Jongin twirled in the water as he dodged Sehun's attack with the trident. He laughed as Sehun growled and teased the boy with his tailfins. 'Come and get me Sehunnieeee!'

'Shut it!' Sehun snapped and rushed forwards again, his trident firmly pointed at Jongin. 'One day I'll get you!'

Jongin laughed and twirled around Sehun again, strong water currents behind him as he swam. His tribe of mermen at the tropical reef was militaristic of nature, yet they never warred with other tribes. Young mermen were trained to become soldiers and guardians, donning tridents, spears and shields, but they only had to defend the gatherers and the hunters.

And so, Jongin and Sehun, young as they were, were trained to fight. Only a fine sixteen monsoons old, they mostly played during their training. Jongin was already fairly capable with a trident and would soon be able to move on to the shield and spear. Sehun however had more trouble with the trident and thus required more practice before they could both move on.

'Sehun! Jongin! Come get something to eat!' Their captain, Joonmyun, yelled. 'Before Baekhyun eats everything!'

'Oh no!' Jongin and Sehun quickly swam to the caves under the reef where their equipment was stored and, twirling and spinning as they did. Their tribe lived on a tropical reef, colours lit up the sea during the day and at night the colours brightened the darkness under the moonlight. Their people were also colourful, their purple, blue and green tails adorned with beautiful colourful patterns.

Sehun lost his trident in the corner and Jongin quickly grabbed a kelp shrimp wrap. Quickly filling his mouth with the food, he turned nimbly and saw that Baekhyun had already consumed more than five big wraps with crab and lobster. Captain Joonmyun sighed and grabbed a seaweed wrap on the other end of the table. 'Boys, we'll go on a scouting trip soon.'

Sehun cheered. 'Yeeees!'

Jongin hummed contently. The scouting trips were always the most fun because they could use their weapons in real situations too, battling sharks, manta rays and eels or hunting smaller fish for food. And they could explore every nook and cranny near their reef. They had found ships, sunken oil platforms and caverns to the core of the earth, Jongin imagined at least, and many more things.

'The sea has grown uneasy.' Their captain stated. 'Though we've experienced worse, we don't want to be surprised by calamity. We don't know what's causing it, it may be a herd of whales, the humans drilling for minerals or another tribe gearing up for war. Be vigilant.'

The young mermen nodded. The only downside of being a tribe of tropical mermen was that there were a lot of other tribes around. The tribes who lived in the depths of the oceans had that problem less so, but they missed the sunlight that Jongin loved.

On his days off, he and his friends would go for the surface and spy on the humans. The humans were evil and mean usually, so they were careful, but they saw them do such silly things. But Jongin mostly enjoyed the sun on his skin and hair and didn't pay much attention to the silly humans. They would play with the dolphins and swirl through schools of fish.

But more frequently than they wanted, they also had to flee from sharks. So the elders were not that happy with them getting near to the surface, especially because the humans could spot them and come for them too. The dangers of humans and sharks was enough for the elders to prohibit them from going to the surface, but the youngsters usually didn't listen.

'We'll venture east, deeper into the ocean. Make sure you're well rested and ready for anything. Brush up your armour and sharpen your weapons.' Captain Joonmyun cocked his head at the armour stands and the weapon racks. 'Tomorrow at dawn we leave. For now, dismissed.'

Taemin spun through the water, swimming for his life. Darkness had engulfed him more than ever before but he didn't care, the few things he could see were of no importance to him. The movements in the water told him more and more, and the more he was told the less he could believe his senses. Never had he even heard of sharks together as a school, let alone actually working together in a hunt.

He dodged an attack next to him. The goblin sharks around him clouded his senses. He heard his friends swim after him and the sharks, trying to rescue him. Taemin made a sharp turn, throwing off some of the sharks but also baring one of his flanks. He felt sharp teeth scratch his skin, his senses on one side failing him immediately as his lateral line was damaged.

The darkness felt even darker and the angry sounds of the sharks around him clouded the shrill cries of his friends. He could smell his own blood and he knew he wasn't going to survive this if he didn't think of something soon. Desperately widening his eyes, frantically spinning and twirling, he tried to get his eyes to spy him an escape.

Until he felt a strong shift in the currents around him. His body not able to react immediately like the sharks, weakened by the small attacks it had endured and the sharp dodged he had had to do, he felt himself swept away and pummelled through the ocean. The cries of his friends, which had already been muffled, died away completely as he shot down the forbidden current.

