{"sf1_id":937776,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Aquata Cove - Chapter 60","author":"Mirron Tenshi","words":8980,"posted_at":"2015-11-26T06:40:00.000Z","tags":["Mermaid","Narwhal","Otter","Story Progression","Turtle","fish","merman"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/937776-aquata-cove-chapter-60","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/937776","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=937776\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\nAquata Cove\nChapter 60: Scars of Rebuke\n \n \n \nArnaav peers over a reef as he signals ahead, hearing a\nmarlin several feet away. His survival-knife spear quivers slightly in his\nlittle grip as he signals again. He meeped a little as signals again. And\nagain. Once more, he sent a signal to hear the marlin-\n \n\"Stop it...\" Merrick muttered right next to him, \"One signal\nis enough, two is cautious, too many will alert them of your presence.\"\n \n\"O-Ok...\" Arnaav squeaked lowly.\n \n\"You must keep your voice down.\" Merrick muttered a little\nharshly, \"Hunting is a composition of time, stealth, speed, and precision.\"\n \n\"Mmm...\" Arnaav nodded.\n \n\"In a hunt, you must always know what, when, where, and how\nyour prey is going to go, going to move, and going to do at the moment of\nstrike.\"\n \n\"... B-But...\" Arnaav's insides churn with anxiety, \"H-How do I\nknow what they will do? I cannot see the future.\"\n \n\"You do not see the future,\" Merrick explained, \"Your\ninstincts tell you exactly what will happen, and you must respond to it.\"\n \n\"But I have tried before, I always fail because-\"\n \n\"Keep your voice down!\" Merrick instructed.\n \n\"I-I have tried to hunt before...\" Arnaav whispered, \"I cannot\nunderstand what you mean.\"\n \n\"At that very moment, when you are ready to strike, it is in\nthat frame of time where you capture your prey.\"\n \n\"Mnnhhh...\" The otter groaned. Honestly, he has absolutely no\nidea what Merrick is talking about.\n \n\"Alright. Now, are you ready to try again?\"\n \n\"I think so...\" Arnaav said. \n \n\"Then as I have showed you. Swim the lunge, and thrust your\nweapon on the prey...\" Merrick said.\n \n\"Yes...\" The otter merman primed his hind legs, and then\nlaunched himself! His small, webbed paw pushed as best as he could in a sloppy\nloop, not nearly as fast as he needs to be.\n \n\"Rgghh!\" Merrick growled as Arnaav totally ruined the\ntechnique. The marlin saw him, and whipped around to swim away. The Amnien\npanicked, and threw his spear in a failed attempt to catch the marlin.\n \n\"NO!\" Merrick suddenly jets from his spot. Arnaav gasped as\nthe Piscien looms like a blue and silver blur through the water. Merrick\nsnarled as he sent his harpoon flying threw the water, and pierced the marlin\nthrough the middle. The fish flopped helplessly blood wafted from the entry and\nexit wounds before Merrick took in a fell swoop. The merman angrily carried the\nprey back to the quivering otter.\n \n\"What was that??\" Merrick demanded.\n \n\"I-I am sorry, Merrick!\" Arnaav stammered, \"I-I tried! I\ntried! I tried it like you have shown me!\"\n \n\"That was not ANYTHING I have shown you!\" Merrick scolded,\n\"You did not give yourself a proper leap, and you failed to surprise your prey!\nThis is the 19th time you have failed!\"\n \n\"I am sorry, Merrick!\" Arnaav started to sob, \"C-Can we\nnot-\"\n \n\"No! You are not to eat until you have caught your prey!\"\nMerrick instructed. The otter flinched as he sniffled, \"You must learn\ndecisiveness! Both as a hunter, and as a Trit-\" He stopped.\n \nMerrick froze in his harsh ranting. The poor young male\nsniffles and whimpered as he looks up at him, terrified. Merrick's hands shook\nas they clenched on his weapon with the flailing marlin. He shook his head and\nsighed as he pulled his harpoon back until the hook-end was in the fish, before\nhe did a quick stab inside, and the marlin stopped moving, dead.\n \n\"I am sorry, Arnaav...\" Merrick as he lowered the fish to the\nyoung one.\n \n\"W-What?\" Arnaav hardly accepted the marlin, and saw the\nPiscien start to circle him, \"M-Merrick! I am sorry! Let us try agai-\"\n \n\"No, Arnaav...\" Merrick interrupted before pausing and\nturning, \"I am sorry. I cannot teach you...\" \n \nThe little otter gasped a little as he started to cry.\n \n\"But... You HAVE to!\" Arnaav said, \"You told me you would\nteach me! I-I can be better! Please, you cannot-\"\n \n\"Arnaav.\" Merrick turned around, and swam to the small\nAmnien, \"There are several reasons why I cannot teach you...\"\n \n\"Please, Merrick!\" Arnaav sniffled, \"No one else will teach\nme!\" He paddles up to Merrick, \"Please, let us-\"\n \n\"I cannot, Arnaav...\" Merrick turned aside, \"I really am\nincapable of teaching you... I'm sorry...\" He looked back at him with saddened\neyes, \"It is possible that you are not meant to be a hunter...\"\n \nArnaav whimpered as Merrick gradually began to swim away\nfrom him, bowing his head down from his shame.\n \n \n~~~\n \n \nSyrinx frowned from seeing that aggressive display. She\npushes her arms to propel herself towards Merrick.\n \n\"What was that?\" She asked when she moved herself close\nenough to him, \"He was trying his best, he has been trying his best!\" Merrick\nsimply ignored her as they swam together, \"I do not know what you are thinking,\nbut he is still just a meryin, and you made him a promise.\"\n \n\"Stay out of it.\" Merrick retorted. \n \n\"Do you realize how difficult it is for Arnaav??\" Syrinx\nstated, \"With no one to teach him, no one to see to a young merman's well\nbeing, he is always isolated and alone in the pod! How can you rage at him as\nyou have?? You must go back, and help him!\"\n \n\"I said stay out of it, Syrinx,\" Merrick rattled with\naggravation, \"This does not concern-\"\n \n\"No! Not after what I saw of you.\" She swooped around, and\ncame in front of Merrick, \"You-\"\n \n\"What do YOU know of me?!\" Merrick snapped before Syrinx can\ntalk, \"Why are you trying to talk to me now? You wanted nothing to do with me\non the human ship.\"\n \n\"You are part of the Kenovani now.\" Syrinx answered, \"I\nwondered why I have not seen you before, and now that you are here, there is no\nreason for us to show hostility.