Oh, two more warnings: an abusive relationship later on in a side pairing and genderswap.
When "Sir" finally came back, he was frowning. Malik was beside him, looking ready to kill. He rose and nodded once.
"Your horses are ready. You will take both Kadar and Malik."
He shrugged. That was fine. The boy would be coming with.
"We get to go?" Kadar asked, overflowing with child-like splendor. "We get to see the ocean? I'll get to play in the waves? I'll get to try fish—"
"Yes," the man said, sounding regretful, "yes, Kadar, you will."
Kadar hugged the man tightly, his baby babbling happily, before turning back to the little child. "Did you hear that, Darim? We get to go to the sea! Oh, isn't that great? Just think, Darim, Altair will take us there and show us all his mermaid and mermen friends, and we'll get to try fish, and we'll play together in the water!"
He sent a triumphant smirk toward Malik, who hissed, and he turned to walk out of the house when the man hissed in his ear, "You monster."
All he did was flash a malicious grin at Malik as he walked out. There were four horses, and he helped his younger brother onto one of them, slinging himself over another despite the nervousness of the horse. After a little bit of instruction, he checked to see if Kadar was on before kicking the horse into a canter. His younger brother's horse followed, and he didn't care enough to check on Malik. He almost wanted to laugh at the fact that Malik was so determined to be human that he even had saddlebags, undoubtedly filled with survival things humans would need.
He rode well into the day, not actually knowing where he was going, simply that he was following the pull of the ocean. Kadar was up beside him, chattering along merrily and filling the tense silence with idle talk, asking him questions even though he couldn't respond, cradling the baby when it got fussy (it was so fussy. He had to feed it again, now that it had been fed once before. The fat gained from the humans wouldn't last long in a human body).
His skin itched. It itched like hell from not being in the water for over twenty-four hours. He was swatting his younger brother's hands away from him when he tried to itch himself, so he wouldn't give himself sores. It would pass within seventy-two hours, but that was too far away, and he would hit water before that, whether by lake, or river, or what-have-him. He was more than ready for a body of water. By nightfall, they were in a small town, checked into one room at an inn, and he couldn't stand it anymore. He took his child from Kadar's arms and grabbed his younger brother by the wrist, pulling him out and into the town. He had spotted a lake at the edge of the town, and he made his way through. The townsfolk were slowly retreating inside. When he finally stood by the lake, he checked to make sure that no one was around, then handed his child to his younger brother and pushed them in. His younger brother stumbled, but fell into the water eagerly, disappearing in moments to settle at the bottom of the lake. He blinked when his head popped back up.
"It's cold, brother."
He winced. He was afraid of that. He nodded sympathetically. He saw the only two people who were out still in the dark. Good, they would get curious. His brother dived back below the waters and disappeared, probably making a nest for them at the bottom. He saw someone come running toward them, and he grunted when it was Kadar.
"Altair! Altair, why did you leave?"
The boy stopped a few feet away, breathing heavily. He was so weak from the time out of the water. The other people were starting to talk—starting to call others out. One was starting to walk over. He grunted, stepping forward and grabbing Kadar before throwing him into the lake, diving in quickly after and feeling the refreshing change as he restrained the boy. Kadar was thrashing wildly in his arms, and he adjusted to wrap his hands around the boy's throat. He had to breathe in to change—he had been out of the water for far too long. When Kadar managed to see him in his true form, his eyes grew wide, and he tried to gasp, quickly realizing his mistake and trying to force it back out, but it was too late. Altair's eyes grew wide as he watched him transform, and he wrapped himself around him before he could push away, aligning their bodies just so, and he released, and all he could do was wait.
He let Kadar go, watching him shoot to the surface, panicked and afraid, and he smirked as he followed and heard the chaos, grabbing the pregnant woman and dragging her in with a scream. Her blood would be rich, and his baby well fed. He could see the people scattering as Kadar coughed and hacked, and he wondered if the boy now had a female body as his younger brother and his baby made quick work of the woman and her unborn child.
Sex was not glorified with the merfolk. It was a simple means to a simple end. They were humanoid fish. This was how they worked. He screamed as he shot forth and grabbed another young man, because young men were better than older men. All of the women had run. Soon, he would have yet another mouth to feed. If fertilization did happen with Kadar, then he would start craving human flesh more than before. He ate what was left of the young man, peeling the flesh from the skull and cracking the skull to give the brain to younger brother. He gave the brain of the woman to his baby, who cried happily, swishing his tail back and forth.
