#stingray merman

[calamity-on-crack]

day three of stealing my boyfriend’s notebook and barfing creativity in it. Really happy with the shark merman :)

[hydravon]

You ever post a pic and immediately delete it cause you don’t like it? Redid Marlowe

[zay-does-things]

*casually morbs into a stingray*

A school of stingrays riding a wave

[stevieschrodinger]

Part one

Steve’s alone with fish guy, and it’s the perfect time to make his second attempt. For the first time Steve figures the guy must finally be relaxing, if only a tiny bit. The frozen peas were a massive hit, and maybe that’s helping. Being hungry like that must be really shitty, especially if it’s for a long time, like Steve suspects from the look of fish guy.

Maybe fish guy is starting to realize that this isn’t the labs under Starcourt any more. That Steve and his friends aren’t here to hurt fish guy.

Steve flicks another pea off into the water as he drinks his coffee; fish guy retrieves it in a flash, his eel like black tail easy to spot in the water, quickly coming back for more.

The kids keep calling him a merman - but he doesn't look like any cartoon or kids picture Steve's ever seen. His tail is too flat, for one, definitely more like an eel, plus there's no fins that Steve can see.

Steve offers him a handful of peas, carefully cupping them until fish guy has his hands cupped underneath, ready for them to be tipped in. They don’t touch, and Steve vaguely wonders if the guy will feel cold from the water. The skin of his fingers isn’t pruned like a regular persons would be, which makes sense since he’s a fish guy. Maybe he’ll feel clammy, or rubbery. Or scaly. Steve van very vaguely remember petting a stingray in a low tank at the aquarium once, surrounded by other kids. Might have been a field trip or something, but he can remember how surprised he was by the feeling of the mottled brown skin. Super rough, like sandpaper. Fish guy doesn’t look like he’ll feel like that either, though.

Fish guy eats his handful of peas and then looks back to Steve expectantly; or at least, that’s what he’d call it on a human person. It must be the same sort of thing though, right? The top half, at least, is built the same, right?

Steve’s down to his last handful of frozen peas; he’s already called Robin, she’s going to pick up a bunch of groceries of the green variety on her way over after her shift later. Also a few other bits, like carrots and bell peppers, to see if fish guy will try them.

Steve holds up a single pea between his thumb and pointer finger. Fish guy’s eyes track it from where he floats, a foot away from the ledge. Steve taps his chest, “Steve,” and then he points to fish guy.

Like last night, he comes a little closer, lifting out of the waster a little and then, cautiously points at Steve, he makes a noise that...kind of...sounds like ‘Steve’. His voice is raspy, and the word is kind of mangled, more of a sad ‘Steee,’ but near enough. It looks like he’s really trying, brow furrowed with concentration.

It’s not what Steve wanted, but Steve gives him the pea.

It’s overcast today, same as yesterday, and the day before. Blowy and cold. Steve doesn’t want to stay out here much longer, so he dumps the remaining peas into the water and then gets up and heads inside to wait for Robin.

Steve’s nearly at the door when he hears a splash and then a mournful, “Steeeeeeeeee.” and immediately regrets all of his life choices.

He sighs, and goes back to the pool, “yeah?”

Fish guy tilts his head, frowning, and then lifts his had out of the water, pointer finger and thumb a smidge apart...just like he’s holding an imaginary pea.

Well. Communication is definitely something they will be able to work on then. But Steve flaps the bag, showing the picture of the peas on the front, and the face that it’s very clearly empty, “all gone. Finished,” Steve makes a cutting motion in the air with the side of his hand, to indicate they’re done.

“Inied,” the fish guy manages cautiously.

“Yeah, finished.”

The fish guy watches him for a second, and then dips back down under the water, off too huddle in the bottom corner of the pool.

Steve wonders vaguely if he’s still hungry, but hopefully it won’t be that much longer before Robin gets here.

“I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who really, genuinely likes celery.”

“Me neither, it’s like peppery water.”

“With hair in.”

