My Snippets: Part 2

Death Song: Part 5

She finally found the terrified siren curled into a ball in one of the spacious alcoves near their northern borders. It took every ounce of strength she still possessed to hold herself in check and not yank the scared girl out of her hiding spot to take her far away from this place. But she refrained and instead moved to huddle up next to her, holding her friend as they both wept for their loss. Their small little clan of around ten, dwindled down to just two in mere moments.

"W-what can we do, S-Sakura?"

The question left multiple things unspoken... but the intent behind it was evident. What could they do now with only a couple sirens left? No clan had ever survived with a few. It took several sirens alone to strictly forage for food, take up protective perimeters against both rival clans and enemies alike for a few more— they had barely made it with ten.

But now with only two... the odds seemed impossible. But she refused to admit this and squeezed her friend tighter... burying her face against the top of her head. "We'll figure it out, Hinata. Don't worry...okay. I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."

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They swam for days on end, attempting to find a new clan to call their own or a place to call home. After their demise, Sakura and Hinata had lost their homeland to a rival clan; forced to move on, they had been searching the seas high and low, but so far with zero luck. Little did they know, they were being pushed inward... in towards land... which held a danger that far exceeded any they had faced to date; but with familiar faces waiting for their return.

"I'm so tired," Hinata whimpered as she trailed behind her companion; her movements languid and lethargic. "... and hungry."

"We haven't eaten in days," Sakura sighed as she stopped to look around for a safe place where they could rest for a few hours or so. She too was feeling the fatigue from lack of sleep and poor nutrition; her scales less fluorescent and vibrant than normal; dulled... just like her mood...while her bones had begun to protrude from her ashen skin. Finally, she spotted a small cave to their right and began to steer Hinata in that direction.

After making sure it was indeed vacant and settling in for a quick rest, they swiftly fell asleep.

Sakura awoke to the sounds of shuffling and muffled cries, though her senses were still dulled... taking a few seconds to fully kick in. She tried to quickly shake the haze of sleep from her head and rose to find a pair of sea creatures with Hinata in their grasp. A dangerous, feral growl left her lips while she squared off with them, ready to fight to the death for her best friend's safe return. "Let her go...," she hissed, her teeth glistening in the light visible from the dark cave's entrance.

"Make usssss," one hissed, while the other began to back up, a wide-eyed Hinata clutched tightly to its chest. A dark smirk rose on its lips and Sakura felt a pang of guilt plague her thoughts briefly for getting Hinata into this mess, but it was soon replaced with the same rage as before, and she took off after them as they swam away.

When she caught up to them, she had no idea where they were, but instead of focusing on her surroundings... which she later regretted... Sakura instead tightened her fist and swung it forward, hitting the one holding Hinata in the face. His grip on her loosened and she backed away, while her companion continued to throw punches with the stranger.

It wasn't until she felt something wrap around her that she began to panic. "SAKURA!!!"

The pinkette turned in time to see a black fisher's net wrap around the dark-haired, before it began to hoist the girl up. Fear unlike anything before drew the breath from her lungs and she turned to give a quick jab to both of their attackers before swimming swiftly towards Hinata... attempting to rip the fabric of the net to free the distressed siren with her bare hands.

She felt arms wrap around her from behind before Hinata could scream out a warning... and jerked against the grip; but it was much too powerful and all too soon the creature was pulling her up to the surface. She gasped for air when she broke it, and clamped her hands onto the arms around her torso, but was unable to free herself from him. Sakura jerked and squirmed around, flapping her fin to slap him as they were both hoisted onto a ship.

An all too familiar one at that.

'No... no. NOOO!!!'

She could hear Hinata's screams of terror from above and fought harder. "Great job, Jugo!!! Hold 'er tight now!!! Don't let 'er escape!" A silver-haired pirate grabbed her from the one holding her (Jugo, she assumed) and hoisted her onto the deck once she was within reach.

A sharp blade was soon placed against her throat that she ignored as her eyes searched for her companion. Sakura finally spotted her, cowering in fear on the opposite side of the large vessel. The pink-haired made a move to go over there, but the blade was pressed against her and caused a hiss of pain to escape her lips as blood began to drip from the small wound.

"If you're smart, you won't move again."

'That voice.'

Reluctantly, she slowly lifted her gaze to meet the smirking and arrogant face of the captain as he stood in front of her; legs spread wide in a stance of authority and confidence. It irked her, but she remained frozen in place as Jugo landed beside her; dripping sea water all over her as he shook off like a dog. The silver-haired one from earlier winked at her when her gaze shifted slightly towards him and she quickly looked back at Hinata as she huddled frozen in place with the blonde-haired pointing his sword at her.

'So, he survived after all. Great.'

She let out a breath slowly as her gaze shifted once again to the dark-haired captain as he bent at the knees; coming eye level to her; that damned smirk still in place. Her eyes narrowed and she hissed at him, spitting in his face.

His large, left hand slowly came up to wipe it away and he purposefully dragged it slowly down the length of his pants to clean it. The man let out a tsk sound and placed a hand against the back of her neck; holding onto her firmly. She struggled against him, but stopped when she heard Hinata whimper behind him. Sakura could no longer see the other siren and was worried as to what would happen to her if she lashed out too much.

After all, pirates weren't known for their kind and forgiving natures.

"What shall we do with 'er, Captain? Skin 'er alive perhaps or tie 'er up and let me play with 'er a little." Her eyes grew wide at the last bit and a soft chuckle left the silver-haired pirate's lips. "How 'bout it, darlin'. Fancy spendin' the night with me?" Sakura growled in response and he howled with laughter.

"Sasuke...," came a voice from behind the captain and she watched when his head tilted slightly in acknowledgement, but his gaze never left hers. "What say you?" She held his dark gaze for what felt like an eternity before he blinked.

Then, he spoke and dread filled the pit of her stomach.

"Lock 'em in the brig. They come with us."

She wanted to protest... and opened her mouth slightly to do so, but when she felt the pressure of his fingers against the back of her neck...she felt her vision begin to fade and the last thing she heard was him whispering, "You're mine, little siren," before everything went completely black. Her eyes rolled and she fell unconscious to the deck below.