piratejournal | 1st Wave [voice]

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1st Wave [voice]

It's the first time I've ever heard of something like this.

Are all the books in this world the same?

[Weirdness aside, Nami has had a bit of time to digest what's happened to her. She does not like being stripped away from her quest, not at all. Saving her entire race is pretty important, you know. But considering what she's learned of the Piedra Roja so far, what comes next seems easy enough.]

Anyways, my name is Nami and humans know me better as a mermaid. I've never actually been part of a crew, or had much reason to use a boat, but I know how to work with a team and I'm pretty comfortable in the ocean. I can harm and I can heal, like the seas themselves.

[It's kind of where she lived for most of her life, after all.]

I'm not really looking for anybody in specific, but if anyone out there has heard of a "moonstone"...

[Nami stops talking for a moment.]

It's really important that I find one.

[Unlikely that she'll get anything out of that, but she may as well try.]

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[Well look what the tide brought in.

It's an unusual kind of mix, to be sure, and one she's not actually all that familiar with. Still, the guy seemed friendly enough, not to mention happy that there were more 'fishfolk' around.]

Hey, nice of you to stop by.

[All he can see is a looong shapely tail and frills that aren't made of cloth. He says hello by circling once then stops in front of her.]

Totally worth it already sweetheart! Damn. Got anythin' y' need t' do here in town 'fore we head out t' the ship?

[Speaking of ship....]

That reminds me, I got something when I first woke up here. [She's holding a small pouch in one of her hands. It may be kind of wet and soggy but at least it's not sinking.]

I think it's what this world uses for money.

Well shit, that's nice. [Namur pats his chest, webbed fingers splayed open.] Tried t' give me a couple new bullet holes, sheheh!

[He holds out his arm for her to take if she so chooses.]

Ready t' go then? I'll show y' t' the Backwater an' take y' through the Nav. Ships're a couple weeks sailin' from here but we'll be there in less time than a whale takes t' breathe.

Sounds like a plan.

[You sure work fast, Namur. Barely into her first day and you've already worked your way into the hot mermaid's life. Anyways, she takes his arm. Why not, she feels comfortable enough with him.]

Though I net your crew's gonna wonder how and why there's a mermaid on the ship.

[Aw hell yeah undersea strollin' time.]

Naw, they ain't gonna make a fuss. Ain't many a us fishfolk 'round so we gotta look out for each other. Cap's li'l brother's got a crew we sometimes sail 'round with an' they got a li'l mermaid from the Island, same as me. Keimi's her name. Far as I know that's us, since Nanaue got thrown back. Makes perfect sense t' me. Someone say somethin' t' y' make y' think any different?

Not yet, everyone I've spoken to through this book has been pretty friendly. [Good first impressions can only help.] But now you've got me wondering. Are 'fishfolk' and others like me that common on your world? My people don't really go to the surface all that often, much less talk to humans.

Got a whole kingdom under the sea. Millions! Ain't as many up on the surface cuz it's hard t' get there an' dangerous. But if y' got a ship an' a good navigator y' can make it jus' fine.

Bigger problem's the humans themselves. We got all types, see, merfolk with fins like yers an' fishfolk with legs; skin all colors a the rainbow, in all shapes an' sizes. Interestin' t' look at, catch me? But humans, they're all the same right? Some shade a brown, two legs, two eyes, y' get the drift. Kinda borin' after awhile. So they try t' catch us, make us property an' sell us off t' put us in tanks t' look at. 'Specially young 'maids. An' that makes people scared, so they don't even try t' go. I'm the only fishman in my crew, but there's been entire pirate crews a fish- an' merfolk before. Escaped slaves sometimes, too. So humans know 'bout us but not a hell of a lot.

An' pirates gotta come on down t' Fishman Island if they wanna cross the Red Line, since the only other way across is t' go through Mariejoa, the capitol a the World Government. Sheheh! Ain't exactly the place y' wanna be pokin' yer nose 'round if yer on the wrong side a the law! So there's a bunch a back an' forth 'tween humans an' fishfolk but it ain't as open as it could be. Royals been pushin' t' get people t' wanna go t' the surface and get the World Government t' recognize the Island as an official country but shit keeps happenin' or somethin'. Ain't been down much in the last decade or so, so I ain't too sure a the details.

What 'bout yer people? Don't they wanna live in the light?

We've haven't had much reason to, really.

I've never had much of a problem with the surface world, but maybe that's because I knew so little about it. We just focus on ourselves and not really get involved too much with matters beyond the ocean.

Even what we do know is just based on rumors and stories.

Maybe if we lived closer to the surface, we wouldn't be in as much trouble as we are now. But it's too late to be thinking about that.

[Namur starts slowly angling towards the surface as they swim.]

What kind a trouble y'all in?

I said before that I'm looking for a moonstone. My people need it to protect themselves from the other creatures of the deep. The light keeps them away.

A new one is needed every hundred years, and I'm running out of time.

Damn. An' y' figure one a them stones is up on the surface a yer world huh?

A trade needs to be made. The Tidecaller goes to the surface world with an abyssal pearl, and the moonstone bearer gives us what we need to survive.

But when I made it there, the bearer never showed up.

Uhh...

[Namur rubs his hand over the back of his head, then reaches up and grabs the end of a dock.]

No offense t' the way yer people's been doin' shit for hunnerds a years but wouldn't it be better t' learn how t' kick the nasties' asses yerselves an' not have t' depend on someone from the surface t' give y' some rock?

[He shifts his arm out of her grip, but offers his hand to help lift her up onto the dock.]

If we could've done that, we'd have done it a long time ago. The ocean's a big place, and we're just a small part of it.

[Nami takes his hand, maneuvering herself out of the water and onto the dock.]

Some of us can fight, but it's still not enough.

[Once she's up, Namur lifts himself out of the water as well. A couple natives in the process of tying up their ship at dock hiss and make warding signs. The name of Davy Jones and the word Outsiders ripples through the men on the ship, but Namur doesn't bother listening to anything else they have to say. He shrugs.]

Worked out alright for my kind. Hell, for all I know yer from my same world, jus' like. A hell of a long time ago or some shit sheheheh! Hell, that'd be somethin' else, huh? We'd never have any way a knowin' either.

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1st Wave [voice]

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