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Mutiara: Legend of the Seas (Non-Canon)

Episode 8

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    Some time has passed since Mutiara was exiled by the Greek mermaids, and she is still depressed. She had distanced herself from the others, seldom talking to them. Squally decides to swim up to the lonely mermaid and talk to her.

Squally: Mutiara, you’ve been distancing yourself from us since we left that sea. It’s not good to be alone; mermaids are supposed to be with other mermaids.
Mutiara: Are they? What does that matter for me? My clan is gone, I’m being hunted by a cecaelia, and the mermaids around the world think I’m a freak. I don’t think I belong anywhere.
Squally: I understand what it’s like for nobody to want you. I was the runt of my old pod’s young. I didn’t have a lot of friends until I met you. But we have each other, and we’ll always stick together, no matter what.

   Mutiara sighs a deep, sad sigh, and he distances herself further from Squally, much to his bewilderment. Squally swims back to the trio, now even more worried about his best friend.

Squally: Is Mutiara going to be ok?
Mooki: She has a lot on her mind right now.
Saturn: Teenagers fall into a phase like this at times. I’ve seen it before.
Mooki: *pokes her head out of the water* Keekar, anything ahead of us worth noting?
Keekar: There’s a storm brewing in. A nasty one.
Saturn: Mutiara, take shelter between us, and hold on as tight as you can.

   Mutiara sees the changing patterns and swims to the larger marine animals. She holds onto Mooki for dear life as the storm reaches full power. It thrashes them around, disorientating them. Mutiara loses her grip, but Saturn catches her in his mouth with precision and caution. They find a cove for Mutiara to seek shelter in, but it closes off before Squally can squeeze in.

Squally: What do we do now?!
Mooki: We have to wait for the storm to end! We have no choice!

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   Eventually, the storm came to an end as soon as it began. Mutiara finds an exit on the other side of the cove, finding herself in unfamiliar waters. She has reached the seas of Baja California. She hears a scuffle and hides. Is it Sotong? Fortunately no. It’s a new mermaid. She looks a lot like her own kin, but her tail is black and more whale-like rather than dolphin-like. She was wearing a top made of kelp, and she was holding a knife made from a sawfish’s rostrum. She is battling a barracuda. The fish inflicts a savage bite on the arm, but it doesn’t stop the fierce mermaid from continuing her fight. The fight ends when the mermaid stabs the barracuda, and then bites its throat out, killing it quickly. The Omature mermaid starts feeding on her kill on a spot, causing a repulsed Mutiara to gag at the sight. She had never seen a mermaid act so barbaric before. The Omature mermaid hears Mutiara and turns to her direction fiercely, causing the stranger to jump in fright.

Keina: Did you smell the blood, outsider?
Mutiara: I heard the fight.
Keina: Hmm, you look like me, but with a different color tail. From your scent, it’s clear you are not an Omature like me.

   The mermaid continues gorging herself on the kill. Mutate stays put; she has never been this wary around another mermaid before. They are usually peaceful and friendly, but this one seems dangerous.

Keina: Why are you in my turf, stranger?
Mutiara: I’m fleeing from a cecaelia who is hunting me.
Keina: You choose fight over flight?
Mutiara: How can I fight her? I’m not like you. I guess I should go. I don’t belong here, or anywhere for that matter.

   Mutiara turns away and prepares to leave. The mermaid sees her leaving. A part of her felt some sympathy for her. Stashing her kill in a safe spot, she swam up to Mutiara, stopping her where she floats.

Keina: I can teach you how to properly hunt and fight. My people are fierce fighters. We have to be if we are to hunt the Rojo Diablo.
Mutiara: Rojo Diablo?

   The Omature mermaid turns around, revealing multiple suction cup scars all over her back. They were much smaller than Sotong’s auction cups.

Mutiara: A squid did this?
Keina: Make no mistake, amiga. The Rojo Diablo are vicious, but they may be worthy of practice for you. I am Keina, by the way.
Mutiara: Mutiara.
Keina: I will teach you how to fight like an Omature, Mutiara. If you are to survive your cecaelia, give her a taste of true combat. Fight ferocity with ferocity. I presume she gave you that scar, si?
Mutiata: Huh?

