Alines sat in his water-filled pen. He had been at this gladiator stuff for a year now, he was in forced training before that, and he was becoming more and more tired every day. He fought for his life of course, no matter how much he hatted what he had to do. The merman risked a glance through the barred gate. Beyond its oppressive metal was the pit, littered with bones, in all its horrific glory. He growled in anger and swam back to what little living space he had. He stretched out and dozed off, nightmares of his last night of freedom flooding into his unguarded mind.

The ocean was calm and peaceful, perfect weather to sail...or fish. Alines swam about its depths inspecting creatures and chasing dolphins. The merman was happy with life and had barely a dull moment. He looked back at the dolphins he was racing and noticed they had stopped, he soon found out why.

First there was the impact as he smacked into the heavy net. Second he felt himself becoming ever more trapped and tangled, other unfortunate fish facing similar trouble. Third he felt the jarring and confusion as the net was dragged back up to the surface. Fourth he felt himself land on something hard with fish flapping all bout. Fifth, and finally, he gazed up in horror as a pirate raised a blunt weapon over his head and brought it down.

The gladiator awoke with a gasp, the nightmare drifting away as the loud screeching metal tore through his ears. He turned to the rising gate and then down in despair. He swam over to where two weapons were stored, a war trident and a scimitar. He took hold of the trident, and sheathed the other in a deep pouch. He shook his head once more in disgust before swimming out into the pit.

Being in a nearby port she started to look around. There were people along the port trying to sell things and just acting stupid. A man walked up to her and tried to sell her some real pearl necklaces. She sighed and pushed him away, when she did he stumbled back and fell into the water. She didn't mean to push him in but he was just getting on her nerves. Her head went down as she heard the man yelling at her with bad words.

She just neverminded it and continued down the dock. Looking at the end she saw a weird ship. Dasyra was all about sneaking in new places and just finding out about them. She made her way down the dock and slipped onto the ship. It wasn't hard for her to get on. It was a big ship and it seemed that some things were covered up because they didn't want to be obvious of being pirate's.

Once she got onto the ship she started to look around but it wasn't long until she was discovered and pushed back into a corner. She looked up as two Pirates started towards her and gripped her by the shirt. The other grabbed all her weapons and then places a jewel on her so she couldn't use any magic if she wanted."Well well well what do we have here....its not a fish....its an elf...We'll let the captain deal with you soon..."They placed a cloth bag over her head after tying rope in her mouth then tied her hands and feet together and brought her down where the Merman was.

They picked her up and tossed her down into the bones that seemed to be where they kept everything. They pulled the bag off and she looked around. When she fell she fell onto a bone and it went through her side. She whinched her eyes then leaned up."That just won't do....lets see how long she can last in the water..."They picked her up again and threw her into the tank with the merman. She started to sink to the bottom because she was tied up. Her side was making the water around her red since she was bleeding. She struggled to get free but it was no hope."Wait till the captain gets a load of this..."

Alines raised an eyebrow in surprise. He swam up closer to inspect the captive Elf. He glared back up at a pirate who was watching with glee. Most of the time he just fought big fish like sharks and the like. Occasionally another mer-person, but an elf? He shook his head baffled, "Why would they put an elf in here, wouldn't be a fair fight at all."

He swam over to the elf and, using his scimitar, he cut the ropes. "Even though I don't want to fight, you need to win to get out," He swam back a bit and chucked the scimitar to her, "I would rather loose to someone with some form of weapon." He grinned with an edge of finality in his voice and raised his trident.

Dasyra had already passed out when he cut the ropes. She floated to the bottom of the tank and was laying there so peacfully. Luckly the scimitar missed her when she floated down. Would this mer man really try and fight someone who was unable. Red was still staining the water around her and as she hit the ground the merman could of seen wound on her side.

In her head she was thinking as she saw a bright light."This can not be happening to me...it just can't...."But there she was as still as a dead fish laying at the bottom of the tank. If she was in there much longer she probably wouldn't last long.

The merman swam up to her again, how could pirates expect him to fight if they gave him a being who couldn't fight? He shook his head, jabbing his trident into the ground and scooped her up. He swam upwards to the surface and kept her head above the water. His eyes scanned the room, spotting a pirate jolting up the stairs. "Great..." He groaned and tried to wake the elf.

