The seagull flew off a short distance, screeching at the girl who interrupted its meal.
But what if the stories were true and mermaids really were ugly monsters who just happened to be dangerously intelligent? Hmm, it couldn't do much now that it was out of its environment, so no reason to fear it as much.
Still, brushing away the stringy white hair, revealed the mermaid's face - it was human, in every detail, with soft cheeks and a gentle complexion - nowhere near the ugly descriptions stories mentioned. He looked more like a sleeping fairy from a fantasy painting present in a children's book; was this really the kind of creature that went under the butcher's knife? The thought was chilling.
The mermaid's skin was parchment dry to the touch, parts of it having started to become a glazed over shade of grey, kinda like a bruise, but also not a bruise. Even if the creature didn't suffocate on land like regular fish, it still needed water, at least to moisten its skin again. A few steps away from them, there was this natural pond like structure, made of rocks that contained water within it. The rocks were too large to allow anyone to swim their way through the cracks, and were too high to climb over. Perhaps she could put him there, so as to avoid attention from other people coming to clean the beach?
Or maybe it was a better idea to put him back into the sea?
"Hope you like this pond, my friend." Lillian decided, looking over to the pond nearby. She gently picked him up and not wanting to have any part of him drag on the ground, she put him over her shoulder, making her stagger a bit. She regained balance and slowly carried him to the pond and placed him in it.
The water in the pond didn't seem too deep though when the mermaid was placed in it, he sank for a pretty good seconds before reaching the bottom. The whole pond looked like a big stone ring with clear water so Lilith could see the the mermaid at the bottom of the pond with no problem.
How long would it take the boy to come back to his senses? Or was it already too late to save him? She'd have to wait out for a while if she wanted to know the answer.
Lillian sat patiently on the rocks, waiting for something to happen. She sat cross-legged with one arm on her knee propping up her head.
Several minutes passed before anything happened and the sun was starting to burn already, so sitting by the pond was getting tiring - but that is when the creature below the water began to move. It was barely noticeable, but he did move; his arms slowly reaching to the side as if wanting to get up, lifting his head barely to look around and pet his head as if he was having a headache.
It took another minute before the mermaid raised its head to look up, his white curly hair floating around his head like a mane of sorts
Lillian had zoned out but seeing the movement in the water made her jump back into reality. She looked down at the mermaid who was in turn looking at her. Unsure of what to do, Lillian waved to the mermaid.
Seeing the girl wave at him, he tried swimming away from the light, trying to hide from the girl.
He soon realized there was nowhere he could go, therefore he sat in the farthers corner possible, not taking his eyes off Lilith
"You don't have to be scared," Lillian said, standing up, "I'm not going to hurt you." I wonder if he can even hear me through the water? She thought.
The merman or triton - it was concluded by now that he was definitely a boy - continued to stare upwards, his body pressed up against the rocks as if trying to blend into them; that wasn't his goal, especially since he was bright white against a dark background, therefore his figure stood out like a sore thumb.
He'd noticed that the girl's mouth was moving, though the sounds he was hearing were very muffled. Part of him would have wanted to go closer to hear her, but he was also scared - he'd never been this close to a land dweller before
Lillian sighed and sat back down, continuing to look at the merman. She knew nothing about them so she had no idea how to make him feel comfortable.
Several minutes passed as the merman didn't take his eyes off the girl gazing at him from above, studying her with fearful eyes. Eventually, when the girl seemed to preocupy herself with something else, he finally dared to move from his spot, slowly swimming around the walls, looking for a way to go back into the sea.
Unfortunately for him, the cracks were too small for him to fit, therefore he was pretty much trapped, with no way to go but up. He was still afraid of the girl, but he'd noticed she didn't have any fishing gear, which was kind of relieving. If it was by his rules, he could sit at the bottom of the pond all day, yet hunger was pushing him to keep moving, in order to look for something he could nibble on - but here in this isolated pond, there was no fish.
