Light rippled through the cool blue water, creating a dazzling effect on the underwater world. Arys, a white haired mermaid, swam along the reef, the sunlight glinting off of her purple and blue tail. The white dots on her fluke looked almost like pearls.
Some of the coral was broken and white, having died. Arys shook her head. The legacy of humans : destruction and decay. Fortunately one section was not completely gone yet. Placing her hand upon the coral, she closed her eyes as the healing power flowed from her heart down her arm and into her hand. The coral slowly returned to it's vibrant state, once again alive and healthy. It would shelter and feed the various creatures along the reef.

Always give. Only take what was needed. Preserve and protect. Those were the words the mermaids lived by.
Humans. Mermaids were forbidden contact with them unless searching for a new sister. Which would be soon, since Mailyn had passed on. It still hurt her heart to think of the ancient mermaid. She had been Arys' Shellan, the one who had rescued her from her dreadful life as a human and made her reborn as a creature of the sea. Arys remembered nothing from her former life and for that she was grateful to the Moon Goddess.
Humans were selfish and dangerous, her Shellan had always said. Especially the males. But any mermaid would rather deal with a male human than... the monsters...

Arys shivered despite the warmth of the water. Mermen. Ravenous bloodthirsty monsters. Selfish blackhearted beasts. They took and took and ravaged and destroyed until there was nothing left, then moved on to do the same thing again. It was a miracle that they hadn't succeeded in completely destroying the sea. Mermaids used to be as plentiful as the fish of the sea, but now thanks to having to hide from the mermen there were few left. Arys herself, in all of her years, had never seen another mermaid outside of her own pod.

Arys picked up a large conch shell and ran her hands over it idly. She couldn't shake the uneasy feeling she had. There was a disturbance in the waters, like a storm was approaching...
She'd have to warn her sisters. They would need to take shelter. Hopefully the storm would pass before the turtles hatched. Her pod needed to be there, to make sure that as many hatchlings as possible made it to the protection of the reef before moving to the open sea.

Cecily had been absorbed in her studies after class. She had been studying in the library until the librarian had to come in and tell her that they were closing. After a quick smile and a thank you, she hurried out. She hadn't noticed while she was in the library, but it had quickly become darker than normal, due to the large storm clouds that shrouded the sky. The gusts of wind threatened to push Cecily in its wake, but she leaned against the wind, trying to prevent herself from falling over. There wasn't a shred of doubt, she needed to get back to her apartment and quick, before the storm had completely set. Now the question was whether to wait for a bus like normal (and wait an hour or two for it to arrive), or to take her shortcut home on the beach?

She figured that her best option was to take the shortcut. In this storm, she doubted any sane bus driver would work in this storm. She pulled her jacket tighter around her, trying to keep herself from shivering from the bitter, howling winds, and protect herself from the pounding rain. She walked briskly on the sidewalk and eventually found herself on the beach, steering clear of the water, and the fenced off region where the sea turtle eggs were buried.

Normally, she would've lingered on this beach, thinking about life, about how sad it was that humans were causing the destruction of the oceans (with dying reefs and the Nitrogen bubbles, which caused strange behaviors in some species of fish), and about how people were trying to amend their mistakes. But now wasn't the time for such pondering! Not with a storm coming. She kept on walking as fast as she could. However, she never noticed a larger wave coming onto the beach until it was too late. She gasped, taking in a breath of air, right before the wave hit her.

She felt herself tumbling in the salty water, and despite the stinging caused by the salty waters, she opened her eyes and swam upwards. She saw that she had been washed out far from the beach...and she was still floating away from the beach. She was in a riptide! She started to swim parallel to the beach (knowing that swimming against the riptide wasn't going to help at all) in an attempt to get herself out of the riptide, before she could start swimming towards the beach. However, Cecily wasn't the fastest swimmer, and she had no idea if she would be out of the riptide or not...

There had to be people that were still searching for her..