(sorry about the length)

About five minutes being up in the clean air she started coughing and water spat out of her mouth onto the floor outside the tank. She turned and looked at the man in the water and didn't even notice his fin. She coughed some more then grabbed her side. "Ah....I'm sorry I don't mean to give you any trouble..." Her hair was swaying with the water, she pulled it around over her shoulder and smiled."I'm Dasyra...."

Alines nodded and smiled, "Alines," his smile turned to a frown, "supposed to be killing you right about now I think..." he sighed and looked up to the stairs. "Look, you might be able to escape if you run fast enough....but with that gash I don't know..." he snapped his gaze back to the stairs and the color left his face, "Its the captain."

The captain was a built up man, perhaps barbarian in decent, he bore a decent beard and dirty, unwashed hair. A large scimitar hanging from his belt, which was slightly concealed by the heavy coat he wore over that. He snarled and stepped forward, behind him two grunts, both wielding knives, filled into the sides.

The crystal that was in her arm started to burn when the captain came down. She swam up behind Alines and placed her hand on his shoulder."I think that he is here for me...please don't let him take me...without my magic and weapons I am nothing..."With her hand on his shoulder she hopped he didn't mind but she was a weakling right now.

"Captain!" Alines growled with battle filled excitement, "Its been too long since we've last met!" He swam under for a second and came up with his trident and scimitar. He turned his head back to the elf, "I should be thanking you, I've needed a way to get out anyways."

The captain stomped towards the pool, drawing out his scimitar. "You worthless fi-" that was all he could manage out before the three prongs of a trident rammed into him. One grunt stood stunned, the other took action and pulled back the still-living captain. "Kill those two!" He roared, a roar which could be heard throughout the ship.

When the captain came towards the tank she swam back letting go of Alines. As she heard the roar after closing her eyes she looked up to see that the captain was bleeding. She looked at Alines."something tells me that might not have been a good idea..."She swam towards the side of the tank and managed to jump up and kick one of the two men in the face. This brought more pain to her side and she fell out of the tank and hit the ground hard. The man that she kicked came towards her and picked her up by her shirt and lifted her into the air. She winched and spit in his face."LET GO OF ME..."

Alines hurled his trident into the chest of the pirate, who released the elf in his death, and parried the strike of the other. The merman retrieved his trident, wet now with two men's blood. He shook his head as more pirates came barging in, each screaming and shouting. The assortment had all sorts of tools, though most were still scimitars. Some had a few short bows, another with an axe, then a duo with spears. "What a way to go," he muttered before lifting his head up to gauge how many he could take out.

Seeing all the guards come in she sighed then grabbed a knife from the pirate that was dead on the ground below her. She dug into her bare skin and pulled the crystal out of her arm. Now she had two wounds but she would just have to deal with it. All of the sudden vines came shooting out of her hands and wrapped around the 10 pirates that rushed into the tank room. She yanked them up into the air. After this was done she grabbed her bow and quiver from the dead pirate and shot all of the pirates with poison arrows.

After she was done with this she knew that it was over and she turned towards Alines in the tank to see that he had a fin. She stood up and grabbed her side and smiled a bit."Your....a merman..." She had never seen one before and just thought that he was a myth she leaned up against the glass and looked up at him.

"That I am. Nice work with the vine things." he nodded to the entangled pirates. "There are probably more in port and they won't be happy to find out that we've slaughtered most of their crew." Alines scratched his head in puzzlement, "How do you propose I get out?" He looked around for any weakened areas of the ship.

A growing red tint began to spread from his position. The merman groaned and placed a hand to his back, finding a shaft embedded in it. He leaned against the side of the tank, shaking the dizziness from his head. "Ah great..."

Seeing that Alines was in pain she leaped up and landed into the water. She swam infront of him then placed her hand on his cheek."Here this should help some..."She used a minor heal and it took some of the pain away from him. Closing her eyes she placed her hand on her side and used her minor heal to heal just a bit of both of her wounds."That will help for now while I get you out of here..."She dived down into the water and began to swim around him and as she did his fin turned into feet."I'll help you get back to the water then turn you back..."She smiled a bit hoping that her minor heal helped her.

