Fantasy adventures and disaster thrillers, mostly! All of them are available as ebooks or physical copies through most major online retailers, or you can request them from your local indie store! You can also request all of them at your library.
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The Pits
A fantasy western adventure about siblings, love, and strange magic that wants something no one quite understands. Learn More.
Camp Daze
A survival thriller about a young woman trying to keep hope alive through an apocalypse she knows how to survive alone, but not how to survive with everyone else. Learn More.
Lie Down in the Ashes
An epistolary young adult novel about how far and how fast the consequences of a wildfire can spread, and just how many people will come together to try and help. Learn More.
Poison in the Blood
A fantasy adventure about family ties, morality, murder, train robberies, vampires, and where to draw the line when the person you love might be the person who gets you killed. Learn More.
☆彡 pirate! k. bakugou x merman! e. kirishima x reader
tags -> fantasy au, reader gets severely dehydrated, mentions of violence, dash of yearning, lots more lore, some angst, secrets are spilled
a/n: i’m so sorry i lied about the regular updates ;-; tumblr decided to not save my work MULTIPLE times for this one chapter to the point that i completely gave up for 2 months on working on this series. I deeply apologize if you’ve been waiting. i should’ve known better than to write directly into tumblr drafts but this hasn’t happened to me before. i’ve learned my lesson and will never put my shit in drafts if it's not saved somewhere else. hope you enjoy and that it was worth the wait :))
You slowly woke to a pounding in your head and sunlight beaming across your face. You knew you were in Katsuki's quarters by the scent of the sheets beneath you. As you blinked awake, you felt someone clasp your hand tightly.
Katsuki was sitting beside the bed, anxiously watching over you.
"Katsuki?'" Your voice cracked causing you to cough. Your throat was dry and the movement painfully reminded you of the wound in your side.
"Fuck," He squeezed your hand tighter, "You sound awful."
"Thanks." You wheezed sarcastically once the coughing had subsided.
You tried to get comfortable but that's when you noticed it, a feeling you'd only felt once before. An intense dehydration like no other.
You instantly reached for the necklace. The feeling of your neck and chest bare had you panicking. It was gone. The stone was gone.
"Where is it?" You shot up in bed, suddenly the headache didn't matter anymore. You needed to find that necklace.
"Where's my necklace, Katsuki?" You frantically tried to get out of bed, but he held you back down. You struggled against him. You needed to search for it right this instant.
"I'm sorry." You should've known you were fucked the moment he apologized, but you kept fighting. Katsuki never apologized, not without very good reason. He looked pained, like this was somehow his fault. But still, you held onto hope. Maybe he was just keeping it somewhere safe?
"I watched some asshole rip it from your neck after he attacked you. I wanted to go after him, but you were fucking bleeding out, I couldn't-"
He let out a sigh, waiting a moment before finally answering, "It's gone."
"No. You're lying." You had lost whatever semblance of calm was still left in you. Your breaths were coming hard and fast. The ringing in your ears was drowning out everything else but the necklace.
"It's here somewhere, it has to be. Please let me look for it, I need to look for it."
You could barely hear yourself begging as you fought against his hands pinning you to the bed. How could he have let someone take it? This was everything you had left. The one thing that connected you to them. To everything you'd lost.
"It's just a necklace!" He shouted, barely managing to hold you down, "I’ll fucking buy you another one!"
"No it's not!" You yelled, instantly regretting it as pain swelled in your throat.
You were trying to kick him off now, but Katsuki anticipated that. He swung his leg over to straddle you and pin your legs down.
"Yes it is! It's just a stupid rock! You can find another one!"
"It's the only thing keeping me human, Katsuki!"
You stopped fighting when you realized what you had said. Katsuki had stopped too. He sat frozen over you, staring down like you were a stranger he'd never met.
"What?" He snarled.
"Fuck," You shut your eyes tight, there was no going back now.
"I'm a mermaid."
"What?!"
"You need to get me into the tub below deck before I dry out and die."
He sat over you in shock, eyes wide. You grew impatient. There was no time. You could already feel your lips cracking from dehydration. It was only a matter of hours before it was all over.
"Katsuki-"
"That's why you were talking to him." He leaned back, getting off from on top of you. “All those nights…”
"Yes, that's how I can understand him and I promise I'll tell you everything, 'Tsuki, but please, you need to help me get into water right now."
This seemed to snap him out of whatever shock he was in. Katsuki easily lifted you from the bed, being careful to leave your stab wound undisturbed. He was gentle with you. Trying his best to keep your head or feet from catching on corners or doorways. Due to his delicacy, it took a bit of time getting down to where Eijirou was being kept.
