Captain Maya Hart stood on the deck of her ship, taking a deep breath of the sea air as one of her crewmen guided the ship through the night toward their quarry – a ship that was rumored to carry a priceless treasure. Every ship on the sea was on the lookout for this ship, but she and her crew were going to get it first.

"She's coming up on the starboard side, Captain," her first mate Farkle said as he approached. He was a mousy looking man, but one of the smartest members of her crew. And fiercely loyal, a trait she held in incredibly high regard.

"Is the crew ready?" she asked.

"Aye," he said with a small nod. "Ready and able."

"Good," she said with a small nod of her own. She checked her pistols to make sure they were loaded as the ship she had been pursuing for days inched closer. "Remind the crew that we're here for the treasure and any supplies we can find. Not to take lives."

"Already did, Captain. Twice."

"Remind them again," Maya said, returning the pistols to her belt and drawing her cutlass. "Just to make sure that it sticks."

Farkle nodded and moved to follow her orders. After a moment, she followed him and joined the crew as the ship inched into position. She gave the signal for the raid to begin. The cannons opened fire and her crew threw their grappling lines to the other ship, pulling it close and making their way over to the ship.

Within ten minutes, the crew was rounded up and disarmed. Maya split her crew into two groups, leaving one to guard the crew and leading the other below to search the ship for the treasure. They found several crates of food and other supplies, helping themselves to as much as they could carry.

"Fryer! Zay!" Maya called to two of her crewmen. "Any sign of the treasure?"

"Not yet, Captain," Fryer said.

"There was a locked door in the aft hold," Zay added. "I was about to get some men to try to open it."

Maya nodded. "Show me." The man nodded and led the way toward the hatch, the captain, Farkle and Fryer on his heels. The door was locked tight and too solid to break open with any amount of ease. She turned toward the men with her. "Farkle, Zay, go find the captain and persuade him to bring us the keys to the door," she instructed with a small smirk.

The men nodded and hurried to do so. They returned a few minutes later, dragging the reluctant captain with them. "Good evening Captain," Maya said with a small grin. "I'm sorry for this brief inconvenience, but if you'll just open this door and allow us to see what's inside, we'll be on our way and leave you and your crew in peace." The man glared at her and she knew exactly what he was thinking. She ignored it and gestured toward the door. "Whenever you're ready."

The man held his glare on her for a moment, then looked around to the crewmen who were matching his glare and daring him to try something. Finally he gave a reluctant sigh and walked over to the door, unlocking it.

"Smart move," Maya said, pushing past him as he opened the door. She grabbed a lantern from a nearby post and stepped into the room, hoping to find the chest or chests that held the treasure they were seeking. Instead, all that was in the room was a mermaid, chained to the floor.

She was young, or at least she appeared to be. She had lavender scales and tail to match her hair. And she was dying. That much was terribly obvious. There was little water in the room and her breathing was shallow. She would not last much longer in her current state. She looked to the newcomers, eyes full of terror and desperation.

The change in Maya's mood was almost instantaneous. She turned back to the ship's captain, a rage in her eyes that her crew had never seen before. Each of the three of them took an unconscious step back, almost at the same moment.

"What is this?" she asked, her voice low and dangerous.

"W-w-we captured her and intend to sell her –"

Maya didn't let him finish, drawing a pistol from her belt and pointing it at his head. "You have the key to her chains?" The man nodded, unable to from the words for any other kind of response. "Then free her. Now."

The Captain nodded again and moved to do so, fumbling with the keys as Maya kept her pistol trained on him the entire time. Once he had unchained the mermaid, Maya shoved him back towards her crewmen. "Get him out of my sight," she growled before putting her pistol away and turning her attention to the mermaid.

"It's alright," she said, her voice softer now. In fact her entire demeanor had changed again. "I'm going to get you out of here." As Maya knelt down to pick the creature up, she tensed and the pirate suspected that she would have tried to resist if she'd had the strength. Maya lifted the mermaid and carried her out of the room, past Farkle who had remained as Fryer and Zay took the captain back to the rest of his crew.

"Tell the men to finish gathering what they can," she said to the crewman. "We're done here." He nodded and went to relay the message. Maya carried the mermaid to the upper deck and over to the railing. After doing a quick check on the mermaid to make sure she was still alive, she dropped her over the railing to the sea below. The mermaid disappeared beneath the waves and Maya turned to help her crew finish gathering the supplies and to disable the ship to prevent them from following. Within half an hour, Maya and her ship were sailing away, heading for the island cove they used as their base.

As the sun rose, they were well clear of the ship and on their way. Maya had retaken her place near the helm, but her demeanor was still altered. She was normally more upbeat after a raid like this, even if the reward wasn't as large as they were expecting. But today she was somber, staring out over the sea from the back of the ship with a pensive look on her face. Most of the crew spent the day avoiding her as much as possible.

"Captain?" Farkle said as he slowly walked up.

Maya took a deep breath, but didn't turn around. "I wondered which of you would draw the short straw," she said.

"No straws," Farkle said as he reached her side and leaned against the railing. "I volunteered."

"I don't want to talk about it," she said.

"I'm sure you don't. But I think you should. Captain…may I speak freely?"

"I don't see why you should stop now," she said dryly.

