ROLEPLAY HQ - unbound

TW: violence, animal/human abuse, torture, poaching, animal extinction, hunting, cussing, mythical creatures trafficking (edited)

4:50 AM

@Blue Hound

“Aye lads, our next gig be from one of tha royals up in tha north. ‘e wants a kelpie, a selkie, n’ a mer.” A stoic-looking woman who appeared to be in her late 30s called out to the some 20 men and women currently on the deck of the ship, The Giver. Her crew all cried out in different types of excitement, eager for the new hunt. Captain Erga Yorkshire gave a predatory smile, basking in the joy of hearing her people’s joy. Captain Yorkshire was a woman you didn’t want to mess with by looks alone. She was a stocky blond lady whose hair was almost always fashioned in a Viking braid. Her piercing blue eyes held some sort of cold and calculating look, only those who truly knew her could make out the kindhearted gaze hidden within her. “We set sail immediately!” Below deck in the hold of the ship, Taloon was busy cleaning away the cages and stalls that held the crew’s freshly departed batch of creatures they had, a hydra hatchling that the crew managed to acquire after slaying its mother and a juvenile Quetzalcoatl, which they captured after breaking its wing and rendering it flightless. The redhead, who was lost in thought while scrubbing a fresh puddle of blood from the floorboards, got jerked back into reality when one of the other stablemates, a cruel man named Dawson, hollered down to him about the new batch of creatures they were going to hunt before taking his leave. .

6:19 AM

The lad let out an audible sigh. “Why it gotta be all water critters…” He grumbled as he rang out the bloodstained cloth into a water-filled bucket beside him. He didn’t mind the crew having aquatic animals to maintain per se… it was just a pain trying to get the empty containment units filled with water to house the creatures in. Along with that, he’d have to constantly mop up any major spills and whatnot once they actually had the animal. “Hope we only come ‘cross small’ns…” @Blue Beetle

Down in the deep of the water was a life of mystery and wonder. Sea creatures dance in the water as mermaids and mermen swims to and from their outcomes. A white flash swims by wuickly. Niel was in trouble now. He looks back and see his brother chasing him. Niel squeaks as he quickly swims up. Normally Mers don’t swim high towards the surface. They stay low to stop humans from getting them. The brother growl and bare teeth as they stop but Niel keeps going. Soon his drives out of the water and back down. Niel looks down and giggles as his brothers don’t move. They circle and soon leaves. Niel sighs and yawns as he pokes his head up and looks around. He never understood why everyone was afraid. He decides to swim with the dolphins as he sees them. He jumps with them but keeps his eyes. The ship that was moving towards him however was hidden. Niel falls behind and sinks below the surface and giggles. He turns and suddenly a sharp pain hits his tail. Then the yank. He screams as he is pulls up towards the ship. A net is tossed around the male and he thrashes. His tail was powerful and strong as he thrashed. The men on the ship yell and cheer as they grab the net and yanks up the mer. Then laugh and speak but Niel just growls and hisses. Sharp teeth showing. @Blue Hound

The hunt for the creatures took some time. They first went to capture the kelpie, for the selkies were migrating during this time and merfolk could be anywhere within the waters. When they landed ashore on the Scottish Isles, like every time, tried getting Taloon to join them. Everyone knew that he was the best at controlling the monsters in which they capture, so having him part of the group would save them a lot of time in catching their requirements. The redhead always refused though. He kept on telling them that the creatures wouldn’t obey him if he was there during their capture. It would break any sort of trust he’d have on them. He never told anyone that the other reason why he didn’t go was that he hated seeing the animals get hurt or killed during the process. The kelpie was eventually captured and brought back on board. When it reached Taloon down in the hold it was unable to stand. He realized that it was a young male and must have just left its mother not too long ago. His legs were bound by thick rope and had lacerations and other injuries scattered about his body. Damn brutes… .

