Hey guys! I'm back with a slightly longer chapter for you so I hope it was worth the wait.
Thank you for all the ones who share this adventure, specially for the ones who review.
Enjoy!
It suddenly seemed as if the sky had collapsed on itself, somewhere in the distance.
Both their heads snapped in unison towards the origin of the mighty sound, Tooth absently registering as the sleepy boy beside her nearly jumped out of his skin, tore away from such a peaceful slumber this violently.
A crack of light split the sky in two, and again, a blink of an eye latter, it was as if everything around them shook, the powerful noise making their own cores tremble.
Tooth just stood there, completely petrified, eyes wide and chest panting. There was another bright flash and she felt her pupils shrank immensely, until she was sure they were nothing but a pair of dark slits in an ocean of pink.
In any other circumstance she would have flee already, now miles away in the depths of the ocean, keeping her sensitive hearing away from such deafening rumbles and her susceptible eyes safe from this mysterious shattering of the sky itself.
But once again, that curious pull within her, seemed to unwisely overcome her primal instinct of self conservation. Besides, she was constantly aware of Jack's presence right next to her, and the human boy didn't seem alarmed, apart from the expected shock from such a sudden awakening.
With a last glance to the nearby shepherd, the mermaid was reassured with a small smile, just a hint of amusement in the curl of his lips, caused by her utterly stunned expression.
So her shoulders relaxed just the slightest, and she tried to enjoy the show, as another blinding bright branch of pure light spread through the air, reaching for the horizon. It disappeared as soon as it touched the dark ocean's surface, far away.
Her breathing was still uneven, but it was not totally due to the fright anymore. The mermaid's fluttering heart couldn't help but quiver slightly.
It was wonderful... Thought in the absolute state of pure admiration in which she was imbibed, she felt as if the word "wonderful" was an understatement, not even close enough to describe the overwhelming beauty of it all.
The sudden flashes would highlight the darkened ocean, making the foaming waves glisten with a glow of their own. Wet rocks all around them, whipped by the increasingly agitated sea, flickered white in synchrony with the crumble of the sky.
Tooth's grip on the rock tightened, as the currents kept pushing her immerged body back and forward.
Still, she couldn't tear her yet wide eyes away from the shady skies, watching closely as the dense bellies of the mantle of clouds glowed with each bright flash, the mermaid's pupils in a strange dance of shrinking and dilating, between each second of complete darkness and new white light.
...
..
.
Jack, who until now had been paying attention to the sight before him, a nonchalant smirk tugging at the corner of his lips, grew bored of the raging storm, and decided to focus on the bewildered mermaid instead.
And what a much more interesting view she was!
The boy had witnessed loads of amazing storms in the course of his not so long life, some without the thrilling presence of lightning and thunder, others so powerful he thought the skies would collapse on themselves and the pure fabric of the universe may rip apart.
But with all of this in mind, in that single moment, as he gazed the mermaid right beside him, the boy felt as if nothing would ever overcome the beauty of Tooth's awed face, illuminated by the bright flashes of white.
Her almost iridescent scales would glitter like a rainbow of greens and blues – he had come to realize those hues might be her natural coloration.
The boy noticed her head-fins flutter, popping up every time a thunder broke the air around them, her chest panting in absolute wonder and bliss.
He watched as her star-filled orbs tried to take it all in, an insatiable thirst for magic making them sparkle with a light of their own.
Either way, magic was certainly what was happening right now, and the moment could only be described as something from another world. And well, for the amazed mermaid, it kind of was...
It was with a mesmerized eagerness that Toothiana tried to commit it all to memory, so that maybe, just maybe, a part of the wonder felt could forever remain within her.
In the boy's opinion however, more and more aware of the alarming fondness he was developing for a half-fish girl, she was the wonder herself...
...
..
.
After their unforgettable afternoon, filled with breathtaking events, it started raining. Hard.
The first drops of liquid life came falling as they waved their goodbyes, elated smiles plastered on their faces, as the happiness was too great to hide within their cores.
One towards the ocean, the other towards the land, the pair parted opposite directions, but not before the mermaid had arched her neck, overjoyed visage facing the clouded sky, and opened her mouth wide, pointy teeth peeking from underneath her pink lips.
Tooth allowed the falling droplets to splash on her flushed cheeks and extended tongue, and didn't held back a giggle when she tasted the sweetness of the water, the pure absence of flavor being a fascinating change from the dense saltwater of her home.
Jack simply smiled, shaking his head with a chuckle, but with a now ever-present tender gleam that softened his gaze, soaked locks clinging to the boy's forehead and drenched clothes wrapping around his lean limbs.
