A/N: its been difficult being creative at this time. everything rises and dies every time i write, but i keep attempting. this is one of them. fortunately, this feels right. ;) this story is set in times where tech doesnt exist and men talk of mermaids that will drown a man at sea when tempted.
A/N2: not like 'black water', where the merfolk are scary fishes
'shadow' by birdy - it fits this love story
Shadow: 1
The ocean, as grand, deep and mysterious as it was, was the world he lived in. The waters he was born in was a stormy cold environment, where the surface crashed with pounding waves and sunk many adventurous or desperate ships. The world was dark and dingy, but the colony was welcoming and the sea people friendly with the other creatures that swam there. The temperature didn't fluctuate much, and the cold was all he knew. But that area began to change as he aged – he found himself driven from his home waters as a child, traumatized by the aftermath, and through a series of events, found himself in the cradle hold of an older merman that treated him well. They moved from those cold waters and into a warmer environment, to waters that were bright and colorful, where the surface wasn't as violent and the ships crisscrossed overhead with heavier traffic – it was a stark change that made him moody.
The other thing that hadn't changed was the seemingly endless warning to stay away from humans. They were air breathing "jellyfish", he was told by his new guardian.
"Without a brain, it can only protect itself this way," Corazon told him, nursing such a sting that blazed red and violent within the dingy light of the water. Law fluttered around him with a look of distaste, feeling helpless and yet exasperated that this grown merman was so prone to underwater accidents. Law's childish face revealed his scorn for the brilliantly colored merman whose tail was a brilliant, oily coloring similar to tar, but whose tattered pink fins and glowing skin revealed scars from all his accidents. Because of Corazon's coloring, it made sense to Law that Corazon didn't originally belong to the brilliantly warm waters of their environment – he'd come from dark waters, like Law.
"It can't determine who is enemy or friend. Humans are the same in that regard – stinging for no reason other than having the power to do so."
Law watched him skeptically, gills fluttering with an impatient exhale of his own as the older merman's face squished into a near sob as he clutched his spotted arm with the webbed fingers of his free hand. But Law then looked up towards the surface of the sea, blue-black hair fluttering with the moving current they were riding with. His curiosity towards humans were like a hot blast of air – something that felt uncomfortable and dangerous at the same time. Every time he emerged from sea to air, his gills would slacken and slow, and it felt like someone had placed their dry, hot hand over them. Comparable to a slow strangle from a piece of kelp that tightened around him in a cognizant gesture.
Unconsciously, his own webbed fingers lightly touched his gills as seagulls fluttered overhead. The sound of their noises touched his thoughts as Corazon continued to lightly complain about the jellyfish sting around his scarred arm. The man with sunbleached hair swirled away from Law, and Law followed after him, his own dark tail fins fluttering as the ocean's current drew them through crowds of fish, turtles and the occasional human trash that rode along with it. Every creature they passed brought his awed attention to them – the creatures here were so vivid and bright, unlike the gloomy ones in his home seas that fluttered against the shadows and veered away from sight the moment he appeared.
Giving an uncertain look at the dark depths of the ocean floor beneath them, Law maneuvered around a group of sea turtles – their arms waving to glide gracefully with the same actions to avoid him – and caught up to the merman that was still clutching his stinging forearm. Corazon's tail flapped clumsily, sea animals hastily avoiding the glaring strings of a fisherman's line trailing after him – the hook still attached to a worn, tattered fin.
"How are humans like jellyfish?" Law pressed curiously, light eyes narrowing with suspicion. "They have stinging tentacles, too?"
"No, I mean….they attack everything around them, whether they're afraid of it or not," Corazon answered, daring a glance at him. Tuna scurried out of his path, darting out and away from the moving current just to avoid collision. An unfortunate jellyfish fluttered and caught at his shoulders, and Corazon shrilled in alarm, jerking out from the current and fluttering madly to release the sea creature from him. It fluttered off with a seemingly indignant huff, leaving behind tattered tentacles that the merman struggled with. Law watched the creature leave, drifting aimlessly through the warm waters, and shook his head again.
The waters above began to reverberate ever so slightly with a disruption that drew his attention from Corazon. The ship that sluiced through the surface began to slowly block out the sunlight that made the water glitter. Corazon paused in mid-swipe, looking up with suspicion as Law's mouth dropped open ever so slightly. Though it was just the underbelly of the ship that blocked out the sun and briefly dropped them into darkness, it was massive, heavy, and caused the area around them to feel heavy and ominous.
"If they should ever see you," Corazon muttered, reaching out to snatch Law's arm and drag him safely away from the vibrating current caused by the ship's movement, "it'll be your undoing. Your end."
The sun reappeared as brightly as ever once the ship passed, but Law watched it continue to slice through the surface like a massive creature. He wondered about the air-breathing creatures that made things called "ships" – he had glimpsed these beings from underwater as blurry things making obnoxious noises, but had never had the courage to actually look at them. His curiosity burned at him. His gills fluttered with a settling inhale that expanded his tanned skin, which was splotchy with shades of grey and white – common colors from his home waters, allowing him to blend in with his murky surroundings. Out here, in the vivid brilliance, he stood out like a glaring mistake.
'You're not a mistake!' Corazon often scolded him before enfolding him in a crushing hug that Law struggled to escape. 'Never refer to yourself as that – you're a gift, a precious treasure from the North!'
A mistake, Law often thought with acute conviction. As young as he was, he was well aware of his differences and the reasons he was found.
"Why?" Law asked Corazon with a cross expression, the surface fluttering with the ship's movement. Seagulls flocked after it, crying noisily. "What will they do?"
Corazon blinked at him, skin blazing with the jellyfish's poison. He swiped at it with his webbed hands, wearing a look of concern. After a few moments, he reached out to cradle Law's face, fingers holding strongly while Law shook his head to try to dislodge the firm grip.
"Because we are beautiful, and they are not," Corazon said in a tone that boded no argument. His expression was quite venomous for the moment, causing Law to still with uncertainty. The merman then fluttered away, gesturing at him to follow.
Law looked at his white splotchy arms, his tanned skin skimming with an obvious glare against the warm waters that surrounded them. He looked at the grey webbing between his tanned fingers, then at his spotted, dark tail that kept him upright. Of course we're beautiful, he thought with a frown. What is that supposed to mean?
Are humans ugly? He wondered, looking to the surface once more.
: :
Years later, the overhead spread of the stars on a night canvas drew Law's eyes first before they dropped and fell to the ship blooming with light and noise ahead of him. The sea was a calm blanket of motion that cradled the ship atop of its surface waters, the anchor pulling at the sea floor as it rested. It wasn't Law's first time seeing a human, but it was one of those rare moments where he could venture as close as possible to take in the sights. He didn't know the human language, so the chaos atop of the ship wasn't that unusual, but the voices made his face scrunch with disgust. He was able to hear noises underwater from great distances, but when he broke surface his senses seemed to blur and fade; images were staggered and limited, every object opaque and nonsensical. But shapes and colors built into things he had no explanation for, and thus he created their reasoning out of his own imagination. Bubbles from a slow exhale built around his lips, but he dunked his head under the surface to take a breath and re-emerge to resume looking.
