a visit of the Finfolk

tw: swearing, drinking, brief mention of s*x, d3@th

The monotonous sound of waves crashing against the hull of the ship proceeded, never ending. Many people say waves are calming, but to me, they’re jarring. Especially when I hear them night and day without end. 

The ship would constantly lurch without warning, and the bucket of mop water sitting next to me would spill over onto the deck. This annoyed me for the first week, but I got numb to it, picking up the bucket and continuing mopping without changing my expression from the dull, unsatisfied look I always wore. 

All the sounds and sights I would see and hear are old to me. The sound of old sailors snoring, the creaking of the wood panels shifting on the ship, the meowing of the pesky cat the sailors kept on board for good luck and vermin control, the wet sound of the mop moving back and forth on the deck, guided by my half-conscious hand. 

It was all old and dull, until I heard something new. 

A voice, a song. 

Every night while I stayed out on the deck, the soft voice of an angel came drifting through on the wind, the sweet sound filling my ears and giving me reason to continue on with my monotonous life on the sea. 

Each new night would pass, and I would hear the song coming from the anonymous singer, and each new night, I would long to see their face more, until tonight. 

Tonight nothing sounded, and all I heard was the blank sound of the waves, splashing against the side of the ship. 

The boat lurched again, and the bucket of water fell over, again. 

I picked it up, and continued mopping. 

I looked up at the pitch black sky, speckled with yellow stars. The stars and the mystery voice were all that I looked at with wonder. 

As I looked back down to the deck, something ahead caught my eye. 

A large rock stood right in front of the ship, and blocked it’s way. 

I put the mop down, and walked up to the front of the ship, and saw that the bowsprit had completely splintered, and was now scattered among the rocks. 

Right as I was about to go back to mopping, and let the captain deal with it in the morning, I heard someone humming. 

I stopped in my tracks and listened. It wasn’t any of the sailors, the voice sounded softer, and more femenine, and the tune was nothing like the horrible shanties I heard all day. 

I walked back up the forecastle slowly, looking around for any stowaways, or anyone who could pose a threat. 

“Hello?” I called.

I looked back down to where pieces of the bowsprit were still floating around in the water, and saw someone swimming among them, picking them up and examining them, humming the same soft tune. 

The person’s skin was a medium brown, a beautiful, exotic tone compared to my pale, almost white complexion. Their hair was a bluish-black, silky and smooth, unlike my short, tangled mess of blonde. 

But as they swam along, I noticed streaks of teal scales along their back, ending in a shimmering, elegant, fish-like tail where their legs should have been. 

I hadn’t ever seen someone as beautiful or elegant as them. 

“Hello!” I called down. 

They flinched and turned around, looking at me through nervous, deep blue eyes. “A human!” they exclaimed, their voice smooth and entrancing. They started to back away slowly. 

“No, I don't want to hurt you, please don’t go!” I called. 

“How should I believe you? Every human I met has said the same thing, and they all hurt me anyway. Why do you think I should trust you?” they asked skeptically. 

I hesitated. “You don’t really have any reason to trust me. But I hope you will. My name’s Kai. what’s yours?” 

They placed down the driftwood they were carrying, and swam up closer to the ship. “I’m Reef.”

“Reef. a pretty name for a pretty person.” I said to myself. 

“Say, for a human you are pretty cute.” Reef said with a grin. 

My eyes widened, and I blushed. “Are you one of the Finfolk?” I asked, changing the subject. 

Reef glanced at me skeptically. “That depends. What’s your crew doing on the ocean?” 

I paused, then sighed. “We’re looking for finfolk. But please, don’t be afraid! You can trust me. I don’t want any part of this. I'm only doing it for the money. If it were up to me, I would be as far inland as I could go.” 

“If it were up to you, we wouldn’t have met. I guess it’s fair either way.”

I smiled. “I guess so.”

“Kai!” 

I spun around. 

“C-Captain Heidrich!” I stammered. “What are you doing up so late?”

“Who are you talking to?”

“O-Oh, uh, no one! I was… talking to myself. As one does. When they’re lonely…” 

Captain Heidrich glanced at me skeptically, then sighed, looking down. He pinched the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb.“You wouldn’t be so lonely if you just got your job done instead of loitering around, talking to yourself! Just… put the mop away and get to bed. It kills the mood if we have sleep-deprived sailors on board. Hopefully if we keep up the pace, we can find one of those blasted Finfolk already.” He turned around and walked back to the entrance to his quarters. 

I looked back down to the water but Reef was gone. 

