#the way she stole shanti's face... they ate that

[simphic]

Guess who finally got their twin now lol..

[inkognito97]

A pirate dooku falls in love with mermaid Jocasta.

@mostie01

“What shall we do with a drunken sailor?What shall we do with a drunken sailor?What shall we do with a drunken sailor?Early in the morning?”

It was this one song, this shanty as the land-dwellers called it, that roused Jocasta from her drowsing on the soft corals near the shore. The reef was relatively save from sharks or other such predators, but the danger of humans was greater. Still, Jocasta loved it here. The colors, the different fish and beings that traveled through the water, it was always a different experience and the mermaid loved all of them. Sometimes, if she was really lucky, she would even find something that belonged to the land. She would collect it, most of the time at least, and bring it to her treasure horde, that was basically just a cave under the water. 

Many of her friend called her obsessed and perhaps they were right, but even they tended to visit her cave every so often to inspect the things she had found. Sometimes, they collected ideas on what the things were and what they were used for. They never really knew, since mermaids and mermen kept away from the land and the land-dwellers. After all, everyone knew the story of the evil land-dweller, who would do any give anything to capture and imprison one of their kind. And then there was the matter of the activity they called ‘fishing’. The stole their friends from the ocean and ate them. It was no wonder that nobody from under the sea liked the land-dweller. 

“Way-hay, up she risesWay-hay, up she risesWay-hay, up she risesEarly in the morning”

The shanty continued on, sung by a strong and deep voice. Sometimes, the owner of that voice, would actually step slightly into the water, never further than his knees, but it was enough to get at least a little look at him. It was always exciting, when did a mermaid get the opportunity to see a real land-dweller after all? She didn’t get too close to him though, she did not want to get spotted after all. 

“Put him in the long boat till he’s sober,Put him in the long boat till he’s sober,Put him in the long boat till he’s sober,Early in the morning”

“Way-hay, up she risesWay-hay, up she risesWay-hay, up she risesEarly in the morning”

There was definitely something different about this man however. The other land-dwellers Jocasta had seen, did not wear that much clothes - a dolphin had told her how it was called - and they had darker skin. Also, this man was always alone and he followed the same routing every day. At morning, he would come to the shore, look out into the sea and after he had sung his song, he would vanish again. Jocasta would not see nor hear him for the rest of the day, he would only return in the afternoon and then he would sing another song. It was strange if Jocasta was being honest. 

“Put him in the scuppers with a hose-pipe on him.Put him in the scuppers with a hose-pipe on him.Put him in the scuppers with a hose-pipe on him.Early in the morning”

“Way-hay, up she risesWay-hay, up she risesWay-hay, up she risesEarly in the morning”

It almost seemed as if he was waiting for something, the way he looked over at the horizon. Jocasta knew that the land-dweller had arrived with a large ship - again something she had learnt from a dolphin - and it had looked as if he had been thrown out of it. Jocasta had not stayed to look more closer however, too afraid had she been for her life then. 

But since this fateful day, when the sea had been in uproar, the man was on the island, all alone. Perhaps he was waiting for the ship to return?

“Shave his belly with a rusty razorShave his belly with a rusty razorShave his belly with a rusty razor”Early in the morning”

“Way-hay, up she risesWay-hay, up she risesWay-hay, up she risesEarly in the morning”

Without having noticed what she was doing, Jocasta had swam up, towards the surface. Thankfully she had noticed her movements and had barely stopped herself from emerging. Granted, she would have gotten a much better look at the land-dweller then, but he would have undoubtedly spotted her too. 

But the longer she hovered there, far enough from the singing land-dweller, the more she began to wonder, if it would truly be so bad. What could he do? It did not look like he had any weapons on him and there was certainly no net on him. He was just standing there, knees deep in the water, without the things called ‘shoes’, he had on his feet - dolphins were really intelligent and knowledgeable - and staring at the far away horizon.

Perhaps she should just do it. What could happen? She could always flee into the depths of the ocean and she knew for certain, that he could not follow her there. 

