Leviathantale Mermay 2022 - Pearl Edition

Day 2: Frenzy

It had started out as a normal day. Balance had been with Knife, her pretty bull shark with bright orange scales, the target orange soul with the red spot in the middle and lots of little freckles on his bones, Cross and Horror. She'd just wanted to move around before the others wouldn't let her out of the nest, as their instincts wanted their pregnant mate to stay in the nest. The eggs weren't fertilized, but it still affected their instincts. And before that, she would enjoy whatever free time she gets.

"Are you sure you want to continue? We can turn back anytime you want.” Worried, Cross swam alongside Balance, all the while tense as if expecting an attack.

(Maybe she shouldn't have waved it off this time. Then maybe none of this would have happened)

"You're way too nervous Crissy." Knife swam over to Cross and nudged the other shark in the side. "But if you're scared, I'd be happy to hold your hand." With obvious amusement, Knife held out his hand for the thresher shark to take. But Cross just grumbled and pushed his hand away and gave Knife an annoyed look.

"I'll give you a reason to be scared in a moment." And that was Knife's only warning before Cross chased after the other shark. But the other shark really didn't mind, excitedly hiding behind Horror until Cross caught up.

It could have stayed that way. Unfortunately luck was not on their side today as unnoticed by the four mers a group of dolphin and orca mers were approaching the four, their starving forms starving for the fresh meat they can get from the four.

The first target had been Balance. Even with their minds clouded by hunger, they could see that the pregnant goldfish Mer was an easier target than the three sharks. But the downside for that was that Balance was by no means inattentive, constantly scanning her surroundings. Balance was far too paranoid to trust the rest. But by doing so, she was able to dodge the attack of one of the dolphin Mers.

And with that, Chaos began.

The small group was quickly surrounded and separated from each other, each with a few dolphins and orcas around them. At first everyone was doing relatively well until there was a painful scream and the smell of marrow filled the water. The orcas and dolphins let go of their prey and swarmed around an injured Knife, trying to avoid so many hungry mouths. But even someone as agile as Knife wouldn't be able to dodge that many Mers. And soon the smell of marrow was pungent in the nose of everyone there. Horror and Cross tried to help Knife, but the Mers wouldn't let them through, willing to keep their prey.

"Knife!" Cross cried out in concern, hoping to get an answer from the other mer, his soul pounding with fear of losing the other. But then a bloody, skeletal hand stuck through the crowd and Cross didn't hesitate to grab it and pull the bull shark towards him with great force. The sight was less than pleasant. Knife's tail was covered in bite marks. In some places even some parts of the tail were missing, looking like they were literally ripped out. Cross tearfully found that even his dorsal fin was almost completely bitten off.

Cross didn't notice Horror growling in front of them and tried to distract the dolphins and orcas until Cross regained enough consciousness and merged with Knife and Balance- Balance! Horror looked around frantically. Where was their goldfish? She couldn't have been eaten, but the water didn't smell like her marrow. Did she turn back to get help? Or was she hiding here somewhere?

Horror was forced to abandon his search when the Delfin and Orca Mers retreated, their faces scarred with terror and fear. The surroundings seemed strange too, the sea rippling around them in strange pale colors that weren't natural. It also seemed like the plants around them were growing body parts they shouldn't have. The reason for at least one of this was easy to see, as a gigantic shadow rose up behind them. Nightmare must have found them! Horror turned, expecting to see his octopus mate, but it wasn't Nightmare who rose behind them, size alone being an indication. It looked like Balance but on the same side also not. Sure they might look similar in color and there were also Balance broken fins on the head along with the hole and the other old injuries. However, Balance had never had horns. Or what was left of those horns, as one of them was almost completely broken off and the other badly damaged. And as far as Horror could remember, Balance hadn't had fangs that long. Sure, there had always been a few small and rather blunt ones, but they looked like they could tear him into small pieces in a matter of seconds. And when those razor-sharp claws reached out for them, Horror thought their last hour had come. But instead those big hands wrapped themselves protectively around the three, pulling them out of reach of the other Mers and setting them down carefully on this leviathan's shoulder? Was Balance even a Leviathan? If she were, surely she would have said so? Or at least Nightmare and Dream would have said something?

Growling, Balance grabbed the now small bunch of Mers. She doesn't forgive them for daring to attack her family. Not even in her past multiverse did she tolerate it. And now that she's had a fresh start, she won't let anyone take her family away from her again! So, as much as she'd like to make those scumbags suffer for the way they'd made Knife suffer, Balance couldn't waste any more time. Her magic was rapidly fading, this form just pulled too much. So the judgement of this mers was short and unfortunately far too painless. But due to time pressure, Balance put the Mers in her mouth and swallowed them. She didn't care that she practiced cannibalism. An eye for an eye, eat for being eaten.

"Knife! Come on, open your eyes!” Cross's anxious pleading made Balance look at the two sharks. Knife's eyelights had gone out. He had lost too much marrow. She had to hurry if she wanted to save him! As fast as she could, Balance swam back to the ditch where Nightmare was already waiting for them, a worried look on his face.

"Help him..." It were Balance's last words before she shrunk again from magical exhaustion and passed out, right into the arms of one of her mates.

But all the time Cross hadn't let go of Knife's hand.