#nautical!au

[balloonboyismyson]

MORE NAUTICAL AU MY BELOVED…

[seerchild-archive-blog]

Up she rises (closed Nautical!AU starter for golden-gaze)

This had been an exciting endeavor for Luca. The young merchild had a fascination for humanity since he had been recently hatched, so, he was thrilled when a fleet of human ships happened to be passing through the waters familiar to him. He knew night hunting had to have come with some perks, he had been trailing the ships for a few hours now, following alongside the sailors. 

He had been excited by everything, hearing the wondrous music that bards played on the fiddles, flutes and drums of far away, listening to the chorus of intoxicated singing of seafarers upon grand galleons, adorned with carvings of the kings of Luca’s kin and trims of iron, basking in the light of great oil lanterns that burned so brightly on-deck. 

Although Luca had to remain relatively behind, beneath the black waves that surrounded the ships, the event was so very fascinating. Especially whenever the merchild could see the humans on the decks of ships, where he could see their strange, otherworldly garb; which was a far cry from the very simple and organic shell-and-kelp based attire Luca was used to.

Yet, it seemed the minutes of the festivities were numbered. For Luca had been so entranced by the charms of the humans, following them like a lost guppy, when all of a sudden... he’d felt the flow of the water change underneath him, and he was pushed back by a relatively strong current...

He’d noticed the waves had grown more intense... and then, the realization that he was not the only one in this watery void he lurked within.

Something was coming, perhaps having come from the unknown, uncharted depths below... and it was something large.

[balloonboyismyson]

NEW AU ALERT!!!!!!!!

[balloonboyismyson]

Loving the Nautical AU I hope you do more of it!

YAY I AM GLAD YOU LIKE IT BC I REALLY LIKE IT!!!!! TAKE A MER!FRONNIE :o)

[queenmabscherzo]

it's you are whatever a moon has always meant and whatever a sun will always sing is you

e. e. cummings

[queenmabscherzo]

Trust your heart if the seas catch fire, live by love though the stars walk backward.

e. e. cummings

[queenmabscherzo]

For the writing meme! "Then Bifur drew a short, heavy knife and pointed the tip at Kili's heart. Kili was panting now. Illogically, he thought back to all the times he'd made fun of Bifur's strange speech as a child and blushed. Then Bifur muttered something, one word, and repeated it. He flipped the knife in his hand, caught the blade, and pressed the handle into Kili's shaking palm. He repeated that one word again, and then he was gone, disappeared below deck with his brothers."

ayyyyyy you want me to give away what bifur said!!!!!!!! :P :P :P is it good with some ambiguity, or is that just cop-out writerly bullshit? i never can tell.

"Then Bifur drew a short, heavy knife and pointed the tip at Kili’s heart. Kili was panting now. Illogically, he thought back to all the times he’d made fun of Bifur’s strange speech as a child, and blushed (For a fleeting moment there, Kili fully believed Bifur was about to stab him. And he also fully believed he deserved it, not in the manic-depressive self-hating way, but in the “DAMN i was a lil SHIT growing up i knew that would all come back to bite me well make it quick” way). Then Bifur muttered something, one word, and repeated it. (“brother.”) He flipped the knife in his hand, caught the blade, and pressed the handle into Kili’s shaking palm. (Oh don’t act like yall actually thought Bifur was mad.) He repeated that one word again, and then he was gone, disappeared below deck with his brothers."

i’m pretty sure that was the word i had in mind. it sort of morphed between “brother” “right” and something greek that could translate as “careful” or “take care.” but the POINT is, Bifur thought 100% that Kili belonged there.

[fractionallyfoxtrot]

Overboard

(AU: nautical!AU

This AU was first credited by the lovely anon who wrote Glow and Pleased. I hope you don't mind me trying it out, anon.)

---

"Man overboard!"

Every available hand, including Captain Martin Crieff and Chief Mate Douglas Richardson, raced to the deck at the sound of the distress call, crowding around Phil and Terry leaning over the port side of the ship.

"What happened?" Martin asked.

"Who is it?" Douglas questioned.

"Carl."

Martin's heart seized at Phil's answer. It took all of his self-control to keep panic from showing on his face. He pat his pockets down, looking for his telescope, hastily pulling it out of his coat and searching the water. He found Carl nearing the stern, treading water, trying to keep his head above the waves.

