Born amongst a Storm
Pairing: Clexa
Rating: Children Shouldn't Read Alone (T)
Notes: Here's a new fic (even though I have like… what? 5 unfinished ones already posted?). It's a mermaid AU, and the first fic I've posted for the 100 that isn't set in some form of canon, so I hope you enjoy.
Chapter 1
Clarke lay, swaying in her hammock, the gentle lapping of the waves soothing as she napped. It had been a while since she'd been able to have some down time; the injuries of her crew, her family, taking priority over her own rest. She shifted slightly, throwing an arm over her eyes as sunlight streamed in from a port hole. The sounds of the crew going about their duties was a relaxing hum in the background. The residents of the Arkadia were on their way to one of the less monitored ports to spend what loot they'd managed to acquire from their last raid. While she didn't always agree with the methods she and her band of lowlifes used, she couldn't deny their effectiveness as her foot gently tapped against a burlap sack hanging from the post supporting her hammock, filled to the brim with an assortment of valuables.
A low groan escaped the ship's doctor as the sounds from above deck became louder, disturbing her light snooze. Lifting her arm slightly, she squinted at the closed door that blocked her quarters, the infirmary, off from the rest of the ship. If she wasn't going to be able to sleep, she might as well find out what was going on. Sitting up slowly, she stretched out the kinks in her back before snatching her coat from its hook on the wall. Its blue fabric encasing her form, fitting over her shirt and doublet comfortably. Leaning over with a groan, she snatched her boots from the corner where she had shucked them only a few hours ago. She slipped them on quickly, tapping the toes against the floor to adjust them as she stood. Grabbing her belt, adorned with a knife and pistol, from a wall hook, she slipped into the hall. A few crew members were running along its narrow confines, obviously giddy with excitement. Pausing for only a moment, the blonde doctor reached out and snagged one of the hurried pirates.
"Jasper, what's happening?"
The skinny boy beamed, eyes dancing excitedly. Clarke narrowed her eyes at him, knowing full well he was to be resting considering the rather nasty sword wound he had taken to the chest. While the boy was excitable, it wasn't like him to go against her orders.
"Bell caught a mermaid!"
She scoffed at the idea. Mermaids were myths mothers used to scare children into staying in bed, and to convince sailors on night watch to be warier. Not only should they not exist, it was the middle of the day, completely contradictory to any mermaid tales she had ever heard.
"I highly doubt that. What's really happening?"
Jasper gave her a gleeful grin and grasps her arm tightly before dragging her towards the upper decks.
"Come on, Doc, you gotta see to believe!"
The lanky boy dragged her with surprising strength, considering his build and injury. She resisted little, realizing that she was going to see this "mermaid" whether she wanted to or not. Stumbling out into the bright sunlight, she shielded her eyes with her hand, squinting at the sudden assault. The upper deck was crowded, the majority of the crew encircling whatever spectacle was occurring.
When she was finally able to push through the mass of bodies, she gasped. There, writhing on the wood planks of their ship, was a mermaid, the long body of a harpoon sticking prominently out of her shoulder. Black fluid seeped from the wound, pooling around the poor creature. Standing above her, she saw Bellamy, the Captain of their little ship, holding a harpoon gun high with a triumphant smile. It made her blood boil as the crew cheered.
The mermaid continued to spasm, furling and unfurling her tail, unable to find a position that didn't bring immense pain. The creature was beautiful, even when in such obvious agony. Her human half was topless, long strands of damp brown hair were pulled back, providing little modesty from the countless eyes surrounding her. Her face was angular and pale, and obviously attractive despite her features being twisted into a pained grimace. Green eyes glared up at those around her, filled with unmistakable hatred. However, underneath the anger, there was fear and it made the blonde's heart clench.
Gritting her teeth, the doctor shoved bodies aside, anger clearly written on her features. How could they, her friends, her family, harm a beautiful being such as this and rejoice at her pain? It made her feel sick with guilt and rage. Shrugging off her jacket, she held it over the mermaid, careful of the harpoon, but shielding her from the less than polite eyes she could spot amongst the crowd.
"What the hell are you smiling about? You just shot a living person and are treating them like a prize!"
Her voice barked out sharply, hiding none of her displeasure. The cheers and celebration quickly tapered off, replaced by guilty shuffling and muttered apologies. Bellamy lowered the gun that he'd been waving above his head triumphantly, a hint of shame in his eyes. Turning, she glared at everyone gathered before snapping out orders.
