sentinelofthesea

[sentinelofthesea]

Semeru's body locks up with tension, tighter and tighter. A low growl emerges from his throat where the net is now digging into his skin. His earlier thrashing made it so that the tangled net ensnared his neck to the point of discomfort, but with his arms and hands and his armor in particular tangled within it as well there is no hope of him freeing himself. And definitely not before this new threat reaches him. He snarls when the landdweller approaches. The fear is written blatantly all over the young man's face and yet he keeps coming closer, that oddly shaped weapon held fast in his hand.

Semeru braces himself for more pain, his side throbbing with it already where the cut steadily bleeds into the water. His eyes scrunch shut when another shift of his body has the rope dig into the cut flesh, anticipating it to become much worse once the landdweller reaches him.

But then he feels some of the pressure around his tail alleviate and his eyes shoot open, an instinctive flap of his tail follows, and he hits the young man straight in the chest with it. Bubbles of air disperse out of his mouth and Semeru can't help the wave of relief that comes over him when the landdweller backs off. But he's still bound, still unable to flee. He watches helplessly as the young man returns to the surface, only to come back down a moment later, seemingly even more determined than before.

Sharp teeth bare themselves at the other once more. He keeps closing in, keeps pressing forward with that thing in his hand. He's staying away from his tail for now, too, approaching Semeru from the other side. Semeru cranes his neck to keep the landdweller within his field of view, still struggling against the ropes and realizing with mounting horror that he is only making it worse...

But the rope around his neck loosens and with it Semeru feels some range of motion return to the rest of his body as well. He wastes no time and turns quickly when he catches the glint of metal from his periphery. He may not be free just yet, but it won't take much now, maybe there is still hope to struggle free, if only he manages to fight the other off.

Semeru's head whips around and he uses the only weapon he still is capable of utlizing and buries his teeth deep into the nearest arm of the landdweller, tasting blood as the skin gives way. The tang of salt and copper fills his senses and he can practically feel his pupils dilate with it, can feel his hunting instinct kick in. The landdweller cries out in pain, a sudden movement of his fist hits Semeru's jaw and has him release the soft flesh of his arm with the impact.

Semeru watches as the young man grasps at the wound as he backs off again, covering the bleeding indents of teeth. But he's still holding fast to the small weapon, and while the fear is still there in his eyes, something else seems to take a hold of him, too. Frustration or anger Semeru expects, but then the man's features soften and Semeru's taken aback by the empathy that shines within his gaze and the determination he sees there, too.

It's then that he sees the pieces of rope floating in the water, loose and clearly cut. Semeru's eyes widen and he immediately finds the young man's eyes again. He can smell the blood in the water around them, the stranger's and his own. His heart is beating fast in his chest, the rhythm of it thundering in his ears as he stares in disbelief.

He's helping him.

Why?

Infront of him the landdweller backs away and Semeru can't help the small sound that escapes him when he sees the other retreat to the surface, certain that he'll not come back this time. The sound is a cross between frustration and pain, a twinge of guilt coloring what he's not proud to admit is barely more than a pathetic whimper. Semeru hangs his head in shame soon after even though his mind still cautions him to keep his wits about him. He tries and fails to struggle himself free again. The pain in his side only worsens and now that he realizes he scared off his only chance at salvation, panic slowly begins creeping in as well.

But then the smell of blood gets stronger again, and it's definitely not his own. Once again his head whips up, and bright blue eyes fix on the landdweller once more.

He came back.

Semeru remains very still this time around and the landdweller doesn't move for quite some time, so long even that Semeru wonders if he's going to have to go up for air again soon. But then he approaches, the supposed weapon kept low and carefully angled away from Semeru as best he can.

Semeru is trembling and from what he can see of the young man before him he isn't faring much better. He's cautious, even more so than before, and rightfully so, but Semeru doesn't move a muscle now that he has realized what his intentions are and snip by snip he feels the rope of the net fall away. At last even the part that ate into his bloodied side is carefully pulled away and while the frays of the rope grate the wounded flesh and have him grit his teeth, Semeru doesn't thrash, doesn't even so much as breathe until the landdweller pulls his hands away and Semeru finds himself freed.