9:51 AM

The royal who requested the current hunt sent a messenger hawk to the crew right as they set traps in the selkie’s migratory path. He decided that he wanted an akhlut instead. This voiced much outrage amongst the crew, for their voyage would be much longer if that was the case. They stopped complaining when the payment was doubled for the trouble. Lucky for them, they stumbled upon a mother and her newborn calf halfway toward their path toward the Bering Strait. It was a one-in-a-million chance of finding the pair, for the birthing season had ended a while ago. They managed to injure and contain the mother long enough to rope the calf aboard the ship. Due to this being a newborn, it wasn’t difficult to subdue it. It was dumped off to be managed by the stable crew. It was a few weeks after the capture of the akulut that commotion from above deck caught Taloon’s attention when he was busy dressing the kelpie's slowly healing wounds. Wonder wha got ‘em in such a frenzy… “Loon, ya gotta see dis!” Someone yelled down at him. With a heavy sigh, he stopped what he was doing and scurried up the steps to the deck. What he saw made his blood grow cold. Primal fear took place within him. He didn’t know why as he stared. It was a merman. A merman with silvery white scales that shimmered like the night stars. The crew must have spotted it swimming above the surface, which was another lucky score. Merfolk typically didn’t swim to the surface unless the females were to birth their young. Even then, they typically did it at night in locations that were hard for ships to get to. .

9:51 AM

Once Taloon managed to snap back to reality, he noticed that the creature’s tail didn’t have one harpoon speared through it, but two. The second one was pinning his tail to the deck. They muss’ve speared it ta try n’ stop tha trashin’ He thought as he watched two sailors pin the human half onto the deck with their weight, practically crushing the poor lad. @Blue Beetle

Niel trashes and hisses. His teeth barred at the men. The net over him. He was scared and breathing hard. Mers could breath air but it was uncomfortable for them. He growls as they take the net off and pin his tail to the ship. He growls in pain as tears start to roll down his cheeks. He shook and hisses. Another one comes up from below and Niel locks heheh as men pin his human half down. The men and sailors cheer as they celebrated. Niel whimpers as his eyes were closing. It was too much. There wasn’t water near him. His tail stops thrashing as he growls. He stops moving and one of the men moves to look closer. His hand comes too close and nile reaches back and bites. His sharp teeth going though his hand. The other men try and pull him off but Niel was latched on. He finally lets go and a towel is pushed into his more. His head is hurt against the floor and he whines. His eyes close half way as blood runs from his head. He hisses and growls lightly. “Fuck!” The man says and looks at the creature. “Maybe we shouldn’t keep this one. He fucking took a chunk out of me!” The men nod and many of them grab weapons. “If we kill this one we might not find another..plus..he had time to heal.” The one on his back chuckles as he slams the Mers head into the floor again. This time the male fish stops moving and his eyes close. He was knocked out. The men get off of him and one of them turns to Taloon. “Get him down stairs..we don’t want him to drown haha”

10:14 AM

@Blue Hound

Taloon flinched when he saw Dawson of all people get bit. The last time Dawson got bit was from a raiju. The next day when Taloon went to feed the animals, he found that its spine was broken and it was suffering from blunt force trauma to its head. His mother gave the man six lashings for what he did and then ordered him to go fetch another one all on his own. While Dawson was gone, she gave the redhead orders to put the suffering creature out of its misery. When he finally acquired another one, he came back with a Lichtenberg figure raking across his arm. The stable boy wasn’t able to suppress a visible wince as Fjorn, the one still on the mer’s back, rammed his head onto the floorboards. When the older smuggler ordered him to take the unconscious man, he scrambled to comply. When he made his way over, the men had violently torn out the harpoons pinning his tail, luckily the harpoon was narrow enough that it wouldn’t leave too big of a hole through the tail. As the Taloon got closer, he could see scattered cuts and scrapes littered across his pale body due to the harsh treatment his shipmates used to get him aboard. .

