Navigational Woes - (III)

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"Shit."

That was the only word going through Kerri's mind at the moment as he attempted to speed away from his pursuers, cutting through the water like a knife through butter. He had only popped his head up out of the water for a few seconds, but it had been enough for them to spot him. The wrong place at the wrong time he supposed, but before he had realised what was happening, the boat had loomed up behind him. It was his mistake to breach the surface of the ocean and now he was paying for it.

A net was dropped into the water, the merman nimbly dodging it with his superior underwater agility. Unfortunately, he dodged straight into the shot of a speargun, the pointed weapon piercing Kerri just below his shoulder.

Above the water, the culprits of the attack were gathered on the one side of their ship, staring down into the water as the red filtered through it's depths. One man, who's rather opulent looking hat did nothing to hide his lack of hygiene, slapped the man carrying the base of the speargun.
"You're not supposed to damage the merchandise, goddamn it!" He yelled, spittle flying from his mouth.

The second man shrunk backwards at these words, clinging to the speargun as if it were a lifeline. He was incredibly relieved when his captain turned around to motion to crew members further up the deck.
"Drop the seastone one!"

Back in the water, Kerri was attempting to pull the spear from his body. Before he could register it's descent through the water, the seastone net was upon him, tangling the young merman within it's mesh-like walls.



A short distance of the ocean away, a small ship was sailing through the cold morning breezes. Although the ship didn't have much of a crow's nest, one individual was hanging off the mast. For most, it would be a mystery how she got up there, but for those who were used to her personality - those who traveled on her ship - it would be a normal occurrence.

Holding on to the mast with one arm and balancing herself with her feet, Shiori shielded her eyes with her remaining arm, squinting at something in the distance. It looked like there was another ship over there. Perhaps it belonged to pirates? She could quite tell as it seemed that the sails had been taken down temporarily.

Shiori smiled, weakly but relieved, as the receptionist explained that this Daisuke person was free to take a look at Kerri. The quicker they got help for him, the better after all. The tawny haired captain felt useless in that all she could do for the merman was to carry him here, but at least now he would be in the hands of people who were capable of healing him.

When the door opened to the platinum haired man Shiori didn't even have time to say anything to explain their situation before Daisuke had already said to bring Kerri inside. She was internally grateful that they didn't need too much explanation, Hayes handling the questions that the doctor asked.

Shiori gently helped Daisuke set Kerri down on the bed before stepping back a few paces so that the doctor had enough space to work. She watched the merman worriedly, but looked up at the doctor as he spoke of how he could still treat Kerri. A smile, although small, graced her features at that. She hated to see one of her friends so ill like this, but at least the doctor seemed confident that something could be done.

The tawny haired captain wasn't particularly squeamish, but she couldn't help but think the wound looked pretty gross as Daisuke cleaned it. After he had given Kerri some sort of drug, Shiori sat down in one of the spare chairs in the room, having been standing the whole time Daisuke was administering treatments.

Looking to the doctor, she finally spoke up, "I don't know what else there is to say really. Some assholes were trying to capture him, but in the process must have speared him. We freed him and offered him our help," she explained, keeping it brief and mostly reiterating what Hayes had said previously, "As Hayes said, we've been at sea since we met him so he hasn't been able to see a doctor until now..."
Shiori decided to leave out the part where Kerri had been rather stubborn for a while about seeing a human doctor. He had agreed to see one now, so telling Daisuke this wouldn't exactly change anything.

It was at this point that Kerri cried out weakly. It was only a quiet, soft noise, but it was clearly one of pain and the merman seemed to flinch at the same time, almost as if in delayed reaction to the treatments administered. Shiori's green gaze immediately switched to Kerri's form, lay in the bed. He was still out cold, but his breathing was labored. It seemed the drug that Daisuke had administered would take a little time to begin working.

"Well, you did the best you could, then." Daisuke said, looking at the ill merman laid out before him. As he cried out softly in pain, the doctor shook his head. "I wish I could do more for him right now, but too much medicine could be harmful. You're welcome to stay here over night, if you'd like. I doubt you're too close to you ship from here."

