Chapter Text
Blue. It’s the first thing Ziyi notices as he slowly takes in the sight of the boy - the thing - currently entangled in his net. He registers a few murmurs all around and a low whistle coming from his co-captain Xukun, but the rest is drowned out by the sight in front of him. The boy is shimmering, whether it’s from the reflection of the water residue on his skin or the reflections of the sun on his azure scales, Ziyi does not know.
The tides are stronger than usual, Ziyi notes as he leans overboard and gazes at the vast horizon before him. It’s been nearly two weeks since they left port and they’ve yet to manage any significant raids or captures in the meantime. His crew members are getting impatient, he knows, but it’s not like any of them can control their course.
This unpredictability, the danger of not knowing what kind of conquests they’re able to achieve the next day while riding on these relentless waves, it’s what keeps men like him and Xukun going, thirsty for more of the thrill that keeps their blood thrumming through their veins. He doesn’t expect the same for the rest of his men, whose incentives are more of money and survival and it’s Ziyi’s job to keep that balance between the both worlds, to keep the thrill alive while also satisfying his crew’s needs.
This, though, this might give him exactly that.
“Z, we hit jackpot this time,” Xukun’s arm draping across his shoulders sends Ziyi back to the presence.
A merman.
It’s almost outlandish to think about, but Ziyi is somehow unsurprised. For the years they’ve been on the waves, it would have been even stranger if they don’t encounter one or two of these sea creatures. A merman is just a first.
Ziyi continues to gaze down at his captive.
He’s beautiful, which is stating more than the obvious. The boy’s porcelain skin is adorned with jewels made of pearls and shells that are of every single color imaginable. His features are slender but sharp, large brown eyes covered by a sheen layer of dark lashes bat up at him in curiosity. Dark hair is matted down to the boy’s forehead, salty ocean water dripping down and making him look more miserable than he already is. His tail, which arouses the most curiosity, is a deep blue that reminds Ziyi of the ocean’s depth.
“What’s your name?” Ziyi finds himself asking.
The boy snaps up in the direction of his captor and Ziyi could have sworn his eyes sparkled.
“Zhu, my family name,” The boy whispers, voice soft and fleeting and they would have missed it if it weren’t for the complete silence on the ship. “I am called Zhengting. Could you, um, please release me of this bondage?”
Ziyi quickly motions for his crew members to untangle Zhengting, and they follow his orders with reluctance. Xukun quickly pulls him aside.
“What are you doing? This is our chance, you know,” Xukun whispers. “We haven’t been able to track down any stray ships for days. If we sell this thing at the market in Port Pearl, I’ll bet you we can afford a whole new ship and even have enough leftover for a few whorehouses.”
“I know this, but do you think it’ll do us any good if we keep him chained up, especially not knowing what their kind is capable of?” Ziyi replies.
Xukun ponders for a moment and silently agrees, turning back to inspect their newest guest.
“Is this your home?” Zhengting asks, tail flopping a little and Ziyi finds it a little amusing given his situation. “This floating hut?”
“What?” Xukun is startled when he realizes Zhengting is speaking to him.
“This,” Zhengting taps twice on the floorboards as if to explain. “This dwelling made of trees that can float on water. Oak, right? I can smell it from an ocean away.”
“Er, I guess. You could say that it’s our home. We don’t really have one, though, we just go wherever.”
“Go wherever? Oh, that sounds wonderful,” Zhengting gasps and moves, or flaps, closer to Xukun, who flinches back. “I wish I could go wherever but my confinements are within the Orient Tides only and never ever past where the humans are. Not even when my sisters are out hunting. It’s what father says.”
“Wow, uh, that must be sad,” Xukun offers an awkward smile. “Well, at least you got away right?”
Ziyi almost finds it amusing how uncomfortable Xukun is and decides to spare his friend this once, stepping in between the man and merman.
“Zhu Zhengting,” Ziyi’s smile is warm, just welcoming enough. “Tell me, how did you get here? This is a long way from your home.”
“Of course, I followed your floating shelter!” Zhengting’s eyes light up up and Ziyi can’t decide if the merman is too naive or too trusting or both. It works our perfectly in his favor, though, as Zhengting begins to warm up to them and spew on about his journey and himself.
Ziyi doesn’t know much about seapeople’s hierarchy, but he’s shocked to say the least when Zhengting reveals to them he’s of royal blood, and the youngest of three siblings, two of which are mermaids. The chatty prince is all smiles when he talks about humans and how he often sneaks away to shore, hiding behind rocks to watch the fishermen at port and grabbing whatever leftover trinkets he can before sneaking back into the ocean. His treasures, he calls them.