Thankfully, they were able to slip out that night back to the room. The villagers were terrified of what had happened. When they returned, still partially merfolk, their fingers a bit too sharp, and their skin much too tough and silvery, Malik was fuming. The man grabbed him by the shirt he hadn't realized stayed on.
"What the hell did you do?" he whispered loudly.
Altair raised an eyebrow as the manager of the inn came and checked on them. He wrapped his brother and baby in a blanket and hid partially in the shadows. As soon as the innkeeper was gone, Malik spun on his heel and scowled.
"You turned my brother into a woman with your-your freakish ways! This-this is why I did not want you to escort him!"
Kadar simply smiled, pulling off his shirt again to reveal small breasts, and he ran his fingers over them lightly. "I don't know. I kinda like it. Look!"
He rose, pressing his legs together and running his hands down his sides. He was still weak and emaciated, he concluded, but a human or two would fix that. He certainly had the curves of a woman, and they would be even more pronounced once he gained some weight.
"He does look good," he murmured, smirking at Kadar's grin, despite his voice cracking.
"We have a mama now, don't we?" his younger brother asked, walking over and looking Kadar over closely.
Kadar put his shirt back on.
"From now on," he proclaimed, looking proud, "I am a woman."
His younger brother grinned, hugging her. "Mama."
Malik looked about ready to kill him. Altair simply picked up his baby and held him close.
"Wait!" Kadar said, looking even more excited than before.
They both looked at him, his younger brother still embraced tightly.
"That means I can lactate, right?"
Malik look utterly appalled, and he shrugged. His voice was almost closed over—too much to talk anymore. Kadar's eyes glittered with excitement as she stared at the baby before blinking and pursing her lips.
"Well… I guess first I have to figure out how."
He had to admit that she impressed him. She didn't complain when the itching set in for seventy-two hours since she had transformed when he pulled her under. She bore it with a determined look and the occasional scratch. After just a few days, she managed to start producing milk. The women of the towns they passed through thought that his child was far too old to be suckling, but it kept his baby quiet, and it was good enough since he hadn't been able to hunt for a human in a while. His younger brother had been quiet so far, and he figured he didn't need to feed him until he mentioned something.
As it turned out, it was Kadar who got hungry first.
The young woman became a beast. Within a week, she would taste something and decide she hated it, spitting it out as she gagged. It had started out simple enough, and she would taste the food, wrinkle her nose, and politely decline. After she started turning up her nose at human food, Kadar started complaining about being hungry. She had never turned down the food Malik made her before, so Malik gave him death glares at every possible moment, the only thing stopping him from attacking was the knowledge that he was weaker. It was impossible to be stronger than him if he had been eating human food. The only overlapping foods they shared were fish, and there were not many fish inland. Regardless, he seemed to think that if he just glared enough or something, he would spontaneously combust and his brother would be back to normal.
They had been going along the path for nearly a week, following the pull to the ocean before Kadar had actually started complaining.
"Malik, I'm hungry."
"If you had eaten the breakfast I gave you—"
"It tasted disgusting."
"You're just being picky. Altair has poisoned your mind against regular food, the same way he has turned you into a woman."
"Hey, I like being a woman."
He looked over at her, and she gave him a "feed me?" look. His lips formed a thin line, and he nodded once before turning back around.
"What was that, Altair?" Malik hissed. "Are you raping him with your eyes? Was turning him from a man into a woman not well enough?"
He rolled his eyes, but didn't look back at them again as they continued to travel. That night, as they were settling down in one of the towns, he took Malik's coin pouch and walked out to the street. They had tried to eat at the inn, but Kadar had hissed and pushed the food off the table, refusing and gagging. He wandered around until he came across a small shop, and he walked in, browsing the shelves. Eventually, his hand passed over a small crystal dagger, and he picked it up. He would have to kill as a human, and humans did not have claws or sharp teeth, so a knife would have to suffice. Without even blinking, he paid for it and walked into the streets as he tucked it away so no one would see. With a small smile, he walked around, hiding until dusk.
He watched, waited, for a person to pass by. He had three mouths to feed. Breast feeding was okay, but it was not as filling as flesh. Not for a merchild as big as his son. He stripped from his clothes, hiding so he wouldn't get caught with blood on him. He watched as eventually, a young man stepped into the secluded area, a grin on his face as he undoubtedly waited for his paramour. With an evil grin, he stepped out, giving the man no time between the shock of seeing the knife and his death.