\"\n \n\"Forget it.\" Merrick said as he undulated around the\nmermaid, but Syrinx simply locked her weapon with his, and pulled herself back\nup front.\n \n\"I ask that we do not fight, Merrick.\" She says, \"I am\nwilling to speak with you now. Why do you insist on keeping your anger?\"\n \n\"Why do YOU insist on forgetting that you judged me without\nknowing my past?\" \n \n\"I have a past of my own, Merrick. What happened on the ship\nbrought upon old-\"\n \n\"Oh, do not even.\" Merrick seethed as he pushed his tail\nhard to leave the conversation.\n \n\"Stop!\" Syrinx whipped around him once more, \"We are of the\nsame pod now! We need to understand each other.\"\n \n\"Do you believe you are the only one with a troubling past,\nSyrinx?\" Merrick said, \"We all have our pain, but it does not give us the\nfull-extent of our being.\" He leers at her with a slight disgust and cynicism,\n\"You say you will not back away from after what you saw of me to Arnaav, but truly,\nwhat right do you have to presume who I am?!\" He growls at her.\n \n\"I admit, you intimidated me,\" Syrinx says, \"From the moment\nI saw you before you hurt those human men, but we-\"\n \n\"I LOOKED for you on that ship, Syrinx!\" Merrick snapped,\nhis father's anger once again getting the better of him, \"I NEEDED to find and\ntalk to you! I was dying after being stranded upon land and terrified of\nentering the ocean! And you would not tolerate me when you saw me at my worst,\nas if a moment of blind rage is all that I am!\"\n \nSyrinx sighed sadly as she shook her head, \"I am truly\nsorry, Merrick, I am. I should not have judged you before I met you.\" Merrick\nbreathes deeply as his blue eyes pierces her hazels. She widened her arms\noutward in an opening shrug to gesture an offering attitude, \"What can I say or\ndo to make it right between you and I?\"\n \n\"There is none.\" Merrick dismissed stubbornly, \"You already\nlabeled me as unstable, you made that perfectly clear. And in truth...\" Merrick\npushed himself backward, \"I still am. The best thing for both of us is to stay\naway. You and I have noting more to say.\" \n \nWith that, Merrick whipped his tail, and zoomed away,\nkicking up some sand with the reckless tail-kick, a lot faster than before when\ntrying to elude Syrinx.\n \n\"Merrick!\" Syrinx held her flipper-hand out, seeing just how\nfast he really is, \"... I am an idiot...\" She groaned before she dropped her head\nback, \"Sea Mother, why did you give me my Mother's sense of mind?\"\n \n \n~~~\n \n \nDeilan hovers around through the water, his senses on full\nalert as he scouts the area. Even with a Capricorn nearby, dangers are still\nfully capable of suddenly happening, and scouts are still needed to be on the\nlookout for any sort of potential trouble.\n \n\"... Hm?\" He looks, and spots half broken staff, one side\nbare, and the other one with a survival knife tied to it. The squid merman\nhovers down, and picks up the two halves, and signals around. His signal\ndetects the faint presence of the youngest member of the Kenovani, aside from\nAdra Triton Hecalt.\n \nDeilan quickly swims forth to the small signal, and quickly\ncatches up with the somber otter.\n \n\"Arnaav, wait!\" He called. He caught up with him, and loomed\naround, \"What happened with your weapon?\"\n \n\"I broke it...\" Arnaav mumbled, \"I do not need it... It is worthless\nin my hands...\"\n \n\"What???\" Deilan queried, \"What are you saying? It is a\ntool, any tool has a use and a function. Why would you want to throw it away??\"\n\n\n\"As I have said,\" He said, \"It is worthless in my hands... I have tried to be a\nhunter... But I always fail time and time again...\"\n \n\"Arnaav,\" The squid merman pulls Arnaav in the water to face\nhim, \"That is not true. Look.\" Deilan holds up the two halves of the spear,\nfirst pointing up the bare half, \"Here you have a prod,\" He held up the half\nwith the knife tied to it, \"And here you have a carving blade. Both are\ninvaluable items that serve purposes.\" \n \n\"...\" The otter remained stubbornly quiet.\n \n\"Just... Keep them with you.\" Deilan said, \"Just keep them and\nI will stop bothering you.\" He smiled. Arnaav pouted as the squid merman\nreached in, and secured the two halves of the weapon to Arnaav's straps,\n\"There. Now let us return to the pod.\" \n \nWith that, the otter paddled and undulated with the squid.\n \n \n~~~\n \n \n\"It is because I cannot teach him,\" Merrick answered Deilan,\nas they went scouting together, \"I am not eligible to be his instructor.\"\n \n\"I do not understand,\" Deilan said, \"You are a Triton -\nTritons are the best hunters of any pod. I would think you of everyone here\nwould be more than qualified to teach hunting.\"\n \n\"That is just it,\" Merrick continued, \"I... Nnhh...\" Merrick\nfaltered as he planted his harpoon into the sand for a moment. Deilan stopped,\nand hovered as he turned to see Merrick panting with one hand on the shaft, and\nthe other on the sand.\n \n\"Merrick? Are you alright?\"\n \n\"Yes, I...\" Merrick grunts as he pushes himself up, \"I am just\nquick to tire, that is all...\" With a deep breath, the Piscien collected himself,\nand swam with the squid.\n \n\"As I was saying,\" Merrick continued, \"I am a Triton. The\nmethods and training regiment of which my Father taught me differ on a very\nhigh standard...\" He looked sadly along the sand, \"It is saddening... After losing\nmy Sister, I feel of Arnaav as just as close to him as I was with her, and then\nI turn into my Father when I try to help him grow...\"\n \n\"What do you mean? How did you turn into your Father?\"\nDeilan asked with genuinely curious look, \"Do you mean an actual\ntransformation, or is that a human expression? I still cannot tell.\"\n \n\"Human expression,\" Merrick said, \"My Father... Had very high\nexpectations of me about growing up to becoming the Triton of our pod. He was\nextremely strict with me...\" Merrick took a moment to signal the areas further\nahead, before both mermen turning to a different direction, and continued,\n\"When I accomplished my lessons, he acknowledged me with adult-like respect.\nBut when I failed... The way he bellowed at me...