The Shark's Pearl Ch. 01

The Shark's Pearl

Hii! I know it's been a while since I posted to Literotica. Life and writer's block had really gotten in the way, but lately, I've been able to resolve a couple of things, and my creative juices are flowing again. I'm working on finishing existing projects, but started a few new ones. If you follow me on AO3, you will have seen these. I am also working on my novel which hopefully comes out next year, whoo.

When I started writing erotica, I knew that monsterotica was something I was going to want to explore. And no, I'm not talking about my Teuthids (although I suppose technically, they would be included in this erotic genre) and recently watching the One Piece live-action series on Netflix gave me some ideas because of Arlong. Now that's one sexy sharkman, and yes, Arlong inspired this lovely new tale you see before you. Funny what sources you can draw from for inspiration, haha. (also, be sure to check out that show, it's pretty great. It also got me interested in the anime which meant more Arlong for me to simp over, LMAO)

This is set in a world that has a lot of islands of varying sizes, some people never leave the islands they were born in, but sailing is a pretty big industry, and having a strong navy/fleet is important to those interested in seizing or maintaining power. Because of the importance of water in the world, some have developed the ability to manipulate water, particularly sea demons, but it is possible for humans to touch upon and use the magic of the sea if they have enough of a gift. (Call this magic, if you will)

o0o

The Sapphire Isles were once known for their rich sapphire deposits, but the mines and pickings dwindled many decades ago, and the people supported themselves with farming and trade. Despite the loss of its wealth, the isles maintained their name, with the four biggest islands also named after the directions of the compass.

North Sapphire knew its history, but as it was often said, the greatest wealth came from the sapphire-hued sea. For what did a cold, hard sapphire do other than provide a bit of decoration? The sea provided sustenance, and its rich blue hue lent itself well to the name.

It was also just enough out of the way that it was not part of most trade routes, so the islanders lived a relatively quiet life, traveling between the different islands if at all. Her friend's grandfather ran the North Sapphire shipyard but was limited to mostly fishing boats and the occasional merchant ship in need of repair.

So when a hulking monster of a ship was spotted on the horizon, there was surprise and consternation. There'd been whispers and rumors of a man who claimed he was going to become the Emperor of the Sea, employing sea demons to do his bidding. The elders of the island had dismissed it, saying that history was full of upstarts who failed at this monumental undertaking.

Shanan stared at the vessel through the telescope her friend had just handed her as they stood there on the slope near the top of the hill. The prow resembled a set of shark's teeth.

No one on the Sapphire Isles did not know what a boat was, and that word was not adequate for what she saw before her, cutting through the sea with purpose, dark red and black, the outline of a sawnosed fish emblazoned in crimson on the main sail. If she aimed her telescope downward, she could see people bustling about in panic and preparation. There was a handful of soldiers on the island, but most of them were simply civilians living quiet lives. That was what this place was supposed to be about, so out of the way that ambitious people would overlook it like a crumb on a banquet table.

The ship slowed as it approached, and there were no weapons on display, nor did men jump out of it to swim through the water to attack them.

To the shock and relief of the island, the ship merely anchored itself near the shipyard, giving the villagers a better look at it. It was massive and hulking, and Shanan had no doubt it would crush even the biggest of the island's fishing vessels if it was unfortunate enough to get in the way. A rowboat was launched from the ship with several people. They talked with the mayor and his aides who had come out to meet them. Shanan could not know what they were saying and had to give the telescope back to her friend. Even without the spyglass, the ship was very much visible, casting the shipyard in its shadow. The name of the ship did not offer any encouragement to the islanders -- Deathsaw seemed the sort of thing that could only portend doom.

The ship did not move any closer for two days, but supplies were bought and paid for and ferried out to the immense vessel on rowboats by the crew members of the ship. Naturally, tongues were wagging. Why was the ship here? Was it but the first of more? Why did it not move on? Who was the captain? What were the shadows that moved from the ship in the night?

The people who had come from the ship were tight-lipped in their responses to such questions. The villagers moved around on alert, wondering what lurked within the ship.

