Fantasy The Hunt for Mermaids

[Takeshi]

"Halia, that is a very nice name. So, what do you propose to do in this tiny cavern? I could always take you back with me to Atlantis."


In his mind he was hoping she would come with him and they would get to know each other much better. But, even if they stay it could still work out.

 

[Lizzy]

"Thanks....And I would like to go see Atlantis with you, but shouldn't we try to stop these pirates? They might end up hurting someone." She said, sounding concerned.

 

[Takeshi]

"Us alone? I don't know if we could take on an entire batallion of pirates. We might need some help. I am able to converse with other sea creatures... Or we could get help from Neptune's Army"

 

[Lizzy]

"We could spy first.. To see what they are really up to." She said. "I could drown them though." She added with an innocent shrug. They had tried killing her, so it wasn't like she would murder them or anything.

 

[Takeshi]

"Seems like a plan, but I'm exahusted. Mind if we have a rest first?"

 

[Lizzy]

"Yes, of course. I was about to rest when the pirates found me anyway," she said, then slowly floated down to a small sea bed in a darker area of the cave. Then she layed down, her hands acting as a better pillow. She watched him silently until he layed down himself, and only then would she slowly shut her eyes.

 

[House Greyjoy]

It was a perfect morning. The sea birds circled the ship, making nests in the high reaches, and Captain Millard sent up crewmen to pull the nests down. Gentle waves lapped against the sides of the Stranger, and Captain Millard sent crewmen over the edge to scrape off barnacles. The salty air did them all good, but the thought of gold did them all better. There was no more talk of mutiny now.


Idora was leaning against the railing in the forecastle. In her slender fingers, she held a mug of coffee stuffed with cream and sugar. It was the one allowance she made for herself for anything tasty, it was also what her brother called a -bad addiction. She looked out with blue eyes at the rocks in the distance where the mermaids were most likely living. She tapped the mug with her fingers and took a satisfied sip of the coffee complete with a sigh to finish it off. It was a perfect morning for fishing.


Captain Millard was busy getting a handful of the divers ready with their rebreathers. This was one of the tricks of the trade of hunting mer. "The closer you can get to them with sleeping darts, the better aim you hope to have. Remember lads, we want them alive," He reminded the men, pressing one of the rebreather masks against a fellows face. All of the divers were clean shaven to make sure the masks would fit without any impediment.


Once all was prepared and their dart guns were loaded and handed over to the them, the five divers did a back flip off the ship and into the water to hunt. Idora blew a kiss to them as they went into the depths.

 

[Takeshi]

Kaeiro was awakened because of splashing sounds coming from a short distance away. He looked to Halia , but she was stilll asleep. When he watched the area where the noises were he saw a bunch of humans swimming into water! He didn't know humans had mystics! He had no idea what he should do.


He decided they should stay put and be as silent as possible. He moved Halia deeper in the cave, still sleeping and he tried his best to draw no unwanted attention to himself. So, he stood there with Halia in silence.

 

[Lizzy]

Halia awoke in Kaeiro's arms, but didnt move away because she was still quite drowsy. "Huh? What's going on?" She asked, voice hoarse and quiet.

 

[Takeshi]

"Shhh,"He whispered,"The pirates are diving into the water...and not drowning."

 

[Lizzy]

Halia slowly raised herself out of his arms and stayed at his side. Her eyes were wide. Why were the pirates so persistent?

 

[Takeshi]

'We need to distract them so we can make our escape,"Kaiero said in a very quiet tone of voice,"Any ideas?"

 

[Lizzy]

She paused, then shook her head then whispered, "not really..."

 

[House Greyjoy]

The divers had fins on their feet that propelled them through the water, and they had the rebreathers, allowing them to breathe under the water without drowning. The thing that should scare the sea creatures the most were the dart guns. Should they be shot with one of the darts, it only took one minute for the sedative to go to work, rendering them knocked out. The black figures, looking like sharks in the water, moved silently slicing through the water like ghosts. They drew closer to where they last saw the mers. The gleam of lust for money was in their eyes behind the masks.

 

[Lizzy]

Halia watched them soar through the sea, small guns in their hands. She watched from the darkest shadows in the very small cave, surrounded by seabeds and sharp coral. Without realizing it, Halia edged closer to her merman companion and gently clung to his arm fearfully.


The pirates passed them as they went closer to the rocks Halia had first encountered them. When they got closer to the rocks, that would be their chance of escape.

