Odella

[sour_tacos]

The sea spray cooled Enric's tanned, sweaty face as he tossed his net over the side of the tiny fishing boat shared by him and one other man. Pud Lemon's, Enric's boat-mate and best friend did the same, stopping to take a swig out of a small flask once his net was overboard. The small boat was emblazoned with the words "Rydell Fishing Co." in bright red. Pud leaned against the rail, adjusted his straw hat so that the sun didn't get in his eyes.

 

"Enric," Pud said, as he took another sip from the flask, "You goin' to Sir Rydell's ball Saturday?"

 

Enric shrugged. "Dunno. Probably not. Its a waste of time."

 

Pud's eyes widened. "Are you loony? Every employee of the company's invited! And that's..." Pud counted on his fingers. "That's most of the bay area! Its going to be the party of the century, mate!" Pud smiled, and rubbed his stomach, which hung over his burlap pants. "Who knows, you might even see Miss Catherine."

 

Enric turned away, and focused his attention on repairing a ripped net. Pud stopped and thought for a moment. "I know why you don't wanna go... you're afraid of seeing Catherine with that new beau of hers. Isn't that right?"

 

Enric turned bright red. Pud laughed. "I've known you since we were babies! That's almost twenty years now! There's no denying it, I know Enric Wells better than his own mother, and I know when somethings-"

 

Enric turned around. "Will you shut up Pud?"

 

Pud choked on his words, and stared at his feet. "I think the the net's are full. Better go... um..." He walked around to the other side of the boat, muttering to himself.

 

Enric knew Pud was right. Miss Catherine Rydell was the most sought after lady within a hundred mile radius. Lately, the daughter of the fishing company's wealthy owner had been seen with the son of the town clerk. Enric sighed, and put down his mending.

 

"Pud, get over here."

 

Pud, who was at least twice Enric's height and girth, came shuffling around the side of the boat with his hat in his hand, his sandy blond hair waving in the wind. Enric smiled.

 

"You're right. You hit the nail on the head with what's bothering me."

 

Pud laughed. "Do I know my buddy or what! So, I say, we go to the ball whether Catherine's available or not."

 

Enric nodded. "Yeah, why not. Its not like a sun baked fisherman like myself could ever get Catherine's attention."

 

Pud laughed loudly, scaring the gulls that sat on the mast. "That's the spirit! Now lets haul these nets up and call it a day!"

 

Enric began whistling to himself, as he pulled the fish filled net out of the sea. The silvery fish tossed about, as he hauled them on deck. But something in the net caught his eye...

 

A large silver disk sat amongst the fish, its center carved out of a bright green stone. The disk seemed to be emitting a pulsating glow. Enric called Pud over.

 

"Pud, what would you say this is?"

 

Pud inspected it for a moment, then chuckled. "Either that's a mighty fine piece of rubbish, or the fish are trying to sell us something." The two shared in a laugh, before steering the tiny ship back into the harbor. The sun set on the horizon, as Enric and Pud sang an old fisherman's tune. Neither of them noticed a small head pop out of the water behind their boat, only to disapper in a matter of seconds.

[pizzar456]

i liked it (though i can't say that i'm an experenced varrock library reader). the characters are developing, though the format was hard to read. can't wait for the next chapter/section.

[powerent]

Pretty good, I have to say. Creepy in a small part, with good detail and a sufficient amount of info to keep a reader interested. Keep writing, cause "Either that's a mighty fine piece of rubbish, or the fish are trying to sell us something!"

[archimage_a]

Either that's a mighty fine piece of rubbish, or the fish are trying to sell us something!

 

Powerent...its not nice to insult people like that...but all in good humour...

 

 

 

Anyway I did like this story quite alot...Maybe its because of the accents, maybe its because of the realistic senario...maybe i don't know but it was good...

 

 

 

Rated Inspired out of Enthralled, AND Amazing out of Excellent

[sour_tacos]

Odella rushed into her sister's bedroom, ripping open the seaweed curtains that surronded her bed. "Mia, wake up!" She shook her older sister frantically.

