The storm was raging on as Captain Jughead Jones had never seen before, even after spending an eternity on the seas, all over the world. Never had the skies been this pit-black, nor the rain this thick.
Surely if the Whyte Wyrm was sinkable, his ship and crew would've perished long ago between the black, giant, and violent waves that raged against them like a salvage beast, roaring deadly. For a moment, as the helm spun on its own accord, he allowed his mind to covet the only thing he couldn’t have, the blessing of death by the waves’ cold embrace. The simple thought of it, however, brings him back to the reality of his situation. Certainly, this storm would bring many to an untimely demise, and many souls would have to be collected before the sun rose.
“Captain! There’s something on the water!” Someone suddenly hollers from the crows’ nest.
Immediately, he drags himself to the side of the ship, and after a moment of meticulous watch, he sees it. A silver glimmer, on the dark and unforgiven waters, visible, even in the midst of the angry waves. There was only one thing that sparkled in such a beautiful and hypnotizing way. Without thinking twice, he helds onto the helm, coercing his faithful vessel to rip through the angry ocean, in its direction.
“Sweet Pea! Fangs! We need nets. Now!” His first and second mate obeyed his command without blinking, dragging the huge and heavy through the deck. “On my mark, throw the nets toward the silver spark, and pull with all your strength!” He stirred the helm right, up to its limit, and as the ship turned, he screamed. “Now!”
Once the nets were successfully thrown, the real challenge presented itself: pulling them back from the tumultuous waters. For… beings like them, strength was never a problem, but this time, it took the help of another four mates. And finally, as the nets began to climb to the ship, the crew started gasping.
“It’s a mermaid!” Fangs yells as he and the others dropped the net violently on the deck, whilst everyone takes a step back and away from the creature.
Jughead slowly approaches as he takes in the specimen on his deck. The first thing he notices are the thick ropes around her wrists and all over her tail. Wet blonde hair stops him from seeing her face, but her skin is pale white, like the alabaster from Greek temples, and her body is perfect. At least the upper half of it, with a lovely lean waist and pale round breasts made to drive a man to lose his mind. Her lower half is… well, it's haunting, the silver fish scales shining like a brand new armor as the rain falls over her.
"It should die, Captain." Sweet Pea says breaking the silence and stepping forward, a harpoon on his hand. He positions the weapon just above the creature's chest, and as the iron touches it, the skin suddenly frizzles, burning.
All of a sudden, it moves, groaning in pain. It's then that he notices something dark on her back, that thickly spills over to the tail, falling over the deck. Blood.
Pea presses the harpoon against it, making the creature groan in pain again. At the same time, a lightning illuminates the sky, followed by thunder.
"Sweet Pea, stop!" He orders, moving closer. "She's causing the storm. If you kill her, although we won't sink, many other ships will. We have to help her. It's the only way to stop the storm." He kneels beside the creature, gently putting a hand on her shoulder and shaking it.
"But Captain! This monster and her people are the reason why we are all cursed!" Pea angrily argues.
Jughead looks at his first mate for a moment before shaking his head. "No one dies today." He looks back at the mermaid, shaking her again, harder this time.
The creature opens her eyes, and despite fear and panic immediately making way to her face, he can instantly feel the allure coming of of her in waves. She cringes away from his touch, and the movement makes her groan in pain once more.
"I want to help you. You're badly wounded and you need help. Let me help." She stares at him silently, moving her eyes to the healthy armed men around them, before looking at him again. "I ain't gonna hurt you." Again, she looks at him and his men. "No harm shall come to you tonight. You can trust me."
"S-swear." The mermaid finally replies, slowly hisses through her teeth. "S-swear."
"I give you my word as Captain of the Whyte Wyrm that no harm shall come to you on this ship."
Finally, after another moment of staring, the creature weakly nods.
As gently as possible, he turns her a little towards his lap to try and see from where the blood is coming from.
He tries his best to comprehend where is she injured, but all he knows is that it's somewhere on her back and tail.
"You need to change!" He tells her, having to yell to be heard over the storm.
She nods, closing her eyes.
It takes a moment, but with a painful scream her tail suddenly vanishes, leaving her with human legs.
Ignoring her complete nakedness, he sees metal shards stabbed all over her legs that seem to bleed even more than before. Slowly, he puts an arm around her and the other behind her knees, picking her up bridal style.
She leans her head against his chest, and for a moment she's just a frail injured young woman, shaking on his arms.
As he begins to walk, her eyes find his again, and he finds himself whispering, "Don't worry. I'm gonna take care of you."
Completely ignoring his crew, he takes her to his cabin.
Not long after, rain, lightning and thunder stop, and a bright full moon fills the sky, shimmering over the now tranquil seas.
