𝘾𝙊𝙇𝘿 𝙒𝘼𝙏𝙀𝙍 || 𝗂𝗍𝗌𝖿𝗎𝗇𝗇𝖾𝗁 𝗒𝗁 𝗆𝖾𝗋𝗆𝖺𝗂𝖽!𝖺𝗎 || hiatus ?

𝗉𝗋𝗈𝗅𝗈𝗎𝗀𝖾

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    The water was warm today. The sun up above shot down rays as intense as the bustle of tails and fins below. The square was filled with merfolk. Hundreds of them, from tall and skinny to short and stout, were scattered throughout the water. Each of them swimming at different speeds, trying to get to shops and houses as quickly or as slowly as they pleased.

     Amidst all the commotion, a small young blue merman emerged outside the door of his quaint house. Following tightly behind him were a pair of older merfolk. A blue mermaid with features resembling that of her son emerged first followed by a tall and lean dark yellow merman. The boy swam through the moving crowd with ease as he made his way to his destination, determined to get there fast. His parents struggled to get past all the moving shoppers, as they were stopped and greeted or got stuck in the rush of the current. The boy, on the other hand, had made it out of the commotion. He started swimming straight to the border, his favorite spot to look for shells and other pretty trinkets. When he arrived, he started to rummage through the sand , using the sunlight to try and snag something shiny.

     As he was shuffling through fistfuls of sand, his eyes caught on a glint from above. He looked up to see what had reflected into his vision. It took the boy a while to find the source of the shine, but he eventually found it when it caught his eyes once more. It was a lot higher up than the child had anticipated. The light appeared to be coming from the tip of a big black circular shape up near the surface of the ocean. The child knew that no one was supposed to go up there, but his curiosity got the better of him. He began to hastily climb up to the surface, unaware of the merfolk down below looking for him helplessly.

     He continued to swim up until the black circle became a huge image. He saw numerous amounts of barnacles on its underside. A whale? was the boy's first thought. He kept swimming up along the side of the shape.

     He peeked his head out of the water, his first mistake.

     He swam backward to look up at the huge shape in front of him, second mistake.

     Before he could even process what was happening, a long harpoon was shot at the boy's head, barely missing him. The harpoon shot down deep into the water. The string that was attached to the other end extended back up to the top of the shape . The child had ducked down into the water to hide from any other spears that were to be shot, but despite the obvious choice to turn back around and swim away, the boy went back up to see where the spear came from. His third mistake .

     When he peaked his head out for the second time he was able to get a good look at the huge object in front of him. It was a long bowl-shaped object made out of different types of wood. Before he knew it a second harpoon was being shot at him.

     It all happened so fast.

    One second, the child was above the water, watching the boat with curiosity. The next, he was hurled out of the way by the dark muscular arms of his father. The boy barely recovered from the whiplash of the shove before very warm familiar arms grabbed him and brought him down deeper into the safety of their waters.

     "Sweetheart, I need you to stay here. Don't follow mommy, ok." The blue-haired mermaid instructed her child. He stayed down below, watching his mother swim back up to help his father. In this breif moment of peace, the boy took notice of his paniced breathing. His chest was rising and falling at an alarming rate. He was filled with conflicting feelings. On one hand, he was listening to logic and fear and wanted to do what his mother said and swim back, but on the other hand, he listened to his heart and wanted to see what was going on.

     Disobeying his mother's order, he swam back up to the surface. He saw a big splash of bubbles as a human fell into the water, a spear in their hand. The boy had only ever heard descriptions of humans in books or scrolls he had found in the library. The one in front of him now had facial features like his father, with dark brown hair and yellow eyes. He guessed they were male based on their muscular build. He had never seen one up this close before. He wanted to see it closer.

     The human held their spear with a clear intent to take a life that day. The boy's father held no weapon, despite the small satchel on his side. His mother came up beside her husband to try and grab the human. The boy came up closer to his parents, wanting to help as much as he could without getting hurt. His mother had grabbed the human from behind the arms, holding him in a fierce grip. The boy turned to see another splash of bubbles and another human appear. They seemed to be female with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. They held a harpoon themselves, the tip of it pointed at the boy's father. The lady threw the spear at him, aiming for his heart. The merman swiftly dodged and headed towards the human to knock her out. He fought with her, hand to hand, before swinging his tail around and slamming the woman on the head. The man the mother had been holding started to thrash uncontrollably at this action. Eventually, he slipped himself out of her arms and swam straight for the father. As quick as a flash, the father turned around and knocked out the man with the end of his tail. The child saw drips of blood leave the man's nose and mouth as his head drifted back in the water. The father and mother swam back to their child, disregarding the woman behind them. She had retreated above the sea and grabbed another harpoon while they had attacked her husband. This time, she shot it at the one thing that wasn't armed. The one vulnerable thing out of the three.the father turned around and knocked out the man with the end of his tail. The child saw drips of blood leave the man's nose and mouth as his head drifted back in the water. The father and mother swam back to their child, disregarding the woman behind them. She had retreated above the sea and grabbed another harpoon while they had attacked her husband. This time, she shot it at the one thing that wasn't armed. The one vulnerable thing out of the three.the father turned around and knocked out the man with the end of his tail. The child saw drips of blood leave the man's nose and mouth as his head drifted back in the water. The father and mother swam back to their child, disregarding the woman behind them. She had retreated above the sea and grabbed another harpoon while they had attacked her husband. This time, she shot it at the one thing that wasn't armed. The most vulnerable of the three. The easiest target.

     She conjured up all of her strength in that one throw for it to hopefully impale the small merman. She stared back at what she did. Blood and free scales weren't the only things that filled the water that day. A scream of a banshee was heard from the mother's throat, so shrill it could've shattered glass. The mermaid desperately tried to cover up the wound with her hands, the only thing she could think of at the time, but to no avail. The blood was already spewing out at an alarming rate. The child saw the human grab a handful of his blood-covered scales through the corner of his eye before blacking out. She must have taken them as a reward to say she supposedly killed one of the mythical creatures of the sea.

     The last thing the boy saw were two faces painted all over with worry and fear, speaking words that went unheard to him, before he closed his eyes and let the darkness overpower the huge burning sensation on his right side.

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𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 - 𝘧𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘺 2, 2020
1459 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴
~ 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