Chapter 7: To the Heart of the Raging Oceans' Blue

At first, he was scared. He was terrified. The moment he realized there was blood everywhere around him in the water and that he wanted the blood… and watching the vicious shark tear through the large whale like it was nothing… and at that moment, Zach prayed he would die. But then, it got weirder. And it just kept getting weirder, as he watched everything play out before him. The shark… the man… mermaid… merman… mershark. Mershark? Was that a thing? How was that a thing? It couldn't be a thing. But then the man was suddenly touching him. And that was weird. And suddenly all Zach could think about was how hot the guy was. And how big and perfect his teeth were. And maybe he wanted to bite him. Or he wanted the guy to bite him. He had no clue if that was weird or not. It seemed weird. Was it weird?

He honestly wasn't sure about anything anymore. Was this still his life? Did he exist before he stepped into the ocean? Was this the dream? Or was that the dream? Were Gray and aunt Claire real? Was he? Was the hot shark man real? He wasn't sure what he wanted the answers to be.

The larger shark was swimming lazily beside him, seemingly in no rush. Zach wasn't exactly in a rush himself. He wasn't really in much of anything. But he had the urge to swim. To really swim. Before, he was swimming in terror, from what he thought was a shark following him. And then what was really a group of sharks. But the hot guy with the pretty eyes and great smile and sharp teeth that could melt his knees… his fins… whatever… anyways, he'd called Zach a mako. And Zach knew a few trivia facts about makos, thanks to Gray. And the biggest was that they were the fastest sharks, clocking in at bursts of speed of upwards of 46 miles per hour. The fastest great white shark on record was only 35 miles per hour. Zach was the fastest on land, in swimming pools at his meets. And he wondered if he just might be the fastest in the ocean, at least against his new friends. If he could call them friends. He oddly felt like he trusted them. All of them, but especially the extremely hot guy that rubbed his nose.

Zach was thinking about it too much. He slowed and shook his large head. He really didn't want to think about any of this too much. He just wanted to have fun. Besides, it was still the first time he'd been on the ocean. And the second aunt Claire found out, he was going to be grounded until Gray left for college. So he might as well enjoy himself. Unless the giant shark shifting human swimming beside him was secretly evil and a cannibal. But the thought was dismissed before it was even fully formed. He trusted the group of strange sharks that were strangers.

He zipped off, taking off like a torpedo through the water, leaving behind a trail of bubbles and a stunned looking great white shark. The larger shark hesitated a moment, accidentally giving Zach a bigger head start that he didn't need. Then the white shark shot off after him. But Zach easily outpaced the larger shark. He stretched his fins, so to speak, and swam as fast as he could for a short while. But he eventually slowed down enough to let the other one nearly catch up with him. Owen nipped lightly at his tail. The teeth barely grazed his thick skin. Just enough that he could feel it. Zach slowed again and finally let Owen catch up to him. The shark bobbed his head and turned a bit. Zach quickly followed. It had been dumb of him to race off. He had no idea where to go. Of course he'd gone in the wrong direction and nearly passed the island! But still, it was fun!

They swam for a while until suddenly, an island loomed in front of them. Well, the bottom of an island. Zach started towards the surface, wanting a better look. But Owen bumped into him and shook his head. Then he headed towards the underwater part of the island. The island was huge, much bigger than it looked underneath the water. Owen dived deep and led him towards a small cave. He swam through and Zach followed. It was dark inside and the tunnel was wide enough that the two sharks could comfortably swim side by side through the twists and turns. They followed until the tunnel was suddenly not so dark anymore. It was a slight shift, the light still very dim. But they swam out of the tunnel into the bottom of a small body of water.

The moon's reflection was shining above them on the surface. Zach slowed and stared at it. He'd never seen the moon from below the water's surface. It was beautiful. The other shark bumped into him lightly and together they swam towards the surface. Owen breached and immediately shifted back to the mershark or whatever form. It was quick, so fluid. Zach hadn't even noticed. Just one moment the giant shark was beside him, practically dwarfing him. Then the next, he was floating there, with his pretty whatever colored eyes that seemed to glow and his more normal human looking teeth and his perfect hair wet and plastered to his forehead and just wow.

