Lady Bec
Underwater
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia
Chapter 1 Tina's POV
Tina Väinämöinen had loved helping animals for as long as she could remember. When she was a child it was not uncommon for her to come home carrying birds with broken wings or rabbits who had been injured in one way or another. He parents were kind hearted individuals themselves, who made a point of helping her where they could by finding books to help her care for the found creatures; always encouraging her to learn more. At the early age of 24 she had become a veterinarian who had quickly made a name for herself as being quick but friendly. Within a year, at the age of 25, she had been offered a place in the VAAA, veterinarians against animal abuse. They were a non-extremist group who worked to guarantee humane slaughter for animals used for food, preserving wildlife habitats, and protecting endangered species. They often documented behaviors of endangered species, working up close and personal to gather the much needed information that journalist or other researchers may miss observing creatures in their native habitats, without having to capture them for observation.
It was a job Tina could have only dreamed of having. To top off the perfect job, her first assignment: Mermaids. The strange creatures that everyone had considered mythical for so long, were real; as the VAAA pushed for more monitoring of what was dumped in rivers, seas, and the oceans they started appearing. The first official sighting was nearly ten years ago, despite the occasional blurry pictures and children claiming to have seen the little mermaid in real life, which where brushed off as photo-shopping or children's imagination. However, last year all speculations were dragged out of the water, literally. A fisherman had been pulling up his netting to find a half woman half fish trapped. Hungry for money, the man had instantly taken her to the news where television reporters lapped up the story. Local authorities, being completely confused, took too long to put move her to a safe location and the first confirmed mermaid in modern history had been killed by a trigger happy moron.
The VAAA and several of their collaborates quickly demanded that the mermaids be listed as an endangered and protected species, until more could be learned about them. After all, in the old fairy tales they were often able to speak to humans, so who knew how intelligent they were. However, poachers had also acted quickly, trying to catch the rare creatures to sell as exotic pets to be kept in large tanks. Thankfully, it seemed that the poachers had just as hard a time finding the creatures and those trying to observe them.
Enter Tina. At 5' 2", always cheerful and kind, her friends often joked that she could get woodland creatures to clean her home for her. Adding to that her proudly displayed title of veterinarian and now member of VAAA she was the perfect choice. They gave her the coordinates from a sighting that they had received form a reliable source and enough supplies to hopefully monitor and record a subject for as long as possible. From a safe distance of course. She was flown out to a scarcely populated island in the north sea, (and by scarcely populated that meant there was a light house and 2 times a year someone would come out to do maintenance) and set up shop in the small studio style house equipped with a generator and a fireplace. Thankfully, someone had stocked the shed well with firewood and the pantry and freezer well with food; so she was ready for a long stay through the rest of spring and summer.
Once her temporary home was put into order, Tina was off. Equipped with cameras with small microphones to the tiny cove that was hidden away on the island by the trees and bushes that had somehow taken root in the soil. The rock walls almost completely enclosing the area except for an opening into the sea barely big enough for a small fishing boat. She had been given a map with directions, but even then it took her nearly an hour to find the right place. Looking at the safe little harbor she understood why a reclusive creature like a mermaid would like it. She set to work setting up the cameras in the trees and trying not to leave too many signs of her presence on the island. Surprisingly, there was an apple tree leaning slightly over the water at one side of the small space and the early apple blossoms had just blown off, floating on the water and giving promise of fruit later on in the year. After the last camera was safely tucked away into hiding and everything was turned on, Tina trudged home and collapsed into bed happily.
It had been two weeks of waiting, watching the feeds coming in from the cameras, and exploring the island to see if maybe she set up her equipment at the wrong cove. Maybe there was another one she had missed, because there was no sign of the rare creatures Tina was supposed to be observing. At least she was able to keep busy taking water samples from the cove and recording the results. By the third week she was frustrated. As she waited for the ph test to finish and watched the monitors, she called her old childhood friend for some encouragement.
Lukas was a Marine Biologist who's father was one of the founders of the VAAA. Even though he was often unsure of how to deal with Tina's exuberant personality growing up, he often allowed himself to be dragged along. He would always let her vent and tried to be an understanding ear even if he had no idea what she was talking about.
"How long should I stay until it is decided that they aren't here though, Lukas? I mean it feels like I've been here for months," Tina groaned, wrinkling her nose slightly as she heard the tail tell sniff that signaled that her "friend" was laughing at her misery.
