Just a quick Author's Note...
I wanted to thank everyone who is reading my story! I appreciate all of your reviews and support! Special shoutout to PurpleKorea134 who has been faithfully reading and leaving such nice reviews on each chapter :) Go check out her JimxAriel fanfic called The Palace Guard! Also, I post drawings that go along with this story on my DeviantArt; if you're interested in checking it out, my username is MissMochaccino :)
Melody felt sunlight burning through her eyelids. She shifted uncomfortably in the sand and glanced around at the palm trees all around her. What had happened? Where was she? Her soggy dress was clinging to her legs, which were covered in sand. She stood up shakily and proceeded to brush off as much of it as possible. Wait. She had legs again? The last thing she remembered, she was still a mermaid. She had found land and gotten Jim ashore...then she took off her necklace...
She grasped at her neck and realized that she wasn't wearing it! Looking around frantically, she suddenly smelled food and followed the scent a few feet around the corner. There she found Jim crouching over a fire, cooking fish that he had impaled on a sharpened stick. His boots were lying near the fire and he had left his shirt hanging on a low-lying branch of a nearby tree to dry off in the sun. He stood up and turned around when he heard her approach, sticking his makeshift spear in the sand. Melody felt heat rise in her cheeks as she tried not to stare at his tanned chest and abdominal muscles. She knew she was being silly, for she was used to seeing mermen who wore no clothing at all. But this was different. She noticeably turned away to look at anything other than Jim.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to -" she stammered.
"No, I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting you to be up so soon. I thought I had enough time to let my clothes dry," he explained, grabbing his shirt and pulling it over his head. "Okay you can look now," he teased. Melody scoffed in amusement.
"Have you seen my locket?"
"Yeah, I've got it," he fished it out of his pocket and handed it to her. She tentatively raised it over her head to put it on. "Are you sure you wanna do that?"
"It should be fine. I think it only works if I'm in the water," she ventured to guess.
"If you say so," Jim was unconvinced.
"So, how long was I out?" Melody rubbed her eyes.
"About an hour or so. You had me scared for a minute there."
"Yeah, sorry...this is all new to me. It never hurt when my grandfather transformed me...this...Sea Stone must work differently somehow."
"A mystery for later, perhaps," Jim said with uncertainty. "Hungry? You eat fish, right...?" he gestured to a palm frond laying near the fire, stacked with freshly cooked fish.
"Only unintelligent fish, and I'm starving!" Melody could feel her mouth watering.
Jim just laughed and handed her a clean frond, placing a few fish on it.
"No really, I'm not joking," she sat down and took a bite of fish. "In Atlantica, most sea life are intelligent and considered citizens. The further away you travel, the more likely you are to find ordinary fish."
"Uh huh...and how do you tell the difference?" Jim raised an eyebrow, taking a seat across from Melody.
"Easy. Intelligent fish can talk," Melody said matter-of-factly. "And maybe I'm just really hungry, but this fish is excellent!"
"So, you can talk to fish?" Jim had stopped eating, curious about Melody's ever-growing list of special talents.
"Like I said, as long as they're intelligent," Melody nodded. "I know it's a lot to take in, but trust me on this."
"Hey, who am I to question a mermaid princess?" he held up his hands in defeat, then stood up. "I'll be right back; eat as many fish as you want."
When Jim had walked several feet away from camp, he pulled his communicator out of his pocket. After Melody had passed out, he carried her inland to find a good place to make camp, away from the tide. Then he remembered that he still had the device in his pocket, so he left it out to dry. Now he examined it, hoping it would still work. He pressed down a button on the side and heard static. That was a good sign.
"Captain Howell, this is Lieutenant Hawkins, do you read me?" he paused for a minute. No answer.
"Henley, it's Jim, do you read me?" another minute passed by with no response. Darn it. Either water logged or Henley's simply not available. Gonna have to send out an SOS signal and hope he gets it. Jim pushed the button on the opposite side and cleared his throat.
"SOS, this is Lieutenant James Hawkins from the Rising Tide. I am marooned on an island, current coordinates unknown. Track my location and find me inland."
That would have to suffice for now. He turned to head back to camp, and came face to face with Melody.
