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When Tommy awoke it was slow, and he could feel a throbbing in his head. His eyelids were heavy and felt glued shut as he pried them open.
Once he succeeded in opening his eyes, he looked around to find himself in an unfamiliar cove. The waters were colder than what he was used to, and the plants and fish around him were unfamiliar. How did he get here?
Tommy pushed himself up off of the sandy floor. Or, he tried to, at least. He was met with a sharp pain in his tail. He looked down to see his fins had been bent severely out of shape, a few of them looked as if they had been snapped completely, and many others were toeing that line as well.
Tommy wracked his brain, trying to remember how he’d gotten to this strange cove, and what had hurt him so badly. It took him a long moment, but eventually, he could remember some details: a crackling boom that vibrated through the shallow waters, a dark, dull hue to the churning ocean waters.
Tommy had been caught by a storm, and it must have been an awful one if his state of being was anything to go by.
Judging by the temperature and Tommy’s unfamiliar surroundings, Tommy was sure he had been taken far from his home by the raging waters. He had no idea how he was going to manage his way back. Not only could he not navigate well, but he was barely capable of protecting himself. Tommy could barely even hunt on his own, if he were to end up on another mer’s territory he would never be able to hold his own.
At the mere implication of food, Tommy felt his stomach rumble deeply and he realized he’d been feeling hunger pangs since he’d awoken. He took one look at his battered tail and grimaced.
If Tommy wanted to eat, he was going to have to hunt, and that meant moving around, even if his fins were clearly and badly broken. He was going to have to push through his pain, he wouldn’t survive otherwise.
Tommy once again pushed himself off of the ocean floor, but instead of letting himself fall back again he kept his ground, pushing up in a swiping motion with his tail to straighten up in the water. He made his way to a very nearby formation of large rocks and hid himself among them, allowing his tail just a bit of rest while he scoped the area out.
Tommy looked around the area, peeking through foliage and land formations to take note of the fish he found. There were very few he recognized, so Tommy decided to play it safe and picked one of the dully colored fish to hunt. He would rather not get himself sick on a toxic fish, especially not when he was injured and in unfamiliar territory.
Tommy locked his eyes on a medium-sized, grey-looking fish. It was the perfect size for a meal for him, he just had to manage to catch it first.
Tommy lowered himself to the ocean floor, his stomach grazing the sandy dunes below him. He used his arms to move along the sand and avoid straining his tailfins too much and slowly snuck up to where the fish was mostly still in the water. The thing looked like it was resting, which was bad news for it, but good news for Tommy. If he could catch it off guard he could catch it with minimal strain to his injured fins.
Tommy came up close to the fish, readying himself to strike it. He held off for a moment before shooting up off the ground and snatching the fish up. He held it tightly in his hands, his dull nails doing their best to dig into its protective scales. Tommy quickly let himself fall back to the floor and found a nearby rock before smashing the fish onto it with all his strength. After a few swings downward the fish fell limp in Tommy’s hands and he grinned with pride at his catch.
Tommy held his meal close to his chest with one arm as he used the other to navigate again, moving on to a small crevice just large enough for him to slip through. He made his way inside and started the lengthy process of digging into the fish.
Meal time was a chore for Tommy, it was one of the many downsides of being a mer pup on his own. He meticulously pulled each scale off of the dull creature, that way he would have no problem sinking his teeth into it. It took a lot of effort, but there wasn’t much else Tommy could do. He still had a few years before his teeth and claws fully came in.
Tommy had just finished descaling his fish and was just starting to bite into it when a sudden shiver went down his spine. The water hadn’t changed in temperature from what he could tell, so the chill felt purely subconscious and instinctual. After a moment's pause, Tommy was alerted to what exactly had triggered his likely fear response when he heard a bone-chilling call ring out through the water, almost beckoning him to follow it.
Oh no.
A siren .
The storm had landed Tommy in siren territory . He was more than just screwed, he was absolutely fucked .
He couldn’t defend himself against other mer if he tried, even the ones his age. He would never make it against a siren . Those creatures were massive compared to him. They had razor-sharp claws, and the teeth to match, and that’s not even mentioning the sheer amount of magic they were capable of with their songs. Tommy was just a small mer pup, he would never survive against one of them.
Tommy quickly searched the crevice he had hidden himself in, noting all of the possible exits he could escape from. He was lucky he chose that spot specifically, the entrance was a tight squeeze for him to get through, so even a baby siren wouldn’t be able to fit through it to get to him.
After surveying his hiding spot Tommy made the quick decision to sink as deeply into the crevice as he could and wait the siren out. He was too injured to try and escape, and he had a good hiding space, so there was no point in leaving it until he was sure the siren was gone.
Suddenly the siren called out again, a different call this time, and to Tommy’s absolute horror the call was answered .
Oh fuck .
The next thing Tommy knew the sirens were throwing calls back and forth intermittently, and he could the vibrations of the various calls draw closer and closer until he could finally hear voices ringing out in between them.
“Wilbur, I think you’ve gone nose blind.”
“I’m telling you, Techno, I could smell it . There’s a mer around here, and they’re eating on our territory .”
Tommy could hear the first siren, called Techno as Tommy could presume, scoff. “Sure you could, just like you could smell that pack of sharks that apparently swam through.”
“I’m not crazy , Tech. There’s a mer here, I fucking know it –”
Suddenly a third siren shrieked out a call that made the first two stop their bickering dead in its tracks.
