#mermaid plot

Plot 116:  Treasured (credit to alloftheprompts for the mermaid prompt inspo here)

According to sailor legends, merpeople are beautiful and benevolent beings who guide lost ships to harbor and bring great fortune to kind fishermen who empty their nets for a chance to hear a merperson’s song. The song of a merperson is an ethereal treat that few people at sea (and even fewer on land) have the privilege of hearing, but those who do are said to be blessed for the rest of their days.

SIX: SEA SONG | OPEN ⌁

PAIRING: M/F ERA: Fairytale GENRE/THEMES: Romance, mature themes, forbidden love WARNINGS: Sex, mature themes, death INSPIRATION: The Little Mermaid story, mermaids, myths and legends

CHARACTERS ⌁

Rhode, 17

Mermaid

FC: Holliday Grainger

[M]ale, 20

Prince

Suggested FC: Max Irons

PLOT ⌁

The sea had always haunted him.

It was not a bad sort of haunting, or the kind that made him fear in the middle of the night. Rather, it was the sort of haunting that filled him with irrepressible longing for the sea. But the sea, [M] knew, was a wild thing. No man could tame her, and all who tried would perish. It was a lesson he had learned early in life, when his two precious sisters had been lost to her tempestuous waves when he was still a boy. And still, it called to him, bewitched him, and he became a willing slave to her wild, erratic ways. His parents abhorred  the ocean, as the loss of their daughters was still too much to bear. So he resisted the sea as best as he could, only setting sail when the urge for the salty waves became too strong to ignore. For his parents, he lived in their palace and dreamed of the day when he would be king, and would be free to sail atop the glass water. 

[M]’s 20th birthday was one such occasion for a voyage at sea, and he set out onto the sparkling sea for an entire month. It was a voyage unlike any other he had embarked on, full of hope and possibility for his life ahead. The first week passed with fair weather and sun, with nothing but the salty breeze and a few harsh tumbles of the ship to unsettle him. But when the ninth day of the journey hit, so did the storm that would change his life forever. 

He was sure he would die at sea that day. The storm had come at once, with its dark skies and peals of thunder that send the crew scrambling for their posts. The kingdom would be left with no heir to call their own, the country would fall into disrepair, and his parents would be left to their misery. At least, he thought as the waves swept him over the side of the ship and into the water, the sea welcomed him with warm arms.

But death did not greet him. Instead, life found him.

Life came in the form of a girl named Rhode, and she had saved him from certain death. She had helped him onto a splintered remain of his once majestic ship and helped him to breathe again as she hung on the side of his makeshift raft, her long hair clinging to her naked frame as the storm around them calmed. And when he could think clearly enough to open his eyes and thank her, he had enough sense of mind to notice that instead of two legs dangling beneath her, it was a long, silvery tail that propelled them forward.

She was a mermaid, he realized in the hours that it took to make it from open sea to the coast, and they passed the time speaking of their two worlds. No one would believe him, of course, that the beautiful and playful woman that had saved him was a mermaid, a creature only found in myths. And who could she tell? Contact between humans and Mer was strictly forbidden, and she had broken a law of the sea to save him. But a friendship had sparked between them, and she was loathe to part with him when the shore came in sight. So she kissed his damp hair and sang to lull him to sleep before sinking back in the water to try and forget him.

For six months, she haunted his dreams. Every time he glanced at the sea, he thought of her - thought of her hair and her eyes and the way her moved moved when she spoke, imagined the sweet, warm sound of her voice, felt the touch of her hand as she comforted him. Not a day passed in which he did not think of her, for she had bewitched him as terribly as the sea.

It was fate, then, that caused them to meet again. She had not meant to be seen, but the silvery flash of her tail in the moonlight was unmistakeable to him as he stood on the balcony of his great palace by the sea. So he splashed out to meet her under the pale moon, eagerness growing in his heart at the sight of her. She had not been able to stay away, as he had haunted her just as she had haunted him. She had been here before, but he had not come out to meet her like the silly human she knew him to be. Silly human indeed, for he could not resist kissing her under the moonlight before returning inside.

He discovered her the next morning washed up on the shore, shivering and frightened, and with a pair of legs instead of a tail.

