the beauty below

the admiral looked over the side of his ship at the dark ocean waters. a while back, months, he last saw the Jamaican islands. he and his crew had been sent out on what he dubbed a wild goose chase. the pirates we was supposed to find would never be found because he watched the particular ship he was sent to find sink only days before he was sent off. now he sat angry and bored staring out at the ocean. 'hideous...' he thought in a bored tone. the ocean used to fascinate him but now, the very thought of it made him turn up his nose and walk away.

with his thoughts moving turbulently around in his head he almost missed it. the shimmer of color just below the water's lifted his head from the rim of the ship and searched for it again. a few minutes passed before the admiral saw it again. the sheen of blue laced with pink, purple, and green. the water just added unnatural luster to the foray of colors, but just as soon as it was there it was gone again. the admiral wanted what ever it was, whether it be a fish of unbridled beauty, or a loot of immeasurable worth, he had to have it. as he turned to assemble his crew he saw it again but a pale, almost white was added to the mix of color. he stared again, hoping to find out what it was before he brought it up. then a face came out of the water, blue eyes met gold and for a minute time stopped. they stared into each others eyes. the admiral was captivated and didn't even have the chance to wonder what a boy would be doing swimming way out in the Atlantic before he dived back under and dissipated with a flick of his tail and a splendor of colors .

"Cre! stop the ship and ready the nets! we have a very large fish at our side!"t crew on deck immediately stopped what ever it was the had been doing and began the tasks the admiral requested. a younger crew hand came up to the admiral and said, "sir! the nets are ready. shall we cast yet sir?" the admiral began to walk, motioning for the man to man ensued his admiral to the edge of the ship and looked into the dark waters. the luminous colors arouse again making the young man's eyes widen in shock.

" Sir! what was that?"asked the young deck hand.

"that was your answer. throw the nets over," he said with a viscous smirk plastering his young features. after months on sea he had finally been rewarded. if he gave this to the king he would never have to go out on the water again.

he watched as his crew pulled the fish netting up, waiting patiently for his beautiful prize. he remember the features of the creatures face. pale white skin accented with black hair and the most beautiful cobalt eyes he had ever seen. right now the admiral didn't care that what he saw had been male. if the king didn't like him then the queen most definitely would. he was brought out of his trance for the second time the day when he heard his crew stop there consistent complaining about the weight of the load to a murmur of disbelief. the admiral pushed his way through the crowd and stopped in front of the most majestic creature he had ever seen, and as with most of his crew his breath was taken away. the boy sat up as best he could, for his tail was in the way and the deck was slippery. he looked around. slowly fear overtook his features and he crawled backwards till his back hit the side of the ship. his hands fiddled the side of the ship looking for the edge he knew he had been pulled up from. the admiral walked over to him and gripped his arm just before he tried to get away. the boy screamed and tried to push away the hand, but only accomplished in falling over. the crew started laughing and saying things like how stupid the creature was. anger welled in the admirals gut at this disrespectful display so he yelled, "find a tank or object to fill with water so this creature doesn't die. all of you go now!" but the crew hesitated.

" Go now i said!" and his men shuffled quickly away. when the were out of his sight he looked down at the boy, who now was laying limp on the deck. his face was buried in his arm and he sounded as though he was sobbing. the admiral had been trained to be heartless, but he couldn't help the small stab of pain enter his heart as he saw the pitiful sight before him, but he dismissed it like any good admiral would. he paused a moment and listened to the sobbing before he spoke. he said, "hey...do you speak." but the poor creature didn't answer him. he didn't even look up. he just kept weeping into his arm, so the admiral dropped the arm he was holding and instead gripped his hair, pulling him up to meet his face. he screamed and reached for the wrist containing the portion of his hair. the admiral again said, "do you speak?" he was more firm this time.

"well, do you?" said the admiral.

"..."

"DO YOU?" he yelled

" yes! I'm sorry!" cried the boy. " I speak. every language I've ever heard, i speak. I'm sorry."

the admiral was shocked. he really didn't expect to get English out of him. truthfully he only expected the creature not to have a language at all, he just wanted to vent. the admiral was silent till the creature spoke again, saying, "please...just let me go...i have a home, just like you, i have friends too. please let me go home." the admiral didn't reply. the boy hadn't mentioned his family like most "People" would. did these creatures not have families? as he opened his mouth to speak a deck hand, different from before, came up to him and told him that the usual fish hold was prepared for this newcomer. it was filled with water and the glass would be polished so the admiral could see his spectacle. a smirk spread across his face and the captured boy's blood ran cold. as the deck hand walked away the admiral looked at the boy and said, "you are not to speak to any of the crew members except for me. if you do i will punish you by cutting off your tail." the boy's eyes widened before he began to cry hair was let go and his arms were bound with the rope that had been left out by his main deck hand. the boy knew he had been beat long ago so he didn't even struggle with his binds at all. he was on a man's ship, he was weak here. the admiral called a couple of his crew over and ordered them to take his prize to the fish hold. he smiled as the creature was hauled off and he turned back to the vast ocean and stared.

"i think i like it out here just a bit more now." he said.