Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ To Wish Upon The Sea ❯ Always Under Fire ( Chapter 16 )

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To Wish Upon the Sea

By: Melissa Norvell

Chapter 16: Always Under Fire

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Thanatos slithered to the doorway and looked sorrowful as Manami ran up to him. He turned slightly as he saw the black-haired girl approach him. "Manami…"

"Hey, can we talk?" The black-haired girl asked with a worried expression plastered to her face.

"What do you want to talk about, although I think I know what you want to talk about," Thanatos had an idea at least, and that was that it pertained to his past in some way. The naga knew that Manami wanted to know, just as his family still wondered but he was unsure of what to do about the situation at hand.

"Is that why you hate humans?" The woman dared to ask. "Did something happen to you in the past that involved humans that makes you hate them?" She didn't exactly know what happened, but it was as good of a hunch as any.

"My past isn't important, that's why I don't talk about it," Thanatos tried to shove the matter at hand aside, anything to keep him from reliving those memories. He'd rather forget now, then cling to the hatred that he had in the past, it only made him more insecure and twice as spiteful. He had nearly killed Manami because of it and it would have been the mistake of his life.

"Don't you think it would be less painful to let it go?" Facing your past often gave you the strength to go forward with your life. Manami thought that it might be the case with Thanatos as well.

The naga was silent at her question.

"When are you going to tell someone?" Manami continued after she knew that he wouldn't produce an answer. "The more it sticks around, the more those feelings grow and the more you hate or are sad. It seems like it would just hurt more than saying anything."

Thanatos sighed. This was getting him nowhere. "You won't leave me alone about this, will you?"

"You've always been there for me. I haven't ever hidden anything from you. In fact, I shared everything with you and I'd like it if you did the same for me. It shows that you trust me." After all that they had been through, she was his wife. Manami had a child with this naga king and felt that if she was the closest person to him, then she needed to be trusted. Thanatos could no longer hide behind the black veil that he had with so many others. It was time that the truth came to light and the past be shed.

"It's a weakness and if I look weak in your eyes-" Thanatos began to explain before he was cut off.

"What if you do? We're all weak at one point. It's nothing to be ashamed of." His wife had given him some worth-while advice that she thought he should take into consideration. As much as he wanted to be a piece of stone that held up under anything in his people's eyes, he was merely made of flesh and blood when it all came down to it.

"Fine…" Thanatos had gotten the idea loud and clear. Nothing would come of this situation, especially if he kept trying to cover up his past with her. "I'll tell you, but you'd better not say a word about it to the others…I've never told them what happened to me on that day." Green eyes looked up to the waters above as a school of fish swam peacefully by. "I was just a kid, playing in the deep, blue waters of the seas. Like any child, I was curious about the world around me, so I liked to explore but the water and all of the things under it got boring. All I ever saw was ship wreck after ship wreck or some dead body that was lost at sea."

"Did you find a lot of dead bodies?" Manami wondered just exactly how many people had been drowned by the waters of the strong sea.

"A few. The sea's pretty big so bodies can be eaten or carried elsewhere. Those things got boring to me after a while. Soon, I wanted to see who walked on the land. From what my parents had told me, the naga were the only grownups were allowed to go up there. Children weren't allowed to go to the surface," the black-haired naga explained.

"Children weren't allowed to go to the surface because they'd get caught, right?" Manami asked. It seemed like the obvious answer to her. Children didn't know any better and they would easily fall prey to hunters who might do horrible things to them.

The expression on her husband's face darkened as his frown became more apparent. "That's why that rule existed. Many naga children came up missing in many clans. No one knew what happened to them and many mourned."

"Did they ever figure out that it was the humans?" Manami questioned. The woman would like to think that there was some ease placed on the shoulders of the mourning parents, who were frightened and didn't know where their children were. "I mean, did they ever find any of them?"