11:56 AM

Right as Taloon’s fingertips touched the unconscious body, the clawed scar that raked across his left shoulder blade and mid-back started to faintly throb. Ghostly screams that were barely above the sound of the wind echoed through his ears, causing him to stiffen. What was that? Who was that? “Loon! Geh goin’ me boy!” His mother hollered down at him. She had watched the whole capture at her post, the ship’s bridge. “A-aye!” He stuttered, snapping out yet again of the strange trance he had. The throbbing of his scar wouldn’t go away for some reason. With a grunt, he grabbed onto the merman’s arms and hoisted him up behind him. With this way, Taloon was still able to walk forward comfortably while the mer was resting against his back. The redhead felt kind of bad when he hauled the two of them down to the ship’s hold. The lad’s tail kept on making a loud thump whenever they took a step or two down. “All dis blood I gotta clean up… why can’t dey be a wee bit nicer…” He mumbled as he managed to reach ground level. Once he set the body on the floor, he went to grab the medical supply located near the steps. He came back and got to work cleaning and patching up the two major wounds on his tail and the cut that appeared after Fjorn bashed his head. It took longer than expected, but once the mer was patched up as best he could be the stable boy managed to haul the fish man into one of the seawater-filled units. He grabbed the steel chains that were embedded in the wall and shackled the mer’s wrists and tail. He gave just enough slack on the chains that he could slightly move but not enough to be able to leave the confinement. @Blue Beetle

Neil doesnt wake as he is carried down and patched up. Once he was in the water, his gills on his ribs flare as they take in the water. The mer opens his eyes alittle and whines softly. He growls as he thrash. He was still out of it as he stayed in the water. His hair floating up around his face. He would stay like this for a hour or so before his eyes would open and he shakes his head. He growls as he looks around and then tries to move but it stopped. He pulls at the chains and growls. He coudlnt more. He whimpers and growls as he looks around. His eyes were slits as he growls. He looks at the other creature and he coos softly. He didnt know what was going on. He looks around and he sees taloon. He growls and bares his teeth softly at him. His tail whips around and splashes some water out of the cage. His eyes watching the male. He looks at his tail and sees it patches. He growls as he starts to tares at the bandages. The mer rips off the bandages and blood starts to flow again. He hisses and thrashes hard. “L-let go!” He speaks. His voice was softly raised. It was panicked. “Let go.” He says again. Niel’s white tail was stained with red. The blood in the scales. He whimpers and calls out. His call was in mer. He calls and panics. The call was like a whale. In this very close space was very loud.

12:08 PM

@Blue Hound

Taloon let a sigh of relief escape his lips as he noticed the gills outlining his ribs flare once they hit the water. He shifted his gaze toward the merman’s face as he heard his soft whine. It was a noise that he’s heard many times during past merfolk that they’d captured before. It was a sound that made him feel sad. He felt sad that he couldn’t help this creature before him. Not in a way that he wanted. The sudden growl that erupted from him caused the redhead to jump back in surprised alarm. That noise… Why’s dat sound so familiar…? The lad violently shook his head, ridding it clear of the slowly progressing haze that was trying to cloud his mind. He returned his gaze to the chained being in front of him and tilted his head slightly as he took in his features. Despite the waterproof patch on his temple, Taloon would be lying if he said that he didn’t look peaceful while asleep. The merman’s features were relaxed and soft, nothing compared to the agony, fear, and pain like before when he first saw him. He only watched the fish man for a second more before sighing slightly. He needed to clean all that blood on the boards and look after the two creatures in his care. .

7:05 PM

The stableboy was just starting to clean the blood stains on the stairs leading up toward the deck after tending to the kelpie and akhlut when he heard the same growl as before. He paused in his work, brow once again knitted. Out of all the merfolk that he’s tended to, he’s never heard them growl like that before. Different subspecies maybe? The cooing he’s heard before, so he didn’t focus too much on that. The more he concentrated on the growls, the further his mind began to slip away from reality. Why? Why did this make him be like this? Taloon’s attention snapped back to the present once the sound of ripping fabric reached him. “A-Aye! Stop!” He squawked in alarm once seeing the merman shred the dressing that covered his wounds. He scrambled back over to the containment unit with panic. “Stop! Stop! Yar hurtin’ yarself more!” He explained in a tone that was loud enough to be heard amongst the other noise but was soft enough to not raise any panic. “Please calm--” The lad’s voice died in his throat as he heard this creature speak. He was flabbergasted. He tried to talk, but all he could do was move his jaw up and down dumbly. Dees creatures can talk?! His shock immediately wore off as the familiar and right way merfolk should sound penetrated the ship’s hold. .

