#the secret crypid was a book

[icarusthelunarguard]

This Week’s Horrible-Scopes

It’s time for this week’s Horrible-Scopes! So for those of you that know your Astrological Signs, cool! If not, just pick one, roll a D12, or just make it up as you go along. It really doesn’t matter.

This week’s inspiration is from… Well, never you mind what inspired me this week. We’re delving into a challenge for you all; Spot The Made-Up Cryptid!

Aries 

We’re going to start off strong in the “Is It made Up” part by giving you… The Czechoslovakian Dong Wrangler. According to reports this twelve-foot (3.66M) tall terror stalks the hills in Russia carrying a handbag made out of human hair, all in the vicinity of where the Tzar Bomba was detonated. Legend has it that he may have once been a construction worker at a Russian nuclear power plant that was simply erased from all records after a year. This week invest in a cheap Geiger Counter. 

Taurus 

You might not think this one is worth considering, but this organization’s information is almost never wrong. Designated SCP-4666, this extremely long-lived humanoid has an active season stretching from the end of one year and just into the next. These "Weissnacht Events" are most dangerous to immature human children with negative personal traits. This week, familiarize yourself with the sounds of cloven hooves and rattling chains… and hope you haven’t been a naughty child this year.

Gemini  

You get one of the most terrifying of all the cryptids on this list. We’ll describe it for you first so you can get a feel for why it’s to be feared. Imagine a creature with near-unlimited knowledge, having a flat, rectangular face and an exposed spine to one side of its body. Said body can open and cut your fingers potentially hundreds of times at will. This week visit your local public library and ask the staff if they know what this monster is.  

Cancer Moon-Child 

Taking us back to 1735, your cryptid is known as the Jersey Devil. Described as a two-legged, hooved monster, with a sheep-like head and scaly wings reported to be seen mainly in Pine-Barrens, New Jersey. One sighting was in the winter of 1909 where people reported a trail of hooved footprints going under fences, across rooftops, and onto walls that appeared in the snow one night. This week, don’t be alarmed that this cryptid’s stomping ground is where McGuire Air Force Base is located. Totally a coincidence.

Leo 

Taking you into New York State by way of Loch Ness, you have the legend of the Silver Lake Sea Serpent. Originally spotted in 1855, this beast was described as a massive, scaly, dinosaur like creature, borne from the depths of Silver Lake; possibly an offshoot of the same species as Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster. To date, neither creature has been seen together with the other, leading the locals to believe they are actually the same creature. This week try panhandling for silver and gold nuggets.

Virgo 

We’re taking you into the Western Canadian region; in particular to Okanagan Lake in British Columbia. The Ogopogo is an inland Sea Serpent, upwards of 15M / 50ft in length with smooth dark skin and a body thicker than a telephone pole. According to First Nation legends the monster moves at incredible speeds coiling its body in vertical undulations and propels itself with a powerful tail. This week… buy a life vest and wear it everywhere you go. 

Libra 

You go to the OTHER side of Canada for your creature. Hailing from Lake Utopia, New Brunswick is a monster known as ‘Old Ned’. Sightings also go back to local indigenous folklore, he’s described as serpent-like and scaly, swimming very quickly across the lake. This week take a fishing trip to Lake Utopia and drive around Long Island three times at 2 in the morning. Let us know if Old Ned says “hi”. If we don’t hear back from you, we’ll just assume the worst.   

Scorpio 

In South Africa they have something called the Tokoloshe! It’s an evil creature, about a foot high, Looking something like an evil monkey. Locals believe that raising the bed above the ground will keep you safe. Now that you know about this one, remember that dangling your foot outside your bedsheets is a surefire way to be attacked by one of these creatures. This week sleep with the fan on.

Sagittarius 

Into the numerous islands of Indonesia we bring you reports of the Ahool; a winged cryptid thought by some to be a giant bat or a flying primate. First reported in 1925 by Dr Ernest Bartels (no known relation to the Bartles & Jaymes wine coolers), it’s been sighted in Java and across Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. This week learn to respect the sky puppies.. Or Else.

Capricorn 

You’re fairly familiar with the Jackalope. Well we take you to Northern Europe and give you the Wolpertinger. Said to have the body of a hare, the antlers of a deer, and the wings, feet, or beak of a bird. Most other animals are safe from them, as they only eat herbs, roots, and insects, but travelers are warned to avoid them because they can spray a skunk-like odor, and anyone unfortunate enough to come into contact with the wolpertinger’s saliva would grow patches of thick hair all over their body. This week… invest in hedge clippers.

Aquarius 

On the Eastern-side of Africa we take you to Tanzania to find… the Mngwa. As hard to pronounce as it is elusive, the Mngwa is a ferocious nocturnal cat the size of a donkey but with stripes like a tabby. With a name that translates literally as ‘the strange one’, the Mngwa was first documented in the early 1900s and was even discussed in the respected British scientific journal 'Discovery' after several Tanzanian natives were allegedly attacked by them. This week we know that your last words before your death will be, “PSPSPSPSPSPS!”