Alines looked down at his two "That...feels...weird," he experimentally moved his legs, getting used to how they worked. "Alright," he said while climbing out of the water, "lets go." He helped her up and, while holding his trident defensively, approached the stairs. Another question, "How did I end up wearing pants?" He glanced back with a curious grin. With his newfound freedom he was returning to his old self again, though he couldn't truly relax until he was back home for once in the years he was gone.

"I guess your fin did it...because i've never done that before so its a first....So it won't last for long..."Once she was out of the tank she looked around for a moment at all the bones then kneeled down and placed her hand over her chest and a finger on her forehead pointing up."Rest in peace..."After she spoke all of the bones turned into dust and blew away. Her whole body was still dripping wet but she wanted to get Alines into the water as fast as she could. She stood up and walked over to him and grabbed his hand and started out of ship.

The docks were now filled with more people before. She turned and looked at Alines."Thank you for helping me and I hope that you find piece in your home..."She bowed her head to him then placed her quiver over her back along with her bow. The boards she was walking on were a bit creeky but it didn't matter. Who knows what has walked along this dock. Her eyes turned back to Alines and she sighed. After just making another friend she was about to lose him.

Alines stared into the ocean, its calling becoming ever more urgent but he had one thing left, he turned back to Dasyra and smiled. "You know, if you ever wanted to visit all you would have to do is ask. Just head out to the beach, get into the water, and call." He jumped into the water, his head just above the surface with a goofy grin and waved, "Besides, I'll need you to get me some legs again so I can go get myself that trick for myself."

She had done her daily duty in helping but something wasn't right. She sighed and then turned back and sat down on the side of the dock. With his head up out of the water she pulled a leaf from her hair and let it go down to him. She smiled."To tell ya the truth I don't want you to leave...but I guess you need to go back and let your family know your ok...Oh yeah tell them all about me...cus I really can't..."]She kind of wanted to go with him and explore the underseas. "Do you think I can come now..."

Alines nodded excitedly, "Of course!" he did a twirl and splashed some water up at her, "but how are you going to get down there exactly? Have any magic for it?" He raised himself up to the dock, arms resting on top of the dockside. He twiddled the leaf between his fingers watching it only momentarily before looking back up at her. Again he had the goofy grin.

Once Alines came up to the dock she looked down at the leaf she gave him and smiled. She made a new friend and could only smile. The dock was still so busy and so loud. She crossed her legs slowly and ran her hand over the fins that were on his arms."The water seems so free...here on the land if you throw a rock the wrong way you can get thrown in jail. "She took her hand away from his arm and just continued to stare at him in awe but then shook her head and looked down the dock.

She took her hair and pulled it over her shoulder and squeezed the water out of it."So how long have you been in that tank....it seems like a long time....because of these..."She ran her soft fingers over his scars."I don't even want to begin to think what they did you..."

"I've been stuck in that tank for about three years, one of which I was just used as a freak show, second year they made me practice killing, third they started throwing me into gladiator fights with whatever they caught. Sometimes it was a shark, another was a squid, I would even have to fight other mer-folk..." He grit his teeth at that, tears swelling at his eyes. He hated himself for that. "O-one time they dropped in two sharks, thats how I got these," he tapped the scars on his arm, "it grabbed me by the arm, tore off a chunk before I got it." He couldn't go on and just rested his head on his forearms, tears dripping.

Tears came to her eyes as he started to tell her all about this. She leaned towars him and wrapped her arms around his neck hugging him."I'm so sorry....I wish I had gotten to you sooner..."One of her tears fell and ran down her cheek and then hit his back. "My goal in life is to help people....and im so sorry that I couldn't get to you sooner...If you want....for about 2 hours I can turn you back into a human...but it would be best if we stayed by the water..."She said with a bit of a happy tone in her voice."I can show you some very exciting things...please come..."She grabbed his hand with both of hers.

He smiled to the kindness, "Sure." He lifted himself onto the dock and continued to twiddle the leaf. Anything important I should keep in mind when I have two legs? Or just on the ground for that matter?" He looked back over to the docking buildings. His curiosity soon pushed the sadness aside and replaced it with naive. "Oh and can you do that magic a little faster? Its getting a little too dry to breath."

