Fantasy A Siren's Call

[ChibiMonkey]

Naida - No last Name
23
Siren

Nothing was ever really easy anymore. While one of her kind had never actually been caught before and proven to the public eye, it had become rather common knowledge to towns along shorelines and harbors full of sailors that the creatures called sirens existed - or the gentler of names some called them in tales, mermaids. While sirens had previously been above humans on the food-chain, with the humans becoming more superstitious of them and believed in them, they'd become more cautious. Either that, or they were more dangerous, and prepared for an encounter. For this reason, any smart siren stayed away from harbors and busied shorelines full of residents, as being caught would likely be a death sentence - or not far from it anyways. Needless to say, it likely wouldn't be pleasant for the siren that was caught. However, humans were prey too. But while the humans had gotten smarter and more wary of the seas, they'd seemed to notice the pattern that most sirens resided in either coves, reefs, or near island shores. Not in the middle of the wide open sea usually.

And while sirens did feed off of more than just humans, and could survive on other fish life and vegetation in the sea, it wasn't their natural choice of food if given the option. However, it was fishing season. Which meant more sailors and fishermen out at sea. And more targets to lure to their death. One particular siren waited in the rocky cove of one end of the small deserted island she lived around, waiting patiently for a ship of any sorts to pass, her sharpened eyes gazing out into the horizon of where the sea-line met the sky, looking for a sign of ships in the distance. While the island she resided by didn't attract visitors, it was relatively close enough for her eyes to see routes where ships might likely pass through in their travels, surrounded by jutted and large rocks in the cove she lived in on this end of the island, leaving it perfect to lure ships towards a crashing wreck. Something one searching for a siren might look for to find one - not that there were many brave souls of those who believed whom would want to seek the supposed bloodthirsty monsters out.

 

[beautyofthebeast]

Elliot Walsh
24
Human

But without the fancy coat/belt. Different boots as well.

​

It was the day of reckoning, or at least the first day that he would be given the chance for redemption. The conditions were perfect, the sky clear and free of clouds, and the wind blowing just enough to fill the sails, rather than just blowing the boat over or flooding the deck. It wasn't going to be easy, but he was determined, and he was finally getting the chance to go out and test the waters on his own, trying to find the one responsible for everything, or, at the very least, someone to blame. His prey had gotten wary, avoiding the areas frequented by fishermen and sailors close to the shore, congregating somewhere just out of reach.

As the boat left the harbor and set a course towards the open seas, his mood improved. He knew they were smart, he knew they were cunning, but he was smarter. Cotton was stuffed in the ears of both him an his partner, and the vessel contained enough supplies to be out for nearly a week. There was an island that hadn't been inhabited in years that he planned to aim for, and nets rolled up on the boat in preparation for being dragged behind the boat, trapping anything and everything they could find in its web.

 

[ChibiMonkey]

The lone siren had been sitting there for a while, sighing to herself in disappointment at the lack of good finds for that day. While it was the season where many more ships took to the sea, she wondered if she would have to venture further out into the open waters to find herself a promising meal, other than measly fish here and there. She laid down on the rock that surfaced above the water, her tail still hanging down into the water. She debated on what she wanted to do. She thought she'd chosen a well enough spot that could be relatively safe, but still within distance of her spotting passing by ships to call out to with her hypnotizing voice and lure them in.

Just as she started having these doubts, something caught her attention in the distance. She blinked a bit curiously, before she realizing it was a ship, and she quickly sat up on the rock, looking out over in the direction to confirm for herself it was. A pleased grin spread across her lips as she dove into the water - after all, she didn't want to be seen by them should they be using any scopes of sorts that just about every smart sailor had when out at sea.

Poking her head up to the surface of the water, she peered out from behind a rock towards the ship, watching it a few moments longer to see which direction it was headed, before she began to call out in song with a siren's hypnotic tone, as many sailors called it, the sirens call, hoping to lure the men directing the ship closer towards the island.

 

[beautyofthebeast]

The ride out to the open seas was a calm one; the sailor even managed to catch a glimpse of a dolphin or two before they sped away, likely trying to avoid being caught by the very same thing they were out to catch. He unrolled the nets and cast them overboard, figuring that at the very least, they would be able to net some fish to cook on the island once they landed, though he was hoping for success otherwise.