Hayes nodded gratefully. He had wondered what they'd do about sleeping arrangements, especially considering that he wouldn't want to leave Kerri alone right now. Looking upon the pained face of the merman, he couldn't help but wonder if he'd be fine after this.

"Thank you, Daisuke. I wouldn't want to be too far away in case an emergency happened." The thankful chef looked from the doctor to Kerrigan, wondering what would happen next. He hoped his merman friend would make it out of this.

Shiori nodded to Daisuke's answer, turning her attention back to the doctor, a sincere expression on her face. "Thankyou." She stood and bowed her head to accompany this acknowledgement. Medicine was something she was not well versed in, but she very much respected those who chose it as their life profession. Whilst she could protect people from bad guys who wanted to hurt them, doctors were the only ones who could save the life of those who were injured or diseased. Her only regret was that she hadn't been able to get her parents to doctors in time.

Lifting her head once more, she smiled warmly at Daisuke before taking a seat again.


Shiori held back a yawn, raising a hand to her mouth as if to deny it's existence. She had adjusted her position in the chair so that her legs were hanging over one of the cushioned arms, whilst her back leaned on the opposing arm. Her white-bound journal was balanced in her lap, open as she flicked through some of the earlier pages with her free hand.

Leaning her head back so that it rested on the arm of the chair and she could see behind her, Shiori watched Daisuke from her upside down viewpoint. She was quiet for a few moments before she spoke up, "Do you have a quill I could borrow?"

As Shiori got up to bow her head, Hayes did the same, speaking with gratitude towards the doctor. He hated seeing people die, ever since his sister had lost her own life to pirates right in front of him. Luckily, he hadn't been in a position to see someone die personally, even though he did attend a few funerals after his sister.

Sitting back down, he quickly fell asleep, the stress and exhaustion finally catching up to him. He wanted to stay awake, to make sure Kerrigan didn't die or anything, but his will wasn't strong enough that night.

Daisuke, meanwhile, was able to keep his eyes wide open, the years of staying up late at night for his patients helping him along with his need to save people. After a few hours passed, he noticed his medicine was finally taking a noticeable effect. The merman's skin was a bit darker, though not by much. It did look healthier, so he assumed this was close to his natural skin tone. The inflammation in his wounded shoulder was lessening, and his breathing was less shallow.

After taking a moment to clean the wound again, with only water this time, he heard the girl speak up. Turning around from Kerri's sleeping form, he looked at Shiori, and without a word, he began looking through his drawers.

"Ah, there it is." The doctor said quietly, pulling out a small, blue feather. Moving over to her, he pushed his hand forward, the quill held lightly inbetween his fingers. "If I may ask, what are you going to write with my quill?"

Shiori smiled and lifted her head up so that her viewpoint was returned to it's normal orientation. She gratefully accepted the blue quill and flicked through the pages of her journal until she was near the back of the notebook. Twisting the small ribbon-like page marker between her fingers, she dipped the quill into a small bottle of ink that she'd pulled from her pocket. It's tip hovered above the paper as contemplated how to start writing.

"I keep a journal so that I can record the stories of all the places i've been to," she replied, gently beginning to scratch away at the page with the quill as she began to write in her northern mother tongue. "So I guess, in a way, i'm writing about you," she chuckled before glancing back at Daisuke. "Nothing bad though, I promise."

She was quiet for a few moments as she finished writing her sentence, before she turned her green gaze back to the doctor. As interested in stories as she was, she decided to make some conversation with Daisuke.
"So how long have you been a doctor for?" she asked. He still looked relatively young, so it was pretty impressive that the practice would hold him in as high esteem as the receptionist seemed to have done earlier on in the day.

"I see." Daisuke nodded as he spoke, looking back at Kerrigan to make sure he was still fine. "I've heard writing down one's own day is cathartic. I wouldn't know,
though. I've never done it."

The doctor walked away for a moment to check on the merman again, looking at his vitals, searching for any problems. After a moment of reading the data he measured, he left Kerri be, not needing to watch him for at least a few moments.

"That's a good question. I've been in this profession for about six years, but I started teaching myself how to create medicines out of plants when I was young," Daisuke said thoughtfully, scratching his chin. He looked over at a picture of his mother on the desk, but moved his gaze away quickly. "When I was thirteen, I had stopped doing anything with medicine. That was the age my mother died. I wasn't able to save her, and I regret that every day of my life."

