This choice: An enchanted lure no fish can resist. • Go Back... Vashine was not one for Romantic sentiments. There was no finding beauty in everyday occurrences, no elegance in the mundane. The chest did not bob for a second longer on the skin of the ocean’s surface than it had to, for Captain Hookrust was soon wrestling it open once again.
It was deceptively light for such a large box, one so ornately carved and decorated. She noticed, barely, these engravings across its distressed wooden surface as she attempted to pry it open once more. It danced easily on the line between ocean and air, bouncing up and down excitedly at every salty wave that came its way. It was hardly as poetic for Vashine, who only felt the erratic movements of her prize to be a hindrance in its acquisition. As she cussed and spat at the chest, she could slowly feel the decrepit hinges give way once more to her forcefulness. In due time, which was far too long for Vashina’s pleasure, whatever was in this box would belong to her.
Back to the box. On the surface it appeared to be little more than that, albeit somewhat elaborate and ornate in design. Chiefly, at least in the sense of its décor, was the undeniable affinity for the aquatic. Etched into the wooden surface of the box, running down the sides in remarkable symmetry, was a race between fish. Big and small, svelte and bulky, all manner of fish seemed to be in some sort of competition with one another. In the golden afternoon sun aflame with pink and orange, even considering the age of the box itself, it was not difficult to see the ferocity with which each scaly competitor swam with. Curiously they all seemed to be bee-lining towards the central lock, two sword fish dueling across the top of the lock. What in Davy Jones’ Locker were they all fighting over…?
This was all lost on Vashine, though. If anything this was just another chest; potentially another storage unit for all things plundered from the dreaded Air Suckers. With greedy white eyes she peered into the cavernous chest, now open and ready for looting as she tilted it towards her and the ocean. Inside she saw nothing (“Arg! No wonder the blasted thing was so light!”), at least not right away.
Deep inside the box was a small, carved totem of some sort. It had… things on it. Scales. Were those supposed to be scales? One large circle towards the tip of the totem, a smaller circle inside… Eyes. Those were clearly meant to be eyes, Vashina thought to herself as she reached for her embarrassingly lacking swag. The tail end of this… this thing looked to be split. With two wooden sections spreading out in a fashion not dissimilar to her own tail, and a metal hook drawn through the center… oh… OH!
“A fishin’ lure?” she growled to herself as she plucked it from the box, fingering it with clawed fingernails. She found that it was attached to something faint and light, whatever it was brushed against her smooth blue upperarm. Probably line, all things considered.
She snarled at the contraption, having never really cared for the “ingenuity” of the “civilized” folk on land. Sure, she ate fish too, but at least she had the fortitude to go out and catch them herself. Those Menfolk on land, Breathers she called ‘em sometimes no matter the Race, thought they were so clever. Fashioning something like this out of wood and preying on the less intelligent residents of the Great Big Blue. Though Vashina had never seen one carved quite this intricately, she certainly wasn’t impressed. No, not her. Not at all!
Vashine was not one for Romantic sentiments. There was no finding beauty in everyday occurrences, no elegance in the mundane. Yet as she raised her arm to toss the infernal symbol of Landlubbing into the inky abyss, the mermaid found herself unable to do the deed. Something about this… thing, that she had found. This lure, it was… pretty. She liked it.
Ripping off some of the line it was attached to, Captain Rusthook fashioned herself a necklace out of the tiny string. Looking around before diving, an assurance that one of her girls hadn’t seen her, Vashine soon swam back to the depths of the ocean to rejoin her crew…
her new necklace, and all the strangeness surrounding it, in tow.   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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