Disclaimer: I do not own Storm Hawks

Tale of the Waters

'Come on…'

The current was really speeding up along with him.

'Almost there.'

His body was almost to its limit.

'A little more. And…'

Plip! Like a cannon ball, the young merboy burst out of the water current and spun like he was an acrobat through the open water with a big smile across his face. It wasn't long before he started to slow down and then stopping altogether. He then relaxed, staring up at the surface while the light above reflected off his blue scales of his tail.

A short time later, the boy heard the faint sound of someone calling him. He glanced over to see another young merboy with blonde hair swimming over. Once the other boy got close, he took a quick breath before asking, "Did you do it? Did you really do it?"

The cocky smile that the red-haired merboy gave him left the other in both amazement and disbelief. "Woah, Aerrow. Aerrow, I can't believe you did that. That's so awesome! I also can't believe you survived that."

"It was an easy one unlike the others, Finn" Aerrow replied to the blonde called Finn, "Which reminds me, I'm going to Deep Ridge tomorrow. Wanna join?"

"Yea and get rip to shreds? No thanks!" And with that said, Aerrow got the merboy called Finn into a headlock. The two then got into a friendly scuffle as they tossed and turned beneath the waves. It was fun with them trying to win against the other. A couple minutes later, both laid up feeling the rays of the sun.

Aerrow rested for a while before saying, "We should head back now."

"Yea… Although Piper's going to hurt you so bad when she hears you did that."

"Oh, well, I already told her and she didn't sound that ma-!" The red-haired merboy stopped talking as a dark shadow past overhead. The two looked up to see a large object floating on the water. There wasn't even a moment to contemplate on what it could be. Aerrow just gave a quick glare and then swam away. "Let's go, Finn."

The blonde didn't say anything and followed after. They had recognized the object to be a large boat that belonged to the surface dwellers. Surface dwellers, particularly the ones called humans, were notorious among the legends. The older merfolks talked how they would captured their kind for who knows what. Some say the surface dwellers kept the taken as pets. Others claim they ate their flesh for immortality (to which Aerrow questioned their reasons for such a thing). Well, whatever the reason, it was best for them not to find out and get back.

"Uhh, Aerrow…"

Aerrow immediately stopped and turned to see Finn motionless as he looked. Above there was a large fishing net, big enough to catch a great number of fish and dropping down fast. He was scared stiff until he realized the obvious and swam as fast as he could but by then, it was too late. He was already trapped and now being dragged back to the boat.

"Hold on, Finn!" The merboy called as he raced over. At first, he tried tearing the net, soon realizing the ropes were too strong to break with shear force. He then went for another way. Swimming above, he grabbed the net again and began to gnaw at it. A merfolk's teeth were much stronger and shaper than any metal. And with Aerrow chewing, the ropes were easily broken. The only problem to worry about now was time.

As the net inched closer to the ship, the merboy began to gnaw faster. His body twist-and-turned around, trying to get that one last rope severed. It finally gave way and created a big enough hole for his friend to swim out. Once Finn escaped from the net, Aerrow was about to go off to until he felt his tail snagged on something.

He looked over to see that it had become tangled among the broken ropes. He took a quick glance at Finn, who was in pure panic. Without missing a beat, he shouted, "Go on ahead! I'll be fine."

The blonde merboy was hesitant in leaving him behind. But seeing the stern look on his friend's face, he swam off. Aerrow then immediately went onto the task of getting the ropes off as quickly as he could. It wouldn't be long before he would be on that boat. And despite how it looked, he planned to be free sooner than that.

Aerrow felt like he had gotten the ropes almost loose. But the sudden burst to the surface made him fall back. As he was hanging, he noticed that he was moving far away from the water. He also saw that he was next to the boat, and it was bigger than he expected. At least the side of it was as big as a whale. While he could be in awe of it for hours, the merboy then remembered his predicament. He tried to reach for the tangled mess that was still around his tail. But by that time, it was too late.

With a sudden yank, the net along with him were flung onto the boat. Aerrow, as such, landed onboard with a pretty big thud. It was a couple seconds before he lifted himself and looked up. He had regretted it when he saw the horde of surface dwellers surrounding him.

They didn't match the description of humans that the older merfolk talked about. But they were just as ugly and scary as any portrayal of the lot. With green skin and sharp teeth, they stared down at the young merboy as if he was a piece of yummy kelp. He scowled, a bit of ire flashed in his eyes. Whatever they were planning to do with him, they'll have another thing coming.

From the crowd surrounding him, one stepped forward. He was tall, with an eye missing and a metal hook for a hand. He examined Aerrow from a distance, taking note of the merboy's hostility. After a while, the creature smiled before saying, "Bring in the tank, boys! Looks like we caught ourselves a merfolk!"

Aerrow cringed as the others around him began to cackle loudly. A few then left while the rest began swarm him. He fended them off with his tail that although still tangled in the net, was excellent at knocking them back. He then quickly made his way over to the boat's rail. He was almost got there until a fat surface-dweller got him.

"Gotcha!" The merboy struggled against his grip, feeling like a he was caught by an octopus. He finally managed to get free by elbowing hard into his captor's gut. He landed on the floor just as the pirate reared back in pain. Then, he started to crawl away towards the edge. But to his luck, more of the creatures kept popping up from nowhere and blocking his way. He tried to get around them, but he soon found himself surrounded again. Aerrow was about to swing his net again until he felt his tail get stuck under something.

He looked over to the same tall creature from before who was keeping a firmed foot on the net and showing a crooked smile. "Heh, thought you try the same trick on us." He then leered at him. "We pirates are much smarter than that."