If it were anyone else, anyone human, Ziyi would have found the habit completely absurd, but somehow, it seems almost normal for this to be one of the merman’s quirks. Things like plastic bottles, forks, even leftover pieces of rope become the most valuable playthings for the young prince.
This is also the reason why he’s here in the first place.
“So you’re telling me that you followed our ship, for nearly three miles, because you saw something shiny stuck to our rudder?” Xukun exclaims.
“Oh, but it looked like something I didn’t have in my collection yet, and I just had to chase it,” Zhengting pleads to them like a child getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar, and the two of them exchange an amused glance. “You don’t mind, do you?”
Xukun fakes a sigh, “I guess it’s fine. You’re already here anyway.”
Zhengting looks relieved and Ziyi nearly most feels bad for stringing him along like this. It feels like cheating a child.
“You’ve never been ashore, right? Where the humans are?” Ziyi leans in, almost too close for comfort and captures Zhenting’s gaze. “ Above the water? ”
Zhengting gasps and his eyes are the size of two moons, red lips parting into a gentle gasp, as if Ziyi had just knocked the breath out of him. “No, oh no, never. I’ve only ever managed to sneak behind the rocks and watch. What’s it like?”
“I’ll tell you what, we’re merchants form the south. We’re gonna dock our ship in about a few weeks’ time.” Ziyi explains in deceitful earnest. It doesn’t matter much, though, because he knows Zhengting has caught the bait. “That’s when we’re gonna make a stop to trade our goods. If you don’t mind, we can take you to see it.”
“Would you like to?” Xukun steps up this time, smirk stretching across his lips as he puts a too friendly hand on the merman’s shoulders, the awkwardness from before seemingly washed away by the waves. Ziyi gives him a dirty look.
“Would I- why yes! Of course, yes! Are you certain?” Zhengting’s tail flips up in excitement, as if it’s moving and trembling along with his every word. “Yes! Oh my, I don’t even know what to say. You two are the kindest gentlemen I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.”
We’re the only gentlemen you’ve ever met, Xukun wants to say, but he holds his tongue. This is too good of a chance, he knows the merchants and those circus owners will be tripping over their own coattails to bid for their exotic shipment this time. He’ll be damned if he lets the opportunity slip past.
“Well, we’d be happy to. For now, though, we’ll let you get some rest,” Ziyi says. “I assume you’d be more comfortable in the water, no? We can prepare a tub if you don’t-”
Ziyi’s sentence is interrupted by a small gasp and when Xukun snaps out of his thoughts long enough to look, the merman in front of them is no longer one. Instead, the shimmering azule tail from earlier has been replaced by a set of human leg and a male lower body. Zhengting pushes himself up by the railing and after a few shaky trials, he’s able to stand on his two new human legs.
“Water would be fine, but I have these!” Zhengting exclaims and wiggles his toes for them to see, a proud smile adorning his face. “Look! They’re just like yours. Father said I can’t use them all the time, though, only for when it’s absolutely necessary.”
Once Zhengting is led off to his room, happily chattering and naming out every human item he notices on the way out loud, Xukun approaches his captain.
“Is this your plan?” Xukun says. “He’s a handful, but I can see why this little ‘tour guide’ game could work.”
“We can’t let him find out,” Ziyi replies curtly, the welcoming facade immediately dropping. “It would ruin everything. Next port, we trade him off and go. Don’t dawdle. He’s a prince, and if there’s anything I know about royalty, it’s that they’re a bunch of stubborn bastards. If we have those mermaids sent on our tail with their poisonous songs, it’s over.”
“Aye, aye, cap'n.”
••••••
Zhengting, they find after four weeks, is more than just a handful.
The boy insists that they tell him the name of every single thing he spots on the ship. A fork, a knife, a pole, Xukun’s sword, Ziyi’s badge, the wheel, the toilet.
Everything.
Xukun finds himself feeling more drained after spending one day with Zhengting than he has ever been on any of their battles.
“Kunkun!” The nickname is what Zhengting has decided to give him (against his will) and it’s stuck ever since. Xukun plasters on a rigid smile when he sees the boy running toward him. “A handkerchief!”
“Yes, a handkerchief, it’s lovely,” The barely concealed sarcasm drips through in his voice, but Zhengting is too elated with his new finding to notice or care. He runs off to show Ziyi and the pitter patter of bare feet on the ship makes Xukun smile a little despite himself.