"Who were you talking to just now?" she looked confused, and she had every right to be. How was he going to explain himself?
"Uhhh," he began. Oh, very clever Jim! He stuffed the communicator into his pocket, then ran a hand through his hair. Would it really be so bad to tell her? They were as good as dead if no one found them soon anyway. And she clearly trusted him with her biggest secret, so surely she could be trusted with his...
"Are you keeping secrets from me, Jim?" Melody smirked and crossed her arms.
"Okay, okay," he grasped his chin and paced back and forth, deliberating on where to begin. "Since you trusted me with your secrets, I'm going to trust you with mine, okay?"
"I'm listening," now her hands were on her hips.
"So, I'm not from around here," he started off vaguely. "Just like Atlantica being hidden in the ocean, I come from a place that's hidden in the sky," he pointed upwards, hoping she would understand what he was about to tell her. "The entire world you know, is called Planet Earth. I am from a different planet, miles and miles away."
"Wow...okay," Melody's eyes widened. "Another planet...cool!"
Jim was surprised at her reaction. Best case scenario, he thought she would freak out and be angry at him for essentially lying to her this whole time. Not only did she seem to comprehend the idea of another planet, but she seemed to be fascinated by it!
"So what was that thing you were talking to earlier?" she didn't skip a beat.
He pulled out the device again, displaying it on his open palm. "This is a communicator. It's a piece of technology that we spacers use to talk to other spacers long distances away. I was using it to send out an SOS to Captain Howell so he can find us."
"Captain Howell is from your planet too? And what's a 'spacer'?" she looked confused again.
"A spacer is basically your world's version of a sailor. Except our ships sail through space instead of water. And yes, the captain is my handler while I train here. We were both sent by the Intergalactic Space Academy, which is just our version of the Royal Navy," he explained as simply as he could, though he had to give Melody credit. She was a lot smarter and more open-minded than he would have thought.
"I see, so what are you training for? And why here...on...Earth?"
"Everyone has to train in a foreign world for their last year of training. We're each given a communicator to keep in contact with our handlers, but other than that, we have to learn to survive without the use of all the technology that we grew up with," he was really glad that Henley had taken the time to teach him some practical survival tips before this journey. Otherwise, they would most likely starve before help could arrive.
"What kind of technology? Anything like your communicator?" Melody was eager to learn more about his world.
"Yeah, where to begin? We have weapons that shoot lasers, holograms that can display anything out of light particles, and..." he suddenly remembered his solar surfer. That was probably the technology that he missed the most. "You remember when I was telling you about surfing?"
"Like it was last night," Melody smirked. Had it really been less than 24 hours since they shared dinner in the galley?
"Right, well, I sorta lied about that. I had a solar surfer when I lived back on Montressor, the planet that I'm from. I could use it to fly and surf the clouds. It was my favorite thing to do, but it often got me into trouble because I would fly through areas that were off limits."
"Why, Jim! Such a rebel!" Melody laughed. "And here I thought my bodyguard was of the upmost professionalism and candor."
"Yeah, I could say the same about you! Little miss ditch her bodyguard and dive off the freaking ship," he had to laugh too.
"What a pair we make, huh?" Melody nudged him with her elbow.
"Yeah, what a pair..." he shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I should scout out the area. This island is probably deserted, but it wouldn't hurt to check things out."
"Sounds like fun!" she jumped up excitedly. "Where should we explore first?"
"Whoa, we?" Jim did not think she was in any condition to go exploring right now.
"Yes! I am not letting you have the adventure all to yourself," her arms were crossed again.
"Are you sure you wouldn't rather hang out here and rest? You did have a rough night," he tried to reason with her.
"So did you! And I love exploring; I get it from my mother," she smiled mischievously. "So you cannot order me to stay, Lieutenant."
"Alright then, as you wish, princess," he held out his arms in the direction he was planning to go. "After you."
Melody was initially overwhelmed when Jim revealed the truth about himself. She supposed that was exactly the way Jim felt when she had explained her mermaid heritage to him. She smiled inwardly at his trust. Now they were exploring uncharted territory on a presumed-to-be-deserted island.