Thanatos tipped his head down at the question, his black, slightly wavy hair framed his ivory face. "Yes, they did but not in any way that you'd like to think…"

Manami knew that grim tone only meant one thing. "They were dead…weren't they?"

"Yes," Thanatos closed his eyes as his voice lowered, "yhey were butchered and left on the beach."

"How sad…Those poor little kids. They never had a chance…" The girl's voice was equally low as she glanced down in sorrow and worry. Unfortunately, Yurara would face these problems growing up and Manami could only imagine a mother's pain that had lost their child in a similar way.

"Unfortunately, some adults didn't either. You see, when naga hunters kill a naga, they usually take the hair, scales, fangs and sometimes the eyes. It really depends on what type of naga it is," Thanatos explained the many cruel habits of the hunters.

"Like Awiti's clan, right? They have powers in their eyes," Manami looked up at her love.

"That's exactly why she has an eye patch," Thanatos replied, stating that the fact that the female naga wears an eye patch was a reminder of human cruelty on many levels.

"What about the Nagata Clan?" Manami asked of his own family. "Is there anything special about you that would make naga hunters want you?" It was an important question, considering they were also her people as well and as queen of the Nagata Clan, it was her right to know.

"No, our capabilities are our venom and strength as well as skill the create weapons. We're more of a warrior clan then a magical on," Thanatos stated.

"What about Adonis?" The queen didn't know why, but he stuck out to her in a strange way. Adonis didn't seem like the other naga at all. There was just something…different about him.

"The same applies for him. The Nagata blood line runs thick in that guy. He's very serious about his royal pedigree."

"He is very princely, isn't he?" Manami noted the regal qualities of his uncle.

"He's not like other naga, that's for sure."

"So, what happened to you when you were exploring?" Manami resurfaced the question to her husband, reminding him that he couldn't escape her inquisitive nature on the subject.

Thanatos closed his eyes as nostalgia overcame him and his head was filled with haunting images of that day. It was a day that he had indeed remembered all too clear.

"Yes, about that…"

A small naga with shoulder length, wavy black hair and large, innocent green eyes swam through the depths of the waters, as he glanced around, and peered through the many coral formations as his inquisitive eyes unearthed another ship wreck.

It had been there a while, so most of it decomposed and only a few remains were even left to look through. He swam towards it, and neared the middle of the ship as he glanced down into the remains.

'Another shipwreck?' The child thought mundanely. 'Eh, it looks like all of the ship wrecks I've found around here that look the same and I haven't found anything new in any of them. It's just the same old stuff every day- ship wrecks, caves and dead bodies at the bottom of the sea are all boring.' The small naga replied as he tossed a compass carelessly to the side. 'It's all the same stuff, some compasses, barrels, boxes, clothes and other crap…I want to have some real fun.'

The young naga's thoughts were cut short as a shadow passed over him. As his inquisitive green eyes glanced up, he caught glimpse of a large boat above him. 'Now, there's a place that I want to be. After all, the naga once existed above the water. Until the humans chased us into the sea. I say we should take our home back. I don't know why they all have to hide down here. I mean, come on, are the humans really that scary?' He neared the surface, where the sun shown and bathed his form in a milky light yellow. 'My parents say that some of the naga children and even adults who came to the surface have not returned or have been found dead on the shoreline or in the sea. I don't see why the humans can't live in the sea. Since they are the problem anyway…'

"Huh?" He gurgled under the water as his sights were turned to the location of the large ship. 'A ship. I think I'll go and investigate. It's probably some boring fishing boat or something.' The small naga neared the surface again as school of fish swam by him and glittered in the sunlight.

'The water up here is so warm.' His form warmed up with the glowing sun's rays. Above him, large, vast nets sailed into the waters above. The schools of fish began to panic around him as they darted every which way as they tried to swim away from the nets that promised them an untold, yet seemingly horrific future.

'Huh? What's going on? Where are all of them going?' Thanatos looked around wildly and as he glanced up, his eyes widened at the net, which draped over him like a thick and suffocating blanket. 'Crap!' He berated himself as he tried to swim under it and quickly escape sharing the same fate as the fish, but it was too late, the net has already wrapped around his tiny body, entangling him in its web.