 

Mia woke with a start. "What is it Odie?"

 

Odella wrung her hands, and stared at her tail. "I... um... I lost it."

 

Mia ran her fingers through her flowing, blonde hair. "Lost what?"

 

Odella sighed impatiently. "What do you think? What have I been guarding with my life these past couple of days?"

 

Mia's eyes widening. "You lost the King's crest!?"

 

Odella nodded nervously. Mia threw up her hands. "You, out of hundreds of thousands of young mermaids, you get chosen to be the Maiden of the Crest for this year, and you loose the crest?"

 

Odella sighed. "It wasn't my fault! I was taking it to Papa so he could see it, and there was a fishing net, and all these fish, and I just got so scared!"

 

Mia frowned. "A net? You were up by the surface, weren't you. Good gracious, Odella, you want to end up like Mama? Stuck in a fisherman's net?"

 

Odella shrugged. "I didn't know what to do!" Tears were forming in her aqua eyes. "Now what am I supposed to do?"

 

Mia put her head in her hands. "Odie, you know what this means? The King picks a maiden every year to hold the Crest until the annual Sun Ceramony. He chose you to guard it with your life! And do you know what happens if you loose the Crest?"

 

Odella sobbed, as Mia continued. "It's only happened once, before I was born... the maiden lost the crest... and the King had her executed..."

 

Odella broke into hysterics, and swam out of the room. Mia looked at the carving of their mother that sat on her bedside table. "Mama... plese help Odie..."

[Geordiequeen]

I love this story, it is realistic but yet full of fantasy. Well done.

[archimage_a]

Hmmm seems to screem paupers version of Little Mermaid...

 

 

 

Still very good but lost a little bit of its interest...Sorry...and Loose? Its lost I think...unless its accented in which case I applogise...

 

 

 

Rated Interested out of Enthralled, AND Amazing out of Excellent

[powerent]

It's beginning to have a clearer plot, assuming the crest is the "mighty fine piece of rubbish" mentioned in the first chapter. And only once I pressed submit on the thing did I realize I called the piece rubbish, sorry about that. That was a joke there...I think. Oops. :oops:

[sour_tacos]

Mia followed her sister our of her room, and down the hall of the tiny house that they shared with their aging father, a carpenter who worked all day on repairing the King's palace. Odella swam out of the house, and into the garden among the towering waves of kelp, and delicate coral sculptures.

 

 

 

Mia sat down on the bench where her sister had broke down, sobbing. She thought for a moment, then spoke.

 

 

 

"Odie? I have an idea..."

 

 

 

Odella looked up. "What now?"

 

 

 

"Well, you said you got a good view of the boat, and the men on it, right?"

 

 

 

"Yes..."

 

 

 

Mia smiled. "They had to of seen the crest among those fish, right? What if they still have it?"

 

 

 

Odie wiped tears from her face. "Where are you going with this?"

 

 

 

Mia laughed. "We're not going anywhere. Those fishermen are."

 

 

 

_____________________________________________________________

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enric sat on the side of the boat, waiting for his nets to fill, while Pud carved a small figurine out of a piece of driftwood. Pud held it up in the air, then continued to carve. Enric laughed. "What are you doing?"

 

 

 

Pud stuck out his tongue, pretending to concentrate. "I'm carvin' a little statue of..." he flicked a few more curls of wood from the figure. "You!"

 

 

 

The tiny state looked nothing like Enric. It would be an overstatement to say it even looked like a human at all. Enric jumped up to grab the figurine, when he stopped dead. There was a loud banging noise, coming from the bottom of the boat.

 

 

 

"What do you think that was?" Enric asked.

 

 

 

Pud shrugged. "Maybe we've hit bottom?"

 

 

 

"We're in the middle of the sea you goof, there's no bottom unless you go down many, many miles!" The noise sounded again, this time rocking the boat. Enric tripped over a coil of ropes, making Pud laugh hysterically.