Zhengting may be a pain in the ass for some (all) the of the time they’ve been together, but he’s not horrible to be around, despite what Xukun would say at any other time. Ziyi jokes one night that Xukun might be falling for the beautiful merman already. Ziyi also gets a fork stabbed in his leg two seconds later.
Xukun finds Zhengting’s innocence and his hunger for knowledge about the human world nothing short of entertaining, and he uses it to his advantage, leaning in too close when Zhengting talks too much sometimes, about the sea or sisters or his dolphin friends, and tries to see if the prince would ever stop rambling long enough to get embarrassed (he does.) The heat rises in Zhengting’s cheeks every time he catches Xukun’s glance for a second too long, the latter’s lips quirking up into an amused smile as Zhengting blushes, gaze flashing back down to his feet.
Zhengting is curious about anything and everything and Xukun can’t help himself from playing around a little. It does come back to bite him eventually though.
“Zhengting, did you know that I get seasick often?” Xukun’s eyes are downcast and there’s a pout on his lips.
"Oh no, is it serious?” Zhengting is immediately on his feet, hands already all over Xukun’s face, checking for injuries and completely missing the fact that Xukun is a pirate. “Is there medicine? Do you guys have a physician?”
“No I’m fine,” A fake cough. “But you know what they say can heal seasickness? A kiss from a merman.” Another fake cough.
Zhengting immediately leans in and lands a wet kiss on Xukun’s cheek, who pulls back in shock. The prince holds his face in place, though, eyes hard and serious.
“Is it gone? This seasickness?” Zhengting asks and Xukun prays to Poseidon to stop his heart from jumping out of his chest. “I can try again.”
And he leans once more only to be shoved back by Xukun.
“I’m great, I’m all better. I- uh,” Xukun scramble onto his feet and escapes within a second, cheeks already burning up like a fever. “I gotta check the compass.”
Their dynamics don’t change much, still revolving around same old routine, except now they have another chatterbox on board and every crewman is working as hard as possible to get their ship to Port Pearl in time for the Auction, which is where the magic will happen. Xukun is excited, of course, this deal will garner more than enough gold to feed him and the rest of the ship for the rest of their lives. Something else, though, stirs in his stomach, and he blames it on the bad food (even though it’s the same meals they’ve had all throughout the journey.) When he looks at Zhengting’s blooming smile, the same nagging feeling grows just a little stronger.
Ziyi, unlike Xukun who wears his emotions on his sleeve, is all stoic iciness. The cracks show through, though, of course they do. His softer side, when he’s more of a teammate and a friend than an commanding captain, surfaces when he’s with Zhengting. Ziyi does not raise his voice, even when Xukun can tell he’s losing his patience. He carefully explains and answers every question Zhengting asks and sometimes, when Ziyi thinks no one is watching (which of course, someone, namely a certain co-captain, always is), he dares to crack a gentle smile when the merman babbles on a little too excitedly about the newest thing he’s learned that day.
Ziyi’s hard edges, from years and years of being on the sea and having the blood of hundreds on his hand, feel like they’re crumbling down with every loud laugh that emits from the smaller merman next to him.
Xukun thinks that if this Ziyi is just pretend, if this mellow facade is all part of their master plan to gain Zhengting’s trust, Ziyi is better off becoming an actor than a pirate.
Xukun likes Zhengting. He won’t deny it. What he refuses to acknowledge is the way Ziyi is getting too close to the merman for comfort, it leaves a sour taste in his mouth and he tells himself it’s because Ziyi is beginning to forget their original goal. After all, who has ever heard of a captor befriending his prisoner?
••••••
Ziyi comes back to his cabin one night to be greeted by Xukun’s towering presence in front of his door.
Xukun looks up at his entrance, but his eyes hold a dangerous gleam.
“What is it, Kun? Finally decided to rebel?” Ziyi says without moving a step further. “Don’t want to share the wheel anymore? You’re not usually this reckless.”
Xukun laughs, but there is no humor.
“Don’t talk to me about being reckless when you know exactly what you’re doing, Z,” Xukun steps closer to his captain. It’s a warning. “I never expected this from you, out of all people. Don’t think I didn’t see it, this lover’s act you’ve put up, it’s not an act anymore, is it? You’ve grown attached to him.”
It doesn’t take much thinking for Ziyi to know who Xukun is talking about.
“And what of it?” Ziyi doesn’t deny the accusation. He knows he’s more honest to himself than that. Xukun, though, is another matter, and Ziyi knows it will take more than just a fight to get the same truth out of his friend. “Are you telling me that tomorrow, as soon as dawn cracks, you can sell him at the Auction and brush him off our plate, as if the last few months didn’t happen?”