Makes sense, they definitely wouldn’t want to be seen by Heidrich. 

I stood back up and grabbed my mop, and made my way over to the other side of the ship. 

I grabbed the water bucket and dumped it out, and made my way below deck. 

I placed my items in the store, and walked into the crew’s chambers. 

The room reeked of alcohol, and was filled with the sound of drunk sailors snoring. 

Being the only sailor onboard who doesn’t drink, this was the shit I dealt with daily. 

I sighed, and got into my hammock, and slowly fell into the usual, troubled sleep that the sea gave me. 

~~~

Each day was a living hell, but the nautical type. I would run back and forth, fetching things for the sailors, climbing to the crow’s nest, taking over for the helmsman, until my legs felt so sore they might fall off or stop working completely. Captain Heidrich had me order more supplies to fix the bowsprit, and wouldn't let me rest until they arrived. Meanwhile the rest of the crew drank and laughed, sang awful shanties, and fantasized about what they would do when they finally found one of the Finfolk. 

“I’ve heard they’re awfully beautiful.” one had said. “I bet it’d be excellent in bed.”

“No, you asshat, You can’t possibly do that with it, it’s half fish!” someone else responded. “It would probably be a great prize to show off to the locals, maybe we can even acquire a hefty sum for one.”

“I wonder how they taste.” suggested another. 

I sighed, and looked down into the water, anticipating the night, when everyone would be in a deep, drunken sleep, and I could finally get some peace and quiet. 

Finally, after hours of tonedeaf singing, cheap beer consumption and obnoxious laughter, the sky fell dark, everyone went down to their quarters, and I could finally get some time to myself. 

I picked up one of the empty beer bottles, and threw it overboard, into the sea. 

As I turned around to pick up more bottles, I heard a light thunk against the exterior of the ship. 

I turned back towards the side of the ship and looked down into the water. 

Swimming around in the water, examining the beer bottle I just threw overboard, was Reef. 

“Hey, Reef!” I called down to them. 

They jumped, or did what the equivalent to jumping would be if you were in the water. They looked up. “Oh, it’s just you.” they said, going back to staring at the beer bottle. They held it up towards me. “What’s this?” Reef asked. 

“Oh, that? That’s a beer bottle.” I replied. 

Reef turned it around in their hands, and peered inside it. “What’s beer?” 

I managed a laugh. I’ve never met someone who hasn’t drank beer before, let alone not know what it was. 

“Well, it’s an alcoholic drink that’s made of brewed and fermented starches such as barley, wheat and oats. It’s pretty bad and can make you drunk really quickly.”

Reef examined the bottle a little bit longer. They looked up at me. “I want to try it.”

“What?” 

“I want to try beer. If I'm going to talk to humans, I might want to know about their culture.” 

I grinned. “Okay…” I said, picking up an unopened beer bottle lying on the ground. “But don’t say I didn't warn you.” I passed it down to Reef, and they opened the top of the bottle with difficulty. 

I watched as they took a sip, and grimaced. 

I laughed. “I told you! It’s bad.”

“Why would someone enjoy something like this?” they asked, tossing the bottle behind them. 

“Don’t ask me! I’ve never liked that stuff.” 

Reef thought for a bit, then looked back up at me. “What else do humans like to do?”

I scoffed. “Well, the sailors here usually like to drink way too much beer,” I gestured to the empty bottle floating behind them, “Fantasize, and sing terrible shanties.”

“Sing?”

“Yeah, but it’s nothing like the songs you sing. They’re… let’s see, harsher, I guess? And the lyrics are often about even more drinking and fantasizing.” 

“I sing about my fantasies all the time.” Reef mentioned, slightly offended. 

“Yours are a lot more appropriate. And, beautiful.” I fidgeted with my thumbs. 

“Well, you should hear the ones my siblings sing. They’re a lot better.” They said, staring down in the water. 

My head snapped up. “You have siblings?” I exclaimed. 

“Well, yeah. Finfolk aren’t thriving everywhere like humans are, so when a couple decides to have kids, they have a lot of them to keep the population growing.” Reef paused. “Do you have any siblings?”

I hesitated and looked away. “I did.”

“Oh, I'm sorry!” Reef said. “I never thought about it being personal.”

“No, it’s okay.” I replied. “It feels nice to think about them again. I think they would like you.” I looked up, smiling.

“Like me as in…” they prompted. 

“Like you as in ‘approving of their younger sibling’s crush.’”

Reef blushed. “I barely even know you!” they said, smiling. 

“Then I guess we can get to know eachother better. What’s your favorite color?”

“My favorite… color?” 

I nodded.

“I guess I always liked blue.” they responded. 

I sighed. “But that’s basic! You live in the ocean, you’re surrounded by blue. Even your tail is blue!” 

Reef looked down at their tail.

“I think yellow might look good on you,” I continued. “Here.” 

I grabbed a yellow flower from my pocket, and reached down, tucking it behind Reef’s ear.

“A shipment of goods came in yesterday. These came with it.” 

Reef touched the flower in their hair and blushed slightly. 

I stepped back to view it. “I think it looks great!” I said. 

They laughed. 

I felt my cheeks turn red. 

Reef looked up at me. “What?” they asked.

“Oh, it’s just that… I've never seen you laugh before. You look really pretty.”

They smiled. 

I heard footsteps coming from up from below deck. 

“Shit! It’s Captain Heidrich!”

“What’s ‘shit’?” Reef questioned. 

“I’ll teach you to swear tomorrow, but you need to go now or else Heidrich will see you!” 

Reef seemed to understand. They nodded, and disappeared under the water, right before Captain Heidrich burst out onto the deck. I bolted upright.

“Kai! Look alive, lad!” 

“You know I hate it when you call me ‘lad’…” I muttered. 

“We’re finally entering Finfolk territory, so I'll need you to be on lookout for the creatures. I’m going to slow our pace down, and we’ll be here for about a week. So stop standing around, get your job done, and go to sleep for christ’s sake!” 

I groaned quietly. “Yes, Captain Heidrich.” I said through gritted teeth. 