“Boys, stop arguing. I know you don’t trust your brother’s nose, Techno, but we’re going to see this through. It’s better to be safe than sorry, alright, mate?”
The other sirens both grumbled in agreement before presumably starting their search for Tommy. They were close enough to his hiding spot that he could feel their movements ripple through the water, and in response to a particularly strong ripple Tommy pushed deeper into the crevice, scraping one of his broken fins along the rough rock.
The movement stopped, and so did Tommy’s breathing.
“Techno.” The third siren called out to the first.
“What is it, old man, you find a shiny rock?”
The third siren called out a sound of disapproval that made even Tommy shiver. “ No , what I found is the mer your brother is looking for.”
Techno let out a funny noise, and Tommy could feel him rush over to where the third siren was floating nearby. He was silent for a moment while he sniffed the water.
“By the gods, there is a mer out here!”
“Hah!” The second mer, stupidly named Wilbur , rushed over as well. “I told you there was a mer out here! I’m not nose blind.”
“I still think you’re pretty nose blind.”
Before the brothers could bicker anymore the third siren scolded them again. Tommy was starting to think this siren was the elder of their pod.
“You two can argue about Wilbur’s nose blindness later, right now we need to focus on dealing with this mer.”
Tommy felt the waters ripple once more as the sirens continued their search. He kept himself as deathly still and quiet as possible so as to not alert the predators circling him. If he could only make it long enough to wait them out, he could be safe. And he was doing it! They passed his hiding spot and they were almost gone when–
Tommy’s stomach rumbled, loudly .
The movement in the water stopped stock-still.
He looked down at his still-uneaten fish, cursing his poor luck. He hadn’t had the chance to tear into it, and it was going to cost him his life.
The movement rippled through the water again, stopping at the approximate location of the entrance to Tommy’s hiding space. There was some minor movement before a series of frustrated clicks and whistles sang through the water. Wilbur took on the same frustrated tone in his voice.
“I don’t see where it could be hiding, there’s nothing here!”
Tommy’s heart filled with hope for just a moment. There was still a chance , they could look over his hiding spot and he would be able to escape when they moved on.
Too bad Tommy’s hopes were shattered within mere moments.
“There.” Techno paused, likely pointing to Tommy’s hiding space. “There’s a crack in the stone there, that’s where it’s hiding.”
“Oh, come on , Tech, a fully grown mer couldn’t fit in that . The only things that could fit in there would be dumb fish or a baby.”
A pause.
“Oh my- By the gods , do you think it’s a-? Oh, my gods -”
Suddenly one of the sirens rushed up to the opening of the crevice and pressed their face close to it. Tommy’s heart stopped as his eyes met with deep, chocolate brown ones surrounded by shiny blue scales. The siren's eyes widened at the sight of him and he drew back, only to shove his arm in the crack and reach in for Tommy .
Tommy panicked, he squirmed and shrieked, horrifying shrills making their way out of his throat. It was to no avail, though, and the siren kept on until he managed to grab ahold of Tommy’s injured tail, causing the mer to let out a painful cry. The siren released him and retreated his arm as if he’d been burned, letting out a pitiful noise.
“Be careful, Wilbur! It’s hurt, it has to be for you to have smelled it. Be gentle with it, mate.”
The siren, Wilbur, peeked into the crack at Tommy’s chittering form again, this time zeroing in on his tail. Once he caught sight of it he let out a sad croon that made Tommy’s head feel fuzzy.
“Dad, how am I going to get him out ?! He’s just a pup, and he’s hurt . He can’t be in there alone .” The siren let out another pitiful cry that had his brother and father responding with their own. Tommy caught his own response before it could move past his throat.
“You’ve got to tap into his instincts, mate. If he’s a pup he’ll just melt if you call for him properly.”
Wilbur was quick to take his father’s advice and let out another croon that made the fuzz on his brain grow. Tommy did his best to fight it, but after a couple more of the noises he was limp and running on autopilot, leaning towards the crack to get closer to the siren calling for him. A large hand about the size of Tommy’s head reached in again and grabbed him, this time successfully pulling him out and into an even larger, broad chest. The siren’s arms wrapped around him, careful not to bother his tail.
“Oh my, he’s so small .” Wilbur’s father hovered nearby, his unnaturally blue eyes piercing through Tommy’s own. His face was framed with deep green scales, matching the ones on his tail, and his blond hair floated around him.
The first siren came into view as well, he was much larger than the others, clearly the protector of their pod. He had red scales like Tommy, with matching red eyes and long, billowy pink hair.
Wilbur was still making noises at Tommy, nuzzling into the top of his head and holding him close. Tommy felt like his head was growing fuzzier by the minute.
“Come on, Wilbur. You want to heal your pup, yea? We should bring him back to the cave.”
Wilbur made an agreeable noise, allowing himself to be guided away with Tommy still held gently yet firmly in his arms. Tommy felt his eyes grow heavy as they traveled, the lull of Wilbur’s movements putting him to sleep. Wilbur started to sing a soft tune, and Tommy felt sleep tighten its grip on him tenfold. Wilbur made a happy chirping noise at him.
Why was Tommy fighting sleep? He was safe, he was with someone… They must have been his caretaker. They had to be, no one else had held him or called to him. That meant he was in Caretaker’s arms, he could sleep .
Tommy succumbed to the throes of sleep, safe in Caretaker’s hold.
It was time to go home.