So thank god my muse has drifted back to me on this one. The observant amongst you will have noticed that I have never finished any of my multi-chapter stories. That's your fun fact of the day from me. So I know it seemed obvious to (as … put it) 'jinx him' like that but I just really want you to feel for Tristan, you know. He's definitely my favourite self-created OC and he's been through some crazy shit this week, right?
Ellie x
Every 20 minutes, Tristan was disturbed from his steady pattern of rowing when Narius threw himself off the boat, only to climb back in seconds later. He knew it was important for the creature to stay hydrated but there was a freezing puddle of water swishing around the bottom of the boat now and it was soaking into his boots.
Between swims, Narius spent his time swishing his tail about languidly in the air whilst gazing sadly at his reflection. Tristan decided to break the silence
"So, is the eye thing normal?"
Narius looked up and his tail stilled in mid-air, one eyebrow cocked "I'm sorry?"
Tristan continued to row and shrugged "There's black in your eye. It wasn't there before"
He sighed "It's an infection. I think it's killing me"
The boy looked worried "Does it hurt? How do you cure it?"
There was silence "I don't know how to cure it. No one else in our colony has ever got something like this. I think it's being out in the open air so much. It's not good for our kind, we've always known that but this is proof and it doesn't hurt but it scares me"
"And the skin and the growing?" Tristan's rowing sped up "Is that part of it?"
Narius looked directly at the boy with confusion written on his face
"You know, your skin has got darker and you have definitely grown, you can't deny it"
Tristan was right. His skin had lost its translucence and the pearly-sickly sheen was gone from his joints. It almost matched Tristan's now a few shades lighter but… normal looking. And he was correct about the growth too. Now that Narius looked at himself next to Tristan, the boy didn't have such big proportions anymore. Again, he matched Narius
Tristan grinned "It's not an infection" he stopped rowing "Don't you see? You're getting better!"
The sea creature only boggled at him in shock
"Listen" Tristan began again "Your kind have been underwater for centuries, you had to adapt fast to the harsh conditions. Now you're out in the open, all those healthy traits are coming back, proper skin-tone because of the sun, the growth because you have more air and the eyes…" he paused to look at Narius who had said nothing "Don't you get it? It's not an infection; it's your pupil coming through now that you're seeing with proper sunlight"
There was complete silence across the lake as the males stared at each other
"You're insane" Narius insisted
Nobody spoke for a good few minutes whilst Tristan gathered himself again and continued to row, as the shores of the desolation came ever closer
As the boat rounded the final hundred metres Narius' breath began to hitch in his throat and Tristan stopped, letting the boat drift.
"Are you alright?"
Narius had gone very pale and was clutching the side of the boat, staring out to the water
"You're breathing's gone strange…."
"Yes I know, thank you!" Narius spat out, trying to regulate his breath "I just need to get back in the water"
But as he began to weakly tip himself forwards he lacked the energy to slide in properly and the boat tipped
Tristan squealed strangely and tried to tip the boat back to being level but it was too late and the whole thing capsized quickly, sending both boy and half-boy-fish into the chilly depths.
Said boy resurfaced quickly, grabbing onto the overturned boat and hauling himself up, only tipping it again. Instead he began to wade slowly towards the shore with the boat. Once the water was only at knee-level he stopped to look back out at the stilled water.
"Narius?!" he called; trying to remind himself that merfolk couldn't drown. "You okay?"
He barely finished when the surface broke and the coughing and spluttering of a desperate man ensured
"Gods, help me!" he screeched and Tristan wanted to laugh… until he realised something was dreadfully wrong. Narius seemed terrified
"What's happened to me?" he spluttered, trying to keep his head to the surface "My tail… it's not… it doesn't feel… right"
Tristan stood there, stunned before springing to action and throwing himself back into the water. Maybe he'd been wrong about the 'getting better' thing.
The boy grabbed hold of Narius' arm once he stopped thrashing and pulled him gently but swiftly towards the shoreline, dragging him up to the dry pebbles.
"Oh sweet Gods…" He muttered
Initially, Tristan couldn't tell what had happened. There was blood everywhere, spread by the icy water that covered Narius' entire tail. As it began to soak off and onto the stones below, Tristan identified what had happened.
"Did you do that… on purpose?" he asked
Narius went a deathly shade of white "Oh gods…"
His tail had split directly in two and the fins at the end had divided into two very bloody but very definite feet. The new 'legs' still looked a little odd with the occasional patch of black scales everywhere. The most disturbing part was the rough bloody lines that scraped down the inside of each leg where his tail had roughly split in half.
There was silence. Tristan dared not say anything
That's when Narius started screaming. Long terrified, pained screams from where the cold had worn off and the pain had properly started to settle in. He grabbed at his legs and tried to comprehend what had happened to him but it was clear he didn't understand at all, nor would he anytime soon.
Tristan didn't understand either so he simply sat down in shock and waited until Narius' panic had died down