for @theotherbarnes – thanks for being down to play this!
The Siren Serene had never come this far north. The small, sunlit kingdom of Ampurias was so far behind that it was little more than a memory or a dream, and the waters here were strange. They were gray and leaden, and more and more often of late there had been what appeared to be oil slicks on the surfaces, but that was deceptive. The sheen was not oil but ice, crystals of ice that formed and broke and formed again, not quite liquid, not quite solid, but very much a herald of things to come.
“We’ll see proper ice soon,” the mate said. Cecil was tall and lanky, with full lips, dark hair, and beautiful eyes that somehow always managed to be the same color as the sea. “You may not know these waters, captain, but I do. It’s time to turn back.” He kept his voice soft, and his strange, musical, northern lilt of an accent seemed to soften it further. “Our hull isn’t prepared for a northern winter.”
Although his dark eyes were grim, the captain nodded, hearing him. He looked out at the horizon for a while longer, then sighed and nodded again. “You’re right.” Aureliano’s arms were folded against himself, and as he looked around, he could see just how many other men stood in the same way. They were from a warmer part of the world where ice was foreign, and all save the mate seemed to feel the constant bite of winter. Where they stood watch or worked in all their layers, Cecil was in trousers and a cable-knit tunic, his heads bare, his hands bare. Aureliano envied him whatever quality it was that let him stay warm in any condition, although he knew Cecil might argue that the reverse was more enviable; his mate tended to overheat quickly in their more usual tropical latitudes.
“Give the order to turn around. Let us be on our way south again before the sun sets.”
As they turned, the north wind filled their sails.
-
The sky cleared around midnight. Aureliano was back on deck, looking up at the frozen magnificence of the sky. The air seemed clearer here than it ever did in the south, as if the stars were somehow sharper. Cold and distant, but it almost seemed one could reach up and run their hands through them. Their icy brilliance made this failed northern expedition worth it, he decided, and the thought hit him with a pang of grief, a memory of loss for a life he once lived, where beauty was the most worthy experience of all.
Happier days never come again.
He looked out at the sea and sighed. It was a quiet night, a calm night, and the subtle swells danced with the reflection of the stars. He let the beauty hypnotize him, lull him–
Until it was broken.
Aureliano frowned. What was that? He reached for his spyglass and waited for the next small swell, the natural time to see the thing again, raised the glass–
And swore under his breath.
“Ten degrees right rudder,” he called out. “Ready the longboat!”
The sails crackled merrily as the ship began to turn, and when once it had begun, he looked at the helmsman again. “Ease to five. Maintain this rate of turn. We’re to go in circles, my friend.”
“Aye, sir.” The young helmsman beamed. He was no more then twelve or thirteen and he looked elated to have something useful to do; too small to ever be on the wheel during heavy weather, his watches usually consisted of very little. To him, this was an adventure.
“What is it?” Cecil asked, racing back up on deck; the turning of the ship had awoken him.
“I’m not sure.” Aureliano shook his head. “Probably seaweed. You want to go in the boat?”
Cecil shrugged and nodded, but as he looked out, his eyes as black as the sea, he gasped sharply. “It’s not seaweed.” Immediately, he pulled off his long sweater and tossed it aside, stepping out of his boots, and then he was over the side in a graceful dive.
Long minutes later, the boat was hauled back up. The men who had helped pull Cecil and his prize back into it shivered, but the mate barely seemed to notice the cold. He had a body wrapped in his arms, cradled gently against his chest. Her skin looked cold in the starlight, but the grief in his eyes sapped away any chance of anyone finding her lovely, at least in that moment.
“Is she alive?” Aureliano asked.
“I don’t know.” Cecil held her closer.
“Take her to my cabin and build up the stove. Get her warm. I’ll get us back on course.”
“Aye, captain.” Before anyone could ask too many questions or try to paw at the lost girl, the first mate hurried belowdecks with her, his heart aching with worry.
Aureliano looked back out at the sea. Where there was one body, there were usually more. “Maintain a sharp lookout,” he called out, once they were back on course. “Flotsam, jetsam. Anything breaking the surface. There could be more survivors.”
Becky sighed softly as she looked out over the waves that were gently rocking the ship she was standing on. Weeks, it had been weeks of nothing but this ship, the captain and his men. Nothing but doing what she was told, all the while trying to figure out how to break the bond the captain had on her and hoping that it would be enough to undo whatever else he had done--and she knew he had done something. She had never felt so strange before.
