Two of a Kind ((Open! Pirates and Merchants wanted!))

[Anonymous]

Sunbeams streamed from above the surface of the water, sending dazzling color into this liquid paradise. The ocean's surface was calm, placid, gentle waves that glided along the surface. Above, the salty sea breeze pushed and pulled with might, billowing out the white sails of ships like the wings of gulls. It was a perfect day to cross the seas.

It was also a perfect day to swim.

Briefly, a fin of a predator cut through the surface of the ocean, followed by the distinct slap of a tail. A flock of gulls bobbing on the waves just a few feet away were startled into flight, their webbed feet treading the waters as wings beat the sky, in an attempt to make it to the safety of the clouds.

But for one, he was not so lucky.

The fin disappeared under the water, though ripples remained of where the predator was just moments before. And then, the fin appeared again, only it was speeding. Powerful swings of the tail propelled the monster forward, sending the birds into a panic. One finally got his running start on the water, and he was so close...

The monster spun out of the water, revealing a human face and torso, a face with the grin of a devil, rows upon rows of teeth designed for ripping apart flesh, framed with locks of white, choppy hair. The gray trident, tines glinting in the sun, followed the length of her body, and thrusted, straight into the escaping gull.

The gull didn't have time to shriek before its body was punctured, blood pouring as the tine pierced straight through its ribcage. The red liquid flowed into the water, as both predator and prey slammed back into the waves. The rest of the flock escaped safely into the sky.

Sekhet, the mermaid with the body of a shark and the trident from a former life, swam into the depths of the ocean, away from the surface that humans lurked. She blinked as her eyes became normal again, rolling back from her skull, black orbs that gazed hungrily at her prey.

One seagull wasn't the greatest prey ever, but it was a start, at least.

Her jaw clicked as she unhinged it, and let her teeth sink into the carcass. With a jerk of her head, flesh and feathers were pulled apart from the bird, and she swallowed the meat in one gulp.

It was how she had to get by. Feeding on what she could, until the day that she could return home, and hunt and play with her species.

For now, she was alone. And she was going to have to survive.

[Anonymous]

The sea! The great mother! Finally! Excitedly Soramai rushed down the beach, looking at the gentle waves that lapped the sandy shoreline. Pulling off her robes, she ran into the shallow waves, then once at knee deep she ran at full speed, diving into the deeper part of the water. Feeling the rush of its coolness against her skin comforted her. Smiling beneath the waves, she let her humaniod siren body fade into its mermaid form. Soramai was a Fae mermaid, the kind you mostly image, a normal fish tail with a human torso and head, unlike the shark mermaids, or the Faerie mermaids, and so on.

Swishing her purple tail, that had white highlights and pink strips, she grinned. Soramai had become restless an edgy the past days without the Great Mother, feeling her gills expand as she drew in water, then slowly go back to its original shape in an exhale. Treading there under the surface for a while she looked around, not much to see so close to shore. Shrugging her narrow shoulders, she swam forwards. Flicking her tail with much ease, she was born to do this.

Smiling all the while she swam quickly out to deeper waters, as she swam she saw blood in the water. Nearing it she saw a shark like shape...swimming slowly closer...she saw it was...another mermaid. Hissing a little in surprise she slowly swam backwards.

[Anonymous]

Sekhet was intent on her meal, tearing chunks of it and swallowing the pieces. Every taste of blood and flesh made her hungrier rather than satisfied her. Oh, hunting alone really did have its drawbacks. Being forced to eat small things like seagulls was one of them.

Her claws plucked and flung feathers, her senses dulled by the blood and meat that she didn't hear the other approaching until there was a hiss of surprise. Her training and instincts kicking into focus, she spun, trident pointed at the figure, and abandoned her meal.

Shock filtered through her. It was... a mermaid. One of her own kind. She blinked uncomprehendingly, and could only stare at the other. Slowly, she lowered her trident, but no words came to her. Who was she? Was she a friend? A foe? Did she know of her exile? Or was she an outcast too?

None of these questions could Sekhet voice.

[Anonymous]

Giving a little shriek when she spun around, pointing the trident at her, a little surprised to see another mermaid. Staring at the other for a moment, when she then recognized who this shark mermaid was. Sekhet the Exiled mermaid, one of the first to be exiled in over a million years, Soramai had never met this mermaid, but she had been at the trial when she was thrown out as an outcast, so she knew what she looked like. Clearing her throat, she spoke up in the eerie shrieks, screams, hisses, and weird noises mermaids spoke under water. "Sekhet?" she said trying to stay calm.

Treading there, she kept an eye on the trident as she swam a little closer, all her sense alert as the wandering mermaid kept her eyes peeled on the other. They would either become friends, or enemies, and that would happen in what some would call blink of an eye. Every time one mermaid met another she did not know, it never took long before it was decided they would be friend or foe to one another. Unlike humans, or most other creatures.

[Anonymous]

The sound of her name made Sekhet pause, growing eerily still. This mermaid... knew her name? Was it possible, she came from the same kingdom? The trident that Sekhet held loosened in her grasp, until the tines were pointing straight to the ocean floor.

"You... you know me," she spoke in the same language. My, did the words taste well! "How do you know me? Who are you?"

She was desperate to retain that connection with her species, and she approached slightly herself. Sekhet no longer posed a threat. She wanted to know who this other mermaid was. It was a desperation that fueled her.