Owen wasn't the only beautiful thing that Zach noticed as he looked around. He did like the way the moon lit up the weird shark man but as he took in everything, he swore the breath was sucked from his gills. The lagoon wasn't too big. Maybe a bit more than twice Owen's length, Zach would guess. It was surrounded by trees and bushes on three sides, reaching high into the sky. The fourth side was a rock wall with a waterfall cascading over. Flowers sprouted up in a few places around the edge and Zach wondered what colors they were. Everything was still in monochrome. He hoped that wasn't some permanent thing. He hoped the whole shark thing wasn't permanent. Because he was pretty sure that he wasn't dreaming now. Somehow, some way, this was real. This was all real.

Owen waited a few moments, watching as the young shark gawked at the lagoon. He had to admit, he sometimes was completely taken away with it as well. He cleared his throat and the shark turned towards him. "Okay." Owen clapped his hands together. "First thing, we need to get you back to human. The first time can be hard but it'll get easier. And it's not an every time thing, okay? It's not like every time you're in the ocean now, you'll be sporting gills. You can mostly learn to control it. With time and practice." He paused and tilted his head. "Did you get all that?"

The mako nodded his head.

Owen smiled. "Okay." He swam closer and started circling the younger shark. "The first time is the hardest. I'm going to touch you, okay?" He watched as the shark nodded his head before reaching out and touching his dorsal fin. "This is part of your spine. The vertebrae here like… elongate and change molecular structure, becoming the fibrous cartilage of the fin." The shark just stared at him and Owen let out a laugh. "I know, I know. But it makes it easier to think about it if you equate it to the human equivalent… like… the easy ones. Eyes and teeth. Still eyes and teeth, right? Obvious. Then you got your arms; those are your pectoral fins on either side." He touched one of them. "Your legs are a bit harder to process. The caudal fin connects and twists them. But they're still there. Pelvic fins are part of your hip bones. Anal fin… uh…" He cleared his throat and shrugged. "Yeah uh… well… everything correlates. Your human body and your shark body. That make sense?"

The shark was still for a moment, watching Owen. His eyes almost seemed to glaze over but he nodded his head eventually.

Owen let out another laugh. "It'll get better, I promise. Just concentrate for me, okay?"

Zach nodded his head again and closed his odd eyes. The sensation was weird and he recalled how sharks didn't exactly have eyelids and therefore couldn't have really closed his eyes. But most sharks had this translucent nictitating membrane that slid over their eyes, protecting the vulnerable orbs when they bite their prey. It was the same thing cats had, that gross looking inner eyelid that wasn't really an eyelid. Zach wanted to roll his new weird eyes at himself. Seriously, why couldn't he retain all the useless facts his little brother had learned about that stupid war for that dumb history test last year that Zach had failed? Gray had spent an entire week studying the advanced material, trying to help Zach and still, nothing had been retained. But all the stupid shark facts? Zach couldn't turn off his brain.

Whatever. The point was that he closed his eyes. Membrane or eyelid, it didn't matter what it was called. Both had the same effect and he could still blink or close his eyes. Great whites, on the other hand, lacked both. Instead, to protect their eyes, they had to roll them back into their heads. Zach wondered what colors those hot eyes were.

He concentrated. He breathed in deeply, sucking air through his gills. He imagined his lungs filling with air, not water, and exhaling it through his nose. He imagined his human heart pumping blood throughout his body and down to his toes and back again. That first time changing back was a little jarring. He felt his legs split first. Then his left arm shifted and he was finally able to scratch his nose, which was still very much shark. He breathed out loudly, exhaled the water over his gills roughly.

Owen laughed softly. "Easy." He reached out and grabbed Zach's hand. He intertwined their fingers together and squeezed. "The first time is always the hardest. It will get easier. Focus on me, on my touch. Breath out evenly and calmly. Just… relax and give in. Let your body do the work."

Zach wasn't sure exactly what happened after that. He listened to Owen's words, concentrated on the man's touch and smell, and suddenly he felt lighter. His body began to sink a bit and he kicked his legs, separately, and started treading the water. He opened his eyes and shut them immediately and ducked his head. Everything was just so bright and so clear despite the dark hour. And all the colors were back.