Fish guy though, very clearly, likes the celery. He didn’t quibble over the cucumber either, that disappeared very quickly. He was cautious about the carrots, but with a little encouragement, and a lot of sniffing, he ate the bottom half of one, not seeming to like it so much at the thicker end.

Steve hands him an entire bell pepper, watches as fish guy takes a bite. He seems to like it, but then pulls a face, scraping desperately at the seeds on his tongue and spitting the whole mess out into the water. Steve can’t help laughing. Fish guy looks affronted. The look of genuine distaste and irritation on his face is very human and also hilariously funny.

“Oh Steve, I think you offended him,” Steve wipes the tears away to see that Robin is right, and fish guy has gone to huddle in the far corner of the pool, only his eyes peeking out. That’s got to suck, having no where to go. No where to hide; no privacy at all.

“This has got to suck for him; he’s stuck in an empty box,” Steve tries to imagine living his entire existence in a completely empty room; he can’t, not really.

“Well what can we even do with him? He seems to be freshwater, so the oceans are out. Even if we let him go in a lake, we don’t know what he understands about people, if he got caught…” she trails off. Steve doesn’t need any help imagining what could happen.

“I don’t know but...we need a plan...and he needs something to do.”

“What like, enrichment for his enclosure?”

It’s the first sunny day for a while. Steve had been getting resentful about it but a bit of warm sunshine is starting to make up for it already.

Steve looks uncertainly down at the bucket of dollar store toys he’s paid for. Doesn’t matter that the kids picked them all out, apparently Steve is still the money in this operation.

Plus gas; they had to travel further since the mall is now a fenced off ruin.

All the kids are on their knees at one end of the pool; all of them holding something. There’s a slinky (he can play with it along the edge), a Rubik’s cube (water proof, and we might be able to figure out if he can see color), a bucket, a plastic dog bowl (it’ll float, you can fill it with peas), a rubber duck, and a ball.

Fish guy, on the other hand, had retreated to the furthest corner he could, curled up into a ball, and stayed there.

Steve’s starting to suspect that the noise of the kids constant chatter and bickering is actually a bit too much for fish guy to handle, from the way he either hides or watches them wearily from the other end of the pool. If they move, he moves.

“Maybe if we spread out, then one of use will be close enough because he won’t have anywhere to go-”

“Absolutely not,” Steve tells Dustin, “that’s cruel, if he’s hiding it’s for a reason. Just let the stuff be and he will deal with it when he’s ready.”

He gets a little bit of whining from them, mostly Will and Dustin, if he’s honest, all the other kids seem to be really understanding.

The ball and the bucket they let go to float around in the water, and the kids soon loose interest and head off to cause trouble elsewhere.

Steve desperately wants to dip his feet in the pool, same as he would on any other day, but since there’s someone living in it, it feels kind of rude. Like he’d be knowingly walking mud into someone's house, or something.

Steve kneels at the same end of the pool the kids were at, he doesn’t want to startle fish guy by appearing right above him. If he comes to Steve or not should be his choice, but Steve has two bunches of celery and a dog food bowl filled to the brim with frozen peas, so he thinks his chances are pretty good right now.

He’s right, fish guy does come over, but his whole face is scrunched up and he misses the celery on the first try; it takes Steve an embarrassingly long amount of time to figure it out, even with the guy eating with his eyes pretty much closed.

It’s the first fully sunny day they’ve had, and the guy had been in a shitty artificially lit lab, and before that, presumably the Upside Down for his whole life.

It’s fucking bright out here.

And even as he takes his sunglasses off, Steve has no idea how to communicate this with fish guy.

Steve has the bowl of peas for leverage, but still. He shows them to fish guy, who, squinting, does come closer. And then Steve hands over the glasses. Fish guy, face all scrunched up, tilts his head, looking at them.

Steve takes them back, put them on, takes the off, and offers them again. Ever so carefully and slowly, fish guy takes the glasses. Steve knows fish guy is at least kind of smart; he’s confident he will figure this out. He’s proved correct pretty fast when fish guy holds them up so he can blink up through the lenses.