"Harper, Monty, go grab the biggest tub we have. Bring it to the infirmary and fill it with water."
The two named pirates nodded hurriedly and dashed off to follow their instructions.
"Monroe, go grab some bandages. They're stored on the shelf right of the door, beside the wash basin."
Monroe scrambled off without a word. Scanning the crowd, for anyone that wasn't injured to gather more things she needed.
"Miller, go gather as many clean wash cloths as you can and bring them to the Infirmary. They have to be as clean as possible."
The stoic boy nodded and disappeared to do his task. Ticking off her mental checklist, she nodded to herself, then addressed the crowd at large.
"All of you should be ashamed of yourselves. As punishment, I want the entire ship cleaned by tomorrow evening, and there will be no hot meal tonight. Only cold rations. Clear?"
Groans and protests soon followed, but were quickly silenced when a shot from a pistol rang through the air. Breathing heavily, her glare intensified as she lowered her gun. She held her jacket in one hand, still shielding the mermaid as she returned the pistol to her belt. The silence was deafening as she glowered. Turning to Bellamy, she curled her lip.
"That includes you. If you don't help clean, we will have words."
Her voice was steely, obviously done with the situation. The Captain nodded, knowing better than to argue with the furious doctor. Dropping the harpoon gun to the deck, the older boy quickly stepped around it and began yelling instructions to gather buckets and mops.
Sighing, she quickly knelt next to her unexpected patient. The mermaid had stilled as she'd rebuked her crew, hand pressed to her wound in an attempt to slow the flow of blood. Green eyes stared up at the doctor, filled with pain, but also wariness and confusion. Gently, the blonde set her jacket atop the mercreature, keeping her movements as slow and nonthreatening as possible. Keeping her hands slow, she unsheathed the dagger from her belt, stilling when the mermaid stiffened.
"I'm going to use this to cut off the wood shaft so I can get the head out of your shoulder more easily."
She gestured with her free hand, indicating the wooden shaft and the metal head that had pierced through the mermaid's shoulder. Once the shaft was removed, the amount of harpoon that she would have to pull out would be less than half of its original size, and her patient wouldn't have to suffer through her pulling the wider shaft through the narrow wound. In the back of her mind, she wondered if merpeople spoke English, as she hoped she was understood. After a moment, the mermaid swallowed visibly, but gave a stiff nod, granting consent to her actions.
Nodding in return, she brought the blade up slowly and wrapped her hand around the wooden shaft. Pressing the knife to the rope that secured the harpoons shaft to the head, she began to saw, wincing whenever a groan of pain would escape the injured girl. Finally, after what felt like hours but was really only a few minutes, the shaft came free.
Placing the blood soaked wood aside, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Glancing up, she found Monroe, arms full of bandages shuffling awkwardly. Taking the supplies from the girl, she sent her off to help the others with only a few words before returning to the task at hand.
The mermaid was laying on her side, giving Clarke a clear view of the harpoon head sticking gruesomely through her shoulder, dark black ichor coating its whole surface. Swallowing down bile, she looked to her patient. The girl's eyes were hazy from blood loss, but still focused on the doctor with an unnerving intensity. Taking a deep breath, she stilled her shaky hands, suddenly aware of her nerves.
"I'm going to remove the head now. It's going to hurt… a lot."
She finished lamely, flushing as the mermaid raised an eyebrow at her. Berating herself silently for her awkwardness, she situated herself to remove the harpoons head. Preparing the bandages in one hand, she took a shaky breath in an attempt to relax herself for what she was about to do. In all honesty, she was out of her depth. She had no idea if mermaid anatomy was in any way similar to human anatomy. What if there was a major artery in a place that humans didn't? What if the mermaid needed a blood transfusion? Was human blood compatible with theirs? Were there certain procedures to avoid things like shock and infection? She didn't know and it made her anxious. Swallowing, she gripped the head firmly, avoiding the sharp blades that glinted cruelly.
"Okay, ready?"
