Chapter Text
Orion swims through dark waters up to the surface. He breaks through the water up into the chilly air. He stares up at the sparkling stars in the wide open sky, wishing he could fly in the velvety darkness. To experience what sky people do everyday.
As if his thoughts summoned them, Orion watches with wide eyes as a sky person streaks through the sky, the bright moonlight making him shine. Orion sinks into the water so only his eyes are above the water. The sky person wobbly spins and makes jagged loops. Orion has seen sky people from afar before. Aren’t they bigger than this one? Or is this the normal size and the others were unusually large?
The sky person dives and Orion watches, too entranced to leave. Is the sky person going to pull up at the last second? That’d be so cool! Orion watches as the sky person falls towards the water and at the last second they spread their wings. The sky person’s wings don’t catch air as they fall into the water with a big splash. Orion plunges under the water and he sees the sky person struggling to stay above the surface. He swims over to help.
He carefully grabs the sky person around the middle and gets them both to the surface with a powerful swish of his tail. They breach the waterline and the sky person gulps in air. Orion blinks at the closer look he has of them. Oh. They have scales. Not feathers like the other sky people. That must be why they’re a different size.
The sky person settles, treading water and staring at him. Orion looks over the face similar to his. Two eyes, one mouth, one nose, scales. The sky person looks like they’re about his age. Maybe they’re small because they haven’t grown up yet, like Orion. They have bright red eyes, brighter than Orion thinks he’s ever seen the color red. They’re very nice to look at.
Um.
“You’re a water person,” they say in common. Orion nods. “What are you doin’ here?” they ask suspiciously. Orion looks around at the open water around them.
“I’m swimming,” Orion meets red eyes, with a shy smile. “Like a sea person?” The sky person turns a little red. Is he embarrassed?
“That makes sense,” the sky person looks away from Orion. “Can you help me get to land? I can’t tread water forever.”
“Sure,” Orion swishes a little closer and hesitates. “Can I grab you?”
“Yes, you already did anyway,” the sky person rolls their eyes. Orion’s face does not fill with embarrassment as he carefully reaches out, trying to figure out how to hold a sky person. “I’ll hold onto you from behind, that would be easiest, right?”
Orion nods and turns, realizes how vulnerable he just made himself by exposing his back to a stranger. A cold hand gently lands on his shoulder and another one lands on his other shoulder. Weight settles on his back and for a moment Orion wonders if he can swim with this much weight on his back. He takes a moment for the sky person to settle before experimentally swishing his tail. If he’s careful, he should be able to get them to the coast without the sky person falling off. It’ll be a little slower than Orion would like, but that’s ok. Orion sets off, remembering when the hands tighten on his shoulders to stay along the surface of the water, not under it like normal.
Thankfully, the night is clear, only a little chilly, and the moon is shining brightly above them. Orion wonders if the nice weather is why the sky person was out flying in the dark. Wouldn’t it be safer in the daylight?
“What’s your name?” the sky person asks after a while. Orion hesitates, but he doubts he will meet this sky person again. He’s not going to have much time to come to the surface as the weather gets colder. Soon the land and sky people will hibernate for the season.
“Orion,” he says. “I’m Orion Pax.”
“I’m called D-16.”
“Numbers?” Orion asks, confused. Who has a name with numbers?
“I’m the sixteenth child of Delta’s clutch. Sired by the Alpha.”
“Delta is the Alpha?” Orion asks, still confused.
“No,” D-16 says like he’s saying something that should be obvious. “Delta is the most recent mate to Alpha Megazarak.”
“Oh.” Orion has heard of Alpha Megazarak. They say he’s huge and mean and dangerous.
“Who are your parents?” D-16 says after a minute of silence.
“My carrier is Codexa,” Orion says. He and Carrier live outside of the city. It would be difficult to find them, even for a water person.
“And your sire?” D-16 asks.
“I don’t know who my sire is,” Orion admits.
“It really is different under the water,” D-16 mutters. “How old are you?”
“This will be my tenth season!” Orion says happily. Carrier told him they were going to do something special for his tenth hatching day!
