The villagers of Shelt village mourned the loss of the water's mermaid, and released the corpse back into the sea. All who watched observed the beautiful, yet scarred, young mermaid sink into the sea. Eerie hands grabbed at the body, and then black clouds soared over the skies, and for ten days Shelt went under a horrific rainstorm and terrifying winds.

Lips carressed her ear, one giggle, and she was off. Roan enjoyed the feeling of the sea's waters around her as she moved through the sea as fast as possible. Putting her hands in front of her she moved her tail to send her wherever she wished. She could feel the young merman watching her writhing tale maneuver through the water. Giggling, she continued to swim until she came to The Rocks, a series of large rocks with certain nooks and crannies where the young merpeople would sit around at. There was the main circular gathering of rocks that were exposed and was the main area to sit around at and flaunt the beauty they possessed. Roan instead dove into the plants, and found her familiar place, where she would sit on any occassion. She squirmed through the opening, and swam through the thin tunnel. She soon rose into a cave and surfaced above water, in an undersea water hole, where air was kept in a little bubble. She gripped the dark rocks, and slid herself onto a seat, half her tail still in the water as she lay back, waiting for her follower to surface. While waiting, she ran her hands through her now heavy dark red hair, which felt heavy out of the water. Roan made sure the pearly gray shells were in place on each of her breasts, and her dark red scales were shiny and smooth.

He rose, gasping as he surfaced into the air, something he'd never experienced before. After a few short seconds of experimenting with splashing water and moving in the air, his eyes settled on the mermaid lying in front of him, her tail flicking water at herself to keep her tail from drying. Her mouth was no longer smiling, and he watched her torso rising with the strain of her breath. He had perfected the art of flirting, luring many mermaids to fall in love with him, but this girl intrigued him. He swam towards her, and pushed him self up onto the rocks beside her. Moving slowly towards her, he watched her mouth open as her eyes were fixed on him. The kiss happened, their lips crashed together for a moment, and before their lips parted, they separated, breathing hard as they stared at each other. Roan then whispered, 'We'll be late'. She sank slowly into the water, and swam out of the tunnel, he close behind her. He easily caught up to her, and stayed close and continued until the crowds became visible, and they swam quickly into the middle. He grabbed her hand, and she turned to him, smiling.

Roan was happy. Kisses didn't happen everyday, this her first. She'd watched mermaids older than her follow certain paths, especially her sisters. Three married young, and were happy. One was in disgrace, having sunk into the world of temptation, of desire, of failure. She lived somewhere in the shadow waters, and hadn't been seen in years. Five had propelled themselves into the waters of class, taking advantage of their standings as the Duke's daughters, and Roan so far had done the same. Becoming one of the most popular and well known mermaids in the waters had taken great skill, but her good looks inherited from her mother and her father's and sisters' statuses had helped. Roan was the youngest besides one, her little sister Pael, a beautiful little girl who was still a little mergirl. Roan hoped that she would be a good sister for her, and would try her best to make sure her life was great.

The ceremony started, but Roan was only aware of him gripping her hand. She gazed up at him, revelling in the attention they brought. She giggled as other mergirls gazed longingly over at her.

"The surface intrigued me, I loved the humans that lived in Shelt. When humans would swim in the pool, some of us would swim a ways under and watch them, and sometimes aid them. It was rare that we ever surfaced, mer laws forbidded us to surface when many were present in the daytime. My aunt, when I as young, would bring me up at night. When she passed away, I continued to surface once in a while to simply watch the sky, and comb my hair in the cold midnight air.

One night, I was restless, my sisters had been out for a long time, leaving simply I and Pael alone. I heard them come in, and settle into their beds in our room. All our beds were in a circular room, our beds against the wall in a circle. In the center were tables of the most expensive lemon rock, pale yellow embedded with glittering stones. Mirrors were hung from the ceiling, and all our jewels, clam shells, seaweed scarves, and garments lay on the tables in shimmering piles. Our beauty area. After I was sure they had fallen asleep, I swam to the table, and tried on certain clam shells, until my eldest sister stirred in her sleep. I was making too much noise, so instead I decided to leave bare breasted. I made sure none of the others were awake, and left the room. The swim up to Shelt was always full of anticipation, and terror of someone discovering me. That night I had a bad feeling, yet continued on. My hands broke the water first, and I gripped the familiar rocks. I pulled myself onto them, and settled into my favorite spot, watching the sky. I lay may tail out, and began to comb my hair with my hands. I felt someone near me, and knew a human man was watching me. He thought I couldn't see him, but I could, yet I wanted to be watched. I was well aware of my exposed body, and lay down, allowing my breasts to be watched. I would never see him again, and I could just dive into the water if he moved towards me. After some time, I thought he left, and I began to drift off.

I was rudely awoken, and when my eyes opened, shock filled me as I realized I was covered in some sort of clinging trap, the man above me. Fear rose into my throat as I recognized a certain hungry look in his eye. I tried to escape, safety was so near, but I couldn't. He pulled me along the rocks, and I screamed as the water, my home, went further away from me. I hissed with pain, the rocks marking my skin, and my tail was drying. The next few minutes seemed an eternity. I tried my very best to get out of the strange trap, with no success. Soon I was too exhausted to even flick my tail. My eyes were fixed on the man, and he crept nearer to me. He pulled out a knife and cut the trap, I was free, yet too tired and too far from the water to go home. I felt helpless, and could hardly move. He neared me, and to my horror began to touch my breasts. He stroked me in ways I had only imagined, and I began to quiver. He sat on my belly and continued to stroke me until before I knew it the scales below my navel began to quiver. I blushed with embarrassment, I knew what this meant, and what should happen after if all was well. I hoped the man hadn't seen, but he had, and with a cackle that quieted my slight excitement, he touched my scales. I gasped, this was wrong beyond anything I had ever experienced. In sex, a mermaid's scales peeled away of their own accord, yet he began pulling them off. His legs were naked, and he forced himself into me. Anger and pain made my tail hit him hard, but it was for nothing. He abused me, hurt me, and I was sickened.

He finished soon enough, but I was broken beyone repair, and I knew it. I could see my sisters begin to rise in the waters, they recognized my cries, but I knew that it was too late, I was no better than dead. They killed the man, and left me. I pulled myself into the center of the town, so that the humans, whom I had once seen as kind, were now disgusting and wrong, and I wanted them to know what their kind had done. My last thoughts were of my family, and how I should have never have surfaced. Death seemed the best thing to happen to me, and I mourned the life I was no longer to lead, of the mermen who loved me, of everything I would never see."

Thank you everyone for reading, I'm so sorry I haven't updated, but I plan to continue this, so kept checking!

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Ardente