And then he...very carefully, almost comically carefully, slides them on.

He grins up at Steve, and Steve floats the dog bowl in the water, giving it a nudge.

Fish guy looks delighted.

Part Three

[nazrigar]

Mermay 2024: Merfolk Currency and Tidbits of the World of Urvara

This Mermay has a lot less content than usual as this was a MAJOR May event, with a lot of artwork to do for patrons, but I still managed to hash out some stuff for Mermay worldbuilding!

Primarilly, it's all about currency, because I always wanted to explore littler details like "what would Merfolk exchange with one another besides bartering?"

For the singular images, one focuses on the Sea Lord, specifically his final opponent. The Titan, a Titanichthys merman that was considered THE force of nature to beat.

The other focuses on freshwater refugees, as river systems and lakes become landlubber territory, and thus harder to keep hidden. A giant stingray mermaid may be the biggest fish in her old homeland, but she is still dwarfed by the likes of say, a Mer-Manta man. While "Greenwater" folk are immune to the deadlier aspects of moving from fresh to saltwater in comparison to their wild animal counterparts, it's a long and resource intensive acclimation process.

[beatinginavoid]

From the Deep

Every part of this room was custom built for one purpose. It was a purpose that many had believed would go unfulfilled. Yet here and now, the room was in use. The lights were dim, and reflected lights danced over the ceiling and some of the walls in mesmerising patterns, dancing and flickering endlessly.

The alluring light dance came from the ripples of the water that filled a massive tank. It took up the full length of one wall, a good thirty feet minimum. It was not quite fifteen feet tall, and contained no foliage or ornamentation, empty but for the water and one other thing.

A figure glided through the water. Sleek and swift, every motion it made caused more ripples on the surface.

The upper half of the figure resembled a young male human, while the lower half was that of a scaly tail with fins. A merman. A legend proven real.

He was a sight to behold.

He had been caught on the edges of the deep sea and seemed to live there. His body certainly suited that mostly unexplored area of the ocean, and what an intriguing body it was.

The merman’s entire body, from his short, wispy hair, to the very tips of his tail fin, was completely transparent. No muscles were visible, nor was there much of a skeletal figure to be seen beyond sharp teeth and a spine. Interestingly enough, no blood vessels could be seen, but every single internal organ, including the muscle that served as the heart, was completely on display.

Multiple cameras were focused on the tank, recording every movement, internal and external. This was groundbreaking new territory, history being made, and no one wanted to mess it up or miss a thing.

They only had one merman so they had to be incredibly careful.

There were thin, barely visible lines following the curves of what you assume are the ribs. The gills? The lungs resembled biology closer to a stingray or a shark, leaving more immediate space around the heart unlike a human, whose left lung hugged the muscle and partially hid it from sight. This was incredibly helpful for an unobstructed view of the epicentre of the cardiovascular system, especially for the excited medical staff that had access to this magnificent specimen.

Standing in front of the tank, the merman’s interest is caught right away and he lunges toward you. He smacks heavily into the glass, his shiny black eyes observing you unblinkingly, his head tilted in confusion as his hands lay flat against the tank wall. He floats to a stop upright, mimicking your posture.

The atria squeeze and his heart swells minutely before the ventricles twist a little and contract. The process repeats again and again, the pumping action fast and relentless. Throbthrobthrobthrobthrob. It’s so hard to look elsewhere because the motion is so hypnotic.

His heart appears to resemble a human’s so much, you can’t help but wonder if it sounds similar as well. A stethoscope was not an option, but there had to be a way.

Time slips by and you notice the rapid pace of his heart has slowed down significantly. Throb…throb…throb…throb…throb. You feel as if your own heart is trying to match it. Does his pulsing organ feel stronger than your own nestled in your chest?

Throb…throb…throb…throb-ob…throb…throb…

Was that a skip? Fascinating to witness!

