---Orion's POV---

I shifted the second I hit the water, feeling the scales painfully take over most of my body, legs fusing together and bones becoming one.

There was a splash behind me seconds before Elijah appeared, smirking widely as he changed effortlessly. Ignoring him for a moment, I threw my head back, enjoying the cool water that rushed through my gills, soothing the burning ache within them.

I could feel the gill filaments swelling, eager to take any oxygen out of the water rushing past them, speeding the healing process tremendously.

The water tasted cool, fresh, unlike the buckets they provided me with, that tainted the water with a slight woodsy flavor. When I opened my eyes, Elijah was circling me slowly, tilting his head with a grin on his lips.

"Go on." He motioned with his head, grin widening as his hair fluttered in the water. "Lead the way princess." I huffed, gills flaring angrily as I glanced at our surroundings.

There weren't many fish within view, what little fish that were around wouldn't be worth the effort of catching them. If I wanted to feed, we'd have to dive deeper, head farther away to some coral reefs perhaps.

A shiver raced through my body as I felt a slight vibration thanks to the lateral line running down my sides. It was a small sensory organ that helped me sense any kind of movement or change in pressure. That combined with the electroreceptive pores that hid among my scales, was quite enough to detect any kind of prey.

And I shivered, knowing that, if Elijah turned against me, I had no way of escaping his senses. His were much more amplified than my own.

As if to prove my thoughts, his smile slowly turned toothy, eyes growing heavy. Even the slightest reaction from my body, like my heartrate accelerating, was enough to change the electric pulses my muscles emitted.

He'd know of my intent to flee before I was fully conscious of it. I took a deep calming breath, letting instincts guide me as I slowly started swimming further down.

The deeper we went, the cooler the water became. A slight motion got my attention, gentle quivers of calculated movements that shivered against my lateral line.

There. My eyes landed on the grey figure down below, a black tip on it's dorsal fin a clear identifying mark.

A blacktip reef shark. Small enough to ambush, given my current state.

Elijah didn't make a sound, simply followed close behind, watching my every move before scanning the surroundings. There were other sharks in the area as well, but I wasn't tempted to try and tangle one of the nearby bull sharks.

Still, if you knew how to hunt sharks, they weren't too much of an issue. Depending on their size at least. I wouldn't be able to hunt a Great White in the same manner, unless I could catch it off guard.

I still felt uncomfortably weak, weaker than I usually was when I went out on a hunt. But stalling the hunt wouldn't do me any good either.

A soft sigh escaped me before I flexed my fluke, propelling myself to the shark. It noticed and took off in a panicked burst of speed.

Too late.

I managed to catch it by the fin, swirling us both around so the shark was forced on it's back. It flailed only for a second and then, almost like it was hypnotized, stopped moving.

"Interesting tactic, princess." Elijah purred as he approached, tapping the still living shark on its nose. "Taking advantage of their tonic immobility, where they fall in a state of unconsciousness."

I hummed, sighing before slashing the shark's gills out, killing it in seconds. Technically I could've killed it by forcefully keeping it in it's induced coma but that would mean a slow death of suffocation.

Most sharks needed to swim in order to force water through their gills in order to breathe. Preventing them from doing so or hindering their movement speed would be enough to slowly suffocate them to death.

My stomach gurgled, reminding myself of the meal and also the threat of staying out in the open. Especially now when I knew there could be merfolk just lurking outside of my line of sight.

I made quick work of the meal, ignoring Elijah's presence as much as possible. Blood clouded through the water, obscuring the view as I ate as fast as possible, letting whatever I didn't eat sink down.

There were already other sharks slowly circling beneath, eager for any scraps that fell within range. Even Elijah partook of the meal when I started to feel too stuffed to comfortably eat more.

"Already full princess?" He snickered, licking his lips as he easily devoured what was left of the shark. All that fell down was inedible cartilage and the rough scales that formed their skin.

Nobody liked chewing on sandpaper.

The scales glimmered as they twirled down, attracting a few fish who curiously nipped at the scales. They too spat them out, going for the tiny morsels that were dropping down.

"Head's up."

I barely managed to blink before the water churned around, Elijah's tail slamming in my side. The force was enough to knock the air out of me, leaving me winded and spinning out of his way.

A secondary cloud of blood bloomed in the churning water... before the motionless shape of a mermaid slowly spiraled down.

"I was wondering when she'd try for you. She had been lurking in the shadows for a while." Elijah said, sucking water in his mouth before spitting it back out in a small cloud of blood. "Guess the scent of our meal got to her."