Pisces  

You’ve seen enough Japanese cartoons to know where this one is going.. Sorta. Swinging over to Madagascar, you get to experience Ya-Te-Veo, aka the Man-Eating Tree! A tribe known as the Mkodo had a ritual sacrifice in which the tribe offered up one of their own to a large tree they called “Ya-Te-Veo.” The tree then devoured the sacrifice. Why they did this is still a mystery. This week, get rid of your copy of La Blue Girl.

And THOSE are your Horrible-Scopes for this week! Remember if you liked what you got, we’re obviously not working hard enough at these. BUT! If you want a better or nastier one for your own sign or someone else’s, all you need to do to bribe me is just Let Me Know! These will be posted online at the end of each week via Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook and Discord.

[astra-dark]

Trigun fanfic recommendations!

I made a list of Trigun fic recommendations over on Twitter so I thought I’d share them here too! Some of these are spicy so mind the ratings and tags!

Echoes between stars by @faindri | Vashmeryl | Rated M

This fic is so amazing! You’ve got cat boy Vash, Meryl being a badass, action, plot twists that already have my jaw on the floor. Go read this immediately!

Sea foam by @noaafishfieldguide | Vashmeryl, Millywood | Rated T

Absolutely love this fic! If you like mermaids, small towns with big secrets, and the occasional spooky vibe, this fic is for you!

Thirty pieces of silver by @hashtagcaneven | Mashwood | Rated M

One thing y’all need to know about me is that I’m an absolute sucker for fantasy AUs and this one ticks all my boxes! It’s romantic, action packed, and beautifully written, GO READ IT!

Through the deep dark forest long by @dingusttmax | Mashwood | Rated M

Princess mononoke AU! This fic is absolutely fantastic and I love it so much that I’m currently working on binding it into a physical book

Reporter’s notes by @museqmeg | Vashmeryl | Rated M

Reporter’s notes was the first Trigun I ever read and I still love it to pieces! It’s sequels, Sheets and Snapshots, are also fantastic! Definitely a must read 💕

Separate the head and heart by Inkpot_gods | Mashwood | rated T

Did I mention I love fantasy AUs yet? this fic is absolutely fantastic and hits the fairytale vibes just right, I reread it at least once a week

Sometimes it’s heaven sent by @dingusttmax | Mashwood | Rated E

Have I ever watched pushing up daisies before? No, but I read this AU anyway and I’m so glad I did because it’s incredible and I think about this fic all the time

Fire on the mountain by Yuka_laylee | Mashwood | Rated M

This fic is SO good! I’ve never seen a Jurassic park themed AU before but it work so well and I can’t wait to see where the plot goes!

Get your hopes up by Shinzouing |Stryfewood / Mashwood | Rated E

I love me some post July Mashwood flavored Stryfewood and this is definitely my favorite one! I’ve reread this fic 4 or 5 times now and still find new things to love about it!

Heart on ripped sleeves by inkpot_gods | Mashwood | Rated E

This fic y’all, this FIC! It’s made me laugh at points and it also made sobbed so hard I had to take walk because of it, it’s so good. I haven’t got to read it’s sequels yet but I can’t wait to!

Runaway roots by starcrxssed | Mashwood | Rated E

This fic a bit heavier than my other recs so please mind the tags if you decide to read it but it’s still fantastic! I’m not usually one for strangers to lovers but this one is just 👌

The Lighthouse by EloFromMars | Vashwood | Rated E

I love me some spooky creature/ crypid Vash and this fic delivers just that and then some! I love all the Millywood friendship moments we get in here, it’s so nice to see how much they care about each other!

Hold me like a grudge by Lenipez | Mashwood | Rated T

I absolutely love fairies in fiction so this fic was already right up my alley! I love the how each side of the relationship has a different dynamic so far, I can’t wait to see how it all unfolds. My favorite part of the fic tho? Meryl calls Wolfwood kitten

Till forever falls apart by @chaoticbuka | Vashwood | Rated E

Or the alternate title “Buka hits me specifically right in the heartstrings” the fic lol but seriously I love this fic, the way that Wolfwood’s Vash haunts the narrative like the ghost that Nick originally should be is so good! As a side note, Vash has freckles here and I need more of that in my life 💕

A multitude of sins by DespiteWhatShouldBeOtherwise | Vashwood | Rated M

I’m only half way through this fic rn but it’s already so amazing! The romance might be slow burn but the plot is so engaging that you’re never bored and wondering when the romance will pick up. As a Meryl lover, I absolutely love that she’s so important to not only both Vash and Wolfwood but also the story itself.

[sunken-standard]

Hey! Since you are still taking prompts, here it goes: 2. We’re going to freeze to death and 70. Call me that one more time, see what happens. Please!

So it’s not the funniest thing I’ve ever done, but there might be a laugh or two buried in there somewhere.  Set in the Vegas!Married ‘verse.

“We’re going to freeze to death”/ “Call me that one more time, see what happens”

“Loch Ness?”

Honestly, he didn’t know why sheinsisted on repeating everything in the form of a question.  "Yes.“

"Did they hire you to find themonster?”

