Strange Creatures

Sand and Scales

This part's art was done by staydetermined21 on tumblr.

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Lance stared at the hand in front of him. "Is that some kind of human greeting? 'Keith'?"

Keith blushed and pulled back his hand. "That's my name. I mean, I'm Keith." He cleared his throat. He would have to get water soon if he was going to keep this conversation going much longer.

Lance made a face. "Keith. That's a gross name."

Keith looked back at the mermaid. "What kind of a name is Lance?"

He sighed. "My mom wanted to name me Pike, but my dad was like, 'Nooo, that name's too popular. I've heard of a human invention that's similar to a pike. Let's call him Lance.'" He flung his arms in the air, inadvertently splashing Keith. "So now I'm named after a human object that I don't even know what is."

Keith flinched away from the water as it hit his face, then wiped it off. "Look, can you take me to shore? I need to get fresh water soon, and..." He trailed off as he saw that Lance was preoccupied with examining his soggy clothes.

"What is this material?" the mermaid asked curiously, rubbing his shirt between his fingers. "It's so weird!"

Keith blinked in surprise. "It's... cotton." He coughed again. "Look, I need water. We can talk more about my clothes and stuff later."

Lance pouted, then sighed. "Fine. Hold on to something." He moved to the back of the boat.

"Wait, what do you--" He was cut off when the boat suddenly lurched forward, sending him falling back off of his seat. Once he'd recovered his dignity, he turned to look back at Lance. He was bracing his arms against the flat stern, propelling them forward with slow but steady strokes of his glimmering blue tail. The movement was hypnotic as his scales shimmered in the afternoon light, the reflection of the sun traveling down the length of the extremity with each movement.

Lance appeared totally absorbed in pushing the boat, not seeming to notice or care about their surroundings. Once, they passed through an outcropping of rocks protruding from the water, and on either side, Keith couldn't have put his hand on the edge of the boat without getting his fingers crushed by the stones. It took about three more happenings of a similar sort for him to realize that he was completely aware of how close they came; he was just confident enough in his navigating abilities to not care about Keith's concern. Once Keith accepted that, he was somewhat able to relax and enjoy the pleasant breeze.

It was about ten minutes before land came into view. About two minutes later, Lance had driven the boat into the beach, where it got stuck neatly in the sand. The water slowly ebbed away as the tide receded, and a set of footprints led to the large, lazy river that flowed into the sea.

Keith lifted what must have been the hundredth handful of water to his lips. The cool, clean liquid rejuvenated his parched throat and salty tongue, and he didn't care that he was probably drinking too much too fast. It felt so relieving, and as he splashed his face, he could start to think more in the long term. His crew was captured by pirates, and who knew how long they would be kept alive. He would have to rescue them soon, but first, he had to find something to eat.