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<Keralis1> come over :)
<xBCrafted> like
<xBCrafted> now?
<xBCrafted> is it urgent?
<Keralis1> I just want to see your beautiful face <3
xB rolled his eyes.
<xBCrafted> can I finish what I was doing first
<Keralis1> of course!
<Keralis1> but come by soon!
Keralis didn't usually invite him over. Usually Keralis would just show up at xB's savanna, make a comment about how far away he lived, and they'd go from there. But hey, maybe Keralis had a build to show him or something.
xB finished up the patch of Nether trees he was planting, then trotted over to take a dip in the river that ran by. He shifted and let out a bubbly sigh of relief at the fresh, cool water washing the dust and mycelium spores off his skin and scales.
He hovered there for a moment, moving his tail just enough to keep himself from being carried downstream. But, he couldn't linger too long - Keralis was expecting him.
-
Keralis was, of course, standing right in front of the portal. He accosted xB with a hug before xB could protest. "Princess!!!"
"Hi," xB laughed. "So, you got something to show me, or what?"
"More of a 'or what'," Keralis replied slyly. "Come! Come come. We walk and talk?"
xB shrugged and followed Keralis down the street toward the harbor.
"So!" Keralis began as they walked. "I've been sinking - hallo, zis is ze German Coast Guard, what are you sinking about? -" He paused, giggling along with his friend as he noticed that xB had instantly started mouthing the words to the joke along with him.
xB raised his eyebrows. "Yeah? What are you sinking about, then?"
"I've been sinking," Keralis started again, "that what if we could have, like a, an aqua playdate? You show me around in fish form! We explore together! It would be fun!"
"So, me in mer form," xB clarified. "But you're not? Or, I guess if you asked E-"
He cut himself off, caught almost off guard by Etho suddenly appearing from around the corner of a pile of shipping containers, as if summoned by his name. He took one hand out of his pocket and waved. "Hey guys."
xB stopped, a puzzled expression forming as he caught up. He looked at Etho, then Keralis, then Etho again. Then he turned back to Keralis. "You planned this, didn't you?"
Keralis just gave him an innocent smile.
xB sighed. "Yeah, alright. Just keep in mind you won't be able to get back on land for like a week."
Keralis nodded. "It's fine! I can build boats! And piers and other watery things. And bother - I mean visit - Impulse or Hypno! I just really want to see what it's like!"
The trio reached the edge of the dock. xB shrugged his hoodie off and tossed it toward the base of a container, revealing narrow fins near his elbows that had been hidden by sleeves.
"Oh, are we taking shirts off?" Keralis asked, already going for his own.
"You don't... have to," xB replied. "Just if you think it'll affect your swimming."
"Oh." Keralis pouted a little as he let his shirt back down and settled for just removing the construction vest he wore over it. “What about pants? Pants get in the way of tail, no?”
“Keralis, please do not take off your pants.”
xB ran forward, hopped up onto the pier railing, and executed a graceful dive into the water, legs shifting into a cyan tail in midair. He popped his head up and waved, showing off orange webbing on his hands, and his arm fins now fully formed and extended. “See?” he called. “Just jump in, and then Etho can do the rest.”
Keralis crouched on the railing for a moment as Etho followed xB's lead. Keralis hesitated, clearly not scared of the water, but always willing to toy with xB a little more. “You catch me, yes?”
xB spread his arms out on the surface. "I can try!"
Satisfied, Keralis jumped into the harbor - and splashed down a good few blocks in front of where xB floated, having made no move to actually be where Keralis was landing.
"xB!!" Keralis spluttered indignantly. "You said you catch me!"
"I said I'd try," xB reminded him, giggling. "I didn't say I'd try very hard. Not my fault you didn't get a running start like I did!"
By that time, Etho was already towing Keralis closer. Keralis splashed water at xB with his hand. xB dodged it with a laugh.
"That was a wimpy splash," xB exclaimed. "You can't pull off a real water fight until you've got some of these." He wiggled his webbed fingers at Keralis, then used them to scoop significantly more water in Keralis' direction.
"The nerve!" Keralis spluttered. "Well, in a minute we will be on equal footing, won't we? Except we won't have feet. Equal finning?"
"Equal finning sounds good," Etho agreed. "You ready?"
Keralis nodded enthusiastically. "I always was! But now I really am, because I gotta get this guy back!"
"Okay." Etho reached up and put a hand on the part of Keralis' arm that was around Etho's shoulder. "Just remember, as you're shifting: I've got hold of you. xB's here. It's all going to plan."