"Oh sorry about that..."She placed her hand down on his fin and they turned into legs. She smiled then looked up at him."there ya go....oh yeah..hmm let me see...now that your a two leg you have to be a bit more together. Don't ooo and ahhh about things...it will just creep people out..."She laughed a bit then looked up into his eyes with her baby blues.

"No oooohing and aaaaaahing....you sure? Just kidding." He stretched his legs and dangled them over the dock. He grinned gleefully with enthusiasm unmatched. He decided to stand up and mumble something about needing a shirt because lots of other people had one. He scratched his head while watching the people go about in a sign of confusion but also a bit of curiosity. He glanced down at her when he felt her eyes on him and made eye contact, 'hrm reminds me of the ocean..' he blinked breaking the thought and he helped her up. "Lets go, I've only got two hours!"

When he looked back down at her after getting up she just smiled and then took his hand and stood up. "Ok a shirt it is..."She walked down the dock after grabbing his hand and walked up to a vender who was selling some clothes. She gave the man some money and handed Alines a shirt. She laughed some."here..."She walked over to him and put it over his head."I'm sure you can manage the rest..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," He fumbled with the shirt, making sure it fit comfortably before turning back to her. "What do you think?" He attempted, poorly, at imitating some of the 'attracting' poses he had seen some of the pirates and merchants doing. "Huh? Huh? What do you think?" He kept the straight face for only a moment before he fell down laughing.

When he started doing some of the poses she couldn't help but laugh. It had been so long since she had some fun. The last time she did have some fun was when she was playing with Taeyrn, her gryphon, in the woodland areas. She placed her hand on her side and started laughing but remembered that she was still wounded. Her eyes winched some."Ahh...i forgot about that..."She still laughed some more then looked at the guy that she had pushed out into the water and was soaking wet.

He walked up to her and pushed his hand of jewels in her face. "You cost me money girl...I dropped some of my pressious items in the water....and you...you just throw them away..."She looked at Alines and just started laughing again."GUARDS...GUARDS..."The merchant started yelling. She saw them coming then grabbed Alines hand and took off running into the port town through the alley ways.

With the sudden jerk Alines looked around in surprise. "What? Whats wrong?" He kept looking between what was ahead and her. He was beginning to tire after a while, he had great endurance underwater, where everything felt lighter, but now on land the full weight of everything was getting heavy. "Where are we going? He kept running despite the desire to stop. The dock was hot, he didn't like hot very much.

After about another 10 minutes of running she stopped and hid behind some ale barrels and then looked at him and smiled."Sorry about that....before all this happened that guy got in my face with his jewelry and I pushed him into the water and he must have dropped some of it..."She was laughing some then looked at the barrels of Ale and then took her knife."Here have some of this..."She took the knife and jammed it into the barrel fast and it started to drip out.

"Isn't - that - stealing?" He was trying to regain his breath. Alines still clutched the leaf and he was continuously peaking over the barrel. Once overcoming the fact that things were different on land he tasted a bit on his tongue, "that tastes nasty..." He gagged, "really really nasty." He whipped his mouth and glanced down the road.

"Sorry I actually thought you might have liked that..."She took a sip of it then wiped her mouth and mended the barrel back together with a wave of her hand over the area she stuck her knife in. "Ok I think they are gone..."She laughed again."I haven't had this much fun in so long..." Out of no where a white dove came flying out of the sky and landed on her shoulder. "Sairah vendui..."The dove started moving her neck up and down."This is Sairah...Has stuck by my side for almost everything....but she is a bit of a chicken...I can speak to her and she speaks back...but only I can understand her...My Gryphon should be around here somewhere...hes always getting into trouble.."She laughed then looked up at him.

Her hair was starting to dry along with her clothes and she felt a bit more comfortable. It was near sunset and the two hours weren't even up yet and she wanted to show him a good time."Hmm lets see...I know you haven't ever done it before with two legs...but would you like to go dance..."She pointed towards the tavern that had some music playing and people dancing around inside.

