Triton ch1 :what I saw:

Let me see… It was my 9th birthday, and I was born on a special day. Although, most would say it wasn't so special for those against violence. I had just finished opening my gifts. Mother asked me if I'd like to go in to town to see who the next trainers would be. Like so many children my age, we really didn't know what the trainers did, what they went through and who they were as people. My innocent mind thought of them as simply, heroes. I answered yes with a smile, and father lifted me upon his shoulders and carried me off. He took me in to our town. Ahh… I can still hear the people cheering and the sound of seagulls in the air. There was a large stage near the beach, and several people gathered round the stage to get a good look. Father lifted me up higher and asked me if I could see them, and I answered "just barely."






The man on stage had a hand full of Necklaces, and he handed them out to the contestants. "Welcome one and all, to The triton championships! Today we will be announcing who this year's trainers will be!" the man had blue hair, and it was in a long thin pony down his back. his eyes were an odd hazel and on his shoulder sat something tiny. It was the smallest thing I'd ever seen. I couldn't believe it either, for what I'd seen was the tiniest Fairy in the world. If it wasn't for the large screens above the stage I would have never seen him. I found that odd seeing as Fairies didn't usually live on islands like mine, so I knew they were from far away. My island was a large mark on the map, and we were more famous for hosting the Triton championships then fishing, believe it or not. What? oh, you want to know what the triton championships are, well I'm getting to that.




The Triton championship is a big competition that was held every year on my Island. In this contest there are six groups consisting of three people. "trainers", as they are called, have to take a long and rather wavy boat ride across the seas, and seek out one of the most rarest of creatures. Mermaids.

Back in my day, we called them "Sirens." The groups must go Siren hunting, and wear special devices around their ears to hear their calls, which to humans without the fancy gear it would be hypnotizing and most likely make them crash their boats, or become so loopy they would simply fall off of them. That's why we call Mermaids Sirens, or "demons of the deep". After a group has caught the Siren, they must train her to battle other Sirens in said competition. It was barbaric, but seeing as Mermaids were seen as monsters or demons, we loved seeing them fight each other for the prize. But really the only ones who benefitted from 1st place were the trainers. 1st place offered as much money as they wanted, or could ever dream of. It offered medicine for sick family members who otherwise would never see such technology. And of course the status of a royal. And as I watched the scene unfold, I realized this year would be a special one, I could just feel it in my gut.



Standing near the end of the stage to the right were three boys who were one of the groups of trainers. One of them being Emmet Fitzgerald. The boy had orange brown hair and freckles, with a large pair of glasses that made his olive green eyes seem bigger. His quivering lip told me he was a mama's boy who'd never been in front of a crowd before, unlike his two teammates. Emmet was a poor Farmer's child and had worked on one his whole life, although he was smart as a scientist he was forced to take his father's place after the old man had been taken away by the call of a Siren.


Next to him was a shorter boy, by the name of Bartly Flyn. The boy had black hair, but his bangs appeared as if they had been dipped in chocolate. His eyes were a brownish red color, and his skin was pure like powder. he had enough energy to light a whole city, he waved his hands and blew kisses to the girls in the crowd. Bartly was the youngest of his eight brothers, and had no parents. He and his brothers ran a family business and sold crazy things from all over the world, so the boy traveled a lot. For one so small, he was had the aura of tall, strong man.


The last person on the team was a tall boy named Tierney Bell. Tierney's yellow eyes scanned the crowd as if he personally disliked everyone. The salty wind blew his unusual white hair over his face. Tierney's Father was a priest in a large church on the Island, and he had drilled his beliefs in to Tierney's brain his whole life. The priest told his son to enter the competition on the idea that he'd be ridding the seas of the demon mermaids. All of the churches hated mermaids, and the priest knew his son would do anything to cleanse the world of any impurities.





Yes it's true, this was the first all-male team I'd seen in all my years, seeing as mermaids were known for using their charm against men, and they would need a woman to keep them straight on track. But I was sure the priest's son wouldn't let such charm phase him. The sound of the bagpipes playing began to give me a headache as I watched the blue haired man run across the stage, going on about how great a year this would be. Finally he turned to the teams and smiled, pointing at each of them. He announced the names of each member, then pointed at Emmet, who flinched. "…and last but not least, Team six, Triton Zeta!" Emmet blinked and fixed his glasses as the crowd gave a lazy whoo. "oh come now, show them some love!" the announcer barked at the crowd, feeling bad for the team. I gave a loud cheer, as everyone stared at me. "as you all know, starting today we will set off on the grand Siren hunt!" the announcer smirked at everyone, as the crowd gave a mocking sound of terror. "that's right, and we'll be sure to bring back some feisty sea witches for your entertainment!" the announcer smiled, as the crowd gave an excited roar.