The shark was anxiously swimming in circles as you got down there. When he spotted the two of you, he perked up, swimming up to the edge of the tub.
"What happened?! I heard loud fighting earlier and no one has-"
He cut himself off at the sight of you injured. He gasped, covering his mouth with his webbed fingers.
"Oh Marlin, are you alright?"
"What's he saying?" Katsuki asked, annoyed, before you could answer Eijirou. He stopped walking, clearly attempting a stare down with the red haired fish.
"He's asking what happened. C'mon, I need to get into the tub," You directed your attention back to Eijirou, "I'm fine, but I've lost my ability to stay human. I need to turn back before I dry out."
"How have you lost it? What have you lost?"
This shark and his questions.
"Long story, tell you later," You looked back to Katsuki, "I need you to help me out of my clothes, they'll just get in the way."
He only hummed in agreement, helping you onto your feet. Even as he removed your shirt and held you steady so you could step out of your trousers, Katsuki was throwing glares at the merman.
“Hello,” Eijiro attempted to speak in garbled human words and he pointed to himself to say, “Eijirou.”
Katsuki only looked shocked, mouth parted in the absence of something to say. Eijirou lost patience and turned to you, "I don't think your human likes me very much."
You chuckled in response, which only caused you to wince in pain.
"What did he say?" Katsuki demanded.
"Nothing."
Now, aside from a few bandages, you were completely naked. This made your dry skin and shivering even more evident.
Katsuki took your face in his hand. He still had an annoyed expression, but it turned to one of concern once he registered your temperature.
"You're burning up."
"I need... to get in," You swallowed thickly, your still human body trying to cope with the rapid water loss, "The tub."
Katsuki took your hand and helped you step over into the cool saltwater.
You sank down, sighing in relief, but as the water reached your wound you hissed in pain. It hurt badly enough that your vision began to swim with black spots. Eijirou inched closer, taking your other hand before you could fall and hit your head for the second time that night.
You fully submerged. The salt water was harsh but the transformation would fix that. Almost immediately, the water around you began to bubble. It was starting. You clung to yourself tightly telling yourself it would all be over soon. Even with your eyes squeezed shut, the bright light of the transformation filled your vision. You cursed under the water as your legs fused back into one, but the searing pain quickly dissipated. The bubbles around you cleared.
You opened your eyes and resurfaced. Only your head was above the water but the evidence of your transformation was still clear to the two men watching. Webbed ears had replaced your round human ones, Your vision was sharper and movement was more clear, even in the darkness of the hold. Likely since your slit pupils had returned.
"Wow," Eijirou was beaming. His sharp teeth gleamed.
"Beautiful." Katsuki mumbled. His eyes were glued to your tail. The bright white scales were practically glowing in contrast to the dark tub. By the look of awe on his face, you doubted he even knew he spoke it aloud.
You sighed with relief as the wound in your side began to stitch itself back together. In this body it would only be a matter of hours before you would be good as new. Even the pounding in your head had begun to dissipate.
After a moment of respite you looked up to Katsuki, “Thank you, truly.”
“No need,” He turned away, blushing slightly, “It was nothing.”
“Well, thank you anyways. I promised I would tell you everything and I will, but first I need to explain to Eijiro what’s going on. Then, I'll answer all your questions.”
Katsuki gave you a nod and that was all you needed to turn to Eijiro.
“There was an attack on the ship last night. I was injured and a man stole the enchanted necklace that allows me to remain human for long periods of time. I needed to get back into the water so I told Katsuki to bring me here. I’m sorry for any confusion this has caused you.”
“Are you going to get it back? Your necklace?” He queried. Eijirou appeared so concerned, and your heart melted a little at the sight.
“I have to. It is all I have left of my family. There is no other option. The only way I can find it is to look for my father’s old family journal. It has old spells and I remember reading one about finding lost things, but I haven’t been able to remember the incantation in years. I need to get that book and then I can find the necklace.”
“I wish to help you. You cannot go into the open ocean alone, especially looking like this.”
He gestured to your tail. The white scales were a trait of your fathers royal line. Albinism was not very useful outside of a palace. You’d be easy to spot by anyone you happened to swim above you. There would be no blending in, especially in more crowded places.
“Please, your highness, allow me to accompany you on your journey. I could protect-”
“Hold your seahorses, Shark Boy,” You cut him off, “We haven’t decided anything yet. I must explain everything to Katsuki first.”
Eijirou seemed to deflate a bit, but nodded in resignation at your comment.
