"Can you run that by me one more time, Mermaid?"

With all hints of sympathy gone from his voice, Kirkland held my arm with the grip of a shark's jaw. I sighed and jerked my arm out of his grasp. "I told you, Kirkland. I want to give him a proper funeral. It doesn't matter if I knew him or not, that merman is from my people and he doesn't deserve to rest like this." I gestured to the sick display, not having the heart to actually look at it. With a noise similar to that of a whale's groan, Kirkland ran a hand through his hair. "Fine, you can lay him to rest, but someone has to go with you." Feeling the worry in his heart, I felt that it would be easier just to go with his wishes. "Can any of your men actually swim? I was under the impression that pirates can't actually swim." At this, Carriedo stepped forward to everyone's surprise.

"I can swim, chica. Not as well as a mermaid, but well enough." Neither of us even had time to react before he stripped off his jacket and hat, revealing the rather tight brown pants and rather loose white shirt. Somehow, he managed to pull it off better than Kirkland did. I think Kirkland realized this as he started stammering, blood flushing through his face. "You can't just go in there, Carriedo!" With a smile on his face, Carriedo had no trouble shooting down the argument. "You were about to let miss Natasha go in. Who can watch over her better than me in this situation?" Before Kirkland had the chance to reply, Carriedo took my hand and jumped over the side of the ship with me.

The second we hit the water, the overwhelming stench of silvery blood washed over me. I could feel it sticking to every pore on my body and adamantly refusing to ever leave. Carriedo bobbed up to the surface, dragging me with him. I frantically fought to keep myself focused and not completely acting out from of the wrongness of it all. Carriedo must have caught onto this as he grabbed my shoulders, looking me in the eyes. The light pressure of his hands mixed with his general calmness was enough to help me keep control over myself. After a moment, we shared a look and started swimming over the body. The entire time, Carriedo kept a hand on my shoulder.

It took a while to get through the soaked ropes, even with the small knife Carriedo had brought along. Once the poor merman was freed, I crossed his scarred arms over his chest. I nervously sang what I knew as his body started to sink in the thick water. "May the gods welcome you into their arms, brother. You were taken from us too soon by forces out of our control. May justice be sought for those who took your life before its time. Rest now, brother, in the ocean where the current always flows."

The body half of the merman was long gone by the time I finished. Carriedo was staring at me in wonder as I turned around and swam back to the ship. As I heaved myself onto the deck, I noticed the silence surrounding us. Looking around, I realized that the men of both ships were enchanted by the song. As it had not been directed towards them, they didn't jump in the water or crash the ships, yet they were still mesmerized. Before they could react to Carriedo and I being back onboard, I slipped to the little cell I spent most of my days in. I picked up the cleanest cloth I could and, using the water from the tub, scrubbed the silver liquid from my pores. I even dunked my head in the shallow water and scrubbed it from my scalp. Surprisingly, Merpeople's blood was one of the few things that could be used against other Merpeople. Prolonged exposure to another Merperson's blood could drive one to madness or even to death. The only explanation we had for it was that the parts that made the blood silver was toxic.

It took a surprisingly long time for Kirkland to visit me in my cell. His face still showed the stun he had felt earlier from hearing my song. "I take it the funeral went well, then," he mumbled. My voice refused to make words, so I just nodded. Somehow it made me feel better that he at least cared enough to come and check on me. "I wasn't able to tell you earlier, but.." He trailed off for a moment. He cleared his throat and looked at me. "I'm glad that you're okay. You seemed to be hit pretty hard, seeing one of your kind like that." I bristled at the term, realizing that he didn't really see us as equals. He didn't see me as an equal, after everything that we had gone through. It was disturbing to say the least, in some part of my mind.

-

The conversation that followed was largely one-sided. My voice had come back, but I didn't feel like talking and Kirkland still didn't understand sign. Most of what Kirkland talked about was where we were going and how long it would take to get there. I didn't really feel like caring about it, but I listened anyway. All of his words ended up going in through one ear and right back out the other. He either didn't mind or didn't notice as he quibbled through the night. Eventually he left for the both of us to sleep.

The hollow feeling was back, leaving me moving like a puppet. Nothing I did really mattered, it was just a placeholder for someone else to replace later. I went about doing what I could, taking my stance on deck that night. Other than the low hum of the winds pushing us along, it was completely quiet. Most of the others had fallen asleep, leaving me awake and almost completely alone. At one point I noticed a hum that had blended in with the wind. I looked over the side of the ship and saw two mermaids. They almost looked related as the beckoned me down to them. Checking for anyone else coming, I slowly climbed down the rungs on the side of the ship to get closer to the water.

Once I was close enough, I was able to spots on their necks that showed that they were mates. "We want to thank you, child," signed one. "You returned our son to his ocean home and gave him a beautiful farewell." The other sniffed and wiped her eyes. "You've come so far, child," stated the first one, "with such unexpected companions. They must truly care about your journey. May we ask why you have strayed this far?" I almost didn't know what to say to this. Slowly, I replied, "My mate was taken from me. My companions are helping me get him back." The two of them nodded and the sniffly one signed back, "We will give your ship a push to the nearest island as a form of our gratitude." I forced a smile and thanked her before climbing back onto the deck.

The men were still asleep when I returned, and none seemed to notice the ship's increased speed. My heart was pounding much too fast for me to be tired. Never would I have thought of the couple thanking me for paying respects to their son. It was something that anyone would have done. I decided to let it drop as I patrolled around the top deck. At this time, I saw the land off the port side of the ship. Turning around, I started towards Kirkland's quarters, only to be immediately met by a pair of light green eyes that seemed to illuminate a cocky smile. "Sorry, sheila, but this has to be done." With that, he punched me right under the jaw.

I woke up in a dark area that stank of Merpeople blood and stale water. My arms were tied tightly behind me and a disgusting gag was stuffed into my mouth. I looked around blearily, hearing someone else thrashing around in shallow water nearby. Once my eyes adjusted to the dark, I laid my eyes on a familiar figure I had hoped to see differently. His olive eyes were filled with tears with shallow cuts blemishing his beautiful tan skin. He slapped his tail urgently in the shallow water he was being kept in. He wanted to warn me about something, he wanted to talk to me. All of his emotions were overwritten with panic and sadness.

The man with the green eyes so close to Kirkland's kicked his tub in an effort to make him be quiet. His dark brown hair was teased into small spikes that fell across his head. A bandage was taped across his nose, just barely covering a healing gash. My mate whimpered, something I hadn't heard since long before we became mates. The brown haired man turned his attention to someone behind me with a smirk on his face. "Whaddya think, Allistair? This the pair ya need?" Before an answer was given, someone grabbed a bunch of my hair and started pulling me off. As I started to scream through the gag, a rough, calloused hand grabbed my throat and tossed me into the same tub as my mate. Glaring back at the owner of the hands, I saw the face of the man I had been having nightmares about, the red-haired Kirkland. With an animalistic grin, he nodded at the other man. "Aye, Jett," he declared in a growl, "This' jus' wha' ah need."