Mermaids and Mayhem

[Raven301]

"What do you do for fun?" Ever asked, "Sorry about all the questions I'm just really curious, I didn't even think merpeople existed." Ever continued looking down and blushing. Edited October 13, 2013 by Raven301

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Maktow thought for a moment. What did they do for fun? "Sing.. collect shells sometimes," he answered, pawing through the sand and producing a little pink shell. Or at least, he did.

[Raven301]

"Pretty." Ever said taking the shell and turning it over in her hand before handing it back, "Can I touch your tail?" Ever asked Maktow quickly and blushing even harder, it was a weird thing to ask.

[pudding]

Grantaire quickly devoured the remaining parts of the fish until it was just bones left. He stared at the bones before snapping off the head and the tail. He looked the spine part over then began using it to brush his golden hair and get rid of some of the dirt. He began chirping a tune as he began making himself pretty for no reason other than his own amusement.

[shadow_claw]

Namina chattered in amusement as Grantaire brushed his hair. That was usually something females did. She watched him with a small smile, and joined him closer to the shore and kept chattering softly.

 

Matthew listened to the two talk as he ate, and took in all the information. After a while, he finally spoke up. "Do mermen go blind?" He asked. They didn't get sick, so maybe they had other immunities to human problems. He fell silent after a while, and chewed on his chunk of meat.

 

[pudding]

Grantaire sat up a bit straighter on the rock, his tail gently stirring the water around him as he combed his hair. The fact he had just eaten a fish and was using its bones to groom himself didn't seem to bother him in the slightest. One eye opened when Namina chimed in with a bit of chattering. He quickly switched to a loud trilling noise that matched the sound she was making a bit better. It was almost like they were singing a song together, but Grantaire was obviously trying to take the lead and was singing a lot more loudly than she.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Maktow hesitated, unsure about letting someone touch his tail. But, she had been nice up until now, so she probably wouldn't hurt him. Slowly he moved his tail out of the water so that she could reach it. "What is blind?" He asked Matthew, confused.

[Raven301]

Reaching out a hand Ever stroked the smooth scales along the end of Maktow's tail. Gasping slightly Ever moved down and fingered the flowy ends. "Wow. Blind is not being able to see." Ever explained as she absently played with Maktow's tail.

[shadow_claw]

"Blind is living without seeing, even with your eyes open." Matthew answered. He couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy at the fact they had never heard of blindness. Everyone knew about it on land. That must mean they didn't go blind, or it didn't matter if they did. A human that went blind was bound to their handicap for the remainder of their lives. It upset him to think this suffering wasn't the problem of mermen.

 

Namina allowed Grantaire to sing louder than her, because she had an octave advantage. She easily changed her pitch to a higher, but more pleasing tone as soon as the merman joined in. Sirens could sing exceptionally well when they wanted to, and there were recorded tales of Sirens singing men to their deaths by driving them into rocks and other dangerous objectswuth the sound of their voice. Usually, they used their voice as a hypersonic weapon, but sometimes rid themselves of pesky humans when they needed to.

[pudding]

Grantaire would admit he was jealous of Namina's singing ability. He continued to sing along with her, though, his attention quickly focusing to the humans nearby. They didn't even seem to be listening. Was their singing not good enough? He faltered, obviously disturbed by this. His volume quickly fell until his trilling was barely a whisper. What were they even talking about?

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Maktow opened his mouth again when he finally noticed the singing in the air. He turned his head, completely distracted, as he listened to the singing and began to smile. He was even humming along, though he didn't join in.

 

Natalia found herself walking to the water, enthralled by the singing. When it stopped she blinked, finding herself in ankle deep water. Then she moved closer to Grantaire, murmuring, "Don't stop."

[Raven301]

As Grantaire stopped singing Ever swung her head to look at him, she hadn't even noticed when he hand started singing, only when he stopped. Smiling as Maktow picked up the tune Ever watched mesmerized as the merpeople sang, twisting the melody in ways she had never heard.

[shadow_claw]

Matthew probably would've been upset about Maktow's lack of a response if the two merpeople hadn't been singing. Even he turned towards the sound, and then slowly stood. A few shaky steps were taken to get closer, but he was unable to get very close. Matthew's lack of vision had him unaware of any obstacles, so naturally he would trip and fall if he wasn't wary. Which was exactly what he did. A short scream escaped the man, and then he was face-down in the sa

 

Namina comtinued to sing, but slowly began to tense as a human drew near. The spines that ran down her tail rose, and did the fins that bordered her face. Even if these humans were supposed to be kind, she was still wary. Natalia's movements made her defensive towards Grantaire. He was a member of the pod, and she felt responsible for the pod members' wellbeing. Namina drew nearer to block Natalia's path, and hissed softly. Her song had stopped just like Grantaire's had to utter the warning.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Natalia stumbled back, looking genuinely afraid. "I'm sorry! Please-" she ended up on her rear in the sand, shielding her face in fear. Who wouldn't be afraid of something like that? Maktow frowned and pulled himself into the water, swimming to Namina and nudging her gently. We have to learn to trust them, just like they have to learn to trust us. Otherwise they'll die. They won't hurt us, he told her, looking over at the cowering human. And then Matthew was face down in the sand, making him wince.

