meridian_rose (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
meridian_rose) wrote2011-08-26 02:05 pm
meridian_rose) wrote2011-08-26 02:05 pm
Fic: Mythological Mix-up
Title: Mythological Mix-up
Fandom: Original
Characters: Nala
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 586
Prompt: For the 30 days of fiction meme, prompt #27 trapped
Summary: Mermaids have to reward those who help them, don't they?
Warnings: None
"I could carry you back into the water," Cortez offered.
Nala nodded. "Yes," she said. "You could."
He lifted her easily, although her tail flicked around involuntarily and almost overbalanced him. Nala slipped her arms around his neck and, once he was sure she was secure in his grasp, Cortez waded out into the water. The waves reached his ankles, then his knees. His clothes were still a little damp, so she didn't suppose he'd mind getting wet again.
When Cortez was up to his chest in water, he paused and turned to his left before continuing towards the horizon, heading for a rocky outcropping. The water felt good on her tail and Nala gave a shudder of delight – he seemed to mistake it for a chill or fear though, for he grasped her more tightly.
They were beyond the breaking waves now, and the sea gentled washed past them, just below her rescuer's shoulders. He placed Nala gently onto the rocks.
"Thank you," Nala said solemnly.
Cortez held onto the rocks, letting the sea take most of his weight, unconcioulsy mimicking the way Nala and her sisters sunbathed, their tails in the water, their torsos kissed by the sunlight.
"Do I get a wish now?" Cortez asked. At her puzzled expression he said, "for rescuing you."
Maybe he wasn't so altruistic as she'd thought. "That's genies," Nala said.
"But you have gold?"
"Only what we scavenge from wrecks," Nala said. "I could probably bring you some."
"But I thought mermaids guarded caves of treasure."
"That's fire dragons, I think," Nala said. Sea serpents – she'd never seen one, but they supposedly existed in cooler waters – weren't said to be overly concerned with gold or jewels so much as eating anything in sight.
Cortez frowned, disappointment furrowing his brow. "Oh. And the thing about virg-"
"Unicorns," Nala said promptly and with a touch of annoyance.
Cortez sighed. "I'm sorry. I thought all these things, mermaids included, where just folk tales. In the cities we have no time for such things. My nursemaid read me all the tales though. It's been so long that I must have muddled them up."
Nala nodded, thinking. "You live in a city?"
"Far from the ocean," Cortez said. "I'd never even seen the sea until two weeks ago."
"How terrible," Nala said. Her fingers caressed the buttons of his shirt, still draped over her shoulders. Buttons were valuable; many clothes had none, or few. The mermaids were convinced that buttons were a sign of how noble and rich a man was.
"Not for me," he said. "The sea is a huge, dangerous, unpredictable mass of water, where men drown daily."
Nala pondered this, flicking her tail out of the water and sending rainbow hued droplets across the surface. "Cities sound terrible to me," she said. "We have stories too. No water, so many people, so much noise."
Cortez sighed. "I need to get back home," he said. "I was hoping you could help me."
Nala shrugged. "I don't know how. This isn't a busy shipping route. Only pirates come out this far, risking the fierce currents. We haven't seen a ship in three moons before the one you were aboard."
"Then I'm trapped here," Cortez moaned.
Sera surfaced nearby, startling him.
"Nala," she said sternly. "What are you doing?"
Nala picked something at random that might throw Sera off balance and prevent a tirade.
"He thinks I'm a unicorn," she said. Sera's mouth fell open, flummoxed, and Nala hid a grin.
Fandom: Original
Characters: Nala
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 586
Prompt: For the 30 days of fiction meme, prompt #27 trapped
Summary: Mermaids have to reward those who help them, don't they?
Warnings: None
"I could carry you back into the water," Cortez offered.
Nala nodded. "Yes," she said. "You could."
He lifted her easily, although her tail flicked around involuntarily and almost overbalanced him. Nala slipped her arms around his neck and, once he was sure she was secure in his grasp, Cortez waded out into the water. The waves reached his ankles, then his knees. His clothes were still a little damp, so she didn't suppose he'd mind getting wet again.
When Cortez was up to his chest in water, he paused and turned to his left before continuing towards the horizon, heading for a rocky outcropping. The water felt good on her tail and Nala gave a shudder of delight – he seemed to mistake it for a chill or fear though, for he grasped her more tightly.
They were beyond the breaking waves now, and the sea gentled washed past them, just below her rescuer's shoulders. He placed Nala gently onto the rocks.
"Thank you," Nala said solemnly.
Cortez held onto the rocks, letting the sea take most of his weight, unconcioulsy mimicking the way Nala and her sisters sunbathed, their tails in the water, their torsos kissed by the sunlight.
"Do I get a wish now?" Cortez asked. At her puzzled expression he said, "for rescuing you."
Maybe he wasn't so altruistic as she'd thought. "That's genies," Nala said.
"But you have gold?"
"Only what we scavenge from wrecks," Nala said. "I could probably bring you some."
"But I thought mermaids guarded caves of treasure."
"That's fire dragons, I think," Nala said. Sea serpents – she'd never seen one, but they supposedly existed in cooler waters – weren't said to be overly concerned with gold or jewels so much as eating anything in sight.
Cortez frowned, disappointment furrowing his brow. "Oh. And the thing about virg-"
"Unicorns," Nala said promptly and with a touch of annoyance.
Cortez sighed. "I'm sorry. I thought all these things, mermaids included, where just folk tales. In the cities we have no time for such things. My nursemaid read me all the tales though. It's been so long that I must have muddled them up."
Nala nodded, thinking. "You live in a city?"
"Far from the ocean," Cortez said. "I'd never even seen the sea until two weeks ago."
"How terrible," Nala said. Her fingers caressed the buttons of his shirt, still draped over her shoulders. Buttons were valuable; many clothes had none, or few. The mermaids were convinced that buttons were a sign of how noble and rich a man was.
"Not for me," he said. "The sea is a huge, dangerous, unpredictable mass of water, where men drown daily."
Nala pondered this, flicking her tail out of the water and sending rainbow hued droplets across the surface. "Cities sound terrible to me," she said. "We have stories too. No water, so many people, so much noise."
Cortez sighed. "I need to get back home," he said. "I was hoping you could help me."
Nala shrugged. "I don't know how. This isn't a busy shipping route. Only pirates come out this far, risking the fierce currents. We haven't seen a ship in three moons before the one you were aboard."
"Then I'm trapped here," Cortez moaned.
Sera surfaced nearby, startling him.
"Nala," she said sternly. "What are you doing?"
Nala picked something at random that might throw Sera off balance and prevent a tirade.
"He thinks I'm a unicorn," she said. Sera's mouth fell open, flummoxed, and Nala hid a grin.