This trip was definitely turning out to be way more fun than she ever could have hoped for. What if we never get rescued? What if we end up living on this island with no responsibilities? That would be amazing, she mused to herself. At least until they explored the entire island - then she would surely become bored again. Her heart craved adventure. She wondered what it was like to be a spacer, to be free to sail the open skies and explore limitless worlds. Maybe she could convince Jim to take her to space someday. She knew it wasn't a realistic thing to hope for, but she allowed herself to wistfully daydream about it anyway. This caused her to fall behind as Jim ended up taking the lead, pushing branches and foliage out of their path.
They soon reached a small clearing in the jungle, shaded by the palm trees overhead. Jim stopped to pick up something he saw in the sand.
"What is that?" Melody asked, almost bumping into him.
He held it up for her to see. "Looks like a gold coin."
"What's it doing here?" she took it and examined it. "This is a type of currency I've only seen in my books. It's easily over a hundred years old."
"Maybe this island isn't deserted after all," Jim scanned the clearing. "We'd better be more careful. No telling what - or who - we'll find..."
Melody walked into the clearing, keeping her gaze focused on the surrounding jungle. She suddenly cried out in pain as she felt something sharp prick her foot.
Jim caught her as she stumbled, and made her sit down on a large boulder while he examined the sand where she had left a few drops of blood. He found what he was looking for and dug carefully around it, before pulling out a small dagger.
"This is why you should have stayed at the beach," he held up the dagger, its tip coated red. "Bare feet are not a good idea for exploring."
"It's not my fault! I lost my boots in the water when I turned into a mermaid," she squeezed her foot, grimacing as she did so.
"Here, let me take a look," he knelt by her side and picked up her foot. "Well luckily, the blade didn't go through. Still pretty deep though, we're gonna need something to stop the bleeding."
Melody nodded and tore a wide strip from the hem of her dress and handed it to Jim. "It was too long anyway," she shrugged.
"That'll do," he wrapped it tightly around her foot and tied it securely in place. "You okay to walk?"
"Mm-hmm," she got up and balanced on her other foot. "Good to go!" she gave him a thumbs up. There was no way she was going to give him the satisfaction of sending her back to the beach, so she made sure to walk at a decent pace.
Jim shook his head at her stubbornness and stuck the dagger in the pocket of his boot. It might come in handy later.
Jim led the way deeper into the jungle, keeping a close eye on Melody. The moment she started to fall behind, he was going to take her back to camp. He would carry her if he had to. She may be stubborn, but she's certainly no crybaby. Jim was actually impressed by her resilience, foolish though it was. Walking on her injured foot was surely no small task, and it made him wonder just how much pain she must have been in that morning when she transformed back into a human. Bad enough for her to cry out for help, and Jim had a suspicion that asking for help or complaining was not her style. She was turning out to be a lot stronger than he ever would have expected for a princess. He shook his head. He had to stop thinking about her in that way, it would only lead to trouble.
They had made it quite a distance, following a path that had presented itself. Jim noted that there was very little overgrowth, and he grew concerned. That could only mean that the path was still in use. He thought again of the gold coin he had found. Did Earth have pirates?
"So Jim, that 'old friend' you mentioned last night while we were adrift, is he a spacer too?" Melody broke the silence.
"Yeah, you could say that," Jim thought of Silver fondly. He wasn't about to tell her that his friend was actually a pirate. Or a cyborg, for that matter. How in the world would be explain that one?
"Do you see him often?" she pressed for more information.
"Nah, I haven't seen him in about 6 years," it pinged his heart to say aloud. Silver taught him so much in such a short amount of time. He was the father figure that he never had. "I met him on board the RLS Legacy back when I was 15. He was the ship's cook. I had discovered a map to another planet that was said to contain the loot of a thousand worlds, and a family friend took me on an expedition to find it. Along the way, Silver and I became good friends. He even saved my life. I haven't seen him since then though."
"Whoa, you never told me you were a treasure hunter! That must have been so exciting! And it sounds like a dear friend indeed. Do you miss him?" Melody seemed to perk up at this revelation.
"Honestly, every day," he felt comfortable enough with her to speak candidly. "It really hurt to say goodbye."
"Maybe you'll see him again someday," she offered.
"I highly doubt it, but I appreciate your optimism," he half smiled.
"Sure, you should try it," she winked. "Don't be such a pessimist."