7:06 PM

“Shh… shh… Is ok, is ok. I promise. Here. Follow me.” He calmly reassured with slightly outstretched and splayed hands, trying to appear non-threatening. Maintaining a safe distance, Taloon began to slowly breathe in and out. He made sure to over-exaggerate himself in hopes that the visual cue would help the merman understand what he was trying to do in calming him down. Please let this work…

7:06 PM

@Blue Beetle

Niel looks at the male and growls softly he looks at the red haired male. His eyes were slits as he tries to move and he pushes more water out of his tank. His tail was bleeding. He looks at the male and tilts his head. He moves closer to the wall and presses one of his hand against the tank. His eyes watches the male. Niel didnt know why this creature was moving so much. His eyes grow as he presses closer to the glass. “Follow..” he repeats and mimics the breathing. Even though he didnt need too. His tail calms down and curls up and stops trashing. His tail twitches and moves slightly just from being attached to him. His hair floats up sloftly in the water. His pupils grow large as he relaxes and calms. His face showed the confusion and interest in the human. “H-human..” he says softly. His voice is soft but the water pushes it out to the air and makes his voice seem larger. The wound on his tail bleeds softly into the water. The water slowly turning into a red or pink water. This seems to bother Niel as he shakes and looks at his tail. He whines looking back at taloon. “H-help?” He tilts his head in confusion. He didnt know why but this humans wasnt bad…he didnt think..this human didnt hurt him..the male’s head still hurt. The fins on his tail move up and down softly. Niel was a beautiful male. He had soft looking skin, white fluffy hair, and his tail was the same color as his hair but it almost glows. He had no scars on his body which was rare due to Mers having to fight sharks and other creatures as well as humans. Many mers tries to stay away from humans but Niel was more interested in humans.. he wanted to know who they are…he likes that they are the same from the waist up. @Blue Hound

Once Taloon was able to calm the merman down from his brief moment of panic only then did he allow himself to breathe properly. He tilted his head slightly as he watched his pupils dilate in response to calming down. He’s never had merfolk this calm before. When the fish man spoke yet again and even addressed him as human, the human’s head cocked to the side even further as his eyes widened with amazement. Dees guys… dey’re *sentient**?? Hearing the whine and the stuttery request for help snapped the lad out of his reeling thoughts. He blinked hard and violently shook his head to get his mind back into focus. “U-uh, yeah. Sorry.” He responded quickly before flickering his gaze all across the mer’s form, looking for any new wounds that might have been caused during his struggle. Seeing nothing new, the stableboy nodded in satisfaction. He left the mer’s side to fetch the medical supplies. Once back, he set the material down beside the glass and wooden tub that the mer was kept in. Due to the tub walls being 3 feet tall, it was just tall enough that the redhead wasn’t able to comfortably kneel beside it, so he had to awkwardly lean forward to properly work on the wounds. It didn’t take for him to redress the wounds on his tail. He made sure his touch was light and gentle, not wanting to scare the lad. When he was finished though, he was unable to prevent himself from staring at the snow-white scales for a moment. He was unaware of gently running his hand across them, mesmerized. It’s like ta color of snow… .

