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Pearl was restless. She shifted around frequently at the table. She went about her duties with a sense of hurry that day. She silently wished the day would end quicker and the rest of her crew mates would go to sleep before long. She pushed her food around on her plate before sneaking it over to Amethyst. Afterwards, they went to the pub to drink to their heart’s content. Her fingers thrummed against the table, and then her thigh as she waited... and waited... and waited... and waited... until at last everyone was either stowed away in their hammock or quarters. The only soul she wasn’t certain of being Captain Lapis...
She made her way onto the deck, getting ready to step off the ship when she was run into by a drunk Captain Lapis. The Captain stumbled about half dressed and looking determined to do something? Pearl found herself feeling impatient and irritated.
“Oh, hi, Pearl.” She slurred. “What’re you doing out so late? I thought you were going to stay in bed all night.”
Pearl glanced over her captain, immediately discerning her drunken state. Clearly she was not amused. She glowered, especially so when her captain loosed a raspberry against her hand.
“Stars, Captain Lazuli, how immature can you possibly get? Don’t even answer that. It was rhetorical. As to why I was out, I was getting some fresh air. If I may, I’d like to ask the same of you, Captain. What are you doing out in such a state?”
“Figured I could get the ship inspection thingy done. Perfect time to get it done.”
The first mate looked at her captain in disbelief. Not on her watch was her captain going to do something this stupid. Especially with no other witnesses. That and Lapis really needed to just go rest and sleep off the alcohol. She turned the captain around and marched her straight into her quarters, captain joking about seducing her into her bed. Head on the pillow, Captain Lapis was out like a light, and that left Pearl to bide her time without worry once again.
Pearl slunk down the gangplank, ambled down the docks, and claimed a deserted area. After checking to make sure the coast was clear, she climbed down onto a support beam on the docks. It held her and would be an excellent place to hide her clothing for the time being, especially with the diagonal crossing beams. Quickly she shed her coat, trousers, blouse, and boots - she had previously tossed any weaponry aside on board the Malachite - and jumped into the warm waters. There she began to sing- to cast magic- she sung away her human disguise with the magics in her voice and returned to her original form: a siren. She flexed muscles that she hadn’t since they were last in port. The cursed siren dove underwater and crowed in delight - it had been far too long since they’d been in port and far too long since she’d swam like this.
She found herself so excited that she almost couldn’t figure out where she wanted to swim at first. As her sight became accustomed to the dark, she began to notice the soft colors that breathed in the distance. Was that a coral reef? She swam in that direction first, idly flicking her fin. She had all night to enjoy herself.
Cooling water and soft moonlight brushed her skin and seemed to make it glow in the moonlight, but not enough that she couldn’t blend in with the sand below. The siren admired the soft colors of the coral and anemones that graced the reef below her. She let her excess fins flare a bit and drag in the water continuing her leisurely pace.
Suddenly a low whistle and several clicks reached her ear stones. Pearl sighed, rolling her eyes. Male dolphins. Absolutely notorious flirts. One tried to approach her from above and another from below. She bared her fangs, flared her fins, and growled low to scare them off. It did little to intimidate the two dolphins closing in on her. With a scoff, the siren twisted her body and tail, coiling into a ball of strength. It took little effort to knock the two dolphins away from her. Hopefully for good.
She returned to her leisurely swimming, scouring the area for anything that might be interesting. Everything surrounding her seemed to either be parts of coral reefs or small shelves of rocks littered with coral and anemones. Eventually she stumbled upon a larger rocky outcrop further from the reef. She wondered if there was a cave system that might breech there. As she approached the outcrop, she felt herself become uneasy. Something dangerous might lay beyond that her instincts told her, as if there was a protective magic surrounding it. This became more apparent as the lack of surrounding sea life came to her attention.
Pearl glanced over the shelf of rocks to see who or what was the cause of her unrest as she passed by this particular area. She saw nestled on a rock above several more sirens a large framed siren. The hackles on the back of her neck raised as she watched the larger framed siren. She was unsure of who these sirens were, but the sheer numbers and the fact that they were so close to the establish-
Suddenly, magic like a shepherd's crook pulled Pearl away from the sleeping pack of sirens.
“ Fool ” She heard. “ Don’t get so close to them. They’ll kill you if given the chance .”
She couldn’t find the owner of the voice, especially since it was projected and warped from the sounds of it. This disappointed her and put her on edge. How could anybody else be down here? Where was this other-
“ Too late, half-pint. ”
“ Jasp- ”
Pearl whirled around to find a hulking, muscular figure looming over her. Gazing upon the figure, she felt the need to make herself appear smaller. She drew her fins closer to her and tucked pretty close to into a ball. She found herself worrying her knuckles and biting her lip. The eyes inspecting her seemed to soften gazing upon her cowering form.
“ Oi, twiggy, you must be quite lost if you’re this close to a human settlement. That or else desperate. Let me give you a fair warning, outcast. Don’t cross paths with me again, else I will disembowel you and leave your entrails for the sharks. As clan leader, do not take my threat idly. My clan may not have true territory, but you will not cross any area near my clan. Is that understood? ”
She nodded vehemently.
“ Good. Let the half-pint know the same. Tell ‘er Jasper sent you. ”
Pearl let the name bounce about in her head a moment before recognizing it. Her face blanched upon recognition. Especially since she had a very intimate view of the scarring across her face, arms, and torso. Immediately she turned tail and swam away. She swam straight back to the very docks where the ship was docked and gathered herself back into her human disguise and slipped back onto the ship.
One thing remained on her mind: She had to warn Captain Lapis. There was no doubt in her mind that she was the very same Jasper and was out following their ship. This was no coincidence. There was a very real and very murderous siren out there wanting to kill her captain.