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Catch of the Day [m]

Started by Draconian, January 28, 2016, 02:12:25 AM

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Draconian

For @DragonSong !

It always entertained him.

A unicorn that eats fish.

Maybe it was the human body that let him do it but he could never remember eating any sort of meat as a beast. Lonely Bird rubbed his forehead, the golden mark glinting in the sun while he wiped the sweat away. They were hauling in quite the catch. All hands on deck.

It was clearly a big fish. So far out to ocean finding such a haul was lucky and while their supplies weren't low - they'd just raided a little trader vessel off the coast of Thanatos and had a few bags of gold and a few weeks worth of preserves as their prize - they were always on the search for more.

There was never enough.

"Hydra!" Lonely Bird called to his first mate, a very tall green man with purple hair and four arms.

"Yeah?"

"Pull harder!" It was an order. He needed to pull extra hard, he had four arms. That's how that worked, right?

With one last grunt from the bunch of them, their prize was on the deck and Lonely Bird stared at it for a good long few moments.

"Well..." A tilt of his head. Nothing should surprise him. He'd been a beautiful, majestic, pure and good unicorn at one point. Except this, this was clearly some sort of fish person, the first he'd ever seen, in fact.

Lonely Bird chuckled to himself after his little mental wandering and then looked down at the fish flopping on the deck and weird fish on the deck. He crouched down next to her, giving her arm a poke, frowning deeply at the strange creature.

"What are you and why are you on my boat," Lonely Bird paused for a moment. He knew why she was on the boat. They'd just spent the last few minutes dragging her - and the fish - onto board. He wasn't sure if he was excited at the potential Lady Flesh or disappointed that it wasn't a big a haul of food as he was expecting.

It was okay though. He wasn't exactly fond of fish.

"I'll rephrase." He flashed her a moments smile, a lie.

"What are you and welcome to your new home." A stretched smile and he looked her up and down. What a strange creature. The crewmembers on the other hand, looked annoyed. The green one just looked tired of his Captains crap, the posture and the way he had his arms folded and resting on his hips.

DragonSong

She should have listened to her mother.

"Don't travel too close to those currents, Aura-lee... Make sure you never get caught up in a school of fish, Aura-lee... If you see a ship, swim in the other direction, Aura-lee."

Though it had been years since she'd heard the older mermaid's nagging, those were the words that began circling in her head when the net was thrown into the water and she realized she was surrounded on all sides by silvery bodies. It didn't matter how much she thrashed or strained against the net, she was hauled up up up toward the surface, heart pounding and eyes wide until-

She was in the air. It wasn't exactly the first time she'd ventured above water, but that had always been slow and wary- and never her whole body, all at once. The shock of it froze her for a moment.

Then she was tossed onto the deck, still immobile. She didn't move at the poke to her arm, just laying there and trying to get her breath. The thin gills along the top of her tail sealed shut automatically and she gulped air, filling her lungs but shuddering at the alien sensation.

Then those words, that smile. Wide eyed, she tried to push herself up and scoot away, toward the water, but her body was too ungainly to do much more than flop. Fish out of water indeed.

She paused, panting, hair falling in a soaking, tangled mess over her face and shoulders, affording some modesty- though she really didn't have such a concept- and stared at the man who'd addressed her. "New...home?" she repeated, soft and panicked. She shook her head. "No. No, I have to get back-"

She tried to wriggle her way to the edge of the deck again. She could feel a tingling starting in her tail as it began to dry, and though she'd never experienced a change herself she knew what it was. She had to get back to the water now.

Draconian

"Get back?" Lonely Bird stared at the ocean for a second before slapping a hand on to the girls tail and giving her a friendly good natured rub.

"You're still on the ocean. Just not in it." Her stared briefly at her tail, a tilt of his head while he took in the image of the strange fish lady. "What are you?"

The men of course put nets along the railing to keep the fish girl on board.

DragonSong

Aura-lee flinched at the touch to her tail, then wailed when she saw the nets going up. No no no no no, I need to get back! The tingling in her tail had grown to an insistent burn and she tried to jerk away from the foreign hand but only succeeded in sort of flopping herself onto her stomach.

"Please, please, I have to go back," she pleaded, twisting to try to get a better look at him. "I- I'm nothing. Just please let me go!" She was starting to really panic now.

A sharp pain from her tail made her cry out and curl in on herself. Breathing heavily, she glanced down and saw midnight blue scales starting to shimmer and slip, sluicing off her and becoming nothing more than salt water. Patches of skin began to show through and she tried to curl her tail up under her body but found it wasn't responding the way it usually did, bending only in one place while the rest became rigid.

Draconian

"Nothing?" Lonely Bird grinned, trailing his finger up and down her fin.

Though he jerked his hand back and stared down when everything started to sort of drip away. How interesting. A tilt of his head and he stared at her legs, lips pursed. Tossing his white hair over his shoulder he placed his hand on her hip and looked her over.

"You sure look like something."