Taemin's broken senses could make out that this was the current his tribe had forbidden anyone from ever using, as it was long, tiring and dangerous. It would truly pummel you through the ocean, through rock fields and constricting kelp forests. It was forbidden because no one had ever, ever, returned from it.

Taemin held his side, feeling the warm blood in the cold water. He tried to see everything that came towards him so rapidly and dodged as much as he could, yet he felt the stings of rocks and venomous plants in his torso and tail. He involuntarily spun through the stream, trying to fight it and slowly himself down, but all of that ended in a shrill whine when he hit a stone column and folded his tail to the point it almost broke.

Could he try to swim with it and go even faster? His eyes weren't the best around and even at this speed he had trouble seeing anything at all, why go even faster?

He tried to remember the course of the current, where it would bend and were it would stop. He had been swept away miles and miles from his home, so going back wasn't an option until he had gotten some rest, but maybe he could at least escape the current at a sharp bend?

… Oh crap. The rock field was coming, Taemin saw the first jagged rocks appear, the monstrosities (ships, but Taemin didn't know that) that had been caught in them. Taemin shook with the current, avoiding every rock he possibly could. He bashed his shoulder against one of the rocks. His wound. His other arm. He felt the rock tear at his tailfins, his voice crying of pain as they were mutilated viciously with the rocks tearing away parts of skin and scales.

Taemin managed to avoid certain death by dodging a column with a steel bar sticking out from it and with that, fell away from the current. He swirled to the side, towards the surface and brighter waters, lifelessly and forced his quills to keep working.

Even though his entire body wanted to rest and stop.

Jongin looked in the obsidian mirror as he tied up his brass cuirass at his sides. He strapped his trident to his side and put on his brass helmet. He sighed for a moment but nodded quickly. Scouting trip! This'll be fun! He saw out of his cavern and headed straight for his captain at their barracks.

The captain hummed satisfied as Jongin neared him and inspected the boy's armour thoroughly. 'Good work, Jongin.'

Jongin felt pride accumulate in his stomach and smiled. 'I cleaned them as much as I could!'

'They look great, Jongin… Ah there's Sehun.'

Sehun swam up to them and got his share of compliments and remarks. More and more joined them and Joonmyun quickly calmed everyone down. 'Recruits, today we are scouting to see disturbances in the ocean. We are looking for anything. If possible and safe, check above the surface too, storms may be brewing and the humans might have started warring again. If a human sees you, hide immediately and don't come out until dark. I doubt they'll see you, but be careful.'

A recruit from the back, Minseok, raised his hand. 'Do we go in pairs?'

'Because of the sheer size of the area we have to cover, we scout individually. If in danger, rather flee than fight. Hiding and fleeing isn't cowardice, it's survival. Especially when humans are involved. If you are forced to fight, take out the weakest links and try to flee again. You'll be safe when you reach the tribe.'

The recruits nodded and all got assigned a direction to explore. They were to explore as much as they could. If unsafe, they were allowed to go back to the tribe at dusk. If in danger or any other reason, they could also go back at any time. If possible, try to keep exploring and use your survival skills to stay safe in the night. If they hadn't found anything interesting for miles and miles, it was safe to assume no danger laid in wait in that direction.

Jongin was assigned to go fully east, not to the north and not to the south, but just east. Jongin took off, not spinning and twirling enthusiastically like he would always do, but now just swimming easily. He was in no rush, better he'd preserve his energy, especially when wearing the armour. His trident ready in his hands, he nimbly swam across the reefs towards the rising sun.

He saw the fishes flee from him, some crabs being crabs and not looking at him at all, some dolphins teasingly following him. Jongin felt an odd against his backfin and stopped. He twirled to see if he saw anything that could have caused it, but nothing. He swam up to the surface and peeked carefully. Nothing.

Jongin hummed and swam back down, noticing how the dolphin circled him playfully.

'Hey, what are you up to?' Jongin asked.

The dolphins swam off and Jongin followed them for a bit. They stopped at a shipwreck and Jongin hummed, his trident ready. He knew sharks liked these places and he approached the ship carefully. It seemed like it had only recently sunk, but the ship seemed old. The sand around it hadn't really settled in yet, the water was still unruly and most importantly, it still reeked of death.

Jongin tapped the side to stir up the fish hiding inside and schools of them flew out. That was a good sign, at least no carnivores inside. Jongin swam in carefully and looked at the dead sailor against the sealing. Poor guy. There wasn't really anything he could loot from this place, usually humans would come looking for it anyway, but it was peculiar that a ship had sunk.

