Mermay Madness

Step. Step. Step. Step.

The walk along the shore was peaceful and enjoyable to someone who just wanted to walk alone and enjoy the cool waters of the ocean by themselves... Unfortunately you hadn't the leisure of having that kind of experience. You used to. Oh you used to. But ever since you ended up crash landing upon the shores upon this stupid island.

It had been like any other day where you lived. You used to have a normal life. A small house, normal nine to five job working at the supermarket, and had normal hobbies for a young woman your age. Reading, going on nature hikes, occasionally fishing or going swimming in the nearby river since the ocean was a good hour away. So how did you end up here? Simple. You heard of a new tourist attraction being offered. A captain was offering boat tours to a big island that was rumored to be haunted by the ghost of pirates that died and most people avoided since it was abandoned anyways. It sounded rather interesting to say the least considering how mundane your life was. So you decided to save up your money and decided to go one day out of boredom. You didn't believe in ghosts so you'd either get a good scare or at least see a beautiful island you never saw before.

You wished you had just stayed at home now.

Because you had arrived and boarded that ship with at least six other people and the captain who promised the experience of a lifetime before departing. By all accounts it should've been just a five day trip. It took a whole two days to sail to the island, the captain would wait one day for you all to look around the small island, and then it'd take two days to return home. The fee was huge but it was enough for travel, food, and room and board. All in all worth it if it meant you could have a pleasant trip.

However your trip was anything but pleasant.

The first day into the trip was peaceful and serene as you watched the world go by. However when night came is when disaster struck. No one even saw it coming when they struck. There you were on the deck talking to another passenger about his work which was botany and enjoying the cool night air when the first lurch happened. One moment you both were talking about the different colored roses and then the next everyone was sent sprawling across the ground or desperately grabbing onto the nearest wall as what felt like an Earthquake happened beneath your feet. You hissed as you hit your side rather hard and looked up to wonder what the heck that was.

"What the hell was that?!," one man shouted clinging to the deck's railings for dear life.

"Nobody panic!" The captain called from where he cling to the steering wheel and tried to reassure everyone. "We must've just collided with a reef! The ship was built to handle such things. We'll pass right over it and ever-"

He never got to finish his sentence when the worst happened. Another lurch hit the ship as it dipped suddenly to the left and a giant cracking sound filled the air. It sounded as if a hundred planks of wood were broken at once and even now you still remembered it. Your whole world was turned sideways and the air was filled with screams and splashes as the boat tipped over, over, over-

And then there was a splash.

In an instant your entire body was soaked in saltwater as you were dunked into the dark ocean. Your body flailed in the darkness and bubbles rushed past your face as you screamed out under the waves. On instinct you kicked and pushed your arms up beneath the waves as you pushed upwards towards the moonlight. The surface broke as you pushed your head above the water gasping and coughing for breath hearing the groaning of the ship as it slowly sank down into the depths and the panicked sounds of the people around you.

"SIRENS!!"

Your head turned towards the scream only to see one of the other heads disappear quickly as if someone had yanked him under the water. That's when the panic settled in. You shrieked and did the only thing you could do. Swim for the sinking ship. At the very least you could get a floating piece of wood to keep yourself afloat until you could escape. Frantically you swam for it. Pushing your muscles to the max and had just grabbed the upturned deck when something latched onto your ankle. With another scream you were yanked under the waves and into the darkened depths. Down away from the moonlight as you made useless grabs at it.

A stream of bubbles left your mouth as you looked down at what was latched around your leg and instinctively screamed when you saw two glowing yellow eyes staring back up at you in the darkness. Gleaming fangs smirked sinisterly at you as a face surrounded by fins. Webbed hands wrapped around your leg and pulling you harder towards the darkness below, so you did the only thing that you could do.

Without warning your hands shot out to stab your finger into it's fleshy eyes.

Instantly the thing roared out in pain that vibrated the water in front of you and you took your chance. Kicking and swaying your limbs as your lungs burnt from the lack of air until your form broke the surface with a gasp. Coughing up water you made your way quickly towards the ship. Kicking and pushing against the waves until you reached a random life boat bobbing in the waves. Like a wet cat dragging itself out of a bathtub you wetly crawled inside landing with a wet splat sound and breathing heavily. All around you you heard screams, splashes, breaking up what was left of the ship, and some kind of inhuman screams of delight. Whimpering you curled up on the bottom of that boat out of sight and clamping your hands over your ears.

"Hey, Kamanue!! Look at this pretty lady!~ Bet I could trade her to Douma for some treasure! He's always looking for some pretty new females to add to that harem of his! They practically worship him!"