The naga tried with all of his might to struggle against it but he made no progress as he only became more and more entangled in it. He tried to scream for help but nothing escaped his fanged mouth but bubbles of air. In a paranoid attempt, the black-haired naga child tried to bite his way through the ropes but only managed to cut his mouth in the process.

As Thanatos found out how feeble his attempts were, he began to worry for his safety. 'Oh no! What's going to happen to me now? Am I really going to die? Is this what the elder naga were talking about? I have a feeling that I'll find out what happened to the elders and children who have disappeared…Whether I want to or not.'

The panicked thoughts of the young naga ended there as he glanced around wildly when he felt himself being pulled up as the net was lifted upwards. The small boy watched helplessly as he was slowly pulled up from the sea and hoisted into the air.

The sea air was cold as it brushed his skin and caused him to shiver against it. Thanatos didn't want to know where he was being pulled to, but soon found the answer as he glanced down. Green eyes scanned the top of the boat below as many people ran around and gave orders to one another as two or three seemed to be motioning the net's directions.

The net was then lowered onto the deck as all of the fish flopped around wildly, as if they had some hope of escape. Thanatos huddled down as far as he could and hoped that the fish would cover him enough so that the fisherman wouldn't find out his identity.

He could faintly hear the fisherman talk as he huddled down.

"Man, we've got a good catch today!" One of the men, dressed in light blue high-water pants, a navy blue, unbuttoned vest and a bandanna said to the other, young looking man, who was dressed in attire that resembled the pirates of the olden days.

"Yeah, look at all of them! Talk about making a haul!" The other boasted gleefully. They had indeed done more then make their quota as far as catches went and were quite satisfied with themselves.

"What's that?" The man in blue blinked in confusion at a suspicious red and black ball that seemed to be hidden amongst the fish.

His younger companion glanced over towards the suspicious lump in question. "Looks like some sort of strange fish," he noted. It wasn't anything out of the normal. At times, strange fish that they had not been fishing for became entangled in the net and were caught along with the others. They were to be thrown back into the sea as usual. Perhaps it was just a foreign fish that needed to be returned to the sea.

"Let's go and look at it," the blue-clad man instructed as Thanatos could hear the dreaded sound of boots and sandals on the hardwood deck.

'Oh crap! They found me! I'm dead meat now!' Thanatos' mind screamed for him to move, although his body had other ideas. It remained frozen in position as he shuddered in fear.

Suddenly, the child was pulled up, out of the horde of fish by his tail. Thanatos let out a hiss in shock as he felt himself being lifted to the man's eye level as he was examined by two dark eyes.

"What's this?" The man asked, and as soon as he did, it was as if someone had hit Thanatos' panic button as the naga prince struggled and hissed with all of his might in an attempt to get himself free.

However, his efforts were in vain.

"It's a naga," his accomplice pointed out as he gestured with his finger to the creature in question.

"I thought these things only existed in myths," the other male replied with a bewildered expression. He had only heard of naga in tall tales and folklore stories, so he had no idea that such creatures even existed.

"Do you know what this means?" The blue-clad man's smile widened in sinister greed as the cog-wheels of his mind turned.

"That we can get a whole lot of money for this little guy," the other smiled as he caught on to his co-worker's train of logic on the situation. "If we kill him, get all of the valuable scales, hair, fangs and all of that stuff, we can get more money for them separately then we could from just selling him to someone."

A panic shot through the young naga's tiny body as the harsh realization came- he was going to die if he didn't get away from these two men. They were going to kill him, so it was do or die and dying wasn't an option to him. 'What!? They're going to kill me? I've got to get out of here!' Thanatos thought in a panic as he reached up and bit the one who was holding him on the arm so hard that blood shot fourth from the man's veins and leaked through to his skin.