4:22 PM

He blinked away his awe, oblivious of what he just did, and moved on to the rest of his upper body, wanting to make sure his other wounds didn’t get irritated when he was thrashing about. When everything checked out fine, he moved on the wound on his temple. As his gaze shifted onto the mer’s face, Taloon stopped, enraptured by his features. Ya’re beautiful… He thought, or at least he thought that he thought that. He was unaware that he actually whispered those words under his breath. @Blue Beetle

Neil watches the human and tilts his head side to side. He hums softly and moves his tail to the human to get the bandages. His eyes were watching him. Every movement was being watched like a shark. As the male moves his hand up and down his tial he shivers and growls lightly. He didnt trust this human. He growls softly as the male moves to his forehead. Their eye met and it seemed as time froze. Niel’s eyes widen and he gulps lightly. Did the human jsut…compliment him? Humans are mean. Humans hurt. As they looked at each other, niel’s eyes shrink and he turns quickly splashing and hitting taloon with his tail fin. Not hard just enough to knock him away from the tank. He growls and yawns sfotly. The male moves and lays on the floor of the tank. He didnt like this. His eyes were still slitted and watching taloon. He growls and thrashes his tail against the chains. He didnt want these chains. A crew member comes down and says “hey. Foods ready. Come get some.” Niel growls at the other human. He seemed fine with taloon but no other human. He hisses at the other human. The crew stands back and rushes out of there. Niel hums and growls as he lowers his head back on the floor as he closes his eyes softly. He growls softly and jsut wanted to be back in the water. He hated this. He wanted out. But the chains were tight and kept him down. His body seemed to calm and his body also seemed to be..upset and sad. The crew had gotten some other fish and food and had set up the big table that they all sat around. They were celebrating the big catch. They wouldn’t have to worry about trying to get a women or pregnant mer. The young boy would sell for a high price. The male who got bite was smiling and clearly was drunk. “I will show that monster who is boss..he is a monster and needs to be shown his place. I bet he would look pretty with a few buirses..”

1:51 PM

@Blue Hound

“Gah!” The redhead yelped in alarm as he got pushed away from the tank by the mer’s tail. He nearly fell on his rear if he hadn’t caught himself. When he saw the creature sink to the bottom and trash his tail in agitation, an apologetic frown formed. “’m sorry. I can’t take dem off… noh yeh.” He answered. He started to shuffle back toward the tank, but stopped once his attention shifted toward one of his crewmates coming down to tell him that food was ready. “Aye. Be der in a sec.” Taloon answered, only glancing at the white scaled lad for a moment once hearing him growl. The stableboy’s attention only fully returned to him once the crewmate hurried back up the steps. Seeing how upset and sad he seemed caused the familiar pang of guilt to course through his body. I wish I could help ye… He watched the mer for a moment longer before leaving the ship’s hold. It was just by pure luck that Taloon entered the galley right as he overheard one of the crewmates drunkenly boasting about harming the merman. “Ye will do noh such thing!” The redhead blurted out with slitted eyes and arms crossed across his chest. He knew he didn’t look very intimidating, but he sure as hell tried.

9:47 PM

@Blue Beetle

The male looks at taloon. “Hah! And what are you going to do about it small stack..” he says. He growls at the small man as he stand up. Everyone was just watching the scene played out. “That monster will get what he deserves. He is a monster that needs to be put in his place…jsut like you.” He growls as he moves and grabs taloon by the shirt. “Now…i wont hurt you if you stand aside.” He growls Neil whimpers as he shivers and moves around the tank. He wanted out. He looks to his side to the other filled tank. He calls out to the other and says ’hello?’ his call was a trill in his voice. It was a calm trill but still loud enough for it to pass from tank to tank. Sam trashes and looks at the chains and tries to take home off. He growls and trills trying to break the chain and get out. But he couldn’t. The human male growls as he holds taloon. “What is it going to be small stack? Will you step aside or do i get to beat you too?”

1:55 AM

@Blue Hound

Across and an additional tank down from Neil’s, the thrills of the kelpie answered the young merman’s greeting. “Speak? Speak? Half-Scales speak? Growl you growl? Odd you. Yes yes. Odd” The sound of the beast shifting around in its confines could be heard as it struggled to see the snow white male. “Blood here blood. Fresh odd odd. New new yes yes. Hurt you hurt?” He clicked. The response from the akhlut could be heard from a barrel that was right across from Neil. Due to it being so young, all that it was able to say were whistles and chirps that had tones of curiosity and slight fear. It was curious about who this new creature was yet also scared of not being able to see who. Ma’s gonna kill me frr wuh ‘m gonna do… “‘ll tell deh Cap--” Taloon’s threat got cut off when the larger man stood to his full height and grabbed the redhead’s shirt, pulling him close. Trying to keep the utter fear out of his voice, he squawked, “‘ll tell deh Captain dah ye’re deh one who made deh mer’s price go down! I-I woh let ye hurt nothin’!”