Having cotton in his ears made it almost impossible to hear anything outside of what was going on, and he had to rely on his other senses to stay alert. There was a slight humming echoing in his head, but he was fairly sure it was his partner, given that the man had a tendency to sing, especially when drunk. As the boat rocked, he hung on a rope, looking out at the waves and scanning them for anything that could be considered abnormal.

 

[ChibiMonkey]

After a minute or so, the siren noticed something odd, and paused in her vocals as she frowned, staring out at the ship. At first, she thought that they had been lured in by her voice. But they weren't following the path she was trying to lure them - which was into the jutted and dangerous rocks for a ship. She narrowed her eyes as she ducked her head under the water, and cautiously began to swim closer to the boat. While they had been approaching the island, it was as if they couldn't hear her song. She guessed that perhaps they were wary soldiers, somehow blocking sound from their ears because they believed in her kind. But she didn't think that it wasn't only that, but that these men were actually after to catch sirens like herself.

As she neared the boat, her colorful tail trailed behind her in the water. Getting closer, she wondered if perhaps she misjudged and they were too far to hear her call before. She was about to try again, though out of nowhere layers of thick rope were dropped into the water. Her eyes widened a bit in surprise, and she quickly moved out of the way as to not get caught up in. She thought she'd avoided it though, until she felt a pull of resistance on her tail, and she looked back, only to see the ends of her tail-fin got caught up and tangled in the ropes.

It wasn't a whole lot caught, but enough to keep her from getting away in that moment. It was only an end trailing piece of her piece tail that got tangled up, the a thin layer of fin and nothing substantial. So, a bit reluctantly, she leaned over the piece that was stuck, and used her sharp teeth to rip it off, hissing a bit in pain. She'd rather deal with that though than end up getting even more tangled up in the rope the longer she stayed there. She freed herself and swam several yards away from the ship, the piece of her fin however remaining stuck in the netting, and it was clear it wasn't part of a fin of any ordinary fish, not only due to the length and shape of it, but also it's color.

 

[beautyofthebeast]

He wasn't paying much attention to the net until he noticed it twisting and turning and being pulled slightly where it was anchored to the boat. Starting to pull it up, he initially thought it was empty until he saw the long, colorful tendril stuck in one corner, apparently abandoned after being chewed off by the creature it was attached to. This wasn't a normal fin from a normal animal; this was no fish that he had ever seen.

Dropping the net back in the water, he carried the fin over to his partner, tapping him on the back and holding it out with a grin. "They're around here!" He yelled, hoping to get past the cotton. It evidently didn't work, as the second man pulled a piece of the cotton out with his forehead creased.

"They're around here somewhere; one just got caught in the net. Now put that blasted piece back in, before she finds you."

 

[ChibiMonkey]

Having noticed the pulling on the net as if it was being pulled back up, Naida was more determined to free herself, thankful that she had just in time, swimming away from the net and ship just as the net had reached the surface of the water. She swam around to the other side of the ship, staying close to it so that way she wouldn't be seen unless one looked directly over and down the side of the boat. She listened carefully, trying to figure out how many men were aboard. From what she could tell, it was only two, which she didn't think would be much of an issue at all. Even if it appeared they might be looking for her, by the words she had caught from one of them speaking.

Ducking back under the cover of the water, she tried singing again to call to the men aboard. While she had deduced that they seemed to be wearing some sort of hearing protection to keep from hearing her, she was hoping that by being this close she would able to get to them, or at least one of them and piece through whatever they had blocking their sound. They couldn't wear covers forever could they? Or, maybe she'd get lucky and some would get loose.

 

[beautyofthebeast]

His partner's eyes had lit up and he had been about to put the cotton back in his ear when his hand suddenly began to lower, his feet carrying him to the edge of the boat as if entranced.