\" Merrick frowned, \"He scolded me\nas if I let the Sea Mother Herself down with my short comings - not that he\never used Her in the yelling.\"\n \n\"So you lost your temper on Arnaav just like your Father did\nwith you?\"\n \n\"No, it wasn't losing a temper. It was more like showing a\nbrutal front to motivate me to try harder. But Arnaav...\" Merrick growled at\nhimself, \"Arnaav is not an Adra, and he is still very young, and yet I berated\nhim like the ruthless parent I once had.\"\n \n\"You may not be able to teach him anyhow, Merrick.\" Deilan\npointed out, \"Now that I think about it, you are a Piscien with a powerful\ntail. Arnaav is an Amnien with swift paws. The techniques do not quite match in\ncomparison. And it does not help that he is the only otter merfolk in the\nKenovani.\"\n \n\"I figured that. However, the humans have a child's story,\"\nMerrick said, \"It is about a bat who was an orphan and was adopted by a mother\nbird. The bat was scolded and then taught how to live like a bird. The bat was\nable to cope eventually. The story ends with the bat finding her family and\nbecoming well again, so it doesn't quite match up to Arnaav's situation.\"\n \n \nThe two mermen checked out the section further, before\nturning and headed for a different direction.\n \n\"I have another question, more personal I add.\" Deilan said,\n\"Please do not feel obligated to answer.\"\n\n\"Is this about my being a 'homosexual' merman?\" Merrick asked.\n \n\"Not quite,\" Deilan continued, \"You were able to secretly\nmeet with your human mate for 5 years before you were banished. May I ask what\nhappened?\"\n \n\"Once again... It was my Father...\" Merrick answered, \"I had\nattempted to break up with my mate - long story, I was stupid - and my Father\nhad interrogated me. Every time we go to the waters of the land of Hawaii, I\nwould leave for the most part of the stay. I would claim that I was undergoing\nmy own personal training as a Triton.\"\n \n\"Ha! I should have thought of that before I was exiled.\"\nDeilan smirked.\n \n\"He cornered me, and probed me. He said a few invoking\nthings as a psychological method to get my emotions elevated so I would confess\nthe truth. Unfortunately, it worked. Not only did I reveal that I had contacted\na human, but also mated with him, and a male as well...\n\n\"After a while, some things happened with an oil spill, and I had to stay with\nmy human for a while. When it was time for us to leave, my Father, my Mother,\nand the Razirah ordered me to appear before the pod to trial me of my crime.\"\n \n\"I hated that.\" Deilan growled, \"It was not enough I was\nbeing banished, but they had to make a spectacle out of me - no, out of all of\nus.\" He blinked, and then looked directly at Merrick, \"Wait. Your own Father\nexposed you of your crime??\"\n \n\"Yes...\" Merrick said, \"As I said, he was very strict with\nteaching me, and he employed daring gambits when it came to my training. He\nbrought me trial to the pod in hopes in reminding me as an Adra, I have a\nchance to reform my ways, as a sort of attempt to let me know that breaking the\nSacred Laws would not be tolerated...\"\n \n\"... Instead though, you refused, didn't you?\" Deilan asked.\n \n\"Yes\" He nodded, \"I relinquished my second chance, and chose\nto leave my pod to be with my mate...\" His eyes look at the dancing light on the\nsand reflected from the surface.\n \n\"That could not have been easy...\" Deilan said, \"I was\nbanished when I was seen by a fellow member of my pod making out with my mate,\nand I was banished on the very next sun. I am not sure how I would handle the\nchoice you were forced to make.\"\n \n\"The choice was obvious...\" Merrick said, \"Even if I chose to\nstay with my pod, it was only a matter of years before I would be forced to\nleave. And I would have made myself and my Adam suffer a lot more than needed...\"\n \n\"I see...\" Deilan said, \"... I have one more question, if you\nwill indulge me.\"\n \n\"Alright.\"\n \n\"So how do you physically mate with a human male?\"\n \n\"AH! Ahhh...\" Merrick blushes harshly.\n \n\"I have heard once or twice of men having sex together, and\nyet I have no idea of how they do it.\"\n \n\"Look it up on the webs of the inside when you return.\"\nMerfolk don't have a word for 'internet'.\n \n\"But it should be so much easier to ask someone of\nexperience!\" \n \n\nThough Deilan insisted and nagged Merrick continuously, he only denied him the\nsexually detailed explanation as they eventually return to the pod. Deilan\nwavers his tentacles up while Merrick merged into the middle of the crowd. His\neyes looked, and his hands clenched a little as he sees Arnaav. \n \n\"Awwllll...\" Merrick moaned in remorse as he sees two halves\nof Arnaav's spear tied to his sides. The little merman looked to the said, and\nquickly turned his head back forward at the sight of Merrick. He sighed sadly.\nHe's the one who failed Arnaav...\n \n \nThe pod swims in the open ocean, with each different merfolk\nwith their own item or enchantment from the Noita to keep up or biologically\nsurvive in the pod. Being consisted of different species of Coshitons, some of\nthe members need a mystical veil of icy energy to keep their sense of cold, or\na couple of them need a coat of heated light around their bodies so their\ntemperature is not interfered with the ocean. \n \n\"Are you sure about this, Vanora?\" Samudra said, \"A Black\nSun is coming so soon?\"\n \n\"I am afraid so,\" She said, \"Deilan will be disappointed,\nbut it appears it would not be safe for him to return to the land just yet.\"\n \n\"Father?\" Adra Hecalt piped up as he paddled quickly along.\nAs the son of Samudra, he has the majority of bodily appearance of his father,\nwhile the heavy armor plating on his back has a similar design as his mother's\nfins, \"What is a Black Sun?\"\n \n\"You know of the Land Father Mithras, correct Son?\" The\nTriton asked as he turned his head to his offspring, \"The God of the humans,\nwho dwells within the sun itself.\"\n \n\"I think so...\" Hecalt nodded. He's so very young, younger\nthan Arnaav, even.\n \n\"The Land Father stays awake for most of the years, yet\nevery so often, He grows very weary, and so He must sleep, as does the Sea\nMother, but He is much more active than the Sea Mother, and so He slumbers a\nlot less often.