The young merboy scowled before he felt the hands of these pirates on his body. He tried to break from their grip. But their hands managed to grab him again and again until they started to move him with not much care to say the least. They then tossed him and with a splash, he found himself once again in water. He was confused at first but remembering his predicament, he proceeded to swim away.

Klunk!

Aerrow slammed himself into something shortly after. Once the dizziness shook off, he held his hands up and felt something against them. It looked that he was stopped by some sort of invisible barrier. And upon further inspection, it surrounded him from every side and even above and below. The merboy was bewildered by this magic until he noticed something outside. Squinting his eyes, he could barely make out the faces of the creatures from before. Then it dawned on him. He was still a captive of those pirates.

He sneered from within his glass prison as the pirates laughed. The tall one, presumably their leader, was the one who was the loudest. Once he was done, he glanced over at the fat pirate who was hobbling over to him. With a crooked smile, he greeted, "How ya doing, Eyeball?"

"Fine, Cap'tan," The pirate called Eyeball replied, "Just a bit winded that's all." He then turned his attention to the tank. "Soo… Is that a real merperson?"

"Appears so." The captain examined the aquatic creature quite carefully. "And since we have it, we might as well keep it until we research the market price again."

One of the pirates took a look at him. "Think it will be a lot?"

"Well, it's going to be a lot more that a lot. In fact with the money we'll get, we might as well give a ship a complete overhaul." All the other pirates agreed, talking about the amount of wealth they would achieve with selling a merfolk. It would definitely be enough for their ship and so much more. But as they dreamed of their close vast fortune, a voice spoke up.

"Ex-excuse me…" They turned to see another creature standing behind them. He was different from the others, having lighter green skin and long ears. Seeing the unpleasant stares, he gulped before saying, "If we do have a merfolk, it would be best to throw it back into the ocean."

The others looked at him as if he was mad with one asking, "Why should we do that?"

The green creature gulped as a dozen disgruntled glares stared on at him. "Well… You do know that merpeople can cause deadly storms and oceanic disasters? If we have one, there may be a chance of a waterspout, or a hurricane, or even a giant wave to destroy us. And there's some merpeople that are known to eat surface-dwelling races…"

As he began to list off why merpeople were dangerous, all of buccaneers began to get pale and shaky. Eyeball, being particularly alarmed himself, turned towards the captain. "Maybe we should throw him back, Cap'tan Scabulous. The cabin boy does have a point."

While he tried to be convincing, the captain still remained stubborn on his decision. "And I say you all be yellow-belly fish!" His yelling made his crew flinched. "Merfolks are not some magical entity that can make big waves! They be ordinary merfolks! And this tank!" He banged against the glass tank, making the merboy cringed. "It's locked and escape-proof! If he does plan on eating us, he'll have a tough time to do so!"

The other pirates felt relieved once realizing that Scabulous was right. Then, their leader ordered them back to manning the ship with the cabin boy staying behind. Unlike the crew, the cabin boy wasn't that accepting to the captain's reassurance. "I still say we put him back before something bad happens."

"And I say we're keeping him until we sell him to the highest bidder!" Scabulous crossed his arms and stared down at him. "Anyway, Stork, why don't you do what most cabin boys do and mop the deck."

The cabin boy, Stork, raised an eyebrow. "And why should I listen to you?"

"Do you want to be thrown to the sharks?"

"… No."

"Then get to it, cabin boy!"

Stork grumbled as he went to get the mop. Why he went on a pirate ship instead of a fishing boat, he'll never know. But he strongly suspected to be the work of some cruel god.

As night rolled in, all the pirates decided to celebrate while leaving the young merboy to lay alone in his small tank. He was a bit sad but at the same time confused about what the pirates, and the strange cabin boy, were talking about. He didn't know of any mermaids who could control the weather or seas. And he especially didn't know of any who would eat humans.

Of course, it really didn't matter now. He was still trapped in this tank and heading to who-knows-where. He didn't even know if he was going to be someone's pet or their dish. Well, he wasn't going to find out. Once he figured out how to get out of this glass cage, he'll dive back into the ocean and never see these pirates.

Aerrow tapped against the glass, wondering if he could break it until he heard a creak. He turned to the source to see the other creature from before walking in an odd manner toward the tank. He could hear him quietly speak some words that he wouldn't dare repeat to anyone. When the creature finally made it to the tank, he took a quick look around before sighing.

"Okay," he muttered, "Now to get down to it." The merboy tensed up, thinking that they were now planning on eating him. But instead, he stared in shock when the creature started to push the tank. It was a strange, seeing this creature try to push the heavy object (and person inside it) inch-by-inch. Aerrow had to admit that the cabin boy was a lot stronger than he looked, especially for moving both him and the tank.

In a while, the cabin boy finally stopped near the side of the ship, taking a breather. He then took out some rods, inserted them into the lock, and after making a few moments, he finally got it open. And then with one big and strenuous lift, he dumped the merboy over the side.

Aerrow's eyes closed for split second as he returned to the waters again. He was about to leave until he realized something. He turned back to the creature, looking a bit puzzled. The only response he got was, "Ummm, yea, you can go. Just don't send any deadly storms… Or eat us."

The merboy just stared on at the strange cabin boy before diving back under. In his mind, he thought about him and the experience he had with the pirates. But one thing was for sure. He needed to tell his friends about this.

Author's Notes:

Hi peeps! I know I haven't uploaded anything in a while so here's an oneshot Pirate/Mermaid AU based on a request from Tumblr.

I was excited to write it because I like Merboy Aerrow. And adding pirates to the mix definitely made it more than worthwhile. This may become more than an oneshot depending on certain factors. But I think I left it off with a nice ending.

That's all I got to say for now. Will hopefully have my other fics up soon!

Please Read and Review!