|Merstuck|

Chapter 3

Fear.
It racked his whole frame, and he felt like the waves were barreling into him, the sea bed clutching at him and dragging him down into the depths. He had never been so scared before in his life. His shades slipped off his face and drifted towards the ocean surface, his eyes widening as he frantically tried to grab them, but they just effortlessly slipped out of his grasp and continued on their descent.

A burst of bubbles escaped his mouth as air was forced out of his lungs, quickly taking in water. His eyes widened and it caused him to go into a fit as he tried to breath, his lungs filling up. He desperately thrashed around, screaming out for help as more bubbles slipped out of his mouth. He was going to drown, all alone in the bitter coldness of the deep blue.By now he was freezing, and he was becoming weaker by the second, water flowing freely into his lungs. He felt a smooth pair of hands slip underneath his arms and grasp him, dragging him towards the ocean surface. He would most likely be relieved if he was paying attention, but right now he was just too damn petrified.

Cold air hit smooth skin as he was tossed over his surfboard, his eyes widening. He let out a few strangled gargles before water barrelled up his lungs and out of his mouth, spluttering the liquid out as he choked. His breathing was irregular as his lungs emptied, but he finally calmed down.

He finally acknowledged his surroundings, and realised how cold it was. The wind was whipping against his droplet coated skin, which was lightly tanned and smooth. His eyes widened as he felt a presence behind him. His eyes darted around, and he spotted his shades floating about in the water. He fumbled around for them, and slid them on his face, running a hand through his hair as he pulled himself up onto the surfboard, Sitting on it nonchalantly as he turned around, trying to seem as cool as possible.

Sitting in the water was a small lad staring up at him. He had raven hair which looked rather soft, and was messed up on his head. He had buck teeth that made him look rather cute, too. He was topless, and looked like was unusually skinny, his bones poking out slightly. It worried Dave slightly, but he decided he wouldn't comment on it. He had bright blue eyes that were captivating, and Dave stared momentarily, unsure of what to say. But something else caught his attention that caused his to be caught off guard, spluttering slightly. He had fins. Where his ears should be were fins with pale blue webbing that were pressed against his head, as if he was trying to hide them. They had to be fake, to creep people out, maybe. Obviously a prank.

At least he hoped.

"Are you okay?" The boy questioned as he glided over towards him slightly. Dave's eyes widened slightly, and he cleared his throat, his gaze flickering away from him momentarily. "Yeah man" He responded, his held tilting slightly as he tried to get a better look at his fins to see where he attached them to himself. Unable to see anything, he realised that they were actually connected to his head. Great. So now he was chatting to a merman or whatever the fuck. This world was just fucking amazing with all the things it threw at him.

The blue eyed boy opened his mouth to say something, which woke Dave from his what-the-actual-fuck zone-out. "Oh. Uh, good" he started, the boy backing off slightly. He looked like he was going to throw up; he was pale faced and obviously concerned about something. "Good. Yeah, I should be going now, heh..." He added on. All of this was rather fishy to Dave (FISHY. GET IT? Okay I'll stop.) and so he merely arched a brow.

"Oh, yeah" Dave responded, clearing his throat nervously. What the fuck was he supposed to say? Some skinny fish boy just saved his life and now he looked like he was shitting himself. "Well, uh, thanks for saving my life and stuff" Dave added on, running a hand against his neck as he rubbed it, his gaze flickering away. This was awkward.

"It's fine!" The boy insisted quickly, his eyes wide. He immediately turned around and dived into the water, splashing the liquid and spraying it at him. He managed to keep one eye open just enough to spot his tail fin. It was a bright blue, and had shimmered brilliantly against the Suns rays as he slipped into the deep blue. He sat on surfboard, unsure on what to do.

He took a moment to just stare and take everything in. Like. What the shit. Had just happened. For some reason, the blonde haired teen felt compelled to follow the thing, and so his red gaze flickered toward the water. He could see his murky silhouette dip against the ground quickly before it darted away, slithering into the small cave he had seen before.

The warm Rays of the sun basked his skin, making it heat up slightly. Dave knew he was getting sunburnt on his shoulders. He was practically cooking underneath it. He leaned toward slightly and slipped his hands into the cold liquid, waiting a second before he began paddling towards the cave, slowly making his way over.

As he approached, the salty breeze became stronger, the waves foaming and lapping at his hips softly, gently rocking him about on his surfboard. The ocean had a mind of its own, and Dave silently loved it. The cave was quite dark compared to outside, and Dave had to duck a little bit to get through the entrance. But once he was in it opened up to a large area.

It was a main pool which wasn't too deep, and was layered with coral and seaweed. Small fish and creatures scurried about underneath it. There was a ring of rocky terrain around it with a few rocks and ledges to sit on that built into the wall, and a small opening in the pool that led out into the ocean. It had a curved, ridged roof that opened up where he entered. Bright light filtered through there, stabbing into the water and lighting it up. He glanced down at the liquid, and if the light hadn't been there, he wouldn't have easily saw the blue shimmering of something darting into a crevice.

He perked up slightly, squinting his eyes as he tried to focus. It was rather hard, since most the water was dark from the shadows of the cave walls, but he could just faintly make out the silhouette of the boy crammed in a crevice. He could also see the shimmering blue tail, glinting dimly in the murky depths, which was the main giveaway.

"Hello?" He questioned quietly, his gaze skimming the water surface as he watched the fish. The crevice was far too small for the creature, and his tail was draping loosely out of it. At a quick glance he would've brushed it off as an ordinary fish swimming about, but his captivating blue eyes were glowing amongst the darkness, giving it away as no ordinary fish. "It's okay" He called out quietly, blinking as he waited for a response of some sort.

The only thing he received was a glance from the terrified, piercing blue eyes.
And silence.