DragonSong

As if his touch was the catalyst, the last of her scales vanished. For a long moment Aura-lee simply stared at her legs, eyes wide. She shuddered at the sensation of his hand on her hip- not because it was unpleasant, at least not exactly. More because the skin below her waist was almost agonizingly sensitive. Well, in a way it was as fresh as a newborn's.

Looking up at the man with wide eyes she felt her already panicked breathing double in pace. "Merfolk," she whispered, too stunned by what was happening to do much more than respond. "We're called merfolk."

Her eyes flicked to his hand and she pushed at it lightly, shivering again when her own hands brushed her new skin. "Please, I need to get in the water," she begged, looking at him again. "My tail- I need to be in the water."

Draconian

Lonely Bird threw back his head and laughed. He let his hand get brushed away before sitting down on his butt, legs crossed. A curious look at her - this merfolk - and he slapped his hand back onto her, right on her thigh.

"You'll be fine." He smiled at her, giving her leg a squeeze - because it made her look uncomfortable. " I need a good old sack of gold and I think we'll get that by selling you." Another smile and he waved over someone from the side, the tall green man who'd helped pull her in.

Quickly enough a blanket was draped over the girl and she was lifted up, wrapped up like a treasure. Hydra frowned down at her and looked towards Lonely Bird who just blinked at her, another curious tilt of his head. If she was up in someones grasp there was even less chance of her getting back into the water.

"Why do you need to worry about your tail? It's gone. Problem solved."

DragonSong

She jerked at the touch on her leg, drawing her knees- what the hell? Knees?- up in an effort to get away from it. At the mention of selling her she started to shake her head, mouth opening soundlessly.

Then the blanket came down around her and she actually cried out. The sensation was foreign to the skin she was used to having, let alone to her overly sensitive new legs. The cry turned into a whimper as she was lifted up, glancing between the two men fearfully.

"No, no please!" she begged, starting to wriggle in a desperate and rather futile attempt to free herself. "You don't understand! Please, you have to let me go!"

Draconian

Another laugh, though the man holding her stayed silent.

Lonely Bird grinned widely, hands on his hips, the wind whipping at his hair in a graceful white curtain.

"Oh, Sweetheart. That's not how this works. You're mine." A tilt of his head and he shifted his stance, looking her over. Lifting the blanket to look over the rest of her. It was clinical the way he stared at her, pursing his lips and tapping at his chin. "Essryn?" He nodded a few times, "I think Essyrn. A merfolk would be exotic and she's quite lovely." He made a motion to Hydra and smirked at the girl.

"Can you read?" He looked at the ocean, remembered that books didn't exactly last underwater and shrugged. Maybe she could read other things. "Husband? Children?" A shift of his stance and he rested his hands on his hips.

DragonSong

His? She started to shiver, and it only got worse when he looked her over with that calculating sort of gaze. She didn't have quite the same concept of modesty that land folk did, but she found herself curling instinctively away from his line of sight anyway.

Could she read? Why was he asking that? "Yes," she whispered. Maybe if she answered his questions, proved she was worth more than the fish he'd hauled onto this boat, he might let her go. "I can read, a little."

She shook her head at the question of a family- then suddenly realized maybe that was the wrong thing to do and decided to lie through her teeth. "Y-yes," she stammered out. "I have a mate. H-he will be angry, he'll come after me. You should let me go, save yourself the trouble."

Draconian

Lonely Bird clicked his tongue at her when she lied.

"I can taste lies, you know." He smoothed his hand over his forehead, over the golden glinting mark. A lie, but the challenge wasn't one he was unfamiliar with. Lonely Bird grinned and he took a few steps away, giving the fish-lady a grand bow.

"I am Captain Lonely Bird. You're a guest on my ship - sort of - until we get you to a port and sell you." He nodded to the green man who tightened his grip on the girl, "Hydra will be your... Caretaker. If you need anything you just let him know and he'll decide if you're worth it." A dangerous smile and he walked back to her.

"Welcome aboard, Little Fishy."

DragonSong

Aura-lee squeaked as the grip around her tightened, then began to struggle in earnest, thrashing desperately. Sell. Sold. Her people didn't really have currency, but she knew what those words meant from other, more adventurous merfolk.

"Wait- you can't do this! Let me go! Let me go!" she shrieked, doing her best to flip out of this Hydra person's grip. It didn't seem to be doing her any good, and the friction against her legs was almost painful with their sensitivity. Suddenly going limp, she looked up at her captor with wide, fearful eyes.

"Please," she whispered, desperately hoping she could appeal to him if his captain wasn't going to release her. "Please, just let me go..."

Draconian

Hydra just stared down at her, his expression grim and he stared into her eyes for a few moments before quickly looking away. The tail end of Lonely Birds hair was seen disappearing past a wall and Hydra began to turn, clearly displeased he got Goods Watching Duty.

"I value my life more than I value yours," He quickly snapped out, shifting her weight to the left side of his body while he meandered down into the ship.

Since she was valuable at least he'd get to stay in the fancy room.

Picking a key off of a hook, he quickly unlocked a door with one of his bottom hands before putting it in his pocket, pulling the door shut on his way in. The door locked and the key in his pocket, he moved to put the girl down and frowned at her. "What's your name? Or do you want to be called Fishy?"

