Mermando's *guitar sounds* POV

It's been too long since I've seen my dearest Mabel, and good friend Dipper. I knew visiting the humans was a horrible idea! Where could they have gone?

I looked at the decorative, silken box I had chosen for Mabel which contained a golden ring with a pink pearl sitting on top. I've been looking forward all day to give it to her, but now she's nowhere to be found!

Perhaps I should tell Dipper and Mabel's guardians about their sudden disappearance? I took out my guitar and began to play an overdramatic song. "Oh, oh, what should I do, do, do~~~" I sung passionately while strumming the tight, coarse strings.

Dipper's POV

I awoke with a start, looking around the room frantically. I could swear I heard Mermando singing some sort of meaningless song?

I blinked a few times, rubbing the sleep out of the crevices of my eyes. For some reason, the back of my head was sore, did I hit something last night? I was definitely not in my own room, was this a human dwelling? My curiosity got the best of me as I began to look around the small, yet elegant room. I saw a wooden closet that contained an assortment of clothes, and other human items. The floor was a dark hardwood, with a triangular golden carpet rolled out at the centre of the room. The architect that designed this ship must've really adored triangles as there were triangular shaped windows covered with yellow stained glass. I walked over to a wooden desk that had an assortment of parchments and ink pens scattered all over the surface of the table. What could these be?

I shifted through the huge pile of papers, they looked like a bunch of maps and journal entries.

"Having fun, Pine Tree?" a voice from behind me asked.

I turned around abruptly, seeing Bill relaxing in the arm chair in the corner of the room. I don't know if it was the heat of the moment, but I let out an awfully high pitched 'eep!' when I saw him. His lips curved into a smirk at that, continuing to watch me with interest.

I thought of an excuse, "I was, uh... looking for Mabel!" I said a bit too happily, mentally shunning myself.

Bill laughed, "Oh, yeaaah. Shooting Star is DEFINITELY hiding in one of those drawers." he said sarcastically, pointing a gloved finger at the single drawer at the desk.

I grumbled, opening the drawer. Oh, what a surprise, she's not there.

"Did she escape?" Bill faked a gasp.

I played along, "Why yes, Cipher! I think she did!"

Bill stood up, putting a hand to his heart, "Why would she run from us?"

"You mean you." I corrected.

Bill hesitated from our little skit, "Pardon?"

I rephrased my speech, "Why would she run from YOU. There is no us."

Bill frowned, "But I thought we had a deal!"

I laughed at that, it was terrifyingly fake. "Until you pushed me off the boat, MORON!"

"Oh right." he mumbled like he easily forgot the incident.

We had an awkward silence where each of us didn't know what to say to each other. He just resumed examining my every move.

After about five more minutes of silence, I finally spoke up, "Hey, uh... You're making me kind of uncomfortable. Staring, and all that."

"Do you not like being stared at?" Bill responded.

"Not really, no! Go stare at something else!" I said, meeting his golden-colored eyes.

Bill's expression became confused, "Mabel liked it when I stared at her."

"Well, I'm not Mabel!" I shouted in response.

We then heard a knock at the door, "Cap'n! There are sirens at our boat... we need help!" a raspy voice yelled through the door.

Bill's eyes narrowed, clicking his tongue in annoyance, "Can't take a couple lousy fish?" he asked, I felt seriously offended by that.

"Everybody is drowning themselves! Like they're in a trance!" the voice shouted, sounding quite impatient.

Bill groaned, then grabbed his sword, "Pitiful subordinates, eh, Pine Tree?" he said, unsheathing his blade.

I gaped at the metal, eyes widened, was he gonna kill me quick, or...

He smiled coyly, bringing his face close to mine, "I'm not going to kill you, yet." he whispered, patting my cheek with a gloved hand.

"I-I'll be gone before you have a chance..." I stuttered.

His grin grew wider from that, then he grabbed the collar of my shirt, pulling
me with him, "I guess I can't give you any chances!" he laughed, walking outside.

I was literally dragged outside, and I saw three familiar faces. It was Mermando, Grunkle Stan and Great Uncle Ford. I suppressed a gasp, not wanting Bill to know I was associated with them. Mermando was playing a song on his guitar, lulling the crew to drown themselves. I recognized the song, and quickly covered my ears. I don't know if a siren's song would affect me, but I'm not taking any chances.

Bill took in what was happening, his expression was undefinable. Great Uncle Ford then noticed me, eyes narrowing at my newly acquired feet. I gave him an apologetic look, and realized he was trying to communicate with me. Watching his lips carefully, I could make out two words, "Where's Mabel?".

