How long had she been out? Hours? Days? Weeks? God knows. When Fay opened her eyes she was sprawled out on a rock, waves rolling up and drenching her already soaked body. At this rate she’d get sick! She grumbled, sitting up. Her ship was gone, she was lost in the middle of the sea, and she was soaked. So much for love for the ocean, huh? She tried to get to her feet before letting out a hiss of pain and falling right back down. She wearily looked down at her leg. The cloth of her pant leg had been torn away, revealing a long, bloodied claw mark that ran along the back of her calf from her ankle to her knee. She desperately tried to wipe the blood away with her hand, shuddering in pain. This isn’t good. She’s going to die out here at this rate. What in the world had done this to her leg? The thoughts were buzzing in her head. They seemed to all be answered when she heard a noise emitting from beside her. Her head snaps in the direction of the noise and what she saw startled her almost to death. Curled up on the rock next to her was a siren. She let out a yelp, scooting away, the fact that she was sitting on a rock a few feet above the water forgotten completely. She plunged into the water without the opportunity to process what was happening. The water was cold and it stung the wound on her leg. She shuddered, swimming up to the surface. Once she broke the surface she coughed and gagged, expelling all the water from her body. It hurt. She looked back up at the rock to see the siren peering down at her. It stared at her with curious eyes, ear fins fluttering rhythmically. She carefully climbed back up the rock, hissing quietly. Her leg stung from the salt water. She hated it.
”What’s wrong with you?” She hissed, seeming to startle the siren a bit. It shrank back, gills flaring. In quick retaliation it lunged closer, snapping its jaw. Fay jumped back, almost falling off the rock again.
“Get back!” She shrieks, waving her hand to shoo the siren away. It mimicked her, waving a webbed hand at her.
“Where’s my ship, you beast?!” Fay yelled, hunching up a bit.
“Gone!” It yelled, fins flaring.
“You did this, didn’t you?” She demanded, clenching her fists. The siren didn’t answer, it only coiled up a bit more, a glare on its face.
“You did, I knew it.” She hissed, puffing out her cheeks
“No!” It grabbed her arm, flaring its fins. “Did not!” The siren yells, shaking her. Its nails dug into her skin, causing her to wince and try to shove it away.
“Then where is my ship? My crew?” Once again, silence. She had no reason to trust it.
“You… human.” It murmured, it clenched it’s claws, causing them to dig into Fay’s arm more. She gritted her teeth.
“Let go.” She hissed through clenched teeth, earning no reaction from the siren.
“Human!” It repeated, grip only tightening.
“What do you want from me?” She cried, grabbing its arm with her free hand.
“Be like… like you!” It straightened up, gills flaring in annoyance. “Be a human too…” It muttered, curling up a bit. This was crazy! She was talking to the very beast she was looking to capture.
“Please…?” It whimpered, ear fins drooping a bit. She shakily got to her feet, glaring down at the siren.
“I would never help a beast like you.” She hisses, letting out a shaking sigh.
It went quiet for a moment, giving Fay a chance to turn away. She was contemplating swimming to the nearest land but before she could do anything, the siren hissed and grabbed her arm, pulling her down to its face. “Not going… anywhere.” It murmured, baring its sharp teeth. She froze up, green eyes widening a bit. It wasn’t planning on letting her go until it had gotten what it wanted.

The siren let out a quiet hiss, gripping on to the girl’s arm with brutal force. She cried out in pain, instinctively kicking the siren away. It wailed, coiling back and clutching its side. Fay had never moved so fast. She got up to her feet, diving off the rock and into the water. All she could think about was getting away from that siren. She didn’t care how far she had to swim. She needed land. She had a head start, swimming as fast as she could away from the rock and the siren who still sat up there, probably angry beyond belief at this point. She tore through the icy water, skin starting to go numb from the temperature as she got farther and farther from the beast. Her body ached, the salt water did nothing but sting her open wound but, she didn’t care at all. She wanted the land. She wanted to get away from this godforsaken place.
It felt like she had been swimming for hours and hours, Fay’s body burned and ached from the cold water. She was going to die here, wasn’t she? She had started to give up, eyelids heavy with exhaustion. She could feel herself start to drift off, right there and then in the water. But she had a hunch, no, a feeling that she was close to land. Close to reaching home. She shook her head, starting to swim through the bone-chilling water once again.
