of planks and pearls
 

he was called to notice by his first with word of a body overboard on the rocks dotting the harbor's shallow lets. he nodded to his first to pull the wretch onto the boat, they were within an hour of land anyway, one more passenger would not hurt. he followed the man to deck

From a distance woven in the rocks, pearl eyes watched the ship. “It is about time some one removed that body. It has been on our perch for months” He shushed the one behind him and continued to stare only to earn a growl from the other. He dipped below the waves swimming closer to the ship. Once he broke through the waters again the other was close at hand persisting that he stop. The curios one did not stop, he tugged himself up using a straying rope that connected to a dingy. Once inside the boat he continued to watch the surface dwellers by peaking over the edge.

as they drew closer shouts could be heard from the crew as one by one they realized what it was "CORPSE! CORPSE ON THE ROCKS!" he shuddered sickly and crossed himself as they all did at the words "turn away, i won't curse this ship with the dead" quickly they drew back the rescue boat and pulled the sails once more

He watched with amused eyes as the crew scurried about and the man that gave the orders shook his head in dismay at the corpse. He could not help himself, these were his oceans and to leave such a disgrace upon them was unthinkable. “Do not leave that putrid body on my lands.” However his words were in a mer dialect and merely came out as a string of hisses growls and one small click at the end.

he was nearly to the portal when a shout and a thud caught his attention. turning he saw men recoil and then converge on a strange soaked man covered in ocean detritus. the stranger, no foreigner, noone had hair like that but foreigners, flopped onto the deck and took up ranting in some hellish language he could not even begin to to understand. he motioned for his men to subdue the beastly stranger and looked around for the translator in hopes that he knew the language of this savage man

The men around him scurried about, and he realized he had made a small mistake. He did not know the language of the surface dwellers. Slowly he backed away to the edge of the boat. He knew when he was out numbered and defeated. With one last hiss, the sea man jumped back over disappearing over the edge of the ship. As he sank beneath the water his mertail reappeared along with his companion. "Your highness, that was dangerous."
"I know and it didn't stop them from dishonoring the sea. We will follow them." His partner knew better then to disagree with the prince.

before he could find the translator or any one man could lay hands on the man he jumped back overboard. rushing to the edge they watched him dive in and a flicker of something in the near opaque water, like a fish's fin could be seen before he disappeared completely. the captain shivered. mermaids. with a shaky yell he called for nets to take the body, they would not bring it aboard but if it bothered the sea enough to send out it's hellish pagan gods over he'd sure as hell would get rid of it. he crossed himself quickly

The Prince watched the men on the ship do as he requested. They were not barbaric it seemed. His partner touched his shoulder in an attempt to the get his attention, but he was content with watching the ship. There was something thrilling about being around the two legged men. Instead of returning to the kingdom, he found himself drifting along the bow of the ship. Peaking above the surface every so often wondering where it would make shore.

he only stayed aboard long enough to see the ship tied and set and the dock-master paid before he sprinted to the nearest ale-house, he was not fond of drink but the ill fortune from earlier weighed heavier on his mind than the worry of a hang-over and a few less coins

He followed the wave patterns the ship made to the dock. From beneath the water he could see the surface dwellers going about their business. He inched on the surface and was stopped by a patient touch to his shoulder. “I...” He could tell he was about to get reprimanded but his friend stopped. “Please come back soon, I can only cover for you so long.” He nodded graciously. Swimming to the surface once again he climbed his way into one of the ships port holes. He tested his new two tail fins until he could swagger as gracefully as a toddler. He found more to aid in his guise.

The bandana was tried loosely around his crop of strange colored hair. His eyes shifted around to the sights he had never seen before, finally resting on the man he pointed at earlier. He followed him.

he only downed a single flagon of ale before a familiar looking stranger sat with him, he called for another and a third for the man across from him. he was hoping to go under fast but he only felt slightly buzzed "...do i know you?"

