Work Text:
Wendy hummed while she watched her manatees graze on the sea grass next to her rock. She ran her fingers through her wavy red hair as it flared around her body, the ends curled up slightly while it dried in the warm, salty air. She glanced up at the clear blue sky when she heard a flock of seagulls fly past. She breathed in the warm air and let out a satisfying sigh. Her pale skin took in the warm sun while the blue and yellow scales on her face and arms reflected the light, making them shimmer at the right angle. Her blue tail splashed the water that covered the bottom curve of the rock she was lounging on, the yellow and red scales that decorated the fins catching the light and shimmering like gold and rubies. One of the younger manatees squeaks at her while it swims up to her rock and presses its nose against her tail. She laughed lightly and reached down and patted the young one.
“What are you doing over here, Mammbles? You should be grazing with your mother. I know it's still new for you, but this patch of sea grass is very delicious. You'll grow big and strong from it.” She smiled and looked at the young manatee. He rested his head on her tail and blew some water around while it took a breath of air. She laughed and patted his back gently. She could see the other young manatee was swimming around, but still keeping close to its mother. The mothers grazing on the sea grass and lazily watching the children play around.
Wendy relaxed more against the warm rock and listened to the waves crashing against the rock, the steady crashing noise soothing her body and letting her mind drift along the waves. She could faintly hear the sirens and siren mermaids singing in the far distance. The forest island hosted a multitude of creatures but the sirens had claimed the forest ledge nearest the ocean as to use the updraft for flight. Every so often, the sirens and siren mermaids would sing together to try and lure unsuspecting prey towards the rocks, or to see who was the better singer. Wendy laughed a bit and shook her head at the sound.
“Sounds like another singing competition, think the mermaids won the last one, and the sirens had to give them first dibs on forest fruits.” She laughed and looked at the manatees. They were floating around, and some of them started to head towards the lagoon on the south side of the island. She looked towards the sun and stretched. “Let's get ya'll back home. I still need to run a few chores before the meeting that Chatty wanted to have.”
She dove into the ocean and swam around the little manatee while he squeaked at her. She giggled and looked around at the manatees. She lets out a whistle towards the rest of the herd and watches the sound wave ripple through the water. Her ears were still adjusting to the ocean noise and the sound of all the sea creatures around her. She laughed when she heard the childish voices of the young manatees playing around her and the motherly voices calling out for them. She looked at one of the mothers with a scar on her flipper and nodded.
“Wolf, I want to get everyone back to the lagoon before I leave. I have a few chores I need to do, but I don’t want ya’ll out in the open when I do go.” She looked at her and smiled. Her tail sways around while one of the manatees swims underneath her.
“Of course, I was wondering why you were whistling at us. I do think it’s time for the little ones to go down for a nap.” A smooth voice echoes in her ears before she hears Wolf whistle for the herd and for her little one. She sees one of the small manatees with a scar on the right side of its face swim up to Wolf and nuzzles its head against her before the rest of the herd swims over. Wendy smiles at them and turns towards the rock that is partially submerged. She looks briefly and spots her woven purse sitting against the rock. She grabs it before swimming ahead of the manatees to make sure the pathway to the lagoon is safe. She could feel the current in the water and feel the energy of the ocean surrounding her. She laughs when the three young manatees are swimming with her, trying to keep up with her speed. She twirled around them, her hair fanning around her to catch the sunlight that was streaming into the water. Her hair turning to a fiery halo around her before it settled back around her. The young ones squeaked after her while she swam faster to the lagoon. She looked ahead at the lagoon and began her task of inspecting every corner for anything harmful. She swam towards the old human docks that were the last remnant of humans living on the island. She looked around the pillars and tightened the ropes that were tied around the dock. The ropes held a few bushels of mussels and oysters growing on them, and she cut off a few and stuffed them into her purse. She swam away from the dock and around the lagoon. A few coconuts were floating in the water, fallen from the trees that were on top of the cliff that surrounded the lagoon.
She swam close to the shallows and poked her head up to scan the shoreline. Her blue eyes scanned around the sandy shore and towards the dock for anything that could harm the manatees. Her eyes kept flashing towards the dock and narrowing. Despite it being a few decades since a human been to the lagoon, she kept her guard up since she knew the horrors of what a human could do if they spotted a mermaid on their own. She stared at the shoreline for a minute before she heard the clicks and squeaks of the herd at the entrance of the sand bank that surrounded the lagoon, separating it from the harsh sea currents. She put her hand over her heart and took a deep breath in to settle herself before she turned around to swim to the herd. She smiled at Wolf and nodded.
“All safe! There is still plenty of seagrass on the bottom from this morning, so y’all should be good for the day. I’ll come back before sundown with fresh grass.” She swam over to Wolf and touched her head with a gentle pat. She sees Wolf lift her flipper to her and then swim with the herd into the lagoon. She waited at the entrance till all of them were inside, catching the little ones once when they attempted to sneak out. She laughs when Wolf whistles at her little one and watches all of them swim into the lagoon.
