#uh oh! raz' super drowning skills strike again!
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Whumptober Day 14: feed me poison, fill me 'til i drown
Water Inhalation
2493 Words; Pearl & Seaglass AU
TW for drowning
AO3 ver
Raz swam down into the trench. Seemingly endless tunnels dotted the bottom, a deep and endless cave network that could swallow him whole if he got lost.
Raz was here on a mission, though, so he wasnât going to get lost. Not without a fight.
He swam around the bottom for a bit, searching for a particular cave. He had no idea which one it wasâbut he was certain that heâd know it when he saw it.
No skulls loomed at him out of the darkness, though. No shiny white bones or carved slabs reading GET OUT. There wasnât even a ball of sealight to mark one of the caves out from the others.
Just kelp. Lots and lots of kelp, all scattered around and rotting, even though it didnât even grow hereâ
Wait.
Raz swam over to a particularly long strand of kelp, knots of varying sizes dotting its length. He couldnât see where it was tied offâit stretched down into the gloom of the cave mouth it was near. And now that Raz was looking, this particular mouth was absolutely surrounded by kelp strips, all knotted in strange and incomprehensible waysâŚ
âOh!â His stripes lit up the gloomâRaz glanced around nervously. Nothing came out of the dark to grab him, but heâd have to remember not to talk down here.
Steeling his scales, Raz gathered up every inch of courage he had, and dove in.
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Raz wasnât sure how long heâd been wandering through these tunnels. A while, for sure. But he kept swimming down twisty tunnels, flashing a stripe every so often in order to keep track of the kelp strands. He should have brought some sealight. His eyes were good in the depths, but these caves had no light at allâonly what Raz could provide by flashing his stripes incoherently.
Eventually, though, Raz noticed slivers of light floating up from one of the tunnels. Carefully, slowly, he swam towards the source, hoping it wasnât some giant mutant anglerfish that lived in caves and ate mer.
Raz peered around the edge of the rockâ
Sealight dotted the cavern at distant intervals along a net strung up across it, doing little against the gloom. Yet still, Raz could see that shelves had been carved into the rock, with weird-looking things in glass jars. Ingredients, he presumed. And there, in the center of it all, grabbing a crab from an old trap full of them, was the Sea Witch.
Raz had only seen her once, before, and that was from a distance. He had been following Dion, then, based on Frazieâs hints that his older brother would know where to find a Sea Witch.
Somehow, she looked a lot less deadly up close, sinuous tentacles working around her. Even as she turned to a cauldronâand wow, a human cauldron, Raz had been looking for one of those for his collection for foreverâwith a crab in one tentacle, there was another pair working a piece of kelp, a third grasping a jar, and the other four were working across the cavern floor, maneuvering her around with little effort. Her hands were occupied with a shell she was holding, claws tracing the edges of its layers.
Raz leaned out a little further. âDid Dion get those for you?â Crabs didnât seem to be in high supply, down in the trench. Urchins, sure, but Raz hadnât seen any crabs.
The Sea Witch startled, turning luminous yellow-brown eyes onto Raz. Instead of the sharp beak Raz expected, she had a full row of sharp teethâmoray? They werenât uniform enough to be a sharkâs. She even had facial finsâdefinitely not all octopus, then.
âWhoââ Her stripes flashed a vibrant orange, lighting up dark violet scales.
Raz swam out a little further. âDionâs my older brother.â He explained, curling his tail inwards in greeting.
All at once, the Sea Witch relaxed. âYou must be Queepie thenâŚâ She tilted her head, âNoâPooter.â
Raz nodded. âI know, it must be so amazing, finally meeting me.â Raz shrugged his pelvic fins. âBut I actually came here with a request.â
âNo.â The Sea Witch dunked the crab she was holding into the cauldron. She unscrewed the jar and put whatever was in it into the cauldron, and magic shimmered across the opening. Raz couldnât see what was happening in there, but she probably knew what she was doing.
âYou didnât even let me ask!â Raz swam further in, stripes flashing angrily. âYou canât just say ânoâ when you donât even know what it is!â Heâd even brought some of his most valuable items from his collection in his bag, to make sure he could pay for the good stuff.
âI can see your heartâs desires.â The Sea Witch waved a tentacle dismissively, watching the steady shimmer of her cauldron. âIâm not turning you human.â Slowly, the shimmer faded, and she reached a hand in to grab the crab. The scent of boiled crab and saltback roe filled the cavern as she used the seashell to crack the crab shell open.