Though it couldn't be reason for the sea acting up. The ship was way too small for that to be the sole reason, it seemed more like this shipwreck being a consequence of the unruly sea. Jongin left it and watched the dolphins, still begging Jongin to follow them.

'Is it really important?'

The dolphins twirled enthusiastically.

'Is it what I'm looking for?'

Their twirling stopped slightly, almost pouty looks on their faces.

'Is it exciting?'

Happy spinning again. Jongin chuckled and followed them once more. They easily moved through the ocean, no predator seemed to be around at all, and the dolphins halted, swimming around happily. Jongin didn't see anything fun in particular, except an old fighter airplane, but that was old news. Until he felt the water move under him more strongly, his body going down slowly.

He looked down and saw that the earth had cracked open, the water running into the newly opened fissure powerfully. Jongin swam away. That was a good reason, but still a bit small to be the sole reason for this moody ocean of theirs. Jongin frowned. How could this have happened? Had there been a quake they didn't notice? That seemed o… odd… He saw three strong metal legs standing in the reef and a dark platform on top of them. That could be a good reason, humans are mining here.

Jongin sighed. Why did they always mine and why did it always seem like they didn't care about the sea? Jongin couldn't stop them and trying to stop them would only endanger himself. Jongin knew the humans would probably only be here for a year or two and then piss off again, but still it was annoying that they were so close.

Jongin swam up, peeked and saw the platform now. Above water it seemed further away and a lot smaller, but it was there now.

Moving on, to see if more sources could be disturbing mother sea, he swam further east, the dolphins still following him happily. He ventured through caves, fought a single shark with his trident and the dolphins running interference and explore large coral reefs.

Until he approached a cliff. The seabed dropped quickly, entering the deep ocean. Jongin gulped, he had never actually ventured this far, but maybe he should just see and check quickly. He couldn't spend the night there, he would have to dive too deep and he wouldn't be able to see anything down there. So best was to spend the night here at the cliff, venture into the deep at dawn and return before dusk, spending another night at the cliff before swimming back home. Jongin nodded. That was a good plan.

Jongin started to set up a small cover to sleep under, hauling some planks of a shipwreck from the seabed. He hummed as he caught a fish with his bare hand, twisting off its head and eating it raw. He gave a soft moan of delight as it was delicious, quickly taking his place under the cover. He laid down on seabed and peered out over the cliff, into the wide and open ocean.

… What was that white thing?

Jongin got up from his cover. … Was that a merman? If so, he didn't look okay.

Jongin grabbed his trident and swam over the cliff, towards the white entity. Hanging lifelessly in the water, Jongin suspected that the… definitely a merman was wounded, ill or dead. But just waiting in the water to be eaten by a shark was no end to a life.

Jongin caught the boy's hand. 'Hello?'

A soft moan escaped the boy's lips.

He's alive! Jongin gulped. 'Come!' He softly pulled the boy with him to the small camp he had made. Jongin carefully laid him down on the seabed and looked at the gash in the boy's side. 'That's not good.' He saw the mutilation of the boy's tail fin and whined softly. 'Definitely not good.'

What to do? He couldn't go back after dusk, they would be shark food. But would he manage a night out here? Jongin quickly swam away and caught another fish, preparing it similarly and tearing off small bits to give to the weak merman. 'Please eat something…'

The boy ate a little bit but his face turned sour when he had to swallow. Jongin whined and grabbed a few fistfuls of seaweed, wrapping it around the boy's waist and, with that, the wound. Jongin bit his lip. He was not sure he could do more than this, other than try to feed him and hope he wouldn't die. He was pleased to see the boy was breathing normally.

The sea quickly turned darker around them and Jongin huddled closer to the wounded merman. He took off his helmet and went the white hair of the merman in front of him. He was a deep sea merman for sure, his body white like the fish who resided so deep in the ocean.

Jongin looked at the dark ocean around them. The night would be long, but he couldn't risk letting this boy die.

Taemin opened his eyes again. To close them immediately. Lord, that was so bright! He could hardly see anything with all the light, with it he was absolutely blind. He felt himself laying down on a stone bed, lots of things moving around him in the water.

Wrappings around his waist and tail.

He felt himself up, noticing that his shoulder had been wrapped tight too, his movement on one arm severely limited. What had happened to him?

'Ah, you're awake.'

Taemin stilled immediately, trying to focus his senses but to no avail. He felt a soft hand on his cheek, guiding his head. 'I'm over here.'

'Where am I? Who are you?' Taemin could just see a vague black figure in a sea of white.

'You're in the reefs now, one of our recruits found you in the trench, wounded. I'm the tribe's elder.'

