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

[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.

[ihadabadday]

He guided him down into the water and still holding onto his hand, he swam towards an entrance that lead into the ocean itself.

He had promised he would get Sherlock back safely. And he would.

Glancing back to make sure the two finner was alright every so often, he continued swimming.

[seaweed_writes]

Sherlock was a fairly good swimmer, but he wasn't nearly as fast as the fishman, who was built for swimming. He had to admit that Freedazz was built for this, there was no extra effort needed, he was moving with little effort from the huge, heavily muscled tail.

He was glad, at least for now, that they were till on the surface, but the water was getting deeper underneath him, and they were getting closer and closer to the edge of the cave. He knew that they were going to have to go underwater soon.

And he was afraid. He could admit that. He was afraid. He always thought that his lot in life was to die in the sea, but he'd hoped that he'd be a little older when it happened.

He'd never even kissed anyone. He didn't count what the fishman had done just a few moments before.

[ihadabadday]

Freedazz brought him back to the surface, only stopping to give him more air a couple of times.

"Are we close?" He asked Sherlock. For a two finner, he did swim rather well. Even for the cloth on him.

[seaweed_writes]

It was a scary ride, going under the water and through a cave. There were a couple of times that he was about to run out of breath, before the fishman put their lips together, and suddenly he had a little more air in his lungs.

Finally, he could see the surface coming up, and he swam hard to it, gasping in lungs full of air and looking up at the sky. It was still stormy and choppy, which only served to remind him that he had just lost every single other person on his ship. He had considered them friends, though most of them he only knew their names and not much about them, but still, they were, for the most part, good men.

He looked around. There was nothing but sea around them, other than the tall, volcanic island they came out from. But it looked tall an craggy. He didn't see any beaches that he could swim up to.

And worse, he saw no trees or anything that could construed as food.

His heart sank.

"Are we close to what?" He asked the fishman. "Right now it looks like I cam close to nothing but my doom." he was only going to be able to tread water for so long.

[ihadabadday]

"Not your home?" He asked, looking disappointed. Freedazz didn't mean to let the man down. And he knew these two finners weren't meant for long swims.

"Where are you from?" He asked. He had an idea. And hopefully it would work.

[seaweed_writes]

Sherlock had had to let go of Freedazz's hand so he could use all 4 of his limbs to keep afloat.

"No. I was on a ship, already far from my home. Sherlock said, sadness creeping into his voice.

But I am very, very far from my true home. There is a place, which takes months to get to by ship. It's called England. That is where I am really fun. But for now, I was living on an island called Trinidad, in the Caribbean." He spread one arm out for a moment before going back to treading water.

"This is all the Caribbean, this ocean, and all the islands that are in it. "

"But I have to find some land. That island in front of us, does it have any beach? " He wasn't sure if the fishman understood that word. I need a place with sand and trees and animals. I need food to eat and a shelter to sleep in. "

[ihadabadday]

"Stay." He ordered before diving back down into the dark water with a splash of his tail.

It wasn't long, maybe five minutes before he returned, with what was probably a juvenile sperm whale.

"Get on, we go home." Freedazz meant Trinidad. He was smiling at the two finner.

[seaweed_writes]

"Stay. What the hell else am I going to do?" He grumbled, after the fish man had splashed him and swam away.

He was starting to get tired. Sherlock was thinking about swimming towards the island, maybe there would be somewhere he could rest before he drowned- again.

Sherlock had just started to swim towards the island, his muscles were aching and he wasn't even sure he could make it now. When all of a sudden there was a gigantic whale surfacing next to him with a puff of water and air from its blowhole.

And beside it was the fishman.

For a moment, Sherlock just stared at them both. How was he supposed to get on a whale and hold on? It didn't have a saddle.

"Umm..." he said, looking from the whale and back to the fishman. "I don't know which way my home is. And I don't think you know which island I am from. I'm sure you have different names for them than we do."

[ihadabadday]

"He knows the way." Freedazz promised, "Been many times."

The merman grinned at Sherlock and swam over to him. "Need help?"

[seaweed_writes]

He was going to need held very soon, he was starting to get exhausted. "It knows what Trinidad is?" Sherlock said, skeptically. "How does it know? It can't just swim into port, it'll beach itself."

"And besides, how are we supposed to hold onto it?"

[ihadabadday]

"He knows..." Freedazz patted the waters, "Better than I. Knows the places two finners go."

The merman swam closer and put an arm around the two finner's waist. The juvenile whale sunk down a bit and the merman manhandled him up onto the creature's back.