I wonder if he's hungry… Lillian thought and stood up, turning to look around at the different boats on the port. She saw her two merchant friends, Callie and Malice and went to go speak with them about fish. "Hey Callie. Hey Malice. Do you guys mind if I take a few pieces of fish?" She asked them.
"Yeah go ahead." Malice handed her a few fish that were in a small net.
"Spoiling your cats again?" Callie laughed.
"Maybe…" Lillian responded jokingly and ran off, back towards the pond after her friends had turned back to the merchant ship. She reached into the net, pulling out a decently sized fish and dropped it into the water.
Noticing the fish sink into the water, the boy froze again, fearful eyes looking above at the girl. Was she giving him food? Now that was strange.
Little by little, he approached the fish that had been tossed in, inspecting it carefully for any potential threads - when he concluded the fish was safe to eat, he grabbed it hesitantly and began biting into it
Lillian watched him carefully and set the net down next to her on the rocks. She wanted this boy to trust her and she was going to keep trying until he did.
While the fish meal was welcome, the boy couldn't understand why this girl was trying so hard. Despite the fractured memory, he had this innate fear of land dwellers, like he felt they were trouble. But she'd given him food and hadn't tried pulling him out of the water - in fact, she was the one to put him back into the water, no?
He kept thinking if he should trust her, while leisurely swimming around in the pond like a normal human would walk back and fourth across the room. From above, he was quite the show to watch; the rays of the bright sun bounced off his shiny scales, making them shimmer underneath the clear waves.
Lillian watched the mermaid swim around, the sun making his scales look almost magical. She had a slight look of awe shining in her eyes as she watched him.
A couple of male voices rung in the air, momentarily breaking the magic of the moment. Chattering in a light hearted tone, several fishermen were slowly approaching, gathering some of the still salvageable fish off the beach.
If these men saw the mermaid, they would surely try to capture it - from that moment on he'd be as good as dead. If Lilith really wanted to save his life, she'd have to keep them away from the pond
Lillian turned at the sound of fishermen speaking and went over too them, "Hello fishermen. What are you all doing?"
"Well looking for some fish of course, m'lady Lillian!" One of the fishermen said in return.
"Alright. But stay over that way, there's a lot of sharp edges and things that could hurt you over this way." Lillian lied.
"Yes, ma'am, thanks for the warning." The fishermen waved to her and joyfully started walking back the other way.
It seemed almost ridiculous just how easy it was to drive the men away from the pond. On the other hand, there was considerably less fish in that direction, so they probably didn't press on either.
Turning back towards the pond, Lilian managed to catch a glimpse of a white haired head above the water, shyly peeking between the rocks at what was going on. He quickly hid behind a rock once he noticed the girl coming in his direction
Lillian lightly smiled and walked back to the pond, passing a few seashells that had been stirred up by the storm. She took a few and got back to the ponds edge before gently dropping a the shells in the water as a gift.
The boy hesitated, only half his face visible from underneath the rock, one sea green eye watching her fearfully. He watched the shells sink a little but he didn't dare come closer.
Slowly, more and more of his face was revealed, exposing the soft expression, big clear eyes and slightly opened mouth. The eyes never moved off Lilian, as he crept an inch closer
Lillian's smile grew wider and she seemed more excited as the boy came closer, but she didn't move, not wanting the mermaid to go back into hiding.
The mermaid stopped after creeping a bit closer, before letting go of the rocks and sinking into the water. He did not dive back down, but rather, he swam closer to her, underneath the surface, until he was right next to the edge of the pond.
They were currently face to face, separated by the clear surface of the water, looking at each other in the eyes. Eventually, after some time of just staring at each other, the boy finally gathered up the courage to lift his head above the water
That's when Lillian spoke, softly of course, "Hello there." She sat there waiting for his next move.
He blinked a couple of times, sinking back an inch. But fortunately, he didn't run away and remained in place, looking up at the girl. Could he even talk? Theoretically, he shouldnt be able, since he lived in water, but he also looked like a human, so was it possible he was able to?
His lips parted a little, exposing a rather normal human looking dentition, - not the needle like teeth stories told about, which was probably a plus.