A sense of wonder overcomes him at watching the satisfaction of a job well done turn the previous mask of stern concentration on the man's face into a mild smile of relief. Semeru blinks at him, gaze wavering as adrenaline and panic slowly fade. His gaze is drawn to the wounded arm of his savior, to the nigh perfect ring of crimson indents still leaking blood. I could have taken his arm off. He thinks with another wave of shame. What a way to show his gratitude.

Semeru is the one to approach this time. Far quicker than he should have it turns out, because the fear quickly returns to his savior's face when but one quick motion of his tail has him towering over him, a hand firmly grasped around the wrist of his wounded warm. He struggles against him and Semeru doesn't blame him.

[Calm down. I won't hurt you] He says, and then ducks his head when it hits him that this is exactly what he did just now. [Not again, anyway.]

He is met with nothing but confusion and more struggling. The landdweller is far weaker than Semeru. No wonder, as he is also far smaller. It's more apparent now that he's not tied by ropes and struggling to keep himself upright, but Semeru has just about a head on him. The landdweller tugs at his arm again and Semeru's expression darkens. [I said calm down!] But the fear in the other's eyes only grows, as does his confusion and now Semeru is confused, too. The landdweller's mouth opens and a rush of bubbles escape and it's then that Semeru realizes two things at the same time:

The young man can't understand him.

And he is drowning.

Semeru's eyes widen when he sees the man go limp and he quickly wraps an arm around his waist. He moves his tail faster and fast and a moment later they break through the water's surface. He ignores the sting of pain in his side, ignores the guilt and anger at himself, too. He doesn't have time for it now. He looks down at the young man in his arms. He looks pale, more pale than before, his colorful hair sticks to his face and his lips have taken on a sickly blue color.

Semeru drags them both to shore, just managing to make sure it's somewhere out of sight should there be other humans around. But it's either the hour of the day or the location on the island, but they seem to be alone, with not even the sounds of the city carrying on the wind. The only sign of their civilization nearby is the lighthouse peaking out behind the trees to the side, but Semeru can't focus on whether or not someone may be able to see them from there.

It feels awkward to pull himself across the ground to be able to get the landdweller out of the water. The white sand is sticking to his skin and the hide of his tail and it's quickly painted red by Semeru's bleeding side. But all that doesn't matter right now either.

[Wake up!] He demands, a note of desperation to his normally so calm and commanding tone. He leans in to listen for breathing, landdweller's need air do they not? He's out of the water now. So why isn't he breathing?

Because there is water where the air should be.

The realization hits him rather suddenly and within the moment he is already moving closer. He doesn't know what he is doing, he only knows that within the man's chest there is not enough air. So, Semeru presses himself close and does the only thing that he can fathom might get some air into the landdwellers lungs: which is inhaling deeply and then leaning in to press his mouth over his parted lips and breathe the air into him.

It scratches uncomfortably within his own chest to do this. His throat feels entirely too raw by the times the young man finally gasps and coughs up the water obstructing his lungs and Semeru in turn isn't sure he has ever felt such relief as he does when the young man heaves violently until there is no water left within him to cough up. He's clearly in pain, but also undoubtedly alive.

With this confirmed, Semeru collapses with a rough breath of his own, one of his hands moves to his side to cover the cut from earlier, the pain finally entering the forefront of his mind again now that the worst seems to have bene averted. He shouldn't linger, he needs to get back deeper into the water, collect his weapon and make his way back to the kingdom, to safety. He— He curls in on himself in pain. A sound of discomfort parts his lips.

Careless, hasty and downright foolish.

All words that could be used to perfectly describe the actions that ultimately led Semeru to wind up in this situation. He told Agung and Denali countless times that they shouldn't let themselves be baited by enemies of any kind. Normally, he was good at keeping a level head, but something about being faced by another shark-merfolk taunting him at the outskirts, just shy of the kingdom's jurisdiction, followed by an attack towards Denali who accompanied him during today's patrol, had Semeru see red and give chase when the other merman chose to flee.

