Black Hearted

Part 4

Sean broke through the surface of the water. Sinking deep for a minute, he let his body fully change. His ears grew out into long pointed fins, his hands grew a thin webbing between his fingers and the biggest change was his long red tail. Merfolk were distinguished by their tail colors. The darker colored tails belonged to the Gam. While bright colored tails belonged to the Pod. Correcting his course in the water, he raced toward the ship as fast as he could move. Sean twisted in the water to swim passed the sinking bodies of dead Gam. He prayed that he wouldn't see his dad or mom among them. At the side of the ship, two members of the Gam were trying to pull the large fishnet with Signe down to the depths. Harpoons wheezed into the water as the pirates tried to get a lucky shot off on the Gam. Signe thrashed in the net and even tried to chew through the thick ropes. A harpoon sliced one of the Gam's arms and his grip on the net loosened. The net rose higher out of the water and Signe let out a deafening scream. 

A member of the Pod swam up to grab the net and took a harpoon between the shoulder blades. Sean dashed through the water to snatch a sinking harpoon and twisted in the water to race for the surface. Like a whale, he launched from the water, twisting his body to gain the most thrust into his throw. Throwing the harpoon into the chest of the closet pirate to the fishnet. The pirate fell to the deck, causing the pirates to loose some of their grip on the vicious game of tug of war they were playing with the fishnet. As he splashed back into the water, he quickly swam under the boat to avoid the onslaught of bullets and harpoons that followed. Signe's net fell back into the water and two more Pod members rushed in to help the Gam members try to keep it down. Sean swam quickly to snatch another harpoon, just as an older Gam member swam in to stick his trident into the ship while pinning the fishnet at the same time. The Pod members removed their seashell comb hair pins and began to saw at the ropes with everything they had.

Sean was going to try and see if the harpoons sharp tip could help, when the ship surged forward. The Pod and Gam members were yanked away from the ship with the wake and fired upon as they drifted uncontrollably to the surface. Sean stayed just beneath the ship, grabbing the fishnet. Signe touched his hand in surprise, then grabbed ahold of his wrist in her effort to help him. Slipping the harpoon to her, she quickly began to saw her way threw the fish netting. Cutting just the few strands that she needed to escape, she slipped through and he caught her arm to keep her from drifting into the surface wake of the ship. She wrapped her arms around his neck tightly as he wrapped his arms around her waist, letting the ship soar over them. When she called out his name in sudden panic. Sean turned his head just in time to see a large black fishnet tailing the back of the ship! The fishnet scooped them both up before he could try to swim out with her, yanking them both from the water and into the air.

A member or two from the Gam tried to launch out to grab the hanging fishnet, but were deterred quickly by the launching of a fire barrel off the stern. The crew cheered loudly as they reeled in the fishnet. Signe clung to his chest starting to hyperventilate as she asked him in a frantic panic. "What are they going to do with us?!" Sean didn't want to answer. He had heard rumors that pirates would eat merpeople... However, the most common thing was cutting off their tails. As the net hovered over the poop deck, Sean told Signe very softly. "The second you get the chance. Make a break for the water and don't look back." Signe nodded, huddling against him. The pirates dropped the net heavily onto the deck and a man spoke out loudly to the rest. "Well, look what we've got here boys! Looks like we caught ourselves a set. Male and female!" Some of the crew laughed, but one of the men crossed his arms and snapped out. "Toss the male back and keep the mermaid. Captain's orders."

Signe gasped as the men closed in to unwrap the fishnet. Sean assessed the nearest pirate, noticing a holster on his leg. A dagger. The second the fishnet was clear, Sean yanked the dagger out of the holster and slit the pirates throat. The other pirates jumped back in shock as Sean slashed out in their direction and yelled out. "NOW SIGNE!" Signe knocked a pirate back with the force of her tail and crawled to the back of the ship. Two of the pirates tried to chase her, but Sean thrashed his own tail to trip them up. Signe pulled herself up and used her tail to launch herself off the back. Freefalling back into the water with a loud 'splash'. Sean stabbed a tripped up pirate between the shoulder blades and knocked another flat with the flick of his tail before doing the same method to escape. They didn't seem as interested in his escape as they were with Signe's. Already, he could hear the man from before barking out orders to people below the deck. "She's at the stern! Load Stern cannons and haul her back in, or the devil take ya!"