helloeverybunny | { o p e n • p o s t }

[Of course they're not going to die. Bastien utterly refuses to die.

Not because of revenge or anything but because the man has several mistakes he wants to reconcile first before passing. One such mistake being how he took the lives of his men for granted. Bastien knew sooner or later that his misdeeds would land him in trouble but he was drunk with fame and power. He became as ruthlesss and cruel like that bastard Yu Jin in the end.

Bastien became the very thing he hated.

The cool numbness of the water shocks him awake. It's been awhile since he jumped into the murky depths of the sea like this. The sensation nearly takes his breath away. Thankfully,that's not possible. Bastien breathes the salty depths of the sea with deep appreciation as he opens his eyes. All he sees is an endless world of blue, a mecca of tranquility that not even man himself can disrupt. He let's his body sink further and further down into this beautiful blue world, his hand straying from Cade.

For a brief moment, Bastien let's himself drown in this serenity. Allowing the burn of the water in his lungs to fill before suddenly the pain vanishes. A sheen of bright white light flashes briefly as the change happens. It always baffled him how this transformation happens. His mother never explained it to him.

'It's what we are. Nothing more and nothing less.'

He strips off his boots quickly, letting the leathery soles sink. Next are the breeches but he barely has time to do that before those silvery blue scales start to form. His legs get coated in the thick scales in a matter of seconds, his feet morphing into elegant blue fins that look almost translucent under the dull light. The shirt stays on for now but Bastien rolls up the sleeves once the bright blue fins upon his arms unfurls.

Bastien curls into a ball briefly as if hunched up in pain but soon this awkward moment passes and he uncurls slowly. More fish than man now, the merman snaps into focus. He sees Cade sinking and immediately swims towards him with shocking grace. His movements are serpentine at best. He swims over to Cade slowly and reaches for his arm.

There's a light dusting of blue scales over his hands but they're almost unnoticeable in comparison to the blue webbing in between his fingers. He looks like Neptune himself down here, like an avatar of Poseidon. That absurdly long brown hair looks even longer now with hints of gold to it.

Bastien has some serious explaining to do later.]

Edited 2018-05-03 11:49 (UTC)

[ In a strange, almost detached manner, Cade realizes that he’s drowning. He tries to fight it, but it’s almost as if he can’t bring his body to move, even as his mind is actively pushing him to do something. Perhaps it’s the water. Perhaps he’s in shock. He doesn’t know anymore.

The water shimmers, or something. He doesn’t know what that’s all about, either. His vision begins to blur... or is it just the water?

He suddenly feels a hand on his arm. Somehow, he manages to turn his head to look, and finds himself staring at a hand. He gazes at it absently for a beat, until he notices the weird webbing and realizes - with a start - that it’s clearly not human. What the hell—

If he’s not drowning yet, he’s gonna drown with all that thrashing, now. ]

[A frustrated grumble escapes Bastien once that blonde idiot starts thrashing about. At this rate, Cade will most certainly drown. A fate that Bastien shudders to consider. Cade is his friend, probably his most loyal companion still alive. Losing him would be like losing a piece of himself at this point. Their friendship runs that deep.

So in hopes of saving this man's life, Bastien yanks the blonde towards him and gives him the breath of life in the form of a kiss. His lips are surprisingly warm and inviting, a stark contrast to the chill of the sea. There's a faint tingle in that kiss, much like the effect of tasting good wine for the first time. The magic that lingers upon Bastien's lips starts to run its course by granting Cade oxygen. For about five minutes or so, Cade will be able to breathe underwater like any merkin.

It's a little spell that Bastien learned long ago from his mother, a natural born talent.]

[ It takes a couple more heartbeats, but Cade finally realizes that the strange webbed hand belonged to Bastien, and he just stares wide-eyed at his pirate friend, the information stunning him enough that he stops struggling. It's not only Bastien's hand that's not human, it's everything about him at the very moment, and the blonde's just boggling at it all. He's traveled a good part of the world, but he's never... well, there are stories, but stories aren't--

Then there's the kiss, and Cade is shocked, both by the act and the strange... magic that seems to come with it. His mind goes from WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON to shutting off completely, the situation just a little too much for him to process. And a good part of him goes into denial - that this is all a dream, a crazy dream that makes zero sense. Heck, it's even easier for him to think that he's dying.

Yeah, Bastien's going to have some serious explaining to do. ]

[Bastien groans mentally once he pulls away. Judging from the look on Cade's face, things are bound to get awkward later but this is neither here or there. He'll deal with the consequences later once he gets Cade to dry land. Thankfully, Bastien is a fast swimmer.

He gently tugs on Cade's arm and gestures for the other to follow. This might be the most surreal moment in poor Cade's life. Swimming side by side with an honest to God mermaid--er, merman. Those turquoise scales seem to glow within these murky depths, almost like a lantern in the dark. Bastien tugs Cade along with a firm but oddly gentle hand, nearly the opposite of how he is on land. He's careful not to pull too hard, worried he might accidentally injure his friend. His strength is amplified two-fold in this form. Pulling Cade along is an easy feat. Hell, the blond feels as light as seaweed to him.

After what felt like a near eternity, Bastien starts to swim upward towards the surface. The long elegant blue fins upon his arms flare out a little once they swim faster and faster towards the light above. His grip upon Cade's arm tightens a little. He doesn't want to lose him to the current.

They reach the surface with a noisy crash. ]

Ah! Cade, c'mere! [He says once he yanks his friend up.] Taste that sweet sea breeze, lad.