His golden eyes blinked as water slurried over his hair and slithered in trails around his tanned and white splotched face. His thin eyebrows pulled down as he glared up at visible humans doing…something…always doing something. He was frustrated that he didn't know what. The night was extra bright, today, and people were falling from the ship. It felt chaotic. Much like how a school of fish were interrupted by a slithering predator – scatter, regroup. Scatter, regroup. The orange-yellow lights emerging from the top of the ship made the open air dry and hot, searing the air like a slap. He ducked his head and re-emerged again, that curious warmth stinging his blinking eyes as he poked his head out.
What's happening? He wondered with some bewilderment as humans fell from the ship and made contact with the water without any attempt to swim. Law was still far enough away to remain hidden from their eyes, and he watched the surface turn violent with their flailing arms, their noises erupting as shrill and somewhat panicked screams. If only he could see their expressions to understand, but they were just blurry, distorted shapes of color. There was something in the air that made Law think this wasn't normal. There was something about that bright, moving light that consumed the round windows, raised levels and remaining towers of material that sputtered with brilliant colored movement that seemed wrong. He had never seen fire, before. He didn't know what it was, or why it caused the air-breathers to scream in such a way. He watched with frozen curiosity as a group of them fell over the back rails, hitting the water with a collective splash. They were covered in the light, screaming so shrilly and with such agony that Law ducked back underwater, swimming deep enough to turn and look up at the sight. The dark shape of the ship was brilliantly outlined by that moving bright light that seemed to consume the ship faster than he could separate shapes.
The noise was muffled down here, and bodies were sinking towards the darkest depths below him. Law waited because it was instilled in him to avoid detection, but their limp limbs and their frozen features on dirty faces told him he had nothing to fear. Some of them made pathetic attempts to claw to the surface but they continue to sink – as if something invisible was slowly pulling them down. Their bodies gave spastic jerks, bubbles billowed out from opened mouths; some yanked fitfully at themselves – as if trying to claw the drowning weight of water from their lungs. Parts of the ship began to hit the water with heavy weight – smoldering and creating curiously thick clouds of disruption to the depths that hid the sinking of still bodies. Law looked up once more, tail flicking as the light burned bright enough to illuminate and hide the night sky. All he could see was yellow light, falling pieces and humans that couldn't swim.
He drew away once again, putting distance between himself and that scene, pushing up from the water to take in the visuals with a bewildered look. Corazon had told him to avoid humans – who tried to steal their 'beauty' – and it was ingrained within him that humans were never to see them. But Corazon never thought to warn him of a situation like this one – Law missed having the older merman at his side to tell him what was happening.
Something from the left caught his eye as the ship began to crumble into the water, a hissing sound rising up like a massive sea creature. Law squinted to see what it was that caught his attention, and was startled to see a lone swimmer – it was unusual to see a human swim. Law perked up, straining to see a tail. But it was definitely human, and he was so startled to understand that humans could swim that he ventured over for a closer look. The ship continued to hiss and crumble, sinking into the sea like a disgruntled sea creature, causing the water to bubble and smoke. He paused to look at that, neck tightening as the feeling of suffocation slowly started to creep over him. Seeing humans visibly cry out, floundering over the churning sea and disappearing as the ship continued to sink, Law wanted to watch further. But he turned his head to search for the swimmer and caught sight of the blurry shape in the distance.
Fire continued to consume every dry part of the ship exposed to the night, and human screams continued to shrill out over the calm, sea water. Law glanced back, looking for other swimmers before finally ducking his head underneath the surface and swept effortlessly through the darkness as his eyes adjusted. He spotted the flurry of activity caused by the swimmer – limbs moving clumsily through the water, torso thick and overly boxy that prevented full submersion, which caused him to scoff – and coasted in underneath to view the air breather from below. The sight of legs caused Law some awe – looking at his heavy tail with consideration, he tried to imagine that feel of something separate and independent from him. He fluttered his tail fin, the dark colors barely visible within the warming darkness of the water around him. He blinked upward at the swimmer, drifting lightly along with their movements.
Human, he thought wondrously, wandering up close to watch arms and legs sluice through the water with seemingly clumsy movement. He reached out with one webbed hand to drag his fingertips over one of those moving legs, and darted backward when a furious scream rang out overhead. He watched with surprise as those legs shifted from horizontal to vertical, kicking frantically downwards. Human words rang out, and Law's ears rang – he wasn't sure why, but he had the feeling he'd been scolded. He wore an irritated expression as he gave enough room for the human to flail aggressively before moving on in a frantic swimming motion once again.
Law drifted after him, the impulse to reach out driving him to do so. His fingertips drifted over the human's odd looking leg ends – so pale and what were these smaller, more individual limbs? – and earned more screams and frantic kicks. Law darted away with an indignant huff, the human flailing in the water before dunking head downward towards him. Law realized too late what was happening, freezing in place as the human looked at him.
Law watched with awestruck horror as the human's face – twisted with a glare and chaotically colored, much like his own skin; with smaller eyes, a nose and mouth like his own – broke through the darkness of the waters. It seemed it couldn't dunk more than its head, torso held in an absurdly stiff movement. Law waited for a reaction, waited for the human to try and steal his 'beauty'; he tensed, tail ready to lash out if he had to fight, his fingers curling into claws. He emitted a warning hum that vibrated the water – his fins puffed outward and tail lashed, causing the water to churn; making himself a bigger and more ominous creature than before; his show caused the human to frantically return head to surface, swimming more chaotically than before. Law waited there, all his fins returning to rest against his scales, a little bewildered by the reaction. He reviewed the moment, carefully examining the human's expression. Law was positive that he wasn't seen; despite the human facing him, the human couldn't see him.
He followed after the human, noting the heaviness of strokes and kicks. Each one was moving slower than before, and the human had to turn onto his back, resting. This allowed Law another investigative move upward, bewildered at the sight of the human's weirdly moving skin. It was tattered – like Corazon's scales – and nothing on it gleamed like they did. It was a dull color, dark, and yet flashes of pale white crept through to disrupt the entirety of the skin. He reached out to touch a patch, wondering if the human had the same skin condition as him.