"I prefer to think of myself as pragmatic. I don't like to get my hopes up if there's no reasonable evidence to do so," he replied. The irony of the fact that he was hoping she felt the same way he found himself feeling towards her was not lost on him. Come on Jim, stop doing this to yourself. It could never happen.
"How's your foot?" he changed the subject.
"It's alright, I can still walk," she replied. He knew she was lying, but a slight crack distracted him. He stopped, holding up a hand. "Don't move."
Melody froze mid step. "What's wrong?"
"I heard something..." he stared at the ground they stood on, searching for what he was sure was some sort of booby trap.
Melody suddenly shifted her weight, and a large net snapped out of the sand, capturing them both and flinging them up into the air. Crap.
Melody wasn't sure what was going on, but Jim had stopped short and told her to freeze. She obeyed, accidentally putting more weight on her injured foot. Surely it would be okay to just lift her foot slightly...
SNAP!
Suddenly they were bundled up in a net, hanging from a tree.
"Sorry," she knew it was her fault.
"It's okay, I'll cut us loose," Jim reached for the dagger in his boot. Suddenly they heard voices coming nearer.
"Jim, someone's coming!" Melody pointed in the direction of the voices. There was no time to escape. Whoever these people were, if they had left this trap, they couldn't be friendly. The pearl. She couldn't let them take it from her, but what to do with it? She opened her locket and took the pearl out. Without thinking, she popped it into her mouth and swallowed hard.
"What the heck did you do that for?" Jim stared at her in shock. She was shocked herself.
"I can't let them take the Sea Stone!" she whispered fiercely. "I didn't know what else to do!"
"Well, jeez!" Jim whispered back. "I had a plan!"
"Oh..." was all she could respond with, while mentally face palming herself.
Suddenly, two men appeared down the path, brandishing swords. One had an eye patch, the other was missing a couple of fingers on his right hand. Pirates.
"And what have we here?" the one with the eye patch eyed them curiously, pointing his sword at the rope holding the net up.
"Just a couple of sailors seeking shelter. We were marooned by our crew and were hoping to find other...gentlemen of fortune," Jim lied.
"Cut him down, Patchy! Let's take 'em to the Cap'n and see what he makes of their story," the other pirate sneered up at them suspiciously.
"Patchy" took one swipe with his sword and cut the net down, dropping them unceremoniously to the ground in a tangled heap. Melody blushed as she realized that she had landed right on top of Jim, and was it her imagination, or was he blushing too? In any event, she was pulled off of him by the man who was missing fingers, who held her arms tightly behind her back.
"This little wench doesn't look like a sailor to me..." he breathed down her neck, prompting Melody to stomp her good foot into his shin and elbow him in the gut. He fell over with an oof! and started shouting at Patchy to grab her. Melody sprinted past him, grabbing Jim by the arm. Her foot was screaming in protest, but she ignored the pain.
Before Jim realized what was happening, he saw Melody take out one of the pirates and now they were running for their lives.
"Where did you learn to do that?" he asked, impressed by her moves.
"My father had me take lessons in simple combat. He never wanted me to be in a position where I couldn't protect myself," Melody huffed, trying to concentrate on running.
"Well thanks for doing my job for me!" he laughed in between breaths. "Are you sure you even need a bodyguard?"
"Never said I did," she winked at him.
Jim noticed that they had run out of road, as a cliff loomed before them. He skidded to a halt and reached out to grab Melody's skirt to stop her before she went over the edge. He leaned forward and saw that it was a sheer drop into the ocean below. We must have reached the other end of the island. They both whirled around at the sound of approaching shouts. There wasn't much choice here...
"You ready?" he turned to Melody and glanced at the cliff, insinuating what they both knew was the only escape.
She narrowed her eyes and gave him the most beautifully sly smile he had ever seen. "Ready."
They took a few steps back, hand in hand, before taking a running leap off the edge of the cliff. Jim felt his stomach leap up into his chest as gravity took hold. He had performed a similar move dozens of times on his solar surfer, and it was exhilarating.
"Wooooohooo!" he let out a shout. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Melody looking at him with a look of ...adoration? Psh, yeah right. She just thinks I'm crazy! Then they hit the water with a splash, cutting through the surface and getting swept up in the cold waves.
