Arlecchino
Arlecchino leaned back on the rocks, watching the horizon. The sun had just risen, and yet the rocks were already warm. She heard Columbina splashing around in the bay, but she didn’t break her gaze from the horizon.
“What’s the matter?” Columbina asked in her singsong voice, swimming up to the rocks where Arlecchino was sitting. Columbina’s pink and black scales shimmered in the early morning sunlight, and Arlecchino squinted against the glare to look her in the face.
“Nothing is the matter. Just not looking forward to dealing with the hungover crew,”
Columbina giggled, and lifted her body onto the rocks next to her. She continued to swish her tail around in the water, splashing Arlecchino. Arlecchino rolled her eyes, before offering Columbina her jacket to dry off. She started to wring out the water from her air, both of them falling into silence, only interrupted by the waves crashing onto the rocks and the shore.
“You seemed very upset last night,” Columbina finally said, putting on Arlecchino’s jacket. “Even more upset than the man Dottore was talking too,”
Arlecchino snorted. She had to admit, she had been upset. Mostly with herself. That night was one bad thing after another. First Sandrone dragged her out to town halfway through her work, then she had fallen off the dock into the water. When she finally climbed back onto shore, any will she had to have fun dissipated.
She didn’t say anything else, and Columbina started to hum a song. Arlecchino had heard her hum that song many times over. It was a beautiful tune, serene almost. It’s like the song of the morning bird she hears when they are close to land. To Arlecchino, it sounds like freedom and peace.
She shook her tail a bit, before it phased back into her normal legs. Arlecchino wasn’t sure how her siren abilities worked, especially how her ability to phase between mermaid and person worked. Columbina had explained it once to her, but it was so complicated Arlecchino didn't remember most of it.
Dottore seemed interested in what she was saying, and they talked for a while about her siren abilities. He had come back later that week with a solution to her ‘problem’, whatever he meant by that. Arlecchino was going to ask her about it, but had gotten distracted and forgot.
Columbina pulled on her coat she had left on the rocks, and stood up. Arlecchino shoved the train of thought out of her brain and waited a few seconds, staring at the open sea, before standing up to join her.
Columbina gracefully walked across the rocks, jumping from boulder to boulder. Arlecchino stumbled across the rocks, careful not to twist her ankle. Should they run into trouble, Arlecchino did not want to be incapacitated. While she wasn’t a sharpshooter like Sandrone, but Arlecchino was still one of the best fighters on The Styx. She had forged her own blade with the help of Capitano, and she had trained for most of her life. She’d be damned if she couldn’t fight due to a silly mistake.
They walked along the white sanded beaches, until the unmistakable smell of wet and rotting wood greeted her. Crabs scurried across the sand, moving out of their way. They walked up to the dock, careful not to step on rusty pieces of metal.
She pushed herself up onto the dock, which was one good storm away from being swept out to sea. It creaked under her weight, and she was careful to not step on any of the boards that looked weak.
She didn’t turn around, but she heard the constant hum of the lullaby, and she knew that Columbina was still with her. The lullaby was a haunting tune, one that gave Arlecchino goosebumps. It sounded like a song straight from the depths of the sea.
They walked mostly in silence until the sounds of the town caught up to them like a swarm of insects, buzzing and never having one single clear sound. Columbina stopped her hum, and grabbed Alrecchino’s hand. Arlecchino could feel her face heat up a bit, but turned away to face the sea.
They walked back to the ship, the buzz of the town and Columbina’s lullaby providing background noise. After a while, the sounds of the port faded, only to be replaced with the argument in familiar voices.
Arlecchino scoffed at the shrieks from the first mate, but Columbina just smiled.
“You care for them,” she said, letting go of Arlecchino’s hand, and grabbed onto the rope ladder that led up to the deck. Arlecchino rolled her eyes, but followed her up the ladder.
“Sure, but not when they argue like school children. They are going to get us killed one day,”
Columbina gave a soft laugh, but didn’t respond. Colubina jumped down onto the dock, and waited for Arlecchino with an outstretched hand. Arlecchino took it, staring at Columbina’s smile. She gave a small smile back, and turned to the scene in front of her.
