The Pearled Seas - AU - Locked to seaweed_writes

[ihadabadday]

For years he had heard tales of the two fins who swan on the surface. They were... Odd. At least that was what he heard. But they still fascinated him. How did they swim? What did they eat? How did they live?

That was how he found himself on the surface, watching... He wasn't sure what it was. It was large and wooden? There were lights and white things. He curled up a bit further on the rock he had perched himself on. He was always worried the brilliant blue of his scales would make the two finners see him. But they only seemed to see what they wanted.

He gasped when the weather started to change, quickly, violently. The wooden... thing... was in shallow water, it wouldn't survive. Especially if it slammed against the rocks. He swallowed and then dove into the water, even as the waves started to grow violent, battering the wooden thing about.

He heard the wood breaking and two finners and things falling into the water.

That's when he saw him. He felt an odd pull towards the two finner. As if it was right.

There was an old tale at home, of soulmates. He had scoffed at it. Ridiculous. But, the pull he was feeling...

He swam towards the two finner, reaching out to grab the man as he was sinking deep into the water.

Comments

[seaweed_writes]

Consciousness came slowly to Sherlock at first. He was vaguely aware that he wasn't dead, or at least he didn't feel dead. He felt.. Wet. Very wet.

And he felt like he couldn't breathe

Like a lightning flash, his eyes go wide. He tries to sit up but he get dizzy and flops to his side, where he vomits up water for what seems like an age, gasping deeply and desperately for breath between his heaving.

He isn't aware yet that he is being watched, all he can think about is I NEED AIR, I need to breathe and I need to not have water in my lungs.

And he vomits up more seawater.

[ihadabadday]

He moved back when the two finner started coughing. He slipped into the water and hid behind a rock.

He peeked around, staring at the two finner. He was gorgeous, for someone not of his kind. He swallowed, but remained behind the tock.

[seaweed_writes]

Sherlock had no idea how long he was laying awkwardly on his side and coughing and vomiting and desperately drawing in lungfulls of air.

Slowly, his body started to calm. His breaths became longer and deeper and he felt like he had gotten rid of most of the water in his lungs. Shakily, he sat up and coughed a couple more times, until he was finally starting to feel a bit more like himself.

A slight splash in the water sent him to his feet, but he wasn't ready to stand. Dizziness overtook him and he fell back onto his knees in the sand.

How had he gotten here? The last he remembered, a wave hit him. And he ended up here.

But as he looked around, he knew the waves couldn't have washed him up here. This was a cave, and there was no entrance t hat he saw to the sky. There was only rock and sea.

"H-h-hello?" He tried to speak, but his voice was harsh from throwing up and it hurt to talk, and it just made him go into another coughing fit.

[ihadabadday]

He peered out from around the rock, his blonde hair plastered to his forehead.

"Hello?" He asked in return.

His voice was accented. Not English, but the accent wasn't that peaceable either.

[seaweed_writes]

"Ahhh!"'' Sherlock screamed in surprise, fell backwards, and scrambled up the sand, away from the water.

He could only see the top third of the man, his head, shoulders, and arms were out of the water, but the rest of his was underwater. As dark as it was, he couldn't make out any details in the murky depths.

Who was this man? Sherlock knew every single person on the Maiden, and he was not one of her sailors.

So who was he, and where did he come from? And how did he get saved? Was it by this man? And why was he staying in the water?

"W-w-who... are... you?" He asked, his voice still harsh from coughing and vomiting. "You... are the one who saved me?"

[ihadabadday]

And that scream, his eyes widened and he ducked back behind the rock. Maybe he shouldn't have saved this two finner. But... That pull. He swallowed.

After a moment, he emerged from behind the rock and swam over to the edge of the water. Normally he didn't flash his tail, but this time he did.

"I did." He answered with a nod.

[seaweed_writes]

Sherlock froze in fear. His heart was beating against his chest and his eyes were as wide as saucers.

"No. You.... don't exist." It hurt Sherlock to speak, but still, he couldn't stop the words from flowing.

"You can't exist. You are a legend. There's no such thing as mermaids or sea dragons." He closed his eyes and sigh. "I'm dead. I'm dead and this is my hell. I am stuck in a cave in hell with... a.. mermaid who is speaking in English to me. I really drowned. "

[ihadabadday]

He blinked at the two finner. Unusual creature. He moved out of the water and sat on the dryish land. He kept the end of his fin in the water.