“This will be my twelfth,” D-16 boasts. Orion was right, they are close in age. “Why are you out here alone?”
“Why are you?”
“Fair point.”
Silence settles between them. Orion wants to ask so many things. What is it like to fly? Is it normal to have fifteen siblings? Why does D-16 have scales instead of feathers like the other sky people Orion knows of? He decides one question is more urgent than the others.
“Can I call you Dee?”
“Why? My name is fine.”
“It’s weird for a name to have numbers.”
“It’s temporary!” Dee defends. “I’ll earn my name when I prove myself worthy of it.”
“Like when you become an adult? That’s such a long time!”
“It’s not that long. We become adults when we can prove we’re worthy of a name. For a few that might be after many seasons, for the strong it’s after their first fight! The fights show who you really are and what you’re worth to everyone.”
“That sounds…” Orion tries to think of the right word and only one comes to mind. “...harsh.”
“No, it isn’t! What do you do when you become of age, then?”
“When we reach our fifteenth season, we have to start our journey along Primus’s trail. Not everyone comes back from the journey.”
“Primus’s trail?” Dee asks.
“It’s the path Primus took through the seven seas,” Orion looks around just to make sure no one is around to hear them before he continues. “Carrier says Primus’s trail actually goes onto land and into the sky!” Orion says quietly.
“That’s impossible,” Dee says. “No one can travel between all three places. A water person like you can’t get to the floating cities or the tall mountains. I can’t go down into the deep ocean either.”
“Primus can do anything,” Orion points out. “He wasn’t one of the people, he was all of them.”
“So water people are faithful believers,” Dee sighs. “How much longer is this going to take? It’s cold out here.”
“We’re,” Orion makes sure it’s the right rock they just passed and slows down, “here!”
“Where?” Dee asks, squinting his eyes.
Orion carefully lets the waves push them up onto the sandy coast. He waits for Dee to let go and roll off of him. Dee gets to his feet and looks around the pale beach. Orion gets his first good look at the rest of him. Dee has cloth wrapped around him so only his arms and legs stick out. Barely visible behind him are two pointy wings. Orion assumes those are wings. They have sharp points and glow a dull gray under the moonlight.
“I think I know where this is, but it’s hard to tell in the dark,” Dee mutters. He looks down and digs his feet into the sand. He has sharp claws(?) on his feet. Feet are so weird. Not as weird as toes. Those are just creepy.
“There’s a land people village through the trees that way,” Orion points slightly to the left.
“How do you know that? You can't come on land.”
“Just because I haven’t seen it doesn't mean it’s not there,” Orion frowns.
“Then, how do you know?” Dee challenges.
“They like to sit on the beach where I can hear them just fine. They say there’s a village just behind the trees.”
“Uh huh.”
“Go look for yourself then!” Orion huffs and pushes himself back towards the water. He should be going home, anyway.
“Wait! I meant to say, uh,” Dee glances down, kicking his foot through the sand. “Thank you and, um, can we meet again?”
Orion blinks at him. Dee glares at the ground.
“I liked talking to you! Ok!?”
Orion bursts out in giggles. Dee growls at him, but it’s not very intimidating with the color rising in his cheeks. Dee turns and starts to stomp away.
“W-wait!” Orion cries between giggles. “I’m sorry, Dee! Come back! Please?”
The sky person stomps back over, his cheeks still a pretty pink color. Orion stops giggling, but his smile is impossible to remove. Dee is actually really cute. Orion reaches down towards his tail and grabs one of the loose scales there. He works it free with a wince and holds it out to Dee.
“It’s a promise. I’ll see you again, ok? How about tomorrow?” Orion wags the scale at Dee.
“A promise with scales?” Dee grins. He pulls one of his wings around with one hand and works a scale out with the other. Flinching when he gets one free. “Tomorrow it is.”
They trade scales. Orion gives away one of his dull blue scales and Dee gives him a dull gray one. They grin at each other.
“I should go,” Dee says after a moment. “You should probably go, not-even-a-tenth-season-old fishy.”
“Fishy!?” Orion cries.
