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The heart of man is
very much like the sea,
it has its storms,
it has its tides
and in its depths
it has its pearls too.
-Vincent Van Gogh
———-
“Staring at anything in particular today, Captain?” Fumikage blinked and turned to the source of the voice. One would normally jump at the sight of a giant 6 armed figure suddenly towering over them, but Fumikage was used to his best friend’s strange appearance as well as his knack for accidentally sneaking up on people.
Turning back to the sea over the starboard side he wasted no words and simply replied “We’re being followed.”
His friend tensed slightly at his words. “Should I change our course?”
Fumikage stared at the rippling ocean in consideration. “I don’t think that will be necessary, Mezo.”
The man next to him tilted his head in a quiet inquiry. Mezo’s eyes showing traces of confusion and worry.
“It’s not a ship that trails behind us, but a single being.”
“Really?” The giant turned to the water as well. “Want me to go ask them why they’re following us?”
Again Fumikage took a moment to consider before answering. “I don’t think they have a malevolent intention. Besides, we don’t know if they have a taste for octopus.” His voice holding traces of humor at his joke.
Fumikage couldn’t see the smile under Mezo’s mask but knew it was there. “Very well. Shall we continue onto the next heist then?” He rumbled.
That pulled the Captain out of his brooding. “Yes. I will have Dark Shadow keep an eye out for the being until we reach the outside of the bay.” At his words a large black feathered bird chirped a sound of confirmation. The two men nodded to it before the Captain lead the way up onto the poop deck with a swish of his long coat.
———-
Tsu hated pirates. They were cruel, selfish, barbaric and completely motivated by greed. The town near her cove had been hit by pirates a small handful of times but each time had been burned into her memory.
The first was when she was very young, probably about seven years old. The fishing town had been hit in the middle of the night and because of that her father had not known the sight they would be walking into. Tsu would forever be grateful that her mother, who had stayed behind with her newly born sister and little brother who hadn’t fully grown his land lungs yet, hadn’t witnessed the horrific scene.
Half of the buildings had been burned to the ground, their supports and blackened chimneys sticking into the air like ribs of a dead beast. The whole area was coated in a thin layer of ash and the sounds of people mourning. The first person Tsu had seen coming into the tiny town was the kindly old woman who would give her candy in exchange for pretty shells. Normally she would greet young Tsu with a bright smile and playful eyes but that day her expression was nothing like that. She had looked up at them with eyes dead and glassy, tear tracks cutting through the ash on her face into an open mouth that wailed with no sound.
They had killed her daughter. No reason other then she hadn’t gotten out of the way fast enough and had made easy target practice. Tsu would forever, with every inch of her being, despise the pirates that she never even saw.
The second time she was eleven. And that time she had the unfortunate pleasure of seeing them pull right into the cove. She had been swimming further out in the bay to gather seaweed for the dinner she was helping her mom make that night when a herd of Kelpie had nearly plowed her over. She nearly had her head kicked in by a stray hoof before she managed to get one of them to calm down enough to say what they where panicking about. Well, not necessarily say, but project an image in her mind of a large ominous feeling ship.
Despite the early warning Tsu couldn’t do a thing as she watched the ship lay anchor and poor out the filthy pirates into her poor town. She had tried moving the anchor, drilling holes into the ship, and even tipping the rowboats but it was no use. The anchor was too heavy, the keel to thick for a tiny hand made drill to do any damage, and the moment she tipped the first boat the others had opened fire on her. She still had a scar on her shoulder from being grazed by a spear. These pirates didn’t burn the town down but they did take practically everything, money, furniture, fishing nets, and all of the food storage. That winter, eight people died of starvation.
The third time, Tsu was sixteen and it was probably the worst for her to watch. See, these pirates weren’t after the money, supplies or stored food. They were looking for people. They were stealing people. People soon to be slaves. Tsu had cried as the ship left. She had only managed to steal back one young boy. One single person saved out of thirty seven taken.
