A Pirate in Time (Completed)

25

I was afraid of what might happen should I lose sight of the raft, so, naturally, I stayed close during the beginning of my search. After a while, however, I came to realize that I'd have to venture out farther in order to find answers. I went west, and found myself glancing over my shoulder every so often trying to catch a glimpse of the last spot I'd seen the barrels. All I could make out, of course, was the hazy blue surface of the sea.

My eyes scanned the horizon, searching for any tell tale signs of land, but I couldn't see anything but endless blue water in every direction.

"Land," I muttered to myself. "Where is the nearest sign of land?"

I had a feeling we were still in the Atlantic Ocean, being as I'd heard nothing of our destination since the Barbary Coast. That meant east would eventually lead me to either Africa or Europe, which I was guessing we had been heading away from all this time. West would bring me to either the Americas or Canada.

I continued west with a flick of my tail. Maybe I would come across another siren that could point me in the right direction. Maybe not.

I called out anyway, just in case there was someone within hearing distance.

"Hello? Can anyone direct me towards the nearest bit of land?"

There was no answer of course, and the only creatures around to hear me were the deep water fish.

Tuna and mackerel swam around me with a certain grace I had not yet mastered, and I envied them for a few moments. My movements looked mechanical while they looked quite elegant.

One of the smaller mackerels stopped in front of my face.

"You don't happen to know where land is, do you?" He darted away in a quick flash of light, "Didn't think so."

I moved to swim again, but he came back.

"What?" I asked him. Good lord, now I was talking to fish.

The mackerel darted away again, and I watched as he swam in one direction and then came back to my face. He did this a few more times before I started to catch on.

"You want me to follow you?"

He darted away again and I followed, taking note that we were heading a hair further to the south than my original path.

I followed him for quite a while, questioning whether or not I was crazy for following a fish. He probably wasn't leading me anywhere, and I was just a sucker desperate for some help.

Regardless, I continued on.

Eventually we came upon a reef. It was a welcomed contrast to the never ending blue. Vibrant colors popped from the coral and anemones while the vast variety of sea creatures swimming around made the whole area come to life.

I smiled at the beauty of it. This is what made the ocean so amazing. An entire ecosystem working together in glorious harmony uninterrupted by my sudden presence.

When the mackerel stopped swimming, I stopped as well. Following his line of sight, I could just make out a dark haziness in the distance.

I swam to the surface and held my breath as I poked my head above the water.

"Land!" I cried and immediately regretted it as I started choking on a mixture of air and water. I really needed to work in my breathing.

I ducked back beneath the waves and found the mackerel had disappeared. I still wasn't sure if he had purposely led me here, or if it was pure luck this reef had been near an island. I was ecstatic nevertheless, and the only thing I needed to worry about now was finding Jay again and then leading him back to the island

-----+------+-----

I was about ready to pass out when I finally found the raft again. The sun had been down for hours, and I had been struggling through the dark for quite a while now.

I kicked my way towards the surface, and not wanting to torture my lungs any further, I let out a long, deep exhale of water before pushing my head out of the water. There was a slight tickle in my chest, but other than that, I seemed to be intact through this transition.

"I thought you weren't coming back," Jay's voice was hoarse and laced with exhaustion.

I turned to see him propping himself up on the barrels, trying not to let them roll beneath him. I took hold of the rope binding them together and let my tail rest for a bit.

"I made a promise, didn't I?" I gave him a tired smile, "It just took me a while to find you again."

Jay laid back down again, relaxing his neck and shoulders and letting his head hang limp over the edge of the barrels. His eyes were closed and his lips were beginning to chap. Neither of us had eaten or drank anything in a few days, which meant we needed to get to that island as soon as possible.

I was too tired to swim there again tonight, but first thing in the morning, we were going.

Jay had put his shirt back on. He had tried to rinse it out, but it was still stained pink with my blood in some areas. At least it was dry now, and he'd be a little more protected from the sun.

"I found land," I told him sleepily.

"Where?" He opened his eyes to look at me.

"West of here," I said, jabbing my thumb behind me, "An island."

"Okay," Jay said, "Get some sleep. We'll head there in the morning."

He was already trying to slide off the raft, but I stopped him.

"Jay. I'm an aquatic creature now. That means I can live in the water. You still need to get dried out completely."

"I'm fine, really."

"I don't need to be out of the water, Jay. I'm a mermaid," I reiterated.

He rolled his eyes but let himself lay down again with a huff.

"Okay. We leave at dawn," he said.

"We leave at dawn."