A/N: Hello readers! I'm finally back and this time I've got a homestuck story for you! But you probably already know that. Anyway. Cronkri is my OTP for Homestuck, and I don't care what you say, I will ship it even if Hussie says it's not canon. He said there were an infinite amount of doomed timelines even for the alpha trolls and I am dead set in my theory that with all the timelines, every single ship is canon somewhere in the dream bubbles.

Anyway, this story will be set in the Aquariumstuck AU that belongs to the amazing salihombox on tumblr. Go check out her blog and her side blog that's a collect for all the wonderful Aquariumstuck art that she gets. She amazingly creative and a great artist herself. I suggest you familiarize yourself with the AU and the backstory for Cronus and Kankri and how they met before reading this.

Enough of my rambling though. You came for a Fanfiction and Damnit that's what you're going to get. I'll continue my ramblings at the bottom.

Disclaimer: I do not own homestuck or the AU in which this story is set in any way. All characters belong to Andrew Hussie and the inspiration and Au belongs to Salihombox on tumblr. The story however is 100% from my own mind. That I DO own.

Here's Chapter 1. Hope you enjoy!

EDIT: I just realized that the first half of this chapter never posted and I feel like an idiot!

Chapter 1

Cronus' POV

Sometime in the night, I'm not sure when exactly, I find myself awake. All the lights are off except for those in certain tanks and those on the filters and other such machines that run all night in the aquarium. It takes me a moment before I realize that what woke me is a sound that's coming from the door that leads into the room I'm currently in, which full of tanks holding myself and the other mertrolls, from the rest of the aquarium. Only certain people are allowed back here, because the existence of merpeople, like myself, is considered classified information and only a few are privy to the knowledge of us.

At first, I just assume that the sound at the door is Porrim, Mituna or Latula. Porrim acts as a manager of sorts for the mertrolls and Latula and Mituna are both scientists that also act as our doctors. We usually just call them, Por, Mit, and Tula, since their names tend to be a mouthful when said together. I assume that they're just back to pick up something that they left here by accident. After a moment though, I can sense that something's wrong. From the sound of it, whoever's on the other side of the door is trying to pick the lock. Por and Tula always have their keys and their ID cards, and if it was Mit and he'd forgotten his, he'd just bang on the door until he made enough racket for the security guard to hear him and come let him in. If someone's trying to pick the lock, then it's definitely not someone who's allowed to be back here.

I look around at the other tanks. All of the others seem to be asleep still, or, at least, far enough back in their tanks that they can't be seen. I do spot Meenah swimming up to the wall of the tank that she's sharing with a person named Aranea. Aranea had apparently gotten injured somehow and needed medical attention. Since Aranea's a mertroll like the rest of us, she needs special medical attention so Meenah had called Por, knowing that the aquarium is the best, and really the only, place where Aranea could get the medical attention she needed. They're both staying here while Aranea is recovering.

I wave my arm a bit to get her attention. Once she's looking at me, I hold a finger to my lips, signaling for her to stay quiet and motion for her to go further back in the tank and stay out of view. She looks at me confused for a bit before she understands and nods, swimming back to where, no doubt, Aranea is probably still sleeping. She does this just in time too, because, not thirty seconds after she disappears from view, the door opens.

I don't have time to hide without drawing attention to myself, as the unknown intruders slip inside. It only takes me a few seconds to recognize them as the poachers who had attacked my family and are the very reason for my being in this aquarium in the first place. Even in the darkness, I'm positive that it's them. They nearly killed my father with a harpoon and gave me the scar that's now on my forehead. I find myself unable to hold back the growl that bubbles up in my throat as my anger fills me.

My growl draws their attention to me and I swear that I can see them smile. They approach my tank and climb up the stairs to the ledge at the top edge of the tank. I look up at them, glaring fiercely at them. The hate that I feel towards them practically radiating off of me. They take a net out of their bag along with that looks like a gun. They hold it up and fire it at me. I quickly dodge and realize that it must be full of some kind of tranquilizer, since it's much quieter that what I'd imagined a real gun to sound like.

I'm able to avoid it for some time, as I continue to dodge it, until I find myself suddenly tangled up in their net. Damn it! They used the gun to force me closer to the wall where their net is. Hey manage to drag me out of the water and down the steps. I struggle against them the best I can while tangled in the net, trying to bite and claw my way through the rope but it's got some kind or wire reinforcing it that I can't break through. After I realize that trying to break through the rope net is hopeless, I turn my attention to the poachers themselves, to try and hurt them, hoping to injure them enough that they'll leave me.

I manage to give them some scratches, all of which they ignore. It's not until I'm able to sink my teeth into the arm of one of them that they acknowledge my attempts. Before I have time to react and try to avoid it, the other poacher pulls out a knife from a sheath strapped to his leg and stabs it into my side, the sharp blade cutting through my flesh easily. I can't hold back the howl of pain that rips itself from my throat as a horrible, burning pain tears through me, resonating outward from my side. It burns quickly through my entire body, making it feel as if my very veins were filled with fire.

Even, if the sounds of my struggling before hadn't woken the others from their slumber, they're definitely awake now. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Horrus looking out at me through the glass of his tank. His goggles are gone and his hair is lose which tells me that he only just woke up. He rushes further into his tank and out of sight. A few seconds later, the emergence alarm goes off. The poachers curse and try to escape, leaving me to bleed out on the floor, but the night security guard blocks their way.

The last thing I see before the sweet darkness of oblivion takes over is Kurloz and Horrus climbing out of their tanks to try and get to me.

A/N: Hey guys. SO yeah this is my newest story. Updates might take a little while because I'm in my senior year of high school and I'm really busy making sure I keep my grades up and finishing my art portfolio for college. I also an in need of a beta for this story. Sakura414, who is normally my beta is very busy with her own work and is already beta reading another story of mine that I've decided to edit and continue. The title is Hidden secrets thought that is subject to change.

So yeah I'll be needing a beta reader for this story. Preferably someone who has read homestuck, ships cronkri, and has a good understanding of the AU. The AU Belongs to Salihombox on tumblr. They are an amazing artist and fantastically creative and I highly recommend looking up her blog even if you don't have a tumblr. The blog where she keeps all of the Aquariumstuck stuff like comics and answers she does as well as little comics and art that others have made for her in a side blog but she has a link to it on her main blog so don't worry about having to track it down separately.

If you want to be my Beta send me a private message or leave a review. The spot will be given to the first offer so long as they can assure me that they have good grammar and know this AU. SO yeah. I look forward to writing more. If I made any errors please point them out to me since this first chapter is unbetad.

Review please, they're my life blood.

Until next time.

Wolf-chan out.