He looked at the cup, resting his elbow on the hard wood, rather then speaking he gave the man his burliest grunt. He looked around seeing other men drinking out of the tall brass cups and he lifted to do the same. The taste was a mixture of something putrid and metal. Bravely he downed the rest of it. His entire body shook as he gasped for air slamming the cup down against the counter.

he was distracted from his own mental trauma by the sight of the man swigging it in one go then shaking like a wet babe, with a grin he tossed his own back and called for two more

A brow rose aloft as his eyes focused on the second cup placed in front of him. Mans world was magic. Once he finished his liquid another appeared. A small cling brought his gaze to the man in front of him, already grasping the handle to the new cup. He did the same, drinking it all in one go as before hoping the taste would not linger. He grinned.

he liked this kid, he looked finished at the second cup but kept going until a fourth before passing out face-first on the table, this time he nursed the booze in front of him instead of gulping. already the dread of the ill-omen from before was being blanketed in the soft fuzz of inebriation. he threw down his coins for the ale and stood up. with only a moment's consideration he snatched up the passed-out stranger. there was no point in letting the idiot get robbed blind simply because he picked the wrong drinking partner. as he picked the stranger up the man's coldness shocked him, it was already near eighty, a fine warm temperature. he tried not to dwell, as he passed the bar he tossed his coin for the room and ascended the stairs. he'd kick the man out after he woke

He tossed and turned when he came back to a state of lucidness and finally awoke to the overwhelming cold that had taken over his body. He did not move from the blankets nor did he make any gesture to alert any one he was awake. His eyes traced the lines of the wooden walls till it came to a window and the darkened sky beyond. His attention was drawn to a thump thump thump thump... a strange sound that was some what like a scraping noise and more thumping. It brought his head great pain to hear the noises. He winced.

he stopped his pacing when he realized the other was awake "good, you are up now get out of my room, i only owe you a safe rest not a free night"

He didn't understand and pressed his hands against his ears curling up slightly in the blankets. He moaned a little as he rolled over.

shaking his head he stopped his pacing "oy, unless you feel like earning that bed you'd do better to leave it, you were fun to drink with but the fun is over and i want to sleep sooner rather than later"

He released his ears. He listened to the mans foreign jargon and rose sitting. He still refused to say anything but curling up into a ball resting his chin against his knee caps. Softly he padded the fabric beside him averting his attention from the pacing man to the fibers between his fingers.

at the man's strange reaction he understood "oh....ciao, bonjour, ola?"

More strange words he thought. His brow contorted in confusion. He tried a hello in his tongue but it merely sounded like a small hiss with a click at the end. He smiled assuming he was being friendly.

he shivered at the sound, even drunk he remembered the sounds of the creature from before and looking closer the figure on the bed had the same near-pearly-pink complexion though in the poor light downstairs it was unnoticeable. he backed up and crossed himself, the ocean was following him. "i-i did nothing to you satan, let me be!"

A decisive brow raised it self, and the man found himself crawling to the edge of the bed towards the now stuttering one. His mouth elapsed into a grin that gave the man a view of his sharp pointed teeth. At last he attempted to converse with the man again. Though his voice came out as more of a growl, his lips struggled to curve into the constant sounds he spoke a long drown out word. "Hello..." Then he pointed to himself "Axolotl"

at the sight of those teeth his world shrank and at the sound of the monster's voice it disappeared altogether

When the man fell, Axolotl was quite surprised. He fell off the bed crawling up to the man. He slapped the mans face a few times and when not so much as a sound came out, he pinched the mans nose and blew into his mouth.

his eyes popped open and he gagged as the salt of the ocean tore his breath away. he reflexively sat up and cracked his head on the skull of the the creature and with a ragged gasp he pushed himself backwards to a wall and reached for a cutlass he did not posses

The taste of the man was far sweeter then any flesh he had tried before, however having him against the wall, was not what he wished. He could think of only one way to calm the man down. He opened his mouth and started to sing his song that lured men to his arms beneath the sea. As he sung, he reached out and moved stray strands of hair from the frightened mans face.

at the sound he felt his fears disappear and a strange euphoric feeling passed through him. closing his eyes he reached out for something though he did not know for what and found a body. slowly he drew it close and breathed out, the sea called seductively

