[ COMING SOON ]

A SHIMMERING, GOLDEN TAIL CUT SLOWLY THROUGH THE DEBRIS-FILLED WATER as she crept along as a leisurely pace, taking in all the carnage with wide, brown eyes. Her father had given her explicit instructions to not stay in the water long and to not stray far from the ship.

Malaysha Sparrow had never been good at following orders — her father's orders, at least.

The small girl avoided broken pieces of wood and various trash that was left over from the decimated ship. Her eyes sought out anything remotely shiny. Shipwrecks were the best place to find new trinkets and baubles. She'd have to hide them from the crew mates though. You'd think they were the mermaids with how much they liked to steal from her constantly-moving hiding places.

Her arms were full of a few necklaces, golden coins, and one peg leg that had diamonds stuck to the side. It'd been attached to a leg, but her razor-sharp teeth took care of that right away.

Another good thing about a shipwreck is that it was like an endless buffet so long as the kills were still fresh.

Malaysha's sharp eyes caught sight of a glimmering piece of metal as the sun rays bounced against it — gold. She quickly swam closer, only to come to a halt when she realized the gold was hanging off someone's neck.

It wasn't a grown man like all the other sailors had been. Instead, it was a boy who looked no older than she did.

The boy wasn't unconscious either.

He was drowning.

The young girl didn't know what came over her, but she dropped the horde in her hands and swam up to the boy. She'd only heard stories about a mermaid's kiss saving someone from drowning once before, but she trusted her father. He lied a lot, but never to her.

It felt as if she was breathing life into him as she kissed him hurriedly, his eyes wide as he found air rushing into his lungs. Then he began to thrash, eyes blinded by the salt water.

Malaysha rolled her eyes in a bit of annoyance — why were you at sea if you couldn't swim?

She grabbed his arms and hauled him toward the surface, quickly finding a large wooden slab to throw him on. As he coughed up water and fell on his back, she rested her elbows on the driftwood, watching him carefully. She was more enamored with him than the gold medallion around his neck that looked quite familiar. 

Not really knowing what to do with him because she couldn't exactly bring him back to the ship — she was the only child allowed, and that was because her father was Captain — Malaysha stayed with him.

So, the two drifted in the open ocean, Malaysha watching over the unconscious boy. Every now and then, his eyes would flutter open, but they'd close again out of exhaustion.

When she was in the middle of combing her fingers through his tangled hair, he began to stir once again, revealing brown eyes that looked nearly lifeless from exhaustion. He stared up at Malaysha, who was leaning over him, waiting for any kind of reaction.

"Wh - who are you?" the boy asked weakly.

There were practically stars in his eyes as he looked at the girl that must have been an angel. Her skin was seemingly shining and she had golden trinkets woven into her long hair. Then he caught sight of a tail that looked as shiny as a brand new gold piece wading behind her and realized she was no angel. She was a mermaid.

"I'm Malaysha," she said simply, not really thinking to ask him how he felt or what happened. "What's your name?"

"Will. Will Turner," he murmured, his eyes beginning to close once again, though it was clear he was fighting to keep them open.

"You can rest. I'll watch over you, Will Turner," she promised.

A soft sigh escaped Will's mouth, whose head lolled to the side. Malaysha huffed, thinking the boy was rather boring for actually resting. But she couldn't just leave him — she'd promised to watch over him. At least until he was safe.

For another thirty minutes, Malaysha stayed with Will, humming a song her mother taught her under her breath. It was a little ironic that it was meant to lure sailors to their death, but instead, she was comforting an unconscious boy with it.

But soon, she caught sight of something on the horizon, no doubt on the way to check for survivors. It was a ship, one flying an unfamiliar flag that told Malaysha that they weren't pirates. The ship was far too nice to belong to pirates.

So, she dipped below the water and began pushing the makeshift raft toward the vessel, making sure to stay out of sight so that whoever was in the crow's nest wouldn't spot her. Mermaids weren't really known for swimming in these waters, and her father wouldn't want word spreading.

Once he was close enough, Malaysha left him alone, watching from afar as he was rescued by the sailors. When a young girl looked out over the ocean to try and spot any more, the mermaid ducked under the waves before she could be spotted, disappearing from the wreckage but not from Will Turner's mind.