Owen cleared his throat. "You'll uh… notice… a few… changes." He said. His voice sounded awkward for the first time.

Zach opened his eyes again, squinting a bit, and looked at Owen. The moonlight seemed to dance off the man's golden brown hair and slightly bronzed skin. Defined cheekbones and strong jaw. Water droplets still clung to his skin and slid down and Zach swallowed as he stared at the man who clearly was trying not to look at him. "Is something… wrong?"

Owen shook his head, still not looking at Zach. Then he lowered himself and dunked his head under the water. He surfaced and his dorsal fin was gone, fully human. He shook himself and wiped the water from his face.

"Owen." Zach said the name softly, a bit of fear sneaking into his voice. Owen snapped back, like he'd been bitten. He turned to face Zach with his eyes wide. Zach flinched back at the reaction but then he let out a gasp. Owen had the greenest eyes he'd ever seen! And he swore they were glowing. "Wow." He breathed out.

Owen cleared his throat again and looked away again. "Changes." He repeated. "You'll experience… changes…" He said, nodding his head.

"Is something… wrong?" Zach asked nervously.

Owen closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He sighed heavily, his whole body moving with the motion. "No… nothing is wrong." He answered finally. "You're just… a lot older than I expected."

Zach frowned, furrowing his eyebrows. He opened his mouth slowly. "Older?" He repeated. "Older than… what?" He asked, confusion.

Owen breathed out again and lifted his head. "Most pups first transform when they're 13. Sometimes sooner, but hardly later. And you certainly aren't 13."

Zach shook his head. "No. I'm 18." He answered. Owen stiffened and turned his back on Zach. Zach blinked at him, confused by the reaction But honestly, he was confused by everything that had happened in the last few hours or days or however long it had been. "Pups?" He asked after he was certain Owen wasn't going to talk anymore.

The prompting seemed to bring the man out of his stupor. He turned swiftly and nodded his head. "Pups. Baby sharks. Well…" He tilted his head and shrugged. "Kids. Kinda includes any age under 18 really."

"Oh." Zach nodded his head. He knew that, actually, that shark babies were called pups. "So… uh… people… or whatever… like us…" He prompted and stopped.

Owen nodded his head and looked at Zach again. "Yeah. Puberty and the salt water causes the first change."

"Ocean water." Zach repeated.

Owen nodded again.

Zach let out a laugh. "That explains it. I've never been in the ocean before. Tonight was the first."

Owen's eyes widened. "The first? Seriously? The way you moved through the water? It was like… poetry… or something." He added softly. Then his eyes widened and he shook his head awkwardly. "Just… the way you moved, it was like you belonged, like you lived in the water your whole life." He added quickly.

Zach ducked his head sheepishly and fought hard against a rising blush. But a huge smile spread across his face and he couldn't fight it. He cleared his throat and breathed out. "I uh… I swim… on land… I mean…" He rolled his eyes at himself and shook his head. "In school. I was on the swim team."

Owen nodded his head. "Swimming pools."

Zach nodded again. "Yeah. I thought… I thought I found something I was good at… I won everything… but I guess... " He shrugged. He couldn't really say he felt like he cheated. He had no idea he was secretly part shark or whatever. But maybe he had an advantage over everyone else. He just never knew about it.

Owen cleared his throat again and looked away. "We should uh… get out of the water… and get dressed… then we can talk more." He lifted his arms and pointed to a pile of folded clothes beside the lagoon.

Zach's eyes dropped to the water's surface. He didn't really mean to, his gaze just dropped. He couldn't see anything through the dark ripples. The moonlight was bouncing off the surface. But it was the first time that he realized he was completely naked. Which meant Owen was completely naked. So he was sort of skinny dipping with probably the hottest guy he's ever seen. "Oh my god…" He gasped.