Ariyah looked on with longing eyes at the place that was the end of her human self. She knew that she had not been born a mermaid. She knew that this was not her previous life, but she also didn't know what her life had been before this. All she knew was that she had fallen down the same cliff she was looking at and that everything just felt cold.

She continuously asked herself if she had a mother before this life. Did she have kids? A partner? Anyone that loved or cared enough to look for her. It was these questions that had gotten herself in trouble so many times with the other Mermaids. She was told several times to not dwell so close to the surfaces where humans tended to be around, but she couldn't help herself from wanting to know more about her previous life.

It was then that she noticed the dark clouds rolling in over the water. A coldness fell over her again, like the night that she nearly died. Ariyah's violet eyes darted from the sky to the ocean, then back again. The winds had began to pick up, causing the waves to rise. The dark haired mermaid sighed as she took one last look over at the cliffs, then to the shore where humans usually gathered on sunny days.

"Wait..." She expected the beach have no living beings on it, but there was one girl who seemed to be deep in thought. Ariyah turned her head towards the deep as she began to feel the tide pulling her back. This was never a good sign. A wave twice the height of the others had formed and was now rushing towards the beach where the human woman stood. Ariyah once again turned her head and saw that the woman had began to walk away but she knew that the stranger wouldn't make it out on time.

"Run!"

Yet another rule that Ariyah broke. Speaking to humans. It was all in vain though, as the wave reached Ariyah and pulled her in, shutting her up. She had no choice left but to try and help the human.

The dark haired mermaid raced against time to try and reach the human as the rip tide began to pull the both of them in deeper into the ocean. With a wave of that magnitude, Ariyah knew the human would be either extremely disoriented or completely unconscious. It felt as if it took eons to get to the human, but finally she was able to reach her before another wave rolled over them and the tide sucked them in deeper into the ocean and further away from the shore.

"I won't be able to make it back in this stupid storm."

Ariyah had began to panic now. Being under water for too long would kill the woman, but surfacing in this weather could cause problems for the both of them.

Groaning, Ariyah decided to take the chances and surface once to make sure everything was okay with the woman. She appeared to be breathing which was all Ariyah could as for. "Im going to get in so much trouble," the young mermaid groaned again and began tugging the stranger towards one of the small islands that belonged to the pod. It would be the only safe place for the human and it would allow Ariyah to go and get help from the more experienced Mermaids.

----------

Once arriving to the island, Ariyah panted heavily as she drug herself and the human onto the sandy shore. "Stay here. Stay hidden." She didn't know whether the woman was conscious or not, but her warning was still not to be taken lightly.

After assuring herself that there were no severe injuries, Ariyah leapt back into the water and began swimming as fast as possible. It would be highly unlikely that any of her mermaid 'sisters' were out in the waters with the storm, but this was of dire emergency. At least to her it was. Being so, Ariyah began to shout for help, hoping someone would hear her in the depths of the ocean.

@wolverbells @Guardian Angel Haruki

---

Most sea creatures took refuge during a great storm or hurricane, but in the Shellborn culture, it meant hunting time. Several mermen soldiers ventured out from the Shellborn Kingdom to do one thing during this perilous time: kill.

Aquarius followed behind a platoon of young and excited sealads. They were riding with their shark companions, holding onto their dorsal fins as the carnivorous creatures cut through the water like knives.

“Scylla is all too eager to feast on man flesh. She has pups on the way,” one soldier mentioned.

“I was wondering why she was so huge. I thought you were overfeeding her,” said another soldier.

The soldier patted the Great White’s flank tenderly and grinned. “Nope. I’m about to have a pack. I thought about selling them when they matured.”

“Yeah, you should, you will make a fortune!”

An echo tore through the water, resonating throughout its dark depths from a scout one nautical mile ahead.

“Press on!” Aquarius commanded.

All light conversation ceased as the mermen swarmed ahead. When they reached the scout, they discovered a fishing boat that was being tossed by the waves. The fishermen had been too greedy desiring to steal more from the sea rather than taking only what they needed. Their sin would be compensated with their lives.

“Cordon the ship!”

