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“Ifa?” Ororon calls out for the man as he pokes his head into the healer’s tent, making a knocking motion with his other hand.
From further back in the tent—because somehow Ifa’s goes on for ages—he gets a response. “Yeah?!”
“Um,” Ororon blinks for a moment, searching the tent for the man, before giving up. “Kinich and Mualani found something by the river out there, and they told me to come get you.”
There’s some shuffling and rummaging noises inside the tent, before Ifa’s hat comes into view. The rest of the man follows as Ifa steps around the various items of his tent to meet Ororon at the opening of it.
“They found something? What’d they find?” Ifa asks, raising an eyebrow.
Ororon looks over his shoulder, peering in the direction of the river. “Uh. They said it was a mermaid.”
“A mermaid? In a river? Are you sure they aren’t just seeing things?” Ifa says, tone somewhat incredulous. “There’s no way a mermaid would be in a river.”
“That’s what they said!” Ororon says, throwing up his hands. “They’re the ones who said they saw it!”
Ifa sighs, adjusting his hat by the brim. “Well, let’s see it then.”
Ororon nods as he leads Ifa out of the tent and towards the river, weaving their way through the forest. When they arrive at the edge of the water, they see Kinich and Mualani crouched down around something.
“Hey! Are you two messin’ around with the wildlife?” Ifa calls out to them, grinning when the two of them whip their heads around.
“Ifa!” Kinich waves him over with a hand. “Come look!”
Ifa approaches them carefully, craning his head to peer over Mualani’s. His eyes go wide as he stares at what his friends have found: a living, breathing mermaid. Mermaids aren’t unknown or uncommon, not by a long shot—they just happen to live out in the ocean, in salt water, more than they live in freshwater.
The mermaid’s hair is orange and still partially wet, though the top of his head has already mostly dried around the roots. Eyes as blue as the river water itself meet Ifa’s own, and it only takes Ifa a moment longer to see the blood that’s currently dripping down the side of the mermaid’s face. Immediately, Ifa’s healer instincts kick in, and he pushes his way past Kinich and Mualani in order to kneel down in front of the mermaid.
“You’re bleeding,” Ifa says, reaching a hand out. He stops centimeters away from the mermaid’s face, not touching, and frowns as he looks further down the mermaid’s body.
There are gashes and cuts along the mermaid’s arms, and Ifa can see the blood leaking into the water around his body. Ifa’s frown deepens as his hand follows his gaze, hovering around the mermaid’s waist in the water. “Are you hurt down there, too? What the hell’s happened to you?”
Suddenly, the mermaid chuckles, and Ifa’s eyes snap back up to his face. He grins at Ifa, leaning his chin into his palm, a bit of blood trailing down his cheek. “Oh, they’re just some battle scars. The water’s a pretty terrifying place, didn’t you know?”
It takes Ifa a moment to respond, and all he can really do is laugh in disbelief, shaking his head a little. “Some pretty serious battle scars. Are you able to get out of the water?”
Something in the water moves so suddenly that it startles Mualani, who yelps quietly while jumping away from the edge. The mermaid’s tail peaks out from the surface of the water, iridescent in the sunlight. Ifa finds himself staring at it for a moment, before he looks back at the mermaid, expectant.
“With a little help,” The mermaid says, nodding a little. “I can survive out of the water, if that’s what you’re wondering. Just not for an insanely long amount of time.”
“Then let’s get you out of there.” Ifa nods, looking towards Kinich. “Help me out with this, would ya?”
“Oh—sure!”
Kinich grabs under the mermaid’s arms and lifts, pulling him up out of the water. As he does, Ifa reaches for the mermaid’s tail and nearly winces at the sight of pulled out and clawed scales. They seem painful, even to Ifa. Blood seems to stain against the blue and iridescent scales, blood slowly leaking from open wounds.
They set the mermaid down against a nearby rock, with Ifa making sure to set his tail out properly so none of the wounded scales are hurt in the process. Ifa settles down beside the mermaid’s tail afterwards, tugging off his gloves.
“Alright. This might hurt just a bit, but I promise, you’ll feel good as new once I’m done with ya.” Ifa pauses, before glancing up towards the mermaid. “What can I call you, by the way?”