   Keina points to the long scar running from Mutiara’s chest to her belly.

Mutiara: Oh. She did.
Keina: Come. Your training begins soon.

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   Mutiara follows Keina to her clan in an enclosed region. Some of the adolescent mermen approach Mutiara, but Keina violently repels them. This shocked Mutiara; mermaids aren’t usually hostile to each other. They soon reached an open area surrounded by a huge kelp forest. Keina gives Mutiara her spear.

Keina: Your opponents will likely be hostile to you. Show me what skills you do know.

   Mutiara takes the spear, and gently thrusts it forward, similarly to how her father showed. Kina shakes her head.

Keina: Try again, a little harder.

   Mutiara does it again, slicing a piece of kelp off its branch. Keina assesses the attacks.

Keina: Sloppy, but better. It’s clear your people are not much fighters. Again.

   As weeks passed, Mutiara’s training intensified. Her friends watched from the kelp forest. They had been hanging around, but had kept a fair distance from the clan after witnessing them butcher a tiger shark that attacked them. After much trial and error, Mutiara’s skills in combat have improved. She and Keina return to her friends, and the congratulate her.

Saturn: Not bad, kid. Your dad would consider you a worthy hunter.
Keina: Not yet. She has practiced enough, but she will not be considered a true hunter yet. To do that, she must test her skills agains the Rojo Diablo. Come.

   Keina leads Mutiara and the group to the hunting grounds of the Rojo Diablo, or Humboldt squid. Each was as long as Mutiara. This made her nervous.

Mooki: You want her to kill a squid?
Keina: These squid are vicious. Mutiara, catch and kill two of them. One for me, and one for you.
Mutiara: I can do this. Don’t worry.

   Using the new skills she learned, Mutiara lunges at the Humboldt squids. After making several mock charges, she manages to use her new thrust technique to impale one squid. Another one inflicts some savage scars on her tail, but Mutiara strikes it with her fluke, though it now won’t let go. After a bit of a struggle, she grabs that squid and uses her new knife to cut it open, spilling blood and ink. She leaves the territory with her prizes, giving one of the dead squids to Keina.

Keina: Not bad. You have done well, child.
Mutiara: Thank you, Keina. It means a lot to me.

   In gratitude, and to sharpen her skills more, Mutiara decides to stay with the Omature clan a little while longer. One day, the seasons change, prompting the clan to leave and join migrating sperm whales to find a new location. Mutiara and company decide to accompany them. As they leave, however, a rogue clan of Omature mermen attacks Keina’s clan. They capture several of the mermaids. Three of them then go for Mutiara, who tries to fight them off. She kills one and injures the second, but the third one grabs Keina. Mutiara goes for the third and fights him, but he slashes her with his dagger. He grabs her and draws a knife, but Keina rams him.

Mutiara: Keina!
Keina: I’ll hold them off! You get out of here with your friends!

   Hesitant to abandon her new friend, Mutiara leaves, knowing she is giving her a head start. One of the mermen pursues her and misses in slashing her with his spear, though it cuts her necklace, causing it to fall off and sink into the sea.

Mutiara: My necklace!
Mooki: Leave it! Your safety is more important!

   Mooki and Saturn press Mutiara forward. She looks back one more time to see the rogue Omatures taking Keina away. It seems as quickly as she makes new friends, she loses them. The gang eventually stops to rest. Mutiara yells out in frustration.

Squally: Mutiara?
Mutiara: I’m tired! I’m tired of swimming from my fears, I’m tired of suffering bad luck, I’m tired of losing friends and family! This is all Sotong’s fault! Next time I see that bitch, I’m bringing the fight to her! She’ll pay for Mom, for Dad, for Hugo, for Keina… for everything…

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To be continued...