That screechy voice was followed up by a woman screaming in horror pleading to be let go.

"Holy shit, Rokuro. What the hell happened to your eye? It looks like a swordfish stabbed it!"

"SHUT UP!!"

"Wait.." Women's screams still filled the air."Wasn't there three females?"

"She got away after stabbing me in the dam eye!" A hissing like sound and clacking teeth filled the space. "I don't see her amongst the wreckage here however."

"She must've been swept away under the water along with the human males or swam off in a different direction...Either way there's no use looking for her. She'll drown whichever way either already or eventually when she gets exhausted. There's no land in any direction for days."

"Yeah. It'd be a better idea to grab what we can and get outta here before someone else gets attracted to the dead. Two outta three is still a good haul. No sense in wasting more ti-...Wait..SHIT!! We gotta go now!!"

"MOVE IT!!"

You had to bite your tongue to stop your teeth from clattering together and slap your hands over your mouth to cover your breathing. Quiet. You had to be quiet or else they'll catch you. The sound of splashing and women's voices pleading to be let go still cute through the air moving away from the boat in the direction of the west slowly and strangely quickly the sounds got more and more distant. Until all that was left was the sounds of the ocean water sloshing against the boat.

Only then did you decide to sit up and look around.

Your body was shaking and you felt cold from both fear and being soaked. It was dead quiet now as you bobbed along with nothing but some random pieces of floating wood around you. Whatever those things were, they were gone and apparently they took whoever was with you with them. Breathing heavily and looking around you saw no one which both terrified and relieved you. You were all alone. No monsters..but also no help as well. You were left with nothing but the clothes on your back with in a boat without oats.

If you had to get anywhere you'd have to use your hands but first you had to catch your breath. It felt like your heart was racing a mile a minute. Breathing your eyes only looked around you at the dark waters. The moonlight reflected off the water causing it to light up in a way and a giant reflection of the moon gleamed brightly. Focusing on the pretty light helped to calm you down as your heart slowed down.

The lights were pretty. From the small stars to the moon illuminating the fin moving through the water-

Wait.

Your eyes blinked before they strained to see in the dark. Something was..illuminated?? Under the water there was a something moving around just under the waters' surface speeding closer and closer to you. You blinked shaking your head but you weren't seeing things. It came closer and closer to you before you could react it was already passing under the boat. You gasped as something bumped the underside of the life boat you were on making it rock. 

What was that?!

Of course your head turned to follow it as it served through the water until your face dropped seeing what it was. A GIANT FIN!! IT WAS A FREAKING SHARK!! AS IF YOUR LUCK COULDN'T GET ANY WORSE!! It proceeded to your horror to make a u-turn in the water and circle your boat once until it stopped just a few yards away from the boat. There it stayed unmoving poking out of the water as you tried to control your fear. You didn't move, didn't breath as you just stared at where it was. Nothing happened for the longest time until something moved. Ripples in the water appeared as the fun turned to face you and they were headed straight towards you.

You squealed back to the farthest corner of the boat as the water sloshed around and a moment later a webbed hand reached out to grab onto the edge of the boat. You could watch in horror as a dark silhouette emerged from the dark water. Your mouth fell open as your eyes widened as the figure loomed over you. Water dripping off its form as white eyes stared back at you silently. A face could barely be seen illuminated by the moonlight. Black hair clung to the face as it stared at you in confusion then surprise...and then slowly a large mouthful of sharp teeth smiled at you.

"Well..It looks like the minnows didn't salvage all the scraps eh? Then again." He hummed looking you up and down. "You're too pretty to be called a scrap.~"

You both stared at each other. Neither moving. Your breath heavy and chest feeling tight until black clouded your vision and every went black.

When you woke up next you had found yourself stranded on an island and had woken up alone on a beach that wasn't the beach you first left. On a strange island you didn't recognize and no one else around you but a few pieces of wood to prove that night hadn't been just a nightmare. From there you had wondered the small island looking for anything or anyone else to help you only to discover that you were all alone.

All alone except for the creature that brought you here.

And he did not take long to make himself known. You in desperation had tried to make a fire on the beach in hopes perhaps a passing boat would see it and come rescue you when you first heard him calling from the ocean. You had carried materials from the forest to the beach with the intention of finding some dry rocks to try and spark a flame when you saw something there. On the beach was a large figure. Very long, black, and staring at you. A thud sounded out as firewood hit the sand before your feet and two electric blue eyes smirked back amused at your reaction.

"I see you're awake."

"W-Who are you?"