Once again, the human reacted with shrill noises and kicks in Law's direction, and Law uttered the warning once more – it was a sound that merfolk emitted in warning, something they did before they could strike defensively. Usually his was successful enough to drive away sharks and other aggressive merfolk, but the human gave no such satisfactory reaction. Lazily, he drifted after the human, marveling over the differences between them. The ocean was so still and quiet that the waters moved slightly and the night sky began to slowly switch canvases. He swept up to the surface once more, peering back at the fiery mess of a burning ship. It continued to burn brilliantly, thick, dark smoke billowing up to the gradient sky like a complaining tunnel of rumbling sound and equally quiet crackling. Sinking back down into the quieter depths, Law followed the human.
'They'll destroy you for being you,' Corazon had warned him as Law grew older. 'We're different from them, and humans fear what is different from them.'
'And us….?' Law had questioned. 'What do we think of them?'
At this, Corazon's face had shifted. His features were hard and stern, allowing no empathy for creatures that could not survive in their world. 'We drown them before they can kill us.'
They're so stupid and clumsy, Law thought now, watching the human's legs move slower. The human seemed to be floundering, resting more with his head turned away from the gentle sway of the sea. It's limbs reached out and spread from his body, floating with the surface rather than fighting it. Law wondered about their dangers, these weighty things Corazon had warned him to fear. Humans were so clumsy in the water, fighting to stay afloat with limbs without fins – drowning while alit with bright, yellow and orange light. How could they be dangerous?
Corazon was no longer at Law's side – Law didn't want to think about that, but an image bloomed before his eyes before he could stop it. Half of a merman floating in the water, innards being nibbled upon by fish they'd called friends. The water was colored with floating blue and soft white pieces of a merfolk that had often held Law in a safe, secure hold; those arms were missing, arms ragged and exposed at the left shoulder and right biceps. The broken bones resembled dead pieces of coral.
Where was his tail? Law had often wondered, awakening with his own horrified cries ringing in his mind. Where was his tail?
The human was looking up at the lightening sky, where stars were growing dimmer and the colors behind them changed gently. Law kept his distance, poking only half of his head from the surface, gills fluttering with careful movement. The human gazed towards the visible tower of smoke in the distance – in the open air, Law could smell nothing. He could only do so underwater, capturing warning and distress scents from other animals – blood from a leaking kill. But his senses captured foreign heat and a stinging sensation that made his gills itch, the heat unfamiliar to his exposed skin. The human didn't see him, and Law's vision was too blurry to understand what exactly he was seeing. His double eyelids blinked against sluicing water, and he waited.
I'll drown it once he sees me, Law vowed, narrowing his eyes before submersing himself back under. He looked up at the shape of the human that floated on his back, the sight of a morning sky softly brightening beyond him. Away from danger, sea creatures were meandering in the depths below them both. A school of fish swept by them, and a turtle lazily made it way up to the surface for air. Law maneuvered easily on his back, aligned with the human. Law could hear the far off sounds of the broken ship settling and scraping against the sea bed – the current tugging heavier pieces in separate directions. He could hear the song of a whale and her calf meandering somewhere in the distance, the sound of their heavy bodies slicing through the water with gentle grace. He felt the rumble in his stomach, alerting him to hunger. He decided to hunt while the human stared up at a brightening sky.
: :
When he found the human, it was near afternoon. The sun flickered brightly from the blue sky, the gentle rolling of waves causing the human fruitless effort to evade being hit. Law chewed on half of a fish he'd snapped in half, the other half currently in the fighting mouths of a penguin and a killer whale. Their underwater commotion caused the surface to break and the human to sluggishly react by sweeping back into vertical position. Noticing this, both creatures hastily dropped their depths, the penguin sweeping over to grasp onto the killer whale's dorsal fin while the mammal attempted to hide behind Law. The human ducked his head under the surface, notably red – maybe that was natural – and scanned the depths for the cause of the disturbance.
"He can't see us," Law assured his friends, calming hand up as the human returned to slow swimming.
"We are right in front of him," Penguin chattered, darting through the water in furious circles. "And that fat sea slug is hard to miss!"
"This fat," Shachi argued, pushing through the water after Penguin, snapping bright white teeth at the penguin's feet, "keeps me warm in the cold!"
'Both of you are fat," Law assured them both, following after the human and spitting out the cleaned bones of the fish he'd ate. Both animals mumbled things he didn't hear, wondering just how long this clumsy air breather would last. It seemed silly for the struggle, considering the length of the distance it was attempting. Land mass was hard to find in this area – which was why Corazon had chose it.
That blurred image hit Law's thoughts once more, and he swept his head from side to side.
'Humans! The humans did it!' The merfolk cried of Corazon's death. They were angry, furious, venting their helplessness with words and expressions. Scaring the sea creatures with their combined vibrations and hisses, scattering fish and causing sharks to reconsider preying upon them. Some had claimed to have successfully pulled humans down from fishing ships as revenge, but Law was gone by then. He heard of this from the mouths of his friends, who only visited within certain times of the year. It was good to have them back.
"I'm still hungry," Shachi complained, shooting up to the surface with his large bulk. He broke the water with a blow, causing the human to whirl and stare. Law watched as he waved his arms and shouted, attempting to scare the killer whale away. Shachi veered in that direction while submerging himself, tail fluke slapping the waves with a crack of sound that changed as he dove. "I heard they taste just like sharks. Tasty. Stringy. Not enough but just enough."
"Leave me a leg, jerk!" Penguin snapped, shooting through the water before Law and launching at the killer whale as that mammal began moving after the human. Law watched, considering their method before hurrying after them and cutting in front of the orca.
"No," he ordered, looking up and over his shoulder at the humans slow movements. His blue black hair fluttered around his face, caught in the warm weight of the water. Everything about the human fascinated him, built questions he needed answers to. What was that light? Can't all humans swim…? Did you kill Cora…?
"This is my first human," he murmured, gills flicking near his ears and at his neck. The black and white spotted first dorsal fin between his shoulder blades strengthened to strand out, black spikes shooting up and out like a fan as his second dorsal fins straightened with weaker action. The fluttery white anal and vertical fins along his tail wiggled and fluttered like a cape as his webbed hands curled into fists.
"So, you'll kill him?" Penguin asked skeptically, head tilting from side to side. "Can we still eat him?"
"You guys have the same upper halves, is that against some kind of nature?" Shachi asked curiously, head tilted upward while his pectoral fins fluttered. "Never mind! I smell a whale! I can hear her!"
"She's with calf, stupid, leave it."
Penguin hit Shachi with a fin before giving a testy bite that caused the killer whale to dart away with a cry. "You know how he gets about those things and their young! You're so insensitive!"
'I am a killer whale, I kill meat! They are meat!" Shachi protested with a huff. "Orca! Orca!"
"Stupid, you keep yelling like that, you'll gonna attract sh -!"
"Seals?"
"Where?"