Characters & Story (c) Me & Dinossword

Description
Mutiara: Legend of the Seas (Non-Canon)

Episode 8

----------

    Some time has passed since Mutiara was exiled by the Greek mermaids, and she is still depressed. She had distanced herself from the others, seldom talking to them. Squally decides to swim up to the lonely mermaid and talk to her.

Squally: Mutiara, you’ve been distancing yourself from us since we left that sea. It’s not good to be alone; mermaids are supposed to be with other mermaids.
Mutiara: Are they? What does that matter for me? My clan is gone, I’m being hunted by a cecaelia, and the mermaids around the world think I’m a freak. I don’t think I belong anywhere.
Squally: I understand what it’s like for nobody to want you. I was the runt of my old pod’s young. I didn’t have a lot of friends until I met you. But we have each other, and we’ll always stick together, no matter what.

   Mutiara sighs a deep, sad sigh, and he distances herself further from Squally, much to his bewilderment. Squally swims back to the trio, now even more worried about his best friend.

Squally: Is Mutiara going to be ok?
Mooki: She has a lot on her mind right now.
Saturn: Teenagers fall into a phase like this at times. I’ve seen it before.
Mooki: *pokes her head out of the water* Keekar, anything ahead of us worth noting?
Keekar: There’s a storm brewing in. A nasty one.
Saturn: Mutiara, take shelter between us, and hold on as tight as you can.

   Mutiara sees the changing patterns and swims to the larger marine animals. She holds onto Mooki for dear life as the storm reaches full power. It thrashes them around, disorientating them. Mutiara loses her grip, but Saturn catches her in his mouth with precision and caution. They find a cove for Mutiara to seek shelter in, but it closes off before Squally can squeeze in.

Squally: What do we do now?!
Mooki: We have to wait for the storm to end! We have no choice!

----------

   Eventually, the storm came to an end as soon as it began. Mutiara finds an exit on the other side of the cove, finding herself in unfamiliar waters. She has reached the seas of Baja California. She hears a scuffle and hides. Is it Sotong? Fortunately no. It’s a new mermaid. She looks a lot like her own kin, but her tail is black and more whale-like rather than dolphin-like. She was wearing a top made of kelp, and she was holding a knife made from a sawfish’s rostrum. She is battling a barracuda. The fish inflicts a savage bite on the arm, but it doesn’t stop the fierce mermaid from continuing her fight. The fight ends when the mermaid stabs the barracuda, and then bites its throat out, killing it quickly. The Omature mermaid starts feeding on her kill on a spot, causing a repulsed Mutiara to gag at the sight. She had never seen a mermaid act so barbaric before. The Omature mermaid hears Mutiara and turns to her direction fiercely, causing the stranger to jump in fright.

Keina: Did you smell the blood, outsider?
Mutiara: I heard the fight.
Keina: Hmm, you look like me, but with a different color tail. From your scent, it’s clear you are not an Omature like me.

   The mermaid continues gorging herself on the kill. Mutate stays put; she has never been this wary around another mermaid before. They are usually peaceful and friendly, but this one seems dangerous.

Keina: Why are you in my turf, stranger?
Mutiara: I’m fleeing from a cecaelia who is hunting me.
Keina: You choose fight over flight?
Mutiara: How can I fight her? I’m not like you. I guess I should go. I don’t belong here, or anywhere for that matter.

   Mutiara turns away and prepares to leave. The mermaid sees her leaving. A part of her felt some sympathy for her. Stashing her kill in a safe spot, she swam up to Mutiara, stopping her where she floats.

Keina: I can teach you how to properly hunt and fight. My people are fierce fighters. We have to be if we are to hunt the Rojo Diablo.
Mutiara: Rojo Diablo?

   The Omature mermaid turns around, revealing multiple suction cup scars all over her back. They were much smaller than Sotong’s auction cups.

