fearlessly | mermaid: the squeakquel

mermaid: the squeakquel

[ things have not gone well for alisaie, since the day she saved the boy.

truthfully, things had not been going well for her before then, either, or for as long as she could remember. she did not fit in amongst her peoples, who hid deep beneath the waves. the surface was expressly, strictly forbidden, and for very good reason - the hyur who lived on the lands, the dominant species, are powerful, violent, and untrustworthy, vicious monsters that kill on sight.. or so the stories said. many thousands of years ago, long before the memories of even their most ancient elders, sahagin once thrived, spread across the seas, and the hyur were not unknown to them then. tales say that they once worked together, or at least tolerated one another, until the great hunt began, and while the two-leggeds were powerless in the water, they had great strength in their enormous wooden whales and weapons and vast, endless numbers.

no one can remember how it began, but nevertheless it was not a war, it was a massacre, and what was left of her people fled deep, deep beneath the waves where the weapons could not reach and the hyur could not swim, and it is here that they have remained ever since, rebuilding, surviving, yet still their numbers are so very few in comparison with the vast kingdoms they once kept. the hyur, it seems, have long forgotten them, and as far as her lord father is concerned, that is for the best. keeping away from the surface, away from the two-legged, was the only way to keep themselves safe. alisaie had disagreed.

she knows now that she had been foolish, and naive.

it is not so uncommon for rebellious youths to swim up to the sun, but even the most brazen of sahagin do not venture near to the shorelines. the hyur still swim, still sail in their great whales now built of unforgiving iron and steel, and the few sahagin who have swam higher have always been met with severe punishment. alisaie was a brazen youth, too, and far too stubborn and foolish for her own good. no threat or punishment could keep her away, and when her father found out that she had saved a young hyur boy from drowning, tangled in kelp, his wrath had been a terror to behold.

still she had not learned. she wishes now that she had. but the more they tried to to tighten their hold on her, the more they lost control, and alisaie's rebellious spirit had become her undoing. she had believed, truly believed that the stories could not be entirely true. so much drifts beneath the waves, little tokens of the civilization that they once knew, and so few of them are weapons, or danger. alisaie had found strange metal items, she had found adornments and pictures, bright toys, innumerable things she cannot know the use of, she has studied them, found fascination in them - surely like her own people, the hyur cannot all be so vicious. the drowning boy had looked so.. small, so soft, and afraid, and even these many years later she still remembers his eyes. they had not seemed so dangerous.

she was naive, her father said, before he trapped her in her chambers. she was a danger to all of them, revealing herself even to a child hyur, she puts them all in peril by drawing so near to she shores. she had hated him then, for his closed mind, for how he tried to control her.

now she wishes she had listened. the iron whales had coasted directly over their home that day, and brought with them a cacophany of great noise and flashing lights - the booming of cannons shook the firmament, and the fires rained bitter ash into the waters below. the hyur were fighting one another in a spectacular, horrifying display, and she had not been able to keep away. what a fool she had been. they caught her in their unforgiving nets, and since that day she has known only terror, and fury, and deep, full, unrelenting regret. her father had been right.

she cannot know how long they have kept her. many years, now. she is held somewhere dark, somewhere cold, and they are always watching her, studying her, scraping her scales and plucking her hairs and fins, stealing her blood. they speak to her, and for many years she does not understand, but in time their language becomes a puzzle for her to unravel, even if she does not understand the purpose of all of their words. what else does she have to do to keep herself occupied but to listen to them? there is nothing else to keep her mind from dissolving. when they discover that she can speak their words they are quick to teach her more, to share their language; they are cruel, but they are curious, and though she had been quite certain that they would take her life, they have not killed her.

sometimes she wishes they would. she has long ago lost all sense of the passage of time, and any hope that she would ever swim freely again. at first she would fight them with her teeth and claws and powerful tail, but soon they learned, tainting her waters with something that tasted sweet and sharp, that kept her drowsy. after a time, the hyur stop coming, only one or two remain to observe her, to keep her fed, and alive. she will die here, in this hole in the earth, in this cramped tank, in this water that tastes like rust. she should have listened to her family.

