Darkness.

That was really all that was around. Also a few drops of water that you couldn't see here and there on a wooden floor. A small body stirred from its sleep.

"Where…?" Its telepathic voice was weak and sounded as if in pain.

Another voice was heard, this time with a thick British accent. "You're in a ship." A small lantern was lit and one could see the body on the floor was most definitely not completely human. Its torso was that of a human but had gills in its neck and sides. A few shiny silver scales were seen on its arm. The lower half was, most surprisingly, that of a large fish, or even a whale's tale with scales instead of leathery skin. The "it" was in fact a mermaid, quite beautiful if not for the large gashes, scratches, and bruises all over her body. "I have to say, you put up quite a fight, though in the end, you were just like any other fish, soon tiring after fighting a fisherman." The man's face soon was near the mermaid's. His features were quite stunning for a pirate and his clothing explained for him that he was no ordinary pirate. He had significantly large eyebrows with stunningly gem-looking emerald eyes that made up for any flaws in on his face.

The mermaid looked around her surroundings. She was in the lower deck of a ship, though there was a wall so she could not tell how large the ship was. "Where are you taking me?" she asked him suspiciously.

"England. We show you to the Queen and if she doesn't like you, we sell you," the green eyed pirate said with no feeling.

"And if no one buys me?"

"We kill you and distribute you to different fish markets, of course."

She scrunched up her face at that. "Who eats mermaid meat?"

"Mermaid meat," he continued, "Is quite a delicacy when we catch it but, ever since the Queen said she wanted a mermaid for a pet, it's been a rule that if anyone catches a mermaid, which no one has yet, they show it to the Queen first, and if she doesn't want it, that man can do what he wants with it." He looked at the mermaid's face. "Though, with your face, it's highly unlikely that you will be rejected."

The mermaid sat up and started looking around the room more closely. She was in a rather small room; it had no windows except a rather small circular, fogged up glass that showed the outside to the side of her. She saw clouds pull away from the full moon and moonlight poured into the room, revealing her true appearance. Her tail disappeared showing 2 porcelain legs. The pirate was shocked at this transformation. "Do you still need me?" the mermaid asked sadly. "I'm not a mermaid. I'm only half."She looked out the small glass window with sad eyes. "I'm a defect. An outcast. I don't belong anywhere. I'm worthless." She bit back a few tears before she looked back at the pirate.

"Well then," the pirate said in an almost sadistic way, "can you explain what an eastern mermaid is doing in western waters?"

The mermaid's eyes went wide for a split second and she opened her mouth but closed it as if to hide something. "That would be none of your business." She looked away from the pirate's piercing gaze.

"Does is have something to do with the Spanish?"

She paled at the remark.

"And their pirates?" he continued with smirk.

"I-"she was cut off by a huge explosion from above.

"The bloody hell-"

"Hola, Inglés bastardo!"

The pirate whipped around to see a Spanish pirate glaring daggers at him and giving an evil smirk. "Well, look who's here…"

"I came to take back what's mine," the Spaniard looked to the mermaid. "And it looks like you damaged it quite a bit," he said menacingly.

"Too bad I'm not about to give up something worth this much!" the pirate yelled as he lunged at the Spaniard with as he whipped out a Cutlass from the sheath on his side.

The other man took out the large axe strapped to his back. "You might win sometimes, Arthur, but today's not your day."

The so called Arthur halted a few inches away from slashing the mermaid's stomach. "Wh-? How-! How the BLOODY HELL did you get from almost 10 meters away to here in such a short time?"

"Love can strengthen oneself," she said slowly. She had sprinted on her thin legs to protect the Spaniard, but as soon as she said those words, she fell, being caught by the man she tried to protect before she hit the ground. "A-Antonio-san…"

"It's fine. You shouldn't be running around anyways," Antonio looked at Arthur with eyes screeching "I'LL KILL YOU". "And you sir, will be lucky if you can manage to get a life boat before the rest of your ship gets blown up by one of my crewmates." He picked up the human-formed mermaid bridal style and dashed to the upper deck, where he yelled something in Spanish. One last explosion was heard and Arthur could hear the pounding footsteps hurrying to get off the ship before it sank. "It's going take a lot more than blowing up my ship to slow me down, Antonio…." He walked up the stairs to the upper deck where he found numerous carcasses littered about. He turned in a few circles to observe the destruction, and then did a screeching high pitched whistle with his pointer fingers. He waited a few seconds, before hearing the thunder of a pair of huge leather wings were flapping above him.

"Geez Arthur, I might be far but that doesn't mean I'm deaf." The dragon landed in front of Arthur making a grunting sound as he did. "Whoa! Who wrecked your ship this time?"

Arthur made his way to the dragon's side. "No formal greeting as usual, eh? As expected from you, Alfred," he said as he leaped the distance from the deck to the back of the dragon named Alfred and continued answering his question, "It was the damn Spaniards. And don't say 'this time', you git! It's only the second time!"

"Whatev's bro'"

"Come along now, we've got a mermaid to catch!

so...how's my first fanfic so far? please review and tell tell me if there should be any fixes. I don't have a very large knowledge of pirates and ships so I could have butchered history a bit...