It was her punishment for breaking the law of the sea. For saving a human, for speaking to him and rescuing him, she would live as a human, separated from her family and the sea she loved so much, until she had learned her lesson about the barbarous ways of humans. But how could she learn, when [M] had shown her the goodness of humanity? 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ⌁

I will only be accepting applications for [M] at this time due to Rhode being a character that I’ve been developing for awhile. This may change in the future.

I am looking to start this right at their first meeting so we understand the full story of it.

Information for [M] (name and face) is up to the player, except for his age. 

This plot will be drawing from a variety of different versions of “The Little Mermaid” tale, including but not limited to Hans Christian Anderson’s original version and Disney’s version of the tale. I have, however, incorporated much of my own ideas and inspiration about mermaids. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask me! 

Adella was singing a strange song, and her voice was the most beautiful voice he had ever heard. He couldn't help but smile. "I must be the luckiest man in the world to have you," he said. She smiled at him and gently tugged on his shirt, pulling him closer to her. She went to kiss him, but as she did, her face turned monstrous, and her body became covered with scales. She grew sharp claws and teeth, and her eyes were bright yellow with only a slit of black in the middle. She jumped on him and pushed him down, down into the depths of the water. She bit at his neck, tearing flesh from his bones, and his blood began to pour into the ocean - 

He awoke abruptly, awoken by the sounds of screaming. It took him a second to realize those screams were his own. He was drenched in sweat, or was it water?

What the bloody hell was that? Adella would never do anything like that. Mermaids aren't really like that. That's just some dumb old wives tale.

He looked down to see he was in a bed.

How did I get here? he wondered. What happened?

Pieces of the night before came back to him. Adella, a strange song, a kiss, water, drowning, the look in Adella's eyes, a gunshot, blackness. His head began to pound with an intense pain as he tried to remember.

He tried to lift himself up, pushing himself up with both of his arms, but before he could check out his surroundings, he feel into a coughing fit. Unable to control himself, he put his hand to his mouth. He felt water coming out of him and fell back on the bed. He heard the door open, and called out a single name.

"John?" He had no idea why he had believed it was John but he needed to know.

"No, laddie. Smith's been gone for a while now."

He looked up to see a familiar face.

"Ben" A wave of relief washed over him. "Where am I? What happened? How did I end up here? How long have I been out?"

"Woah, slow down there, lad." Thomas now just realized Ben had been carrying a tray with a teapot. "Here, boy, have some tea. It'll warm ya." Ben poured him a cup and handed it over.

"Thanks," Thomas said as he took the cup graciously. He took a sip and waited a few seconds before continuing. "So what happened to me?"

Thomas looked into Ben's eyes, and he saw pity reflected back at him.

"Lad, this isn't an easy story to tell." Ben sighed and looked down, full of grief. "Your girlfriend attacked ye. She tried to kill ya, lad." He looked back up to Thomas, his eyes swimming with pain. "You...you're joking, right?" Thomas looked into his eyes, searching for some sort of amusement, something to prove that this was just a lie, but he found none. His chest constricted, and he was unable to breath. Then, Ben went into a detailed account of how they had spotted them together, but thought nothing of it until they saw they struggle. He told him how they began to shoot at them, how she ran off, how he had dove into the water to save Thomas, and how he brought him aboard. "Ya passed out somewhere between bringing ya ashore and when ya coughed up all that water. Ya must've swallowed about a barrel's worth the way ye was coughing it back up. Me and Lon brought'cha here to rest after. Ya only been out for a couple o' hours." After a long pause, in an attempt to lighten the mood, he said, "Well, I guess ya shoulda listened to us when we said those mermaids were notin' but trouble". He cracked a small grin, but it fell almost instantly.

Thomas was overcome by emotion. Panic, terror, heartbreak, longing, betrayal. He couldn't control himself. He began to shudder uncontrollably. Ben got up and wrapped a thick, wool blanket around him. Then, Ben rested one hand on his shoulder and he raised his eyes to meet Ben's gaze.

"I'm sorry, lad" was all he said before he walked out the door.

Thomas was left alone to his own thoughts. He couldn't stop shaking.

Adella, how could you? How could you do this to me? I...I thought you cared about me. I...I was starting to believe that I loved you. 

He felt a pressure, a pain in his chest. He felt his heart break in two. He didn't know what to think anymore. He couldn't take another heartbreak, not after the last one, which had already tore him apart. A tear silently rolled down his cheek.

I wish they had let me die.