Everything was dark and cold, the air was humid yet she didn't feel any water around her. Her tail hurt a lot, so did her head.

She sat up in alert, memories returning to her like a wave.

They were exploring the area, hunting for the others when suddenly people spotted them. She could distinguish this ship like every other, it was the same one from that day of years ago…

The human, Anemone, had called them predators and criminals.

Surely whoever these masked people were, they fit the description.

As soon as she realized they had been spotted they had attempted running, but a rope caught Amaryllis' tail and she was doomed, so Freesia and Lycoris decided to attempt helping her, and buy time for Cattleya to run and warn the others.

She barely managed to alert their messengers, Olivia and Sunny, before she'd been caught too.

She had managed to push Olivia out of the way before nets came down on her and she was stuck in them like the weakest fish.

And when she attempted struggling she remembered being hit, and then all went black.

As she raised a hand to her head, she could hear the rattling of chains, she was chained then? Gingerly she touched the quills on her head…

Finding the ones on the left side broken, and she could smell blood.

Probably, given the searing pain, her tail had been at least cut too…

"Are you awake too, Cattleya?" barely above a whisper, Amaryllis' voice reached her.

She sounded strained, probably she was hurt too.

"It seems we have been captured, instead of killed." Freesia made herself heard.

Yes, but why?

"I told you messing with humans is dangerous." Lycoris' growled, directed at her no doubt.

Still…

"It is not Anemone's fault."

"Ah so now you've begun calling her by name too?" she was so damn annoying…

Cattleya hadn't realized she had become so protective towards the human, until she heard herself hissing at her comrade.

It wasn't something she usually does, actually, not at all.

Unlike the others.

Upon hearing her the others went silent, knowing she was very well pissed in order to react like this.

They stayed in silence for a while, with Cattleya raising her head quills high, or what remained of them, to listen to what was going on around them.

From what she could assess, those predators captured them, hurt them, and were holding them captive for whatever reason, instead of killing them like they had done with their similars those years ago.

Perhaps they weren't the same people, but evil all the same.

Still, in the distance she picked up something else… something familiar…

"I hear the voices of the others." they were coming. "And…"

There were more of them too…

Female voices she heard before…

"The humans too, they're coming here."

"To save us?" Amaryllis' chains rattled as she shifted closer. "Possibly."

There was no need to tell Lycoris that she'd been right all along, but still, she couldn't help the smug smile on her face.

She told them so.

"I would never lie to you." she never did and she wasn't going to start now, but she understood them being cautious.

They were just scared.

However, they were in these people's hands now.

And Cattleya hoped that if Anemone and her friends truly wanted to prove to be trustworthy, this was their occasion. Perhaps if they saved them then her friends and her tribe would be convinced that humans could be trusted again.

She dared to hope for the sake of her companions more than herself.

After all, Scanners weren't that great in having instincts of self preservation, she'd always worry more for others. Wasn't that the reason why she saved Anemone, and why she left her the scale?

Rose led the ship following the mermaid boy, as he took them to their destination. She didn't question when suddenly other mermaids began joining them, it was no secret they must have been worried for her similars.

And after the story they were told through Anemone's encounter with the red mermaid, they couldn't really blame them for this behavior.

But still, they were glad they decided, even if possibly out of desperation, to trust them.

Right now she sat steering the ship, and at the head of it there was a mermaid, as she looked over to the rest of them.

A blonde with really long hair, white and gold scales, and from the intricate headpiece she wore, she must have been their leader. Rose watched as she sat on the railing, swaying her long tail back and forth.

"We should be close." the mermaid boy called out from below, as the blonde nodded.

"I see a ship ahead." Lily called out from her post on watch duty.

As if on cue, Anemone walked over to her and the mermaid leader.

"We've got to prepare." she said, as she fixed the rifle she had over her shoulder, before she noticed the white mermaid looking back at her.

"So you are the human I've been told about." apparently she was famous among the mermaid tribe. "Cattleya spoke highly of you."

She did?

"I'm honored." it was all she could say, because she had no idea where the leader was trying to get to.