Sherlock gave her the blankest oflooks.  "An operator of one of the tour companies hired me toprevent a saboteur.  They’ve been having trouble all around the Lochand this one has a film crew booked for next week.“

"Oh.”  She soundeddisappointed.  

“So, what do you say, thirdhoneymoon?”  Maybe the third time would be the charm and they’dactually get to consummate the marriage this time.  He suspected shewas holding out on him because he had yet to get her stupid carfixed; she didn’t seem to realize how delicate negotiations offavours could be sometimes.  That, and the one mechanic who owed himsomething had gone to Bermuda a month ago and hadn’t been heard fromsince.  He couldn’t tell her that, though; she’d probably think he’dgot swallowed up by the Bermuda Triangle or some other nonsense.  Fora scientist, she was rather prone to delusion, their one… encounterin Nevada notwithstanding.

“Shh!”  She looked around tomake sure none of the lab techs heard.

“Oh right, it’s a secret,”Sherlock said, flaring his hands and bouncing around and making hiseyes wide.  With any other man she’d be parading around, Oh, look,I have a boyfriend, isn’t he so great and I’m Molly Hooper,completely and utterly not single, totally off the market becauseI’ve got a boyfriend and we’re having all the sex ever invented. Mrs. Hudson was right about marriage changing people.

She gave him a Look and he rolled hiseyes, but didn’t say anything else because he’d made his point. Maybe he’d start wearing his wedding ring just to aggravate her.  Thecontact dermatitis would be worth it.

“And John can’t go because of thebaby?”

“No, he just hates Scotland.”

“Ah.  Well, who doesn’t?  Even theScottish think it’s miserable.”

*

“I don’t think I’ve ever been on aplane that small before.  Was it built by the Wright Brothers?”she grumbled, dragging her suitcase behind her.  She stopped shortand he almost tripped over her, busy as he was cancelling theirreturn flight and securing a spot on the Caledonian Sleeper for thetrip home.  White-knuckling it in a crop-duster was not the kind ofdanger he enjoyed, thank you.  "Tell me that’s not our driver.“

"I can, though I personally thinka marriage is built on a strong foundation of trust, the cornerstoneof which is honesty in all things,” he said, taking in theclient—or whomever the client had sent—standing in front of a vanwith a cartoon Loch Ness Monster on the side holding a ripped pieceof cardboard that said SURELOCK HOOMES on it.  

Eh.  He’d seen worse.  Usually only oncoffee cups from Starbucks.

“He looks like GroundskeeperWilly.  You think he brought us a haggis?”

“Hope not.  I’d murder for a friedMars Bar, though.”

*

“Oh, and do keep an eye out forthe White Lady.  They say misfortune befalls whoever hears ‘erwails,” the innkeeper said, handing over the room key.

He made a mental note to check the roomfor hidden speakers, blacklights, and poorly-disguised secretpassages.

“Is the ghost included in the roomfee, or is something we have to pay extra for?”  He gave thewoman behind the desk one of his plastic smiles and didn’t wait foran answer before picking up his suitcase and heading for the stairs.

“Londoners.  And they say we’recheap,” he heard her grumble as they walked away.

*

“Molly, quit moaning,” hesaid, groping behind himself to give her a shake or a poke orsomething to wake her up.  Honestly, he felt no sympathy for her, hetold her not to eat that second mutton pie.  His hand came intocontact with her bum, and oh, that was nice.

“Get my car fixed first,” shegrumbled sleepily, the last word overlapping with another moan thatmost certainly didn’t come from her.  "Did you just…?“

"Wasn’t me,” he said,supremely annoyed that he’d missed something in his search.  

“Do you think it’s the WhiteLady?” she asked, pushing herself up on her elbows.

“Honestly Molly, you’re woman ofscience.”

“'There are more things in Heavenand Earth—’”

“Yes, yes, thank you Hamlet.” The moaning turned to weeping.  "Right, that’s it,“ hesaid, throwing back the covers.  

"What are you doing?”

“Finding those damn speakers.  Andthen I’m taking them down to the front desk.”

Molly groaned and flopped back onto herstomach, covering her head with the pillow.

*

“Oh!  I see something! Binoculars!”  Molly said, yanking him along with the binocularsaround his neck closer to the side of the boat.  They were supposedto be looking for places the saboteurs could moor a boat, but Mollyhad other ideas.

“Driftwood or wave?” heasked, bending closer than was strictly necessary to give the strapof the binoculars enough slack to let him breathe; he was sorelytempted to slip an arm around her waist under the pretence of helpingher maintain her balance on the rolling seas (which, truthfully, wasabout as choppy as a bathtub).

“Driftwood,” she saiddisappointedly after a few moments, letting the binoculars thud backagainst his chest.

He surreptitiously made another tickmark in his notebook as he gave the top of her head a little pat toconsole her.

Driftwood ||||

Wave ||

Reflection/ trick of light |||| ||

Animal |

Maybe she’d get lucky and spot a deadbody; at least that would be interesting.

*

“So I guess I can cross 'low speedboat chase’ off the bucket list,” Molly joked, hunkered behindone of the vinyl-upholstered bench seats.