The mersoldiers barked in acknowledgement and began to form a ring around the tossing ship. They allowed nature to take its vengeful course and they watched as the waves washing over the ship knocked crates, fish, and unfortunate sailors into the water. As the first two men sank into the ocean, they kicked and scrambled to return to the surface, but would not be given the opportunity. Aquarius’s next command released the mersoldiers’ sharks and the beasts darted through the water like torpedoes to begin ripping the men apart. Unlike some mermen clans, the Shellborn did not take humans under their fins. They killed them for they believed that they were the reason why life under the sea was being slowly erased and to keep other mermen from bolstering their armies. Such destructive creatures were not meant to live beneath the ocean. They were to remain on land where they could war into extinction.

There was only a red cloud of blood where the sailors had once been and the blood drove the sharks into a feeding frenzy as they swirled beneath the ship like a blender. The Shellborn were to wait until the ship capsized and take its plunder back to the kingdom.

Just then while Aquarius was overseeing his men, an unfamiliar echo passed through the ocean, causing the captain to turn his head in its direction. It hadn’t been from any kingdom he was familiar with.

“SGT Flotsam!” Aquarius summoned.

The mersergeant rushed over to him, clinging to the fin of a tiger shark. “Yes, Sir!”

“Gather some mermen and go investigate that mysterious echo. If you discover what it is send word back to me pronto. If you and your men run into any trouble, retreat. I want information not casualties.”

“And what if it’s a mermaid, Sir?”

Aquarius fell silent for a few seconds as he thought over the possibility. He watched as more sailors succumbed to the piranha-like swarm.

“Capture her and bring her back to the kingdom. If there are more, then they’ll want her back and come for her.”

“Yes, Sir!”

The sergeant called to four of his men and the five mermen surged forth in the call’s direction.

---

As for Ariyah, someone did hear her call and it hadn’t been the someone(s) she was hoping to see. The five Shellborn soldiers spotted the mermaid and attempted to chase her into a corner.

“A mermaid! Just as I predicted, capture her. Don’t let her escape!” SGT Flotsam commanded.

Ariyah had not managed to reach the kingdom, in which she had been living in, when her calls were answered. The voices that had returned her calls where not the ones she wanted to hear though.

Ever since being turned, the other Mermaids had warned her about the Mermen. These warnings, unlike the ones from the humans, she did fear. Every Mermaid seem to have a strong anger or fear towards them and she, for some reason, could feel it as well.

"No! Leave me alone! I haven't done anything wrong!"

Ariyah's voice pierced the waters as she was apprehended by the Mermen, even though she tried to fight them off and swim away. The fight seemed to have been working, the Mermen were forced to fight backup until the point where Ariyah was hit bluntly on the head and knocked unconscious. The last she saw was a glimpse of the ocean surface which still churned with the tall waves that the storm was producing.

__________________________________

@Holy Soldier

@wolverbells @Guardian Angel Haruki

---

Once the mermaid was apprehended, her body was placed between the vicious jaws of SGT Flotsam’s tiger shark. If she woke or tried anything funny, then the shark wouldn’t hesitate to wring her body into bits. The Shellborn sergeant called his men over:

“Report.”

The squad leader reported, “No one was hurt.”

“Really?” whined one of the mersoldiers. “Her tail got me in the jaw!”

“You’ll live,” said the squad leader insensitively.

“Shellborn Mako,” called the sergeant.

“Yes, sergeant,” Mako answered.

“Go inform the captain that we managed to successfully capture the mermaid. She will be detained at the guard post.”

Mako barked and with his and his shark’s combined speed they vanished into the blue.

“The rest of you. Come! We return to the city,” the sergeant ordered.

The mersoldiers barked and they started back to the Kingdom of the Shellborn with Ariyah.

@wolverbells@Holy Soldier

Aquawlad Settled atop a lichen coated rock, golden eyes scanning the open sea. A storm was brewing and already the sea was changing, if any of her sisters or in fact anything at all was dragged out to open sea she would be ready to help. A bottle nose dolphin swam nearby, it's sensory abilities much butter than Aquawlad's own.