 

[CrystalTears]

"Hey Aron! Our food! Still waiting for it!" A couple of pirates yelled at Aron, as he was carrying far too much for what his small body could manage, but he somehow managed to stumble his way over to the table where they were seated. "Here you go. Sorry for the wait!" Aron apologized with a polite bow, and the guys smiled back to him, eating their food without another word. "Aron! Where's our drinks?!" Another set of pirates demanded, as Aron quickly returned to the kitchen and out again for their drinks on a small tray, as he was also carrying a small bucket with water in it. He still hadn't washed the deck, there was so much to do today! "Sorry, I totally forgot," He apologized before he set the tray carefully down, and walked up to the deck.


Aron watched as the weird guys, wearing weird equipment, dove into the water by Captain Millard's command. They all dove underwater, and none of them seemed to return. It had been a good while since they had gotten any treasure, he hoped they wouldn't return empty handed as it was more fun organizing the treasure, of course in locked chest, than it was washing the ship's deck. Idora was there too, watching them all go into the water. Aron made his way over to Idora, still mopping the deck as he knew he shouldn't get easily distracted by what the "real" pirates on the ship was doing. "What are they doing Idora?" Aron asked, a bit curious as it seemed Captain Millard was very serious over it.

 

[House Greyjoy]

Idora's eyes narrowed on the horizon and she took a slow sip of her coffee. One hand on her coffee mug, the other strumming a tap, tap, tap on the rail now. A deckhand was addressing her. One of the few that she allowed to converse with her sometimes. This morning, she was feeling almost cheerful and offered a smile in response to the question with a lifted eyebrow. "Fishing..." She said coyly, turning her eyes for a moment on the lad, and then returning her attention to the waters.


The divers circled around behind the rocks while one stayed at the front, hoping to entrap the mers.

 

[CrystalTears]

"I see..." Aron answered her, a bit disappointed as he hoped they were doing more than just looking for fish. It seemed strange to him to have them fish in those weird suits, but that was none of his business. He knew very well that Idora and Captain Millard didn't like him asking too many questions, and even less if he even talked to them. Aron was far from any "real" pirate, and he knew that Idora and Captain Millard only kept him on the ship for the chores he had to do since no one else wanted to. He let out a small sigh, as he continued to wash the deck without another word.


It took him a while, but he managed to finish the entire deck, completely cleaned up! Maybe now he would get some time to relax on his own? Instead of asking, Aron made his way to one of the boats on the side, making sure he was hidden, he pulled out a small book and began reading. This was how he spend his break, even though The Captain didn't appreciate it, since he wished Aron would grow into a real pirate someday, teaching him sword fighting, taking him on raids and so on and so on.

 

[House Greyjoy]

In the waters, the lead diver motioned for the others to enter the cave and they moved inside silently, dart guns at the ready.


On the ship, Idora sighed, hoping that the divers would surface soon with good news to share. She was growing tired of waiting and watching. The tall blonde moved to sit with some of the crew and listen to their stories while they ate their breakfast.


Captain Millard wasn't pleased as he looked down at his deck hand taking a break in the rowboat. He cleared his throat whilst staring down at the boy and motioned with his hand for him to make his way out and up onto the deck. Once he was within reach, the Captain took the book and slipped it into his own pocket. Though the captain loved all things pirating, he also loved to have his sister read to him fanciful stories. He could read himself, but Idora had a way of bringing the stories to life.


"Swab the deck?" He received an affirmative nod, "Clean the pots and pans?" Another nod, "And the guns?" Another nod, and the captain rubbed at his own beard. "Then, it looks as if you have some time to work on your sword play, whelp." He called forward a lab about the same age, but one that excelled with his lessons, "Spar." The captain handed a wooden practice sword to each and then stepped back to sit atop a table to watch.


Idora, finding this amusing, joined her brother sitting at his left side.

 

[CrystalTears]

Aron was so occupied with the book he did not notice the Captain straight away, until he grabbed his book and motioned him to go back onto the deck. Was he once again going to clean the whole deck? We had already done it and Idora, the Captain's sister, had seen him clean it. The Captain stored his book in his own pocket, so he would definitely not see that book for a while, luckily he had a couple of other books hidden underneath his bed. The Captain asked him a couple of questions about what he had done, but he was already finished. When he stopped, Aron hoped he would be let off, and get to rest, but instead he had to do what Aron considered his worst "nightmare" which was sparring. I can't fight with a sword and even less spar with someone! It's even worse while he's watching! Aron thought as he saw the Captain and Idora taking a seat close by to watch them spar.