The silence drags on and neither refuses to make the next move until Ziyi closes the distance between them, “Tell me, Xukun, and be fucking honest for once. Not to me, but to yourself. If I told you to come down into his bunk right now, chain him, and pass him to another pirate or merchant or whoever it is that you so desperately need that gold from, could you do it?”
Ziyi feels Xukun’s answer before he could hear it. He forgets that Xukun can pack a hard punch when he needs to. Ziyi is quicker on his feet though, and he knocks the other man down on his knees with a kick before slamming his body down to the floorboards.
“Shut your mouth,” Xukun seethes, fingers trembling. “That was the original plan anyway. He was never supposed to be anything more than our goods. You know he’s worth more than his weight in gold. It’s your fucking fault that you had to become all fond of him and get attached.”
“You’ve always been blunt, Xukun. Your honesty is your weapon and you’ve never been afraid to pull the truth out of everyone, our prisoners, our allies, so why can’t you do the same for yourself?” Ziyi’s voice rising with each syllable and the rawness in it makes Xukun flinch. “We can’t do that to him. Not anymore. You know this better than I do.”
Xukun flips himself upright and stares Ziyi down, balling his hands into fists and Ziyi doesn’t retaliate, body tensing to ready himself for another punch that doesn’t come.
“What are you doing? ” Zhengting shrieks and stumbles in front of them, squeezing his body in front of Ziyi and it effectively stops Xukun in his tracks. “Why are you hurting each other?”
The merman's pupils are shaking with fear and fury and confusion.
“I- it’s nothing, Zhengting, why are you awake?” Ziyi smiles at the merman despite the blood slowly trickling down his chin.
“It’s not nothing, look at you! Kunkun, Ziyi, apologize, now.”
“Me?”
“Apologize?”
The two captains reply at the same time, the almost childish command shocking the both of them.
“Yes. You don’t hurt your friends. Ever.” Zhengting’s eyebrows are knitted tight and Xukun wishes he didn’t find the angry expression on the boy’s face adorable.
Ziyi laughs in spite of the situation and squeezes a hand on Xukun’s shoulder, “You’re right. Sorry, Kun. I was a little too rough.”
Zhengting smiles expectantly at Xukun, but he refuses to give in, choosing instead to shake off Ziyi’s hand and storming off to the deck.
“Don’t worry about it, he’s just throwing a tantrum.” Ziyi takes off his coat and drapes it over Zhengting. It wears like a huge blanket on the boy’s smaller frame. “Go back to your room before you catch a cold.”
Zhengting purses his lips before handing the coat back to Ziyi, “I’ll be fine, let me go check on him. You shouldn’t let your friends go to sleep sad or angry.”
The merman runs off after Xukun and Ziyi doesn’t know why there’s a tinge in his chest as he watches the merman's shadow disappear into the night.
••••••
“Kunkun.”
“Don’t fucking call me that.”
Zhengting flinches back at Xukun’s harsh tone but he takes a careful step forward, just close enough to see Xukun, but far enough not to intrude his personal space.
“Xukun. You’re hurt,” Zhengting takes another tentative step and when Xukun doesn’t make a move to tell him off, he closes the distance in between them. “Let me help you.”
Xukun looks up to the sounds of a bottle shattering and Zhengting running a shard swiftly across his arm.
“What are you doing?” Xukun yells. “Are you crazy?”
Zhengting is determined, though, as he holds Xukun’s arm down in place and places his own cut over Xukun’s scratches so his blood would drip into the wound.
“It’s an old trick that my grandma taught me. The reason why the royal line is so important is because our blood can heal wounds,” Zhengting’s smile is kind even though the bleeding cut on his arm looks nothing less than painful.
Xukun thinks about how much more money Zhengting would be worth if everyone knew about this, merchants and doctors offering up entire fortunes just to claim Zhengting as their own, to be used, experimented, and he's surprised to find a strange kind of anger bubbling up at the thought.
He stays silent, though, eyes following Zhengting’s nimble fingers as he patches up the scratches with his own shirt and wipes himself down after. Xukun can’t help but think that this prince must be an idiot because the cut Zhengting gave himself looks even more serious than his own injuries.
“The fight,” The merman speaks again, voice careful and poaching this time. “Was it about me? Did I do something that made you angry?”
Zhengting is staring at him now, searching for an answer, eyes glazed over with sincerity, and it makes Xukun feels like the pressure of the world will be on his entire shoulders if he says the wrong thing and it somehow makes the merman cry.
