Pulsating pain woke Jake up along with a cold feeling on his legs. Opening his eyes, the bright world around him was blurry at first. He also heard a voice, faint at first but gradually increasing in volume. After a bit, he could make out words.
"Hey, can you hear me? Can you see and hear me alright?"
He strained his green eyes over to the source of the voice and saw a young man with light blonde, spiky hair learning over the rocky ledge with his bottom half in the water. Concern filled his orange colored eyes. He had a strange orange tint to his skin. He looked relieved when Jake made eye contact with him.
"Oh, good! I'm glad you're finally awake."
Jake managed to prop himself up on his shaky arms, the harsh sunshine glinting through his ebony hair.
"Well, I suppose I have to thank you for saving me. I probably would've drowned if you hadn't have come. Oh! Where are my manners? Um, my name is Jake English, but you can just call me Jake. So, what is your name?" Jake could feel himself blushing, looking away toward the ground.
The orange eyed man chuckled quietly. "My name's Dirk..sorry but if I had a last name, I can't remember it for the life of me. And it's a pleasure to meet you, Jake. Say, that's a strange accent you have. Where are you from?" Dirk raised himself a bit closer to Jake.
"Oh, well, um, I'm from Britania. If I may ask, where exactly are we?" Jake asked, a bit flustered.
"This is part of the shoreline of Meditas. The town up on the cliffs nearby is Verci. You're pretty far from Britania unfortunately, but it explains the accent. I should warn you that the locals might comment on your accent a lot. They're not used to very many people with foreign accents like that I'm afraid." He began to sink back into the water. "If you follow this rocky tunnel out to the beach, you should be able to see the town from there. The people there are mainly fisherman families, and they're rather friendly..well sort of. They should be able to help you out."
"Well, wait. Aren't you coming with me?" Jake asked as he got to his feet.
"Sorry, but I'm afraid that's not possible for me," at this, Dirk brought his whole body onto the rock ledge, revealing a long fish-like tail like the women sirens had with shimmering orange scales dotted with a few black scales. Jake spotted what looked like large gills on his sides.
"D-dirk...wh-what?" Jake nearly fell over.
Dirk looked down, almost in shame, "As you can see, I'm a Siren of sorts. I can't exactly leave the ocean and go with you on land."
The orange scaled Siren suddenly gazed off towards the sea.
"I'm sorry, but I have to go. I can hear a boat approaching. Remember, go left through this rock tunnel, and you'll see the town from the beach. Goodbye and good luck!"
Dirk dove into the sparkling water, coming up only once to look back at Jake.
"Wait! Will I see you again?" the spectacled young sailor yelled.
The Siren shouted back, "I'll be around this area tomorrow. If you're so inclined, just wait on this rocky ledge. I'll find you."
Dirk gave a final wave with his tail before diving under for good. Jake waved until he couldn't see Dirk beneath the water anymore.
"Alright, turn left through the runnel and onto the beach. Shouldn't be too difficult," Jake thought to himself.
Before entering the tunnel, a small fishing boat went by.
"Hey, boy!" One of the men on board shouted. "Have you seen any strange creatures around here? I caught wind that a Siren might be around these parts."
"Oh, um, no! Only water and rocks, sir!" Jake reluctantly shouted back.
The fishermen stared at him strangely. "You sound foreign. Better watch out. Sirens around these parts love foreign boys!"
"Oh, of course! I will!" Jake said before sprinting into the tunnel of maroon rock. Once he was a little ways in, he stopped and tried to catch his breath. The maroon colored rock was a rough texture against Jake's palm. Walking through the tunnel, he could see various kinds of crystals embedded within the rock walls. Finally, Jake could see bright light glimmering at the end of the tunnel. His feet hit the sand as he exited the tunnel. He could feel the sugary sand as his boots began to sink into it. As he stepped out to the beach, he couldn't believe his eyes. The ocean by the shore shone in colors of indigo that ranged from light to dark. The sand was almost pure white with cliffs that hung over creating creeping shadows that made some nice shade from the sun of the same maroon rock that made the rocky outcrops where he had met Dirk. His eyes shifted towards the top of the cliffs and saw a few small houses on the horizon.