11:13 AM

@Blue Beetle

Neil whimpers and looks at the kelpie. ’i am ok..shhhh it is ok young one..’ Neil coos. He looks at his tail and growls as he struggles to get out. He growls and calls out as he struggles. He growls and grunts. He was pulling against the chains. It was starting to bleed as the chains dug into his scales. He cries out and whimpers as he lays back down. He whimpers as blood flows into the tank. He closes his eyes and whimpers. The male laughs. “You little!” The captain comes down. “LET HIM GO!” She says. Her eyes burning. “Let him go. Tal go back downstairs. And you! Go sleep off this.” She points and everyone gets quiet. The amle sighs and lets tal go. “Fine…you watch it.” He growls before moving to leave the area. The captian looks at tal. “Care to explain?” Her eyes were heated at him. “I dont want you fighting with the crew. You are to take care of the creatures till we get the payment..” she says her tone soften. “What happened.”

11:23 AM

@Blue Hound

“Struggle stop! Hurt more bad bad fight. Stop good yes yes good stop! Heal good you stop fight yes.” The kelpie shrilled and clicked with a stern snort. Despite the kelpie also having been recently caught, he had learned when the struggle became fruitless and all that they could do was wait. Hearing Niel’s reassuring coos, the little akhlut’s somewhat scared chirps shifted to one of pure wonder and clicks of questions. Now that it knew that the new captive was safe, all it wanted to do was learn. It wanted to know who the mer was. What he looked like. It wanted to be with someone besides the walls of the barrel. When Taloon heard his mother enter the galley, he mentally collapsed with relief, though he hid this with a glare toward the man as he let go of him. He continued to watch him with a slitted gaze until he was no longer in sight. With him out of the picture, the stableboy returned his attention to the Captain, though he averted looking at her once he saw the look she gave him. He sagged, looking as if he just got caught red handed doing something he knew he shouldn’t have been doing. “He was goin’ ta beat deh mermaid simply cause he bit ‘em… I couldn’t let ‘em do that.” He explained with a scowl at nothing in particular.

1:11 PM

@Blue Beetle

The captian looks at him and sighs “i will make sure that he wont come near hte holding..but you cant be yelling or anything at my crew. You know that.” She says softly as she looks at him and sighs “go to the holding. Calm down and i will bring you a plate of food. You need to clam down. Now go.” She says softly as she lightly nudges him off to head to the holding. Neil coos at the two creatures and nods ’ok..ok..rest…and calm..’ he says sfotly to the others. His tail was bleeding and scales where even flaking up and had been pulled from his tail. He calls and trills hoping the red human would hear. He felt that the human was good. He trills and whimpers. His tail was hurting a lot now. The trills were loud and some could even be felt. The trills were low and rumbling. They felt like a small earthquake. His calls were filled with sadness. But more of hurt. He wanted the red haired human. The safe human. He calls out again this time in human “human….” He calls

1:16 PM

@Blue Hound

Taloon’s scowl turned to a frown, mood shifting to one of guilt and shame. “‘m sorry… It woh happen again…” He murmured with defeat. He finally shifted his gaze onto his mother, gratitude, and love radiated within his honey colored eyes. If the two of them were alone, he would have hugged her to further show how much he appreciated her for tolerating him, but due to some crewmates still being around, he refrained. “Thank you, Ma.” He whispered before departing back down to the hold. Taloon had just reached the halfway mark of reaching the hold when he felt something… off. He knitted his brow in confusion before recognition flashed through him. Oh shit! He practically sprinted the rest of the way down to the hold. After almost falling down the steps, his attention locked onto the merman as he heard him call out. “Oh shit!” He yelped once seeing the state he was in. “Don’t move!” He ordered with a stern voice before racing to get the medical supplies. It took him no time at all to be at the mer’s side, quickly yet expertly taking his tail out above water to clean it. He was so focused on cleaning the wound that if anything was said around him, it'd have fallen on deaf ears.