The mermaid smiles at him, the end of his tail twitching a little. “I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours.”
Ifa laughs, gently patting the mermaid’s tail. “Fair enough trade. My name’s Ifa. My friends that found you here are Kinich and Mualani. The other one’s Ororon.”
“You can call me Childe.” The mermaid—Childe, as Ifa is now learning—smiles wider in his direction, before turning to Kinich and Muanlani and offering them the same. “I’m glad your friends here found me. I was in a rough spot.”
“You can say that again!” Mualani huffs, waving her hand in his direction. “You were passed out with your tail stuck between two giant rocks! If the currents had been going any faster, your whole fin probably would’ve been torn off!”
“How the hell did you end up in that position?” Ifa mutters, holding his hands out over the wounded scales.
A gentle, soft green light begins emanating from Ifa’s hands, and slowly, the bloodied and bent and broken scales begin to mend and fix themselves. Childe’s face twists up a little, likely from the slight pain of the healing process, before he relaxes back against the rock with a heavy sigh.
“Really, it’s a long story. I won’t bore you guys with the details. But I will admit, likely what you’re all thinking, but I’m certainly a long way from home—from the ocean.” Childe’s tail flicks gently on the mossy rocks as Ifa’s hands travel down the scales.
One by one, the wounds heal as much as they can, but some spots are left open—where the scales were torn out. Ifa’s a powerful healer, but he can’t just produce mermaid scales out of nowhere. Not yet, anyways.
“So where are you from?” Ororon asks, peeking over Kinich’s head at Childe.
“I’m from up north,” Childe says, pointing in the direction of north. “Not the usual destination you’d expect a mermaid to be from, huh?”
“The waters must be freezing,” Mualani says, shuddering at the thought.
Childe laughs, tail seeming to flick happily. Ifa smiles to himself as he moves his hands towards Childe’s body, starting with his lower abdomen. The muscles there flex and ripple a bit as Childe grimaces again from the pain, letting out a somewhat heavier breath.
“Sorry,” Ifa murmurs, grimacing a little himself. “Even healing’s a little painful.”
Childe chuckles, shaking his head a little. The other chat some more while Ifa continues to heal Childe’s wounds. The gashes, cuts, and bruises on his body disappear easily, though the bigger ones leave behind the slightest bit of a scar. They’ll go away in a couple of days to a week, Ifa’s sure. When Ifa is done with Childe’s body, he moves his hands up and hovers them just around Childe’s jaw.
“I gotta heal your head now,” Ifa says, giving him a small smile. “Last thing, then you’ll be all set to go.”
Childe’s attention turns to Ifa easily, blue eyes sparkling with sunlight. He smiles, softer than he’s smiled the entire time—more genuine seeming to Ifa, and nods. “Go right ahead, doctor.”
Ifa huffs out a bit of laughter at the doctor comment, but says nothing else as he cups his hands around Childe’s face, making sure not to touch, as the glowing grows brighter. It encompasses all of Childe’s head as whatever wounds are there heal. The blood remains, proving that they had once been there.
When he’s done, Ifa lowers his hands and heaves out a sigh, feeling somewhat drained. “Phew—alright. All done. Should be just about as good as new now!”
Ifa pulls his hands away and leans back, grinning at Childe.
There’s a sudden pressure on Ifa’s cheek. It’s brief, just a small press—and it takes him a few seconds to register that it’s Chlide kissing his cheek. He stares at Childe with wide eyes when Childe pulls back, the mermaid grinning at him brightly.
“Thanks for the healing, doctor. If I get hurt or sick again, I’ll make sure to come and find you later.”
With a wink, Childe pushes himself up from the rock and dives right back into the water. Ifa is quick to follow him, watching as iridescent scales disappear beneath the water. Childe pops back out after a few seconds, beaming in the direction of Ida and the others, waving a hand.
“Talk to you later, Doctor Ifa!” Childe winks, laughter in his voice, before he disappears into the water with a splash.
Ifa stares after him in awe, jaw dropped, unable to properly react. Mualani’s sudden cackling brings Ifa out of his reverie, causing the man to blush. “Aw, hush it, Mualani!”
“I can’t believe a mermaid flirted with you, Ifa!”