"Very reassuring- oh!" Keralis gasped as the magic took hold. His eyelids fluttered, then shut. He slumped against Etho, and xB swam over to support Keralis' other side. As the three drifted, xB felt Keralis' legs brush against his tail, just as they merged into a tail themselves. xB twitched away a little involuntarily; the fabric and skin turning into scales was not a sensation he had ever experienced from the outside. He looked down to see what Keralis' new tail would look like.
The answer to that was a deep shade of shining reddish-orange, with lighter countershading down the front - koi-like, like Grian’s, maybe, or maybe like some types of goldfish. Translucent fins drifted, then flicked as the spell completed and Keralis’ lucidity returned. Keralis opened his eyes, revealing scleras that were now fully golden, looking almost metallic.
"Whoa," Etho commented.
"What is 'whoa'?" Keralis demanded. "Is it bad 'whoa'?"
"No, your eyes are just... very striking, that's all," xB explained.
Keralis giggled. "Oh, you are too sweet!" He lifted his arms and wriggled free of the others. "You can-a let go of me now. I try swimming myself!"
xB and Etho obliged, letting Keralis sink into the water and giving him space to move. Keralis paused, clearly psyching himself up, then ducked his head under.
xB let Keralis adjust for a moment before asking, All good? You breathing okay and all?
Keralis nodded, exploring the sides of his neck and ribs with his hands to find his gills, then started to take his t-shirt off anyway.
Keralis, I told you, that's not really necessary... xB pointed out half-heartedly.
Is not helping me breathe the water, Keralis explained, wadding the shirt up and sticking it into his inventory.
xB crossed his arms and raised one eyebrow, his own shirt drifting gently in the tiny current from his own primary gill slits underneath, causing no problems at all. He doubted a simple t-shirt would inconvenience even a new mer's breathing that much, but he also knew a shirt was not worth the effort to try and stop Keralis.
Also I want to see what the scales are doing, Keralis added, looking down at himself. He traced the uneven edge of the orange scales down his side, to where they met up with the pale belly scales that blended in almost perfectly with his skin. ...Hey! Where did my belly button go?
xB and Etho just stared at Keralis in confusion. It's been replaced by scales, Etho pointed out helpfully.
Do you people come from eggs or something? Keralis asked.
xB and Etho both nodded.
Wait, Keralis realized. Would you even have a belly button in human form?
Uh, I hadn't ever really thought about it- xB started.
I don't! Etho replied cheerfully.
These go all the way up, Keralis observed, indicating the scales on his sides. He twisted, trying to see behind himself. What do they do on my back?
Back down, it looks like. xB noted that the scales on Keralis' back came just about up to a point that xB happened to know was a little more sensitive. The edge is right about... here. He gently poked the spot.
Ai! Keralis jerked forward, accidentally throwing himself into a barely-controlled spin. You liar!
No, no, it's actually there! See? xB smirked and traced the edge of Keralis' scales all the way around, now brushing his finger all the way along the ticklish spot.
Keralis shivered and smacked xB's hand away. Stop that!
xB swam a few meters away and waited. Gotta catch me, he taunted.
Keralis flapped his tail hard - sending himself into another somersault. No fair! He flailed until he was generally upright again.
xB hadn't moved. Tails generally work a lot more efficiently than feet do here, he advised. Less effort to get yourself moving. You just gotta get good.
Keralis looked pleadingly at Etho. Etho shrugged. I mean, this is basically how newborn mers learn...
Keralis swiped in Etho's direction, but Etho also easily backed just out of range with a laugh. Keralis glared at him. I hate both of you.
xB made heart hands at Keralis. I know.
You'll get the hang of it, Etho assured him. We'll be right here. You know. Riiiight back here.
Hypno cruised aimlessly just offshore, past the dark oak forest where he had set up a camp. He was sort of hunting, but mostly he just needed the sea time - he had been spending a lot of time on land lately.
A movement coming around the coastline from the other direction caught Hypno's attention. Too big for a fish, and he didn't think it was a squid... maybe a dolphin? He squinted at it.
As the shape came closer, it became clear enough that they were moving like a mer. Who would be swimming around the island this direction, though? Etho? Iskall? Wels, maybe?
After a few more moments, Hypno could make out colors, bright orange flashing in the sunlit water. Scar wouldn't have made the trip all the way around the coast, would he...?
No, now Hypno could see a big pair of gold eyes. Keralis! Hypno called.
Hypno! Gorgeous sweetface! Keralis indicated Hypno's bare arms, exposed by his black tank top. Keralis 'sounded' like he had exerted himself quite heavily on the swim over, and his mouth hung open as his gills pumped extra hard. He didn't seem to be in a hurry, though; Hypno guessed that this was probably just Keralis' first time under the mer spell in a while.
Has Etho started charging you for his services yet? Hypno joked.
