Kylo was no stranger to brutal carnage, but even he felt his stomach churn at the gruesome sight his men had summoned him to.

The four fishermen were in pieces, their remains scattered along from one end of the rocky beach to the other. There was no sign of their boat, no doubt it now lay at the bottom of the ocean by now. That meant that the bodies had been dragged out here and left to be found like this.

"I knew them," Taleisin said. "They were good men. They weren't brash. They stayed on our side of the breakers and they wouldn't have crossed it. Not without good reason."

Yes. Not without good reason. That was the art that haunted Kylo almost as much as the severed bodies of the townsfolk they would now have to lay to rest.

"Either they were swept out farther than they should have been or- or something happened to draw them beyond where was safe."

The breakers did more than just mark the change between the safe shallows and the dangerous open ocean; they were a symbolic line that neither side of man or merfolk would often cross.

"We'll need to extend our patrols," he tells Taleisin and Ria. "Do not go out alone. Go in groups of two or better three. Twice a day, and let's talk with the fishermen. There must be at least a few among them who have their own theories about this."

"They will be blinded by their fear," Ria says, "anything they have to say will be tainted with superstition."

Prophecy. Curses. Nonsense. But sometimes that's all one has to work on.

"Superstition based on a fact is still a fact. Taleisin, you will go. You're one of the more amenable of us. Go to the town and get them drinking then get them talking."

If possible, Kylo would have liked to go with him. It would have given a convenient excuse to go into the town and get certain baked provisions for his guest. He had left her in the morning with the door to the pantry still locked tight and not a peep of answer to his polite knocking against the frame. The entrance to the watchtower was secured as best as he could, and that was it. At least she wouldn't go hungry or thirsty, but Kylo couldn't have delayed any further to begin his morning duties.

The duties that had lead him to this dark and horrific scene far too close to his own home.

"What shall I say about this?" Taleisin gestures at the fleshy carnage behind him. "Should I lie? Tell the truth?"

The truth would cause a panic. The villagers already had reasons to distrust him and his Knights, now this could well seem like a greater failure in their vow to protect them.

But it would also make them afraid. It would make them more cautious. Less likely to suffer the same fate as these four simple fishermen who had fallen to such a cruel end.

"The truth. Perhaps omit the worst of it, but use your judgment. Warn them to stick to the closest waters if they must fish at all. Swear to them we will-

"We will protect them no matter what, for it is our sworn duty."

Kylo nods, dismissing the Knight with his silence. Then he turns to the horse drawn cart Ria had come by and pulls out two shovels.

"We will do it quickly," he tells her. "It will have to be a shallow grave, but we can't risk burying them at sea. That could only make this worse for us."

He can feel the weight of her veiled stare on him as he approaches the first part of the first body. Kylo swallows, stilling his mind as he feels her steady press against the edges of it.

"What?" he asks.

"You wanted to go into the town," she says. "Why? The villagers fear you the most of us all, and you know your presence would have made it worse."

Kylo thinks of nothing but the task at hand. Of finding the root of what has been causing this sudden turn of events to break the status.

"I want answers, Ria. Now draw the carriage and we will start to load it up. Over at the bottom of that hill-" he gestures to a low and rocky rise of the grass nearby -"the ground is softer. Two feet deep and we'll pile rocks over. Be quick with it."

He spends the rest of their time together thinking about nothing beyond bringing those responsible for this to the swiftest of justice.

The waters had been playing tricks on his mind all morning.

After putting the dead to rest he and Ria had parted ways. Kylo could feel her suspicions rising. She knew just like any of his Knights would know that he was holding something back from them.

They trusted each other. It was tantamount to their survival. To everyone's survival. But that didn't change anything.

Kylo couldn't risk telling his men about the girl until he knew about the girl. Until then, an abrupt dismissal and a turn on his heel before any questions could be asked would have to be his final word.

And still the ocean would call to him. Despite his every effort to clear his mind and focus, Kylo found himself constantly distracted. He would gaze out into the waters for too long as he was burying the fishermen, and it would only be a stern and forbidding silence from his companion that would draw him back.

Now that he was alone the feeling ebbed and flowed. At times compelling him to stop on his walk back to the watchtower to look out at the rolling waves. The tide was out now, thew rocky beach now a wide and wet swatch of tidal pools and alarming quietude.

Kylo strode out to the edge of it, his palm holding tight to the saber at his side. The watchtower was now cresting over the horizon and he was reluctant to go back there when there was literal blood on his hands.

It was morning but a dull and foggy one at that. The fog had only grown with the day, casting a private sort of melancholia to Kylo's distressed mind. He could see now why perhaps the fishermen had dared when they shouldn't have. Fall was becoming winter and the easy days were soon to end. The harvest season such as it was had been very poor with the constant threats of the merfolk encroaching. Things like that paired with the promise of the early onset of winter could make people desperate. One last good haul. Worth the risk.

