On an island in the sun.

@ catharsis.

It was beautiful day out in the middle of the ocean for Lyra. The temperature was just right and, overall, the marine life seemed to be buzzing with life. She floated on her back, gazing up at the sun as it gently beat down on the water. Giving a relaxing sigh, she stayed there for a moment before hearing the sounds of laughing coming from afar. Lyra got back to her tail, looking towards the sounds, seeing a ship coming from the west. Her mother always warned her to never trust humans; they would only kill and sell mermaids off. Although, her curiousity sometimes got the best of her and a little peak would never hurt anyway. Eventually convincing herself, submerged into the water to swim over towards the ship carefully. She peaked her head up viewing all the humans, most of them were men. It was pretty interesting for her to see how all of them interacted and how the ship functioned.

--

Waking up on an island, Johnathan looked around to see that he had been the only one to make it ashore. He couldn't remember how he had gotten to the strange island but.. he knew that he had been with his friends. Sitting up on the soft sand, he looked down to see that his shirt was torn and everything was throughouly soaked through. He sighed, slowly getting to his feet, testing to see if he had broken anything. Luckily, he seemed fine after giving everything a little shake. The next problem would be to figure out what to do next: search for his friends or try to set up a camp so that they could come to him? Or maybe even find a way off of the island, assuming that his friends were already gone. It was hard for him to even think about the possibility of all of them being dead.

@ XxLithiumWingsxX

Cambridge yawned as he exited his cabin, then squinted in the midmorning sun. There appeared to be a small island in the distance. "Hwa!" he called, "Engisn Hwa!" A head appeared from the crow's nest, high above the desk and cabin. "We're approaching an island, sir! Maybe thirty minutes out!" Cambridge smiled. He had found a new land -- new treasure -- and would be able to return proudly. He would be able to make up for the shame he left his family in when he was given one last chance to stay in the Royal Navy. He started to walk along the deck, making sure his men were keeping up to their duties, and indeed they did it happily. He stopped for a moment and looked over the side of the ship, scanning the waters between the ship and island. A sparkle greater than the normal glitter of the sea caught his eye, and he searched the area for its source.

-

"Are you okay?" Shailee yelled, dropping the bag of shells she was gathering. She had been picking up pretty shells to sell at her sister's store, same as she did every morning, when she saw a man stand up on the shore. He looked ragged, like he had been through something terrible. She kicked off her sandals and ran toward him. It was exciting, having something new happen to break the endless routine she had been stuck in for nearly her whole life. This was exactly the kind of adventure she was looking for, and it might even turn out to be like the faerie stories her sister always told her, full of quests and romance.

@ catharsis.

As she silently watched over the men, she was startled when one glanced in her direction, ducking down deep into the waters. Lyra knew that she had been asking for trouble by even going near the boat. She just hoped that she had been lucky enough that the man disregarded her. It seemed like they were the average ship just looking for treasure - not for merpeople. Thinking that it was enough exploration for the day, she swam back to the shore to rejoin her family, drying off her legs to revert back to a human. Their family had inhabited the island wanting to stay away from civilization but near water at the same time. She would have to inform that there were humans coming near their island though, just for precaution. Lyra actually liked being closer to the ocean than a highly populated location; it made her slightly claustrophobic.

--

Hearing a voice off in the distance, he looked around to find a young girl running towards him. Johnathan felt a sigh of relief wash over him as she started to near him but he noticed something was a little off. Was that ears and a tail he saw? He squinted, believing that his eyes were just playing tricks on him but they weren't. The girl.. or cat-person had a tail and everything. Johnathan wasn't exactly sure how he felt about that, having a whole new set of questions. What was this island? Were there even more of her? As she neared, he couldn't help but back up a little bit in shock,"W-What are you?" That was practically all he could muster since he was still trying to piece things together.

