Date: Tue, 31 Mar 2015 11:55:04 -0700
From: Andrew Bailey <feare909@yahoo.com>
Subject: Aquata Cove - Chapter 45

Aquata Cove

Chapter 45: Moved On


Kaiken and his pod swim through the sea, with his mate Umiato by his side,
and his daughter, Savarna by her side. And an empty space on his other side
that he still has trouble ignoring.

It has been almost approximately 3 years since the banishment of their
Merrick. Without the presence of the Adra Triton by his side, Kaiken feels
a sense of imbalance -- as if his right arm has been severed off. Merrick
may have ceased to exist, but there in lies the problem -- it has indeed
unfurled a balance. It has been so long since he had to instruct his son to
pay attention, tell him to KNOW, not GUESS. He still remembers the look
defiance when he had to break his son's own trident in half, as punishment
for becoming exiled.

And then there was that human. Kaiken still has no idea why he even put
himself on the land in the first place, it's not like he could've go out
and look for him -- he doesn't know how to walk. And that human... The way
he talked to him...


===


"I thought you would've been gone by now..." Said a young human male, with
an older looking female right next to him. Both of them are looking at
Kaiken, after he is in his human form. Why is this human talking to him?
They've never met.

Just how much does he know about merfolk? "I know you can't talk to me,"
Adam said, "But just so you know, it's far from fair on how you judge your
son."

"..." Kaiken scowled and glared at the human. He seems so brazen...

"If you think he's abandoned his identity, you're dead wrong," The man told
him, "He's doing fine now, but he's miserable without his pod."

`What?' Kaiken felt a rush of anger in his face, `Is this the human
that... That HE has mated with?'

"I want you to know that." The human continued, "Or did that not occur to
you because he was banished?" Kaiken's fist tightened around his trident,
shaking with anger. Such blatant disrespect to a Triton!

"Whatever grudge you hold against him, you should know that it was never
his fault to begin with. Even YOU should figure that."

If it were not for his possible affiliation with his former son, Kaiken
feels a huge urge to throw his trident at this man's head before he can
kill him into the sky.

`This was a mistake.' Kaiken thought to himself, `I must return, or else my
wrath will send me to the next life.' He growled as he turned, working his
thick, strong arms around, and dipping himself into the ocean.


===


Not only did that human know of merfolk, but the way he talked at
him... Such tongue from a young one merits a lot of anger from Kaiken. Know
your place, that's his way. If he could walk and talk to humans, he would
teach that impudent sky wretch a lesson in respecting stronger
elders. Merrick would NEVER speak to him like that!


As he lead his pod, he signals deliberately ahead, turning the entire
school of Navyn Tail merfolk to another direction as he could sense
something huge and immobile. The pod followed their Triton's lead until
they have arrived at a sunken human ship. Kaiken immediately assesses that
it is a very old one -- ships from old days are made of trees found on
land, along with large sails that have been torn to shredded shrouds, while
ships of modern times are made of a stronger material that does not rot in
water so easily.

"We have found a lost sea-home of the humans!" Triton announced as he
turned to his pod, "We may search this dying shell, and if time dictates,
we may rest for the night within it."

The pod broke apart, and surveyed around the ship. Umiato and Savarna swam
down to the ship, humming an eerie hymn, trying to feel any protective
wards or energies on the ship -- it looks untouched, but if another pod has
come, and when they don't want to share their find, there's a chance that
pod's Noita may have marked this wreck as their own, so no one else can
touch it -- a technique Savarna has learned recently, and has place upon
her Sea Spot over in the Hawaiian waters.

Neither the Noita or Adra can feel any hostile energies implanted within,
around, or upon the ship or sand, nor can they detect any residual auras
that may have came from any other merfolk. Umiato sounded a melodic call,
and the pod descended upon the ship.

Adra Savarna dipped into one of the ships, window, and found a
lavender-shaded mermaid going through a chest she opened with small spiral
shell.

"This human ship must be so old," She said as she hear feel Savarna
approach her.

"Is that another one of those boxes?" The Adra asked. Her palms started to
glow with a light, and she hovered over the other mermaid.

"Ah!" The lavender mermaid pulled her arm back, to see a sharp, rusty edge
from the chest's metal framing at cut her arm.

"Careful, Rinami," Savarna said as one of her bright hands grasped onto her
friend's arm. The water seeped into the cut, and ceased the blood seeping
through as it closed.

Being more careful about the chest, Savarna floated up a bit more to shine
the light in her hands to illuminate the contents of the chest.