Law ignored Shachi's laughter and Penguin's curses at the trickery. Both orca and penguin zipped about, taking turns chasing each other and causing the merman to pull out of their path as the killer whales momentum tugged at the water. The human was once again on its back, staring at the sky. Law watched warily, venturing closely for a look at its feet. He'd never seen a human this close – from the tatters of oddly moving skin that seemed detached from its body, he saw flecks of coarse gold.
Hair? He wondered, carefully cupping space around one foot to investigate closer. And nails, he realized, examining the curvature of nail at the top of each toe. So they can adapt to temperature like us in any environment? This is common of land animals? Or is it feathers?
Penguin nipped at the limb, and the human squawked noisily, Law fluttering away to avoid detection. The penguin swept around Law with a giggle.
"Those are called 'feet'," Penguin told him, lazily circling him. He kicked his own clawed feet. "Normally they wear things called shoes, but this one doesn't have any."
"Feet," Law repeated on a mystified tone. The human had stopped fighting, clearly exhausted.
"And they got legs," Penguin continued, shooting up to break the surface. Law and Shachi watched him shrill warning noises at the human, who shouted back at him, splashing away from the noisy creature. Returning to his friend's side, Penguin added, "they use 'em to walk."
"Legs," Law repeated.
"But they're useless here. I've seen humans swim,but only in sight of land," Penguin added. "In groups. They can't go far. This one is done for, Law. Just yank the man under."
'Man?"
"They got males and females, too! Not sure if they lay 'em like eggs…I only see men steering the boats. Can't see how they'd babysit their eggs, anyway, with bodies like theirs."
"How do you know them so much?" Shachi asked suspiciously, clicking noisily as he twirled lazily below them, showing a soft white underbelly. "Are you friends with them, too?"
"Sometimes they throw delicious things off their boats, and we follow them. Out of all of us, I know humans best. And I say we eat him."
"You're useless."
"This is one human man," Law said slowly, venturing up close once more and reaching out to touch that oddly flapping skin. "Their skin is odd…"
"Clothes," Penguin stated. "Humans wear clothes."
"Clothes?" Law repeated, perplexed. "What are 'clothes'?"
"They wear this stuff because they are ugly," Penguin confirmed. "They have skin like yours, but cover it with clothes."
"Law kinda looks like them, so is he ugly, too?" Shachi asked smartly, causing Law to frown.
"No, he's clearly with tail. He's one of us," Penguin sputtered, darting about before shooting up to the surface for air and returning.
'…because we are beautiful,' Corazon had told a young Law.
Shachi turned suddenly, looking down below them. He used his larger body to suddenly shield them, crying out, "Incoming!"
Penguin took cover behind Law as the merman whirled, looking just in time to see the half shark, half man shove Shachi aside. His scars seemed to burn brilliantly in the sun-lit water, jagged red edges spilling over into red and coral tinged skin that merged into green-grey scales. But his eyes glittered with malice as they locked onto the human with consideration, black tipped tail moving from side to side.
"Playing with your food before feasting?" Kidd asked menacingly, pausing in mid-movement as Law placed himself between him and merman. He grinned with sharp-pointed teeth. "I hear fear tinged blood tastes better, so you have the right idea. But you should eat it before it eats you. We are everything they are not, and have what they want…they are hostile."
Law said firmly, tail lashing, "I found it first. I intend on sharing with my friends."
"Those guys?" Kidd looked at both penguin and orca before giving a scoff. He intended on moving forward, one black tipped hand reaching up before Law snared his thick wrist in one hand and delivered a powerful shock that caused the merman to squirm and hiss before putting distance between them. Kidd examined his wrist with a foul expression, rubbing tenderly on the wound by brushing it against his scarred chest. The half man, half shark was missing an arm, and he never divulged how or why. A loner, Kidd hung out in the depths like the predator he was, bullying others and aggressively shooing them from his territory- which he was never clear about.
He looked to Law with a scowl, swimming away from him while the three watched him warily. "Doesn't make sense to let it get away. Those things are trouble – where there's one, there's others looking for it. Get rid of it now, before you live to regret it."
Law watched him retreat back down into the depths, black tipped tail and black striped body merging slowly into the dark blue and emerald green shadows. He felt wary of the warning and the encounter – his instinct told him that Kidd was much too easy with his retreat. The merman was sure to follow, waiting for an opportunity, watching them from a safe distance. His speed and power could be relied upon to overtake both orca and Law with ease – Kidd wasn't done.
Law looked after the human once more, furrowing his brow. There are others, he reasoned. But could they find one man in this entire swath of sea in time?
: :
The Orbit had caught fire because a clumsy 'cook'- Sanji used the word loosely now, as his sunburned face took in the sight of a blue sky that promised no incoming storms or upset – had attempted to put out a grease fire with water. The fire had ravaged the kitchens, and though staff had done their best to put it out, to contain the spread, the old and sometimes under-maintained voyage ship had no chance of survival. The chaos was still screaming in his mind. The life boats were jammed – desperate voyagers had attempted to cut them down, but the panic of a growing fire made people clumsy and scared. The cargo held drums of gunpowder and other flammables – things used to fight off Pirate ships should they be attacked. The water cannons they also used were spray guns against a terrible fiery force that made it difficult for men to hold and fight. They began jumping ship despite not being able to swim. People used the advantage to loot – fights sprang out. Panic consumed the mind because the ship was located in the middle of no where; and while distress calls were sent out, there were no responses. Not that Sanji knew of.
He jumped ship when he knew there was no other choice. The sinking Orbit had caused a sucking force that pulled in debris and people like a tornado, and Sanji swam because it was the only thing he could do. In waters infested with sharks, myths of mermaids and sirens, of undersea creatures yet to be firmly identified, he took a life jacket and a risk. Now, adrift at sea without any hope, Sanji wondered how long it would take to die. He was a stubborn man – he had made the choice to sail on the Orbit because it would take him to new and interesting places, and he could learn and cook new dishes he'd never dreamed of, meet people that he'd never see again…live an adventurous life rather than the sheltered one that promised riches but guaranteed an ugly soul.
Sea creatures he couldn't even see nipped at him – causing him panic and alarm because one of them could eventually be a curious shark. It'd be better if it were a siren – at least he'd die in the monstrous hands of a beautiful woman.
But in this space of time, he'd only seen a penguin (!) and a killer whale (!) – weren't those creatures more accustomed to colder seas? They chased after birthing whales, migrated from here to there, and though he hadn't seen them personally, the fact that they were here was something only he could describe. He might not be rescued. This bright, shining sea with an unmoving sky, with waves that were gentle but still strong enough to rock him, would probably be his grave. Would his family even care if he'd perished?
