One With the Waves

Turn of the Tides

-Brae-

"Braemond Firebrand!" Cobra exclaimed suddenly, entering the room without knocking, "You sly bastard! You got laid last night!"

I stared at her, sitting up suddenly in bed. Neither Aura nor I were properly dressed, and Cobra had just come barging in without notice. "Cobra! What are you doing?" I hissed.

Aura - who was still mostly asleep with his arm around my waist - groaned and tried to pull me closer. I attempted to wriggle from his grasp, but the effort was in vain.

"Oh, you mean you don't know?" Cobra beamed at me, not bothered in the least that her captain had not only slept with a man, but a shape-shifting merman at that. "The whole crew heard. Monty thought you were being murdered."

I felt the blood drain from my face. Shit. I probably should have kept it down.

"Don't worry, I'll leave so you can get dressed. But you might want to have someone bring you some rum. Maybe it will help keep the pain at bay," she winked and sauntered towards the door, making fun of me in an over-exaggerated voice, "'Oh, Aura, you sexy sea god! More! Harder! Ooohhh!'"

I grabbed the closest heavy object I could find - a book that was sitting on the night stand - and threw it at her. It smacked the wall next to her, sending her in a fit of giggles. "Out! Now!" I growled.

She just laughed harder and excused herself. I groaned softly, turning to Aura. His beautiful blue eyes were gazing back into my own, a smug smile on his face.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I muttered, suspicious.

The smug smile got bigger, "No reason." He snuggled up to me again, closing his eyes. "You just have something on your neck, that's all."

I groaned softly, moving from his side and getting out of bed. Pain shot up my backside, and I hissed. Aura growled in protest, his blue eyes now angry that he had to give up his human pillow. I made a face at him and went over to the wash basin. Behind it, mounted to the wall, was a mirror. I sighed softly when I saw the massive hickey on the right side of my neck, a trail of smaller purple spots marking my shoulder.

"Well isn't that just grand!" I muttered.

"I thought so," he replied smiling broadly, "Have to mark you somehow. One of your crew members might try to take you from me."

I glared at him, "Yes, because they totally didn't know we slept together last night even though I was screaming."

He winked, "Exactly."

I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help the smile that rose to my lips. Geez, this guy would be the death of me. He reached out an arm for me, and I took his hand, allowing him to pull me back into bed with him. I would have to get up and get ready for the day eventually, but for now I simply enjoyed his presence.

***

It was almost a week later that we encountered trouble again. I had divided the spoils from the Siren's Song among the crew, dropped off the members of the enemy crew who chose not to stay, and we had gone back out to sea. We were near the Mists again when Cobra spotted a ship.

"Captain!" She called, running up to me. I was standing next to the helm, speaking with Monty about our next course of action. Aura was currently out for a swim, saying he was going to go check out his old home and see if any of it survived that night we were attacked.

I turned to her, frowning, "What's wrong?"

"Navy ships!" She growled, "Five of them!"

I felt my face pale. Five? Was she serious? I had never seen five Navy ships sail together this far out. My eyes searched the horizon, and sure enough, far off the back I made out a fleet of darkly colored boats.

I cursed quite colorfully, practically leaping into action. I wasn't sure whether or not we could outrun them. Also, I didn't want to leave Aura, but I had faith that he would find us again. What mattered right now was all of us surviving.

"Go around the Mists and back out to sea!" I commanded. I looked back out towards the Navy ships and sent a prayer up to the Heavens. Please let us survive this.

-Aura-

There wasn't much left of my old home. The ocean had pulled most of it out to sea, but I didn't care about the furniture. There was something far more valuable I was looking for.

The entrance to my home had been an underwater cave with breathable air. Luckily, this was still intact, although the torch had long ago died out, leaving it in shadowy darkness. I swam up into the cave, but didn't leave the water. The rocky outcropping I used to step up into my home didn't go all the way to the bottom of the cave. Water had smashed up against it enough that there was a dip in the rock. I swam back down, the darkness making it impossible to see well. I felt the rock wall with my hands, looking for the small alcove where I had hidden my treasures. There. Reaching inside, I located the small box and shoved it into my bag. I was certainly glad Brae had let me borrow the small black bag. It made carrying things while swimming much easier. After I had found what I was looking for, I swam back out of the cave and back towards the Sea Maiden.

I frowned when I reached the place where the large ship had been anchored. It was missing, with no traces of it having been there. Beginning to grow concerned, I swam around the Mists and back out to sea. Further off, I noticed a small fleet of ships. As I got closer, I realized in alarm that they were Navy ships.

The Sea Maiden was sinking.