"Amazing..." Rinami said as they gazed upon a pool of glittering gems and
small, gleaming discs.

"This ship MUST be ancient," Savarna said as she reached a hand down, and
plucked up a small ruby, "Ships in this era do not carry such artifacts as
this."

"Oh, if only we can take all of this with us." Rinami said as she scooped
up a load of the very old gold coins in the chest, and let them drift back
down into the box.

"Or if only there was enough of these crystals," Savarana said as she
tucked the ruby into her pouch, and plucked up a green emerald, "If I could
have a lot of these gems, I could possibly make a crystal dome on my Sea
Spot!"

"Oh, that would be so colorful!" Rinami cooed, "With your light, you can
make it gleam and shimmer from the inside!"

"That would be unwise, Rinami" Came the voice of the Razirah. The long,
grey merman drifted outside, the many strings and shells gently shaking on
his body, keeping his trace of the whole pod intact.

"Why not?" Savarna said, "If I did, I COULD make a bright, beautiful shine
inside an orb of crystals!"

"And thus, summon the interest of hungry predators." Denizyr said as he
drifted off. The two mermaids pouted as they continued to rummage through
the chest.

"... Ah..." Savarna picked up a blue sapphire. Refracting the light in her
palms, specs of dazzling blue light shone in the blue gem.

Umiato looked at the blue light in the small room of the ship, sighing as
her daughter played with the light in the jewel. It's been a long time, as
well as painful, since her brother was banished from the pod. Savarna has
grown so much since then.

The Noita gracefully swam into the room, where Savarna and Rinami turned to
her, "Oh, Noita Umiato."

"Mother." The Adra said.

"May I have a moment alone, Rinami?" Umiato asked.

"Yes, Noita." Rinami said as she turned and swam forth from the hole in the
ship.

Umiato drifted up to her daughter's side, and then released a ball of light
from her own hand, which unlike Savarna's light, hovers freely in the
water. She looks at the sparkling blue gem in her daughter's hand, "That is
a very beautiful crystal, Daughter."

"Yes, it is..." Savarna answered, "... It's just like his eyes..."

"Your Father's, I wager?" Umiato said.

"No, Mother..." Savarna's eyes gazed down, "Brother..." She stopped making
the sapphire gleam, and tucked it into her pouch, along with the ruby and
emerald.

"How are you feeling, Daughter?" Umiato said, "I think of him
often. Especially when we find a fallen ship." Umiato turned her head
around, "He did always love finding these forsaken husks, with good reason,
of course."

"I am..." Savarna sighed, "Better..." She picked up another jewel, making
it glimmer and shine, "I too remember when Brother became so excited to see
a dead ship." She smiled weakly, "I still remember that game he
had. Hide-And-Seek, he called it." Merrick once learned this game from
Adam, not that anyone from the pod would know. He insisted that he didn't
invent the game, that he once played it with a few Adra Triton friends of
his, but many of the meryin still love playing it.

"Yes..." Umiato produced a small, beautiful hand-mirror from her own pouch,
"Remember this?"

"You still have that?" Savarna said, as she looked at her reflection in the
small, flat glass.

"Of course." Umiato said, "I mend MY pouch," She said as tugged at a small
hole on Savarna's bag, "I found this when you were very young. Your Brother
was very fond of it years ago, and vowed to one day fine one just like it,
so that he can give it to his mate on the red moon he found her..."

"I imagine he has, by now..." Savarna said, "I am well, Mother." She said,
"I miss him a lot... But I confess... When he was with us, I did not know
how to have friends. And now I have Rinami, and... His absence is a lot
less painful for a long time now..."

"You have moved on past your pain," Umiato said, "But lest you forget the
true treasure of what once was."

"Of course, Mother." Savarna said as she plucked up a few more gems, "I
will never forget him..." Savarna turned, and nuzzled the Noita. "Thank
you, Mother..."

"Daughter..."

"Without you to guide me... I would be hating him now..."