Sanji's skin was aflame with a sunburn that made its presence known with swelling around his nose, eyes and cheeks. He was thankful he'd eaten all the leftovers he could, but what good was it now, with no land in sight? He needed drinking water, and yet there were no clouds in the sky. Something snatched at his leg, and he kicked, cursing noisily at the investigative creature – he ducked his head, but his limited vision allowed him to see a thick, murky sea with turquoise and emerald brilliance, with foreboding shadows at his bare feet, with sea debris floating past him without destination. He saw a large shadow coursing beyond his vision, but it could be that orca – surely they were named 'killer whales' for eating whales, and not humans – or it could one of the many whales that chose this place to travel through with their new young. No sign of sharks yet.
The sea was too deep and dark for him to see anything, and he gasped for air, willing his body to relax against the surface to float. Salt water felt different when submerged long enough in it- it built like a crusty layer on his exposed skin, sucked away at him, pulled and threatened him just lying there. He couldn't even hear seagulls – true indication of nearby land.
He stared up at the sky, skin tingling with strange heaviness. He felt there were things at his back, watching him – waiting for him to die. The water churned with a strange current that dragged him ever so slightly, and the orca broke through the surface to emit a loud, ringing spurt of breath before ducking back below with a slap of its tail. Sanji pushed his legs down to watch the water that was disturbed slowly stop bubbling and foaming. He looked around himself anxiously, treading the water with his reddened hands and kicking feet. Weren't killer whales and sharks enemies? Maybe it was saving him for later.
The penguin returned to scream obnoxiously at him, floundering in the water like it was scolding him before disappearing. Or laughing…
Sanji started to swim, turning his head this way and that with each stroke. His limbs were starting to feel heavy and awkward, and he thought it best to preserve his strength, to allow the life jacket to do all the work. The day slowly began to shift once again, and though sounds in the distance made Sanji think the killer whale was still following him, night was a different matter. The fire from the sinking ship had given him enough light to feel brave, but it was different, now. Adrenaline couldn't help him, now.
He was thankful he'd taken the life jacket- it was giving him a break with struggling to float. Something that felt like a hand grabbed his ankle with a gentle tug, and it felt eerily like a hand. He felt fingers, he felt a palm – but it couldn't be. It had to be something else. He kicked angrily, lighting the air with curses. The hand released him, and Sanji ducked his head under awkwardly to look again. But his vision gave him nothing but an apprehensive darkness that just seemed like an ominous threat – there was a blurry shape drifting away from him, a shadowy form that moved through the water like it was another part of it, causing drifting kelp and debris to flutter in its wake. When the sun shifted ever so slightly, causing the water to sparkle at the angle, Sanji thought he saw a rather alarmingly large fish tail.
I know they get that big, but…hands? He thought with bewilderment, pulling upward to brush his sea salted hair from his face. His sunburn was painful. His eyelids felt heavy and swollen, and his cheeks stung from both salt and burn. It had to be a trick of the eye, Sanji figured. The killer whale's sprout sprung up a distance ahead, water churning around it as it submerged itself without fully revealing itself. All Sanji saw was a black dorsal fin and fluke as it disappeared back into the depths. He gripped his life jacket with both hands, inhaling and exhaling slowly. He turned his attention to the horizon, using his feet and legs to stay steady. A warm breeze causing droplets from rising and dropping waves to blow into his face, but he didn't have the drive to wipe across the fire burning there. It let it sting and slap, closing his eyes as he fought to steady his nerves and mind against the building dark in the distance. The brightest stars were already beginning to blink up in that changing canvas of the sky, the sun sinking slowly into the far off horizon of the sea. The temperature began to drop – he should've been in the kitchen, cooking and yelling at the others, making up the Orbit's passengers dinner. There would be string music playing at full volume the dining area, the candles lit, electricity crackling in the narrow hallways. Various classes of passengers on different levels enjoying the same quality food.
He thought about the things he'd had to abandon in his cabin – clothes, personals, cigarettes-
He released his life jacket and patted at his pockets with desperation. His clothes – black slacks, white shirt with black vest and jacket – were tattered and torn from a couple of fights and desperate maneuvers through crumbling layers as the fiery ship sank. He'd kicked his shoes off at the last second, lost his socks while swimming – he didn't dare remove a layer, he'd need it later when he was rescued.
But he found what he was looking for- a plastic baggie with his lighter and some rolled cigarettes. He anxiously pulled one out with careful movements, trying not to get it wet. Once it was in his mouth, he lit it – the clacking sound of the opening lighter and the resulting flame was the only alien sound in this area. But he inhaled and exhaled with relief, carefully depositing his lighter into the bag and tucking that entire thing into his inside jacket pocket. He smoked the cigarette and watched the sky slowly pimple with shining stars. The waves calmed as the moon revealed itself as a sliver amidst the smear of pink and white that striped the sky.
The penguin squawked noisily in the distance, amidst churning water and the killer whale's blowing exhalation. Sanji fought the urge to look – weren't they natural enemies? Predator and prey?
It would be odd if they were waiting for him to die. He finished his cigarette, and flicked what was left out into the water. He made to turn onto his back when movement caught his eye, forcing him to still with heart-slamming terror. A hand with webbed fingers had retrieved his cigarette butt from the waves and pulled it under. Sanji was sure what he saw – he saw fingers with filmy webbing, a splotchy white palm, and the very real sight of a wrist that revealed a bony joint. He couldn't move, his eyes wide with terror as he reviewed that memory with breath-stopping horror.
He swallowed tightly, looking into the distance. Moments later, the wet, crumbled butt hit his face with a surprising knock that jolted his sunburned skin and caused him momentary confusion. Did someone just throw it back at him…? But what? He retrieved the butt, looking at it with bewilderment – there were teeth marks on it, like someone - someone, not something – had taken a bite of it. He stared in that direction for some time before clumsily pocketing his trash into his trouser pockets. In the quiet stillness of the falling night, he gazed at the water surrounding him, looking for someone to pop out and announce their prank.
: :
In the softly glowing light of the next morning, Sanji woke up realizing he was barely encased in his life jacket. In a slight panic, he hastily righted himself and readjusted his life jacket, pulling the ties tight. He glanced around himself, looking for something new or different but all he saw were the lines of the matching colors of sky and sea, with wisps of soft white that bloomed to streaks of foreshadowing in the distance. He squinted, sure they were promising a storm. He swallowed hard, thirsty for rain. Everything felt so dry; despite floating in the middle of a warm, green and blue colored sea, he was dry from the inside out. His tongue felt swollen. He gripped the shoulder pads of his life jacket and stared down at his sunburned reflection in the water.
The waves felt different, today. They felt stronger – jostling him with each crash, pushing him from this way and that. He shifted about, yanking his jacket off and then pulling it over his head, creating a makeshift tent as an attempt to protect from the sun. It would still reflect off the water, still color and burn his skin, but it helped. The urge to smoke was great but with how thirsty he was, it wouldn't help. He'd reward himself with one after he had a taste of rain.