I hadn't gone back to the practice until my father, who I thought was my uncle at the time, fell ill with the same disease my mother had. No one else could save him, and I didn't want to lose another person I cared about, so I tried again. Luckily, I was able to find the cure to the illness." Daisuke wiped some tears from his eyes. It always hurt to recall those memories, but he never wanted to let them go, either. "It was then that I was determined to find and make a cure for every disease in this world. I haven't lost sight of the dream yet, and I doubt I ever will."

Shiori nodded at Daisuke's suggestion that writing in her journal was likely cathartic in some way. She had always known it as such for herself, but rather than purely recounting the tales of her parents and the former residents of Chime Point, she had expanded to recounting the stories of all those she came across. It was more of a past time that she drew genuine pleasure from nowadays, but it was in times like these where she was glad that such a simple thing could relax her in a way.

She paused in her writings though as she listened intently to Daisuke's words. It seemed that despite still young relative to most others in his profession, he had experienced his fair share of misfortune. Although the tale itself was sad, Shiori couldn't help but smile almost fondly at the man's motivations. She could definitely respect someone with that sort of goal after all.
"Sounds like a lot of work," she commented on his dream, trying not to dwell too much on the sadder side of his past, "But i'm sure you can do it! The people here seem to respect you and your expertise already after all."

She paused, before readjusting her position so that she was leaning her elbow on the arm of the chair, her head resting on her palm as she turned directly to Daisuke.
"Do you think you can cure everything from here, or do you have plans to travel?"

"It really is a lot." Daisuke sighed, grateful that Shiori had listened to his story, and had not, in fact, continued writing while he spoke. Her thoughts on the other workers of the hospital did strike a sore spot in him, though. "Some of the doctors here envy me, so I'm told. Damian told me that they're jealous that I'm so gifted and so young, that they think I didn't work that hard to get where I'm at."

The blond doctor looked back on Kerri again, only to see a peaceful body resting on the bed. He had worried it would have been too late, but it seemed that the two brought the merman in just in time. Not much longer, and he'd be sleeping with the fishes, metaphorically.

"Oh, I plan on leaving Fen one day. I don't know when, but I know I can't stay here to fulfill my dream. There just aren't enough plants here for me to make medicines of," Daisuke said with a small smile. He wondered why the girl was interested in whether he would travel or not, but he guessed that she was simply curious.

Shiori's small smile faded a little as the doctor spoke of how some of his co-workers envied him. That didn't make sense to her at all! "Surely they should just be happy that they have a good doctor like you on their team? You're all doctors to help people in the end, right?" Such a thought process didn't mesh with her own. She couldn't do doctor-y stuff. Hell, she couldn't do anything but fight really. But she wasn't jealous of people like Hayes, or Kerri or Daisuke who had such wonderful talents and skills that she didn't. Instead, she would just ask them for help when she needed it... Other people really were disappointing sometimes.

"How come you haven't left before now then?" she asked gently, merely curious. If she was surrounded by people who were like this with her, she'd probably feel uncomfortable enough to consider leaving. Then again, Daisuke probably had ties to this island that Shiori didn't have in many places. He had saved his father after all. She hadn't been so lucky with her own parents... perhaps that was why she'd never felt drawn to return to Chime Point.

Before Shiori's thoughts could get too melancholy, a small movement from the bed caught her attention. A bleary eyed Kerri seemed to have awoken somewhat. He still looked tired as hell and could probably do with some more rest, but upon realising that Shiori was looking at him, he attempted to sit up a little bit.

The doctor looked down at his desk as the girl spoke, his face a mixture of sorrow and disappointment. He wished that that was the case, and not what the reality of the situation was.

"That's how I see it, too." Daisuke said, looking back at Shiori, a hurt look on his face. "I just want them to realize that it isn't about the rewards or the praise. I'm here to help people, and I always have been."

He sat down in his chair, looking over some paperwork. After getting a slight headache within only a few seconds, the words blurring together, he decided he wasn't fit to write anything about the patient. Taking his mind off of that, he turned back towards Shiori.