DragonSong

She was too stunned to do much more than hang limply in his grip until he put her down. Then she pulled her knees to her chest, wincing, and just stared at the floor while she tried to process what was happening to her.

What had she done to deserve this?

"Aura-lee," she said softly, staring at his feet. "My name's Aura-lee." She glanced up- and for a moment actually forgot her own pathetic situation. Blinking, she said in a tone of utter surprise, "You have four arms." She'd been too distraught to really notice until that moment.

Draconian

You have four arms.

"I do," He confirmed - just in case it wasn't obvious - with a curt nod. His ears were slightly pointed, his skin was a soft green and his eyes were a softer shade of purple than his hair. Four arms. Hydra had never acclimatized well. He was always just a little too odd. Pointy ears and tails people could handle. Slap an extra pair of arms on someone and it was suddenly too much.

"Aura-Lee." He repeated, looking her up and down. He supposed she needed clothing, he wasn't quite immune to the naked body as Lonely Bird was and the sea was a lonely place.

Frowning he shuffled through left over clothing from other victims of Lonely Birds bouts of being a Slaver and pulled out a soft white cotten night gown.

"Put this on to cover yourself up." He stated simply and tossed it at her, there was a few moments of silence before he crossed all his arms over his chest, "My name is Hydra."

DragonSong

Aura-lee flinched away from the garment that was thrown at her, then realized it wasn't an attack. Cautiously, she leaned forward and picked it up, eyeing it as though it might suddenly come to life and bite her.

Cover herself up, he'd said. Easier said than done- while clothing wasn't a completely foreign concept to her, she'd never actually worn any herself.

But she didn't like that look Captain Lonely Bird had given her, and perhaps "covering up" would help her stop shivering so much. After a few failed attempts, she managed to get the nightgown over her head, but she remained seated, letting the extra fabric pool around her on the floor while she hugged her new knees to her chest.

She simply nodded in acknowledgement of his name, eyes wide and empty. She had reached a state of shock that was nearly emotionless. "What are you going to do with me?" she asked queitly.

Draconian

Hydra watched with interest as she figured out the nightgown.

Leaning against the dresser he looked to the bed and then the blankets on the floor. A grimace and he just watched her for the time being, a tilt of his head and his eyes snapped to her face when she asked him what he was going to do with her.

He was going to do nothing with her.

"Sell you," He stated like it was quite the obvious answer, giving her a quizzical look.

"You're an exotic fish. You'd fetch a high price in a place like Essryn. Be someones fancy fish concubine or something." Hydra shrugged like it was no big deal, "I mean, your swimming area might be smaller and you'd probably be owned by an old guy but..." Another shift of his shoulders, "Wouldn't have to worry about anything but getting pregnant."

He eyed her for a moment, wondering if she did how fish did and then he decided no... He'd really rather not know. It wasn't really important to anything in this situation.

"So. I am not going to do anything to you. I am your humble servant, while you're our guest," Sort of. Hydra pushed a hand through his hair and sighed, head ducked down. It was always awful to be around the freshly kidnapped ones. He'd always felt bad. Lonely Bird knew that. Why had the damn Unicorn pick him?

DragonSong

Aura-Lee swallowed hard. All she could think to say was, "I'm not a fish."

Her eyes began to burn and she dropped her head into her knees, sniffing. The first time she'd cried out of the water, she'd caught her tail between two rocks as the tide was retreating and her mother had to free her. She could still clearly remember the moment of panic when she tasted salt water in her lips, realized it was trickling from her eyes, and immediately assumed she was falling apart.

She knew better now. Her mother had explained what tears were. So she didn't think she was leaking or melting when she turned her face into her knees and sobbed, wrapping her arms as tight around her body as she could.

For awhile- she wasn't quite sure how long- she simply wept. Then a little voice in the back of her mind piped up, scolding her, saying she had other things to worry about, more immediate problems than the grim future Hydra described.

"H-how long will it take us to get there?" she asked, raising her head a bit and swiping at her eyes.

Draconian

Oh Gods no.

Not the crying.

Hydra reached out a hand, hovered it over the girls back and had to slowly pull it back, tucking it under his arm. He hated when they cried. Not because it was annoying but because it made him feel bad. He was a pirate! Under the rule of the most terrifying - okay, maybe not terrifying - but under a pretty sketchy guy!

Pirate's didn't feel bad.

Eventually though, he crouched down in front of her, one pair of hands resting on his knees and the others folded across his chest. Looking a little grim, a tilt of his head, " A few weeks provided the weather is good." It was tempting to reach forward to wipe the tears from her face, but he resisted. Hydra always resisted.

DragonSong

That had all the color draining from her face. Frantically, she shook her head back and forth. "No no no," she whispered. "That's too long, I can't-"

Swallowing again, she forced herself to take a deep breath and tried to calm a bit. It didn't really work, but at least she could get full sentences out when she looked at him and said bluntly, "If it takes that long you will have nothing to sell. Three moondowns from now, I will be dead."

Maybe that would put a wrench in their plans. She felt a flash of vindictive pleasure at the thought, pointless as it was.

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