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It was smack in the middle of summer in their home-waters. Landwalkers were running to the sea, and the sea creatures were blessedly spared from the rays of the sunlight. The leviathan of the sun per every warm season is currently at his peak of energy and power. The goldfish during these seasons would be the first awake and last asleep into their nest.
Dream was even more finicky than usual, and that was saying something for the golden mermaid that never seemed to want to sit still. While Dream would become like a hurling ball of fire through the dark ocean depths, his twin was quite the opposite this time of year. Nightmare would sleep much longer, and wake with quite the cranky attitude. As usual the twins were literally night and day.
For Horror it was another comfortable morning in the depths, it was safe and dark. A perfect place to hide and protect one's shiver away from the claws of all that lurked down in the sea with them. Usually he could just sleep comfortably for a long while during days like this. Summer time however is not a usual day for them. These days are the hyperactive golden fish days.
“Horror,heheehe, Horrroorrr! Come on ya big guppy it's time to wake up!”
The great white in question just mrrp’d out in annoyance before using his hand to swat the chipper monster away. Dream giggled and continued to try and pull the bigger shark from the cozy pile of other sleeping cranky trench dwellers. Horror just stood, or rather, laid firm. The other sleeping mermaids seemed to be just as if not more annoyed by the goldfish’s prodding.
Of all of the shiver ironically enough it was Killer that sat up from the nest, and glared at the figurative alarm clock.
“Dream, it’s too early for this shit.”
Dream just smiled as if he had absolutely no idea what Killer was talking about. The goldfish glided over to the bull shark and promptly greeted his sour mood with a soft head bonk. Killer just growled and swiped at the fish,but he laid back down, clearly done with attempting to reason with this hyperactive sunbeam. Dream seemed miffed that absolutely all of them were ignoring him!
Even Cross was ignoring his prodding and just cuddling more into Epic’s side. The fox shark did not seem fazed at all despite being the lightest and most fitful sleeper, and Dream knows he saw that overgrown finned fucker open his eyes. Dream puffed his cheeks out and decided he could no longer play nice.
Dream took a big gulp of oxygen through his gills before letting out the mightiest squeak a goldfish could muster. Kelp once compared his alarm call to the ‘sonorous war cry of a very angry frog’, whatever that means. It did its job either way, as immediately a searchlight of cyan light filtered through the water in a snap. His resting shiver immediately snapped awake and some barred there teeth in alarm.
Killer yiped and began swimming is circles in sudden adrenaline. Horror just looked around and flopped back down on top of one of Nightmares tentacles. Meanwhile the smallest of the shiver, Dust, was just tumbling with current slowly his gaze unimpressed as he rolled through the water. Cross had bolted up like Killer and summoned that abhorrently giant red sword and glared around to see what threat was near.
Epic let out a startled sort of honk before giving Dream quite the stink eye.Nightmare slowly blinked his one giant eye socket before glowering down at his twin.
“ Really?”
Dream beamed up at the grumpy kraken, “Good Morning to you to Nighty!”
Killer then swam over to the goldfish and just stared for a moment. Dream smiled at the bull shark and tilted his skull. Killer too tilted his skull before deciding his next move. With that the goldfish mermaid got nommed on from the tear marked skeleton.
“OW! KILLER!”
The goldfish tried to bonk the sensitive nasal area of the biting offender, but Killer had already ducked behind a now very annoyed Cross. The dual colored thresher just stared down at Dream with a look usually only reserved for Killer when the other has decided that it’s his sole mission in life to annoy Cross and get him to slice off the teary eyed skeletons arms. Dream tried to give a sweet smile at the thresher shark, but sadly that trick no longer works on Dreams now much more knowledgeable mate.
The thresher crossed his arms and shook his head at the nuisance he called his soulmate, “Dream, you can’t do that. I nearly crushed Dust’s tail fins.”
“Aw, I am sorry Crossy! I promise I just was having fun. Besides you all would sleep the whole day if I let you!”
The goldfish does not lie, really the sharks could probably sleep for hours on end. Still at least no need to try and give them a soul attack, but that is probably where the ‘fun’ part lies. The thresher shark just kept an unhappy expression fixed at the goldfish until a tentacle winded its way to wrap around him and Killer. Killer seemed to wriggle in excitement and Cross just huffed out and pouted in annoyance.
