Notes: Written for PurpleStripe66 for her birthday!
Captain of her own pirate ship at the age of 17, Captain Karone "The Pirate Queen" was well on her way to commanding an entire armada of ships. She was feared across all seven seas for her ruthless ways, and her crews were either fiercely loyal or desperately greedy.
Karone preferred the second one. Greed was always predictable, but loyalties could change. It was one of the reasons she rarely slept at night, and instead patrolled the deck of her ship; if she slept during the day, well guarded, there was less chance any one person could sneak in and do her harm. Sleeping at night was dangerous. For the average woman it was fine, but not for one of the most notorious pirates of their time.
Every single country had a price on her head, though Karone very much doubted that any of them could pay better for her death than she could for her life.
So, this is how Karone finds herself at night, with the moon high overhead, walking across the deck of her finest ship. Her purple hair glitters in the moonlight, her leather clad fingers tapping along the wood railing as she walks. Her sword is clutched in one hand, even though most of her crew is nowhere to be seen. Better prepared than not, she thinks.
"You have lovely hair."
The voice startles her, and Karone freezes. In a flash she whips around, her sword in hand, wondering how anyone could have snuck up on her. Her eyes dart back and forth as she realizes she is alone on the deck, and then they narrow.
"Who said that?" She wonders, still in her fighting stance.
A giggle to her left. "Over here, silly."
But to her left is… Karone looks over the side of the railing, and to her surprise sees a silver haired man in the water. She straightens, and quickly puts her sword away.
"Where did you come from?" Karone demands, looking out into the darkness for the lanterns that would signify another ship, "Where is your ship?"
The man in the water looks at her with a quirked eyebrow. "You know, most people would just accept the compliment."
Karone baulks, looking back down at him. She makes to throw him a rope, for surely he will drown otherwise, but then she realizes that he's keeping pace with her ship. He isn't just floating there; her ship is moving quite fast, and the man is keeping up with it as thought it's a leisurely swim.
"What are you?" Karone asks, letting a hand fall back down to the hilt of her blade for comfort.
With a gleeful look, the man dips his head under the water and disappears.
"Wait!" Karone calls, but then an instant later he flings himself out of the water and into the air, his silver tail glinting in the moonlight as he does a marvelous flip and then disappears back into the water.
A merman.
Instantly Karone's mind wanders to how much a live merman might fetch to some of her more superstitious buyers, and then wonders if they could keep him alive onboard the ship, but before she can really make plans his head pops back above the water, and he grins from ear to ear.
"My names Zhane," the merman says, and now that Karone looks for it she can see silver spots dotting the sides of his face, scales flecking throughout his short white hair. "What's yours?"
Karone lifts her chin. "They call me the Pirate Queen," she announces proudly, "I am Karone the dreaded, the sacker of cities and the sinker of ships."
"Ohhh," Zhane says, and he lifts his hairs to applaud lightly, "That is impressive."
"Do you mock me?" Karone asks, scowling.
Zhane just grins at her. "No," he says, "Why would I do that?"
Karone opens her mouth to answer, but Zhane is already interrupting her with another question.
"I've never seen purple hair on a human before," he tells her quickly, catching her off guard, "Are you part bird, perhaps?"
"Part bird?" Karone repeats, and despite the ridiculous idea she finds her lips trying to quirk up into a smile.
"But then I suppose," Zhane continues, frowning, "You'd have more feathers."
Karone quirks an eyebrow at the curious sea creature. "Have you met many humans, sir merman?"
"Not many," Zhane replies, twirling around in the water a little bit, "I only meet the ones that seem interesting. Have you met many mermen?"
"I can't say I have," Karone says, watching him twirl.
Zhane pauses, and glances up at her. Then he holds out his hand to her and says, "Care to go for a swim, your highness?"
Karone draws back a bit, both at the question and the royal address. For a second she's tempted, but she's a pirate, a sailor, and she knows the stories. Anyone who goes into the water with a mermaid never comes back, either drowned or turned into a mermaid themselves. She smiles, thinking that for this silver tailed merman it might be worth it, the drowning, the transformation, but she isn't a fool, and she slowly shakes her head.
Zhane drops his hand back down into the water, giving her a knowing look. "No, I didn't think so."
Karone purses her lips. It seems, on the outside, a perfectly pleasant conversation, even an enjoyable one, but she has to wonder if they're both secretly planning to undo the other, Karone trying to trap Zhane and bring him aboard, and Zhane trying to drag Karone under the currents for his own purposes.
"Perhaps another time, merman," she says, and she inclines her head.
Zhane grins, leaning back into the water and flipping his tail at her playfully. "I look forward to it," he says with a wink.
Then the merman dives down and away, disappearing beneath the waves. Karone stares after him with a small smirk.
She has a feeling this isn't the last she'll see of her merman.