âBut you can,â Raz confirmed. He closed his mouth, covering his teeth. âPleeeeeeeease?â
âAbsolutely not.â The Sea Witch sounded appalled at the very notion. âYour brother would kill me.â
âYou donât wanna stomp on my dreams, do you?â Raz held his fins flat and angled his face upwards a little, a pleading look in his eyes.
The Sea Witch huffed, âSorry, kid, but itâs not happening.â The glow of her stripes wasnât apologetic in the least.
Raz crossed his arms. âWell, if stomping dreams is what weâre doing, then I guess Iâll just have to stomp on your dreams of ever seeing my brother again.â He began to swim towards the cave entranceâ
âWhoa, whoa, wait a minute.â A tentacle grabbed Raz by the tail and yanked him back into the cave. He turned to face the Sea Witch with a toothy grin, his facial fins flared. âAre you blackmailing me?â Incredulity leeched off of her in steady waves, but her facial fins were just as flared as Razâ were.
âThat depends,â Raz flitted his tail. âIs it working?â
She stared at him for a long moment. Her tentacles lashed in place, little eddies forming on the cave floor.
Raz pressed his hands together, and flared his fins a little wider. âI mean, it really would be such a shame if our parents found out that their son was dating the Sea Witch.â Like heâd ever tell themâif his mother found out that Raz had even thought about coming out here, sheâd have his head. But he needed that potion, dammit, and Dionâs secret romance with the Sea Witch was the perfect bargaining chip.
âAlright, fine.â The Sea Witch shoved him away, turning towards the shelves she had carved into the cave walls. âGrab whatever you think youâll need and meet me at the eastern shipwrecks by high moon.â
Raz swam a quick circle. âYes!â Finally! He swam out of the cavern on a rush of elation, not even caring if he got lost on the way out. He was going to become human!
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Raz darted between old shipwrecks in the gloom, the moonlight unable to reach so deep.
Sneaking out had been hard, but not impossible. His facial fins twitched under his helmet, but he ignored the discomfortâhe was about to delve into a world of unknowns, so he needed his helmet! Any good explorer would have one!
Checking that he still had everything in his bag, Raz swam towards the wreck that he was sure was the easternmost one. He passed a shark, and paid it little mindâeven at his age, he was more than a match for it. Sharks only messed with mer if they were desperate.
The Sea Witch was already there, sorting through a satchel of her own. Hers was even wrapped in netting, with little shells tied to the threads.
Little shells of a very particular shade of blueâŚ
âWhatâs your name anyway?â Raz asked. âIt canât be Sea Witch.â
âGisu.â The Sea WitchâGisuâreplied. She finished sorting through her things, and turned to face westward. âItâs a long swim.â She cautioned. âIf youâre having any doubts, turn back now.â
Raz curled his hands into fists. âIâm ready! Lead the way!â
Gisu regarded him for a long moment, then launched off of the deck. âJust donât get lost.â
Raz hastened to follow, his tail pumping to keep up with her siphon bursts.
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Gisu hadnât been lying. Theyâd been swimming for a while, now, closer and closer to the surface as they went. By the time they stopped, the moonlight was already fading, the shallows beginning to feel the very beginnings of sunlight.
Gisu swam upwards, and Raz followed, his head breaching the surface. Unlike Gisu, who was blinking in the air, Razâs goggles kept water against his eyes, allowing him to see the slowly lightening sky clearly.
He looked around, unsure what exactly he was looking forâ
Raz let out a surprised whistle.
Land!
Actual dry land! That stood above the water! Raz had only ever heard of it!
They were kinda closeâcloser than Raz expected, honestly. He could make out ships at the shore, and even the boxy shapes of human dwellings.
Raz was so lost in his staring that he missed Gisu diving back downâshe yanked him down by the tail with one of her tentacles, making his stripes flash in alarm.
âCâmon.â She urged, letting go. âNot much further.â
Raz nodded. He was really tired, swimming the whole night through, but excitement buzzed in his veins. He followed Gisu along, watching as the seafloor rose up below them, closer and closer without them needing to go deeperâ
Gisu stopped. Raz bounced off of her, shaking his head reflexively at the impact.
âRight.â Gisu said, pulling out a jar. âEat this and say the incantation thrice: âShed my scales and cut out my gills, to land I go to escape my ills.â Think you can remember that?â
Raz reached for the jar. âOf course! Câmon, Iâm so excited!â He was so close. He was so agonizingly close that he felt he might burst if he didnât become human right now. âShed my scales and cut out my gills, to land I go to escape my ills!â He repeated.
