oakley a bit more.

My turn to say something that would throw him for a loop.

“I met your ex”

He spit out the tea he'd been sipping.

“What? Wait which one? 

Ah no considering where you were it can only be one”

Which one??? Dumbass, then again he was like what? Sixhundred?

It was likely he had more than one ex, or more than ten even.

“So, how is Grella doing? 

It's nice to hear she's still alive after all this time”

“She's kinda dying, just like magic,  but you knew that already didn't you?”

He stared into his mug.

“Kamerasca doesn't have any Ley lines, the closest one is where my old hut is, which is why I built it there, but yes, magic is dying.

I've noticed a long time ago,  but nobody I know could do anything about it. 

I can't do anything about it, and telling people brought nothing,  either rejoicing at the ‘evil’ becoming less or simply not caring considering it wasn't their problem.

The only ones that did care were the mages and wizards and the like,  I know a few Elemancers tried to figure out WHY it happened but when I got there they were dead already, stabbed in the back by someone that saw his magic as a curse rather than what it really was.

I debated telling you after I moved here,  but I didn't want to take your joy away so soon,  Besides, there is nothing you can do, and I didn't want to see anyone else get hurt trying to figure out what was going on with magic.

At first I even expected you guys to either not care or to actually care, and go off on some stupid mission to fix something that a mere human could never fix and die.

All the powerful and old magic users are either dead or somewhere in Valyria, which is very dangerous as is already, i bet even more died in the last two hundred years as most used magic to prolong their life.

But with magic dying all the old magic users will too, and Grella as well.

She's really the only one I feel sorry for.

How much time did she estimate?”

I stared at him, so he hadn't told me to not worry me,  but from what I gathered he would have told me eventually,  when it became relevant for me.

“She said about thirty years at most, she will die in less than twenty”

Oakley looked at his three fingered wing hand,  sadder than I had ever seen him.

“If i wasn't a coward i’d visit her, but alas i am just that”

“Why? She sounded like she still likes you, i don't think she’d hurt you”

He shook his head.

“No, i know she won't hurt me, we split because i could never really go dive into the depths with her, and the school i wanted to go to was a good bit inland, where she couldn't go, in the end our interests just didn't match anymore and we agreed both to call it off.

But there are things out there, that I made very angry,  people I made angry by obtaining what was considered forbidden knowledge.

If i were to go too far from Barmea and too close to Valyria again they would kill me, and they could make it permanent”

There was a lot I did not know about Oakley, but I knew he was not a bad person, why ever he had done it he would have had a reason to.

“So you're stuck on this continent? 

Wait, did you just live as a hermit for a few hundred years? 

No wonder you were so weird when we met you, you still are”

He puffed up indignantly.

“Well, social norms have changed a lot since I went into the forest! 

It's not my fault you humans can't stick with one thing!”

Well that was true.

“Fair, but I'm sure you could just have read up on it!”

He grinned, though it didn't quite reach his eyes.

“Well i find the fuck around find out approach a lot more amusing! 

But if you insist I will head to the castle Library to get catched up now!

Also i need to get a new door, maybe i should do that first”

I looked at the doorway that let a cool breeze in.

“Yeah that has probably priority right now, well have fun repairing your door, i still need to say hi to Arthur, if i find him”

“Oh i think he fell asleep sorting paperwork!”

I nodded at Oakley and went back to the castle,  stopping briefly to grab the red blue and purple shell I had picked out for him, I did say I'd get him one.

Now I just had to find him.

Since every other hallway ended up in the throne room at one point or another that's where I went, and Rikaad and Robin were already there.

Rikaad stared with disdain at the needlessly pompous throne,  to be fair it did not look comfy at all.

“Hey! Have any of you seen Arthur? I did promise to bring him a shell"

I waved said shell in the air.

“I have not seen him, but he has to be around,  perhaps Norrin will know where-” Rikaad got interrupted by Arthur emerging from one of the side hallways.

“I hate the layout of this place! Oh you're all back!”

There was a Squeal and Robin rushed to hug the blonde, who had to hold a bunch of paper over his head to not get them scrunched up.

For some reason they had reddish brown stains in one corner.

Arthur nearly fell over if not for Rikaad grabbing his arm to keep steady.

Arthur awkwardly patted at Robin's messy head and I noticed that two of his fingers were in a splint.

“What happened to your fingers? Did Nea break them?”

Robin let go after that, inspecting said finger gently.

He did say before we left that he wouldn't doubt that Nea would do just that.

“Huh? Oh no i tried to grab at something that fell behind that longass drawer, kinda broke my finger when i slipped on paper”

Well, that still sounded painful.

But at least the next bit would probably cheer him up a little!

I handed Arthur the shell I had picked out for him, 

the blue, red and purple shimmering in the light.

“Here! I did say I'd get you a big one!”

He turned said shell over in his hand,  the thing being almost bigger as said hands.

“I didn't know seashells could have those colors! 

Thank you! OH! Also I have something as well!”

He held out the slightly stained paper, which I was now pretty sure was blood, and carefully took it, looking it over.

My face split in a grin as I read the title, 

It seemed like Rikaad had to rewrite a law pretty soon.

Man, I couldn't wait to write to Fable!

NEXT / PREVIOUS / OVERSIGHT

[lizard-shifter-noms]

Wayward Waters Chapter 12

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Hello everyone! Chapter 12!

time to explore more of the world!

this Story contains Vore, Dont like dont read.

have fun reading!

and as always Reblogs are appreciated! (Also ASK’s are open so feel free to bother me!)

AO3 Link for those that prefer the layout there;

AO3 Wayward waters

——————————————————————————

As expected I did wake up with the word Idiot on my forehead and a mustache drawn on me.

Though it was easily washed off before Yamet yelled that breakfast was done.

It consisted of eggs and thick slabs of bacon with some spices once again.

He really loved to use spices huh? But it was good.

Ronan stumbled in late, some rolled up papers in his arms,  probably maps from all over.

Did he find the one with Kamerasca?

“Sorry I'm late! I completely forgot that I did not sort my maps whatsoever!

…i may need help looking”

Of course, with how scatterbrained he was that was no surprise.

I'd help after I was done with breakfast.

Shoveling the rest of said breakfast into my mouth I followed Ronan, who simply grabbed his plate and took it with him, 

to a side room stuffed full of paper.

Not all of them were maps, a lot were his own observations on animals and plants and whatever else he found, including Imugi.

Worst of all was they were on the floor too and literally pouring out from shelves.

How in the fuck did he find ANYTHING in here?

Well considering the map was missing he didn't.

Yeah it would probably take hours, or even a day to find anything in here.

Suddenly Imik’s head popped in.

“You know, we should just ask to borrow one from someone else, besides are you SURE we even have one?”

Ronan stopped in the middle of shoving more of the paper into the shelves.

“Nope, no idea if we have it! 

Let's go to town and see if someone else has one!”

Better than sorting paper at least.

Ronan ran out the room past me and Imik and I slowly followed while they got their stuff.

Suddenly a little bag the size of my fist full of something heavy and clinking was tossed at me and I fumbled to catch it.

Opening it up I saw it was full of gold coins.

This was more than I ever had in my entire life, in one little bag!

Confused, I looked to Imik who had thrown it at me.

“You helped dive and get this on the ship, so that's yours! 

Besides, we're going to town! A little spending money will be fun!”

Oh so this was basically my cut from treasure diving! Nice!

Well if i was already here might as well get some souvenirs right?

Not like I could ever manage to rush these guys.

The front door slammed open and Jamie strutted in like an excited pigeon.

“GUYS! There's a ton of ships in Harbor right now! Let's go trade stuff!”

Huh, lots of ships meant lots of things from different places,  Now that was something to see!

I got dragged outside by Jamie who let go once we were out the door and jumped up to use Akeem’s arm as a sideways perch.

People with bird legs did not give a fuck about gravity huh?

Suddenly Akeem moved his arm,  tossing Jamie a good six feet up in the air and forward.

They laughed and landed perfectly, running ahead with the rapid, taptaptap of their legs against the ground.

Yamet yelled after them.

“JAMIE! Wait! Ah dammit they are gone”

Well, not like they'd get lost on the island right?

Besides, the rocky path to their abode was strewn with funnily shaped rocks, so finding it would be easy.

While walking to where more houses stood I took in the scenery as Yamet discussed what food to buy with Imik and Ronan, Akeem was picking up random rocks and tossing some away while keeping a few.

After a bend in the path around a rock we reached the first houses of the harbor area, where lots of ships were anchored.

Including the absolut big one whose silhouette I had seen yesterday evening.

In daylight the thing was even more intimidating.

The wood was painted black, save for what looked like to be some sort of metal ribcage that went over the outside of it,  making it look like a skeleton.

It didn't help that the rest of it was kept in similar color and style with dark gray sails.

Yep, no wonder ghostship stories existed.

The name on it read in a fancy red cursive.

Call Of The Damned

Well that was ominous, and they went full out on that aesthetic too.

Suddenly Ronan pointed at it.

“Hey! It's the Call Of The Damned! 

That means Cassidy is back! Let's ask him for a map!”

What.

THAT was this Cassidy guys ship? No wonder he was respected.

Being so distracted I ran face first into a door that was built into one of the large boulders, featuring a carved tree with Long roots.

“Watch where you're going! Also don't bother trying to open that,  it won't budge, believe me i've tried, maybe it's cursed or something”

I confusedly looked at the weird door again that Ronan had just called cursed, but before I could fully process this I was dragged along towards the ship that was way bigger than the Victory Rose and could hold my Ardua form like ten times over.

Though despite getting dragged a good ways the ship was all the way down at the harbor, and not just at one of the smaller docks either.

It was smackdab in the middle and tied to the biggest pier,  which wasn't even wood but stone.

Ronan ran ahead, leaving me and Akeem to follow as Yamet was off somewhere getting actual food for the ship and Jamie was who knew where anyway.

While walking after them at a fast pace I looked around as much as i could, finding that there were more than double the non humans than humans.

The only humans I really saw were doing some menial but fun things.

One with a brown short cloak and dark shaggy hair that went over his eyes was drawing a cat on the floor with chalk,  leaving spaces free for the surrounding children to color in.

The other human I saw had black curly hair with eye pattern hair pins and dark eyes framed by round glasses.

They were sitting on a swing and eating a fruit i had never seen before, the juice dripping on their mostly purple striped clothing aside from the black overall that seemed to have one strap broken and mismatched shoes, one being yellow and the other some soft pink

There was plenty of other things to see though!  

Like a tavern where a tall and horned being with curly brown hair was serving some tables, with the most unusual thing about them being that they had four arms total and as they turned around i could see they had four eyes as well with vertical pupils and ears that were as pointed as mine, though a good bit longer

Well made sense, like that one could hold more plates and the like with that many limbs.

Suddenly Imik grabbed me and yanked me down a narrower path I had almost run past, telling me to not get lost and look where I was going.

I just numbly nodded, oh I was looking,  just maybe not at the road and instead at everything else.

Hearing a clunk I looked up at one of the overhanging roofs,  seeing another person with four arms and a coat write something in a notebook before slinking off out of sight.

I got yanked by Imik slightly to the left and down another narrow road, nearly running into a tall woman with weird lavender colored skin and Blue hair with black scleras and pink irises whose fangs slightly poked out of her mouth.

She also had four arms, this was the third person i saw that had those, apparently they weren't as uncommon as i had originally thought.

Her pointy ears flicked in annoyance as i was dragged past her where i had to jump over the tail of a weird Birdlike person that was covered in purplish blue iridescent and black feathers who confusedly turned around, showing that their face had a blue and black pattern as well in the upper half and feathers instead of ears between darkish magenta hair.

Suddenly the houses gave way to a bigger space, which apparently was some sort of garden as there were Flowers and even two trees.

Something pink with dragonfly wings and humanoid shape flitted past, barely the size of my fist with some sort of flower as a dress?

Wait, was that a FAIRY?

Before I could get a better look though Ronan had grabbed me and was dragging me away, the fairy was nowhere to be seen.

“C’mon, don't dawdle, we got a map to get!”

Yeah, that's true, I wanted to get home as soon as possible even though this place was very interesting.

Slinking along behind some taverns and restaurants and whatever we had to walk around something that had a humanlike torso with reddish brown hair but the body of a green snake instead of legs which was rummaging through the trash.

That was a being I had actually heard about! 

A naga if memory served right.

Then finally we reached the more open beachside, with a little sandy area that contained some boulders that looked perfect to climb around.

Apparently the water was safe here as a good few people were swimming, including someone that looked to be half Orca with lots of scars scattered on their body and short dark hair that had a white streak.

Well of course a marine mammal would go swimming,  if this craziness was over i'd maybe go swimming too.

Though doing that in Kamerasca wasn't advised due to the large amount of crabs that would pinch any swimmers.

Along the beachside were a few stands and shops that sold who knew what.

On one of the awnings,  and denting it horribly, slept a curled up and pale, mammalian being with long ears and a catlike nose and short bluish tinted hair.

How the construct did not break was beyond me though,  but the people there didn't seem to be bothered by it.

Suddenly Ronan let go of me and ran yelling and waving both of his arms up the stone pier which up close looked more like an unfinished bridge to nowhere.

“CASSIDY! CASSIDY! HEY! WELCOME BACK!”

He ran past some people unloading boxes and crates and the like from the giant boat towards a dark skinned man that was wearing a coat not unlike the one Nemas had, though more a dark red than navy blue.

So that guy was Cassidy?  

“Come on, lets go and ask if he had a map, before Ronan talks his ear off about whatever”

I nodded at Imik and we walked past the people carrying stuff from the ship towards where Ronan was talking to Cassidy.

Getting closer I noticed that Cassidy was apparently human, and as he turned around his eyes showed an unnerving pale turquoise hue.

Which really was the only unusual part about him.

Ronan seemed to have informed him already as Cassidy waved politely at us.

And then ducked down as someone swung over him hanging from a rope and slammed straight into Ronan.

“WOOHOO! HEY RONAN!”

The rope snapped and the person ended up crash landing on top of the poor Ronan.

Man he just got healed yesterday! And that looked painful.

“Shalimar! How many times do I have to tell you not to do that?!”

“Sorry dad!”

The young woman, Shalimar apparently, and Cassidy's daughter? 

Got up and then yanked Ronan into a standing position as well.

She was a good bit paler than her father with blonde hair and dark blue eyes, wearing a sleeveless leather vest that was tied together in the front haphazardly with a lighter blue undershirt and a blue sash, 

over which a belt was placed that was tied into a knot instead of having used the belt buckle.

She also had a sword that was attached to her greenish gray pants instead of the weirdly applied belt and the handle was partially under some pale fur pieces that seemed to just have been stuffed into the dark blue sash.

Around her lower arms was some sort of cloth covered arm guard,  like I had seen some archers have, just without the gloves.

At least Ronan didn't seem bothered by this chaotic happenstance and just let himself be hugged by the rather unhinged young woman.

Cassidy just looked displeased at her, which made me assume that this was not the first time that happened.

“Whatever, just don't kill anyone like that, because if you do it's your responsibility and im not going to help”

Shalimar just nodded and lifted Ronan up like he was a bag of flour and put him on one of the protruding rocks of the stone pier.

“Sure thing dad! I'll be careful!”

“Careful? You can't even tie your vest correctly! No wonder you never wear boots with shoelaces- gah!”

For that Comment Ronan got a punch in the gut, which made him fall over backwards into the water with a splash.

“Shalimar! Go get him out of there! and stop punching people you disagree with!”

She rolled her eyes but did as told, dragging Imik with her to help,  and leaving me alone with Cassidy.

Well, that was awkward.

Before I could say anything there was a familiar whistle click and suddenly Imugi jumped out of the water and up the side of the pier, spitting water at Cassidy and missing horribly.

He turned to me.

“I say we move from this spot a bit to talk,  who knows what happens next”

I did have to agree with that,  though I'd rather someone I know be with me right now.

He led me to the other side of the pier, to the end of it where a bench was placed in front of the drop to the ocean.

“So, Ronan said something about you being lost and needing a map?

At least from what i understood before my daughter drop kicked him”

“Uh, yeah, i was washed overboard during a storm and need to get back to Kamerasca seeing as i don't know where my friends are now”

He hummed and fiddled with the weird necklace he wore, which looked like a smaller version of those drinking vessels but the pointy end had a metal cap with a hole.

A horn if memory served correctly.

“Say what Ship were you on? 

If i see it when i go out again i can tell them you're okay”

That, well that was actually very nice of him.

“Oh, uh, the Ship was called Victory Rose, so if you-” “Victory Rose?! The one with captain Nemas?”

I blinked confusedly at him, he KNEW that ship and its captain?

“Ah, yes? He's got a tattoo on his face and told me to ignore the hardtack with the maggots”

Not exactly a fond memory.

Cassidy grabbed me and gently shook me much to my confusion.

“Say! How's that talkative son of a bitch doing? 

Does he still not have taste buds?”

Well now I was thoroughly confused, were they friends or something?

“Uhhh, well he seemed healthy, and put way too much fish in everything he eats, how do you know him anyway?”

He thankfully let go of me.

“Oh yeah, before he inherited the ship his gramps told him to work on someone else's ship, i guess the old man feared he'd be too soft or something, and we ended up on the same vessel and became friends”

Oh, that made sense, but before I could retort anything I heard a shrieky voice call down from above, reminding me somehow of a seagull.

Looking up it was a seagull, sort of.

If the Human features were anything to go by it was a Harpy.

“YO BOSS! BAD NEWS!”

The Harpy dived down headfirst and landed on the back part of the bench.

“Nymra! There you are! And what do you mean by bad news? 

I'm in the middle of something!”

The partially feathered face turned to me for a second before going back to ignoring me.

“That can wait! Because we got big problems!”

“Well then spit it out!”

“The pirates are banding together!”

Cassidy didn't seem to worried about that,  and i was pretty sure Rikaad said something about the maringand ships allying with pirates, so no surprise.

“Well that's nothing new, there's always some that bond together for more success, but that will fall apart soon like every time they realize they have to share with more people”

The Harpy, Nymra? Shook her head.

“Not this time, I counted at least a hundred ships! And i couldn't get close enough for long so the only thing i managed to hear was something about taking over, but no idea what they want to take over”

My blood froze, and Cassidy did too, TWO HUNDRED? 

Two hundred ships filled with pirates? 

And possibly the deserters of the Maringand army, 

if they were there they probably instigated it.

And they wanted to take something over…

OH FUCK!

“Cassidy! I think they are going to attack Kamerasca!”

He turned confusedly to me.

“Why do you think that boy?”

“A few weeks ago deserters of the maringand army went here because they didn't want to serve under the new queen,  after they lost a war to Kamerasca, I think they might want revenge.

And it wouldn't be beneath them to promise chunks of land to the pirates if they helped.

I think they are still pissed that we arrested their previous King and put his niece in charge while hes in jail for war crimes of basically every sort”

Cassidy's eyes went wide with Alarm.

“Well fuck, Nymra do you think there is time to send a messenger?”

Nmyra shook her head.

“Not really there aren't any islands between to rest so you'd have to take a ship, and that takes time, the weather in that area is going to go bad soon as well, so not till a few days from now.

Which would mean we'd be head to head with them”

Cassidy cursed loudly and waltzed back down the pier, barking orders to everyone in range.

Nymra herself gave me an apologetic look.

“Yeah, sorry about all of this, I'm sure Cassidy will find time for you later though, he always does! What did you even want from him? 

Well if the question isn't to invasive of course”

For a seagull adjacent being very polite.

“I got washed overboard and wanted to go back home, or back to the ship whatever turns out to be closer”

“What ship? I can fly, maybe I'll see it!”

Oh right, as a Harpy she was faster than a boat and could see further!

“The Victory Rose! Cassidy said he knows it” “Eyy! I know that one too! They sometimes meet up and get drinks!

One time I woke up on the wrong damn boat and had to fly for an hour to find the Call Of The Damned!”

Another reason to not try alcohol then.

“That must have been confusing”

“Oh it was! And I landed on the other two ships first to rest a little!”

Other two ships?

“Other ships? Does he have more than one?”

Nymra Nodded, 

swooshing open her wing towards the Call Of The Damned.

“Yeah! This one obviously! And two others! 

They are called Revenants Vestige and Bleeding Moon! My main job is scouting but I also just bring notes from one ship to the other!”

Well that would make giving orders to all of the ships easier.

“You must have seen a lot of the open sea then”

“Eh, its wavy water, and some islands,  it does get boring after four years or so, tell ya what! 

Since I'm gonna be heading out again soon anyway I'll keep an eye open for the Victory Rose and if I do see them I'll tell them you're alright!”

My eyes went wide, why were the strangers in this place all so nice?

“You'd do that? Really?! Thank you!”

She saluted, which looked pretty weird due to her feather covered arm, and flapped back up into the sky.

“Of course! Ain't gonna take much of my time anyway! 

Might as well do something good!”

With that she flew away over the water and around the cliffside out of sight.

I really hoped she would run, err fly? Into the Victory Rose,  If just so I can be Sure Robin and Rikaad know I'm alive and fine.

Soo, now what? Everyone I knew the name of was nowhere near me.

And I did not want to interrupt any of the beings currently at work.

Should I just wait here?

“Oi! Dee! The fuck you standing there for?”

Jamie! Thank fuck i didn’t have to stay around awkwardly for long.

“Jamie! I was talking to Cassidy earlier but he got the information that the pirates were banding together and ran off”

They skidded to a halt in front of me, distantly reminding me of a poofed up chicken.

“Yeah I know! Fucking bitch ass pirates! Cassidy gave the order that anyone that can fight should get ready! I'm here to get your sorry ass!”

Wow Cassidy was fast! 

“Get me? For what? Do I have to hide in your house till this is over?”

They grabbed my wrist with their sleeve covered hand and dragged me back down the pier.

“Nah dude, a shapeshifter like you is invited to come along and fuck shit up! Only if you wanna though”

While running, well more like being dragged by someone about half my size, i thought about it.

On one hand; it was dangerous,  very much so even and I already went overboard once.

On the other hand; that was kind of exactly the reason I tagged along with Rikaad, and Jamie did have a point with the shapeshifting.

Rikaad had called it the Intimidation factor,  and basically I came here for exactly this.

“Jamie!”

I called out to them to get their attention as they were focusing on not running into people while dragging me along.

“Yeah? What is it?”

They stopped for a moment, allowing both of us to catch a breath.

I grinned at them.

“Lets fuck shit up!”

They smiled widely, showing off sharp teeth.

“Oh HELL yeah! Let's get back to the Halcyon! 

Pretty sure Imugi brought Ronan there already and Imik can swim fast!”

I nodded and ran alongside the nimble Jamie towards the ship, which Imugi had actually towed to be closer to the main part.

Well that saved a good bit of time!

Whoever was at the steering wheel managed to halt it pretty fast and perfectly parallel to the beach.

So either Akeem or Imik were at the steering wheel.

Imugis head popped up out of the water and bend down in front of us.

Before I could guess what to do Jamie had dragged me to cling on for dear life to the uppermost spike on Imugi’s Long neck while they sat atop the Bony skull.

Well that did forego the need to get to a dock and set a plank out,  thus allowing someone else to put their ship there and let their crew go onboard.

Hopping on after Jamie I saw that the one at the steering wheel was Yamet this time, so he was coming with this time huh?

Imugi dived under and after a moment a tug went through the boat,  The Sea Serpent was towing it again.

We were off to fight Pirates, lots of them.

Hopefully the kind Serpent wouldn't be hurt.

Imik started ordering the rest of the people on board to do tasks.

Since i had no idea what half the words even meant i was of no help and kept out of the way as much as i could, 

Opting to just keep an eye on the rope that Imugi was towing us with.

Also for some Reason Shalimar was with us on deck, apparently she decided her Dad didn't need help.

That or he would have ordered her to stay in harbor,  Maybe both even I didn't know them that well.

It wasn't even an hour but at least fifty ships were now following the Call Of The Damned out of the narrow part of the island to wherever Nymra had pointed cassidy.

As soon as we passed the two long strips of land two more ships joined, One with a white sail that depicted a sickle shaped moon that had drops of blood falling from it and one that was entirely painted a foggy gray.

Cassidy’s other two ships no doubt, 

The ‘Bleeding Moon’ and ‘Reventants Vestige’ were now flanking the entire fleet of extremely mismatched ships.

Both of them were, while still extremely big, nowhere near as Giant as the harrowingly designed Call Of The Damned.

That really must be the biggest ship in existence.

Shalimar appeared next to me and put a foldable telescope into my hands, pointing at the ‘Revenants Vestige’ with a grin.

“The captain there keeps a rooster instead of a parrot, and the thing sure knows how to fight”

A chicken? Really? Well that i had to see!

Hoisting the telescope up I looked through it at the gray painted boat, and as Shalimar had said the captain, who wore so much layered clothing it was impossible to tell what was under it,  had indeed an entire Rooster on their shoulder.

The thing was pretty big too and seemed slightly off.

Maybe not entirely chicken then, but close enough.

Huh, what else was there? I probably should take a good look at which boats were with us to not get confused later.

Swinging the telescope around i saw that all of the fifty boats were following the Call Of The Damned,  and most of them had nonhuman sailors,  There were even a few merfolk in the water, well at least those that could keep up as the wind was currently in our favor.

I handed the telescope back to Shalimar.

“Thanks! Anything I can help with? Im afraid im not a good sailor though”

She had a huge grin on and seemed to hold back laughter,  but still answered coherently.

“Eh, don't ask me, Imik or Ronan will know better where you can help”

She stuffed the telescope in her belt, which really didn't look like it should hold anything, and hopped back down to help with the sail.

“AY! DEE! She put paint on the telescope!”

Looking up I saw Jamie, who was back in the crows nest,  well Jamie's nest really.

Paint? Running my thumb around my eye there was indeed something like coal powder or something smudged around my eye.

Ah, no wonder Shalimar was trying not to laugh.

Though now she did, loudly and honestly? It was a little funny,  and a surprise that nobody else had done this till now.

Using the corner of my shirt I removed the smudge as well as I could before looking ahead and around again.

I doubted we'd run, sail?, into the pirates so soon and there were all the other ships looking out too but a little attentiveness had never hurt.

I stared out at the sea all day and a good bit into Dusk till I got something thrown at me.

Turning around I saw it was Jamie,  who had thrown a little bag full of sand.

Why the fuck they had that was beyond me though.

“Yo, dumbass come eat,  Yamet cooked so no soggy sandwiches anymore!”

At least some good news, I for sure would not have touched another one of those soggy things that barely qualified as bread.

“Coming, one second!”

Standing up, and noticing my foot fell asleep, I hopped down the stairs and followed Jamie inside the kitchen, which smelled pretty good.

Jamie jumped over a chair and used Akeem as a stair before settling in the rounded window like a content bird.

Once again nobody seemed bothered by that, not even Shalimar.

Sitting on the last empty chair, which was probably why Jamie chose the window, I was handed a plate with a simple mashed potato and some fish with a savory sauce.

Yep, way better than wet bread.

“You still have paint on your face, here”

Akeem handed me a clean rag and I nodded thankfully at him before removing the rest of the dark smudge.

“Thanks!”

I ate in silence, the other ones having enough to talk about without me anyway.

It was just pretty nerve wracking that right now, like RIGHT NOW right now we were off to go look for Pirates and fight them.

The very thing I originally came here for with Rikaad and Robin.

I wondered how the two were doing right now?

Rikaad for sure would do his best to prioritize the mission despite me missing, and still somehow find a way to try and look for me.

As for Robin, well the little ginger was probably worried like no tomorrow.

No doubt he'd cried after he'd seen me fall off the deck.

The deck itself probably had some ugly scratch marks now,  I'd have to apologize to Nemas for that.

“nervous?”

I looked up from where I had just been staring at an now empty plate.

The one that had addressed me was Ronan,  half of the others have already left.

“Kinda, i mean, i originally came here to help with exactly that, but now its just- i dunno”

I sighed and let myself sink head first onto the table, 

avoiding the cutlery and plates.

“Well, it IS pretty nerve wracking, I admit that, but it's just pirates! 

There is no way they can get organized enough to make that dumb alliance actually useful! They are too greedy for that!

I'll tell you! A few days more and they'll start going at each other's throats and I doubt we'll have much to do!

After they are done with the infighting we can just aim some cannons at the rest and be done with it!”

Ronan’s words were actually helping,  but I couldn't help it and was still a little nervous.

“If you're sure, you're the sailor here,  i don't know shit about being on the open sea”

He tilted his head, and I was once again reminded that he was also a half elf Bastard and not actually so unlike me.

“Eh, for being a landrat you're doing a pretty good job! 

Maybe some sleep would do you good,  you said you weren't sleeping well so im sure at least half of that nervousness is actually sleep deprivation!”

That was a very good point, maybe i should ask Akeem where the chamomile tea was as that had worked a little last time-

A Cup with said Tea was set down in front of me, still steaming hot.

“Here, Akeem told me to make you one”

I looked first confused and then thankful at Yamet, 

who grabbed Ronan’s upper arm and dragged him outside.

Yamet was a pretty alright guy, even making sure I wouldn't have anyone trying to talk my ear off while I drank the tea.

A tea that was pretty good, Yamet had added Honey or something similar to it which made it even better.

Though, as soon as those Pirates and the Maringand deserters were dealt with I could go back home to my friends.

Who knew maybe I'd even run into them while fighting the pirates.

Ha, unlikely, but still a nice thought.

As soon as I was finished with the Tea and put the cup back down I got lifted up from my seat like a wet cat.

Akeem, he really was the only one on this ship that could feasibly lift me up.

“I can walk myself”

“And i am just making sure you actually go to sleep,  i live with Ronan and Jamie so you never know”

Well… yeah, fair.

But he didn't have to carry me under one arm like a fucking duffel bag.

“Well yeah but i can still use my legs”

Akeem just hummed an acknowledgement and opened a door to a familiar room.

Well Akeem didn't need sleep and With Shalimar here they probably had no Guestbed, especially as Yamet was now here too.

Still, I felt a bit bad about taking someone else's room, or would if Akeem didn't just drop me on the mattress and then left quietly.

“Goodnight”

I mumbled something in return but he had already closed the door.

Eh, might as well sleep then.

NEXT / PREVIOUS / OVERSIGHT

[lizard-shifter-noms]

Wayward Waters Chapter 17

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Hello everyone! Chapter 17!

this Story contains Vore, Dont like dont read.

have fun reading!

and as always Reblogs are appreciated! (Also ASK’s are open so feel free to bother me!)

AO3 Link for those that prefer the layout there;

AO3 Wayward waters

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Having gotten whatever they needed half of the crew of the Halcyon followed us to the Call Of The Damned,  which looked as imposing as ever.

Boarding the ship I could see Ronan getting tackled by Shalimar,  who after a hug decided to throttle him.

Yeah not my problem, also probably deserved.

Ignoring that I went to the front of the ship, where Cassidy had stood after Grella first emerged from Graves keep.

Should I tell him about the encounter I had with her? 

And what she'd told me? 

Ultimately he probably already knew what Grella had told me so there wasn't really a point.

The only thing I noticed here was that they had a pretty short Bowsprit compared to every other one I'd seen but that was all.

“Do you like sitting at the front of the boat?”

Came it from Robin who had followed me, heaving himself up to sit next to me.

“Sort of, i just like knowing where we are going, last time i didn't pay attention and couldn't even tell anyone where i was supposed to go to”

Also I was now pretty sure the stupid mast had given me a concussion, though a bit late for that now.

“Right, that probably sucked, wait what did you tell them where you wanted to go then?”

I shrugged, moving both legs to face the ocean.

“Back to Kamerasca, i figured if i couldn't manage to get to wherever you are i could at least wait back home,  i mean better than nothing right?”

Robin nodded to that.

“That's true, but i was really worried, i saw how the mast fell on top of you, and then you just didn't resurface, and then Rikaad wanted to help the sailors and i had to cling to him so he wouldn't run out again”

He had by now drawn his knees up to his chest, hugging his legs.

“Well, it turned out alright in the end, though very chaotic,  i'm still not sure if that all was even real”

I moved to mess up his ginger hair and he stuck his tongue out at me.

“If you mean the Kraken at the weird island, I've seen that too! Though i do wonder how all those little fires are doing, i mean they just wanted to warn us”

“Eh, they're fire they probably went somewhere that's a lot more dry than the ocean, also the island is called Graves Keep”

Probably because of all the shipwrecks that they couldn't really get to on account of the aforementioned Kraken.

“Mhm, what do you think Naroa island is like? I mean it is a colony of Kamerasca, do you think it'll be like back home or different?”

Good question actually, I didn't know very much about it though.

“Well, no idea but I think a good few things will be like Kamerasca,  it WAS built by citizens and volunteers as far as i know,  So I guess at least the architecture will be similar? 

But it's also an island so they probably had to modify stuff as well and built a few things that probably don't exist in Kamerasca”

It would make sense if they had taken what they were familiar with and modified it to fit their needs in the new place.

“Well, they probably don't have a castle as big as back home! 

I know the island is twice as big as Kariba island at least but a castle would take up so much space!”

That was true.

“Yeah, though I'm sure they at least build the mayor some stupidly big mansion or something! You think we get to sleep in that?”

“Yeah! It's probably built right at the beach! Oh we could go collect more seashells! You already have some cool big ones! I want some too!”

We talked and talked about what we thought the place looked like, which drifted quite a bit towards the end of the day with more and more unreasonable or straight up impossible things.

At some point as the sun started setting someone threw a stick at me.

Well, ‘someone’ the only one that could manage to get a stick out here was Jamie, who indeed was cussing us out and telling us we were missing dinner.

So we went to get that, which at least did not feature hardtack nor soggy bread to my relief, and then got shooed into a cabin to go to sleep.

I could hear though that Akeem was telling Cassidy he didn't need a cabin and was fine staying outside and keeping an eye out.

The end of that eluded me as Robin asked what part of the cabin would be his.

We hadn't even seen it yet so we walked there and Robin ended up getting the window bed.

At least that way I didn't have to deal with the morning sun shining into my face the next day.

Instead I was woken up by someone kicking the door open and for a strange moment I thought I was back at the castle in Kamerasca and that Nea had once again no regard for doors.

But no it was just Jamie who told us to get the fuck up as Naroa island was apparently within sight already.

Huh, the Call Of The Damned was fast, very fast.

Though not really a surprise,  The ship was big and I wouldn't put it past Cassidy to know some water spirits or even wind spirits that would help him out.

Walking half asleep I suddenly realized I had not taken the medication Oakley gave me, despite it being back in my possessions.

Well, there were no nightmares for once,  but I had the strange feeling that Grella had something to do with it.

It was debatable if letting her poke around my mind was a good idea or not but as long as that was all she did i wouldn't complain.

Besides, I was the one who let her so it was nobody's fault but mine.

But the island we were heading to was indeed already in sight,  and as far as i could tell had a more longish shape.

But it was indeed at least twice as big as Kariba island,  if not a tiny bit bigger.

Though it was more sparsely built on with more space between buildings,  the number of inhabitants seemed to be about the same, if not less. 

“Huh, not long till we reach it, hey how many people do you think got scared when the Call Of The Damned was first sighted by them?”

Robin giggled at that.

“Well it IS a scary looking ship! And probably the biggest one ever!

Let's go look for Rikaad!”

With that he climbed up on a crate, trying to spot the dark haired king.

“Robin, behind you”

Rikaad was in the completely opposite direction from where the ginger was looking, and right behind him though not on the crate.

“Huh? Oh hey Rikaad!”

“Robin don't climb random crates you don't know what's in them,  or if the wood will hold you”

Robin blinked and looked down at the crate he was standing on,  jumping off at Rikaads words.

“Oh sorry, didn't know, but hey we are already close to the island! 

Are you excited? I am! What are you gonna do first?”

Rikaad let the ginger ramble to the end before answering.

“I do admit to being intrigued,  i have never been here before and i am not entirely sure what i will do first, i'm waiting for more information at the moment”

Ah so he'd wait till we were actually there to make a decision,  probably a smart move not to set on one path if something else might come up as more important.

“How long are we going to stay there? A day or two? Or longer?”

Rikaad watched as the island got closer and closer,  appearing bigger the nearer it got.

“We will see, depending on what has to be done we could stay for two days or an entire week”

Also true, who knew how good the current mayor had been with paperwork, hopefully at least better than the old king, 

though it WAS hard to top that chaos.

As if reading my mind,  which was strange to think that someone, something? 

No, someone, else had already done Robin spoke just that aloud.

“As long as it's not as bad as the stacks of paper back home it shouldn't take long right?”

Rikaad just nodded at that.

“Hopefully so, though i am sure someone that would neglect the official affairs that much would have been replaced pretty quickly,  after all Kamerasca does get quite a few goods from this place”

Oh yeah, trading island and all that, hopefully the people here would be a bit more open minded about halflings and nonhumans.

They definitely were not, which was made very clear shortly after we debarked from the giant vessel.

Some onlookers could be heard shouting insults,  though strangely enough most weren't even aimed at me.

They were aimed at Jamie, who was right next to the way taller Akeem.

Rikaad did tell them to stop, though I doubted anyone here actually recognized who he was and that he was the new king.

Then again he wore no crown, only had once or twice.

Someone threw a knife at them, shouting something that sounded like 'Stupid Zoa’ but I had no idea what that last word meant.

Before I could think to ask anyone, Akeem had left the convoy to the mayor's abode, grabbed the knife thrower and tossed them a good twenty feet into a little stream where they landed with a splash.

Someone else tried to stab him in retaliation but the short sword didn't even scratch him, he gripped it and squeezed, the metal bending under his fingers like crumpled paper.

After that he went to stand back next to Jamie, who was hunched over and kept close to Akeem.

Ronan himself was somewhat hiding his ears next to Shalimar and Cassidy, wearing a headband that I was pretty sure used to be clipped to Shalimar’s messy belt.

Since I was pretty much in the middle of the people walking I had not been largely noticed, though the next street was a good bit narrower and people were still looking.

No hiding there.

Suddenly a triangle-esque hat was planted on top of my head,  hiding the top of my ears.

Looking forward again i could see it was the chicken guy,  who was still covered in layers and layers of fabric,  one of which was wrapped around his head, 

still hiding nearly everything aside from a strand of very dry hair the color of sun bleached flaxen and eyes that had slitted pupils with a way to green iris and no sclera to speak of.

I stared perplexed at him, the skin around his eyes wrinkling for a moment before he put a very thin sliver of gray silk over them, thin enough to look out of but also not letting anyone else see what his eyes actually looked like.

Smart, he must have been through something like this before.

I quietly nodded at him, making a mental note to properly thank him later if I got the chance, and of course give the hat back.

Also up close like this it was impossible to ignore that he was even taller than Fable, nearly seven feet.

And still holding the chicken,  who seemed content to just be held at the moment.

It wasn't long that we reached a larger and mostly circular place with a floor out of tile shaped rocks.

There waited some dapper dressed guy on a small wooden platform, confusedly looking at the people in the convoy before seeing Rikaad and bowing down in front of him after a few seconds.

The man himself was rather unremarkable, with pretty average features aside from a nose that seemed to have been recently broken.

“A good day and welcome to Naroa sir Rikaad Drayton,  King of Kamerasca, i am the mayor of this beautiful colony”

At least after that the surrounding crowd finally shut up.

Rikaad stood upright in front of them,  seeming taller in stature than even the guy on the small platform.

Rikaad sure had a way to make even the tallest people seem small next to him.

Must be the confidence,  he had way more than i did, or anyone else i knew really.

Even the mayor shrunk back a little,  walking off the podium to meet at eye level.

Well, eye level was good, Rikaad was about an entire foot taller than the man with the broken nose.

The Mayor started rambling something about how well they were doing aside from the pirates, which we had already dealt with, well Grella had dealt with them, and the people of Naroa might not even know that they were gone yet.

Rikaad simply watched and listened as the mayor praised every square of the island, which to me came off as that the mayor just wanted to look good.

Well, he kept rambling until a blonde woman walked out of the crowd with quite a few parchments in her arms.

She looked oddly familiar as well, kind of like a paler and taller Shalimar, probably her mother, whatever she was doing here.

The mayor stocked in his weird ramblings and praising everything to angrily point at the woman, shouting.

“That's the woman that broke my nose! Guards! Get her!”

Before anyone could properly react Rikaad had told them to put their weapons away, taking the parchment that the woman held out to him.

He read aloud a list of offenses, quite heavy ones as well,  including trafficking, murder,  and things that made at least two people in the crowd throw up.

Rikaad then looked the mayor straight in the eyes,  his own as icy as they had been back in the snow.

“Did I miss anything? 

Or do you spare us the paperwork and plead guilty?”

The mayor had gone into a fight or flight stance, frozen for just a moment before rushing forward at Rikaad with a knife.

He didn't get far with that as his pants caught fire and he got attacked by an oversized chicken that apparently could breathe fire,  because why not.

Sad to say it wasn't even the strangest thing that had happened,  also Shalimars mother shooed the chicken off only to punch the guys nose again, yeah that would not heal correctly anytime ever.

Rikaad ordered some of the surrounding Guards to toss the,  now former, mayor into jail, leading the rest of the people that came here with him to the biggest building.

As expected it had been used as the living place of the mayor,  though not anymore now.

Rikaad told us to take a break and that he had to carefully plan what to do now, go over the information the woman, who was named Marianna, had given him.

Marianna herself walked up to Cassidy, socking him in the jaw before pulling the taller man closer to her and kissing him.

I politely looked elsewhere.

There was quite an evident semblance to Shalimar, and not just the appearance.

Since nobody would try anything dumb as long as we were here i decided to hand the hat back to the Chicken sailor,  and finally ask for his name.

Robin had immediately taken a liking to a dog that lived here,  playing with the curly tailed canine.

Yeah he was fine, now where did the chicken guy go?

Looking around my eyes fell on Akeem,  who after noticing silently pointed at a balcony door.

Since nothing was going on and my presence wasn't needed I went outside as well,  seeing the man in layers and layers of fabric lean on the balustrade.

How the fuck did he not get a heatstroke?