“Give me one good reason I should not toss you out of this trench and send you to live with Reaper in their frozen waste!”
Nightmare had roared at Dream, his gigantic tendrils rising up in threat to create a black frightening backdrop. The goldfish as usual feared no man or fish. He smiled and swam up to his twins' currently scowling ginormous skull. Like the ever charming leech he is, Dream placed a kiss below Nightmares glowing single socket and smiled brightly.
“Because I am your blessed ray of golden sunlight, and who would be here to soothe your stomach with heat when it’s upset?”
“…..you sadly have a point. What do you want from us today then, you greedy little creature?”
Dream giggled and hugged his face. Nightmare’s other hand was currently cupping Horror and Dust who had immediately gone back to sleep and laid on Epic, who was just lounging back in his arms and smiling lackadaisical as if he was not being squashed by two shark mers. The other two of the shiver continued to wiggle in an attempt to be free of the krakens clutches so they may exact mighty vengeance upon Dream for waking them. Dream slowly sat upon the other hand and made ready to propose a fun plan for the day.
“Well I do think it is too beautiful a day for all of you to sleep it away and then go swimming in a horde upon the ocean come darkness. I think it will be a great day for some sunshine, and it would be good for you especially,Night!”
Nightmare furrowed his brow and heard an unhappy mrrp from Cross. He silently would have to agree it did not sound like a real fun time personally. Does Dream still not fathom that he does not like sunlight, the surface, or heat? Scratch that his twin probably does, he just thinks Nightmare is wrong.
“I don’t know if we share the same sentiment on your idea of fun.”
“Oh please~! I promise we won’t stay all day, I just wanted to visit Kelp and get some sun!”
At the mention of the friendly land dweller Kelpie, the great white shark’s head shot up from Nightmare's other palm. Sadly Dream now has Horror’s attention. Nightmare almost swatted his scheming mate if not for knowing Dream would probably burn his fingers. It has become a well known fact of their shiver, if one goes somewhere the rest will follow.
Especially if that someone is Horror. Though never clearly established or said out loud, in the dynamic of their shiver Horror takes the role of leader more often than not and is the one that guides the rest in place of the twins at times. Which can be extremely helpful when dealing with their lovely but often so headstrong mates. And it is not often Horror is the one to ask for anything.
So from that little motion of excitement Nightmare’s fate was sealed.
The day was a hot summer scorch. It served to show Nightmare how right he was to wish to smack Dream away with his tentacles and curl back up with their mates and hide in their safe,cold, dark deep water pit. Now he was currently sliding his lower limbs along the warmer sands of the shallows trying and failing to follow after the others whom were excitedly darting towards a worn small wooden dock. Sadly Nightmare was not allowed to hobble any further on account of Cross diving down and lifting the octopus into his strong grip.
Horror was the first to pop his head out of the water and croon over to their supposedly normal land walking mate. Kelp had been untangling a piece of fishing line when he heard the tell tale deep bellows of a familiar mermaid. Kelp wiped the sweat away from the side of his skull and wandered his way over to h the dock.
“Hey big guy, oh wow did ya drag the whole bottom of the sea with ya?”
Kelp smiled down and sat down at the edge of the small boating dock. Horror was already resting at its edge saying hello in a mixture of croons and teeth clacking. A smaller shadow wound its way around the great white's side. Dust’s hooded skull only slightly breached the water, the white pilot fish danced around him like dappled light in the water.
“Well now ain’t this a treat? You brought the pretty mermaids and both eldritch beauties with ya! Is it my birthday or somethin?”
Nightmare breached with the rest, still held by Cross and Killer was happily butting against his cheek. Dream pulled himself onto the dock and perched next to Kelp. The goldfish gleamed so beautifully as always and it almost blinded Kelp with the shine. Dream just leaned against Kelps shoulder.
Epic swam up to rest his face on Kelps lap as he spoke, “Not really, it’s apparently a ‘Dream was bored’ day.”
Kelp laughed and looked to said culprit, “Fair enough, what ya wanna do today?”
Dream was quite pleased he asked. At that Dream fully hoisted himself on to the dock, and in a sparkles of blinding gold light the gleaming tail faded away into thin air. Then it was replaced by a pair of pearly white skeleton legs.