"Not on my watch." The first man said, shoving the cotton back in his partner's ear and grabbing his arms, holding him back with surprising strength. Even though his partner couldn't hear him, the man spoke, trying to pull him away from the edge of the boat. The only thing he could figure was that in the brief few seconds that the cotton had been out, the siren belonging to the fin had begun her call and ensnared his partner.

"Stay with me; we're out here to catch them, not to be their bait." He said, fighting the older man. "Come back to me." He had no way of knowing how much the older man had heard, or how much of a pull the woman had on him. He could hear the humming again, but it was so faint through the cotton that it didn't affect him.

 

[ChibiMonkey]

As she started to feel the pull her song had effecting one of the men, she continued on, eager for a meal. It'd been too long since she'd had a decent one, and now, she had two potential meals right within her grasp - one almost moments away. She could notice the interference that she was getting though and grit her teeth, growling a bit angrily and in frustration. Damn these humans - why did she have to get stuck with smart ones? She wasn't in a pleasant mood, having lost a small piece of her fin to these humans, and now, them interfering with her hopeful meal.

She swam back over to the netting hanging into the water from the boat, careful not to get her tail too close to it this time so it wouldn't get tangled up again. Grabbing it, she yanked on it heavily while snapping her tail-fin in a strong push to help yank down on the rope, causing the boat to sway and rock side to side. She tried to knock them off balance at least, but with any better luck, she might knock one overboard even.

 

[beautyofthebeast]

"Damn it!" The younger man swore, feeling the boat rock underneath his feet. The water elsewhere was calm, so he knew that this was the work of an apparently angry siren, rather than the ocean. He could tell she wanted at least one of them for a meal, and his partner was putting up an impressive fight, apparently having had enough of the song in his mind to permanently poison it.

His partner grabbed the cotton from his ears and flung it overboard, causing the younger man to try and drag him backwards as the deck began to flood with water, making it incredibly slippery. On his own, his balance, even on a slippery desk, was fairly decent, but now he was dealing with a man posessed. Any man this far poisoned by the song never came back from it; the only man ever reported to have heard the song for very long and lived had to be tied to the mast of his ship to prevent him from going overboard.

The boat gave one hard rock, and he lost his grip on the older man, watching in horror as he slid into the water and right into the siren's trap, making a splash that he couldn't hear due to the cotton still firmly pressed into his ears, something he was glad to have thought of before they had set sail. He couldn't save his friend, but he could save himself at this point, and he held on to the rigging as the boat tossed, wrapping the rope around his hand so that he didn't accidentally slip

 

[ChibiMonkey]

The siren continued to yank on the netting, using her powerful tail-fin to gain momentum as she continued to rock the ship, his pull and sway deeper than the last with the joined momentum of the previous pulls. There were only two of them, so she doubted they would try to fight her. Not many humans had the guts to look for sirens, let alone fight them, she doubted they would be this much trouble. This meal better be worth the effort, she thought.

Watching as one man fell overboard, her hungry eyes lit up in delight as she stopped her movements on the rope, letting the ships sways slow on their own and calm down, while she headed for her prey. Grabbing onto the man, she was about to swim into the depths with him - away from the ship, but she was caught off guard and surprised when he actually suddenly fought back against her. While she knew she didn't sing her trance for very long, she thought it'd last longer than this on him. It seemed however that due to the fact that only one ear had been unplugged to hear it, it didn't have as strong of an effect on him. Which left Naida with quite a handful of a meal.

Normally humans were easy to fight against - especially in water, but this man seemed to actually know exactly what he was doing when fighting her, and she struggled as she was shoved back against the netting, swinging her tail to smack roughly into the male, likely breaking a bone, or in the very least, causing some serious damage as her claws too dragged along his shoulders and biceps in the struggle.

 

[beautyofthebeast]

He had all but given up on his partner, solely because he knew that men didn't fight back once they heard the song, but he heard the splashing and realized that he was fighting back. His partner was actually surprisingly strong, no doubt spurred on by the icy water and the fear of being taken under.

"I'm coming to help!" He yelled out, unable to hear his friend's cries but unwilling to take the cotton from his ears in case he was taken into the sea as well. Carefully, he stumbled forwards, gripping the railing of the boat and reaching over the side, trying to grab his partner out of the water. Realizing that she had stopped her assault on the boat, he rolled the net back up so that she couldn't use it against them and leaned over, yanking on his friend in an attempt to drag him back up.