I carefully took the hat, which was a little too big,  off and handed it back to him.

“Uhm, thank you for the save there, I'm sure I would have gotten stuff thrown at me as well, what's your name? 

I don't think i heard anyone say it”

He put his hat back on, tilting his head.

“That's because i don't have one”

My brain buffered for a good moment or two,  how could one NOT have a name?

“What, wait what do people call you then? 

How can it be that you don't have a name?”

The man tilted his head to the other side.

“You better be careful when dealing with Fae and how they word things, if they ask you for your name you better not give it,  sometimes they even trick their own brethren to give up their name”

I HAD heard of Fae taking peoples names,  but that they did it to their own kin was new.

“Oh, well getting the name of a Fae cant be easy,  you must have been tricked badly huh?”

He took his hat off again, pulling an arm completely out of the fabrics he was covered in, revealing a pale,  four fingered hand that seemed strangely chitinous.

“Oh yeah my sister had a knack for getting what she wanted,  Did you know Elves aren't actually Fae? 

Fae are never so naturally human like, Elves however are”

I stared at him, at probably the only true Fae I'd ever see in my life.

“I always thought it strange that most depictions of Fae had some insect things about them or horns while Elves didn't,  but that's new information to me,  wait what are Elves then if they aren't Fae?”

He shrugged, gripping the balustrade with his chitinous segmented hand.

“Not sure, but Elves are not Fae,  though they might be a mix of human and Fae, or had been once upon a time when there was less hatred in the world”

If that was true then, then every Elf was also a bastard,  yeah no wonder they had obscured that so much that they themselves believed them to be Fae folk nowadays.

“Well i guess i don't really have anything to compare,  but what you are saying does make some sense”

Though Fae being more insect-like did make sense,  most of the depictions I had seen, while crude,  had featured things like bug wings or multiple arms. 

Elves had none of those.

Well, what the fuck where Elves then? A question for later.

Suddenly I remembered something I had heard snippets of in Kamerasca a good two years ago.

“Hey about the name thing, why don't you get a new one? 

I've heard of people changing their names,  most times after a divorce though but it's just some paperwork,  well at least it's possible in Kamerasca, no idea about the isles”

I was not sure at all how the isles worked, not to mention that each island could have its own laws and the like.

The Fae man chuckled at that.

“A new name eh? Not a bad idea, I should have thought of that myself!

Though there are many to choose from, i will give it thought, and if i can't find an island to do it you might see me in your Homeland sometime”

Yeah, though I wouldn't doubt that Cassidy would specifically make that a possibility even if just for one instance.

“Well good luck thinking of a new name, does your chicken at least have one? Or is the feathery fella also nameless?” 

He laughed and picked up the way larger than average rooster with brown, orange and black feathers.

“This guy? Technically he's a Basan,  but yeah they look like chickens, eh bird either way,  his name is Basha because he used to Bash his head against me”

The Basan made some very chicken-like sounds,  bonking his head against the Fae man.

“There really are just things that look like other normal things but just aren't huh?”

“Well that entirely depends on what you define as normal,  your normal might be quite unusual for someone else”

That he was right in, especially in my case as the only other living Ardua had rejected to wear the bracelet, leaving it in Oakleys care.

“Yeah, you're right, also does sunlight hurt you like some Fae stories say? You are quite covered up, uh sorry if that's rude to ask”

He chuckled again, shaking his head.

“Curious huh? Well i can't blame you,  but the main reason im covered like this is that im ugly”

I stared at him, that being the LAST answer I had expected.

“Wh- what? That's a joke right? I know that big insect like things can freak people out but im sure its not that bad”

He full on laughed at that.

“Boy it's not because of me being an insectoid,  well i guess the mandibles would freak a good bit of people out,  but quite frankly, Nobody wants to see a mutilated man run around and showing off all his scars and stumps”

To emphasize he held out a second left arm right under the first, 

but the second one ended in a horribly scarred stump somewhere in the middle of elbow and where the wrist should be, the rest of the arm also adorned in strange silvery scars that had a slight bluish tint.

I stared at it confusedly for a second, so what? 

“So? If people don't want to see that they can look somewhere else, like, don't go out into the public if you don't like seeing people being people, also i don't think anyone seeing that would think you did that on purpose”

Now it was his turn to stare confusedly at me with his sclera less way too green eyes.

“I just mean, a lot of people have scars, i have some too,  namely on my back and shoulder, and one time some guy stole one of my kidneys so there's that one too, i don't think that scars necessarily make someone ugly or less of a person,  it just- it just shows you've lived”

He tilted his head,  at an angle that would probably have broken my neck if I tried it.

“It does sound like an age-old struggle of simply being deemed ‘other’,  I feel that you relate well to it,  even if your struggle with being ‘other’ has been different.

I suppose listening to those deemed ‘others’ would show things about myself I was not aware of, or would never be.

Also someone stole your kidney? How does that happen?”

Huh, yeah it was probably no matter what kind of ‘other’ one was,  they would find the same or similar reasons to shut those ‘other’ out any way possible.

Also of course he had to ask about the kidney thing.

“Yeah, some wannabe alchemist got it,  though i punched his face before he got anything else, i actually have no idea what happened to the guy, maybe he poisoned himself”

It was likely, that or someone else lynched him considering he'd been quite an asshole and did say something about testing on pets.

“Well, it looks like we both survive when we have to”

The Fae man stared out at the ocean,  gently scratching his chicken’s err, Basan's Head.

Then he ripped the cloth covering the bottom half of his face down, revealing what was indeed mandibles,  though more thin and boney and halfway folded into his maw.

One of his cheeks had a hole that was held shut by stitches and the other half of his face looked like someone had held a burning hot horseshoe against it.

Wait, iron, that was an iron burn, ouch, Fae did NOT take well to iron.

Aside from that there was a long and jagged scar going down the side of his nose, having blinded one of the secondary eyes under his normal ones, both of which were sewed shut like the hole in his cheek.

That man had been tortured,  There was no other reason for things to look like that as even multiple accidents wouldn't cause an iron burn this deep.

“I said i was ugly”

“What? No i'm just-i've never actually seen a Fae before, you weren't joking about the mandibles huh? Though i didn't think they'd be so thin”

He smiled, his face twisting weirdly around the scar tissue.

“Oh i suppose one would expect something more spider like,  however Spiders are arachnids and not insects,  ticks are also arachnids, but yeah i can move them individually”

To prove it he stuck one out and ‘waved’ with it,  then doing the same with another one.

“Wait, how do you eat with those? 

Don't you just bite your own mandibles while eating?”

“That's the question you ask? 

But yeah i guess sometimes i bite my own mandibles, though don't tell me you've never bitten your own tongue while eating”

Fair, to him it was just one more appendage he had,  not anymore strange to his own body than my tongue was to mine.

“Yeah fair, one time i nearly bit a chunk off because i fell out of a tree while eating, not exactly my smartest day”

At least it had healed quickly, but damn that had hurt.

“Oh we all have some dumb days,  and you know what i think i'm going to make this a smart one and go get some new shirts, and maybe a bandana for Basha”

“Wait then he's Basha the bandana wearing Basan all words with B”

He laughed and jumped on top of the railing, cradling said Basan.

“Oh I'm well aware! That's why I'm getting him one!”

With that he jumped down and I realized a bit late that this was built on top of a natural wall and thus went down about three stories deep even though it was technically ground level.

I rushed to lean over the balustrade,  but the Fae man had landed safely and was walking away while his Basan perched on his shoulder like a parrot.

Man the Islands were sure one chaotic place,  there was lots of stuff I would never consider trying on my own.

Then again the ones doing it weren't Human or elf and knew better what they were capable of than me.

Aside from Ronan maybe, he had to be frequently stopped from doing dangerous things that definitely would kill him.

I should probably head back inside,  I did want to see if the other ones were okay, 

especially Jamie who had rocks thrown at them among other things.

At least Akeem deflected the knife, and just threw a grown man twenty feet or so like he weighed nothing.

For someone that didn't even have muscles he was stupidly strong.

For a moment a horrified realization crossed my mind, if Grella was right about Magic Dying then what would happen to Akeem?

He was a statue come to live through some wayward magic, would he simply revert back to being a statue? Fall apart into parts and pieces?

Crumble to dust?

Or would it not affect him since he technically was some sort of gem and Grella did say magic could be stored in some of those.

I really hoped it was the latter.

NEXT / PREVIOUS / OVERSIGHT

[lizard-shifter-noms]

Wayward Waters Chapter 16

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Hello everyone! Chapter 16!

absolute Chaos!!

this Story contains Vore, Dont like dont read.

have fun reading!

and as always Reblogs are appreciated! (Also ASK’s are open so feel free to bother me!)

AO3 Link for those that prefer the layout there;

AO3 Wayward waters

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I stared up at the Gigantic being, my brain still weirdly foggy but now clear enough to finally move on my own.

Not really having any idea what to do as I was way too far for any screams to ever reach anyone I twisted at the Bracelet,  growing Giant, though still small in comparison to this being.

Weirdly enough the Kraken didn't do anything,  aside from lowering itself down to be more eye level.

Didn't it do the same with Cassidy?

The weird fog in my brain kept me rooted to the spot, and I had no doubt that it was this Gigantic Mer that was the cause of it.

It was probably the reason I walked out here to begin with.

But why? And why me of all people?

It bent down, its face getting way too close for comfort,  and let me see that even though I was in Giant form the Kraken's head was as big as I was.

Huh, so that's how people felt when they saw me.

Suddenly I had to commend Robin's bravery even more.

Its unsettingly Lilac eyes with the W shaped pupils focused on me,  the face getting even closer as I was rooted to the spot.

It got close enough to touch, its unusual eye larger than my hand.

Hoo fuck, was i about to die?

Apparently not as the Kraken simply let one of its tendrils softly touch at the top of my head.

“Hello”

I Jolted, like back with the electric eel, at the sudden voice that somehow was in my head but also not.

“Apologies, it is not my intent to frighten you, i simply wanted to talk”

The voice, which was very deep and sounded somewhat Female?,  said, the sound again vibrating through my entire skull as the Krakens' lips never moved.

“I- what? Wait, why do you want to talk to ME of all people?”

Well, at least the Kraken wasn't here to hurt people it seemed.

“Be calm child of Elven blood, my name is Grella and i have sought you out because i sensed magic on you”

So the Kraken was Named Grella, not what I would have imagined.

“Magic on me? You mean the Bracelet? 

Ronan got one too now, so why did you only call me out? 

How did you do that anyway? It felt like sleepwalking”

The behemoth in front of me blinked,  the weird eyes disappearing for a moment.

“I suppose those questions are rightfully asked, so I shall explain.

Yes, the bracelet is what drew me near. 

I have the ability to sense magic and even use the magical energy in the stead of food.

I myself am a magical being, I am sure you have heard of sirens before yes? What I did is not that different, and it keeps the rest of the island fast asleep, even your Statue friend has laid down to rest for now.

And i only called you out as you have more experience with the Bracelet than Ronan, and quite frankly are more responsible”

Well, aside from the fact that apparently she'd managed to get the entire island to sleep, INCLUDING Akeem she was kinda right about Ronan.

If I told anyone that even the Kraken said he was an irresponsible idiot he'd never live it down.

“Well I do have to give you right at the last part,  but still, what am I here for?”

The massive body, which was mostly underwater shifted a little, the many tentacles changing color and blending in with the water.

“I have called you here to tell you to be careful, the Bracelet uses the magic of the environment to let you change your shape.

The world of Tern has lines not unlike rivers of blood vessels running through it filled with magic, so called Ley Lines.

I myself use their energy to sustain my life force,  but in the last few hundred years I have noticed a steady decline in how much magic they carry.

I had to retreat to Graves keep to stay alive,  not able to leave for more than a day now,  seeing as at that place multiple of the Ley lines intersect.

But you realize what that means, yes?”

I stared at her, mind reeling from what she had told me.

“Magic is disappearing, but why? And why tell ME that?”

She leaned in closer and I instinctively took a step back.

“If magic is gone you will be stuck in whatever form you chose last, be that Giant, Half Elf or Ardua, and you will take this form to the grave”

I stared horrified at her.

“You mean one day I won't be able to shift anymore? 

Even with the Bracelet?”

“Exactly, so you better think about what form you want to live your live in and get buried in, with the way things are going you have thirty years at most before that happens, i myself will Die in less than twenty”

Ah, so she wanted to tell the land dweller early as it wasn't exactly likely I'd ever come back here, Ronan could be told anytime really.

“Wait, WHY is the magic disappearing? 

Is that why less and less human mages have been born? 

The last case i know of is two hundred years back”

She slowly nodded.

“Yes, and tell me when was the last time you heard of anyone seeing one of the older true magical creatures, 

such as Unicorns and the true Dragons? 

When was the last time you have seen actual grand magic that wasn't more than some meager little spells?

When was the last time you saw something truly grand that could only be magic?”

I had to think about that, sure Fable had used a light spell and set his thumb on fire but even he admitted that was all, and elves used to be regarded for their magic skills.

And Unicorns hadn't been heard of even in my mothers lifetime,  same as dragons, at this point they were just stories,  and Drakes weren't even real dragons.

“I do not think i have, there used to be an Icemancer but Oakley took his staff which apparently held all the power? Or at least the Gem on it did”

Grellas' eyes widened for a second,  and I almost thought I had imagined it.

“It is Possible to store Magic in specialized gemstones, however even those will run dry one day, i suppose if you get stuck in a form you don't want you might be able to use that Gem as a last effort to change.

Given that you don't use it for anything else”

So, Magic really was dying, what a sad fate.

“So, if magic Dies i will get stuck in whatever form I took on last,  and you will simply Die?”

Her mouth twisted into something like a sad smile.

“I am fated to die regardless, I am the last Kraken, my brethren either starved or have been hunted to extinction before they could reach maturity simply for being something the human mind didn't understand.

The Elder Behemoths are almost all gone, especially those with magic, The only other one, that I am not sure where he is now, is an Elder Dragon of a similar coloration as me, his name is Siokhain.

Though if my memory serves correctly his eyes are of a more Amethyst shade instead of my pale Lilac.

It is a shame really, the Violet eyes used to share their knowledge with the smaller folk, our lifespans far longer than that of any other mortal and capable of storing the memories of those that asked us to.

If magic Dies a lot of knowledge will too, and if that happens people will revert back to attacking things they used to know out of fear”

So, basically if Magic Died a lot of other things were fucked as well.

Damnit.

“Yeah, people attack things they fear and don't understand,  i know that too well, i guess they don't want to be afraid and instead become angry because it's easier for them, and hey, if they destroy the thing that scared them they won't have to be scared anymore”

Grella let out a sound that was probably a chuckle,  albeit distorted from her being so big.

“But they should be scared, not of things they don't know,  but of things they DO know.

Anyone can take up a weapon and murder if the conditions are right,  a person that is generally seen as helpful and loving could be the serial killer that haunts the streets at night.

And i think that people should in fact be uncomfortable sometimes,  if you never have the way you view the world challenged it lets hatred foster and stagnate your heart.

Sadly a lot of people do not seem get that being safe and feeling safe are two different things”

Taking all the bravery I had, I looked her straight into the eyes,  well one eye.

“Is there nothing we can do to stop it? 

Are you just content to Die like that? WHY is the magic disappearing? And where to? Where the fuck does all the magic go to if it isn't in those Ley lines anymore?”

There HAD to be SOME way to fix it, right?

Grella smiled sadly, a tear shining in her eye uh oh.

“Little man, it does not matter if i am content to die or not,  But I did have to accept that I cannot do anything to stop it,  and worrying everyday about it will not make it better,  Instead I have chosen to enjoy the time I have left, even though these days I'm mostly confined to Graves keep and my life isn't that bad.

Cassidy is a dear friend and as I told him I could not leave for long he offered to see the world for me.

He goes out on adventures and then comes back home to share the memories with me, be they made on land or at sea.

Even though I cannot go far,  I still have seen more of the world than most ever will.

There are fates worse than this, but thank you for wanting to help.

As for where the magic goes, I cannot really say, but I suspect the land of Valyria had something to do with it about three hundred years ago as they have managed to alter the flow of a few of the lines.

I would have investigated had it not been on land,  and had they not aimed their weapons at me as I swam closer.

Had i known what i do today i would have tried harder,  but now i cannot go too far from Graves keep or risk withering away, besides at this point they surely have better defenses against threats, they've seen me once so they surely prepared in case i came back”

Valyria huh? That sounded ominous,  and Elven maybe I should ask Fable as soon as I was back.

Still, I kinda felt sad for Grella, but at least she wasn't alone,  and apparently could see memories.

That and she cared enough about a stranger to warn them that they could get stuck in one form for the rest of their life.

“Grella?”

“Yes child of Elven blood?”

It was a weird title but I WAS of elven blood so she wasn't wrong.

“You said you can see and store memories, yes?”

She nodded slightly, probably to not disturb the surroundings too much

“That I can, yes, are you asking to see some of them?”

I shook my head.

“No, opposite actually, id let you see some of mine, i don't think Cassidy has ever been In Kamerasca so i could at least show you what it looks like?

I mean, you came this far from Graves keep just to warn me of the magic thing, that's the least i can do,  just promise to not show them to anyone else okay?”

Grella actually smiled, showing off three fangs,  two of which pointed up and framed a third one that grew down the middle of her upper jaw, not unlike an octopus beak.

“I will not show anyone as long as i live,  thank you young man, are you truly sure?”

I nodded, I already offered so no backtracking, that would just be mean.

“Yeah, i am, though i warn you that most of it is not happy”

She gave a slight nod once again, more of her hairlike tendrils curling and uncurling near my own head, gently touching at my own hair and skin.

”Rest easy now young Ardua,  and be assured your sleep will be untroubled”

What?

The tendrils curled around me,  getting the foggy feeling back into my brain.

“Tell Oakley my regards, and that i enjoyed the time we had so long ago”

Then it was black.

I woke up who the fuck knew when later still on the sandy strip,  sun out and Kraken gone.

Did that really happen? 

Judging by the fact I was still here AND giant sized, yes, it did.

What the hell.

Hopefully I made no one worry, seeing as the sun was just going up,  but at least I did not have any bad dreams or any dreams really.

At least Grella had been right in that,  but what the fuck was that last comment about Oakley?

The way she said it made it sound like they had something going on in the past.

Of course Oakley would fuck a Kraken, why the hell not.

I twisted the gem on the bracelet and shrunk back down to human size, dusting the sand off of my legs and finding a bunch of very colorful seashells next to me.

Considering how far from water I was,  Grella had to have placed these here.

I picked up the five or so shells, 

finding a twisted one with spikes about the same Color as Grella was, which I now realized was just pearl white with a hint of blue.

There also was a blue, red and purple one I would definitely give to Arthur and a few others I could decorate my nearly empty shelf at home with.

I really ought to find more stuff to put in it,  empty as it was, it just looked sad.

Well, better get back before anyone got worried.

Good thing i at least somewhat remembered the way back,  and in nearly no time at all i was back near Imugi’s saltwater pond.

“Donovan! Where have you been!”

I looked at where the voice came from,  seeing Robin had somehow gotten on top of the weird house.

Well, what the fuck was i supposed to tell here? That the Kraken herself had called me out in the middle of the night to tell me magic was dying?

Absolutely not.

So instead I held the seashells up.

“Got shells, I did tell Arthur I'd get him a pretty one after all!”

Robin leaned over the roof to look down and I prepared to shift in case he fell.

“Ohhh those are pretty! Which one are you gonna give him?”

“Come down here and I'll show you all of them! And don't fall!”

He nodded, scrambling out of sight and to wherever he got up in the first place.

I did not know one could go on their roof,  if a somewhat flat stone top of a cave even counted as that.

If anything it really was just a very big boulder that had gotten hollowed out, however the fuck that was done.

Holding the seashells I walked around to the entrance and found that there was a ladder going up to the roof,  which Robin was currently climbing down.

Before I could say anything to him though Ronan popped up,  well rather fell out of his hammock and landed face first on the floor.

“Ouch! Hey where did you get those shells? 

They are from some deep sea species! Can I have one?” 

Deep sea species? Of course Grella would give me something like that, why not, well whatever counted as deep sea for humans probably was still rather shallow waters for her.

“I found them in the sand, and one of those is for Arthur,  but i can give the small blue one”

I handed the small but rather long and thin twisted blue shell to him after he managed to stand up.

“Thanks! Can't wait to measure it after I find my measuring tape! 

Where did I put that anyway?”

Before he could get far he got scruffed by Akeem,  who held the other a good foot or so above the floor.

“No science for today, we have stuff to do, namely repair the ship.

You are going to go get supplies Imik listed for you,  you can ask someone else to come with if you want”

Ronan pouted at that.

“Fine, at least let me stash this properly so it doesn't break!”

Akeem nodded and shoved a list into his hands before letting him fall to the floor.

As the stone man walked out his eyes met mine for a second,  almost as if trying to look through me.

He knew something was off, clearly as he usually didn't sleep but the Kraken had managed to make him do just that.

I tried my best to stare back with a blank expression,  which seemed to be enough and he left.

Ronan had stashed the shell away, letting me use one of his boxes to put the other ones in and then invited us to tag along as apparently he just had to buy more wood so they could make a new railing.

Robin of course was immediately for it as he wanted to explore the city, but apparently the place to get wood was outside of it, near a little forest.

Well it kind of was still exploring the island, and he'd probably need help dragging the stuff back so we went along with him anyway.

Also I did not trust him to not do something dumb,  especially now that he could shift.

“Hey wouldn't it be easier to shift big to go get stuff?”

Yep, there it was, he already wanted to shift in the middle of the day in the middle of the island.

“Better not, you might give someone a heart attack doing that, also not everyone takes well to having a giant suddenly appear out of nowhere”

He made an unhappy face but before he could say anything Robin had found the weird door that was built directly into the stone,  still featuring that odd tree.

“What is this door for? Can I open it? Where does it go to?”

It was the door I had been told nobody could open so they just let it be.

Ronan laughed.

“If you manage to get it open i will eat a dozen raw eggs!”

That sounded like a great way to get sick very fast.

Still Robin tried to pull the door open with all his strength, and even tried to see if the door had to be pushed instead before going back to pulling.

It obviously wasn't working, not that something like that had stopped people from doing things before.

Grabbing him I heaved him away from the door,  the ginger still clinging to the very old and used looking handle.

“Aww come on, is it rusted shut or something?”

Instead of letting go he tried once more to pull it open, using me as a sort of brace but when even that didn't work he gave up.

“Why build something like that anyway?”

Good question, though it might have been part of something else once and was now just rotting and rusting here.

“Eh it was probably meant for something else that just never got finished”

After that I had to tell Ronan at least two more times to not randomly shift where people could see as he might cause some panic.

He clearly didn't like being told what to do but still didn't shift.

It wasn't long before we came across the sawmill near a patch of woods, already hearing the telltale sound of wood being cut.

Ronan of course waltzed in without knocking.

“Heya old man! How's it going? Still have all your fingers?”

Robin looked at me,  clearly aware that Ronan was rude to whoever worked here,  and neither of us would be surprised if he'd get a log tossed at him.

Going in after him I saw him handing a list to a man that looked very familiar.

He looked like an older version of Nemas, minus the face tattoo.

Right, the Captain of the Victory Rose had mentioned that his father had chosen to work in a sawmill instead of being a sailor.

Though I had not expected that to be here, well if he was anything like his son Ronan should prepare to get his ears talked off.

Which he didn't, but he did whack Ronan with a flexible stick for being rude before shoving everything that was on the list into his arms, not caring if Ronan could actually hold it or not.

Which he definitely couldn't so me and Robin went to help.

Well mostly me, Robin struck up conversation with the man, telling him that he looked like Nemas, who was indeed his son, and then walked out after hearing his son was here but apparently hadn't visited him so far.

Well, that sure was something just now.

Helping Ronan gather up the not so small amount of materials we helped carry it back towards the Halcyon, the new shifter complaining all the way that he wanted to get big to carry the stuff.

We did not let him, even Robin was aware that randomly shifting in a populated place was a bad idea so we were stuck bringing the wood back the old fashioned way.

Apparently once he'd given the wood to Imik and Akeem who worked to restore the ship he deemed it far enough away from people and jumped into the water, shifting to the creature form.

Of course Imugi had her fun with that,  swimming around him happily clicking and splashing.

Well, if Grella was right I had only about twenty years of shifting however I wanted, so why not join them for a bit?

Jumping down I also shifted and a moment later the big and green form of the Ardua was also splashing in the water.

I yelped as Imugi suddenly spit water at me from behind,  turning around and splashing back with my paws.

Imik yelled from somewhere on the ship for us to fuck off if we weren't helping and i could clearly hear Robin laughing loudly at the silly display we did.

We did as told, Ronan and Imugi a lot faster than me seeing as i wasn't a sea dwelling creature like them.

Somehow Imugi got a new tree, which I actually started to suspect was stolen from the other side of the island where the sawmill was, and let me hold onto it as she dragged me towards shallower water.

At least I could stand here, and Imugi wanted to play tug o 'war again, which I lost considering I was still in water.

Ronan tried to sneak up and get Imugi by spitting water at her,  but missed and hit me instead.

In retaliation I dunked his head under,  The flat surface of it was perfect for placing a paw on top.

“Hey! Haha! How long do you think I can hold my breath? 

This form doesn't have gills so I guess it's more like a seal? maybe?”

Honestly I had no idea how long those could hold their breath either.

“No idea! You can test it later if you want!”

Imugi forced her head against Ronan, shoving him around like a piece of cork and dunking him every time he tried to get away.

“I blame you for this!”

I just grinned at him, splashing Imugi who then turned her attention to me, bonking her head against my own.

Despite barely being able to stand i tried to shove her trough the water like she had done, with only mild success.

It was fun nonetheless and she used her beak to gently tap at me.

I responded by bapping at her with a paw,  a motion that would have anything just half her size falling over.

Ronan then headbutted me away, trying to shove me over the sandy ground of the little bay we were in and trying to dunk me as well.

Standing up on my haunches I shoved him backwards with both front paws, the situation quickly escalating into stupid and childlike play fighting, well if one could call two shapeshifting creatures trying to shove, harmlessly hit or headbutt each other that.

Imugi tossed the log shed found between us and like some stupid dogs we fought about it, me biting one end and him biting the other one.

Whoever let go first lost.

Water splashed as we each tugged and tore at the wood, Imugi click-whistled happily as we both acted like animals if just for this moment.

Then we got interrupted by someone yelling.

“HEY BOYS! FUNS OVER GET OVER HERE!”

I let go of the wood surprise, Ronan keeling over backwards as I suddenly stopped holding it and making a spectacular splash as his back hit the water first.

Looking up I could see Yamet standing there, waving us out of the water.

What time was it anyway? Judging by the sun at least midday now.

He'd probably cooked lunch or something, so better we'd dry off now.

Walking out of the water closely followed by Ronan I shook myself like a dog as soon as we were on dry land again, Ronan immediately trying as well and getting the water from his fur all over me.

I placed a paw on his head and pressed down a little,  seeing him squish his body like that was funny and more reminiscent of a cat being slightly annoyed.

Before he could think to do it back I jumped up the few boulders closer to Yamet, shifting back to human form as soon as I was next to him.

“What is it? Did you make Lunch?”

He shook his head, which I found a little disappointing.

“No, though i should soon, but whatever, your friend, the black haired one is looking for you, i think he wants to go to some other island soon?”

Ohh right, Kamerasca had a colony here, whatever that was called, of course Rikaad would want to take a look at it when he was already here.

“Uh, sure? Where is he now? Do I have to get my stuff?”

Well, it looked like we were leaving pretty fast,  though that was just like Rikaad really.

I was, however, a bit sad, being here had been fun! And now that they were here also i had wanted to at least stay a day or two more.

Yamet just shrugged and pointed me back towards the boat.

As said Rikaad was there,  and the guy with the oversized chicken as well, Chicken included.

I could see Imik keeping his distance from it while Jamie was gently scratching its head.

As Rikaad saw me his face got a good bit less grumpy.

Nice to see he cared.

Robin was right behind him, also staring at the Chicken.

“Donovan! There you are, why are you drenched in seawater?”

“Ronan was testing his new form a bit more, and Imugi wanted to play”

Rikaad glanced at the water where Imugi was swimming back to the boat.

“I see, anyway since we are here i wanted to go check out Naroa island, Which is the colony's main place,  Do you want to come with? We will come back here after and stay here till Nemas manages to repair the ship”

Oh right, the Victory Rose had gotten quite a bit damaged, wait how would we get to Naroa then?

“Uh, sure why not, see a bit more of the world,  but how are we going to get there if the Victory Rose is damaged?”

Rikaad pointed all the way over to where they had parked the Call Of The Damned.

“Cassidy is going to take us there, apparently his wife is also there for the next two or so weeks and he wants to talk to her”

Oh yeah that would work, wait wasn't Cassidy divorced? 

Eh not my life so not my problem.

“Yeah why not? I am curious what that place looks like!”

Suddenly Ronan interrupted.

“Can we come with? I've never been there either! 

And only Yamet and Imik know how to repair the ship anyway!”

He had to duck as a hammer was tossed at him from Yamet.

“Then fucking learn!”

Ronan ignored it in favor of listening to Rikaads answer.

“I do not see why not, as long as Cassidy lets you on the ship i have no problem, anyone else here want to come with?”

Jamie jumped, grabbing at Ronans arm with their bird claws and standing sideways.

“I'd like to see! I have no idea where on the fucking map that is anyway!”

“If Jamie and Ronan go then so will i, someone has to stop them from doing stupid things”

Ah so Akeem would come as well, nice, and yeah he was right in that.

Rikaad nodded curtly.

“Very well, get what you need and meet us at the ship”

NEXT / PREVIOUS / OVERSIGHT

[lizard-shifter-noms]

Wayward Waters Chapter 19

——————————————————————————

Hello everyone! Chapter 19!

this Story contains Vore, Dont like dont read.

have fun reading!

and as always Reblogs are appreciated! (Also ASK’s are open so feel free to bother me!)

AO3 Link for those that prefer the layout there;

AO3 Wayward waters

——————————————————————————

Having gotten Robin, who had taken a hairbrush to his messy locks, we went outside to see Rikaad standing on a Podium in front of the manor.

Considering the podium was stone it had to have been there for quite some time, probably built with the house itself.

There was already a crowd,  a bit more sparse the closer to the front it got, apparently not many people wanted to be near the more nonhuman visitors.

We took one of the more free spots which put me near that Leon guy.

He looked over and bared his teeth, making me take a step back at the snarling grimace.

I probably would take it more personally if he didn't do the same to a human on his other side right now.

Not a fan of people huh? 

Then again if people got too close they might notice the slightly too pointy ears and teeth as well as the unusual eye color.

That was something I could understand, not wanting people to get close and figure out you weren't really human.

So, keeping my distance from the rather hostile young man,  I turned to face Rikaad who had already been talking a bit.

Apparently it was about the future of the island and how if they wanted to live peacefully they couldn't keep shutting out and downright hunting other sentient people just because they weren't human.

That most of the nonhuman people weren't even out for a fight and just wanted to live their lives and do their job, same as everyone else.

And if they had wanted to fight they would already have done so, outnumbering humans on this island by far anyway.

He spoke more words of peace and the like as well as hoping to work together in the future instead of against each other and then finally went to appoint the new Mayor.

It was Marianna, Shalimars mother and Cassidy's Ex wife.

Now I wondered even more what I missed, because apparently Rikaad and Marianna had to have been in contact a few times before already.

And she did spy work on the old mayor to find all those documents and other things to get him to jail.

Rikaad had not looked the least bit surprised as she appeared and handed over the papers.

All of that had to have been carefully planned.

I looked confusedly at Robin who looked just as confused back.

Ah, so neither of us knew then.

Rikaad spoke some more about a few changes,  not all of which were met with applause before finishing the speech and bowing politely in front of all those watching.

I just stared, being King must be exhausting as hell,  and Rikaad wasn't the type to take breaks.

Well, at least he had the nerves to stand in front of a thousand or more people and talk without stuttering once or messing up.

I for sure would rather faint than do that.

But it also reminded me it had been forever since I had actually talked to him, either time or other things getting in the way.

As soon as we got back to Kamerasca and things had calmed down a little i'd go and drag him outside for a bit, fuck knew he needed a break.

Arthur and Robin as well, then maybe we could just hang out for a bit.

Maybe Oakley would come with, and speak about things that made my brain struggle to understand.

I should also probably tell the guy using magic about magic dying, maybe he could keep a better eye on it and tell me when to stop shifting.

“Hey fucker! You were late!”

I jumped as someone tapped at my back, turning around to see Jamie perching on Akeem again.

For something made of heavy stone he was surprisingly quiet.

Jamie wasn't though.

“Well next time inform me sooner, why did they even send you?”

Jamie just shrugged, pointing at Cassidy.

“Was his job but Marianna, uhh, 'Distracted him' ”

I was not gonna ask what that entailed.

“Nevermind then, what now? Do we go back to Kariba island?”

“Ask the bossman, i'm just here to see what stupid stuff Ronan will do”

Ah yeah, of course.

Where was he anyway?

Eh, not my problem.

I gave Jamie a thumbs up and collected Robin to go ask Rikaad what we were doing next.

Rikaad himself was back in the manor, talking to Marianna about easier means of communication than sending letters per ship.

Apparently Marianna wanted to build a post office where flying creatures such as Harpies could work, which however required to make resting stations on the smaller island between here and Kamerasca.

The idea itself wasn't so bad,  though it would probably take some time to do that.

RIkaad still gave the okay if they managed to do it but wasn't expecting it to be ready anytime soon.

After that Marianna left and Rikaad turned to us.

“There you two are, how are you doing?”

Robin whipped up and down where he stood, cheerfully answering.

“I'm good! I still wanna go do a beach day with all of you!  Do you think we can do that before we go home?”

That would be fun, if we could get him to come with us.

“We could ask any of the sailors if they know a good spot! Come on you deserve a break once in a while too”

Rikaad did look thoughtful for a moment.

“Well, since there don't seem to be any problems I don't see why we couldn't do that, how about you two ask someone for a nice place while i wrap things up here?”

YES! Success! A fun day for us and Rikaad finally would take a break!

“Yes! I'm gonna ask Ronan,  he's been around so I'm sure he knows more than one place”

Though for that we had to find him first,  wherever the hell that scatterbrained idiot had gone.

“Oh i saw him with a medic, i think someone punched him”

Why was that not surprising? Probably Shalimars fault.

“Alright thank you Rikaad, well go and look for the medic station”

He nodded and pointed us down the hallway behind him.

Down the rather short hall was indeed a very small medic symbol painted on the door, a staff with two snakes.

I ought to find out what those snakes stood for at some point.

Robin politely knocked on the door and a very old looking man opened it.

“Oh hi doc! Is Ronan here?”

Robin knew the guy? How much did I miss?

“Ahh Robin, welcome! Yes there is a young man by that name here I assume you want to talk to him?”

We both nodded and the old man let us in,  pointing at a window bed where Ronan was staring out of.

I doubted he was supposed to be half kneeling on the bed and sticking his head out like that,  but not like he normally followed any other instructions either.

“Ronan! Hey!”

He startled and hit his head on the top of the window,  cursing something only Jamie could have teached him.

“Ow! Oh hey! Did that weird guy punch you too?”

Weird guy? So not Shalimar?

As he turned around i could see he sported a blue eye.

“Uh what? No? Wait, who punched you?”

He shrugged, hopping off the bed.

“Uhh i think its the guy your friends picked up at some point? 

Something with L”

“You mean Leon? Yeah he didn't exactly make a friendly first impression, or second, or third”

Or any impression really.

“Yeah that guy, I just asked if he had any Elven ancestry and WHAM!  I got a blue eye and no answers! Fucking rude”

Maybe he shouldn't go around asking people such things.

“I guess, though a stranger asking that probably isn't something he likes”

“Oh, yeah, I guess, hey what did you want me for?”

Oh right, the reason we came here for.

“We wanted to ask if you knew a nice spot for a beach day? 

Preferably one with no danger”

“Oh sure! I know plenty! There are a few nice ones around Kariba I could show you! there's this one pretty small island that's half sand and half dirt with a few trees and boulders! You could span a hammock! 

And it's got lots of shells, though there are some hermit crabs but they won't bother you, just check the shells you pick up for any inhabitants!”

That did sound nice, and if it really wasn't far from Kariba island then we'd probably go there.

“Sounds good! I'll tell Rikaad about it when I can! Oh also i don't think we are staying here for much longer so maybe get your stuff ready” “Will do! This place is kinda boring anyway, the houses all look so similar to each other and the people here aren't exactly friendly” 

That they weren't, and at this point I was not expecting them to be.

“Yeah, sometimes people suck, but were leaving anyway”

Ronan nodded and then was called over by the old man again, The medic wanted to check his eye again to make sure the punch hadn't damaged it.

I grabbed Robin and left the man to his job,  still questioning how Robin knew him.

“Hey where did that medic know you from? He knew your name before any of us said anything”

“Oh he's the doc of the Victory Rose! 

Though I have no idea what he's doing here,  Maybe he came with us on the Call Of The Damned? I mean the Victory Rose is currently being repaired, also he gave a first aid course”

He did? Well if he managed to explain things to the scatterbrained Ginger that was great.

“Really? What did you learn? 

And what poor soul had to be a test subject?”

He laughed, telling over the next hour what he had learned, which apparently was mainly how to get a fish hook out of a finger or leg and some other basic stuff as well as how to reset a dislocated arm.

Huh, he learned quite a bit, and of his own volition no less! Impressive!

“That Impressive! 

Next time I faceplant to the ground I can just ask you to help!”

He laughed at that.

“Ha! I'm still not as good as an actual medic! But I know how to clean scrapes at least!

But, uhm, i only really did that so i wouldn't have to sit around alone with my own brain, i mean, you fell overboard and i just wanted to do something that took more of my attention than that”

He had started fiddling with his nails.

“Don't worry, at least you did something useful! All I was good for was serving as entertainment for Imugi! And I guess Jamie too.

One time I got stuck on the mast because they don't have a ladder there and Jamie told me if I managed to get up I'd get a prize,  they had to help me get back down, the NEXT day!”

That had been chaotic, not that I remembered most of it.

“No way! Wait what Prize? What did you get?”

Ohh right! The prize was in the little bag Jamie had given me, which was still on the Halcyon!

“Oh I forgot it on the ship! Good thing we are going back to Kariba later! I'll show you then yeah? It's a little fossil of a sea star”

“A fossil? Cool! At least you can't lose it while it's there!”

“Yeah and it can't break either, but remind me to grab it, i don't think anyone would go back to an entire island just because i forgot something”

Though I could probably send a letter and ask them to send it to Kamerasca.

The rest of the day went pretty boring, people put more Crates on the Call Of The Damned and a few were taken off and sometime late afternoon a headcount was done and everyone shooed onto the ship.

Looking around I saw that Ronan, Akeem and Jamie were all accounted for, Robin was already back in the cabin somewhere to set up his stuff, not that either of us had much.

I decided to walk over the deck once more before we left,  looking at the island from the ship.

It really did look as Ronan had said,  The houses were pretty similar and everything looked way too neat, every detail of this place clearly planned out.

No wonder considering it had all been built around the same time.

Even Kamerasca itself had more charm than this artificially looking place.

I silently wished Marianna the best of luck with that.

Speaking of, she was down at the pier and talking to Shalimar,  giving her something that looked like a whip.

That would not go well,  either she'd manage to tie it into a horrible knot or end up taking someone's eye out if her acrobatic skills were any indication.

Well, better keep away for a bit till she was okay at using that weapon.

The ride back on the Call Of The Damned was uneventful,  aside from Imugi showing up and whistling at Ronan for attention.

Jamie tossed him overboard, stating that since he had that bracelet now he could swim the rest of the way back with Imugi.

I wasn't about to argue with that, besides they were right about the swimming part, and if anything happened Imugi was there at least.

And he actually did swim all the way back,  shifting to human size overnight and letting Imugi carry him before shifting to the water creature the next day again.

He probably did that out of spite now.

Though as soon as we got back to Kariba he crashed onto shore and fell asleep as he was.

No wonder there really, the beach day seemed to have to wait a bit.

In the meantime I decided to try and help out rebuilding the Halcyon to the best of my ability, which mainly involved carrying heavy stuff with Akeem and holding things steady while they fixed it in place.

At some point the resident medic, Grace,  came over to see if anyone had hit their finger with a hammer yet.

Pretty sure that was mainly meant for Ronan,  who had dropped one a few times already.

Grace also did comment on my muscle density, stating that for the size they were they were nearly double as strong as average.

Well, that was something? 

Did it have anything to do with the Bracelet? maybe?

Though i was able to lift up an entire person without much difficulty,  as well as other heavy stuff like while repairing the ship.

Of course the rest of the crew immediately wanted to test that,  by telling me to hold my arms out and have them cling to them while dangling over the ground.

Surprisingly enough I managed to hold one person per arm, Yamet on the left and Imik on the right as they were roughly the same size.

That was really a bit more than average, I'd have to ask Oakley about that at some point as it might be connected to the Bracelet.

Though as Ronan tried it he immediately folded.

We ended up sleeping in their weird cave house again, Yamet making some oil fried fish for Dinner that Imugi had tossed at him through the window, making him fall over as the fish was bigger than he was.

After that Ronan shifted and broke a shelf,  Both Yamet and Imik chased him around in the confined space with a broomstick and frying pan, cursing him out.

Jamie of course joined in on that, especially the cursing.

The weird shape of the creature form was surprisingly agile,  at least for a bit until he tripped over his own flipper like hands and face planted into the wall.

He was threatened quite a bit to change back and they made him sleep outside with Imugi, which I sincerely doubted was the first time.

The next day we collected Rikaad from wherever the fuck he had slept, IF he had any sleep at all,  and dragged him to the freshly repaired Halcyon, waiting for Ronan to put the Harness on Imugi to go to the beach he had talked about.

As it turned out the beach itself was maybe two hours out and looked exactly like Ronan had described it, sand and trees and all.