He dragged the body out of the town, dressed to cover the blood, and sent his younger brother out with the baby. He blindfolded Kadar and pulled her out, careful to avoid Malik patrolling the downstairs. He led her out to the body, gently guiding her to sit before he moved to the body and cut out a small piece of flesh. He pressed a finger to her lips, opening her mouth slightly and putting the flesh on her tongue. Kadar closed her mouth, chewing slowly. He could see Kadar thinking behind the blindfold.
"What is this?"
The girl went to pull the blindfold away, and he grabbed her wrist, pulling it back down. He pressed another piece of flesh to her lips and watched her eat it. His younger brother and the baby were already ripping into the body, and he felt himself smiling as her chewing grew hungrier and more desperate, until she was practically begging for more, and he put her hands on the body, watching as she ripped into it. He smiled, passing a hand over her back as she ate. By the time she was done, the body was nothing more than a skeleton. She was hunched over, blood smeared all over the bottom of her face and neck, breathing heavily, her lips curled into a snarl as she caught her breath, concentrated on eating instead of breathing. She snarled as he ran a hand gently along her cheek as his baby toddled around with his younger brother, who was leading him off to clean him.
"What was that?" she hissed.
Altair shook his head, and he helped her up before touching her stomach. There was already a small bump, the merfolk baby developing much quicker than human children. If Kadar wanted an easy birth, they would have to get to the ocean soon. She inhaled sharply at the feel of his fingers on her stomach. He leaned in, licking a trail of blood up her jaw and stepping slightly closer. She shuddered, letting him lick her clean before he led her back to inn without letting her see the body. That would come in due time. Malik was busy cleaning his younger brother's and his baby's clothes. He licked his lips as he undid the blindfold, helped her undress, and put her to bed.
"What was that?"
He simply smirked, running a hand across her cheek as he ignored the feel of Malik's glare boring into his head. Then, without a second look, he put his younger brother and baby to bed, curling up and ignoring the hunger that had began to gnaw at him. His first duty was to his mate, his younger brother, and his baby. Kadar was becoming all she should be.
It was several days later before she became hungry again, and he realized that with his hunger pains seeping in and Kadar's need for nourishment, they would have to stop somewhere populated to feed him. But, he shouldn't have worried. She was more than capable of taking care of herself.
"Malik, Altair, can we stop by the hot springs? I want to stop by the hot springs. Please?"
"No."
"Please?"
"No."
He looked over his shoulder to look at Kadar, who gave him a pathetic look. He quirked an eyebrow, and Kadar gave him a pleading pout. He made a motion with his head, and she looked ecstatic, moving her horse into the lead and guiding them through the town to the hot springs. It was a bustling little place, the cool spring nights drawing in lots of people from the town and surrounding cities.
"No, Altair. We will not go."
He rolled his eyes, hopping off the horse and taking her hand to walk into the small cave. He could see people entering and exiting in clothing, soaking wet. They looked so happy.
"It's free here," Kadar said. "One of the last hot springs publically owned."
There were small changing rooms carved into the side of the cave. He frowned—he didn't know why they were bathing in clothes. There was a large open cave, whose floor was nothing more than steaming water. Kadar led him to the side of the water and put her toes in. His younger brother tugged at his shirt, and he blinked, looking at him before gesturing him to go in and stay underwater. He nodded and walked to the pier, following it out to the middle of the deep hole in the ground, and he did a graceful dive in. Malik was walking in with his baby.
He took Kadar's hands and led her farther into the water, quickly, leading her to the deepest part before the drop-off and ducking underwater. He shot to the bottom before he saw Kadar peek under. She was half transformed.
"Come," he hissed, knowing she could hear him, and her eyes grew wide as she began to see in the mineral-clouded water, and he watched as she started swimming down awkwardly, caught between her natural instincts and her human mentality.
He could see her eyes widen when she finally realized she had claws, too, and her teeth were sharp, and she paused halfway down to him in the deep hole in the center of the spring. She twisted and turned, running her hands over her body and biting one of her hands, yelping in pain and looking like a child who knew its birthday was tomorrow. He smirked as she turned and twisted in the water.
"Enjoying yourself?"
She gasped. "You speak!"
"I told you that you were a mercreature."
He grunted as she tackled him in a hug. "That's so awesome! That's just… awesome! But…"
He watched her pull back to look down at her stomach.
"I've put on weight."