"Do you know what it means for us to give one of our scales to someone?" Anemone shook her head. "It's a symbol of complete trust."

"Leaders like myself need to hand out their scales to the tribe, as we need to have the complete and utter trust of my kind, for others it's a way to form bonds of friendship with each other."

So Cattleya wanted her to be her friend?

Or considered her as one?

"The group of protectors from which Freesia, Amaryllis, Lycoris and Cattleya were part of also had done the same. However, some of them had broken Cattleya's trust." and White knew how bad the girl had felt about it.

Not only had she been suffering for the loss, but the fact it was caused by lack of faith destroyed her.

"That day when those predators, as you call them, baited them and killed them, Cattleya had warned her companions about those people's intentions. Scanner types like her are highly perceptive of the world around them, and of people's intentions, our tribe relies on them, their judgment and their care. She knew and she told them but some of them didn't believe her."

Anemone hadn't known about this detail.

No wonder that the mermaid felt so awful about it.

It could have been avoided, if only her companions had listened…

"Since then she'd been even more closed and reserved… she had never given out one of her scales to anyone ever since. She only trusts whatever remains of that group, those three were among the ones who did trust her."

That didn't change until Anemone came along just a while ago.

"She's very cautious, she's always been, so seeing her be so adamant about someone, even more a human who she trusts and says holds no evil in her heart, I knew I had to trust her, even if my tribe was fearful of losing more members, especially someone as important as Cattleya is." but still they couldn't go against her word.

And also they all knew well and were victims of those who decided not to trust Cattleya that one time.

They feared humans, but at the same time they had to have faith in their Scanners to survive at the same time. And White chose the second option.

"I'm glad I made the right decision."

"And we are glad to have you trusting us." Rose replied, she didn't need a scale for proof of it.

Even if she understood the importance of their custom, and now they knew how much that red scale meant in Anemone's hands.

Or rather, over her heart since she made it a necklace with it.

The rightful place where it needed to be.

"A reminder to everyone, that we can't shoot the ship with cannons until all of their hostages are safe, freeing them is our top priority. If everything is clear and you are ready, we will begin the assault." Rose addressed her own squad, as much as she addressed the mermaids too, even though White was responsible for them.

Still, they had the bigger job since they had the firepower that these creatures didn't have.

Briefly she wondered how they fought, but possibly they would see that soon enough.

"These people are criminals wanted by law, so do not bother showing mercy to them, they had none for our mermaid friends. Do not be guilty of delivering them equal treatment."

They deserved nothing after slaughtering such magnificent and kind creatures.

"We will act as a distraction, since our dominion is the sea should someone fall in we'll deal with them." White addressed the humans bowing her head. "Please save our companions, we're in your hands."

Should this end up well, then she already decided to share her own scales with the humans, and so would the others.

"We will, we made a promise and we owe you for saving our dear friend." it wouldn't be fair of them if they refused to aid the mermaids after Cattleya saved Anemone.

It must not have been easy for her, even for what she was, to swim against the currents in that storm.

Yet she still did.

And shared her scale as a sign of trust too.

Those vivid red scales that Anemone had yet to see on any other mermaid. At the beginning she believed she was the only one left, but she wasn't, still she was a unique one within her tribe, as far as she could imagine.

She had to save her.

"Captain Rose, we are ready." Dahlia walked up to them, holding her rifle against her shoulder, the others too had their own in hand and ready to fire.

With a nod, White threw herself off the railing and back into the water.

"Olivia, Sunny, you two as messengers are the fastest ones, I trust you and your kind to distract the enemy, but be careful to not get caught too all right?" the leader addressed the two blonde women with black and gold scales, one had a reverse pattern of colors from the other.

"Nines, you will lead the warriors as they will wait for those predators to fall in the waters, and Luna, you and the others slay as many as possible."

"Understood." the young albino could feel her claws itching.

Freesia had done so much to protect her back then, she had watched her sister, who hated fighting, go from a really pacific mermaid to a bloodthirsty monster to protect those dear to her.

Even more angry and unhinged than Lycoris was, and she was aggressive by default.

They all had changed since that day.

Now it was her turn to do something for her.

