Nyx was floating in stale water when they finally woke up. They opened their eyes, only to frown at the complete darkness that greeted them. Starting to panic, they let out a short barking sound that their pod uses to locate each other. Silence. They sat, waiting for a call that would never come, for what seemed like hours before they heard thumps coming towards them.
Rain, thunder, shrieks, laughing, blood, silence.
The siren started to hyperventilate as they remembered what happened - friends, dead; family, killed; pod, murdered. A voice broke Nyx out of their horrified stupor.
"Hey, fellas! It's awake!" The voice was standing not one tail-length away, startling Nyx badly enough for them to ram into something. A shot of pain in their tail further increased their panic, and they cowered down into a defensive pose and hissed, baring razor-sharp teeth. "Ohh, look at those teeth! Think we can get close enough to take them without sacrificing a hand or two?"
A new voice sounded just behind the first, "You know Cap'n said not to touch it, right? A few teeth aren't worth your head."
"Oh, I suppose that would be too obvious, wouldn't it?" The first voice sighed. "Maybe something a bit less obvious, like scales."
"We could just say it lost them when we caught it and dumped it in the tank." This new voice sounded much too excited at the prospect, and Nyx didn't like it one bit. Their hiss gradually deepened into a growl as the voices kept discussing ways to torture Nyx without their captain knowing.
"Hey," A deep voice interrupted the others, "why don't you stop talking about it, and just do it."
The other voices laughed in joy, "Yes, why not? We could inflict as much damage as we want and just blame it on the capture if Cap'n askes!" They laughed even louder, footsteps thundering around Nyx and hands grabbing- pulling - Nyx from the water.
The instant Nyx was fully out of the water, they were dumped onto the floor, then dragged onto cold stone. Leather bound their hands together painfully, pinning fins against unforgiving stone. A sharp pain stabbed through their pelvic fins, then another through the middle of their tail fluke. They screeched, loud enough to shatter the few pieces of glass lying about the room - noticeable only from the shattering sounds just barely registering in Nyx's ears. A dirty cloth was suddenly jammed into Nyx's open jaw, leaving their jaw aching from the force. Tears ran down there face as scales were wrenched off of their sensitive collarbone first, then larger patches from their tail.
As a large patch of skin from their arm was sliced off, Nyx fell into blissful unconsciousness.
--------------------
Pain hovered over every one of their senses as Nyx slowly woke up. The cloth was still in their mouth, and their hands were still bound - causing their talons to dig into their own wrists - but at least they were back in the water. The bloody water. Nyx tried to open their eyes, only to flinch at the complete blackness that once again greeted them. They let out a tiny whimper, before folding in half and compressing themself against the side of whatever they were in.
Hours later, footsteps thundered up to the silent siren, announced something about "feeding time", dropped something in the tank, then left.
As Nyx felt the disturbance in the water from what they assumed to be fish, they decided on something.
They would rather die by their own hands then let humans kill them.
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After what must have been several days of self-imposed starvation and various torture sessions, Nyx felt the boat stop. Footsteps thundered all over - for once ignoring Nyx completely - as the humans rushed about the ship, causing loud bangs and shouts until a new voice rose above all else.
"Well, I heard you finally caught a mysterious siren? Anyone care to show me the magnificent beast?" Several voices responded and the steps started toward Nyx's tank. The steps suddenly stopped in front of Nyx and they could hear a gasp of horror as they shrunk down, turning to show a scared back.
_-_-_-_-_
Drake couldn't help his gasp of horror as he saw the state of the poor siren. He allowed himself five seconds to take it in, then rounded on his crew.
"What have you done?" He said in a terrified whisper, then louder, "What the hell did you do?!" His crew shranks back away from his fury, but he was far from done. "I told you to treat any sirens you caught with utmost care and respect! But what do I come back to? An abused and starving shivering ball of terror! What. The. Fuck. Did. You. Do?! Does that look like a healthy siren? No! That looks like something that has been tortured!." He stopped, realizing something. "Oh my God, you tortured the poor thing, didn't you?!"
His crew suddenly seemed to grow a backbone, "Why should we have treated that creature any different from a maggot! It's not like it's human!"
Drake growled in anger, then turned back to the siren, seeing them facing him - with a huge slash across both eyes, effectively blinding them. He slowly walked onto the platform above them, "Well then, let's see what this creature has to say about how it was treated." He slowly took the gag from the sirens mouth, careful not to frighten them any more than they already were.
The siren seemed to move their jaw, as if thinking about what to do. Then, an eerie song began to flow from them.
"No time for goodbye he said,
As he faded away.
Don't put your life in someone's hands,
They're bound to steal it away.
Don't hide your mistakes,
'Cause they'll find you, burn you.
Then he said,
If you wanna get out alive,
Oh, oh, run for your life.
If you wanna get out alive,
Oh, oh, run for your life."
The crew started to back up in horror as Drake managed to free the siren's hands without being shredded, allowing the siren to gaze at their hands in wonder. The siren then turned to the crew and started to wave a taloned hand with the song.
"This is my last time she said,
As she faded away.
It's hard to imagine,
But one day you'll end up like me.
Then she said,
If you wanna get out alive,
Oh, oh, run for your life.
If you wanna get out alive,
Oh, oh, run for your life."
The crew shivered and bolted as the siren grinned with the next verse, showing off their shark-like teeth.
"If you wanna get out alive,
If you wanna get out alive,
Oh, oh, run for your life.
If you wanna get out alive,
If you wanna get out alive,
Oh, oh, run for your life."
Drake sighed as the last ex-crew member was out the door, and leaned against the tank. "I think I'll rest here for a bit, but once I've woken up I'll set about getting my old trustworthy crew back and setting up a pool for you." He grinned sadly, "Or maybe I'll set up the pool first, you can't like being in that filthy water."
Then, he blacked out.
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A/N; I'm really proud of myself for updating this quickly! I think I'll have fun with this one! As always, vote, comment, and follow! G'night everyone!
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Siren's Tail
FantasyHumans are the perfect food for sirens; however, sirens are the perfect treasure for humans. Nyx was hunting with their pod when they were captured by a crew of pirates. They had to sit and watch as their family was murdered before their very eyes...
