Nolite Flere

Trouble at Sea

"This is weird," Eunkwang speaks, grimacing at the map. "We're not going where we want to."

"What?" Sungjae voiced.

"The currents, they're all weird." The captain's brows moved together, as he spoke. "They're not flowing the way they're supposed to." Sungjae cranes his neck to see where the ship's navigator was, tracing lines with his index finger. "See, according to my chart, the current's supposed to be flowing southwest. But it's flowing east. And I know for a fact that I can't be wrong. We've been here just two months ago and this is how the current was flowing."

Minhyuk complains, kicking the door open, "maybe it's all this rain that's messing up the tides." Peniel and him fall in and shake themselves like wet dogs, throwing their soaked coats into the rapidly growing pile of laundry. "It's screwing with the engines, that's for sure," he mumbled irately.

Ilhoon enters sliding plates piled with food onto the table. "Can the rain actually change the water's fluxes?"

"No," Eunkwang snorts. "But then again, I don't think we've ever had it rain for over four months straight..."

Sungjae rubs at his chest, biting his lip and leaning back. He had handed the diamonds directly over to the Captain so there wasn't a random pile of them on top of their inventory, but he hasn't told him exactly why it was raining so hard.

Subsequently, Sungjae fingers the black scale in his pocket. Irene had also given him a gold one as well, just in case, but he doesn't really think neither of them are going to appreciate it if he calls them over just to tell Sooyoung to stop crying. Especially since he's the source of those tears. But how long could someone go crying, anyway?

He assumes it works differently for merpeople as it does for humans, but still. He sighs, and was about to comment something about the rain when the entire ship jolts forward.

Peniel's the first to jump up, blaspheming. "What the fuck was that? Did we hit a rock, or something?"

"We're anchored." Eunkwang shakes his head. "Maybe something ran into us. Come on." He rushes out first, not even bothering with raincoats.

The 'something' turns out to be another ship. With black sails.

Captain starts cursing while Sungjae instantly grabs for the gun at his side.

They're a small crew, so any pirate run-ins are dangerous. And this specific ship is enormous. Sungjae figures they're a crew of 50, maybe even more, until he sees the fleet. "Oh my god. What – how did this even happen?!"

"Captain," Minhyuk hisses. "I don't know what went wrong, but our anchor isn't down. It's, like, covered in sea foam..."

Sea foam.

Sungjae's heart plummets and his fingers quickly reach for the scales.

But what could the sisters do?

Irene might be able to do some damage with her whales, but he wasn't exactly sure if that ability extended to all merpeople, or if Irene was just special because she was the crown princess. Though, he couldn't risk their lives just for this.

Somehow Eunkwang appears calm and reserved, even as pirates start crowding their deck. They smell; however, the Captain doesn't let it distract him. "Hello." He greeted them.

They barked out in laughter. "Hello, he says. You're a little runt, aren't you? Got a teeny little crew? Thought it'd be fun to run into a pirate meeting?"

"That wasn't our intention." Captain answers, his voice was soft. "Our anchor was pulled up without us knowing. We don't even know where we are. We're a small trading ship; hence, we don't have much with us. But please take all you want. I only beg of you to leave the crew unscathed."