A pull of the ocean signaled a wave, this one bigger than the ones before. For the mermaid it meant nothing unless someone was above water. The wave crashed and began pulling back into the ocean. All of the sudden the bottle-nose dolphin darted up to her. A distress call or a creature caught in the ripe tide. No matter what it was the two headed out. Hand on the dolphins dorsal fin they spend through the water toward the source of the sound. Little did Aquawlad know what was she was truly getting herself into.

When she arrived Ariyah had already been captured. Her options were limited; if she fought she would surely lose, if she followed she might to be captured. But if she went back for more help it would do no good, the meremen would be gone, vanished into the ocean, and poor sweet Ariyah would be gone for good. The poor girl was so young.

In following her heart Aquawlad followed the meremen at a distance, her body pressed close to her dolphin companion. As they followed she whistel back toward her home, calling for more dolphins, if any were out at all.

Arys turned her head sharply. Her heart pulled at her. One of her sisters...? With one kick of her tail she speed off faster than a marlin. It wasn't long before she saw wreckage from a ship. And the barracuda swimming around searching for scraps told her there had been feasting.
Something terrible had happened here.

There were no humans left. Not even tattered clothing. Only sharks could have done so thorough a job of disposing of the floundering humans. There were never that many sharks this close to the islands. They preferred farther out to sea.

"Beware the shark, for it is the familiar of a far more dangerous enemy..." her Shellan's words echoed in her mind. A faint dolphin whistle had her on alert again.
"Follow the call of the dolphin, for they can be trusted..."
Only one of her pod was highly intuned with dolphins. "Aquawlad," she murmured before darting off once again, fear churning inside her heart. If one of her sisters was hurt she'd would need to heal her quickly before whatever sharks sensed it. Or the beasts with the sharks.
Her Shellan had told Arys of the savage beasts the night she had made her gravest mistake.
They bear the fin like us, but do not be fooled. They are savage, bloodthirsty, brutal beasts. Death and destruction is all they know, all they desire. Their strong arms will tear you to pieces as their sharp teeth rip your flesh and break your bones into splinters. They are to be feared and avoided at all costs. Promise me, my moon child, that you shall never again-"

Arys pushed the memories from her mind. She never wanted to be reminded of her horrid mistake. The one that had caused the pod to have to flee their previous home.
The shapes of other dolphins appeared, swimming fast. Arys could sense their unease, and their fear added to her own. A loud panicked squeal reached her and she saw one of the dolphins was struggling to keep up with the others. He was injured, a deep gash along his side. The gash was too clean to have been made by either teeth or claw. It was made by a weapon.
The young female dolphin was bleeding too much. Soon she would die. And her blood would call the sharks, and the beasts with them.

Approaching the suffering dolphin, Arys placed her hand on the gash only for the animal to squeal in pain and move away. Arys didn't chase her. Instead she held out her arms, as if offering an embrace. She began to sing, a gentle soothing melody. Calming, the dolphin approached her again and brushed against her like a child seeking comfort. Arys placed her hands upon the gash again and while the animal flinched she did not move away. Continuing the melody, her hands and eyes glowed with an ethereal blue light. The gash slowly closed and sealed, not even a scar was left behind.

@wolverbells @Classpet

---

SGT Flotsam and his men returned to the Shellborn Kingdom with the captured mermaid. She was placed within a metal grate cell and she would find no one else, but the guard sharks that patrolled the corridor. They were trained to attack any criminal who dare escape, but she had been the only one in the dungeon it seemed. The guard post was but a jail where individuals serving temporary sentences went.

Cecily swam with all of her strength, occasionally finding her head underwater before resurfacing to continue her trek. However, the cold temperatures and her muscles crying out in protest made it progressively harder for her to continue. At the rate she was going, she realized that she wasn't going to make it, and that she was going to drown. She almost gave in to the darkness, but she tried to stay awake as she felt a pair of arms grab her and keep her afloat above the surface. She wanted to turn and see who was holding her, and she wanted to speak, but Cecily never felt so weak in her entire life.

