Random Encounters: Siren

Chapter 2: Music

Anne sat up and gasped for air. After several desperate breaths, she frantically looked around. The bright sunlight blinded her eyes. She patted herself down. She was mostly dry save for her back and hair. She felt sand and could hear the gentle lapping of waves on the shore accompanied by the occasional squawk of some distant gulls.

Her eyes adjusted and she found herself on a beach. The sun hung high above in the cloudless blue sky. There was ocean as far as her eyes could see and no ships in sight.

She took a steady breath, followed by a controlled exhale. The taste of the salty sea air lingered in her nose. "Well, I'm alive." A wave washed over her, re-wetting her legs and bottom. "For now, at least..."

As the waters receded, they revealed a naked half-fish half-human lying next to her, resting her head on her hand.

"Hey."

"Gah!" screamed Anne as she scrambled backward, her face contorted with horror.

"Woah! Sorry sorry!" said the mermaid pushing herself up. She dragged herself a few feet closer towards Anna, who responded by mumbling and pointing at her lower half. The mermaid looked at her turquoise fin and then back to Anne before coiling herself up and sitting upright. She put her hands up and tried to appear as non-threatening as possible. "It's okay! You're safe. I'm not going to hurt you." Her voice was mellow and melodic.

Anne looked her up and down in disbelief. The sea witch of legend. Or was it actually her? She didn't fit Gavin's versions of the tale. Nor any other she'd heard for that matter.

The siren's upper half was beautiful, though not entirely human. For starters, her glistening skin was a light blue hue. Her face was very pretty and unmistakably human save for her long-finned ears. Her lengthy black hair had hints of purple throughout and was impossibly silky for a creature that spent most of its time underwater. Her neck had several closed slits running along both sides that moved slightly as she breathed. She was slender but well-toned, the result of constant swimming.

Her lower half was more in line with what Anne expected. Her vibrant turquoise fin was nearly double the length of her upper half and looked very smooth, soft, and had an almost impossible shine to it.

"Y-You're the sea witch!" stuttered Anne.

The mermaid put her hands on her hips. "Sea witch? Kind of hard to be a witch when you don't know any magic."

Anne looked her up and down again. She had an uncanny beauty and was far from ugly. Her breasts were perky, and on the smaller side, a far cry from Gavin's crassly detailed description. She felt a little silly basing her assessment purely on attractiveness and bust, but that's all she had to go on.

"So," Anne began, feeling slightly more at ease, "W-Who are you? What are you?"

"My name is Ceol. I'm a siren, mermaid, fish person, whatever you prefer." She gestured at her coiled fin-tail. "This is usually the give away," she laughed.

Anne gave a forced smile and a nervous laugh. "And Ceol... you eat..."

"Oh my gods, do you think I'm going to eat you?!" she replied in horror.

"Well, it's just-"

"Fish! I eat fish! And seagulls, but they're basically sky-fish."

Anne gave her a confused look. "Isn't that cannibalism?"

Ceol crossed her arms. "I don't know, do you consider eating chickens cannibalistic because they're also on land?"

Anne felt silly about her line of questioning. The two looked at each other for a period of time that felt longer than it was.