Chapter Text
The rod kept pulling and pulling and pulling —it was far too strong for you to possibly reel in and get out of the water. Still, you tried.
Bracing your back and digging your heel into the mud-like sand below, you pulled as hard as you could on the bent rod, gripping the metal until the tips of your fingers turned white. You're sure there would be blisters on your hands by the end of this fight with whatever fish got caught on the hook.
A glimpse of red and blue caught your vision, just under the water. It barely rippled the surface, but you could see it clear as day. Scales almost the size of your hands, a beautiful red transitioning into a perfect red. Nothing else can be seen aside from those two, but now you understand just why this thing was so unbelievably strong. Its tail is almost twice as thick as your torso, and you're sure that the part that you're seeing is near the end of its tail.
Your grip slipped for a moment, and sand went airborne as the rod nearly flew out of your hands. Metal cuts into your skin and paints the sand and water red, but you manage to get a hold on the black grip and strained all of your leg muscles in order to push yourself away from the water.
Blood erupted from under the water as you were sent careening to the ground, your balance having run away from your body. Sand dug into the wounds in your hands as you braced yourself for the hit, but it never came.
Opening your eyes, you- oh, there's the sand.
Red splattered on your face, dribbling down your cheeks. Dark spots littered your vision, yet you pushed yourself upwards, albeit on shaky legs.
By the time your sight cleared out, your fishing rod stood tall, its grip barely buried in the sand. Half the line snapped off, but thankfully the rod itself wasn’t damaged.
You huffed, You’re going to have to find out what kind of fish that was.
“How many times,” A white and orange mer sighed, pinching his temples in exasperation. “Do I have to tell you not to swim so close to the surface? Saying ‘no’ or ‘not’ is never another way of saying yes! ” his voice rang out throughout the base, uncaring of the several helms that turned their way.
“Listen-”
“ No , I won’t . If I have to constantly monitor your behavior in and outside of the base, then so be it. I’m tired of treating these wounds of yours. They’re not even from battle , for Primus’ sake!” White arms flailed around, the water sloshing around them. Hot air seeped through the seams of his plating as he continued to berate the other mer for his rather childish actions.
Audial fins pinned back as the wounded mer averted his gaze. He paused, taking a moment to compose himself. “Is it such a bad thing that I’m curious about life outside of the water?”
“No, it’s not- it’s not that.” The medic shook his head, as if speaking to a sparkling. “It’s just that you get yourself injured far too often, and it’s concerning not just me, but the rest of the team. I know I can’t fully stop you from sneaking out of the base, but at least try to be safe. That’s all I ask.” The look in his optics is enough to get the other mer to cave and nod.
“Of course. I’m sorry, I never meant to worry you.” he said, rubbing the back of his helm with a webbed servo and a guilty expression.
The white and orange mer scrunched up his olfactory sensor and narrowed his eyes. “I think it’s a bit late for that.” He muttered, staring down at the nasty gash that went down the underside of the other mer's tail.
The water around them slowly turns a light cyan with the energon spilling out of the tail wound, prompting the medic to swipe his arm around, clearing out some of the spilled energon. He scoffs, closing his vents and hoping he doesn’t get affected by the energon-infused seawater.
Natural light filters in through cracks in the cave, painting the wound in a bright light. Severed muscles are clear as day, the flesh having a slight tint of cyan. It’s far from a pretty sight, but it’s nothing the doctor wasn’t used to already.
“How did you get this bad of a cut, anyway? All the others were just scrapes from rocks, weren’t they?” Skillful servos traced the edges of the wound, red and blue scales turning gray as they got closer to the gash.
The other mer averts his gaze almost painfully as he takes a long in-vent. “You won’t like my explanation.” He twiddles his servos awkwardly, yet he regains optic contact with the medic.
“As if. It’s not like you came into contact with a human, did you?” A chuckle rang throughout the medbay, the medic turning away from the wounded mech to get some tools. He raised an optical ridge when he was met with nothing but silence, turning to glare into azure optics. “You didn’t get in contact with a human, did you?” His tone became strict and cold, the look in his optics dark.
“Not directly.”
He groaned, throwing his head back. “For fuck’s sake! You are aware that-”
The mech on the coral slab sighed, his shoulders slumping. “Yes, I am aware of the consequences. They did not see me, I can promise you that.” He tried to hide the doubt in his voice as he spoke, his shoulders tensing and chassis puffing outwards, feigning confidence.
"Sure. Of course I should believe you, not after all the promises you've broken in the past. You always say that," said the white and orange mer as he pulled out a datapad from his subspace. "Yet it doesn't seem like you've seen the local news featuring a 'tweet' one of the humans said." He scoffs, rolling his optics as he taps away at the device.