so it comes as a great surprise when more hyur come, one day, when they drag her from her pool and into a small, cramped tank that barely fits her, and haul her away from the hole in the ground and up to the bright, searing sun. alisaie hisses and spits, slamming her body against the glass walls, but the sweet, sharp taste comes again, she is sedated, and a dark cloth is draped over her tank.

she is groggy still when, many hours later, after a long rumbling and swaying, the cloth is swept away and the bright sunlight streams in again. alisaie cannot see clearly, but there is.. a man before her, a man she has never seen before, adorned in dark cloth, his eyes hard but not unkind, not critical like the eyes of the hyur who had kept her before, and when they sweep over her she feels.. seen in a strange way she cannot entirely parse. behind the man are four others, younger, and behind them a vast staircase leading to a great, shining building.

she's so tired..

through the thick glass their voices seem dull and distant, but she hears words - gift, and lucis, mermaid and peace and keep. she will look better soon, they say, she is dull from the stress of travel, and soon her pale scales will shine pearly white and lush pink again, her torn fins will mend, she will be beautiful, a sparkling, priceless gem worthy of a king. there is no other like her. her head pounds, and her eyes are bleary. in time, the man in dark cloth draws near to the glass, and his piercing eyes find her, see her again, and when he speaks she knows that he is speaking to her, and no one else.

You will be safe here. I will give you all that is in my power to give. I'm sorry.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ being quick in a wink wonk way isn't something to be proud of, prompto......

anyway, she's definitely sizing him up, her eyes moving up and down his body, taking his measure. he can't possibly be that fast with those two clunky legs, she's never seen hyur move very fast at all. but he is so boastful!! alisaie narrows her eyes. ]

I do not know what a high school track team is or why you would be on it, but you do not look very fast to me.

[ slipping back into the water, alisaie flicks her tail. ]

Shall we put it to the test?

[ His expression narrows thoughtfully as his gaze follows the flick of her tail. ]

What exactly did you have in mind?

[ Because if she wants something head to head, he already knows he's gonna lose that! She can swim way faster than he can run. But he still might go for it, just to keep her engaged. He's not about to turn down one of her ideas. It might not exactly be her warming up to him, but it's...something.

Besides, he's a competitive sort, he can't help but want to take her on. ]

[ she is also definitely competitive, and it has been a long time since she has been able to indulge such a feeling. ]

A race, of course.

[ how else to find who is the speedy one?? but she doesn't expect prompto to swim, of course, because that wouldn't be a competition any more than her flopping around on land might be a competition to him. it would just be a slaughter, and that's no fun, really. she points downward. ]

Go to the window.

[ the large viewing window at the bottom of her tank, that is. it's enormous, and he should be able to run alongside her with relative ease. ]

Should you be up to the task.

[ Oh...now he's starting to pick up what she's putting down. She'll probably still slaughter him, but at least they have a decent way to go head to head down there. His grin slanting, he nods and hops to his feet, clapping his hands together. ]

Alright, alright! You're on. What're the stakes? Or are we just racin' over bragging rights?

[ If this were a romcom, it would be for a smooch, but he is definitely not about to suggest that. For him just a "hello" would be more than enough... ]

[ this is the first she has felt anything like fun in so long that the feeling is almost foreign, tickling her belly. alisaie's eyes narrow, and he'll never know what the stakes are, because without another word she's diving beneath the surface, swimming hard to the bottom of the tank.

bye, sucker!! ]

[ Wow, excuse, him???? What a cheater! If she wins, he's totally blaming it on this, she's given him the perfect excuse. But Prompto does not remain there dumbfounded for long — quick as his name, he bolts, making for the stairway and running down them as fast as his legs will carry him, glancing at the tank every now and again to discern her position.

How far ahead of him is she?? ]

[ lucky for him she's not a dirty cheater!! alisaie is simply waiting at the bottom of the tank, swimming slow circles while he gets his slow human legs down the stairs, and once she spots him she gestures for him to follow, then begins swimming toward one edge of the tank, where the viewing window begins.

this seems a fair enough place to start from. if he ever gets here, that is!! prompto huh, more like slowto!! ]

[ O........Prompto (and me) definitely thought she was trying to get a head-start. What will his excuse be when he loses now?!

She won't be waiting much longer, though, as he arrives just a few moments later on his side of the viewing window. Running down here was a mistake, he's already a little out of breath...but it's fine!! He's made of pretty stern stuff when it comes to running.