Melody felt the adrenaline course through her veins as they dove into the water. She had never jumped from that high a distance before, and it was breathtaking. Literally. She forgot to take a deep breath before going under, and she knew she didn't have much time to resurface and replenish her oxygen supply. She really didn't want to depend on spontaneously growing gills again, especially since she had swallowed the Sea Stone and did not yet know how it would affect her body. She didn't feel any different, but she wasn't so naive to think that doing such a risky thing wouldn't have consequences.
Finally, she broke through the surface and gulped down sweet air. Jim popped up next to her, doing the same.
"That was crazy!" she exclaimed. "Let's do it again!"
Jim burst out laughing. "You're crazy! But I wouldn't argue with that sentiment."
They started paddling to shore, which was a bit more difficult than it had been this morning, since the low tide was now sucking them back into the ocean. With every kick, Melody's foot ached and stung from the saltwater. She pressed on anyway, not willing to show any weakness in front of Jim. She wouldn't admit it to herself, but it did actually please her greatly to see how impressed he was with how she had handled herself.
After fighting the tide for several minutes, they pulled themselves onto the damp sand, sprawling out on their backs to rest for a moment. Once he had caught his breath, Jim sat up, looking around at the beach.
"I think we cut across the island, so camp is going to be quite the walk from here," he mused. "But with sunset approaching, we might want to make a second camp."
"Okay, where's a good place?" Melody jumped to her feet, which betrayed her and sent her stumbling back into the sand. Jim jumped up and went to her side. She was trying to get up again, embarrassed at her clumsiness.
"Hey, slow down a sec. Let's take a look at your foot," he attempted to settle her down. Melody grimaced as Jim picked up her foot and unraveled the strip of cloth that was a little worse for wear at that point. Her foot like it was on fire, and she was sure it didn't look much better than that.
"Well, what's the damage?" she asked Jim.
"Not as bad as I expected, actually. I think the saltwater helped flush out all the dirt and debris that likely gathered up. The wound still looks pretty angry though, I wouldn't recommend walking on it."
"Nonsense, I can make it to wherever we're going to set up camp. Now that we're not running from pirates, I can take my time."
Jim groaned. "You are really stubborn, you know that?"
"My mother says I'm incorrigible," she smiled sweetly. "If you'll help me up, I can manage."
He stood up then extended his hand to her, which she accepted graciously and used to pull herself up to a standing position. They started to make their way up the beach, with Melody's arm thrown around Jim's neck as he helped her walk up the hill.
"I think this is a cove over here. We should be safe from detection in here," Jim observed.
Melody nodded, becoming slightly alarmed as she felt her legs going numb. She did her best to move forward as they reached the top of the sandy hill.
"You doing okay?" Jim was staring intently at her with concern.
"Y-yeah, just fine," she lied. Oh Mel, just tell him you need to rest! Quit being so stubborn! She sighed. "Actually, could we rest a minute? I can't feel my legs."
Without notice, Jim scooped her up into his arms and started walking down the other side of the hill, into the cove. Melody's surprise was only rivaled by the strange sensation she felt in the pit of her stomach. She tried to ignore it and clasped her hands around Jim's neck.
They soon reached some some rocky patches near a pool of water within the cove, fed through a narrow opening in the rocks and sand that led out to the sea.
Jim carefully set Melody down in the sand, then sat next to her.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
"I'm okay, really," she faked a smile. He gave her a stern look.
"Alright, fine. My legs are still numb, but at least my foot doesn't hurt anymore," Melody conceded.
"Probably due to exhaustion. You should feel better after resting. Are you okay right here while I go gather some firewood?" he stood up hesitantly.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Go ahead," she nodded. "I'll be here."
"Okay," he reached into his boot and withdrew the dagger. "Take this, just in case. I'll be right back."
Melody took the dagger and stuck it in the sand next to her as Jim disappeared over the hill. She leaned heavily against the giant rock behind her and breathed deeply, the excitement of the day having worn her out. She didn't want to alarm Jim, but she felt sick. She couldn't quite explain it, but something felt...off.
