Chapter Text
Will has always been fascinated with the surface. From a young age, his curiosity drove him to swim up, far past the point his mother allowed him to. He secretly gathered little trinkets he found on his expeditions to the surface in a hidden cave he and his brother had found some time ago. ‘Castle Byers’, they called it. Though Jonathan never went there anymore so it became a safe place for Will to hide his findings.
However, his favorite thing about the surface was, without a doubt, watching humans. The first time Will had heard of humans was from one of the elders in the underwater kingdom. Back then, Will had been disturbed and terrified as she recounted how they were creatures without a tail who walked on two feet and dominated the surface world. And worst of all: there had been a time where these creatures hunted down mermaids, believing their scales could heal injuries or grant immortality (which was complete nonsense by the way). But this caused merpeople to go into hiding, now nothing more than a myth in the eyes of humans.
The first time Will had gone to the surface had been by accident. He'd been trying to catch a fish and didn't realize how far he swam up until he broke the water's surface. Back then, Will had been terrified and quickly dove under again. Then, he realized just how easy it had been to reach the surface. So, he did it again, and again, and eventually, it turned into a routine. First he waited several weeks before a trip upwards but it soon became too addicting. Next thing Will knew, he was swimming up to the surface almost daily.
Sometimes, he'd find things floating on the water. Weird, translucent objects that he occasionally saw fish get stuck in. Then cold, circular containers among other things.
And then there were the humans.
They were a lot less terrifying than Will had imagined.
Actually, they looked a lot like merpeople, aside from their lack of tail of course. Once Will had observed a few of them on something the elders had called a ‘ship'. The humans laughed and ate food that smelled absolutely delicious. But most curious of all was the language they spoke. After a while, Will managed to pick up on some words and started memorizing them. It took a while but Will can now proudly say that he can understand the majority of what is said and even formulate some sentences himself.
Up until that point, Will had just been passively watching. That would soon change though.
On his eighth birthday, a large ceremony was held. It was exhausting and Will wanted nothing more than to slip away and go human-watching up at the surface. He didn't get why they made such a fuss around him anyway. Jonathan was supposed to be the next in line and his father had already made it clear that Will was a disappointment of a prince.
Though it wasn't all bad. He got lots of gifts and was able to spend time with Jonathan and his mother, who were often otherwise busy.
Once the people were less focused on Will though and more on the food and dancing, Will was finally able to quietly leave. With a speed no one would expect of him, Will swam up to the surface.
Finally a break from the suffocatingly boring world.
Will was getting closer towards the surface when he saw a dark shape above. Will realized it was a ship. Now he began to feel nervous. He'd only watched ships from afar, very aware of the danger they posed.
He turned his tail, ready to swim away when suddenly, he felt something drop on him. It only took Will a second to recognize what it was— a net.
Panic seized Will's heart. He'd seen fish get trapped in these, completely helpless as they were pulled up, their fins catching in the webbing when they tried to escape. It had been terrifying to see from afar, it was worse now that he was stuck in one of these.
Will thrashed around desperately, trying to free himself but it was of no use. The more he moved, the more tangled up he became. Will quickly realized this and just as he did, he felt a pull come from above along with muffled human voices.
In an instant, Will's life flashed before his eyes. This… this wasn't supposed to happen. If only Will had listened to his mother, if only he hadn't been so curious. And now he was going to die and his family would never know what became of him.
The moment that thought hit him, however, it sparked determination in Will. He still had his whole life ahead of him, he couldn't die now. Lonnie's words rang through Will's head, saying that he'd never amount to anything. No, he was wrong, Will would prove him wrong.
With newfound strength, he thrashed his tail again, this time not to get out of the net. Instead, he used it to swim up, hands grabbing onto the top most part of the net. Then he bit into it, tearing at it with his sharp teeth. It hurt, it really hurt and Will tasted blood as the rope tore into his gums. Still, Will persisted, adrenaline pumping through him.
Eventually, Will managed to weaken the thread enough. Just as he was about to be pulled out of the water, Will thrashed with his tail one last time and the last thread broke.
Will could practically feel the humans’ confusion as they pulled up a broken net. However, Will couldn't linger and enjoy his victory. He was still tangled up in most of the thread. This was extremely dangerous, especially if a shark appeared now.
Usually, sharks didn't attack merfolk and even if they did, Will would be able to outswim them with ease. But right now he was easy prey.
