Figment

Chapter 1

Even in the vast, endless ocean, Sky didn't feel like there was any way for him to get far enough from his father. Perhaps it was that feeling that had let to him changing his course of direction, going from swimming aimlessly in any direction that wasn't home to straight up toward the surface. Or,more likely, it was the odd shadow he saw shimmering on the ocean floor as he zipped through the sun-soaked waters. The young merman hadn't even noticed that the water had gotten shallower the more distance he put between himself and the city. His head of dark, well trimmed hair burst through the turquoise surface, tumultuous even the sunniest of days, tiny droplets getting lost in the waves as he shook damp locks from his face and tried to locate the source of the shadow.

Big, rough and angry, Sky had never quite seen any like it before in his life. It bobbed and swayed on the water, gliding along the surface despite that it was an absolute behemoth. So marveled was the merman, by the thing's massive size, with the tall spires draped with cloth and rope jutting out from it's bulbous base, he almost didn't notice the flaws of the thing, like the barnacles that crusted it's bottom or the way it creaked and groaned as it swayed side to side in the windswept seas or even the faded paint and the ragged appearance of the fabric on it's towers.

Of course, just when Sky thought that the thing couldn't get anymore mysterious or exciting, he saw one. Tall, thin with a mop of dark curls and a handsome face, he looked rather akin to his people except for the pair of legs that was where his tail should have been. The young merman had heard of men before, been warned about them and the dangers they posed to the survival of his kind. Many stories spoke of their allure and cautioned young mers of their ability to lure them from the water only to trap them and steal them away to the surface world, forcing them from where they belonged, dooming them to a life of madness as they were forever unable to answer the call of the water. There were other, more practical reasons, too, like how they took so unforgivably from the ocean and drove merfolk away from their home, forcing them deeper below the surface as ventured from their shores and out into the sea on their monstrous ships.

That must have been what Sky was seeing, a ship. It wasn't as terrible and frightening as he had been told and he found himself filled more so with curiosity and wonder rather than disgust. However, the appearance of more men on deck captured the merman's attention and pulled it away from the thing on which the inhabited. The new ones looked angry, pointing swords at the pretty one backing up towards the edge, something binding his hands together that he couldn't quite see. None of them saw Sky, of course. Even if they hadn't been so wrapped up in what looked like an argument, his small head of dark hair would be difficult to spot in the waves that danced and swelled around them.

Part of him wanted to move closer to hear more of what they were saying, however, a faint splash stopped Sky mid dive below the surface. The cloth that had been draped across the arms of the ship's towers had been unfurled and it caught the wind, pushing the massive beast forward and away from the source of the noise. He didn't see the male who had first caught his attention as he scanned the hulking mass quickly slipping away from him but didn't see him. He had been the closest to the edge that it only made sense that the splash had come from him. A knot formed in Sky's stomach as he dipped back below the waves, wide eyes scanning for the human he was sure was in the water with him. Sure enough, there he was, struggling with his hands, trying to free them so he could claw his way out of the water as he slipped further into the merman's deep blue world.

Sky was frozen for a moment, floating there as he decided what to do. Men were supposed to be dangerous, scary but this one didn't look like it could do much to harm him. Plus, he couldn't help but notice the fine curve of his cheekbones or the thick, long lashes that framed his eyes or the way those long locks floated around him like a dark halo. Human couldn't swim well even with their hands and couldn't breath the way the merfolk did underwater, that much he knew and the other seemed to be failing in his attempts to escape his bonds and make it back to the air above. His flailing seemed to weaken and Sky saw bubbles escape fine, coral coloured lips and he knew he had to act. It only took a few stroked of his tail to propel him towards the human. He grabbed him and swam him to the surface so that he could have a chance to breath.