\"\n \n\"And that has serious influences upon us merfolk.\" Vanora\nadded.\n \n\"What kind of influences?\" Hecalt asked, \"And why?\"\n \n\"We do not know,\" Samudra answered, \"But when the Land\nFather sleeps, and thus the sun turn black, the shadow of the human god\nthreatens are very essence - forever changing us in body and soul in ways no\none is able to imagine.\" Hecalt gulped, \"Though it is very conditional.\" He\nsaid with a smile, \"You need not worry, Son.\"\n \n\"W-Why is that?\"\n\n\"The shadow of the Black Sun can only mutate us when we are above the surface.\"\nVanora served this one, \"As long as we stay beneath the surface, we are\nprotected from the abstract dreams of Land Father Mithras.\"\n \n\"It has only been 4 moons since the previous slumber of the\nLand Father, however.\" Samudra said with a slight frown, \"It seems rather odd\nthat another one consecutively happens like this.\"\n \n\"It is simply a lapse of chance, Samudra.\" Vanora said,\n\"When I was a meryin, I recall the Red Moon appearing three times within only 2\nmoons.\"\n \n\"THREE Red Moons in 2 moons??\" Samudra asked with his eyes\nwidened, \"I do not remember this!\"\n \n\"That is because you are 5 years younger than I, my love.\"\nVanora said with a smirk, \"There is a reason why our Daughter is much advanced\nin age in comparison to our Son - the Waves of Fate are witty that way.\"\n \nSamudra grumbles as the two Adras giggle.\n \n\"When IS the Black Sun happening, Mother?\" Adra Nerissa\nasked.\n \n\"Soon, but I am uncertain; no one is able to fathom the exact\nsun of when the Land Father will sleep. All I can know is that it is happening\nwithin this moon.\"\n \n\"This means the pod's Walking Lessons will be canceled for\nthe entire moon, or at least when the Black Sun has passed...\"\n \n \nUnlike most pods, that typically have a usual, predestined\ncycle/route of where they go in a consistent routine with occasional detours,\nthe Kenovani pod travels everywhere. They select where the majority of the pod\nwants to go, and Triton Samudra and Noita Vanora lead the pod thusly, with a\nCapricorn present at all times.\n \nMerrick feels... Slightly uneasy about being amidst the pod,\nas in either somewhere in the middle or at the edge of the pod. He is used to\nbeing in the front, by his father as the Adra Triton. Not having that responsibility\nanymore will need some getting used to.\n \nSyrinx swims as she glances at the blue merman. She feels a\nsense of guilt for him; it doesn't feel fair that he holds a grudge against\nher, and yet at the same time, she can't discredit him for it. \n\nNow that she thinks about it, all merfolk think that the Capricorn hunts\nCoshitons in a way to bring their end. And Merrick claims that he forced\nhimself to live on the land for 3 years - even two whole years isn't possible\nfor her yet.\n \nWas that what he wanted to talk to her? Was that why he\npursued her here and there on the cruise? She feels bad that she didn't give\nhim a chance to hear him out, but in her defense, he had this psychological\nstring in his eyes that looked ready to snap at any moment - he still does, she\ncan see it. And yet the Noita and Adra Noita in this pod don't seem to be\nbothered.\nAnd now that she actually WANTS to be a friend, now he's the\none shutting her out. \n \n \nAs Merrick swims, he notices he is beating his tail harder\nthan he needs. He pants as his long tail is beginning to feel sore, his fingers\nloosening and tightening on his weapon. He grunts as he paddles his left hand\nbeside him as his heart pounds harder in his chest. \n \nShould he alert the others? No, he's fine, he can do this.\nHe groans as he dips his body up and down, trying to pull himself through the\nwater. His vision is beginning to blur, his tail is burning from the inside,\nhis teeth clenches as he huffs with harsh strain.\n \n \nArnaav paddles along with everyone else. The way Merrick\nyelled at him... He didn't do anything right, even after all of the times Merrick\nwas kind enough to show him all he knows. He's the worst hunter ever, when he\ncan't even match with Merrick's training. After all, he's the only one who\nactually tried to teach him for as long as he did. He's not meant to be a\nhunter... He can't even shoot a single strike on a prey.\n \nThe otter turned back to look at Merrick, only to see\nsomeone else where the Piscien was before. He slowed down as he turned himself\naround, allowing the others to pass him while he looks for him. Those deep,\norb-like eyes widened as they see the blue and silver fish struggling behind.\n \n\"Merrick!\" Arnaav raced forth over to him, breaking from the\npod and darting to Merrick. The Piscien groans as he pants harshly as he tries\nto swim, before he feels a pair of paws pull up on his sides, \"Merrick! Wake\nup!\"\n \n\"Hnnhh... Hghh... I am fine... I am awake, I... Hghhh...\" Merrick\nmumbled.\n \n\"Rrrfff! Come on!\" Arnaav's legs kicks the water as he tries\nto pull Merrick forward, \"HELP! Someone! WAIT! Noita Vanora! NOITA!\" He yelps.\n \nSamudra and Vanora halts the pod, and both of them swim\naround the pod in opposite directions. Both of them gasp as the small Amnien\nendeavors to pull up the wilting Piscien up and forward. The lionfish mermaid\nsped up to Merrick, while the young Adra Triton darts forth, and grabs the\nharpoon drifting down from the Piscien's hand.\n \n\"He's talking, b-but he can't move!\" Arnaav said as he began\nto panic.\n \n\"I said he was not well!\" Vanora said as Samudra replaced\nthe otter paws with his own heavy hands, holding Merrick up.\n \n\"I am fine...\" Merrick groaned as he can feel Vanora's energy\nenter his chest and head.\n \n\"You are not.\" Vanora corrected, \"Your dehydration is more\nsevere than you had led on. You will not be able to swim anymore for now.\"\n \n\"No...\" Merrick's fist clenches tightly. How can he still be\nso weak???\n \n\"It is almost time for us to rest for the sun anyway,\"\nTriton Samudra said. He blinked as he can clearly see the anger inside\nMerrick's cast-down eyes. Anger at himself, maybe? Unless Arnaav's failure is\nstill hanging inside of his mind. \n \nSamudra looked about, and spotted a sunken ship a short\ndistance away, \"There.