Your Blood is Mine

Sangfroid found a ship hull not too far away, and prepared his bow and arrow as he approached it. 

His outside appearance was calm, but his heart was pounding. 

He deeply hates humans.

Humans were the reason why they were driven off farther into the depths of the sea and the trenches. They have killed hundreds of their brethren over the years, and even took advantage of some of the mermaids they caught.

Merfolk are known for their beautiful singing that can heal injuries. This does not apply to all of them, and mermaids are usually the ones who have the gift of Melodious Healing.

Those who were caught were said to be kept in cages and brought around in what the humans call a 'carnival'. Sangfroid doesn't know what exactly a carnival is, but just hearing the word caused him great disdain.

King Casserome had told him that his parents and the members of his purple chromis were taken to one of these carnivals.

That is why he had to be an orphan for the rest of his life, only trained to be a palace guard under the Oracle's care.

Merfolk worships Triton, the father of all merfolk. They have temples and oracles dedicated for him to help them foresee the imminent hurricane. The Oracle seems to be a great friend of the King, but Sangfroid was unsure of their connection.

He felt strong vibrations coming from inside the ship, and could tell that there must be loud noises within it. He swam very slowly towards it, on guard of what may happen.

He was too focused on this to notice Prince Leron.

When he burst out of the surface, he chipped the barnacles using the tip of his arrow. As he did so, overheard a conversation on the deck.

"Prince Vladstin, be reasonable! Your Mother and Father will be worried if you do not go to the academy like you promised!" A girl with blue hair said, pushing up her glasses.

"Xiani, they would not be worried if they are not made aware of it." A sonorous voice said in a cheery tone. "Loosen up, would you? We would not be long, we would come back once the festival is over."

"But Your Highness—"

"Who ya callin' Yer Highness?" Another voice, a rough, grating old man's, spoke. "I ain't see no prince nor princess in ma ship before."

"You just misheard, Old Kenning. " The one named Vladstin said. "Why, if there was a prince here, I would have stolen all his property by now and tied him up to ask his mum and da for gold, only to throw him off a small, rusty boat to paddle back home by himself."

"Aye, that's the spirit boy! Hahaha!" Old Kenning's laughter rang through the whole ocean itself. "But whaddya do if it's a princess?"

"Same treatment."

Old Kenning chuckled in surprise. "Ah, you really are a true pirate! The most savage of plunderers cares not if yer a mister or a missy! We ain't got a care even if yer human or not, we take and we take and return none!"

A whole chorus of voices repeated it, along with the clinking of glasses and beer mugs. "We take and we take and return none!"

"Cheers to that! Vladstin joined in the fun as they sang a shanty.

Sangfroid's eyebrows knitted with pure rage. We take and we take and return none. Humans truly are the worst.

Meanwhile, not too far away, Prince Leron was entranced by this conversation. He wanted to see what this Vladstin looks like after hearing his voice that was comparable to someone with the Melodious Healing. He was on the opposite side of the ship from where Sangfroid was chipping away at the barnacles.

Leron decided to use these barnacles to hoist himself up and climb closer and closer. Then, he'll cling to the gunwale just for a peek, and let go quickly.

So he promised to himself, but once he reached it, he can no longer take his eyes of Vladstin.

"And I told him I would pay 10 thousand gold

To the one who finds the fairest in the land

With the smallest, daintiest pinky toe

Oh, mates, let us sing what ho!"

The shanty they were singing was pure nonsense, Leron could tell even with his limited knowledge of the human language. But Vladstin gave his all when performing it, clapped his hands, and tapped his feet as someone played bagpipes. He offered Xiani his hand, but the girl just sat there and shook her head.

"Your lost!" He shrugged and continue dancing, opting to choose a drunkard grandpa with a round belly as a dance partner.

He twirled the drunkard with a great spin and dipped him, which eventually caused him to fully fall down and get knocked unconscious, which caused a round of laughter to everyone on board.

Even Leron felt the urge to laugh along with them. It was truly amusing how humans can find joy in the simplest of things. They are so spontaneous and lively, and he envied the things they could do with those two feet.

