Below the Surface of the Sea

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SurpySoup

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The ocean. No matter how much it is studied, there is still no way to know everything that resides in its depths. For instance, a land-walker will rarely encounter any merfolk. There have been enough for stories and tales, but nothing substantial.

There are expanses of ocean that are empty. Vast and empty.

Milo's home is in one such expanse. He lived in a cave embedded in the wall of a chasm, and it was dark and cold. He hated it. Often, he would leave his home and swim through the vastness, looking for contact.
It was on one of these adventures he'd met Sobek, and since then, they have been the closest Milo has ever been to another creature.

Today, Milo was leaving his cave to meet with Sobek for a day of floating. He was in a hurry, tying his red sash around his waist in a rushed manner. He was eager to leave the quiet of his home, to break the communication fast each lonely night brings him.
As he swam, and mentally narrated his actions to himself, he realized just how depressing his thoughts could be. It made him a little more sad.
 
Sobek's black eyes watched Milo from in between the dense kelp that coated the ocean floor. Gray locks floated up around where he lay, haloing his head, twisting to join in with the kelp. A smirk tugged upon his lips as Milo swam by, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth, and he jetted up out of the seaweed twisting his form around the Oarfish's longer one. He wound his arms around his throat, peering up at him, twisting them both in the water so now they floated along with Sobek on top of him.

"How are you this fine day my dear?" He buried his face on the side of his shaved head tongue flicking to lick his ear, sharp teeth brushing the lobe. "I missed you."
 
Panic filled the oarfish for a moment before recognition hit, and then a shudder from the shark's affections. His long, eel-like body coiled around the shark's tail loosely, hands clutching to the bigger fish's arms. His cheeks flushed.
"I missed you too," he whispered as he stared up at the shark. He felt a little odd floating around upside-down like this, as though it weren't healthy, but at the same time... he wanted to just stay like this.
"How was your evening? Your day? Was the hunting good?"
It was times like this, when he was around Sobek, that he wanted to talk the most. Everything he would normally ask someone over the course of a few hours blurts out in mere seconds. It was embarrassing, and more times than not, he would quickly silence himself (sometimes cutting himself off).
As he waited for Sobek to reply, given that he asked three things at once, Milo's pale golden eyes stared up at the sharkman, watching his hair billow around him like a comforting cloud. Before he got completely lost in Sobek's hair, his eyes focused once again on his face and his eyes. Those deep, black eyes...
 
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A low chuckle left his lips as words spilled out of Milo's lips and stopped almost as quickly as they came.
"My hunting was fantastic. I finally got my teeth in the throat of a certain pretentious dolphin." His eyes flashed dangerously in the light that streamed through the water. "I was at the very least nice enough to keep his head intact so his family would recognize him." He flicked his tail causing them to spiral into a lazy spin as the water carried them about.

"My evening was alright and my day made even better seeing you." Sobek abruptly untwisted his tail from his, righting Milo and swimming behind him in the same motion. His arms slid round his waist, and he rested his chin on Milo's shoulder. "So do tell, what will we be doing today? Do you have anything planned?"
 
Milo gasped as he was spun about, righted, and embraced. He glanced at Sobek over his shoulder, smiling faintly.
"I hadn't planned anything, no. I just wanted to get away from my chasm. It's... Lonely," he said softly, though the smile didn't change. "I had only planned on finding you. I wasn't expecting you to find me first, though."
He swimming gait was smooth and seamless, his tail waving like ribbon. He reached up and tenderly touched Sobek's cheek, tracing the lines of his sharp-toothed smile with one slender finger. He looked ahead, though, and let his hand return to hanging in front of himself.
"Sobek, I'm worried. The water feels different back home. Like something's coming." He glanced at Sobek again, "It doesn't feel right."
 
Sobek's eyes flicked towards the surface and he shrugged off Milo's words.
"I feel fine, the worst that's gonna happen is a storm, I love storms." His hand tangled with Milo's and continued swimming with him. "Just think of all the things you find in the water after a storm! Stupid fish, stupid humans, tires, plenty of things you can eat." Sobek glanced to the side and smirked at a pair of mer in the distance who flinched when they noticed his grin and swam away as quickly as possible.

"Besides no one is gonna fuck with you while you're with me." He traced a hand lazily over his chest and licked the side of Milo's face. "And you're always with me so don't sweat it."
 
Milo blushed, looking away from Sobek. He caught the sight of the other merfolk swimming away at seeing his sharky companion. He couldn't help but smile a little. Then he blew out some bubbles in a sigh.
"You're right. It's probably nothing," he glanced up at the surface of the sea, then back at Sobek. "You eat tires? I... I didn't think those were food."
 