The injured man grabbed his wrist and called out in pain and dropped the black-haired naga. Thanatos hit the wooden deck with a thud and quickly slithered away.

"We can't let him get away! After him!" The blue-clad male shouted as the naga gained speed and distance between them.

'No way am I going to let them get a hold of me!' Thanatos slithered around barrels, boxes and any available object that would slow his enemies down. Around in circles and straight shots came and went and he soon found himself near the railing of the ship. There was only one more thing to be before he was free, and that was to jump over the edge to freedom.

Once he hit the water, he was home free.

"I'm almost there!" He thought aloud to himself and the metal railing gained in distance to his body. The water was so close that he could taste it and feel its cool, playable texture on his skin.

"Hurry!" He could hear one of the men shout behind him, but still, he drove on. The adrenalin rushed through his veins and forced him onward, as well as the promise of freedom.

The green-eyed naga occasionally glanced behind him to see the man gaining on him. As soon as it seemed as if he would be caught, Thanatos found his way to freedom as he shot over the edge.

"I'm free!" A smile crossed his face. Soon, he would be in the sea and way from those naga killers.

…Or so he thought.

Thanatos' body came to an abrupt halt as a large, strong hand grasped his tail tightly, so much that it hurt him. Green eyes went wide as he dangled over the water for a few moments. As he widened eyes glanced behind him, he saw that the man in blue had dove down and managed to grab him before he went completely over.

"No!" He called out as he struggled hard against the man's iron-cast grip. "Let me go!" Quickly, the horned child tried to curl up to bite the man again but he was hit in the face with a board and drug back on board of the ship.

After that, everything went black.

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The air smelled musty and the floor he lay on was damp as he stirred from his sleep. The naga had surely thought he was dead but he was still breathing. Even though he had just opened his eyes, all he could see was darkness as he heard the slow drip of some unknown liquid.

He was on a cage that was only small enough for him to turn around in and he had been tucked away below deck somewhere. It was cold, dark and the entire room smelled heavily of mold. Thanatos rubbed his sore face and was sure that it was bruised from being hit head on like that. However, that was the worst of his problems. Thanatos knew that they had brought him down here to be hidden from the others onboard and possibly killed by those two men.

"Huh?" The frightened naga asked quietly. "Where am I?" Thanatos' face then twisted into regret and sorrow. "I should have listened to the elders and my parents." His voice trembled as tears clung stubbornly to his large eyes. "Now I'm going to end up like all of the others- dead." The naga began to sob quietly in the corner of his cage. All that could be heard were sniffles in the darkness as the two men walked down the stairs and into the dark room.

Soon, Thanatos could hear the clacking of the men's shoes and froze in his place. The child didn't even dare to breathe as the men's clanking steps grew closer and closer. The black-haired boy shrank into the corner of the cage against the wall and peered through the darkness as the men approached him.

As they got closer, he could see that one of them had a machete in one hand. This time, he was certain that he was going to die.

"Time to make a profit. We have to cut him up and dispose of him down before anyone else can find him, otherwise, we're dead," the accomplice told his blue-clad companion in the dark.

"Right," the other agreed as the two of them stopped at the cage and opened it. Thanatos lay in the bottom of the cage, motionless. He had decided to lay back down when they were half way to the cage, so they would think that he was still unconscious and vulnerable.

This was it.

This was his final plan.

The machete was raised as a dark smile crossed it's wielder's face. "This should be painless if you're still asleep."

Suddenly, the naga prince shot up and jumped at him in a last, desperate attempt to take him down and render him helpless. If Thanatos wanted to get away, then he had to fight and that's exactly what he'd do. The small naga proceeded to scratch at the man's face and chest as he hissed in both fright and hatred for the human, who swung the sharp weapon around wildly as he tried to blindly get the naga off of him.

The machete made cuts and gashes on the naga's skin and drew blood as Thanatos continued to claw at the man. The pain would only be temporary compared to what might happen if he continued to lay there, defenseless.