The day was actually pretty great,  We collected seashells and then moved on to throwing clumps of wet sand at each other and nobody remembered who even started it.

After that we went into the water, Rikaad actually showing off how good of a swimmer he was, well at least i could be sure he wouldn't drown.

But it was nice to see that he finally took a break, and actually had some fun for once even though he lost the armwrestling against Akeem.

To be fair Akeem was a statue and technically didn't have muscles to best.

Surprisingly enough I nearly won against him,  Both of us have to strain to try and win.

Though he still ended up winning.

After that we went swimming again,  The water here was nicely clear and not as cold as in Kamerasca.

At some point both me and Ronan shifted, splashing water around and making big waves for the others.

Considering Ronan’s big ass Flipper hands he had more success at making bigger waves than I did.

At some point i grabbed his tail with my teeth,  dragging him over the sand and through the smaller waves.

In response he tried to drag me into the water, but only ended up with a mouthful of green fur.

In retaliation for that I jumped on top of him, noting that the weird fin on his back wasn't entirely hair but just covered by the fine strands.

He tried to twist out from under me to not much success,  me being nearly double as heavy as he was.

We roughhoused for a good bit more, making sure to keep a bit distance to not accidentally roll over someone.

At some point Imugi joined in which caused even more chaos as she, despite being part of the crew, was completely unbiased and went after both of us, trying to spit water at us.

The day was over way too fast for my tastes and we ended up sitting on one of the boulders to watch the sun slowly set.

For whatever reason we hadn't properly done that yet,  then again thus far there was either chaos or someone missing.

Well technically Arthur was missing but we knew where he was and that he was okay, probably more so than if he had come with.

Poor guy would just have been seasick the entire time.

Still Poor guy as he was stuck at home with Nea and had to deal with her antics.

We sailed back as soon as the sun was completely down, Imugi being so nice and dragging the Boat again, being sly she spit water at Ronan one last time before dunking her head under and towing the boat.

Aside from that the way back to Kariba Island was uneventful and boring, but strangely enough Rikaad actually thanked me for making him come along.

Well yeah duh, he was our friend, and clearly had needed a break.

It wasn't fair that he had to do all this King stuff,  He was only eighteen and as Oakley had once said that was just a Number and didn't magically make someone an adult.

It was mean that he just didn't get to do fun stuff anymore that was considered childish, just because of his title.

But it was very clear he wouldn't trade the title or let anyone else try to do it as long as he could do it himself.

Yeah I'd remind him from now more that even he needed breaks.

Being lazy we slept on the ship,  Akeem somehow Procured a bunch of blankets and pillows.

I refrained from shifting, not wanting to steal so much space and ended up in the middle of the sleep heap, back down on the deck.

I stared up at the stars till long after everyone else was asleep, simply watching the moon and the star Fable had pointed out to me.

Lafayah, the north most star that was sometimes used to navigate.

It was nice, just laying there surrounded by people that did not want to kill me, surrounded by friends.

Simply being there and listening to their breathing as they slept.

If only it could always be like this, peaceful and calm.

Sadly the next day was a lot more hectic as we got ready to sail back to Kamerasca, the Victory Rose sporting a new mast now.

Before I got onboard Jamie tossed the little bag with my stuff at my head, which I nearly forgot again,  yelling at me to keep a better eye on my stuff.

Then the Victory Rose set sail back Home,  the smaller Halcyon following a good bit behind.

Just a few days, and an unnecessary amount of switching between ships with the help of Imugi, later the coast of Kamerasca could be seen.

In a few hours we’d be home again.

Well all of this sure would be a crazy story to write to Fable.

And I still had not worked on my awful handwriting.

NEXT / PREVIOUS / OVERSIGHT

[lizard-shifter-noms]

Wayward Waters Chapter 18

——————————————————————————

Hello everyone! Chapter 18!

this Story contains Vore, Dont like dont read.

have fun reading!

and as always Reblogs are appreciated! (Also ASK’s are open so feel free to bother me!)

AO3 Link for those that prefer the layout there;

AO3 Wayward waters

——————————————————————————

Walking back inside after this unusual conversation I kept an eye out for anyone really,  be that Robin, Rikaad or any of the Halcyon crew that came with us.

While I did not see Rikaad I did see Robin talking to Ronan,  both rambling about things, 

probably cacti as that was the only common interest I knew they had.

Well nice to see they went along,  Now where were the other two Crew members?

Walking outside into the needlessly perfectionist garden I saw Jamie perch on a fancy looking bench,  digging grooves repeatedly into the wooden backrest.

“Jamie! Akeem! There you are!”

Jamie puffed up worse than a startled pigeon,  claws digging even more into the wood.

“Calm down it's just me, and please don't scratch my face off”

Damn Jamie was really on edge,  well no wonder when the entire island had seemed hostile.

Jamie blinked and then stopped the threat display.

“FUCKING SHIT! If i knew this place was like this i would have stayed home and bothered the other two while working!”

I flinched back a little at the volume, damn they had lungs.

“Uh, well i'm sure Rikaad is about to talk some sense into the people here, might take a while though”

Jamie just scoffed, walking sidewards to perch on Akeem instead.

“Yeah sure, as if that would undo the shit they already did,  also do you really think people like that would just change their mind like that? And so fast? i'll tell you, they don't”

That I knew, I still didn't dare go alone to the town, or had actually been there aside from walking through with multiple people at once.

“I know, but at least some people are trying, so that's good right?”

Jamie just narrowed their eyes for a bit.

“Yeah sure, it's better than nothing, but it shouldn't have to be done in the first place, I hope we leave soon. 

This place sucks, they don't even have the creativity for good insults! Which somehow makes it even more insulting? Aaarhgh!”

Yeah considering Jamie could swear like a, well sailor, it was not really a surprise they'd take bad insults as even more insulting.

“Well, I mean that says more about them than you? Like uh, if they cant even come up with a good insult they really are just stupid, 

and it really shouldn't matter what they say cuz they're wrong anyway”

Jamie just stared unamusedly.

“Nice of you to try and cheer me up, but can it,  i've heard that all before, but yeah it shouldn't matter but it fucking does, and they keep getting more stupid people to believe it as well.

Sure i can deal with one or two stupid people but if ten of those are after me i cant do shit either,  and in the time you manage to explain to one of them why its wrong they get three more from who the fuck even knows where.

Worst of all is that in most places they face no consequences and that makes them feel like they are untouchable, and people like those do not like to have their worldviews challenged, absolutely complacent in their own ignorance to feed their stupid ego!”

It was a good thing that Akeem was made of stone as Jamie's claws scratched over the surface after the outburst.

But yeah, Jamie was right, it did look like that no matter where I went people did the ‘others’ and ‘us’ thing, though the only place I had not seen that was kariba Island, but that was probably mainly thanks to Cassidy and the self aware nature of the citizens.

“Well then i don't what to say, but i do know what it feels like to be the outcast, i still don't dare go near the town,  i'm still afraid someone with a meaningless grudge will just backstab me and leave me bleeding in an alley or something”

Jamie stopped being so puffed up.

“Oh right, you're from the place that build this place, damn that must suck, i guess im just fucking tired of living in fear, in all honest i just want to maul someone, do you want to maul someone?”

While Jamie did have some points I absolutely did NOT want to maul anyone.

“I don't like violence, so id rather not”

Jamie scoffed.

“Well the entire existence of people like that is based on violence! 

They want us dead simply for existing, and then cry when we defend ourselves! But i tell you you have to punch those people right in the face before they start getting more of them to wherever they are so they think twice about bothering you”

Valid advice, to anyone else.

I simply didn't want to hurt people,  but i was sure as hell not gonna argue with Jamie about that now.

“I guess, though i'm not really the punchy type, but i do know people that are, and i have no doubt that Nea would do more than just punch”

I shuddered at the thought of what I heard rumors say about her, apparently she was quite merciless even to the people on her own team.

I was glad that she had decided to like me and not beat me up.

While I spoke Akeem had gently grabbed Jamie's face with his free arm, which somehow actually worked to calm them down?

I would not try that unless absolutely necessary,  Jamie would shred me with those claws.

“I suppose we should all calm down for a bit,  a hot head is not good at decision making”

Jamie bapped their spindly leg on his head.

“I know the only one allowed to get a hot head is you when you're standing too long in the sun, also next time it gets hot enough to do it do you think we can get Yamet to fry some eggs on your abs? 

I'm pretty sure we forgot to put seasoning on them last time”

Of course leave it to them to try and fry eggs on a living statue because why not?

At least Jamie wasn't angry anymore,  well, just less angry there was always some level of anger.

Though to be fair I hadn't even understood half of the things shouted at them.

Jamie hopped down from Akeem’s shoulder,  perching on the bench again instead and grumbling.

“Half of these fucks would piss their pants if they ever met one of the Bigger Zoa’s anyway, not my fucking fault im tiny”

Tiny and filled with rage yes, also again that word,  what the fuck was a Zoa?

“Uh, what IS a Zoa? I've heard someone shout it as we walked here and you just mentioned it again”

Jamie stared at me as if I was an idiot, which to be fair I sometimes was.

“I'M a Zoa dumbass, an Imik technically also? I think? 

Hes Hybrid though, also Nymra is Zoa too”

“That explains nothing”

They stared with a deadpan expression.

“Zoa are the people that have animal traits, whatever those might be, 

So things like Harpies, Avians, nagas and centaurs and so on are all considered Zoa, basically everything that's got a mix of Human and animal traits, I have my bird legs as you can see! 

Imik got his fish scales and gills and Nymra is a Harpy,  well i guess by that logic the fucking Kraken is Zoa as well”

They shrugged at that.

Huh, so Zoa was just a term for the ones with the animal traits? 

“So it's just a word for people with animal traits? 

Is it a mean thing to say or not? Also yeah if those guys had seen the Kraken they would have fainted for sure”

Jamie just tilted their head.

“Eh it's not a slur, not really at least, i guess it depends on how you say it, but then again i've heard people use weird things as slurs”

Yeah I was not about to ask about those.

Before anyone could say anything else Shalimar pelted something at Akeem and yelled, dragging a breathless looking Ronan by the collar.

He did not look like he was getting enough air.

“HEY THERE YOU ARE! The boss guy said he was gonna tell who's the new mayor tomorrow! Who do you think it'll be?”

She skidded to a halt maybe a few inches away from where Jamie was perched, receiving a hefty bap on the head from one of Jamie's spindly bird legs.

“We don't fucking know anyone here, why should we know?”

“I'm not asking you! I'm asking pointy ears here!”

She turned to me, clearly just wanting insider information ahead of time, probably to tease other people.

“What? No idea i don't know anyone here either,  i didn't even know what Rikaad’s plan was coming here, go ask him”

“I already did! He told me to leave! Also my Dad is trying to catch me and send me back onto the ship, don't tell him I was here!”

With that she left, dragging Ronan still with her.

We stared for a few moments at where she disappeared.

“Well Ronan is gonna suffocate like that, if he does i want to be the new captain!”

Jamie proclaimed, standing straighter on the bench.

Oh so Ronan WAS the captain, well just because he owned the boat didn't mean he was good at being a captain,  He got distracted pretty easily.

Akeem grabbed Jamie, their arms trapped at the sides.

“You would not exactly make a good captain either, i say we go and free him before he Does suffocate”

Jamie just huffed but ultimately let the stone man do whatever,  Which in this case was to carry the Bird legged maniac after wherever the clearly hyper Shalimar went to help Ronan not get strangled.

To be fair there wasn't much one could do against the living statue,  even swords couldn't scratch him and he had no problem tossing a full grown man twenty feet like he weighed nothing.

A good thing he was one of the calmer people in this rather hectic place.

“Donovan! Look!”

I turned around as I heard my ginger friend call me over, he was holding a bunch of flowers, ah he was making flower crowns again.

He stopped in front of me, holding up the brightly colored petals.

“They have so many flowers here! And most of them don't grow in Kamerasca! I wish I could bring them all back home!”

“Heh, if you take all of them the people here don't won't have any,  but maybe you can get some seed packets and then try to make them grow back at home?”

“Ohh good idea! Maybe we can take some seeds directly from the plants here! Come help me!”

I let myself be dragged through the overly perfectionistic garden, Robin showing me how to get a few seeds from the plants that did have them this early before searching around the manor to see where all the gardening stuff was kept.

We also did find some beehives in the far back part of the garden, the little fuzzy insects buzzing around and not paying either of us any mind.

Though we still kept a respectful distance to the hives,  really not wanting to be perceived as a sudden threat.

At the end of the day we had a total of maybe ten different flowers,  not a lot but surely at least one would grow in the slightly colder climate of Kamerasca.

We also got called into the manor itself, nobody really deeming it safe to stay outside at night, especially for me considering my pointy ears.

Which was fair, I had seen how people reacted to Jamie,  and if not for the Fae man putting his hat on my head I probably would have things thrown at me as well.

Hopefully he was able to find a name he liked.

Someone shoved us into a room all the way at the other end of the manor where barely anyone else was and I noticed that the ceiling here was pretty high up.

No doubt Rikaad had ordered for me to stay here in case I wanted to shift.

Did I want to shift? The last time I did I attacked a boat and lost a tooth.

The gap still felt weird and I was really glad that I had an extra pair that could replace the lost one.

Still, hopefully that would grow in fast.

I stared out the window for a few minutes before Robin's ginger hair appeared in the way.

“Are you okay? You've been, weird, is anything wrong?”

Well there were quite a few things,  but i also did not want to worry him, especially not before sleep.

“It's just been a very weird week, and i don't like the gap in my teeth,  i think i just need a break from the hectic stuff”

After this was over and we were back home I would definitely go into the forest and stuff my face into moss.

“Does the Ardua part of you not like the ocean?  I mean it is more of a forest creature”

That was also a point, though how far did the Ardua mix with the actual me? I would have to ask Oakley that.

“Honestly? No idea, I'm just glad I know how to swim,  maybe you're right though i do prefer solid ground to a boat by a lot”

On the mainland there was also a lot more space to do things than on the smaller islands here,  not to mention I was not familiar with the environment here.

“I also like Kamerasca more than this,  though they do have interesting plants here”

Suddenly he hugged me tightly, mumbling into my chest.

“I'm so glad you're okay, after you fell off i barely slept, i'm still afraid that i might wake up on the Victory Rose with you gone”

Oh, yeah he did see that pretty up close,  no wonder that haunted his brain.

“Don't worry i'm still here,  and I'm gonna make sure not to fall off again, yeah?”

He just mumbled something unintelligible.

“Want me to be fuzzy?”

He hummed an agreement and I had to pry him off before I could shift, the Ardua form just about fitting comfortably into the room.

Robin was immediately hugging my arm before I had even actually settled down, clinging to my arm as if I could disappear again.

Since he was clinging to my upper arm I couldn't exactly hug him,  so instead I used my head to gently squish him, making him laugh.

“I'm not a pillow!”

I let out a huff and turned my head more,  rapping the ginger with just enough pressure that he couldn't move away but still could shove it at my face.

“You are now!”

As far as I could see of him he had stuck his tongue out at me,  shoving playfully at my face.

“Hahaha, come on! I'll end up drowning in all that fuzz! 

And I managed to avoid that pretty good with water so far!”

Eh, it wasn't that much hair was it? 

I lifted my head regardless and he slid down to the floor in a surprised heap.

Then I immediately put my head down again, trapping him again and he squeaked in joy, now trying to tickle the underside of my jaw.

It was not effective, the opposite really.

Apparently the cat part of this form was more integrated than I had thought, and I ended up purring loudly as Robin continued scritching at the thinner fur of my lower jaw.

He giggled and kept doing it, considering he had admitted in the past to liking the sound that was no wonder.

At some point he had slipped out from under my jaw and was instead shoving at my face again, trying to shove the lip covering the gap where a tooth was missing away.

“Mhh?”

“I just wanna see again, you did have splinters everywhere so I wanna make sure there aren't any, also I wanna take a look at the new tooth!

You did say it was gonna grow back!”

Oh right, though there probably wasn't much to see yet.

“Sure, though i don't know if you can see anything yet,  i'm pretty sure most if not all of the new one are still in my skull”

I let him poke around a bit, and he actually managed to fit his entire arm into the gap, finding that incredibly funny for some reason.

“I bet I could stick my entire head in!”

“Yeah please don't, all my OTHER teeth are still sharp”

He just hummed in acknowledgement and tried to spy the new tooth growing out, to no success.

“Aww i can't see anything, but it kinda reminds me of a window! 

I bet I could look out from inside!”

Of course he would come up with something like that,  but to be fair he'd probably find it funny, and there wasn't really any other opportunity for it anyway as soon as the tooth grew back.

As expected he managed to talk me into it,  to be fair that wasn't exactly a hard feat.

And now he was laying in my mouth,  giggling over the fact he could look out like that.

After a bit I attempted to let him slide out again so he could sleep but he stopped himself by bracing against my remaining teeth.

I stopped tilting my head worried he might get cut,  letting out a confused sound.

“I- uhm, can i- can I sleep inside? Im- im still worried that i might wake up to find you gone, or get another nightmare from when you fell off”

My mind blanked for a millisecond,  though what he said did make some sense, at least regarding him.

Head said in the past he slept better when he wasn't alone,  and considering that after I fell into the water he had the room alone it was no wonder he had gotten nightmares.

Well it really wasn't any inconvenience to me so why not? 

If it made him feel better, strange as it might be might as well.

I gave an affirmative hum and instead of tilting my head even more forward I tilted it backwards,  letting the ginger slide into my throat before gulping strongly.

Swallowing two more times he spilled into my pouch,  immediately turning around and getting comfy.

I myself did pretty much the same,  tucking all limbs close and getting comfy as well on the floor.

“Got what you wanted?”

“Mhm, yeah, thank you, i don't think i’ll have any nightmares like this”

He yawned and slumped over,  the adrenaline from before apparently running out.

“Donovan? Why am I hearing two hearts? Are you okay?”

Oh he noticed that?

Well from where he was it was probably easier to hear.

He should probably explain.

“Oh, yeah, that, remember that I told you Ronan tossed an electric eel at me? Apparently the shock I got from that kick started my second heart somehow? But don't worry I'm okay, I mean two is better than one right?”

There haven been any problems with it aside from the initial confusion, and I was now pretty sure the nausea I had felt was from a concussion.

“Isn't it weird to have both-”

“Yes absolutely, i really wanted to throw up after waking up,  and it took pretty long for my brain to register what it was as well”

It really was weird, but I had gotten used to it pretty quickly, which was also a bit strange but better than feeling awful for longer.

“As long as you're alright, though it does sound funny”

Of course to him it would, though it probably did sound a bit funny seeing as they weren't exactly in tune, whatever function that had.

“I suppose it does? I'm actually kinda glad i don't hear my own organs all the time, id go mad”

Fuck knew if i did id stab my own eardrums.

“Mhm, that would get annoying,  and probably distract from talking to people”

Oh yeah that as well,  and some people were already bad at listening anyway.

I could hear Robin yawing again,  barely holding himself upright at all at this point

“Tired?”

Robin just hummed in agreement, yawning again.

I had to chuckle as the ginger stretched like a cat before settling down again.

Well it was late now, better i'd go to sleep as well.

“Goodnight then, wake me if you need anything”

Robin did not answer, already mostly asleep.

************************************************************************

Robin was glad Donovan had agreed to let him sleep in the pouch, he actually preferred it over having to sleep in a new and unfamiliar place.

And like this he didn't have to worry about Nightmares or Donovan disappearing again, he was literally all around him so there was no way he could manage to leave without Robin.

He twisted around until he got comfy on the warm flesh, feeling Donovan do pretty much the same outside on the floor.

Out of the two of them Robin had probably the better bed right now.

“Got what you wanted?”

Robin looked up at the voice, useless as that was in the darkness, and nobody could see him either anyway.

“Mhm, yeah, thank you, i don't think i’ll have any nightmares like this”

He yawned and laid back against his warm surroundings,  Strangely enough hearing two heartbeats?

“Donovan? Why am I hearing two hearts? Are you okay?”

He could feel the body around him shifting in confusion for a moment.

“Oh, yeah, that, remember that I told you Ronan tossed an electric eel at me? Apparently the shock I got from that kick started my second heart somehow? But don't worry I'm okay, I mean two is better than one right?”

Robin hummed, finding it strange but he was really no stranger to his friend's weird doubled anatomy.

And hey, if both worked now that was better right? 

“Isn't it weird to have both-”

“Yes absolutely, i really wanted to throw up after waking up,  and it took pretty long for my brain to register what it was as well”

Robin let out a laugh, of course it would be weird to suddenly have two working hearts when he'd lived this far with only one.

“As long as you're alright, though it does sound funny”

It really did, the hearts weren't exactly synchronized but both worked to push blood through the giant body around him.

“I suppose it does? I'm actually kinda glad i don't hear my own organs all the time, id go mad”

Robin did have to agree with that,  if he heard his own heartbeat all the time it would get annoying.

“Mhm, that would get annoying,  and probably distract from talking to people” He yawned again, sliding down the damp wall a bit more,  collecting in a heap at what was probably the bottom of the pouch.

“Tired?”

Robin just hummed in agreement,  yawning again and stretching once before curling up again.

He could feel the large body chuckle around him,  the walls slightly moving at the sound.

“Goodnight then, wake me if you need anything”

Robin mumbled something back but he wasn't sure if Donovan had heard it before falling asleep.

************************************************************************

The next time I woke up was by someone kicking at my outstretched paw.

“Oi, Fuzzbrain, get up, you missed breakfast and the bossman is having some sort of speech later to choose the new mayor or whatever”

I blinked blearily at the voice,  seeing Jamie rake their claws through my fur.

Could nobody send someone less chaotic to wake me up? 

First Nea and now this bird legged maniac.

“Mhm, gimme some time to get ready, i'll be out there in a bit”

Jamie shrugged and turned to leave, then turned back and rapidly bapped their clawed leg against my nose before hopping out.

“You ought to close your window at night!”

My head snapped to the, indeed still open, window.

Ah, fuck.

Well as long as it was only Jamie that knew it would probably be okay.

Probably.

Jamie wasn't the sort to go off and tattle,  or had at least enough mind to know what to shut up about.

Well better wake Robin up now,  i couldn't exactly go to that speech like this.

Poking at the pouch I softly called out to the ginger.

“Robin, wake up, Rikaad is doing some speech”

There was mumbling and he turned over, likely blocking his ears.

“That again? You really are not a morning person huh?”

Still, he had to get up, and I had to shift back.

“Come on, i have to shift back and i can't do that with you in there”

There was more mumbling and he seemed to finally wake up,  if slowly so.

“Mhm? What time is it? Why'd you wake me?”

I could feel him sit somewhat upright, still rather groggy though.

“We have to get up, Rikaad is doing a speech or something, 

and i have to shift back to fit through the door”

The door wasn't even half the size of the Ardua form, the room itself just barely big enough for it.

“Mh, okay, what's the thingy about?”

What did Jamie say again? New mayor right?

“Uh i think he's gonna appoint a new mayor, maybe some other things?”

He stretched and shoved a bit at the walls of my pouch.

“Alright, i hope if this is over we can go home soon, or at least go to a beach with nice seashells all of us together”

“eh if Rikaad wont come with i'll just drag him, or we can throw sand at him”

That made him laugh.

“With how fancy things he's wearing, it's gonna take forever to get out!”

“Yeah, speaking of getting out, your turn so brace yourself”

Righting myself as much as I could in the limited space I brought the redhead back up,  letting him slide to the floor where he gave a thumbs up.

Though he still didn't get up,  grabbing one of the discarded pillows and pulling it closer.

I poked at him with a paw, making sure every claw was retracted.

“Come on, we don't want to be late do we?”

“Hmmm fine, s’not warm anymore anyway”

With that he finally stood up, hair sticking out in every direction and making him look like a scraggly cat.

“Go brush your hair while I shift back, yeah?”

He nodded and yawned, walking out to get properly ready while I turned the bracelet gem and shrunk back into a more human size.

There was a mirror on the wall and after checking myself over I found that since I had slept as Ardua there wasn't much to be done.

Practical!

Now to collect Robin and head out for whatever Rikaad was doing.

Jamie really could have given a better explanation than whatever that was.

Eh they probably only halfway listened anyway.

NEXT / PREVIOUS / OVERSIGHT

[lizard-shifter-noms]

Wayward Waters Chapter 5

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Hello everyone! Chapter 5!

time to explore more of the world!

this Story contains Vore, Dont like dont read.

have fun reading!

and as always Reblogs are appreciated! (Also ASK’s are open so feel free to bother me!)

AO3 Link for those that prefer the layout there;

AO3 Wayward waters

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I missed home, but right now i had no idea where the fuck i was.

Only that I was on some island with a big ass eel pit that injured one of the Crewmembers of the ship I had landed on somehow.

And now I was sitting on a slope in my Giant form with a Birdlegged Maniac who was used as a pillow by a sea serpent.

In all honesty? Fuck.

The last I had seen of my friends was in the storm that had thrown me off the ship I was supposed to be on and now one of the guys that found me and said he'd help me was out of commission.

I glanced over to Jamie, who had given up trying to remove Imugi’s head by now and was just lying there.

They looked sad, but not sad sad, rather the kind where one tried to hide they were sad.

I looked around for anything helpful but the only things I saw were more rocks, some sand and a few palm trees which were barely the length of my under arm.

Palm trees hmm…

A VERY stupid idea came into my head.

I slowly stood up so as not to startle them and walked over to the nearest tree, a dingy little thing that had broken almost in half by the storm.

Wouldn't make it for long now anyway and was only holding on by a thread.

Good thing too, Robin would never forgive me if I ripped out a healthy plant.

I positioned myself so that they couldn't see and tried to get the tree as quietly as possible, which was only half successful.

“The HELL you doing over there? I swear if you do something shady I will get the paint bucket we have on board and pour it into your nostrils!”

That had to be the weirdest threat I had ever received, and I lived in the same castle as Nea.

Man, I even missed her too, how absolutely stupid.

Whatever, I put the tree in my hand so it looked like it grew out from there before turning around.

Holding the hand with the tree up so it could be easily seen.

“Look, Palm tree”

Jamie made a choking noise before starting to full on laugh, keeling back over while Imugi looked confusedly at them before slinking back into the ocean.

“Your jokes are so bad I don't even know why I'm laughing at them!”

I just shrugged.

“Maybe they're funny because they're bad? Or your sense of humor is just as bad as my jokes”

Jamie made a noncommittal noise and I sprawled out on the grass where I was.

“Yo Kitty cat, how tall are you? You're like as tall as Imugi is long”

How tall i was? Well human form was around 5’10, for the giant one i could only guess.

“Uhh dunno? Like thirty feet? I can't exactly measure myself easily like this”

I heard shuffling and turning my head to look. I saw that Jamie had taken the measuring rope which had kind of started all of this mess with Ronan.

“Well then, hold still and I can check! We already went through so much chaos to get this stupid rope that we might as well use it!”

Well, fair.

“Yeah, it would be nice knowing how tall I am exactly, Is the rope long enough for that?”

They shrugged.

“Only one way to find out, also this thing is like fifty feet or so if not i can still measure twice and use math to figure it out”

They walked up next to my head with one end of the rope, setting it down on the same height as my scalp.

“Can you use your thumb to hold this end to the ground? I think id just drag it away if i tried”

I nodded and pressed the end of the rope into the ground while Jamie walked along my side down to my knees, counting the feet as they went.

I did wonder how tall I actually was, so far I had just estimated myself to be around thirty feet but I wasn't sure if that was accurate.

Probably not.

I did my best not to move as Jamie walked along my side, both to not mess up the measuring and to not startle the Bird Legged weirdo.

“FORTY FIVE FEET!”

I sat up abruptly at Jamie's shout, seeing the sun already low in the sky.

“What? Forty five? That's fifteen more than I thought!”

Huh, then again I had never really had anything to accurately measure myself with.

“Yeah! Forty five! You must be bad at math!”

“Does math have anything to do with me misjudging my height?”

Jamie flicked the rope and started coiling it up.

“Well according to some nerds everything is math somehow,  So who cares?”

Well, I was the first to admit that there was a lot I didn't know, but everything was math? Who came up with that?

“Well, what now? Are we stuck on the island? I'm sure my friends worry about me and I'd like to get to them as fast as possible! And Ronan needs an actual Medic!”

Jamie tilted their head at me, and for a painful second I was reminded of Oakley, god I missed all of them.

Especially Robin.

“Well, bringing Ronan to a doc, an actual one not whatever Imik and Akeem are doing would come first, but the doc is also back at our base and we need to go there anyway for the map n’ shit.

So i guess now that our Captain’s injured well probably go there faster anyway, so i guess you get your wish”

Harsh, but true.

“Well i did want to get home as fast as possible but not like that, i hope he'll be okay, he will be okay right?”

Jamie just shrugged and waved to follow them, which I did, slowly.

“I'm sure he'll get over it, it's not the first time he got bitten by a electric eel, just never so many, also he managed to get through a fuckton of other weird injuries, so yeah hell be fine, he don't got enough brain for it to be damaged further anyway”

So Ronan would be okay in the end, good to hear.

“Hey! So you can shift into that fuzzy thing and into a giant right? Do you have anything more portable than that? Well be faster if you're not so fucking oversized”

Well, yes, but I hadn't done so because I hadn't trusted them thus far, but if we could go faster…

I waited for a moment that Jamie was looking forward to the boat and then turned the Gem on the bracelet, shrinking down to my human size.

The next time they turned to face me I was already back in my human form and they let out a startled screeching noise that grated in my pointy ears.

“You could do that the entire time? What the fuck! You should have done that sooner!”

“Well, i didn't know you guys, and i'm less likely to be stabbed as a giant creature, also the entire thing with my second heart starting to work and i didn't know if shifting would fuck it up even more”

“...Fair point, let's get back on the ship and jumpscare Imik!”

“What? Why? And why Imik?”

“Cuz Akeem can't be scared, also it's funny seeing Imiks Webbed ears Flare up in alarm!”

So just for fun then, yeah that was okay.

“Well, as long as it's okay I don't see why not, but shouldn't we focus on getting Ronan to the Doc you mentioned?”

Their face lost the mischievous touch.

“Ugh yeah fair, let's go on board and toss Imugi the Halfter so she can tow us away from the island”

They walked up the plank to the Boat and I followed behind, 

almost slipping one time as the wood was slick under my feet and the Orange tinted sky made weird shadows.

“If you fall in i will laugh”

“If I fall in, I will make sure the splash hits only you!”

As stupid as being stuck away from my friends was at least the banter with Jamie was a little funny, they were gruff sure, but not malicious.

 “Come on Kitty cat! Help me toss the tow thing to Imugi!”

I followed them up to the front of the boat where a variety of stuff was bolted down or straight up Built into the ship, like the box in the front.

The Box looked to be lockable and Jamie yanked out a weird construction of rope and metal, the front part reminding me of the thing they put into the mouth of a horse to ride it.

Then they tossed the front half into the water and hooked the part still on the ship into a pair of curved metal things that were bolted to the boat itself.

So that was the thing Imugi used to tow the boat! Interesting.

“Did you know that Imugi is named that because Ronan kept her in a mug for the first two weeks of her life? Apparently she was TINY! And ‘IN MUG’ became Imugi at some point”

What? That sea monster used to fit in a mug? A bucket I could maybe believe, but a mug?

“She was that tiny? Wait, why was she kept in a mug?”

Jamie shrugged.

“Orphanage probably wouldn't have taken kindly to a sea monster in the house, he left after Imugi got to big to hide, somehow got a boat and a bunch of idiots to help him out”

“You're also one of those Idiots, you're aware right?”

They waved me off.

“Yeah yeah, whatever, to get on this ship you gotta have a few screws loose anyway, and even more so if you end up staying”

Well, at least they were self aware.

There was a sudden tug on the boat and I leaned over to see what it was.

Apparently Imugi had found the tow thingy despite the Ocean getting dark before the sky and was slowly dragging it through the water, Boat and all attached.

Jamie hopped down from the railing and walked towards the stairs, the movement of their legs reminding me of a strutting pigeon.

Yeah, I'd better never mention that, as funny as the mental image might be.

I followed them down the stairs back onto the deck.

“Do we need to steer the boat if Imugi is towing it?”

“Nah, she knows where to go, she's not stupid she’ll know that with one of us injured the best thing to do is go Home”

Well, that was relieving, I doubted Jamie could steer properly, or even if so that they would do so in a normal way.

The sound of a door opening drew my attention while Jamie walked up the mast to the crows nest again.

Turning my head around I saw that it was Akeem, who softly closed the door behind him.

He looked at me unblinkingly for a moment, could he even blink? and then carried on past me as if nothing was amiss.

He opened a hatch in the floor and pulled out an Telescope, hit the mast one time and then tossed the thing up where Jamie caught it in their claws with a single leg.

Impressive, I had to admit that.

Despite their insane shenanigans they managed to function pretty well as a team.

Once again I was made aware of my own friends not being here with a pang.

I hoped i could go home soon, they were nice yes, but i'd rather go back to Tunstead and the Castle in Kamerasca.

Akeem then turned to me and I once again wondered if the guy had to blink at all, him being completely, well, Stone faced.

“Ronan is alright for now, we will head to Kariba Island as fast as possible to get him proper treatment, then after we have brought him to a doctor we will see that we find you a way to get home”

“Thank you so much, can I help somehow? I'm not good with boats or medicine but i can move heavy stuff”

The stone man shook his head.

“We are alright for now, should we need your help i will let you know”

With that he left again and went into the boat.

Huh, thus far I haven't set a single foot into the ship itself, eh whatever.

Also Kariba Island? Hadn't heard that before.

I wondered where on the map that was and what the island itself looked like.

Eh, I'd find out soon enough.

Soo… what to do now? I was stuck on the ship with nothing to do, and I did not want to sleep just yet as i was not tired.

I did not like that, it gave my brain time to think about Home which made me miss it all the more.

I Looked up the mast to the crows nest at the top.

One could probably see pretty far from there.

If Jamie could climb it with sweater covered hands then surely i could climb it normally!

I went up to the wooden structure and tried to jump up as far as possible only to slide right back down despite my best efforts to hold on.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

Came Jamie's voice from above and glancing up I could see their head looking down at me.

“I'm trying to climb! Maybe I'll get lucky and see something I know!”

As unlikely as it was, it would at least distract me from thinking too much.

“Well you're doing a shit job at trying to get up here!”

“Help me then!” “Nah, watching you struggle is funnier”

I rolled my eyes at the retort and tried again to get up, only to slide down again while I wrapped my legs around the mast and held on with my hands.

“How the fuck do you do it? And with fabric covered hands no less?!”

“Hah! I'm just used to it! Tell ya what! If you can get up here with no help I'll give you one of my shiny pebbles!”

I was about to retort that I had no use for shiny pebbles when I saw what Jamie was holding up.

A whole ass Ruby the size of a thumb, partially obscured by the sweater which still covered their hands.

Even in the weird light of the late evening it was clearly visible, especially against the blue fabric.

Well, admittedly i had no need for it seeing as i lived at the castle but damn if that wasn't enticing.

“Where did you even get that?”

“Sometimes I help Imik crack open Boxes from sunken ships! So I get to keep some of the stuff!”

Huh, true sunken ships might contain treasure but one had to get lucky to get anything good.

“Alright, I'll get up there somehow!”

I tried to scale the smooth wood again and this time managed to get a little higher than before but fell down regardless.

“One should think that a guy able to turn into a giant cat could climb better than that!”

Well, true, but the Ardua form had claws…oh wait.

Jamie also used their claws to climb! Granted their bird-like feet were already better for climbing but maybe I should use my nails instead of trying to hold on with only my hands.

Yeah, I think I figured it out.

I slipped my shoes off and put them in one of the bolted down boxes so they wouldn't get lost and then went back to scaling the mast.

This time it worked! Without shoes and using all of my nails to grip better I actually managed to climb slowly up!

“Now you look like a monkey instead of a cat! Good thinking though!”

I looked up for a moment at Jamie's dumb comments and saw I was a little over halfway up by now.

Only a little bit to go!

I went at it and was nearly to the top in no time, noticing it was nearly dark now, damn how slow was i at climbing?

Then my hand slipped.

Before I could slip more or even fall Jamie's clawed leg had gripped my upper arm.

They pulled me up on the horizontal beam and I hung there for a moment like a piece of fabric.

“Ugh”

“Ayy you made it! Congrats! 

You don't have to lay there like a wet towel though!”

Ohh this was a bit higher than i had originally thought.

I clung to the wood and tried not to think what kind of injuries I'd get should I fall from up here.

I also tried to calm my breathing and erratic heartbeat.

Well, heartbeats now, at least they were in sync now.

I decided to stop looking straight down and instead looked at Jamie.

Huh, they had made the vantage point into an actual nest, sticks included.

There also was a variety of knicknacks lying around, including some valuable looking things like gems and gold.

They held out a mishmash of shiny and glittery things in a cracked wooden bowl, still covering their hands with the blue sweater.

I wondered what was up with that but decided against asking.

Not my business, and there might be a reason as to why.

“Well, ya made it! As promised you get to pick whatever you want from the shiny stuff in the bowl!”

I continued to cling to the wood with all of my limbs but still peered into the bowl that Jamie held out to me.

There was the aforementioned ruby of course, which glinted despite the sun being almost gone by now, but also a variety of other stuff, some of which were fossils?

One in particular caught my eye, It looked like a crystalized sea star about half the size of my thumb.

The crystal itself was a pretty shimmering opal with hints of green and blue as well as orange.

Well, that would be one hell of a souvenir, and Fable said he liked stars so it would be perfect.

I pointed at the crystalized sea star, still clinging to the wood to not fall off.

Instead of handing the thing to me directly Jamie stuffed it into a little bag with a long cord and put it over my head like some sort of necklace.

“Now you don't lose it!”

“Thanks? I think”

They shrugged and leaned back in the surprisingly roomy nest-like build.

“Hey?”

“Hm?”

“How the fuck do i get down?”

They sat up again and looked down to the deck.

“Uhh, i just slide down or climb down, not sure if you'll manage that though”

“I'm NOT doing that, especially not now that it's getting dark! Please tell me there is some other way down?”

They stared at me.

“Well, only other way down would be to just fall, but i think that's worse for you”

Yes, yes it was.

“Oh fuckdamnit, what do I do now?”

“Eh, im sure Akeem will think of something tomorrow, or Imik though he's better at diving”

I looked at them with a deadpan expression even if most of that was probably lost in the slowly encroaching darkness.

“And what am I supposed to do now? I don't think I can cling the entire night to this piece of wood!”

“Uh, right, gimme a minute to make some space”

They haphazardly shoved anything pointy into one corner of the nest and then pulled me into it.

Despite being only four feet four at most they were pretty strong i had to admit that.

No wonder Imik asked for help cracking open old boxes.

I just flopped face first into it right where I was, shoving a handful of seashells away from where my head rested.

“I think this was a stupid idea, but quite frankly i don't care right now”

“You're laying there like a wet cat, have some dignity Kitty cat”

I just rolled my eyes at them and pulled my legs into the nest as well.

“Whatever, after climbing im too tired to care, you can wake me tomorrow you overgrown chicken”

With that i faced down again and used my crossed arms as a pillow.

It was only a minute later that I felt a clawed foot on my back, and then another.

Jamie settled on top of my back with what sounded like a very quiet chirp.

I was pretty sure for an onlooker they looked like a broody hen right now.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

“You're warmer than the floor”

“Then get blankets or something, im not a fucking matress”

“You are now!”

With that they settled where they were and I could literally feel them poofing up like a little bird.

I gave up with a sigh, it wasn't worth the energy, Besides, it wasn't hurting me.

“Whatever, but if you fall of because i move its your own fault”

“Yeah yeah, i've fallen down before, its no that bad aside from the sprained toe i had once”

I just grumbled something into the floor.

“Hey, you good?”

“...i miss my friends, the last they saw of me was when i went overboard”

“Oh… well we are headed to get a map or whatever, or maybe there's a faster ship that will take you onboard?”

I just grumbled something into the floor, suddenly feeling worse than ever about being so far away.

“Hrmmmm”

I buried my face in the sticks so Jamie wouldn't see the tears in my eyes as I thought about what my friends could be doing right now.

Were they searching for me? Or did they already think I was dead?

Robin would surely push for a search but Rikaad, well, he usually only thought logically, and searching for me when I might be dead and he had something else to do wasn't logical.

He still had to stop the deserter fleet from Maringand and try to deal with the pirates.

And Arthur had no idea what even happened, he probably thought we were all on the boat doing stupid stuff.

My hands gripped one of the surrounding sticks and squeezed it till it broke.

As I buried my face even deeper into the sticks, which weren't as uncomfortable as expected, I felt Jamie move off of me.

They did not say anything but I could sense them right next to me.

Suddenly there was the sensation of a hand raking through my hair.

The hand was coarse, almost scaly and the fingers seemed to be tipped with claws.

Jamie's hand? No wonder they hid them in the sweater, people aren't nice to anything they deemed dangerous, and claws definitely counted as that.

I didn't move, or even make any attempt to glance at their hands to see what they looked like exactly.

The only thing I did notice was the number of fingers, five.

So definitely not like Oakley.

I kept lying there unmoving as Jamie detangled my messy hair somewhat, picking out salt and other stuff found in the sea that had gotten stuck there as I fell into the water in the storm.

The word preening popped into my head for a second.

As much as I did not want to admit it, the sensation of claws gently scratching at my scalp was strangely soothing.

I maneuvered my arms to be around my head so I could hide my face even better.

Just as Jamie didn't want me to see their hands, I didn't want them to see the silent tears running down my face.

God, I missed my friends, even Nea.

Despite having a person next to me who I was on good terms with, I had never felt lonelier.

Maybe because I finally knew what it was like to have friends and didn't want to lose that.

I tucked the arm with the bracelet under me and shielded my face with the other.

I stayed like that and let Jamie mess with my hair until I fell asleep, not once giving in to the temptation of looking at their hands as curious as I might have been.

