[center][abbr=Suiten][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/230311/09e37f447f3b4147d6f66d5a1e26118b.png[/img][/abbr][/center]
[hr][sub][right][i][b]South Blue[/b][/i][/right][/sub][h3][color=lightgray][i]Earlier[/i] ...[/color][/h3]
[hider=An encounter at sea][i]It's the something day of the something year, and I'm once again wishing I started some kind of log from the get-go. Since making my way from home I've made no progress in my search, but I did manage to finish something pretty amazing the other day.[/i]

It wasn't often that mermaid were spotted outside of the Grand Line, though as it happened no one had spotted Suiten yet today in the South Blue. It was early in the afternoon and she was swimming lazily, making as few flicks of her tail as possible to move her forward. The sea was vast, and there were so many stretches of it that were just devoid of anything interesting. It was either water, sand, or darkness as far as the eye could see. This was one of those sections. If she was lucky, Suiten could catch sight of some fish out there, but for the most part she was just swimming aimlessly and bored out of her mind. During these periods of open ocean travel she tried to entertain herself in anyway possible, which sometimes meant she would work on her "travelogue." It usually didn't help. It certainly wasn't now. 

[i]Now I'm going to...[/i] 

She trailed off in her thoughts, pushing her tail once to turn over and float gently down on her back with her face staring blankly up towards the surface. She closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh, a cascade of bubbles escaping her lips.

[i]Narrating to myself is so boring! I need some handsome dummy to dictate to.[/i]

Eventually she felt her back hit the seabed, and she lay there for a little while to doze. A break every now and then wasn't such a bad thing, was it? She could have chosen a more pleasant area to rest, but so far she'd seen barely anything for miles so she didn't find it likely she'd come across a comfier spot anytime soon. Besides, this spot would have been nice enough if not for some irritating noise that was steadily growing louder. She tried ignoring it until it got too much to brush off. 

Flipping around, Suiten's eyes snapped open and her cheeks puffed out into a rather cute looking pout. Her hands were resting on her hips where scale transitioned into skin, and she stared into the dark where the sound of scraping was coming from.

[color=salmon]"What's with the noise?! Some people are trying to... to..."[/color] A shadow loomed over her, and she let out a strangled [color=salmon]"Uwaaah!"[/color] as it passed.

[center]● ● ●[/center]
"Net's pretty heavy t'day."

"Come off it old man, you say that every damn day."

"What's wrong with tryin' to be opta- optermistic? 'Sides, it really is. C'n hardly lift it."

The man, a sun-tanned elder with a cropped haircut, struggled to turn the crank wheel. He let out a grunt as his companion, a shorter but stockier blondie with a rope tied around his forehead rolled his eyes. Commercial fishing vessels had all but cleaned out these waters a few years ago, but some traditional fishermen remained hopeful that their livelihood hadn't disappeared for good. 

After a few minutes of watching the struggle, the younger fisherman stood up.

"Alright, alright, out of the way. Age finally caught up with you huh? Let me do it."

He grasped the crank in both hands and pushed. The look of surprise on his face when it barely moved caused a bout of laughter from the elder. A vein visibly pulsed on his forehead as he put his back into it, gritting his teeth. He made space for his companion to assist and together they hauled the net up from dredging the sea floor. There were fish in it, but not many more than usual. Maybe less even, since so much space was being taken up by one huge specimen. A sleek tail of reds, oranges, and golds about three feet long greeted the men as the crane held their bounty aloft.

The blonde man whistled his appreciation. "I had no idea there were fish this big left around here."

"[i]Told ya[/i] it was heavier th'n usual." The older man stroked the patchy stubble of his chin. He glanced at his partner while the fish wiggled. "Wonder what it is, how much its worth. We could be eating well tonight."

"Haha, the whole town could be if we cook it instead!"

[color=salmon]"Cook who?!"[/color]

The two men screamed and stumbled back as their captured fish finally reoriented herself, sitting up to reveal a human-like body attached to the tail they'd been admiring. She brought her hands up to grip the ropes and glare through the net, but the expression was completely non-threatening thanks to her slightly green face and swirly, dizzy eyes.

[color=salmon]"Ugh... s-so rude..."[/color] She mumbled. Her head was swimming, and not in the normal way.

The more experienced fisher recovered first while the younger was still staring slack-jawed. He coughed into his hand to clear his throat and then asked, "Er... uh... are you okay, miss...?"

[color=salmon]"..."[/color]

"...?"

[color=salmon]"St... do..."[/color]

"Whatcha say...?"

