Tags and Tails

Chapter one - Friendly Fire

  Tango had always wondered what was down in the trenches, but whenever he asked anyone about it, they only said to never go down there, or reminded him of Pearl. 

  Tango has always wondered where Pearl was, because he was certain she was still alive, and probably found some crazy magic to let her go somewhere no merperson had even seen before. He was sure of it. One thing he wasn't sure of, however, was how to get back to the shallowwater settlement.

  He had been swimming aimlessly in the open water, looking for clues as to get back home for who knows how long, and who know how much longer he'll be out here. Apparently not much longer, as a small grey otter came splashing her way up to him, followed by her forest-green tailed owner. 

  "Tango!" Scar shouted towards the lost amber coloured fish. "Xisuma and I have been looking for you for ages! Where did you go?" 

  "I got pulled out to sea in the storm," Tango answered calmly, as if this is a regular occurrence. 

  "Well, you better not get lost again, you know how X is about losing people!" Scar stroked Jellie's soft head. 

  This reminded Tango, again, of Pearl, who one day, suddenly vanished, and her moonstone necklace was found near the trench. Xisuma had assumed that she went down, and that's what he told the rest of the settlement. 

  "Haha, I'll try to not get thrown out of my home in the powerful waves again." Tango and Scar thus set off towards the shallowwater settlement as fast as their tails could carry them. 

 ~

   Hours had passed since Tango was found and escorted back home, and he was now safely floating in his room, working on some sort of contraption with Mumbo. Anyone watching could occasionally see an amber or midnight blue tail flick past his window, or rather, hole in the side of an underwater hill. Most of the homes here were like that, just a hole dug out from the ground, with a makeshift hatch (mostly stolen from sunken ships) acting as a door. Anyone with a door that stood at more than 45 degrees angle off the ground was considered lucky. 

   Out of one of these merfolk houses, came a merperson, who, unlike most others of his kind, had no clear line between his torso and tail, but rather, was entirely a light blue hue. On his left arm, were four golden armbands each adorned with a singular sapphire. His name was Jevin, and no matter how hard you tried, you could never be as shiny as he was.

   He opened the wooden hatch to his home, and swam out to where a small spire had been constructed. There was quite a lot of coral here, as this was a coral reef, so if he went off the path, he would end up with a scratched tail, and if his luck ran out, the gills on his torso would gain a lovely gash. That was the mistake Scar had made, and that mistake was the reason for his name, and for his breathing problems. 

   When Jevin was done dodging the sides of the narrow path, he came up to the spire, and rested on the prismatic stone spiralling around the structure. 

   Here, he waited until dark, after the waters became orange and red, to signify the end of a day. Now it was time to see his friend, who should be waiting at the place they picked out. 

   Jevin launched himself off of the small palace, and out into the dark waters. He could see above the water that the sky was adorned with scatters of glowing white specks, it reminded him of Mumbo's tail, midnight blue with scattered white scales.

   He continued his journey forwards, keeping just below the surface. If he went above the waves, any travelling ship would spot him, and try to catch him. That was just how it was. 

  Upon arriving at a desolate peninsula of a much larger island, he braved the air, and dragged himself up onto the white sands. He turned over on his back, and watched the scales ripple through the sky. At least until his friend arrived. 

 ~ 

 Wow. This village was certainly a bit chaotic. But no matter how chaotic the village they lived in was, Stress was glad to live there with her best friend. 

 Stress left the small townhome that she and Iskall called home, to a wolf dog running past the door, followed shortly after by her aloof owner. 

 "Tilly! Tilly, get back here please!" Pearl shouted after the dog. "I'm really just too tired to chase you all the way through town!" 

 "Hello, luv, you look like you might need some help," Stress approached the tired Australian, and offered her help kindly. 

 "Yeah, Tilly's gone off to run around the village, and it's getting dark." Pearl expressed her worries for the young pup. 

 "It's better to wait for the doggy than to chase after her, luv." Stress pointed out. "Tilly'll come back in no time." 

 "Oh?" Pearl didn't seem certain, but still waited there, and sure enough, Tilly returned to be with Pearl again. Tilly barked softly in greetings to Pearl, and she thanked Stress before leaving to her home just down the road.

Stress was now sitting on the front steps of her home, soaking in the rare peace and quiet before it would be interrupted- 

 "Impulse! Why are you running from meee~" Grian shouted at the brunette in front of him in a teasing tone. "I only want to say hiii~" 

 -like that. Stress sighed. This was going to be a long night. 

 "Grian, please stop chasing me!" Impulse sounded afraid "This isn't funny!" 

 "It is to me!" The shorter of the two continued to tease. 

 The two were stopped, thankfully, by False. She got the two to stop screaming at each other, and alleviated their minor tensions. Apparently Grian had tried to prank Impulse, and Impulse caught him, and then Grian started to chase him down the streets of their small, chaotic town. 

 Finally remembering why she had even gone out, she walked to the marketplace, where hopefully there would be someone selling something. 

 Luckily enough, Keralis had set up A food stand, selling various types of fruit, and Cub had set up a general stand, which thankfully sold lantern oil. 

 Stress had shopped in the marketplace until she had enough supplies to last her and Iskall through the week. She soon returned home and Iskall helped her unload the supplies. 

 Iskall soon set off to his room, most likely to sleep, as it was pretty dark now, and Stress did the same. 

But not everyone sees the sun and stars.

~

1125 words! That's a lot of words. 

Anyways, I'll be returning to the void to revel in my madness.