He meets her gaze through the glass and offers a nod. He's ready when she is! ]

[ you sure did, and now prompto is going to be all winded!! too bad for him.. tho she's probably going to thrash him anyway. normally in most aus, despite alisaie being a quick little thing, prompto would generally always win a sprint, because it's literally like, in his name, but this time.. well, rip this prompto, basically. she's quick as lightning in the water.

maybe he'll surprise her with unexpected speed, however! either way, alisaie is quite ready by the time he is on position, and she raises three fingers. numbers, at least, are pretty universal among all intelligent species. she counts down, bending down each finger - one, two, three!

and she's off like a rocket, cutting through the water, swift and hydrodynamic - better keep up, boy!! ]

[ I hope she left her middle finger up the longest, that would just be the icing on the cake.

But he's off like a rocket as soon as she finishes her countdown, bolting at top speed down the corridor ahead of him. He doesn't even take the time to glance over and see how she's doing — if she's too far ahead, it'll defeat his competitiveness, and if she's too far behind, he won't take it seriously enough. No, he must stay on the straight and narrow, running as hard and fast as he can. Only the wall can stop him now!!!

No, really, he might be cruisin' for a bruisin'. ]

[ she doesn't know what flipping the bird is but she's definitely giving him the middle finger with her face right about now at least.

at first alisaie isn't really taking it seriously. she's seen how hyur move, even the quick ones are slow when compared with, well.. most of the world's other species, except maybe like, snails and sloths, so she isn't expecting much, and when they start she moves at a leisurely pace. but wow he's really going for it, isn't it? and while he's still only a fast hyur, he quickly outstrips her. huh. who knew that they could move so quickly when they wanted to?

so after only a few moments casual swimming alisaie beats her tail hard in the water, flattening out her body and zooming fast toward the opposite end of the tank. it ain't her problem if he hits the wall.. ]

[ For a moment, he thinks he might actually have a shot at this — but that's only until it's clear she wasn't taking him seriously at first. But once she does, she's firing off and ahead of him, and no matter how quickly his legs might take him, he isn't going to outpace her.

...But that doesn't mean he's going to give up! No sir. He shoots her a competitive grin, pressing on his pursuit, and only turning his attention to the space in front of him mere moments before he collides with the wall.

Pressing down on his heels as hard as he can, he stumbles, tumbling forward into the wall at a high speed, before falling backwards, backwards, and landing in a heap with a groan.

That's going to leave a mark... ]

[ alisaie is loathe to admit that she is being.. well taken care of when essentially this tank is still a prison, and a tiny one in comparison with the vast oceans, but still, she cannot deny that after surviving such cramped conditions, it feels very good to let loose and fly. she can stretch her muscles and beat her tail against the water without touching glass or acrylic, she can dart at high speeds without smashing into a wall. it feels.. wonderful.

but walls are still walls, and the one ahead of them is coming up quickly; as it approaches, alisaie tenses, and at the last minute pulls up, coasting along the edge of the wall, diving into a backward loop away from it to swim back to the bottom again to find him. oh, did he hit the wall?? what an idiod. even if he didn't, he certainly looks tired. alisaie floats toward him, unfazed, one eyebrow arched.

tired already, huh?? ]

[ Wow, what if he broke his nose and this is all the sympathy he gets!!! But fortunately for Prompto, he did not break his nose, though he is certainly bruised, and he has only begun to stir again by the time she swims back over to him. Rubbing his forehead, he waves dismissively at her with his other, making some attempt at getting back to his feet. But it's hard....... ]

L-looks like you got me...good race...eurgh...

[ He's going to have a headache into next week. ]

[ well he seems to be in one piece.. having mostly only injured his pride. she doesn't see any blood, or bones. he's fine.

it isn't exactly a smile, but something like a smug smirk plays over her lips, briefly, before she turns from him with a flick of her fins, and swims for the surface again. she would taunt him, but he wouldn't hear it through the thick glass, anyway. ]

[ There she goes...Prompto follows after her, though much more slowly, tending to his injuries — yes, mostly his pride. By the time he makes it back up to the surface where she waits for him, he looks as sheepish as a dog with his tail between his legs.