It turned out to be sea demons. Or fishmen, or fish monsters, depending on who you were talking to. Some might even call them mermen, but many fishmen had an appearance far more savage than the handsome mermen one normally saw in pictures in books or paintings.

As soon as the first one emerged from the ship, many of the onlookers despaired. The reputation of sea demons was truly frightful, and even if many rumors were exaggerated, just looking at them gave plenty of reason for caution. There were about two dozen of these sea demons, with varying fishlike features, and the shortest of the pack was still a couple of heads taller than the tallest man in the village. Broad shoulders and powerful frames anchored powerful fists and fearsome scowls. Some villagers ran for the hills. This seemed to amuse the leader of the pack, a behemoth with impossibly broad shoulders and a long nose with jagged edges that jutted out from his face.

He looked to be the essence of nightmares as he grinned down at the mayor, jagged rows of teeth revealed as he pulled his lips back. His ebony hair was pulled back in a thick, wild ponytail that split to make way for the sharp dorsal fin that stood just below the nape of his neck. His gills stood out like jagged gashes against the gray of his skin.

Shanan stood quietly among the others. The humans from the ship had sent a message from the captain for a formal meeting. She stood under the veranda roof of her friend's family home, observing from a distance as the pack of sea demons made their way up the street to the community hall where a banquet awaited them.

"If they decide to attack us, we're fucked," Tezi whispered once the men had passed by and disappeared past the gate.

o0o

If there was to be an attack, it was not that night. Or the one after, even. The sea demons roamed the village if they were not on the ship or in the water, and it was disconcerting to see a hulking mass of a powerful entity move down the streets, out of place among the villagers that shied away from them. Not that they invited companionship, with the way they scowled at people. Hopefully, they'd leave soon.

Shanan laughed as she left the building with her friend, looking out at the shipyard and the shallows that backed against it. There was not much about this island she did not know, and she breathed in the scent of the sea, and the various smells of the shipyard -- wood, oil, metal, tar, sawdust, smoke. The two women stilled when they saw Zvigen and a couple of other fishmen approach them as they trod the dock from the other direction. The trio took up nearly the entire width of the passageway, and Shanan quickly pulled Tezi to the side.

Zvigen made a gesture with his hand, and the fishman nearest the wall slid away from it to give the women room as they passed. She looked at -- or rather, up -- at Zvigen as he came near her, and he had the coldest eyes she'd ever seen. Their gazes locked for a moment, and she felt a shiver pass through her spine before the fishmen moved on, leaving her light-headed in their wake.

o0o

As one of the community's best swimmers, Shanan often swam further out on her frolics, and that was something her friends and family were used to. What worried them when she was a child ceased to draw more than cursory notice when she was an adult, so while the other women were near the shore, laughing and playing, she'd went past the lip of rock that hugged one side of the inlet.

Suddenly, screams met her ears, and she looked to see her companions waving and gesturing frantically. She turned away from the shore, giving a small gasp when she saw a fin slicing through the water, coming at her.

She twisted around and pumped as hard as she could with her arms and legs, cutting through the water with the ease of an experienced swimmer, not daring to look back. For one terrifying moment, she saw the fin out of the corner of her eye, hearing the panicked screams in the shallows as the roar of water filled her ears, and then the sea exploded before her.

She tried to brake herself but got the sensation of crashing into a wall. Her world turned upside-down, and she found herself unable to breathe for several moments as she flailed around, her hand hitting something that should not have been there.

Zvigen.

He grinned down at her, the sunlight overhead making him seem like a great, terrible beast made of shadow. Instinctively, she tried to pull back but found the back of her neck in a grip that seemed almost like an iron collar. She tried to speak but could form no words as she stared into his eyes.

"What are you doing all the way out here?" he asked in a surprisingly playful tone.

"... Swimming?" she managed to breathe out. He grinned at that before slowly turning to look at the people on the beach.