She took off into the ocean, her tail maneuvering her through the currents and propelled herself quickly through the water. Her eyes looked around at the different coral reefs and fishes swimming around. She waved at a school of fish when she passed by and heard their greetings. She swam over a sponge farm and waved at a few mermaids that were tending to the sponges and corals. They waved back to her, sharpened bone scythes in their hands. She looked forward and saw the city in the distance, the different smells of volcanic vents and the smell of cooked fish swirling around with the salty smell of the water. She veered herself to the right of the city, maneuvering around the schools of fishes and mermaids to swim towards a large coral and rock structure.
Wendy stopped in front of the structure and looked at it. Red and pink coral grew off the white and black rock that made up the structure. Pink fan coral liked the bottom of the structure and underneath the windows while different color bubble anemone liked the doorway. She could see different clown fish tending to the stinging anemone that were scattered around the front yard of the home and rocky surface. She could hear the laughter coming from inside the home and could hear a slight scuffle. She swam to the door and began to open it till it slammed open with two mermen tumbling out, both locked together in a wrestling move. A large blond headed merman with a purple and white tail had a mermaid with red hair and a bright red and gold tail in a headlock.
“Come on, Ember! Just admit that you ate the last bag of coral chips and I'll let you go! They were the last spicy ones the store had till next week!”
“I didn't eat them! I don't know how the bag got on my seahorse! I swear!” Ember struggled against Kirk and thrashed her tail around, kicking up the sand around them. Kirk cursed when sand got in his eyes and loosened his grip. Ember maneuvered herself out of his grip before she gave a hard punch in his stomach. She swam up and saw Wendy. “Wendy!”
Ember swam over and hid behind her and laughed when the sand settled down and Kirk was holding his stomach. Wendy laughed and looked at him before she opened her purse.
“Kirk! I got three bags of spicy coral chips! I forgot to put them in the snack drawer last night.” She swam over to him and pulled them out of her purse. She looked at his face light up in happiness.
“Sweet! You're the best Wendy! Where did you get them? The regular corner store said that they wouldn't be getting anymore till next week?!” He grabbed the bag from her and gave the finger to Ember behind her. Wendy laughed and looked at them.
“A corner store in the city was having a sale on them and I wanted to get some for the snack drawer. I also got some sea berries to make some muffins for Chatty.” She swam over to the door and went inside. The inside was a warm mix of different kinds of coral and sponges that grew on the walls. There were different pictures of clowns and moments that were captured and preserved in time. She looked at the picture of Chatty offering his heart pearl to Cups on a pier on the surface.
She quickly looked ahead when Chatty's shrill voice echoed through the house, calling all of the clowns to the living room. She looked away from the picture and swam to the large living room. She smiled at the different mermaids in the room and either sitting on the sponge couch or standing around the room. She swam towards a circular sponge chair and sat down. She looked around and relaxed against the chair. The snacks and drinks she had sat out earlier were still on the table in the middle of the room, minus a few of the sandwiches missing from clowns grabbing them.
Wendy looked around the room and waved at Reina, who was hanging in the back of the room with Twinkles. She tilts her head and looked to the right of Twinkles at a man who was leaning against the wall. Her eyes scanned over him, taking in his dark clothing and how the fabric seemed to cling to him. His head was covered in a bone mask, not matching any kind of creature that she had come across. Her eyes drift down and felt her body go cold then she saw that he had legs instead of a tail. She felt her heart skip a beat in fear and quickly looked away from the man. She looked at Chatty as he walked in front of everyone, clearing his throat to get everyone's attention.
“Let's get this meeting started! We got a few things to cover before we all have supper. First thing is to address the elephant seal in the room that isn't Kirk.” He let out a chuckle and looked around at everyone. He looks to the back and nods to Twinkles. He waits till he and the mysterious man are in front of everyone. “Twinkles is bringing in a friend from the surface to help with our current problem. Twinkles..” He nods and steps to the side so he could take the floor.
“Hii everyone! This is Twinkles’ friend, Sneaky. He is a Halfsy, half human and half shark merman. We met when Twinkles was traveling on the surface for a few years. Twinkles know that some of ya'll have a problem with humans but he is a great guy.” Twinkles smiled as he looked around making the seagrass that grew out of his mask swaying around the water. He tapped the man's shoulder gently and nodded his head.
The man seemed to sigh and look around the room at everyone. Wendy could see glowing eyes behind the mask of bone. She took a closer look and could tell that the bone was sun bleached and had intricate carvings underneath the eyesockets. There was one part on the left side that wasn't as sun bleached as the rest, looking like something had splattered and stained the spot. Her eyes traveled down and could tell that the black fabric that he was wearing was made from surface material since it was clinging to his body instead of flowing around like the clothing that was made in the sea. She looked back up at his mask and jumped slightly when it looked like he was looking directly at her. She held his gaze for a moment before he looked away and looked at everyone else.