I was who knew when later awoken to shortness of breath and a slap to the face.

I sat up abruptly, panting and gasping for air.

I looked around frantically, not recognizing anything as my sight refused to focus, leaving everything blurry while hyperventilating.

I gripped at my chest, feeling both of my hearts beat wildly and making the thumping sound echo in my ears.

Then I got a second slap to the face and my eyes finally focused somewhat.

“Whh?”

“Man you almost fell off! Are you okay?”

I looked at the person talking to me, noticing frizzy hair and a blue sweater.

“I- uh, Jamie?”

“Yeah! Who else could get up here?”

My brain was working too much and too little at the same time and I felt nauseous.

“Dude calm down, i don't want to slap you a third time”

I rolled over and dry heaved, actually glad to not need to eat right now.

“Do I need to get Imik or Akeem?”

I shook my head, still feeling awful.

There was no mistaking the way my limbs shook and my mind reeled with Images id rather not remember.

“No… im- im fine, just give me… some- some time okay?”

While I never had one prior it didn't take a genius to figure out I just had a panic attack, and even now my hearts were beating like mad in my chest and I felt weak, trying to steady my breathing.

“You don't look fine, what the fuck happened?”

I could sense them poofing up next to me while I leaned my head on the rim of the nest.

I closed my eyes tightly to try and banish the Images of corpses on a bloody field and an Injured Fable.

When that didn't work I opened them as looking at the ground way below me was better than those images.

“Hah… Panic attack, when i got tossed overboard i left the medicine from Oakley in my cabin”

“PANIC ATTACK? You don't think mentioning something like that beforehand would be a good idea? You would have fallen off hadn't I grabbed you!”

I groaned and tried to calm my shaking limbs and racing hearts.

“I never- never had one before! Didn't think i- id get one”

Suddenly a hand shoved my chest down again and a pillow was shoved under my head.

“Lay down dumbass, i'm going to get Imik”

“Wh-?”

Before I could say anything they had started climbing down already.

So instead I let my head sink onto the pillow and tried to calm down, repeating the breathing exercises I had shown Robin so long ago.

Breath in four seconds.

Hold for seven.

Then out for eight.

God, all of this sucked.

At least without needing to eat, I didn't have the problem of throwing up.

The random dry heaving wasn't any more pleasant though.

I rolled onto my back to the best of my ability and just stared at the blue sky, my vision still a little blurry.

I decided to lay there with shaky limbs until Jamie came back.

I felt absolutely awful, I never wanted this again, but I had no hopes of this being a one time thing.

I dug the heels of my palms into my eyes in an attempt to make the flashes of Images stop,  not keen on reliving the moment Oakley Burned like a dry leaf.

Or the time Fable fell into the river after he got shot in the foot.

I rolled to my side and tucked my knees to my torso, dry heaving again which caused uncomfortable muscle spasms in my abdomen.

My two hearts were still beating wildly, but at least they were in sync now.

For the moment I just lay there trying not to get another panic attack and waiting for Jamie or whoever else to help me get off this stupid mast.

While I lay there I could hear the sound of metal thunking against wood and I closed my eyes tightly as it happened again, curling up and putting my hands over my ears as the sound came again, being horribly reminded of the sound the Arrows had made when they hit flesh.

Luckily the sound stopped as I was about to start hyperventilating again, but I still couldn't bring myself to move, staying where I was, curled up and with shaky limbs.

I was vaguely aware of Jamie being back and Imik also somehow being up here.

Akeem was probably too heavy.

I tried to look at them through my unfocused eyes but only saw blurry shapes.

“Its okay, calm down”

I heard one of them speak but through the white noise in my ear I could not tell who it was.

I flinched away when I felt a hand touching me.

“AKEEM! TOSS ME THE STUFF!”

Stuff? What stuff?

The blurry shapes moved and I could make out one of them leaving my line of, very blurry, sight.

Judging by the amount of yellow I could make out it was Imik.

He held a stick or something under my face before breaking it in half.

I smelled something weird, like an overly sweet plant but with a slight hint of rotten leaves.

It made my head swim and my thoughts blur together into a deep thrum.

My limbs feel heavy as well and I lost whatever little focus I had in favor of the fogginess.

Shortly after that my entire vision went black and I was back to being unconscious.

NEXT / PREVIOUS / OVERSIGHT

[lizard-shifter-noms]

Wayward Waters Chapter 15

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Hello everyone! Chapter 15!

absolute Chaos!!

this Story contains Vore, Dont like dont read.

have fun reading!

and as always Reblogs are appreciated! (Also ASK’s are open so feel free to bother me!)

AO3 Link for those that prefer the layout there;

AO3 Wayward waters

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I stared in unabashed horror as the thing that could pick up Ronan and me as we were right now in one hand leaned over and put its head close to the bowsprit of the Call Of The Damned, where Cassidy stood.

He did not run, or even flinch as the Kraken Mer got close enough to just bite off a good chunk of the front of his ship.

Cassidy was either very brave or very foolish, perhaps both.

The Kraken lowered itself down until it was approximately on eye level with him, staring directly at him with those weirdly pale Lilac eyes with the weird pupils that almost seemed to slightly glow.

For a moment that seemed to stretch into eternity nobody moved, not Cassidy, not the Kraken, not any of and not even the wind and waves.

Then the behemoth blinked, slowly, at Cassidy and very gently and carefully put its own head against his way smaller one.

It sure was something to see, something where a human wasn’t even the size of half a finger being so gentle.

Then the Kraken drew away, letting go of the ship and slinking back into the crater in the middle,  the water making a few waves as it disappeared.

Then it was like it had never been here. 

The seawater went back to being weirdly clear and calm, The only difference was the number of shipwrecks that dotted the ground that I now realized had been worked smooth by years of traveling over it.

Not unlike the sunning rock back at the Castle.

I still stood there frozen,  staring at something that wasn’t even there anymore.

“I think i have to throw up”

Ronan said from somewhere to my right.

Which, honestly? Fair.

I left him to that for now in favor of Looking for Robin, wherever Jamie had dragged him.

Though there was still blood in my fur and mouth, better wash that first.

So instead of going up the slope I went down to the water,  sticking my head in and trying to wash the blood out.

Rinsing my mouth out I noticed that the water here was less salty tasting as in the rest of the ocean, then again blood also tasted salty and I had the taste in my mouth for quite a bit.

Shaking the water out like a wet cat I went back up the slope, where Jamie was already walking up while the others tended to their wounds.

Well Akeem didn’t bleed and he didn’t even look like he had any scratches,  he was probably making sure they wouldn’t do stupid shit again.

Walking up I saw that Jamie had not bothered to wash the blood off,  and was making rusty red colored footprints on the stone.

Well that was not nice to see,  but at least as the blood dried the prints got less defined.

“Jamie, wait for me! Where did you drag Robin to?”

I was beside them in just a few steps and they pointed to a dead tree up on the ridge of the island.

“I told him to go hide behind that! 

And stay there until someone went to get him”

“Thank you!”

I ran past Jamie who grumbled something about walking unnecessarily upwards and went back down to where the rest of the Crew was.

Sprinting up the smooth stone I had reached the dead tree in no time, leaning to look around it showed nothing though.

But spotting the bright red mop of hair was not hard,  he was just a few paces away looking into a little divot filled with water, surely from the last time it rained.

“Robin! There you are!”

He snapped his head around to look at me, face brightening immediately.

“Dononvan! Is it over? I- uh i did look even though Jamie told me not to, i didn’t think the Kraken would be a mer, is it gone now?”

Of course curiosity would get the best of him, but if the scene with the Mer appearing completely for a bit was all he saw it wasn’t too bad.

“Yeah, i have no idea what the hell happened,  but the Kraken is gone, went back into its Hidey hole”

He looked confused at me for a second.

“Where is your tooth?”

Ah, yep, that.

“Uh, i think Akeem has it right now,  it got stuck in some wood, don’t worry it’s not bad”

“If you’re sure, what are you gonna do with it?”

“No idea, maybe i’ll give it to Ronan,  he’s interested in any biology stuff i think”

Not like I had any use for it now,  and hopefully the new one would actually grow in.

Robin just hummend, nodded and stared back into the water for a moment, which I noticed was way deeper than originally assumed,  not unlike the hole in the middle of the island.

Shuddering slightly I ignored that in favor of looking at whatever Robin had been watching in the shade of some boulders.

Jellyfish, pulsing with a soft glow as various colors circled through their skin.

Huh, that was kinda pretty, 

but nearly all jellyfish stung so better not touch them.

“Do you think that’s the result of magic? 

They kinda look like some of Oakley’s crystals”

They really did.

“No idea, but they’re still jellyfish and i have no idea what would happen if you got stung by those,  now come on let’s go back i want to leave this island as fast as i can”

He nodded and stood up, immediately trying to climb up my arm from where I had hunched over.

“You got splinters under your ear, want me to pluck them out?”

There were? Well better not shift with things stuck to me.

“If you can yeah, i still don’t know what happens when i shift with things stuck in my skin, and i don’t want to know”

If it stayed the same size while I shrunk I would have quite a problem.

Robin worked quickly to pluck them all out,  the tiny pieces of wood feeling like nothing to me.

After he got them out he ran his fingers trough the fur to check if he missed any, the feeling of his way smaller hands brushing trough the fur feeling strangely soothing.

“I think i got all of them, are you gonna shift here or by the boat?”

“Boat, i’m still not sure what the hell happened,  or if all the Pirates are gone”

“Mhm”

He climbed up to sit somewhere in my mane,  hunkering down and going out of sight.

“M’ glad you’re okay”

He mumbled into my fur and I walked slower for a moment.

“Yeah, so am I, and I’m glad nothing happened to you either”

I resumed walking at a normal pace,  though that was still way faster than a human.

Down the slope I could see Ronan, still in creature form, getting absolutely beat by Jamie who used their bird claws to play earring.

Ouch, I knew that hurt.

And he certainly looked like he found that painful.

“What is that? One of Imugi’s friends?”

Came it from my mane and I realized Robin couldn’t see the bracelet from where he was, it being on Ronan’s other arm.

“Ah, no that’s Ronan, somehow” “WHAT? Wait, I thought the bracelet killed people that don’t have that weird gene thing Oakley said?”

“Don’t scream in my ear! But uhh yeah,  Apparently he can wear it? Somehow?”

I really had no idea why he was able to put it on, or why he thought it was a good idea to test that in the middle of a Kraken attack.

“Does that mean he’s related to you? And why does it look so weird? 

Rowley didn’t look like that at all, more like you than that”

That I could give no answer to, could this even be called Ardua? 

Or was it something else altogether?

“I don’t think so? Whatever that is i don’t think its an Ardua,  we should ask Oakley about when we can”

Robin hummed in agreement and I watched Ronan try to shake of Jamie like I had done.

Though with way less success.

“Dononvan! Help! How the fuck do i shift back? 

Jamie won’t let go of my ear!”

Ah, that was why, he’d only seen me turn INTO an Ardua but not back.

I let Robin jump down from my back and went over to Ronan, Jamie still hanging from his ear.

When they saw me they jumped off, doing a salto and landing on their feet, scampering to Akeem to use him as a perch.

I rolled my eyes at the antics and then showed Ronan how to shift back, his oversized fingers, or flippers? Having a bit of trouble with dexterity.

As soon as he was back to normal alongside me he got slapped behind the head by Imik, 

who then went on to put his hands around the poor new shifters neck.

“DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED WE WERE WHEN WE COULDN’T FIND YOU? AND THEN YOU’RE JUST DOING STUPID SHIT WHILE SWIMMING AROUND! 

ALSO WHY THE FUCK DID YOU THINK WEARING SOMETHING THAT YOU WERE WARNED COULD KILL YOU WAS A GOOD IDEA! YOU NEVER THINK OF CONSEQUENCES!”

I walked backwards a little as Imik ranted at Ronan who just let him, not even trying to remove the hands from his neck and instead opting to just hold his wrist.

“I actually did think of consequences for once! I used the data I got from Donovan and compared it to myself! I don’t know why but for some reason I completely forgot to examine myself at ANY point in the past!

Wild huh? A it turns out eels aren’t so bad a tool to find out if you have more than one heart”

What.

Of course leave it to him to forget to ever examine himself while gushing over every other biological marvel.

Imik looked doubtful and confused at him.

“No wait, i did Chest compressions on you,  there was only one heartbeat, the fuck are you talking about?”

“Oh yeah the heart you kickstarted is the other one,  i’m pretty sure the first one got fried”

By this point everyone was just looking at him either dumbfounded or sort of disappointed and confused.

Imik finally took his hands away from Ronan’s neck at least.

“You SO owe us an explanation when we are home! What the hell man!

AND we are telling Grace to properly examine you! I can’t believe you managed to weasel yourself out of any proper doctor appointment ever”

Ronan just stood there sheepishly, at least until Imugi waddled on land and started chewing on his sleeve.

“Sorry, but it worked out didn’t it? And this new form thingy is quite cool! 

Hey now I could help Imugi tow the boat! Or-”

We left him rambling at Imik and Jamie, who still looked like they wanted to throttle him, and instead went back to the boat.

Akeem was already walking back up the plank,  my lost tooth hoisted over his shoulder.

At least he had taken the time to wash the blood off,  and whatever else had splattered onto his skin.

“Donovan? Do you think the ship will sail okay? 

It’s got a few more holes than before”

True, the pirates had shot at it with not exactly terrible aim.

“Im sure as long as the part that’s actually in the water didn’t get damaged we should be fine, maybe a bit slower now though”

Robin just stared at a piece of broken railing as we walked back onboard.

“I hope so, what now? I mean, the Pirates are, uhh, gone, do we just go home with Rikaad as soon as the Victory Rose is repaired?”

“Honestly? I don’t know, but if they have to repair the ship i’m sure we can get a day to explore at least”

“I hope so, this has been chaotic and so far I haven’t even seen a single seashell!”

Oh right, and I had told Arthur I’d bring him a pretty one.

“Yeah, i’m sure we can find a few,  a big ship like that wont get repaired in just one day”

He nodded and climbed up the stairs to the top part of the deck, carefully avoiding the broken railing.

“They really missed most shots huh? 

The only things they hit where the door and pieces of the railing”

“They also got the very tip of the bowsprit! Somehow, but the little Flame didn’t come back”

Ah right, the Elmsfire that Jamie had titled as dangerous.

“I’m sure Jamie said that was something called ‘Elmsfire’ and i don’t think the next time we see it will go as smoothly as this one”

Considering how chaotic and dangerous it had already been shortly after the fires appeared I wasn’t exactly keen on having them show up again.

“Aww, it seemed nice, im sure being taken by everyone as some harbinger of doom must get lonely”

“There were more than just one,  i’m sure they befriend each other or something”

Though he did have a point in that, maybe the fire disappeared because it wasn’t used to people being friendly?

Whatever the case we had managed to power through this insanity mostly unscathed, missing tooth not counting.

“I hope they do! I find it interesting that Fire can do that! 

Hey if there’s fire that can take on such a form what about other elements? Like water! Or air!”

“A water spirit is sometimes called an undine, 

or more commonly known as Nixie or Naiad”

I turned confusedly to the voice behind us, 

which turned out to be Shalimar.

“How the fuck did you get here?”

She shrugged.

“Got bored on Dad’s ship, and i’ve actually met a few Naiads,  they’re pretty playful, and not exactly aware that people need air”

Ah, so they might drown you and not realize, nice.

“Ohh, and what about air spirits? Do earth ones exist? 

No wait Dryads are a thing so earth spirits definitely exist”

Shalimar just shrugged.

“Eh, dunno i’m a sailor not a bird, but i think Nymra met one once,  uhh i think she called it a Sylph or something, don’t remember”

There really were a lot of unusual life forms out there,  Then again magic also existed.

Shalimar jumped back down to the larger part of the deck and went to try and undo the sail, a concerned Imik and Ronan immediately rushing to do it before she could.

It wasn’t long before other boats aimed to leave this place as well, immediately healing for the exit and avoiding the hole in the middle as best as they could.

The Call Of The Damned ignored that completely and just went straight over it, sailing past some smaller boats and out again.

After this people sure would have some questions for him,  including myself.

What in the absolute FUCK had been the plan here? 

And what if it didn’t go as it should have? DID it even go as it should?

And why could he summon a fucking KRAKEN?

Well he was on an entirely different ship,  and likely would not let anyone else on for a while.

By now Jamie had put the boxes back up again to sit on top of them only to get distracted by Akeem asking them to go be lookout.

I sat on the free spot in the middle,  not really keen on going near water right now.

Robin sat next to me, staring at the bowsprit as if the Elmsfire he had apparently decided was a friend would show up again.

“… are you okay? I know you don’t like fighting”

Yeah, this was the second time I was fighting in a bigger battle,  if one could call this that?

“Honestly? Right now I’m just tired,  but I also have too much adrenaline to sleep for the next few hours,  and maybe paranoia about what just went down.

As soon as were back home, or just on land i guess,  i’m going to faceplant on the next best soft surface and sleep”

Not only that but half of my limbs were pretty achy,  though that would go away in time.

“Well, uhh… at least you have quite the story to tell to Fable? 

And Arthur, im sure Nea would love to hear it too”

“Yeah Nea would probably love all the parts I hated,  I somehow have no doubt she would have planted her giant claymore in one of the Kraken’s tentacles.

Though im sure Oakley will be delighted at knowing there is such a creature out here,  fuck knows he might even come here to see for himself”

Oakley would probably even find a way to communicate with it, somehow.

“Yeah, how old do you think you’d have to get to get as big as that Kraken?”

Good question, how big was that thing anyway? 

Its entire head had been as tall as my Giant form at least.

“Older than Oakley is now probably, I mean he’s what? 

Sixhundred? And still pretty small”

Robin laughed, and then complained as Oakley was still a bit taller than him, at least if the winged bastard wasn’t crouching.

We sat like that for the entire way back to Kariba island, which apparently was the closest inhabited island to Graves keep,  just trying to wind down from the stressful day.

Ronan falling overboard with the Bracelet had been a pretty bad scare, and I was still tempted to whack him for that, again.

Though i’d have to tell him to visit us sometime,  He was a pretty alright guy, if airheaded.

He also should show the Bracelet to Oakley, 

surely this new type of Bracelet would interest him,  and maybe he’d know the name of the new creature!

Even though I had found it and it was technically mine,  I wouldn’t ask him to give it back.

I didn’t need it, I had my own and I was not keen on being some strange water creature.

And who knew? Maybe my genetics thing wasn’t even compatible with the blue Bracelet, and I wasn’t about to try it.

Oakley surely would know more.

Man that guy would get to hear a wild story,  after all it surely was not everyday one came so close to a Kraken.

Though he’d probably go out and see for himself if he could.

The Halcyon parked in its usual spot, which I was actually thankful for as I had no doubt the rest of the island and all the Boats would be very loud by now, people asking what happened and the like.

At this point i really only wanted to sleep,  feeling drained of energy, maybe they’d let me crash on their cushioned bench they patchworked somehow.

Robin was looking at all of it with wide eyes, well he had not been here before and this place WAS quite something.

“Wow, so much stuff! And on so little room! I want to explore it!”

“Not today, im sure all the other ships are currently overrun by onlookers that want to know what happened, maybe tomorrow i’m also rather tired”

Robin blinked and then nodded.

“You look tired! Do we have to sleep on the ship?”

“No, these guys have a house, well if you want to call a repurposed cave that”

I pointed at where the door was, noticing Imugi was already waddling up to the little area filled with saltwater.

Robin stared at her, apparently not aware she could go on land as well.

“She’s on land! Wow!”

I had no doubt that he wanted to go up to her,  this time properly and not the fleeting time when she’d brought us from the Call Of The Damned to the Halcyon.

“Yeah, you can go up to her if you want, i’m sure nobody will mind”

He squealed in joy and ran down the plank Akeem had put down to get on land, myself following slowly behind as Robin ran out of sight to play with the sea serpent.

Eh, at least with Imugi there he wouldn’t get hurt,  and I was too tired to do anything else today.

Pretty sure I was experiencing an adrenaline crash or however that was called.

“You good man? No wait dumb question,  you want me to put up a hammock for you?”

I nodded thankfully at Imik who walked ahead to put up said hammock.

At least that way I didn’t take up the cushion bench in their living room.

Walking back into their home it still looked as chaotic as when we left.

And Yamet was somehow in the kitchen already if the sound of sizzling oil was anything to go by.

Well that was fast, ignoring how tired I was as I would have to get up to sit at the table later anyway and peaked my head into the Kitchen.

Yamet was humming and slathering slabs of what might be pork in something that smelled like mustard and then covered them in crumbs.

He then tossed them into a pan filled with oil,  all in all it smelled pretty good.

And apparently he had gotten Ronan to peel potatoes,  probably as punishment for doing all that stupid shit today.

Deserved.

I sneaked past that to not bother them and went outside down to the little pond area where Imugi had her Fun splashing water at Robin who rather unsuccessfully tried to splash back.

Well that wasn’t fair, grinning, I shifted again back to the Ardua form, stalking around the rock formations like I had seen cats do.

I jumped into the water next to Imugi, 

making a wave that was actually effective against her, and knocked Robin off his feet so that he landed in the water laughing loudly.

Imugi squeaked in joy and used her flippers to splash water at me, soaking my fur so that I could just shake myself and get half the water back on her.

Robin had climbed up one of the boulders,  laughing and trying to wring his shirt out.

“Well like that I can’t win!”

True, luckily Imugi brought a bunch of large flat rocks over, what they were for i had no idea.

At least until she took a single one into her beak and tossed it in a way that made it skip the entire length of the watery area.

“OHHH! Donovan did you see that? Even i can’t do that!”

Oh great, the Sea Serpent could skip rocks, and she looked rightfully proud of it.

“Yeah i did see, im right here, well i can skip rocks but not as good as that, and she doesn’t even have hands!”

Imugi clacked with her beak and tried to give me one of the stones, which i could neither hold, not even with my teeth as a tooth was missing nor with my paws.

Walking a bit back out of the water I turned back to human size, grabbing my own flat rock from the multitude of pebbles on the wet ground.

I handed a few to Robin as well.

“Here i’ll show you how to do it”

Taking one of the pebbles I put it in my hand and showed Robin how to toss it in slow motion first before letting it skip.

It managed about five times before Imugi snapped it up in her beak.

“Hey! That was a good one! It could’ve gone longer!”

Imugi just made a clicking noise and spat the pebble onto a ledge, taking position between two larger boulders sunk into the water.

Ah, that was her plan.

“Oh I got it, we need to get at least one rock between the boulders while Imugi is there!”

We played that, after showing Robin a few more times how to skip rocks, till someone yelled out that Yamet was done cooking.

Despite trying we lost though,  Imugi being surprisingly good at catching small and fast things.

Then again that’s what she was focusing on.

She whistle-clicked proudly at having won and was nice enough to give us a lift to one of the windows, where Akeem immediately tossed towels at us as we entered.

“Yamet cooked, dry off and you can get a plate”

With that he left and I dried the mud out of my shoes,  in the end just deciding to take them off and put them against the wall to not track dirt everywhere.

Yamet had really just put the meat randomly on the plates, 

each containing about the same amount of meat as well as mashed potatoes which were probably courtesy of Ronan’s help.

As it turned out the crumbs around the meat was just bread,  but somehow this was still one of the best meat dishes i’ve had, £ and the mashed potatoes were also okay,  especially with the sauce Yamet handed out from a pitcher.

Apparently he had done so so everyone could choose how much they wanted, if any at all.

Smart, and practical in case someone didn’t like it.

Though eating while Having Jamie sitting to my right and once again not using any cutlery to dig in wasn’t the best experience.

They really ate like a feral hog,  it was a miracle that nothing got on their sweater somehow.

Probably practice.

After dinner we talked for a bit longer, mostly just cussing at Ronan for being so dumb and reckless.

And then the next thing i knew was that i woke up in the middle of the night in a hammock, huh, must have fallen asleep.

And Akeem must have been the one to drag me to the hammock as I wasn’t sure if any of the others could even lift me.

Where was he anyway? 

And why the fuck did i wake up at this ungodly hour?

It was still dark outside, and the moon wasn’t even that high up, so still about two hours till midnight.

Ugh, great.

My brain was foggy, and still tired as well but I felt like I had to get up.

There was something that called me outside, not hearable but still there.

Tired and foggy brained I followed it, it was almost like an invisible thread slowly pulling me outside.

In an almost sleepwalk-like state I went past a sleeping Imugi down the island.

I had no idea where I was going, or even why,  just that Something wanted me to go down what would be the ‘root’ of the wisdom tooth shaped island.

The longer one too if i recalled correctly as that was the side the Crew had built their chaos house.

It was eerily quiet too,  though that didn’t really register in my foggy brain, not even that there weren’t even any of the nocturnal creatures out and about.

It was only as I got to the very end of the peninsula, a sandy little corner, that I realized I couldn’t even hear the waves, because there were none.

The entire ocean was smooth like a freshly polished mirror,  and reflected the starry sky just the same.

It was actually pretty beautiful.

Then something moved underneath the surface of the mirror like water, that I now realized was about as calm as at a Graves keep.

No, exactly like Graves keep, Kraken included as I saw the pearlescent behemoth rise from the water not too far away from me,  looking like it was replacing the moon itself.

NEXT / PREVIOUS / OVERSIGHT

[lizard-shifter-noms]

Wayward Waters Chapter 6

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Hello everyone! Chapter 6!

time to explore more of the world!

this Story contains Vore, Dont like dont read.

have fun reading!

and as always Reblogs are appreciated! (Also ASK’s are open so feel free to bother me!)

AO3 Link for those that prefer the layout there;

AO3 Wayward waters

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I blinked and slowly woke up, seeing a wooden ceiling.

My head felt heavy and my thoughts foggy.

Did I fall off the mast?

“Whhuh?”

I tried to sit up but a somewhat webbed hand forced my head back onto the pillow.

“Please stay on the bed for now, we don't know how exactly you will react to Rimkir root so don't move”

What root? And reacting to it?

My vision was still blurry and my head foggy but I felt like I was in the wrong place.

“Wha hapn?”

I felt extremely confused, the last thing i could recall was, uhh..

Oh right, sitting on top of the mast and having a FUCKING Panic attack!

I tried to sit up but the half webbed hands shoved me down again.

“I said to stay put! Does nobody ever listen to medical advice? You're just as bad as Ronan!”

I blearily looked up at the person I could now identify as Imik.

And I had almost forgotten that Ronan was also somewhere in the ship.

“Wha? Did he wake up? Wait what happened to me? Why am I not on the mast anymore?”

Imik looked tired, at least from what I could see and I suddenly felt bad.

It wasn't their fault, they shouldn't have to deal with my shit.

“He woke up a few hours ago, He's better now but tried to walk around right away. 

I ended up tucking the blankets so tight that he can't move anymore.

As for you, well you had a pretty bad panic attack.

We ended up sedating you so we could get you down from Jamie's nest, which was kind of a logistical nightmare.

Do you feel any better now?”

Sedating me? Was that what the sweet smelling thing had been?

“Uh, im better now, my brain foggy tho”

Imik absentmindedly nodded and then bent down to fetch something from the floor.

He then handed me a big glass filled with clear water.

“Drink something, I'll have to go and see if Ronan managed to wiggle out of the bed, but you can just yell if you need anything else”

With that he left and I was alone in a small room that definitely belonged to someone else.

There were knicknacks strewn about and half a shirt looked out of a chest that had been shoved into a corner, making it look like the wooden thing was sticking its tongue out.

I stared at the glass, wondering whose room I was in, judging by the sizing of things it definitely wasn't Jamie’s, if they even had a normal room aside from the nest thing.

Whatever, I smelled the water to make sure it wasn't salty before slowly drinking it.

My brain still felt a little foggy but compared to the panic attack I preferred it.

I laid back on the bed and just stared at the ceiling for a while.

All of this sucked, like a LOT.

Man, I wanted home!

I kept laying there for half an hour feeling extremely bored.

At least until I heard footsteps on the other side of the apparently rather thin wooden wall if the sound of voices was anything to go by.

“...-anic attacks really suck, what are we supposed to do if he gets another one?” “Well for one not let him climb the mast again! What was the big idea for that anyway?” “It wasn't my Idea! I think he wanted to climb it out of curiosity!”

“And you let him? No wait, I bet you even taunted him for every mistake he made while climbing!”

“So what?”

“Guys, calm down”

“So what? SO WHAT? You keep egging people on! On the stupidest of things! I swear one of these days someone is going to jump in an underwater volcano because of you!”

“I assume im being ignored for the sake of anger once again”

“No, that's just not true! Unlike most people I've met, I know when to stop!” “Really? You do? What about the time you-‽  MMPh!”

“That was one time! You're really gonna harp on THAT Forever?”

“Jamie take your foot out of Imiks face please”

Okay what was going on out there?

I stood up and went to the door, opening it to a rather comedic sight.

Jamie had their clawed foot in Imiks face and squished his cheeks while Imik gripped Jamie's arm and tried to push them away to no avail.

Also I was pretty sure the position they were in was only possible due to Jamies weird legs seeing as they were both rather contorted and tried to strangle each other.

They froze when tha saw me in the position they were in, with Jamie half of the ground, foot in Imiks face and Imik trying to wrestle Jamie away.

Also Akeem was behind them.

Both Jamie and Imik looked at me.

“Ignore this!” “Didn't I tell you to rest?”

Came it from them in unison.

“It's a bit hard to rest when you guys are so loud, what are you even doing?”

They let go of each other, Jamie somehow not falling over.

“Nothing important!”

They said at the same time only to be suddenly grabbed and lifted off the ground by Akeem, leaving their legs dangling out of reach of the floor.

“Apologies Donovan, we will stop bothering you now”

I just stared at him for a second.

Then Jamie wriggled around and started scratching his face with their clawed feet, creating the sound of cat claws on a tile floor.

Despite the assault on his face he didn't even flinch, or blink.

Must be nice to be able to not give a single fuck about that.

“Uh, okay? I do feel better now, how's Ronan?”

Imik pointed two doors down the hall before he and Jamie were dragged away by Akeem.

Jamie still trying to scratch his face unsuccessfully.

Well, that was weird. 

I walked to the door Imik had pointed at and knocked softly.

I felt better now and just laying around was not doing me any favors, Might as well see how Ronan is doing.

“Ronan? Are you awake?”

I heard some rustling sounds and a dull thump, What the hell was he doing?

“Door is unlocked! You can come in!”

Of course the door was unlocked, scatterbrained as he was.

I slowly opened it and saw Ronan lying on the bed, only half under the covers and with his feet on the headrest.

So the sounds I had heard were him jumping back into bed.

He looked at me confusedly.

“Oh, uh, Donovan? You're… smaller”

Oh right, last he saw of me was when I turned Giant to transport him out of the Eel pit.

“Yep, it's me, how are you? 

The eel bites looked nasty, do you feel any better?”

He nodded despite the weird angle he was laying in.

“I feel better! Still incredibly sore though, and there is one nasty bite on my lower arm! Look at it!”

He held his arm up and began undoing the bandages.

I looked on for a second in shock before swiftly walking up to him and stopping him by holding his free arm away from the bandages.

“I believe you! I think you should let the bandages stay on, if you're so keen on showing me you can just get me the next time you change them okay?”

He looked disappointed but relented luckily.

“Sooo how come you're smaller? And two legged? OH! Can you shapeshift into anything else? And how do you do it? Can you use magic? If so, what kind?”

I was taken aback a little by the wall of questions he threw at me.

“Can you maybe ask one question at a time? I barely remember the first one you asked!”

He stopped talking and blinked confusedly.

“Oh sorry! So should I start again but slower?”

I looked at him with a deadpan face.

“As far as i know you should be resting, and i'm pretty sure i heard you running around, i just came in here to see how you're doing”

“Oh come on! I'll be fine! Ain't the worst that's happened to me! And I was just at the window! I wanted to let Imugi know I'm better!”

As nice as wanting to tell his Sea Serpent that he was okay now was he really shouldn't run around with what was essentially a lot of small lightning damage.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, still not feeling all that good myself yet.

“Five questions, but then you have to promise to rest as long as Akeem says”

Akeem seemed the most level headed out of them so this seemed reasonable to me, besides I did not want Ronan to injure himself further.

His face seemed to light up at the prospect of getting to ask Five questions though and I felt like I'd regret that soon enough.

“Okay! Deal! Soo first question uhhh, 

OH! How many forms can you shapeshift into?”

At least he picked an easy one for the first question.

“Three, the fuzzy green thing you saw, which is called an Ardua by the way, the Giant one and this human sized one, that's all”

“What? Only that? Man and here I was hoping for a cool dragon or something! 

So wait, I just remembered you barely ate anything as the… Ardua you called it? Do the plants on your back do photosynthesis? And can you use their energy?

Question number two, and quite an observant one, especially for a scatterbrained guy like him.

“Yes to both of those, like plants i can get get energy from sunlight if i'm in that form, which is pretty practical”

His eyes went wide and he started fiddling with the blanket.

“Ohhh! Man that must be awesome to not need to eat! 

If Imik didn't remind me I'd forget it sometimes!

Okay next question, number three right?

Your Giant form looked really tall! Any idea how tall exactly?”

How tall? Well he was in luck that had just been very recently measured.

“According to Jamie who measured me out of Boredom i'm forty five feet tall, no idea if that's accurate though”

“Forty five??? Fuck that's really tall! And I doubt Jamie made a mistake in measuring, they helped in the past measuring things in the past and it was always pretty accurate, so it's probably correct!”

So Jamie was right about me being forty five feet tall,  good to know that I was garbage at estimating my own height.

“Okay question four! Uhhh, what's your preferred form? Like the fuzzy one? Or the Giant one? Which one?”

My favorite form? Hmmm, each had their advantages and drawbacks.

The Ardua form looked scary and had no thumbs, the Giant one was strong but didn't fit in a house, The human form did fit in a house but was comparatively weak.

“Uhh to be honest no idea, they all have their advantages and drawbacks like, the fuzzy one does not have thumbs, the Giant one is too big for a lot of things, and the human sized one is weak compared to the other two.

I guess i like the Ardua form for sleeping though, in that form even sleeping on the floor is somewhat comfy”

He nodded wildly and seemed to think for a moment.

“Okay, Question number five, How do you shift? Is it like magic? Or more Biologically? I've seen Merfolk that can change their tail into legs and back! Is it like that?”

Of course that's what he HAD to ask, ugh, but I told him I'd answer five questions so that's what i was gonna do, not like he could use the bracelet anyway.

I held up the arm with the bracelet and tapped it.

“Don't tell anyone but this thing lets me shift, and no you can't use it, it's locked to the genetic code or whatever Oakley called it, meaning if anyone without the necessary genes puts it on they will die.

So do NOT under any circumstances put it on, you hear me?” He nodded, gaze transfixed on the reflective material of the bracelet.

“That is so cool! 

As soon as we're back to base you have to show me all the forms!”

Well, that went better than expected, at least he wasn't asking to wear it himself but maybe the warning did come across to his brain properly.

“I'm fine with that, the sooner we get there the sooner you get to poke at the forms and the sooner I can get back home!” He nodded frantically, nearly tearing holes in his blanket with his nails.

“Oh if you help me to the window I can tell Imugi to go extra fast! And tell her I'm fine! I didn't quite make it to the window before you came in…”

He admitted and I rolled my eyes, this guy's self preservation was Garbage at best.

“Alright, just don't complain to me when your wounds reopen!”

“Oh don't worry! I have a high pain tolerance!”

That comment made me think back to Fable,  the poor guy also had no idea what happened to me.

God, I missed him as well.

“That does not sound as reassuring as you think!”

He just shrugged and I helped him stand up by slinging one of his arms over my shoulder, idly noting he was about the same height as me.

Then I slowly maneuvered him to be right next to the window which he immediately opened.

“IMUGI!”

There was an excited whistle click sound and suddenly Imugi was in front of the bullseye shaped window which was too small to let her fit her head in.

Not that she didn't try tough.

Ronan just stuck his hand out instead.

“I'm fine girl, and I'd be even better the faster we reach home. 

Can you be a dear and bring us to Kariba Island as fast as possible?”

Imugi made a weird sound that was a mix of chirping and whistling and dived under and out of sight again.

Only a moment later there was a tug on the boat and I could literally feel how we went faster.

I held onto Ronan so he wouldn't fall over.

“Man she's fast! And she's towing the entire boat!” Ronan laughed at that.

“Yes! She can hold that tempo for quite some time as well! You should see her zoom around without being tied to the boat! I even made a saddle! I keep falling off though so I gotta tinker on it still!”

I wasn't sure what surprised me more, that the Sea serpent could hold this tempo for an entire day or that Ronan made an entire fucking saddle for her.

Okay the saddle somehow surprised me less, and even less that he still had to tinker on it.

“A saddle? Really? I hope you can hold your breath well then! 

Now let's get you back to bed”

He grinned and nodded, half hanging over my shoulder like a wet cat.

“Fine by me! A deal is a deal! And I got to tell Imugi I'm fine so that's even better!”

I gently guided him back to bed and set him on it properly, not the weird upside down thing he did before. 

“Oh before you go! Could you hand me a book to read? Its so fucking boring just laying around!”

While talking he pointed at a closet that was built into the wall of the room with lockable drawers.

The keys for it were on a hook right next to it that was bent so much the ship would have to be upside down for them to fall off.

I took the keys and opened the drawer he had pointed at, seeing a total of ten books, picking two random ones I chucked them on the bed where Ronan immediately grabbed them like a possessive drake.

“Thanks! Finally less boredom! Also I hope when we get there we'll find a way to get you back to your friends!”

I stopped for a moment where I was in the doorway.

“Thank you for helping, now just focus on getting better Imugi had looked so sad when you got Injured!”

That seemed to surprise him.

“She did? Ough, I gotta apologize for that later to her!”

“Not only her, Jamie, Akeem and Imik where also worried as fuck!”

With that i left the room and closed the door behind me.

Man, what a chaotic bunch, but at least we were closer to that Kariba island now. 

Maybe I should ask them if they got a map of the island?

Knowing what it looked like might be nice.

On the way back to the deck I ran into Jamie, who immediately grabbed my arm with one of their bird leg claws, and dragged me along.

Man they were strong for someone so small, first getting dragged into the nest and now I was forced to keep up while they only hopped forwards on one leg.

“You GOTTA see what Island we are going past right now! And it's just the right season too!”

Island? Right season? What?

“Wait a second, what do you mean? 

Why are you dragging me to see an island? 

Are we going to stop there?”

They just shook their heads, dragging me onto the deck and towards the railing.

“Nah, we ain't gonna stop! So that's why you have to look now!”

Well, I had no idea what this was about if we weren't even stopping at that island but I still looked if only to stop Jamie from digging their claws in even more.

The island we were sailing past was VERY colorful and looked to be completely overgrown by every flower possible in this climate, giving it an almost unreal appearance.

“How many flowers are there? And how come they all grow there?”

Jamie just grinned widely, showing a pair of dull fangs.

“Ha! I knew the guy with plants on his back would like this! 

Apparently some odd years ago a ship that was supposed to bring lots of rare flower seeds to who knows where got stranded on the island and broke in two! 

The seeds were just left there and at some point started growing!”

All the flowers were from a single shipwreck? 

Wow, I was almost tempted to ask them to stop the boat so I could try and get some for Robin but that would mean wasting even more time.

Suddenly a webbed hand grabbed the railing from outside,  heaving the attached body onboard again.

It was, of course, Imik.

He also had a little burlap bag slung over his shoulder.

“I found some seeds that were waterproof packaged! Part of the wreck is actually still there! Just underwater!”

Man Imik had to be a fast swimmer to get there and back while we drifted past it, the island wasn't really all that big even.

He then reached into the bag and tossed me a little thumb sized box made out of bronze, shaking it I could hear lots of little things hit against each other.

“Here! You can have one! I doubt those contain any plant that's not already growing on the island!”

“Oh, uh, thank you, I actually know someone that would love this!”

He grinned, which showed a mouth full of shark-like teeth, and gave a thumbs up.

“Great! I myself am quite bad at keeping plants alive for longer than a week anyway!”

He then speed walked away to the door into the ship,  his webbed feet making a weird plap, plap noise as he walked.

Yep, chaotic bunch.

I stowed the thumb sized box away in the little bag that already contained the fossilized sea star for Fable.

Looking back at the island I noticed Jamie had used their claws to hold onto the railing and squat down like a bird would.

They really looked like a chicken right now with the way they sat on the wood.

I decided not to mention it and instead watch the flower island until it was out of sight.

It was really pretty, man I wished my friends could see this, Especially Robin! He'd love this!

At some point Jamie walked off,  going back up the mast to be the lookout again.

The island was out of sight now, Imugi was really fast, and strong, so i had nothing to do now.

I had already checked in on Ronan, Jamie was back up the mast and I was absolutely NOT climbing that again.

Maybe I could ask Akeem or Imik for something to do? Oh wait, Imik wanted to show me how to properly hold my breath for a really long time!

Then we got interrupted by the chaos on the eel island and kinda forgot.

Not to mention the fact I had a panic attack.

Yep, not fun.

I walked through the door I had seen Imik disappear into and found myself in a room filled with shelves and boxes, all nailed or screwed down so they would fall over should the ship be hit by a bigger wave.

The shelves themself were so constructed that they had drawers instead of bare wood to place things on, and every single one was lockable in a way that would prevent them from sliding open unprompted.

Quite an architectural feat in my opinion, and considering that Imik mentioned he was a treasure hunter they were probably filled with various things he brought up from the sea floor.

“Looking for something specific?”

I startled and turned around, coming face to face with the Merling.

“Oh, uh, kinda? You said you would show me how to hold my breath for a really long time?”

“Oh right, I did! Good timing, I was just getting bored again after stashing my new stuff!”

I was then dragged along for the second time today, but this time I was led to a more open space in the middle of the room which had a carpet nailed down on it that seemed to be made out of seaweed.

Remembering last time I had gotten a short instruction I sat down on the carpet while Imik did the same opposite of me.

“Okay where were we last time? Like what did I already tell you?”