Quickly, Thanatos tried to slither away but he was grabbed by the hair of his head.

"This will make a find addition to our collection," the man called out.

He struggled against the cruel hand that held him but was thankfully saved as the wild machete swinger swung his weapon and chopped off his hair, freeing him of his companion's grasp.

His jet black hair was no longer shoulder length but he didn't care. It was a minor detail as he hurried away as quickly as he could.

The man held up the handful of hair and managed to smile in victory. "This will make a fine addition to our collection. Naga hair sells for a good price on the black market."

"I'll get him!" The injured man seethed as he took off after the naga once more. He wanted to pay him back for scratching his face by slaying the little beast.

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Once again, Thanatos had made it to the dock with the man following suit. 'I've got to get out of here! If there's any chance I can get away, now is the time to seize my opportunity!' His thoughts ran wild as he jumped out over the edge once more in a second attempt to free himself from his deadly prison.

"Please don't let anyone catch me this time…" Thanatos prayed lowly as he felt fingertips graze his tail.

"Damn it! He got away!" He heard the man curse as he threw a hunting knife in the direction of the naga. It managed to lodge itself into Thanatos' shoulder. The boy winced in pain as he held his open wound. Blood leaked out as he free fell into the water with a splash.

All he could remember was hitting the surface of the water before he blacked out once more.

"What happened then?" Manami could tell that the subject matter of the conversation disturbed him.

"I woke up in the castle," Thanatos explained lowly. "Io had found me while she had been exploring a sunken ship. This same one that I passed up and now, I refuse to tell them."

"It must have been hard to deal with," his wife sympathized.

"I try not to think about it," Thanatos closed his eyes and lowered his head with a sigh before he was hugged from behind by the human. She rested her head in between his shoulders and smiled warmly.

"I can see why you hated humans. I'd hate naga if that happened to me as well," the black-haired woman told him. She definitely knew how he felt and there wasn't a doubt in her mind that she wouldn't have felt the same way if she was put in that situation.

"But I do not hate you, Manami." That was one thing that he wanted to make very clear.

"Of course not. I didn't-" Manami was cut off by a loud crash as the castle shook so violently that she nearly lost her footing.

"What's going on?" She looked around wildly.

"I don't know but I intend to find out." A serious look crossed the black-haired king's face as he slithered out of the room. Manami followed him, worried about what exactly was going on.

They approached the hallway; they two of them could see that everyone had been assembled in a large semi-circle with worried, serious and confused looks on their faces. They either thought something serious was going on or didn't know what was going on at all.

Yurara was crying and Io was trying to chide her tears as she rocked her back and forth.

"There, there, it's alright."

"What's going on?" Marjani joined the group with her spear in hand, ready to fight off whatever problem had surfaced.

"Some outsiders from the Soaka Clan are attacking the castle," King Xenosidon informed everyone.

"The Soaka Clan? Isn't that Andromeda's Clan?" Await asked in slight shock.

"Yeah, that's the one," Thanatos informed.

"I'm scared," Lorka clung to Thelios. She had not been at the castle while it was being attacked and she was at a loss of what to do. The purple-haired naga was frightened.

"Don't worry," the white-haired naga chided. "We're fine as long as we stay in here," he then looked to the queen for some kind of comfort. "Right, mom?"

"Yes dear. But just in case, we should all take cover," Lazuli told him gently.

"Is there something I can do to help?" Apostle walked up beside of Io and placed a hand on her shoulder. He wanted to do something to help out the naga, since they were so kind to take him in and care for him like one of their own.

"Guard everyone in here. I am going to go out and settle this," Thanatos instructed the black-clad man.

"But bro-" Thelios tried to say but was cut off.

"Do as I say," Thanatos commanded. "This is my problem so I'll settle it myself. It's probably me that she's after anyway." The black-haired naga turned with a serious expression. He knew what he had to do. 'It's time to settle the old score, Andromeda.'

To Be Continued…