They sang at night, sang in grief sometimes, but others, they were hungry, and they sang whenever they saw a ship.

This night was no different. The ship was travelling dangerously close to the shallows and most of the crew was oblivious or asleep. The captain was examining a map under candle light. Had he looked up, he would have seen the warnings posted by other captains who passed through, but paid the cost with their crews and with their ship.

The songs started, the femmes singing songs filled with false promises and lies that pulled the crew out of their hammocks and onto the deck.

The captain didn't even notice right away until his audios picked up the promises of a familiar adversary. "No..." He ran to the edge, feeling sick when he saw the red orbs glaring at him while the singing grew louder and louder.

The males liked to sing, too. Tarn was one of the best, and his tentacles reached out and latched onto whoever was close enough to drag them down, down, down to the deep. Tarn was very lonely in his little cave, and he begged for someone strong enough to stay instead of being cushed by the massive amounts of water.

Megatron was eyeing the captain, moving closer and closer until he could latch his wet, cold talons onto the captain's face. "Hello," he purred. "Come to the water, come into the water, I promise you will be fine. You're just a little different from me, legs where I have none, but come to the water and you will be fine."

The captian snarled and squeezed his optics shut, hoping to shut out the sound. But the singing grew louder and louder.

The others were picking up on the tune. Airachnid had her claws around the cook's neck, pulling him closer and closer to the dark, inky water that was their home.

Come to the water, come into the water, I promise you will be fine. You're just a little different, legs where we have none, but come to the water and you will be fine. Come to the water, and come to the water, and come to the water, and you will be fine.

The cook was drowned. Tarn took the first mate and drug him behind him to his cave, but when he arrived, the mech was crushed and lifeless, and Tarn began his mourning.

The captain was so close to the water, so very close to death that he could kiss the water if he so desired. Megatron's face was just below the surface, his wet, webbed hands wrapped around his neck.

And then there was a flash of metal as the captain spun his favored dagger with surprising speed, a cloud of Energon, and two digits floated down in front of Megatron's face while he held his wounded servo. The captain made it out of the dangerous shallows once again, and this time, he promised never to return.

ooo

Arcee closed her optics as she purred, the wind caressing her pink armor. She clutched Springer, smiling at him. "Isn't it pretty here?"

"Sure, if there weren't merformers running around. Optimus was attacked last night."

Hot Rod snorted. "Sure. Merformers don't exist. They're just a story for children to stop playing in the rocky shallows in this part of the ocean."

Arcee snorted softly, rolling her optics as she giggled. "Hot Rod, can't you just let me have one legend to hold onto?"

"The Lake Tron Monster doesn't exist either."

"Hot Rod!"

Their bickering was interrupted by Kup, the captain of the cruise ship. He said that the rockies were getting close and he wanted everyone to get away from the edges of the ship as there was ship debris everywhere, but he did not mention merformers, which disappointed Arcee a little bit. Springer stood with his arms wrapped around her hips in the middle of the cruise ship.

But as they went by the rocks and saw the ships, they became interested in the ships.

"This is where Optimus was attacked," Springer said softly and Arcee was at the edge within moments with the rest of the ship occupants.

"Look!"

While they were fascinated with the ship nearly fully intact with half of it out of the water and half of it submerged, Megatron crept out of the deep and swam under the cruise ship, gazing up at Arcee's awe-struck face when he poked his helm out to look for victims. He wanted her, wanted to take her into the water. He swam closer, and then he saw Springer. He growled and went down into the dark, cold water.

Arcee only saw a flash of silver and she squealed in delight. "Merformer!"

Hot Rod sighed. "You're hopeless, Arcee." He laughed softly and he looked at her.

She shook her helm. "I saw it! It was silver."

"Silver?" Kup was behind her and they turned. "Optimus has filed warning after warning of a silver Deceptimer following him, chasing him, plaguing him. You better hope it wasn't the same mech. Megatron is possessive and only goes after one victim at a time, and since Optimus isn't coming around here anymore, I think he's looking for a new victim."

Hot Rod rolled his optics. "Don't fill her helm full of stories, Kup... She believes in any little monster or fairy tale you toss her way."

"It wasn't a story. When we stop by at the next port, go walk into Visco Barrel and you'll find him at the bar. As him yourself then." Kup left them, walking back to see what the crew was doing.

Hot Rod looked down at the water. "Crazy old mech."

Arcee was about to scold him when the ship abruptly stopped, tossing everyone onboard around as if they were ragdolls.

"PRIMUS" was cried all at once.

Kup ran out, his optics wide. "Stay calm. Stay calm!"

There was a surge of water as something very large swam beside the ship and a screech of metal everyone ran to investigate.

There were three long, jagged claw marks on the side and a streak of silver being chased by a shadow of blue. And then a massive helm poked out of the water, exhaling mist.

It was a grand mech, bigger than anything Arcee or anyone else had ever seen. It was blue and white and red, with a white face and white and blue audio finials on the sides of his helm. He had blue lips that parted and revealed a redish glossa when he surfaced and his blue optics sought out Kup. "I have chased the Deceptimer away, Kup, and your ship is going to sink soon. I will retrieve help. Is everyone alright?"

"Yes, Ultra Magnus. Your work here is done."