"They seem to think I am going to eat you," Zvigen commented with a chortle, maintaining his grip on her. To her shock, he sliced through the water until he reached the end of the rock abutment, where there were several near-flat places near sea level that sometimes people would swim out to sit on. With care that was surprising for his size and strength, he hoisted her upon it, her lower legs dangling in the water as he sat at her side, leaning over her. The shouting quieted to worried murmurs.

Please don't do that, she thought as she imagined these teeth coming at her, tearing pieces off her. She shuddered as she looked up at him, and gasped in surprise as she felt his fingers touch the underside of her chin. She opened her mouth, but could not think of the right thing to say. What was the etiquette in situations like this? When a sea demon was thinking of having a meal, what could be said to placate them? Goosebumps prickled up her arms as she shivered from cold and fear, and she barely registered the caress of his thumb along his chin as he studied her features for a couple of moments.

"I can assure you, that is not my intention. You are destined for greater things. Be at peace until we meet again."

His cryptic message had her staring at him for a moment before he grinned at her, the sunlight glistening wetly off his fangs and skin. Then he slid back into the water, skimming the surface with his fin for several moments before disappearing. Shanan could only stare after him even after the fin had disappeared, her heart pounding as she remembered how his hand had felt on her neck, or his arm around her middle. Or how gently he'd touched her face.

She had felt the raw power of his form, and for a second, been too close to that terrifying maw of his. He could tear her like a piece of paper, and if he got it in his mind to do it, there was nothing any villager on the island could do about it.

Be at peace? What else could they do, when they were outmatched by a handful of sea demons?

o0o

Shanan was certain she was being watched at times. She would be at the shipyard or the beach, and then a tickle somewhere in her neck alerted her to the hungry eyes of her pursuer. Ever since that incident at the beach, her family and betrothed took various measures to keep her away from these places -- and away from a certain kind of people. She worked as a spinner and weaver, and it seemed that people were finding all these projects for her to do so she would not wander down to the beach as she often did, drawn in by the serene yet fierce beauty of the sea.

The ship maintained its place, and no other ships had come in the meantime, so there was no news to be gleaned, which only made the islanders more anxious and gossipy even though Zvigen and his men -- whether fishmen or thralls -- had not given anyone serious trouble aside for a couple of cases where Zvigen's men claimed they were provoked. Even if they weren't, who was going to argue? And who was going to protect them?

Certainly not elderly King Langas XIV, assuming that he hadn't died and been replaced by one of his many heirs. Nominally, the Sapphire Isles and the sea that surrounded it had been part of the Langasdeo Empire for centuries, but civil wars within the empire, and the Sapphire Island's location on the fringes of the empire, caused it to slowly drift away from the empire's notice and control over a century ago, ushering in a period of essential self-governance with the most basic lip-service to the Langasdeo Empire.

The usual cheerful atmosphere around the market was subdued as Shanan and several companions entered the open space, and the reason was immediately apparent as they noticed the presence of Zvigen and a handful of fishmen. As soon as Zvigen noticed her, he stared at her, and she felt ice slide down her back while a curious warmth knotted itself within her stomach. Suddenly, one of the other women stepped in front of her.

"Maybe we should just go home now," another woman said.

"We're already here, and we need food. Just keep your eyes down, and keep Shanan under guard." she heard one of the aunties say. Shanan was a young woman, not a child. And she was betrothed, but at this moment, she welcomed the chaperonage. She would be married soon and hoped that Zvigen's business here would not impede these plans.

There were a couple of thralls selling spices that had been brought aboard Zvigen's Deathsaw. Certainly not a comforting name for a vessel, but at least there had been no deaths. She hoped there wasn't a 'yet' added to that statement, and focused on gathering the vegetables she would need.

She heard a gasp of alarm and turned around, giving out a gasp of her own as she came face-to-face with Zvigen. Or rather, face to chest, given how tall he was. Instinctively, she took a step back, looking up at him. Previously, she'd been so befuddled she hadn't been able to study him when he'd brought her out of the water, their bodies touching briefly. And what a deliciously hard body it had been -- he had been shirtless that time. These thoughts terrified her, because she was soon to be married, and she should not be having indecent thoughts of another man!