Aron let out a subtle sigh, as he didn't want Captain Millard see his attitude towards sparring. He raised his sword and was ready to spar with the boy, as the wooden sword clashed together, and the boy showed Aron no mercy in his attacks. After a couple of rounds with sparring, and the final spar round came Aron managed to win the last sparring match, due to the other boy being completely drained of energy. Working with the chores on the ship gave Aron great stamina, but he truly preferred the bow over a sword, and his entire body was tired, along with hurting as the boy had really hit him hard sometimes.

 

[House Greyjoy]

Idora slowly put one hand together with the other, offering a few hardy claps with a nod of her head. "I'll say that swab sure is a fast one." After the interesting parts were over, she pushed up from the seat and took the wooden sword away from the lad. "Thank you for the show. Made the waiting much more bearable."


The Captain wasn't finished with Aron yet and as soon as the wooden sparring sword was out of his hands, he thrust a bow and quiver of arrows in them next. "Prove your worth with these. Let's get the clay seagulls!" One of the pirates, an old man with a limp, made his way to the clay thrower and started it up with a kick. One by one, a clay seagull leaped into the sky from the ship. "Target practice time. After this comes musket practice."

 

[CrystalTears]

Aron smiled happily to Idora's small applause as he felt he was getting better at swordplay, even if he was the one who lost the most. "T-Thank you..." Aron muttered to Idora slightly embarrassed that they had both watch the whole sparring match. The boy he had just sparred with quickly walked off, in a bit of rage to have lost to the boy who swabs the deck, but did nothing with it as the Captain was watching.


As soon as the wooden sword left Aron's hand he thought it was time to finally get some rest. His body wasn't the biggest on the ship, that was for sure, and far from any pirate too. However the Captain had other ideas and shoved a bow and quiver quickly into his hands. He was so quick that Aron didn't even have time to ask the Captain for a break.


Captain Millard mentioned the musket, and Aron felt chills run down his spine. Me using a musket?! I think the Captain is trying to kill me... at the very least so did I get to practice with the bow and arrow. Aron thought as another pirate began throwing clay seagulls in the air for him to shoot down. Aron drew back the arrow , with a certain elegance as this was easy for him, and shot down the seagulls without any problems at all. He even got as arrogant as to close his eyes on the last one! But the arrow still hit the clay seagull, shattering it to pieces on the newly cleaned deck.

 

[House Greyjoy]

"Enough, enough. You're training is done for the day. You earned a break," The captain pulled the confiscated book from his jacket and tossed it to the deckhand. "A short break." He added, tipping his head to the boy in a nod that showed he approved of how he was coming along with his training. Afterwards, he turned his attention back to the sea watchful for the return of the divers.


"Did you see his face when you told him that musket practice comes next? I thought he might faint. It's not nice to tease them.." Idora said, leaning against the railing and looking out at the sea as well. She was eager for their catch of the day.


"You're one to talk, Idora. That's all you do all day is tease them." Her brother added without so much as a smile in her direction.


"I know." She grinned, strumming the rail with her fingertips.

 

[CrystalTears]

"T- Thank you Captain Millard!" Aron said as his book was handed back to him. He was very happy about the Captain's approved nod, as he felt that the hard work and the pain he now felt rushing through his entire body was worth it. Let's not forget to mention how happy he was that he did not have to fire a musket! That could have ended absolutely poorly, not for him, but for the rest of the ship. With his luck, he would probably blast a hole through the ship! He wouldn't have to go and hide to read this time so he quickly walked a bit away from the rest of the pirates to sit down quietly and read his book. He was exhausted, and at the very least he was granted a short break. Aron pulled out his golden pocket watch, it was a gift from his parents, even though he had never met them, it had always been with him. Inside it read: "To our beloved Aron, we're always with you," this was how he figured it was from his parents. I suppose I can read just a little while longer... Dinner isn't supposed to be served in another two hours, and I have cleaned all that needs to be cleaned today. Aron thought, as he smiled for himself.


An hour quickly passed him by as Aron finished reading his book, it was a great story even if he had read it before. Quickly running off to the kitchen, he began working on the pirates dinner, as Captain Millard and Idora was to have their own specially served and cooked meal outside the normal dining place, but Captain Millard would either tell him where to come, or simply get it himself. That's how it usually was at the very least.

 

[Lizzy]

(I will try my best to post... Hopefully Takeshi returns within a day or two.)


Halia clung tighter to the merman's arm, awaiting the darts to pierce through her skin. They couldn't escape now, and they couldn't get any farther into the cave. They were captured prey now.