"I am happy to know this of you." Umiato said as she coddled her daughter,
"If only your Father can see such reason."


~~~


Brishen swims along the ship, until he found a human-built portal. He
looked at the metal-engraved symbols on the top of it, tracing his fingers
along the indented markings.

A R M O R Y

"I wonder if there is such a thing as a translator of human symbolism..."
He pondered as he looked at the letters, baffled.

Anyway, he looks to see the key of the wooden portal -- a round orb of
metal. Not sure if they should be keys though -- these open the portal only
half the time, and the other half of the time, they're stuck and he has to
forcefully knock the doorknob off.

Brishen felt at the round knob, and attempted to turn it, growling as it
stubbornly stayed locked. He took his spear, and jammed it into the rotting
wood of the door. Cranking it harshly, until he was able to carve a jagged
hole into the old portal, and pulled it open.

One of the orbs of light from the Noita hovered behind him, and illuminated
the small room before him. 

"By the depths..." He
mumbled as he flowed the orb into the compartment. Lined in the room, are
many assortments of human blades and spears! "Whoa..." He reached in, and
picked up a dagger with a small antlered land animal engraved into the
hilt.

He put the knife aside, and examined one of a few barrels. He opened it up,
and found that it is full of strange black powder that emits a strong
odor. He scooped up the old, water logged gunpowder, "A choking sand?" He
wondered before capping the old container.

Brishen reached and picked up an old pistol from a shelf holding many of
the same kind of gun. He held the barrel of the pistol, and shook it a
little, "And what are these supposed to be?" His webbed finger found the
trigger of the gun, and pushed it. The strange object clicked, but did
absolutely nothing, "Is this some kind of ornate club?" He waved the pistol
back and forth, "Then what's the hole for?" He said as he looked down the
barrel of the gun, "A poison compartment, maybe?" He mumbled to himself,
"Human objects are either very elaborate, or very pointless." The merman
said shaking his head, as he put the pistol back onto its place on the
rack.


"Theros Brishen! Theros Brishen!" Came a young voice. Brishen turned
around, and swam out of the small room. Two very young mermaids and a
little merman swim up to the green merman. He waved his tail to close the
door to the room of blades, and turned his attention to the young ones.

"What is the trouble?" He asked them. Penina, Brishen's jelliscent mate,
stopped as she swam, and hid aside, smiling as she watched his mate.

"We tried to hunt resting shark, but it destroyed our weapons..." The male
meryin said as they ashamedly held the fragments of their tools.

"I-It tried to eats us too..." Said one of the young mermaids.

"When you try and sneak on a resting creature," Brishen said, "Karma will
mirror upon you-"

"Unless you try and kill it first!" Said the young merman. Brishen sighed
and shook his head.

"I once had such thoughts and strategy," He said as he held his wrist out,
and showing an old, ugly scar he once gained from a nasty attempt at a
cuttlefish when he and Merrick were once as young as these little hunters,
"And it nearly cost me my hand."

The three young ones bowed their heads, looking ashamed, "... We're sorry,
Theros Brishen."

"I wager you are," He said, "As the three of you should know better -- none
of the other members of the pod are hunting at this time, and even then,
you three are still too young to hunt on your own. Remember the rule: We
hunt when the Triton commands it."

"... We..." One of the little mermaids said, "We wanted to make you
proud..."

"You must save your ambitions when we deem you ready," Brishen
continued. He chuckled warmly at them, "When I was younger, I too had a
dangerous taste for adventure, and it nearly almost killed me at every
turn."

"But," The little merman said, "You are so powerful! Nothing can kill you!"
Brishen chuckled at that.

"Not yet, anyway. Now I will keep this from your Mothers and Fathers for
now, but remember the rules -- Again."

"Yes, Theros Brishen." The three youngsters said as they bowed, and swam
away.

Penina smiled as she drifted herself along, and over to Brishen's side,
"Very impressive, my love." Brishen smiled more as he felt his mate's slick
hands upon him.

"It still feels so... Strange... To be a Theros..."

"It is well deserved, Brishen." She said, "You are a prime example of the
pod now."


Recently on the previous year, Brishen has been named by
Kaiken, Umiato, and Denizyr, as a Theros of Hunt of their pod. An uncommon
and respectable member of any pod, a Theros is one who is deemed worthy of
teaching others -- a prime example of honor and trust for the pod.  Meryin
usually learn how to hunt, fight, scavenge, sing, charm, and so forth by
their own parents. However, if any member of the pod is incredibly adept at
a particular skill, the Triton, Noita, and Razirah anoint him as a Theron
in front of the whole pod, where he or she will teach other meryin in that
particular skill.


"I still don't feel so special..." Brishen said, "I just do as I can when I
go to hunt. You should have seen how horrible I was at it when I was
younger. If it wasn't for the former Adra Triton..." Brishen said, "Without
Merrick... I wouldn't have been as fun or great as it is."

Penina turned, and loomed over to the armory, "Wow, you have found a spring
of fortune, my love." She said as the metal edges glinted from the floating
bubble of light.

"Yes," Brishen picked up one of the swords from the racks, "Certainly a
wonderful trove for the arms of the pod."

"I am surprised you simply did not replace those meryin's weapons right
here." She said as she held one of the ironclad spears.

"I was tempted," Brishen said, "I did want to brighten their faces with
these weapons. However, when you reward mischief and mistakes, the value of
teaching suffers."

"Hahaha," The translucent mermaid smiled as she turned Brishen's face by
the cheek, "See? You ARE a Theros." He smiled.

"And just like that, there I go, losing myself, and becoming as smarmy and
talkative as Denizyr. And here I swore I would NEVER become my enemy." He
sighed as he waved the sword a few times, "I think I may even bar them from
lessons for the time being -- lest they get as hasty and reckless as I once
was."

"When we have our own meryin," Penina said, "I cannot wait to see you teach
him..." She said playfully.

"I fear for that, actually," Brishen jested, "If our child is ANYTHING like
me, they will surely be as irresponsible and wild as I was."

"Hahaha, oh Brishen." Penina said as she drifted up and aloft.


