Back to Roderich's POV, and this time it gets a little spooky!

...xXx...

To be honest, getting a half-eaten grouper thrown at him was definitely one of the better things to happen to him that day.

Roderich couldn't help the bubble of laughter that escaped him at his companion, catching the fish aimed at his face. His spine was tingling all the way from the base of his neck to the tip of his tail, a pleasant warmth swirling around beneath his scales. Seeing Vash's skin flushing pink from his nose to his shoulders brought a smile to his face, and he couldn't help the small purr rumbling in his throat.

"Here," he hummed, handing the bashful merman back his fish. "You need to keep up your strength."

The spotted male was still buried into his sand nest, hiding in his arms, and peeked up one glaring green eye. He eyed the grouper hungrily before giving in, snatching it from him.

A small chirp from outside the ship caught his attention, and he reluctantly spun around to answer it. Poking his head out the porthole, he spotted Emma herding two sleepy looking pups towards him. His sister had a few more fish tied at her hip, both her and Vash's spears strapped to her back.

"I think it's time these two got some sleep," she called to him, gently nudging the pups forward. It was getting dark, the waters around them now nearly black, fading to a lighter blue-grey towards the surface high above them. The only light around them were the glow from their irises and a small ball of light in the palm of Emma's webbed hand. Killian was yawning and Lilli was rubbing her eyes, trying to stay awake enough to keep swimming.

Roderich softened at the sight and swam out of the opening over to the trio. He gently grabbed Lilli's arm and helped pull her towards the porthole, murmuring, "Your brother's awake now, little one."

Lilli's eyes lit up and she immediately looked towards the porthole. She dashed away from him, her little green tail disappearing into the metal ship. He could hear her soft cry of relief and the distant coos of Vash trying to settle her down. Roderich peeked his head into the opening to see the small mermaid clinging around her brother's neck, wailing and sniffling. The spotted male held onto her tightly, petting her hair and whispering quietly into her ear.

The violet male felt his stomach sink a little. He'd had no idea just how scared the pup must have been. Sure, it was Lilli's cries that first alerted him that Vash had fallen unconscious, the mermaid trying desperately to hold up the merman by his arm as he started to sink. Roderich had dashed over as fast as possible, surely surprising his family, to catch the other male and made sure to keep Lilli close to him, as well. She'd seemed worried, of course, but alright throughout the evening. The pup even seemed happy enough to play with his youngest brother while he and Emma had worked on healing her brother.

Roderich felt guilty at how oblivious he'd been.

To be fair to himself, he hadn't exactly been in the right state of mind to notice such things. As soon as he'd seen that Vash had fallen . . .

His heart sped up.

"I haven't seen you look at anyone like that in a long time," Emma said quietly, stopping beside him to peek inside the porthole at the siblings. He glanced over to see she now had a dozing Killian in her arms, and that she was giving him a look. "Not since Liz came to live with us."

Roderich felt like protesting her insinuation, but found he couldn't. He just ducked his head at her gaze, muttering, "Am I that obvious?"

"That you want to smother him completely? Yes," his sister teased lightly, bumping her shoulder into his. We all saw it.

I know, he added back inwardly. He suddenly felt ashamed of his earlier actions—having done nothing but snap at his family whenever they got too close to him and Vash, even yelling at their father.

Emma's smile fell in the light from her glowing palm, and she pressed the length of her warm tawny tail against his, trying to comfort him.

"Thank you for your help," Roderich whispered, finally meeting his sister's kind, luminous green eyes. His tail shifted awkwardly beside hers. "I know that he hurt Abel and all, and that I didn't exactly ask—"

"Roddy, it's alright," she said. She shifted the sleepy merboy in her arms over to him, using her now free hands to form the light in her palm even more. "I don't mind helping you, and he saved your life. Plus, Abel's just holding a grudge, you know him. He'll get over it."

"I still feel bad about it all, though." Roderich groaned and petted his brother's long hair as he cradled him against his chest, more to comfort himself.

Don't, the mermaid scolded him, her tail swatting him gently. He just pressed back, dropping the subject.

Emma's fingers knitted the light together into a hand-sized orb, letting it float around her as she worked to make a few more. Once she had about half a dozen, she motioned for him to go inside the ship, following and placing a ball of light in the center of the porthole. She went around to each corner of the room and carefully set each of the orbs up, slowly illuminating the small space.

"What is she doing?" The eel-tailed merman turned towards Vash, feeling his mood lighten just by looking at the other male. Lilli was still snuggled into his chest, the both of them settled comfortable into the sandy nest in the far corner.

Before he could answer him, however, he heard his sister pipe up happily from the adjacent corner as she placed another orb. "I'm just lighting up the place a bit! It's so dark out now, I'm sure the sun has completely set."

Roderich knew it wasn't just light she was providing, but also protection. If anything were to cross through the web of light it would immediately be caught until she released them. It was just a precaution—they were all in foreign territory, after all. Who knew what sorts of creatures lurked around these sunken metal graves. There was certainly enough smaller prey around to feed most any large predators.