Was it normal? Harmless? Indicative of a problem?

You scurry off to find help with your stethoscope problem, returning an hour later with a special microphone designed for underwater use. Such devices are used to record the sounds of dolphins and whales, and you hope it will be enough to pick up the merman’s heartbeat, especially if it ends up against his chest.

There’s a metal staircase at the far end of the tank and you ascend it. Leaning over and holding the microphone, the cord wrapped around a pole, above the water carefully, you lower it bit by bit. The microphone is attached to a box with a waveform metre and a speaker. It crackles and gurgles in a muted manner while it moves, the sound loudly reverberating around the mostly empty room.

You wedge the pole into place and resume your former spot before the tank. The microphone dangles in the water just above your eye line and your gaze quickly hones back in on the merman’s chest. The organic pump was still dutifully performing its sacred role, filling with blood and ejecting it to circulate around the rest of his body.

The mer himself gives you a cursory glance before hesitantly reaching out to the invader in his space. Fingers tipped with claws poke at it. Thuds ring out from the speaker and you smile.

He drifts closer to it, his face getting quite close. Fangs flash and the microphone screeches and groans as it is bitten. The mer lets it go quickly, jaw working open and closed a few times. It seems the taste, and maybe the texture, is not to his liking. A see-through hand grasps the microphone with surprising gentleness, creating a ruckus of awful, distorted noise.

Dexterous looking fingers inch their way up the microphone. A slender wrist follows, then a forearm and elbow. He continues to cautiously follow the cord higher and higher, and you bounce on your heels in eager anticipation as his chest finally draws level with the microphone.

Ba-thump…ba-thump…ba-thump…ba-thump…ba-thump…

There it is. What you’ve been waiting for.

The rhythm, the rate, the snap of valves, the distinct S1 and S2 sounds that make up the oh so familiar lub-dub. There is no way you would ever be able to distinguish this from a human’s regular heart sounds. This could be a major evolutionary find!

The merman freezes in place, his head tilting around. There were no visible ears but he was clearly listening to something. Could he hear the speaker projecting his sounds of life? After a few seconds he sucks in a sharp breath, holds it for a moment, and lets it out.

Ba-thump…ba-thump…ba-thump..ba-thump..ba-thumpba-thumpba-thumpbathumpbathumpbathumpbathumpbathumpba-thumpba-thumpba-thump..ba-thump..ba-thump..ba-thump…ba-thump…ba-thump…ba-thump…ba-thumpathump…ba-thumpathump…ba-thumpathump…ba-thump…ba-thump…ba-thumpathump…ba-thump…ba-thump…

His eyes are wide and he seemed as enthralled by the sound as you are. Several beats had visibly and audibly skipped and it had been an amazingly delightful experience for you. The acceleration and deceleration of that pulsing muscle was something that could keep your attention for hours.

Or until the call of nature became too much to ignore.

Your hand presses against your chest, your own heart meeting it with faint pushes as if determined to be a part of things.

Throbthrobthrobthrobthrobthrobthrob-

Ba-thump…ba-thump…ba-thump…ba-thump…ba-thump…

The fast pace of your heart feels weird as the merman’s restful beats fill the room. The two disparate rhythms seem to work together against all odds.

Human and mer stay in place, living in the moment.

-----

My first proper post on here and my first ever piece of cardiophile writing! 🫀🫀🫀 I hope you like it! I may make this mer an OC and play with him more...

pssst: will trade writing for art/anims

[memoryaqua]

I love the lionfish-octopus idea, and the gold hammerhead crown!