I shivered, feeling the chromatophores in my scales react to the threat. My color instantly dulled, growing paler in an attempt to blend in with the surroundings.

Elijah made a small noise from the back of his throat, chuckling slightly. "I'm afraid that's no longer going to work, sweetheart. My scent on you will make you stick out, no matter where you are."

The merman's eyes dipped down, observing the feeding frenzy beneath us with boredom. "She knew she was going to die the second she went in for the attack. No mer in their right mind would attempt to attack a marked Siren."

"Thanks... I guess." I murmured uncomfortably, shivering and rubbing a hand over the raised skin on my shoulder. Elijah's eyes followed the motion, darkening slightly before he inhaled through his nose, exhaling slowly.

"Princess, unless you actually want me to get punished, stop trying to tempt me." He husked, making me pale and instantly yank my hand away from his mark.

His gills flared for a few seconds before he sighed, cracking his neck. A cocky smirk flashed on his lips as he glanced up at the ship in the distance. "Besides, I haven't touched you ever since I marked you. I do believe I deserve some semblance of a reward."

Elijah licked his lips before he started to swim to the ship. I didn't hesitate to follow him, choosing the safety he provided against any possible merfolk that were still keeping an eye out.

The hull of the ship was fast approaching as we sped through the water. I doubted I'd be able to climb onboard the ship on my own, so I sped up, hoping that I'd be able to launch myself aboard.

Elijah seemed to notice my struggle and smirked, grabbing me by the wrist and halting me on the spot. "Don't worry Princess, I'll give you a hand." He smirked, pulling me into his chest before I could feel his tail lash out.

Seconds later we broke through the water surface, tumbling onto the deck of the ship. The crew rushed to get out of our way as we slid to a halt.

I panted, still uncomfortable with the Merman touching me in any shape or form, even if it was to simply help me. My stomach churned but when I felt warm hands on my shoulder, I nearly let out a sigh of relief when I looked up in Cain's warm eyes.

"Are you alright?" He asked, relaxing when I nodded before I curled my tail closer to my body and glanced towards Elijah.

The mer had no qualms with shifting on the spot, groaning as his tail split into legs before he stood up to stretch. Elijah ignored the looks of the other pirates as he stretched his muscles before he looked up when Archer cleared his throat.

"You mind covering up?" the quartermaster said, eyes glinting with something I'd only call possessive. Archer clearly wasn't happy that the rest of the crew could get an eyeful of Elijah.

It only made the merman smirk and hum in thought, taking enough time for Archer to start manhandling the mer towards their own private quarters.

"Did he try anything?" Cain asked, stalling Archer as he too seemed interested in my answer. I truthfully shook my head and replied, "No, he actually killed a Mermaid that tried to ambush me. Besides some slight teasing, he didn't do anything."

Elijah smirked down at Archer, who cocked an eyebrow even if his own eyes glinted with amusement. "See? I've been good." He pulled Archer closer to him. "I deserve a treat."

Archer only smirked and pulled Elijah to his face by the mer's neck, whispering something in his ears that had the man blush before he nearly skipped below deck.

Cain glared at everyone around as he pulled me in his arms, daring anyone to even leer in my direction. I only felt save when the door slammed behind us and even then, Cain handed me some clothes to change into before I even considered shifting back.

As soon as I was dressed, I felt absolutely exhausted, but satisfied. After having spent so long knocked out, it was strange how I could feel so sleepy to begin with.

Cain only chuckled as I swayed on my legs before he walked over, coaxing me to back up and fall into his bed. "Get some rest Orion. Your body needs time to recover from that mark." He sneered, glaring at the deformed skin before sighing.

But I didn't want to sleep. Not really. Even though my eyes burned and wanted to close so badly, my mind and body were wide awake.

"Did you..." I paused, trying to find the words to formulate my question. Cain simply lowered himself on the bed, chuckling as he rubbed his neck. "I had to err, undress you to clean you up before we went to the doctor."

A blush heated my cheeks before I averted my gaze. Embarrassment curled in my stomach as I realized that naturally, my body had followed it's needs while I was unconscious and Cain had been kind enough to keep me clean.

"I, uh... thank you." I muttered weakly, stifling a yawn before it escaped anyways, making Cain chuckle before he pushed me down.

"Sleep. Seeing how my quartermaster is otherwise distracted, I have to look over some maps and plan out our journey. Call if you need anything." Cain spoke in a gentle yet firm tone.

I watched as he walked to the door to bark some orders before my eyes finally won the battle. I was out like a light by the time he draped a blanket over my snoozing form.