You Drifted To Me

Chapter 4

     Rivulet leaned forwards to snatch the cone shell back between his blood covered finger. The smooth surface of its curves fit perfectly between his claws and with a protective air surrounding him, he refused to let Dayis touch it. Maroon ran down the edges of his palm in thicker stickier streams as he squeezed his hand closed into a tighter fist. It was a piece of the ocean, and it was now the only thing tying him to his watery home as he sat in the land walker's strange building. Exhaustion may have been pulling at his mind like thick cords, but as long as he kept something to root him down, he had a taste of his eventual freedom.

(Put it down you imbecile! Do you want the cut to get deeper? Let me patch that up before it gets infected.) Dayis demanded, but the motion of his hands remained gentle and coaxing.

(Don't touch me.) The merfolk growled and pushed himself away from the wet hands. The water had felt nice on his drying scales, but even half asleep he was wary of being touched. The land walkers had definitely helped him when they didn't have to, but the small hunter's voice at the back of his mind always nagged at his thoughts to remind him even the more defenseless looking prey could quickly turn into the predator. He had his fair share of slashes and bruises from the fish he was sent to kill, and at the time he wasn't suspecting them to fight back either. And those were fish; there was no telling what a land walker could do when on the offensive.

(Rivulet, I know everything here is new to you, but you need to calm down for five seconds and let me clean your hand. You can just put the stupid shell in your other hand while I do it.) Dayis continued his advance while placing his idea of a calming hand against the merfolk's shoulder.

      With a loud hiss and a snap of his teeth, the merfolk sunk his mouth onto the outstretched forearm and remained there until the man mustered up enough strength to pull out of his grasp. Blood ran in crimson rivets down the injured arm and began to pool on the floor while Dayis searched one handed through the box to his right.

(What was that for? Men don't bite each other! What are you? A child?) The man roared through the mind link and Rivulet cut the connection due to the pure wave of anger that washed through it like a tidal wave.

     Dayis lifted a small spool of cloth from the case and he began to carefully wrap the material around the bite mark until it was hidden from view. By the time he had stood to his feet and moved around the bathroom to clean up the mess from his arm, his hands were visibly shaking, and his eyes had taken on a tired sheen. The wet clothing from the rescue clung to his skin and only emphasized his hunched over posture.

      Avoiding the hissing creature as much as possible, Dayis took to using his foot to push around a fresh towel and mop up the small puddle of blood that had collected on the floor. By then the crimson liquid had already began to seep into the indents of the tile floor and spread out like strange spider webs that stood out brightly against the glossy silver surface. Once all remnants of the attack had been disposed of in the small waste basket next to the sink, the land walker locked eyes with the merfolk and gave him a small smile. Well, it was more of a grimace, but it was the most he could muster up in the current tension filled air.

      Without the link Rivulet had no idea what the man was thinking, but at the moment he knew he'd rather have a lonely head than one filled with someone else's boiling rage. While the merfolk were a very open people and often openly shared each of their emotions, it was a bad idea to ever allow such strong feelings to fill the link because it would end up confusing the two participates until neither knew which one had originally initiated the mood. Many skirmishes were often started between the hatchlings because they weren't in full control over their ability to link yet. One would become angry over a stolen piece of shell or food and then suddenly all the other young merfolk within communication distance would take on an angry temperament. Rivulet couldn't risk replacing his calculated mindset with one of animosity because it might cause him to slip up.