Thanks to @notsobadaart / rizal badar on instagram

I just had to hope on the MerMay band wagon

Heavily inspired by my favorite sea creatures

Great Hammerhead shark

Giant oceanic manta ray

And the Mimic octopus

[mansitapie]

dionilla but merman au mwahahahaha

under the wryyyyy! under the wryyyyy! everything's muda down with the tuna under the wryyyyyyyyyy

-At first, Dio it would be a yellow splender betta fish but when he takes Jona's body (a blue splender betta fish) it fuses giving an appearance like that of a "Splender Fighting betta fish"

Vanilla ice can be a Stingray And he had a powerful poison with his tail and attacked many in order to defend Lord Dio😫

Extra: Dio could be considered a traitor of the sea, calling him a bad or witchy fish, he would have mermaid allies😦

[mochinomnoms]

okay... so I'm watching the little mermaid 2 for the first time quite literally as I type this when i remembered a certain short merman named Tony. Is it possible he's based on Undertow? I just noticed the tiny shark guy and spotted some similarities!

if this is dumb you can just ignore it lol

-🦷

Yes! He is!!! I wanted to reference that Undertow was originally a shark before being turned into a piranha, so Tony is very very small but broad and very strong like a shark! For correctly guessing Tony's inspiration, here's some fun facts!

Tony Lombardi

“An unconventional man with a detached sense of humor but a soft heart. He is laid-back and easy going, making him an excellent mediator. He is surprisingly detached from others despite being friendly. Is often referred to as Aspen’s ‘keeper’.”

Quick Facts

Birthday February 15th (Aquarius)

Grade Freshman

Hobbies Stargazing

Age 18

Class C (No. 30)

Pet Peeves Cold weather

Height 155 cm

Club Spelldrive Club 

Favorite Food Stingray machaca

Dominant Hand Right

Best Subject P.E.

Least Favorite Food None

Homeland Coral Sea

Talent DIY-ing

Family Unnamed father and mother

Other Names(s) Jaws (himself)

Appearance

Tony is a young looking man with tanned skin and is a considerably shorter height than his peers. His hair is black, often slicked back and sporting a gray undercut. Despite his short stature, he is rather muscular. His eyes are dark brown and narrow, and he is often seen sporting a sharp-toothed grin. 

Personality

Tony is a relaxed, sociable, and surprisingly flirty man. He is often seen as someone unbefitting of his dorm’s traits, as he is less intellectually inclined and capricious than his peers, rather being “coquettish and foolish”. He makes for an exceptional mediator however, and often defuses situations on behalf of his friends. Tony is also called on often by Azul to mediate between himself and discontent clients because of this. He has a rather detached sense of humor, is often sarcastic, witty, and ironic; he enjoys suggestive humor, but isn’t very tactful when sharing it with others. He tends to act unconventional, doing what he feels is best for himself and his friends, and would rather deal with the consequences of his actions afterwards. 

He does find his Ramshackle peers' antics humorous and is happy to go with the flow of their activities, though won’t take the fallback for them unless Aspen is also involved. Much to many students’ horror, Tony interacts with Jade and Floyd in an incredibly friendly, occasionally coy way, which they return tenfold. 

Tony is insistent on being referred to as “Jaws” by everyone he meets, referring to his predator traits as a tiger shark. However, no one refers to him as such, much to his disappointment. 

Trivia

Tony is inspired by Undertow from The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea

Tony’s name is pronounced Tow-ny, as a reference to the ‘tow’ in Undertow (this is a stretch, let the author have this they just wanted to make him an Italian mafia-esque character).

Tony likes to be called “Jaws” by others in reference to his many rows of sharp teeth.

No one calls him Jaws besides himself

Tony’s family and the Leech family are well-known in the Coral Sea, and often work together.

Tony grew up with Aspen, Azul, and the Leech twins

[official-nrc-prophet]

Atlas I seriously wanna know from the last time I asked for my future- cuz I got a crush on somebody but you said my partners currently in Octavinelle- can I have a clue who it is- like what’s he look like? I should be able to figure things out from there

Yeah, I can totally help with that!

He's a stingray merman in Octavinelle, a 1st year.

But if you have a crush, don't let my predictions stop you! Go for it.

[sreppub]

Human Bruce lives in a lighthouse like a dramatic fucker.

Or maybe he’s the merman and the rest of the kids are aquatic critters.