Semeru, in his rage, didn't even truly notice they were getting closer and closer to the surface, towards shore, until it was altogether too late. Were it physical strength or skill with the weapon only, he would have easily beaten and restrained the other even in shallower depths, but after years of surrounding himself by honorable, upstanding merfolk and the lack of combat besides that of a friendly spar, he forgot a very important rule he learned while he still called the deep sea his home: Survival isn't won with honor — it's carved out with blood and teeth.

And so, he found himself caught in a land-dwellers net, pulled down by the very foe he had just cornered. His lance already sinking to the bottom of the ocean while he got tangled in a mess of rope and net. A sharp sting to his side and tail followed the bout of wild confusion and when he blinked down he found himself cut by a blade his enemy had procured swiftly and suddenly.

A deep growl emerged from Semeru's throat, teeth bared in a grimace of pain and anger. Instincts sharpened by the smell of blood in the water. His enemy grinned at him, gloated, but then something caught his eye and with a swift thrash of his tail he simply turned and vanished.

With the immediate threat gone.Semeru groaned and struggled against the net weighing him down, which only resulted in him becoming more tangled, his armor caught in the web of unyielding rop becoming more of a hindrance the longer he thrashed to pull himself free. It didn't help that the pain radiating from the long cut along his side got worse by the second, and his sight was impaired not only by the dark of the water and lack of sunlight above, but also by the sand he stirred up in his agitation. The water was too shallow here to make use of any momentum he may have been able to utilize with his tail either. He was truly and utterly caught.

Semeru felt the anger and annoyance quickly make way to something dangerously close to panic. The pain from his wound clouded his judgement, the consequential and instinctive fear tightened his throat and left him with nothing to do but clawing uselessly at the net. Outsmarted and caught like a freshly hatched pup with no clue of the world. Embarrassing, pitiful.

There was no time to wallow in selfdeprecation, but also none to even attempt to find another solution to his predicament before something, or rather someone broke the surface of the water and ended up directly infront of him.

A landdweller — with colorful hair and dark eyes rounded with surprise when his gaze found Semeru's — appeared before him. In his hands he clutched something, an oddly shaped tool with a metallic glint to it to its point. What did he want? Was this the reason the other merman fled the scene? Did he mean to kill him? Was this some sort of weapon landwellers used to cut and dismember his kind?

Semeru now snarled openly at the landdweller when he dared to get closer, still thrashing in the net, but the more he did, the less range of movement he was able to retain, until his arms were firmly tangled in the net and the rope cut painfully into his open wound. The sharpness of that pain turned the next snarl into mixture of a whine and a grunt. Panic and pain still made it difficult to think straight, and being restrained like this only made things worse.

Semeru's bright blue eyes never strayed from this new foe infront of him. He couldn't go down without a fight, and certainly not to a weapon as tiny as this one, but with the state he was left in he didn't know how much of a fight it would truly be. He couldn't deny the exhaustion of the previous chase of the other merman did also factor into his current helplessness. By the Goddess, he felt utterly ashamed of the sight he must make: restrained and helpless, unable to do anything by wait to be gutted like a fish.

His expression softened from a defiant scowl to something almost afraid. He fought to keep his intimidating demeanor best he could as the landdweller raised his hand, likely to strike at any moment. Semeru was not willing to fold in the face of danger, no matter how dire the situation seemed, but the pain made it harder to focus, and even harder to move. The landdweller was almost within reach now and the next sound Semeru made was barely more than a weak hiss. Lips quivering when he bared his teeth in one last attempt at keeping this new threat away from him, knowing it to be futile.

[sentinelofthesea]

Careless, hasty and downright foolish.

All words that could be used to perfectly describe the actions that ultimately led Semeru to wind up in this situation. He told Agung and Denali countless times that they shouldn't let themselves be baited by enemies of any kind. Normally, he was good at keeping a level head, but something about being faced by another shark-merfolk taunting him at the outskirts, just shy of the kingdom's jurisdiction, followed by an attack towards Denali who accompanied him during today's patrol, had Semeru see red and give chase when the other merman chose to flee.