“Alright, he’s been informed.” You looked back to Katsuki, scooting a bit closer to the edge of the tub.
“Is it my turn?” He raised an eyebrow, still very annoyed by the language barrier.
“What do you want to know?”
“Everything, idiot. Tell me everything.”
And so you did. Explaining that you were a mermaid wasn’t particularly difficult, but the royalty part wasn’t so easy.
“Is that why you were so weak when I first found you? Not a day's work in your life to build any muscle huh?” He teased once you had finally convinced him.
You had shushed him before going on to explain the necklace.
“It’s been passed down in my family for as long as stories have been told. I cannot lose it to a bloody pirate, Katsuki. I have to go after it.”
“And he wants to go with you,” Katsuki guessed, “Doesn’t he?”
“Yes. He believes it would be difficult for me to get far without being noticed,” You glanced back at the sharkman, who was swimming idly in the other half of the tub, “And he isn’t wrong. I doubt I'd make it very far. It’s.. been a long time since I… well, looked like this.”
You glanced away, it was difficult to admit to Katsuki that you weren’t excellent in everything. He never seemed to care one way or another, but that didn’t stop you from wanting to impress him.
Katsuki nodded in response, looking down at the floor, thinking. You knew he was upset about the situation, about being lied to. His petty annoyances were never just surface level feelings. The cracks always led to something deeper, and that was much more difficult to guess.
Unbeknownst to you, he was hurt. He was left out of a whole part of your life, a part that he could never know. Not like that stupid shark knew it. Katsuki could never live a life under water with you, couldn’t speak the language of your people. Suddenly there was an ocean between the two of you, one that he knew he couldn’t ever sail across. The life he had pictured, a boat, an island, a hearth, a family, it was all washing away before his eyes.
In the silence, Eijirou perked up, “Wait! I just remembered! The banished prince! He could have your book!”
“What?” You whipped around, “What banished prince?”
“After your family was overthrown, one family member survived and was banished. Nobody knows why he was spared or where he went but there are dozens of rumors about him.”
Your mind was racing. Someone surviving the attack felt impossible. The deaths you witnessed were too painful to ever let yourself fully examine the facts of that night with care.
“That’s impossible. I have no siblings, so the only prince who could’ve survived…” You mumbled as your thoughts finally shifted into place. A hand, a dagger, the sound of shrieks under the water.
“Izuku. I never saw him…” You drifted off again, lost in the old memory.
“We must find him. He could have the spellbook.” Eijirou responded with fervour, taking your trembling hands in his. The touch brought you back to the present.
“What’s he saying?” Katsuki demanded, stepping closer to the tub.
“One of my family still lives, if there is any chance of finding my necklace, he will know.”
Katsuki was lost in thought for a moment. You waited, searching his eyes for any semblance of a response. His face finally dropped, and he slid a hand down his face to scratch at his stubble.
“Okay,” He sighed, “I’ll make arrangements to dock in the nearest port. I’ll get you anything you need, a boat, supplies, whatever, and the two of you can go.”
“What?” Your heart sank, “You’re not coming?”
“Why the hell would I come? I’m not a fish, I can't go where you’re going, surely your family is underwater somewhere. Somewhere I can't go. You don’t need me on this, I'd only slow you guys down.”
He wouldn’t look at you, eyes fixate on the lamp swaying by the doorframe. The part he left unspoken was clear to you. If you left, he would likely never see you again. Finding one pirate was hard enough, but two? It would take you forever to find Katsuki again. Your eyebrows furrowed in frustration. Why would he even suggest this? He always seemed to find the exact way to infuriate you.
“I will forever need you, idiot. Don’t ever tell me that I don’t,” You didn’t mean to snap, but you were angry. Angry that he could be so despondent and resigned. He never gave up on a fight, and you weren’t going to let him give up on you either.
“You’re coming. End of story.”
You both engaged in a long staring contest, the two of you glaring back and forth for a good minute. You refused to back down on this, to let him give up. Soon enough, he gave in, sighing, “Fine. But don’t say I didn't warn you.”
You couldn’t help but grin at your victory. He almost never lets you win. But you were still left with a question in the back of your mind. What was Katsuki so afraid of, that he would say no to adventure? But there was a long journey ahead, plenty of time to work it out on the open seas. Right?
✧next✧
a/n: yeah i know slit pupils aren't biologically accurate but THEY LOOK COOL OKAY sobs into my animal science lecture notes.
best beta reader ever award goes to @saemeret <3
anyways thank you for reading and sorry again about the wait ;-:
