A pirate's guide to bad decisions

Somewhere out in this distant sea, a ship floated peacefully. The sun was dim and caught in the embrace of a stray cloud.

It was another day in the life of the Redbue crew when a furious voice shattered the cozy silence.

"Bloody bells, Faina. You never do anything right!", Agnes yelled, as high as her voice could reach. Her furious, orange curls bounced angrily alongside her movements.

"Stop sticking your boots in my pants, for crying out loud. If you have a problem with me, then talk to my finger." Faina replied flashing Agnes with her middle finger briefly.

"You're so loud and honestly, you can go mop the deck yourself if you don't like my pace." Faina rolled her eyes with folded arms. She blew away a stray lock of her blue hair that hung down her head.

Agnes gasped, her eyes widened as she processed Faina's words before puffing.

"And why would I do that? When it isn't my name on the roaster in the first place! Honestly Faina I am so tired of how lazy you ar-"

"Lazy? Spare me the curses. You always do this. Miss Perfect Pirate of the Sea. Get your own ship if you hate me so much."

"Now leave me be, I've got things to do" Faina glared at her sister, she loomed over Agnes only by a head before turning around with a sigh. Faina sauntered away as though she didn't squabble with her sister.

Agnes watched Faina strut off with a pinkie in her ear and the lackadaisical steps of her legs. She huffed, throwing down her hat in a fit of anger.

"Screw it all! everyone's a hagfish!" she heaved. Her breaths were short as she walked to the edge of the ship. Her knuckles whitened as she gripped the ship rails.

"No one understands" she sighed, leaning over the rail with her chin in her palm.

Her eyes trailed from the sky to the shimmering sea as she sighed.

"If only no one talked like you guys at least I would want to look at you" she said to the sea and sky.

Just then a large fish had gotten caught in their net.

Agnes squinted her eyes as she stared at the wiggling trap. The net thrashed back and forth with a swishing sound. She noticed a hand sticking out of the net.

"Elra Forz! Someone is drowning!" She looked around and saw how calm the crew was, like another unusual day in the Perifian sea.

"Damn it!" Agnes ran to the chubby fellow who stood near the benches. He wore a red bandana over his golden blonde hair and small blue eyes that resembled the sky on a clear day. His cheeks, round and puffy, and he had an oval face.

"W-what A-Agnes? Wait!" Bokvin quickly wrapped the rope over her waist and tied it into a strong knot.

"Now what Agnes?"

"Now, you hold the rope. I'm going in!" Agnes handed him the rope and swiveled towards the edge of the ship. Her boots sprinted, leaving Bokvin there with a gaping mouth as she approached the ship rail.

Agnes's hand grabbed onto the ship rail as she leaped off, diving first into the water. The water was ice cold, but it wasn't her first time. Her arms stroked in steady pace as she swam to the net.

"Are you all right?" she asked, her voice slightly muffled as wiped the water off her mouth. Her eyebrows rose when she noticed who or what was in the net. The first thing she saw was a long, thick tail with massive fins that struggled under the net's grip.

"It's a seaman," she gasped, looking at the young man who looked around her age or younger. The boy's appearance could be called exquisite if put into words. With the palest of skin that glimmered under the sun's rays. His black wavy hair was as dark as squid ink.

"Elra! You are beautiful" Agnes said in awe, staring at his ethereal body. The merman leaned away from her with a wary expression. It held to the net that caged him as a barrier betweem them.

"Oh, sorry. My mom always told me it's wrong to stare." She lowered her gaze, before pulling her dagger out from its sheath. Let me.

"Arkanzi! Arkanzi!" the merboy exclaimed in a foreign language. His soft lips trembled. he shifted farther from her, his fingers hooked tightly through the mesh of the net.

"It's all right, I won't hurt you," Agnes spoke in a soft whisper. She swam slowly to him and offered her hand.

His long eyelashes which curled at its tips, flickered as he blinked. He saw her hand and reached out his own the same way manner. Agnes smiled and took hold of his hand.

"I won't hurt you, so let me help."

The boy looked at her. His brows furrowed as he slowly accepted the warmth that emanated from her palm.

"All right, here goes nothing. Agnes used her dagger to cleave through the net. setting the merboy free letting him swim out.

"Wait, you have some on your tail." taking in a gasp of air, she dived into the water and swam to its tail. Her fingers carefully untangled it before pulling her head back out of the water. Her bouncy curls, now weighed from the water, glistened a darker shade.

"You're free." she smiled.

The boy's celadon eyes widened before he drew closer to her. His hands hesitated before cupping her cheek. His eyes looked at her with a curious focus, as he studied the smoothness of her skin.

"Are you going to eat me?"

To which the boy blinked again. "Varta?" he asked, intertwining his fingers in hers.

" You are a very nosy sea man, aren't you?" she asked, using her free hand to pinch his cheek which caused the boy to respond with a sharp huff from her antics.

Agnes chuckled, her heart melted at the sight of him so confused and startled.

The boy stopped to watch her laugh with a strange emotion that held his expression. He moved closer to her as she wiped a speck of dust that got in her eyes.

He angled his head to hers, his lips drew in closer, inches from hers.

"Hold it, bucko." She placed her hand before between their lips.

"I saved your tail. How about you don't try to drag me to the bottom of the sea with that enchantment of yours, and we call it even, all right?" she inquired, to which the boy merely stared at her and blinked.

"It was nice knowing you" she remarked before tugging the rope forcefully.

"Bokvin, draw me up!"

"Aye, aye, Agnes" Bokvin replied. The rope began to lift up as Agnes hovered higher and higher above the water. The boy raised his head up, watching her leave with a small frown. He reached his hand up to her. Their intertwined hands slowly loosened before completely separating.

"Farewell again, sea man," Agnes whispered. Her eyes crinkled with a curved smile as she waved to him.