"Come on Mattie! Live a little!" Alfred shouted to his twin brother as he sped past him, twisting through the ocean like a water dragon.

"I don't know Al, it's really not safe to go near the surface," his younger brother replied softly, but still followed closely. At first glance, the twins seemed perfectly identical, but upon closer inspection, they had very distinguishable features.

Matthew's hair was lighter and longer than Al's shining blond, and it swayed gracefully around his face as the ocean gently played with it, while Alfred's stubbornly defied the currents. In fact, Alfred just seemed more vibrant than Matthew in almost every aspect; his loud personality and voice often overshadowed his brother's when meeting other mermen. His skin was a golden tan from venturing to the surface constantly, whereas Matthew's was paler, softer, and more delicate from the dimmer depths. However, they were equal in the appearance of their tails; Alfred's tail was tinted sapphire, as opposed to Matthew's emerald, and the light glinted off of both their tails as they neared the surface, sending sparks of light through the water around them.

"Al, why are we even here?" Asked Matthew

Alfred looked at him like he grew octopus tentacles, "To play with the fish and dolphins of course! It's migrating season."

His point was emphasized as they broke the surface and a bottle-nose dolphin almost collided with Matthew.

"Gah!" Matthew screamed as he dove back under.

The pod of dolphins swam around him as their leader clicked its apologies. Matthew giggled softly and reached out to stroke the dolphin's rubbery skin, which whipped the dolphins into a playful frenzy. Whipping his head around at Alfred's delighted cry, Matthew watched as he gripped onto a dolphin's dorsal fin as they chased after a school of fish. After being nudged by the apologetic dolphin, Matthew grasped its fin and took off after Alfred as they twisted, laughed, and raced through the water after the red-and-orange fish.

They lost track of time as the ocean became a blur of vibrant blues, reds, greens, oranges, and gold, until suddenly the dolphins squeaked in alarm and the fish scattered. Matthew lost his grip and his dolphin sped off as he searched the water frantically with his eyes to see what had frightened the creatures off.

"Dive Mattie! Now!" he heard Alfred scream and he obeyed without question, but it was too late. The net wrapped around him and a few dozen unlucky fish and began to drag him toward the surface.

"Alfred!" Matthew cried as he began his slow ascent. Alfred desperately tried to tear the net, but he could see that the rope was too thick and the net moving too fast to be able to save Matthew. So he switched to trying to calm Matthew down so he wouldn't hurt himself.

"Shhh! Mattie, it's going to be okay," he said as he grasped Matthew's hand through the net, which was already breaking through the surface, "Try to get overboard once you're on the ship! The humans will be too surprised to stop you!"

But Matthew was panicking and to terrified to heed his brother's words. Al let go of his hand as he was hoisted into the air. Without Alfred's hand to anchor him, Matthew began to twist and writhe frantically, as he heard the gasps of the crew on deck.

"Someone go get the captain!"

"My god, it's real."

"It looks terrified."

The net crashed onto the deck, but Matthew was too tangled up in the rope to escape. He could only struggle helplessly as they converged around him, cutting off any means of escape.

"Stop." Said an authoritative and baritone voice.

Matthew shivered and nearly shrieked when his amethyst eyes looked up to meet blood red.

The captain smirked as he looked down at his newest addition to his crew. He knelt down, never breaking eye contact, "Well, well, well. What do we have here?"

Albino hands grabbed Matthew and untangled him from the fishing net, lifting him into the air bridal-style.

Matthew didn't dare to continue struggling now that he was in the arms of a human, and too far from the side of the ship to jump. He looked around frantically and quickly took note of his surroundings.

It was a large ship, nearly 160 feet long, ornate and made of dark, smooth wood. They were surrounded by dozens of crew members, each one carrying a dagger or sword of some sort sheathed around their waists; but, none were wearing uniforms. With a sinking feeling, Matthew looked up the ship's mast to see a black flag with skull and crossbones.

His eyes widened.

"Pirates" he whispered, trembling, and his captor seemed to hear him, pleased that the merman was not struggling.

Overwhelmed and scared beyond reason, the faces around him became blurry as he started to hyperventilate. The noise of the ocean calling out to him, the excited chatter of the pirate crew, and the creak of the ship combined and crashed down on him, suffocating him further. As he was losing consciousness, Matthew felt something painful clasp around the tip of his tail, and then he knew no more.

This is my first Fanfic, so be gentle in your reviews! Don't be afraid to give me criticism, or suggestions on what you want in upcoming chapters. Let me know if I should continue with the story, or just give up now. Thanks for reading!