Toris

I had been quite shocked, when Feliks fetched me again. He stood in front of my door, with a nervous and sweaty face. At first I thought Natalya would have a fever again, but I dismissed my worry the moment Feliks explained me what the matter was.

"We have another one who got injured."

"How?" I asked him. How badly injured must this person be? Before he could give me any answer, I heard shouting orders all over the main deck. "Other pirates?"

He nodded and led me to Natalya's room.

As I opened the door, I thought I would hallucinate upon seeing the creature which was seated next to Miss Natalya. Never before had I laid my eyes on a mermaid.

"W-What?"

I was not the only one who seemed perplex by the sight of the legendary creature, as I saw that Natalya was irritated by all the persons who were present in her room. She had just woken up from her slumber. "Who are you? What is going on?" She ordered to know.

"She came here to warn us," Feliks told her after he rushed by her side. "And you really need to stay calm."

"What warning?"

Everyone looked at Feliks. "Well Nat, you see we are kinda being attacked."

The tense silence was unbearable but broken after seconds by Natalya's outburst. "What?"

She tried to stand up but was stopped by my hand which annoyed her. "What do you want? Get away from me!" she hissed spitefully.

"Miss Natalya, you need to stay calm, your injuries are still in the healing process." My words were completely ignored, when she stood up and tried to regain balance. She turned around and looked at me with fiery eyes, "See, I can stand perfectly fi-"

I caught her, before any other bone in her body would be broken. She was not unconscious, but her weakened state would only increase if she would put up a fight against her own body. The blonde pirate's position in my arms was very unpleasant for her.

"Okay, then lay me down. Stop holding me," she whispered slightly irritated. Her eyes wandered towards the mermaid and bluntly asked her to present herself.

"I am a mermaid under the command of the owner of the amulet."

"Yes a mermaid, I can see that. But with the owner you mean… The Prince?" Natalya asked with narrowed eyes. "If she is her to protect him then we are a threat for him."

"Why should I be a threat for you? I am warning you of the dangers outside so that protection for the Prince is granted," stated the mermaid monotonously.

"Well we abducted him because we wanted to steal the amulet in order to save the Captain."

After Natalya's brief explanation of how we are a hazardous threat for the Prince, the mermaid's face darkened a bit. If one would not observe it closely, one could not see her light frowning, "What do you mean? Did you take him by force against his will?"

"We had no choice." Natalya affirmed. The mermaid starred at her with a neutral expression. Even if she looked clamed and innocent, I knew that she was a potential enemy due to our former actions towards the Prince. If she was a protector of the amulet –therefore a protector of the Prince- she would do anything to ensure his safety. "Please, we mean no harm. I need to treat your wound otherwise you will bleed to death."

The mystical mermaid shot me a neutral look and nodded, "Alright."

Minutes passed and while I was stopping the mermaid's bleeding, a question came into my mind. I had a lot of questions for the creature which I only knew by books or tales. Being a polite man, I did not intend to ask her and as Feliks popped the question which I had in my mind, I was glad that it was he who inquired her.

"Can your tail transform into legs?"

Every person in the room stopped their current actions and focused their attention to Feliks and the concerned woman. She on the other hand wore a calm expression. "Yes, but as long as my body is in contact with water, my tail will remain."

Seeing this as a problem, Feliks looked around himself and started to rummage through Natalya's wardrobe and clothes to find any kind of linen for the mermaid. If her body would turn, she would at least be covered. On a ship full of male pirates, it was no good recommendation to wander around the main deck without clothes, especially as a female.

"I know this is like totally weird for you, but if your legs will show up, I want you wear this," he shot Natalya a warning glance. She wanted to object his idea of giving a strange woman her clothes.
As I was trying to treat her injuries, Feliks left the room to prepare for battle. Well that was the second plan, firstly we would try to get as far away from the enemy as possible. He insisted that I should stay in the room with both of the women.

I finally stopped her bleeding when her tail transformed itself into two legs. Being a Gentleman, I managed to give her the clothes just in time. After she was dressed, she explained her intentions concerning the Prince. "As long as he remains here, I will stay on the ship. I have dedicated my life to the task of protecting him and at the moment the approaching danger is constantly present." It was her way of saying that we would have another passenger on the ship.

"Thank you." She whispered quietly while touching her now bandaged leg. "You are the first Pirates who were gentle to me."

Hearing such words, I felt bad for her. She just wanted to honour her task in protecting the Prince but witnessed violation by the hands of others. That feeling was something I felt every day.
Even if we are not from the same kind, I knew that we could strike up a gentle friendship. She watched me with friendly eyes. "My name is Sakura."

"Sakura? An uncommon name, but beautiful," I smiled at her. "I am T-"

"Could you stop your talking!" hissed Natalya across the room. My head turned to her the moment she exclaimed her annoyance. She was staring at me with narrowed eyes and I could not stop my heart from beating faster. Against all common-sense, my body reacted positively to everything she did, even if her face was glaring me down. I did not look away and saw that her face grew redder and angrier making her turn her attention towards Sakura. The latter one on the other hand did not feel the least affected by it. "I apologise but I think it is important to know the name of the person who treated my wounds."

Natalya's face regained its usual expression. "If you want to know, it's Toris." The way she spoke it out – even if it was normal for other ears – made me cheerful. Before I realised what I was doing, my teeth produced a big smile. She looked away and muttered something my ears did not catch. For the remaining time, she averted her attention elsewhere and ignored Sakura and me but while the mermaid and I were chatting, I caught her glaring at us but diverted her eyes quickly before I could properly look at her.

It was still calm outside; I heard some voices but no shots of cannons. Upon hearing my sigh, Sakura told me about her instinctive feelings of danger. "We are still being followed, we have to face them at one point because they will catch up," she observed her arm.

It was the glowing mark on the upper part of her arm that caught my sight.

"I was born with it. My family is responsible to keep the owner of the necklace safe," Sakura told me. My curiosity grew, unfortunately she could not tell me more about it when we heard ruckus outside. "They are almost here."

Suddenly a panting Elizabeta charged into the room. "Toris, I need you to get Gilbert as quickly as you can."

[A/N: Headcanon: Liet and Japan get along very well :3. I also wanted nyo!japan to be a mix of her 1p and 2p :) ]