“Bye, fishy!” Dee stretches out his wings, giving them a shake. A few drops of water are flung off.
“I’m not fishy!” Orion yells as Dee jumps and a big thrust of his wings gets him up into the air. Dee laughs before he starts to fly away, a little wobbly, into the clear night air. Orion blows bubbles into the water, letting his frustration float away with them. Arrogant bird.
Orion sighs and starts to swim home. He hopes Carrier didn’t check on him and find his bed empty. He doesn’t want to go into the cave for moss again. It’s dark in there and crabs pinch if you get too close.
The ocean is calm, a few fish pass him by, in the distance some creature or another is lit up as it swims. Orion ducks to hide behind some coral close to their home. From this point on, it’s all about stealth. He just needs to sneak into bed before Carrier notices he’s gone. Orion takes it slow and careful as he swims over the edge of the sea grass and sneaks through the tall strands. The house is dark and quiet as he approaches, good, Carrier is still asleep then. Orion heads for his window and carefully pulls himself up to the edge.
“Hey, kid.”
Orion gasps and loses his balance. A hand shoots out from the darkness of his room and wraps around his throat. Orion struggles, desperately clawing at the big hand wrapped around his neck. Orion is dragged through his room, into the main room, and towards the front door. All the seaweed curtains in their house have been torn off. The carved walls and shelves are smashed. Orion tries to see past the ragged seaweed blocking his view of Carrier’s room.
“Car–” Orion struggles to get anything out as the hand squeezes his gills. “Cari!” Orion shouts as loud as he can. It comes out as a gasp. No, he needs to wake Carrier! He needs to warn her of the danger!
“Don’t bother,” the gruff voice chuckles. “She’s dead.”
What?
No.
No.
No.
He’s lying!
“Car–” Orion wails. It’s cut off as the hand squeezes so tight Orion’s vision starts turning black.
“If you won’t shut up, I’m going to make you,” the voice growls. Orion doesn’t care. He has to see Carrier! She’s still alive. She has to be! He claws at the hand even more. His claws are small, but sharp.
“I warned you,” the gruff person sneers. The hand tightens even more and Orion's head is swimming and he keeps trying to claw the hand even as his vision goes dark and he…
…wakes up. His throat hurts a lot. His head feels funny and it’s light outside. How is it already light outside? Carrier would have woken him up–Carrier! Last night the meanie said she was–no! Orion pushes out of the bed and looks around wildly. This isn’t his room or bed or anything familiar. Where is he? Where did the big meanie take him?
Orion swims for the big open window, there are fish and sounds and light in that direction. If he can figure out where he is, then he can go home and Carrier will scold him for disappearing and make him gather moss in the dark cave and everything will be normal again. Orion is just reaching for the window when his tail is yanked back. Orion hits the corner of the bed with his shoulder. The pain shocks him for a moment before he wails for Carrier. He hurts. He’s confused. He’s scared. He doesn’t know what’s happening. He needs Carrier to help him. Please. Please!
CARRIER!
“Hey!”
Orion flinches and curls up tighter into a ball on the floor. That’s not Carrier. He wants Carrier! The currents in the room shift as a shadow covers Orion and he hides his face. Why isn’t Carrier coming? Where is she?
“Whoa, ok,” the voice says. There’s a moment of quiet as the person swishes closer. “Alright, little guy. I’m not going to hurt you. Just let me stop the bleeding, ok?”
Orion flinches when a hand touches his shoulder close to where he fell on the bed. At Orion’s flinch the hand stills, but it doesn't pull away. After gathering his courage Orion looks up at the person. They don’t…they don’t look too much older than him. They have a red tail with white at the ends, white hair, and small red fins on their head. Their eyes are light blue, like shallow water in bright sunlight. They have a healing cuff around their upper arm. A healer? Carrier said healers are safe. Maybe this person knows where Carrier is? With hope growing in him, Orion uncurls enough to properly talk to the healer.
“W-where’s Carrier?” Orion croaks. It hurts to talk. His throat hurts a lot now that he spoke.