"Won't that just call attention to us?" Vash hissed, glancing uncertainly between the two of them.

"Certainly not," Roderich assured. "Only we can see the light, fish can't."

The green male still looked wary, rumbling deep in his chest. The noise made a tingle run up his spine, and the mauve male shook out his tail as the shocks ran through to the tip of it. He decided to busy himself with clearing away the pile of fish he'd brought in for the merman, offering another fish to him before he started. Vash just shook his head and held his sleeping sister closer to him, brushing her hair with his fingers.

The violet merman carefully untangled his little brother's arms from around his neck, dipping his head towards the leopard-tailed male. "Could you, perhaps, ah . . ."

Vash stiffened, his brows furrowing slightly. Bright, verdant irises scanned him up and down, looking suspicious, before settling on the youngling in his arms and softening their intensity. The blonde nodded, reaching out an arm to take the pup from him. He cradled the small merboy against him, beginning to smooth out his white hair, like with his sister.

Roderich nearly melted at the sight, and he had to force himself away before he did something stupid. Like wrap his arms around the other male so he would pet his hair, too. He could feel a thrum of amusement in the back of his mind and shot his sister a glare, ignoring her giggling.

He decided to distract himself by moving all the leftover fish into the corner by the porthole, taking a small piece to snack on while he worked. He removed the bones discarded by Vash and tossed them outside, following suit with his own. Emma finished setting up all of the lights and was currently digging out a large dip in the sand for them to rest in. The spotted green male looked a little uncomfortable having them so close, but considering there wasn't much room in their safe space to begin with he didn't say anything.

"It'll feel good to get some sleep," Emma was saying, calmly sweeping the sand aside with her arms and tail.

"Yes," Roderich agreed, already tired of the never ending ache in his muscles. "It's been a long day."

"I wonder if the others arrived okay."

"I'm sure they did," he hummed, "We would know if anything happened."

"That's true."

"You're Emma . . . right?"

Both siblings glanced to their companion, a little surprised at the question. Roderich paddled closer, nodding as he recalled their earlier conversation. Vash just grimaced, looking down at the sand for a moment. Then he mumbled quietly, ducking his head in the mermaid's direction. "Then, thank you. For, ah—" he gestured at the wrappings on his hip, "You know."

Roderich shared a glance with his sister, and he could feel that she was caught off guard. Her glowing eyes crinkled in the dim light, peering over his shoulder at the other male. "You're quite welcome. Vash, yeah?"

The leopard-tailed male nodded, startling somewhat when Roderich reached for him. The iridescent merman chuckled a bit at the reaction, gesturing to his brother in the other's arms. Vash quickly realized what he was getting at, handing the pup over to him carefully, but that didn't stop the blush from flaring up in his cheeks.

And, oh, his blood just burned at that. Did the thought of having to touch him really make the other so shy?

Roderich couldn't help but twirl in place, holding the pup securely in his arms. He dipped his voice low, eyes flashing at the other. "And this is Killian. My brother," he added huskily, winking.

Vash had his back pressed against metal wall, holding his sister up between them almost as a wall of defense. That blush creeped down his neck and spread along the pale skin of his shoulders.

"Yeah, of course he's your brother!" Vash snapped, eyes still wide as he held his intense gaze. "I know that now!"

"But you didn't earlier," he sang softly, smirking. The green male gasped as if he'd physically slapped him, hiding his face into his sister's.

Oh, how lovely. Roderich felt a pinch on one of his pectoral fins and yipped, spinning around.

His sister was giving him another look that just screamed, Knock it off, loverboy.

He pressed his lips together in a grimace. I'm older than you, you know.

I don't care. Emma grinned at him, and he admitted defeat.

They both settled into the makeshift nest she'd put together, adjusting Killian between them. Roderich glanced over to see that Vash officially had his back to them now, curling in the corner as far away as he could get—which wasn't more than half an arm length.

It felt much larger to the violet male.

Come on, his sister's words guided him away from the other merman. He laid on his side facing her, curling his tail around hers as she huddled into his chest, Killian safely snoozing between them. Be a good older brother and keep us warm.

Roderich hummed at her attempt of affection, but dutifully wrapped his arms around her. He really was grateful for all her help, and he knew she must be exhausted from using as much magic as she had. Soon he felt her sag against him, falling into restful sleep.

The heat at his back kept him awake awhile longer, before he, too, let sleep overtake him.

...xXx...

The first thing he noticed was something tugging on his hair, sharp and insistent.

Baba!

The second thing he noticed was that it was cold, colder than it should have been. Perhaps it was because they were a lot deeper than they were used to, or surrounded by metal, but the water felt close to ice. Piercing into his scales anywhere that wasn't touching his family. The group of them must have huddled together unconsciously in the night, as he could feel the warm press of a back against his own.

Ba! Wake up!