As he approaches, however, he at least manages a wave that's somewhere between a greeting and a surrender. ]

Alright, alright, you thrashed me! You're the faster one, and, uh, that's saying something, since my name literally means I'm fast...

[ Or timely, something like that. ]

[ she hadn't really expected him to return to the surface, maybe because he would need to nurse his pride, and also because she still does not entirely trust him, or know why he is spending his time just.. talking with her, and offering her gifts, and doing everything that he is doing. but here he is anyway, still here, still lingering.

folding her arms over the surface of a smooth stone, alisaie rests her chin down against them, following him with her eyes. ]

Does it? I do not understand the word.

[ now maybe if his name were promptus.. ]

[ Maybe, but it isn't, because his name isn't as dumb as it could have been!! Still pretty dumb, though. ]

Ehh, it's some old language thing, those're pretty popular here in Lucis. [ Or something like that, shrugs in FFXV lore.

Anyway, he's wiped now, so he crouches down next to the edge of her pool, popping a squat and leaning back on his palms. ]

Y'know...I, uh, actually haven't gotten your name yet...

[ oh...

alisaie looks.. surprised. it has been many, many years since anyone has asked her name, since she even made the shape of it with her mouth. the empire's men certainly did not care. they asked about her culture of course, her living situation, her people and her family - she told them nothing - but they did not care about her personal life, or anything to do with who she is.

but he is asking.

she does not answer at first, for her surprise, but after a few moments she slowly, carefully speaks. ]

I am.. Alisaie.

[ Her surprise is evident, and it...breaks his heart. What kind of life has she been put through where it takes her by surprise that someone wants to know her name? No doubt the Niffs gave her a number instead of a name...that's what they had done to him, anyway, and he has the tattoo to prove it.

His expression sobers, but his eyes remain warm at their corners, friendly and concerned. ]

Alisaie...that's a pretty name.

[ And unlike one he has ever heard before. Thank the gods her name wasn't, like, dolphin sounds or something...but he still might botch the pronunciation at first. ]

Al-i-saie...yeah. It suits you.

[ wow dolphin sounds, that's racist?? their languages aren't all too different though; they have the same, you know, human mouth shape for making the same sorts of sounds. his accent when he speaks her name is a little weird, but.. it sounds so nice to hear someone say it. it's been years..

alisaie's expression softens, the hard line of her shoulders easing. trusting one of these hyur is not easy, and she doesn't trust him, not really, but.. well, if earning her trust is his end goal, he's certainly taken a great stride toward it. even the men who had tried to learn from speaking with her hadn't bothered to learn her name, but he has. he is trying, and mayhaps.. mayhaps she can begin to think he means it. that he is genuine.

in time. ]

What are you called?

[ There's something subtle that shifts in her expression, and though he can't quite put his finger on what it is, it is...encouraging. She's still here talking to him, after all, and he has nothing else to offer her right now but his conversation. That has to be a good thing, right?

He can only hope so. ]

Prompto. That's why I gotta be speedy! So I'm...prompt.

[ He grins a lopsided grin for her. ]

Prompt.. yes, I know that word.

[ it's a fancy way of saying "timely," yes? and the scientists working with her certainly loved their fancy speech. ]

Is that how hyur are named? For what they excel in?

[ was he a fast little baby?? she thought that he'd been a chunky little thing.. but maybe that doesn't matter. weight in water makes little enough difference anyway, you can ve very quick when you're buoyant! ]

[ He was certainly not a fast little baby. He was not fast until somewhat recently, but his backstory can wait for another day. For now, he chuckles gently, shaking his head. ]

Nah, think my parents just liked the way it sounded. I mean, my buddy Gladio has the name of a flower...and he's no florist. Though he does know a lot about how to survive in the wild...

[ Hm...maybe she's onto something, actually. ]

What about your name? Does it mean something, where you're from?

My name?

[ it's still so strange to talk about this, her mind feels rusty, the thoughts that stir have to shake off the dust of long disuse. how long has it been since she thought deeply about such things? about herself? her gaze rolls toward the sky, following a wisp of cloud while she thinks. ]

I do not know the meaning of my given name, but my family name means.. watcher.

[ she frowns, trying to parse the word, to find the correct translation. ]

As in.. guardian? Keeper?

mermaid: the squeakquel

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tags out of order because journal hopping in these trying times..

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