She kept fading in and out between consciousness and unconsciousness during her savior's swim. She couldn't tell where they were going, and how long the both of them were in the water. She started coming to dizzy and disoriented consciousness after she felt sand underneath her, and she could hear a woman's voice speak, reverberating and echoing

"Stay here. Stay hidden,"

Cecily managed to shakily rise up slightly on her arms and in an attempt to face her savior, she called with a quiet and hoarse voice, "Wait...!" However, her quiet words weren't heard, and after a splash, the person was gone. She groaned as she tried to sit up and look around. Where was she...? Why did she need to hide...?

Well, either way, it wasn't a good idea to stay where the waves were crashing onto her. She fought against her weariness as she stood up and stumbled away from the beach and took cover among the nearby trees, but staying close to the beach. The storm was still upon her, pounding against the island and water mercilessly. She huddled against the tree, which did well to protect her from the rain, and hugged her knees, trying to keep herself from shivering. The waves were in clear view, and she wanted to keep them in view, just in case that mysterious savior of hers appeared again.

She never realized that during her stumble towards the tree, her silver tear drop shaped necklace had fallen off and landed on the sand, eventually being washed away from the shore and into deeper waters.

'Ariyah wake up. Wake up, Ariyah!'

Although she had not dreamt anything in her unconscious state, the young mermaid managed to snap herself out of it by havin her subconscious tell her so. She was used to having to wake herself up from the frequent nightmares that she had.

When Ariyah finally did wake up, she took her time to adjust to her surroundings. It took a few blinks to get her eyes adjusted to the lighting of the room she was in, and another few blinks to take in the details of the room. "This isn't a room.. It's a jail cell." Ariyah's eyes widened as she put two and two together, her arms quickly pushing her off of where she lay so that she could swim to the entrance of her cell. She clung on to the bars and shook them, beginning to feel frantic as she started to realize how dire the situation was.

"Let me out!! Please, let me out! I've done nothing wrong!"

In fact, she hadn't don't anything wrong. At least not to the Mermen. She was well within the set boundaries that the Mermaids had, and whatever business she had to deal with, it had nothing to do with the Mermen. If anything, they were the ones out of bounds.

Her pleased had to cease immediately though, as a shark suddenly swam to the cell and threatened to bite off the fingers that stuck out of the cell bars. Ariyah swam back in fear until she was touching the cell wall with her nearly bare back. That's when she noticed a stinging pain that shot up to her head. The blow that she was given by the soldiers might have been worse than she expected.

With tears forming in her eyes, Ariyah let herself down once more onto the floor and wrapped her arms around herself. It wasn't because she felt cold, or because she was lonely, but because she knew she'd have to heal herself and self healing was always a by more painful than getting the actual wound itself. Still, Ariyah hummed quietly as she healed, her eyes giving off a minimal glow as it began to work.

@Belle@Guardian Angel Haruki@wolverbells

Aquawlad went as far as she could, following high above the mermen patrol. When the merman finally settled on a location and left the mermaid trapped Aquawlad made her move. The bottle-nose dolphin clicked at her, back up was coming, she needed only to wait. But the call to the Jail was strong. It was deserted but for the sharks, and though they were not the most sensible creatures the would still often listen to her.

She gave the dolphin a gentle pat and sent it towards the pod, to lead them back to where the captured mermaid was. It would be just her for a short time, and the open water was no place to hide with the obvious silhouette she held. The dolphin darted off and so did she, propelling herself deeper and deeper until at last she was at the jail. She settled just above the entrance peering in.

Dual sharks made rounds up and down the hall, keeping in motion to keep alive. Sharks themselves can never stop or they will suffocate. Water must constantly pass over their gills and provide them with the oxygen they need. "oh you poor darlings," she whispered as she flipped forward and swam to the other side of the entrance. The sharks stared dangers, but were undoubtedly curious. They were trained to attack escaped prisoners, but the mermaid had come on her own accord. Aquawlad radiated confidence, she was supposed to be here and for now that would be enough for the sharks.