Xukun sighs, “No. It’s not about you. Ziyi and I just had a disagreement. It’s stupid.”
The prince doesn’t look convince but he doesn’t want to push his limits, choosing instead to plop down next to Xukun.
“You’re kind, Xukun,” Zhengting says. “I know you don’t believe it but you are. Thank you.”
Xukun wants to say it’s his mind playing tricks on him when all he can think about his leaning in and capturing Zhengting’s plump lips with his own. He can’t help but think that Zhengting here and now, shoulder barely pressing to his and soft voice making his heart tremble, is right where he needs to be. The thought sends chills down his back because if he falls down this hole, there would be nothing pulling him back up and it could easily leave him to drown.
Xukun’s never had anything to lose before, Ziyi being the closest thing to family he’s ever had, so he’s scared, terrified, but as his breath hitches in the back of his throat at Zhengting’s smile, his vision blurring out everything but the merman for a couple of seconds, he thinks that maybe, Ziyi just might be right.
••••••
The sky tonight is covered by a blanket of stars and their ship is gently rocking in tune with the dark waves, time seemingly slows down just barely enough for them to all catch their breaths. Zhengting joins the two of them on the deck after he’s forced to put all the utensils he not-so-discreetly stole back to the kitchen. (“You guys have a million of these things! It’s so unfair that I can’t keep one.” “There will be more amazing things at the marketplace, Zhengting, now please put the forks back, we only have enough sets for each person and you’re already sharing with us.”)
It’s a comfortable silence as Ziyi quietly watches Zhengting’s sandy hair being pushed back with the force of the wind. It’s moments like these where he can look at him, really look at him that he really does see how the merman is a prince in every sense of the word. His eyes are a sparkling brown that swirls and fades and kaleidoscopes if they stare long enough, which they do. Zhengting gazes across the vast surface of the waves and a serene look washes over his features.
The sight is so beautiful it startles the two of them into silence.
Where others might have seen the ocean as an unknown depth, swallowing and consuming careless sailors with the misfortune of falling into its grasp, Zhengting sees a home, safety, where the creatures that roam its depths are his friends and the water that’s been in his entire life brings a comforting peace.
Comfort and peace, though, is not enough, never enough, and that’s where the problem lies. Much like the human men accompanying him, Zhengting yearns for more, more than what his home can give him. He yearns to break out of the familiarity and shell that his father and sisters have enclosed him in in the last twenty years, and it's this fresh air, this wind, this sound of feet running across the creaking floorboards and shouts of commands that have begun to make him feel alive, and the young prince is afraid he won’t ever want to come back.
“You know, I’m glad I met you two,” Zhengting says, eyes still faraway, but both of his hands slip into Xukun and Ziyi’s. Neither pull away. “Humans are not all good, like you guys might think.”
Ziyi stiffens, but he keeps his attention on Zhengting.
“Before, humans and seapeople coexisted as one,” Zhengting fondly smiles as he retells the story. “My mother used to tell me stories of when mermen and mermaids would swim up to shore, all the way up to the sand - I’ve only ever touched sand once in my life, can you believe it? - and they would converse and play and sometimes even fall in love with humans. It seems like just a dream now, though.”
Zhengting trails off and his voice is sad, which sounds so wrong and out of place that it makes the two of them look up.
“And why’s that?” Ziyi asks even though he knows the answer.
“The peace between and land and sea people lasted until humans decided that our lives were worth a price,” Zhengting sighs. “That’s the whole reason why my father is so dead-set about keeping me down there, as far as possible from your people.”
Zhengting senses the uncomfortable silence that descends on the atmosphere and quickly brightens up, pulling the both of them in for a tight hug.
“Don’t take it the wrong way!” The prince grins and his eyes crinkle until they disappear. “I’m telling you this because you guys are my first land friends and I trust you. Of course I know you wouldn’t hurt me."
Xukun coughs out a loud laugh that makes even him cringe, “Right, that would never happen. Because you’re our friend.”
Zhengting gasps softly at the word and his eyes becomes impossibly wider. “Yes. Friends. That’s what we are.”
The label puts Zhengting on cloud nine for the rest of the night and after many, many stories from Xukun and Ziyi of their travels and the mundane everyday activities of humans, Zhengting bids the both of them goodnight with matching pecks on their cheeks and a giggle before running back inside his own cabin, almost tripping over his own human legs.
The feeling of Zhengting’s lips linger and so does the gnawing guilt that plagues both of their cloudy hearts.
The next morning, their navigator announces they will be arriving at Port Pearl in exactly three days.