His body made the decision faster than his mind and before he knew it, Will was swimming towards the shore. Each movement made the ropes tear at his skin and Will bit back a pained cry. Tears formed in his eyes and mixed with the water around him but he kept going. It wasn't safe in the water right now and despite how contradictory it sounded, Will would be safer on land if he hid himself. Humans couldn't smell blood as well as sharks or other underwater predators could.
Willall but collapsed once he made it to the beach. All the adrenaline in his body had been spent and now he felt close to passing out. Still, he managed to drag himself along the sand, not caring about the way the small pebbles scraped against his scales. There were some rocks on the beach and Will had never been more glad to be smaller than other merfolk his age. Because now that allowed him to just barely fit into a small cave that had been formed by the rocks around him. Will was pretty sure he'd scared some crabs half to death but he couldn't even feel bad about that in the moment.
As soon as Will settled into the cave, his arms gave out beneath him, black spots swimming in his vision as he gave into the exhaustion.
When Will came to again it was to the sound of shuffling beside him. Then the feeling slowly returned to him and he let out a small, pained groan and the noise stopped. It felt like his arms were burning and Will was sure he was missing a few scales. He slowly opened his eyes, trying to adjust them to the lighting. Thankfully, there was someone blocking out a good portion of the light…
Wait.
Will jerked up, hissing as his eyes stared widely at the human in front of him. Oh no, a human. A human had seen him. The human raised its arms, as if in a placating gesture but Will's eyes immediately caught on to the sharp blade in its hands. Will hissed again, shaking as he tried to move further into the small cave but he soon felt his back hit the cold stone behind him.
The human was speaking to him in a squeaky voice but Will was too shaken to register what was being said. Will couldn't defend himself like the others of his kind could. Sure he had sharp teeth and he could technically use his tail but none of that would keep the threat at bay for long.
However, in a brief moment of clarity, Will realized that he could move better than before. His eyes briefly glanced down and he was shocked to find that some of the net had been cut off him. Was it so it would be easier to skin Will? But if so, then why not kill Will first?
Will looked up at the human again and he realized that it was a human boy, probably no older than Will himself. And for some reason, Will felt himself get caught in the other's warm, dark eyes. Now that his head felt a little clearer he could also make out what the boy was saying to him.
“... not going to hurt you, I promise.”
Despite the boy's reassurance Will is still distrustful. Maybe he was just lying to make it easier to get to Will? What if he was in the middle of doing that before Will woke up?
The boy seemed to take Will's stillness as compliance and moved closer. As soon as he did though, Will swung up his tail, hitting the boy's jaw. He recoiled immediately, letting out a pained shout. Will watched warily as the boy rubbed the aching spot, opening his eyes to glare at Will.
“Hey! That really hurt.”
Will only hissed in response, pressing himself further against the rock behind him. The boy's shoulders sunk then and he let out a sigh.
“Look,” he started, his big brown eyes looking at Will pleadingly, “I'm really not trying to hurt you.” He pointed towards the net still wrapped around Will's tail. “I'm just getting that off you, okay? Nothing else.”
His voice had become surprisingly gentle. Will didn't let up his defenses completely but the boy's words did have an effect on him. He blinked, looking down at his tail for a moment. When the boy moved closer, Will didn't shrink away or attack. He watched as the other carefully brought the blade closer, twitching a little in response. The boy slowed down, placing a hand on Will. It was warm.
“It's okay.” He murmured softly.
Slowly, he began cutting the ropes of the net, being careful not to touch Will with the blade. It was a long process but soon, Will was free from the net. But even once that was done Will didn't move yet. He stared at the human instead, watching as he smiled a little and stepped back.
“You're free now,” he informed Will, like Will hadn't realized that yet. Then he took a deep breath and placed a hand on his chest. “I'm Mike, by the way.”
Mike… it was strange, human names didn't sound so different from merpeople's names even though they speak such different languages. Maybe there had been some point in time where merpeople and humans had lived together? It seemed like an impossible idea, given the stories the elders kept repeating.
Will noticed Mike looking at him expectantly and realized that the other must have asked about Will's name while he wasn't paying attention.
He hesitated. Surely there was no harm in telling the human his name, right? He did save Will and there wasn't much he could hold against Will by knowing his name anyway.
So, just as the human's face seemed to drop, Will whispered, “Will.”
Mike's face seemed to brighten again instantly.
“So you can speak!” He was brimming with excitement now and Will couldn't help but relax a little. He couldn't quite explain it but there was something special about this boy.
“Say,” Mike continued, his large eyes practically sparkling, “do you wanna be friends?”