Doubt swims uneasily around both mers, "Featuring a what one of the humans said?”
A white tail swished exasperatedly, its owner sighing. “You should get a datapad, see what the humans are saying about you. It’s honestly funny, what they’re saying, but we can’t risk them knowing anything else about our existence.”
“I understand, but what are they saying? They could be spreading misinformation and painting us as the ‘bad guys’, and-”
“ Exactly! That’s exactly what they’re doing. Here, it says-”
[ guys. i think i actually just saw a mer. not joking this time 😃 ]
Hundreds of comments, all from users around the globe. Thousands of likes and reposts, and over a million views. All in under three days of posting.
You sigh, propping the side of your head on the door frame as you pause before entering your room. Phone in hand, you chewed on a half-assed sandwich as you scrolled through the replies, comments, and various reaction images you couldn’t help but save.
[ A mer? Like, one of those fairytale animals? ]
[ ur. like. actually joking . What? ]
[ tbf this town is known for having a lot of mer sightings so i wouldn’t be surprised lol ]
[ Are you sure it was a mer and not just a discolored fish? ]
And the list goes on. Notifications are bombing your phone as you make your way to your computer, eyes still glued to the miniscule screen in your hand. You decided to tactfully ignore the hateful comments.
After the initial sighting, you’ve been researching for days on end, finding as much as you could from whatever information there was on merfolk. Many say they’re fake and the stories are just hoaxes to get popular on the internet, but some—including you, now, after what happened—believe they’re real. That there are other sentient creatures below the sea, watching as humanity takes from what’s left of the ocean.
You wonder if they have emotions, if they can feel pain and love just as you do. You wonder if they’d built their own settlements far beneath the surface of the water, if they have little coral villages or some other kind of shelter.
You wonder if they can speak the same languages as you do, or if they speak in clicks and chirps, much like dolphins or whales. You wonder if they are based similarly to the aforementioned animals, or if they’re similar to sharks and other carnivores. You wonder how large they can grow, if their size is all the same or if it differs like humans.
Blue and red scales flash in your mind, and you’re brought back to the day you managed to get a mer stuck on your fishing hook.
The thickness of its tail (or at least what you were able to see) is almost twice the thickness of both your thighs, and you’re not even sure if what you saw was the end of its tail or the very start of it.
Scales almost the size of your hands glimmered in the light of the early morning sun, red and blue shining beautifully under the water. It’s not some discolored fish , you thought as you briefly focused on your phone screen.
Merfolk have always caught your curiosity. Many have speculated what they look like, what they’re capable of, where they can be found and if they’re capable of being caught. Unlike them, though, they’ve never encountered a mer.
You have.
Swallowing the last of your sandwich, you stand up from your desk—you don’t remember sitting down—and make your way to your closet, grabbing the fishing equipment just outside of it. Sure, it’s an odd placement, but where else would you put it?
Getting into a quick change of clothes, you packed what else you’d need for the short trip out in the ocean.
“What do you need the boat for at this time?” asked the dock worker– an old, weary man who’s choosing to spend the last of his days in the small town you lived in. “Are you planning to go fishing overnight?”
His tone is skeptical as he eyes you up and down. Self-consciousness brews in the back of your mind as you’re reminded of the rather rookie-like clothes you currently don—as if you weren’t one of the most experienced fishers in the town.
“Yes. I’m running out of food at home and it’d be nice to gain some extra profit while I’m at it.” you laugh, side-eyeing the boat in hopes he’ll get the clue. He scoffs and lets the rope barrier fall to the wooden pier, allowing you access to the boat you’ve been hoping to buy one day.
“Alright, kid. Just don’t get killed out there—you don’t know what kind of mer could be lurking beneath the waters.” he sighs as you frantically nod, all-too focused on haphazardly throwing your stuff onto the boat.
You look up, before looking back at the old dock worker. “I’ve been meaning to ask you, actually,” you pause, hand gripping the thick rope barely keeping your boat tied to the pier. “What do you know about merfolk?”
His gaze hardens, preventing you from looking into his soul. “All I know is to avoid areas with an abundance of corals. Trust me on that one, kid.” he huffs, looking towards the setting sun. His eyes glimmer with a wiseness you’ve only seen in a certain amount of people, and most of them aren’t exactly the most forgiving when it comes to your line of work.
You look back down at your things, then to your boat, then to the hand gripping thick rope like a lifeline. Pins and needles threaten to numb the tips of your fingers, but you’re used to it, just as you’re used to the painful friction that coats your hands whenever you go fishing.