Is Stephanie a Dolphin? She’s always laughing at everyone else. Cass could be a stingray, sea pancake Cass :3

Clark can be an angel to complete that old quote:

“A fish may love a bird, but where would they live?”

ive never seen the lighthouse starring willem dafoe and robert pattinson its gotta be about a man in a lighthouse raising damp little creature babies

also LOL

[hydravon]

Another merman - a partner for Coralus.

[jojorice]

aahhh I love your art so much!!! topaz as is so pretty in latest one and it's kinda fitting for her??? the whole comic is just so fun im giggling like stupid

LOL after rewatching the merman anime I was imagining aventurine inviting his other sea friends over! (topaz as an octopus felt strangely natural 😂) I was thinking of including trailblazer as a stingray hybrid, jade as a jellyfish, and the list goes on and on…😂

[multi-lefaiye]

the absolute tiniest merman doodle. he's like a merman but instead of generic fish parts it's stingray. do u see the vision

[lightning-of-farosh]

Mermaid Legend

I think this was a livewrite at some point but i never edited it and i never posted it. have some mer-legend!

Sand billowed out in small, rolling clouds, kicked up by a flat, pink fin. Fish darted out of the way, fleeing beneath the shadow of wide stingray wings and into the deep corners of a reef. Nothing followed them; the merman happy enough to weave between a shiver of frowning sharks.

He bopped one on the top of the head and darted off into deeper, bluer waters.

 Desert stretched out before Legend; flat and full of sand, of wilderness, of everything and nothing all at once. He dragged his fingers along the ocean floor, winding back and forth with no set direction only to turn and watch as the murkiness he created settled grumpily behind him.

Spring had given way to summer, the waters warmed by currents from the south. Storms were replaced by bright blue skies and heavy sunlight that drew gold patterns along the sand. Legend admired the way they played across the stripes along his tail.

A sea turtle passed below him. No place to go, no place to be.

Dropping his hand, Legend traced the pattern along its shell with a finger and watched it head deeper into the blue. Sounds echoed from further out; whales and dolphins and beasts that had more teeth than he did. He debated heading over to see what the fuss was about but turned, instead, into a roll and kicked off in a random direction.

Darkness passed over him and Legend curled, watching the triangular shadow for a second. It flittered from left to right then back again and he darted after it, chasing across the sea floor with a boyish grin on his lips. One kick got him close enough that he could pounce, burying his fingers into the sand—

An octopus flashed bright red and scurried in the other direction.

Legend blew a few bubbles after it in apology and turned on his back, watching the shadow dart back and forth above him. Metal settled against his chest and he reached up absently, running his fingers along the edge of a ring before tangling his fingers in the leather necklace it was hanging from.

A bird passed over head. Another followed. He followed them with lazy flicks of his tailfin and spread out his arms to glide. The heaviness of the warm waters settled in his skin, chasing away the coolness that had been there for so long. Blonde hair drifted around his face, swirling like a pleasant storm. Pink was returning to it after all those years of dying it black and blonde.

He had missed it.

Somewhat.

Fish scattered around him and Legend flared out his fins, using the drag to slow him to a stop. There were shadows above, shadows below. A school broke and formed around him, twisting as one and parting as many.

Legend swam below it, settling with his back in the sand to watch feathers break the surface of the water as beaks snatched what they could. It would have been easier for the birds with a pod of dolphins circling like a pack of shepherds because the fish would have nowhere to go.

As it was, the school simply parted and most of the birds shot back into the sky empty bellied.

Wondering—briefly—which group he should play with, Legend brushed his tail back and forth through the sand. It rose around him, drifting like a storm cloud across his bright scales, and there was a distant rumble of thunder.

He twisted, eyeing the sunlight that drifted through the surface, at the shadows of birds and fish and half formed clouds that dotted the bottom of the sea. Ignoring the dance of predator and prey behind him, Legend kicked away from the sand and broke the surface. His hair stuck to his face and ears, clinging to his skin and he wiped it out of the way with a scowl.