No, not worth the risk. Nothing would be. Now the families of those four would suffer from more than just the loss of their kin.

And to think that some didn't even have a family at all.

Kylo kneels at one of the pools along the retreating water's edge to wash the dried blood off his hands and for a moment he can see her face reflecting back at him. Dark hair. Bright eyes.

Gone. A trick of his mind.

But the splash that strikes his face is very real.

"How the hell did you get out?"

The girl is there, wading only ankle deep in the water but he still winces when eh thinks of her bare feet against the rocks. Water drips from her hands and she bends, scooping up another handful to toss at his face.

Oh and she's naked again.

Kylo shouldn't be surprised. He would have guessed that he moment he had left she would shuck herself out of her dress like the pearl to an oyster, but it's hard to be cross with her when she gives him the very first real smile he's seen on her face.

And then the water hits his eyes and eh sputters, standing up again. The girl steps back, her lips pursed. Mischievous. She goes deeper into the water, backing away from him.

"No no," he tells her, "stay close."

The rocky shore drops off soon. The water rises to her knees and he reaches his hand out plaintively, beseeching her to take it.

The girl looks at his fingers and bares her teeth like she had the night before, but she still steps further out.

"Don't make me get you," he warns. "The wetter I am the worse my cooking gets. It will be nothing but carrots and potatoes for you today if I get too cross."

The girl pouts. She pouts and she's naked and wet up to her thighs. The tide has shifted now, starting to push forward.

Kylo grimaces as a wave ebbs, pushing the girl into a stumble that only brings her close enough for him to grab only for her to fall backwards with a splash.

"Careful!" he shouts, but it's too late.

The next wave crashes too soon, and the girl spins tumbling out of sight. Kylo's breath catches as he sees it happen. One moment she was there, and in the blink of an eye she's gone, disappearing into the now white-capped surf.

White capped. She's gone. Now he's in the water up to his thighs, the heavy wool of his pants soaked through.

And the dried blood is still on his hands. He'd never washed it off.

Kylo spins then as fast as the rapidly rising waters will let him. If someone like he could have fallen for such a trick, a normal human would never had a chance. The fog surrounds him but he knows which way is shore. It's the way away from where the waters now reaching to his belt are trying to drag him.

And then a flicker of movement catches the corner of his eye. Wet scales. Dark hair. A human girl like his guest but only from the waist up. Bare breasts and an enticing smile.

Kylo's hand is on his saber but the mermaid is faster still. She changes when she sees the glint of metal in his palm, and a violent slap of her tail to the back of his knees sends him plummeting.

Instinct alone saves his neck from the monster's teeth. He cries out, dark waters filling his lungs as her bite sinks instead deep into his shoulder. She's strong, all muscle and slip to her scales that makes Kylo's hand loose their grip as eh tries to wrestle himself free.

Her teeth now like talons sink deeper still, trying to draw out the last of his breath. Kylo looks up, the surface above him is a dim flickering light now red tinged from his own spilling blood.

If he didn't have the Force he probably would have perished. His power guides his hand, send his blade straight through the creatures heart as she wraps herself around him.

There were more coming, he can feel them. Odd, because he can't feel the girl, but he can feel this creature's life force leaving her as the waters around them both run redder still.

He breaks the hold and pushes, sending the Force out in a warning in all direction to stay the hells back from him.

If it works, it doesn't buy him much time. But enough. The air burns his lungs as he breaks surface, but now the tide works in his favor. It throws him forward, giving him the winning edge over the rest of the mermaid pack. He feet touch dry land and he heaves himself out, the wound on his shoulder flowing freely and staining his tunic an ever darker shade of black.

When he looks back Behind him he can almost see the glints of their scales as they retreat into the fog covered waters once more.

Stupid, Kylo. Stupid and brash.

He doesn't know why he hadn't known it. He should have felt their spell. He had felt them, but only after they had revealed themselves. Before then he hadn't been left with a clue.

Was this the same as the girl, then? The way she was a void to him until he started to know her better? Was the merfolk's magic now changing too to disguise itself?

He'll have to tell his Knights. Tell them what an idiot he had been so they wouldn't also fall to the same folly.

But first he has to heal himself. Merfolk wounds manifested differently the a regular injury. Broken bones could be mended with his powers and scratches and cuts were only a minor inconvenience to a skilled Force wielder.

Mermaid's teeth were poisoned, however. The first step to curing them would be to stop the bleeding, because that was how their kind would track their prey. Injure them first and then band together to finish them off.

Kylo would have to rest. He could use the Force to heal the worst of it, and then try and not aggravate the wound as he waits for it to heal it full.

It wasn't a serious situation, but still, fighting with the mermaid had taken its toll on him. By the time he stumbles back through the front door of the watchtower he's lightheaded from loss of blood. The poison of the bite etches deep into his veins, making each step twist and burn with a growing agony.