Taking a moment to collect herself, she made the final decision and with a strong stroke of her fin, her head emerged from the water. The feeling of her wet hair not floating around her, was strange, but not unpleasant. The sun on her skin warmer than usual and her sight on the man was much better too. Barely out and Jocasta knew, it had been worth it. 

For a moment, the song stopped, a pair of sea blue eyes came to rest on her. They were wide and the land-dwellers mouth was ajar with shook. Then, he shook his head, as if to clear his thoughts and continued to sing, with a slightly trembling voice and his eyes, never left Jocasta’s form.

“Put him in bed with the captain’s daughter.Put him in bed with the captain’s daughter.Put him in bed with the captain’s daughter.Early in the morning”

“Way-hay, up she risesWay-hay, up she risesWay-hay, up she risesEarly in the morning”

There was no fast movement coming from him and Jocasta could feel no ill intent coming from the land-dweller. She had soon learnt to trust her feelings and instincts, which was probably the only reason why she swam forward, closer to the being that seemed to be as much fascinated with her, as she was with him. 

In delight, she noticed that he had something on his head that resembled on of her treasures. She had no idea what it was, but at least she now knew the use.

His features were quite strong, his hair a dark brown, but his most striking features, were his eyes which reminded Jocasta so much of the ocean she was living in.

“Take him and shake him and try to awake him.Take him and shake him and try to awake him.Take him and shake him and try to awake him.Early in the morning”

“Way-hay, up she risesWay-hay, up she risesWay-hay, up she risesEarly in the morning”

He stopped singing after this verse, he always did, but something told Jocasta that it wasn’t the actual end of the shanty. 

She didn’t know what to do now. He was still staring, quite rudely if she might add. The young mermaid did not dare to speak or to move.

“What do we have here? A stranded fish, aye?” Jocasta grimaced at being called a fish, she was anything but a mindless fish. “No, you are a pretty lass, no fish. Hm, tell me lassie, have you come to bring this old sea dog out from his misery by dragging him under the surface?”

“Why would I want to do that?” she spoke, before she could stop herself. In horror watched she, as the land-dweller tilted his head, still looking at her. “And what kind of misery?” she asked after it was clear that she had NOT made a huge mistake.

The land-dweller opened his arms and motioned for the island behind him. “I a trapped lassie, on this god-forsaken sand beach. Left by my men, those landlubbers, sons of dogs.” He growled. “They mutinied me, left me to rot and you ask what misery I am in?”

“Oh,” Jocasta retorted. If she was honest with herself, then she had not even understood half of the things he had just told her.

A thoughtful look appeared on his bearded features and there was something else in his eyes. First, the mermaid thought it might be desire, but it was too soft for that. Admiration perhaps, wonder… or just plain curiosity.”

“Lass, why don’t you keep this old sea dog company?”

“Will you sing?” she asked hopefully and swam just a little bit closer.

He threw his head back and laughed, it was a merry sound. “If that is what you want, aye.” 

To Jocasta’s surprise, he actually sat down exactly where he was standing. The salty water now reached him to his chest, but the man did not seem to mind, quite the opposite actually. Jocasta took it as an opportunity to swim even closer. She remained out of his reach, but her fins must have been palpable in the glittering water. And truly, his cold eyes watcher her for a moment longer, then they turned back to her face and with a smile on his bearded features, he began to sing. Jocasta allowed herself to slightly relax. She didn’t close her eyes however, she had to stay alert at least somewhat after all. But at least, she finally got what she had always wanted. And he seemed nice too…

[disaster-aster]

The Beginning - Part 2

         J i b b s

People think we can speak to animals, or so I heard from Jack. I believe he often enjoys fooling them and reinforcing that belief, but honestly, that’s a whole lot of buzzard crap. If anything, I’m only more used to seeing birds and animals of all sizes from up close, as we share the same space back home. I learned their habits and can read into their body language perhaps, but in no way have I ever had an animal speak to me.

