I am sat at my favorite little seaside caffe in the beautiful city of Napoli. The smell of the sea fills my nostrils as I watch at my beautiful Bismarck, getting examined, prepared for the long journey that looms over me. I am honored to have been chosen but also worried about what we will come across out there. It had been a millennia since our people ventured outside of our large continent. So much could have changed without us knowing as we were completely cut off from the rest of the world, willingly and unwillingly. We have changed so much, our language, our culture, the way we dress, the way we behave. I read about our ancient history and we are completely unrecognizable compared to anyone. I am sure we will be safe, but how will everyone react, that is beyond me. Our fleet is powerful, but how does it compare to others out there. Have they gone the same rout as us, or have they deviated towards the path of their magic, I don't know. Magic, such a funny thing. We were never blessed by the so called Gods, but maybe that is for the good. Maybe, just maybe, we were blessed in a wicked way, we never would have gotten here if we didn't take the risks of traveling here. But, if those nations that betrayed us are still out there, I will not show them any kindness, I will be cold to them like they did to us so long ago. 

I can see before me that it is time to go. I put the money on  the table and gather my things and head out towards the docks. The crews salute me as I pass them, I look out to the ships that will accompany me. They are extra careful with this expedition, these are some of the best ships at their class and a lot of supplies have been prepared for us. I must say, I feel honored and humbled by this show of care. I look at all the sailors say goodbye to their loved ones, children and friends and I can't help but feel a heavy sense of responsibility to bring them back safe, into the loving arms that now hug them. I walk up the metal ramp and onto the Bismarck, her size does send a shiver down my spine. She might not the biggest that our nation has, but she is still a feat of engineering and a show of our technology and capabilities. I pass by my crew, each one of them greeting me and finally make it to the bridge. The bridge crew are all checking that everything is in order, making sure that all communications are in order and checking in with the other vessels. I step out onto the balcony area, looking out into the horizon, two flags hoisted, our nations and our divisions coat of arms. After everything had been checked and a green light have been given we all start. My ship leaves first, followed up by the others. We form into the convoy formation with the cargo carriers being in the middle of the group while our ship is at the front and everyone else on the sides. Graf Spee, Prinz Eugen and T-22 will be on the left flank while Z-23, Z-24 and Blucher will be on the right flank with us at the front. 

I look back at the land that is becoming ever more distant. I can tell that the crews are excited as they can't stop speculating on what will we come across. Some wish to see the elves that are mentioned, they are characterized by their incredible beauty, or at least that was what was written down by our ancestors. I personally, just want to see the traitors that had betrayed us when we needed help the most, to see what has become of them. To look them straight in the eye, to look into those treacherous eyes. The sea is calm for now, the sun shining bright down upon us, but since it is early autumn it is rather nice, the cool breeze does help one to cool down. We were warned about the possibility of sirens as some have already seen some. The reports had said that their song is tempting but behind it is danger, they will drag you down and kill you so it is best advised to look out for each other. There are other dangers but we have the firepower to deal with that so it doesn't bother me too much. I wonder what other beasts are out there and how they will fare against us, will we have trouble with them or will it be a cake walk. From what I remember from reading about our past, this continent that we now call our home was one of the most dangerous places to exist, so maybe we are just too powerful for the other dangers that might lurk out there. For now I will ignore all of that and simply focus on how to pass the time, I could indulge in one of my hobbies. Painting. Yes, I will do just that. 

Three weeks later

Three weeks had passed already and nothing special had happened, we hadn't come across anything of our interest. I have painted twelve painting so far, but even that can grow boring after a certain period. I had met a young man Fynn Wittke, the navigation officer. He, like me, shares a passion for painting so we indulged in hour long conversations, talking about our favorite artists, our lives and dreams. The crews had become so bored that they ignored their duties and started constantly singing and telling the jokes over the radios, normally that would bother me. But I can't deny them that if it does amuse them in the slightest. Thankfully, one of our tower boys we call them, the ones that sit at the very top of our ships to do recon, had spotted a land mass, or actually, a couple land masses. Islands, some floating and some in the water as expected. The crews, out of excitement, got to their stations quicker than they usually did. The islands were beautiful, flying above the water, waterfalls flowing from them and onto the ocean bellow. They seem to be suspended by some unnatural force, presumably the work of magic of the so called Gods. The spotters had not spotted any civilization on these islands which wasn't much of a bother to us as the beauty of these islands was more than enough. As we sail into the archipelago we stop by one of the bigger islands and some of us prepare to land on it. The islands is cover by a thick coating of tropical trees and vegetation. I, of course will be one of those who will be landing.

