This was originally going to be just a one shot...but it soon took a life of it's own. Three days of nonstop writing, and now I have about 5 chapters of catfish fluff. I love KarkatxNepeta, almost as much as my OTP, DavexJade, but Eridan and Nepeta are just too adorable, and well, Catfish needs more love. Inspired by a friend of mine, audakita, and her tumblr, (look her up!)

Humanstuck, Piratestuck, Catfish.

Please read, review, and (hopefully) favorite.

(Please forgive me for my lack of knowledge on ships and pirating.)

Nepeta stood on the prow of the Signless, letting the salt water-laced wind wrap itself around her, whipping her short blonde hair across her face, and blowing her oversized jacket behind her like a cape. She loved this, the feel of the ocean breeze, the view of the seemingly endless sea meeting the endless sky, it was home. The Signless and her crew, was Nepeta's home. It was small, with a crew of only seven, *even if one of those seven was strong as an ox*, but it was surprisingly fast and strong for it's size. So much so, that it and it's small crew could take a ship three times it's size...HAD taken down ships three times it's size.

"LEIJON! STOP DAYDREAMING! THE WIND'S CHANGING! GO MAN THE SAILS!"

Nepeta spun around, grace and a natural sense of balance keeping her from falling overboard, and stood at attention comically.

"Yes sir, Captain Karkitty, sir!" she shouted back with a smile before running over to climb the mast to man the sails. Captain Karkat Vantas shouting at her angrily as she went. He yelled a lot, had to, most times, in order to be heard over waves and storms among other things, and yelled the rest of the time either out of habit, or due to his short temper. Despite the yelling, though, he truly cared for his crew. The captain was kind, and honorable, and Nepeta was honored to be a part of his crew.

The rungs were wet with seawater, and the mast rocked as the ship sailed, but Nepeta was a natural climber, which was probably why she kept getting this job. From her spot on the mast, she took a moment to glance down at Karkat, blushing when he caught her gaze, and looking back at the mast in embarrassment as she climbed to the next rung. From the first time she'd met the captain, she'd been smitten, a fluffy feeling that only grew as she got to know him better. He was lithe, with fierce bright red eyes, and shaggy, mahogany hair that blew like darkened flames in the bright sun. Nepeta loved him, had for as long as she could remember, but the feeling was unrequited. It was nearly impossible to hide anything on a small ship with thin walls, and it was no secret that Captain Vantas and his first mate, Terezi Pyrope were...well...something.

Nepeta also knew that the captain knew how she felt. She'd always been bad at hiding things, and as stated before, small ship, thin walls. Besides, although he'd never straight out say anything about it, Nepeta could catch him glancing at her, sometimes. A look of pity on his face.

"I don't need pity," Nepeta attempted to hiss, but sadness laced her words, like the drops of salt water on an ocean breeze. Still, she continued her climb, new determination spreading through her.

She would never give up on her captain Karkitty, ever.

Her distraction, however, caused her to slip on the next slippery rung, and Nepeta fell off the Signless' mast and into the sea, engulfed by it's salty waters.

Nepeta had always known she'd regret refusing Terezi's offer to teach her to swim. She had acted stubbornly though, refusing to take lessons from the girl who had what she never would; the captain's heart. It was an unreachable treasure, one she had tried so hard to earn no matter how hopeless it had seemed. It was too late for that now. Nepeta could no longer feel anything now but the fire in her lungs as they begged for air. Their desperation forced her to breathe, and her lungs filled with the sea. She knew she was sinking, even as her vision slowly faded to darkness. She was going to die here, in her beloved ocean, without having so much as held her "treasure" even once.

"Maybe…" she thought, as everything finally faded to black, "...I should have searched for a new treasure."

It was again, however, far too late.

She awoke gagging, spitting out salt water and bile.

A large, wet hand held back her short hair as she did.

"Careful, blasted land-dwweller! Don't get your spit on me!"

The words were harsh, their tone even harsher, but Nepeta could not recognize the voice, it had a strange accent, sort of...waving.

Waves…

Nepeta's back arched, and she heaved out all that was left of her partially digested breakfast, then continued to dry heave some more.

"Gross!" the voiced shouted in response, disgusted, but the grip on her hair tightened, and another large, wet hand awkwardly patted her back in an attempt at comfort. Afew minutes later, Nepeta felt a little better, and drank some seawater to get rid of the taste of bile before turning to see the source of the voice. He sat a foot away, at the edge of the shelf of rock she was laying on, all but his upper body in the water. He had removed his hands some time ago, once she had stopped puking. Now he sat back, inspecting her much like she'd seen her captain inspect a particularly complex map. His gaze seemed to judge her, yet, somehow, it seemed more curious than disdainful. His eyes flicked up, and his violet eyes locked on her olive ones.

She felt her blood rush to her cheeks, and the boy frowned, wet black hair falling in his vivid eyes. Nepeta tried to break away from his strangely intense gaze, but his hands grabbed the sides of her face.

"Are land dwwellers supposed to do that? That pink thing?"

Nepeta pulled away, grabbing his wrists and yanking his hands away from her face.

"Why are mew…" her sentence was stopped short when she noticed something about his hands;

They were webbed.

That's it for chapter 1!

Yes, my humanstuck Nepeta will always be blonde.^^

I've got the whole thing writtian on paper, but I'll be typing it up chapter by chapter throughout the week. The next chapter of "Mew should smile more!" will be a bit late, but ah well. hope you enjoyed this introduction-chapter 1-thing!^^