Suiten shook her head vigorously, and though still dizzy she shouted, [color=salmon]"s-stand back if you don't want to be cut to pieces! You humans think you can catch me? H-ha! I can free myself in forty different ways!"[/color]

At this point the blonde man got himself together and stood, holding his hands up to try and placate the mermaid. "Hold on, you're the one that ran into our net! Calm down and we'll get you out."

The crane began to move again to deposit the net on board, but Suiten either hadn't heard the man or didn't believe him. She rummaged in her bag and produced something that looked like the hilt of a sword. It held no blade and was unremarkable, save for the way Suiten was brandishing it. [color=salmon]"I warned you! This thing gathers water and compresses it to be super sharp!"[/color]

"We said we'll let you go!"

[color=salmon]"Hiyah!"[/color] She clicked the button and a puff of air came out of the hilt, but otherwise nothing happened. All three of the people gathered on that little boat held their breaths for a few seconds before letting them out all at once. 

[color=salmon]"Ehe... right. It only works underwater..."[/color]

The blonde sailor facepalmed, while the older man let out a relieved chuckle. "You sure gave us a fright, missy. But we promise not to hurt ya. We're simple folks just lookin' fer some fish, not fish-men."

[color=salmon]"Okay... thank you,"[/color] Suiten said, though she grumbled "mermaid" under her breath. After taking a few moments to relax, she believed the guys didn't have any ill intentions. They worked to lower the crane and open up the net until she was free. She stretched out on the deck of the small vessel while the sailors smiled, a bit mystified by the encounter. Until.

[color=salmon]"Yay~"[/color] Suiten stretched her arms over her head, and the device she'd kept a death grip on slipped from her fingers over the side of the boat. [color=salmon]"Oops."[/color] Still powered on, it sucked in sea water and sliced a chunk out of the ship as it tumbled down below the waves.

"THE BOAT!!"[/hider][h3][color=lightgray][i]Currently[/i] ...[/color][/h3]
[color=salmon]"Treated like a common sea beast..."[/color] Suiten lamented, letting out a dramatic sigh. [color=salmon]"You two really owe me for this."[/color] The blonde sailor leaned over the side of the small ship, both of his hands on the railing and a petulant frown on his face.

"You're the reason we ended up like this in the first place!" he snapped, glancing at the other fisherman as a hand came down on his shoulder.

"Aw let it go Lide, it were only an accident."

"But-"

"S'nothing I can't fix anyway. We'll be back on the ocean t'marra."

The blonde man sighed, just narrowly missing Suiten making a face at him when he looked back to her. After their boat started taking on water all three of them had begun to panic, but with a combination of hasty patching and Suiten pulling the small craft through the water the managed to make it back to the fisherman's home of Ponson Island. During the that time they'd spoken a little, swapped names and introductions, and now they'd pulled up past the dock to let the boat rest on the beach. The men hopped out of the vessel and the older of the two, Silva, turned to Suiten.

"We should be able to rustle something up to repay you, missy."

[color=salmon]"Really?"[/color] she asked, perking up and swimming up close to the shore. Reigning in her eagerness, Suiten covered her smile with the long sleeve of her clothes. [color=salmon]"I mean, if you insist~"[/color]

Lide rolled his eyes. Both men headed up the beach toward what Suiten assumed was their village. While she waited, she pulled herself into the boat and nosed around until she found a newspaper. Then she flopped back out and onto the beach, wiggling down the sand until half of her body was lounging out of the water, borrowed paper held high over her face as she read it. She thumbed through the pages, though none of the articles really interested her. A lot of crime and bad business, some grimy king or something in the Blue she found herself in, a dumb comic strip in the back. She tossed the paper back into the boat.

She was curious as to what the two fishermen would bring her. With a vessel small enough that even she could tow it, albeit slowly, Suiten couldn't imagine they were swimming in riches. ...it couldn't be that they were planning to capture her after all, right? She slunk back into the sea and under the dock just in case. When they returned, they were holding a small bundle of green-yellow fruits. Suiten poked her head out of the water.

"Hope ya don't mind bein' treated to some food."

[color=salmon]"I [i]was[/i] hoping for gold and jewels, buuuuut it'll do~ I'm pretty hungry."[/color] She reached out for one of the fruits. [color=salmon]"What is it?"[/color]

"It's called a pawpaw," Lide answered. "Bet you don't have anything like that underwater. You're in for a treat."

It was true, the fruit was completely unfamiliar to her. The fishermen showed her how to peel the skin away and avoid the seeds when she took a bite. It was delicious, sweet and silky. She asked for another one. 

"By the way, yer a long way from home aren't ya? What brings you 'round these waters?" Silva inquired. 