But of course, humans will keep believing whatever they want. To be honest I think Jack’s idea of keeping them dumb on the matter is on point. The more stupid things they think they know about us, the better.

I met Jibby (or Jibbs, as I most often call her) on a stormy night… yeah, no. It was a regular day, regular weather, some clouds in the sky and the air smelled of fish. Someplace called Varra? Vienna? No. Vierra. I think. Those darned Humans and their funny names for places. How they even keep track of which town is called what, I wonder. I know they use maps, I’m not an idiot, but so many of them keep up with so many places in such ease, especially the adventurers. I sometimes feel like they ate one too many maps for breakfast. Whatever... 

I was waiting for a handful of kids to get out of the way so I could fly from the tree I was sitting in to the other side of the dusty path drawn across the offshore village, aiming for a pie. I had seen a thin, hard looking woman place it on the edge of the window of her shanty to let it cool down, humming an air I never heard of and never bothered to remember either. The kids far enough so that they would have no chance of noticing the faint flutter of my wings, and nothing else but a shaggy dog and a young goose coming this way, I crossed the road. As I was about to land, and in my head I was going to do so in complete silence, a large black ball bopped me. I bounced in the air with a yelp, too fast and too surprised to flap my wings and ended up right in the middle of the pie, where the cuts are made in the crust to let the vapors out (something I learned watching humans cook in a tavern). My behind didn’t appreciate the warmth. I like the comfort of a snug nest as much as any other fairy my size, but that heat was a bit too much. It carried its way right into my clothes, on which the strawberry filling stuck as I jumped to my feet. The window opened fully, the bang of wood hitting wood rang in my ears and the shrill voice of the hard looking woman, no longer humming, startled me enough to push me back in the burning pie, short breathed and heart beating fast.

She had a square shaped face and a long, thin droopy nose, and she was close enough that I never really noticed the colour or the length of her hair. I did notice, though, that her breath smelled like fruits. She must had been eating the remaining filling as she waited.

“Ya bird’n ya death-damned pixie bittah git’ away o’ my pie or else!” she screeched. She sounded a bit like what I think a banshee’s cry would be. Jack met banshees, but I never did. I have no idea where they live and according to him, they are not all that kind to fairies either.

I looked sideways and noticed the so-called bird the banshee-woman was talking about. It looked more like a water filled balloon with a long grey beak than an actual bird. And the water balloon was stuffing itself as fast as it could, digging into the crust without as much as taking a breath. The woman’s hand swiped the air too close to my head for comfort and hit the balloon bird on the beak. It extended its wings with a condemning caw as it took off, sending a large gust of wind my way. With a curtain of hair now in my face, I instinctively grabbed its claw so it pulled me out of the pie in the process.

Fortunately neither of us was hurt, except for my slightly overheated behind. We landed much farther up the dusty road, under a bush filled with berries. The bird’s beak was still covered in fruit jelly. So was my backside. I must admit, I was worried about the bird’s weight. She (it was clearly a she, I don’t know how humans can’t make the difference between male and female) was unhealthy. So I took it upon myself to make her lose some of that fat. Just enough so she would be free to fly a reasonable distance without exhausting herself. She was not too keen with the idea at first, obviously, but I had seen a brother do something similar before. He simply tricked the birds into following him around. I found this to be stupidly easy with this one.

Jibby likes pebbles. I am still unsure what conditions a pebble must fill in order to become ‘the perfect pebble’, but Jibby likes pebbles. As a matter of fact, Jibby will go to great lengths to ensure that she doesn’t lose her favourite pebble. I simply stole the thing whenever I wanted her to fly or when I needed to take her attention off food. Somehow, we became friends. I don’t know if it’s because she thinks I’m just a smaller annoying bird who needs guidance, or if it’s because I stuck to her like tree sap for a couple of days. It couldn’t possibly have anything to do with me stealing her treasure. She gets very moody when I do that. Maybe one day I’ll figure out how this happened.

In any case I’m more grateful now to her than she’ll ever be to me, because soon enough, I would need her more than I ever could have imagined...