"I haven't had the chance to. I've always had something to do here." As he spoke, he heard the rustling of blankets and turned around to stare at the waking body of Kerri. Taking great care not to speak loudly, he greeted the merman. "Ah, I see that you've awoken. Do you remember anything before passing out, or where you are? I just need to make sure the medications didn't alter your memory."

Kerri stared blearily at the silver haired man for a moment before he appeared to realise that he was in fact looking at a complete stranger. He scrambled backwards on the bed, his breathing shallow and panicky. In his brief panic he forgot just what he was doing here, and it was only after the man spoke that Kerri managed to calm himself down.

It's just a doctor. It's just a doctor, he attempted to reason with himself. After a few moments of silence between them, Kerri finally managed to get a few words out to actually answer the doctor's question.
"Uh- I... I remember Shiori.... carrying me here..." he answered quietly, still cautious in the presence of the stranger. He was especially aware that he was practically defenseless here. There was no water source nearby, and on land his movements were severely hindered.

Kerri's wide gaze flicked around the room, observing his surroundings until they rested upon the tawny haired girl. Shiori merely smiled as she met his gaze, happy that he was alright despite having passed out on the way here. Kerri couldn't help but feel calmer just knowing that she was here as well and looked back to the man whom he assumed must have taken care of him.

Daisuke backed away slowly from the merman, seeing as his presence had initially startled him. After giving Kerri his space, he waited patiently for a response. After a few moments, he was about to note that the patient wasn't responding verbally, but Kerri had finally spoken up.

"Good, you remember!" The doctor smiled at the merman, moving slightly closer to him. "Now then, if you could, I'd like for you to tell me how your wound feels right now, and anything you can remember specifically about the wound when you had gotten it. After that, I highly implore you to get some more rest, but I can't control you, after all."

Kerri blinked, watching the man carefully as he moved slightly closer to him. The smile seemed to help ease his fears though, perhaps because of how genuine it was.

"Uhm... I mean... it's not as bad as it was before..." he replied quietly. He could still fell the throb of pain from near his shoulder, but it seemed to have improved somewhat. Kerri wasn't sure if this was what was supposed to happen though. For all he knew, maybe it wasn't supposed to hurt at all right now? Perhaps he should have just said it was fine...

"...As for when I got it... I was underwater at the time, and someone shot a speargun at me..."

"That's good," The doctor said, noting it down through his tired state. "I was worried the medicine wouldn't work with your biology, but it seems that your body is similar enough to a human's that the drug works."

After writing down the updates on Kerri's state and his own discoveries of merman biology he could extrapolate from this, he turned back to the merman. Listening closely, he thought for a moment. Being underwater would have certainly been dangerous for a human, but there must be some difference that merpeople would have. They lived underwater, after all. He could be wrong, so he still noted it down.

"Do you remember if there was any rust on the spear?" He spoke gently, but clearly. Even if the spear wasn't rusty, he'd still check for any problems related to rust. Some of the iron could have flaked off, and if he had been in the water for a significant period of time, then those bits of metal could have rusted. "Did you spend time in the water since you recieved this wound?"

Kerri nodded at the doctor's initial words. He supposed that maybe humans and merpeople did share enough of their biology that medicines might be viable for both species considering they could interbreed at times, although such an occasion was usually rare. Still, it was worth being cautious.

He watched curiously as the platinum haired doctor noted something down, and although he was deliberately trying not to be nosy, curiosity got the better of him and Kerri was soon scanning the notes, reading the upside down characters with relative ease. He quickly averted his eyes when the man asked him yet another question.

"O-oh. Uhm. I can't remember," he replied, eyes flicking towards the ceiling as he tried to recall, "I didn't really look to closely at it.... if i'm honest." Kerri turned his gaze to the sheets, gently poking his index fingers together in an almost nervous gesture. Well... he'd pay more attention next time in case he was ever asked questions like this again. On second thoughts, he'd rather there wasn't a next time to be honest, but you never know.

"And I sort of live in the water..." he added quietly, answering the doctor's second question, "It would be weirder for me to be out of it for long periods of time.