He smirked, watching as she looked over herself again, trailing her hands over her stomach and keeping them there.
"You're pregnant."
"I'm… what?"
"I'm gonna have a brother?"
He looked at his younger brother, who had swum beside them.
"A nephew."
The young mercreature looked contemplative, and he looked when he heard Malik jump in, his baby clinging to his chest and watching.
"They're beginning to worry," the man hissed.
"You knew that we were merfolk, and you didn't tell me?"
Malik met his gaze briefly, but he grabbed Malik's shoulder. "Let us hunt before they get out for a search team."
Malik met his gaze and narrowed it, but nodded once. Within ten minutes, they had at least fifteen bodies resting at the bottom of the pit. Kadar was watching in horror as the bodies sunk, and his younger brother was already taking his baby down to feed.
"Are you satisfied?" Malik hissed. "This is what we are. This is what I tried to teach you not to be."
"Eat, Kadar," he hissed, bumping Malik rather violently. "Your brother will, too."
"W-was this what you… you…"
"Yes."
"And I…"
"We are merfolk. We live off human flesh. This is who we are."
"This is what I tried to teach you not to be."
He left the pair to go and eat, eyeing the carcass that his baby was eating cautiously, easily seeing through the blood. With a quick glance, he grabbed a different one nearby, a little boy of only several years, and swam back to Kadar, pushing the carcass into her hands.
"Eat, for the child in your stomach."
Kadar gave him a horrified look, before turning to stare at the body in her hands. "This is… this… a… you…"
Malik was already gone to the bottom to eat, and he frowned. "This will taste better than the young man I fed you before."
"I ate human?" Kadar screeched, looking absolutely mortified.
He rolled his eyes and turned to go to the bottom. He and Malik ended locked in a fight, the carcass of an old man between their teeth as they tried to get the other to let go. He supposed that Malik had been a merman ready to snap from trying to be human. The man was every bit as vicious as the legend they had surrounded themselves with. He was enjoying the challenge, despite his weaker state. Eventually, they were attacking each other, days of pent up anger and provocation between them. They bit and clawed, slammed each other against the rocks and drove each other into the hot spring rocky bottom. He knew that his younger brother and his baby were watching them, learning, observing. They darted and swam, crashed and clawed, releasing everything that had been building up. There was no desire to mate, no desire to be friends, just the timeless need to establish dominance between two alpha males. By the time he had won, he was scraped, the tough cartilage unfazed for the most part. Malik's face was ground into the rock bottom, and he snarled as the merman fell still, breathing heavily.
"Just wait until I am stronger."
He snarled again, shoving him hard against the bottom and swimming back to his boys. Kadar was sitting there, a horrified look on her face from the nigh-skeleton in her arms. He knew that she had eaten it, unable to help herself once she smelled the blood, unable to stop herself once she tasted the flesh. She had been too hungry. Close in kin to sharks, they were unstoppable once they entered a raging feeding frenzy.
Still, she would have to learn that it wasn't possible to be human if her true calling was a mercreature. Kadar remained there, hunched over, Malik trying to console her for the rest of the night, and when he woke with his younger brother and his baby cuddled close in the morning, the pair was still cuddling. Kadar was picking at one of the carcasses, weakly protesting the food that Malik would offer her, trying to resist but depraved of food for too long. They spent the next few days there, the bodies held down by the rocks at the bottom, bones buried in the crevasses.
Several times, divers with crude forms of goggles dived in, trying to catch a glimpse of them, but they never resurfaced, and he almost thought he could live here forever. His baby was learning to swim and fight, chewing on his or Malik's arm, roughhousing with Kadar or his younger brother. His younger brother was growing stronger now, as well, with the ever-constant supply of food and the human curiosity of "What's going on?" Kadar was adjusting, and Malik had needed no time for adjustment at all, borderline ready to go crazy trying to be human, he had confessed, but Kadar was much more suited to be a human.
Of course, like the sea, life was never predictable. He had been patrolling a few feet from the surface, waiting for the next person to come and investigate almost two weeks later, and stopped when he heard an old man speak as he walked with another onto the pier.
"Today, Rana, I'm going to tell you the legend of the merfolk."
"Really, pappie?"
"Really, my dear."
"But… don't they eat us?"
He could hear the sound of them stopping at the edge, slowly sitting down. He wanted to hear this, to see if the man knew what he spoke of.
"They do, Rana, but it is out of bitter resentment that they do."
"Why, pappie?"
