Anders stretched out on the sand with his tail floating in the surf. He intended to enjoy the beautiful summer day as he waited for his friend Leto to join him. Instead, he huffed with frustration as he pulled his wrists across the sand. While he had been excited that morning his scales were finally coming in on his arms, the itch they caused was near unbearable.
When the sand was not enough, he employed the claws of his fingers; he alternated hands and dug into the light green scales around his wrists. He winced as he accidentally pulled up the edge of a particularly itchy scale and pulled his wrist to his mouth to stop the small droplets of blood that escaped.
"Didn't your mother tell you not to scratch?"
Anders tilted his head back in the sand to watch Leto as the elf's green eyes looked closer at his arm. When he leaned over, his wispy black hair fluttered in the ocean breeze and Anders couldn't help but lift up slightly to give the elf's chin a small kiss. Leto's skin flushed from his neck to the tips of his ears. Anders grinned and offered a wrist for the elf to examine.
"My mother isn't here, and these things hurt worse than a jellyfish sting." Anders squeaked when Fenris pushed one of the scales down.
"You didn't have these last week, are they new?"
"They are! These mean I'm finally an adult! Or, well, according the the pod elders… when they're finished at least."
Leto chuckled as he laid down beside Anders in the sand and pointed to a spot on the wrist he held.
"Why aren't these scales green like the rest?"
Anders pulled his left wrist back to confirm the colors before giving Leto an answer. A small patch of scales under his wrist shimmered in translucence, his skin still visible underneath. He propped himself on his elbow as he turned to the elf, his forearm on the sand between them.
"They're not finished, that's where our soul markings appear." When Anders noticed the look of confusion on Leto's face, he elaborated. "This is what I'm waiting for, all Mer have them. When the scales on our arms come in, our soul markings appear in the scales. I'll have one half, and when I find my soulmate, the other side will finish. Hence the whole 'Anders, you're a big Mer now! You need to stop hanging around the surface all the time!' that I've been getting."
Anders huffed and started scratching at the scales again.
"Does that mean… your soulmate is another Mer?"
Anders stopped digging at his wrist to meet Leto's eyes. He watched as tips of his ears drooped slightly and one hand wrapped around his chest to rub at his other shoulder.
Oh.
Anders never really thought about it before. He and Leto met along the coast months ago and spent time together on the beach every week. In that time they talked about their families and their lives. They spent hours laying in the surf questioning and exploring each other's differences. Their first kiss brought a blush to Ander's pale skin and deepened when he remembered more.
He was so excited about the pod's elders finally taking him seriously that what the mark truly meant escaped his attention entirely.
"I honestly don't know, I've heard stories of Mer leaving their pods to live on land, but I've never actually seen it."
"How long will it be before your mark finishes?"
"A few days? I've seen some finish right after the itching starts." His scales started itching again just to prove his point.
Anders slapped his tail against the water in frustration of not knowing how to ease the pained look on Leto's face.
"Come swim with me, Leto. The water will keep me from scratching my scales off."
He rolled onto his back and reached out for Leto to pick him up off the sand. It saved him from an awkward scoot down the sand and gave him an excuse to hold the elf close. Leto lifted him with an exaggerated grunt as Anders wrapped his arms around the elf's shoulders as he walked into the surf.
It took almost a week for the itching to stop. Every morning Anders checked his wrist to see if the scales on his wrist had darkened. When they did, it left him confused. Soul marks were abstract in nature, but they always looked like half of something else; one side of a mirror image. Anders' mark didn't look like that at all.
The mark was a deep red, the color of blood, and it looked complete already. Two connected red circles stretched thin, one tip barely touching the edge of his palm. There were still translucent patches on either side of the mark, but that didn't make sense.
Not wanting to wake his parents, he quickly escaped his family's cave to head to the grotto. He needed answers and his best bet was to ask Irving, the elder he looked up to the most.
Anders was so wrapped up in his thoughts that when he reached the grotto, he barely heard his name called. A sharp tug to his dorsal stopped him long enough for Karl to grab his attention. Even though Karl was his best friend, he couldn't think of anyone he'd rather see less at that moment.
Who in their right mind complains to someone about their soul mark being 'weird' when their soulmate recently died in a shark attack?
Me, apparently.
"Karl! Sorry, I'm just.. I need to see Irving. I think there's something wrong with my soul mark."
As soon as the words 'soul mark' flew out of his mouth, a tight smile appeared on Karl's face.
"Ah, well, don't let me keep you. I'll be in the kelp gardens if you need me after."
Once Karl disappeared over the reef, Anders continued up into the grotto. Every trip to the cavernous circular cave left him momentarily stunned. Natural vents let the light from the surface illuminate the area. He quickly located Irving among the students treading above him.
Anders locked eyes with Irving as he approached. The elder Mer cleared his throat to direct his charges upwards to elder Wynne and motioned Anders to join him near the floor. Once they settled on a stone outcropping, Anders panicked about his mark and started with another question he wanted to ask instead.
"I'm sorry to bother you, but I just had to ask a question about my mark. There were stories and I was wondering…"
"Stories, hmm? If you're hearing stories, then you're asking about humans aren't you?"
"Well, not humans exactly. More like… elves, or any land dwellers for that matter. Is it possible for one of them to complete a soul marking?"
Irving ran a hand through his hair and sighed. Anders felt the sudden urge to hide in a cave far, far away.
"I really thought you'd outgrow this fascination with land dwellers, Anders. You are correct though, much further back in time we all came from the same ancestors. Only the Mer still carry the markings, but it has happened. Is this about your mark? Did your scales finish?"
"Well, yeees ?" Anders stretched out the word to try to gauge the elder's response. "It finished this morning, but I'm afraid there's something wrong."
Anders offered his left wrist to Irving for inspection. Irving's brows lifted in surprise as he looked over the crimson mark.
"I've not seen this in my lifetime, but it could mean one of two things. It could be that both of your souls were born into the same body; or, your soul was split in three before returning to this world."
Anders traced around the loops as the words sunk in, nausea gripped his body.
"So, I'm either destined to be alone… or there's two people out there for me? I can't deal with this, this is a mistake!"
Irving reached out to hold Anders by his arms in an attempt to ground him.
"Anders, you can't get worked up over this. Some of us don't even find our soul mates, their markings never complete. Some find our mates and life pulls us apart. This can't dictate your happiness."
"Everyone here has their markings complete, Irving. Everyone . I'm going to be pushed aside… oh look! Poor Anders! Forever alone!" Anders voice began to carry throughout the grotto. "Oh, did you hear? Poor sap has a piece of himself missing, he has to find two different souls in ALL OF THEDAS."
Anders wrestled loose of Irving's hold and dashed away. He ignored the pleas of Irving, the looks of the students, he purposely avoided the kelp gardens.
He swam straight for the surface, for their beach. He had to know.
Anders pulled himself onto the shore to wait for Leto. Now that he was above water, the pressure that built up behind his eyes rained down his face. He traced the mark again and stopped to press on the two empty spaces. He refused to believe he was alone in this world, but there were two missing pieces staring him in the face. Leto had to be one of them, Anders needed him to be.
If he's not, he'll leave. Once he finds out I'm not his, he'll find someone else.
And then it'll still be two empty spaces to fill.
The skies turned red as the sun touched the horizon, and Leto still hadn't shown up. They met here every week, every afternoon. The sickness in his stomach returned. He cursed his tail, his inability to walk on land to find his friend.
When the moon took to the sky, Anders curled up in the sand with his arms around his tail and dreamed of eyes the color of sea grass, unaware he would never see Leto again.