"There's the town," Jake thought as he scanned the cliffs for a stairway of some sort. As he wandered along the steep cliffs for a while, he finally found a stair way carved right into the vertical cliff face that wound its way up.
After what seemed like endless excruciating steps, Jake finally made it to the top.
"Yipes! I'm rather far up," he gasped as he peered out over the ledge to the beach below. Backing away from the ledge, he wandered into town. It was a decently sized town with a small citadel in the center. The markets radiated out from it followed by houses. As soon as Jake made it to the market area, the pungent smell of fish hit his nose.
"Ack!" He accidently shouted. People walking by stared and gave him weird looks. "Oh, sorry about that," he apologized before quickly walking away.
He brought himself to the nearest bench and sighed as he sat down. He could feel his nervous tick starting to act up as he felt himself shaking.
"Hey, mister! Are you alright?" A young girl stood over him. Her eyes shone a bright green and her skin a nutmeg shade, hair a light blonde.
Jake cleared his throat, "Oh, yes, I am! I'm just new in town is all. Oh, speaking of which, could you point me to the nearest inn?"
"There's one a bit down the street to the right called the Cherub. And forgive me, but your accent is quite strange. May I ask where you're from?" The girl gracefully sat next to him.
"Well, I'm from Britania. It's pretty far away from here. I was a sailor on a ship heading through here, but it ended up getting shipwrecked and...I guess I managed to swim to shore." He made sure to leave out the Siren parts.
"I see...hmm funny clothing for a sailor to be wearing: leather boots, a military jacket, black undershirt, and such short trousers."
"Well, I wasn't really into the usual sailor get up. I suppose I'm more of an adventurer of sorts. And my cheeky trousers allow for better leg movement I'll have you know," Jake informed with a smirk.
The young girl giggled, "I see! Well, it's nice to meet you, Mr. Adventurer. I welcome you to the town of Verci!"
She stood up suddenly, curcied, and ran off.
"Oh, wait! I haven't told you my name yet!" But it was too late. She was already out of sight.
"Bullocks," Jake whispered under his breath. "Well, I'd better see if I can find the inn she was talking about."
He received many curious stares as he made his way down the street. A few smiled but most had a sort of scowl. At last, he found the Cherub to his right. It was a quaint inn about three stories high. The walls looked to be made of the familiar dark rock painted a bluish color with what looked to be tiny fossils mixed in.
"How curious," the sailor thought to himself.
He adjusted his dark green military jacket before going inside. The interior was decorated with some charming sea side decor with a front desk at the far side of the room. He tentatively made his way over where a young woman with short, wispy dark green hair was waiting.
"Hello there! Welcome to the Cherub Inn! What brings you into Verci?" She greeted him warmly.
"Hello! I'm just trying to make my way back home. So, just passing through, I suppose." He smiled warmly at her.
"Oh, my, I don't believe I've heard an accent like that around here, at least not often. But don't you worry! I can understand you just fine. So, what can I do for you?"
Jake gulped, knowing he didn't have any money to pay for a room. "Well, I would like to stay here for a bit, but I'm afraid I don't have any means to pay you for a room. Is there, by any chance, a way to earn my keep for a room?" Jake nervously said, trying his best not to make his voice crack.
At first, the woman gave him a weird look but then smiled. "Well, I think we can work something out, cutie pie. Let me just talk with my brother a minute. He runs a fishing business, and I'm sure he could use a helper. I'll be right back!" She then made her way to the second floor. Jake rocked back and forth nervously, looking around at the decor. At last, he heard the familiar footsteps heading down the stairs, but he nearly yelped in surprise when he saw a tall man following behind her.
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, but I didn't catch your name," she inquired.
"Ah, sorry about that! I'm Jake English, good lady! Pleasure to meet you," he smiled and held out his hand.
"Nice to meet you, Jake. I'm Calliope, and this is my older brother Caliborn," she said as she gently shook his hand.
Caliborn approached the spectacled sailor with a bit of a scowl. "My sister and I have agreed that you'll have a room here, and you'll help me on my fishing boat in the morning on weekdays. That alright with you, boy?"