\" He announced to the Kenovani, \"The fallen ship. We\nshall rest there. Vanora, Nerissa, go forth and feel the ship, and see if it is\nsafe for us.\"\n \n\"Yes.\" Vanora said, before she and her daughter, Adra\nNerissa, dove down to see to the ship. \n \n \n~~~\n \n \nThe whole pod is gathered within the dead ship, as small a\nschool as they are. As with any other pod, they are gathered around a glowing\naura of light, usually for the Razirah, Noita, or Triton to tell stories or\ndiscuss any pressing issues, or just regular conversation.\n \nMerrick takes deep, steady breaths as they relax around the\nlight. He feels a little better now, but he still feels shaky, and very angry\nwith himself. Samudra said that if he joins the Kenovani, his dehydration will\nbe cured - he is INSIDE the ocean, for Atargatis's sake, surrounded by water!\nNoita Vanora says it doesn't happen as fast as Samudra may have led on,\nespecially in Merrick's case, whose Land Sickness - as they call it when a\nmerfolk has been on the land for too long - is the most severe case they've\never seen. \n \n \n\"Triton Samudra.\" Merrick said.\n \n\"Are you feeling alright, Merrick?\" The thick and heavy\nHolsien asked.\n \n\"Yes. I was wondering something.\"\n \n\"We will answer any thing you wish to know.\" Samudra said\nwith a nod.\n \n\"If the Kenovani Pod is made up of Coshitons, how do you go\nabout of Red Moons?\" The question seems to make Samudra uneasy.\n\n\"As you can see, the Kenovani is much smaller than any healthy pod in the ocean\n- at the very most, our capacity measures to an approximate half of a regular\npod. Red Moons is a... An emotionally strenuous time for us...\"\n \n\"For most of the time,\" Vanora said, \"We hope that we are\nfortunate enough for members of the Kenovani to fall in love with another\nfellow member. As of now, there have been 5 Red Moons since the Kenovani was\nformed.\"\n \n\"I can understand the reluctance to find mates for the\nKenovani.\" Merrick said.\n \n\"Indeed,\" Razirah Ebba nodded, \"It would be tactless and\ncruel for us to actively seek out pod frenzies on a Red Moon - what merfolk\nwould ever want to fall in love, only to be cast away from their own lives,\ntheir family, torn between their two loves. Forever cut off from their true\nhome.\"\n \n\"Yet at the same time,\" Samudra said, \"It is not fair that\nwe must choose to remain alone and mateless forever...\" He said, \"As selfish as\nit is, we chose to seek out other pods to find mates on one Red Moon, and then\nnaught on the next Red Moon, and so on in that pattern.\"\n \n\"That sounds so hard...\" Merrick said as he bowed his head,\n\"It... It really is not fair...\"\n \n\"Exactly.\" Samudra nods. \"It is not right that we must\nsuffer for a few poorly-planned rules...\" A fire of determination burns deeply in\nSamudra's eyes, \"That is why I am going to change the Sacred Laws.\"\n\nMerrick blinked and looked at the Holsien with estranged eyes. A subtle glance\nshows no surprise, but a unanimous sense of admiration from the faces of the\npod.\n \n\"Wait... Change the Sacred Laws??\" Merrick said, \"What are you\nsaying?? How can that be possible?? If the Sacred Laws could be changed,\nwouldn't they already have been changed long ago?\"\n\n\"It is unlikely.\" Samudra replied, \"We merfolk have always existed with an\noverwhelming sense of tradition, so much so that rarely we stop for one moment\nto question the reasoning of such laws, and why they are so strict as to\nimmediately banish anyone who defiles a law, no matter the age or intention.\"\nSamudra frowns, \"Circumstance means nothing in the eyes of the conservative\nnatured merfolk, once you violate a law, you considered worse than dead.\"\n \nMerrick immediately is reminded of his own father. He doubts\nif Kaiken really cares if it wasn't Merrick's fault the Red Moon chose a human\nman to be his one true love. He sure didn't care about the fact that Arnaav was\nstill practically a baby when he bellowed at him.\n \n\"So how will you change the Sacred Laws?\" Merrick asked,\n\"And if so, does that mean Coshitons can return to our own pods?\"\n \n\"No.\" Samudra shook his head, \"As with human markings upon\ntheir flesh, our marks will always remain upon us as well. We are not ever\nwelcome back into our pods. However, we do have the opportunity to change the\nlaws for future generations of merfolk.\"\n \n\"How?\"\n \n\"As you know, every single merfolk in the entire ocean\ngather to the three Lost Kingdoms for one year every century to remember and to\nknow who we were and what we are.\" Samudra explained, \"And on that momentous\nyear, can we merfolk truly change and effect the Waves of Fate. As Syrinx, the\nonly mermaid in our pod who has spent the most time on dry land out of all of\nus has explained,\" He gestured to her with his hand, \"Humans change, create,\nand abolish their own laws all of the time.\"\n \n\"The human elections.\" Syrinx spoke up, \"Courts, this force\ncalled the Government and Congress. You know of these?\" Merrick begrudgingly\nnodded.\n \n\"Though it is much more solemn and so far,\" Samudra\ncontinued, \"We merfolk are capable of the same actions and the same process. A\nSacred Law can only be altered or destroyed by a majority favor of the merfolk\ngathered to the Lost Kingdoms.\" \n \n\"Is it still possible for us though??\" Merrick asked\nhastily, \"We are rogues of merfolk. Would our word even be heard?\"\n \n\"Yes. Of that, I have no doubt.\" Samudra holds up his hand\nto show his own black symbol on his palm, \"Though we are cast out and denied\nexistence in the eyes of fellow merfolk, we are all the children of the Sea\nMother Atargatis, Coshiton or Merfolk alike.\"\n \n\"We can really go to the Lost Kingdoms? And we can really\nbring down some of the Sacred Laws??\"\n \n\"In the Lost Kingdoms, it is the one and only time other\nMerfolk are obligated to see us. They cannot turn their backs to us. And they\nWILL hear our plight, they will know our hinderence.\"\n \n\"When exactly do we go to the Lost Kingdoms??\"\n \n\"For a long time yet...\" Samudra sighed, \"Almost 30 years is\nleft before we can make our mark on Laws.\" An instance of sadness glimmered in\nSamudra's eyes, \"It is possible that I may not be able to make it...\"\n \n\"Why not?\" Merrick asked.