After that day, it would rain for an entire week, as if the bad weather wasn't willing to give place to the approaching summer.
Tooth had come, as settled, a week later, bearing the bruises of an epic battle in her body, and the proud smile of her achievements in her face. She could hardly wait to tell the boy all about it! It had been quite a week:
As known to the general public, Toothiana always had this needy urge to be useful, to have a place in her ancient and noble society. And the fact that all of her peers seemed to inexplicably underestimate her capacities didn't help at all.
So the relentless mermaid was left with plenty of free time and sparse supervision, and with her curios nature in the equation, it usually ended with her in all sorts of trouble.
But the biggest mess the mermaid could have ever put herself into, had become her greatest adventure: to know the Human world.
Everything had been alright so far, until The Listener had suddenly decided to comply with her oldest wishes, stating Toothiana had now the proper age to start her maturing process.
The young adventurer was suddenly condemned to spend her days learning her people's ways, left with only a day a week to visit her recently made friend.
But she couldn't just live her life in the eager wait for Sunday to come.
So Tooth tried to focus on the good things, in order to overcome the boredom of her daily life. In fact, she quite liked learning so much about the merpeople and she could hardly wait for her tests to come. And overcome all the challenges, her personal story would start being written in her still-blank tail.
Then she would be one of them, with her proper place in society, contributing for the well-being of the whole.
So that day, Toothiana was eager to show the boy her victories, impatiently swimming along their hidden bay with an excited smile plastered on her face.
However the young shepherd seemed to be testing her patience, and appeared only some time later, when the tide had almost retrieved completely and the sea was claiming the mermaid's return.
But worst than his apparent lack of punctuality, was the dark somber that veiled his eyes. His feet stomped in the sandy ground with a badly contained anger, and Tooth felt her body cringe despite herself.
The boy before her was the enraged murder she first met, on the day he left her to die under the unforgiving sun.
He sat heavily on a rock, embracing his knees close to his chest, rocking back and forward. He was far more distant than he normally would – both physically and mental – face half hidden behind his legs, not even sparing her a look. And he stayed like that, silent, simply staring at the water with such intensity that the mermaid was always waiting for it to start to boil.
A deep frown was born in the girl's face, as she tried to decipher the reasons behind his behavior. And as she searched for his eyes, she had to hold back a gasp at the angered turmoil that dealt within them.
- Jack?
Her sweet voice came out so soft and hesitant that she didn't even recognized it as her own.
But her quiet plea seemed to reach out to him, and his blue irises peaked out from behind his knees, noticeably softening at the sight of the worried Tooth, but not quite enough to totally expel the troubled look.
The mermaid swam closer, tilting her head just the slightest, trying to perch on the rock wetted both by rain and sea. She deeply desired to have the capacity of reaching out to him, so she could comfort him in some way...
The boy only sighted at the sight of her approaching form, and slowly came out of his shrunken position. Next, he proceeded on lying on his back, within the mermaid's arm reach this time, as he absently stared at the clouded sky, hands crossed over his stomach. A new depressed sight escaped his lungs.
- Tell me about your week, Tooth.
His deep, husky voice startled the mermaid for a second, and she couldn't focus enough to give him a proper answer. So he started talking again, this time through gritted teeth, in a new wave of rage that seemed to have returned.
- Please! It can be about anything! Just... talk.
There was such a note of despair in his last words that the mermaid hurried to get her mind clear – shaking her head to produce the desired effect – and started in a serene voice.
- I battled an octopus yesterday!
It was so unexpected that the boy couldn't help but give a quick laugh, reverberating and refreshing, that seemed to illuminate everything around them. Tooth could only smile, as the boy grew quiet again, finally turning his head so he could face her.
- Did you, now?
The mermaid nodded twice, and proceeded to show the circular reddened bruises all trough her arms, caused by the powerful suckers on the animal's tentacles. In some places there were deeper cuts, clearly illustrating the damage those strong beaks of theirs could have on the mermaid's skin. From the size of the wounds, the animal might have been mighty indeed...
- Well, well, who would guess? Sweet, little Tooth fighting such a big beast... – he remarked with a smirk, as his fingers leisured just above her bruises. The mermaid in question held a proud smile on her face, while she happily let the boy carefully study her arms.
A part of her shivered slightly, as she felt the warmth irradiating from his body seeping into her cool skin, the ghost of his touch lingering there above her extended limbs. But mainly she was grateful she had been able of lightening up the mood, the previous turmoil temporarily expelled from his eyes.
- Were you so starving you had to go and hunt an octopus, or were you just trying to have a little fun?
At this her arms swiftly left his grasp, and Jack lifted his orbs only to find the most utterly revolted look in the girl's face.