“I was thinking of going for a walk is all!”
The rest of his mates stared in awe. It was quite a strange sight for them. All except for Nightmare who looked at him deeply unamused. Epic reached out to smooth his hands down Dream's legs.
“Dang I didn’t know you could do that.” The emperor tetra just cupped the wings of his pelvis in fascination.
Dreams face flushed yellow and he giggled when the others also stared or prodded in fascination.
Nightmare finally cut in with an annoyed jab, “It’s nothing crazy, all of us can change our shape to an extent.”
Nightmare demonstrated by yanking himself out with much more precision from his limbs. He let out a purple glow like the goldfish and his eight limbs melded into two single legs. Killer chirped in excitement before latching himself on Nightmares now significantly smaller form.
The bull shark held onto the grumpy leviathan and asked in his usual excited tone, “So does that mean you can change any part of yourselves? Like can you grow five dic-!”
Dust promptly smacked a hand over the dirty shark. Much to the relief of all who sadly now had that mental image in their minds.
Cross voiced a thought suddenly, “Are you able to change our bodies?”
The twins in scary synchrony just nodded.
“Of course we can! There is usually just never a necessity for it. But for a fun lil occasion, what would you guys say?”
Killer instantly nodded at the idea. Epic and Horror seemed rather lackadaisical with the idea. The white tipped reef shark just quietly shrugged as well, as Dust could care less he has been through much weirder shit than growing legs. Whereas Cross as usual ever the worrier just seemed hesitant with the prospect of anything unknown, because thresher sharks are always in a state of anxiety.
After much prodding most agreed for just a try out of legs.
Dream wrapped his arms around Cross’ shoulders “Don’t worry Crossy, it won’t be that bad!”
That was a big fat lie. It was pretty bad in Cross’s sharky opinion!
“WHY IS THIS SO HARD?!” Cross blurted out, still shaking like a newborn fawn and desperately hanging onto Kelps arms.
The rest were not faring very well. Killer was giggling like a maniac. His legs buckled every step but every time he landed on his now boney ass he squealed. The bull shark was also seeming to try and test how far he can waddle before he falls again like a sick game of racing.
Horror towered over all of them and had much bulkier bones. The drawback is that he is a hulking rack of bones stumbling around like an evil wall coming to knock you down. Horror kept mrrping out in fear as he stumbled, and granted no one could dare to help him as most of them did not want to be smushed. He settled on just sitting on his ass against the sand.
Also on the sand was Dust who did not even attempt to stand up, in fact he is laying flat in his stomach. He seemed to be unamused by the whole situation. Meanwhile Epic had taken up a rather pointless contest with Killer, to see who could walk longer than the other before falling. The problem is both like to cheat at games and keep pulling each other down as they fell.
Dream just smiled and laughed, he also had to help hold up Nightmare whom was shaking and kept screeching for Dream not to drop him.
Cross looked down at Kelp who was keeping him standing and also watching this chaos unfold, “Is it really this hard to walk?”
Kelp just shrugged, “It takes effort for even land-dwellers. For me it took awhile to learn to walk without my hooves. But with practice and patience you can do anythin, y’know?”
Cross blinked and smiled softly down at the kelpie. He purred and leaned his skull down to bonk against the fisherman’s forehead.
“Uh-Cross?”
“Hm?”
“Y-Yer real heavy-!”
And before Cross could process Kelps legs gave out against the larger skeleton. Both toppled down and the thresher mer landed with a flop on to Kelp, in a second thought to cushion the bones hitting one another he summoned his ecto so their ribs wouldn’t crack.
“Ah, Kelp, are you alright?“
“Mmmh-hmmph!” Kelps face was currently trapped under Cross’s chest and he could only give a shaky thumbs up.
Before Cross could apologize a voice of a very annoying bull shark cut him off as usual.
“Ooo nice,Kel! You got the best view,haHaHah!”
Cross just deadpanned and felt his face warm with purple. The others looked over at Killer's stupid yelling, and Dream burst out laughing. Horror stared with a much wider red pupil from his spot on the sand. The bull shark also howled with his stupid toothy grin on full display.
His laughter was cut off by Cross chucking one of Kelps flip flops at his face.