Roderich grumbled and tried peeling his eyes open, wincing as his hair was pulled once more. It was still quite dark, the only light the now faint grey light of the orbs around them, but there were a pair of shining purple eyes staring him in the face.

He stiffened, feeling the alarm radiating off the small merboy in heavy waves. He quickly glanced around them, trying to see anything wrong. The others were all still completely asleep, but he could definitely sense something moving through the water outside.

His heart sped up and he bristled, tucking his sister's tail closer to him with his own. It could just be nothing, or another fish swimming by, but the way Killian was shivering in his arms told him otherwise. And he could feel it too, something distasteful was seeping through the water.

The pup whimpered and he quickly shushed him, nudging his nose. He shook Emma's shoulder to wake her, grabbing over her for one of the spears she'd set aside as she blinked awake.

"Wha . . ?" Roderich quickly covered her mouth, shaking his head. She stared at him in confusion, rubbing the sleep from her eyes before she stiffened. The mermaid must sense it, too, whatever it was.

The violet male unwrapped his tail from her and rolled over to place Killian gently in the corner beside Lilli, even though the pup was reluctant to let go of him at all. Vash awoke at the movement, tensing as his space was invaded. Roderich just quickly ducked down, giving him a warning, soft hiss.

The spotted male silently took Killian from him, jostling Lilli awake as he sat up and pressed both younglings deeper into the corner. The two pups held onto each other tightly and Vash moved so he was blocking them from sight. Emma had picked up the other spear and the both of them took up point in front of the spotted male, so all of them were amassed in the corner farthest from the entrance to their safe space.

Then suddenly, the water displaced just outside the porthole and a raspy lilt fizzled through the waves.

You, the word spat into his ear, and he froze to the sand—they all did. Roderich could hear his pulse pounding wildly in his veins. Then several other similar voices called out, venomously teething through the water around them—there you are, what happened, you're alone now—and the words instantaneously made him sick to his stomach.

The voices were enough to have them all cowering in the corner, clinging to one another as he and Emma halfheartedly held out their spears. The pups behind them were shaking, Killian starting to babble in fright as Lilli reached out to grab one of her brother's pectoral fins.

Roderich kept his eyes on the porthole, spear out. A dark shadow, darker than the black water outside, dipped into the opening. The ball of light sizzled and popped out of existence, all the rest around the room following suit with loud bursts and leaving them in total darkness now. Emma pressed against his side, and he could feel her trembling. Well, that wasn't supposed to happen.

The obsidian shadow dipped in through the opening once more, resembling a skeletal claw. The long, thin shape began to morph disgustingly into an amorphous blob, and swiftly disappeared back out of the hole. Roderich shared a glance with the others, chest squeezing at the shared fear in their eyes. What in all the seas—

A loud, grating screech suddenly pierced the water and something massive slammed against the side of the ship. They all scrambled tighter together, even Emma hiding behind him now as he stuck his arms protectively out in from of them. Vash was growling fiercely, webbed hand gripping his shoulder as he tensed up, looking ready to pounce. Roderich used his long tail to tuck theirs closer, bravely staying out in front even as he felt his skin and scales rising in fright and agitation.

He didn't feel so brave, though, as those wispy voices leaked around them—let us eat . . . horrible, caught you now.

The shape slammed into the ship again, the metal groaning and buckling in the far corner. Lilli yelped behind him, and that claw dipped into the porthole once more, scratching around. The creature couldn't seem to get in, or reach them, but Roderich was sure that it could easily break through the wall if it so wanted. The spindly arm pulled out again, and a rhythmic tapping sounded against the rusty metal.

what to do, to do

be patient

Then a deeper, darker voice growled out and the reverberations shook the water.

PATIENCE

Just as quickly as it appeared, the malevolent force vanished—leaving them all frozen in the sand.

Roderich swallowed the lump in his throat and slowly turned around to look at his companions huddled behind him. Violet eyes flicked from green, to green, to violet, then to green. He'd just barely worked up the nerve to speak, wanting to voice his utter confusion and worry, opening his mouth, when a high pitched shriek highlighted the water around them.

Suddenly, everything was bright, too bright, loud and racking through his ribcage. The others reeled back away from him, and the faint sound of his siblings wailing fought to reach his ears through the thick waters.

He was cold, so cold.

Muscles grating like they were stitched together by ice itself, he forced himself to look down.

A grotesque, horrifying claw pierced out of his heart.

...xXx...

Oh no, the plot's kickin' off now!

I had a hard time deciding how to format the disembodied voices at the end, so apologies if it's a little disjointed or jarring. I guess that sort of works in its favor, though, eh?

To clarify for any who are curious, the telepathic connection is kind of based on distance and how closely bonded the merfolk are. Since Emma and Roderich are family and right next to each other, it's easy for them to speak telepathically. The farther Roderich was away, however, meant that his family could only sense his base feelings and emotions, and sense the vague direction they were coming from.

~WhisperWeeper