Raephier hit the water with more force than he was expecting. Whether it was that or the transformation back into a merman that made him a little light headed, he wasn't sure, but he immediately lost his bearings and so headed back to the surface.
It only took a few seconds to re-orientate himself and locate the area where the bubbles had been seen. With a flip of his tail, he dived back under the water and swam as quickly as possible to where he thought Tyler might be.
The water was murky and full of debris from the wreckage slowing down Raephier's progress, but it wasn't long before he saw Tyler, his body suspended in the water like a piece of drifting seaweed.
Raephier wasted no time in grabbing hold of him under his arms and propelling them both to the surface.
"Tyler!" Raephier shouted, shaking him a little. But there was no response. He wasn't breathing and Raephier had no idea what to do.
"Raephier! Over here!"
Raephier turned round in the water and saw James in a small row boat a few meters away.
He dragged Tyler over and James reached down and pulled him into the boat while Raephier pushed from underneath.
Tyler's limp body landed with a thump into the boat which caused a stream of water to pour out of his mouth followed by a round of hacking coughs. It looked horrific, but Raephier was just relieved that he was still alive.
James rubbed and patted Tyler's back as more of the ocean seemed to pour out of him.
Raephier scrunched his nose at the sight and let go of the side of the boat and allowed the current to let him drift.
Oh how he'd missed the sea, the feel of the water between his fingers, and his beautiful tail. It was true what they said, about not valuing something until you didn't have it anymore. And there was nothing on land that shone with the same iridescent colours as his tail.
"Raephier?"
James's voice brought Raephier out of his head, and back to the present.
"Yes?" Raephier replied eager to help, but then stilled when he saw James's expression.
"W-what are you?"
Raephier felt his blood run cold at the glimmer of fear he saw in James's eyes. This is what he'd been warned about ever since he was little.
Humans were not to be trusted with the knowledge that merpeople existed. Because humans didn't like anything they couldn't understand. Because if they couldn't understand it, then it was assumed it must be dangerous and therefore must be wiped out.
Is that what would happen to him?
And had he also somehow managed to put the rest of his species at risk?
Raephier suddenly felt like he had a hundred sets of eyes on him and he slowly turned to look at the ship behind him. His gaze scanned up the wall of wood in front of him and took in the sight of an entire crew of sailors staring down on him with a look of shock on their faces.
His heart began to beat faster and his breathing became erratic. He felt like a fish that had been separated from it's shoal as the predators circled above him. There was no hiding it now. He had given away his last secret. And now he was trapped......wasn't he?
Raepheir tore his gaze away and stared out towards the horizon.
He was in the water! He could just dive down and swim away. He'd be free!!!
His heart wasn't even beating anymore. It was fluttering. He was bouncing back and forth between excitement and fear. How amazing would it feel to just swim away and give himself up to the ocean? To see the coral reefs and explore underwater caves again.
"Raephier!"
Raepheir turned back to the ship and saw Jacob half way down the hull of the ship on a rope ladder that was rather alarmingly swinging back and forth with the sway of the ship.
Raephier didn't like the way that made him feel at all.
"What are you doing?!" he shouted at Jacob, while swimming closer incase he fell.
"Coming to talk to you," he said, lowering himself down a few more steps before seeming to decide he had gone far enough.
Raephier wasn't sure he wanted to hear what Jacob had to say, but he also knew that he needed to know what he thought. Somehow it mattered to him.
"You're a merman!"
Raephier chuckled, although he was sure it was with nerves rather than humour.
"Yes, I am."
"B-ut.....how did you......when...?"
Raephier shrugged and then realised that Jacob wouldn't be able to see the gesture with him being in the water.
"It's part of the curse," he explained.
"Oh," Jacob said, nodding. "So when-"
Jacob was cut off mid sentence when a rather large wave hit the side of the ship making him swing sharply to the left.
"Hold on!" Raephier shouted, not liking the look of pain on Jacob's face as he clung on tightly.
"Screw this," he heard Jacob mumble, before he let go of the ladder entirely and dropped into the ocean.
"Jacob!!! NO!!!" came the cry from above.
Raephier frantically scanned the water and let out a sigh of relief when Jacob bobbed up to the surface.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Raephier scolded, swimming up to him quickly.
"It's ok, I'm a strong swimmer," Jacob replied.
"Yes, but your fully clothed," Raephier pointed out.
"Yes, it makes more of a difference than I thought," Jacob said with a wry smile.
Raephier could tell that Jacob was having to expend a lot of energy just to stay afloat from the way that he was already panting like he was out of breath. So he made a decision and swam up to Jacob and held him tightly in his arms.
"It's ok, I've got you," he said.
Jacob's eyes widened at the contact but he quickly relaxed in Raephier's grip.
"So I don't understand," Jacob said. "Is this all part of the shape shifting you told me about?"
"No," Raephier said shaking his head slowly.