~~~


Rinami and Savarna placed each other's hands onto the chest, having closed
it, and the Adra Noita placing a protective seal upon the old trunk. After
the wards were set, the Adra swam casually up, but spotted another shiny
object.

"Ooh," The pearly mermaid swam down, and plucked it up -- it's another one
of those human short blades, a dagger? "Prettyyy..." The blade is short,
and the handle has a pair of bird wings at the hilt, and the handle is
encrusted with small gems, "This is coming with me." She said confirming.

"Hahaha, and what manner of tool is this?" Rinami said as she picked up a
compass -- the drawing type, one that is used to draw perfect
circles. Savarna illuminated it with her hand.

"I do not know..." She said.

"It has sharp points..." The lavender mermaid said. She tried holding it
like Savarna was holding her new dagger, but the tool still looks strange,
"I do not think it is used for killing..."

"I say keep it anyway," The Adra said, "Maybe we'll find a use for it
later."

Rinami nodded as she tucked the tool into her pouch, and the two of them
swam out of the old office.


~~~


As the whole pod wandered and searched the ship, Triton Kaiken stayed out,
keeping his keen eyes on the broad, open ocean. Everyone seems so content
these days. Everyone in the pod enjoy their lives, just as they always
have.

It really is as if Adra Merrick has never existed. Have they not realized
that a vital part of them has been lost for so long? Do they not realize
what that means? No Adra Triton...

Umiato gracefully swam up from below the deck. She spots the lone Triton
afloat above the ship. She drifts herself up, and came behind her mate,
"Why are you alone, Kaiken? Join us, we have found much in the dead
vessel."

"I would rather not at this moment..." He answered, "I feel I must be
alone..."

Umiato persisted. She swam around Kaiken, and moved his face to look at
hers, "You, are very troubled, my love..." He stubbornly pushed his face
away from her, and turned aside.

"I am content, Umiato." He said, "I merely prefer to be by myself..."

"Kaiken." Umiato swam around him again, "You are severely imbalanced
inside... I understand why-"

"Stop..." He said, giving his love a glare.

"Do not take me lightly, Kaiken." Umiato said sternly. Kaiken growled
silently at her, "I can feel the pod at peace with themselves, yet you are
the only one with a storm inside of you." Kaiken growled lowly, "You insist
that he does not exist anymore, yet since he has disappeared, the anger
inside of your soul has not diminished."

"I do not wish to speak of it." He said dismissively, "Please leave me be."

Umiato paused from those words "... You know that is the problem."

"I no longer have a Son, Umiato." He said, "He chose his own fate, he chose
to leave us behind."

"He did not, Kaiken." Umiato swiftly moved herself around, and placed her
hands firmly upon his shoulders, "He fell in love with a human male so long
ago. That was not his fault." His sapphire eyes stayed begrudgingly locked
into her platinum eyes, "Even if he chose not to reveal his second crime,
eventually, he would not be able to succeed the pod, as he would have not
found a mermaid to be the Noita."

"... I know this." He said. Kaiken moved away from her again, and faced the
open ocean once more, "... I realize that it would come to pass, even if he
stayed with us..."

"Then why, Kaiken?" She asked, "Why do you still hold such contempt? Why do
you still claim that he no longer exist?"

A tiny, white wisp came from Kaiken's eye as he closed them, "We have lost
more than a vital part of the pod, my love. He was more than our Son,
Umiato." He took a deep breath, "He was my legacy. He was a part of my
soul..." The Noita swam up to behind him, "He constantly showed me so much
promise as a Triton. Even as a meryin, our Son was perfect, from the sun he
was born -- he attained the best traits of both you and I. As I said once
before, he is everything an Adra Triton should aspire to be. Everytime I
looked at him, I knew he could be trusted to take over from me...

"And now..." His fist clenched, "When I think of the reality that he is
gone forever... I cannot accept it... All of my hopes and time I had for
