Black Hearted

Part 8

Once the ship was loaded back up with the supplies and crew, Mark set the heading. Mark kept his eyes at the ships stern to be sure that they weren't being followed. He didn't believe so, but the ocean had many secrets that he couldn't see. He refused to relax, until he checked his pocket watch. They were two hours out and he had seen no one come up to the surface. He wasn't sure if Merpeople had to come up for air... He wanted to believe they did though. Turning to walk up behind Bob, he asked him in a low voice. "How is she holding?" Bob glanced at him, answering casually. "She's a bit stiff. With fresh pitch on only one side, it's causing her to drift to Port side." Mark nodded to himself. He knew this would happen. Dropping a hand on the ships railing, Mark told him just as casually. "Do what you can to keep her on course."

Mark had already started down the stairs as Bob stated out. "Aye aye, Captain." Heading toward his cabin, he stopped at the door and sighed heavily. He was tired, but knew what he'd have to deal with inside. It was almost more appealing to sleep below deck with the crew... Almost. Opening the door, he stepped inside to find Sean shackled and gagged to a chair. Only now the chair was tipped over on its side. The Merman's tail flopped in an irritated manner, while muffling out something to him with a heated look. Mark rolled his eyes, moving closer to position the chair back in its upright position. Afterward, he moved to his desk to sit and look over his map. Getting away from the lagoon was the main priority, but they still had repairs to make and needed a island or a port to finish. It was difficult to concentrate though, when Sean kept muffling out noise at him.

Slamming his hands on the desk, he yelled out in a fowl mood. "WHAT?!" Sean fell silent. Mark had already reached his boiling point though. Storming around his desk, he reached out to yank the gag from Sean's mouth roughly. Sean turned his head, but glared at him from the corner of his eyes. Mark took a step forward, grabbing Sean's jaw and growling out through clenched teeth. "What's wrong? Catfish got your tongue now?" He felt Sean's jaw tense up a moment and expected a fowl comment in return. Instead, Sean told him rather calmly. "Please, give me my amulet back." Mark released Sean's face and groaned loudly as he rolled his eyes. He started to move back to his desk to ignore Sean, when Sean spouted out to him desperately. "PLEASE! I need it! Look at my tail!" Mark reluctantly turned to look. He saw nothing at first... Then saw that the tail was peeling in places. Moving back, Mark kneeled down to look it over. The scales were so dry that they were cracking and peeling off their top layer.

He took a piece and slowly peeled it off. Sean's tail jerked away as he yelped in pain. Mark stared at the fresh scales beneath the part he had peeled off and touched them. They were smooth to the touch, but when he pulled his hand away, he noticed a light coating of blood on his fingers. Sean's eyes began to water as he pleaded to him. "I can't be out of water like this... I'm drying up. If my tail dries out too much, than it will become damaged and I'll never be able to swim again... I'll be paralyzed from the waist down... Please!" Mark lowered his eyes to the floor in hesitation. He didn't want to give Sean a means of escape... but there was a possibility that this could kill him. Sean tried to lean forward, telling him hopefully. "I'll let you shackle my ankles if it will make you feel better... but please... Don't let me die like this?" Mark sighed, removing the amulet from his pocket.

A tear ran down Sean's cheek and for the first time, Mark noticed that Sean's upper body was red with sunburn. Gritting his teeth, he grumbled out. "Fine, but just because I don't need anymore dead weight on this ship." Mark stood up, cautiously slipping the amulet around Sean's neck. When the amulet was fastened, it began to glow a bright blue and Sean cried out as the dry scales on his tail tore free to morph into legs. The transformation looked painful, but he wondered if that was only because Sean's tail was so dry. After his long slender legs appeared, Sean hung his head in both relief and pain. The amulet faded back to normal and Mark shuffled his feet uncomfortably. Sean lifted his head to understand why.  Watching Mark move to a large chest in the room, before he told him gruffly. "I should probably give you something to wear. You don't want to give the crew any more of a reason to hurt you." Sean glanced down to see that he was naked by human standards. Among the Gam and the Pod, this wasn't something to be ashamed of. No animal in the sea had 'clothes.'