It occurred to him that Jacob had given him an out. He could pretend that the tail was just part of the curse. And even though that might be the best thing to do for his family and his species, Raephier still couldn't bring himself to lie to Jacob.
"I was a merman when I was cursed and ever since then, when I'm on land I have legs but when I'm submerged in water, I have a tail. I can't explain it. It's just how it is."
Jacob nodded slowly as if he was taking it all in.
"So you home is-"
"Under the sea, yes."
"And your family?"
"All merpeople," Raephier replied.
Jacob shut his eyes and took a deep breath. If Raephier had to describe Jacob's emotions right now, he would say he looked sad. Was that because he was disappointed in him for lying? Or was he just freaked out that he'd been sharing a bed with a sea creature.
Eventually Jacob opened his eyes and looked directly into Raephier's.
"You can go, if you want," he said.
"W-what?" Raephier asked, not sure he heard right, because if he was being honest, he was totally distracted by Jacob's eyes.
Jacob smiled gently at him.
"I said, if you want, you can go home. I'm not going to stop you."
"But...I can't. No. You bought me. You own me. I can't just go home and leave you."
Jacob laughed. "I may have bought you but I don't own you. I stopped owning you the moment I realised you were a living breathing person. I believe in free will. And you are free to use yours."
Raephier shook his head rapidly. It really didn't make sense. He was being offered his freedom. A chance to go back to the ocean. So why was he so reluctant to leave?
"I can't do that," he said. "I can't. Not when you paid so much money. You have a right to make me work off what you paid. I may not-"
"No Raephier!" Jacob said firmly, cutting him off. "No one has the right to make you do anything! Do you hear me?"
Raephier looked down, feeling ashamed. Now he'd made Jacob angry on top of everything else.
He heard Jacob sigh again, and then he felt Jacob's finger underneath his chin, gently forcing his head back up to look at Jacob.
"Ok then," Jacob said, "if you still think of me as your master, then that means you have to do as I say, right?"
Raephier gave a small nod, not quite sure he liked where this was going.
"Then as your master, I'm ordering you to leave. Go home. Or not. But take your freedom. I'm giving it to you. I'm ordering you to take it."
Raephier blinked rapidly, willing himself not to cry.
"If you want me to go then I'll go," he said quietly.
"No! It's not what I want!! It's what you want!" Jacob shouted, looking quite exasperated.
"No it's not!" Raephier snapped back, suddenly feeling brave.
"Then what do you want?!"
"I WANT YOU!" Raephier froze, realising what he had just said. Jacob was staring at him open mouthed.
"I want you," Raephier said again, much calmer this time, "to understand that I'm not ready for this."
Jacob closed his mouth and his face softened again.
"I'm sorry, you're right. I'm just-"
"SAIL HO!"
"Shit! Again?!"
"Captain! Get in quick!" James said.
Raephier and Jacob spun round to see James, Doug and Tyler looking at them from the little row boat.
Had they just heard everything?
James hauled Jacob into the boat, and then Jacob held out his hand to Raephier. "Are you coming?"
Raephier gave one very brief glance back out into the ocean, before reaching up and grabbing hold of Jacob's hand. The moment he flopped into the boat, his tail disappeared and was replaced with a set of legs.
"I don't think I could ever get used to seeing that," Tyler said with wide eyes.
Jacob peeled himself out of his wet jacket and handed it to Raephier.
Raephier looked at it for a second, a little confused as to why he would be handing him a soaking jacket that would probably make him even colder, but when he saw James and Tyler's averted eyes, he suddenly realised that it must be because he was naked. A concept he still didn't really understand.
"Thanks," he said, covering himself up.
The moment he stepped foot back on the ship, Raephier began to regret his decision. He'd never been one to like being the centre of attention, but today he was just that.
Until the crew got a reminder that there were other more pressing issues at hand.
A loud "BOOM," echoed out across the water.
"Not again!" Raephier heard Doug moan.
"GO!" Jacob shouted at his crew. And they all scarpered.
Raephier scanned the horizon and could just make out a small black dot on top of the water.
"Can they hit us from there?" Raephier asked.
"No," Jacob replied. "That was just a warning shot. Hopefully if we turn around, they'll leave us alone."
Jacob ushered Raephier back to their room to get changed into dry clothes, but just as Raephier was about to put on his trousers, Jacob stopped him.
"Get some sleep, you look tired."
Raephier was about to argue when he realised that Jacob was probably thinking it was better if he stayed away from the rest of the crew. Still he couldn't help but say, "Are you sure? Don't you need all hands on deck?"
Jacob shook his head.
"I'll make the crew take shifts tonight. If they do follow us, they won't attack until first light. And that's only if they catch us. I need people rested."
Raephier nodded. It made sense. But as he watched Jacob walk out of the room, he couldn't help the heavy feeling settling in his chest.