"Taste fine to me." Sobek shrugged and swam toward the surface tugging Milo along with him. "Look since you're so worried, we'll check it out ourselves." Sobek broke through the water first and almost immediately was hit square in the chest with a raging wave. He was knocked upside down, caught off guard from the blow, quickly righting himself the moment he got his bearings. Sobek glanced about the churning ocean, hair sticking to his shoulders, eyes wide in surprise. "Maybe you were right Milo." he mumbled more to himself then to his companion. "The water looks like hell."

A clap of thunder made Sobek glance up as the sky opened up. Rain falling hard as fast, splashing loud as the torrent come in contact with the water. He quietly panicked and turned realizing he could barely see Milo through the sheets of falling water. He began to swim as fast he could towards him, intent on grabbing him and tugging them back down in the water, annoyed with himself for surfacing in the first place.
 
Milo wanted to protest, but fighting against the shark was nearly impossible. He was pulled to the surface and the shock from ocean to air was nearly suffocating. He gasped, was hit by a wave and pulled underwater again. It took him a moment to even figure out which way was up, and was pulled into another wave and thrown out of the water. Then the deluge began, sheets of rain creating almost 0% visibility to the merman. When he was able to catch himself, keeping himself from getting tossed around too much, he tried to see Sobek but the rain was making it too difficult. He called out as another wave began to pull at his fins, but his cry was drowned out by a clap of deafening thunder.
"Sobek!!" He screamed just before he was dragged underwater and carried by a wave. There was wind on the surface from the storm, pushing the wave along towards the shore he knew they weren't too far from.
Panic rose in his chest, adrenaline pumping as he whipped his ribbonlike tail back and forth, struggling to get out of the pull of the wave. If he got too close to the shore, the rocks would start causing problems, jutting spears from the ocean floor that wreck ships and people alike. He needed to get out of this wave before it crashed him against--
A sharp pain hit his side, rock scratching into his side. It disoriented him for a moment, as the wave dispersed and flowed around it. Another wave started up, spinning him end over end and sending him slamming into another rock, and another, and another...

He awoke gasping, coughing, sputtering. He was horribly cold, and the sting in his side was a horrible feeling. A headache was also pounding, pooled around the top right of his skull. He felt a wave hit the bottom of his fin, pushing and pulling at the light scales. His consciousness was short lived, however, as another wave smashed over him, knocking him out again.
 
Sobek panicked when he saw Milo slam into the rocks in the distance. Swimming as fast as he could towards the coast, he had just about made it, Milo's name leaving his mouth in a strangled cry. A wave crashed over just as he had reached into the jutting spires and he was dragged back down into the cool ocean. It took him what seemed like hours to right himself, disoriented by the undertow. Panic rose from his gut when his dark eyes couldn't find Milo.

He felt so stupid and stubborn, Milo was right and he should have listened to him and now that he hadn't, he was lost or worse he was-. Sobek stopped his panicked thoughts when he spied Milo's bright scales he swam up towards them as fast as he could. The shark failed to noticed the massive piece of a wrecked ship that had slipped loose from the rocks, falling quickly towards him through the water. It struck him in the back, slicing through some of his side, and as he twisted to turn away the water surged slamming his face against the metal.

His vision blurred as he lost control of himself drifting down towards the bed of the sea, Milo's bright colors the last thing he saw before his world went black.
 
It had been a few hours before Milo regained consciousness. The rain had eased off, the storm moving further out into the ocean. Everything was still gray and dim, but the clouds looked considerably less angry, and the waves weren't crashing into his feet as badly as before. Milo remained in the sand, his cheek pressed against the cool granules, as he assessed his situation. His head was still pounding, and there was a strange cramping feeling in his gut and his lungs burned. It was then that he realized he was holding his breath, and with a loud gasp he sucked in as much air as he could. The action caused him to sputter and cough, sending sand flying everywhere. He closed his eyes, the coughing making his head hurt worse.

Milo pushed himself up, his brain not fully realizing what was going on. He was on the beach, he knew that, but instead of feeling his scales rub against the sand, the grains dug into his knees. Still foggy, it took him longer than usual to realize that he has been effected by more than just the storm throwing him on shore. Fleetingly, he recalled something he learned a long time ago, about his kind... If stranded for too long, the fins would go away. They'd be gone until the merfolk found its way back into the ocean, but the whole ordeal was a tough one. He didn't have gills anymore, his fin was gone, replaced by two shaky legs. Luckily he always left home with his red sash around his waist, because at this point that was all that was keeping him from indecently exposing anyone unlucky enough to be wandering on the beach.