"I've been sailing with you for a long time. So has Fryer. And what happened last night, when you saw that mermaid…I've never seen you like that. That…angry. I was afraid you were going to kill him."

"I've killed people before," Maya said.

"In a fight, yes. In self-defense and when you had no other choice. But in cold blood?" He shook his head. "You've never done that. Not in the time I've known you. But I really thought you were going to kill that man if he didn't free the mermaid."

"Do you have a point?" She asked, an edge in her voice.

"I'm just curious as to what it was about the mermaid that brought that out in you," Farkle said.

Maya was quiet for a moment, looking out over the ocean. "It wasn't the mermaid," she said simply, turning and walking away. "Let me know when we reach port," she said.

Farkle let out a small sigh. "Aye, Captain," he said, watching her walk away for a moment before glancing out over the water. He paused as he thought he saw a flash of lavender in the wake of their ship.

Maya made her way to her cabin in hopes of avoiding further confrontations like that. And there she stayed until Farkle knocked on her door to tell her they'd arrived. She nodded, dismissed him and waited until the crew had disembarked from the ship before emerging. She made her way down to the dock, glancing around and moving toward the end of the dock by the water.

"You shouldn't be here," she said, glancing down to where the mermaid was sticking her head out of the water.

The mermaid frowned, rising out of the water a little more so that her shoulders were exposed. "You knew I was here?"

Maya nodded. "I always know when someone is following me," she said.

"Oh," the mermaid said, frowning slightly. "I thought I was being careful."

"You were at first," Maya said, kneeling down. "For the first couple hours, it was more of a feeling than knowing that someone was following us. After a while, though, I saw you."

The mermaid gave a small nod and pulled herself up on the dock. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude into things…I'm Riley," she said with a small smile.

Maya nodded. "Maya Hart," she said, swinging her legs over the dock so that they were dangling over the water. "So…Riley. Since you're here, what can I do for you?"

"Nothing," the mermaid said. "I just wanted to thank you. You know…for saving me."

Maya shook her head. "You don't have to thank me. It was the right thing to do."

"That doesn't mean everyone would have," Riley said. "No one on that man's crew would have…" she trailed off, shaking her head. "So why did you?"

"Everyone seems so fascinated by this," Maya said. "You, my crew…everyone wants to know why I did what I did."

Riley nodded. "So…why did you do it?" she persisted.

Maya sat quietly for a moment before responding. "I…I've been in that room before. Or…one like it. Trapped, scared, not knowing whether you would live or die…or even which would be the worse fate." She shook her head. "No one, mermaid or human or anything else, should ever have to be in a room like that."

Riley slowly reached over and put a hand on the pirate's, giving her a soft smile. "Thank you," she said softly. "For saving me."

Maya took a deep breath and returned the smile. "Sorry. I…I shouldn't have just unloaded all of that on you. We've only just met…"

Riley shook her head. "No, it's alright. I'm glad you trust me enough to tell me that."

Maya sighed. "So…you've thanked me. Now what?"

"Now…I don't know. I really hadn't thought that far ahead."

"Really? So you followed a pirate ship to a hidden cove and had no plan beyond that?"

"I guess so."`

"Not very smart," Maya said with a small smirk. "Pirates can be dangerous and unpredictable."

"You're not dangerous," Riley said. "I can tell."

Maya nodded. "Tell me something. How did those men capture you?"

"I saw their ship and swam over. One of them started talking to me and came down in a boat to get closer to me. Then he grabbed me."

"And did he seem dangerous when he was talking to you?"

Riley was quiet as she realized the point the pirate was making. "No," she said quietly.

"Exactly," Maya said. "So maybe you should be more careful about the ships you approach, alright?"

"Are you going to hurt me?" the mermaid asked, looking up at her with large, concerned eyes.

"No," Maya said. "I just want to make sure no one else does either. So promise me that you'll be careful in the future."

"I promise," Riley said. She paused. "Does that mean I can stay?"

Maya sighed. "You are always welcome here," she said. "But I don't want you following my ship out when we leave. The work we do is dangerous and I don't want to have to be worrying about my crew and you too."

The mermaid nodded. "I understand."

"Good," Maya said. She relaxed, sitting back with a small sigh.

Riley watched the pirate for a moment before grinning and grabbing her arm, pulling her off the dock and into the water.

Maya let out a cry as she was fell, barely managing to take in a breath before she went under water. She resurfaced a moment later to the sounds of the mermaid's laughter. "What the hell was that?!" she asked the mermaid.

"It was fun!" she exclaimed, laughing harder.

Maya glared at her for a moment, but soon felt a smile creeping over her face and she was soon laughing as well. "Well if it's fun you want," Maya said with a grin before splashing water toward the mermaid.

Riley laughed harder and splashed Maya in return. And so it continued, the splashes getting bigger and the laughs getting louder until the sound of someone clearing their throat came from the dock. The splashing stopped, and mermaid and pirate both looked toward the sound. Standing on the edge of the dock, looking down at them with smirks on their faces, were Farkle, Fryer, and Zay.

"So…Are we interrupting something?" Farkle asked.

Maya and Riley looked to each other, grins spreading over their faces. Then, at the same time, as though they had somehow plotted it without speaking, they started splashing again, this time aiming the water at the men on the dock.