He could see the blood swirling in the water, and he swore, managing to grab his partner by the wrist, relieved when he felt his partner's hand grip him in response. The ensuing struggle between the three of them was fairly dramatic, but he was able to drag his partner back onto the deck, shoving new cotton into his ears before doing anything else, and then casting a loose net overboard, hoping to catch the fighting siren off guard

 

[ChibiMonkey]

Fighting with the human, Naida was growing frustrated and more annoyed than before. These humans were certainly proving to be far more difficult than she had anticipated. Even though the male in the water seemed to hold his own, she still had the advantage here in the water, and with her strong tail end which packed a lot of weight and muscle behind it as she slammed it into the human.

The struggling continued on, and the siren had managed to get some pretty decent and good hits in on the male, her dangerous claw-like nails scratching into the flesh of his upper arms as she shoved him away from her when he attacked her, and hit him with her tail. He had actually gotten some decent injuries in on her too - though not quite as bad as she had given to him. He'd pulled out a knife at some point he'd had attached to his him and had managed to slice her arms a few times, though anywhere she had fins and scales, she was left undamaged as that would be harder to slice through. And the fact that her healing rate wasn't as slow as a humans added to the fact it wasn't as serious as the damage she'd gotten in on the human.

As she was recovering from the wounds she'd received though, everything happened fast between the struggle, between her trying to yank the man back in the water when his friend helped, and avoiding another net that appeared. Unfortunately, she was unable to maneuver away from this one as quickly in all the chaos, and the net quickly fell on her and wrapped around her, leaving the siren struggling about in the netting as she cursed.

 

[beautyofthebeast]

He grinned as he realized that she was caught up in the next, and he twisted the top like he would with a large fish, trapping her inside. She could have easily cut her way out, but once his partner was on the deck, he lifted her out of the water, tossing her on the deck wrapped up in the net. He hooked the top of the net,cinched like a bag, to a hook near the mast, hoping she would stay trapped, and turned his attention to his friend.

The man was bleeding fairly bad, though the water made it look a lot worse, and he quickly got a kit out of a small cupboard, bandaging as many wounds as he could and resolving to stitch the deeper ones once they landed on the island. To be completely honest, he hadn't expected to ever catch a siren, and he wasn't entirely sure what to do with her now, but his partner's health was more important.

Cautiously, he adjusted the sails towards the island they had passed, so that he wouldn't have to worry too much about sailing, then laid a dry blanket out on a safe place on deck, lifting his partner onto it and elevating his head, handing him a handkerchief to stem the bleeding from his broken nose. Satisfied that the man was out of danger, he walked over to the siren, standing over her with what could only be considered as contempt written across his face

 

[ChibiMonkey]

Finding herself stuck in the netting she cursed as she struggled in the ropes, but to no avail. Despite her best attempts to try and untangle herself and free herself from the rope, she only ended up furthering tangling herself as er fins got all twisted and tangled in the netting as did her limbs. She felt herself in the net being pulled up, and tried to at least make it as difficult as possible for the male as she swam around in the net moving it around in the water and causing more resistance.

As she was pulled up over the side of the ship, she grunted in pain as her body was tossed to the deck with a heavy thud, wincing a bit in pain as she tried to push herself up from the deck though the netting kept her tangled and weighed down to the ground. She glanced over to the male when he approached her with a sharp glare "What, are you expecting an apology?" she scoffed a bit at his look with a roll of her eyes.

This day probably couldn't have gone much worse. Having lost her meal, caught in a net, and now currently stuck at the mercy of this mean. Which she doubted would be all that merciful. She didn't know their intentions with her, but doubted it would be anything she'd approve of or like.

 

[beautyofthebeast]

He took some of the cotton out of his ears as he saw her lips begin to move, putting it back as soon as she was done. "Only if you mean it." He said, shaking his head. "Your empty words mean nothing to me, nor are you much in a position to give them." He refrained from kicking her or abusing her; she was already in a bad enough situation, and though he thought she was a monster, especially considering what she had just done to his partner, he saw no point in further brutalizing her at the moment. Best to let her sit in the net and stew, especially since it didn't seem like she would be able to escape any time soon.