White and Rose shared a look and a nod, as both at the same time ordered their followers to attack.

Time to save the mermaids.

The ship rocked hard, as Cattleya, but by now the others too could hear a chaos of voices. The stranger predators but also the ones of their own tribe as the assault began.

"Save the mermaids!" someone yelled, a voice no one but their red scaled companion knew.

"Are these the humans?" Freesia asked her, as her ears listened to the sounds outside of the place they were being kept in.

Sounds of weapons firing and people being hurt could be heard too.

They hoped it wasn't the predators that were shooting down their allies.

"It's hard to distinguish them, but I think so, I believe they're trying to free us." well, why else would they be here?

They waited in silence, ears and quills raised and hopeful.

"I'm sorry..." Lycoris blurted out all of a sudden.

"It's all right." there was no need to specify, Cattleya already knew. "I know you didn't mean to hurt me, I know you were afraid of me being hurt, not that you didn't trust me." or them.

Fear often took over judgment and good sense, but she knew they had just been worried for her wellbeing.

She would never blame them.

"Still, hadn't you met that human, who knows what would have happened to us?" Amaryllis asked. Hadn't Cattleya risked her own life to trust the woman she saved, then no one would have been able to come to their aid.

In the end they could be saved thanks to her trusting a stranger.

"Don't think about it then." because Cattleya was sure that the worst wouldn't happen.

And it wasn't, because soon enough someone opened the door, allowing sunlight to flood into the room. It was a young and slim girl with a rifle too big for her hanging from her shoulder, and in the other hand she held a bunch of keys.

"Captain Rose, I found them!" she alerted the others, before entering the room, crouching in front of Freesia.

"We're here to free you." she said, already working on taking off the chains of the black and white mermaid, before moving to the others.

"Good job, Lily." another woman joined them, she had a long cape and a long ponytail, behind her three more women.

One wore a bandana, the other had a hat and the third…

A green cape.

And a very relieved expression on her face.

"Cattleya." she sighed in relief as she crouched in front of the mermaid.

"Anemone." she knew she would have come to save her.

"We'll take you back to the sea." she said, where these creatures belonged.

"We've got to be quick, the others are keeping the predators busy, but we can't risk their lives for too long." so as soon as the mermaids were free, she, Anemone, Dahlia and Margaret took one of them each in their arms, knowing well Lily did not have the strength for such a thing.

"I can't wait to lay my claws on those assholes." it was Lycoris' comment as she was carried outside. "I like the sound of that." Dahlia agreed.

Two of the different kinds but as aggressive as the other.

"Just make sure to throw some of these idiots in the water so I may tear them to pieces." the black mermaid grinned as she jumped in the water a moment later.

"You could at least say thank you." Amaryllis quipped at her as she did the same.

Dahlia and Margaret turned tails to shoot the people approaching behind them, aided from their companions. Two of the mermaids were safe and back in the water, things were going well.

Until a scream reached them.

"Captain Rose!" it was Anemone's voice.

She and Rose went to take Cattleya and Freesia back to the ocean from the other side, when the Captain barely had the time to allow Freesia to throw herself down and away from the ship, when she turned she was met with an iron spear to the stomach, while Anemone tended to Cattleya still.

The red mermaid clenched her hands, claws digging in the green cape her savior wore.

She wasn't going to let this woman die.

"Take her to safety on your ship, I'll meet you there." and with that the Scanner shook herself off from the human's grip.

She swam as fast as she could towards the other ship, even though her injured tail screamed at her to slow down, but there was no time to lose when the life of a person was on the line.

She could rest after.

Anemone took her struggling Captain back to safety, followed by the others, with the mermaids backing them up as they tried to swim after their ship.

And were promptly killed.

Out of rage, out of compassion, out anything.

As long as they died.

"Let's blow these damn assholes up." Dahlia growled once they were back on their own ship.

And so they did, their cannons sinking the predators so they may no longer hurt anyone ever again.

Still…

Rose laid on her back on the deck of the ship, as Cattleya jumped on the ship with all her might, and dragged herself to the woman.