Semeru, in his rage, didn't even truly notice they were getting closer and closer to the surface, towards shore, until it was altogether too late. Were it physical strength or skill with the weapon only, he would have easily beaten and restrained the other even in shallower depths, but after years of surrounding himself by honorable, upstanding merfolk and the lack of combat besides that of a friendly spar, he forgot a very important rule he learned while he still called the deep sea his home: Survival isn't won with honor — it's carved out with blood and teeth.

And so, he found himself caught in a land-dwellers net, pulled down by the very foe he had just cornered. His lance already sinking to the bottom of the ocean while he got tangled in a mess of rope and net. A sharp sting to his side and tail followed the bout of wild confusion and when he blinked down he found himself cut by a blade his enemy had procured swiftly and suddenly.

A deep growl emerged from Semeru's throat, teeth bared in a grimace of pain and anger. Instincts sharpened by the smell of blood in the water. His enemy grinned at him, gloated, but then something caught his eye and with a swift thrash of his tail he simply turned and vanished.

With the immediate threat gone.Semeru groaned and struggled against the net weighing him down, which only resulted in him becoming more tangled, his armor caught in the web of unyielding rop becoming more of a hindrance the longer he thrashed to pull himself free. It didn't help that the pain radiating from the long cut along his side got worse by the second, and his sight was impaired not only by the dark of the water and lack of sunlight above, but also by the sand he stirred up in his agitation. The water was too shallow here to make use of any momentum he may have been able to utilize with his tail either. He was truly and utterly caught.

Semeru felt the anger and annoyance quickly make way to something dangerously close to panic. The pain from his wound clouded his judgement, the consequential and instinctive fear tightened his throat and left him with nothing to do but clawing uselessly at the net. Outsmarted and caught like a freshly hatched pup with no clue of the world. Embarrassing, pitiful.

There was no time to wallow in selfdeprecation, but also none to even attempt to find another solution to his predicament before something, or rather someone broke the surface of the water and ended up directly infront of him.

A landdweller — with colorful hair and dark eyes rounded with surprise when his gaze found Semeru's — appeared before him. In his hands he clutched something, an oddly shaped tool with a metallic glint to it to its point. What did he want? Was this the reason the other merman fled the scene? Did he mean to kill him? Was this some sort of weapon landwellers used to cut and dismember his kind?

Semeru now snarled openly at the landdweller when he dared to get closer, still thrashing in the net, but the more he did, the less range of movement he was able to retain, until his arms were firmly tangled in the net and the rope cut painfully into his open wound. The sharpness of that pain turned the next snarl into mixture of a whine and a grunt. Panic and pain still made it difficult to think straight, and being restrained like this only made things worse.

Semeru's bright blue eyes never strayed from this new foe infront of him. He couldn't go down without a fight, and certainly not to a weapon as tiny as this one, but with the state he was left in he didn't know how much of a fight it would truly be. He couldn't deny the exhaustion of the previous chase of the other merman did also factor into his current helplessness. By the Goddess, he felt utterly ashamed of the sight he must make: restrained and helpless, unable to do anything by wait to be gutted like a fish.

His expression softened from a defiant scowl to something almost afraid. He fought to keep his intimidating demeanor best he could as the landdweller raised his hand, likely to strike at any moment. Semeru was not willing to fold in the face of danger, no matter how dire the situation seemed, but the pain made it harder to focus, and even harder to move. The landdweller was almost within reach now and the next sound Semeru made was barely more than a weak hiss. Lips quivering when he bared his teeth in one last attempt at keeping this new threat away from him, knowing it to be futile.

@sentinelofthesea || 𝕊𝕋𝔸ℝ𝕋𝔼ℝ with Wakuu

Deep was the sigh he released as he closed the lighthouse door behind him, briefly pausing to frown toward his feet and feel the tumultuous torrent of feelings within his chest grow heavier. Though the need and want to both look out for and aid his father was ever strong, Wakuu always left feeling demoralised and criticised for his chosen path in life - an undermining of both his passion for the cosmos and his lengthy educational efforts.

Feet pace briefly along stone, eyes turning out to stare at the ocean and the sun setting atop it. The blue of the sky was giving way to orange and red, deep purples soaking closest to the water that seemed still and peaceful in the depths of twilight. He couldn't deny the prepossessing nature of the view, but mixed feelings yet rested within his chest regarding the ocean and all attached to it.