- To have a little fun? One doesn't kill for fun, Jack!
- Come on! – he called, his voice sounding nonchalant, but there was a noticeable hint of despair in his tone, when he saw Tooth turn her back to him, as if the boy was afraid she might suddenly swim away. – You know I didn't mean it like that!
But her iridescent form suddenly turned towards him, and the boy almost felt a sigh escape his lips. However, any relief he might have felt in that mere second, completely vanished when he laid eyes on her features.
The deepest frown he had ever seen on her sweet heart-shaped face, creased her scaly brow. Her petit shoulders were tense, hunched over, as if she was about to fall upon him, and her until now wide open irises were nothing more than a pair of glaring slits.
When her once melodious voice came out, it was heavily accusatory and bitter.
- But you do that, don't you?
But regardless of its harshness, Jack failed to notice the underlying pain on her question, as if she was personally hurt by the mere thought of the boy before her being one of those merciless creatures, one of those monsters she had been told all her life to get away from.
And the young shepherd was so taken aback by such a sudden change in her behavior that he couldn't help but stutter.
- What? I don't… I don't fish!
Now the boy stated it as if it was an excuse, a defense from her angry accusations. But Jack realized that for the first time, he encountered another person who wouldn't look at him with pure disappointment in his eyes before such shameful affirmation.
He was already a disgrace to his father, choosing the life of a shepherd so he could avoid dedicating it to the mighty sea. But he didn't understand. No one did…
All this thoughts made a well known frustration built up inside him, making his eyes grow tumultuous and grey.
- I don't fish.
He spit the word as if it was venom, but the reasons which made him do so were far different from the principles defended by the mermaid.
But the girl was back on charge.
- Not you-you! You-humans! You say it as if it is natural to hurt another creature for your own amusement!
A pang of guilt unexpectedly made him stop, as if a sudden wave of conscience had washed over him, and he saw with astonishing clarity the hideous crime the mermaid was referring to.
But as fast as it had come, that swift notion of morals was once again subdued by his angered mood.
He furrowed his brow, glaring at the mermaid with slits instead of eyes, from his now sat position.
- What's the fuss all about! They're just fish!
At this, Toothiana´s pinkish eyes suddenly widened, but quickly after, they morphed into a hard look, stern and frighteningly calm.
Her voice came out barely above a whisper, but it was so firm and unwavering, that it wouldn't have had better effect if she had shouted.
- And I am just a mermaid.
It was in the silence that followed that he came conscious of his own words, hearing them echo incessantly in the tense atmosphere surrounding them.
And he watched with eyes widening in horror, as her form, with her back turned to him, became more and more distant, chin held high and ready to disappear in the coolness of the ocean.
What Jack did next was so instinctive, that he barely had the time to register it.
He just felt as his leg muscles propelled him up, finally standing at his full height in the top of that rock, water sprinkling his bare feet. But as fast as he got up, he watched himself jump into the shallow waters, desperately chasing the mermaid.
And when his fingers encircled her glossy arm in an iron grip, earning him a sudden yelp from the girl as he turned her around to face him, he spoke, in an almost breathless, raspy voice.
- You know that's not true.
With his eyes madly searching for her wide open ones, his voice came out so deep and fierce that he clearly felt the mermaid shiver under him. A small smirk invaded his lips, and he loosened his grip on her slim limb.
- At least not for me! – he whispered, lowering his eyes.
But the mermaid seemed completely frozen in place, unable to react, just blink her still wide orbs with her pinkish lips slightly open.
The human boy sighted, nervously scratching the nape of his neck, and gave a humorless chuckle, his eyes flickering between her face and the water underneath.
- We humans are quite some monsters, hun?
It was meant to be a humble apology, from him and his entire race.
And he was about to check if they were accepted or not, when he felt Tooth's wet hands cup his face, and with a flick of her tail, she reached up to live a quick kiss on his forehead.
The mermaid felt the boy's cheeks warm up immensely under her palms, and quickly brought them back down, as if she had been burnt.
Albeit unknown to her, the green and blue hues of her own coloration were now morphing into warmer shades of red.
She has no idea about what took her into doing it. There was no such way of showing affection in her society! But it felt like the natural thing to do. A clear way to show his apologies had been accepted.
So she simply faced a wide eyed Jack, and mumbled sheepishly:
- I hope not all of them are…
Well, that's all folks!
Jack's on edge and I bet all of you wanna know why. Well, it shall be revealed, later on.
Mermaids also have deep respect towards other living creatures, and that's one of the reasons why humans are so abominable.
If you have other suggestions please let me know. Reviews are deeply appreciated!
(I could't just put an end to this chapter, so sorry if it was kind of awkward...)