She knew this would happen. Coral knew this would happen, and yet she still chose this day to venture out. She was doomed, and it was all her fault. Staring up at their faces, she knew this was how it was going to end.
"CORAL! GET BACK HERE! YOU KNOW THERE'S A STORM COMING!"
Hearing Brenda call out for her, Coral just rolled her eyes and kept swimming. Yes, there was a storm coming, and all of the mermaids could feel the shift in the waves, but that wasn't going to stop her. She couldn't stay near the family for too long without feeling out of place, even after all of these years. She had been taken in by them, but that didn't mean that she belonged there. If it wasn't for her friend Ariel, she would have left and survived solo years ago. However, the redheaded mermaid had helped her feel like she belonged somewhere. Ariel had been gone for several days, though, and Coral was worried. When someone asked where she had been going, she recently claimed she was searching for her friend. The truth was, though, that she had no idea where she had gone. Ariel was just as prone to searching for adventure as Coral was, but the blonde had a feeling that her friend had finally found danger she couldn't escape.
After nearly an hour of searching, though, she knew she had to turn back. Coral was reckless, but she wasn't stupid. She knew that she wouldn't be able to stay out for much longer before the storm hit, and she needed to find shelter. The rest of her family would be in caves where they normally slept, but not Coral. That was too far away. Thankfully, she had spotted a cave not too far away, maybe a half hour's swim. After all, it was the halfway point to home, and it was the best safe spot close by. Otherwise she risked being washed to shallower waters by the storm waves that were bound to approach. Taking one last look to the waters before her, hoping to see her friend, Coral gave out a heavy sigh before turning around and swimming back off towards the area where she saw the cave. Just as the water above her began to sound out the distinct audio of rain tapping the surface, she got to the cave, and as fast as she could, the blonde swam down into the cave.
Unfortunately, she wasn't the only one who had heard of the cave.
Swimming up towards here were countless silverfish, and she stopped, just staring at them. She knew they would just swim past her if she stayed still, and she was right. She was larger than they were, and they weren't the type of fish to attack if they knew they would loose. However, they also weren't the type to just swim /that/ fast without a reason. As the fish surrounded her, she glanced back up towards the surface, spotting the reason too late: A fishing boat.
Turning around again, Coral began to swim off, but she didn't get far before she felt the netting catching on her tail fin. She let out a scream as she turned around and leaned over, grabbing her fin as she tried as hard as she could to pry it loose. As she did this, though, the netting was being yanked upwards, closing in around the blonde mermaid and the silverfish that were unlucky enough to be caught in the deathtrap with her. Suddenly, the blonde and the fish broke the surface, the fish screaming out as they gasped for air. Coral, however, glanced around as fast as she could. That was when she saw them. She knew this would happen. Coral knew this would happen, and yet she still chose this day to venture out. She was doomed, and it was all her fault. Staring up at their faces, she knew this was how it was going to end.
The fishermen stared up at her in awe, their eyes wide in the pouring rain. The captain was still shouting at them, though, telling them to lower the 'cargo' onto the deck. One of the men ran over and did so, and before she knew it, she was hitting the hardwood flooring, staring up at two fishermen who were quickly grabbing her arms, dragging her away from her dying friends. She wasn't watching the flopping silverfish, though. Instead, her blue eyes just stared up at the men dragging her across the deck, her tail dragging on the wood. It hurt, but she was able to ignore that for the moment. She was too scared to feel pain on any level.
The men finally let her go, and she fell forwards, her hands shooting out to catch herself as she glanced upwards. Her hair was in her face, but she didn't dare push it out of her eyes. There was no telling what they would do if she moved too fast. Hearing heavy boot padding across the slippery deck, she glanced to the side, seeing what could only be the captain heading her way. He was dressed like the captains of the other boats she had seen. Hearing him let out a low whistle, she tried to pull herself towards the side of the ship. If she could get away, then maybe, just maybe, she could make it home before the storm got too bad. The fishermen were too fast, though, and one grabbed her arms and flipped her over before lifting her up, a second grabbing her tail. A third came to help with her tail the second she began to squirm. Looking to the captain, who had approached her in the meantime, she narrowed her eyes some. It wasn't typical of a mermaid to do so, but she wanted nothing to do with these men. She knew she couldn't charm her way out of this one, at least, not yet.
"Well well...and here I thought your kind was just a myth. LOOKS LIKE WE'VE CAUGHT OURSELVES THE REAL PRIZE, MEN! PUT HER BELOW DECK, MAKE SURE SHE'S IN WATER. WE GET BACK, WE'RE RICH!"
Coral began to squirm again as the men cheered, screaming out as loud as she could as they carried her away below deck.