Sanji exhaled heavily, closing his eyes as he tilted his head back, chin and red cheeks pushed up by the cold, wet material of his life jacket. He let the water cradle him as the bright fire of the Orbit created chaos against the backs of his eyelids. He let the moving water recreate the chaotic sounds of that night, let it think he was thinking human voices of his past speak to him. His mother's laugh, his brothers' harmful words, his father's heartless carelessness, and his sister's quiet passive-aggression. So lost in the memory, the sound of a hard blow of water barely registered until the unwelcome splash of moving water hit him, jolting him from his hazy reflections. He opened his eyes, expecting to see the calculating eye of an orca, but he saw something weirder than that staring at him from the surface of the moving waves.
A half-submerged head, with impossibly blue-black hair that fit the color of the shadows of a coral reef. With tanned skin, splotchy with white shadows and seemingly glowing amber eyes that blinked double eyelids as water sluiced down a man's face. No, not a man – men did not have oily white and black fins with black spines that laid flat against regal cheeks where the ears and lobes should be, nor the obvious operculum covering the presence of amber gills that stretched up the length of a neck with an obvious Adam's Apple.
Sanji's eyes widened as his breath stopped – should he believe his eyes? Or was he hallucinating shit out of his own dismal despair? Those amber eyes kept contact with him before that head skunk back underneath the water, leaving him absolutely breathless. He should breathe. He inhaled harshly, shifting about to look into the water around him. He felt his own toes curl inward, suddenly afraid to make contact with something that could take them. His knees pulled up awkwardly as he fretted the loss of his limbs to a creature that nearly resembled a man.
Not a mermaid, he thought frantically, because those were women. This was a man. A man-man.
Are they real? They weren't a myth?
Sanji shifted about, trying to distinguish shapes and shadows below his feet. The orca coasted by in a black shadow of white and grey, underbelly obvious while a penguin shot past it like a mini-rocket. But not that other thing – that man – the fish man. Was that the thing he saw yesterday? Sanji frantically treaded the water, trying not to breathe in a panicked fashion, but mermaids were known – well, it was rumored - that they killed men by pulling them to their deaths. Would he be killed in this way? Drowned to be eaten? Or eaten alive, like sharks on a kill?
He gripped his life jacket with both hands, unsure what to do. Unsure what to think. He swallowed tightly, blinking dry, rough eyes as he kept them focused on the water below.
Awkwardly he blurted out, "Hello?"
Maybe they don't speak shit the way we do, he then thought with building breathlessness, churning in a slow circle to stare down into the depths. Maybe they make crazy creature sounds…
"Are you there?" he called out, fingers curled tight around the shoulder straps of his life jacket. "If you are, could you please not eat me yet? Can you wait? I'd rather not die in torture and terror, or, I'd rather not die at all, but…please don't eat me alive, that's all I'm asking…."
His bit his painfully red lips before the pain reminded him that he shouldn't. His legs lowered, and he kicked lightly to keep himself steadily afloat. His neck prickled, and he turned wildly just in time to see the water bubble, churning with movement. Sanji held his breath, turning in a circle, pulling his jacket from his head to tuck around his shoulders.
I'm being hunted, he realized, eyes wide with disbelief. For several moments he floated, listening to the sound of the water, feeling the soft breeze cross over his face. His hair, in tangles, scratched against his red-swollen cheeks and forehead. Scannign the empty horizon of a water world that promised him no aid, Sanji exhaled with finality. It took a few moments to compose himself before he loosened the ties of his life jacket, propping his jacket atop of that.
"To hell with this waiting bullshit," he muttered, a touch too fanatically as his weight dipped him before the meandering waves that promised weight later on in the day. "If you want to kill me, do it now! Before I catch you and eat you raw!"
His angry bellow echoed off the sea, and Sanji dove under to look for the sea creature that stalked him. He came face to face with a penguin that was billowing bubbles, lazily turning circles around him before it realized Sanji was looking at him. It then darted off like a shot, taking cover behind the massive water animal that Sanji could see nearby. The killer whale churned the water as it turned sideways to look at Sanji, suddenly realizing the human could see him, too. The creature made a sharp turn and pushed into the depths, leaving the penguin behind.
It's actually a coward? Sanji thought to himself with shocked dismay, sure both creatures had been scared at the sight of him. Cheeks billowed with his breath held, Sanji turned a slow circle underwater to look for that thing before he retreated back to the surface, holding onto his jacket and life jacket with clutching fingers. He took another deep breath and pushed under –
This time face to face with that creature he was looking for. He was so startled at its close presence and silent movement that he exhaled with a shout underwater, and pushed back up to the surface, heart pounding.
It's a man, his mind screamed with bewilderment, clutching his lifejacket by throwing an arm over it and frantically wiping salt from his stinging face. It's a man!
He felt a hand grab his vest, and he barely had time to suck in air before he was roughly pulled under, pulled down from the surface like an anchor had been wrapped around him. Sanji was so startled by the weight and force applied that he couldn't do nothing but watch the waves cradle his left behind items there atop of the surface. The sky was such a dull blue from down here, and the pressure began to close in on him immediately. But the creature held him within one fist, pushing him down with a curled fist in his vest, wearing such a grim expression – Sanji wished he could see details clearly. Within the water, his vision was so damn blurry, but his scared expression turned angry, and he automatically swung his leg to kick the thing out of the water.
He was at a disadvantage – his sluggishly moving leg barely bumped the thing's arm, and that grim expression turned amused, movement paused. Sanji kicked at him with his heel, aiming for its arm, its weirdly muscled chest – were mermen allowed such design? He paused, a little mystified at the amount of muscle in arms and torso as the merman watched him with growing amusement. This thing had the appearance of a man above the striking visuals of a long fish tail – so many fins! – and except for the present gills and obvious indications that this thing preferred water, it was definitely a male mermaid. Man. Merman.
Mermaids have boobs, Sanji reasoned with himself, kicking free to turn himself vertical. Don't get distracted!
He felt his lungs cry, and glanced at the surface, determining a safe path away from the merman. It watched him with a face that slowly lost its amusement before moving towards him, hand reaching out to him. Sanji lunged forward to bite those outstretched fingers before kicking away, the creature pulling its hand back with a shocked look. Sanji was nearing the surface, kicking and pulling with frantic intensity as the need to breathe started to rattle his mind when he felt strong fingers wrapping around one of his ankles and he was yanked back. He whirled around to kick at the thing when he noticed something shooting upward from the depths towards him – another creature, something bigger than this one (!) and basically the same makeup. Only this one wasn't of a fish design, it was more of a shark.