Needless to say Tsu’s blood practically boiled when she saw the quick black hulled ship roll into her harbor. The slaver pirates had only been two years ago and she was never going to let that happen again. She had no idea how she was going to stop this ship but she was willing to go down trying if it meant saving the human town who had been so kind and accepting of her people and family.
With a determined kick of her webbed feet Tsu sped towards the ship only to pull up short when she saw something else also swimming directly towards the ship from the other side. At first she thought it might be dolphin or maybe a lone Kelpie. Her eyes had widened when she realized it was a eighteen foot long octopus moving at speeds that should not be possible for its species. She blinked hard and double checked it wasn’t a giant squid lost in the shallows but no. It was definitely an octopus.
Her shock deepened even further when the ocean giant had shot itself out of the water! Tsu managed to kick to the surface in time to watch the beast shed half of it’s bulk into clumps of seafoam streaming behind it before landing on the deck of the ship! And that wasn’t even the most astonishing thing! When it landed it was no longer an octopus but a human. Well, a giant human with six arms but still!
“What in the seven seas...” Tsu mumbled. Could all of the pirates do that? What kind of pirates where on this crazy jet black ship? Tsu was well aware of sea creatures changing forms to walk on the land, she was one herself, but last she checked wereoctopus were not a thing. Tsu decided she would watch from a distance for now and choose a course of action when she had more information.
Her confusion only grew when she saw they were flying a plain white flag. The universal sign of surrender or truce, on a bloody pirate ship?! As if her day didn’t get any weirder they then unloaded into boats not only themselves but several chests and bags full of unknown items. Do they not know how pirating works? You were supposed to come back with the loot, not go in with it. Unless the bags and chests were full of weapons?
Tsu sunk her head back below the surface and began swimming adjacent to the boats, carefull not to be spotted. The last thing she needed was a run in with the human octopus being. Soon they were at the docks and the pirates unloaded on the dock and just... stood there. Tsu’s current confusion was unmatched by any of her past experiences with the emotion. She was still staring at the pirates when they parted to let someone to the front of the group.
Tsu blinked. It was clearly the captain and yet he was nothing like what she expected. To start, he had a crow head. Tsu had seen many kinds of people and creatures in her life but she had only ever heard of the Avia people. They were supposedly a peaceful people with a colorful culture and unique magic, many seas away. Guess every group had their outliers. Staring at the captain she took in his distinct lack of color, the opposite of what she had heard about his people. Black captain’s hat, black button up vest over a white v neck shirt, black pants tucked into knee high black boots, long flaring black coat with high collar, and several black belts. The only color on the man was from beads strung on a few of his feathers, a red bandanna loosely tied around his neck, the occasional glint of silver from several buckles, and a single violet feather sticking out of his hat. He cut quite the figure but strangely not a very intimidating one.
The captain called into the town. Tsu blinked in surprise at not only the calm and even tone but also the surprisingly young and rich voice. She had missed what the man had said, his voice carried over the water but not clearly, but she did turn to look in the direction he was facing. Most of the town’s people would have fled or hidden the moment they saw the ship. They weren’t trusting of unfamiliar ships anymore. She didn’t think anyone was even there to answer-
A man stepped out of the town into view. Tsu didn’t know the man personally but knew of him and that his opinion was well valued in the tiny coastal town. The pirate captain and the fisherman met halfway and talked. Tsu was practically in shock at that point and everything after that passed in a blur. The pirates traded several sacks of foreign food and a couple chests of gold in exchange for supplies and many random items. One pirate even bought a scarf from the town’s old knitting lady, smiling kindly and giving the woman a ruby the size of a large marble. After that they left. Nothing burnt down, no one hurt or taken, not a single thing stolen. It was practically a miracle.
Tsu didn’t believe in miracles.
