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the blonde woman reaches out to flick phainon's forehead.

mydei finds himself suppressing a sigh as he's gestured on board. perhaps this is a bad decision after all.

his attention quickly turns to mydei, eyes shining in the darkness of the tempest.

"thanks for saving me, man! i'm phainon of the flame-chase pirates! hey, you can breathe both in and out of the water? can i examine your body?"

"thank you for your assistance. the storm was harsher than we expected, and our foolish swordsman got too close to the edge while pulling in the sails."

the man perks up immediately, popping out from the mass of black clothing. "i was taken by surprise!"

the pile of soaked fabric and buckles makes a pitiful noise, landing against the wooden floorboards with a thud. mydei looks up to two women sighing, before turning to him in intrigue.

he allows the risk — the prince being caught like fish would lead to unnecessary strife between his people and the humans, but mydei has learnt enough from his experience above the water to avoid that danger.

when he's pulled to the side of the ship, mydei lets go of the man.

showing himself to human pirates is not ideal, mydei decides. but this man he holds does not seem to have the strength to save himself, his grip on the rung slipping as the ship quakes.

there's shouting going on from above, through the chaos of the thunderous storm. mydei can't make out the words, but the ladder he clings onto is being lifted, exposing the rest of his tail from the water.

the person he holds above himself splutters and gasps, and mydei remembers that he should probably return this person to his ship. he spots a rope ladder hanging by the side; it takes a considerable amount of effort to pull himself and the human out of the sea.

the winds outside are just as harsh; mydei looks up at the ship, squinting at the glaring light it artificially produces — an attempt to locate their fallen, though it would not have worked in the darkness of the sea.

mydei moves before he thinks, catching the man and lifting him up, fighting against the unpredictable torrents.

the rain patters against the water, harsh and insistent. he breaks through the surface, the unusual feeling of having to breath in disconcerting him.

a shadow cast, and a falling body, breaking through the barrier between mydei and the world above.

mydei sees a rumpled body of darkness, a light from above the waters illuminating someone that shouldn't be there. the body trashes, but the waves are too vicious.

it's then that he realises the way the ship is being swept about, it might capsize at any moment. mydei rises a little higher, moves a little closer, ready to steady the ship if necessary.

he doesn't get too close — he's aware of the reputations that pirates carry amongst his fellow mermen — but mydei trails behind them, a part of him still wanting to make sure they get through safely.

i started to have this problem recently too, i thought i lost 300 words but it was just saved locally on my pc like 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️

phainon merely whines at the loss, hands chasing after mydei again. "wait, i wasn't done! come back, mydei!"

"greedy puppy." mydei finds himself relinquishing, returning back into phainon's hands. he supposes the openness isn't so bad with phainon.