[Raven301]

As Matthew fell into the water and the merpeople stopped singing. Ever quickly scrambled to her feet and rushed over to help Matthew. Pulling him up Ever asked, "Are you alright?" glancing over at Namina and Maktow. She trusted Maktow, but the others? She didn't know. Helping Matthew to his feet Ever worriedly watched as Maktow talked low and fast in their language. Edited October 14, 2013 by Raven301

[shadow_claw]

Namina looked unconvinced, but still forced herself to look less hostile. They grew up being told how terrible humanity was, and how their home was filled with the discarded waste of humans, and how they would be harmed if they met a pod of them. It was only natural for her to be wary of these humans. How to we know to trust them, Maktow? They're just humans we found on a ship! They have pods, I'm sure. Their pod members will surely be hunting for them. If we are found by a pod of humans... Namina shuddered at the thought, drawing nearer to the merman and away from Natalia. Being the only female in a pond had a lot of responsibilty to it, and she was just worried.

 

Matthew could tell his nose had broken. It was probably the blood that gushed from it that gave it away. That, and it really hurt. He allowed himself to be helped up, spitting blth sand and blood from his mouth once out of the sand. "My face hurts." Matthew stated. The youbg man put a hand protectivley over his throbbing nose, and winced.

[Raven301]

"It looks like it's broken." Ever said gently pulling Matthew's hand away from his face, "Do you want me to set it?" she asked staring at the swelling bump on his nose, "It'll hurt a lot but either I'm going to have to do it or you're going to have to do it."

[pudding]

Grantaire turned his gaze downwards to stare at the human as she pleaded something to him. Then, suddenly, Namina was on the defensive and hissing at the girl. As if snapped out of a trace himself, he retreated backwards slightly on the rock so that he was hiding behind Namina like a cub behind its mother. He looked at the damage that him singing had ultimately caused then at the argument between Namina and Maktow. "How can we trust them when we can hardly speak to them?" he asked from his place farthest away from the humans. Namina's actions had caused him to grow incredibly wary, perhaps even scared of the humans. Her words were not helping either.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

By now Natalia had scrambled to her feet and moved away from the water, the music no longer as alluring as it had been. Not at the prospect of getting attacked. "They probably left us here to eat us," she muttered, rubbing her arm as she stalked off.

 

Maktow gave a few distressed calls, looking between Namina and Grantaire, and then the humans. Because.. Well, they didn't know we existed before. But I think we can trust them, he argued, pouting at the way this was turning out. Look, you just have to give them a chance- he swam back towards shore where Ever and Matthew were at, chirruping a greeting. They'd see. No harm done.

[Raven301]

"Hi." Ever said glancing down at Maktow, "Is everything ok?" she asked worriedly looking over at Namina and Grantaire. Seeing Natalia stalk off Ever groaned at looked back at Namina's defensive stance, "What did Natalia do?"

[pudding]

Grantaire slowly went from sitting upright to laying on the rock, his stomach pressed against the smooth stone. It was a bit more comfortable and certainly safer since Namina could more easily defend him from attacks. A faint, distressed rumbling came from his throat as he observed the humans.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

"Afraid of humans," Maktow mumbled, looking over at them before up at Ever sadly. He didn't want them to be afraid, they shouldn't be! Maktow wasn't afraid, he knew they were okay.

[Raven301]

"Afraid?" Ever wondered aloud looking at Namina, "Why are they afraid of us?" she asked as she reviewed the assets they had, "You have claws, and teeth, and plenty of food, and an escape route by the ocean. We don't even have any weapons." as a thought hit Ever she looked down at Maktow, "Are you afraid?"

[Sweet_Wyvern]

"Merpeople hear bad things about humans. Think that humans kill all, kill for fun," Maktow admitted, looking slightly ashamed. He had never been sure whether or not to believe it, but now he didn't. Jerking upright, he shook his head. "No! Maktow trusts," he assured.

[Raven301]

"Good." Ever said, relived, "I trust you too. Humans don't kill for fun, we kill to eat and survive." Ever said, loud enough that Namina and Grantaire could hear her, "Merpeople do that too right? They kill fish for food. Humans kill deer and cows for food."