He was ready to turn away and continue his walk back to the Observatory when unending curiosity forced him to pause, to glance over a shoulder where he heard splashing and, after but the passing of a moment, does he pace closer to the wall to get a better look.

Eyes first note the shredded end of a fishing net - one his father had been sorting out from storage to recycle no doubt, that must have fallen from a box. (Choosing to not think about whether or not it was placed there on purpose--). The shadow of a thrashing tail was noted and then - - was that a shark?

Wakuu's heart pounded in his chest, further anger toward his father and his careless actions growing while worry also brewed. He couldn't just leave the creature to an utterly terrible fate, but he couldn't deny his fear about getting hurt or even eaten.

Panicked, Wakuu glances around as swiftly as he could to try and seek something he could use to cut the net and free the creature without mishap, he hopes. A pair of gardeners seceters is grasped with speed, espied on the edge of the planting beds outside of the lighthouse and with only a brief pause to kick off his shoes, Wakuu hops the wall and dives into the water - eyes temporarily squeezed shut.

When he opens them, however, he isn't met with the baring teeth of a great white shark like he expects to be but instead with eyes no less piercing than the razor teeth he had feared previously. Stunned, Wakuu could only stare - knowing that he had very little time to simply linger ere he would have to swim up for air and thus, hesitantly, does he raise the seceters upward in the hopes that his intentions were clear.

He just... Wanted to help, even if he now found that the situation wasn't entirely what he thought.

[sentinelofthesea]

name: Semeru age: 32 species: shark-merfolk gender: cis male sexuality: pansexual character traits: standoffish, stoic, self-reliant, brusque, dutiful, guarded hair color: light grey eye color: bright blue noteable features: prominent scar drawn from his right cheek diagonally across his face, fading into his hairline above the left eye, sharp gaze, merfolk tail bearing striking similarity to that of a great white shark.

bio: Semeru was hatched in the outskirts of the depths of Lima Pulu. Shortly after he was abandoned to fend for himself as many shark-type merfolk are. There were others like him at first but like most shark-merfolk he learned early to prefer his solitude over the safety of numbers. When he was still growing he kept to the shadows of the deep, honing his combat skills by meticulous self-training, having to engage in combat fairly regularly to safeguard his territory. Most of his scars are from that time of his life. Adolescent over-ambition having made him reckless until he grew physically stronger and learned to strategize. But even back then his sense of responsibility would have him protect those weaker than him. Within his chosen territory he kept those that would seek his protection safe in exchange for occasional food offerings.

It wasn't until his late teens and early adulthood that Semeru got into contact with the merfolk of the central merfolk kingdom. An excursion to the outer ends of Lima Pulu saw the royal family and their young daughter confronted with a bunch of ragtag rogue merfolk that had previously encroached on Semeru's territory. He intercepted them by chance after they abducted the young princess. She was around 4 years old at the time, and when he heard the little girl wailing for her parents Semeru made it his mission to get her back to them safely.

It was during this battle that Semeru suffered the wound that would leave a prominent scar across his face. But eventually he emerged victorious from the fight and promptly scooped the young princess into his arms to go and return her to her family. She was still crying by the time Semeru returned her into the embrace of her father and mother, only then realizing that they were royalty.

The royal couple, having arrived on the scene just in time to witness the fight were so grateful for this act of kindness that they offered Semeru proper care for his wounds and a banquet to celebrate his selfless nature. The former he —reluctantly— accepted, the latter he declined in favor of but a few days of rest in the kingdom's barracks and a few meals to find back to full strength, fully intending to leave as soon as possible, not keen on being met with the suspicion his kind usually suffered.

His plan had been to remain for a week at most and then return to Lima Pulu, but in the end fate had something else in store for him. As it turned out the royal guard had suffered substantial losses after the recent oil spill of the land-dwellers resulted in a sickness befalling a good portion of the kingdom. Semeru was no stranger to this phenomenon. He had seen a good portion of the ocean's inhabitants succumb to that same sickness in the depths of Lima Pulu, too and wasn't without sympathy for these losses suffered. What he didn't expect, however, was the king offering him a place among the ranks of the royal guard to make up for those losses, recognizing his combat skills as a valuable asset and a boon to the kingdom, should Semeru choose to accept.