"Right now, I must deal with the mess that you have made, then I will address what your people have done." His voice was cold, evidence of previous anger seeping through. Today wasn't an isolated incident; he came out intending to do harm and seek some form of revenge, and right now, she was at his mercy. He ran a hand through his hair, slicking it back, droplets falling onto his shirt and making the thin white fabric nearly see through.

"I am not feeling kind towards you, though you are lucky that there is an island nearby so that I can properly tend to my partner. He'll want to help deal with you, otherwise I would deal with you now myself."

 

[ChibiMonkey]

Hearing him sternly say how he didn't care for her words unless they were sincere, she rolled her eyes a bit and just sighed a bit in frustration "Don't tell me you're one of those self-righteous types" she said as she shifted under the net again, not quite as much of an attempt to get out as it was more to try and get the net off of her face and to get more comfortable. As much as she could be on the deck of a ship stuck by netting. "Well, I could always sing it to you and then it might sound sincere to you" she smirked teasingly to him.

Sighing to herself as she shifted uncomfortably once again beneath the netting, she grumbled a bit in frustration and discomfort, ignoring his words for the most part as he rambled on about something 'her people' have done, which he then caught her attention and she raised a brow as she glanced over at him "My people huh? Don't lump me in with other sirens. While we are the same species perhaps we are quite different from each other" she huffed in slight irritation. She never did get along with many of her kind, which is why she was alone, despite rumors telling of sirens living and attacking in groups.

 

[beautyofthebeast]

"Sing, and you won't live long enough to find out if it works." He said, taking the cotton from one ear so that he could hear but so that he would still be able to put it back in in case she tried to sing and get out of the situation they were in. "Self righteous? Not at all. I'm here to right a wrong, not just for sport."

At her defense that she was different from her species, he raised an eyebrow. "Different from your people? You just tried to lure my partner down to you so that you could eat him, and when he fought back, you nearly killed him anyways." He shook his head, crouching by his partner and dealing with some of the bandages. "So far, you haven't proven yourself to be any different."

 

[ChibiMonkey]

She shrugged her shoulders at his response to her trying to sing, not really surprised by the threat. She wasn't trying to use that trick at the moment anyways, knowing they were too on alert and aware of her presence to be able to get caught in it. So she didn't plan on trying that at the moment. Hearing him correct her however, and explain he simply was righting a wrong, she raised a brow as she looked at him "Righting a wrong? Wouldn't that have to imply I've done something to you that was wrong in the first place for you to so called 'right' it?" she questioned before adding "Aside from everything that happened within the past half hour, obviously. Since you were here before all of this" she commented, not understanding entirely. Had she done something in the past to him and had forgotten? She doubted she'd forget.

As he brought up how she wasn't different because she just attacked his friend, she rolled her eyes "Come on, a girls got to eat" she muttered casually as if it wasn't that big of a deal "Plus, from what I gather, you intentionally came out here to hunt a siren. So it was kind of your fault in the first place" she said with a shrug of her shoulders, clearly not really seeing anything wrong with what she had done "And I don't usually batter my prey up like your friend. He fought back so at that point it was more just defensive casualties" she shrugged her shoulders.

 

[beautyofthebeast]

"So it's his fault that he was trying to defend himself from something trying to drown him and eat him." He muttered, shaking his head, walking over to the rigging and adjusting a few ropes so that they were steering in the proper direction. He was glad the island was close; while he could sail the boat efficiently by himself, it was definitely easier with two people, and it was certainly easier to tend to wounds on land.

"And while it may not have been you, it was one of you. I don't take kindly to my family being torn apart by anybody, much less a murderer." He was angry about something, something that extended beyond the actions of the last half hour. "You murder men and eat them; you may not see a problem with it, but I do."