"Sometimes these things take time; if your patient I'm sure you'll see one, or at least you may find something one has left. That island may be a resting spot, or a Mer may just stay there some part of the year." Was his calm and logical answer, and he outright chuckled as she grumbled about his response. Suddenly, the sound of children's laughter could be heard.
"Lukas, are you near a park or something?" Tina asked as she twirled on her rolling chair.
"No, that is coming from your end, Tina…" Lukas was still talking but Tina couldn't hear him at all. On the screen was the live feed from the cove, where a child Mer[AG1] was playing happily in the water, the microphone picking up his laughter. Off to the side of the cove a merman was beached under the apple tree, watching the youngster steadily. Gosh, if he was human he would have been a giant. A father and his son perhaps?
"What's happening, Tina?" Lukas's voice cut through her shock, jolting her back to reality and she scrambled to start taking notes.
"It is a mer-child and I think his father? Lukas, it is amazing, I wish you were here to watch this with me!" Tina squealed shamelessly as she watched the child play. They closed the phone call and she excitedly jotted down notes, watching the happy mer-child splash around. His "father" kept a careful eye on their surroundings, alert for any dangers that may appear. Even watching through the cameras Tina couldn't help but be a little scared.
The two mer stayed in the cove for about two hours and the giant merman played carefully with the younger for part of the time, once he was dragged further into the waters. Then, as the sun started to set, the larger mer gently coxed the younger out of the cove. Tina quickly sent a copy of the video and her current notes to VAAA for further investigation.
There was a week after the appearance of the two with no sign of the mermen, but Tina wouldn't be discouraged now. She had hope that they would come back and happily went through the different tests she did every day. One day, nearly a week and a half after the first sighting, Tina was down in the cove. Having gathered the water needed for various tests, she was laying in the soft sand near the grass, waiting for one test that could be done in the vial on the go to finish. Suddenly, she heard a soft splashing noise. There in the cove she could see a mop of blonde hair and piercing blue eyes watching her from in the water.
"Oh umm, hi there." Tina said, awkwardly looking at the merman.
It was the adult merman and he seemed even more intimidating up close! He could drag her underwater and kill her easily. Oh No. No one will ever know what happed to her! They would never find her body! Another soft splash brought her back to reality and she was surprised and freaked out when she realized he had moved closer to her, now almost on the beach himself.
The two froze, looking at each other cautiously, and Tina felt an unreasonable giggle bubble up. This was crazy; a merman was sitting close enough for her to reach out and touch. At the sound of her giggle his previously serious expression broke, changing to one of confused amusement. However, before anything could happen or Tina could gather herself together enough to try to communicate, the child's laughter broke the silence. An unruly mop of sandy hair popped up next to them. With a smile the young mer held out a pretty shell, offering it to her.
Tina quickly looked back to the "father" who was watching the interaction closely, but still looked amused by the turn of events.
"Thank you," Tina said smiling at the child. She was rewarded by him looking embarrassed, blushing slightly and quickly slipped back into the safety of the water. Tina turned, building up courage to say something to the seemingly giant creature next to her. (Really, had he been a human he probably would have been six foot something.) Opening her mouth to remark about the present, the sound of boat motors made her freeze.
"Poachers," The word fell from Tina's lips almost as a curse; before anything else could be said the older mer had also slipped back into the waves. She could see him grabbing the youngling but he paused looking over to the beach where she had finally stood up. Unsure what was holding them up from evacuating the cove to wherever they normally live, Tina spoke up. "I'll be fine, go!" Somehow the sentence was said with much more conviction than she felt. It seemed to be what he wanted, because with one more firm, nearly terrifying look the two sunk deeper into the water and disappeared.
Quickly, Tina gathered up all evidence that she had been there that morning and raced to her small house; quickly locking the door behind her and checking the monitors to see the poachers unloading on the eastern shore. Thankfully, they were on the other side of the tiny island from the cove.
What should she do, though?
An: So I wasn't going to post this to be honest, and there are a ton of Hetalia Merman/mermaid stories out here so I just want to be clear I don't mean to step on anyone's toes and any similarities are accidental.
The next chapter is introducing Francis and Alice so I hope you guys enjoy and tell me what you think. Any suggestions are much appreciated and loved and taken into consideration so please review or pm me with ideas!