3:09 PM

@Blue Beetle

Neil whimpers and looks at taloon. He moves so he is looking a the human. He blows bubbles and tilts his head. “Human…human…human are you ok..” his voice is alittle more strong. He looks at his tail and whimpers at the cleaning. “Human…please…let me out…” he whimpers. Once his tail was taken care of he moves to face taloon. “Red human..” he hums and nods. He reaches up and tries to touch him. He was pulled back by the chains. He wanted to move and stretch. He looks at taloon and calls out. His call was to sooth him. He felt that the human was stressed. He doesnt splash or anything and jsut watches the human. His eyes were filled with alittle confusion, curiosity, and worry about the human. “Human…hurting?” He tilts his head. His voice was soft as he waits and watches the human. His tail was not moving as he knew he shouldn’t have pulled on his chains. But they are so uncomfortable. He hated them. He sighs softly as he was worried he made the human made at him. His body seems to be better and he seemed to not have any fear or anger to the human infront of him. He liked the red hair human.

3:57 PM

@Blue Hound

The call from the merman was like a beacon of light from within Taloon’s jumbled thoughts. He jumped slightly as he slowly came back to reality. So. soothing… It took him a moment to understand what exactly was causing him to feel this way suddenly, but once he did, a small yet grateful smile placed across his lips. Having heard the fish man speak a few times, his voice wasn’t as alarming to the stableboy, but it was still mind boggling nonetheless. Taloon softly chuckled as he heard the mer’s question. “‘m better now. Thank ya” He answered truthfully. Even though he hardly knew this man, talking to him indeed made the red head feel better surprisingly. He liked this feeling. He didn’t want it to end. Now more relaxed, Taloon repositioned himself to kneel beside the tank. He glanced at the merman with a tilted head, eyes filled with curiosity. After a moment, the burning question on his mind softly rang out, “How’d ya learn how ta talk? I never heard a mer speak before.” @Blue Beetle

Niel tilts his head “we all…talk…some..better then..others…I learn from your kind..on boat..but smaller..” he says as he looks at the chains. His eyes move to the barrel. He calls out “c-can I have these off? I won’t leave..just want to move please..” he begs taloon. His eyes were large. He wanted to swim alittle more freely. He shakes his hair and trills his voice softly “you…you are human…I am..me..what you call me..” he tilts his head more. He wanted to learn more. These people lived on the ocean but couldn’t swim. He wanted to show taloon the water. Show him his home..but why? He trills softly. His eyes watching the human. “Big human really mean..you smaller but nicer..I like you human..” he says to taloon. His eyes going out to the barrel and trilling calmly to kee the smaller creature calm.

3:05 PM

@Blue Hound

Hearing this new information about how all mermaids were able to speak caused the redhead’s eyes to widen in shocked wonder. If dees creatures have been *dis intelligent, how many others have we wrongfully enslaved?* When the mer asked to have his chains removed, Taloon averted his eyes and nibbled on his lower lip in conflicted thought… those big eyes weren’t helping... After an agonizing minute, he let out a sigh. “I can’t completely take dem off, but I will loosen dem.” He compromised with a sad tone. He didn’t want to have him chained up either… but rules were rules. It didn’t take long for the stableboy to loosen the chains on his wrists enough to allow the mer to have full range of movement. The chain on his tail was completely gone now. “We call yar kind mermaids or mermen. Mer, merfolk, or fish men are other names.” He explained while he ticked them off on his finger. Hearing how the merman liked him over the others wasn’t too surprising given the fact he was the only one who actually cared for the creatures on this ship’s wellbeing, but he thanked the lad nonetheless. When he saw the male’s attention shift toward the barrel that held the akhlut and heard his calming thrills, his jaw dropped when he heard the little creature call back. “C-can ya talk ta it? Like… actually talk?” He gawked.