She watched as the blackened ship heaved up its anchor and she made a decision. Tsu wasn’t sure what lead her to the decision. Maybe it was because she had spent her whole life in the same bay and tiny town. Maybe it was the lure of knowing what exactly the octopus man was. Maybe it was just plain overwhelming curiosity about so many things. Why where these pirates not pirating? Where did they get this strange black ship with the name Fallen Angel scrawled in red on the side. Why was the young man from a far away land the Captain yet despite his power he had seemed... sad?
Tsu quickly swam back to the underwater cave that was her home. She had much to do in very little time.
She was going to follow that ship.
———
It took a while to even figure out what exactly Dark Shadow had seen following him. The bird was extremely intelligent but he was still a bird meaning his vocabulary was limited. Even with Fumikage’s magic making the gap between their understandings small he still didn’t quite get what the bird was trying to describe.
Only after consulting with Kouda, a quiet man in his crew with magic that allows him to talk to animals, that he realized that Dark Shadow wasn’t necessarily bad at describing the being but more of he hadn’t properly seen it. An impressive feat considering Dark Shadow had very keen eyes.
After a day of Dark Shadow randomly reporting small details Fumikage began to put together a picture of the being. They were mostly humanoid, with long dark green hair and large eyes. They did however have webbed hands and swam at incredible speeds. At first he thought they had caught the attention of a mermaid but Dark Shadow quickly shut that down saying they had legs, no tail. The captain rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully. He really wasn’t sure what they were or why they were following them. Just to be safe he decided to put guards on duty tonight. His first mate, Mezo, would take care of arranging that.
After the sun had slowly sank back into the sea Fumikage had waited through several hours of Dark Shadow having not seen any signs of the being following them. Eventually Fumikage decided they had probably stopped following them. The Fallen Angel was a very fast ship and swimming along side of it all day must have worn them out so much that they gave up.
With a small shrug to himself he went to bed. It was late, even for him, and he had a ship to run properly the next day. He felt he had hardly closed his eyes when he was suddenly awoken by Dark Shadow(who basically never slept) streaming into his bunk with the first rays of sunlight hot on his tail.
Fumikage squinted in slight frustration at both the sun and his animal companion. However his mild annoyance evaporated the second he heard that the being was back and on his ship!
He had whirled out of bed and changed as quickly as possible. He whirled past the guard and the helmsman, only sparing them a quick wave when they looked at him questioningly, and followed his avian companion to the bow of the ship. Only to squint at Dark Shadow again, this time in confusion, when the bird had landed on the railing above the bowsprit and simply stared down.
“Dark Shadow, what is the meaning of this?” Fumikage asked.
“Hole.” Was all the response he got in return.
Frowning to himself, the captain leaned over the railing to examine the front of his ship. Just below them was the bowsprit, a long protruding piece of a wood pointing straight forward. Under that was the head of the ship, a series of beams and wood meant to hold up the bowsprit and figurehead. Only they didn’t have a figure head. The ship had, in the past, had one however in the process of receiving the ship wooden figure had been lost. In all honesty Fumikage was kinda grateful to lose the 10 foot carving of a crying naked mermaid. It hadn’t sat well with him and did not fit with the ship’s new name anyway. However due to the size of the carving it had needed a weight to not only to balance it but also to lock it into place. So there was technically a hole in the head of his ship, it was on purpose, however he had completely forgotten about it. Only needing to remember it to remind his crew to scrub it during their biannual cleaning.
Was the one following them hiding in the hole? He glanced at Dark Shadow hoping he wasn’t about to make a fool of himself.
“Um, pardon me. I couldn’t help but notice you have taken up residency in the head of my ship. I would simply like to know who and why, if you could spare a few moments.” He called down.
For a minute he thought that the person had moved on without Dark Shadow having noticed but then a head peered up at him from around the framework. The two stared at each other for a couple moments, considering each other. The stow away appeared to be female with long dark green hair tied together at the end and with mysterious large dark colored eyes set in a kind face.
She seemed to decide it was safe to come up and proceeded to climb the smooth wet wood with no troubles. Sticking to it like it was the most natural thing in the world. After a minute of climbing she gracefully swung herself over the railing, landing softly on the deck before him.