It did not surprise Axol to have the man flop into his arms. What did surprise him was once again biting into the sweetest flesh he had ever tasted. He scraped off a bit of flesh from inside the mans shirt near his collar bone. As the blood trickled he lapped it up with his tongue fighting his impulse to devour the man whole. He wrapped the man in his arms pulling him to his feet. Better the young man die in his dreams. Axolotl attempted to escape with the man to take him to the ocean.

he woke a second time as he was dropped on the floor. defensively he kicked at the monster sending it to the floor. he quickly stood and cringed. putting his hand to his collar he pulled away reddened fingers "oh god, what were you doing?!"

He saw stars the moment he lost his balance from the others blow. It made him hiss. Looking up he saw the other touch is own scar and it only make him lick his lips, staring at the man with raw hunger. The foreign syllables made him stop and think. Gracefully he brought himself up from the ground and two his feet. He opened his mouth to sing not sure if the other would be lured again.

his eyes widened as he realized what the creature was about to do and he clamped the heels of his hands over his ears, if he could not hear he could not be seduced by the monster's spell

He rose from the ground with a slight scar among his cheek. His curiosity was now sedated though now he had another goal that would wait. Slowly he realized he had been away from the palace for quite some time and his ruse was surely discovered. Drawing himself up into a crouch he used one of his nails to draw an image into the wood. It was a picture of rocks a boat, then a man on the rocks, then the boat taking the man, and lastly a little heart. Once he was finished he walked over to the man that was holding his ears and kissed him where he was exposed. Before the man could react, Axolotl ran, leaving the strange captain.

He didn't realize that his drinking game was some sort of signal to the others of the crew, and they had been watching him as he stumbled out of the inn awkwardly. Axolotl had nearly retraced his steps to the ocean when something smacked his back, knocking the air out of him. His knees buckled forward a little but he still remained standing. He attempted to turn to see who had done such a thing but strong arms had locked themselves around his neck, pushing a damp fowl smelling cloth to his nose. He fought every step of the way, clawing and biting, all the while breathing in the chloroform. Finally his body went limp in the arms of his captor. They hauled him back to the ship dumping him ceremoniously below deck slightly bound.

his eyes snapped open at the feeling of something cold against his face and he watched as the creature ran from his room. dropping his hands he braced them against the floor and shivered, as things evened out he noticed a carving on the floor and traced his finger over it. the message was clear, whatever it wanted it was not going to leave him be. he wanted a drink

The crew felt proud of what they had done and that they had gained a new and strong member if their wounds were any sign. They made their way back to the inn to the tell the captain but found he was staring at the bottom of a pint. They merely gathered their own cups sparsely drinking the amber brew. Once the captain seemingly drank himself into oblivion they made sure he got back to the ships quarters safely.

he came back to hung over as hell but the alien rock of dry land had left him and he knew himself to be back aboard the ship. with a grunt he pushed himself out of the bed and staggered over to where his boots lay discarded. he needed to figure out where they were

He awoke, to the swaying feeling. It was not comfortable, in fact it made him slightly sick. Even worse was the dry feeling in his mouth as he licked his lips. Some where to his left the light shone through a porthole. “The princess is awake I see.” Came a gruff voice. He made the mistake of turning his head to fast, it only caused him to answer with a slight groan. “Hes looking a little green perhaps the captain didn't choose too wisely this time.” Axol listened hearing a younger voice then the original. They continued to converse but in the end it earned him some water. Finally one of them asked if they should tell the captain about him.

he made it to deck without his head falling off so he counted it as a good day, blearily he promised not to drink hard liquors after soft and went to stand by the wheel where his first and the navigator were bickering. he changed his mind about it being a good day

The light from the port hole shifted, and Axol was growing more thirsty. Using one nail he cut the his bindings around his wrist and feet before testing his legs. As the ship rocked so did he, eventually his body thudded against the wall. Escape was all he had in mind. He tired the door and thankfully it was unlocked.