Mutiara: A squid did this?
Keina: Make no mistake, amiga. The Rojo Diablo are vicious, but they may be worthy of practice for you. I am Keina, by the way.
Mutiara: Mutiara.
Keina: I will teach you how to fight like an Omature, Mutiara. If you are to survive your cecaelia, give her a taste of true combat. Fight ferocity with ferocity. I presume she gave you that scar, si?
Mutiata: Huh?

   Keina points to the long scar running from Mutiara’s chest to her belly.

Mutiara: Oh. She did.
Keina: Come. Your training begins soon.

----------

   Mutiara follows Keina to her clan in an enclosed region. Some of the adolescent mermen approach Mutiara, but Keina violently repels them. This shocked Mutiara; mermaids aren’t usually hostile to each other. They soon reached an open area surrounded by a huge kelp forest. Keina gives Mutiara her spear.

Keina: Your opponents will likely be hostile to you. Show me what skills you do know.

   Mutiara takes the spear, and gently thrusts it forward, similarly to how her father showed. Kina shakes her head.

Keina: Try again, a little harder.

   Mutiara does it again, slicing a piece of kelp off its branch. Keina assesses the attacks.

Keina: Sloppy, but better. It’s clear your people are not much fighters. Again.

   As weeks passed, Mutiara’s training intensified. Her friends watched from the kelp forest. They had been hanging around, but had kept a fair distance from the clan after witnessing them butcher a tiger shark that attacked them. After much trial and error, Mutiara’s skills in combat have improved. She and Keina return to her friends, and the congratulate her.

Saturn: Not bad, kid. Your dad would consider you a worthy hunter.
Keina: Not yet. She has practiced enough, but she will not be considered a true hunter yet. To do that, she must test her skills agains the Rojo Diablo. Come.

   Keina leads Mutiara and the group to the hunting grounds of the Rojo Diablo, or Humboldt squid. Each was as long as Mutiara. This made her nervous.

Mooki: You want her to kill a squid?
Keina: These squid are vicious. Mutiara, catch and kill two of them. One for me, and one for you.
Mutiara: I can do this. Don’t worry.

   Using the new skills she learned, Mutiara lunges at the Humboldt squids. After making several mock charges, she manages to use her new thrust technique to impale one squid. Another one inflicts some savage scars on her tail, but Mutiara strikes it with her fluke, though it now won’t let go. After a bit of a struggle, she grabs that squid and uses her new knife to cut it open, spilling blood and ink. She leaves the territory with her prizes, giving one of the dead squids to Keina.

Keina: Not bad. You have done well, child.
Mutiara: Thank you, Keina. It means a lot to me.

   In gratitude, and to sharpen her skills more, Mutiara decides to stay with the Omature clan a little while longer. One day, the seasons change, prompting the clan to leave and join migrating sperm whales to find a new location. Mutiara and company decide to accompany them. As they leave, however, a rogue clan of Omature mermen attacks Keina’s clan. They capture several of the mermaids. Three of them then go for Mutiara, who tries to fight them off. She kills one and injures the second, but the third one grabs Keina. Mutiara goes for the third and fights him, but he slashes her with his dagger. He grabs her and draws a knife, but Keina rams him.

Mutiara: Keina!
Keina: I’ll hold them off! You get out of here with your friends!

   Hesitant to abandon her new friend, Mutiara leaves, knowing she is giving her a head start. One of the mermen pursues her and misses in slashing her with his spear, though it cuts her necklace, causing it to fall off and sink into the sea.

Mutiara: My necklace!
Mooki: Leave it! Your safety is more important!

   Mooki and Saturn press Mutiara forward. She looks back one more time to see the rogue Omatures taking Keina away. It seems as quickly as she makes new friends, she loses them. The gang eventually stops to rest. Mutiara yells out in frustration.

Squally: Mutiara?
Mutiara: I’m tired! I’m tired of swimming from my fears, I’m tired of suffering bad luck, I’m tired of losing friends and family! This is all Sotong’s fault! Next time I see that bitch, I’m bringing the fight to her! She’ll pay for Mom, for Dad, for Hugo, for Keina… for everything…

----------

To be continued...

Characters & Story (c) Me & Dinossword