 

[ChibiMonkey]

She shrugged her shoulders once again at his reply defending his friend about how he was trying to defend himself. "All about perspective, I guess" she nonchalantly responded, clearly not really caring about getting on this males good side despite being the one at his mercy at the moment. She figured he seemed to have his mind rather set about her and who she was, so there was no getting on his 'good side' anyways to begin with. Not that she cared to be either way.

"Hmm, that's a pretty warped mindset you have there. So just because a siren survived another day by feeding - which happened to be someone you knew - you would blame any other siren for that? What if I was some child of my kind, would you still wish the same vengeance?" she asked as she glanced over to him watching as he tended to his friends wounds and the sails of the ship "Besides, we're not murderers. You humans breed livestock just to eat them. If my feeding on a human makes me a murderer, then you're no different. Unless you're a vegetarian."

 

[beautyofthebeast]

"We don't make a habit of cheap tricks to get our food." He said. "We breed animals on farms for the sole purpose of eating, giving them plenty of food and water; you ambush and trick your meals into submission. You choose with reckless abandon"

He knew his anger at all sirens was irrational, but at the moment, he was just angry and she happened to be the first member of the species that he had happened upon. "And one of you took the life of a person who had a child; do you ever think of that? A father was unable to return home to his children because of your species. Many fathers, actually, ones trying to fish to make money."

 

[ChibiMonkey]

"Cheap tricks?" she scoffed a bit in annoyance at his reference to how they went about retrieving their meals and luring them "I'm sorry. Would you have rather I just casually swam up to your ship, and asked you "Hey, I know you're kind of in the middle of living right now. But mind if I kill you so I can eat?" she rolled her eyes as she glared over at him "You're right. I don't see why I've never tried that method before" She spoke sarcastically with a slightly annoyed and irritated sigh.

As he accused her kind of more of the murderous wrongdoings they've done, and went on to speak about fathers being killed never to return to their children, she simply raised a brow as she looked at him "So that's it? One of my kind killed your daddy huh? What a shame" she huffed in annoyance with clearly no remorse in her voice "Look, this world is made for those who can survive in it. We all do what we can to live. That's how nature works."

 

[beautyofthebeast]

"Clearly, you're one of the ones not meant to survive." He retorted coldly. "Otherwise you would be in the water, not tangled up in a net on my boat." Cold, but in his mind, these women had no purpose for existence in the world. Humans created things, invented new technologies, made the world a better place, while these women existed solely to torment sailors and murder men that did nothing wrong.

"Tell me, what is your purpose here in this world? What is one good thing you've done? Something your kind have done? All I can see is that you murder humans, deplete the shores of fish, and create terror, Split up families, prevent exploration, destroy the livelihoods of men and women....." He crossed his arms, steely gaze never leaving hers.

 

[ChibiMonkey]

She sighed a bit in annoyance at his retort of her not surviving "So what, you're going to kill me then? Kill me, because someone else who's the same species as me killed your dad? Yeah, that makes perfect sense" she rolled her eyes "Its because humans like you exist that there's hardly any remorse when we kill you" she retorted back in slight annoyance. As they spoke she did have to wonder what he planned with her. It seemed like he wanted revenge, to kill her, yet he hadn't yet. Perhaps because he was waiting until they got on shore? She wondered when that would be anyways. Would he put her back in water? Not many humans knew of a siren's ability to form legs when their bodies were dry.

She was distracted by these thoughts when he spoke of life and purpose, and how nothing good came from her kind, and she narrowed her eyes back at him "I could say the same about you. While you humans are proud of your intelligence and technological advancements, you overpopulate this world with your species and your inventions which aren't compatible long term for this world. Sailors and pirates fight at sea, leaving pollution and shipwreck to sink in our seas. Your kind doesn't think of the consequences, and leave behind a mess wherever you walk. Or sail. I find it amusing that you think the reason for your depleted resources of fish are because of my kind, when human population is hundred of times bigger than us sirens." she spoke back to him matter of factly.

"Perhaps you don't like our methods, but we're protecting the seas, and life in general. Our existence is partially to keep you humans in check since you all seem to think you're all so high, mighty, and superior. Just like how lions feeding from deer is a way to keep the overgrowing deer population in check, it's the same with sirens and humans. It's just how nature works."