Not that she had been bound often. With her brother and his friend she didn’t lack for those to protect her, not that she needed a lot of protecting.
Luckily for the mermaid the captain only told her to seal her tail, and to not harm him or his men or ship. So if she let things slip here and there and allowed some discord to rise well, she wasn’t the one doing any of the harming. It was a loophole and one she intended to use to get off this horrid ship. The Hydra was not a place anyone in their right mind would want to be.
Ice blue eyes scanned the horizon, watching the sun set as the crew around her made their way below decks. Likely to do the very thing that would result in a mutiny or some such. Gambling, never trust a soul who loved the coin more than anything else, and this ship was filled with men whose vices held them tightly. Perhaps too tightly in some cases.
With a soft sigh and one last glance at the sky she also left the top deck, her room beckoned and she was not going to chance being accosted again. Even if defending herself had been key to figuring out how to get around those damned bonds. Using a bucket to hit something else onto the man was something she had been able to do, even if the man was harmed apparently it didn’t count as her doing it herself although she had set it in motion.
There was another huff of air as she got to her room...although cell would be more accurate. Becky didn’t want to be in there another night but she had little choice in the matter. So she went in and prepared for another night aboard this ship.
Shouts and bangs woke her from her dose and the mermaid pressed herself up against her door to better hear what was going on. It was muffled but that sounded like gunfire, metal on metal, and men arguing about...money and the captain?
“It worked!” She gasped with delighted surprise, she had thought she was in for at least another week before anything happened. It was no guarantee that it would go the way she wanted but it was a risk she had been willing to take. Unthinkingly her door was flung open and she moved about the ship, taking care to avoid what fights she could as she made her way topside. Getting into the water there would be the easiest and fastest. That was of course thinking that the Captain would die thus breaking the bonds.
If people were angry down below it was chaos up top. There were sailors that actually were carrying fire around and she knew there was gunpowder right under their feet, the only thing separating them being a metal grate. She moved up to where the wheel was, only to stumble up the steps as she felt an unexpected lightness to her body.
The bonds were gone.
Somewhere on this cursed ship lay the body of one Captain Barron Zemo. Becky couldn’t laughed, she was free! All she had to do was get herself in the water and she could go home. That funny feeling persisted from before but that could be figured out and dealt with after she made it home. She started moving up the stairs again to get the best angle to the water when she happened to look behind her there were two men fighting on the metal grate above the gunpowder. One of them was having a time of it and picked up one of the buckets used for the smoldering matches for the cannons and threw it at his opponent for a chance at an opening. Only the contents fell out and threw the grate.
Becky wasted no time in her dive, throwing herself into the cold waters. The force of the explosion knocked against her back and threw her against the waves, knocking the air out of her lungs. Disoriented underwater she inhaled more water than she should’ve but she should transform any second now and be on her way. It wasn’t happening and she realized the change wasn’t natural. She couldn’t do it, her tail was still sealed away. Panicking she fought her way to the surface, coughing and gasping for air as she tried to figure out what to do as she swam to a floating piece of debris.
The cold shouldn’t get her, but animals could and so could fatigue amongst other things. She had to change but couldn’t, Becky cursed the Captain again and again; this was what the funny feeling was. Her tail had been doubly sealed. Once by the bond and another by something else! Okay she just had to figure out how to break that, she could do that...right?
At that moment she desperately missed her brother and started to cry. Why did she have to solve all of this on her own, she wanted someone to lean on, to trust. Was that so much to ask? She lost track of time as she slid into unconsciousness, her skin cooling the longer and longer she was in the water as a human instead of a mermaid.
--
Warmth.
She felt warm...and not wet. That was, not how she was, why was she like that now? Brows twitched in confusion as she shifted in place, trying to figure out what happened. Icy blue eyes blinked open before narrowing into slits at the onslaught of light before adjusting slowly. Her whole body ached and her head felt fuzzy.
Catching sight of a man she spoke softly, her voice a little scratchy from disuse and swallowing too much salty water, but the wariness was hard to miss, “Where am I?” Becky was rather agitated to be on another human ship, even if it appeared to be better than the last. She was warm and not in the water, and while the man looked human he felt kind of like her. That hopefully boded well for her and if it didn’t well at least she could haul off and slug anyone now.