Dottore was pacing back and forth in front of Pierro, the rest of the crew surrounding them. Scaramouche was craving something into the wall of the hull, half paying attention to the conversation. Sandrone was near him, staring at Dottore and Pierro in disbelief. Signora sitting on the stairs, looking bored. Arlecchino assumed Capitano was staring at the duo as well, but she couldn’t tell with his helmet on. She looked for Pulcinella, but when she couldn’t see him, she assumed he was below the deck somewhere.
She was about to walk over to Signora to ask what was going on when Dottore spoke.
“What is this, Pierro?” Dottore asked incredulously.
“He’s not a what, doctor. He is a kid,” he responded.
Dottore rolled his eyes, waving his hand in dismissal.
“Yes, whatever. Who is it?”
Arlecchino nodded. It was irregular for the captain to make any decisions without consulting Dottore or Columbina first.
“His name is Kaeya,” Pierro started, gesturing to the boy. “I am going to take him in on request of Dainsleif,”
Arlecchino could feel the people on deck roll their eyes. Dainsleif had a habit of showing up whenever it was convenient for him, and leaving the crew with a new task.
Arlecchino stared at Pierro with disbelief. She saw Dottore continue his pacing out the corner of her eye, the heel of his shoe clicking against the wooden flooring. The kid stared back up with her with big eyes, and she noticed he had a bandage wrapped around his head, covering his right eye. The bandage had some visible blood that had soaked through, but he didn’t seem to be in immediate pain so Arlecchino wasn’t concerned.
She looked around and took a deep breath, trying to think rationally. Scara was leaning against the railing, looking at the kid with a pitiful expression on his face. The youngest person on the ship, who was only roughly ten years old himself, was trying to get the new kid to talk. The boy with blue hair hid behind Pierro’s leg.
“Don’t scare him, Tartaglia,” Pierro advised. “He doesn’t know who any of you are, so be nice,”
Tartaglia rolled his eyes at the captain, but sat down in front of the boy with blue hair, showing him the various drawing pencils the crew had managed to obtain for him over the years.
“We should just leave him at the port. A ship is no place for a kid-“
“No!”, Scaramouche exclaimed, cutting off Dottore. Dottore gave him a pointed look, but continued.
“I have a… …friend in the port who would help out,”. Arlecchino saw Scaramouche roll his eyes.
“Like he would do any favors for you. We are keeping him,”
Dottore turned, ready to start arguing with Scaramouche, when Pierro cut him off.
“Scaramouche is right. We are keeping the kid, and I expect all of you guys to treat him how you would treat each other,” Sandrone grimaced at that, looking at Scaramouche and Dottore, who looked inches away from ripping each other’s throats out.
Pierro glared at the two, silencing whatever fight they were about to have. He kneeled down to pick up the kid, and started pointing to each member of the crew, introducing them to the little kid.
The boy nodded at each name, his eye scanning across the crowd. Arlecchino wasn’t sure how she felt about another kid on board. It was a headache enough to make sure Tartaglia didn’t jump overboard, now they had to pay attention to another one.
Columbina was already talking to him in her soft, melodic voice, and Arlecchino saw the kid relax a bit. In her opinion, Dottore’s idea was the best. They could find the kid a nice family, and never have to think about him again.
When Pierro got to Columbina and Arlecchino, the kid, or Kaeya if she remembered correctly, smiled at Columbina. She smiled softly back at him, and Pierro set him down so he could play with Tartaglia. Kaeya carefully walked off with the other boy, but looked back at Pierro.
Pierro nodded at him, and the boy walked off. Pierro took a deep breath before facing the crew.
“He’s here to stay. Treat him like you treat Tartaglia,”
Scaramouche snorted at that, but remained silent, and Pierro continued.
“Treat him as a member of the crew. He’s one of us now. You are all dismissed,” he turned, and walked back to his quarters, slamming the door behind him.
The rest of the crew slowly dispersed, walking back to completing their chores for the day. Arlecchino saw Dottore climb down the ladder, mumbling to himself. She rolled his eyes, but walked back to Columbina.
“Big things are on the horizon,” she said suddenly, looking out to the sea.
“What?” Arlecchino questioned, unsure if she heard her correctly.
“It feels like a big change is going to happen,”
Arlecchino looked out to the sea, following Columbina’s eyes.
“Well,” she said, taking her hand. “We’ll brave it together,”