Chapter Text
Owen lounged on a rock, letting his tail rest on the sand below. His muscles were sore from the day of fishing, but he’d caught enough for his pack. It wasn’t normal for one mer to catch for the entire pod, but Owen had needed to spend some energy. It had been a month since Louis disappeared, and Owen still mourned his mate. He’d do anything to at least know if he was safe, but he had nothing. No exchanged words, no comfort from their bond, just a pod that didn’t quite know how to act around him anymore.
It wasn’t their fault, though. Owen wasn’t the same man anymore, not without Louis. He once had the confidence to take on the entire ocean and the world above, and the courage to back it up. Now, he spent his days alone, either lying on the ocean floor or trying to find anything to take his mind off this overwhelming grief. He’d snapped at Pyro just that morning. He didn’t want to be this mer, but he simply was.
The Owen he wanted to be had gone the same night Louis had.
Movement above him caught his eye. Shelby and Drift were returning home with some seaweed. Pyro is almost definitely working on something inside, and Scott would be sunbathing above the ocean’s waves. Owen was too deep to feel the sunlight, and he felt nothing but cold these days. Which left Avid…
The young mer was the newest member of the pack. He arrived wounded and half dead, and they’d nursed him back to health. While he healed, he became close with Pyro and Scott, and Owen was surprised they hadn’t bonded already. It had only taken him and Louis two years, but it had only been a single year since then.
Oh, his angelfish. He missed the way his red hair would drift with the tides, and his webbed fingers would catch the best crustations. His golden tail would shine when the sun hit it just right, so much brighter than Owen’s marron tail. He had hints of purple on his fins and was almost always wrapped in something his pod made for him.
Where had he gone? If he’d just wanted to leave, why hadn’t he taken Owen with him? He loved his pod, but Louis had too. How long must he have thought about his decision? What had been the decider to not even say goodbye?
What had Owen done wrong?
A shadow passed over him, but it was much too large to be one of his podmates. Owen looked up, frowning at the almond-shaped darkness above him. Whatever wildlife hadn’t been frightened away by the pod scurried as the boat settled, dropping an anchor feet from where Drift had just been. They hadn’t seen them, surely, but they were much too close to their cove.
Owen shot up, his dark tail almost fading in the darkness. He was grateful for the deep colors, making him harder to spot from the surface. Shelby’s pink and Drift’s green were much easier. He matched their paces above them, trying to shelter them from the humans above.
“What are humans doing here?” He muttered, cursing as the sounds from above drifted down.
“Maybe they’re just fishing?” Drift offered. She’d found a place in the seaweed to settle. Her voice was calm, but her eyes gave away the pure terror in her eyes. “They won’t find anything, so I’m sure they’ll just leave soon.” She looked to Owen for agreement, almost desperate to believe her own words.
“Humans don’t come this close,” Shelby whispered. She clung close to her mate.
“We’ll have to wait them out,” Owen decided. There were two entrances to their cove, one from the shallows and the other further down. The first option was out, obviously, but the lower entrance was also too far of a swim outside of their seaweed field. Still, they needed to warn Pyro…
“Scott’s up there!” Shelby jumped forward, but Owen grabbed her waist and brought her back. “We need to help him!”
Owen cursed, his head snapping up. The last time Owen met humans, they’d given him a large scar across his back, and many smaller ones from their barbed nets. Louis had gotten only slightly better, mostly because he’d stayed back.
His darling had been trapped by humans once before, pulled completely out of the water by those monsters. He didn’t have Owen’s tongue, leaving him completely defenseless. That had been how Owen first met him, the terror of the mer pushing him forward and cutting at the net. Owen had convinced the sailors to release the mer and sink their own ship, but not before they’d marked Louis. He had a terrible clip on the fin along his back, as terrible as a sharp bit of coral lodged into the flesh. It was an ugly dark color, marring the beautiful gold of his scales.
“You two stay here,” he ordered finally. “I’ve got a better chance than either of you against humans. I’ll swim up, and you go warn Pyro.”
“Alone?” Drift’s terrified eyes widened even further.
“We’ll be down in a moment,” Owen promised. He reached out, resting a hand on either’s shoulder. “Scott and I are sirens, but you, Pyro, and Avid aren’t. Go to safety, I’ll get Scott down.”
“Right,” Drift looked at the surface, then to her mate. She reminded Owen of himself, strangely, in the way her body tensed with determination to get her mate to safety.
“You have four minutes,” Shelby pointed a finger at him. “Then we’re coming for you.”
Owen waved a hand. “That’s more than enough time. On the count of three, we swim. One,”
What was Owen thinking? Could he get up to the surface without the humans seeing him? Especially if he couldn’t get into their minds?
“Two,”
Was Scott even up there? Surely the older siren had seen the boat coming long before he’d seen their shadow. He must be inside by now.
“Three.”
There was no time to think anymore. He shot up with only a glance behind him to make sure the women were going to safety. Satisfied, he continued his way up. His head broke the surface, and he let his body sway with the waves. None of them crested with the low breeze, making it a perfect day for sunning. The boat was a small distance away, and Owen swam closer to listen to the humans talking.
“- no fish. Mer- no, no. Yes.”
“Science. -old habits. Doctor-”
Owen hissed, ducking below the water again. He swam under the boat, closer to where Scott should be. He could risk swimming into the bay, but the humans were already talking about Merpeople. They’d surely be looking for him, either because they expected it or because they’d found Scott already.
A flash of movement caught Owen’s eye. He turned, only to hiss louder as he saw Avid’s purple tail disappearing around the side of the boat. He swam forward, watching as Avid pawed curiously at the wood. Owen grabbed the younger’s tail and pulled him away from the surface. He covered Avid’s mouth before he could scream. “What do you think you’re doing?” He snarled.