He daydreamed of being the one in Vladstin's arms, dancing merrily in all kinds of tune.

He felt something strange in his heart that was like those of humans. Could this be 'love' that they talk about?

Merfolk rarely consummates out of love. They were humanoid creatures with a fish's lifestyle. Some species can change sex just like their normal fish counterparts. They lay eggs and do not get big bellies when 'pregnant', and intercourse was as quick as the coming of a sea breeze.

They are only aware of love as something the humans have with each other. It is strange and alien to them to tie themselves to people without familial ties. Especially since the lifespan of each other varies wildly more than the humans do, and they have lots of other matters to worry about like food and fighting off predators like sharks and crocodiles.

But Leron had always been special compared to the other merfolk, like he had a special connection towards humans. A merman falling for another merman was unheard of, what more would be a merman and a man?

Vladstin's golden eyes like the sun flashed towards him, and instead of letting go, Leron could only freeze in place.

It widened and he went closer, pointing. "Hey, do my eyes deceive me, or is there someone hanging off in our ship?"

Old Kenning stopped gargling on his rum. "Hanging on our ship? Must be either a water ghost or a spy from the Jellyfish Rowlers. Oh, I hate those bunch o' goons!"

Sangfroid doesn't understand the human language, but he can sense the commotion and stopped chipping. He immediately started to climb to check what is happening.

"I don't think it's a ghost. Doesn't seem like a spy either, if that's the case, they should have picked someone sturdier." Vladstin had now reached about a meter from where Leron was. "What's your name, boy?"

".... Leron."

"Are you alright? What made you climb up our ship?" Vladstin offered a hand. "Were you forced to walk the plank by your crew or something —"

Then he noticed the large striking blue tail below him. Vladstin blinked, trying to reason out that it must be a dress, but when that dress started to twitch, he could not fool himself anymore.

"You're a...."

Whoosh!

An arrow whizzed past and hit him square on the shoulders.

"Your Highness!" Xiani stood up.

"Intruders!!!!" The pirates quickly took out their weapons and those who have none broke their bottles, prepared to defend themselves.

"Go, Prince Leron! Escape!" Sangfroid yelled and took another arrow, aiming his bow at anyone who dares to come close.

Leron was overcome with shock and his hand eventually gave away, causing him to fall down the water with a splash.

Prince Vladstin winced as he watched Leron go, holding his wounded shoulder. He raised his hand. "Wait, nobody attack! Let's talk about this first!"

He approached Sangfroid. "Hello..... Please lower your bow, Merman sir. You're only pulling your whole weight with your elbows, I'm sure that must be straining you a lot—"

"I do not talk with humans." Sangfroid said in the Underwater language.

"Okay..... Anyone who could interpret for us?" Vladstin scratched his head. "The other one seemed to understand me just fine, where is he....?"

"There's no need to talk with mermen, we need to prepare the sails for a storm now!" A crew member yelled. "Don't ya know these fishy folks are the worst of all omens for a pirate!?"

"That may be just a superstition." Vladstin said. "There's absolutely no sign of it raining today, how can you say there would be a storm—"

Suddenly, a loud rumbling came.

But it was no thunderclap. Instead, gusts of wind coalesced and screamed in their ears, making everyone fall silent.

It was a tornado. In the waters. Meaning that it would soon create a whirlpool.

"Turn the ship away and prepare yerselves! Quickly!" Old Kenning yelled and the crew members panicked and immediately went inside as their candles and torches that lit up the evening was blown off.

"Stupid hooligans! I will turn it myself! Someone help me with the sails!" Old Kenning manned the wheel to avert the oncoming twister with an angry spitting on the floorboards.

"I'm on it!" Vladstin volunteered and ran up to the sails despite the arrow stuck on his arm and Xiani also helped with the knowledge she have.

Sangfroid let go and tried to look for Prince Leron to warn him and get him to safety.

Leron was too busy swimming away in no direction in particular to notice anything wrong. He passed by a frantic school of normal fishes going in the opposite direction, and quickly apologized when bumping a few.

Then, he felt himself being dragged by the waters themselves.

Before Sangfroid can catch up to him, he was sucked in the center of the whirlpool.