“Just keep your head down,darling. Don’t give them a target,” Sherlock said, pulling herhead against his chest.  It wasn’t strictly necessary, but at leastthis way they wouldn’t get a look at her face if they had binoculars.

“Why did you call me darling?  Younever call me darling.  Is that some kind of code?”

Of course she’d have to ask stupidquestions.  "It’s a term of endearment.  Mary calls Johndarling.“

"And we are not Mary and John.”

“The dynamic is close enough.  I’mthe smart, deadly one and you’re the short, doctor-y one.”

“I can think of at least sixdifferent ways to kill you in the next 24 hours that no one wouldever question as murder,” she said.  "And at least a dozenmore when we get home.“

"Now’s not really the time forforeplay, darling.”

“Call me that one more time, seewhat happens,” she gritted out.

“Is that a threat or a promise,dar—” he didn’t get to finish the thought as a stray shotapparently hit just the right spot on the tour boat’s gas tank tomake it explode.

*

“We’re going to freeze to death,”Molly after they’d struggled ashore.  "Hypothermia, just likeDyatlov Pass.  It’s like some kind of crypid-hunter curse. Paradoxical undressing, you’re doing it already!“

"Nothing paradoxical about it, mycoat weighs more than you do now.  Probably want to get rid of thatjumper, yourse—”

“Do you hear that?” Mollyfroze.

Oh shit.  He looked around forsomewhere to take cover; their would-be killers were coming back tofinish the job.  

“Over there!”  He pointed towhat looked to be an archway carved into the bedrock under thecastle, long over-grown with vines and brush.

*

Molly shouted as two red eyes glintedat them from the darkness.  "It’s real, I told you it’s real,“she said, clinging onto his arm while leaning closer to get a betterlook.  He got the feeling it was less out of fear and more becauseshe was ready to use him as a human shield/ monster snack if she hadto.

"It’s a prop,” he said,holding the lighter (next time she complained about his smoking, heneed only remind her that carrying it had saved her life) higher toreveal the faint outline of a metal framework with a (rather crudely)sculpted head.

“Is that a… submarine?”Molly asked, looking at the rusted heap at the centre of the cavern.

“Hardly surprising, consideringthe tourist industry,” he murmured, noticing the moulderingskeleton wearing what looked to be an old Royal Navy uniform in thedriver’s seat.  Oh, what he wouldn’t give to have a proper torch anddry clothing…  He’d simply have to come back later.  "Come on,I think that’s probably a stairway that leads up to the castle.“

*

"You were wrong.  We’re not goingto freeze to death, we’re going to die in a labyrinth underneath acastle in the Highlands,” he said, completely unimpressed whilelooking at the point where the passage split in three directions. They all looked equally disused, no wear patterns on the floor ordrafts or other signs to indicate which one led to the surface.

“Oh no, we’ll still die ofhypothermia long before hunger, thirst, or lack of oxygen gets us,”Molly said.  Stripping to their pants hadn’t done much to providewarmth, but at least they were drier now.  "If video games havetaught me anything, one way leads to treasure, one way ends in a pitof certain death, and one is a shortcut to the surface.  Go left.“

"Left.”

“People always go right becauseeveryone’s right-handed—”

“John—”

“Is a freak of nature.  Peoplealways go right, so that one is the death pit, and the middle oneseems like it would be too easy, so they ignore it because reversepsychology works, so it has to be the treasure.  We go left and weget to the surface,” she said, tugging him forward towards theleft-hand path.

“I think my brain’s alreadyshutting down because that actually made some kind of sense,” hesaid, then stopped when something wedged in a crack in the stonecaught his eye.  

*

“If only I had a working cameraright now,” Molly said, looking him up and down.  On one hand,it was rather good luck they’d surfaced in the back of a storeroomunderneath the castle’s gift shop, because that meant they didn’thave to wait any longer for warm, dry things to put on.

On the other hand, it was a gift shopin the Scottish Highlands, so those warm, dry things consistedof argyle socks, kilts, Fair Isle jumpers and, of course, theubiquitous novelty t-shirts.  At least, for him; Molly was too smallfor most of what they had to offer, so she ended up in a plushone-piece Nessie pyjama-costume-thing.  She wasn’t the only one thatwished for a working camera.

At least they didn’t actually have topay for it; the head of the museum seemed rather excited about thering he’d found, something about the Knights Templar or somesuch,went on about it the whole way back to the inn as she gave them alift.

*

“Am I supposed to pee in this now,or once I’m in the water?” Molly asked, doing a weird kind ofinterpretive dance, presumably to make the wetsuit more comfortable.

“Don’t pee in it at all, it’s ahire,” he said.  With any luck, he’d be the only one in thewater this time; hers was just a precaution against another possiblecase of hypothermia.  Not that he hadn’t enjoyed sharing a tepidshower with her or the naked cuddle under the electric blanket thatfollowed, but he’d rather repeat those experiences when they weren’tflirting with multiple organ failure.  And maybe when his externalgenitalia didn’t look like someone had aimed a cartoon shrink-ray atit.