“Uh, you told me to like, calm down and slow my heartbeat?”

He nodded, at least I had gotten that right.

“Apnea is about expanding the capacity of your lungs. 

At a depth of 30 meters, the lungs are only 25% of their actual size, so With diaphragmatic and lateral lung breathing, more air can be inhaled! 

And if you slow your heart down and are calm your body uses less air!

Fantastic isn't it?”

I had understood maybe half of what he was saying, but he'd probably show me anyway.

Yep. I was right in that as he started to explain how to control one's breathing among some other things.

And thus the day was spent learning how to do various breathing exercises.

While unusual it wasn't as boring as one would have thought, At one point I had to hold my breath while Imik tried to get me to laugh or poked at me.

Apparently that was to make sure I wouldn't spit all the air out should a fish startle me.

While probably true he seemed to have a good time with it, and it was a little funny

He had also been positively surprised when I told him about the only breathing thing I knew, to calm someone from a panic attack.

He immediately jotted it down in a random notebook.

We continued with that until the door was slammed open and Jamie waltzed in.

“AY! Dinner time you idiots!”

Already?, though, looking actually outside showed the sun was way lower than before. 

We really had spent all day with the Apnea diving thing huh?

Well, i did feel like i made some progress, like being able to hold my breath for about seven minutes now, Maybe more, we didn't have a clock.

Whatever, maybe now they had something to eat that wasn't sandwiches.

No they did not, and by now the bread was either stale or soggy again, somehow.

I politely declined under the guise that since I had plants on my back in Ardua Form I didn't need to eat anyway.

That and I didn't want to use more of their resources than I already did.

And so I got out of eating stale sandwiches, for now at least.

“Are you not a fan of sandwiches?” Asked Ronan then, gnawing on his own rather stale bread with what was probably marmalade.

“Well, depends, and not everyday for sure, don't you have anything else on board?

Since I had gotten onto the boat the only thing they had to eat were those sandwiches, which couldn't be healthy.

“Well, the dude that cooks had to stay home cuz he broke his ribs!”

Interjected Jamie nonchalantly while grabbing another bread.

“What?” “Yeah! The crane we have on board was getting some heavy box up and somehow slammed him into the wall! Apparently the pressure of being squished between the crate and the wall just snapped some of his Bones a few months ago! 

Good thing we know a pretty okay doc!”

I was just staring at Jamie who told a story like that completely nonchalantly.

Yeah, these guys had a few screws loose, maybe even used them to keep the boat together.

“Oh, well, I hope he gets well soon?”

I said awkwardly, not really knowing what to do in such a situation.

“Eh, Yamet is fine, next time he can go back on the ship as well! I bet he's incredibly bored though!”

At least that was nice, but man these guys were crazy.

Oh well, better not say anything about it.

Though if they made such jokes this Yamet guy was probably fine.

Probably.

The only somewhat calm dinner of stale bread and possibly moldy marmalade was interrupted by a loud boom and an impact that shook the entire ship.

What? What was happening?

The entire crew had already sprung up and hasted to a variety of places, Jamie back up the mast, Akeem and Imik got entire fucking Cannons.

Ronan was already nowhere to be seen and I had no idea where he went.

Hopefully back inside as it appeared we were under attack.

Not really knowing what to do, I walked over to where Akeem and Imik were, already stuffing a cannonball into the cannon to fire back.

Not knowing how to operate a cannon or even how to help, I tried to get a glance on what was attacking us, which turned out to be another ship.

Pirates? As far as I knew they were a big enough Problem that Rikaad had wanted to deal with it himself.

Worse was that the enemy boat was bigger than ours and probably had more people.

Imik and Akeem fired their cannon and managed to hit the low side of the enemy ship.

Unfortunately we got hit again, the ship going very lopsided for a moment and I could hear a weird screech.

Looking up I saw it was Jamie, who was upside down and held on to the outermost piece of the mast with a clawed foot.

Oh fuck, they'd fall in at any moment!

Leaving the experts to man the cannon, I ran to the other side of the ship, only seeing out of the corner of my eye that apparently Imugi had rammed the other boat, causing some of the men on board to freak out at being attacked from a sea monster.

Man, I hoped they wouldn't shoot at Imugi.

Unlikely though.

I was positioned at the railing, still not anywhere near Jamie and thus not able to catch them as they fell, another cannonball impacting at the same time and causing the crane to fall overboard where Jamie was just moments ago.

Being horribly reminded of what had happened to me not that long ago when the mast crashed onto my own head I jumped in after Jamie, shifting while jumping and inhaling as much air as I could, doing as Imik had shown me.

I dived down after Jamie, seeing that one of their legs had gotten tangled in a rope from the crane and they were desperately trying to get it loose.

I managed to swim after them right as they went past an underwater cliff, the top part of the crane scraping against the rock with an unpleasant noise.

Not having thumbs currently I simply bit into the crane, not like it would be usable anymore anyway.

Jamie got loose, kicking their thin legs which were definitely not made for swimming and tried to swim up, which thanks to having so thin legs was agonizingly slow.

Then the crane which had been scraping against the rock knocked a boulder loose, which in turn bumped into more rocks, freeing them and causing an underwater landslide.

Jamie got hit square in the chest by one and was dragged even deeper down as the rocks went towards the bottom of the ocean and I dived after them, taking them into my mouth due to a lack of thumbs.

Their legs were still sticking out and my mouth was filled with water, not allowing them to breathe either as one of the bigger rocks hit my back, pushing me deeper underwater and ending up trapping me on a shelf like rock formation as more of the rockslide buried my lower half under it.

Fuck, now i was trapped with no air, 

and even worse was that Jamie had no air either.

But I had a little bit of air, maybe I could share?

Tentatively I pressed Jamie against my palate, pushing out as much water as I could and then let my mouth fill with some of my own air.

I felt them cough and while maybe a bit stale the air was still better than nothing.

But now what? I was trapped and there was no way for Jamie to get back up without drowning.

NEXT / PREVIOUS / OVERSIGHT

[lizard-shifter-noms]

Wayward Waters Chapter 14

——————————————————————————

Hello everyone! Chapter 14!

absolute Chaos!!

this Story contains Vore, Dont like dont read.

have fun reading!

Content warning for this chapter; blood / death and just general violence and a bit of gore

and as always Reblogs are appreciated! (Also ASK’s are open so feel free to bother me!)

AO3 Link for those that prefer the layout there;

AO3 Wayward waters

——————————————————————————

Quickly grabbing Robin I put him back onto the deck,  following swiftly while Nemas yelling was still distantly heard.

What the fuck was Cassidy doing? 

We were sailing right into what apparently was a very dangerous island and had a good two hundred enemy ships behind us!

He hadn't seemed like the type for betrayal,  After all, the entire Kariba island appeared to like him,  So what the HELL?

Changing the course now wouldn't do much to help, besides maybe Cassidy knew how to safely pass this dangerous island?

That really would make the most sense, but still what, aside from the scary appearance, was so dangerous about that island?

Robin had gone quiet,  now noticing as well the near insane amount of ships behind us as i half dragged him down the stairs to try and ask any of the crew what the fuck was going now while the ginger clung to my arm.

At least they seemed to have managed to undo the mess that locked the sail.

“Hey? What the hell is going on? I heard Nemas yelling about that island being dangerous? What's so bad about it?”

Ronan let go of a rope in startlement,  making the horizontal piece of wood where the sail was attached to swing around and hit Jamie who was climbing around.

Jamie of course Cursed something fierce and hissed at him while he explained.

“Oh Fuck thats Graves keep! I need to get a pocket compass!

But uhh, basically Graves keep is not a place where you come back from, there are tons of rumors, like a giant Sea Monster of course, or some weird tide thing that sucks entire ships under, or even a whirlpool.

It's probably the latter seeing as really no ship has come back before from there, like entire fleets and the like just gone! There's no sea Monster big enough to take out an entire army with no trace of anyone!

But I really wouldn't put it past Cassidy to know how to avoid a whirlpool or any dangerous water flow.

Well, we will find out soon enough, but he's probably leading us safely through while the enemy ships suffer!”

Oh yeah, that made more sense,  Still, if the waters there were dangerous I'd rather not be near the railing.

Falling overboard once had been bad enough!

But I could not deny the curiosity I had,  Maybe Jamie would let us climb the mast?

Speaking of, a stick was thrown down from above as we steadily neared the island.

“AY! YOU FUCKS WANNA SEE THIS CHAOS GO DOWN?”

Not the way I'd have phrased it but sure.

But I wasn't keen on climbing that again, last time I got stuck at the top and they had to help get me down while I had a panic attack, 

which wasn't pretty and not something I'd do again if I could.

But apparently that was not what Jamie had in mind as they jumped down and rapidly walked back to the front of the ship where the deck was elevated.

They hopped up in a manner that reminded me of a sparrow and opened up some hidden compartments.

Robin looked confusedly at me but I just shrugged, maybe Jamie was getting a telescope? Or refunctioning the built on boxes to seats?

The latter ended up being more accurate as the boxes suddenly sunk into the rest of the ship and got replaced by another railing with more widely spaced bars.

What the fuck? The boat could do that the entire time?

Jamie grinned, now perching on top of one of the railings.

“This thing was originally built for giant waves! Like, you'd clip yourself to it using a rope and go down those big ass tsunami waves!”

They really were insane,  but i did have to appreciate the craftsmanship of this madness.

But at least there was a good bit more space now on the elevated front of the deck.

And just in time too, seeing as we were just about to pass the edges of the island and sail through.

Up close it was bigger than originally thought,  alone the ‘entrance’ had the size of the entire castle area and the space behind it was as large as a city.

The water was a different color here now as well, a lot more clear than just a few minutes ago and giving clear sight to countless shipwrecks.

The ground itself went down slowly like in a cylindrical shape until there was a Giant round hole in the middle that went far deeper and made the water appear almost black.

All in all it was reminiscent of a Giant bluish Eye.

The closer to the hole it got the more wrecks were there,  and with the very round shape of everything it was most likely that a whirlpool would come from the hole in the middle.

Why there wasn't one right now i had no idea,  Maybe the tide had to get lower?

Whatever the case, I had to hold onto Robin's shirt so he wouldn't fall overboard as he looked at the weirdly clear water below.

There weren't even any bigger waves in here weirdly enough.

Was this place even dangerous still? It didn't exactly look all that threatening aside from the jagged rocks and all the shipwrecks.

There was a flash of reddish light and a floating Fire appeared where the Bowsprit met the rest of the ship,  vaguely humanoid in shape and of a nearly blood red hue.

“Jamie what is that? Is it gonna set the ship on fire?”

Jamie just stared at it, eyes wide and looking at the other ships I could see each of them had their own little fire at the front of the ships.

What the hell were they? 

While I was distracted Robin had already approached the one on our ship, holding out his hand to it.

“Hello little Flame! Are you lost?”

Jamie finally answered after seeing Robin so close to it.

“That's an Elmsfire! Don't get near it! 

They show up on ships before disasters! And don't fucking touch it!”

Robin didn't seem to care about that,  already very close and nearly touching it.

“Why not? If they warn people about bad things they can't be so awful.

I think they're adorable, look! This one is friendly!”

And of course he touched its arm, well the equivalent of that in the weirdly humanoid shaped fire the size of a cat.

The sound of wind chimes orchestrated like a laugh was heard and then the fire disappeared after turning more of a magenta hue for a second.

“No wait! Come back! I'm sorry if I upset you!”

Finally drawing out of the stupor that seeing the fire had given me I went forward and scruffed Robin,  dragging him away from the Bowsprit for now.

“Don't touch fire! That's common sense! Are you okay? Did it burn you?”

He showed his hands,  which weirdly enough were completely undamaged.

“No, I'm fine, it wasn't even hot,  just warm like a sun heated rock, or fresh bread”

Thank fuck! But really what was that just now? 

And did the Fire being gone mean we were okay now?

Or did it just fuck off because it didn't expect anyone to get near enough to touch it.

To be fair most wouldn't go touching some strange floating fire,  but Robin wasn't most people.

Before I could say anything else there was a low note, more felt than heard as we sailed a pretty big curve around the hole in the middle.

For a reason I could not understand the sudden feeling of sheer and utter panic shot through me worse than any arrow ever did.

And I was not the only one as I could see Jamie clutching their sweater with wide panicked eyes and Robin in a mix of scared confusion slowly back away even more from the Bowsprit.

Then all at once the rest of the little Flames that had appeared on the ships just went out like a candle.

The only one unaffected was Akeem, but he was a statue so I supposed whatever this was only worked on organic matter.

I looked at the Call Of The Damned with wide eyes,  snatching someone's telescope while both my hearts beat wildly like I was about to get ripped apart by a dragon.

Looking through it with shaking hands I could see Cassidy, 

who seemed as unbothered as Akeem about this, and was Blowing into that weird horn he had worn as a weird necklace.

Was that the cause? 

Was this stupid Item making everyone experience a state of utter fear?

I kept staring as my hearts beat wildly like they wanted to compete against each other, Grabbing onto Robin tightly who clung onto me in return and tried to cover his ears.

Then the pitch changed,  and Cassidy played that piece of Horn like an Instrument out of hell.

By now most of the pirates had catched up,  but were probably just as confused and scared as everyone else.

Unlike us they ignored the hole in the ground and sailed right over it.

Was that my mind or did something move in the darker waters?

Suddenly a Giant pale Tentacle shot up,  grabbing the nearest Boat to it and squeezing,  soon being joined by a second one that emerged as well from the middle of the almost lake-like area.

Then the entire Boat, which was at least three times as Big as the Halcyon if not bigger, was lifted up into the air.

It seemed that for just a second the thing hesitated before ripping the entire Boat in half, debris and other things falling into the water below as even more of the almost maggot colored appendages crept out.

I didn't even realize I was baring my teeth at it until Robin dragged me a bit further back.

“Donovan? What is that?”

His voice was shaky, scared, and I hated hearing him like that.

But I also couldn't answer him if I myself had no idea.

But apparently Ronan did.

“K- KRAKEN!”

He crowed through his fear,  the curious Biologist shining through despite all.

Wait, Kraken? KRAKEN? THE Kraken from old horror stories?

The Kraken that haunted the seas and was capable of sinking entire islands if it pleased?

WHAT?

“WHY THE FUCK DID CASSIDY SUMMON THAT THING?”

That really was the only explanation, wherever that Horn of his came from he must have used it to get the Krakens attention.

Why the hell he thought that was a good idea was a question for later as right now we ought to get away.

Which we couldn't, seeing as there were Pirates behind us,  very close behind us even, and the other way was closer to the Kraken.

We were trapped.

A tug went through the Boat and for a moment my hearts stopped as I thought the Kraken had gotten ahold of the boat.

But luckily it was just Imugi who did the only smart thing one could and was towing the ship away to the side and closer to a stony beach.

But on a more unlucky note we were not the only ones that had thought of that as one of the pirate ships did the same far closer than any of us would have liked.

While the Kraken raged Imugi towed us as close to the beach side as possible, while a loud BOOM sounded out,  a cannonball just barely missing us,  and they were already reloading while aiming more cannons at us.

Imugi dived under, putting the ship sideways to let Akeem, Imik and Ronan access their own cannons, though Ronan got kicked away by Jamie who used their spindly legs to stuff new ammunition into it.

That was surely not how it was normally done, but I paid no attention to that and instead made sure me and Robin were well out of the way.

So much for being safer here, but nothing to do about that now.

I yelped as a cannonball sailed over our heads and destroyed a part of the railing, grabbing Robin and shoving him in the direction of the stairs.

Fuck fuck FUCK, what to do? We were literally bombarded right now!

Alright, uhh, point one! Make Sure Robin doesn't get hit,  and that I don't get hit of course.

Point two? 

Just hope this is over soon while we hunker down on the stairs.

Another cannonball hit the ship, taking out a corner not that far from the stairs we were hiding on.

Splitters of wood rained down to the bottom of the stairs and Robin nearly cut off the blood flow to my arm with how hard he gripped it.

But at least he had the sense to stay quiet.

There was the sound of metal rolling over wood and for a second I thought it was another cannonball hadn't the sound come from something smaller.

Then it came into sight, the other Bracelet was currently rolling over the deck and nearing the broken railing!

The last cannonball must have broken the compartment next to the door!

Fuck! If it fell in, I would not manage to get it back! 

I sure as hell was not going to go diving here!

But with Robin clinging to me like that I couldn't move,  Ronan however could move, and he did.

He lunged forward, grabbing the blue gem Bracelet as the entire boat shook, sending him stumbling to the floor.

He still managed to grip it though,  clearly having figured out what that was already.

And then he did the stupidest thing he'd probably ever done.

He slipped the Bracelet on,  all the way up over his elbow where it fit without falling off.

The ship was hit by another cannonball and the entire thing shook, sending Ronan falling over the broken railing into the water.

“NO!”

That idiot! I had told him already what it did! 

And that without having the necessary genes he'd just Die.

Why in the FUCK did he do that?

At least with him falling overboard we didn't have to watch whatever the Bracelet did to him now.

Robin looked at me with wide eyes,  clearly aware of the same things I was.

“Is he-?”

“No time for that right now, we need to get away from the cannons!”

I could hear Imugi let out a loud whistle, still dragging the ship towards the stone beach before nearly setting the entire ship onto ground and snapping the harness with her beak and turning around to ram headfirst into the other boat, setting it onto ground as well.

Oh right she could do that.

Akeem put down a long plank before just jumping down,  walking through the water on land.

Well, this strange island sure gave more space to move around and places to hide should that Giant sea monster turn its attention away from the pirates.

Not even thinking properly I grabbed Robin, simply slinging him over my shoulder and running down the plank Akeem had set down.

Considering what was going on right now,  not being on the boat was probably the best call here.

Robin himself let out a startled squeak,  grabbing fistfuls of my shirt to try and balance himself.

As soon as we were down I put him back on the ground,  shoving him ahead of me away from the water.

It looked like we were not the only ones that thought being away from the water was a good idea seeing as the Pirate ship that had previously followed us had done the same.

It was a good bit bigger than the Halcyon,  about twice the size and with a lot more people, some of which brandished blades at us as they got closer.

Oh fuck, THAT now as well? Wasn't the Kraken chaos enough already?

Oh wait I could just shift, there was enough space for that here and it was sure to at least scare a few of them.

Twisting the gem on the Bracelet I was back to being an Ardua,  growling at the blade wielding Pirates.

They stopped for a moment, clearly surprised by the appearance of yet another big creature before simply continuing on.

Well that didn't work, fuck.

Out of the corner of my Eye i could see Jamie had grabbed Robin's sleeve, dragging him away from the chaos.

Good, one less thing to worry about, but that meant that right now only Akeem and Imik were ready to fend for themselves.

Well, at least it was fine so far-

“Where the fuck is Ronan?”

Jamie came back, Robin nowhere to be seen,  and if I couldn't find him it was unlikely anyone else would.

But, well, Ronan was gone.

How in the hell was I supposed to tell them that?

Later, that could come later, right now we had problems,  and they'd find out soon enough anyway.

Getting into a battle ready stance I growled at the charging Pirates again, not daring to Roar in case the Kraken heard it, if it even had ears.

Akeem was already up front fighting someone with a sable,  which simply broke as he defended himself from an attack with his arm, the metal shattering in two.

Akeem did not waste any time and punched his opponent hard,  denting the metal plate of his attacker enough that I was sure they were not breathing anymore.

Ouch, and while he did that Imik was busy shredding someone's arm with his shark-like teeth.

Even more ouch.

And after seeing Akeem punch someone laying on the ground hard enough to pulverize the skull, blood and other things i did not want to think about splattering his hands, i decided i wouldn't look at what they were doing anymore and instead get closer to the ship.

Maybe making a hole into the hull would deter them from doing more shit.

Though not paying attention did not spare me from witnessing Jamie shredding someone's abdomen with their claws until chunks fell out.

The smell of blood and the residual panic of the Kraken summoning instrument high was not helping, 

only driving my adrenaline further up as a Pirate behind Jamie raised a shortsword and got ready to stab down on them.

Not wasting any time I sprinted forward Headbutting the Pirate away and making them land against a boulder with a loud Crack.

The sound and situation reminded me horribly of when I met Rowley,  but this time it was clear that my opponent was way smaller and weaker.

And would probably not get back up.

There was a rushing in my ears, not unlike the waves during the storm, but more monotone and the only thing I could hear right now.

My hearts both beating like mad now,  and the smell of blood in my nostrils. 

I got tunnel vision, the side of my field of sight getting blurry and then black as I charged forward again, ramming into something solid once again as I lost all sense of where I was, nearly blind with panic and rage.

Not being able to properly distinguish whatever the hell was in front of me I bit into it, feeling something give way to my teeth.

The static in my brain continued to swell until I had absolutely no idea what was going on anymore, simply continuing to move as instincts that weren't even truly mine took over,  a weird foggy haze covering every thought.

The next time I got aware of what was happening was as saltwater was splashed into my eye, hearing a series of upset clicks.

There was the taste of blood and wood in my mouth,  my teeth stuck in something splintery.

Oh fuck, what did i do?

Trying to let go of what was actually in my mouth wasn't as easy as it should have been, one of my teeth apparently stuck pretty deep.

I braced a paw against it, feeling wood, probably the Pirate ship then? And pushed myself away.

Minus tooth.

My mouth now bleeding partially as my left fang got stuck in the wood.

Great, just great, and the headache I had was NOT helping any with the fog in my mind.

I felt sick and achy all over, and the blood in my mouth did not make it better, if anything it just added more nausea.

I stood there in the shallow water, letting the blood from my missing tooth drip into the weirdly clear water and tint it red as my lungs strained to come down from the panic I had previously felt.

Legs shaking and fur bristling at any sounds which somehow were too loud and did not register at the same time.

What happened? What did I do? The taste of blood was already in my mouth before the fang got ripped out.

Did i-?

“Ay Dee! Are you with us again?”

My head snapped to the source of the voice, 

Jamie, my mind helpfully supplied.

“Oh Shit dude, you good? Is that your tooth in the ship there?”

I was definitely not good, but I didn't dare speak, instead opting to tightly shut my mouth, not wanting anyone to see my teeth stained with blood.

As Jamie got closer, followed by Akeem I stepped back,  shoulders hunched and eyes wide.

They should leave, now,  who knows what i would do should i lose control again.

“Donovan? Are you injured?”

Asked Akeem’s way less crowing voice but I just took another step back into the water, Kraken be damned.

I’d take that over injuring friends any day.

Something headbutted me from behind,  shoving me back closer to the beach.

Imugi! I forgot about her! 

Oh, she must have been the one that splashed the water at my face!

I turned around to face her only to have her headbutt my side and shove me onto dry land, my fur dripping water and blood.

I felt sick, and the blood pouring out of the hole where my tooth should be filling up my mouth just made it worse.

As soon as I was back on land my legs gave out under me,  Both my hearts still beating way too fast as if they were competing against each other.

The motion caused some of the blood to spill into my windpipe and I had to cough, my mouth involuntarily opening and spraying blood onto the rocks, droplets of it creating a splattering pattern in front of me as it stained the gray ground a rusty color.

“Dee? What the fuck, where is the blood coming from?”

If they didn't know I at least didn't seem to have mauled anyone,  That was good.

Still i didn't answer in favor of coughing all the blood out,  accompanied by some pieces of wood.

The tooth that had gotten stuck in the ship was tossed in front of me, Akeem having gone to get it.

“He's lost a tooth, i suppose he doesn't want anyone seeing the rest of his teeth stained red”

Pretty much yeah, I looked at the piece of bone that used to be anchored in my jaw.

Huh, ripped out like that i was nearly double the size it had been normally.

Suddenly there was a loud crash, a tentacle of the Kraken having grabbed the boat which I had torn a hole into not too long ago.

Fur Bristling, I jumped up again, stancing like a cornered cat.

The Boat was dragged under the water and away.

It was horrifying to look at, the ship had been a good few times my own size even as Ardua, and that thing had just grabbed it like a toy.

By this point most of the pirate ships were gone,  miraculously leaving all of the allied ships alone,  some of which sustained a hefty amount of damage as they'd gotten attacked despite there being a Kraken on the loose.

“That was wayyy to close for my liking,  lets scram before it comes back for seconds”

Jamie was already trying to drag Imik away, who didn't budge.

“Wait where's Ronan? He's an idiot, we can't leave him behind!”

My blood froze, they really didn't see him fall overboard did they?

Before I could tell them Imugi’s click-whistling was heard loudly and she splashed water around, making it murky and hard to see through.

There was something else in the water with her as well,  but she did not seem distressed whatsoever.

Instead she was happy clicking and playfully whistling.

Alright everyone here had lost the rest of their common sense apparently.

There was a fucking Kraken and Imugi was playing with whatever the fuck that was.

Robin had tried to touch a little fire person earlier and Ronan had put the bracelet on despite knowing it would kill him.

And not that long ago I had lost my senses as well,  mindlessly attacking and tearing a hole into a ship.

Something about this place must be messing with people's minds,  and Imugi’s.

At least Robin was far away and out of danger,  and hopefully would stay that way till we were done.

Whatever was in the water with Imugi was smaller than her,  more close to my current size with a single dark gray fin on its back that seemed to be covered in fur.

What? A marine mammal? 

Well if it swam in here it must be pretty dumb.

But otherwise its coloration seemed similar to Imugi’s,  Maybe that was why she was so happy.

The thing surfaced,  and looked to be a weird mix of something like Imugi and a seal,  slowly waddling on land and revealing little legs and absolutely oversized mud colored hands that surely functioned like flippers.

And a gold colored bracelet on its upper arm.

“RONAN?”

It had to be, was that why the bracelet was blue instead of green? 

To signify a water creature?

Nevermind what the fuck had he been thinking! 

That could have killed him!

Also what the absolute FUCK?

“Sorry!  I had to maneuver through the tentacles and try not to touch them. 

And it's so big it made currents that tossed me around!”

Imugi happily clicked and followed him on land, gumming on his tail.

“FUCKER!”

In not even a second Jamie was on him,  using their legs to try and rip out some fur rather unsuccessfully.

Yeah what he did was exceptionally stupid,  and he kinda deserved a whack on the head.

Which I promptly did,  a rapid bap bap bap with a paw to his now rather flat forehead.

“That was stupid of you!  How in the fuck did you think that was a good idea?”

He hissed and hunched his shoulder, head squished between them.

“Can't that wait for now? We have other problems!”

Jamie puffed up in front of him, almost comically small in comparison.

“Like what? Look,  the bigass calamari is taking its tentacles back already!”

That was true, the pale, almost pearlescent tentacles were slowly receding back into the hole in the middle.

Ronan did not seem any more relaxed though.

“I don't think it's over, we should move away from the water”

He already was starting to weirdly hopple up the slight rocky slope.

“What? Why? The thing is fucking off thats good!”

Ronan just looked back at me with wide eyes, the dark blotches around them making them almost look like oversized eyelashes.

“Octopi can fit through any hole their beak can fit through,  they don't have a skeleton, and so far we have not seen its head”

Oh, OH FUCK.

Looking back at the water I could see bubbles surfacing from the middle, slowly getting more and more till it looked like the very sea was boiling.

Blood freezing as there was an all encompassing ominous sound,  so deep that it was more felt than heard,  and not unlike the Horn Cassidy had used to summon it.

Then something big breached the surface,  just barely fitting through and standing oh so tall against the sun.

Tendrils curling and uncurling around its head like weirdly lively hair framing a flat, noseless face and pale Lilac eyes that possessed vaguely W shaped pupils.

Hands, actual hands and not tentacles, 

gripped at the Call Of The Damned as a being many times Bigger than me and Ronan combined leaned over the skeletal themed ship.

The Kraken was a Mer.

NEXT / PREVIOUS / OVERSIGHT

[lizard-shifter-noms]

Wayward Waters Chapter 13

——————————————————————————

Hello everyone! Chapter 13!

things (and chaos) picking up!!

this Story contains Vore, Dont like dont read.

have fun reading!

and as always Reblogs are appreciated! (Also ASK’s are open so feel free to bother me!)

AO3 Link for those that prefer the layout there;

AO3 Wayward waters

——————————————————————————

The next time I woke up it was to something knocking on the round window of the room.

This was a ship, who or what in the fuck could knock on the outside?

Imugi apparently, she was tapping at the wooden ring around the window with her beak like a curious parrot.

“I'm up, I'm up, you can stop putting dents in the wood!”

She whistle-clicked and the shadow of her head disappeared.

Slowly getting up and stretching I noticed loud singing from outside.

It was pretty catchy actually, and with how it sounded nearly all ships must be singing it right now.

What do we do with a drunken sailor? 

What do we do with a drunken sailor?

What do we do with a drunken sailor?

Early in the morning

Way, hay and up she rises 

Way, hay and up she rises 

Way, hay and up she rises

Early in the morning

Shave his belly with a rusty razor

Shave his belly with a rusty razor

Shave his belly with a rusty razor

Early in the morning

Way, hay and up she rises

Way, hay and up she rises

Way, hay and up she rises

Early in the morning

Put him in a longboat 'till he's sober

Put him in a longboat 'till he's sober

Put him in a longboat 'till he's sober

Early in the morning

Way, hay and up she rises

Way, hay and up she rises

Way, hay and up she rises

Early in the morning

Stick him in a scupper with a hosepipe bottom

Stick him in a scupper with a hosepipe bottom

Stick him in a scupper with a hosepipe bottom

Early in the morning

Way, hay and up she rises

Way, hay and up she rises

Way, hay and up she rises

Early in the morning

Give him a dose of salt and water

Give him a dose of salt and water

Give him a dose of salt and water

Early in the morning

Way, hay

Oh way, hay

Oh way, hay

Oh, early in the morning

That's what we do with a drunken sailor

That's what we do with a drunken sailor

That's what we do with a drunken sailor

Early in the morning

Way, hay and up she rises

Way, hay and up she rises

Way, hay and up she rises

Early in the morning

Whether it was for team building, 

intimidation or just fun was beyond me though.

I found myself humming along as they started up again, 

still pretty unfamiliar with the text as I walked out onto the deck, 

still very much half asleep.

I was handed a bowl with scrambled eggs by Yamet, 

who hastily wished me a good morning, which I ate while all of them fought with the sail that had apparently become a bit loose.

Judging by the sun it was not yet midday, but not early morning either.

Maybe around ten or so.

Shoveling pieces of egg into my mouth I looked over to the myriad of other ships, 

noticing that the giant vessel Call Of The Damned was still to our right with the Revenants Vestige Nowhere to be seen but looking around I spotted the Bleeding Moon at least, 

all the way at the end of the very mismatched convoy of ships.

Smart, having his ships at these positions made it probably easier to give out orders.

Though it was rather daunting to see how much the little Halcyon was dwarfed by the colossal ship.

Where the fuck did one even get wood big enough for something this size?

Not to mention the steel ‘ribs’ that hugged the wooden frame like a corpse.

Yeah the name for it was very fitting,  and I counted twelve of those ‘Ribs’ on this side alone.

So twenty four in total, just like a human.

Yeah that was so done on purpose.

Hearing a rapid tap tap tap I turned around to see Jamie walk fast towards me.

I had enough foresight to quickly shove the rest of egg into my mouth and then hold the bowl out of harm's way as Jamie ignored personal space and climbed up to perch on my shoulder.

“Are you a parrot now?”

They shrugged.

“Nah, but you do make a good perch, Ronan just falls over and Imik’s shoulder are to narrow”

So the only other ones they could perch on were Yamet and Akeem, 

and Yamet for sure would not let them from what I've seen thus far.

“I have no idea if that a compliment or not, but for now i'm choosing to take it as one, also good morning”

“Morning! Also you should go to the Call Of The Damned! 

There is a surprise for you!”

A surprise? What? 

Would I finally get a useful map to find back to Kamerasca?

Why the fuck did i need to go on another Ship fro that? 

Was Cassidy just wanting to see my face when I got it? Maybe.

Also how the fuck was i supposed to get there?

“Uh, Jamie how the fuck am i supposed to get on there? 

The Call Of The Damned is like five times as tall as your entire Boat!”

Laying a plank would be awfully steep, if not unclimbable.

Jamie hopped down from my shoulder and walked towards the railing, making a whistling noise that made Images head pop up.

“They got some sort of pulley system,  Imugi can just toss you in the basket and they'll pull you up”

Huh, convenient,  well a ship that size probably needed something like that.

Imugi whistle-clicked and put her head on the deck, but before I could try to climb on, Shalimar had rushed past me and clambered on top of Imugi’s head, which meant that I had to hold on to the topmost spike.

“I'm coming with! Gotta annoy my dad a little!”

Yeah sure, whatever, as long as she didn't push me off that was fine.

So, holding on for dear life Imugi brought both of us over to the Call Of The Damned where they had already let down a platform to climb on.

Though getting off of Imugi and onto it was a bit difficult as the ocean itself crashed against the ship like the tide against a wall.

Looking up it also seemed to stretch on to the sky nearly forever now that I was so up close.

Someone with magic MUST have helped build this.

Slipping a little,  Shalimar grabbed me by the back of my shirt and dragged me onto the platform before giving Imugi a little Kiss as a thank you.

I thanked her for the help as the platform was slowly pulled up,  swaying dangerously at some parts.

Going up slowly I wondered how many floors this ship even had,  with how big it was surely a few at least.

Also how was it staying afloat with the big metal ‘Ribs’ anyway?

Getting near the top Shalimar did not wait and just scaled the wood, climbing the last few meters and hopping over the railing, which up close was fashioned after bones as well.

They really went all out with the theme didn't they?

Looked scarily real too and I decided not to take a closer look.

Hopping over the railing after the platform was level with it,  I was greeted by Cassidy himself.

Who had Shalimar trying to steal his sword so he had to keep her an arms length away by grabbing her head.

“Hello! I hope the ride up wasn't too bad,  and excuse my daughter she- Augh! Shalimar stop!”

Shalimar had managed to snag his sword and elbow his side only to run under his arm away to the ladder that led up the middle mast.

“Hell, no wonder her mother left her with me! 

Anyway, as i was about say-”

His sentence was once again interrupted by a shrill scream.

“DONOVAN!”

There was only one person that could shriek like that,  and turning around there was indeed a familiar redheaded form, 

barreling straight at me with no regard for anything in the way.

“ROBIN!”

What was he doing here? 

Nevermind, hug first questions later!

He slammed into me and I wrapped my arms around my best friend, slightly lifting the smaller up off the ground.

He squeaked and clung tightly to my neck, refusing to let go.

“I'm so glad you're okay!”

“So am i! Is everyone else also okay? Are you okay? Is Rikaad okay?”

He nodded and muffled something into my chest.

“Mhm, I'm fine! And Rikaad is like always”

Thank fuck everyone was okay! Wait where was Rikaad anyway?

“Where is he anyway? And where is the Victory Rose?”

The little Ginger reluctantly let go of me and pointed to the other side of the ship from which I had come from.

“The Victory Rose is towed to some other ship!

I think it's called Revenant's Vestige?! 

And Rikaad is in a Cabin with Nemas and Leon”

Ah, so he was probably planning what to do now with Nemas, 

and Leon was probably the captain of the Revenants Vestige.

Robin Grabbed my arm and started Dragging me towards the back part of the ship.

“He's gonna be so happy to see you're okay! 

He slept even less than normal! 

And he was always looking through a telescope to try and find you!

Well until the ship's Doc told him if he kept staring at the reflective water he'd damage his eyes!”

He did? He’d shoved aside as much time as he could to look for me?

Well, at least he might have learned to delegate tasks now?

“Really? I hope i didn't worry you all too much then,  i know i worried about you a lot”

I really had, even though I had tried my best not to think about it.

Robin slowed down and stopped not far from the door he had aimed at, for a moment not looking at me.

“...I- when I saw you fall overboard I thought the worst,  but Rikaad assured me you'd be alright, 

that you're too sturdy to let that keep you down, especially as Ardua.

I'm not sure how much i believed him,  i mean i did see the mast crash onto your head and then you were gone and you didn't resurface, i was just afraid id never see you again”

“You know, I also thought I'd never see you again,  After all, when I fell over the storm was still there and I worried a lot on whether or not the ship had sunk. 

Ronan had to assure me quite a bit that a big ship like the Victory Rose was unlikely to sink.

Also that mast gave me a nasty bump for sure”

He finally smiled again, hugging me again.

“Who's Ronan?”

Oh right, Robin had absolutely no idea.

“Ronan is the guy that fished me out of the water and then threw an electric eel at me to wake me up”

Robin just stared confusedly.

“He what? Why?”

“Quite frankly? Not sure but i guess waking me up other ways failed, now lets go tell Rikaad im back! 

I wanna see his face when he sees I'm alright!”

The little Ginger nodded and knocked on the door before opening it.

“Rikaad! Look! Donovan is back!”

The room was dimly lit, only thanks to a window and Rikaad himself sat at a table with the Captain Nemas of the Victory Rose and someone who didn't look over nineteen and was currently playing with a piece of the table that had broken off, sharpening it with his nails.

Definitely not a captain, and pretty unhappy looking,  maybe a captured Pirate?

Rikaad stood up as he saw me, walking towards me and awkwardly standing there for a moment before giving a quick and rather stiff hug.

“I'm glad you're okay, everything still in place? Now i know why Captain Cassidy told us to come onboard and have the Victory Rose towed out of sight on the side here”

Oh so Cassidy did all that just for this to be a surprise? Those guys sure were something else.

“So they did all that, maneuvering ships and not telling me exactly why to get on here aside from some ‘surprise’ 

just so the Surprise of seeing each other was bigger?”

Rikaad nodded.

“I did suspect he already knew where you were from the way he acted when we asked if anybody had seen you, but i decided not to anger potential allies”

Oh right, the pirate thing was still on, and the main reason we were here anyway.

Suddenly the piece of broken table was flying at Rikaad, who caught it in one hand shortly before it embedded itself in his shoulder without so much as flinching.

I stared at the one that had thrown it, the short haired young man who if I recalled correctly was named Leon was baring his teeth and his face was distorted in an unhappy grimace.

“Do we get to kick ass anytime soon or are we just gonna sit here and yap about it! The longer we wait the less accurate our information gets!”

Something about this young man was off, and then I noticed it,  slightly pointy ears, still short and round enough to pass as human,  and teeth that had canines just a tad too pointy with weirdly pale brown eyes, nearly beige.

Huh, so Fae blood could get diluted to that point? Interesting.

Also information? I looked at Rikaad.

“Ah yes you don't know our new acquaintance here, This is Leon of Synef, Leon this is my dear friend Donovan Verney.

Leon here is so nice to help us fight the pirates, by giving us a scroll with their plans he had stolen in some harbor”

“Eh, i just wanted some supplies and didn't have money, i took that bag cuz the owner talked shit about me and kicked a cat, so i say deserved”

He Leaned back and put his boots on the table,  earning a disapproving look from Nemas.

I decided to ignore the rudeness of this Leon guy and instead be thankful that we had any information at all.

Suddenly Robin piped up again after staring confusedly at Leon.

“So what now? Do you think we could get all our People from the Victory Rose on this ship? I mean it's still partially broken! 

Especially after that seamonster took a bite out of it”

What.

“You were attacked by a sea monster? Are you all okay? 

What the hell happened while I was gone???”

I wasn't even gone that long! A week at most! 

Robin Nodded and then pointed at Leon.

“The seamonster bit a piece out of the railing and then Leon whipped it right in the eye with a rope, and then stabbed its nose with a piece of the broken railing”

Leon let out a loud and humorless laugh.

“Stabbed is good! I bet that thing still swims around with a piece of wood way up its nostrils!”

Well, if it kept the thing from attacking more that was good?

“Ouch, hearing that makes me realize that the run in i had with a Sea Serpent went way better, then again Imugi is tame”

Shame she was probably the only one so friendly.

Robin's eyes went wide at hearing that.

“You met a tame sea Serpent? Where? I wanna see that!

Of course he did, then again who wouldn't?

“Yeah! Her name is Imugi and she actually helped get me on this ship! She's probably back at the Halcyon now though,  most of the time she's towing it”

Thinking about it, and the fact that the crane they used to have didn't look like it was made for too heavy things, not to mention on the other side of the ship from where i had been, Imugi must have been the one to drag my soggy ass on the deck when they first spotted me.

Huh, maybe I ought to send her the best crabmeat I could when we were back in Kamerasca as a thank you.

“Can I meet her? I'd love to see a friendly Sea monster! 

Ohhh do you think I could pet her?”

Well so far Imugi had seemed to adore any sort of positive attention so she'd probably love it.

“I don't see why not, though we can't exactly get her on the deck here, it's way too high up”

Well, maybe we could ask if they'd let down the platform again,  but doing it just because someone wanted to pet a sea serpent was probably unnecessary.

Besides we could always do that later, and then he'd get to properly meet the guys that dragged me out of the water too.

Hopefully they'd go along with each other!

Then Rikaad piped in.

“We will do that later, for now we have a set course, apparently Cassidy already has a plan, which involves having to get ahead of the pirates and leading them through two narrow cliffs and shooting at the walls to get them to collapse”

That sounded incredibly dangerous.

“Are you sure that's a good idea? What if someone misses? 

Or they shoot back and make it collapse on us instead?”

They could just as well do the same to us when we got there.

Rikaad slowly nodded.

“I am aware, and i will talk to Cassidy about it once more,  i'd rather none of us would get injured”

With that he left, business as usual.

I did wonder why the usually very talkative Nemas was so quiet but glancing at him now that he had his head turned it was clear part of his jaw was swollen.

Was that from the sea monster attack? Ouch.

Then Leon put his feet back on the ground and sprang up,  storming out as well with a scroll in his hands.

Probably the one containing the information,  Did Rikaad forget it just now? Didn't seem like him.

Or maybe he just didn't need it right now.

Probably the latter.

Nemas just gave a thumbs up at seeing me and then turned to sort stuff back onto the table that someone seemed to have thrown off.

Probably that Leon guy.

“Come on, I wanna see the ship you ended up on!”

Robin dragged me out of the door again onto the deck, where I then had to steer him to the side so I could point at the Halcyon.