She stared at him balefully as they took in the sight of each other. She appeared to be just as curious about him as he was of her. Despite her hourglass shape she was well built, muscles well defined from swimming. Her hands and feet were, as Dark Shadow has described them, webbed. They were much bigger then the average human’s though and had a green tint them. Other then that, the gills on her neck and the slightly larger facial features(eyes and mouth) she could have passed for human. She was wearing a one strap top with a wash from a sea foam to dark green, a pair of shorts that started the same dark green but bleed into a deep blue. Over the top of it all was sheer cream colored dress with a slit up the front for movement. She looked like a wave had decided to take a mortal form. She was breathtaking.
“I see we won’t be needing a new figurehead if one of such beauty chooses to grace my ship with her presence.” Fumikage said lightly. He hadn’t intended to flirt with the mysterious intruder but apparently his brain was in rebellion today, and it had slipped out.
The woman hesitated, seemingly surprised at the sudden complement. “I was not aware pirates had such manners, kero.” She replied with a tone lightly traced with calculation.
Her voice was unusual. Watery, with the sense of being spoken particularly through the nose like she wasn’t as used to speaking using air instead of water. Not unpleasant to listen to but a touch jarring at first.
“We are an unusual bunch.” Tokoyami replied easily. “Full of little surprises.”
“I noticed.” She replied evenly.
Fumikage tilted his head slightly in consideration. “Is that why you have been following us?”
She hummed thoughtfully as she glanced at Dark Shadow. “So it is true that your people can talk to birds. Got yourself an unsuspecting spy.”
Tokoyami blinked in surprise. “You know of my people?”
“Only stories. However, you don’t seem to match them.” She eyed his apparel at her statement. Ah. Seeing him after hearing the stories of his people would make most anyone curious.
Fumikage felt himself give a dry chuckle. “One looses a lot of their culture when they leave home so young.”
That seemingly gave her a pause. Fumikage really needed to quell the rebellion in his mind with haste. Forbidden grounds he was quickly wandering into. “Are you here to try and blockade us from further pirating?” If he was going to allow her further presence on his ship then this had to be addressed.
The woman’s eyes seemed to look right into his soul and inspect each inch. Fumikage felt like he was being tested by the sea, an impartial judge that took sailors as she deemed fit. Calm most days but a raging storm over the horizon. This woman could be dangerous. It just made the allure of the forbidden fruit stronger.
His thoughts were dashed onto the rocks of his mind when she tilted her head. “I haven’t seen any pirating yet, only overpaying for supplies.”
For some reason he found her answer immensely humorous. His chuckle rolled out of him without him trying much to suppress it. “I can assure you that we are indeed pirates.” He continued to stare at her, quietly demanding an answer.
She stared right back. A moment of silence. Then, “I will not be of any trouble for you at this time.”
Fumikage felt his feathers shift in an imitation of raising an eyebrow. “Very well.” He considered her another moment before turning to those of his crew on deck. “Ashido.”
The pink skinned woman jumped slightly in surprise before smiling warmly at him. “Yes, Cap’n?”
“Please retrieve Second Mate Jirou for me.”
Ashido’s smile turned teasing. “Oooh, I don’t think she’ll like that.”
“Tell her I sent you so you don’t get an unpleasant lecture.”
The woman let out chuckle. “Like I wasn’t already plannin’ on doin’ that. Back in a bit, Cap’n!”
Fumikage let out a sigh full of good natured exasperation when he heard a quiet but musical chuckle behind him. He turn to look at the green tinted woman behind him in surprise.
She had a slight smile on her face. “I like her.” She commented lightly.
His dark soul was going to need the powers of the heavens above to survive the living storm next to him.
He tucked his fist to his heart and bowed his head at her. “Tokoyami Fumikage, Captain of the Fallen Angel.”
The woman considered him for a moment before half curtsying to him. “Asui Tsuyu, Nymph of the Depths.”