"Airyah, it's me Aquawlad, Are you alright? How do you open the cell?"

Altum patrolled the dark depths alone, having wandered off again from his band of Merbrothers. He had been doing that a lot lately it seemed but frankly he couldn't really bring himself to care. Over the years he had spent with his new family, in this new life, Altum learned the rules and laws that all mermen were expected to abide by. Everything forbidden and taboo to their culture, the highlight of which being the mermaids. Hauntingly deceptive witches that masqueraded as one of their own but in truth were anything but. In the beginning Altum took everything they said to heart, having no reason to believe otherwise.

But as time went on and Altum began familiarizing himself with his new lifestyle, now comfortable with the dark waters that surrounded him, he took more and more time to himself. Finding his mind wandering and losing himself in his thoughts, he began to wonder if these supposed "sea witches" were really what the men said they were. Altum didn't have any memories of his previous life but the one thing that he held onto like a lifeline was the vivid memory he had of that night. The beginning of life anew for him. The maiden that saved his life had to have been a mermaid. He realized that now. But what he saw that night didn't fit anywhere near the description what he had been provided of the vile beasts. Unnatural beauty, voice rising and falling in the most enchanting song he had ever heard, hair and eyes that glowed with the haunting light of the moon itself.

Never speaking a whisper of this, Altum held the memory dear to his heart, secretly aspiring to someday meet his beautiful savior, even if it meant being bewitched like the mermen claimed. It would be worth it. Compared to most of the mermen in his tribe, Altum was still young, having been "reborn" only a couple hundred years ago. However, he was already finding himself tiring of the endless fighting. There seemed to be nothing else filling his time these days. There was something exhaustingly familiar about the battles, the rallies, the scouting parties, something that tugged at the back of his mind that may hint at his life above. Altum wanted something more to life than pointless violence. He had yet to even catch a glimpse of the elusive mermaids and would honestly believe them a myth if not for his dying dream.

The scent of fresh blood roused Altum from his reverie. Suddenly alert, he hesitated for a brief moment before speeding off through the water towards the smell. He would definitely receive a harsh scolding for not sending a message back to the tribe and wandering on his own again. Altum didn't care anymore. He didn't really find himself fitting in with the others and their ideals anyway. Getting closer, he slowed his pace, cautiously creeping upon a wreckage but he didn't sense anyone nearby. Observing the bodies that still floated in the water, Altum judged by their wounds that this was the work of sharks. But sharks wouldn't do this without reason, would they? Could it have been another tribe of mermen? He had heard rumors of ruthless mermen that slaughtered without due cause. Going against his better judgement, Altum decided to follow the faint blood trail that led away from the wreckage, if only to give himself something different with which to fill his time.

@Classpet @Guardian Angel Haruki

In the midst of her healing, when she was nearly done with it and the mild pain of her few scratches mending themselves, Ariyah heard a soft voice call out to her.

'Who in their right mind interrupts a person while healing? It took me forever to get this down..'

The dark haired mermaid blonked several times before she was able I focus on Aquawlad, a wave of relief washing over her as she saw the familiar face. The relief wasn't over the fact that she might get out, but that there was someone that could actually help the human that Ariyah had tried to save. It would stay on her conscious if she couldn't help the human like the merpeople once helped her.

"Aquawlad! Hey!" Ariyah quickly swam up to the cell gate but didn't touch it, fearing that if the Sharks saw her, they'd attack her friend. "You need to get out of here! I know you're here to save me but you have to listen to me." Ariyah looked at the other mermaid with pleading eyes as she spoke, hoping for the best. "I saved a human... Well.. I helped a human but she's dying most likely. It's a woman." Ariyah knew that she could have gotten in trouble for being near the shore, so she kept quiet about where she had found her. "She's up on one of our islands. Please go and help her. I can get out of this. Please."