He shrugged from where he laid out upon where the sand met lazy waves. "Depends on what I decide to do with you. You're too valuable right now to get rid of. Having a human around will increase my status. After all not just anyone can keep a human alive. The females are especially valuable."

"Keep me?!" You frowned harder stepping back. "What are you talking about?!"

His smirk widened as your stared at him in dread. "You'll learn in time. After all, you're not gonna be going anywhere anytime soon, Kelp.~"

"Wha- ..W-Who are you?!"

He looked like a shark!! Well his lower body WAS a shark. His whole body was a dull grey with the exception of his black hair and the black tops of his fins. His eyes were all black with white pupils as they continued to stare at you.

"I'm your mate! That's who! This is my territory and I claimed you after sinking that dam invading ship!! Hey! Where are you going?!" He called after you as you did the only logical thing in the moment.

You turned and as fast as you could hightailed it into the tropical forest the island had, ended up hiding behind a couple trees breathing heavily in fear at what you saw. What was that?! A siren?! Sea monster?! Whoever it was he was obviously the culprit and why you were stranded here. You hadn't come back out until it was dark and you found a pile of sea bass on the beach strangely in a pile. A gift maybe? You hadn't touched them instead choosing to go to the far side of the island to try and see if there was anything you could do.

From that day on you found out to spot him quickly. He was easy to spot because of the shark fin on his back. At first you were scared that sharks were circling the island too but without fail his head would always pop up right after the fin was spotted. And it was always the same encounter that followed. He'd smile scaring you with his sharp fangs and try to talk to you, offer you gifts(usually fish or seashells), or both. You'd just ignore him and run back into the woods. Once you tried to talk him into taking you back home or let you leave but he only seemed offended.

"This is your home now!," he insisted with a frown, "If I hadn't saved you from being stranded you would've died from dehydration or starvation or drowned- Someone else worse than me could've even found you. Trust me. Some of my kind aren't too kind to humans and that's putting it lightly."

That sent your stomach going in knots. 

You stopped talking to him after that which seemed to really make him angry. At various times the following weeks you'd hear him calling you or shouting angry curses from the water at different times of the day and night but you only ignored him which seemed to worsen his anger and shouting. Until one day for whatever reason you couldn't fathom the screaming and angry curses stopped all together. It was a trap. You were sure. A way to lure you to the water's edge for whatever reason. After four days of the continued silence your curiosity got the better of you and you found yourself walking to the beach. The beach was barren and nothing but a few seagulls were flying about.

However the beach was littered with things. Seashells and old fish of all kinds making you curl your nose up from the smell as the birds and crabs descended upon them. Gross. Was he just leaving you these things hoping to entice you?? Without a word you slipped back towards the other side of the island to escape the bad smell. The animals can have them for all you cared. Bur maybe this was a good sign and that he lost interest in you. At least you could now be in peace to hatch an escape plan. Unfortunately those holes were dashed when you saw the fin in the water and then a moment later his head popped up with a smile.

You stared at him before frowning and turning to leave instantly when he shouted out. "WAIT!! WILL YOU?! I GOT YA SOMETHING!!" In question you reluctantly turned to him and he held up an arm out of the water. Something sparkled from his webbed hand. "Look! It's a bracelet! Women love jewelry right?!"

You stared at him. "... Seriously? You're trying to bribe me with jewelry now?"

He frowned. "Hey! I tracked down a sunken ship to find this!" He left out the part he salvaged it from the ship that you were on before meeting him. "Can't you be the least big grateful?"

"I'll be grateful when I go home! You'll holding me hostage here! You don't even know me!"

"I like you! That's good enough! Will you just look at the dam thing?" He held out the bracelet swimming closer to the shore. "It's pretty ain't it?"

The bracelet was gold and studded with diamonds from what you could see. It was pretty and you never really had someone go out to hunt a shark for you before..and looking at him he wasn't that bad looking. Rough and full of scars but not bad looking. Immediately you shook those thoughts from your head and frowned again.

"It might be pretty but that's not the point."

"You know you're beautiful when I see you up close."

A noise left your mouth as you whirled around to stare at his smirking face he held in one hand. He looked amused at the way you sputtered red faced and annoyed.

"Don't try to change the subject!"

"I was actually being serious," he said before shrugging, "But whatever makes you feel better."

"You're impossible!!"

"No I'm not. My name's Hairou... What's your name?"

You took time to pause staring at him. "My name?" He nodded. You narrowed your eyes, looking him up and down a moment. ".. It's Y/n."

"Huh..Pretty name. It matches your pretty face.~ Especially when you blush like that.~"

"Will you stop?!"