\n \n\"My life is half spent. Simple as that.\" Samudra answered,\n\"I will be an old relic of a merman if I live to that day, and anything could\nhappen.\"\n \n\"Oh, have more faith, Samudra.\" Vanora nudged him with her\nhand, \"You will be there, and you will make life better for countless merfolk.\"\n \n\"Hah hah hah...\" He chuckled, \"Perhaps you are right...\"\n \n \n~Several Hours Later~\n \n \n\"...\" Nerissa stirs in her sleep. It currently has been almost\nhalf of the night since they observed the ship for rest. Vanora pointed out\nthat some residual energy in the ship somehow... Feels like Merrick...\n \nRight now, however, she slowly blinks awake as she can feel\nturbulence in the auras among the pod. She pushes her hands onto the old\nsaturated wood of the ship, and raised her head. Her eyes looked onto the\ncolorful mists of the members' auras, all of them surrounding themselves in\ntheir own respective pattern. One of them, however, is feeling excruciatingly chaotic.\nNerissa floated up, before she felt a hand push gently down upon her shoulder.\n \n\"Stay put, Daughter...\" Vanora said, her own more experienced\neyes pinpointing the exact trace of the unstable aura.\n \n\"I can do this, Mother...\" Nerissa is much older than her\nbrother, she is quite adept in her duties as a Noita in training.\n \n\"You know I would let you handle this... But Syrinx's warnings\nhas me concerned... Please remain...\" The lionfish mermaid swam up, and carefully\nloomed through the water, above the sleeping merfolk. The aura is getting more\nand more like a violent hurricane the more she followed the trace. \n \nVanora pulled herself onto the frame of the door, and looked\ndown upon the source of the troublesome aura.\n \n\"Nnnh... Ghhh, khh...\" Merrick twitches and tenses harshly in\nhis sleep. His eyes clench as his arms tightened as his tail coiled crookedly. \n\n\"A vicious nightmare...\" Vanora muttered, \"I have never felt such darkness and\nspite...\" The Noita looks to a far corner, and sees Arnaav huddled up in a\ncorner. The poor boy always isolates himself from the pod in times of rest, but\nas those young eyes look up at her, the otter shakes in fear with a pleading\nlook so desperate, as if he's afraid to move, and disturb a mindless beast that\nwould pounce upon him like injured prey.\n \n \n()()()\n \n \n\"You're never getting out of here until you tell me\neverything.\" Said glowing glass eyes and a devilish grin.\n \n\"He's fryin' up cause of you, fagfish.\" Snickered a country\naccent as he punched a gun all over Merrick's neck.\n \n\"This will only hurt a lot...\" Came a blood-covered doctor,\nholding five scalpels rotating around his hand, \"And it will hurt,\nforeveerrrrrr... Hmhmhmhmhmh\"\n \n\"Heheheheheheheh\"\n \n\"Gahahahahahahahahahaha\"\n \n\"Stop... Just kill me...\" Merrick is unable to swim as his tail\nis strapped down, while his arms are tied to either side of him. \"JUST KILL ME!\nLeave me alone! LET me GO! JUST LEAVE ME BE!!!\"\n \nThe three evils simply laughed at him as they grew larger\nand larger around Merrick, mocking and mangling him as he struggles in his restricted\npredicament. The looked down on him in a sea of red and black. \n \nIn their shadows, saw the love of his live, a pink heart\nbeating and hovering above his body, \"No! Not him! ANYONE but him! STOP! LET\nHIM GOOO!!!\" The heart turned yellow as it spazzed about in a sudden rush of\nlightning, making the dark silhouette thrash and flop on the spot.\n \n \n()()()\n \n \n\"RRRRRGGGGHHH!\" Merrick whirled about in a moment of anger\nand terror. He gasped as he sees darkness, a familiar face, and a glint of\nsilver before he halted himself.\n \nHis widened eyes stares at the startled gaze of Noita\nVanora. Merrick pants as his harpoon shook in his hand, the hook-shaped point\njust a hair away from touching Vanora's neck. \n \nAfter a pause, his webbed hand released the harpoon, and let\nit drift down to the floor. Other members of the pod awoke nearby, turning and\npeering around at the source of the scream. Arnaav curls tighter in his corner\nas he vibrated with fear from the spectacle.\n \n\"I am sorry...\" Merrick whimpered, \"I am sorry-\"\n \n\"It is alright.\" Vanora said, \"I understand, it is alright.\"\nShe took a few deep breaths, her heart still pounding from the near-death\nexperience; if Merrick didn't have the reflexes of a Triton, she'd probably by\ndead right now.\n \nEmbarrassed, Merrick quickly unfurled, and loomed out of a\nwhole of the ship. He swims quickly away, trying to pretend that none of the\nmembers of the pod are staring at him as he left. \n \nArnaav, still shaking with fear, gulped as he drifted up to peer out of the\nship, looking at the flapping tailfin of the blue and silver fish. He whimpers\nas he climbed through the water to paddle after him.\n \nSyrinx stared with her jaw open. Merrick almost killed Noita\nVanora. He could've really ended her life... \n \nShe can't stand it anymore. She grabs her weapon, and\nfollows suit, before a heavy hand clamped on her tail-flippers. She turned to\nsee Samudra holding her back.\n \n\"Let them go. You two are not the best of compatibility as\nof yet.\" He said deeply.\n \n\"Why do you think I am going after him?\" Syrinx asked.\n \n\"Scolding him for something beyond his control will not help\nhim right now. He needs to heal.\" \n \n\"I need to understand him. If not to open with me, I will\nfind out what is his curse. Please, Triton Samudra.\" She said, \"This happened\nbefore in my pod... I need to know his pain so I can help to prevent what\nhappened before.\" \n \nThere was a pause between the two, before Samudra's heavily\nplated hand released her flipper. \"If you find out,\" He continued, \"Relay it to\nme as well, when you can. This concerns me deeply as well.\" Syrinx nodded,\nbefore turning swimming forth. Vanora came up next to him, and he turned to\nhold her.\n \n\"I am alright...\" She muttered, her fins still twitching,\n\"Please do not-\"\n \n\"I feel strongly about this... But I cannot fault him for\nalmost ending you...\" Samudra said as he fist clenched, \"Even if I want-\"\n \n\"No...\" Vanora shook her, \"I should have been more cautious...