“There, you see the smaller boat with part of the railing missing? 

That's where i ended up”

Sadly Imugi seemed to be currently underwater and out of sight.

“Ohh, where's the Sea Serpent? I don't see it”

He leaned forward over the railing and I fumbled to catch him as he slipped forward.

“Careful! And i guess Imugi is underwater right now,

i mean that IS a SEA Serpent and not a land dweller”

Also she was probably towing the ship right now even if it was hard to see from the deck of the Call Of The Damned.

“Aww, what color is she? Maybe I can see her later?”

“She's some shade of blue with a paler underside and dark blue back spikes, oh also she's got a pale bony beak as well,  but i don't think you can see her underwater”

He seemed disappointed at that, which was understandable,  but I'd make sure Robin got to meet Imugi at a later point.

“Don't worry, when this is over i'll just ask if you can pet Imugi,  i'm sure nobody will mind”

His eyes went wide.

“Really? Oh that's gonna be so cool! 

Did you touch her before? What's the texture like?”

“Texture? Uhh, smooth but also slightly bumpy, also just slick with seawater but that's a given for a marine creature”

There really wasn't anything remarkable about it,  it wasn't exactly like fish scales either, more like a turtle if anything.

Well, Imugi did have some turtle like features,  namely the beak and the weird flippers.

Sea creatures were weird.

“Sounds nice! Hey now that Rikaad got a new plan do you still have to shift to scare the pirates? 

I mean we got like fifty ships now, AND a sea serpent!”

Good question.

“I have no idea, i’d better ask but i'm sure as soon as Rikaad is done thinking everything through hell tell us”

Maybe I wouldn't even have to do anything.

“Mhm, he's always trying to get a hundred percent in anything,  but i wish he'd be more open to accept help”

That i had to agree with the little Ginger.

“Same here, i think he just feels like he failed when he cant do stuff himself”

“Well that's stupid!”

Suddenly there was a commotion down at the halcyon, with Imugi jumping on top of the reinforced deck and letting out loud clicking noises.

Ignoring Robin who ‘ohh’ed at the serpent I tried to see what was wrong that could have caused her to react like that.

Ah, Dolphins, so nothing really bad.

No wait, while those things had the same size and color as dolphins they appeared to be something else, and currently climbed up the side of the Halcyon while Imugi tried to smack most of them down again.

The slick body was distantly reminiscent of an otter, with bigger claws and a weird finned tail as well as antennae on its head.

One of them snapped at Imugi and Akeem went between the two,  taking the full brunt of a bite.

Thank fuck he was stone!

“Fuck! What are those? Do we have something we can throw? 

No wait my aim is bad i’d just hit Imugi”

Robin hid behind me at the sight, half horrified, half fascinated as the strange sailor with the big ass Rooster showed up behind us,  nearly completely hidden by layers and layers of fabric.

They held up the Rooster, who was pretty much as big as my own torso and gave it a light poke on the skin flap on its head.

The thing crowed louder than any normal Chicken i had ever heard before and strangely enough the creatures attacking Imugi all let up and jumped back into the water, seemingly quite disturbed by the noise.

“I hate Afangi, they gang up on anything they can”

The Chicken holding sailor spoke,  who was probably male? Maybe? And gently set the chicken on the railing where it shook itself before settling down.

Up close something akin to a clawed thumb was visible on its wings and it seemed to have teeth as well.

“Afangi? What? The hell are those things?”

The sailor shrugged, at least it appeared so as the maybe hundreds of layers obscured nearly everything.

“Sea beasties, though they can't stand a Roosters call,  so i usually have my feathery friend with me”

They picked the oversized Chicken back up, holding it like a cat even, and walked to the other side of the boat.

“So a Rooster call scares them? Interesting”

“Yeah, I just wish it hadn't been so close to my ear!”

Robin was scratching at said ear and looking over the railing at Imugi again, who now refused to go back into the water.

“Fair, that was probably the loudest chicken ever,  if that even was a chicken, i'm pretty sure it had teeth”

“It did? There are a lot of strange creatures here”

Oh there definitely were, and apparently most would fuck you up.

“Yeah after this is over i'm going to avoid the ocean for a bit, fuck im going into the woods for a few days even!”

That made him laugh.

“Can I come with you? I'm tired of smelling like salt!”

“Of course! Hey, is that Rikaad?”

It indeed was, and he did not look enthusiastic,  to be fair he never did but now even more so.

But that meant he was done planning right?

“Ah there you two are.

After talking to Cassidy and some other captains we have come up with a plan. 

We are not going to sail between the cliffs, but apparently Cassidy knows another good ambush spot and will lead us there.

I wanted to ask you two to go on the ship Donovan was previously on, since they have a sea serpent towing it they can retreat even if the wind is against them and you are probably safest there”

I’d better not mention to him that Imugi wasn't exactly the bravest, besides it didn't really matter what ship we were on but he did have a point with the wind thing.

Also no doubt Robin wanted to get closer to the Sea Serpent.

“Sure, if we manage to get on it from here i don't mind,  might as well introduce all of them”

Rikaad nodded and sent us back to the moving platform while Robin watched the smaller ship with wide eyes.

“You think they'd let me pet her?”

Oh for sure, and if we got on the halcyon the same way I left it he'd make even bigger eyes.

“Ask Ronan, he knows Imugi best”

Catching the dark blue fin out of the corner of my eye I had to fight not to smile.

That ought to be a surprise.

As the platform stopped a few feet above the water Imugi’s head surfaced and she whistle-clicked at us while clacking her beak a few times.

“You are so pretty! That's such a nice blue!”

I had to hold the back of Robin's clothing to avoid him falling into the water as he leaned forward to try and pet her.

“Calm down! She's here to get us on the Halcyon! You can pet her later!”

Imugi clacked her beak and did her best to hold still as I helped a starry eyed Robin climb onboard while going back to hanging off the back spikes myself again.

Imugi brought us over quickly and since the Halcyon was so much smaller we could just slide down onto the deck where Jamie was currently using Akeem as a perch again, leaving the other three to manage the sail that had come loose again.

I could hear Imik chewing out Ronan for letting Shalimar help with the rope or something.

Well if her ability to to tie knots corresponded in any way to how she had tied her vest and belt it was no surprise that didn't go well.

“Ayy whos the redhead? Imugi seems to like him!”

Jamie crowed from their perch on top of Akeem's shoulders and I turned around back to face the ocean. 

I could see Imugi softly pressing her head Into Robin and making chirping sounds.

Robin himself had the time of his life as he petted the big sea creature.

“Thats Robin! He's my friend, 

Rikaad is also my friend but he's still on Cassidys ship”

Both Jamie and Akeem looked up to the ship.

“Yeah i cant see shit, why the fuck did i think i could”

Akeem shrugged, sending Jamie tumbling off with a curse.

“We should focus back on going forward, we are gradually getting slower with the sail locked in position and Imugi hanging onto the side”

He shooed the sea serpent back into the water to the disappointment of both her and Robin but offered to show the ginger how to put the towing harness on.

I hadn't actually seen that yet either,  aside from the time Ronan had to adjust it so i followed as well.

Akeem wordlessly went through the motions of putting it on with the ease of someone that had done this a thousand times before leaving again.

Helping Robin sit on the bowsprit, and keeping a good grip on him so he wouldn't fall, he ended up telling me what had happened since he left.

In at least somewhat chronological order too, probably.

He told me how that perpetually angry looking Leon guy got onto their ship and that he'd tried his best to take a first aid course and could now remove fishing hooks out of skin.

Pretty useful,  though I doubted that would be common as soon as we were home.

He also told me that the ship's cat, Smokey, was still alright and had taken to sleeping in my hammock for a few days after I was gone.

Huh, so the poor feline HAD recognized that I had tried to help, nice.

He then told the rather harrowing story of when the sea monster had attacked, which apparently had looked more like a weird eel than anything.

When the thing had bitten at the railing Leon had grabbed a big splinter of it and shoved it up the beast's nostril before whipping it with one of the sturdy ropes meant for the crates.

Huh, pretty badass, also apparently the reason why Nemas had a swollen jaw wasn't because of the monster attack but because Leon punched his face ‘for talking too much’.

Ouch, while he DID talk a lot just telling him to shut up would have been nicer.

After he was done it was my turn to tell what happened, simply stating that when they found me Ronan had tossed an electric eel at me and then skipped over to him falling into the eel pit and having to be rescued.

I left out the part where the Halcyon got attacked by Pirates and I nearly drowned with Jamie, not sure if that would upset him or not,  or maybe even make him jealous for letting Jamie in my pouch?

Whatever the case, I left it out and instead went to the treasure diving thing, with the found bracelet still in the hidden compartment. 

I really needed to remember to get that before we went back home.

And then of course I told him about Kariba island,  and what little I had seen of it.

His eyes were wide as plates as I told him it was mainly inhabited by nonhumans.

“Ohhh, I wanna see that! You think we could talk Rikaad into-” His sentence was interrupted by a very loud shout, coming from the Call Of The Damned and was louder than any other Human i had ever heard.

The one yelling was Nemas,  apparently having gotten over the swelling in favor of talking again.

“-CRAZY? CASSIDY THAT GRAVES KEEP! 

YOU ARE LEADING US TO A DEATHTRAP!”

I looked confused at Robin, who in turn looked confused at me and then we both looked at what we were heading towards.

It was a giant island, barren aside from a few dead trees and seemed to have the form of a nearly ring shaped sickle moon with the thinnest part just about big enough to let the Call Of The Damned trough about four times next to each other

The island itself was made of dark gray jagged rocks and seemed oddly threatening.

And we were sailing right towards it.

Turning around and looking back I could see a fleet of ships that wasn't ours.

Nymra had been off by quite a bit seeing as there were over two hundred Pirate ships close behind instead of just a hundred.

“Oh Fuck”

NEXT / PREVIOUS / OVERSIGHT

[lizard-shifter-noms]

Wayward Waters Chapter 9

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Hello everyone! Chapter 9!

time to explore more of the world!

this Story contains Vore, Dont like dont read.

have fun reading!

and as always Reblogs are appreciated! (Also ASK’s are open so feel free to bother me!)

AO3 Link for those that prefer the layout there;

AO3 Wayward waters

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After surely not enough hours of sleep I was woken up again, 

by Jamie once again having no regard for the stability of my spine and literally walking over me.

“Yo! Wake up! We managed to toast bread! If you're fast it might even not be soggy!”

With that they jumped off and walked out,  leaving the door open as I grumbled miserably into the pillow.

Maan i felt miserable, and not in the way that my body got battered around, instead just, plain miserable.

Instead of getting up I just continued to lay there, I didn't need to eat anyway and I didn't want to get potentially soggy bread again anyway.

After not getting up and instead moping miserably for what had to be at least an hour of just laying there and doing nothing, Akeem walked in through the door I hadn't even bothered to close after Jamie left.

“Are you alright? 

Jamie told me you were already awake but not doing anything”

I just turned my head away and grumbled into the pillow, not even words just sounds at this point.

I heard the wooden floor creak as Akeem walked next to me.

“Do you not feel well? Did you get seasick after all?”

I shook my head, still burying my face in the pillow.

“No, i just feel miserable, i don't wanna do anything today”

Apparently Akeem didn't care about that as I was picked up by the scruff and set back onto the bed in a sitting position.

“Things still have to be done even if you don't want to, imagine where we would be if we never did anything we didn't want to?

Now what's the reason you feel so down?”

“...dunno, i just feel miserable, maybe i need to get better sleep”

Akeem just stared at me, and for the first time since I set foot on the ship actually blinked.

“I do not think that is it, i remember when Yamet was new on the ship he also had a bout of ‘being miserable’ as it turned out he was simply homesick”

Homesick? The very fact I could get that was astounding,  but I wasn't really Missing Kamerasca itself.

“I- uh, I guess? Maybe? But to be honest i never really cared about Kamerasca aside from the fact i was living there”

“Ah it is not the place you miss but the people living there”

That would make more sense.

“Uh, well, yes? I miss my friends, and even some of the Guards from the castle, and i worry because i don't know if they're okay or not”

I had no way of knowing anything right now, 

not if they were okay or even still alive after the storm.

"I am sure that they're alright, they must worry about you just as much as you worry about them"

Fair point, and moping wouldn't help anyone so might as well get up.

"You're right, and laying on the bed all day won't do anything, is there any toast left?"

Akeem nodded and strangely enough actually blinked for once.

"There is, but it is cold by now"

Well that was still better than soggy 

"Fine by me, let's go before Imugi makes everything soggy again"

Akeem had already walked out the door, only stopping for a second. 

"I doubt she can squeeze her head into the kitchen, not that she hasn't tried"

Oh so this time they actually ate in the kitchen, why they didn't do that sooner was beyond me though. 

I followed Akeem to the kitchen and he handed me a piece of cold toast that I ate in a few bites.

Meanwhile I noticed that the windows had a bunch of scratches around it, a new one being added as Imugi’s beak nibbled on the wood.

More of her didn't fit anyway.

Akeem grabbed the intruding beak and shoved it out so he could close the window. 

"We ought to get a better window lock in here, 

Imugi will chew on the wood if she doesn't get a treat,  But we can't give her one as we don't to reward that sort of behaviour but she keeps doing it”

Looking at the beak marks in the wood I did have to agree with him, though a Sea monster like Imugi probably liked the smell.

“Good luck, or try putting something in here she doesn't like”

Maybe if she saw something she wasn't fond of she'd stop chewing on the ship.

“The only thing i know that she does not like is Dolphins,  and we are not putting that in the kitchen”

Fair, also the bread really was starting to get stale,  no wonder they tried to toast it.

“Mhm, that would take up like half the kitchen anyway,  how far till we reach the Island you mentioned?”

Akeem motioned for me to follow him to the deck, which I did, still munching on the stale Toast.

Not like I hadn't eaten worse as a bastard street rat.

Up on the deck I could see that the sail was bunched up at the top and that a very old looking anchor was tossed over the side of the boat.

We were still in the middle of the ocean though, why did we stop?

Confusedly I turned to Akeem who had gotten some sort of ladder and rope from who knew where.

“We are stopping here for a few hours so Imugi can properly rest, there even is some seagrass for her to sleep in this reef”

Oh, right, in the hurry to get Home as fast as possible Imugi probably hadn't gotten all that much sleep.

Poor thing, and now I felt guilty.

Akeem tossed me a towel as well as Shorts that seemed to be made out of a weird silk like substance.

“Wh-”

“Those are specifically made for swimming, since Imugi has to rest you might as well enjoy the ocean for once”

Ah, that made sense, probably?

Before I could say anything else Akeem had tossed the Rope which appeared to have a weight at one end overboard and jumped after it.

Considering he was stone he didn't resurface,  but he also didn't have lungs so he couldn't drown.

Oh so the rope was that he could climb out later, smart.

Taking a look at the swimming shorts again, I decided to join Akeem.

Not like we could go anywhere with Imugi sleeping.

Going inside the ship again for a short moment I changed into the shorts Akeem had given me, they mostly fit at least even if they had to be tightly bound together at the waist with a string.

Putting my clothes in the empty box next to the door I walked over the deck again and looked over the railing.

Huh, the water didn't seem that deep here, and there were corals and fish.

A Reef then, and judging by the looks of it a big one.

Suddenly I was glad that this ship wasn't all that big,  and had a serpent maneuvering it.

With the way the rocks were positioned everywhere they could very well cut open a boat.

Being so absorbed in watching the reef under the boat that I didn't notice a figure sneaking up behind me.

Well I didn't notice until my arm got grabbed by a clawed foot.

“What's up you wuss!? Scared of the water?”

Came the cheerful voice from a blue clad maniac right into my left ear.

“Jamie! You don't have to be so loud! I'm not deaf, though,   keep yelling and I might be, also I'm not scared of the water! 

I wanted to see if i could spot Akeem or something cool”

“The water itself is cool enough already, also aren't those Ronan’s?”

They pointed at the swim shorts Akeem had given me.

Oh so those belonged to Ronan, hopefully he didn't mind.

“Akeem gave them to me, also considering you never seem to get out of that Blue sweater you're not gonna swim at all”

They shrugged.

“My legs are so fucking inefficient at treading water that i really should just stay on the boat unless i want to sink after five minutes.

Really though, with how thin my legs are i need to move them so fast to not go under it sucks”

Huh, hadn't considered that, of course thin, almost stilt like legs with thin toes would not help with swimming.

“So I guess you're just gonna have an eye on the ship then? Nice of you.

“You gonna swim or not? Also, don't you ever take that Bracelet off?”

The bracelet? Well, Since I had gotten it the only time I took it off was when I met Oakley.

“Not really, just like you and that blue sweater, also I am going to swim! I just didn't want to jump into a jellyfish or whatever!”

With that i swung myself over the railing and landed with a splash in the water below.

Fuck! As a human the salt stung terribly in my eyes,  which made me realize that I did not have that Problem as Ardua.

Strange, well that demanded to be tested!

Twisting the gem it was barely a second later that instead of a two legged man a big and green beast emerged.

Carefully opening one eye under water it really didn't sting anymore!

Though everything was still blurred by the water.

How weird! But also useful! 

And as Ardua swimming was faster too, the broad paws apparently not only good for digging in dirt.

Now that my life wasn't in danger or anything else needed to be done swimming through the reef was actually fun!

There were lots of fish and coral!

And swimming on the opposite side of the Boat was where Imugi had made a temporary nest out of seagrass.

It looked like actual grass just under water, it was moving slowly with the gentle waves, well at least the parts Imugi wasn't using as Mattress.

Imugi herself was sleeping on the seagrass so I left her alone and instead went to see if I could find Akeem.

Considering he was stone he had to be walking on the ocean floor.

That sounded kinda awesome actually.

Getting a deep breath of air I dived down again, seeing something blue and yellow dart past me.

Turning my head I saw it was Imik, who had ditched his shirt and revealed that his entire torso was dotted with blue scales that had yellow spots in some parts.

On his back there was also a thin and short fin which fit with his webbed hands and feet.

I briefly wondered what type of Merling he was, 

considering he had no fishtail it definitely wasn't merman.

Needing fresh air I resurfaced, Imik following right behind.

“Hey! Nice to see you swimming! Why'd you change back to the green form? Just because it's got bigger lungs?”

Bigger lungs? Hadn't thought about that but he was correct.

“Well i found out saltwater doesn't sting my eyes like this, 

also less risk of having some fish bite me while i'm fuzzy”

Imik laughed at that.

“Fair! Hey, I think I spotted a shipwreck that got washed up in a cave!”

A shipwreck? Well that sounded interesting!

“Really? Where? I've never seen one!”

“I'll show you! I think i'll need your help anyway cuz i want to explore it!

And if something goes wrong you could probably just smash it!”

Ah, there was the unhinged in his case.

“Uh, sure, where is it? I'll follow you, but i'm not a fast swimmer”

Imik nodded and then darted forward a few meters,  waiting for me to catch up.

That pattern repeated until he led me to a deeper part of the reef with weird rock formations.

They looked like natural long columns had fallen over to create some sort of irregular net pattern over sandy grooves.

Kinda pretty still, especially with the coral.

“Okay see that one groove that's bigger and deeper than the others? 

The ship is in the cave to the side of it!

Oh and don't forget to check the time while you dive! 

You don't have gills!”

With that he dived down, leaving me to follow.

Taking a deep breath I dived down after him,  seeing the cave he mentioned and swimming inside.

Luckily the cave entrance was very large,  which it had to be considering an entire ship fit through.

The floor was sandy and the small gaps in the stone roof let plenty of light in, almost like the pattern leaves made on a sunny day.

Huh, pretty.

Swimming around a bit I caught sight of Imik waving at me and pointing at the side of the old looking wooden ship, making a punching motion.

He really did want me to hit the thing huh?

Considering he was a treasure diver it was no surprise he wanted an easy way in.

Not knowing if that even worked underwater I swam to the sandy bottom right next to it and tried to get a good stance.

Considering it was sand it was rather ineffective but I managed to punch a good sized hole in the wall anyway.

Then I had a better idea and started ripping entire boards away so I could get a look inside too.

There were crates, and the ship had another hole on the bottom where some sand covered stone was visible.

No wonder that thing sank!

Getting low on air I motioned to Imik that I was heading out,  who in turn nodded and swam into the wreck.

No doubt he'd examine the crates for any treasure.

On the way out I saw a piece of wood stick out of the sand, looking like the corner of a crate.

Eh, I still had enough air for that.

Making a slight detour I hooked a claw into the crate and pulled it out of the sand.

Well, half of it, the crate was already broken and then spilled its contents.

The crate had contained a variety of shiny gold coins and some jewelry with gems, though not much, and-

My brain stopped for a second,  not comprehending what I saw for a moment.

What the hell?

There in the sand was another Bracelet,  though this one possessed Blue gems instead of green ones.

It was currently human sized so hooking it onto a claw didn't work,  and I didn't dare shift as I was currently holding my breath.

So taking it into my mouth was probably the only way to take it with me right now, even though it would give me a mouthful of sand as well.

Grimacing, I swam closer and opened my mouth above it, 

taking the Bracelet, and a ton of sand as expected, into my mouth.

Tilting my head down I let as much of the sand trickle out as possible.

Despite that there still was some stuck in my teeth as I swam out of the cave and back to the surface.

Breaching the water I swam closer to the ship,  the Bracelet still in my mouth as the Ardua lacked opposable thumbs.

Nearing the ship, and the ladder they had put out to get back up,  I tried to put the bracelet on one of the steps of the ladder.

That proved to be stupidly difficult as doing that with my mouth was challenging, not to mention the ladder swayed with the waves.

“Need help kitty cat?”

I glanced up to see Jamie perch on the railing next to the ladder.

I gave them a deadpan stare before nodding.

They ignored gravity and instead used their claws to walk on the side of the ship,  stretching one bird-like leg out and then walking on top of my snout.

“I'm guessing whatever you got is bigger than your human mouth and you can't shift?”

Instead of nodding, which I couldn't do as Jamie was literally standing on my head and I didn't want to throw them off, I gave an affirmative huff.

They nodded and used their claws to grip tightly to my snout, leaning over the side and fishing for the bracelet.

First off, Ouch those claws hurt, secondly i could feel them find the Bracelet and yank it out, immediately jumping back on the boat.

“Hey this looks like yours!, well almost it's more blue”

I twisted the gem and climbed up the ladder, seeing Jamie inspect the outer side of the bracelet.

“I think it might be something similar, no idea what it was doing in the shipwreck though, also you shouldn't wear it”

They tossed it to me and I barely managed to catch it.

“Why?

Also if Imik found the ship he's gonna want all the treasure out of it”

I looked at the bracelet and compared it to the one I had,  they looked pretty much the same aside from some scratches and the different gems.

“Oakley told me that people can only wear this if some weird gene got passed down, apparently everybody else just dies”

“Well that's stupid, I want to be tall too!”

They hopped from the railing on my shoulders, making me feel the sharp claws again but this time also the full weight of them.

They were pretty light at least.

“I believe that, but i don't think you should test it, i have no idea How you would die, it might curse you or some shit”

They looked pretty disappointed and jumped to the ground.

“Well you better put it somewhere safe then,  I'm sure we got an empty lockable box for you somewhere.

Hey what do you think would happen if Akeem wore it? 

He's stone, he doesn't have Genes!”

That was certainly a thought.

“Not willing to risk that, he seems the only one with common sense here, but i gladly take the box”

Jamie seemed disappointed but still showed me one of the lockable boxes on the deck, though this one was literally just a hatch in the wall with a small hollow space behind it.

It didn't stand out at all, perfect!

Stowing the new bracelet away I turned to the ladder once more,  hearing someone climb up.

Judging by the yellow mess it was Imik,  and he was carrying a bunch of gold coins.

“Look what i found! We can repair the kitchen window Imugi chewed on now! And there's more! Akeem is putting everything in bags right now!”

Oh so they did find the gold, nice.

“Want me to help? I can carry a lot more at once than you do”

Imik looked up from where he was shoving treasure into a chute I had previously overlooked.

“Sure! That's gonna be one fast treasure hunt!

Oh and you'll get some of it too! For helping!”

With that he Jumped back in,  and not wanting to lose sight and not find the cave anymore, 

I jumped over the railing after him, turning back into the Ardua form.

Imik was pretty fast at swimming but I managed to see where he dived into the cave again, and after taking a deep breath went after him again.

Akeem was indeed walking along the bottom of the sea, just like one would on land,  and was neatly tying up some bags and crates into nets with rope.

When he saw me he waved and used even more rope to tie a big sling, attaching every bag he could before holding out the sling to me.

Oh smart! Without thumbs I couldn't hold it, and I needed my limbs to swim anyway so that I could just carry the rope with my teeth.

Gently gripping the rope he held out, and trying not to bite it,  I turned around and swam out of the weird cave again.

Pretty heavy though, they must have found lots of good stuff in there.

Resurfacing I quickly realized they did not have their crane anymore, how would all this stuff get on the ship?

Imik breached the water shortly after me, apparently coming to the same realization.

“Ah fuck, were missing equipment, well if we do manage to get the gold up there we can use it to get a new crane at least”

Great, but how to get it on the deck now?

Suddenly Even more rope was tossed straight onto my head.

Jamie, of course.

“Yo fuckers! If you tie it to that we can use the winch of the second anchor to tow it up here!”

Well, that could work.

I tried to keep steady as Imik tied a variety of complicated looking knots to secure everything before climbing up the ladder and helping Jamie with the winch.

Not sure if i could let go now or not i just stayed as i was, hearing both of them work to use the winch.

After not too long there was a tug and the weirdly packaged treasure was heaved out and halfway onto the deck.

Swimming back to the ladder I changed back to the more human form so I could climb it before immediately switching back to the Ardua form as soon as I was on the deck.

I walked over to where they struggled to heave the mishmash of rope and treasure onto the boat and leaned over the railing.

Grabbing the tied together chaos I dragged it completely onto the deck, hearing at least two of the crew cheer at that.

“HEAVE HO KITTY CAT! HAHA”

At least one was Jamie.

Shaking the water out of my fur like a dog,  and drenching all of them again, I shifted back.

After shifting i immediately got a stick thrown at my head and turning around it was Jamie,  who due to me shaking the water out had gotten wet after all.

“Dumbass!”

“Sorry, forgot”

They let out an annoyed chirp and walked up the mast,  wringing the blue sweater out as they went.

Imik had meanwhile detangled the winch from the crate mess and tied another rope to it instead.

Oh right, Akeem was still underwater and due to being a statue couldn't swim upwards.

“Should I shift again and drag him up?”

“Nah, not sure if the Boat likes that, but you can help pull since Ronan is distracted, well he shouldn't anyway with the injuries”

Fair, so I grabbed part of the rope and helped Imik to drag Akeem up from the ocean floor.

It wasn't that bad until Akeem was actually heaved out of the water and still had some meters to go to get him on the deck.

Apparently him being out of the water made him heavier?

Whatever, letting go now would undo all the work we had to get him up, not to mention embarrassing.

Powering through it he was on the deck pretty fast and I could literally watch as the water just flowed off him till he was mostly dry.

Living statues were weird.

“Thank you for your help, without the crane getting me out is quite difficult”

Before I could respond a big blue head with a bony beak bonked into the railing, making whistling and chirping sounds.

Ronan immediately appeared from who knew where and hugged Imugi.

“Imugi! Hey there! Have a nice nap?”

The Sea Serpent click-whistled in response and gummed on his hair.

Despite being gently gnawed on Ronan immediately went to coddle her as she clicked happily.

“Hey what's in those crates? 

Did you go diving after Jamie knocked me out?”

Jamie knocked him out? Was that a good idea? He was still injured.

Then again he had been walking around and doing stuff when he shouldn't, so maybe it wasn't that bad? 

Aside from the possible brain damage.

Though according to Jamie he didn't have a brain to damage anyway.

Also Imugi was careful with him,  only gumming on his head instead of his bandaged limbs so at least she wouldn't open any of the strange electric burn marks.

Imik immediately interjected the inane nonsense though.

“If Imugi is fit again maybe we should go back on route? 

The treasure is nice and all and we're gonna have to use most of it to get a new crane but we really should aim for the harbor now!”

Imugi stopped gumming on Ronan’s head and made a clicking sound at Imik before diving into the water again.

The two of them walked to the front of the ship,  probably to toss the towing gear to Imugi again,  leaving me on deck with a living statue trying to sort the rope and crate chaos and a bird legged maniac that sat up in their nest and apparently had no desire to help.

Well to be fair they seemed to basically never use their hands and i doubted untying rope could be done with those stick thin bird legs.

There was a tug on the boat that confirmed that Imugi was back to towing the boat.

Not really knowing what to do now I went over to Akeem and started helping to untie the ropes from the mess of crates,  and earning, what was probably? An affirming look.

It was hard to tell considering his eyes were made out of some orange gemstone but he seemed to appreciate it and started instructing me on what to do.

After not too long Imik came back and helped until everything was untied, and promptly started to drag the crates to the door at the back of the ship.

Oh right, he was stowing the treasure he found there.

Helping to move the heavier crates the day went by fast until the sky, and ocean, was painted a purple and magenta shade by the setting sun.

Apparently time went faster if you had something to do, huh.

Suddenly I got a piece of stale bread tossed at me,  just barely managing to catch it before it fell on the floor.

The one that had thrown it was Jamie, who seemed to have lost all respect for gravity and was standing sidewards on the mast.

“Good catch!”

Jamie Immediately got whacked by Imik.

“Don't throw food like that! Especially on a boat!”

I did have to agree with Imik on that, it seemed rather wasteful, especially if i hadn't caught it.

While I bit into the stale bread the two started squabbling again,  with one of Jamie's bird claws straight up gripping Imiks face.

Apparently that happened a lot so I ignored it and sat next to Ronan on the stairs to the top part of the deck.

“How many times does that happen?” Ronan shrugged, and then winced as his skin moved the bandages.

“No idea, stopped counting, but they never do it for real and like this Jamie doesn't go after me for dumb stuff at least”

“Fair, but you really do dumb stuff sometimes”

Ronan grinned sheepishly and tugged at his own ear.

“I know, but sometimes i get excited about new stuff and then forget the stuff around me”

Well that sounded familiar.

“I know someone with a similar issue,  he keeps spacing out and not paying attention to things that don't interest him, his name is Robin and he's my best friend”

Fuck how i missed all of them, i couldn't wait to get to the Harbor and then home.

“Your best friend? What's he like? Oh and does he have any tips on how to deal with the scatter brainedness?” “i don't think so, as for what he's like, well first off he's ginger” That earned a laugh from Ronan.

“As for what he's like, hmm, well he's the first person to not just see some street bastard halfbreed.

My mother died eight years ago and since then he was the first to be nice to me, for no reason too.

Our meeting was, uhh, Chaotic and he would have had every reason to hate me and fear me but after a bit he didn't.

He loves plants and the Cat that walks around the garden. 

He randomly helps the people near us out even if he doesn't get anything for it.

He loves to make flower crowns for people, 

He even tries to match the colors of them too.

Also he's easily excitable and can hyperfocus on things he likes”

“Sounds like a good guy, maybe if we visit your place, Kamerasca was it? One day we could throw a big party and let everyone meet!”

A big Party to introduce everyone to each other, huh.

“Sure, why not? You gotta keep an eye out for Nea then,  she can, and will, throw someone out a window, 

I'm also pretty sure she already did that at least once.

But i think that would be fun, i don't think Rikaad would mind, 

and Arthur won't either as long as he doesn't have to go on a Boat”

Ronan smiled widely,  showing off his fangs that were a little smaller than mine.

“Sounds like a plan then! 

Wait, who are Rikaad and Arthur? More friends?”

I nodded.

“Yeah, they are Rikaad kinda owns the place we live at and Arthur had really bad Motion sickness”

“Ouh motion sickness sucks, I got it once, Imugi grabbed me by my shirt and dragged me at high speed through the water,  making lots of curves all the while! 

I nearly puked!”

Just hearing that was horrifying.

“Yeah that sounds like something that would make you throw up, why did she do that anyway?”

“Oh yeah! So Imugi used to be really tiny and that was basically the first time she realized she could actually drag me! 

I guess she was excited, haha!”

Oh right Jamie had mentioned that Imugi used to fit in a mug.

Ronan kept on rambling though, apparently I had struck an interest.

“Imugi did all sorts of wild things around that time! 

And also kept bringing me raw fish so i'm pretty used to that now,  Yamet actually combined it with rice and sauce. It's very good.

Oh! One time Imugi fell off the boat and managed to get back on deck on her own for the first time! She was really happy about that! 

And then kept going on and off for like two hours,  but at least we didn't need the crane to get her on anymore!

Then there also was the one time she got something stuck in her gills, I think it was a fishhook? 

It was definitely bent metal though, so I had to reach in and get it out!

I'll tell you fish gills are already weird but because Imugi was already so big and the hook so deep I had to fit my entire arm down her throat!

Heh, so i guess the reason i had no fear when looking at your teeth was because i had to stick my arm into a sea serpent already!

Wait! I forgot! Fuck! Why didn't you say anything?”

Much to my chagrin I knew exactly what he was talking about.

I did tell him i would let him look at the pouch firsthand after all,  he was probably going to cash in on that sooner rather than later.

“Yeah I was kinda hoping you would so I kept quiet about it”

He looked at me with a deadpan stare.

“Well, we still have time till we reach the harbor, and I'm still curious!”

My eyes nervously darted to where Jamie and Imik were still wrangling with each other, how they had not drawn blood was a miracle.

Ronan seemed to catch on for once luckily.

“Oh yeah, don't want to freak Jamie out,  normally someone ends up losing an eye or finger”

Well that was horrifying.

“Well then, uhm, let's wait till they sleep,  minus Akeem because he never sleeps anyway”

I sighed and ate the last piece of stale bread.

“Well, i did say i would, and id rather Jamie doesn't take out my eye so waiting till its night is fine by me”

I also didn't want to freak them out, again, seeing as i had no idea if anyone told them it was fine considering the chaos at the time.

So we talked about nonsense till Akeem dragged both Iik and Jamie inside for sleep.

“Wait, doesn't Jamie sleep in the nest thing normally?” Ronan waved it off.

“Nah not all the time, and if Akeem drags them Inside they actually sleep inside, though that might be due to laziness”

Ah yeah, made sense, so now that everyone was gone I was surely expected to shift into the Ardua form again.

NEXT / PREVIOUS / OVERSIGHT

[lizard-shifter-noms]

Wayward Waters Chapter 8

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Hello everyone! Chapter 8! getting closer to the island now!

time to explore more of the world!

this Story contains Vore, Dont like dont read.

have fun reading!

and as always Reblogs are appreciated! (Also ASK’s are open so feel free to bother me!)

AO3 Link for those that prefer the layout there;

AO3 Wayward waters

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I tried to shift in a way where they didn't really see what exactly I was doing with the bracelet.

Just because Ronan knew it was the bracelet that let me shift didn't mean I wanted any of them to know how to do it exactly.

Fuck knew there were at least two people i could see wanting to try it out.

That would not end well.

I sat down next to Akeem as he seemed calmest out of all of them,  Also I felt like if I sat next to Jamie I'd end up with claws in my leg.

I was handed a sandwich made out of stale bread and what was probably dried kelp?

“No idea if you eat meat or not, well we don't have any onboard anyway, well any that isn't for Imugi”

Nice of Imik to not hand someone randomly meat they might not eat.

Though the dark green leaf-like thing didn't look too appetizing.

Handing it back would be rude though.

Suddenly a big and scaly head flopped over the railing,  stealing one of the sandwiches from the basket.

“Imugi! How many times do I have to tell you not to stick your head in the bread basket! Now it's all soggy again!”

Oh so that was why the bread had been randomly soggy,  yeah made sense.

Also having taken a bite of the kelp filled bread i found it was very salty and fishy.

Yeah, not my thing at all.

I held it in such a way that Imugi could easily steal it,  which she immediately did, drenching me with seawater.

Well that plan didn't go as wanted.

And now my shirt was soaked with saltwater, great.

“Imugi! Come on!”

Ronan went to deal with Imugi while I tried to wring out my shirt,  only being partly successful.

“Great, that's gonna smell like fish now”

“There's worse, Though with the wind you might catch a cold if you keep wearing it while wet”

Akeem did have a point, calm as ever of course, also the wet fabric clung to my skin and made me feel sticky.

“I'll go get the clothesline, should dry faster like that,  Jamie, can you clean up the rest of the bread?”

Jamie made a dismissive hand motion and the just haphazardly shoved things back into the basket, with their clawed feet instead of hands.

If I didn't Know they had hands under that sweater I'd say they were an amputee.

Still, pretty skillful.

While everyone but Akeem was doing their own thing,  distantly hearing Ronan berate Imugi for making everything soggy again, i pulled the wet shirt off.

I tried to wring it out to the best of my ability, which didn't do much.

“Ay, where'd you get that scratch?”

I looked confusedly to where Jamie was pointing, with a clawed foot instead of a hand, which turned out to be the new scar on my shoulder.

Well, at least they didn't seem angry anymore?

“Oh that, some soldier chucked a spear at me, pretty sure if you look closely you can also see tons of tiny dots of scar tissue from the arrows”

There were quite a few of those, though they just looked like Freckles if freckles were paler than the normal skin.

Jamie regarded me with a deadpan and unamused stare.

“Soldier? Spear? The fuck you've been doing? 

Don't tell me you're a wanted criminal”

They rolled their eyes while speaking, probably thinking I was an idiot.

Yeah, fair.

“Oh don't worry, I'm not a criminal! I got those because I fought in a big battle, Kamerasca and Maringand had quite the stupid fight.

Am i glad that's over! My brother nearly died but I managed to Protect him even though I ended up falling down a waterfall.

The water wasn't really nice to the arrows stuck in my skin though”

“Dude what the fuck?”

I looked bewildered at them,  and then Akeem who so far had just been sitting there quietly.

And he continued to do so, 

apparently not seeing himself as part of the conversation.

“And the other scars? 

There's one on your back and one more to the side”

Jamie pointed with a clawed foot at said scars,  the thin line on my back and the thicker one by the kidneys.

“Oh those, the one on my back is from the time some drunk and angry guard tossed a sword at me,  the other one is where i'm missing a kidney, they're pretty old now”

The sword one was nearly six years old now,  and the kidney one at least three or four, lost count at some point.

“A sword is not a throwing Weapon, why toss it?”

Came the question from Imik who had come back at some point without me noticing, he also somehow had put up the clothesline and hung the shirt over it.

He was stealthier than one would assume.

“Fuck if i know, again im pretty sure he was drunk,  eh whatever, been forever since then so who cares why”

Imik just hummed and then told Jamie off for not cleaning up like told.

The two immediately squabbled over it and I went a bit away from that as it looked to get physical soon.

I ended up on the back part of the deck with Akeem, watching Ronan unsuccessfully try to berate Imugi about the soggy bread.

She wasn't having it and took his head into her beak, which just made him spew some curses and chide her to let go of him.

She did not, but she also didn't do anything else either,  just annoying him like that.

It was kinda funny to watch.

“Nearly every time the bread thing happens those two end up like that, at this point nobody is actually mad about anything, just slightly annoyed”

Huh, so just some dumb routine at this point?

Sure, why not.

I turned to Akeem, who despite being made of Minerals seemed the most sane person here, or just calmest, whatever.

“Hey how long until we reach that island you mentioned? 

Uhh Kariba island? What's it like anyway? 

Akeem seemed to think about it for a few seconds before answering.

“Very alive, densely built houses in all shapes and People of a lot of different species,  The island itself has the shape of a pulled wisdom tooth.

As for when we reach it, I'd estimate something between two to three days, depending on weather and if Imugi is fast with dragging the ship.

We have a house a bit off from the main part,  it's a bit more quiet there and we can put our Boat right in front of it so we don't have to walk much”

Huh, sounded nice, and lots of different species? What was that like?

“Sounds nice,  and you really think you could help me get me back home?”

“I suppose we should be able to, or at least find someone that is.

First we should take a look at the map to properly figure out how far and which direction it is, then we can plan more”

True, without knowing where to go no proper plan could be made.

“Yeah, again, thank you for helping me,  i don't think most would help a stranger”

Most really wouldn't, either out of fear for taking a possible criminal on board or some other reason.

“A shame, I often find strangers tell the most interesting stories,  be it land dwellers or sailors.

Maybe people would be better off without all the senseless hostility they think they owe to what they consider ‘outsiders’ “

That was a pretty good piece of wisdom, though it was weird to be told that by a living statue.

“Yeah i think i get that, as a bastard people have hated me randomly just for existing, and it just sucks”

While we talked Ronan was tussling with Imugi who refused to let go even though he was hitting her beak with his fist.

Akeem stood up.

“I will go help him, if they want to be idiots they can do so when were home again, besides we would be faster if Imugi was towing the ship instead of hanging of to the side of it, not to mention that Ronan is still injured and shouldn't fool around like this”

With that he went to break up the ‘fight’, leaving me alone.

I went back down the deck to check how dry my shirt was,  sure there was no way it was completely dry by now but maybe I'd get an estimate of how long i had to wait.

On the way down I saw Imik and Jamie still fighting, 

Jamie grabbing half of Imiks face with their clawed feet and Imik chewing on the other one with his shark like teeth.

There was no blood and it didn't seem like they intended actual harm.

But fuck if they wanted they could absolutely shred eachother to pieces.

Imik sounded like an angry alligator, which I only knew thanks to some merchant showing off his pet a few years ago,  and Jamie let out shrill screeching sounds like an alarmed Bird.

I ignored it, not wanting to get involved any and instead walked around them to get to my shirt.

It was, as expected, still wet.

Well, better keep out of the way for now, Ronan and Akeem were busy with Imugi who appeared to be in a silly mood,  and Jamie and Imik were doing, uhh, not murdering each other at least.

Yeah no idea, so I went to the back part of the deck, walking up the stairs and sitting on one of the benches there facing the ocean.

That actually wasn't something I had done till now,  just watching the ocean.

Eh, it would probably be boring, but at least it looked nice.