*

“Well, I think that should aboutdo it,” he said once he’d removed the mouthpiece and taken offthe mask.  The saboteurs would be in for a nasty surprise when theytried to abscond in their boat come the dawn, and they’d be met witha fleet of the remaining tour boats if they tried to swim for it. The mastermind of the original insurance scam was already in policecustody.

Molly started the boat (and really,he’d have to find out where, exactly, she’d learned how to handleone, probably from an ex-boyfriend or something tedious, consideringshe’d grown up inland) and he began to get himself out of the scubaapparatus.  A soft splash off to his right caught his attention andhe turned his head, already on guard in case they weren’t as in theclear as he thought they’d been.

He blinked, his brain obviously notcorrectly processing the information his eyes were sending it.  Along, slender neck with a head the size of a rugby ball rose from thewater at the side of the boat; it turned its face first one way, thenthe other to look at him.  The glowing red eyes on either side of itshead were like a rabbit and probably afforded it both low-light andpanoramic visio—what was he saying?!  It was obviously anotherprop, one of the other boat captains taking the piss, probablytesting something for the film crew that was due to show in a fewdays’ time.  He took a step closer and peered at it, trying todetermine if it was made of foam rubber or silicone, where themechanical points of articulation were, listening for hidden motors;truly, it looked to be a marvel of craftmanship even in the low lightof dusk.  It even smelled like an animal.  

He reached out to touch it and itreared back, nearly tipping the boat and sending him sprawling in theprocess.  He looked to Molly, clinging desperately to the wheelinside the cabin, then sprang up to look around for evidence ofanother submersible.  

“Just a wave,” he said outloud, trying to reassure Molly.  Well, mostly himself.

*

“Thought you were dying for one ofthese,” Molly said from where she was reclined on the bed injust a dressing gown.  She held the fried Mars Bar out to him when hesat next to her to take off his shoes.

“Not feeling very hungry, thankyou,” he said, taking note of the pale expanse of her thigh, butstill too shaken by the experience on the boat to attempt anything.

“Didn’t think you were the type toget seasick,” she remarked before taking another bite, thenmaking a noise as warm chocolate and nougat dribbled onto her chin.

He ignored it, and the way she gatheredit with her fingertip and sucked it into her mouth.  "You reallydidn’t see anything?“ he hedged.

"No!  For the last time, I didn’tdrive us into a rock or a log or whatever it is you keep implying.  Imean, I appreciate that you’re trying to be nicer about thingsbecause we’re married and… staying that way… but really,it’s the same as making an accusation, so next time you might as welljust come out and say it.”

He opened his mouth to refute herstatement, but thought better of it; probably best to keep to himselfwhat he’d seen.  She’d most likely want to check his head for lumpsor worse, start moping because she hadn’t seen it.  He would have hiscrisis of logic all on his own, quietly, in the shower.  It was justa Baskerville situation; the explanation was there, he just needed tothink through it.

Of course, no explanation wasforthcoming; nothing had shown on the sonar and there had been nobubbles or other signs of… anything.  

He stared at the ceiling long afterMolly draped her very naked self over him and fell asleep (and hereally wasn’t sure which of them was more disappointed in hisapparent lack of interest, but he was going to assume that he couldback-burner getting her car fixed as a priority, now); the Loch NessMonster wasn’t real.  And neither were ghosts, even if he hadn’tfound the damn speakers or the hidden projector that made theflickering woman by the window.

One thing was for certain: he was nevertaking another case in Scotland.  And he was never taking Molly onanother honeymoon.

[eremikadefensesquad]

The Ocean’s Mercy - chapter 1

A/N: It was only a matter of time before I fell down the fanfiction Pharmercy hole lmao

Guess who can’t link her ao3 and ff.net pages to her fanfiction posts anymore and has never written Overwatch fanfiction before and desperately needs the tag visibility for her first Pharmercy fic?? Dis bitch here. So if anyone is interested in reading this fic on my fanfiction account pages (princessfothenight93 on ff.net and Meekahsa on ao3), you’ll have to send me a PM or go to my /fanfiction page. Anywho, this fic is a bit of an art trade with @hanghr , who originally drew art for and came up with the idea. As I write it, she’ll be posting art to go along with it.

Despite her relatively young age, captain Fareeha Amari was an experienced captain with a loyal crew and a family reputation stretching decades. She had seen them safely through any degree of seafaring disasters: storms of all sizes, attacks from hostile pirates, navigation issues, and even a stranding or two. She had thought she had seen all the sea had to throw at her. That was, until, her crew pulled a mermaid onto her deck during what was supposed to be an already-dangerous trip. Fareeha would soon come to learn that the sea still had much to teach her.

Unlike her mother, Fareeha Amari didn't much care to associate herself with Overwatch. She supposed their intentions were noble enough, but the group of justice-orientated mercenaries was very secretive, very exclusive in who they recruited, and even the people they did business with were often left in the dark, given information on a need-to-know basis. That was not how Fareeha preferred to work when her ship was involved with transporting goods from one continent to the other.