@ XxLithiumWingsxX

Cambridge scanned the sea, but didn't see the source of the sparkle. Disappointed, he turned back to the crew and relegated a few duties to the men, before retiring to his cabin again. He marked down in the captain's log the date, time, and weather (July 27th, 10:41, few clouds, smooth sea) and wrote of the discovery of the island. While he was putting the finishing touches on the entry, he heard a yell for his name. He went out onto the deck, and saw that they had reached the island -- or as far as they could go without getting stuck. "I want ten men and two boats to the island," Cambridge yelled. "No weapons, our first visit is peaceful, but if we're not back by sunset," Cambridge said with a grin, "Storm the shore." So he and nine of the other men boarded the tiny boats and went toward the island, while Cambridge scoped it out for treasures and people.

-

Shailee stopped in her tracks. Her ears went back and she did her best to make herself as small as possible. "I'm -- I'm a person just like you!" she said. "It's not my fault!" That was true, it wasn't as if she had asked to have feline features. She faced that exact same prejudice from the villagers, though they had been getting more and more accustomed to it and her over time. She did her best to be as nice as possible to counteract the strangeness that she was cursed with.

@ catharsis.

Getting back to her family just before dinner, she warned them to be alert with the sailors coming towards their island. It would only be a matter of time before they found their quaint little village. Lyra bit her lip slightly, hoping that they weren't drawn to the island because of her. The last thing she needed to do was place her own people in danger because of her actions. Sitting down at the table, her father and mother discussed the matter quietly, making sure that no one would be able to hear. She tried to ignore the little twinge of guilt settling in her stomach for going against the rules. If anything happened to her people, it may have actually been her fault this entire time.

--

It seemed like the girl had come in peace, meaning no harm to him despite her feline appearance. Johnathan figured that he could get use to her appearance and possibly accept it, but it was just too bizarre for him at first. "I'm sorry.. I didn't mean to make you upset," He apologized, seeing that he had obviously hurt her feelings. Slowly, he approached her as if still waiting for her to pounce or something in defense. "Um, where are we? What is this place?" That question had been bothering him to the most as to what this land was. It was obviously not known to humans, considering they would have been everywhere if that were the case.

@ XxLithiumWingsxX

The boats reached the shore, and all the men jumped out to drag them safely onto the shore. Cambridge ordered two men to stay at the shore with the boats, and for four men to go west, and the other three to go east with him. "Follow the shore line," he said, "So it's easy to find your way back. When the sunset starts, meet back here and we'll discuss what we've found." He led his men around the shore, keeping a look out for any signs of people - or treasure.

-

Shailee wagged her tail back and forth, but let her ears perk up. "This is Crystal Water Cove, here," she said. "The island is called North Sagan. Where are you from?" She still kept her distance, wary of him. He wasn't exactly what she had imagined, but he seemed nice enough now that he had apologized for his behaviour before.

@ catharsis.

After finishing with dinner, they started to hear the sounds of men moving about their territory. They were here already. Her father quickly pushed the family to move to a safer location where they could hide in hopes of evading the men. Maybe they would just grab some of their jewels and leave. They could always find more while swimming in the ocean anyway so it wasn't a problem. Lyra decided to go inside of her bedroom and into her closet, drawing her knees up to her chest.

--

Crystal Water Cove? He had never heard of a place like that before in Geography class. Odd. "Um, Massachusetts," Johnathan replied back thinking that it sounded so mundane next to her exotic island name. "Have you seen anyone like me around here? I think I may have been in a boating accident or something." His memory was still a little foggy but something tragic had happened to him and his friends.

@ XxLithiumWingsxX

After travelling for what seemed like forever, Cambridge and his men came across a small town. It didn't seem like there was much activity, but Cambridge led his men into what seemed like the middle. "Hullo!" he called. "Anyone here?"

-

Shailee shook her head. "Not very many things wash up here, they would probably be in another part of the island. Do you remember what happened?" she asked. She couldn't recall any storms recently, so that couldn't be the cause of the shipwreck -- provided there was a shipwreck, if the boy did remember what happened.