[Believe it or not but they're a good several miles away from Port Royal now near an unmanned island. That's how far Bastien swam in just that little bit of time.]

Land, ho!

Edited 2018-05-10 02:48 (UTC)

[ The next couple of minutes has Cade operating on autopilot, his body continuing to move, to work for his survival, while his mind struggles to adapt to the situation, even if it absolutely makes no sense to him. Bastien isn’t human, he’s a frickin’ merman, and actually quite a stunning one at that.

Strong, too. The pirate merman manages to pull the blonde through the current and up to the surface like he weighed nothing. Cade takes a greedy breath once they finally break through, and fortunately manages to stay afloat.

He doesn’t say anything for a while, and just looks from Bastien to the sea to the general direction of Port Royal to the nearby island. Bewildered as hell.

At long last, he collects himself, and turns back to Bastien, his eyes clear. He manages a small grin. ] T-Thank you.

[You know, Bastien didn't expect the first words out of Cade's mouth to be a token of gratitude. He almost expected the worst from Cade and for good reason. So when he hears that stuttered 'thank you' from his good friend, Bastien couldn't stop his laughter. Bastien tosses his head back and just laughs merrily at Cade's faint smile. He laughs at the ridiculousness of it all and laughs at the stupid Port Royal guards who undoubtedly think they're dead.

They live to pillage another day. Cade and him are alive and well after dodging nearly two dozen rounds of ammunition and all the likes. Alive and well to live as free as they want without a visit to the gallows. Bastien is most pleased.]

You're welcome! [The cheer in his tone is infectious as he pushes Cade to shore.] More than welcome, lad!

I'm just glad ya not too bruised up.

Edited 2018-05-19 13:57 (UTC)

[ The blonde literally flops face-first into the sand, and stays there, unmoving, for a few seconds. Then he rolls over to lie on his back, and just starts laughing.

Up until it begins to hurt, anyway. Then his laughter is replaced by a strangled sound. ]

Really thought our luck was about to run out back there.

[ Cade focuses on the things he understands. Breaking out of prison, fighting guards, dodging bullets, jumping into the water in desperation. Give him a moment, he‘ll get to the Bastien situation. Eventually. ]

Cade? [A hint of worry lingers in his tone once the blond goes silent but once heard the laughter, he calms.] You're not losin' your sanity, are ya?

[Bastien asks as he flops down onto the sand a bit more gracefully in scales and fins still. He lays there for awhile just admiring the beauty of the coast before peeking at Cade again. It's good to see his friend in better spirits now. He almost didn't think they would make it out of that prison alive but they did.]

We're in luck you know. This island is one of my hideaways. [Bastien explains as he wiggles his tail slowly. Those bright blue scales shine like silver in the sunlight.]

There's food and shelter and change of clothes. I purposely came here once before to make it into a little home.

[ Maybe it’ll be easier if Cade did lose his sanity. There will at least be fewer questions. Less awkwardness.

That awkwardness is settling in now. The blonde doesn’t respond; he’s busy staring at Bastien’s, er, tail. He tries to look away, because it’s probably rude, but politeness is honestly not on top of his priority list right now. ]

So... about that...

[ Yes, that. ]

[Once the awkwardness settles into silence, Bastien feels that dread from earlier take form once more. He glances away from Cade, unwilling to meet his gaze. For the first time in a long time, Bastien actually feels...nervous.]

Yeah, what about it? [He mutters while idly preening. His hair is a tangled mess after all that.] Cade, you better not be plottin' on tellin' folks about all this.

[His voice is oddly stern now.]

Like anyone would believe me?

[ More of, like he has anyone to tell stuff to. Other than Bastien, he’s not particularly close to anyone. It’s not his strong point. That and he’s also chosen not to get close to anyone.

He finally looks away, sitting up and pretending that there’s something out at sea that caught his attention.

Then: ] ... Are you really...?

[A faint grin settles upon his lips as he admires the shoreline. No one would ever believe Cade about this. No one. All tales regarding merfolk are usually quickly dismissed by sailors and pirates alike. There's not a single person who would believe except for one.

One who've seen the truth with his own eyes. Bastien's greatest foe.]

Aye, I am. [He answers plainly without much ceremony. There's no need to drag this out any further.] My mum was a mermaid, lad. One with a sparkling red tail dotted with inky blues. She was..exiled by her people. Exiled for taking a man as a husband, a pirate no less.

[ The fact that Bastien’s taking all this in stride seems to help Cade wrap his head around the idea. Magic and merfolk, eh? He’s never been the type to daydream much, or fear monsters under the bed, but can you really deny the impossible when you’re staring right at it with your own eyes? ]

Huh. I’d thought they’d be beyond politics and all that discrimination nonsense, being mystical and such. [ He turns his head and squints at the pirate. ] Your mother was royalty? Or they just don’t like humans?

You would think so.

[Bastien replies quietly as he keeps untangling the knots out his hair. He should cut the damn thing and be done with it. Though, it probably would grow back in less than a month. He sighs.]

A little bit of both but my mother never explicitly said so. It wasn't until I...met one that I begun to understand better.

[He turns to Cade looking oddly melancholy now. They're embarking upon murky waters now.]

Her name was Nerissa.

[ The way Bastien speaks about his mother brings an ache to Cade’s chest. For one, the pirate can’t be making this all up; his melancholy’s too palpable, too real.

And there’s his mother. But he’s not about to make this moment about him. ]

She sounds lovely.

[ What else could he say? ]

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