I give him diamonds, Keralis replied. He is happy to help! I talk to Iskall too. Iskall almost enjoys being fish now I think!
That's great to hear that Iskall's still adjusting well. I assume you're here looking for xB, right?
Keralis nodded. Ye ye yeah! And, I kinda wanna see if I surprise him, so don't say it's me!
Hypno laughed. Surprise him? How many times have you two done this again?
None since moving worlds! Keralis pointed out. Too busy! But now I have water things to build and time to visit you guys!
Mm, that's true. Hypno started swimming back eastward, and Keralis followed. xB's up top manning Horse Head Farms right now. I'll go get him for ya.
With a few powerful tail strokes and his arms assisting, Hypno beached himself, then shifted back to human form and jogged toward the hub of the shared farm, not bothering to grab the coat he'd left on shore. In the past, he had often worn it just to hide the large slit in the back of his shirt that allowed for his dorsal fin, anyway; no need to hide it here.
xB looked up at Hypno's entry. "Hey, man. Done with your swim already?"
Hypno shrugged. "Yeah, let's switch off for a little while. You're needed out in the water, anyway."
"Oh, is Keralis here or something?"
"Yup," Hypno chuckled. "He wanted it to be a surprise."
"I mean, who else would it be?" xB pointed out with a laugh of his own, packing one last stack of items into a chest and dusting his hands off. "Etho should start charging that man some diamonds."
"Yeah, I did mention that to Keralis."
"You want to come along?" xB offered. "We can leave the place unattended for a little bit, and I'm sure Keralis won't mind."
"Sure! What do you guys usually do?"
xB waggled his hand as they walked. "Just hang out, usually. Sometimes we go treasure hunting or raiding an ocean temple. He might stay with us for nights, too, to be in our tangle."
"Better than drifting! The more the merrier, I'd say."
It was the middle of the night - not that it was easy to tell, with how much light reflected off the sand. Keralis sat near the highest point of a retaining wall at xB's base, overlooking the sand worm diorama. He kicked his feet gently in the water as he waited.
A shadow rose out of one of the tunnels below. xB's head broke the surface. He looked around, then spotted and swam over to Keralis. "Hi! I got your message."
"I had to come over. The Big Eyes Bay is..." Keralis sighed. He didn't have to say any more than that.
"Yeah. Not much better here, you can see."
"This is kinda good for you, though," Keralis said. "Well, maybe not. But you kinda know what I mean! Without fins we each have only a little time in the day to figure out what to do. And now Tango has vanished somewhere and no one knows where!"
"Man." xB rested on his arms on the wall next to Keralis, silent in thought for a moment.
"You're working on something, right?" Keralis finally said. "You got something going down there!"
"Well, for one thing, my storage room is underwater now," xB pointed out. "But... Yes. I might have a plan."
"Can I see? Can I see?" Keralis made a motion to slip into the water with xB, but stopped himself.
"Ehh... maybe at low tide? Then my basement will at least be a little less underwater."
Keralis wrinkled his nose. "I wish Etho was here."
xB almost looked up. "I think at this point it might be too late for that. There wouldn't be time to change back before... the end."
"Yeah, but he's been off-world for weeks," Keralis complained. "It's kinda almost like he knew this all was coming!"
"You'd think he would have told us if he did."
"Would we have been any more prepared?"
xB shook his head. "No."
Keralis giggled. "I will tag along in your plan, yes?"
xB gave a smile and an exaggerated sigh. "Yeah, yeah, you can tag along. With the tides flooding the way in, though, you gotta be ready to stay in the bunker for a while, because you aren't gonna be able to get out without me."
Keralis stood up. His eyes flicked up to the moon, filling the sky. "I will pack some food and things. Just a few hours. I sink whatever you are doing needs to be soon."
-
As the tide receded - and receded, and receded, leaving any remotely shallow areas dry and Keralis' gunship grounded in the bay - Keralis packed a few boxes. He wouldn't need much; just some food that hadn't been ruined by seawater, a few sets of dry clothes. When midmorning came and the water was splashing at his feet again, Keralis moved everything to his helipad. When the tide crept over the top of the helipad, Keralis left.
xB was waiting for him. "You ready?"
Keralis nodded. "I tried to talk to Bubbles, but he didn't want to hear. Maybe he has his own plans..."
"I think most of the hermits do. We'll just have to hope."
xB offered his back. Keralis dropped into the water and put his arms around xB's shoulders. xB directed Keralis' legs around his waist, too, so that Keralis was fully riding piggyback. "Ready?"
"Ready!"
"Okay. Deep breath in 3, 2, 1..."
Keralis held his breath. xB dove. Past the diorama, into the hallway, a quick refresh of air inside the dome, and down again.