“Your…Carrier?” the healer asks slowly. Orion nods, the confused look on the healer’s face isn’t good. “I don’t know. Sorry.” The healer swishes a little closer and gently squeezes his shoulder. “Why don’t you let me look at that wound on your shoulder?”
Orion doesn't want to. He wants to swim home where Carrier must be. Orion sniffles. His shoulder hurts a lot. His throat makes talking hurt a lot. The healer can help with that right? Then, he’ll go home. Carrier will be less worried that way. Orion glances up at the healer and their clear blue eyes, and looks back down, nodding. After a moment the hand on his shoulder gently turns him so his injured shoulder is facing the healer, another hand joins it. Orion doesn’t cry at the sting of his wound being cleaned or the pull on his scales as it’s wrapped.
“And done,” the healer says. They gently turn Orion around so they’re facing each other. The healer opens and closes their mouth, looking very unsure. Orion‘s hope slowly withers. The healer looks as confused as Orion feels.
“What are you doing!”
Orion and the healer jolt at the commanding voice. Standing in front of the door, with two guards on either side of him, is a blue scaled merman with gold fins on his head and on his tail. His blue eyes look like the crystals Carrier would bring back from the depths sometimes. They glow just like those crystals would in the dark. Orion shivers as those glowing eyes focus on him.
“Ratchet?” Another merman swims around the guards and the glowing eyed merman to look at the healer that helped Orion. “Ratchet, what are you doing in here?”
“I came to help him,” the healer–Ratchet says. He frowns at the merman who puts a hand on Ratchet’s arm.
“Out both of you,” the merman with the glowing eyes orders. Ratchet is dragged out by the merman holding him. He glances at Orion with confusion all over his face. They both disappear past the seaweed curtain over the doorway. Orion wishes Ratchet could have stayed, he seemed nice and helped Orion.
“Now,” the glowing eyed merman swims over and he looks younger now that he’s closer. “What’s your name?”
Orion fidgets. This person must know where Carrier is. He has to. Orion takes a big breath, making his throat hurt.
“Orion Pax,” he croaks out. It feels like rocks scraping down his throat. The young merman looks him over. What is he looking for? Orion glances down and looks at himself. Then, he realizes.
He’s chained. Right above his tail fin, at the narrowest part of his tail is a band of silver. Orion stares at it. There are engravings on it. Enchantments. Why is he chained with enchanted metal?
“Hold still,” the glowing eyed merman says. Orion looks up just in time to see a hand reaching for his head. He jerks away and covers the cloth around his head. “I said hold still!”
“No!” Orion tries to swim for the window again, but big hands grab his arms and pry them away from his head. Orion wiggles uselessly in the grip of the guards. The glowing eyed merman reaches out again and yanks the cloth off of Orion’s head. His tentacles stretch out eagerly with their new freedom.
Orion never understood, until that moment, why Carrier told him to cover his head whenever he left the house. He really only did it because Carrier did the same thing. Orion watched disgust fill the merman’s face as he swishes back to put distance between them.
“How could we possibly be related?” he mutters. “I don’t have disgusting tentacles and father definitely doesn’t.”
Related? Father? Orion doesn't have a father. He can’t be related to this meanie and-and–where is Carrier! Orion starts to cry and it hurts his throat and it’s embarrassing in front of an audience and that all just makes him cry harder.
“Hey! S-stop crying!”
Orion can’t even hide now, only wiggle in the strong hands holding him as he cries.
“Fine! Take it back!”
Orion’s hair wrap smacks him in the face before sinking to the floor. It shocks him enough he blinks at the falling wrap and back at the glowing eyed merman. Awkwardness fills the room as Orion is stuck in the grips of the guards and the merman seems to realize that the wrap isn’t magically going to float back to Orion.
“Listen up!” the merman orders with a scowl. “I am Prince Sentinel of Iacon, firstborn of his majesty, King Zeta.” when Orion just stares at him, the Prince scowls even more. “I’m your older brother, apparently. You are the second son of King Zeta, born from some witch,” Prince Sentinel waves a hand carelessly. “From now on you will live here in the castle.”
What?
No. No. He wants to go home.
Carrier! Help!