Also the salty wind from the ocean and the spray of the waves made for a nice ambient soundscape.

There was a tugging sensation of the boat and I assumed they had gotten Imugi to let go of Ronan’s head.

Maybe it would go faster now?

“AY DEE! LEFT SIDE!”

I confusedly looked to the left,  the nickname registering only seconds later.

Oh, there was a whale jumping out of the water! I stood up and ran to the railing closest to it just as it hit the water, creating a wave that hit the side of the ship and spraying me face with saltwater.

What a pretty creature,  though I couldn't really tell if it was bigger than the Ardua or not.

Eh, not important.

Instead I turned to Jamie after the whale had vanished again.

They were perched on the railing of the stairs not too far away and digging their claws into the wood.

“Wait, what did you call me?”

“Dee, ya know, Donovan is a longer name and i'm lazy”

Yeah, that made sense? Probably? 

“Ah, that's the first time i got a nickname that's not an insult like Bastard rat or something”

They tilted their head, the action reminding me of Oakley for a moment.

“Well if ya don't like it say it and i'll stop”

They shrugged, apparently not really caring if the name stuck.

“Hmm, nah i don't mind, and it really is shorter,  though not sure if i'll react to it”

They just walked along the railing closer to me before bapping me with a clawed foot.

“You have sunburn, get the fuck of off the deck”

What?

I looked to where Jamie had poked me,  seeing that the skin was indeed a bit red.

Pressing in on it the flesh went white for a bit before going back to a more red shade.

Yep, slight sunburn, Jamie was right, better get out of the sun then.

“Oh, well i blame Imugi for this,  if i had my shirt this wouldn't have happened”

Jamie cackled at that and I walked past them to try and avoid getting an even worse sunburn.

Going back into the ship was probably the best option,  at least until my shirt was dry again.

So I walked past my still drying shirt into the ship, only to remember that I had no idea where anything was, aside from Ronan’s room maybe.

Suddenly I preferred the castle with its illogically built hallways and stairs.

So that left me standing in the hallway like an idiot.

Arguably I was one, but now what?

Just then Ronan came in after me and nearly walked into my slightly sunburned back.

“Oh sorry! Didn't see you! Man you look a bit red, you good?”

I nodded at him.

“Yeah, just slight sunburn, don't worry that'll go away”

“Sunburn? OH! I think I got something for that! Follow me!”

Before I could respond to anything he said he had grabbed my wrist and dragged me through the ship.

We ended up in a room that I assumed to store Ronan’s weirder stuff judging by the toppled over crate that had spilled some sort of roots.

Ronan himself was rummaging through a bunch of Bins that had been secured with rope to one of the walls.

He kind of looked like a raccoon searching a trash can.

“AHA! Found it!” He held up a potted plant that surely should not have been in that Bin in the first place as it looked a bit sad,  and placed it on a desk that was full of scrolls.

The scrolls all looked like he had scribbled on them, notes maybe? 

He did say he liked Biology.

Sadly they were near unreadable due to having had some liquid spill over them.

He broke one of the Leaves off that were thick and had the shape of really long triangles.

He held it out to me and I could see that the place it had broken off excreted some sort of fluid.

“This is Aloe Vera! The juice helps cool off your skin and hydrate it!”

I hesitantly took it and put some of the juice on the back of my hand.

Huh, it really did have a cooling effect.

“I didn't know there were plants that could do that, tough maybe don't put it back in the bin, i'm pretty sure it needs sunlight”

“Yeah I just put it there so it wouldn't break during the storm! I'm gonna put it back on the windowsill now.

Hey did you know that Aloe Vera is part of the succulent family? Those plants can regenerate if you stick a broken off piece into a new pot!”

I looked up from smearing the weird plant juice over my red skin.

They could do what?

“They what? Man there are so many strange things in the world”

He held up the pot next to his face.

“Pretty cool huh? Lots of cacti are also part of the genus! I think it's really awesome how they manage to store water like that! So I got some seeds from the last time we were near the Sonoria desert!”

He started telling me more about this specific plant,  even showing me how he had scribbled notes on them on the scrolls, well the ones that didn't get dirty at least.

They were surprisingly detailed and everything was neatly labeled.

I was painfully reminded of Robin,  he would have loved this and talked to Ronan about plants for hours.

So instead i listened, it WAS interesting and maybe i could relay at least some of it to the little ginger.

Ronan talked for hours, not just about the plants but at some point about Octopi and fish as well.

Not sure how much of that would stay in my brain but it was interesting nonetheless.

Getting immersed in what he was telling,  We both startled really badly as the door was kicked open.

“WHATS UP FUCKERS!”

It was Jamie, because of course it was.

They were holding Bread and tossed each of us one.

Just bread now huh? Not even a sandwich anymore.

“The fuck you guys been doing? 

Ronan are you talking the sunburned idiots ears off?”

“I am not! He can leave anytime! The door is right there! I just gave him Aloe vera and told him about plants! And octopi and fish”

Ignoring their Bickering i waved at Ronan and slipped past Jamie out of the door, munching on the bread as I walked back to the deck.

Surely my shirt was dry by now.

After taking a wrong turn I managed to find my way back to the deck, only to find Akeem neatly folding my shirt in the Orange light of the sun going down.

He turned to me, stone faced as ever which was to be expected considering he WAS stone, and handed me the folded shirt.

“I noticed your shirt was still here and wanted to take it inside in case you were already asleep”

“Oh uh, thank you, though i don't normally go to bed early, i don't think i can anyway as the stuff i use to sleep better is still on the Victory Rose”

I unfolded the shirt and pulled it over my head.

“I can not help you with that,  i myself do not sleep at all so i can offer no advice”

He didn't sleep? At all?

“You don't sleep? Like, at all? What are you even doing all night then?”

“I keep watch, at least when we are on the boat, otherwise i just do nothing, simply staring at the night sky is relaxing enough”

I looked up, the sun only slowly making way to the first stars.

“Huh, i can't imagine not needing sleep at all,  though i know some people that would love that”

Namely Rikaad, he already kind of did that but it surely wasn't healthy.

Akeem just looked at me and suddenly I doubted he had eyelids.

“I suppose if one isn't averse to spending hours quietly alone in the dark of the night it might seem appealing”

Well, it would probably get pretty boring over time.

“Yeah, not really my thing, but right now I wouldn't mind that.

Would be nice to just not have nightmares,  at least till i can go back home”

Akeem just stood there like a statue, seemingly thinking.

“I could make you Camomile tea? 

Ronan and Yamet told me it helps with sleeping”

Oh yeah, Camomile did that, worth a try.

“I don't see why not, do you even have tea on board?”

“We should have, unless Imugi ate the teabags again”

Despite being a sea monster Imugi acted more like a mix of Dog and Cat.

“I hope not, and i don't think the bags are edible anyway”

Akeem just stood there for a few seconds before turning away to go to where I assumed the kitchen on this chaotic ship was.

By the time he led me to the kitchen it had gotten pretty dark out already, the sun only sending a few stray rays over the dark blue ocean.

As soon as he opened the door there was a strange hissing sound,  like an angry goose.

Looking into the Room Jamie was there, hunched over and munching on an entire Ham like some Feral Dog.

Akeem didn't seem to be bothered by it though.

“Hello Jamie, i hope you put that in the Log so we can keep track of what we need next time we go on land, also that is for Imugi and not you”

Jamie didn't respond to him, just grabbed the half eaten Ham with their teeth, completely ignored gravity and walked along the wall out the window, cawing to me.

“Ay! Goodnight you wet cat!”

I immediately shot back.

“Good night to you too, you overgrown chicken!”

The Window cover slammed shut but I could still hear Jamie laugh.

So that's what made the scratch marks on the wall that were present all over the ship.

Man clawed feet sure were practical.

Akeem then motioned for me to sit at a table that was shoddily screwed at a wall under one of the windows and then moved to rummage through the cupboards.

As with everything else on the boat they were lockable,  and as he opened it I could see individual indents for each cup.

Man ships were weird.

“I will make you the tea, I sincerely doubt you know your way around this kitchen and I'd rather not have you use one of Ronans cups.

He sometimes uses them for his experiments”

Yeah, no thanks, not keen on accidentally poisoning myself.

“Thanks, and yeah i don't want to drink poison or whatever”

I sat at the table and slumped over the surface of it,  putting my head down and using one arm as a cushion.

The people on this ship sure were weird, though so was I,  and it really wasn't important anyway.

Akeem turned to me.

“Apologies for this,  it seems like i can't find the kettle so you will have to wait for a bit”

“No worries man, to be honest this was kinda funny,, Does Jamie do this a lot?”

Akeem simply opened a few random cabinet doors,  likely to find the kettle.

“Sometimes, though I find it unnecessary,  we still have to write the used items down anyway.

Though i have no doubt they are going to give the rest of it to Imugi”

Akeem had found the kettle and put it over a stone contraption that had an oven and a stovetop.

“I mean you're all on a boat, does that never get boring to you?  If Jamie thinks it's funny to eat raw Ham like a gremlin, why not do it?”

“I suppose so, though i will admit to never having really understood such things, not that most bother explaining things to a living statue anyway”

“Really? Why not? Well yeah it's a bit weird to explain but who cares?”

"I do Not feel Emotions the Same as you"

I looked at him perplexed.

"Huh?"

"You are flesh and bone whereas i'm Glass and stone"

What the fuck was he talking about?

“Well, I guess? Not sure what to say here,  but to me you just seemed calm and level headed thus far”

Akeem grabbed one of the cups and put the teabag in while the kettle heated up the water on the stove.

“That is because i simply observe what those around me are doing, i am a statue come to live through magic, but still they are way more alive than i could ever be, i do not breathe or have a heartbeat, or any organs at all, i do not have blood, technically i shouldn't work, i don't even have a brain, yet i am here”

“They do seem to appreciate you though, and i don't think having Organs has anything to do with how alive you are, i mean i think sponges don't have organs either, but you'd still call them alive”

Akeem just stared at the boiling water for a moment.

I still didn't think he had eyelids though, he never blinked.

“I suppose they see me as friend, and so do i, without them i would have stayed in a burned down house never knowing what the world looked like”

That would have been pretty sad,  somehow that part of his story reminded me of Fable.

“You know, that kinda reminds me of my brother,  He's a full elf and was raised as nothing more than a weapon.

He did break free of that mindset though and is now traveling around to find out what kind of person he actually is.

I don't doubt he'll find it, but i don't think it's going to happen in just a few days, same goes for you, i'm sure one day you'll figure it out.

You just have to keep looking, and considering you don't seem to have eyelids or have to sleep you're sure to find something”

Akeem just stared more at the water which now had started to boil.

“Well, it has only been a year and a half, and seeing as i am a statue i have time, but i will stay with the crew, they are my friends.

And also i do have eyelids, i just don't need them”

He put one of the silken tea bags into the kettle after taking it from the stove.

“Wait, you do have eyelids? Huh, well i'm used to people blinking at least once a minute, wait if your eyes are gems how do you even see?”

Akeem stopped what he was doing, which was setting out the teacup.

“I have no idea”

He then resumed pouring a cup of chamomile tea.

“Well, i bet Oakley could get an answer for that, somehow,  and explain it in such a way we'd still don't know”

He handed me the cup,  which was still hot to the touch and I had to set it down for a bit.

Apparently living statues weren't really bothered by temperature.

“Who is Oakley? A friend of yours?”

“Yeah, he's some sort of Magical being with leathery wings and a two pronged tail, not sure how old he actually is but he looks thirty.

Got a fuckton of books and knows a lot of weird stuff,  he's the one that made me the medicine to help me sleep,  though now that it's so far out of reach its not helping”

I attempted to pick the mug up again,  finding that it wasn't as hot as last time and gently sipping at it.

“Is he like a scholar then? Or Librarian?”

“Nah, hes, well not sure how to explain but he's kinda kooky and currently lives in an old tower where half of it is missing,  but he helps out when needed and knows a lot of obscure things.

No idea what he's doing with magic though,  but hes the fuck around and find out type”

I drank a good third of the cup of tea, feeling the liquid warm me up.

“He sounds quite interesting? 

Maybe I can write him a letter and ask if he knows?”

“Sure, if you do that i'll give that to him personally,  no idea if he manages to write back though”

Though it WAS Oakley,  he'd find a way to teleport it right into Akeem’s room or something.

Man what a stupidly long day, well at least the tea was good.

Maybe this time I could actually sleep.

Drinking the rest of the cup I set it down on the table.

“I think the tea did help, at least a bit, i'm tired as fuck,  uh what do i do with the cup now?”

Akeem just took said cup.

“I can take care of it, you don't know where to put it anyway,  you should go sleep instead”

I nodded at him and stood up.

“Thanks, hey uhh do you have a spare room? The last few nights i slept on the deck as Ardua but i don't wanna shift and make the boat heavier”

“Oh of course, we have one empty room with a spare bed, technically it's mine but I don't sleep or have much possessions aside from pants.

It's the right Door on the back on the deck,  then you go down and the second right again”

His room? Well he did say he never slept so it was only useful as storage to him, and apparently all he had was clothing.

“Thank you, and I'll make sure not to touch anything!”

He just nodded and went to put the Mug into the sink, waving at me.

“There isn't much to touch, but i hope you have a restful sleep”

I nodded at him and walked out of the kitchen and the way he described.

The Room was, as mentioned,  sparsely decorated if at all and had one neatly made bed in a corner.

No hammock huh? 

Then again Akeem didn't sleep so he wouldn't need one.

But here was to hoping that sleeping like that wouldn't get me seasick.

Then again i had slept on the deck just fine till now,  it couldn't be too bad.

Crawling into the covers I noticed that the mattress was rather firm,  very unlike the stupidly soft ones everyone else seemed to have.

Maybe this wasn't too bad.

But I missed my friends, all of them! Even Nea who wouldn't hesitate to throw me out a window if i pissed her off.

And no doubt she would somehow manage.

And Oakley who sometimes was helpful but spun it so it was in the worst way possible.

He was probably still sorting stuff into his tower as he kept getting distracted from it and doing who knew what else instead.

Norrin as well who right now surely was stopping Nea and Arthur from stabbing each other.

Arthur would loudly complain about that no doubt.

And then Rikaad who took on so much responsibility so young.

He must be feeling incredibly guilty right now,  he was probably blaming himself for telling me to go along.

And of course Robin, the first person since my own mother to not see some Fae bastard but instead a person.

He was probably moping around right now, hopefully he didn't get nightmares! He had seen when I fell off the boat in full view after all!

And then Fable, who had no idea of anything that had happened to me aside from what I wrote to him.

And since I left the Logos book behind he had no reason to think anything was wrong.

Well, all of this sure would be a tale to tell later.

It already was, sort of.

Thinking about all of this was not helping me sleep, so I turned on my side and pulled the covers over my head despite it being warm.

NEXT / PREVIOUS / OVERSIGHT

[lizard-shifter-noms]

Wayward Waters Chapter 4.5 Robin P.O.V

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Hello everyone! Chapter 4.5!

yes point five, this chapter explores Robins POV of the Situation!

this Story contains Vore, Dont like dont read.

have fun reading!

and as always Reblogs are appreciated! (Also ASK’s are open so feel free to bother me!)

AO3 Link for those that prefer the layout there;

AO3 Wayward waters

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Robin had only wanted to check up on the cat, worried the poor thing would fall off in this storm.

Granted by the time he woke up it wasn't THAT bad, he’d rolled off the bed as a larger wave hit, seeing as Donovan's Hammock swayed with the motion he was still sound asleep.

Robin didn't dare wake him, for once it looked like he had no nightmares and he did not want to ruin that.

So instead he walked out of the room, well, more like stumbled as the ship was going wild.

He walked up the stairs and opened the door only to be greeted by a face full of rain.

Oh, maybe he should head back inside?-

There was a yowl, a horribly scratchy one.

Smokey!

But where?

There! He was hanging off to the side!

Robin ran over, holding onto the railing with one arm while trying to grab the poor cat by the scruff.

Heaving the soaking wet feline back up the ship was hit by another wave, making it tip dangerously forward, making him lose his footing and land on his ass.

Robin wasted no time and tried to shove the three legged cat back onto the middle of the deck, stumbling as another wave hit.

He accidentally let go of the cat who pressed away from the edges of the boat and towards the backmost mast to hide in a bunch of rope.

No! Bad idea! Even He knew that!

But before he could try to get there another wave hit the ship hard, making it nearly nosedive into the cold sea.

He lost his grip and slid the whole length of the deck past all tree masts until he collided with the door next to the captain's quarters with a dull thump.

He held on as the ship's gravity changed yet again and nearly got the entire thing into his face as a dozen or so sailors rushed out.

He looked back and saw that the sail on the middle mast had come loose, probably the reason the ship was doing so many acrobatics.

The sailors tried to use the attached rope to get it back under control though, which only worked halfway.

He tried to blink the heavy rain out of his eyes and grabbed at the door again only to miss as another wave hit, making him slide dangerously close to the railing and almost over it.

Suddenly a hand yanked him back before he fell into the cold abyss of the waves.

He was dragged into a sort of half hug from behind as the person tried to steady both of them.

He looked over his shoulder and came face to face with eyes that looked like a brighter version of the storm itself.

Rikaad!

Wait, what was he doing out here?

He should be inside!

Another wave shook the boat and they almost fell over into the dark colored water only to be stopped by a sudden tug.

Rikaad had tied himself to something with a rope! Oh that was smart!

The ship tumbled again and somehow Rikaad managed to avoid having them fall over.

Only for the next wave to slam them against the railing and Robin watched in horror as their lifeline went taut and then snapped.

Despite all that, Rikaad not once let go of him and managed to hold onto him AND the railing so they wouldn't go overboard.

He was now REALLY glad Rikaad was exercising regularly despite not having so much time anymore.

He turned as much as he could and clung to Rikaads lower arm to let him have as much space to move as possible.

Rikaad still held him as tight as possible and it was even starting to cut off his blood circulation as he was dragged along the railing.

He wanted to yell and ask Rikaad what to do but the strong winds and howling sea ripped the words from his mouth to never be heard.

There was a flash of light followed by a loud boom and splintering noises.

Robin looked up to see the middle mast teetering dangerously in their direction before straight up falling towards them!

He wanted to close his eyes to avoid looking right at it as it would fall on top of them but he couldn't, so he watched in horror as it fell.

Only to be blocked by a huge and familiar green form!

“DONOVAN!”

He shouted but doubted that anyone could hear him.

Donovan slid as he got hit and the mast basically punched him over the edge only to fall in after him just as his head resurfaced and hit him square on the skull and dragged him under the waves once more.

He did not resurface.

“DONOVAN!” 

He tried to reach out but was yanked back by Rikaad who still had his iron grip on him and tugged him back despite Robin's best attempts to break free.

He was yanked back and could suddenly feel Rikaads head right beside his ear, screaming something just barely understandable over the storm.

“Don't! You’ll drown!”

He was right, of course he was, Robin wasn't that good of a swimmer, jumping after Donovan would kill him.

But they couldn't just leave him!

Still, he did not resist as Rikaad dragged him back to the door and heaved them both inside, closing the door behind him with great effort as the wind fought them.

His legs buckled under him and he clung on to Rikaad for dear life even though they were back inside the ship so falling off wasn't a danger anymore.

Though they still got slammed into the walls.

Rikaad heaved him up like one would a smaller child while he cried into the dark haired man's chest.

He was such an idiot!

If he hadn't gone outside to look for the cat Donovan would still be fine!

He continued weeping into Rikaad’s already soaked garments while said man carried him through the unsteady ship away from the door.

He didn't care that they repeatedly slammed into walls, he was already bruised as he could be so what did it matter?

And Donovan was gone! Ohh if only he'd stayed in bed!

He continued gripping Rikaad and crying until he was deposited on a bed, but still didn't let go of Rikaad, as if worried he'd disappear too.

He tried to get him to let go but Robin just clung tighter, He knew Rikaad would go outside again to try and help otherwise.

Rikaad had always been like that, he would never tell someone to do something he wouldn't do.

So if Robin let go Rikaad would walk back out into the storm.

Robin didn't want to lose him as well though and thus clung to the young man like his Life still depended on it.

Rikaad attempted to make him let go but Robin clung so tightly that Rikaad would have to break his fingers to make him lose his grip.

And he would never hurt Robin so he was forced to stay where he was, much to his displeasure.

“Robin, I need to go and help! Please let go?”

Robin just clung even tighter, if that was even possible.

“NO! You don't! You're not a sailor! And I don't want to lose you too!”

The taller man seemed to falter slightly at these words,  and stopped trying to pry Robin's fingers off.

“You're right, i'm not a sailor, and i don't know what to do in a storm, im sorry”

That was a first, Rikaad admitting he DIDN'T have to do something.

“Just please don't go out there again?”

Rikaad took the hand that had tried to make Robin let go and sat next to him, instead moving to pat the head of the smaller of the two.

“I won't, as you said i'm not a sailor and would probably end up in the way instead”

Robin moved to wrap his arms around the man's chest, sliding down a little as another wave hit and just sobbed while Rikaad tried his best to comfort him.

Even going as far as to hug the ginger, something he wouldn't normally do.

Robin felt awful! It was his fault that Donovan got swept overboard and that just because he couldn't stay in place for once!

So he just clung to Rikaad, his only source of comfort at the moment and weeped.

He continued to do so and refused to let go until the storm was over almost half a day later.

He didn't care if this was annoying or inconveniencing Rikaad in any way, he just didn't want him to leave right now.

At some point he fell asleep while still trying to cling to Rikaad, worried that if he let go he'd disappear as well.

When he woke up again the storm had stopped, and he was still digging his fingers into Rikaads shirt.

“You have a strong grip, even asleep”

Robin just moved to bury his face in the taller man's torso as Rikaad softly petted over his mess of ginger hair.

As much as he had hoped it apparently had not been a dream.

So that meant Donovan was really…

The tear tracks from yesterday had dried and he didn't really have the energy to cry even more now.

But he still didn't let go.

“Robin? I should go and talk to the captain, with the boat damaged we have to figure out what to do next, and maybe we can try to find him?”

Find him? He fell overboard during a storm! How would they ever find him?

But he SO hoped they would.

He let slowly go of Rikaad who stood up and tugged his garments back in place to look more presentable.

He had to, he was king, even if that still felt strange to Robin.

At least the ship had stopped doing acrobatics and only slightly swayed with the ocean waves.

He trailed after Rikaad who had walked out the door to try and find Captain Nemas.

Outside and back on the deck he could see the amount of damage done by the storm.

The middle mast was missing of course and some of the railing had broken as well in various places.

And there were ten long scratch marks trailing from the deck over the edge where most of the railing was broken.

It didn't take someone smart to figure out what had done that damage.

He quickly looked elsewhere, not wanting to be reminded of what had happened not too long ago.

All over the place people were busy cleaning up and repairing stuff on the ship so it shouldn't be too hard to find the captain.

And it really didn't take more than ten minutes to find him on the top part of the deck trying to repair parts of the railing.

Rikaad strode past Robin towards the captain who held a splintered piece of wood.

“Captain Nemas! We should talk about how to go from this point onward”

The captain looked at them and then shoved the piece of wood into a toolbox before picking all of it up.

“Oh for sure! Let us head to my quarters so the construction noises don't bother us! And for privacy of course! Right this way”

The captain led them around and down the stairs again and to the door in between the stairs.

Putting the toolbox under his arm he unlocked it and went inside while they followed.

All the while Robin clung to Rikaad’s arm as if worried that if he let go the man would disappear as well.

Rikaad himself didn't do anything about that though.

They sat down at an oval table that had a LOT of random stuff on it, mostly maps even though a majority of stuff had fallen to the floor recently.

The captain's eyes flicked over to Robin for a second before apparently deciding to ignore that an outsider was now privy to their conversation.

Rikaad was the first to speak up.

“How long until the ship will be functioning again? And please no long winded answers”

He didn't seem to be in a good mood, which he normally was very good at hiding so this worried Robin a little.

The captain sighed and tried to formulate a short answer.

“Well the main mast is missing and we can't replace that here, but we still have the other two sails which leave only minor repairs, so I'd say a day or two?”

The captain paused for a second before continuing in a softer tone.

“But that's not really what you're here for is it?”

What did he mean by that?

Rikaad sighed and avoided eye contact for a moment, again a strange occurrence for the man that could usually stare into one's soul unwaveringly. 

“I'm not sure if you saw or not but our friend went overboard as the mast broke, he was trying to protect us and now he's missing, Do you think there is any chance we could find him?”

Oh, so that was why Rikaad was acting off, he was worried as well!

Robin was glad though that he asked, he himself just didn't know what to do! 

He wanted Donovan back but he didnt know how to do that without also jumping into the water which wouldn't help at all anyway.

The captain at least seemed to understand their plight here and offered a comforting expression.

“Well, we could try and sail around until we find him, but that would leave the original problem of the deserters and pirates running rampant through the trader islands, we can't possibly do both, so you will have to choose what to do, i'm just the guy you hired as ferryman”

Robin felt like his little heart got crushed at the captain's words, soft as he might have spoken them.

He glanced over at Rikaad, trying to gauge what he would do, He was king and as such it was his duty to protect his citizens.

But he was also Donovan's friend, and from the grim face he made it was clear he didn't like what the captain had said.

He even gripped the table so hard that it started to splinter under his fingers as he applied pressure.

Robin ducked away from that in case he broke it, he knew he could, he had seen Rikaad train after all.

“It is my fault he was on the ship, so it is also my responsibility to find him, but i can't draw the journey out since the trader islands need me there, Is there really no other solution? I do not want to abandon my friend”

The wood under his hand broke and splintered horribly, the faint smell of blood filling the air as a piece of the table had embedded itself in the young king's hand.

He didn't seem to notice that his hand wasn't holding the table anymore and bleeding horribly, to focused on figuring out what to do now.

Robin shrunk back a little, he'd never seen him that upset even if his face and body language didn't show much of it aside from being tense.

He also didn't know what to do,  he wanted to find Donovan and make sure he was okay of course!

But Rikaad was bound by his kingly duties and would HAVE to go to the islands.

Then the Captain spoke up again.

“Well, if we are where I think we are we could make a little detour to a little island where people restock things like water and the like, there will be lots of ships and you could ask if any of them have seen him? Or even offer a monetary reward for finding him?

Besides, we are just one boat and can't cover lots of ground while a bunch of assorted vessels would probably have more luck stumbling upon him.

So if you give me to order to head over there to ‘repair’ the ship we can also do that as well”

That seemed pretty reasonable to Robin, and the captain WAS right, one ship alone would have trouble finding someone but a whole bunch of them had a way bigger chance.

He looked over to Rikaad who still didn't seem to care about his bleeding hand and just stared at the captain, having that unnerving Look in his eyes again.

Robin had only seen that look twice in his life, and both times whoever had opposed Rikaad had taken tremendous damage, it was something scary and if he didn't already know what feral looked like he'd describe it as that.

But this was something else, something that could be a LOT worse, It wasn't anger either, but close enough he supposed.

It reminded him once again of an unrelenting storm but he didn't flinch back, it wasn't directed at him so he had nothing to fear.

He then answered the captain in an eerily calm voice that could chill a ghost.

“Alright, head for the island you mentioned so we can properly repair the ship and restock,  while we are there were going to see if anyone has seen Donovan”

The captain nodded and Rikaad stood up abruptly,  walking out the door and leaving Robin to scramble after him.

Anyone else would have probably avoided the young King now but Robin knew more than they did about the man.

So he trailed after him to the cabin he was staying at, picking up some first aid supplies when he found them.

He knocked on the door before opening it with bandages and disinfectant in hand.

“Rikaad? I uh, your hand is bleeding and i don't want you to get an infection”

Looking inside the room he could see the chest with Rikaad’s stuff had a hole punched through the hardwood lid and there were even more splinters stuck in his arm.

Yeah, he didn't have to be smart to know what had happened.

Good thing he brought the first aid stuff.

The man himself sat on the edge of the bed,  just looking at the blood pooling from his pierced hand.

“Come in”

He said in a tone somehow void of any emotion and at the same time Harrowingly self deprecating.

Robin sat next to him on the bed and took the pieces of wood embedded into his arm slowly out, he didn't even flinch or react to it at all.

Sometimes it was as if he couldn't really feel pain Robin thought but he didn't find that a good thing considering that he seemed to just ignore his own wounds.

He poured disinfectant over the bleeding spots which he knew stung normally but Rikaad still didn't give any reaction.

“It's not your fault, and i don't know if i could have chosen what to do in your situation, and i might not be good at math but even i know that if more people are looking for him the better!”

He tried to cheer up his friend while trying to ignore the way Donovan was missing from the group.

Well Arthur was too but he was back at the Castle due to motion and seasickness.

Rikaad shook his head.

“It IS my fault, if not for me he wouldn't have been on the boat. 

I invited him to come along so it's my responsibility to make sure he was safe, and I failed. 

How am I supposed to lead an entire Kingdom if I can't even keep my friends safe?

Whether i like it or not i AM responsible for what happened so i should do my best to fix it, but i cant right now as we have a ton of other problems as well”

Oh, so that was it, Rikaad felt guilty, even if it wasn't his fault, Nobody could predict a storm like that.

If anything Robin was more at fault than him, if he'd stayed in their room Donovan wouldn't have wandered out he was sure of it.

“You're just one person, you can't expect to do EVERYTHING without help, I see you day after day working without a break. 

Maybe you should take it easy and rest until we reach the island?

I mean if you're tired your reactions might not be the best,  i've learned that from not sleeping good myself”

Robin knew he was taking a risk with that suggestion as Rikaad was not the type to let other people do what he could do himself, but he also worried that if the young King continued like this he'd just tear himself down.

And then that wouldn't be good for anybody!

As if a miracle though, Rikaad agreed.

“Fine, i'll take it easier till we reach the island, there isn't much i can do on this boat anyway, but i will take a telescope to check the surrounding area for anything green”

Well, at least that wouldn't take too much out of him, as long as he did just that.

Robin didn't doubt he'd walk all over the deck to make sure there was no chance he'd miss something.

But at least he'd tone it down a little for now.

Robin finished up the scruffy looking bandage that would probably come loose in a day or so and pocketed the rest of it.

Then he swept the taller into a hug to the best of his ability, not that Rikaad reacted to that. 

He just stared straight ahead as if trying to put holes in the walls with his eyes alone.

“I hope we find him, my brain will not stop suggesting that he might be dead and i cant get it to stop”

Robin shuddered at the possibility of that,  but he hoped it was just Rikaad’s usual paranoia speaking.

Even if the mast landing square on Donovan's head had looked pretty nasty…

He shook his head, he didn't even want to entertain that thought any further.

“Well, find him, even Oakley said he's tough so I'm sure he's fine! Maybe not happy but I'm sure he's alright!

Maybe he even got washed up on some small island?”

Rikaad patted his head softly.

“Always the optimist i see, thank you though, i appreciate that”

Then he stood up, making Robin slide off of him.

He wasn't even going to take a break before getting a telescope?

Robin pouted at that but knew better than to interrupt the man any more than he already had.

Maybe he should take a first aid course sometime? So far he only knew to disinfect wounds and bandage them, so knowing more would be helpful.

Besides right now he couldn't do anything to help Donovan,  he was stuck on the boat and had no say in what was happening.

Normally he didn't mind that but now it frustrated him to no end.

At least a first aid course would be something useful to do if his brain decided to play along this time.

Last time was in the Guard school and Arthur had let him cheat as his brain had refused to work properly.

Did they even have anyone with medical knowledge on the ship?

Well, time to go and look.

He slinked out and found that Rikaad was already gone and out of sight.

Yeah, to be expected, and Robin thought he was the one that couldn't sit still for long.

He walked back onto the deck, pointedly ignoring the scratch marks and asked the first sailor he saw if there was a medic or Doctor on board.

The sailor redirected him to the lowest part of the ship behind where the crates rested, apparently it had been built like that to avoid sickness spreading as fast as it usually would and could be quarantined. 

He walked down into the dim room that was only illuminated by the light filtering through the lattices on the deck which was at least enough to avoid walking right into the crates themselves.

He was sure he walked in a circle at least once before he found the door the sailor had mentioned, medical sign on it and all.

He went to open it but then thought better of it and just knocked.

It took less than a minute for someone to open the door with a bottle of disinfectant in hand.

It was an older looking man, at least judging by the wrinkles and white hair and at seeing that Robin was fine he let the bottle slip into one of many pockets on his coat, winking him inside with a confused face.

The man was a squirrelly older guy who walked hunched over a little but let him inside despite not being injured.

“What can I do for you young man? 

I don't see any injuries, did you break a bone?”

Robin shook his head, The man's voice was quiet but clearly understandable.

“I- uh, i wanted to ask if you could show me some basic first aid? In the span of two days both of my friends got injured and i want to be able to help them better”

The man blinked and then fetched a pair of glasses out of his coat, giving his eyes a bug-like appearance.

Robin briefly wondered how someone so frail looking didn't seem to have any sort of bruise after the storm had shaken the entire ship so thoroughly.

Ignoring that thought he followed the man to a corner, noticing that there were no patients in here.

Well if nobody got badly hurt they could probably just go back to their rooms as long as no infection was there.

The old man looked through a variety of lockable drawers before pulling out a book that looked well read.

“Say boy, what is your name?”

Oh, Robin had forgotten to introduce himself! That was something that happened too many times to count now.

“Oh! I'm Robin! Sorry I forgot to tell you my name, what's your name?”

The medic blinked slowly and set the book onto a table that had been bolted into a corner.

“My name? Well here on the ship everyone just calls me Doc, and after fifty years i'm more likely to respond to that than my actual name”

Fifty years? Robin doubted that even the captain was this old but then he remembered that the Captains grandfather had used to own the ship.

“Fifty years? You gotta have lots of experience then!”

The man laughed dryly at that.

“I suppose! Every other time I just got called old, Now let's see, where did I put the diagrams?”

He rummaged through some other drawers and fished out a few sheets of paper with depictions of various limbs and the like.

“Now I know you are probably not an expert, so I'm just going to show you how to treat wounds and avoid infection properly for various things and how to set a bone, maybe even how to put a dislocated joint back in place!

What would you like to start with? I'm always glad when young people interest themselves with the arts of helping others”

Start with? Huh, Robin's mind went back to when Rikaad broke part of the table.

And normal wounds were more likely to happen than a broken bone.

“Uh wounds? I've seen that one the most at least”

The Doc nodded and thumbed through his papers until he found the one he was looking for and pulled it out.

“This one is a diagram of how skin is layered, itll show you how to determine how deep a wound is, but for now we are only going to look at the more common injuries, and how to get a fishing hook out of a finger”

Robin felt like the last part had happened a lot on this ship,  at least based on how the Doc spoke the words.

The Doc held the paper out to him with surprisingly steady hands and Robin moved to take it.

The Doc must have seen something interesting though as he stared at Robin's fingers and adjusted his glasses.

“Can I see your hands for a moment, young man?”

Perplexed Robin did as asked and held out his right hand while his left held the paper.

The Doc gently examined them and prodded the middle of his palm, making him curl his fingers in reflex.

“Have you held a sword before? You have calluses in places swordsmen have them usually, oh and your nails look a little split and brittle, Do you Garden as a hobby?”

Robin was taken aback by this a little, which must have shown on his face as the Doc elaborated.

“Hands can tell you a lot about the person they belong to, calluses and scars tell stories not many can read, but that's not what you're here for is it? Also a mixture of Vinegar some sea salt and olive oil should take care of the split nails though”

Hands could tell stories? How weird, and he'd keep the thing for his nails in mind, he didn't want them breaking.

“I, uh, yeah? I mean I do garden! But i haven really held a sword for a few weeks now, i don't really like it”

The Doc nodded and turned around to get some supplies,  leaving Robin to look at the paper he'd been given.

It contained a detailed description on the different layers human skin had.

Robin hadn't even known that skin HAD layers but he didn't really think about that before anyway, he hadn't needed to.

The Doc came back with a neatly labeled box and the rest of the day was thus spent with Robin learning how to properly do first aid, and how to remove a fishhook from a finger.

The Doc also diagnosed him with Dyslexia after noticing his struggle to read basically anything, not like Robin wasn't already aware that he was basically unable to read more than a four letter word.

But at least now he knew what it was called, and how to treat lacerations.

It was late now anyway so he'd come back another time to learn how to set a dislocated bone and go over the stuff he learned today again as well.

The Doc was a way better teacher than the one at the school though, giving Robin enough time to do things and helping him read.

He probably learned more today than in the entire year of school.

He didn't know if that said more about him or the school itself.

Whatever, it was late so he'd better head back up and come back another day.

He walked back up the stairs after weaving around the crates and emerged on the deck.

Now he only had to cross the deck to get to his room.

Well, his and Donovan's! As soon as he was back they could hang out again!

He walked maybe ten steps before Rikaad appeared right in front of him.

“There you are! Where did you disappear to? Next time you vanish for longer than an hour please tell me where you are going”

Rikaad was not a man most people could tell when he was worried but Robin had known him for long enough now to be able to.

“I was with the ship's Doc! I wanted to be better at first aid so I asked him if he could teach me! Because right now that's the only thing I CAN do!

Also i know how to get a fish hook out of a finger now,  might be useful for splinters too?

It's just, I feel so USELESS right now! And we are on a ship! I can't even go very far or do ANYTHING to help!

So i thought learning a bit more might make me feel not quite as helpless”

He had held one arm with his other one and just stood there,  initially not meaning to tell Rikaad all that but then it had just spilled out.

He still felt pretty useless but at least he knew that next time anyone got injured he'd know how to better deal with it.

He was also lucky to not be squeamish at the sight of blood.

He sniffled a little, he wanted his friend back! He wanted to just laze around with Donovan who didn't mind him being a little weird at all!

He wanted to go home at this point, not even the prospect of going to a warm beach sounded nice anymore.

Rikaad just stood there, still with a telescope in hand, and looked at him.

“It's late, maybe you should go to bed? I am sure you're tired after all…this, and i know you only barely slept more than i did last night”

Robin nodded, Rikaad was right, the sun was already low in the sky and sleeping was probably better than doing nothing or moping around.

But he didn't have a doubt that Rikaad would continue looking until it got too dark to see anything.

So he just nodded and went to his strangely empty feeling cabin.

He didn't like being alone in a room like this, and knowing WHY made it worse.

His foot bumped against something on the floor and he picked it up.

Inspecting it he saw that it was Donovan's medicine bottle, the one Oakley gave him to help with Nightmares.

Oh, Robin hoped that Donovan didn't have Nightmares wherever he was right now.

He just generally hoped Donovan was okay, but he had a feeling that that was rather unlikely. 

He looked at his unmade bed and then at Donovan's hammock.

After a few seconds of contemplating he wanted to crawl into the hammock only to find the gray cat already there.

It mrowed at him with its terribly scratchy voice and tried to turn over on his three legs.

Whatever, Smokey would have to share now.

He climbed in right next to the fuzzy being and curled an arm around it, holding it like one would hold a beloved blanket.

Then he curled up there to sleep, the room feeling depressingly empty despite the cat he clutched to himself like a plushy.

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NEXT / PREVIOUS / OVERSIGHT

[lizard-shifter-noms]

Wayward Waters Chapter 7

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Hello everyone! Chapter 7! time for some action! (and vore)

time to explore more of the world!

this Story contains Vore, Dont like dont read.

have fun reading!

and as always Reblogs are appreciated! (Also ASK’s are open so feel free to bother me!)

AO3 Link for those that prefer the layout there;

AO3 Wayward waters

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Being trapped underwater was bad enough but being trapped underwater with a bunch of rocks pinning me in place while a small bird legged person was in my mouth was even worse.

To Jamie’s credit they were less freaked out than I had expected.

They did however mutter Profanities that would make any saint faint.

“...fucking pirates i hope those Hobnockers get dragged to the driest hell that exists by the Kraken itself! Shooting at us! such absolute…”

Yeah that sounded about right, and the rest of that sentence was something I never ever would repeat in front of anyone.

But now what? While I could hold my breath for longer than before thanks to Imik, I was still stuck underwater!

There was one boulder pressing down on my shoulder that I was sure if I could dislodge it I could get free.

The problem was that the Ardua forms shoulder was not made for reaching over to my back.

I could probably get to it and yank it free if I could use my teeth, but alas Jamie was still in my mouth, cursing something fierce.

No other option then, and i couldn't even tell Jamie it was okay, fuck.

Well, I'm sure they'd forgive me later after I explained, after all this was better than drowning, probably.

So, tipping my head back I let Jamie slide farther backwards,  the angle making it a little weird as I swallowed.

Unlike what I had expected Jamie was not panicking, still cursing words i could never repeat in front of anyone of course, but made no move to stop me.

Were they alright?

As far as I could tell they did not seem injured, or did I miss something?

Well, i couldn't really check on that underwater so i swallowed again.

There was some movement from Jamie, 

but they only seemed nervous instead of afraid.

As puzzling as that was, I could ponder over it later,  for now I had to get to air!

So I swallowed again, sending Jamie into the pouch where they curled up without a fight which was VERY strange knowing them.

No time to dwell on that.

I turned my head as much as i could, opening my mouth and grabbing the boulder with my teeth, seeing bubbles escape from my mouth.

Gripping the boulder as hard as I could, which probably was not good for my teeth, I yanked at it, propelling myself forward and out from under the landslide that had half buried me.

Without missing a beat I began to swim upwards as my lungs started to burn.

The surface was still so far away though,  and my lungs strained with the need to breathe.

Fuck, i needed to get to the surface! 

It wasn't just my life on the line! Jamie was with me as well!

And since I swallowed them they had no means of fending for themself.

Though they were still a LOT calmer than I had expected them to be.

Head injury maybe?

Fuck fuck FUCK.

Suddenly something grabbed me by the scruff and twisted around to see what it was. 

I caught a glimpse of a long blue body with a paler underside.

Imugi! She was way better at swimming and dragged me to the surface like the wet cat I surely resembled now.

Imugi dragged my head up to the surface, holding me as I gasped for air desperately, coughing out some water I had gotten into me as I moved the boulder.