"C- Captain Zvigen. I beg your pardon," she said quickly, looking at his clothing for something to focus on. Sandals on his feet. Dark knee-length shorts that look like canvas. A short-sleeved tunic of finer material, and a leather vest with several items tucked within the sash tied around his waist, including several knives... as if his bulk, nose, and teeth weren't intimidating enough?

There were several gold chains around his neck and left wrist, an obvious display of wealth. His biceps rippled with muscle, and she drew up the courage to lift her face to make eye contact. There were these cold, cold blue eyes, the forbidding gaze of a predator who preferred brutality over mercy.

The shiver that passed through her was so electrifying that she was almost certain she would pass out. Her brain registered the impossibly long nose, and the powerful jaw. She knew little about the sea demons but had heard enough stories about them. They were few and far between, but they made up for their low numbers by their sheer power and their ability to turn humans into thralls. They ate human flesh, it was said. They were the product of human women fucking sea monsters, making these half-fish/half-man abominations that the gods cursed. Or the gods themselves had fucked fish, creating this strange race. Because of their divine -- or cursed -- heritage, they could control the water, creating whirlpools or riptides, or churning up a storm. Whatever the stories were, it was easy enough to believe in some of them from her glimpses of the fishmen despite her family's efforts to keep her away from them.

And she realized that coldness was not the only thing she saw in his gaze. Piercing through that cold was hunger.

The shiver and the heat redoubled, rooting her to the spot as she looked up at him.

"My ship has been here for several weeks... but I have not had the opportunity to speak to you," he said, his voice a rumble that seemed to pass through all of her nerve endings. Had it really been several weeks? There were a couple of times the ship had left, but it was always back within a few days as if it had decided this island was its new home. And what if it was? These were strange times.

"There is much work to do," she heard one of her companions say. "And much work to do still. Begging your pardon, Captain Zvigen. We are but humble women who have households to care for."

His gaze drifted over to her auntie, his mouth closed but stretching into a tight-lipped grin as he placed his hands on his hips, hovering menacingly near one of his knives. Shanan bit back a gasp.

"I suppose I should not keep you from your work," he said, smiling to reveal his teeth, which Shanan knew he knew made humans uncomfortable. And who wouldn't be, having a predator so close? "We all have work to do, and it is a blessing when it is finished." Despite his polite words, there was an undercurrent of menace and tension between him and her companions.

"And what work do you have to do?" she asked before she could help herself. She widened her eyes in mortification, hoping she hadn't angered him. He seemed faintly amused, and flashed her a toothy grin.

"You will see soon enough."

o0o

"The Sapphire Isles are now part of the glorious holdings of the Sea Emperor! And as such, the mighty Zvigen the Saw is now the Governor of the entire Sapphire Sea and its lands, by order of the Emperor!"

And so, on the whims of far-away rulers -- not for the first time -- the Sapphire Isles is made to bend the knee to a new crown. Zvigen was here to stay.

That was the new reality that Shanan was forced to accept when she heard the news along with the other villagers. Zvigen had not simply been on some stopover or repair mission. His fishmen had been leaving the ship to survey the area, their mastery over water making this an easy task for them. He was canny enough to intimidate but not terrorize the weaker race that had lived on the island for centuries, so when the formal announcement was made, acceptance was made just a bit easier.

For most people, at least. Shanan slipped out of the cottage one day, feeling stifled by the close and constant guardianship, It was early morning and the rest of the house was sleeping. A breeze blew in from the sea carrying with it the scent of wild grass and flowers. Her dark hair was an inky pool as the thick curls swept over her shoulders, restrained only by a sash tied just above her forehead.

She made her way through the orchard before coming to the bluff that swept down to the rocky beach below. The thick grass sharply faded to rock and sand several feet away from where she stood, her hair dancing around her face under the breeze. The wind tugged at the linen shirt and skirt she wore. It was so nice out here. Not too quiet, with the wind whistling against the bluff and waves crashing against boulders, but there was a certain peace here that was gratifying. She took several more steps, looking down at the familiar sight. The beach was not a good one for playing in, but one could sit and listen to the waves and be alone if they wanted.