"He and Dave were repairing the crack in the hull," Phil explained, working with Terry to pull a long length of rope out of the water. "Dave had just come back up when a wave crashed into the ship and swept Carl off the ropes."

Everyone made room for Terry to swing the weighted end of the rope around before casting it back into the ocean. Although one of the best arms on the ship, Terry's throw still landed a long way from Carl. He struggled to swim for it, the waves working tirelessly to keep them apart.

"Pull up the sails," Martin ordered. "We have a better chance of reaching him if we stop moving."

"Hoist the sails!" Douglas shouted, spurring various crew members into action.

"Get him back aboard this ship now," Martin said, pointing forcefully at Phil and Terry.

"That's what we're trying to do, Sir."

Martin pushed his way through the remaining crowd, breaking for the stern once he was free. He ran to the anchor release and dropped the starboard anchor, hoping to slow them down and pull the port side of the ship to face Carl more directly. He looked out at the water again, fear pumping through his veins when he saw Carl getting smaller with every wave that hit the ship. He reached out, dropping the port anchor too despite every instinct telling him it was a bad idea to come to a full stop.

Martin ran back to the rescue attempt, giving only a passing glance to Douglas overseeing the furling of the sails. All eyes were on Dirk, hanging so low over the side of the ship that he almost touched the water, as he tried to throw Carl a lifeline. His attempts got closer than Terry's but the waves kept carrying the end of the rope away from Carl, out of his reach.

"Sails furled," Douglas reported, appearing at Martin's side.

"It's not enough, we're still too far away," Martin said, eyes never leaving Carl bobbing in the water. "We should send someone in after him."

"And risk losing a second crew member?" Douglas questioned.

"In a lifeboat," Martin clarified. "If we come to a full stop, it should be safe enough to-"

"Ship off the starboard stern!"

Everyone looked up at the crow's nest notice. They were in open water, still a week's time out from the nearest port; seeing another ship in their vicinity was, at best, unusual and, at worse, cause for alarm. Martin reluctantly moved with Douglas to the starboard side of the ship.

"They're flying the Jolly Roger!" the crow's nest reported.

"Pirates," Douglas breathed, lowering his telescope. "We have to move."

"Not yet," Martin said before running back to the port side. He raced to the deck railing, momentum carrying him more than halfway over the edge as he leaned down to address Dirk. "Dirk! We need you and Carl back aboard the ship now!"

"I can't reach him!" Dirk shouted. "The current's pulling him-"

"Now!" Martin shouted back.

Douglas grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled Martin back onto the deck.

"Martin, we don't have time for this," Douglas said, hushed beside his ear.

"I am not leaving a man in the water," Martin argued.

Douglas' grip tightened as he turned him, forcing Martin to face him. "We can't stay here. Those pirates are gaining fast and we have little to no defenses. We have to move." Martin looked back over his shoulder, panic touching his face when he saw Carl and the pirates off in the distance. "Now," Douglas insisted, giving him a shake.

"We still have-"

"Captain Crieff," Douglas said loudly, drawing eyes to their discourse. "There are pirates fast approaching off our starboard stern who, when they reach us, will board and overpower us, capture the crew, and most likely burn the ship to its ribbing when they discover we don't have any cargo of value. As the captain, you have a responsibility to this ship and its entire crew. You need to make a command decision and you need to make it now."

Martin felt the eyes of every crew member on him but he didn't dare take his eyes away from Douglas. He knew his face was betraying him, openly displaying his willingness to trade the ship and its crew for Carl's life. He breathed against his panicked impulse to act selfishly, his heart railing against his instincts as valuable seconds ticked away.

"Hoist the anchors," he said quietly, hating the sound of his own voice. "Unfurl the sails."

Douglas nodded, something akin to condolence showing momentarily on his face.

"Hoist the anchors!" he shouted, barking Martin's orders to the crew. "Unfurl the sails! Move as if your life depended on it because today it does!"

Martin stood still as the crew rushed around him, most to get them moving while Phil and Terry hurried to get Dirk back aboard. He was torn between looking back, taking one last look at Carl before the wind pushed them away, and being unable to look upon the man he loved who he more or less sentenced to death.

He didn't move until Carolyn took him by the arm and sat him in his cabin, closing him off from the chaos, leaving Martin alone with his loss and the fear that he'd endangered the entire crew.