âAlright.â Gisu handed over the jar. Raz wasted no time in unscrewing the cap. âBefore you go, there are some things about humans you might want to know. Iâll be coming with you, but itâll be good to know the basics beforeââ
Too late. Raz was already eating the contentsâhe could taste some kind of roe, but he couldnât identify the rest of it. It kind of reminded him of sealâsomething mammalian, then? Whatever it was, it was delicious.
Gisu watched as Raz finished off the contents of the jar. âYou werenât supposed to eat all of itâŚâ She mumbled.
Raz froze. âIâm not going to die, am I?â Thatâd be a stupid way to go.
Gisu clicked, taking back the jar. âNo, but the spell will hold for a lot longer. There was enough in there for seven days. Donât die while Iâm gone.â She mumbled something about hard-to-get ingredients and swam off into the depths, but Raz was already pressing his hands together.
âShed my scales and cut out my gills,â He started, âto land I go to escape my ills!â Warmth exploded in Razâ chest. âShed my scales and cut out my gills, to land I go to escape my ills!â The water around him began to bubble, the warmth in his chest spreading out into his arms and tailâ
âShed my scales and cut out my ills, to land I go to escape my ills!â
Raz tumbled tail over head as the magic washed over him, hundreds of tiny bubbles surrounding him as he changed. His scales disappeared with an itchy feeling, his facial fins melting into a shell-shape under his helmet.
Wow, okay, thatâs a lot more comfortable. Of course it was more comfortableâhis helmet had been made for human use.
There was a kind of distant shlurp sensation as his tail shrunk back into his body, shedding scales that glowed in the water around him before melting away. Raz imagined that it must hurt, the shifting of his bonesâbut he didnât feel any pain at all. Just the warm bubbly feeling of Gisuâs magic crawling all over him. His dorsal fin melted down into his back, the webbing between his claws receded, his gills squeezed shutâ
His pelvic fins flared out to his sides, fluttering rapidly. A new sensation emerged, stretching out into the water. Raz stared as his emerging legsâlegs! He had legs!âgrew flat protrusions at the end, as five wriggling toes sprouted from the ends of his new feet.
His neck squeezed, a little, his cervical gill covers melting over the gills underneath. The water was suddenly so much darker. Were human eyes this bad?
Raz opened his new mouth with a gaspâ
Water rushed in, and instead of flowing out through his gills it kept going down. Raz choked, flailing in panic. How did he forget that humans breathed air?
Surface. He needed to surface!
His sense of up and down had disappeared, replaced with a growing sense of panic as he flailed unfamiliar human limbs. He needed to surface!
âHelâarglubblgbg.â Okay, wow. Heâd read that humans communicated entirely through sound, but that was weirdâRaz flailed, choking on even more water. Not having stripes to flash meant he couldnât say a thing until he managed to surfaceâ
Raz hit the seafloor, the sand squishy against his back. His human back, scale- and finlessâ
Iâm not going to be human long if I donât make it to dry land!
Raz planted his hands on the sand and pushed. He launched upwards, feeling the pull of a waveâ
Air!
Raz flopped onto damp sand, his body convulsing as his lungs tried to eject the water in them. He coughed, the feeling unlike anything heâd ever felt beforeâand absolutely awful. No wonder humans didnât like swimming.
By the time he finished hacking, his throat was raw, the feeling of something still stuck in it lingering. But no amount of coughing would erase that feeling, so Raz settled on breathing deeply while waiting for it to leave.
Raz let himself fall back onto the sand, staring up at the sky through his goggles. The sun had crested the horizon, the last of the darkness lingering at the very west edge in a tiny sliver.
Raz had never imagined that sunlight could be so warm. His bag was cold beside him, even though he was just as soaked as it was.
Exhausted, and with the waves tickling his feet, Raz let his eyes close.
Seven days. He had seven days before he turned back. Seven whole days of exploring. Seven whole days that started now.
He could afford a little nap, first.
#whumptober2023#no.14#water inhalation#psychonauts#zaz writes#drowning tw#pearl & seaglass au#razputin aquato#uh oh! raz' super drowning skills strike again!#he shouldn't even be able to drown in this au given that he's a fucking fish with gills#and yet...#gisu did not abandon him!! she left to go make more of her transforming spell#so raz will be left to his own devices for a bit (he is going to nap on that beach and get sunburned)#also gisu is both an octo and an eel mer#originally she was going to be an eel (electric eel!!!) but the octo sea witch look was too powerful#so i compromised by giving her moray teethies and octopus tentacles#dion thinks her teeth are beautiful in the way that a lovestruck teen thinks every aspect of their partner is beautiful /pos#gisu nariman
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