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"And... It's go time!" Aiden yelled from the lookout spot, showing a thumbs-up to the other two on the ship.
"Great work. Lake, lift the anchor. We're setting sail," the raven-haired pirate said to her crewmate. As Lake ran to where the anchor was, Tess stamped her boot on a box as she stood confidently at the steering wheel.
The boat soon drifted out towards the open sea, each member of the crew excited for the adventure, and even more excited for the riches they'd find. The captain steered until the ship was stable enough to flow straight ahead then headed towards where the other two had gathered.
Aiden and Tess had known each other for a while now, they were practically siblings. The shorter knew how much his captain loved the sea and was ultimately glad to be on the journey with her. As for Lake, she was Aiden's childhood friend. The two were inseparable so of course Aiden roped her into this expedition.
Handing out glasses filled with whatever drink they had on hand, Tess smiled and raised hers, "To our biggest, most frightening adventure yet!" Her crew soon followed suit, raising their glasses into a toast, followed by cheers from the three of them.
The sky turned gloomy as the trip progressed. Tess spun the wheel quickly to adapt to the rough seas. It seemed as if luck wasn't on their side after all.
"How much more of this? I hate the wind!" Aiden chimed up from where he and Lake where trying to sleep.
"I dunno. Suppose about another few hours"
The boy grunted and headed back. Meanwhile, Tess was running low on hope.
The clouds swirled as thunder drew closer, as if beckoning them to come closer. Lake was dozed off and Aiden was trying to sleep himself: the night was closing in. Tess sighed, the feeling of defeat weighing on her shoulders like a sack of treasure heavier than any she'd ever carried. She felt... scared. Afraid of what will come. Terrified of what she had brought herself into.
Through the fog, Tess caught a glimpse of that was a ahead. It was a cave. The one she had been searching for.
Eagerly, she ran to her sleeping friends to wake them,
"Aiden! Lake! We're almost there!"
Aiden let out a loud scream, making Tess cover her ears and Lake sit up straight. She beckoned the two to the bow of the ship where the outline of the cave was more clear.
The walls of the cave glistened, the water was tame. As Tess slowly made the ship come to a stop, Lake jumped off onto the dry sand, landing perfectly on her feet. Aiden copied, not so gracefully landing on his face. Finally, Tess dropped herself down and looked ahead.
"We're gonna be rich!" Her other two crewmates cheered triumphantly and they started walking forward
The three of them started walking into the darkness, searching for what treasure was hiding away. The water gently splashed against itself, waves lapping into one another. Tess eagerly searched with the other two, searching for anything that even slightly shined in the minimal light.
Aiden walked forward of the others, noticing something strange. The water was picking up, waves becoming more frequent. He raised an eyebrow and looked closer. Something, a figure, moving in the water caught his attention. Before he could blink, the curiosity turned to fear, seeing the outline of a human body yet the tail of a fish.
Aiden let out a scream and ran fast in the opposite direction, catching the two girls off guard.
"Aiden? What is it?" Lake shouted back as he began to climb the rope to get on the ship.
"In the- in the-... water... human... fish... mer-"
Before aiden could finish, Tess directed her attention to the water, soon realising what scared him so much.
Right in front of their eyes, a quite large humanoid figure was in the water with her hair in a ponytail and some strange spectacles on her face. However, she definately wasn't normal. There were scales on her cheeks, gills on her neck and she only wore a bra made of seashells. Her teal eyes locked onto Tess' for a second. The creature looked with anger, Tess with some morbid appreciation.
The mermaid spoke in such a unique yet oddly captivating voice,
"Leave."
Tess stared at the creature, body still, her eyes studying every inch of the fascinating thing before her. Lake tugged on her shirt collar before the mermaid spoke again, except this time she yelled so loud, rocks from the cave crumbled down,
"LEAVE!"
Without another word, Lake and Tess ran back to their ship, panicked and frightened. Lake put the ship in motion as soon as she got on board, spinning it around quickly. As Lake spoke to Aiden, Tess looked out at the back of the ship, looking for the outline of the mermaid. But she was no where to be seen.
Though she struck fear into the hearts of her friends, something about that girl captivated Tess. She wasn't going to let their history end with one visit.