The female dolphin squealed in fear and darted away before Arys could finish healing her. Arys spotted the figures approaching and darted away, praying she hadn't been seen. Hiding among the coral, she dared peek out. Fish darted away as several dark figures approached the reef. The leader of the small band was a muscular merman with a grim expression. Scars on her chest and arms and on large one across his face made him menacing. The hatred in his eyes made him terrifying.

Arys covered her mouth to stifle a whimper, her greatest fears confirmed.
Mermen had come to their waters.

"Kayn we have gone too far from the pack. We should return."
"Flee if you so wish fledgling," the scarred merman snarled. "I refuse to return empty-handed to my Hellran." His icy eyes scanned the reef, narrowing suspiciously. "This area is rife with weak sea creatures. Barely any predators in sight. That means it is either unclaimed, or soon will be."
His hard gaze fell over the coral formation that Arys was hiding behind. She clutched her throat and froze, trying not to shake so much. By shaking she disturbed the water around her, drawing attention to her location.
They bear the fin like us, but do not be fooled... savage, bloodthirsty, brutal beasts... Death and destruction is all they know, all they desire... feared and avoided at all costs..." Her Shellan's teachings repeated like a mantra in her mind.

The senses of a predator told him he was close to prey. Kayn swam slowly towards the formation, his teeth already bared and his hand gripping one of his twin swords.
Out of nowhere a squeal startled all of the mermen. A young female dolphin darted in front of Kayn, squealing and clicking rapidly. "Bothersome beast," he growled and resheathed his sword, turning back to his scouting squad. "Swim the parameter of the reef and scout the islands. Kill any resistance you come across."
The Rage was building again. He could feel it burning through his veins like fire. Blood... he needed to kill something... the feel blood on his hands and let it seep into his soul... he scowled at the female dolphin. Such weak prey was not worth his time. He would search for the pod of dolphins this one had come from and kill the largest male he could find. Perhaps that would sate him for the time being.

Once they were all gone the female dolphin approached the coral once again, clicking and whistling quietly. Arys came out from her hiding place and hugged the dolphin. "Thank you," she murmured. "Go. Warn my sisters," she told her, waving her away. She would stay in the reef and clean up whatever mess the mermen left behind.

@wolverbells@Guardian Angel Haruki

Aquawlad frowned at the prospect of leaving her sister. "oh...if you're sure.... I'll be back with help."
She sighed, her gold eyes carefully evaluating Ariyah. At last she decided that the mermaid was entirely honest in her request, "Stay safe." she requested before swimming back to the door and out.

She swam as fast as she could to the surface, gliding through the water as though she were born there. She stopped just before breaching the surface, letting her momentum take her the last few feet. Only her eyes peered over, searching for any sign of humans. Nothing on any of the islands could be seen from the distance though.

With no better plan she swam to the closest island, circling around it and upon finding it empty moving on. This strategy continued for a few more of the smaller islands before she came to an inhabited one.
Picking at the shore was a seagull, content on the little island though lonely to return to the mainland. With a little coaxing the bird came over to her. She starred at it, her eyes glowing like the sun. After a few mesmerized moments it took flight, gliding over the islands faster than Aquawlad could swim.

The bird flew low over each island, its precise eyes searching for only one thing, one person. In only a few minuets it found its target. Lighting on the beach in front of her it waddled closer, screeched, and took flight once more. In another minute it was back to the mermaid and then off to the mainland. The mermaid herself was gone in seconds, back to the ocean heading to where the bird had just been.



Once again gold eyes peered out over the gleaming salt waters of the ocean. Rain pattered around her though she was unfazed. She edged closer until only her tail was under water. "hello," she said her voice warm, "Are you alright?"

@Belle
Link finds himself alone. Alone and in rather unfamiliar waters. With slow almost lazy movements he swims in no real direction. His black tail giving off a sheen of iridescence whenever the light hits it, until he stops. He blinks at the scenario unfolding not far from him. A band of his 'kind' patrolling. He could feel the violence radiation off of them and feels his own teeth slide out of his gums. He quickly looks away and regains his composure.