Alines chuckled, "Sure, but of course...If I dance, you have to dance once you get your fish legs." He vaguely imitated the actions of two mer-dancers with his hands. He tilted his gaze to the dove that was still bobbing its head. "Interesting creature... Anyways shall we dance?"
(Oh my only 50 words, shame on me shame on me)

"I think we shall..."She grabbed his hand again then walked into the tavern bypassing the quards. Without a second glance she was out on the dance floor moving to the somewhat fast music. Maybe he was tired of her grabbing his hand so she let him go and wondered if he would catch onto to this dancing with two feet."Just move your feet to the music..."

Alines nervously laughed, scratching his head, while watching the people dance. "So you do that...then that...then that.." He partially attempted to perform a few of the moves with moderate success. He stumbled to the dance floor and began to, even though it was a little too uncoordinated, but the good thing was that he was enjoying himself throughly. 'This isn't too bad..' he thought with mild enthusiasm.

Suddenly he bumped into somebody who was carrying a drink, which splattered all over the floor. The man growled in irritation, pointing a beefy finger at the merman, "You will buy me a new one!" He grabbed Alines by the shirt, shaking him throughly, "Got that!?"

Alines, stunned into silence nodded hurriedly before speaking, "I have no money," He winced as a drunken punch knocked him to the ground and the man stormed off. "Sorry.." He turned to his elvish friend, "I like it better in the water, nobody does -that-"

Seeing this all go down she got a bit aggrivated that he would do that."Hey I'll be back stay here..." She walked over to the drunk and her vines came out of her arms and wrapped around his arms and she pulled him towards her."Your going to say sorry to him now..." He tried to jerk away but she dragged him over to Alines.

The man looked at him and he was stumbling back and fowarth."Sorry...."She tightened her vines on his arms."For what...are you sorry about..." The man winched some as she did this."About hitting you and as for the drink...don't worry about it..."

She let him go and pushed him back onto the ground then walked over to the bar and grabbed some ice and put it into a towel. She stepped back over to him and placed it on his face."Here this will help the swelling..."

"Th-thanks," He stumbled over to a seat to rest, "How much longer do you think we have?" He sighed, disliking the anger that resided up on the land. He stared at his feet, watching for any sign of them turning back. He finally looked back up to Dasyra and managed a smile.

"So it was an elf girl who caused you trouble?" Endymion inquired.

" Yes. She knocked me into the sea, and I've lost precious irreplacable things! They cost me a fortune!"

" Hey, relax, I'll bring them back to you, but I want some pay in return. I have a busy schedule, so if they run too far, I stop following." Without another word, he walked off, catching the scent of an elf and a merman. They seemed to have been running most of the way, but the scent became stronger when he stopped at a tavern.

" Why does everybody I follow always seem to end up in a tavern?" He muttered, and opened the door. It was a bit crowded inside, but he already found who he was looking for. The elf was standing next to a man who was sitting, by the looks of it she applied a towel with ice to his face. As he walked towards them, people started staring at him. It wasn't his appearance that got their notice, although his choice of clothing was uncommon in these parts. But everybody could smell the faint odor of dragon on him. He decided it was better not to take any notice of it, and tapped the elf on the shoulder for her attention.

" Excuse me, but some merchant told me that you pushed him into the ocean and made him lose some of his possessions. Care to explain any of that?"

Dasyra turned and looked down at Alines feet."Well it shouldn't be too long so I guess we can get you back to the water soon...." When she felt the tap on her shoulder she turned around and stood up looking at the man who was asking her about the man she pushed in the water."Let me ask you something...when someone is up in your face trying to sell you something wouldn't you get irritated....now I think you should step off before something bad happens..."

She reached her hand down by her side and grabbed the hilt of short sword."Please sir I am asking for no trouble..."She looked down at Alines."Go ahead and head back to the beach...I'll met up with you soon.."

Alines nodded hurriedly, standing and moving through the crowd. He glanced back before walking out the door. The trip back to the beach was mostly uneventful. However, he did have to avoid the occasionally con artist and desperate merchant. He finally reached the shore and just in time. He felt the air slowly become suffocating and his legs began to refuse to work independently. He dived over the last distance and splashed into the water. "Too close."