\" \n \n \n~~~\n \n \nArnaav swims forward, sending signal after signal in several\ndirections, turning his head left, turning his gaze right, before he spotted\nthe Piscien, lying upon a large rock, almost like he's holding it as if he's\nafraid he will slip off. The young merman glides forward to Merrick, happy that\nnothing else has gotten to him. He's not sure what he can say to make things\nbetter; heck, they haven't spoken since he failed the last hunting lesson.\n \nArnaav opened his mouth to speak.\n \n\"You are still sending far too many signals.\" Merrick\ncommented without even turning to look who it is behind him. Arnaav pouted as\nhe slumped a little.\n \n\"I was looking for you. I-I had to send a lot of signals.\"\n \n \nSyrinx quietly snuck behind, looming behind another large\nsand-covered rock. She can't come too close, or else Merrick might hear her, or\nif not heard, his instincts would inform him of her presence. \n \nBack when she was a mischievous little meryin, she had a\nhabit of sneaking up to members of her pod, but she could never startle the\nNoita, thanks to her aura-sense, nor was she ever able to spook the Triton\nbecause of his enhanced intuition, or either of the Adras for that matter. \n\nThis should be a good spot. It's not likely, but Merrick just may confide in\nthe small otter, seeing as how they have history as acquaintances.\n \n \n\"A-Are you sad, Merrick?\" Arnaav pawed up to Merrick, \"Is\nyour stomach hurting? Sometimes I get upset when my stomach hurts.\"\n \n\"No...\" Merrick smiles at the sheer innocence, \"It is not my\nstomach.\" \n \n\"... Er... W-Why did you almost hurt the Noita?\" Arnaav timidly\nasked, \"You were struggling while sleeping for a long time since we started\nslumber. A-Are you... Possessed?\"\n \n\"Hmph...\" Merrick shrugged slightly, \"In a way, I suppose I\nam.\"\n \n\"HHH!\" Arnaav gasped deeply as his paws shot straight to his\nmouth, \"N-No! W-We have to take you back to the pod immediately! T-The Noita\ncan make you better again!\" He said as he tugged on Merrick's arm. He merely\nchuckled and pulled his arm back.\n \n\"Relax, Arnaav. I am not possessed by a spirit.\" Arnaav gave\na confused look after that, \"Rather, I should have said that I am still\nhaunted...\"\n \n\"Haunted? Is that not the same as being taken by a spirit?\"\n \n\"Not quite...\" Merrick shuffled a little on the stone, \"I need\nto be alone right now...\"\n \n\"But I don't want to leave you.\" Arnaav said as he paddles\naround, \"I want to help you.\"\n \n\"You cannot. This is a personal matter...\" Merrick dismissed.\nThat otter boy simply gave him a begging look with those large, child eyes.\nMerrick sighed as he adjusted to sit up.\n \n\"About 8-10 moons ago, I was captured by a human... His name\nwas Nigel. He was a cruel, falsifying man. I doubt that he even had a soul...\"\n \n\"What do you mean? What did he do?\"\n \nMerrick took a deep breath, while Syrinx listened very\ncarefully.\n \n\"He tortured me.\" He said, plain and simple. \"He had me\nabducted from my mate's home, and... He interrogated me about us merfolk...\"\n \n\"Us merfolk?\"\n \n\"He once met a mermaid when he was only a child. And ever\nsince then, he made it his life mission to prove our existence.\"\n \n\"What do you mean?\" Arnaav asked, confused, \"We already do\nexist.\"\n \n\"Yes we do,\" Merrick continued, \"But apparently, mermaids\nand mermen are considered as mythical creatures to humans.\"\n \n\"That sounds ridiculous.\" Arnaav said.\n \n\"Yes,\" He chuckled, \"Anyway, to prove the existence of\nmerfolk, this man asked me constantly about different things about merfolk. And\nI refused. I could see just what kind of man he was, and what would happen if a\nman like him were to come to us, and I would not give him a single answer... And\nso he punished me.\"\n \n\"How did he punish you?\"\n \n\"He... He tore me apart... Both in body and soul...\" Merrick\ntrembled. Syrinx gasped very silently as Arnaav did, \"He stole my blood. He cut\noff the webbing of my fingers, he butchered my fins off of my head, he turned\nmy tail into a barren shadow of what I am by yanking off my own scales one by\none, he ripped my tailfin into ribbons until there was nothing left...\"\n \n\"Why would he do that?\" Arnaav said as he sobbed.\n \n\"As I said... I refused to tell him about merfolk, and he\nretaliated by taking me apart - as well, humans are able to learn more about\ncreatures by taking samples of flesh. He removed almost all that I had to give,\nwhile throwing me in a room full of constant sunlight with little to no water\nat all...\"\n \n\"Y-You were dehydrated??\"\n \n\"Dehydrated, and burned... And as if torturing was not enough,\nthey also kidnapped my mate... My love...\"\n \n\"W-Why?? He is not even a merman!\" Arnaav asked.\n \n\"Yes. But he is a human who is mated and deeply affiliated\nwith a merman. They presumed he knew everything there is to know about\nmerfolk...\"\n \n\"D-Did they rip him apart as well?\"\n \n\"No... They kept him in a cage for as long as they also kept\nme. He had no clue about what they wanted him for until near the end... They\nstudied him, asked him about merfolk, and...\" Merrick held back his sobs rather\npoorly, \"And they put lightning inside of his body... They injected lightning\ninto his body, and they forced me to watch...\"\n \nSyrinx grips the sand very hard as she listened. She has no\nidea just how she could deal with this if she had been captured like Merrick...\n \n\"T-They put lightning inside him?!\" Arnaav asked, horrified,\n\"They can do that?!\" \n \n\"Humans can do a LOT of things... But that is not the worst\npart...\"\n \n\"The worst part?\" Arnaav trembled.\n \n\"What that man did to me... What many humans that obeyed him\ndid... All of it turned my mind into the darkness... I lost myself several times in\nthat prison... Any human that I knew - kind humans who have always helped and\nloved me, sympathized with me - they all turned into monsters before my eyes...\"\n \n\"D-Does that mean...\"\n \n\"Yes...\" Merrick nodded, \"You are right... When they forced my\nmate to confront me... I almost killed him... I almost put an end to the love of my\nlife...\"\n \nSyrinx's blood turned cold as she heard these words.