Chapter 1: "Captive"

"Haru, are you feeling okay today?" Makoto asked quietly so that none of the other crew may hear.

The feared captain of the seas only showed his kindness to the special friend slash hostage slash guest upon his ship. Haruka, who rather be called Haru, glanced melancholy at the captain over his shoulder before going back to peeling the potato in his hand, choosing not to reply. The silence only made the captain chuckle lightly before reaching out and begin stroking the raven locks of the sitting man.

"Staying away from water, aye?" Since Haru was facing away from the taller man he chanced a longing glance at the deep blue ocean over the ships railing. He quickly nodded as he looked away before glaring down at his legs once again. He wished to rid of them. Correction, he wished to put them to use and dive over the railing of the ship back into the ocean. No matter how much he wished it though, he knew the moment he would even try to bolt to the ships rails, guns would be firing at him from all angles. He would never make it, the captain would make sure of it as he always had since Haru was pulled onto this bloody boat. As it wasn't obvious enough Haru was not originally part of this crew nor even originally human. Haruka was the crown prince of a clan of mer-people, though he believed he still was.

'I'm still wanted at my kingdom, I'm still the crown prince!' Haru corrected himself with another glance to the legs below him. It had been several months since he was pulled upon the wretched ship by one of it's random fishing nets. On the day he had been captured he had been swimming past the boundaries of his kingdom, just exploring alone as he always done, though he had truly not been paying attention when he had done so. If he had just realized that the school of fish that had come to him were not playing a game but indeed swimming away to save their lives he wouldn't have gotten caught nor even pulled from his home.

He remember that day though with bitter hatred. The Humans had called for their captain before cutting down the net which caused Haru to fall upon the deck like a ton of bricks. The net fell away from him, though he mostly untangled himself from it and frantically looked from each person who was gaping at him including the taller of them all who wore a large big black hat. Haru then gasped as he felt what was happening to his tail which was what everyone was watching as each scale fall and shrivel away as the water evaporated from the hot sun.

The mer-creature panicked as he tried to keep his tail from disappearing but it was too late. A pair of legs remained and the only way they would return was with water. In panic, Haru bolted up on wobbly legs and made a mad dash to the closet railing to get back over it. He had just touched it when a human had yelled out behind him and then suddenly bodies were upon him, slamming him down upon the deck once more and restraining him.

"Simply astounding, the legendary mer-people of the seas." Haru's eyes landed on the one that was speaking, and who he would later call captain and know as Makoto. The said captain who only gave a kind smile stepped closer, making sure to watch out for Haruka's kicking feet, before clasping the ravenette's chin in a firm grasp and looking deeply into his eyes. It stayed that way until Haru looked away when one of the men holding him tugged to much on his struggling limb.

"Fascinating. Men tie his legs and arms, place him in my cabin and do not let him near any water." Haruka was then confined to Makoto's quarters and it stayed like that for weeks which was how long it took before Haru even dared to say a word to the green haired captain, then it took even longer for Makoto to finally allow Haru to roam about the ship. It was quite obvious on how Makoto was never going to let his prize creature slash guest go. He kept all information from Haru on where the ships locations were so that the merman would never be able to know how far he was from his home nor if any of Haru's people had come looking for him. All the time on the ship and not once did Haru ever hear from his people or know if they were trying to save him, and with each passing day he lost just that much amount of hope of ever getting off this ship.

It was true that he wished to leave, yet it wasn't all bad for Makoto was never cruel to him. The crew wished to rid of him and had talked of wanting to sell the mer-creature on the black market for riches but Makoto would not hear of such things and silenced his crew of those evil words. Haru had been given a job in the kitchen with helping the cook while someone was to always watch him and all the crew had the right to shot to injure, not kill, if he ever tried to make a run for the ocean. Haru would work with the cook just so he wouldn't be bored out of his mind day in and day out. Also the captain never forced Haru to do anything other than stay away from water and upon the ship, though he did force Haru to sleep in Makoto's cabin every night yet never went as far as to force him in his bed, Haru usually slept upon the window sill looking out into the ocean.

"Haru, when you finished with the potato in your hand, bring the bucket to the cook then retire for the day, I don't want you to sunburn out here." Makoto lightly commanded petting the raven locks once more before moving away. Haru was relieved when the hand was gone and quickly finished the task. He didn't want to go back into Makoto's cabin but it was true that the sun was brutal today, any shade was a welcome relief. Yes it was hard to live on this boat as a captured merman and his legs were starting to feel to normal for his liking yet Haru wouldn't complain, since it would not get him anywhere.

TBC...

Hi guys don't worry I'm still working on Jason comes home but this has been in my book for a while. I'm in a big pirate free mode since i'm slowly piecing together my captain Makoto cosplay at the moment. Anywho please let me know what you think by review and please like the story if you like it, thank you guys and see ya around the webs.