 

 

 

"What ever it is, Enric, it wants you to make a ruddy fool of yourself!

 

 

 

The banging became more frequent, as the boat began to rock dangerously. Both men looked over the side of the boat to see what the noise could be. Pud smiled. "I reckon its just one damn big fish!" Enric frowned.

 

 

 

"A fish making a noise like that? It sounds like thunder..."

 

 

 

Pud and Enric leaned over the side of the boat, as another, louder, boom sounded. The boat gave a lurch, sending them both over the side, into the cold water.

 

 

 

Enric tried frantically to surface. Just as his head broke the surface, he felt a pair of hands grab his ankles, and pull him back down. He looked around for Pud. What he saw shocked him. Two mermaid-like had latched themselves onto him and Pud, and were desperatly trying to yank them down. Pud was kicking and screaming, although his cries were muffled by the water. Enric tried to reach for his knife, but fell unconcious due to lack of air before he could move an inch.

[smitherfolyf]

it was cool... :D

[sour_tacos]

When Enric awoke, he was bound and gagged to a rock with what looked like seaweed. Pud sat unconscious next to him. Enric panicked as he realized he was still underwater. He tried to hold his breath, but his reflexes gave in. Expecting to take a big gulp of water, he inhaled comfortably.

 

Shocked, he breathed in again. He was able to breath underwater. Less worried that he would drown, he observed his surroundings. The rock they were tied to was in a large cave, the light from above the surface visible just outside the cave entrance.

 

Enric tried to kick free of the weeds that held him down, but only tired himself. Pud awoke a few minutes later. Enric watched as Pud took his first compulsory breath in their watery prison. Pud sat dumbfounded for a moment, then attempted to break free. Enric nudged him, and shook his head, signaling that the seaweed ropes were unbreakable at this point.

 

There was a splash from above, as a flowing silhouette appeared at the cave entrance.

 

The figure soon came into focus as a mermaid with long blond hair, and a shining blue-gray tale. She smiled and giggled sheepishly. "I've heard stories about humans... I always pictured them uglier." The mermaid reached out a delicate, pale hand and stroked Enric's face to his horror.

 

The mermaid shouted over her shoulder. "Odella, come in here! Its alright!" A second mermaid, a younger copy of the first, swam into view. Her eyes were puffy and red.

 

She swam to pud, and stared at him, her face inches away from his. "Where's the crest?"

 

Pud tried to speak, but only bubbles and a strange babbling noise emitted. The first mermaid laughed. "I forgot the second charm, silly me." She reached forward and placed her hands on Enric and Pud's foreheads, and said a few words in a language Enric had never heard before.

 

Pud gasped. "I don't know what you're talking about, honestly!"

 

The mermaid named Odella folded her arms. "Don't play stupid, human. Its a circle with a glowing green center. It ended up in your net. Don't tell me you didn't see it."

 

Enric coughed. "Is that what this is all about? Yeah, we saw it."

 

Odella smiled. "Great! Where is it?"

 

"On the boat, in my bag... why do you ask?"

 

The first mermaid laughed. "That doesn't concern you. Now hold on a second... not that you could move."

 

She swam out from the cave, and raised her arms towards the surface. She shouted a words in the strange language towards the sky. There was a large cracking sound, as the fishing boat came sinking into the sea. It landed gracefully in a bed of kelp, the hull cracked in half.

 

"Mia's always been a showoff." grumbled Odella.

 

"Our boat!" Pud cried.

 

The mermaid named Mia swam inside the sunken boat, and produced Enric's canvas bag. She rummaged through it, and produced the crest.

 

"And there you go, Odie. I told you my plan would work."

 

The younger mermaid gave a happy cry, and swam forward. The pair began to swim out of the cave. Enric shouted after them. "Where do you think you're going?"

 

Mia shrugged. "Home?"

 

Pud's voice cracked. "What about us?"

 

Mia exchanged a devious glance with her sister. "Oh... we've got other plans for you..."