Still good? xB asked as they approached a narrow tunnel downward, before remembering that Keralis couldn't understand him like this. xB held up an "OK" sign instead, followed by the sign for "need air". Keralis loosened his grip long enough to return the "OK" sign.
xB came to a sealed wall. He dipped low along the ground, thumped his tail fluke against a noteblock, and swam through the narrow opening that appeared into a smaller chamber with air trapped above the water flowing in. Keralis immediately rolled off xB's back with a gasp. xB flopped one more stroke forward, then shifted back to human form to stand and seal the airlock again. Moments later, the two were stepping into xB's doomsday bunker.
xB spread his arms. "Make yourself at home."
xB swam a slow lap around his floating starter base, surveying the work he had done. The conduit underneath it wasn't necessary for him, of course, but it looked nice, and would be handy for the other hermits who lived near the banks of the river.
He stretched languidly, holding onto an outcropping of his base and letting the gentle current pull at him. It was so nice to be in an actual, natural body of water again, instead of the glorified fish tank on his transport ship. He couldn't even imagine how all the mers of Boatem had managed, with no water, nothing at all but each other and the Void.
But, he couldn't stay in the water forever. There were things inside the base that needed tending to. So xB dove again, swimming underneath and surfacing through a small "pool" into the interior. He hoisted himself out of the water, shifted into human form, and started working on a slightly more organized storage system.
A splash startled him. xB turned around, expecting one of the many Drowned that often plagued the depths of the river. Instead, he found himself looking into the big, gold eyes of... "Keralis!"
Keralis grinned and waved one webbed hand. “Hello, Princess! I have exciting news!”
"You do, huh?" xB queried, feigning innocence. "What's the news?"
Keralis pushed himself backward and forward against the edge of the pool, as though he would, on land, be rocking back and forth on his heels. "Guess!"
"Oh boy, okay..." xB looked Keralis over. "So, you found a way to get the mer form again, obviously. Did you..." He grinned, half joking. "...hack into Etho's loner world and bug him until he turned you?"
"xB!" Keralis scolded. "I would never!"
"Well, he hasn't been back here yet, or hermits would have noticed. There's no way to hide a world entry message in chat here." xB frowned. "So, how..." His frown turned into wide-eyed realization. "You didn't."
Keralis clapped once. "I did! See!"
In his next action, Keralis pulled himself up, fully out of the pool. He lay there for a few seconds, eyes closed in concentration, tail laid out in its full red-orange glory. For a moment, xB almost doubted what Keralis had said.
Then, Keralis' tail shifted, splitting back into a pair of human legs. Keralis took a deep breath and took xB's offered hand to help him stand up. Now, even in human form, Keralis' eyes shimmered with the same inhuman, metallic gold.
"You didn't talk to Etho after all," xB breathed, not sure what else to say. "You talked to Mumbo."
"I went to Bumbo, yes!" Keralis confirmed. "And don't you dare start asking about hasty decisions and am I sure and such because Bumbo already asked me this about three million times."
xB chuckled. "Oh, I can imagine. So I assume that means this is something you've been thinking about for a while."
"Ever since our first swim together, xB! It was so nice and so powerful, and I get to experience what you do! But, then, I couldn't get back on land to do other things."
"I mean, that never really stopped you."
"Oh, no, it was totally worth it! But I knew for sure when we were on the spaceship what I wanted. And now look at me!" Keralis did a little spin, as if there was anything nonhuman to show in this form apart from his eyes. "Total control. No relying on Etho to be around to do his magic, no getting stuck in the river for days at a time. I'm not just a human under a magical spell anymore, am I? I get to be like you!"
xB was speechless. Keralis was this excited... to be like him? xB's thoughts stalled for some time. Rather than address that first, xB instead focused on something else Keralis had said. "...Not total control," xB managed, voice thick with emotion. "You gotta... make sure you don't spend too much time too dry."
"Aww, Princess..." Keralis murmured. He slipped his arm around xB's back. "If tears, then happy tears, okay?"
xB just nodded, not trusting himself to say anything more aloud.
"We swim," Keralis suggested. "We see the river together, yes? You show me the way!"
Without waiting for an answer, Keralis slipped back into the water. xB marveled at how natural his friend's shift already was; Keralis must have been practicing in secret for days. xB put a few items away, then followed suit, orange fins growing on his face and arms, and his legs merging into a powerful cyan tail.
I don't know how much there is to show,
xB admitted, his 'voice' much clearer now that it wasn't being forced through tight vocal cords.
At least not this close to spawn. All that's here is Drowned. But... it'll be fun to explore downstream.
He swept his tail across Keralis' and linked their arms.
Shall we?