My limbs were shaking, and I was just sucking in air to refill my lungs.

Then there was an indignant kick in my pouch, JAMIE!

Hoo fuck, they still didn't know they were safe! Though with how calm they were right now they might have figured it out?

While chaotic as hell Jamie wasn't dumb, but still, they probably wanted out.

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They were quite a bit disoriented, one moment they were nearly drowning after getting tangled in the rope of the research crane the next Donovan had freed them while in his big green form.

Then the entire underwater cliffside came crashing down on them.

And now they found themselves in Donova'ns mouth, being pressed against the ridged palate as the surrounding water was flushed out.

Then air filled the limited space they had and they gasped, The air was not exactly fresh and somehow had a very faint hint of cinnamon but it was better than water.

Okay, so, Donovan was likely trapped under the landslide, and at least tried to not let them drown so that was a plus.

Though Jamie could think of a lot of things that were better than sitting halfway in a giant mouth.

Now what? Their legs were not made for swimming at all! Way too thin to ever be effective at treading water.

And Donovan didn't have air forever either.

They started to curse out the pirates with every insult and swear that came to mind, and that was a lot.

When people said cursing like a sailor then Jamie surely could do that.

They could tell that Donovan was thinking, moving his head around, likely to look for anything helpful.

Suddenly the space they were in tipped, sending them fully into the mouth, eurch but at least like that getting bitten on accident was less likely.

And then it kept tipping.

What was that Landrat turned wet cat doing?

Their head hit the dangly thing in the back of his throat, Uvula Ronan had called it? And were sucked into the weirdly squishy throat with a gulp.

What the fuck was Donovan doing?

They cursed some more, had Donovan seen something? Another Seamonster that wasn't Imugi?

Jamie did not believe that Donovan would do this out of malice, he'd jumped after them to help them, so obviously he had to have a plan.

Maybe he needed his teeth again? He used them to cut the rope, maybe he got partially tangled as well? Or needed to defend himself?

As stupid as it was to trust someone they had known for less than a week they decided to trust him.

And from Ronan’s biology rambles they knew they could at least survive ten to twenty minutes largely unharmed.

Another swallow tugged them farther and they let out a string of curses but tried to keep calm otherwise aside from some nervous twitching.

There was another swallow and Jamie ended up in something akin to an oversized fleshy hammock that shifted with Donovan's movements, Was he already trying to free himself?

Judging by the very muted sounds and moving about which made the muscles around them flex that was likely the case.

The wild moving about was replaced by rhythmic movements, swimming, Donvan got free!

They could hear his hearts beat wildy, both of them straining to keep the large body working in the absence of air.

Fuck Donovan must be running out of breath very soon, He was a land dweller after all. 

It was kind of impressive he'd managed thus far.

They really hoped Donovan could get to air soon, aside from the fact they wanted out seeing as they were in a literal fucking STOMACH they were aware that if Donovan should drown they were done for as well.

Still, they tried to keep calm, while they knew little about Donovan he had seemed like quite an alright guy, going as far as to spill some of his secrets like the shifting thing so he could help Ronan.

There was the sudden sensation of Donovan being yanked upwards, an attack?

But as there was no trashing and instead he was dragged upwards it was very likely that Imugi had grabbed the big Idiot that surrounded them right now.

Thank God! Even if Jamie was an agnostic.

Jamie could feel as they breached the surface, and then hear it as Donovan coughed loudly.

They put their hands over their ears to protect against the volume as they felt Donovan's lungs strain with effort to get fresh air.

Yeah, fresh air would be very nice right now.

While nothing had happened thus far somehow, not even the slightest itch or tingle they sure as fuck wanted out!

They kicked at the nearest wall once, to make clear they were displeased with the situation and wanted out.

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Imugi dragged my soggy body over to the ship which at least seemed largely unharmed and tried her best to nudge me onboard.

Not even a second on the Boat i began to retch, wanting to let Jamie out as soon as possible while ignoring the confused shouts and questions from Imik and Ronan, Akeem still staying calm somehow.

Not even a minute later Jamie was sitting on the deck and flinging a mix of slime and seawater from their hoodie.

“YOU DIDN'T HAVE A BETTER IDEA THAN THAT?”

Yep, not happy at all, and now Imik and Ronan were staring at me like i had grown a second head, Akeem was still as stone faced as ever for obvious reasons.

Before I could answer something I started coughing again, turning my head away to not do it into their confused faces.

While I coughed my lungs out that would rather get air inside instead of immediately trying to expel it Ronan came up to me and placed a hand on my soggy arm.

“Are you okay? What the hell happened? And why the fuck did you eat Jamie?”

As much as I wanted to answer, my lungs were busy trying to escape my body as I coughed more, the taste of saltwater still present.

Though it was astounding none of them accused me of attempted murder or where otherwise freaked out about it.

Then again those guys had more than a few screws loose.

“Yeah! Fucking gross dude”

Complained a soggy Jamie and flicked a mix of seawater and slime from their sleeve, hands still hidden away.

“I- *cough* didn't want Jamie to- *cough* drown! I'm sorry about it but i- *cough* assure you Jamie was Safe! *cough*”

They looked at me like I told them seawater as drinkable but didn't ask any more questions for now as my lungs tried to exit my body by force.

“Okay, maybe we should all calm down till our nerves aren't as high strung anymore, and Donovan manages to keep his lungs in, we probably can understand him better if he isn't trying to eject his respiratory system anyway”

That was surprisingly reasonable considering they just saw me throw up their friend after almost drowning.

Ronan awkwardly patted my soggy fur and got immediately distracted by the texture of it while Imik handed Jamie a towel who yanked it from him and wrapped themselves into it.

Akeem had already disappeared to who knew where.

I looked over to the other side of the ship and saw that the Pirates were leaving as fast as they could, why?

Oh wait, if Imugi had been able to help me then she probably scared away the other ship.

I couldn't believe I owed a Sea serpent.

Well, if i ever found something nice for a sea monster i'd give it to her.

What the hell did sea serpents even like? Whatever.

I let my head bonk against the floor of the deck, right now just trying to get my breath back, feeling kinda nauseous.

Probably for the better that i let Jamie out then, they would have cursed me to hell and then some.

“Hey are you okay? How deep down did you end up? I’ll question the stuff with Jamie later but right now you don't look so good”

Oh right, Ronan was still there, and why would it matter how deep down I went?

“I'm fine? I think I'm just tired, a little headache maybe?  so don't worry about me”

He didn't look too convinced of that.

“Okay, so fatigue and headaches, any numbness or weakness? Aching joints? Any of these?”

Well, now that he mentioned it.

“Uh, now that you say it, kinda? That underwater rockslide did have quite a punch though”

I could see him mouth the words ‘underwater rockslide?’ before shaking his head.

“Oookay, you might have divers sickness, just, don't move and don't shift. 

I have no idea if that would make it worse honestly, just lay down and don't move, okay?”

Divers sickness? What?

“Uh what? What is-”

Ronan shoved at my face with both hands before I could finish the sentence.

“Shut, go lay down right now, Divers sickness is when you dive down really deep and then resurface too fast, there might be bubbles in your bloodstream right now!”

There might be WHAT in my blood? Now that did not sound good.

So I heeded his advice and laid down where I was, just feeling tired and with a stupid headache that only got worse.

“About Jamie-”

“Don't worry, Imik and Akeem are looking after them, and we will talk later about what the hell was going on, just rest for now? 

If you have divers sickness Jamie probably does as well so i'm going to check in with the others for a moment.

I'll be right back! Don't fall off the deck!”

With that Ronan walked into the doorframe due to missing the actual doorway before actually going into the ship, leaving me alone.

Well, almost alone, Imugi was still there and making concerned and confused whistle-clicks.

I turned my head a little so I could see her and she immediately bonked her head against me softly.

She made a chirping noise and then licked my forehead like an over affectionate cat.

“Thanks, for the save not the grooming”

She made a clicking sound and continued to try and groom the seawater out of my soggy fur.

Well, the plants on my back probably didn't like saltwater anyway so why not?

Though I had no idea how much she understood of what I said, I did the polite thing and thanked her for saving me, and by proxy Jamie.

I let my head rest on the wood while Imugi was still busy with getting the saltwater out of my fur, feeling just tired.

Maybe a nap would be nice, the headache might even go away in the meantime.

So I closed my eyes and let Imugi do whatever, after saving me she deserved to be like an affectionate cat.

The next time I woke up it was to someone shoving a measuring stick into my ear.

“GAH! What are you doing?”

I shook my head like a dog to get the weird feeling out of my ear canal, looking annoyed at Ronan who tried and failed to put on an innocent face.

“Sorry, i was just curious, also i wanted to see if you had any other symptoms! Are you better now? You slept for like four hours!”

Four hours? Huh, well, at least i felt better now.

“I'm okay now? I think? The headache is gone at least, also what did you put a stick into my ear for?”

While not painful it sure had been a weird sensation, and not one I liked.

“Oh, uh, well I've been bored since they don't let me do anything right now, eel injuries and the like, yaknow, so you're kinda the only interesting thing here?”

I rolled my eyes, great, there had been comments he was a biology nerd or whatever but this guy sure was something else.

“You could at least ask, i don't really mind it all that much as long as you tell me what you're doing”

His eyes lit up and I felt like I had made a mistake as he seemed to try to not explode with energy.

“REALLY? Ohh thank you! Normally people tell me to fuck off! 

I've got so many questions now! Where to start?”

Well, my own fault really, and now the inside of my ear was itchy.

These guys really had something odd about them, maybe they were too long on the boat? Nemas had also seemed like a weird person.

Maybe staying away from land for so long made someone's brain fried?

They did spend a lot of time out in the sun after all.

But he looked so excited I didn't have the heart, err hearts, to tell him no.

“Okayy, before you conked out you said something about Jamie being safe? What did you mean by that? 

Oh also Jamie is fine, no divers sickness, just grumpy as usual”

Well, of course that's what would be asked first, but good to know Jamie was okay, at least something had gone right in all that chaos.

“Well, as you can probably tell i'm a half elf hybrid, though at this point i'm not entirely sure anymore if the other half is actually human?

Whatever,  The point is I'm a weird bastard with even weirder anatomy to match.

Basically I've got some of my organs doubled, like my heart as you know, but also my stomach, though the second one doesn't work and I can just, put things in there? Like a built in pocket i guess”

His eyes literally sparkled at the information.

“So you just have extra organs? That's so cool! 

Though if you were a bird that extra stomach would probably be a crop? Maybe? Whatever, what else is doubled? 

And how do you know where to send stuff? 

What if you send it the wrong way? 

Did that ever happen?

What's the biggest thing you put in there? 

Don't tell me it was Jamie! They would get so pissed! 

Or maybe not? Jamie is kinda tiny so no idea.

How much space does it even have anyway?

Ohhh wait wait wait, if it really is safe would it be possible for me to take a look? 

No wait forget the last question, Imik would murder me”

Well, that sure was one wall of text, also the only thing he was concerned about was Imik kicking his ass and not getting eaten?

Yep, these guys must have SOME sort of brain damage.

I just looked incredulously at him.

“Could you maybe just ask one question at once? I already forgot the first one!

As for what else is doubled, that would be my kidneys,  got four of em, well three now, DON'T ask about that.

And I guess it happened a few times that I've sent things the wrong way? I did have to practice at first.

The biggest thing i ever put in there was uhh-”

Well, technically Rikaad, or Fable, one was Bulky the other lanky so no idea, but i sure wasn't about to tell him that.

“-well not sure really, but bigger than Jamie for sure.

Also do you have self preservation? Nobody in their right mind would ask to get eaten on the mere assurance of a stranger that it is safe!”

Ronan however didn't seem to be deterred any,  He was standing there and doing a flapping motion with his hands.

Guy got excited to the point where he had to physically move huh?

And pacing on the boat got probably boring real fast,  not to mention i took up most of the deck right now.

I know, I know! It's just that, well, i'm seen as a freak and considering i'm not a medic nobody really lets me poke at stuff!

But I just want to know things! Like, like texture, size, how does each and every individual differ? 

Are the drawings in the medicinal books even accurate? 

What if they're suddenly wrong for someone? 

And some operation gets botched?

I WOULD share all the things i found out! For free! Wouldn't it be great to have a reliable source for anatomy things?”

Well, hard to disagree with that,  Also this was probably the happiest I'd seen the guy.

I was painfully reminded of Robin,  who probably was still looking out to the ocean to search for me.

I shook my head, moping wouldn't help anyone and as much as i wanted to be home already i really couldn't rush them.

They were already helping me, I couldn't demand from them to go faster.

“You know what? Fine! But you have to tell the other guys! 

I don't want to get stabbed or whatever”

Ronan nodded so fast that I wondered how he didn't get dizzy.

“REALLY?! Ohh thank you! I know the request is strange as fuck! 

I'll go get my stuff and tell Akeem what I'm doing! 

He won't let anyone get angry at you!”

Yeah Akeem seemed competent, a good choice.

“Yeah yeah,  see it as a thank you gift for dragging my sorry ass closer to home!”

Ronan just gave a thumbs up and ran towards the door that led into the ship, nearly slamming face first into it.

Well, I told him I'd let him, so no take backs now.

But I sincerely doubted the guy meant harm, but if he brought anything sharp with him he'd have to leave it on the deck!

Probably better to inspect every item as well, just to be sure.

On the way back to the deck he walked right into the door.

Akeem appeared behind him and just picked him by the scruff like a misbehaving dog.

The glass man was still the weirdest here, at least to me.

Akeem put Ronan down in front of me and then went to distract Imugi.

Smart move, who knew how she'd react to me eating her,  uh, owner? Friend? The guy that found her as a baby.

Looked like I was really doing this huh?

Well, Ronan looked so excited, and had brought a weird rock with him?

“What's the rock for?”

The thing looked to be weirdly bumpy and was a boring color.

“This? Oh it glows in the dark! I think it has to do with minerals!”

Oh so like the glowing crystal Oakley had! But less magic.

“Huh, sounds useful”

Ronan nodded and held the rock up, which didn't show anything as it was day and no clouds were in the sky.

“It is! I use it to read sometimes! Better than a candle! Now uh, do I need to do anything? 

I'm only bringing the rock as paper would just get soggy”

Yeah paper would be useless, and he didn't look like he had anything aside from the rock on him.

“Uh, take off your shoes? Don't wanna know what you stepped in,  also they'd get a bit slimy as well”

Ronan nodded and was quick to pull his shoes off,  tossing them against the door, and missing completely.

“Aight! Uhh, anything I should do now? Like, instructions?”

He did the flappy thing with his hands again,  though this time he was also clutching the rock.

“Um… just keep calm? That's really all,  as long as you don't freak out it'll be fine”

There really wasn't much to say to it, besides,  as much as i didn't like it i was the one in control, sorta at least.

“Okay! I'll just cross my arms? I guess?”

He awkwardly crossed his arms and fumbled with the rock in his hands.

“Yeah sure, that works, now you sure you want to do this? 

Last chance to back out”

“No way! It's not everyday I get to see the anatomy of a living being so close! Also I don't mind getting soggy,  I basically live on the ocean so whatever!”

True, to both of those, though I doubted he'd see much as my innards were not see through at all.

“Okay, then brace yourself I guess?”

He nodded and held the rock tightly, drumming over it with his fingers.

Seemed the injuries from the eels weren't that bad in the end, 

though I'd still do my best to be careful.

So with that thought in mind I slowly opened my mouth and carefully brought him inside, his top half laying on my tongue.

There were still bandages, what a dumbass.

Why even do this if he was still injured?

well curiosity and all that probably.

Since there was no protest I drew him in further, upon which he immediately started poking at my teeth and gums,  completely forgetting that he was told to stay still.

Curious little idiot, well as long as he didn't cut himself on my teeth it was fine, if a bit distracting.

He'd get bored of it soon enough. 

Or not, as he had been examining each tooth individually. 

"Hey did you know that you have another pair of canine teeth ready to grow in place of your current ones?"

What? Was that why He'd been poking at my palate?

Also I couldn't respond with him in my mouth. 

So I leaned forward and let him slide out of my mouth. 

He didn't say anything against it but I could tell he was still a bit disappointed. 

"What? Are you a dentist now or something?"

ANOTHER set of sharp teeth? Really?

Ronan shook his head to the question. 

"Biologist more like, but uuh, yeah? You really didn't know that? What?”

I let my head flop onto the deck, no I had not.

Though, Fables one off comment about me having baby teeth suddenly made a lot more sense.

“Nope, though now i'm sure my halfbrother knew, should have asked what the fuck he meant”

Ronan tried to suppress a grin, failed, and then started laughing loudly.

“Your brother knew but you didn't?! How did that happen?” He laughed some more and I decided to poke him carefully with a claw, which caused him to laugh more.

Ticklish huh?

“Well, as a bastard there's some funky stuff going on! The hell you think I know? Can't exactly dissect myself can i?”

I rolled my eyes at him, at least one of us found it amusing.

Meanwhile he had grabbed my paw and was examining the claws it was tipped with.

“I guess, also if you're alive it's called vivisection and not dissection, that's for dead stuff! Hey do your claws extend? Ya know, like cats?”

There was a difference between those things? Also claws extend? Uhh

Hadn't really done that consciously before, eh, couldn't be that hard.

I tried flexing my fingers and the claws indeed popped out even more.

They were the size of Ronan's Torso.

I immediately took them back, with the way Ronan was fidgeting that was just an accident waiting to happen.

“Ohh you really can! Wait, show me again! I want to measure them! They're, like, at least three feet long! And they had a groove on the bottom! I bet you can dig well with them!”

A groove on the underside? For digging? 

Yeah made sense for the Ardua.

He prodded and poked to get me to do it again,  but out of the corner of my eye I saw Akeem shake his head.

Fair, so far all Ronan had been very accident prone,  better not tempt fate.

“Eh i'd rather not, i feel like Akeem would shove me overboard or something, not keen on having another saltwater bath”

Ronan shrugged.

“I doubt he'd actually do anything! Aside from his trademark disappointing glare! But fine, can I look at the plants on your back? 

I want to know how the fuck they grow there!”

Good question actually,  as far as i knew i was still made of flesh as an Ardua.

“Yeah sure, if you find out tell me”

Since I was already laying on the wooden floor I didn't have to move, there wasn't really enough space anyway.

Ronan however did have to move, which he did and immediately climbed on my back, pulling a magnifying glass from who knew where.

This order of examination was probably better than his original plan anyway, I really was not too keen on eating two people in one day.

Though he'd probably insist again later anyway.

Though i would not mention anything till then.

While I couldn't see what the bandaged man was doing I could feel it, was he looking at each plant individually? 

That was going to take a long ass time.

“Donovan? I have to say this does not make sense! At all! 

They grow from you like hair! But i can't see the roots,  if they even have them,  so no idea how they actually grow from your skin”

Well, yeah, only looking at the part outside of my skin was not going to show much, duh.

Though, my own curiosity had been peaked now.

“Rip one out and look again”

Couldn't be worse than ripping out a hair right?

Ronan froze.

“You sure? No idea if and how much thats gonna hurt”

“Yeah, do it, i'm kinda curious now too so you better tell me what you find out”

“Okay, I'll take a smaller one! three, two, one!”

He yanked and it felt only a little bit worse than ripping out a particularly big hair, so pretty tame really.

“THEY DO HAVE ROOTS! What the fuck! 

This does not make ANY sense!”

They did? What the hell?

And now Ronan was examining the place where he had torn the plant out in detail.

“Okay i can't really see anything, also you're bleeding a little bit sorry!

Wait, is that a scar? How long is it?”

Aaand now he was scrambling to find out what the scar looked like.

Though there was no doubt which one it was.

“Oh yeah, that one, someone threw a sword at me, which is the wrong weapon to do that really”

Ronan fell off my back, landing with a thump on the deck.

“Someone THREW a SWORD at you? What? 

Well now I gotta know that story!”

Of course, though the story was rather boring.

“Not much to say really, bastard half elf walking the streets and some drunk guard decides to do his job i guess, and failed”

“Ohh right, you're from a Kingdom with a fuckton of weird laws and the like! Hey, have you got any more cool stories?”

Before I could answer, Imik walked outside with a new bunch of sandwiches, Jamie in tow, who was heckling him and trying to swipe at his heels with their clawed feet.

“Heyo! It's midday! Ronan, you can bother Donovan later again! Speaking of! Donovan, you want something to eat too?”

If it lets me avoid putting Ronan into my mouth again, sure.

Also i could hear Jamie muttering something unflattering about me,  well, already having eaten them.

They didn't really seem angry though, more annoyed.

“Uh yeah sure, let me shift first though”

NEXT / PREVIOUS / OVERSIGHT

[lizard-shifter-noms]

Wayward Waters Chapter 10

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Hello everyone! Chapter 9!

time to explore more of the world!

this Story contains Vore, Dont like dont read.

have fun reading!

and as always Reblogs are appreciated! (Also ASK’s are open so feel free to bother me!)

AO3 Link for those that prefer the layout there;

AO3 Wayward waters

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Walking to be next to the mast and be more in the middle of the boat to not unbalance it or something i laid down,  or rather did the cat loaf thingy again.

Ronan was following suit,  having gotten that faintly glowing piece of rock again from who knew where and was excitedly flapping the hand that wasn't holding it.

“Magic is so fascinating! 

And illogical, but mainly fascinating! Like, you can just turn into something that is many times your actual size and mass!

Where the hell does the mass even come from? 

And where does it go? And what the fuck happens to your clothes?”

The last one was something I had thought about a few times.

“Ronan, I have no idea,  I know basically nothing aside from HOW to shift.

But yeah i did wonder about the clothes thing too,  maybe i should ask Oakley as soon as im home”

Ronan looked briefly disappointed only to immediately get distracted and examine the catnip that was growing on my elbow.

“Is that catnip? Wait, you're kinda catlike, does it affect you in any way?”

“Yes that's catnip, and no it does not affect me,  luckily so, or i would have to make a bald spot there”

That made him laugh.

“I do wonder if you would look like one of those hairless cats without all that fur! Well you'd still have the plants,  probably?, but it would look so weird!”

Well that surely would be, something.

“I'd rather not, i actually like being fluffy”

Ronan just hummed and scaled my arm up to my back,  examining the plants again.

“Did you know the flowers on your back close at night? 

Like normal ones!”

They did? Well that made sense, after all they were still plants.

Ronan meanwhile was using the glowing rock to stick his head into my mane, 

which made his voice rather muffled despite being really close to my ear.

“I wonder if you could plant more flowers somehow? 

You can in dirt but thats, well, flesh”

Plant MORE?

“Well, I dunno, maybe you could try sticking one into a wound? 

But that would probably hurt”

“Yeah, well if you ever figure that out lemme know!”

If I had a way to contact him, sure.

“If I can, then sure! Buuut i'm going to ask Oakley first if he knows if that's even possible or not”

“Sounds grea-AAAAT”

With a yelp he fell off my back and landed on the floor.

“You good?”

He responded pretty chipper so he was probably, ?, fine.

“I'm never good! But yeah I'm uninjured! Mostly at least, 

and nothing new! Let's continue with the main thing!”

Oh, right, damnit why the fuck did i tell him that i would?

At least he had the decency to pat the dust off and take off his shoes before putting those in one of the boxes.

“Figured you didn't want to put Shoes in your mouth” “Yeah, i really don't, who knows what people step in with those”

Ronan shrugged and walked up to my face.

“Well for mine it's mostly saltwater,  though Imugi tried to chew on them once”

I couldn't really decide if the Sea serpent was more like a cat or a dog.

Whatever, just Sea Serpent then,  now back to the task at hand, err claw?

Though Ronan had gotten distracted again for a bit and was trying to examine my eye.

“Despite being cat like your pupils are still round! 

Kinda funny though that they got the same shade of blue that i do”

So it was the same shade, and not just similar, funny.

“Eh, tons of people have blue eyes, that's nothing special”

“Mhm, true, just think it's funny, hey were both half elf right? 

Maybe it's an Elven gene?”

Considering Fable was a red eyed albino I had no point of reference for that, but my mother had the same eye color as well and she had been human.

“The only elf i ever saw was my albino halfbrother, so i can't tell”

Ronan shrugged and let up from being so close to my eye that he was just a blurry shape.

Instead he moved to the front of my mouth and I opened it before he got the idea to inspect my nostrils next.

I really was not keen on having him stick his arm in there. 

I tried not to open my mouth wider than needed,  just enough to gently ease him inside. 

I didn't want to delay, 

but still gave him ample time to speak up if he wanted me to stop. 

However, so far he stayed quiet, seeming to be alright, 

instead he was inspecting my tongue again.

So I Went ahead and softly gulped, wanting to get this over with.

And then without hardly a breath in between swallowed a second time, swiftly sending him down inside of me entirely. 

Powerful muscular walls surrounded him and kneaded him downwards, towards the awaiting pouch he'd been so curious about. 

He was upside down for a little bit,  sliding down through my chest,  past both of my hearts and a bit further down. 

From what I could tell he ‘landed’ face down and had to struggle for a moment before he managed to right himself on the slick flesh.

“Ronan? Are you good?”

There was a good half minute where Ronan didn't answer,  but he was still moving so he was probably fine?

Then he finally answered.

“Yeah! This is fucking fascinating! 

And thanks to the rock I can even see a tiny bit!”

Go figure, but he better not lose the thing!

“Good, just don't lose it, i don't want random items left in my guts”

I could hear Ronan laugh from out here even.

“Don't worry! I only got one of those and intend to keep it!”

Oh yeah he better.

Suddenly there was an odd sensation, was he examining the walls?

Well it wasn't bad so whatever,  but i had to fight not to purr like when Robin did that.

I did NOT want Ronan to find that out while he was in there!

Fuck knows hed try everything to get me to purr even more.

Thankfully he stopped soon after he started.

Apparently he was hyperfocusing on one spot now.

What a weirdo.

What was even so interesting in that one single place?

“Why do you have scars in here? 

Did you try to like, store a rock in here or something?”

Ah, Right.

That.

“Oh, uhm, thats been a good bit ago, pretty stupid really”

“Why? What happened?”

I let my head hit the deck with a flump,  of Course the curious dumbass would ask what happened!

“So back when it was still cold I got lost in the snow with some friends.

After getting separated from one of them in a snowstorm I had to go after him but when I found him he was basically freezing to death.

So, uhm, well apparently he likes to hide knives on himself and I couldn't really tell him he'd be fine.

He freaked out and stabbed me”

That was as close as I could make it without revealing who or why.

Not too fond of having to explain all of that fuckery though.

“That must have hurt”

Well, yes, but it healed and I kept forgetting about them anyway.

“Like hell, but now its all healed, and i keep forgetting about it”

Not like I could see it to have it remind me that the scars existed.

Ronan was now back to poking at everything, 

well there really couldn't be much to be seen in there.

Suddenly there was a nauseous sensation at the bottom of my throat and a strange tightness as well.

Oh that fucker had forceded his arm back out and up my throat!

I heaved, the sensation very unwelcome as my body suddenly decided to get this annoying thing out.

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

Ronan sadly didn't get time to look at the fascinating teeth before Donovan swallowed, and then swallowed again.

He made a mental note of how many times he had to do so.

Which was apparently at least three times.

It was a bit tight, but he kept still and waited to arrive in the Anatomical curiosity Donovan had called a Pouch.

Which came sooner than she expected, suddenly finding himself slipping face down into a slightly more open space. 

He slipped the first time he tried to move and had to try again,  noting the walls were slightly damp and formed to his body,  making indents where he pushed his hands down.

It wasn't cavernous, just big enough for him and maybe one to two other people to comfortably curl up within. 

Depending on their size of course,  Jamie must have had more room than Ronan did now.

he was probably completely hidden and not even making a bump in Donovan’s midsection, all safely tucked away from the outside world.

How deeply fascinating! 

“Ronan? Are you good?”

That must have been Donovan's voice! In here it rumbled and made everything buzz!

He also should probably answer.

“Yeah! This is fucking fascinating! 

And thanks to the rock I can even see a tiny bit!”

Donovan's voice rumbled around him once more.

“Good, just don't lose it, i don't want random items left in my guts”

Ronan laughed, considering this was his only glowing rock he surely wouldn't forget.

“Don't worry! I only got one of those and intend to keep it!”

He reached out and ran his hands over the walls,  feeling the rippled and smooth texture.

He could feel the flesh around him twitch in surprise,  Apparently it was more sensitive than he originally thought.

He stopped feeling around at the walls though when he found a strange change in texture.

They appeared to be two strange dips,  colored differently from the rest with one being larger than the other.

What the fuck?

He held the glowing rock closer to inspect it a bit more.

In the dim light he could see that the two dips did not match the surrounding and very soft walls at all.

Though they didn't seem to be parasites, which he would have to tell Donovan immediately so they could get rid of it.

So that left one possible thing it could be.

“Why do you have scars in here? 

Did you try to like, store a rock in here or something?”

Donovan HAD mentioned having had to practice sending things the right way after all.

“Oh, uhm, thats been a good bit ago, pretty stupid really”

Well now Ronan was intrigued!

“Why? What happened?”

He could feel the body around him shift, Donovan probably wasn't too fond of whatever happened then, maybe it was embarrassing?

Eh, he'd already asked!

“So back when it was still cold I got lost in the snow with some friends.

After getting separated from one of them in a snowstorm I had to go after him but when I found him he was basically freezing to death.

So, uhm, well apparently he likes to hide knives on himself and I couldn't really tell him he'd be fine.

He freaked out and stabbed me”

Stabbed? Those were stab wounds? And caused by a friend no less?!?

“That must have hurt”

Not only the stabbing but the fact that it was his friend.

“Like hell, but now its all healed, and i keep forgetting about it”

How could one forget about scars like these? 

Well not like it mattered now that it was over.

And now his exploration was basically done,  This was more boring than he thought it would be.

Really aside from the very concept of being inside another creature there wasn't much to see.

The only things he could hear were the whooshing of lungs,  which reminded him of the ocean and the double beat of the hearts.

He'd rather look at those! 

But considering Donovan was Alive he couldn't.

There really was only one thing to look at now,  that being the way he came in.

Looking somewhat above him he found what looked pretty much exactly like an esophageal sphincter.

Curiously he tapped at it before shoving his entire arm in to see if the texture was much different than in the pouch.

When everything tensed up and squashed him he felt like he shouldn't have done that.

When he got squeezed out of the pouch and back up again he knew he shouldn't have done that.

Oh well, he had seen what there was to see, which wasn't much.

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

After coughing and nearly choking I spat the bedraggled looking Ronan back onto the deck.

“The HELL did you do? That was awful!”

Ronan just flung some spit from his arms.

“Sorry! That wasn't planned to happen! 

I just wanted to see how the texture differed!”

Of course it would be something as inane as this.

“Dumbass, they really weren't kidding when they said you did not think ahead at all”

He made an unhappy face.

“I know i know, i'm just bad at keeping track of time, like, all of the time”

“Well, you better found out what you wanted because i'm not doing that again”

Worse than Oakley! At least Oakley thought of what consequences could happen ahead of doing things!

Ronan just stood up and flicked more slime off of him.

“I did actually! Though it was a lot more boring than I thought it would be!

Not much aside from those scars!”

I rolled my eyes, of course someone as, well,  unusual as him would find that boring.

Maybe he'd just spent too much time in the sun and parts of his brain dried up?

“Good, now you better go back to your room before Akeem appears and scolds you for this stupid ass ‘adventure’ also i don't think you should run around while you're still healing”

Ronan nodded and scrambled to pick his glowing rock up from the ground before running face first into the closed door.

His brain really had to have been at least partially fried by the sun.

“That works better when you open the door first!”

He laughed and slinked through the doorway.

“I know! It's not my fault they build it like that!”

Yeah, sure, whatever.

So, what now?

Shift back human and go to sleep as well?

And risk having nightmares again?

Or stay as Ardua and sleep on the deck?

Still risk of nightmares but slightly less, but might make the Boat slower.

I shuffled forward a little bit and looked up.

The stars were beautiful tonight, with the North star Lafayah shimmering just as Lonely as I felt way up above me.

Hmm, Fable had been right about that light pollution thing,  with no other source of light anywhere near the boat for miles upon miles it was almost as if there were twice as many stars.

There also were flecks of something like slightly purple and white fog.

There was a scratching sound followed by rapid tippy taps and suddenly there was a certain bird legged maniac jumping on top of me and trying to make a nest out of my mane.

“Hello Jamie, can't sleep? Also i kinda expected you to hate me now” They flopped over and pulled more of my long fur into the makeshift nest in my mane.

“Nah, Akeem and Ronan explained, mainly Akeem as Ronan kept getting off topic, also i don't want to sleep in the cabin,  outside is prettier, also your fur is soft and warm”

“Well yeah, but if i get another nightmare i might shake you off from there”

They bapped at my ear with one of their spindly legs.

“Don't get one then”

Well that certainly was advice, though an unusable one.

Jamie was quite the weird person, saying one thing but then doing something that was not quite the opposite but close enough, like when they'd cursed Ronan for draggin me on board and then just walking in front of me.

Also they had stayed weirdly calm when I had put them in the pouch.

I could never tell what they thought or would do next.

“You know i can't quite place You”

They shrugged and messed up my mane even more.

“Maybe you should Stop placing people and let them place themselves? 

Not everyone can be shoved in those metaphorical boxes those land dwellers have, and i certainly don't want to be labeled by strangers as something i'm not just because of the way i behave or look”

That was a very good point actually.

Fuck knew that even the people of Kamerasca and Maringand had some differences despite being so close to each other,  Who knew what other Kingdoms were like?

And out here on the sea where Boats from all places crossed everything mixed together creating an absolute mishmash of cultures and races and whatnot.

“True, the open sea is quite different from the Lands,  I guess how people see you also depends on where you are, like, Kamerasca hated me for being an elf bastard, I'm sure if I Had lived on some island or boat I wouldn't have stuff thrown at me”

Jamie laughed, a bitter and humorless laugh.

“Not all islands are nice, and the sailors aren't either! 

Especially those from the colonized parts! So we usually avoid those”

That was all too familiar.

“Yeah, i get that, if you have no reason to go there you should probably avoid such places”

They just mumbled something and tried to use the last free bits of my mane as a blanket.

That probably wouldn't work so well if they were any taller.

“Goodnight then”

“Mhm, sleep well, if you don't i will kick at your nose”

Of course.

After that they shut up though, literally nestling into my mane.

Well, it looked like I would sleep in the Ardua form then.

Not that I minded that.

I did not realize at what point I fell asleep but I was woken up by a rapid bap bap bap against my forehead.

Blearily opening my eyes I tried to look what it was but due to being directly on my head it was in a blind spot.

Oh wait, that's Jamie, Jamie was the only one on the boat who could move their Limbs fast enough for that.

“Morning? There are better ways to wake me up”

They hopped down, once again reminding me of some small bird with the way they held themselves.

Maybe a sparrow, or a bluejay due to the light blue sweater.

“I know, but that's not as funny! You took like five minutes to notice!”

That long? Well at least I didn't have any nightmares this time.

“Well I'm awake now, what is it?”

Instead of answering like a normal person they grabbed the side of my face with one of their spindly legs and pulled it to face the front of the ship.

It took me a few confused seconds until I saw what Jamie wanted to show me.

The biggest island we had come across yet, 

with a separate little island a few miles ahead of it with a tower.

A lighthouse probably.

And from what I could see a few other Ships were also headed towards said Island where I could faintly make out buildings.

I abruptly stood up, making Jamie complain.

“Is that the Island you told me about? What was it? Kariba Island?”

Instead of Jamie another voice answered, a deeper one.

“It is, that in front of us is Kariba Island,  you should probably shift back to a smaller stature now”

Akeem was right, showing up as Ardua was only going to make things more complicated.

I nodded at him and shifted back down, much to the chagrin of Jamie who had just set themselves to jump on top of my back.

“How long till we reach it?”

“Not too long,  with Imugi towing the ship well reach it in about an hour at most”

So Akeem estimated an hour? great! One step closer to going home!

Ignoring that Jamie now used Akeem as a perch, I went to the front of the boat to watch the island get slowly bigger as we got closer.

Imik and Ronan were also there,  making sure that Imugi was properly attached to the weird looking harness as apparently it had slipped a bit on her scales.

“I swear this is getting too small again! 

We need to make a new one soon!”

Complained Ronan while Imik tried to make one of the lashes a bit bigger.

In my Opinion Imugi was big enough already,  though who knew how big a Sea Serpent could really get?

Hearing my footsteps they both turned to me, with Imik immediately greeting me while Ronan cursed the harness out.

“Hello Donovan! Did you sleep okay? Also! We're close to our Home!

That means we can get a map soon and help you!”

Yes! Not much longer and I could finally go home!.

“I know! Jamie woke me up, well more like punched my face” They both let out a laugh at that.

“Classic! You should have seen the one time Ronan slept in and Jamie-mhff?”

Ronan had slapped a hand over Imik’s mouth to get him to shut up.

“Don't tell him that! It was bad enough when it actually happened!”

Ronan and Imik then started squabbling over whether or not it had been funny in retrospect.

Though I did not find out what this was about at all and leaving Imugi confusedly clicking with an only partially redone harness.

Ignoring the two who only half heartedly fought due to Ronans still partly fried skin, I went over to Imugi who happily clicked at the sight of me.

That really had to be the friendliest sea monster in existence.

She craned her neck and gently gummed on my arm with her bony beak.

Her entire head was bigger than i was,  Was this how people felt when I was in the Ardua form?

I gently patted at her beak which prompted her to make that strange chirping sound again.

“Thank you for helping me go home, i never thought id meet a friendly sea serpent” 

She made a whistling sound and licked over my face as an answer.

“Great, now i smell like fish”

She whistles again in what was a pretty good imitation of laughter before Bonking Ronan on the head with her beak.

“Ah! I'm on it, I'm on it! Don't stress me! I know you wanna get home fast too!”

Ronan immediately went back to fixing the harness so Imugi could tow the ship better.

Imik also stood up again, his hair completely disheveled from where Ronan had messed it up to spite him.

“Oh i bet she wants some of Yamet’s cooking! We really have just been eating stale bread the past few days!”

“Well none of you can cook,  though maybe you should at least learn the basics of it”

Imik threw what appeared to be one of the retrieved gold coins at Akeem,who had come out of nowhere again,  For the suggestion, the coin however just bounced off harmlessly.

“You don't even eat! Nag at us when you do!”

True, but he’d still managed to make me a chamomile tea, which was way more than they could say.

Akeem once again didn't seem bothered by anything.

“Technically i can eat, i just have no need to, but if you insist”

Then he bit the gold coin in half and chewed it, the sound his teeth made against the metal horribly grating as he just ate an entire gold coin like a cookie.

Well, that was probably one of the most horrible noises I had ever heard.

A sudden lurch went through the Boat and we gained speed,  Apparently Ronan had fixed the harness.

Jamie suddenly appeared and went past us to perch on the Bowsprit at the front of the ship.

Which made me remember that I didn't even know what these guys had called their vessel.

Bit late to ask now though, I'd just try and catch a glimpse when we went on land.

Which was soon, as Imugi accelerated while Jamie chanted for her to go faster and faster.

Which she did, and didn't stop thus making everyone except Akeem and Jamie fall over.

Ronan laughed loudly somewhere to my left.

“HAHA! That's the fastest she's ever been! At this point we might as well put the sail away!”

Akeem just lifted Ronan up from the ground like he was a wet cat.

Imik was friendly enough to offer me a hand as well, which I gladly took and then simply held onto the railing to not fall over again as Jamie chanted for Imugi to go even faster.

Luckily the pace we were at now stayed constant instead of going faster.

As we neared what I assumed was the harbor,  which was located right between the two long strips of land,  We encountered a bunch of other ships, some coming, some going.

What was strange was that not one of them seemed to think that a boat towed by a Sea Serpent was strange, a few of them even waving at us.

Another Boat that apparently was just leaving came pretty close for a moment and a young man with two Horns that grew straight upward from his head shouted something in a language I could not understand.

Ronan Shouted something back in the strange language and nearly fell off the boat, to the amusement of the other ship as they drifted past.

Akeem swiftly pulled Ronan back up before he completely fell in though and only a few minutes later we drifted past the first building which looked to be some sort of watchtower.

The land got rockier and started to build up to an at least thirty feet tall cliff as we finally reached the almost lake-like harbor that was unusually round and the only way in or out was the narrower gap between the two strips of land.

It indeed was reminiscent of a pulled wisdom tooth, roots and all.

The thing that was most astounding was that absolutely nobody seemed bothered by clearly nonhuman creatures going about their day as we drifted past some houses that had been hewn into the cliffside.

Suddenly Imik jumped up and started waving like crazy at what appeared to be an elderly couple consisting of an old lady that at least looked human and an actual Merman with the bottom half colored a dark blue with yellow stripes.

“GRANDMA! GRANDPA! I'M BACK! I FOUND COOL STUFF! 

I'LL SHOW YOU WHEN I SORTED IT!”

Wait, those were Imiks' grandparents? Well, it kinda made sense.

The Merman did have the same ears and yellow colored scales,  even if the blue was way darker.

And the ladies' hair, though now more gray than anything,  still held some brightly yellow streaks.

They both waved happily at Imik and the merman heaved himself up completely on the weird balcony to plant a kiss on his wife's cheek.

Imik waved for a little longer and then Imugi had towed us past that as well.

The next thing we sailed toward was an older looking pier where they apparently planned to stop the ship.

As soon as we got close enough Imik and Akeem ran down to get the rope and toss it over one of the taller pillars of the Pier and tie the entire Boat to it.

After that Akeem got a walkway and made a path to steady ground.

Finally! 

Walking to where Jamie had already flitted off to, I went past the hidden box in the wall, the one containing the weird blue bracelet.

Should I take it with me right now?

Better not, I did not know the area and I might get pickpocketed.

Also no way in hell would i wear two at the same time,  Who knew what would happen? And the other bracelet was Blue on top of that, it might even be broken or something.

So for the time being I left it where it was and walked down to solid ground for the first time in days.

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