\n \n\"Those evil humans who mocked me, tormented me, mutilated\nme, they turned me into blind monster, and my incinerated sanity commanded me\nto destroy any human who dared to touch me, and I was going to do it...\"\nMerrick's hand clutched onto the rock as white, pearly wisps misted around his\neyes, \"I do not know what brought me back to my senses when I was forcing the\nlife out of him... I just saw him as I held him up by his neck... If I had held him\nfor any longer, he would have died at my hand...\n \n\"H-How did you escape??\" Arnaav asked.\n \n\"The kind humans I mentioned...\" Merrick said, \"Two of them\nwho live with me and my mate, and a relative of my mate, along with a reformed\nLatolcus. And a few other humans who took part in my torture who sympathized\nwith me assisted in helping me leave...\"\n \n\"W-What if that evil human comes back for you??\" Arnaav\nasked, \"What if he finds you again??\"\n \n\"He will not.\" Merrick answered, \"When me and my mate\nescaped, that man chased us with human-made ships, like a small army. I led\nthem all into the sea, and I summoned the Guardian Leviathan to destroy them\nall...\"\n \n\"Guardian Leviathan??\"\n \n\"To protect merfolk from him and his men, I had to make sure\nthey would never come back. It was a fitting end, I think - this man named\nNigel wanted to go deeper into the ocean than any human has gone before, and\nnow he has.\"\n \n\"So it's over now though... Right?\" The boy asked him.\n \n\"No...\" Merrick looked as his own palms, \"I am dangerous,\nArnaav... I almost killed my love, I almost killed two humans who helped me to\nlive, and I almost killed Noita Vanora... If I have another nightmare like that,\nI do not know who I might hurt, or worse.\"\n \n\"W-What stops these bad dreams?\" Arnaav asked, desperate to\nhelp, \"What prevents you from remembering them??\"\n \n\"Nothing...\" Merrick says with a weak smile as he gently\nstroked the boy's back, \"They still come in my sleep, not as often as they used\nto... At times like these, my mate is always there to hold me. It is the same\nwith him. That is why I need to come back home as soon as I can... I know I am\nnot safe to be around, Syrinx knows this as well. That is why she kept warning\nthe Noita and Triton about me on the first moon I came to the Kenovani.\"\n \nSyrinx cringed at that. It seems her discrete tips about him\nweren't so discrete after all.\n \n\"I-I do not think you are not safe.\" Arnaav says, \"I thin\nyou are fine how you are. If you were not, Noita Vanora would be gone... Right?\"\n \n\"I believe you are thinking too highly of me...\" Merrick\ndismissed, \"This wil not be the first time I will need to deal with my internal\nturmoil.\"\n \n\"Mmmrr...\" Arnaav groans a little, before he looks down at his\nshard shell necklace. It's vibrating and glowing, as with the shard on\nMerrick's wrist, and the one around the base of Syrinx's tail.\n \n\"Razirah Ebba is calling us. They must be getting worried.\"\nMerrick said. \n \nWith that, he flourished his tail up, and elevated up as the\notter merman paddled after him.\n \n \nMoments later, Merrick returns to his original spot. He can\nsense the everyone else has gone back to sleep, and its time to tuck back into\nsleep himself. He locates his harpoon, and drifts his body down to the\nalgae-covered spot.\n \n \n~~~\n \n \nSyrinx swims back to the ship by herself. To say that she is\nshocked and guilty is almost an understatement. Merrick's right, she did judge\nhim before she gave him a chance. \n \nMerfolk in general believe that Capricorns hunt Coshitons to\nkill them; was that what Merrick wanted to ask her on the cruise? But then he\nknocked out those two guys just out of nowhere. She knows for sure that he was\ngoing crazy, but she didn't figure just how and why. Up until now, it didn't\noccur to her that the fear of the Capricorn may have contributed to his deep\nhurt, as well as severely damaging his health. \n \nAfter what happened to her pod, to Gelentea, looking at\nMerrick's eyes and his unstable mind only brings up the rampage of when Syrinx\nwas a young mermaid.\n \nShe could've eased his hurt. He wouldn't have punched out\nthose two men if she had just talked to him. If she had just-\n \n\"You have returned...\" Came a very low voice. Syrinx jumped,\nand saw Samudra sitting in on a spot on the sand, outside of the ship's haul, his\ntrident in his grip as always. He looks at her with calm eyes, \"I do not\nusually abide spying... But once...\"\n \n\"It is fine, Triton Samudra.\" Syrinx descended, \"I know his\ntype. Merrick is not the kind of merman who is open with just anyone.\"\n \n\"Of your Gelentea? The one who killed several of your pod?\"\nHe asked. Syrinx nodded.\n \n\"He is almost just like her... I feel Arnaav would have been\nthe only one he would open up himself of dark scars. \"\n \n\"And?\"\n \n\"... I have a much better understanding of him now.\"\n \n\"Very well...\" Samudra softly said. Syrinx situated herself in\nfront of the Coshiton Triton, \"Then help me understand the injured heart of our\nnewest brother.\"\n \n \n~~~\n \n \nArnaav wriggled in to his usual lonely position. He groans\nas he curls tighter, purring sadly as he tries to make himself comfortable.\nAlways so cold and alone, no one really knows how to welcome him here.\n \nHe lifts up his head, and looks at Merrick. The Piscien's\nback is facing him, coiled in his own solitary spot. \n \nArnaav slowly pushes himself up in the water, and carefully\npulls his little body forward, waving his stout tail up and down as he looms\ngradually through. He sniffles quietly as he creeps around Merrick, and dips\nslowly down beside the merman's arms. The little meryin crouches down as he tries\nto settle down.\n \nBefore he could make any more moves, Merrick's arms move. He\nwhimpers as he froze, just as Merrick's arm hovered over him, and press around\nhis furry back, while his other arm tucks under the otter. Arnaav purrs\nsilently as he is pulled in, and his brown coat meets with silver scales before\nhis foot-paws brush against the strong fish tail.\n \nThe otter boy nuzzles inward close against Merrick, just as\nfish's hand presses against his own wrist to safely secure him.\n \n\"You are safe...\" Arnaav mutters.\n","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/948053-aquata-cove-chapter-61.json"}