Re: Mermaids (but not like in the same verse as the first one)etothepiiJune 12 2011, 11:40:05 UTC
The pirates are smugglers, and it turns out their cargo is mermaid hide, the thick, scaled hide from their tails that guarantee its wearer Poseidon's favor and good fortune in the sea.
Real mermaid hide. John had always thought it was the skin of some other reptile, sold to the gullible. Apparently not.
The pirate ship is half-sunk, and the mermaids wait in a circle around it patiently, reminding John of vultures waiting for their prey to die. Or, in this case, to touch the water.
"They're not letting us leave," one of John's crewmates says, when the ship has gone and the mermaids have moved, instead, to circle around their ship. He gives a tuneless whistle, then laughs nervously.
"What do they want?" John asks, but he has a sinking feeling he already knows.
"The captives," the captain says, confirming his feelings. "They want everyone on that ship. We must sacrifice them."
"We can't!" John protests. "We're not murderers."
"I'd rather be a murderer than a dead man," someone mutters, and the crew rumbles assent.
"Look," John says desperately, moving between the rest of the crew and the captives. "They haven't attacked us yet, so there has to be more to it than just wanting to kill us."
"He still has their hide!" A captive shouts behind him, looking at one of the other pirates. "He's hoarding it!"
A search (a violent search, conducted by twenty panicking men) turns up the square of the hide in question, as well as an amulet with bones, worn under his clothes (they look like fish bones, but no one can be sure).
In the ensuing chaos, the pirate is thrown overboard, necklace and all. John throws the square of mermaid hide into the ocean after him.
"It didn't work," the captain says, when they have waited several minutes and the ship remains still. "Give them the rest of the pirates."
"Wait! No, wait, stop!" John shouts. "It's working, it's working! There were eight around us before! There's only six now! Search the rest of them first!"
They search and find four more pieces -- scraps of hide, ornaments made of bone, a handful of scales that are dull in John's hand but become iridescent with color once he dips them in water. He is the one least afraid of touching them, and it was his idea, so he is the one tasked with returning the items to the ocean.
He throws each thing over the edge of the ship, and with each item, one of the mermaids ducks beneath the surface of the water and doesn't come up again, until there is only one left, the dark-haired merman that had capsized the pirates' vessel, watching him solemnly.
"What do you want?" John asks softly, because that had been all they'd found. There was nothing left.
There is a shout from behind him, an ecstatic shout. "The wind! The wind's coming back!"
Cheers break out amongst the rest of the crew as the fog begins to clear and the sails begin to fill, and John remembers, Give it some blood before it take it from you.
He slices into the palm of his right hand, letting the blood well up, and tips a handful of drops over the water. The wind blows it away from the ship.
"Thank you," John says into the wind as the merman disappears beneath the water.
There NEEDS to be more of this story, because this is amazing and it deserves to have like a hundred more chapters written about it. Then I would read it like crazy and be all joyful and giddy about it. I now also have Jolly Sailor Bold stuck in my head, but that's alright, it's a good song. thank you for writing this awesome stuff!
Real mermaid hide. John had always thought it was the skin of some other reptile, sold to the gullible. Apparently not.
The pirate ship is half-sunk, and the mermaids wait in a circle around it patiently, reminding John of vultures waiting for their prey to die. Or, in this case, to touch the water.
"They're not letting us leave," one of John's crewmates says, when the ship has gone and the mermaids have moved, instead, to circle around their ship. He gives a tuneless whistle, then laughs nervously.
"What do they want?" John asks, but he has a sinking feeling he already knows.
"The captives," the captain says, confirming his feelings. "They want everyone on that ship. We must sacrifice them."
"We can't!" John protests. "We're not murderers."
"I'd rather be a murderer than a dead man," someone mutters, and the crew rumbles assent.
"Look," John says desperately, moving between the rest of the crew and the captives. "They haven't attacked us yet, so there has to be more to it than just wanting to kill us."
"He still has their hide!" A captive shouts behind him, looking at one of the other pirates. "He's hoarding it!"
A search (a violent search, conducted by twenty panicking men) turns up the square of the hide in question, as well as an amulet with bones, worn under his clothes (they look like fish bones, but no one can be sure).
In the ensuing chaos, the pirate is thrown overboard, necklace and all. John throws the square of mermaid hide into the ocean after him.
"It didn't work," the captain says, when they have waited several minutes and the ship remains still. "Give them the rest of the pirates."
"Wait! No, wait, stop!" John shouts. "It's working, it's working! There were eight around us before! There's only six now! Search the rest of them first!"
They search and find four more pieces -- scraps of hide, ornaments made of bone, a handful of scales that are dull in John's hand but become iridescent with color once he dips them in water. He is the one least afraid of touching them, and it was his idea, so he is the one tasked with returning the items to the ocean.
He throws each thing over the edge of the ship, and with each item, one of the mermaids ducks beneath the surface of the water and doesn't come up again, until there is only one left, the dark-haired merman that had capsized the pirates' vessel, watching him solemnly.
"What do you want?" John asks softly, because that had been all they'd found. There was nothing left.
There is a shout from behind him, an ecstatic shout. "The wind! The wind's coming back!"
Cheers break out amongst the rest of the crew as the fog begins to clear and the sails begin to fill, and John remembers, Give it some blood before it take it from you.
He slices into the palm of his right hand, letting the blood well up, and tips a handful of drops over the water. The wind blows it away from the ship.
"Thank you," John says into the wind as the merman disappears beneath the water.
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oh my god
candle
STOP BEING SO AWESOME JESUS FUCKING CHRIST OKAY
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That? Was awesome! Sherlock is fucking perfect as a scary merman!
Now the next part where John falls into the water and THINGS HAPPEN :DD!
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