There was a pod of clouds in the distance. Grey. Dark. Heavy. They were singular in the sky; a patch of darkness on a blue canvas.

A seagull squawked above him. Legend glanced up at it and frowned.

“Yeah, yeah,” He told it and rolled his eyes. His fin caught the water and he kicked forward, diving back under the surface and shooting off towards the out-of-place storm. A few smaller fish got caught in his wake and were brushed to the side, little fins rushing to dart out of his way.

Legend didn’t notice, arching over the remains of a small fishing boat, around a small forest of kelp, and twisting between two of the larger boulders.

One scraped along his dorsal but he ignored it, watching the sky darken the closer he got to the storm. The water grew shallower; crab claws replacing small schools of fish and old nets threatened to snatch him from where they had been caught along rocks and branches of white streaked coral.

Heavy waves picked up the sand and he swam up, surfacing a second time to look up at the side of a towering cliff.

A wave crashed against the back of his head and Legend cursed when he was forced back under.

Stupid, he thought, waiting for another to pass before rising again. It took a second for his eyes to adjust to the different light and he kicked to steady himself, arms stretched out for balance. Crested white caps pushed against him, trying to nudge him closer to sharpened rocks but he kicked against the force, fighting to keep place.

Light flashed in the darkness. Thunder rumbled above his head.

Beyond the small patch of the storm, there was nothing but clear blue skies.

Magic.

He dropped back down and swam back, closer to the edge of the clouds and kicked hard against the bottom to shoot up. Half his torso breeched the waves.

A flash of silver steel, of brown, of green.

Lightning crashed from the heavens, echoing a howl of rage.

Legend dropped back into the water before the earth shattering boom could rattle his bones.

Definitely magic. His fingers dug into sand and he watched for any more angry flashing light—but it only flickered, fading away and leaving the clouds behind. Legend pushed off the sea floor, rising slowly, and peeked his eyes above the waves to look up at the sky. His heart was hammering in his chest, old memories of storms rising like a tsunami in his chest—

Red caught his eye and he twisted, baring his teeth in a half formed snarl.

Fire fell, spitting and sparking, into the waves. It existed for a moment in the water despite its nature and then faded, swallowed up by the unforgiving ocean. Small bits of rock tumbled down the cliffside, knocked astray by a heel.

Legend turned his gaze up to the young man backed up against the ledge.

His blade was a hungry blaze, arching to block the swing from a mace, the thrust of a sword, the arch of an axe. Creatures with the faces of pigs and canines and lizards snarled at him, climbing over each other to get closer.

Legend cursed himself for leaving his sword behind as he reached for the ring against his chest.

Well, it wouldn’t matter. A rock could bash in a monster skull if it was thrown hard enough.

He tugged on the leather necklace, prepared to pull it over his head when hands grabbed a green tunic, pulling the teenager away from the edge of the cliff.

That’s nice of them, Legend thought. They normally try to push me off it.

The teen wrenched out of their grip, green fabric tearing as he stepped back—

His weight teetered backwards, shield flung out as if for balance. Gravity wrapped hungry, desperate fingers around the heavy metal and tugged the kid off the cliff and into the waters below.

“Shit!” Legend cried, diving under the water and racing forward. Not the rocks, he begged, having to take it slow because of the sand kicked up from the storm. Not the rocks, not the rocks, not the—*

His fingers found cloth. Found skin. He wrapped his arms around a chest and kicked back, heading up and away, diagonal from any possible danger. Nails dug into his shoulders and something batted uselessly against Legend’s chest as he kicked and kicked and kicked.

They surfaced with a gasp and he looked down at messy brown hair, at wide, half-coloured eyes—

A palm shoved against his face.

Legend sputtered and a fist knocked against his chin, his collar, his shoulder. “Wait, wait!” He almost dropped back beneath the surface. “Shit, kid! Stop it—!”

“Let go of me!” Toes caught on his scales and pushed.