At the hesitant nod of the mermaid, she started to pull, wincing at the sound of metal squelching through flesh. The mermaid groaned lowly, pressing her face into the deck boards as she attempted to remain still. Her tail twitched spastically, brown scales rattling together to create a rustling sound similar to when wind rushed through trees. The surprisingly dry sound made her worry. Was the mermaid drying out? Would that harm her further? Refocusing on her task, she knew she had to hurry if she wanted to move her patient to the basin of water that was undoubtedly in the infirmary by now. She breathed a deep sigh when the last of the harpoon was free from the mermaid's shoulder, and tossed the metal menace aside. The doctor pressed wads of bandages to the wound, trying to stop the renewed stream of blood. Packing on bandages swiftly, she wrapped more lengths of cloth around the blackening fabric, holding them in place.
Glancing down at the mermaid, the blonde was glad to see that she hadn't passed out from the pain. The injured girl was breathing heavily, clenching her eyes shut as she fought through her agony. Wiping her blood slicked hands on her breaches, she re-positioned her jacket around the mermaid's form, covering her to the best of her abilities. Lightly gripping the mermaids uninjured shoulder, she tried to get her patient's attention through the haze of pain.
"I'm going to move you to our infirmary, alright?"
A jerky nod was the only response she received, but it was enough. Sliding her arms under the mermaid's shoulders, mindful of the wound, and under a section of her tail that the blonde could only describe as the girl's knees, she lifted her up, nostrils flaring as the smell of blood and salt rushed to meet her nose. She was surprised at how light the mermaid was, considering that her tail must be made of pure muscle if she could swim through ocean currents. Not looking a gift horse in the mouth, she moved quickly, eating up the distance to the stairs in as wide a steps as she dared.
The trip down the short set of stairs into the depths of the ship was filled with mumbled "Sorrys" and groans of pain, as each step caused the mermaid to jolt in her arms. The brunette buried her face into Clarke's neck. Pressing her temple into the blonde's shoulder, the mermaid tried to find any sensation that might distract her from the pain that radiated through her body, and lowly whimpered when it had no effect.
Clarke sighed in relief as she shouldered open the infirmary door, and let herself relax ever so slightly as she lowered the mermaid into the waiting basin of water. The initially clear water became murky almost immediately as the brunette sank into it with a relieved sigh, blood washing away to create dark clouds until the liquid was a pale inky grey.
While the basin was large, it still didn't allow the mermaid to be covered in water completely, thus, Clarke rolled up her sleeves, grabbed a few of the cloth's piled next to the basin and dipped them in water before bringing the soaking material to cover the brunettes still dry shoulders. Glancing at her now thoroughly ruined jacket floating atop the water, she considered taking it in an attempt to save the doomed garment, but discarded the idea as it was still acting as a cover for the mermaid's modesty.
Looking at her patient, she watched as the other girl's eyes drooped, obviously exhausted. Grabbing an unused cloth, she dipped it in the water, and slowly brought it to the brunette's face. The mermaid startled slightly as the damp fabric touched her skin, but settled once again with a breathy hum as Clarke began gently wiping away the blood from her face. Tired emerald eyes examined the doctor from within a slack face. The mermaid having no more strength left to do anything else.
"Rest now. I won't let anyone hurt you."
At those words, the brunette's eyes closed and the last of the tension eased from her body, making Clarke smile sadly. She still couldn't understand what had possessed Bellamy to shoot such a wondrous creature. Tossing the now soiled cloth away, she examined the mermaids features more closely.
Her, now clean, face was youthful, appearing to be the same age or maybe slightly older than Clarke's own twenty years. Her hair, was pulled back into a series of complicated braids, bits of twine and small shells woven throughout, creating a small mosaic within the fine strands. Through the murky water, Clarke, upon closer inspection, could see that the scales adorning the other girls tail weren't brown, but in fact an extremely deep crimson.
Breathing a deep sigh, Clarke leaned her elbows on the edge of the tub and rested her chin on one hand while scrubbing her face with the other. Now that she had time to think, she wondered if this mermaid would be missed. Rubbing her eyes tiredly, she grabbed a few other cloths, replacing the ones draped over the mermaid's shoulders with freshly soaked ones. Continuing the cycle, she let her thoughts continue to wander. Were there even other mermaids to be missed by? Was there a merperson society they were completely unaware of? If there was one, then her crew had made the worst first impression ever, and she really didn't want to know the consequences of their actions, because if this mermaid was important in some way, then they were undoubtedly screwed.
EndNotes: So what do you think? If you have any questions about my fics, want to talk about writing, or want really inconsistent and unhelpful updates on what I'm up to, follow me on my tumblr GillyTweed