Suiten remained quiet for a few moments, thinking about how to phrase her answer. [color=salmon]"I'm looking for something. Have either of you ever seen light under the water? Any big bright spots or anything like that?"[/color]

"No. But we're usually heading back by nightfall - I guess it'd be hard to see something like that during the day."

Beside Lide, Silva tipped his head up in thought. "He's right. But... I think I do 'member hearin' about somethin' like that."

[color=salmon]"Really?! Where? What was it?"[/color] 

"It's somethin' I was told by my grandfather. Story he used t'tell, 'bout somethin' called a 'Sea Lamp.' Said he saw it while sailin' plenty o' times, deep underwater." Suiten was hanging on the man's every word as he hummed, scratching his stubbly chin. "Lessee... I think it's s'posed to be north o'here. They called the area somethin' different back then, but it'd be a few days travel by ship. Past Shark Reef fer sure, and if ya reach the palm forest y'gone too far."

The blank stare on Suiten's face told the old man that she had no idea what he was talking about. He raised an eyebrow and said instead, "Ye got a map?"

[color=salmon]"Yes! I picked up a sea chart as soon as I could."[/color] Smiling, the mermaid stuck a hand into her bag and produced a rolled up parchment. She unfurled it, and its strangely glossy surface showed a rough map of the South Blue. Near the corner of the map where the Reverse Mountain stood there were some illegible scribbles and doodles that swooped to the southeast, gradually tapering off around the island they were on now. A record of Suiten's travels, perhaps. Silva reached out to take the chart, startling when the film covering it popped and fell away, leaving him with regular paper in his hands. 

"Waterproof?"

[color=salmon]"Ehe~ impressed? It's the same special kind of bubble we use back on Fishman Island. It wraps around the paper and—"[/color]

"Pffft."

Suiten's head snapped toward Lide. [color=salmon]"What's so funny?"[/color]

"Your drawings- they really suck."

[color=salmon]"[i][b]![/b][/i] W-well, I...!"[/color] Suiten floundered, her cheeks coloring. Her cheeks swelled as they often did when she was embarrassed or pouting and she pointed a finger at the man that dare questioned her drawing ability. [color=salmon]"Let's see you do better!"[/color]

Lide sputtered in response, trying to find a way out of the challenge, while Silva just shook his head at the younger folks' antics. He spread the chart flat on one of the dock's wooden posts and bent over it, marking the area that Suiten might supposedly find the Sea Lamp with a circle and a question mark. He interrupted the rest of Suiten and Lide's argument by handing the girl her map back. 

"There abouts. Remember this is jus' a story I heard, so it could be jus' that: only a story."

Suiten was beaming as she replaced the film over it by dragging what looked like a little wand with an oval at the end of it across the paper. [color=salmon]"Even if it's just a story, it's the first real clue I've found in a long time. Thank you."[/color]

The elder fisherman nodded, then placed his fists on the small of his back and stretched. "S'been a long day for this old timer. I'm headin' back, think I'll turn in early so I can work on the boat soon as the sun's up. Lide, see miss Suiten off will ya?"

Lide waved the old man off as he departed, moving to the end of the dock. Silva and Lide had been very kind to her ever since they scooped her up from the sea floor (well, mostly Silva), so much so that Suiten turned a little sheepish when she admitted, [color=salmon]"Ehe, now I feel kind of bad for breaking your boat."[/color]

"You... you didn't feel bad about it before?" Lide asked, exasperated. He a pawpaw of his own in his hands, and he bit into the flesh of it as he nodded his head out towards the sea. "Well, off you go."

Suiten swam out a ways, slowly. [color=salmon]"No one's ever this eager to get rid of me,"[/color] she said, flicking her tail at the man. He shrugged.

"Mermaids are supposed to be lucky, but seems like it's been the opposite," he said. They'd lost most of their fish, damaged their boat, and had to cut their work day short. 

[color=salmon]"Oho, I'm lucky? Is that true?"[/color]

"Obviously not! It's just another story they tell around here, like the one Silva told you about the Sea Lamp. He's a nice guy, but that's probably why he's being extra nice. No way would anyone else get off scot-free for cutting a hole in his boat."

[color=salmon]"...hmm~ so what do you think would be a lucky outcome after meeting with a mermaid?"[/color]

Lide scoffed, crossing his arms and leaning against one of the poles at the end of the dock. "Something like a treasure chest washing up," he said, and then after a moment followed with, "Or all the fish coming back."

[color=salmon]"I'll see what I can do~"[/color] Suiten sing-songed, earning another scoff from Lide. He waved her off much the same way he'd done Silva earlier and then turned his back on the sea, making his way back to town. Suiten glanced at the map again, imprinting Silva's mark in her mind before splashing below the surface and darting off.