“Hello, I'm Sneaky Scary Skeleton. I'm just here to make sure that Twinkles doesn't get hurt and to see what the fuss is with all of you, Twinkles talks non-stop about ya'll” He smiled and Wendy could see the shark teeth showing from his mask. She felt a chill go through her and remembered the last time she had a run in with a shark merman. She gripped her hands into fist at the memory but forced the memory down. She sees everyone saying their greeting to him before he and Twinkles stepped away and walked to the back.
“Alright, welcome Sneaky. We look forward to having you around and hopefully we can have some fun. Now, there's been sightings of mimes around the city and word is, they are also working with some pretty sadistic pirates.. we found the body of a clown mermaid not too far away.. her heart pearl was forcefully ripped out along with her eyes.. the doc thinks she was probably forced to cry before getting her eyes ripped out..” He took a big breath in and let out a deep sigh. “I want everyone to be careful and to watch their back… the last thing we need is to lose one of our own. So if you are gonna stay here, tell me or tell Wendy. The place has plenty of room but please.. keep it clean and don't damage the coral.” He looked over at Kirk and gave a slight smile.
“Let's go eat, that roasted swordfish has been calling to me since I got in!” Kirk stood up and looked at everyone. “I'm sure we can all watch each other's back and not be caught lacking. Now let's enjoy the food that Wendy made for us and then maybe a few clown games to welcome Twinkles friend” Wendy laughed as everyone cheered and headed towards the kitchen for the food. She waits till everyone goes out besides Reina, Twinkles, and Sneaky.
Reina smiled and swam over to Wendy and hugged her.
“Wendy! Where did you go earlier? I wanted to hang out and introduce you to Sneaky earlier” Reina looked up at her. Her dark purple with shells woven into it floated around her. The light purple scales on her arms and tail reflecting off the light. Her black top hugging her chest and showing her stomach. Wendy smiled and hugged her back.
“I was at the lagoon with my manatees, letting them out to graze and teach the little ones to graze. I was also enjoying the nice day on the surface, and got to hear the sirens and siren mermaids have a singing battle.” She laughed softly and saw Twinkles and Sneaky walk over to them. She noticed Reina smile more at Twinkles and twirl her hair a bit in her finger. She had noticed that Reina and Twinkles had been hanging out more with Twinkles and been acting a bit more flirtatious towards him, not that the green clown had noticed. She gently elbowed Reina and smiled at her.
“Hey Wendy! Reina was looking for you earlier. Twinkles kept telling her you were probably at the lagoon but she wouldn't listen.” Twinkles smiled at her and laughed when Reina started to punch his arm, mock yelling at him about how he couldn't always be right. Wendy smiled and watched them, not realizing that Sneaky had moved to stand next to her.
“They have been yelling at each other all day, seems like their favorite thing to do with each other.” Sneaky's slightly high pitch voice sounded next to her, causing her to jump a bit from surprise. She looked over at him and smiled slightly.
“Yeah, I think that's their way of flirting but I wouldn't really know” She looked over at him and caught him staring directly at her. “But welcome to the Clowns. Sorry you had to come while we are dealing with things but we still make the most of it.” She heard him give a hum in response before turning back to the arguing couple. “You would think that being together for a bit, they would fight less.” She laughed softly and smiled.
“I was surprised when he told me he was dating someone.. Didn't think he would date someone after getting hurt the other time around.. with her sister no less..” Sneaky sighed and watched them as they swam around each other, still arguing.
“Yeah.. Maddie and Reina been abit tense but in the end, we are all still sisters.. so Im not taking a side.” She recalled the explosive fight that happened when Reina told her and Maddie that she was dating Twinkles. She remembered how she had to break up the fight before hair started flying. She shook her head. “But seeing them together is so cute.”
She looked over at Sneaky before moving past him. “I'm gonna go get some food. I know that Kirk will eat all of the swordfish if we let him. Be sure to grab yourself a plate, I also made some roasted sea cucumbers and a seaweed salad, one with urchins and another without if you don't eat meat.”
He nodded to her but stayed where he was to observe Twinkles and Reina. She nods back before heading towards the kitchen. She sees everyone with a plate as they all had gotten some food. She looked at the table and saw that most of the swordfish and salad were gone along with the drinks she had put out. She grabbed a plate and began to serve herself. She caught different conversations around her, some talking about their seahorses and some talking about getting weapons to defend themselves. She went over to an empty corner and sat down on a bubble coral, observing everyone. She could feel the warmth and love coming off each of them and how the home felt a lot livelier with everyone there.
She sighed happily and leaned into the coral, silently taking in the warmth that came from being surrounded by family, knowing it could all be taken away at a moment's notice. She glanced towards the ceiling, counting the clownfishes that were swimming along it. Her mind trying to not go down the rabbit hole of doom that came with thinking about the war that was looming.
‘One fish.. two fish.. three fish.. all swimming around their homes.. all safe.. we are safe..'