Suddenly, you wish you had claws like the hungry birds that circle the sky, with large, sharp fangs that stick out of your mouth like the deep-sea fish you've heard so many gruesome stories about and a body plated with armor so tough to deter even the most ravenous of piranhas. Instead, you're stuck with the naked and fleshy upper body of a human and a tail with a spear sticking out of it and tangled in a pirate's fishing net.

You've stopped bleeding by now, or you think you have as the puddle of red around you is more sea water than blood. You force the end of your tail to move and it only twitches but you're still thankful you haven't lost all movement.

The boys hesitate to move, you can almost hear the collective beat of their hearts as they're probably all trying to figure out if they're hallucinating or dreaming.

The blond boy, you've decided that he's most likely their leader, looks enraged as he glares at the others.

"Is no one going to move?!" he bellows, instantly sending the others scurrying off to different parts of the ship, and you wonder what they've witnessed to make them fear their leader so much.

Only three remain, the blond boy, a tall and muscular dark-skinned boy and a tanned, black haired Asian boy. He reminds you of the time you spent in the waters of the Eastern continent.

"We should move her below deck. Things might get complicated if we encounter another ship, even if night is getting closer." The dark-skinned boy moves first and crouches down beside you. He sighs, shaking his head sadly as he examines your tail then looks up to meet your eyes.

"I can help you, if you'll let me." He means he'll take out the spear, but the thought immediately sends a flood of panic through you.

"You'll do no such thing, Alby." The blond boy steps closer to you, eyebrows still creased.

"Minho, get the ship moving again." The third boy nods and disappears until you hear his voice yelling something about the sails and the wind.

You flinch as the blond boy lowers himself to get a closer view of your tail, his gaze wondering upwards to the scars of your arm and suddenly you feel self-conscious about how they make you look. It's ridiculous to be feeling anything but fear in your situation but you can't help the way your body reacts when his eyes scan the rest of your body. He's so close and you realize how young he is. He doesn't even look any older than the rest of the boys.

"Captain, I'll have to remove the spear so I can start patching her um, tail." The dark-skinned boy, the one with the kindness in his voice, the one named Alby, looks pensive as his eyes dart between the spear and your tail. You're broken out of your trance once you hear his words and you feel sick at what the blond boy says next.

"You'll remove the spear" he straightens himself up and puts his hands on his hips. A young short boy approaches with a black hat in his hands and offers it to the blond boy.

"you'll take her below deck and," the captain takes the hat and places it on his head, barely needing to adjust it as it fits almost perfectly.

"then, you'll hang her up by her tail".

Just as he said, you're brought below deck in the arms of Alby and Minho. Alby is so careful with your tail, making sure the pain you feel is limited while Minho has his arms under your armpits. You'd cried out in pain when they'd placed you down on a hard surface once again.

"Minho, can you get that?" you see Alby point to a long glass case in the dim lighting of a candle. Minho raises an eyebrow in question.

"We'll put her in it and fill it with sea water. What ever Newt's planning, she'll be no good to him if she's dehydrated and dead."

"like dried shredded squid?" Minho jokes but he's the only one who laughs.

"because of that, you can take it up to the captain's quarters" Alby ignores the scowl that Minho sends him and instead busies himself at the shelf. Minho glances at you once more before heaving the glass case out of the cabin.

"Cap isn't going to like this..." Minho mutters as he disappears.

You're silent the whole time Alby tends to your injury. It takes him some time to figure out where to begin but when he's ready he gives you a tightly wrapped cloth to bite on and you know you can no longer hinder the inevitable. Alby must remove the spear in your tail.

Alby doesn't say anything to you either, just works in silence with beads of sweat on his forehead. The removal of the spear earned Alby a view too close for comfort of your fangs. You had hissed and almost ripped into his arm as you yelped in agony but had passed out quickly after seeing your mutilated tail.

Whoever that spear belongs to, you curse them and ten thousand of their next lives before you lose consciousness.

When you regain consciousness, you feel at ease and peaceful, the ocean soothing you into a slumber that could last a hundred years, but you force your eyes open when your tail hits something hard. Alarmed, you writhe about, your arms and tail continue to hit the sides of the glass case and that's when the memories of your ordeal flood your vision.

It wasn't a nightmare after all.

Newt doesn't know exactly how he's going to punish Alby and Minho just yet but he's going to make sure they learn the wrath of their captain once he figures out how to use the mermaid to his greatest advantage.

"through blood shed and on the verge of death..." Newt repeats the cursed words once told to him and for a minute feels guilty remembering your screams of pain. He shuts his eyes but still sees the bright red blood staining his deck and without single detail missing, can he picture your face. It'll haunt him forever, seeing an innocent mermaid cry but he can't forget his mission and the reason why he was in such unfamiliar waters in the first place.

Are you bad luck? Has he cursed him and his crew forever by bringing harm to a mermaid and then bringing her onto his ship? Newt is no fool. He saw the change in the waves as they approached you, so fierce in the way they moved, using such indisputable force, as if protecting one of its children. Protecting you.

Newt unravels one of the maps that mark the location of the fountain of youth, the only treasure he currently seeks. It's set in his heart, to find this fountain and ensure a trade for Thomas. With his finger, he follows the route he's taken to get to their current location. However, it seems that they are on uncharted waters. How did he let the ship veer so far off course?

"where in the seven seas are we?" Newt mutters to himself, frowning as he looks at the other maps in his possession. It made no sense. Had something possessed him at the steering wheel? Was it the ship itself that brought them here?

"what will you do with me?"

Newt had been so enthralled in the maps and his thoughts that he almost jumps from his desk when he hears your voice. His cutlass already firmly in his grip. When he sees you in the glass case, his eyes soften.

With an arm over the edge of the case, you've propped your upper half to get a better look at the captain at his desk, leaning over his papers. You relax back into the case, submerging yourself in the little water you've been given. You pout, the water although substantial was nothing compared to the free oceans. You wish to feel the ocean surrounding you again.

Newt's eyes scan your tail but don't linger. He doesn't know what to say. 

Newt sits back down behind his desk after tucking away his cutlass. He's no longer angry at Minho and Alby for bringing you into his quarters but he doesn't know why. He should see you as an enemy, a strange and alien creature thought to be hostile, but he can't help himself be drawn in by your charms.

"I haven't decided yet. You'd make me a very rich man regardless of where I take you. If I play the right crowd and convince the right people, maybe I'll get twice the money selling you in parts. Or, I can give you to the authorities in return for immunity for me and my crew."

Newt pretends to be pensive, leaning back on his chair and raising his feet to rest on his deck. You have stretched a little to keep your eyes on him. You remember comparing him to the sun, but you can't remember why. The sun is bright and the beauty of its rays shining through the ocean surface always brings happiness and warmth to you. Newt seems to be the opposite, no matter how beautiful he looks, his presence is cold and his words, callous.

"would you rather not keep me for yourself?"

"you're no use to me on my ship. You're worth far more on land"

You almost laugh. The great pirate captain is unaware of the true value of having a mermaid aboard his ship.

"what is it?" Newt senses the change in your mood and sees the way your lips curled slightly at his answer. Your grin deepens, sending a shiver down Newt's spine, but you slink back into your glass case. There's no more to be said between the two of you. 

Author's note: it was getting kinda long, sorry! I have like ten wips that i really want to upload but i've no idea how to give them the endings they deserve so have more pirate!newt.