No girl to greet him. The door to the top of the tower is open, though, and he can faintly hear the sounds of her puttering about up there.

It's better this way. He's not sure of her reaction to his weakened, wounded state right now, but he'd rather not pres his luck. Perhaps the sight or smell of his blood would be enough to send her into the same frenzy her kind would go into when near to it.

He goes to his bedroom and peels off his hood then his outer waistcoat. The shirt underneath is stuck to his skin and he grimaces as it peels away with a sickly suction.

Red blood tinged now with black. The poison. If he were a regular human he would be very lucky to survive this.

Kylo balls up his now ruined shirt and swipes his shoulder as clean as he can without water. Then he sits on his bed, closes his eyes, and concentrates. He pulls the Force within him, focusing it on the wound. Visualizes each one of the pointed, razor sharp gashes along his flesh knitting together.

It takes a considerable effort, he'd waited longer than he really should have, but it works. The poison dissipates and the wound knits closed, leaving a clotted perfect imprint of the mermaid's teeth. He'll scar from it probably, but that was his own fault for letting this ambush happen at all.

When he's finally done his shoulders slump, exhaustion now washing over him. Force healing was not a skill that came easily to him. Others of his Knights like Taleisin were more adept at it with their gentler disposition, but the few times Kylo had to apply the talent to himself had left him similarly bone-weary.

A few hours sleep would help greatly. Impossible when the girl was now there, her muted presence watching him from his bedroom door.

"Come in," he says, not bothering to look back.

It's eerie how he can't feel her and only barely hear her. His bedroom is one of the few places in the watchtower that has a carpet, and now her bare feet against it barely even make a whisper as she approaches.

She stands near to him, out of arm's reach but closer than she usually would go. Her hands fidget with the loose fabric of her dress. In his vision of her she'd been naked though now he's much relieved that eh doesn't have to try and dress her again after the trying morning he's had.

Her hand reaches out, and only then does her fully look at her.

"Why are your palms black?"

Black fingers, black palms, and dark staining smudges along her dress.

"Ah… my ink. I'd taken my pens away but you'd gotten into the ink. I hope you didn't try to eat it."

her face isn't stained like a child in a berry patch. Kylo blinks when he looks up at her. She's smiling, almost. A lift to her lips and not a trace of ink marring her face.

Her cheeks are redder though, almost as if she was blushing. Her eyes look from his face then down, her hand poking at the meat of his good shoulder before retreating again.

He's naked from the waist up, he realizes. He must look more like a merman than she had expected, and now the girl seems more confused by his existence than ever.

"You and me both, m'lady. I think I should have to name you soon."

He meant it in jest, but her eyes widen as he shifts to face her better. She sucks in a breath, her eyebrows drawing up and together when she sees the wound. It's not bleeding anymore, but there's still streaks of blood around it from when he'd so carelessly wiped it away with his shirt.

She steps closer then and Kylo lets her. Lets her shift away from blocking the light so she can see it better for herself.

he's very curious as to her reaction of it, but she still surprises him when she starts hissing. Her lips draw back, revealing teeth that wouldn't match the imprint left behind by her kinfolk. She shakes her head violently, drawing back and rubbing her own shoulder as she spits out air at him.

What in the gods is this about?

Kylo has no idea, her reaction completely baffling to him as her literal hissing fit continues. The girl starts to whine next, smacking at her own shoulder with one hand while the other either frantically waves him forward or further away from her.

So she recognizes the source of the sound clearly, but whatever she's trying to tell him about it is completely lost between them.

"What?"

he stands up when he asks it and the girl abruptly stops. She looks from him to the wound and then back, her eyes growing wide and her mouth gaping.

Then she turns, spinning so rapidly he can feel the air of her movements shifting his hair, and she runs out. Yes, she runs. She'd learned how to do that already and true to his earlier prophecy Kylo immediately regrets the day before when he'd taught her to walk. She's fast, very, and Kylo has half a mind to simply let her run about and pull rampage on the watchtower like she had done before.

Then he realizes that he hadn't barred the door. He hadn't even closed it, in fact, so sluggish from the poison he'd been under as he'd entered his home that he'd been sloppy.

"Stop!" he calls out, leaping forward to run after her but literally tripping on his own bloody rag in his urgency.

He falls to his knees then is back up to his feet in the same dress, racing out of his bedroom and down the hallway to the front room.

The door is wide open, still swinging slightly despite its weight. Muted light spills from outside but, when Kylo reaches the entrance, all he can see is fog.

No girl. She's escaped and is running from him. He doesn't waste a second chasing in blind pursuit.

Author's Note:

Ever had a stray cat that you tried to adopt and finally got it to come inside the house? Then, the first time that door is opened, it takes off running and you don't know if you'll ever see it again? Yeah, that's our Rey here. She really can't make it easy on Kylo, can she?