After he ran across the stage, a woman in a long black dress glided across stage to meet the faces of the young trainers. Most of them seemed serious about the challenge, but a lot of them had smug looks and excited expressions on their faces. The bagpipes stopped, and the crowd went silent. The woman gazed at them all with her slightly wrinkles features and fixed her silverish hair. "I hope you all are ready for the journey that awaits you. The triton championship is a dangerous tradition that is not for the weak hearts, or the weak in general," she glanced to Emmet, then straight again. Emmet looked down, biting his lip. "the Necklaces that have been given to you are not for show, they are valuable tools you will need for capturing your Sirens. Once who've found the Siren of your choosing, you must put it on her. Lose the Necklace, you lose the Siren." She walked across the stage, looking each team member in the eye. "Sirens are deadly creatures, other than training your Siren I suggest not making contact with it." The woman made her way toward Emmet, Bartly and Tierney. "Sirens are Demons, witches, beings unlike us. They do not trust us, they do not understand mercy, and they do not love. You should do well not to forget that, and be prepared for what your Siren might try to do." Tierney glared, as if disgusted.



"if anyone here is not prepared, they should leave right now." She looked at Emmet again, as he stared at his feet in thought. "very well then," she took a step back, and pulled out a small maroon book from her belt and held it open as she placed glasses over her eyes. "Do you, the six teams of the Triton championships, swear to leave your old lives behind to peruse the life of a Siren owner, and protect your fellow man from the Demons of the deep?"



"we do." The six teams replied loudly back to her. "very well then, welcome aboard." She smiled at them, and slammed the book shut. Everyone cheered again, as Emmet let out a breath of relieve. Bartly smirked and patted his back. "you look pale, emmet, even a little green. You nervous?" Emmet rubbed his face and shook his head, as the stage was being cleared. "yes, I'm very nervous. In case you hadn't noticed we're trainers now. I think my legs are going to give out…" Bartly laughed and looked around as they walked off the stage. "what do you have to say about this, Tierney?" the boy looked down at his watch, then shut it. "I don't believe I'm stuck with you two. Out of all the mature people in this competition." Emmet frowned, fixing his glasses as Bartly sneered.


"wow, that's just like you church people..."
a few drops of rain tickled Emmet's pale cheeks, as a few clouds blew over head. "I hope it doesn't rain again, we may not get to head out tonight." Bartly said, covering his eyes with one hand as he squinted up at the sky. "I doubt it, it'll be my luck they'll take us out on a stormy night to hunt Sirens." Emmet replied, rolling his eyes. "that'd be hard core." Bartly smirked. "I can't wait to see what ours will look like, I hope she's hot." Emmet blushed and glared at Bartly. "nasty! Come on, she's going to be beaten up anyway…" Bartly laughed and kicked a rock in front of him. "hey all I'm sayin is maybe she can block attacks with her giant ra-" Tierney passed the two up, marching ahead in annoyance. "oooh hear no evil see no evil, right church boy?" Tierney gave a muffled curse and headed back to his house, as Bartly laughed. "oh yeah, he's a virgin." Emmet smacked Bartly over the head, then walked ahead as well.








he made his way down the road and trotted over the gravel that led to his farm, and opened his gate. The farm had a lot of land, filled with all kind of veggies and herbs. Emmet's mother had a whole garden for healing herbs and she made good money when they lived, seeing as she wasn't good at planting them. He passed them up and ran in to his small house, wiping the mud off his shoes before walking in to the tiny living room. His mother sat by the fireplace, her long red hair rested on the ground as she sat in her rocking chair. "There's my boy!" she smiled, seeing him walk in. "hey there mum." He smiled in relieve. "how's your back?" she smiled warmly and rubbed her wry eyes. "oh much better, though I wished it was good enough to stand, I really did want to see you in the ceremony." Emmet walked over to his mother and rubbed his arm, laughing. "it wasn't all that great. I'm pretty sure no one in town likes my team." His mother laughed, and shook her head. "don't tell me, you have that Bartly boy on your team?" Emmet smirked. "sadly. But I'm kind of glad about it. The priest's son is on my team as well." his mother stuck out her tongue pretending to be sick. "that boy has a unicorn horn up his butt, he never smiles!" Emmet laughed out loud and grasped his stomach, shaking his head. "I think so!" his mother laughed as well, but was interrupted by a bad cough. Emmet stopped his laughing and softened his eyes at his mother, walking over to her and placing a hand on her cheek. "Mum, I'm going to win the money to fix you." His mother smiled and placed her hand on his. "ohh you make it sound like I'm broken. I'm just a little tired."

Emmet frowned, looking down. "I'll get us out of this dirt and buy you a big house so you won't ever have to work again." His mother took his hands and rubbed them with her soil covered thumbs. "you have such a big heart, Emmie… I just don't want you to get hurt. Money can't replace you." Emmet smiled. "don't worry, I'll come back in one piece."






Emmet fixed his glasses and headed to his room, going to his desk. He looked down at the papers all over his desk, going over them with his hand. The papers had several armor designs on them, all of them for the Mermaid he would capture later. Bartly was supposed to be in charge of the armor, but Emmet wanted to design it himself. The armor the Mermaid wore would represent the team she fought for, and the one who designed it. Just one of the many tasks that the trainers had to complete".