The reefs! That's why Taemin couldn't see a damn thing anymore. And he was found too! So this wasn't the afterlife. And…

'What happened to you?'

'I can only remember… Sharks. A lot of sharks.'

'A lot of sharks? As in working together?'

Taemin nodded. 'Goblin sharks…'

The elder sighed. 'You're safe now. The recruit will come to see you later, we had to send him home after he stayed with you for more than a whole day. Can we send word to your tribe? Can you tell us where they live?'

'… You can't get there. You wouldn't be able to see.'

'As I thought.' The elder sighed. 'Rest some more. We've bound your wounds but we… We can't heal your tailfins. You'll be able to use it like normal, but the damages done are permanent.'

Taemin nodded slowly. 'Thank you.'

The dark figure left and Taemin closed his eyes again, trying to recover them from all the light. He widened his quills, breathing out deeply, and tried to sleep a little. His dreams were jagged and sharp, his sleep not pleasant at all and he reached for the pendant around his neck.

…

It was gone! Taemin sat up and tried to pat the stone slab around him. Maybe it fell in his sleep or they took it off during their care or…

'Whoa! Easy now!' A smooth voice rolled through the room and Taemin felt himself pushed down gently. 'What are you looking for?'

The voice was nice and calming. 'My pendant… It's important to me…'

'Pendant?' The voice hummed. 'Let me look.'

Taemin felt the boy, he felt young, swim around him. 'Who are you?'

'Ah! I'm Jongin! I'm the one that found you! You really scared me back there.'

'I'm Taemin.'

'Taemin, I can't seem to find this pendant. What does it look like?'

'… It looks like a golden coin.'

'… Where did you keep it?'

'Around my neck.'

'Oh… I didn't see it when I found you, maybe you lost it in the trench or somewhere else… I'm sorry.'

Taemin gulped. 'It's not your fault.' He felt the boy near him closely.

'Was it important to you?'

'It was given to me when I turned 10 years old by my father.'

'Ah… I'm so sorry. I'll go back tomorrow to see if I can find it.'

'You don't have to…'

'I insist.' Jongin brushed back Taemin's hair. 'Your eyes…' Taemin's eyes were cold and steely. They were blue but Jongin could see the boy didn't look through them. 'Can you see here?'

'Hardly.'

'Can you see better in the dark oceans?'

'I can. It's less light and… I don't know, I just see better. I don't see much though.'

'Want to know what I look like?'

Taemin chuckled. 'Sure.'

'I have a long purple tail and backfin, but my torso is tanned instead of purple. Also I have patterns on my tail.'

'It sounds cute.'

Jongin laughed. 'Thank you!' Jongin looked at Taemin's body. Now the boy was in less danger and their environments was less hostile, Jongin noticed that Taemin was actually really pretty. Like the deep sea fishes, Taemin was white. But perfectly white. He almost gave light here at the surface. Slight stains of pink adorned the rims of his fins, but he was beautifully pearly white.

'How did you bring me here?'

'On my back. We were lucky there were no predators around.'

'Thank you for not abandoning me.'

'I'm just happy I saw you there. The first time I looked I missed you. I'll go looking tomorrow. When you're healed, I'll you back to your home.'

'Thank you, Jongin.'

Jongin sighed as he looked everywhere at his previous camp at the cliff. He scoured the seabed, looking under rocks and between plants. But nowhere he could find a coin, let alone a golden one. He peeked over the cliff and gulped. He could dive down that deep, but he would be blind.

Jongin concluded that he didn't see a pendant, he hadn't seen one and that he could not find it. Jongin quietly swam back, his mind in thought. He did want to give Taemin something to hold on to. The boy was all alone and Jongin felt… Jongin felt like he was important to Taemin. He had saved Taemin! He had to make sure the boy was safe and happy and healthy.

Jongin swam over to the fighter plane and checked inside, looking for something he could offer Taemin as a substitute. A few shards of glass, a compass, a fish egg-filled chair. Jongin left the wreck and swam further again.

Also Taemin was really pretty. He looked a lot different than the mermen he usually saw, like Sehun. His colours were so different but somehow, he spoke to Jongin. His face did. His eyes. His eyes, the part of Taemin's body that were the most useless to him right now, were so beautifully different than Jongin had ever seen. While Jongin's eyes were black, Taemin's eyes were so beautifully blue.

Jongin hummed as he passed over the fissure created by the mining humans. The sea had calmed around it, so it was safer now, and Jongin stared at the giant machine that dug in the ocean's floor. He saw some rocks fall from it, rubble the humans wouldn't clean up at all. He started to