Ironically, Annie was afraid of water. For a young woman who was destined to sail the high seas in a pirate ship, life was filled with unending anxiety and terror that she never can escape. Similar to a cage that could suddenly collapse during one of the storms, forcing her to confront the root cause of her fear of deep waters.
The circumstances weren't that not foreseen - Annie fell into the water during the fight with a Spanish warship. The ship began swimming over her, trapping her underwater and not allowing her to return to the surface. Cold water was sinking into the lungs of the then-teenage girl and stinging her skin, trapping her in the jaws of the ocean, which was mercilessly taking the lives of people who couldn't be saved quickly enough. At that time, her mind started drifting off and the girl had accepted her deadly fate but she escaped death by the last minute as her body was brought into the surface by some kind of force. She had no idea how, but when she woke up, she saw a blue sky with smoke coming from the Spanish warship, with her comrades throwing down a boat to get her from the water. How did she end up this way? A normal person would just accept it and move on, but she still couldn't stop questioning it.
Now, many years have passed by after that time Annie faced death and went up her rank but she still couldn't bring herself deeper than her waist could reach. She murdered people, more than she could count on her fingers. She didn't fear pistols and scimitar pointed at her face but if she even desperately had to go further where her elbows would touch the water, she would panic and retreat without a second thought. Her crew didn't decide to get rid of this ocean thief after learning that it's not an orphaned teenage boy but in fact, it was a woman with a fear of deep waters. But her strength of a few men and her astonishing mental agility made her a gem worth keeping aboard a ship, regardless of the gender stigma about women aboard.
The night of patrolling was the only time Annie could have the alone date with her own thoughts. Her crew didn't mind that she refused to go to the pub to waste their stolen money on drinks while they were still boarded. It meant that they wouldn't have to fight over who had to stay and guard the deck boringly, whilst the crew would party in the tavern.
Annie didn't feel bored. Dangling her legs while sitting on the barrel, she munched on a dry meat slice and tried to learn how to use captain Zeke's quadrant. He already had Marcel as the quartermaster but taking in the boatswain's or sailing master's job from being an apprentice for a couple of years seemed like an appealing idea. And it would mean she could bring more money for her Father.
The nighttime was tranquil. The taverns and brothels were overfilled with sailors spending their salaries, living in the day without worrying about tomorrow. The seaport itself was pretty much empty - the entertainment was hidden in the city center, not by the ships. But Annie felt like she was being watched. Logically, there shouldn't be any other person here but her guts were still alerting her about something off guard.
The girl hopped off the barrel and put the quadrant on the top of it. She simply wouldn't calm down until she would make sure that no one suspicious is actually stalking her.
But there was no one. Or just how she thought.
She got off the ship and strolled across the wooden deck, not really minding that she needed to draw her cutlass out for protection. Nobody else was around. There were only other docked ships, dozing gulls, a cat chasing a mouse, two eyes peering down from above the sea surface… Annie paused immediately and fixed her gaze on two green eyes that were gazing back at her. It was a person, with only the top of their head and nose peeking out of the water… but if they had pointed ears that were sticking out above the water, did it mean they were genuinely human ? A long tail that was slowly swishing to the sides was seen under the surface of the moving water, which's surface was illuminated by the soothing light of the waxing crescent moon. So it wasn't a human, but a creature with a man's face and the long fish tail as its bottom part of the body. A siren.
The pirate couldn't take her eyes off the creature in front of her. She assumed they only existed in the tails of elderly sailors who could only daydream about meeting the fish-tailed beauty. But there was one in front of her, a real one, swaying its tail and keeping an earshot from her. But it didn't start seducing the woman with its voice like those mermaids in sea shanties, nor did it hide or attack her - it was just staring at her with those large eyes, not making the first move.
However, the siren was the first to take action. It swam closer, put its hands on the deck, and pushed its body forward. Its appearance surprised Annie even more. It was a male siren with a masculine and slender appearance, sharp claws digging into the wooden deck to keep himself upfront and long pointy ears. Despite his deadly appearance, his eyes were soft, trying to see through the thick strands of wet black hair. And was he… purring just now?
Man, what would Zeke do for the treasure like this.
"Bertholdt," a siren suddenly spoke up and pointed at himself. His voice was soft, so soft as if it was touching something so fragile. "Bertholdt." he repeated, this time a bit slower, and wriggled his tail quicker to push himself even more onto the deck.
But right then, Annie stepped back and didn't leave him from her eyesight even for a split second. Her chest became heavier watching the creature, bringing back all of her fears from that battle. What if that siren wanted to drag her into the water? What if she slipped? This part of the seaport was already deep enough for her to not reach the bottom. The last time she fell into deeper waters like this caused her a panic attack and the crew had to be fast enough to help her get out. And she couldn't risk having one in front of a beast.
The siren seemed to notice the fear in the girl and his face dropped but since she didn't run away, he smiled lightly and tried again.
"Bertholdt." he pointed at his chest once more and perked up his ears, now keeping his body lowered in the water more.
The sailor stared at him for a moment until she realized what he meant - they may have had a language barrier but she could understand his intentions now - he was introducing himself.
"Annie." she pointed at her own chest while noticing the way Bertholdt watched her face so intently.
His smile grew even wider, revealing little fangs that contrasted with a soft blush on his face. So he wanted to know her name, and he wanted her to know his. But before their minimalistic conversation could even have a chance to advance, they quickly turned to the direction of the buildings from which the drunkards started walking towards the ships. They were noisy and there was no doubt the siren heard them too. Annie watched him, and he looked back at her. He beamed up at her again when their eyes met, then let go of the dock and threw himself into the water, quickly submerging himself into the depths of water and leaving the speechless girl to just stand there.
" Leonhart, you better be not the one who decided to jump, I ain't getting you out again!" One of the sailors shouted and laughed at his own joke, with a choir of his friends joining in.
But Annie didn't move her widened gaze away from the place where the beast showed up and now was gone. Noone would believe what she just witnessed, but she didn't care.
In fact, the pirate had no doubts it's not the last time they meet.