Avid blinked. Now that he’d settled from Owen’s shock, he could see the fear and shock in his eyes. Their eyes watered, and his gills flared as he looked back to the surface. “I was supposed to meet Scott and Pyro in the sunning bay,” they whispered, looking again to Owen. “Are they ok? Have the humans found them?”
“Quiet,” Owen hissed. Tides, this mer was irritating. They had no idea what humans meant, the danger they posed, or the threat they posed to their pod if the rest were found. Their bright tail would surely be seen on the surface. Even Owen’s deep brown was an easy spot this close, Avid would doom them both, and the pod below. Still, he sympathized with them. “I’m not sure yet. I’m trying to see if the humans have seen him, but it doesn’t sound like it.”
“Someone was talking about mers,” Avid worried their lip. “Don’t you think that’s related to Scott?”
Owen shook his head. “All humans tell stories about mers and sirens. I doubt Scott’s been found.”
“So where is he?”
Owen’s tail flicked in irritation. “I don’t know, yet, Avid. But you need to go back down. If you swim straight down and along the sea floor, you won’t get seen.”
Avid stiffened, his frills flattening. “I’m not leaving until we know Scott’s safe.”
“And if he’s not?” Owen scoffed. “Do you want to see your mate get carried off? Or get captured along with him?” He moved forward, baring his teeth. “Swim down, Avid.”
They opened their mouth to protest again, but a spear interrupted them. Avid yelped, jumping forward and straight into Owen’s chest. He gasped as the air was forced out of his lungs, his gills flaring in a desperate attempt to breathe again. Rays of sunlight warmed him, and it was the only warning he got before another spear shot down, piercing Owen’s tail.
He wailed in pain, thrashing his injured tail in an attempt to remove it. White spots flashed at the edge of his vision, mixing with the red blood that rose from the wound.
“Owen!” Avid yelped. He reached out, but a wall of barbed net separated them. Avid barely had time to react before the net was pulled up, the sharp wire pushing under his scales and into the sensitive flesh. He screamed, his purple scales dislodging and floating upwards. “Owen!” He cried again.
Tides. Owen’s tail felt like it was burning as he forced himself forward. His knife was just as sharp as it had been the last time he cut through human nets, but it only clicked and slid against the silver wires. He cursed. Avid thrashed wildly, pulling out more of his scales.
The pain in his tail went blinding as the line from the spear went taught. He was pulled back suddenly. His skin tore from where the metal barbs dug in. He was forced to realease the net. He cried again as the spear continued to force him away from his podmate and closer to the surface. They’d have to do this on the boat then…
Fine.
“Avid!”
Damn it!
Scott appeared from below, half hidden by a rock. His blue hair matched his tail, and his worried eyes were locked on his mate.
“Swim down!” Owen ordered. He was in no position to order his pod’s leader, nor did he look it. He wished he could have Scott dislodge this horrible spear from his tail, or get Avid out of that net, but he doubted he could do either. “Keep the others in the cove! I’ll take care of this.”
“You don’t seem to be doing a good job,” Scott snarled.
Owen hissed. Scott didn’t seem to move, so at least that was a win. He whined as his tail was pulled out of the water, and Avid seemed to be in a similar position.
“Get the tail!”
Owen stoned himself silently, putting every ounce of energy into his chest. He cried out as he was pulled up, letting himself sound as pathetic as possible. He could only do so much as the humans grabbed at him and yanked out the spear, but he was free now.
He threw himself onto his back, stopping the hiss threatening to rise.
“Release us,” he said, his voice vibrating with power. It wasn’t a threat, like he wanted. That was coming soon enough. He smiled, locking onto one man. A blond man, probably not much older than Avid. His eyes locked onto Owen’s, providing his full attention. “Release us. You want to-”
Pain erupted from his neck, right over his gills. A piece of wood thud to the ground beside him, the other half being held by a woman with fiery red hair. Owen wailed, curling into himself and clutching the injured gills. His vision went white. He could hear Avid yelling from somewhere far away, but he couldn’t pull himself away.
“Careful, Martyn,” the woman said, “This one’s a Siren.”
“Muzzle it.”
“Kill it!”
Louis.
Oh, how he missed his mate, but he couldn’t help but admit that his mate had disappeared before this. Let him believe Owen was safe with his pod, turning to Pyro and Shelby- tides, even Scott- for comfort and advice. Let him stay ignorant. They’d meet again in the sky ocean.
His head was forced back. He opened his mouth to snarl, to sing, to bite, but he couldn’t do anything as a bar of something sturdy was forced into his mouth, keeping it open. Something else wrapped over his head, keeping that metal thing in place. He wailed as someone’s hand slipped and punched the injured gills, but three humans kept him in place.
When they sat back, he flailed. It was pathetic, but it was all he could think of to get away. With this thing in his mouth, it would be impossible to eat even if he got away. Drift was clever; maybe she could get it off.
But Avid was released from the nets beside him. There were punctures in his skin and missing scales, but he was better off than Owen was. He was on the other side of the boat, being tied down by another group. But his mouth was still free.
Owen thrashed a final time, grateful as his tail hit a thing that flew across the wooden ship. Avid turned his head. There was no way either of them could fight off this many humans, but they could protect the rest of the pod. Their home may have to be abandoned, but they could live through this. He shook his head, and tears finally fell from Avid’s eyes.
Owen continued to fight as the humans dragged him into a dark room, but was silently relieved when Avid yelled out in a language the humans didn’t understand. It was wordless, but the sound of surrender. Let Scott hate him. Let the pod mourn them.
They would get back to them. Owen would make it happen.