I responded slowly, mouthing, "She's safe, but she's human." pointing to the back room. He nodded this, then submerged underneath the grand ship. Grunkle Stan was using his fin to create powerful sways to rock the boat, making me wobble back and forth.

Bill lifted his finger to show he had found a solution. Reaching for a coil of rope, he tied it around my wrists so tight that it made my hands feel like they were merging together.

"What are you doing?" I asked, staring at the ropes that immobilized my hands.

Bill gave me a knowing smile, "You were going to escape with the older siren? Yeah, I knew the moment you avoided eye contact with them." he said simply, tying the other end of the rope to the railing of the boat.

"I don't know who those sirens are!" I retorted, my lie deserving credit that's for sure.

"Right, suuuure, Pine Tree." he said sarcastically.

I groaned. Just gotta stall longer, I'm sure Uncle Ford has something up his sleeve.

"These ropes are way too tight!" I said in a whiny tone.

He didn't pay much attention to that, then smiled, "Good".

I shivered, but decided to continue. "I lied! You know, they're way too loose, Bill. Gotta tighten 'em." I insisted, holding my wrists up.

He looked at me funny, "I don't believe you've said my name before." he said, completely ignoring my unreasonable request.

Well, at least he's distracted.

"Oh, really? It kinda came naturally." I said casually.

"Well, I like it! You better use it more, alright, Pine Tree?" he chimed, attempting to pat me on the head.

I scooted out of his reach, avoiding his attempt at praising me, "No way!" I shouted, eyes gleaming.

I then saw out of the corner of my eye, Mabel sneaking out of the room. She saw me and winked, pointing to her feet. Err, scaled feet. I could see them reforming into a mermaid tail and I smiled widely.
We're not stuck here anymore!

I made eye contact with Bill, showing off a smug grin. He watched Mabel stick a tongue out at him, pulling down her bottom eyelid and shouted aloud, "Bluuuuh!" before leaping into the frigid seawaters clashing below.

Bill looked enraged, running over to the edge of the ship, peering below. Mabel surfaced, her tail glistening in the sun.

"Bye-bye, Bill! I'm not into anyone that would ever harm my brother!" she shouted, I couldn't see her from where I was.

Bill grit his teeth, "Shooting Star, if you don't come back I will kill your brother! Right here, this instant!" he threatened, glaring at me.

I fumbled with the ropes nervously, trying to loosen the knot he had made.

Mabel was silent, but I decided to shout to her, "Don't worry about me, Mabel! I can escape, I promise!"

Bill knew I couldn't escape, but the effectiveness of my lie seemed to work fairly well.

Mabel seemed to believe me, so she replied enthusiastically, "Okay Dipper! I'll be waiting!" she shouted happily.

Bill looked at me, his expression unreadable. I had to think of a way out of here, but what could I do? He was going to kill me if I didn't come up with something clever. Think, Dipper!

And just like that, an idea came to me. If I was in my regular form (siren form), I could chew through the ropes and break free! Then, I would sprint off the ship and back to my family.

I stared at the rope, then focused on morphing just my canines. If I could pull this off, Bill wouldn't be able to keep up! However, I couldn't fully morph my body, or I wouldn't be able to bolt off the ship, since you can't really run with a tail. I had to do this swiftly, with no mistakes. Taking a quick glance at the floor, then the ocean waves swaying the boat, I focused on the serenity of the ocean, the push and pull of the waves. I thought of a rain drop drizzling down the surface of my teeth, the cool touch of each drop of water. I dragged my tongue against my canines and they were sharp! I looked at the lower half of my body, and my legs were still there. Nice!

I bit down hard on the sandy ropes, they easily snapped in half and I took off. Sprinting across the deck, I maneuvered panicked crewsmen that attempted to grab me and leaped over crates.

"Get back here, brat!" one of them spat, fists balled. Ignoring the crews cries, I leaped over the railing, the ocean just beneath me. Grunkle Stan saw me first, his eyes lightening up, "Kid!" he said. I dawned a huge, dorky grin. We were going home, and there wasn't anything Bill, or his crew could do about it!

Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that.

(A/N: Yeaaaah, sorry 'bout my tardiness and all that. Late chapter, once again! But besides that, THE FINALE WAS SO GOOD! ...and sad. Tears were shed, and the ending was really well done. Couldn't have done it better! Next update within the week? ;D I'm going to try writing better next chapter, more detailed, etcetcetc)