He rolled over and planted his butt in the sand with a strained sob, his eyes clouding with unshed tears. The ocean felt so far away now, even though the water was licking his toes. The air above the ocean was so cold and harsh, stinging his lungs as he tried to accustom himself to breathing instead of relying on flowing water. It was painful. All strength left his arms and he fell back in the sad, suddenly exhausted, and all he could manage was quietly whimpering, "Soooobeeeek.."

~~~

Around the same time, in the ocean, merfolk were scouting the ocean floor for anyone unfortunate enough to get caught in the storm. Why anyone would have been out at that time, it was a mystery.

Arashk was always finding himself in the position to perform search and rescues, usually by his own decision. No one else really had that much of a sense of community, but the great white usually found himself silently looking after everyone in their region. So when Sobek and Milo both remained unaccounted for once the storm passed, he couldn't help but feel a little worried.

So that's what he was doing--searching the ocean floor for anyone who got caught by falling rocks or debris, just in case. He wasn't expecting to find anyone. No one should've been foolish enough to go too far from their homes today. The ocean was practically electric with the coming storm earlier. Though now, he felt himself pause uncomfortably, as he stopped a few feet from a fallen ship. He knew where that ship had been--knew of many people who lived or played in that ship wreck, too, and he knew that it wasn't supposed to be where it was. Nervously, he swam closer to the sunken ship.

"Hello?" He called, hoping that he didn't get a response. Digging someone out of a ship wreck wasn't what he really felt like doing.
 
"What's a Sobek?" The young man crouched next to him questioned as he wiggled his toes in the warm sand. He peered at Sobek through a curtain of damp red hair bright eyes widened in curiosity. "The name's Fredrick, but everyone calls me Freddy." He carefully propped the surfboard he held loosely under his arm against a nearby palm tree and moved back to Milo's side helping him to his feet. "Oh shoot looks like you lost your shorts, I have a spare pair in my bag." He flashed him a dazzling smile and made his way over to the dufflebag tossed carelessly into the sand. Peering over his shoulder he stared at Milo for a few minutes before speaking again.

"So how did you get here anyway. I thought I was the only one who knew about this spot on the beach." Freddy jabbed a thumb at the wall of sharp rocks surrounding the section of the beach that they stood on. "I only get through by swimming through and opening hidden by some shrubs, you come through the same way or something, props on finding it, It'll be nice to have some company while I practice." He tossed the trunks toward Milo and offered him a bottle of water while he was at it. "Have a sip, you look like hell."

~-~-~-~-~

Sobek's eyes opened slowly, awoken by a muted call in the distance.
"Milo" he grunted as he rose his head looking about. He was greeted with nothing but scrap metal and the murky waters and he began to twist underneath the piece of boat he was pinned under. "Milo!" He shouted at the waters finally managing to jerk himself free, cutting a gash in his side in the process. "Milo, MILO?!" He swam up in a panic, a hand pressed against his side trying to keep his blood inside of himself. Sobek wasn't sure how well he'd be able to defend himself if to many people got wind of his blood.

Turning in the water he saw Arashk and froze. Sobek had never interacted with the man much and he panicked when he saw the fellow shark. He had no clue whether or not he would attack so he stood his ground. He wouldn't flee, he was no one's prey. Sobek only hoped that yesterday wasn't his last moments with Milo and that he was safe where ever he was.
 
Milo could do nothing more than allow Freddy to do as he pleased. He stood shakily, awkwardly on the two feet he wasn't familiar with, watching the other red-head go about. He didn't stop taking, either. It reminded Milo of some of her merfolk friends, back in the ocean. He dropped the bottle of water when it was given to him, so he bent down to pick it back up. The swim shorts he was handed were held loosely in his hand. He wasn't entirely sure what to do with them. Bottles were never used in the ocean, for there was no need. Liquids within a liquid just mixed around anyway. And the concept of 'bottled water' baffled him, but he had to remind himself that those living on land were not lucky enough to exist in hydration like he did.

"Um.. Thanks?" He blinked, then stared at the bottle and the shorts. "I was washed up here by the storm.. How long has it been? A couple of hours?"

He fidgeted with the bottle, trying to figure out how to open it. The contraption was a pain in his fin. He chewed on his upper lip, feeling his canine dig into the skin. He just wanted to go home, back to Sobek, and not have to worry about this. Nevermind the fact that he felt incredibly stupid for not being able to open a bottle of water.

~-~-~-~-~-~

He smelled the blood in the ocean and two things arose in his mind. First was instinct: where blood is, there's food. A pang of hunger hit him, but it was suppressed by the second thought. Where there's blood, there's someone injured, and in this case that was a priority over feeding himself. He let out a growl of frustration, he'd hoped he wouldn't have to deal with helping someone out of the wreckage.