For decades, her mother had worked for Overwatch exclusively, transporting goods of all shapes and sizes - most of it contraband that would have gotten her thrown in prison for five lifetimes if she was ever caught trying to bring it into some of the ports she had. To say that it had put a strain on their relationship was a bit of an understatement, especially given the generations of reputation their family had built as peerless sailors. After her mother's untimely death, Fareeha had made it very clear to the higher-ups of Overwatch that she would be involved in no illegal activity, and they largely ignored she existed for years, effectively cutting all their ties with her family. She supposed it was because an organization as big as Overwatch had an obscene amount of resources and could get any random sailor to transport their military-grade weapons from one country to another by throwing enough money at them. It was a loss of client-el that Fareeha did not regret in the slightest.

So, imagine her surprise when she was contacted by Overwatch's leader, a Jack Morrison, while in port in Germany for a few weeks between transport jobs. She had met the stone-faced American man over a few drinks in a pub. The negotiations started off pretty rocky, considering the first thing he brought up was now much he missed her mother's expertise. Fareeha had simply glared at him and given him an equally cold "I'm not my mother" before they began to discuss the details of what he wanted.

Morrison needed an assortment of weapons - perfectly legal ones, he assured her - transported from their base in Eichenwald to a small port in Australia. The sensitive issue was that those seas were plagued by a pirate gang known as the Junkers, and it was incredibly dangerous to traverse. He claimed he didn't want to send someone as inexperienced as his usual transporters to waters that deadly, so he was reaching out to someone who had experience dealing with and avoiding pirates. Namely, her and her crew. That's what he said, at least - though Fareeha personally thought it was more likely he couldn't find anyone stupid enough to cross paths with the Junkers. Fareeha and the crew of her ship, the Raptora, had locked horns with Talon pirates before and came out alive, but pirates were something she would never go out of her way to deal with. She almost told to shove it up his ass, but when he offered her more money than her last five jobs combined, she begrudgingly agreed to it.

That was two weeks ago, and to say they were off course was being generous. Almost immediately after leaving Germany, they hit one of the roughest storms she had seen all year - a sign of things to come, Fareeha was sure. It was nothing she hadn't dealt with a hundred times in the past, but it was enough to set them back several days. From where she was sitting at her desk in her quarters, Fareeha resisted the urge to sigh. Every second she was on this trip, she became more and more doubtful about it. She hadn't wanted to get involved in Overwatch and it's affairs, and even nature itself seen to be telling her that she was making a grave error.

As if reading her thoughts, she could suddenly hear an abnormal amount of activity and commotion on the deck above her. At least a dozen sets of footstep were sounding overhead and a lot of shouting accompanied the frenzy of motion. Deciding it was probably in her best interest to check up on it, Fareeha stood up, throwing her black gold-trimmed captain's coat over the white shirt and tie she was already wearing.

Upon reaching the deck, she could see a gathering of about thirteen deckhands - essentially her entire upper deck staff - standing around something towards the center of the ship. Ignoring how annoyed that made her when they were already far behind schedule, she moved toward them to see what the excitement was about.

As she approached the crowd and they quickly parted ways to allow space for their captain to pass through, Fareeha's eyes widened in shock at what the source of the activity was. Lying in the middle of the deck, tangled in the remnants of a net that a few bold crew members had attempted to cut her out of, was a creature that the young captain had only ever heard stories of. It was a mermaid and a strikingly beautiful one at that. It was like something straight out of a children's book, with long platinum blonde hair that fell to its shoulders in wet tendrils and striking blue eyes the same color as the ocean it had just been pulled from. The tail spread out behind the mermaid was a mix of golden and orange hues that shimmered in the sunlight. The golden scales even ran up the torso a bit, covering the gill slits just below its breasts on both sides of her body. Fins stuck out at various points of the creature's body - most dominantly the large dorsal fin that ran almost the entire length of its back. Identical fins stuck out where its ears would if been if it was a person, and at the elbows.

However, the pretty face and a colorful tail were where the appeal ended, for the mermaid's body language was anything but soft. It was wired, tense, razor-sharp teeth bared as a quiet growl seemed to be coming from the back of its throat. The mermaid's dorsal fin was flared upward, trying to make itself look bigger. It supported its upper body with its hands, glaring at all of the surrounding humans at once, challenging all of them to come anywhere nearby. When Fareeha finally made it closer to the creature, its blue eyes snapped to her own brown eyes, and there was nothing there but aggression. The captain took another step toward the creature, and the growl evolved into a hiss as it seemed to recoil slightly, the bloodlust almost immediately replaced by unease.

In a way, she found the display a bit disappointing - she had heard stories about mermaids, about how they could supposedly communicate with people, how they could be related to and experienced sentience and some degree of self-awareness, but this one in front of her was nothing more than an animal - a scared one, granted, but an animal. And if there was one thing Fareeha had learned with dealing animals, it was to recognize when one was agitated, and this mermaid was miles past that point. She finally tore her gaze away from the defensive glare of the mermaid and back to a group of the men and women standing around.