The Automer nodded and turned away to dive. He seemed to go on forever, but then a large pair of blue flukes waved at Arcee before he was gone.

Hot Rod clung to the side of the ship as if his life was in peril still. "What the frag was that?"

Kup raised his voice to address everyone on the ship. "That was Ultra Magnus. He's a guardian of this part of the ocean. Since we'll be going nowhere, let's get out of this ship and onto the rocks. There's some caves and-"

An angry mech stood up. "I paid good credits to get a tour around the ocean in a five-star cruise ship, not to sleep in a cave!"

"Well, you are welcome to sleep in this ship while it sinks to the ocean floor."

"It can't be that deep!" His mate was clinging to him, her optics wide. They held a sparkling between them. "The shores are right there!"

"The ocean can deceive you like that. This area dips far, and rises fast. Keep all children close to you at all times. Primus knows what mers and sirens lurk here."

Once everyone was safely tucked on the rocks, they watched the ship slowly sink with whatever belongings the occupants couldn't hurry off the ship.

Kup was closest to the edge, looking down at the cruise ship he had adored so much. "Well, the mers need something new. I hadn't given them much of anything."

Hot Rod looked up from his datapad. "Mers exist?"

"Sure. They're practically immortal. They live long until they are killed. They don't get diseases and they aren't easily killed, and they keep their babies close, so you'll probably only see old ones. The oldest is Tarn, and he and I have a history." Kup grinned at Hot Rod. "But that's another tale for another time."

Arcee whined softly and looked at Springer, who was staring at the cave.

"Did you hear that?" he asked softly.

Kup lifted his helm. "It was probably the wind," he said dismissively. He was fussing over the Energon he managed to save.

Hot Rod shook his helm. "Couldn't have been." He walked towards the cave and peeked in. He could hear water lapping at rocks and he moved closer, squinting.

Red optics focused on him and Hot Rod shrieked in horror, stumbling back. The red optics were gone and he heard a splash in the water. Springer was beside him.

"Did a little fish scare you?"

"There was something...there. Springer, I swear to Primus."

Arcee walked over and smiled. "I have some flashlights. I kinda wanna explore."

Springer looked back at Kup. "How soon will Ultra Magnus be back?"

"A couple days? Tonight? Who knows. He can't go very fast, and neither can vessels when they are in a hurry." He grinned. "Go on, explore." He gave Hot Rod a hard, cold stare. "Mers don't really exist."

"Thanks," Hot Rod muttered and he looked at the cave.

Arcee was already padding in, purring and squealing. She touched the walls, gently, as if they'd break under uncaring servos. "Look at this!"

There were little servoprints on the walls, almost along the wall next to the floor, but they weren't sparkling servos. They looked...webbed.

There was a hurried scrabbling sound and Arcee swung the light around just in time to see a little being struggling to get into the water. Its tail shook as it watched her and it stopped moving, as if it could disappear if it concentrated enough.

Springer and Hot Rod were still arguing about whether to walk in or not.

She looked back at the sparkling where it panted and stared at the pink femme with wide, scared optics. She knelt by it, touching its sticky armor.

"Trying to get into the water?"

It relaxed and let Arcee lift it, purring quietly while it was lowered into the water. She smiled down at it, holding it as she admired it.

It was silver and orange-streaked with a little bit of color around the optics, like goggles. Just as she let go of the little being, giant clawed servos clamped down around her wrists and pulled her in.

The last thing anyone heard from Arcee was a squeak and then the light went out and all three (the sparkling, the femme, and the attacker) disappeared.

ooo

Megatron swam, holding his sister's sparkling against his chest and the femme at his side. He took her, not because he was hungry, but because she was unusual. She didn't run from the strange thing when she saw the sparkling, didn't cry, didn't bring everyone in to see it and laugh at it.

She helped it. Mersparklings had this annoying habit of freezing when they were scared. Most of them died because of it, caught up in the propellers, caught in fishing nets. They were truly pathetic. That's why Megatron almost vowed not to have any. That's why they stored their sparklings in the wreckage of ships, in caves connected to underground lakes by tubes like the one Megatron was in now.

The femme was running out of air, and she was in luck. Megatron wasn't hungry. He wanted to examine her more. What made her different from the others? He would truly like to know.

He let her go as soon as he knew he was in the cave. A lander wouldn't make it through unless he had help by a mer, and since the ones Megatron had been watching on the ship refused to admit they were lower on the food chain than they previously assumed, he knew he wouldn't be caught.

He watched her float to the surface of the lake, a pink blob surrounded by darkness and mers reaching for her, making sure she was alive. A carrying femme helped her breathe, patting her face. The newcomer was unconscious, and she was laid out on the Sunning Rocks, which were right under the hole in the roof that allowed sunlight. The sparklings surrounded her, interested.

She cannot stay, the Alpha growled at Megatron. He hooked claws under Megatron's chin.

While Megatron was head of a pod, he had no control over the entire pod. Cyclonus did, and Megatron obeyed him. Mostly.

Let her stay, Megatron growled back. Pleading was beneath him.

Cyclonus bared his denta, but he remained quiet. His tail shifted and his gills on his chest moved as he thought. For now. He became a purple and black-striped blurr as he left Megatron alone.

The swarm followed, and so did the warmth.