She was bleeding out, and her life was fading fast…

"Can you help her?" the young Lily cried, the little one that brought them the keys for their chains.

"I'll do everything in my power."

Power?

What did she mean?

"Captain Rose, if you can, I want you to hold my hand tight and focus as much as you can." the mermaid took the human's hand, squeezing it, feeling her life force fading. "I want you to share your pain with me, as I heal you."

Cattleya didn't know if the woman heard her but she had to tell her.

She placed her left and free hand on Rose's wound, a bright yellow light glowing from it.

"It will sting some, please keep her still for me." for humans it hurt more than mermaids, because they couldn't heal as fast as they did.

But there wasn't a choice here.

When the others kept the woman down, she began working on the wound, forcing the cells to repair themselves at an abnormal fast rate to close and fix her stomach.

She grunted with effort, and as she felt as if her own stomach was being ripped open from the connection between their hands, but in this way, she could take some pain away from Rose.

Usually there would be no need for it, but this was an exceptional situation.

Scanners could connect and bear the pain of the people they healed, or at least partially, whenever there was a dire situation.

And this was one.

So she forced herself to take Rose's pain as she restored her.

The Captain's eyes opened again, she was breathing easier, and the wound on her stomach closed itself under the pressure of the mermaid's healing abilities.

She felt the pain fade little by little until it became a dull ache.

But the same couldn't be said for the mermaid, as she breathed heavily with exhaustion, taking the toll on her own body so she could live.

Cattleya collapsed moments later, but she didn't hit her head, as Rose and the others around her held her, the mermaid holding the same part where the Captain was injured before.

Confirming the hypothesis that like she claimed, she took the pain on her own body, even though she wasn't hurt the same way.

"You okay?" Anemone asked, as she held the mermaid's head on her legs, gently stroking her hair.

"I just… need rest…" she whispered, as her eyes closed moments later.

"Let her stay." Rose declared, and she wouldn't have it any other way.

She didn't need to ask for someone to stay with her, she already knew Anemone would have done that.

She was confirmed as the woman wrapped the mermaid with her green cape as she slept, sitting next to her and not leaving her until she was sure she recovered.

Time passed, and ever since that day, the humans and mermaids went hunting and aided each other and the people in need together, just like old times.

But now they had actual protection.

From then, Anemone and Cattleya got to spend more time with each other, but no matter what, whenever they could they still went back to that cave they first met at.

The mermaid was singing her heart out as the human held her head against her shoulder, listening.

She had found out that the quills were rather soft whenever there wasn't a danger.

And the ones that were broken on her head grew again, as did the scales on her tail that had been cut away.

They had all healed.

However, for as beautiful mermaids were, Cattleya was still the most unique.

This vivid red was just too singular.

Their Leader, White, had told her that Cattleya was found as a little baby, alone in this very same place, and from the unusual color of her scales, she may have been the result of her mother mating with a human.

The tribe had taken her in and took care of her, as if she was everyone's child.

Perhaps because of having been abandoned and rescued, she had always felt the need to be useful, she'd been driven to be a Scanner, as the quills on her head grew out when she was much younger than others.

A sad story, but it brought her to meet such a beautiful being.

"You've been told what giving scales out means, no?" Cattleya blurted out suddenly, after finishing her song.

"It means you trust me." Anemone held the thing in her hand.

"That's one scale." the human frowned, there was more?

"Freesia and Amaryllis are bonded, so are Luna and Nines, our messengers Sunny and Olivia are too. Lycoris and I though, we are not." Cattleya looked at her. "Or not yet."

Anemone watched as she reached for her chest, clawing out another red scale.

"When someone chooses their mate, they give out a scale from their chest, it's like giving out a piece of their heart."

She was going to…

"And I choose you." the mermaid held the scale in her hands for her to accept.

Anemone took it with a smile, placing it to her own chest.

"While we humans do this."

With the sunset in the distance, she kissed her for the first time.

Pledging herself to stay with this splendid mermaid till the day she died, and vice versa.

Later on, they would watch a certain rude woman wearing a bandana with two suspicious black scales sewn in it.

Everything was how it had to be.