It didn’t take long before Fay came across a few big rocks that sat a few feet higher than the water. A spot to rest! She picked up the pace, clambering her way on top of the closest rock. Letting out a sigh of relief, Fay flopped backwards, letting out a sigh. It felt so good to just lay there. The waves brushed up against the rock, barely grazing her feet, which hung off the side of the rock. Now that she was alone and safe she couldn’t help but to think back to the siren, the terrible beast could have killed her then and there if she wasn’t fast enough to get away. She never wanted to encounter another creature such as that. Fay sat up, letting out a sigh. Oh, how she missed home. She missed everything about home! She kicked her legs back and forth rhythmically, looking down at her lap. She was going to try to dry off while the sun was still out. Everything seemed to be quiet and still, even the gentle crash of the waves. It made her nervous, but she shrugged it off. That was until she felt a tug at her foot. No, it wasn’t a gentle tug, more of a pull. She yelped in surprise, trying to scramble away before she was pulled back into the sea. Before she could do so, she was tugged into the icy claws of the water, nearly hitting her head against the rock. She hissed once she hit the water, hugging herself in an attempt to warm up. While doing so, she looked around for her attacker. What she was greeted by was rather surprising. A big, grey seal poked its head out of the water, an almost mischievous on its face. The pinniped barked, flicking water towards Fay as it slapped its fins together. She smiled softly, but something about this just didn’t seem right. Do seals come out this far from the shore? She shook the thought away, humming quietly.
“Hey, buddy!” She chirped, voice shaking from the cold water. “You know it’s not very nice to drag people into the water, right?” She shuddered, causing the animal to tilt its head. It probably had no idea what she was saying. After another moment of silence, the pinniped swam past her, trying to pull itself on to the rock. As it left the water, it started to morph and change. Instantly, Fay knew this wasn’t a seal. She let out a gasp as soon as the creature pulled itself to the top of the rock. It appeared to be a young girl with ratty and tangled brown silver locks and dark brown eyes eyes. She was all skin and bones, you could see the poor thing’s ribs. It was a selkie. Another mythical beast that she had heard about from her many years of sailing. The little girl cooed, holding on to the rock tightly with a mischievous smile. Fay shuddered, trying to back away as slow as possible so she didn’t alert the beast. It seemed to be a failure because the small child shifted, holding out one of her hands.
“Stop!” She squeaked “Don’t leave me!” She seemed hurt, a small frown replacing her smile. Fay froze, stomach twisting.
“I need… I need to go home…” She trailed off, shivering nervously
“But! I’m alone, all alone!” The selkie cried, leaning forward a bit. “Don’t leave me!” She whimpered, tears pricking the corners of her eyes. The human’s expression softened a bit. She sighed quietly, shuddering a bit from the icy water.
“Look… I can’t stay here, but you can come with me…” She muttered through clenched teeth, looking up at the girl perched on the rock. Her small smile quickly returns. She wipes her eyes, letting out a quiet giggle.
“Oh! Thank you so much!” She cooed, teetering back and forth at the edge of the rock. Fay couldn’t help but smile, she had always been a sucker for kids and this selkie had already grown on her!
“But you need to promise you won’t leave my side, alright, kid?” She spoke with a stern tone, quirking a brow.
“Yes, ma’am!” The child chirped, sitting up straight. “And you don’t need to call me kid…” She trailed off, whiskers twitching. “My name is Míndi!” She cooed, a small smile on her face. Fay nodded a bit, swimming back towards the rock carefully. She climbed up next to the selkie, shaking out her long ginger hair.
“Alright, Míndi, my name is Fay, it’s nice to meet you.” She chuckled, giving her a small smile. Míndi giggled, bouncing slightly. The encounter had taken longer than Fay had expected, the sun had already began to set. It looked as if they were going to have to stay here tonight and hope that horrible siren hadn’t followed her.

It was hard for Fay to get sleep that night, she watched the slow rise and fall of Míndi’s chest as she slept soundlessly. The selkie had curled up close to her, head resting in the crook of her neck. She was warm but Fay was too deep in thought to sleep. She was waiting. Waiting to see if the siren had followed her here. Waiting to see if the oversized fish would climb up the rock and tear her to shreds, leaving Míndi all alone again. She held the child close, green eyes widening a bit. That couldn’t happen. She wouldn’t let it happen.
The sun was finally beginning to rise, causing the dark blue night sky to melt into an eye-catching orange hue. Míndi began to stir, carefully sitting up and stretching. Fay yawned, sitting up as well. The selkie let out a quiet hum, turning around to face the human.