As our boats are lowered onto the calm water the men gleam in excitement. My Walther P38 holstered onto my chest, all the men armed too, we don't know if this beauty hides a danger unknown to us. As we land onto the shore we finally step on solid ground after weeks of sailing, it is always a nice feeling I must admit. The sand is soft beneath us, a perfect place for a vacation if it is proven to be safe. We venture into the thicket, unsure what we would come across, what dangers, what creatures lurk here. The floor is decorated by all sorts of flowers, some known and others not, the trees thing and tall, bushes full of berries that we do not dare to taste to try avoiding a poisoning. Exploring and venturing deeper into the island we do come across a couple creatures but none dangerous. I must admit, some of them are cute and would make fine pets, their cuteness would win any woman ten times over. A cat like creature with six stubby legs, two pairs of eyes and puffy build. Green is it's fur but it seems curious and rather playful. With us is a scientist Hanno Piltz, a biologist who will be documenting every creature we might come across. He is quite a high value target and is well protected. We come across a cave entrance and walk inside, the sea water reflecting off of the walls in a mesmerizing pattern. Our footsteps echo against the stone walls, water droplets sound three times louder than usual. We come across a large open area inside the cave, a large pool of water leading into the depth below. It seems this cave does connect to the sea through a underwater tunnel. There are some crabs and starfish here and there, a lot of barnacles on the area near the water. 

As we are looking around we are startled as something jumps out of the water onto the stone floor. The strange blue skinned humanoid creature stares at us as we all point our guns at it. The creature has, weirdly, green hair that flows down to their lower back, hands and feet have skin between the fingers indicating an evolutionary trait towards swimming. It has two pairs of whiskers, like some fish do on it's face and a pair of black colored eyes. It's skin look softer than ours. It's overall physique would more resemble a starving individual but that might be natural. It has a nose but also gills, I managed to notice underneath the thick hair, maybe it is able to breath both underwater and above it. The creature is clearly female as it has typical female features and it seems to not have any sense of shame. We stare at it and it stares at us, none of us making the first move. Then the creature shrieks in a ungodly disgusting noise, it's claws squeezing the rock bellow her, her fangs coming out. My men are about to fire but I order them to stop.

Klaus: DON'T FIRE!

They all pull their fingers away from the trigger and I step forward. Why I did that, I have no clue. Then we hear some squeaks and noises coming from somewhere behind us, turning out attention to  the source we notice a group of small creatures just like her. Probably her kin and we stepped into it's territory which would explain why it came here and why it is quite hostile towards us. A normal level of hostility is expected of course when meeting something new. I motion to my men to move to one side so she has a clear view of her young and a unobstructed path towards them. It rushes to them and enters a defensive posture and I try to think of how to approach it, or at least gain a little bit of trust. Then an idea dawns on me.

Klaus: Anyone have a piece of bread, meat, anything?

They look around until one of them pulls out a piece of bread and breaks a small part and chucks it onto the ground close to the creature. At first it inspects it curiously, wondering what it was then moves to it's mouth before deciding that it is good to eat and devouring it. So we throw it so more food, while it eats we grab a chance to inspect her, getting more details and even after she is done she stays for more, giving us even more time to look at her. Hanno gets more time to document everything that he can on the surface and even able to look into it's mouth which we found odd, but she also started looking at us. One of us was told to strip to his underwear and a brave man agreed and she inspected every nook and cranny of his body. She was a little less gentle than us but it was clear she didn't mean to hurt him in any way, she was just as curious as we were. He described that the touch felt moist, like it had some kind of mucus on it's skin, like a coating, but also cold and surprisingly soft skin, the claws weren't so much. Once everyone had their curiosity quenched we decided to head back to our ship, leaving her alone, but not before giving her a name, Laeftoria. We will camp here for tonight, catch some fish and then tomorrow head out once more. We will definitely visit this place again and maybe even civilize these creatures if there are more of them and build something here, like a resort maybe. But that is all in the future. We are sat around the fire, singing, talking about the creature, many of the men question the brave guy who let himself get touched by her on how it felt. Me, I sit at the stern of the Bismarck and get to painting and taking a couple pictures while taking in the beauty of this area and the night sky.