((Looks like my alerts aren't working as they should be either :/))

@ catharsis.

(:/ Yeah, I don't know why Mibba has been like this lately)

Lyra rested her chin on top of her knees wondering when it would be safe to come out. Giving a sigh, she started to peek her head out of the closet before hearing a yell that echoed throughout the entire village. They were finally here and looking for treasure. She bit her lip wanting to answer but decided it against it because her father would have scolded her.

--

Every single time he tried to remember what had happened to him, Johnathan drew a blank. It seemed like the more he thought about it, the less he could actually recall about the incident. "No, I don't. That's why I was hoping that maybe you would know something but I guess not," He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. It was really starting to worry him as to what he had happened with his friends.

Receiving no response, Cambridge tried again. "We come without weapons! We would like a peaceful meeting!" There were evident signs of recent life around the village, so there had to be someone nearby. It was just a matter of coaxing them out to talk.

--
"I'm sorry. I can go with you to look around the shoreline, but we have to wait until tomorrow, I have to be home for dinner or my sister will worry." Shailee perked up. "You can come home with me and we can have dinner! I'm sure it's been forever since you've eaten. And then tomorrow my brother-in-law can take us looking for your friends." Surely Jacobe could take a day away from fishing to help a poor man find his friends.

@ catharsis.

At least they were people who didn't want to harm them. That was her first thought after hearing the claim of innocence. Her naïvety was enough for her to believe that possible lie and step out from her hiding spot. Taking responsibility for her actions before, she stepped out of the house to see the group of men off in the distance. "W-What do you want?" Lyra called back, trying to sound as confident in her words as possible. Although, she was pretty much shaking to the core in fear that this decision was going to go horribly wrong.

--

Just if on cue, his stomach growled in response to the idea of having food. He couldn't remember the last time he had eaten but it was definitely long enough for him to be practically starving. Johnathan just hoped that his friends had gotten this lucky with finding some of the nicer natives. "Okay, thanks, I really appreciate that. So, uh, what's for dinner?" He asked a little nervous to hear what these... cat people were going to eat. Hopefully, it wouldn't be anything too weird or unsightly for him to digest.

@ XxLithiumWingsxX

Cambridge perked up when he heard a voice. "Simply to talk! We're explorers, send to find new lands," he explained. And new treasure wouldn't hurt either. "Would you care to meet with us?" His men were starting to look bored, and he knew that they wouldn't stay much longer unless something happened, and quick.

-

Shailee shrugged. "Fish or cabbage stew, makagrennu -- that's a dish with mango, rabbit, a few other things... We might have pineapple cake for dessert!" she said happily. She began to lead the way back to her sister's house, up the beach and into a path through a patch of the dense jungle. Shailee always went through that way, though her sister discouraged it, because it was much quicker than following the shore around to their village.

@ catharsis.

She started to look around but no one wanted to take the courage to come out of hiding either. Her father was definitely going to kill her after hearing about this stunt she just pulled. "Talk? That's all, right? Just talk?" Lyra asked, stepping forward into the light a little more to view the travelers. They were definitely the same men who had been on the boat out in the middle of the ocean before. "Can we just speak at this distance? I don't feel comfortable, you must understand."

--

Johnathan wasn't sure about how he felt with the rabbit stew so maybe he would just stay away from the delicacy. The other things didn't seem so bad. Following her back, he started to look around at the landscaping with the jungle surrounding them. He must have been somewhere near the lower hemisphere but other than he had no idea. The shrubbery was a little harder for him to work through, tripping over some sticks in the process.

"Of course, my lady," Cambridge said. "I would like to introduce myself, I am Lieutenant Cambridge Lee, here with four of my men. We are under the service of the Royal Navy, simply here to explore to the lands." He looked around, searching for the source of the voice. "And you are?"