"So, what exactly were you doing while I was below deck for ten minutes?" Her eyebrow was arched. "You all have much better things to be doing than harassing the local wildlife, don't you think?"

"With all due respect, Captain," one of the men grunted in response, "it is a mermaid."

"I don't care what the hell it is," she snapped back, "it doesn't belong on my deck." As Fareeha glanced back at the aquatic crypid on the deck mere feet from her, she began to remember the much darker side of the stories she had heard of merfolk: sirens who lured entire ships to their deaths with mirages and beautiful songs, mermaids and mermen who drowned people for pleasure, monsters who resented humanity and would do anything they could to bring death to humans they found on the seas. Hell, even captive mermaids had been known to kill their owners through the power of their voices and their inhuman beauty. There was absolutely no part of her that wanted such a dangerous creature on her ship, let alone in close proximity to almost her entire crew.

"Should we take it to that tank on the lower deck?" another voice asked.

"Absolutely not," Fareeha snapped in response, horrified that he was suggesting they actually keep the mermaid. "I want that thing thrown back in the water where it belongs. We still have several weeks on this trip and I'm not going to keep a dangerous animal we know nothing about on board." The only response the captain got from her crew after that was silence and a very heavy atmosphere that made it all too obvious to her that none of them agreed with the call she was making. "If any of you have something to say, I'm always open to suggestions," she deadpanned.

Finally, one of the women in the group sighed. "Captain, it's just that mermaids are as rare and as valuable as they come. People pay millions for them. We'd be-"

"We have a job to be doing," Fareeha reminded her sharply, as her harsh eyes skimmed over the entire crowd of sailors who were definitely neglecting their duties to stand around gawking at the mermaid. She didn't even want to know how much time had already been wasted by the sheer effort of spotting, netting and hauling the thing on board in the first place. "We don't have time to mess around with something like this," Fareeha continued heatedly. "We're already running behind schedule and you all have duties you are supposed to be performing right now that are far more important than talking about selling a mermaid."

"These things are menaces," another man spoke up. "There's no telling how many sailors have died at the hands of creatures like that one."

Fareeha's eyebrow arched. "And that makes me want it on my ship even less."

"That's why we should take it from the ocean," he persisted. "It's one less killer plaguing the seas. At least in a tank, it won't be hurting anyone."

Pondering over his words, Fareeha looked back at the mermaid once more. It was still staring directly at her, teeth still bared, body still poised like it was prepared to strike her at any second. In fact, the creature was so tense that she was certain that the only reason it hadn't tried to make a break for the edge of the ship was because of the sheer amount of people surrounding it. It had nowhere to go - it was simply cornered, and so was reacting in the only way a cornered animal knew how to. Still...it hadn't actually hurt anyone yet. Of course, the captain was more than aware of the reputation merfolk had, but it was just that: a reputation. Fareeha had never seen any of the attacks herself, she merely heard accounts from far-off sailors and their tales, and nobody really knew where fact ended and fiction began.

And even if they were true, was it fair to hold this one mermaid accountable for the morbid actions of others of its kind? As far as they knew, this one was completely harmless. Even if it was about as intelligent as an animal, it was still wild - it had spent its entire life in the ocean. To take it from something like that, condemning it to a boundary of four glass walls for the rest of its life based on stories and legends, seemed cruel.

Even so, Fareeha wasn't entirely opposed to the idea. It might not have been fair, but she'd be lying to herself if she didn't admit that she was curious about the creature. This would be the only opportunity she'd ever have in her life to see a mermaid, to see how it swims, how it interacts to environments around it, how it feeds. They weren't going to touch land for more than a few hours for a least a month. That was a long time to observe the mermaid in her very limited free time. She looked back to the cryptid's expressive blue eyes, as two of the small fins growing out the side of its tail slapped down against the scales with a tiny smacking sound.

Finally, Fareeha nodded. "Alright. But I don't want anyone going near it for at least a full day. We still have no idea what it's capable of."

It happened so quickly that Fareeha barely processed it. As a deckhand reached for the mermaid's arm to restrain it, it twisted its entire torso with the speed of a snake and sunk its mouth full of razor-sharp teeth into his leg. The man let out a howl of pain and the mermaid, as quickly as it lashed out, recoiled heavily as if he had struck it across the face. It allowed its torso to rest on the wooden deck as it stared at the person it had attacked, blue eyes wide. The dorsal fin was lying flat against the mermaid's back, ears tilted downward as it made its entire body sink lower to the floor. In the next instant, three men had jumped on the creature's back, one of them pushing the mermaid's head down against the hard ground cheek-first while another man grabbed both of its wrists and held them behind its back. The mermaid writhed under them and made a few distressed whimpers from deep within its throat, but had no means to fight back against them.

Fareeha's lips pursed as she watched the struggle unfold, brown eyes slowly shifting from the mermaid to the gaping wound on her sailor's leg, then back to the mermaid again. She no longer had a legitimate argument to make in defense of the animal; it had just sealed its own fate in that small act of violence. It had proven that it was willing to attack a human, and that was all the crew would need to consider it too dangerous to set free. Even if she didn't entirely agree with it, she had to maintain a semblance of reason, and after that, there was no reasonable conclusion she could come to that didn't end with the mermaid being imprisoned. At that point, it wasn't worth getting her crew angry at her.