Owen stifled a laugh and swam towards the edge of the lagoon. He put his hands on the rocky bank and Zach promptly turned his back to the man. Owen lifted himself out of the water. He glanced over his shoulder and smirked when he saw. He turned towards the pile and quickly pulled on the clothes he was wearing earlier. The pile beside it consisted of a shirt and shorts clearly too small for the not-pup still averting his eyes. They wouldn't work. He breathed out and shook his head as he knelt down over the small clothes. "My pups brought clothes for a pup."

Zach turned back and breathed out. The man was still just as hot fully dressed. Although Zach wouldn't have minded getting a better look at those wet, broad, muscled arms and back. And other parts. Zach breathed out again and tried to stop the blush from spreading. "Okay… uh…"

"There's a towel…" Owen said, lifting the clothes and revealing the large folded beach towel. He frowned down at it. "There's sand on it." Honestly though, there was sand all over everything. There was sand all over the island.

"It's okay." Zach said softly, swimming closer to the edge.

Owen straightened up and looked around. "Might be able to get you something else. We're probably being watched anyways." Owen said with a sigh and crossed his arms. "Whoever is out there, I've told you." He called out loudly. "It's rude to eavesdrop." He couldn't scent which one it was. They were well hidden in the foliage surrounding the lagoon and the whole place stank of them anyways. It was their favorite spot on the island. "But since you are and you can clearly see that he isn't a pup, can you run back home and get him something old of mine that might fit him."

A mop of red hair poked out from a bush. She smiled and then bounced out. She was dressed in the same dress from earlier, though it was now streaked with mud and it looked like there was a new hole near the hemline. She waved at Zach. "Hi! I'm Echo!" She said excitedly.

Zach ducked down, submerging himself up to his chin. He poked his hand out of the water and waved sheepishly at her. "I'm uh… Zach." He said softly.

"Zach." Owen repeated, realizing he hadn't asked the young man.

Zach glanced up at him and tilted his head, realizing at the same moment that he never introduced himself. But he really liked the way the man said his name. He breathed out slowly.

"Hi, Zach!" Echo waved again, even more energetically. She was practically bouncing as she tried to get all his attention. Zach smiled as he looked back over at her.

"Echo." Owen said her name in a warning tone.

"I'm the tiger." She said, her eyes still on Zach. "From the water, remember?"

"Echo!" Owen said her name louder.

Zach smiled again and nodded his head. "Yeah, I remember."

"Go, Echo!" Owen snapped. "Now!"

"Daaaaad!" She strung out the word as she threw up her arms and spun around towards him. "I just wanted to say hi."

Owen sighed and shook his head. "You've said hi." He said, stepping towards her. His arms were crossed and he tried to do his hardest stern-parent face. "Twice now. You can talk more later. I promise, okay? Just go find him something to wear. Now."

Echo sulked for a moment more. She crossed her own arms and narrowed her eyes, glaring at him. She wasn't even the least bit intimated. Then the teenager spun around and raced off without a word.

Owen breathed out and looked back down at Zach. "I'm sorry. They're in the rebellious teenage years and I'm surprised all my hair hasn't fallen out yet."

Zach smiled and nodded his head. For a moment, he wondered what that would look like, Owen's hair falling out. He couldn't imagine any hair style or color or lack thereof affecting the man's good looks and magnetic personality. Although he definitely preferred hair and he really wanted to thread his fingers into it and pull… he really needed to get ahold of himself. "I uh… I sort of have a pup, too." He said after a moment.

Owen's eyes widened. "You have a kid?"

Zach nodded his head slowly. "Sort of. He's my younger brother. I've been raising him since he was 2."

A large smile spread across Owen's face. "How old is he?"

"13." Zach answered.

Owen's eyes widened again and his mouth dropped open. "You've been taking care of your brother since you were 7?"

Zach shrugged. "It's kinda a long story, but yeah. Like we have an aunt that is our legal guardian but… it's pretty much just me and Gray. I take care of him. He's the most important thing in my life…" he trailed off and looked away, a smile on his face. Gray. Gray! Did that mean Gray was a whatever he was? Would Gray become a shark, too? Gray was 13. Was he old enough? He turned back to Owen, intent on asking. But the man wasn't looking at him again. "Uh…"

"Before Echo gets back…" Owen scratched at the back of his neck awkwardly and avoided eye contact. "You remember I mentioned changes?"