~~~

For the next week, the crew was on-edge, preparing for the capture of any Finfolk to the certain extent that everyone onboard was actually working, and nobody got drunk. 

But as the days progressed, nobody was able to capture a single Finfolk. 

I kept meeting with Reef each night, warning them about the crew’s extended effort to find them, and they took extra precautions. 

By the middle of the week, the crew got lazier, demoralized by the fact that they couldn’t find anyone. The amount of drinking increased again.

“Why can’t we find these bloody Finfolk already?” Captain Heidrich exclaimed. He turned to me. “Have any ideas, Kai?” he asked, looking at me skeptically. 

I jumped. “U-Uh, none, sir.” I stammered. 

“You sure?”

“Y-Yes, sir.” 

“How excited would you be if you were able to find one?” 

I hesitated. “Um, ecstatic. Sir.” 

“Then would you mind assisting your fellow crewmates in making traps?”

“Of course, Captain Heidrich.” I said, looking down. 

I half-heartedly assisted with creating net traps and all sorts of other useless gimmicks for the rest of the day, and felt immediate relief when everyone else went below deck for the night, and I was left alone. 

Once I was sure everyone was out for the night, I started tossing beer bottles overboard. After five minutes, there was still no sign of Reef. 

I peered over the side of the boat. 

“Reef?” I called. “Are you there?” 

“Looking for someone?” Captain Heidrich’s voice came from behind me. I spun around.

He laughed, low and gravelly. 

Next to him stood Reef, looking cold, and nervous as ever. A pair of rusty shackles hung around their wrists, and instead of a tail, they were standing on two, wobbly, blue-tinted legs. 

“Reef!” I called. “how did you find them?”

Heidrich scoffed. “You talk in your sleep, it wasn’t that hard.”

“Let them go! They did nothing wrong.” 

“You’re right, it did do nothing wrong. It was you who messed up.” 

He lunged at me, grabbing my shoulder and pinning me to the wall 

“What were you thinking siding with the Finfolk? They don’t pay you, I do!”

“I don’t care about your goddamn money.” I said, gritting my teeth, trying not to cry out from the pain. 

“Then what do you care about?” 

“Doing the right thing!” 

Heidrich growled, then laughed. “Fine,” he said. “I guess I'll do what’s right to me too, then.” 

He grabbed my arms, pinning them behind me. He pushed me against the side of the ship, and I felt my breath knock out from my lungs. 

“Is this what you want? To live with the fish? Then go!” Heidrich yelled, and pushed me overboard. 

“Kai!” I heard Reef call out, but nothing could be done.

I didn’t have time to scream before my back hit the water below me, and an icy feeling wrapped all around me. 

I looked up, and saw the surface disappear above me, bubbles floating up to the top of the sea, my lungs filling with water. 

Slowly, the water started to consume every part of me, starting from the inside out, before it reached my eyes. 

Suddenly my vision was too blurry and painful to see, so i closed my eyes, finally giving myself up to the depths of the ocean.