Two more deckhands stepped forward and between the five of them, they picked the creature up and carried it to a lower deck. Fareeha was silent as she watched the mermaid vanish from her sight, and instead looked to the injured deckhand.

"Damn thing," he grumbled.

"Go see the medic," Fareeha told him. "At the very least, make sure it gets cleaned and dressed." With that, she stepped away from him. He'd be fine; the mermaid hadn't done any serious lasting damage. It was just a blood-drawing bite and she was certain that she'd never heard of a story of merfolk being venomous before.

Despite her hesitation in keeping their new cargo, Fareeha did find herself somewhat curious about the cryptid. She had truly never even seen a merperson before. They were exotic, elusive, exceptionally rare creatures, and their value was something that could hardly be fathomed. They lived exclusively in the mansions and palaces of the wealthiest people in the world, serving as centerpieces of their fortunes and empires. While Fareeha and her crew were certainly not struggling for money, they were a far cry from the people who usually got to lay their eyes on such a luxury. A live wild mermaid hadn't even been seen in well over a decade, much less captured alive. They were reclusive and incredibly aggressive when cornered. And yet there was one of these absurdly rare creatures just a couple decks below her feet. At the very least, she could observe the beast before it was inevitably sold to the tune of millions.

Ignoring the warning bells going off in the back of her head, she moved down the stairs to their lowest deck, where they had a small storage tank. It was there more so as a place to store emergency food in the case they ran through their supplies and needed to resort to catching fish. She could only recall having used it two or three times in her career, but now it was serving a much different purpose. As she pushed the door to the small room open, she stopped.

A couple of crew members who hadn't been on the deck when the mermaid had been pulled out of the water were gathered in the room, but when they saw their captain the immediately straightened up and left the room before she could say anything to them. Fareeha resisted the urge to sigh; the damn mermaid was already making it hard for people to listen to her orders. Maybe that's where they got their reputation as enchantresses from. Finally, she came to a stop directly in front of the wall of glass that took up most of the room. The mermaid was barely visible - it was curled up in a compact ball in the far corner of the square tank, shielding everything but the orange-gold of its tail from prying eyes. As Fareeha sat down on one of the storage crates in the room, watching the mermaid intensely as she rested her arms on her legs, she couldn't help be struck with a strong feeling of pity for the beast. It was just frightened. They had unceremoniously ripped it from its natural habitat, ganged up on it and restrained it, and they stuck it in a cage where it had nowhere to hide. The entire time the mermaid had been in her presence, it had been tense and on-edge; even now, the position it was laying in wasn't natural or relaxed - it was forcing itself into such a small shape as if to cease to exist, shielding itself from the reality of the situation it found itself.

The captain seemed to recall that soft voices and gentle tones could help to calm scared animals. Perhaps that would work with the mermaid.

"My name is Fareeha," she told the creature, her voice even. "Captain Fareeha Amari." For a moment, Fareeha doubted that the mermaid could hear her through the glass, but its tail shifted ever so slightly, allowing a blue eye to stare at her from behind the wall of gold. "Do you have a name?" Unsurprisingly, the mermaid just continued to watch her with the same blank glaze to its eye and she once again tried to ignore the nagging feeling of disappointment. This mermaid was no more sentient than a dog or a cat. It couldn't even understand the words she was speaking to it, much less communicate with her.

"I don't want to call you 'mermaid'. How about I give you a name? Would you like that?" The mermaid just blinked silently. For a long moment, she returned the creature's silence, pondering to herself over what kind of a name would suit a creature she knew nothing about. The only thing she had really seen the mermaid do was bite one of her sailors on the leg and immediately change its mind and show him a tiny bit of mercy by letting go. Fareeha smiled to herself before making eye contact with the mermaid once more. "How about Mercy? It means to show kindness or compassion when you don't have to. Sort of how you decided to not tear one of my deckhand's legs off. That was an act of mercy, right? I think it suits you." The irony of naming a dangerous mermaid Mercy wasn't lost on Fareeha, but she highly doubted that the creature cared in the slightest what she called it.

When she looked at the mermaid's blue eye once more, however, it had changed. Mercy's expression seemed to be a bit harsher and it only stared back at Fareeha's own brown eyes for another moment before the tail covered it's face once more.

After that final display, Fareeha knew that there was nothing she could say that would coax the mermaid out of its defensive ball, so rather than waste her time, she stood up. Mercy just needed time to get comfortable, needed to be left alone and given time adjust to its new surroundings. It certainly wasn't going to just sit in that ball for the entire trip, it was only a matter of time before the mermaid calmed down. Before exiting the room, Fareeha looked back at Mercy for a second. The mermaid's tail had moved so that two ocean blue eyes were watching her as she retreated, but they were filled with such a deep sadness that she hesitated in the doorway for several seconds. Finally, Fareeha shook her head and closed the door behind her, sure that she was just imagining it.