As soon as he smelled the blood, though, he saw someone swimming out of the ship debris and noticed flowing gray hair. Relief hit him, for he knew of Sobek. But he wasn't entirely sure if Sobek knew him. So he approached cautiously, keeping a good distance from the other shark while trying to get close enough for communication.

Arashk isn't a timid one, and his voice is loud and authoritative, so when he speaks, it carries an air of importance. "Are you hurt badly?" He called out, indicating the ther shark's wounded side. "You'll be attracting other predators soon if you don't bandage it up. I can help."
 
Fredrick watched with curious eyes as Milo held the gym shorts and they grew to the size of dinner plates when he heard him explain his origin.
"You washed up here?! Like from the ocean? Holy shit! Were you in a boat crash or something?" That had to have been where Milo came from, nothing else made any sense to him. He clapped his hands together as he realized something watching Milo stand there, seeming to be confused with a pair of trunks. "You must have amnesia!" He clambered over to Milo and began to gently examine him for any wounds. "That's gotta be what happened to you, did no one else make it off ali-wait you wouldn't know! I doubt you remember."

Freddy slid up behind Milo once he finished his inspection and gently took the shorts from him, resting his head on his shoulder.
"Alright let's get you in these shorts, and then I can take you home or something. I live on a dock nearby. We can get you settled there and then we can figure out who you are uuuh . . . .What's you're name anyway? Do you even remember that? If not it's cool I can give you one, ummm, Jeremy! Bartholomew? Ozzy. I can think of a few."

~-~-~-~-~

Sobek shrugged off the other canovories question, snorting at the idea of himself become prey to anything in these damned waters.
"I'm fine, and some bandages would be great. Bleeding isn't the funniest thing in the world." He abruptly remembered the reason for his panic and quickly swam up into Arashk's face. "Have you seen Milo?!" He practically shouted at him before swimming around him and cupping his free hand around his mouth, grey hair wild and wide in the sea water. "MILO?!" He shouted head whipping to and fro. "Milo where are you!?"
 
Milo trembled, overwhelmed by this human's talking. He nearly jumped out of his scales when Fredrick popped up behind him, babbling about shipwrecks. He wasn't involved in a crash. No, he'd just been out swimming with Sobek when the storm hit. He didn't know what was going on and nearly tripped over the trunks when he suddenly tried rushing for the ocean. Sobek could be hurt or something, probably worried... He didn't quite know how he was going to get back home. Merfolk rarely left the ocean long enough to lose their fins, and if they did... well, Milo didn't know how to go about getting them back.

Having no immediate answer to his problem, he let his attention drift back to Fredrick. "Um. My name is Milo." He blinked at the other red head. Were all humans this bubbly? He reminded the oarfish of a certain goldfish merman that behaved in a similar manner. Maybe they were related somehow. The thought almost brought a small smile to Milo's lips, but he was still terribly sad. He missed Sobek, and he was afraid. "I... I don't think I can stay. Not long. I need to get back home. I.. can't.."

He sighed, his gaze lowering. How was he supposed to get back home? He chewed his lip again, wincing when his canine bit in a little too sharply. Defeated, but only for now, Milo ran a hand through his brilliant red mohawk and looked sadly at Fredrick. He wondered how much he could tell this boy. They were always told to never reveal themselves to humans, but at this point, maybe that was the only way he could ever figure out how to return to the ocean.

"C-can we go to your place? I need a moment.. to think..." he stammered, his cheeks flushing. Once again, he felt just... stupid for speaking, but he needed to get away from the beach right now. It made him too upset to think clearly. Hopefully Sobek would be alright for a while without him.

~~~~~

Arashk flinched when Sobek rounded on him, shouting in his face. He watched the bull shark swim around frantically, agitating his wound further. The great white wouldn't stand for that. Nevermind the fact that the longer he was exposed to that delicious scent the greater the chance he would strike at the wounded merman. So instead of waiting to see how long it would take before hunger overtook him, Arashk rushed and grabbed Sobek by the arms. Arashk was a rather beefy shark, and in Sobek's wounded state, grabbing him and restraining him was no difficult task.

"We need to get you tended to. You'll bleed out, then you won't be able to help -anyone-." Arashk fussed, attempting to drag Sobek away from the sunken ship. "And if you're worried about the same Milo I'm thinking of, I'm sure he's safe. He's always real cautious about things. I'd expect you to know about that. He's probably at home right now, fussing about how the weather suddenly got bad and how it's passed. He'll probably even show up tomorrow. You need to get bandaged and rest, though."

The great white, if allowed and not fought against, would take Sobek back to his place. He didn't have bandages on his person, but he definitely had all of the equipment he would need to properly treat and tend to Sobek's wound at home. It was the safest place for a wounded merman at this point, anyway.
 
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