Since it looked more of a threat than this one – he was always taught to hit the bigger one first – he used the downward momentum to flip and twist his whole body down while allowing the fishman to hold his leg, and used his heel to kick in the face of the shark-thing. He felt the connection, but the force of the thing's drive upward sent a racketing explosion of pain up his leg. He had no real strength in the water; just used his foot to stop and slow the momentum of the attacking thing.
The shark creature reacted with a wild whirl away, his single arm curling around his scarred face – it had such vivid red hair! – while black ink colored the water. The first fish man released Sanji with a startled look to react, and Sanji noticed its surprised and then vehement expression towards the second. Before Sanji could do anything, it attacked the sharkman with a rather surprising and powerful fist to the head. The sharkman reeled once again, releasing a horrendous noise that could have been a curse or a shout; but it was a rattling and unnerving vibration noise that was near similar to an elephant trumpeting underwater. Sanji clamped his hands over his ears and kicked upwards towards the sight of his lifejacket. Once he broke the surface, he inhaled desperately, trying to ignore the urge to climb upon the flimsy thing like it were a raft.
"There's – there's two – there's two of them!" he wheezed in panicked shock, alternating between coughing and hacking, fighting for air. "Two of them!"
After a moment, he caught his breath and dove back under, to see the sharkman attacking the first. Sanji pulled out into open air to wheeze again. "They're fighting over their dinner!" he snarled to himself, looking for a weapon. He really didn't have one. He looked at his fingernails with deciding action, then gave the sky a furious look. He rattled his fist at the sky. "I will not die screaming and crying! I will bleed anger and fury like no other man at sea – oh, for shit's sake, who the hell cares…?"
He dove back under, watching black ink cloud the water, watching as their powerful tails whipped and churned around them. The penguin and killer whale were in view, and Sanji was aghast at how they watched the scene rather nervously, keeping space away from it. But the penguin darted in like a shot and aligned itself with the shark, biting and beating at the shark-thing's striped dorsal fin with its clawed feet. The killer whale, after a few nervous turns, shot forward and used its bulk to drive head first into the shark, successfully knocking it away from its companion. Both animals then hastily made a get away, turning to watch from a safe distance away while the first fishman recovered with an angry face at the shark.
Sanji was in utter disbelief at what he was viewing, floating there with wide eyes and full cheeks. He had to see everything – if he had to die, he needed an interesting story to explain in heaven.
Two fishguys were fighting over me, he heard himself said furiously. Not the type of death I desired, but it is what it is.
His face reddened with shame, and he swam back to the surface. He fitted himself back into his life jacket, hastily tying his jacket sleeves around his neck, like a cape. Then he began to swim, stroking the waters with desperate arms and kicking frantically to put space between himself and them.
"Like hell I'd let two guys fight over me," he snarled above the water foam, choosing a random direction. "I don't mind being shitty fish food, but - !"
The killer whale suddenly broke surface, spewing from its blowhole before catching sight of Sanji. It veered in his direction, the penguin shooting out from the water moments later to get a full visual. Seeing that huge black and white orca veering towards him, Sanji froze. There was no way he'd be able to hurt an animal that size – not from his position. The orca ducked under him, then rose up hastily, bumping the human from the water. Sanji automatically found himself catching hold of the dorsal fin, the animal's wide form allowing him to pull his feet out of the water. Without slowing down, the killer whale plunged forward to allow Sanji to sit astride of him, wearing a dumb expression on his sunburned face.
He's saving me for later! He thought with an undignified snarl. He threw himself off the orca, resuming swimming in another direction while the killer whale turned after him with a confused maneuver.
"I am not an easy snack!" Sanji huffed, swimming with renewed energy. "I am no man's snack! I'm not no damn whale snack – not yet, not now!"
The penguin shot up in front of him, kicking and shrilling at him before diving back in. In another instant, as Sanji recovered from the splash, the penguin slammed into his side, pushing him towards the whale. The orca once again maneuvered to pick them both up, veering off in its original direction. Moments later, the shark thing popped up, black ink dribbling down from his nose and splattered around its face. Sanji and the penguin shrilled with fright and surprise as the one-armed sharkman lunged over the orca, slamming into both of them.
It didn't anticipate Sanji's life jacket, which made it difficult for the sharkman to swim down into the water with; Sanji used its confusion to reach up to dig his nails into the thing's face before wrapping his arms around the thing's gills along its neck and heavily muscled shoulders (Sanji couldn't imagine what these fish did down there to gain such defined thickness) to suffocate it. He grit his teeth as the sharkman floundered, eking strange noises of animalistic surprise before grabbing his lifejacket and ripping him away like he was nothing. Its strength was astonishing – but now all that damned muscle made sense.
Before Sanji could recoup, the first fishman slammed into the shark with snarls that almost sounded like spoken word. Both of them whirled and spun, decking each other with such heavy fists that Sanji floated to the way to the surface with a shocked expression. He could hear each hit land so heavily, so soundly that it made him cringe. The killer whale darted by, its momentum knocking both fighting fish aside to bite onto Sanji's life jacket and swim away with him.
He was strangled by the fit of the jacket, force preventing him from fighting as the orca carted away with him towards the surface. Before he could gasp for air, they were back in the water and speeding further from the scene. Sanji reached up to untie himself, begging for air as his lungs cried out for relief. But once he saw the sharkman darting after them, so impossibly fast, he gave up the effort and reached up, fingers scratching for some sort of grab on the slippery skin of the orca. The penguin intercept by slamming into the sharkman's head, bouncing off and whirling away while the sharkman snarled at it, whipping its striped tail around to charge after it.
Sanji managed to grab hold of the orca's left pectoral fin, squeezing his eyes shut as the pain in his lungs burned. The killer whale swirled once before making its way up to the surface, breaking with an impressive leap into the air, curling just so Sanji could gasp with relief, inhaling as much as possible before they fell back into the water. He held on tightly, feeling his fingers slid as the animal's skin made it difficult to firmly grasp. He used both hands, but he could feel himself loosing grip. Before he could lose his grasp, the first fishman grabbed his arm and yanked him away from the whale, swimming with suffocating speed alongside the beast. Sanji opened his eyes to see the sharkman finally slow and give up, seemingly heaving for breath.
He covered his mouth with both hands, air escaping as he coughed. The momentum was so strong, and his jacket was strangling him. The fishman noticed the sharkman's disappearance, Sanji yanking away from him to swim desperately for the surface. Once he broke through, he gasped mightily, choking and hacking, ripping at the jacket he'd tied himself around his neck. He used the floatation device around him to keep him afloat as he struggled to relax. Despite the adventure, his legs were shaking. Out of fear? Out of incredulousness? He wasn't sure.
The orca broke surface nearby, spewing water and air into the open space, slapping the water with its body on its descent down. The penguin followed moments later, chattering away so noisily that Sanji winced.
I'm someone's goddamn dinner, he thought morosely, staring up at the sky with a dismal expression. Humans are a delicacy, it appears.