To this day Semeru can't say what eventually drove him to accept this offer to delve right into a bustling society of merfolk after having spent an entire life in solitude. He certainly wasn't prepared for the way people welcomed him with open arms either, as he was used to being met with nothing but distrust due to his shark-merfolk ancestry.

But this lack of animosity not least of all made it so that it was nigh easy to fall in love with his new home and quickly the people of the Merfolk Kingdom endeared himself to him and instilled within a deep sense of belonging. In turn, a wish to serve this society that gave him a home where he had previously none emerged from within him and he pledged himself to the cause of keeping the kingdom safe from then on.

Yet, this welcoming nature of the merfolk kingdom's inhabitants hasn't quite served to lighten his general demeanor. His sense of duty overshadows his need for connection more often than not. His duty always comes first before personal relations. He knows if he doesn't proritize in this way it would impair his ability to keep those that he holds dear safe from danger and he trusts not many to do it in his stead.

Agung and Denali, while capable guards in terms of posing as intermediaries in situations of conflict, are far younger than he is and lack the years of combat experience Semeru possesses. He doesn't wish his own experiences on anyone, but sometimes he wonders if the years of peace within the kingdom's borders and lack of anything other than daily drills and patrols within and around the capital have the younger generation of guards more carefree than they should be. With Denali and Agung especially he more often than not feels like he is chaperoning rather than commanding them.

~tbc~

[sentinelofthesea]

guidelines & rules

ABOUT THIS RP BLOG & THE MUN:

• follows back from @aureatescars • you may call me Stray • mun/muse over 21 • mun is not a native speaker of English • replies may take a bit since I have work and uni • i also absolutely suck at reaching out first because I’m awkward af but I do try! > also once we break the ice you’re not getting rid of me again :D

IN GENERAL: • semi-selective & private > I will only write threads with mutuals, but you may send in character rp-memes and questions regardless. • literate/descriptive/multi-para-style • open to asks from anyone, but not terribly quick about answering them • canon typical violence • plotlines of any kind are welcome, adventure, romance, crack, fluff, angst hit me up we’ll probably find some common ground • I don’t queue replies, only aesthetic posts and so on > if I owe you I want you to get that reply as soon as possible • general warning: NSFW will occassionally occur and will be tagged #nsfw

ABOUT RP-MEMES: • I don’t care how long ago I reblogged something - send the meme • I don’t care if our muses met before - send the meme • I don’t care if we follow each other - send the meme • I don’t care if we never interacted before - send the meme • I don’t care if you already send 52849412 memes - send the meme • I don’t care if we have 20 threads already - send the meme • SEND. THE. MEME.

ABOUT ROMANTIC SHIPS: • multi-ship, but will not ship with multiples of the same muse. • I love ships and chances are I already ship our characters. So, lets go! • I mostly ship chemistry. meaning I’d like to see how our muses interact on a base level before jumping right into a ship, but if we’re mutuals feel free to send in shippy memes or random shippy asks regardless - just know that they will likely not immediately turn into threads with a fully established romantic relationship if we’ve never interacted before.

SMUT: • won’t write smut with minors • it will be tagged nsfw • I’m game for rping most things, just ask, I won’t judge • BUT please refrain from writing: > spanking > your muse calling mine babe or baby in a context that isn’t crack. just. no. > other pet names are circumstancial and might need discussion since I often find them ending up feeling too ooc.

VERSES: • canon verse and slight divergences preferred > meaning: I follow canon by default and it will take some serious plotting and just me vibing with you ooc for any plot to happen outside the canon/ or canon-adjacent universes

TRIGGERS: • I don’t have any triggers • mention of torture will be tagged with “tw: torture” • mention of death will be tagged “tw: death” • also I’m not a fan of gore so please keep fights and injuries reasonable • if you want me to tag a specific trigger shoot me a message we can work things out

THINGS I WILL NOT RP: • scat/watersports • vore • explicit torture

[sentinelofthesea]