"Of course I speak English." He said flatly, "now sit down."

His parents had learned English at a young age, and they wanted their children to speak it. His parents weren't as fearful of the surface. Two finners were adaptable creatures.

[seaweed_writes]

Despite practically growing up on ships, where of course he had to take orders all the time, Sherlock had always had a bit of a rebellious streak in him. He was never really that good at being ordered around.

And yet, in this case, since he was already on his hands and knees scrambling up the sand, it was easy to just shift slightly into a sitting position, more out of sheer shock than anything else.

This... this.. thing. It spoke English, but it wasn't with an English accent. It wasn't the accents of the people of these isles in the Caribbean either, though. It was an accent that he had never heard, in all his travels. And he had been to many, many countries in his 22 years.

It was... in a way harsh and gutteral and stunted, like it was obvious that it wasn't his first language (how did fish people talk then? did they just gurgle at each other?) He shook those thoughts out of his head.

And as much as it was harsh and stunted, it was also in its own way, flowing and almost.. beautiful, like a stream working its way to the ocean. He had no idea how it could be both but.. it was.

He looked the... thing.. the man? over.. It looked male and sounded male, but.. well, it had no clothing and there was... nothing below the belly but a gigantic tail. full of deep blue shin scales.

It... he.. looked fairly young, maybe just a bit older than himself, but who knew? Did fish people age slower? quicker?

There were way too many questions.

And so he just stared, silently.

[ihadabadday]

He was quiet for a moment as the two finner sat. The blonde turned his head and looked at him. There were no scales on him. Instead the weird soft covering. Curiously, he reached out and touched the coverings. In his lap.

"These..." He tugged at the coverings. "What?"

It frustrated him that he didn't know the words. What words to use, or how to properly communicate further.

[seaweed_writes]

Immediatly, Sherlock jerked backwards, scrambling back a few feet, enough to be away from the pawing hands of the... whatever it was.

"Whoa, whoa!" Sherlock said, putting his hands up. "Hey, that's not a place you just touch a person." He said, suddenly unsure of how much the fishman understood.

Sherlock looked down at his tattered clothes. He had no shoes (that could be a problem walking around), his shirt was soaked and it weighed a ton, but it seemed to be mostly intact. But his breeches were torn up a bit. They held on him, but there was a rip up one leg, and the bottom of the other was torn off at the knee.

"These.." He said, speaking slower now. "Are clothes. We wear them so we aren't starkers... err.. so we aren't naked." He corrected himself.

[ihadabadday]

He blinked as the man scrambled back. Had he done something wrong? His shoulders dropped and he looked down. Okay. No touching. But touching was important.

"Clothes?" He asked, almost mimicking Sherlock's accent.

That was not a word he was familiar with. His people didn't have clothes.

"Naked?" He looked up and tilted his head to the side, a curious look on his face, "What is it?"

Putting English into practice was different than learning about it.

[seaweed_writes]

Sherlocks' eyes went wide. It wasn't a perfect English accent, but for what he assumed was a first time, it was pretty good.

"Umm.. yes.." Sherlock said, suddenly quite unsure of himself. He still wasn't quite convinced that he wasn't actually in Hell, speaking to a fishman.

He touched his shirt. "This is a shirt." He said, very slowly. And then he touched his breeches. "These are breeches. We wear them not only because it is bad to be naked in front of other people, but also to protect us from the sun." He pointed up, only to be reminded that he couldn't see the sun in this cave.

He found that he missed it.

"Umm.. naked is.. well, if I took this shirt and breeches off, I would be naked. You could see all of my skin." He pointed to the skin on his arm. "Skin." He said firmly. He pointed to the skin on his face. "Skin." He could only hope that the fishman got the idea.

But.. at least talking to the fishman was keeping him from totally freaking out that he was talking to and had been rescued by.. a fishman.

[ihadabadday]

"You have a name?" he asked, completely skipping over the rest of the lesson the man had given him.

And he found he wanted the man to come back closer. He wasn't sure why. It was odd. In all his years, he had never felt close like this to anyone.

It was too bad that he couldn't take the two finner into the water with him. It wasn't unusual to see two of the same type living together. At least in the area he lived.

[seaweed_writes]

Ooookay then. Well so much for clothes, Sherlock thought to himself.