Once, 'normal' again he slowly looks back. A..mermaid. He tilts his head as curiosity fills his being. He swims slowly now, his movements precise. Not stalking, but stealthy. He finds himself hiding amongst rocks nearby, watching the mermaid as she waves away the dolphin that just helped her. He hopes she will not sense him. Then again, he also hopes the merman will not sense him either. He is strong, but he knew full well a lone merman had little chance against a group. No matter how sharp his teeth are, he can only shred so much before he is over powered. So, he waits to see what happens.

@wolverbells

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After Aquawlad had long departed, the sharks’ pacing patterns shifted as they seemed to stop in their circles to regard two mersoldiers and one officer that swam down the empty dungeon corridor. Aquarius wore a solemn expression, lips straight beneath his shell helm. He gripped in his fist a trident as his tail rhythmically parted into numerous tentacles before they wound tightly closed in their propelling motions. The three mermen came before the prison where Ariyah was kept, and they regarded the young mermaid. For a long moment, Aquarius said nothing for he was gazing upon the creature before him. It wasn’t every day that he saw a mermaid. No; the Shellborn dealt with larger threats on a regular basis and mermaids were normally so elusive that they were almost tales and bedtime stories in his culture. But here she was, an actual mermaid. She resembled a human cut in half and bound to the tail of a fish. Why? Why did the mermaids make more of their kind? It was unnatural. He began the interrogation:

“I am Aquarius, Captain of the Shellborn Guard; Defender of the Kingdom; and you…are a mermaid. I nearly believed your race to be but a story, and yet here you are. What were you doing? You were alone. You were calling for help and when my men went to investigate, they reported to me that they found only an unharmed mermaid. So you weren’t in danger. So why did you call for help?”

Cecily looked up, lifting her forehead off of her arms, when a seagull appeared, waddled towards her and screeched at her, before flying off again. She mumbled "Weird...." before she got back to thinking again. She was stuck on a very small island, huddling against a palm tree, and she was pretty sure she was going to freeze in the cold and in the rain. Or at the very least, catch a cold. How was she going to get back to mainland? She couldn't swim back there. That would be ridiculous. And how did her savior get her here in the first place anyways...?

She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard a warm voice, different from the voice she heard earlier, speak to her. She looked towards the source, suppressing her shudders and shivering to the best of her abilities, and saw that a woman was in the water. She answered, "Y-Yeah...I'm okay, I think. Just cold, and tired is all..." She then asked the woman, noticing that she didn't seem to be wearing a shirt, and that it was cold (even after a good while of being out of the water), "What about you? Aren't you freezing?"

@Classpet

Ariyah felt grateful that Aquawlad listened to her, a smile forming in her face as she nodded in encouragement for her to go and help the woman.

"Thank you."

Once Aquawlad had left, Ariyah swam to the back of the cell and left herself float down until she sat on the floor. With a sigh, she returned to her healing to see if there was anything that she had missed. She sat in silence for a while with nothing but her thoughts to reflect on up until she could sense more than one approaching her. Fear began to creep back in as they got closer, and finally reached the cell door.

The merman spoke with a tone of great power and confidence. It was easy to see that no one questioned him, ever quite possibly, and that he had the utmost respect of the mermen around him. At least it seemed that way to her. He also did not seem to disrespect her as she thought he would of done. 'Is it a trick? I should probably be polite.. It will probably get me further than being rude. Ariyah observed him as he spoke, keeping her thoughts to herself and she made assumptions about the Captain. She only spoke after he was finished, making sure that she wouldn't interrupt him. "M.. My name is Ariyah. When your men found me, I was in search for my friends. A dolphin was having trouble giving birth, and in weather like this I was scared that several things might've gone wrong."

To Ariyah's surprise, her lie came out as smooth as the truth would have. Although Captain Aquarius came off as a respectable merman, she still feared what the outcome of her might be, especially if they knew she was helping a human. Her mermaid sisters had warned her of the cruel ways that mermen handled humans and it only made her fear more.

"Will.. Will I be able to return home? I did nothing wrong to you or your men."

@Holy Soldier