"Listen closely, child: they are arrogant, proud creatures, ready to spring at any moment to prove you wrong."
He hid under the pier, listening in. This would be interesting.
"They were once a race of beautiful people—even more beautiful than any other human."
"But you say I'm the most beautiful little girl."
"You are. They are no longer humans, Rana. Listen."
"Oh, sorry."
"Many, many years ago, there was a race of humans more beautiful than any other race. They were prideful, too, for they knew of their beauty. With every generation, they became more arrogant, luring in others to be their slaves."
"Really?"
"Really. Eventually, the people became afraid—"
"Why?"
"Because the slaves were starting to revolt. That was bad."
He ducked back under the water, listening in as he swam leisurely. Malik was also listening, resting against the pole of the pier.
"There was also great war to the east of them, and the people knew that they had to leave where they lived."
"Did they, pappie?"
"They did."
"Where did they go?"
"They called upon the powers of the gods to move their city under the waters of the ocean."
"How?"
He peeked above the waters, hidden partly in the shadows. The girl was tugging on her grandfather's sleeve, looking about interestedly. When she saw him, he ducked back under the water as she gasped.
"Did you see that?" she whispered loudly.
"See what, Rana?"
"There was something over there."
"Was there now?"
He looked at Malik, who was sniggering. He smirked: the old coot knew what he was talking about. Their legacy had been passed down with pride. The original inhabitants had eaten the human slaves when they tried to escape, and, through magic, had evolved into the merfolk that now resided in the deep sea vents.
He watched as his baby came swimming clumsily up, poking his head above water quickly before ducking back down and hurrying over to him. He held him close as his baby looked back at the pier. Eventually, the baby pulled away and swam a little closer again, looking up as if he wanted to get on the pier. He grunted, darting forward and using his tail to flip the child onto the pier, laughing at the sound of the little girl's shriek. After a few moments, he heard her speak.
"Are you… A mermaid, pappie! A mermaid! I'm Rana! Who are you?"
He could feel his baby's fear, and without a second thought, he launched himself from the water and onto the pier, snarling as he covered his child. The little girl screamed again, hiding in her grandfather's arms. Before he could attack, his baby pulled himself forward, loud smacks of the hands leaving tiny claw marks in the old wood. He hissed, contented to watch. Perhaps his baby was going to make his first kill. He grabbed the girl's leg, and when she went to panic, the grandfather hushed her.
"Look, Rana, he's not going to hurt you."
The girl whined, and his child tugged on her leg again before she slowly peeked at his child. He watched the exchange between them as she sniffled.
"What's your name?"
"The merfolk do not have names, Rana."
"Why not?"
"They have no need for it."
"Call him Darim," he said, backing off slightly to watch his child's curious display.
The little girl shrank back when he spoke, but as he watched them, she eventually grabbed his baby's hands, dancing around in circles with him and chattering on ceaselessly. She was absolutely fascinated by the transformation process, helping him on his feet once his legs were free and giggling at his nakedness. Occasionally, he could catch his baby looking at him, and the child would shriek happily.
His younger brother came up soon enough, curling into his arms after they dipped back into the warm waters. When Malik peeked up, the grandfather raised an eyebrow.
"There must be a clan of you here. How many more?"
"Two," Malik rasped. "My brother and his child."
The grandfather nodded, turning to watch his granddaughter again. Eventually, the sun had set outside, and the grandfather rose shakily.
"It's not time to leave, is it?" Rana whined, and his baby looked back and forth.
He transformed and left behind the power of hearing. He probably wanted to know what was being said. With a frown, he pulled himself over, scooped up his child, and dunked him in the water, watching him transform back quickly.
"We must. Your parents are probably waiting to take you back to the village."
"We're going to the ocean tomorrow," she said proudly, turning to look at his baby.
"Me too," his child said with a wide-eyed look at his father.
He nodded in agreement, locking eyes with the grandfather as Rana cheered.
"I'll come down every day and wait for you! We're going to be the best of friends! Forever! You and me! Right?"
His baby blinked, his eyes wide.
"Promise?"
He kept blinking. "Pro-mise?"
She cheered again. "I know a mermaid, pappie! We're gonna be the best of friends!"
She hugged his child and, before he could react, had taken her grandfather's hand was dragging him out of the cave. "And we're gonna meet each other every night!"
And once she was gone, he was miffed: his baby started crying piteously, luring Kadar up to comfort him. Malik looked surprised, and neither of the other three could figure out what had made the child so upset.