“Fine! Hylia,” Legend snarled. “Have it your way,” He said, shoving the kid away.

The brown haired teen stayed above the water for a second, arms and legs flailing uselessly.

And then he dropped like a stone.

“Shit!” Legend scrambled down after him. He grabbed the back of the tunic that time, wrenching the teen back to the surface.

He was coughing, gagging on salt water.

Serves him right.

“What the hell, kid!”

“Geddoff me!”

“No!” Legend shook him like a misbehaving shark. “You can’t swim, you idiot!”

A hand missed his ear by inches. “Screw you! I’m not going back with you—”

Wait, Legend blinked. What?

“—pig faced, ugly ass, red loving shit stain of a—”

“First of all,” Legend cut him off, “rude. Look at me. I’m none of those things.”

The kid splashed water at his face.

Little shit.

Legend shook him again for good measure.  “Second of all, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Narrowed eyes stared at him, searched his face, caught on the point of his ears and the line of his jaw.

And then they looked down.

“You have a tail.”

Goddess, Legend rolled his eyes. “And you have legs. Let’s move on.”

“Why do you have a tail?”

“Because my mommy had one and my daddy had one and one day they decided to make babies—”

There was a splash behind them. Both turned and watched one of the lizards slipping through the waves like a serpent.

“Fuck,” Legend bared his teeth and watched the silver beast get closer. Its eyes flashed yellow in the lightening shadows as electricity sparked across the horn on its head. “Give me your sword.”

The teen muttered something.

“What?”

Brown eyes flashed. “I said ‘I dropped it’!”

“Dropped it? Where?”

“Where do you think, genius?”

Legend cursed.

The lizard was getting closer. Above them, the storm clouds were clearing.

“Don’t hit me again,” Legend told the teen, turning around and pulling him closer. “And hang on.”

Timid fingers brushed against his shoulder then gained more confidence as they brushed against the leather of his necklace and the scales along his collar. Arms locked around his neck and Legend could feel the pounding of the kid’s heart against his back.

“Deep breath,” he said and waited for the sharp sound of an inhale before dropping. Using the extra weight to spin around, Legend kick off towards the side of the cliff.

The shadow of the lizard passed overhead. Sharp, white claws were too slow and Legend’s tail slipped easily past its grasp.

His burst of speed put enough distance between them and the monster for a moment and Legend used his hands to feel for stone and kelp and sand.

Bubbles blew past his hair.

Hang on, kid, he thought, patting frantically against the sand. Hang on, hang on—

The grip around his neck loosened.

Legend’s fingers hit metal. He snatched the hilt of the silver blade, dug out the shield beside it, and tucked both against his chest as he shot towards the surface. 

There was a frantic, desperate gasp against his ear and the teen shuddered against his back, shaking and coughing wetly against his shoulder.

“You okay, kid?” Legend adjusted his grip on the sword and watched as a crocodile shaped head lifted out of the water.

The monster opened its mouth bearing its curved, pointed teeth.

Legend bared his right back.

Coughing continued against his back, but the hand against his chest curled and offered a weak thumbs up.

Good lad, Legend thought, pressing the shield against his chest with one hand and hoisting the sword with the other. “Take another deep breath for me, then.”

There was a grumble against his skin. It was probably something rude.

Despite himself, Legend smiled. The kid had fight in him. That was good.

Lungs expanded and he heard the rush of an inhale. Legend dropped back below the surface and pushed himself as fast as he could, rushing forward in a roar of bubbling water. The sword was held out in front of him like a spear as sand rose in his wake, launched up with the force of his kicking. The lizard creature scrambled out of his way with a screech and Legend laughed, spinning he took the boy on his back further and further into the open ocean.

[a11ia]

Mermay is long over, sure, but i couldn't resist, what if: merman AU Leon? 🧜🏻‍♂️

I never actually drew mermaids but had an oc that are half stingray I could do something with that! I love character creation 🫣

Besides oomf had a Leon mermaid, check it out!