"I am Sherlock." He said, putting a finger to his chest. "Sherlock." He said again.

He had thought for a moment about giving a fake name, in case this creature was dangerous, but he was pretty sure that he was either dead, or about to die anyways, so what did it matter?

He was trapped by a fishman in a small cave with no food or fresh water. How long did he actually think that he'd survive?

[ihadabadday]

"She... Sher..." He pursed his lips together and frowned, "Sher...Lock?" The word wasn't one he was used do. And it felt heavy on his tongue. He chewed on his lip, apparently a universal movement.

"Freedazz." he said in return, pointing to himself.

Well, it was as close to it could sound in English anyways.

He then shivered and pulled his fin close, so it looked like he was hugging knees to his chest.

[seaweed_writes]

Sherlock found himself smiling, without even thinking about it. "Yes. Sherlock. I know it sounds a bit off but..." He stopped when the fishman, Freedazz, apparently, pointed to himself.

Well, that was an odd name, he had to admit. And he thought Sherlock was unusual.

Of course, he was a fishman.

How could he never forget that?

Was this .. thing... Freedazz cold out of the water?

"You... you can go back in the water if you'd like." Sherlock said. :If you are cold. " He made the motion of shivering. "Cold." He said, trying to explain the word.

Now that the adrenaline was wearing off.. it was rather cold in this cave. He shivered for real. He really needed to get these wet clothes off, but there was no way he was going to get naked in front of the fishman.

[ihadabadday]

"I can take you to land?" He asked, unsure if he got the wording right.

Freedazz moved and slipped back into the water, feeling infinitely more comfortable in it than out.

But if the stories of soulmates were true... Was this man his? It was odd. To think that. That someone not of his kind was the person he was supposed to spend forever with.

[seaweed_writes]

"Yes. " Sherlock said, surprised. This fish man would help him get back to land. and civilization? Could he trust the fishman? He had saved him, but he still was in shock at the fact that he was talking to a fishman.

"Yes. I need land. I need food and fresh water." He said, trying to keep his words slow so Freedazz could understand. At least Sherlock hoped so. And hopefully people, but right now he would settle for food and water so he didn't immediately die.

He had some minor cuts and bruises, nothing big, but he was going to have to make sure the cuts didn't get infected. If they did, he was as good as dead anyways.

[ihadabadday]

Freedazz held out his hand to the two finner. He was in the water, by the rock, but it wasn't too deep that Sherlock couldn't touch.

"Safe. I promise." He said. It took him time to work out the words and what he was going to say to him. But eventually he got the words out.

And he was being truthful. He would keep the two finner safe.

[seaweed_writes]

Despite everything screaming at him to the contrary, Sherlock found that he did trust this fishman. The.. whatever it.. he.. was, had saved him. Why would he kill him now? It made no sense.

Sherlock got up on shaky legs and took a few steps into the ocean, almost to the rock but not quite. The water was a little warmer than the air outside in the cave (Sherlock could only hope that if he got out into the sun, it would be warmer there).

"I... can't breathe underwater." He said, making gasping noises. "I'll drown." He almost had once already today.

[ihadabadday]

"Trust me?" He asked slowly even as he took Sherlock's hand.

The two finner was so warm. He wanted to see what else these two finners were like.

But that could wait until another day.

[seaweed_writes]

Sherlock had expected his hand to be cold and clammy, when he saw the fishman reaching out for him. His instinct was to draw back, but he didn't, and when the fishman touched his hand, Sherlock drew in a quick breath. He was wet of course, but surprisingly soft and warm, not as warm as a human, but still not cold like a fish.

He couldn't speak, but he nodded softly. He had no idea why, but he did trust him.

[ihadabadday]

Freedazz bit his lip and then moved to press their lips together. But instead of it being intimate or anything similar, he blew air into the two finner's mouth and lungs. After a moment he pulled back. "That should get you to the surface."

He smiled slightly and then swam back further, tugging Sherlock with him.

[seaweed_writes]

Sherlock froze.. He hadn't expected that, a press of lips. But there was nothing gentle or tender about it, it was calculated and no nonsense. His eyes went wide, and despite his brain telling him to move away, he didn't.

He stepped forward as the fishman.. as.. Freedazz swam back, keeping their hands connected. After a few steps, it was too deep to stand, and he made a little noise of surprise, then started to kick his feet a bit to keep afloat.