“Good morning.” She chirped, a sleepy smile on her face.
“Morning,” Fay chuckled, combing back her messy ginger locks with her hand. “We should get moving…” She yawned again, carefully getting to her feet. Míndi nodded a bit, scrambling to her feet. The human wobbled a bit before grabbing Míndi’s hand and hobbling towards the edge of the cliff. Míndi squeezes her hand gently, taking a deep breath.
“Let’s get it over with, alright? We need to keep moving.” Fay murmured, taking a deep breath. The water was going to be freezing but it’s not like they had any other choice right now. She held Míndi close to her side as she dived off into the icy water, the little selkie following close behind the other. The water was just as cold as she anticipated, and as soon as they both plunged into the freezing cold ocean, Míndi shifted back into a seal. Fay tried to remain afloat, gasping for air. Míndi swam closer to the human just to make sure she was doing okay before they began to swim. They were going to make it. She just knew it!

After swimming for what felt like hours, Fay’s arms ached. Míndi seemed unaffected by it though. The selkie plunged through the water, head bobbing up and down as she pushed through. Every once in a while, Míndi would stop so the human could catch up. She was getting tired but she knew they needed to keep going. That siren could catch up to them at any moment and the thought scared her half to death. She let out a quiet sigh, shaking her head. Once she knew they were far enough would she relax even a little bit. She needed to focus on swimming away. Once she reached the shore she and Míndi wouldn’t have to worry about this nightmare anymore.
They hadn’t stopped at all and Fay knew they were getting close to home now. The sun looked as if it was on the verge of setting, which worried Fay extremely.
“Fayy…” Míndi whined, slowing down a bit. “I’m tired! Can we rest?” She couldn’t help but feel bad for the selkie. She was only a child after all.
“We don’t have anywhere to stop, Míndi. Once we find somewhere, we can.” She sighed.
“It’s so cold… and I’m hungry…” She whimpered, whiskers twitching.
“I know, Míndi, just hold on for a bit longer, okay?” Fay spoke gently, throwing a glance in her direction. She nodded numbly, black nose twitching. Things were starting to get dull for the duo, but at least they weren’t at the claws of that siren.
Night had already fallen by the time they had found a suitable place to sleep. Míndi took no time crawling up on to the flat rock, shifting back into the form of a human. She curled up, shaking her hair out. Fay looked around before pulling herself up on to the rock next to Míndi. She laid down, closing her eyes. For the first time in what felt like forever, she felt like she could sleep for once. Míndi had already fallen asleep now, curled up against the human. She closed her eyes, starting to doze off slowly.

The ocean was quiet at this time of night. It had been two days since the encounter of the human and Anthia was starting to become impatient. That deranged land dweller thought she could get away with that? The siren thought otherwise. The smell of the human’s blood was still present in the water. Anthia parted her lips, drinking in the scent. She wasn’t far. The siren began to speed up, pointed teeth chewing on the inside of her cheek. There was nowhere to run now.
It wasn’t long before Anthia had reached the end of the trail. She poked her head out of the water, ear fins flaring. There she was. She watched as the human’s chest slowly rose and fell. Soundlessly, Anthia clambered on to the rock. She couldn’t help but notice the little child curled up close to Fay. She grimaced, tail fin flicking back and forth like a cat’s. That was no human child, it was a selkie. The siren straightened up, gills flaring. She let out a low hiss, causing the selkie to open her eyes. She gasped but before she could alert the human, Anthia grabbed her by the throat with her sharp claws barely digging into her skin. She let out a feeble squeak, whiskers twitching.
“Sleep.” Anthia hissed, grip on the selkie’s throat tightening. She squirmed and yelped until finally she went still. She tossed the limp body aside. At this point, the human had finally began to stir. She opened her eyes and yawned.
“Míndi?” She muttered, sitting up. The siren took the opportunity to grab the human by the wrist, baring her sharp teeth. As soon as she did that, the human seemed to realize what was going on now. Her eyes widened and she tried to quickly pull her hand away. The siren smiled sickly, ear fins fluttering. She was finally getting what she wanted. She lunged for the human, grabbing her by the throat. The human tried to fight back but before she could do anything the siren slammed her head down against the rock, causing her to fall limp. Anthia hissed again, shoving the pirate’s body off of the rock. That human was a fool for thinking she could come here and try to conquer this siren.