She noticed that with each breath, it was taking less and less time to fill her lungs. It was as if they were shrinking. She tried not to panic, taking small, purposeful breaths. Reaching up to her neck, she could feel her delicate skin splitting into slits. Not again...
Her legs suddenly felt tingly, as if thousands of minnows were tickling them with bubbles. She instinctively drew them together as her hips seemed to shift lower on her body, her legs elongating as well. Her skin stretched too, before beginning to tear away in several places to reveal pale orange scales underneath. Mercifully, this time it didn't hurt. It just felt, odd.
She pressed her legs together more firmly now, and the fresh scales receded from her inner thighs and calves as the two limbs melted into one. The scales shifted back into place and began to take on a deeper hue, until they were the same coral color of her mermaid tail. Next, her feet began to flatten and stretch out, then fanning out into transparent fins. The process seemed to heal her injured foot, as she could see no evidence of the gash that had been there. She was only left with a long, heavy tail.
I need to get to the water.
Her dress was doing nothing but weighing her down, so she decided to just remove it. That proved to be more difficult than she thought it would, however, as the skirt was pinned beneath her tail. Seeing the dagger beside her, she used that to slice herself out of the dress, leaving scraps of fabric all over the sand. For once, she was thankful to be wearing a corset, as she had no other articles of clothing with her. Rolling herself onto her stomach, she swung herself around to face the water that was pooled up in the cove. Using her arms, she tried to pull herself towards the water, but her tail was like dead weight behind her, and was hardly budging. The exertion was making her hyperventilate, as her tiny lungs quickly used up what little air they could hold. She reached out in front of her, one arm at a time, attempting to pull herself closer to the water. She had only managed to move herself a few inches before she passed out in the sand.
Jim reckoned that he had sufficient firewood for the night, and turned back toward the cove. He hoped that Melody was able to get some sleep tonight. As he reached the top of the hill, he dropped all the pieces of driftwood and branches that he had gathered.
Melody was a mermaid again.
He ran down the hill towards her and noticed all of the pieces of her dress lying around. He blushed when he realized that she was only in a corset. Keep it together Jim, you need to help her! He knelt down, rolled her onto her back and placed his ear close to her chest. She was breathing shallowly. It didn't sound good. Jim suddenly remembered what Melody had said to him about only being able to breathe above water for short periods of time when in her mermaid form. He silently cursed himself. He never should have left her alone!
He placed one arm under her back, and the other under her tail so he could lift her off the ground. He was right that morning. Her tail really was heavy! He managed to lift her up into his arms and trudged toward the water, wading in until he was waist deep. He carefully lowered her into the water until she was fully submerged. He could see tiny bubbles escaping her mouth as water entered it. Her chest slowly began to rise and fall at a more steady pace, which calmed his nerves. She would be alright.
Melody's eyes slowly opened, and she looked up at him hazily. She attempted to speak, but he shook his head at her.
"No, just focus on breathing," he said softly. She closed her eyes again and seemed to drift off to sleep. Jim allowed her to sink to the bottom of the shallow pool so that she could have plenty of water as she rested. He eventually waded back to shore where he started the fire. He took his boots off to dry and folded his shirt into a makeshift pillow, then fell into an exhausted slumber.
Melody's eyes snapped open and she began to panic for a moment as she realized that she was underwater. The sunlight was piercing through the crystal blue waters, illuminating the shallow pool she found herself in. She glanced down at her tail and groaned.
She swished her tail to propel her up to the surface, where she saw Jim sleeping near the boulder that she had transformed at. He must have brought her into the water, because she did not remember getting very far last night. He really deserved much higher pay; she was certain that none of the things he had done the past day were part of his original job description. He had to be exhausted, so she decided not to wake him up just yet.
A moment later, however, she could hear heavy footsteps over the hill near their hideout. The pirates!
"Jim!" she whispered loudly. He didn't stir. She huffed, and then prepared to splash him with water. What actually happened, though, was that she sent a mini tidal wave pouring onto him! He jolted upright from the rude awakening and looked around.
"Jim!" she waved at him. "I think someone's coming!" Melody pointed at the hill where she heard the footsteps. Jim immediately jumped to his feet, brandishing the dagger, just a large figure reached the top of the hill. Jim's jaw dropped, along with the dagger.
"Silver?"