Chapter 3

Arthur got his answers from Toris two days later when there was a soft knock on the door of his quarters, "Captain, sir? May I come in?"

"Yes, Toris. Step in," the Captain called as he studied his navigational charts. About time, he was just about to confront Toris about his disappearance himself.

Toris walked in, shutting the door gently behind him, looking as fidgety as ever. Arthur continued to study the paper waiting for the man to speak. A minute passed and Arthur realized the lad was too nervous to do so. With a soft sigh he lifted his head and removed his reading spectacles, "Is there something you'd like to tell me Toris?" he asked, his tone unusually kind.

"Well, Captain," Toris shifted his balance from foot to foot, "It's about the week I was gone."

Arthur folded his hands together, "Yes?"

The young man's tongue tied again, "I-I'm sorry it's just…he told me not to say anything…"

"Who, Toris?" Arthur asked kindly.

"Mr. Jones, sir."

"Mr. Jones?" Arthur did not recognize the name.

"Mr. Alfred Jones, the merman," Toris sighed and suddenly the words were spilling out, "You see, that day when I went overboard, dragged into the sea, Mr. Alfred saved me. But instead of helping me back onto the ship he took me to this undersea cave."

"An undersea cave? For seven days? Why the hell did he do that for?"

Toris blushed to Arthur's surprise, "N-nothing really…Just as a reward for saving my life he asked me a few things and…" Toris coughed, "H-he's a real nice person Captain! He even said that he doesn't eat humans and wants to be a hero," Toris smiled at the memory.

Arthur frowned, "What did he ask of you Toris?"

The brunette looked back down again, "I'm sorry Captain, Mr. Alfred told me not to say and I owe him my life."

Sigh, "And the eating humans part? I don't suppose Mr. Alfred elaborated on that particular subject, hmm?"

"Mr. Alfred told me that most sirens use their voice to attract sailors into the water then they drown their prey and eat them. But Mr. Alfred's not like that!" Toris said quickly, "He wants to save and protect humans! His brother too."

"And he does that by screaming his lungs out?" Arthur rolled his eyes, "Really, Toris, stop being so naïve. That thing kidnapped you for seven days! How can you be sure he wasn't lying to you?"

"He wasn't the type who would lie, sir."

Arthur sighed again, "If that's all you have to say then Toris you may leave now," he waved his hand and returned to his notes.

Toris smiled, "If you don't mind me saying Captain I think you should be a little less harsh. Alfred really does like you." Then he turned and left, leaving Arthur realize with great embarrassment just what Toris was talking about much later in the night.

USUKUSK

"Great, this day is just keeps getting better," Arthur muttered over the siren's singing. He lowered the eyeglass and looked on at the approaching ship with his naked eyes. Just what he needed, the British navy. They were already low on supplies and ammunition and the naval ship made no sign of stopping in its pursuit of the Black Britannia.

"Ready the cannons!" he shouted. The eyeglass was tossed to the side to the first mate and the flamboyant hat that the captain always wore was adjusted to a more comfortable position on his head. Time for battle, Arthur thought as he pulled out and checked his cutlass for rust.

The screeching stopped, "You're going to fight, Artie?"

Arthur grit his teeth at the voice, "Yes, now would leave so we may concentrate?" he barked orders to the crew.

The merman frowned and swam beside the ship, following Arthur as he strode around the ship, "Does that mean you're gonna hurt them?"

"Aye. We're pirates, Alfred. We kill, we pillage, we rape. We aren't some of your everyday whalers or fishermen." The more he thought about it the more eager he became. He hadn't had a good fight in awhile, it was about time he spilt some blood.

Alfred didn't quite like the smirk that grew on Arthur's face, "As the hero I can't allow you to do that."

"Oh really? And how will you stop me? I'm already immune to your enchanted singing siren," Arthur laughed.

Arthur ignored the merman as it dove back into the water, instead watching the ominous gray sky and dark blue ship heading directly for them. He was about to give additional orders when he heard the most excruciating sound a captain could hear: Crack! The sound of snapping wood filled Arthur's ears and he felt genuine pain in his. "What the bloody hell was that?" he yelled, eyes obsessively searching the ship. To make it worse, from the corner of his eyes he could see fog gathering.

"It's the rudder, Captain! Something's broken it off!" yelled a panicky pirate as he pointed behind the ship.

"WHAT?" Arthur roared and walked over with powerful, angry steps. He reached over to the backside of the ship and looked over; sure enough there was spiky, pale wood, the last remnants of the rudder. Damn, They were sitting ducks to the approaching ship. And there could only be one reason why, "ALFRED! That damn merman, he just had to do it, he had just had to make the great Captain Arthur Kirkland crack. His head snapped up, twisting to see some fishtailed freak he could shoot at.

Instead he found that side of the sea covered in a thick blanket fog. At least the heavens were with him, if they were lucky the navy would get lost. "Toris, Hary," he called out to the two crewmembers, "Get to work on the rudder. If I can't steer by tomorrow I'm skinning you both." The two hurriedly went to work.

"Riley," he called, "Come here!"

Said man nervously ran over to the captain. Riley's mind quickly went through everything he had done in the past week that could possibly make him get called out. "Y-yes, Cap'n."

Thankfully the blonde didn't seem particularly unhappy with Riley, casting his angry glances at the sea. The distracted captain pulled him to the side and whispered to him quietly, "Riley I need you and five or so men to get to work on making a wooden box big enough to hold a full-grown merman."

"B-but sir that wood is for repairing the ship."

"If we don't catch that rat, who knows what kind of repairs we will be forced to make. Now I want it to have one glass side and I want it to be done by tomorrow. If not I'm going to feed you to those pretty sirens, understand?"

"Yes, Captain," Riley hastily ran off to get more help.

"Time to go fishing," Arthur said, looking over the misty water.

Aboard the Queen's Jewel

"Why are we going left Mr. Bradley?" Captain Garrison called out to the helmsman.

"It's not steering, sir! I think the rudder is broken!"

Garrison cursed under his breath, first the blasted fog now this!

There was a massive jolt that sent the whole crew scrambling for something to hold on. After regaining his foothold, the captain looked around, what the hell was going on? "Sorry, I can't have you going any further. That ship is mine," a voice carried through the fog.

The captain shivered, something was very wrong about this, something wrong with that voice, "Who are you? Where are you?"

"Right here," the voice called cheerily. The captain turned to see a man propped up on his elbows on the wooden railing of the ship. Blue eyes observed the captain lazily, "Hey."

"W-what-,"

"Sorry, but I can't let you hurt yourself or my captain," the man hoisted himself up-

Later Captain Garrison watched as his ship sank into the sea.

AN: THE PLOT THICKENS! Hope you guys liked this one, the good stuff is about to start *rubs hands together*

As you can probably already tell Arthur's pirate-speak is slowly disappearing already. Hopefully he still sounds like an Englishman. Heck, Alfred doesn't sound like a colonial but seeing as this is a fan fiction I think I can take some liberties and make him sound like a present day American.

Toris is still tightlipped but all shall be revealed…eventually.

Btw, this story is fifteen chapters long plus an epilogue and extra. Who will stay all the way to the end I wonder…