"Oh, yes sir! I was a sailor on a ship for a while, so I have some experience with boats and things like it. Haha!" Jake laughed, trying to keep his calm composure.
"Good. I'll see you tomorrow morning then," And that was that.
"I'm going to prep the boat for tomorrow. Be back later...maybe." With that, Caliborn was out the door.
Calliope just shook her head, "I apologize for my brother's rude attitude. I'm afraid that's just how he is." Her bright green eyes shifted towards Jake. l
"Oh, it's not a problem! I'm used to dealing with rough and tough characters like him. So, um, would you mind showing me to my room, Miss Calliope? I'm quite exhausted."
"Of course! Right this way," She led Jake up to the top floor to Room 301.
"Here it is! And please let me know if you need anything," She bowed slightly and departed down the stairs.
"What a strange pair of siblings," Jake thought as he plopped himself down on the bed. He wasn't quite sure how long it had been since he'd slept in an actual bed. Trying his best to push the fretting thoughts of what tomorrow would bring, he drifted off to sleep as evening set in.
(Dream sequence) I could hear the soft melody of a music box playing but couldn't quite place where it was coming from. It was as if it was playing all around me. The scenery changed to an underwater scene with huge kelp forests nearby. The kelp towered like the trees I knew back in Britania. That's when I saw that familiar flash of orange. "Dirk," I thought as I began swimming towards him. We explored the kelp forests for a while. I held his hand, letting him pull me along since he was obviously the faster swimmer. I could feel a bit of webbing between his fingers and translucent fins attached to his ears, though I didn't seem to mind these features. Once we reached a small dune in the middle of the forest, we stopped. We now held both of each other's hands and faced each other. Dirk gazed at me with a handsome smile.
"Well, Dirk, I had quite the fun time!" I tried to say without blushing from the Siren's stare.
"Me too! Umm, I was wondering...if you wanted to hear my song," the orange Siren asked.
"A song? Well, sure! I don't see why not," I smiled back at him.
"Yeah, man! I am a Siren after all! Okay, here goes."
Just as Dirk was about to sing, a loud, rather annoying voice broke through: "Hey, boy wake up!"
Jake arose quickly from a deep sleep to find Caliborn leaning over him with his unnaturally red eyes.
"Oh, finally you're awake. You're going to be my little helper today, so let's get going," without any warning, Caliborn grabbed Jake by his right arm and forcibly pulled him up, nearly knocking the sailor's green square shaped glasses off his face.
"Alright, I'm up! Just stop pulling me already!"
As they moved out of the inn, Jake waved at Calliope before he headed out the door. He followed Caliborn down the winding stone stairs to the sugar sand beach below. The sun was just peeking over the horizon creating a brilliant backdrop with the sky dotted by a few lone clouds. A little ways down the beach was a small port with the town's fishing boats. Jake continued to follow Caliborn to a medium sized boat called "JuJu." As he stepped onto the boat, something smacked right into his face. Peering down, he found a sandwich had fallen into his hands.
"There's your breakfast," the dark haired man mumbled laughing a bit at the look on Jake's face.
"Anyways, basically all I need or you to do is help me load up the boat with the fish that the net catches and let me know right away if you find anything *special in the net," Caliborn chuckled.
"Umm, special?" Jake inquired.
The taller man gave him a concerning smile, "Oh, I'm sure you've heard people talking about it. Apparently, there's been spottings of a siren around these parts. And I'm going to make doubly sure that I'll be the one to catch it. So, if you find anything special aka: a Siren in the net, then let me handle it, got it?"
"Yes, Mr. Caliborn," Jake already wanted to leave and warn Dirk about this maniac.
"Excellent! Then let's head out already and catch this fucker!"
Jake spent hours hauling fish from the net to the boat. By the time they were back and hauled the fish to sell to the market, he could feel his muscles pulsating beneath his chestnut skin. Caliborn shooed him away, not wanting him to get in the way of his "making money." Jake gladly left, using what little energy he had left to run to the rocky outcrop by the ocean.