-

Shailee turned when she heard twigs snapping and she leaned forward to catch Johnathan. "I am so sorry," she said quickly. "I don't usually take people this way, I forgot how it was for people who aren't used to it, are you okay?" Her ears were back and her tail was slightly puffed from the sudden surprise. She had always thought that she would have more control over her non-human elements, but she hadn't managed to keep track of them when she felt a strong emotion.

@ catharsis.

(I'm not getting notifications that you replied :/ )

The Royal Navy? They had already made it this far? That slightly worried her since their islands were so far that others weren't supposed to find it. Her father had hoped that they would just be overlooked but it looked like that their strategy only worked for so long. "Lyra Brooks. If you mean no harm, please, just be on your way. Your people scare mine," She responded as she saw the man who was looking around in search of her.

--

A particular twig caught him off guard, sending him down to the ground. That was when she caught him midair as he wrapped an arm around her waist to steady himself; that had been way too close. "Y-Yeah, I think. I just tripped so," He trailed off seeing how real her ears and tail were. It was pretty incredible. He want to reach out and touch them to feel the texture, but that was probably extremely rude to her people. "Thanks," Johnathan continued on as he brought himself back onto his feet.

@ XxLithiumWingsxX

"My apologies," Cambridge said. "What would help, other than us leaving? We want to learn more about your life." And grab your treasure, Cambridge thought. If he brought back knowledge of a new people back, as well as riches, then everyone would be pleased.

--

Shailee blushed lightly when Johnathan grabbed her waist. This was turning out just like a faerie story. She noticed his gaze at her ears, and it didn't seem like a stare, but curiousity. "They're real," she said, reaching up to smooth her ear fur down. "I got a curse when I was a kid," she said shyly. "My parents were... well..." she paused, thinking of the right words, "Not exactly the kindest people. And I was the youngest, so I got it." She shrugged. It was the short version of the story, but she didn't want to overwhelm the stranger too much, considering his initial reaction to her.

((Mibba's been awful at notifications lately, the same's been happening to me.))

@ catharsis.

(I got it this time, but I guess I'll just have to manually check it just in case then..)

There was really nothing else that the community would need from the Royal Navy since they were already well established on the island. They were very persistent though... hopefully they wouldn't be here for other purposes. "We.. We don't need anything, sir. My people just want to live on this island in peace and nothing else. I appreciate the offer though." She explained trying to look around for other people to help.

--

Johnathan gave a small nod since it seemed like there was a back story to how all of this happened that rooted even deeper than what she explained. Sensitive material that Shailee didn't want to go into. "I'm sorry to hear that.. but, I guess, the curse could have been worse. I think it's pretty cool, y'know, the ears and all. They look soft." After the words left his mouth, he felt like smacking his head into a tree for not having a better filter, feeling a light blush spread across his face. That was probably the weirdest thing he could have said to her.

@ XxLithiumWingsxX

Cambridge sighed. This was not going how he wanted it to. "I suppose we'll be on our way then. But we would genuinely like to get to know your people. Perhaps a meeting on the shore, just me, none of my men, and one of you?"

-

Shailee grinned. "That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me. Everyone always treats me like..." she trailed off. Now wasn't the time to go into how the rest of the people treated her, with the exception of her sister's family. She didn't want to scare him away, after all. "You wanna touch them?" she said, bending her head forward.

((Yeah, that's what I have to do most of the time, too.)

@ catharsis.

"Maybe. If you promise to leave as soon as we are finished talking, I would be willing to meet you at the shore," She agreed since he seemed earnest in his attempt to learn more about her people. He would probably be disappointed though.. She wouldn't be able to tell him anything about their secret other half as merpeople. No one was supposed to be able to know that.

--

It wouldn't have surprised him if people didn't openly welcome Shailee's cat-like features with open arms. He was definitely surprised the first time that he had seen her to say the least as well. "Are you sure?" Johnathan asked as he started to reach out to touch her ears. The last thing he wanted to do was accidentally hurt her.