7:06 PM

@Blue Beetle

He looks at taloon and nods. “Yes…” he calls out to the akhlut. He pulls himself up to lean over the side. He was calming the younger being. “They want to see what is going on..” he tell taloon softly. “Do…do you kind think…we…we cant..talk?” His eyes showed the hurt. He leans back into the water and looks away from taloon. “I…i guess we are monster to you all.” His voice was harsh agian. His eyes slits once more. He would move away from taloon. Neil didnt like that the male didnt think he or any being coudlnt talk. Couldn’t be heard. They weren’t monsters! They weren’t mindless beings. It hurt him. He wasnt sure why. Humans are mean. But…taloon…he was nice…he was kind…or so Neil thought. His eyes close as he growls “why dont you just leave us monsters” he looks at taloon. His eyes mean and harsh. Just like they were to the other humans.

1:56 PM

@Blue Hound

Taloon’s eyes widened in astonishment as the mer told him that the little calf wanted to see what was going on. He turned around to glance at the barrel the little creature was held in with a tilted head as it called back to the merman. Fascinatin’… His attention returned to the lad once he began speaking again. The expression he gave caused a pang of guilt to bloom within Taloon. Yet alongside that guilt, the need to defend himself also made itself known. “We didn’t know 'cause none of deh creatures we caught had ever talked back before! Yar deh first!” He hastily stated, holding his hands up to show he meant no harm. As he saw the harsh look the mer gave him, Taloon’s shoulders sagged in defeat. “If I left y’all, ya’d be as good as dead…” He murmured, averting his gaze. @Blue Beetle

Neil looks at the male. He bites his lip. He moves back to the male and pushes up and lays his head on the side of the tank. “Sorry…i…am sorry..” he says sfotly. He touches taloons hand and says “sorry…can…can you take that little one out and put them here…so they can swim more? Please…just for a second..” he smile softly.. “maybe…you can join us…that creature is very unique…they can make water float and bubble..” he trills and the small creature makes a few bubbles of water float in the air. He giggles and looks a t taloon. His tail swishes softly in the water. He wished he had more room

1:13 PM

@Blue Hound

A soft smile of acknowledgement appeared on Taloon’s face as he heard the mer apologize. The lad visibly perked up once requested to retrieve the akhlut. With a vigorous nod, he rose from his kneeling position and went over to the barrel that the calf was in. “Hey, little one. Yar ok, it’s ok.” He cooed as he carefully picked up the calf. In no time at all, he was back beside the mer and gently released the baby into the larger tank. Despite his front being yet from the creature, his expression was one of fondness.

6:17 PM

@Blue Beetle

niel watches taloon and smiles. he owuld swim around the smaller creature. he spashes alittle before taking the smaller creature and letting it lay in his arms and coos. the small creature seemed to be alot more calm and feels safe now. he looks at taloon. "they are a child...they miss their family.." he says as he holds the akhlut. "wha...waht will happen to them...the baby and..me.." he was starting to panic as he was scared...would he jsut...be in a tank..forever?

9:15 AM

@Blue Hound

Taloon silently watched the two interact with one another with a fond expression. It was extremely rare to see captive creatures mingle with one another, it simply wasn’t allowed. When the mer spoke about the akhlut, his expression shifted to guilt and sadness. He looked away and toward the floor. “I know… I wish I could take it back ta its mother… but I can’t…” He said sadly. His gaze returned to the lad when he answered his question with an apologetic expression. “Asides from givin’ ya ta deh man who requested deh capture of ya, deh calf, n’ deh kelpie, I don’t know… we aren’t permitted further contact wiv deh clients after givin’ dem wuh dey want unless dey hire us again.”

7:58 AM

@Blue Beetle

niel looks at him and his eyes soften. "oh....ok.." he was scared. so was the calf in his arms. the calf cries and niel tries to calm him. a yelling could be heard and food steps were heading towards them. niel growls as he curls around the calf and his eyes slit. he bares his teeth at the being. he was protecting the calf. he woudl let them touch them.

3:40 PM

@Blue Hound