Dedicated to J, who inspired me to write this fic. This is my first BillDip fanfic, and it's all due to J. Thanks for being my best friend.

He had heard the way the humans described him. Gorgeous, the next world wonder, unnatural, a monster. They were all words that held absolutely no meaning to the siren anymore as he sat at the bottom of his small tub. The walls of it were clear, and he had a clear view of the small children who were staring at him in a combination of shock and awe.

Even with malnutrition and the lack of exercise, the golden scales on his tail shimmered and glittered in the light of the sun. Parts of his tail were bare of scales, leaving ugly bare patches on him. He wasn't nearly as healthy as he should be, and it showed with the way his ribs stuck out and the way his cheeks were sunken in. Even then, he knew no one cared, as emphasized with the large dark scar on his neck that no one ever asked about.

The ringleader of the small circus was standing next to his tank, gesturing at the siren who looked almost lifeless in the water. He stood on a small platform so that he could look down at the siren and the crowd, always managing to talk wildly with his hands as he spoke. The man was a short man, not short enough to be a part of the 'freak show' he kept, but short enough to have platforms everywhere so he would feel taller than everyone else.

"This, ladies and gentleman, is a mysterious creature known only to the bottom of the seas. We believe it's male, since it doesn't have the normal reproductive parts human females have." The man leered at a couple of the women who tucked their children tighter against them.

Silently, he glanced at the tank with the siren in it and pulled a large pole out from behind him, poking it through the water and jabbing the siren. The siren didn't react other than the automatic response of slightly floating up and facing the crowd.

"While most believe he's a merman, he's really a siren, as we found out." The ringleader spoke as Bill rested against the edge of the tank, his head poking above water. "We had to take care of that problem right away."

Using the pole, the ringmaster tilted the siren's head back so that the crowd could see the dark scar that littered his neck. Several people gasped, and the siren silently sighed to himself, and the ringmaster just chuckled at people's reactions, letting the siren's head drop.

"We had to remove his vocal cords so that the siren couldn't sing and affect us. Now, he's perfectly harmless, but he does have a sharp set of teeth on him. Sirens are meat eaters, after all." The man declared, and on cue the siren fell back on the tub and sunk back down. That was all that was needed from him, and the people were in awe over him.

The ringmaster finally got down from the small pedestal and moved on to the next act. "Now, next is the two headed snake! We have some of the sirens scales for sale, they say that if you grind them up and put them in your tea, they will give you eternal youth."

Shutting his eyes and leaning his head back, the siren didn't care to even open his eyes as he felt someone come near the tank. It wasn't worth it, maybe they would think he was just an act and in a costume. Maybe they would kill him and put him out of his misery. If he had opened his eyes, he would have seen a young man with chocolate colored eyes staring down at him with fluffy dark colored hair. Not that it would have mattered, since before he had opened his eyes, the brown haired male was gone, and the siren was alone once more.

On a ship larger than the ones, a plain blue flag gently floated in the breeze. It was normally windy in port, as the sea was known to blow mighty winds to help ships move about. Yet the day was a calm one, with nothing but the shining sun for company and the smallest of breezes. A small man with brown hair walked casually towards the ship with a blue flag, seeming to walk both with ease and yet still be in a rush. One passing him might wonder where he was going, but no one ever thought to get in his way.

The man climbed on board of the ship he called home for now, heading immediately into the bowels of the ship. Dipper Pines had started his journey out to sea with a promise of the sea and working to capture fish, but instead he found himself on a pirate ship that refused to bring him home and be rid of the one person who knew how to read. Not that Dipper wanted to be there, but the captain of the ship, a man named Gideon Gleeful, wasn't willing to bring his ship anywhere near where he had first picked up Dipper. More than likely it was because he knew that Dipper would return and spill the secrets of one of the most notorious pirate ship disguised as a fishing barge.

Dipper sighed as he walked towards the captain's quarters, actually dreading going to tell the white haired male the news. Gideon had heard about the siren that was supposedly kept in a tank near the pier, and he wanted to see if it was real. The other men of the crew couldn't be trusted with something like that, Gideon had said, they wouldn't know what to look for.

Yet Dipper would know. Gideon and Dipper had grown up in the same small town together, and they knew more about each other than most others cared to learn. Gideon had managed to convince Dipper to come aboard on his ship by telling him it was a fishing barge, and that he would be able to send his pay home to his sister while Dipper himself was out seeing the world. Instead he had been roped into being a pirate with no way to get home.

"Captain." Dipper muttered, knocking lightly before he entered the man's quarters. Gideon was sitting at his desk, a quill in hand as he looked down at a map. Gideon often poured over the maps he had, trying to find the next place to go.

"You're back, boy, what did you find out?" Gideon didn't glance up from his work, though Dipper sent him a sharp look. Dipper was older than Gideon, yet the white haired male always managed to make Dipper feel smaller than he was.

"It's real." Dipper muttered. "A real siren. They cut out it's vocal cords, so it can't sing."

Gideon glanced up from his map, looking over at Dipper for a moment before he gave a large smirk. On his chubby face it didn't look threatening, but Dipper knew by this point to be wary anytime Gideon was smiling.

"Go get Ghost Eyes and Killbone, get them to grab the tub, and go get the siren." Gideon talked as though he wasn't asking for the world, laying his elbows on the table and his head in his chubby hands. He was even using the voice Dipper recognized from the old days when Gideon would insist he was psychic.

"You want us to what?" Dipper asked, quite shocked. Kidnap a siren? From what he had seen, that siren wasn't happy, and looked almost lifeless. "What are we going to do with a siren?"

"Do just what they're doing! Sell it or be like a traveling circus. I heard their voice is so lovely they just put armies to sleep." Gideon sighed like a lovestruck fool.

Dipper gently dragged his hands down his face, shaking his head. "Seriously? Fine, I'll be back."

It wasn't even worth arguing over, and maybe it would give Dipper some excitement in his life that being a pirate didn't have before. He didn't like the bloodshed and anything else about doing this job, especially with having to work under Gideon.

Gathering Ghost Eyes, the first mate, and Killbone, Gideon instructed them to listen to whatever Dipper wanted before they set back to the pier. The sun was just starting to set against the ocean line, a bright red one at that. Red skies at night were a sailor's delight, and Dipper just hoped it meant this would go in his favor. He really didn't need Gideon getting down on him for something so ridiculous as kidnapping a fish.