I floated in and out of the living realm for what seemed like years. The damned pirate hadn't even made it so I could die quickly. No, I had to slowly bleed out as the water I called home continuously bit at my wounds. I couldn't even build up enough strength to swim for help. I thought I could hear another ship approaching, but I could barely see, let alone move to look around. Right as my vision went black and my mind went blank, I would have sworn I was being lifted up somewhere.
-
I woke up tasting something fibrous and dirty in my mouth. It took all the willpower I had not to retch. I looked down and saw that someone had closed the wound on my stomach. It didn't hurt as much as before, but it was still enough to make me audibly groan. I looked around to study the room I was in. It was mostly wooden with thick metal bars instead of an opening to the hallway. Whoever had me trapped her at least had the decency to put me in a wooden tub filled with water, keeping my beautiful navy tail intact.
There was an opening higher up in the room that allowed light to pour in. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to tell me where or when I was. I tried lifting myself out of the tub, but to my dismay, my hands were bound together by a rough, twisted material that was as thick as two fingers put together. I writhed in the tub, attempting to heave myself out of it. Fate didn't seem to be on my side as heavy thumps were making their way towards me.
My heart froze for a moment as the rumps reminded me. What if this is the same person from before? I couldn't keep irrational thoughts out of my head as a feeling of panic washed over me. I once more attempted to fling myself out of the tub as the thumps stopped. I looked around and saw another human on the other side of the sturdy bars. Another male, with the same piercingly unnatural green eyes. The difference between this one and the last one was the tangle of hair that resembled the sun's light when it was high in the sky. He wore a heavy-looking jacket that was a similar color to the hair of the man from earlier. It covered most of his body, but her feet were covered in shiny black material with cords poked through at regular intervals.
He smirked at me, most likely noticing how I had stopped completely and checked him out from top to bottom. "Can you understand me?" He asked. It took me a moment to process what he said before I carefully nodded. His smirk morphed into a grin that would have fit better on a shark. I attempted to sign a question to him, but with my hands bound, it proved more difficult than it was worth. He looked at me in confusion before speaking up once again, enunciating clearly as if I was slow, "I'm going to ask you some questions. Raise one finger for yes and two for no, alright?" I rolled my eyes at his tone and held up one finger.
"Do you know where you are?" He asked. I held up two fingers, leaning my head back against the tub and staring at the ceiling. "Do you know who I am?" Again, two fingers. "Do you know who attacked you?" Two fingers, but his voice was getting closer. I jumped as his face appeared directly in front of mine. Not only was it uncomfortable, but I couldn't get further away from him to make it more bearable. "If I take the rope and gag off, will you behave?" He looked directly into my eyes and I couldn't seem to look away from his gaze. Weighing my options, I held up one finger for him. He smiled and started undoing the bindings around my wrists.
As he fiddled with the material - rope, I think he called it - he answered his own questions for me. "My name is Captain Arthur Kirkland. You're aboard the Silent Siren, and I suspect that you were attacked by my elder brother, Allistair." My eyes narrowed as I was finally able to put a name to the face. Before I could sign anything, Kirkland wrapped the rope around my upper arms, successfully keeping them anchored to my torso. I glared at him, slapping my tail against the shallow water of the tub. He stepped back with a dark smirk on his face. "Come now, pretty thing, you don't really think I'd set you free so easily. You're surely worth more than this ship if I find the right buyer. Don't worry, I'll send my first mate to check on you every so often to make sure you stay in the right condition." I screamed through the coarse gag, easily shrill enough to make him cover his ears. I continued as long as I could, at least until Arthur punched me right under my ribs.
I sat there and gasped for air that wouldn't come quickly enough. The wound that had been so carefully closed had opened up again, bleeding freely. Without the air to breath and scream and pain, it didn't take long for my vision to go dark again. I was starting to get sick of passing out on Fate's terms. Before I blacked out completely, I heard Arthur mumbling to someone about getting me fixed up before I woke up again. He said something else, but I was too exhausted to focus on translating his words.
-
I don't know how long I was asleep, but when I woke up, there was no sunlight coming through the opening. My body felt fatigued from not moving for too long. I twisted my body and tail, trying to stretch my muscles and get my blood flowing. When I hit the boundaries of the wooden tub, I remembered where I was. Sighing heavily, I closed my eyes and listened to the creaking of the ship. As I concentrated on the quiet sounds, I realized that someone was breathing in the same room. My eyes flew open as I looked around the room. I couldn't fight, but now I knew that my shrieks hurt just as much as my claws.
After scanning for a moment, I couldn't see any bulkish male figure. Letting my heart rate calm down, I continued looking around. Finally, my eyes rested on the figure of a child holding a candle that was just enough to illuminate the small area around them. I couldn't tell the gender, most children already look the same body-wise. I could tell they were similar to Kirkland already, from the sloppy mop of sun's light-colored hair. They weren't dressed as well as Kirkland had been, instead wearing a simple sailor outfit with a circular hat that looked out of place in this situation.
The child openly stared at me when they realized that I was quite awake with no change of going back to sleep. They crept closer before whispering to me, "Are you really a mermaid?" It sounded like a very young male, before his body would start changing. I kept myself from rolling my eyes as I flopped my tail. He didn't seem to notice my sarcastic movement, instead being entranced with my tail. "May I feel it?" He asked. It was said with such innocence that I could feel myself nodding and moving my tail closer to him.
As he gently stroked my tail with rough-looking fingers, I felt myself crack a smile. "My name is Peter," he said quietly. "Some of the men said that you weren't actually a mermaid and I couldn't sleep until I found out if you were or not." I nodded, understanding his logic. There were certain passions that would keep one awake for hours before the thirst to fulfill said passion would pass away. After a while, Peter seemed to get bored of my tail, so he turned to me and asked, "Can you talk?" Thinking for a moment, it occurred to me that merpeople had only ever sung and signed. Without looking into the boy's soft blue eyes, I shook my head. He seemed saddened by this development before perking up with an idea. "It's going to be a while before we reach port. Why don't I teach you how to talk?"
I have the child a questioning look, trying to process the idea. Merpeople never had a reason to talk, sound was always dampened under water. Even when we were above water, we only ever sang to lure in our victims. As I thought, Peter rambled on in his own little world. "I won't be missed during the day, I'm just a cabin boy. We can even start tomorrow when I bring you some food. Arthur will never even know that I've been helping you if I put the gag back on when I have to leave. By the way, what is your name?" I snapped back to attention at his question before instinctively signing my name - an N sign over my eyes. He looked at me, obviously confused, before I realized that he probably didn't know sign. The confused stare didn't last long before he yawned, which looked like a Gulper releasing its young. "I'm sorry, miss Mermaid. I should probably get back to crew's quarters and get some sleep before everyone wakes up." He stood up, taking his small candle with him and leaving me to wonder what kind of crew I was on.