It seemed that once he caught his breath, he was dragged under to face the fishman. He looked at the blurry image of the creature as it stared at him, blinking double lids. Then it took note of his life jacket that held him awkwardly to the surface, pinching at the material with a curious tilt of his head. Sanji kicked away, breathing air once he popped out from the water.
"We can't all float and swim like shitty tuna!" he bellowed, his voice ringing out over the din. He gripped the jacket tightly with both hands, certain the thing would find its way to his torso insides if he let it.
The being followed him, popping its head out like some regal alien – Sanji was amazed to see it up close, able to take in the individual details. Its gills laid flat over its neck and broad shoulders like some lacy coverlet. But its hair was now matted like his now that it was free from the sea waters, and it drizzled over tanned, white splotchy skin like tangled kelp. Its eyes were brightly amber, the irises narrowed to a slit – the facial structure was amazing. Despite Sanji's earlier feelings of disgust, he couldn't help but stare back with some awe.
If this man walked in a crowded room, he thought, I'd never be noticed. All the ladies would fall to his feet. Probably some guys, too.
After some moments, he admitted, Probably me, included.
He jerked his head back with a horrified yell, the creature pulling back from him with a very human expression of distaste before disappearing back under the water. Sanji could feel it circling him – no, not it. It was a man, therefore…a him. He gripped his lifejacket once more, muttering, "My last life moments were admiring a guy…! The shame alone might kill me!"
He suffered a few moments of self-pity and remorse, the merman popping up once more to look at him inquisitively. Curiously, that penguin popped up behind it, using its beak to crowd in close and chatter noisily near the man's head – Sanji was in disbelief. The pair were communicating with each other, he realized.
I've read this story, before, he thought with an inward gasp. Where the beautiful mermaid princess chatted with fish – this one is chatting with a damned killer whale and penguin! No one would ever believe me!
The merman (with his gorgeously beautiful eyes, Sanji thought once more with amazement, helpless in that strong gaze) looked to Sanji's vest with another one of those curious looks. Sanji gripped it tightly, treading the water with trepidation.
I am a blushing maiden, he thought with horror, feeling his already sunburned face redden with force as he dropped his eyes to the water. He could see the impressive build of a rather manly torso there, colored with that same rich tan and white color. In my last few moments of life, I am blushing over another man.
He looked up at the sky with helplessness. "Please don't smite me for this…!"
Once he saw movement in his peripheral vision, he realized the man was reaching towards him. He set himself resolutely, already knowing his fate. He's going to rip my guts out and eat them, Sanji thought with heavy reluctance, watching nimble fingers that could probably crush his skull with a squeeze, considering how easy the merman could maneuver underwater. And I'd still think he's pretty.
Instead, cool, seemingly dainty fingers touched his face. He could see the pale gossamer webbing between each finger collapsing against a pale palm; like a jellyfish beached on the sand. It glimmered gently, wet and seemingly slimy. But the simple touch against his sunburn made him hiss. The man looked at him with curious concern before braving an incredulous gentle pinch at Sanji's nose.
"OW!" he couldn't help but exclaim, slapping the merman's hand away and covering his nose. "OW, that hurts!"
The penguin squawked noisily at the merman, then exhaled repeatedly – it was laughing at Sanji. The merman looked perplexed before looking back at it, then back at Sanji before touching his own face with disbelief. Both of them disappeared, bubbles churning the water as Sanji fought the welling pain in his facial features caused by the pinch. He reacted with a jerk when he realized his left foot was being touched, and he pulled that knee up to his stomach, yelping, thinking he had to protect it.
Awkwardly, that foot was re-captured and lifted up the surface, where he watched his own foot ensnared in that merman's grasp break the water. The merman was looking at it then to him, seemingly with a dumbfounded look. The penguin was once again chirping incredulous noises, rolling around them with excited chatter while the merman looked perplexed. Sanji managed to shrug that couldn't be seen with his jacket and life jacket layering.
"I'm flexible," he muttered, sure that this was the problem. He felt the gentle but oppressive weight well up behind him, and heard the blow of air. He didn't have to turn to see that the killer whale was giving him support from behind, massive dorsal fin and broad back open above the water. All so the merman could examine him. The penguin was so loud – its noises rang off the water like an ear-piercing explosion. Chattering away in penguin noises that left the merman with an impressed expression.
Sanji finally realized what had caught the fishman's attention. His ankle was noticeably thicker than usual, and he realized it was probably when the sharkman had attacked him. For some strange reason, seeing it brought throbbing pain to his attention. He snatched his foot from the fishman's grasp, hissing as he held it within both of his hands, hobbled awkwardly in the water with the use of the orca at his back and the life jacket strangling him.
"Must've dislocated it or something," he mumbled, unsure of why he was explaining to a fishman his problems. Not like any of them could understand him. The penguin chatted away, the merman disappearing underwater for a few moments before breaking surface once more. "I'm easier to catch, now. I'm lame. Not like I can stop you guys from eating me, here. Shit."
The merman stared at him inquisitively for several moments, and Sanji had the distinct impression that it wanted to ask him something. But obviously they weren't of the same species to hold a conversation. The feeling was so intense that he dropped his foot, looking back at him with an anxious hold of his jaw. The merman indicated with one of his hands from mouth to throat, then gestured at him.
Sanji shook his head. "I don't know what you're asking. Stop trying to communicate with me with that…that…stupid…noble, good looking face of yours. You…you cad. You…lady- no, man killer. Killer of…helpless, stupid men that can't help but think you're pretty. Damn you. Serve you up with vegetables and a red – "
After taking a breath underwater, the merman continued to stare at him with inquisitive action. He then released some throaty, almost half croaks of sound that hit Sanji right in the stomach. He was utterly horrified at his body's reaction to just hearing some creature's voice.
I am going to hell, he thought resolutely. I am going to hell for thinking these things of a man-beast. This is my final boot downstairs. I can't believe this.
The penguin nodded before the fishman once more disappeared down into the water, disappearing into the depths without any movement to look back. The penguin looked at Sanji, beady eyes darting here and there while the sunburned man stared back at him in perplexed silence. The orca shifted and dove deep, fluke missing Sanji's head by inches as he righted himself. The penguin's head tilted this way and that before it suddenly tilted back, retching before spewing half chewed fish entrails in Sanji's direction. With his beak, he seemed to indicate that Sanji eat it.
Sanji stared at him in revolted silence before shaking his head. "No, thanks. I…I already…ate. A lot. I'm…I'm still full."
Seemingly understanding this, then penguin nodded, gulped down its vomited meal, then disappeared into the water as well. Left in stunned silence, Sanji noticed that the sky was starting to darken with approaching nightfall.
Fuck me, he thought morosely, tilting onto his back to continue floating.