“Okay.”
The rope slides off your palm, the gap between the front of your boat and the wood of the pier slowly widening with each second. Water splashes against your skin, goosebumps growing as the cold air hits every part of your body that isn’t covered in clothing.
The man just barely lifts his arm and waves, his figure slowly drifting away and growing shrouded in darkness as the sun begins to shift to hide behind the waves of mother nature. The wind momentarily howls as if calling for a long lost lover, her screams managing to bring the hood of your jacket to hit the back of your head.
Darkness slowly envelops the night sky, spots of dark blue and purple mixing with black as the moon shines down upon you, coating both you and your boat in a soft glow.
Never wanting this moment to end, you let your eyes close and your knees bend as you sit on the wooden planks of your boat, letting your legs dangle off the edge, the water barely scraping your boots as the boat slowly undulates in tandem with the waves.
You’ve never been a fan of night fishing, as there are dozens of sharks that patrol the area, always looking for something to taste. But now, in the calmness of the ocean breeze, you allow yourself to relax under the moonlit sky.
Your balance abruptly changes as you’re forced to grab onto one of the wooden planks for purchase, the boat eerily rocking from side to side. Dark water is all that surrounds you as your gaze warily moves across the surface, eventually settling on your things.
Moving to stand, the boat rocks alongside the sudden addition of weight as you move to place your things inside the little sheltered area at the center.
A tiny, fragile lightbulb barely manages to illuminate the walls—let alone the floor—and you struggle to move your stuff to an appropriate location without falling on your ass like one of the rookies. It’s not your fault you don’t use this boat often.
Looking upon the sea, the moonlight reflects off of the water, and so do some of the stars, it seems.
Two of them seem particularly bright compared to their counterparts.
Smiling, you tilt your head as the two reflections of the stars remind you of the tales of a merfolk’s eyes and how many described them to be azure and bright, and could be mistaken for-
Oh, shit .
“Oh, SHIT! ” A yell tears its way through your throat, but the two glowing orbs remain still under the surface of the water, its bright pupils staring straight into your soul.
The boat grows still, the silence becoming deafening. Neither you or the mer move in the dead of night, afraid of frightening the other. The wind howls much like it did before, rustling the fabric of your jacket.
It blinks.
It blinks.
The creature blinks, the azure glow of its eyes disappearing for just a moment. Its gaze focuses on you, as if it’s seeking to break into your soul, just as you are for it.
Then, “Hello?”
Your voice betrays you as you speak to the merfolk, silently praying that it can understand you. Silence is what meets your ears, but only for a moment as it swims closer to your boat, as well as the surface. You copy its movements.
Your eyes widen as red and blue scales glimmer in the moonlight, blinding you with its glare. Blinking away the afterimage, you’re met with glowing blue eyes that contrast against the navy blue of the ocean’s waters.
Squatting, you maintain eye contact with the mer, your own eyes just as wide as its own. “Hi. Can you understand me?” your words are muffled as you speak from under the fabric of your sleeve, peering down at it.
It moves closer to the surface, and the silhouette of a head begins to show as the moonlight seems to shine brighter than before. You’re not sure if you’re seeing things, or if the moon is watching over you somehow.
You gape at the size of its head—or at least the silhouette—to the point it moves back, its pupils narrowing ever so slightly. Every nerve in your body screams to apologize, but all you can focus on is how its head is almost as big as your torso and head combined.
Only now do you notice the size of its eyes– big and blue, almost the size of your hand. There’s a sense of wisdom and understanding and curiosity hidden behind its pupils, and you quickly find yourself staring wide-eyed into its own.
“Can you speak?” You start, placing your palm flat on the wooden boards of the boat and move to kneel instead, trying to get as close as possible before you fall off and join them in the freezing waters.
The tranquility of the water breaks as it emerges from underneath the surface, just enough for its mouth(?) to be above the water. Its features are unrecognizable as the glow of the Sun’s reflected light hits the back of its head. Two webbed bony structures protrude from the sides of its head, along with one at the center, ending far above its scalp(?).
Its jaw opens, as if going to speak, before it violently flinches away, surveying the surrounding area. Its gaze flickers all around, before slinking back beneath the water to stare at you with wide, semi-frightened eyes. You’re not sure, but it looks like there’s a bit of sadness mixed in there too.
“What? Are you- Is everything okay?” You lean over the edge of the boat, friction abusing your palms as you hold onto one of the metal rods. “What happened?”
It gives you no answer, only the bioluminescent glow of their eyes flickering minutely before it turns and vanishes, once more becoming one with the ocean.