that merman... Gone..."

"It will be alright, my love..." The Noita said calmly.

"You know as well as I do... He is the only Son we can ever have..."

"Even so," Umiato persisted, "Even with our Son exiled, when Daughter falls
in love with a merman, he will become a Triton. And when it is time, her
love will succeed the pod."

Kaiken sighed and shook his head, "Must I trust my pod in the hands of an
unknown? A merman who I have never met... Leading my pod..."

The Triton's gills twitched, before he looked up. An extremely large object
growls on the surface as it moves. Umiato can feel an abundance of auras
inside the large, metal space.

"A human ship." Kaiken said with distaste.

"A live one as well." Umiato added.

"It is fortunate that we are moving the opposite direction," The merman
turned around, and moved downward, "However, I will allow us to rest in the
dead ship for the eve."

"Yes." She nodded as they both descended. Within an hour, the ship would
have cleared the area.


Once down inside of the sunken ship, Kaiken continued to look out into the
open ocean. It has been a few years since the exile of his son, Adra
Merrick. Merfolk belong in the ocean, and on a normal scale, a merman or
mermaid are physically unable to live on the land for more than 14 suns, or
else they will suffer and die.

Out in the distance, Kaiken can now make out a disturbing image. A hybrid
creature of a purple goat, slowly move its wide flippers and waving its
tail up and down, with what looked like an Holsien sea turtle mermaid
holding onto it. His very sharp eyes can see a distinct black marking on
her arm.

"A Coshiton..." Umiato mumbled as she kept by his side, being able to see
the residual energy that always looms in the mark.

"Yet another merciful death..." Kaiken muttered. "Umiato... Despite
everything else, I truly fear for him..." The Capricorn and mermaid slowly
fade away into the deep, dark blue, "On land, any merfolk will dry up and
perish for more than 14 suns. And yet in the sea, a Coshiton can meet a
calm end if it stays in the ocean..."

"You know there are places of water that a merperson can go if they so need
to." She withholds the notion of her dear friend, Atarah, a human who lives
in a healthy river, just open for their son... "Our Son is clever, my
love. He would have found other ways to stay alive..."

"Hmm..." The Capricorn and mermaid had disappeared, "Either way... He is
trapped..." He lowly responded. It's almost time for the pod to take rest.

"..." Umiato sighed sadly, "I am going to tend to Daughter." With that, she
drifted off and away.

`...' Kaiken closed his eyes, and put his fist to his chest, `O Wise and
Shining Sea Mother Atargatis...' He prayed, `Hear my soul and the resonance
of my heart...' He breathed deeply, `Watch over my Son...'

`If he yet lives... Protect him, and give him happiness...'


~=~=~


"Wa-HOOOO!" Merrick cheered along with the other guys in the party.

`I can't believe I'm doing this...' Adam thought as his hips swerved and
grooved, wearing only some tight blue briefs with white trims on it. He is
dancing in a Gogo cage, during a rocking Boy's Night party -- first night
of the gay cruise, it's all men in the lobby.

"YEAH!" Jamal hooted, "Shake it baby!" He roared at Nick, who is also in
one of the stripper cages, wearing a shiny black thong.

`He looks a little too good at this...' Adam thought as he looked over at
Nick. That Latino looks like he's having the time of his life, grinning and
playfully shaking his ass for the pervy guys.

Adam's hands moved down, and pumped his hips as he moved his hands up his
own thighs, before holding the back of his head and twirling his pelvis
around. Merrick volunteered Adam to be one of the Gogo boys for the second
half of the Boy's Night party -- and by that, he had Jamal write Adam's
name on the sign-up sheet.

Merrick's eyes dazzled as he watched Adam's body dance to the music -- a
male singer called Chris Salvatore. Adam, on the other hand, feels very
embarrassed to be on display here -- exposing himself by dancing in undies
in front of a bunch of horny men around. He's almost too sheepish to dance,
where it not some damn good music playing here.

`I swear, Merrick SOOO owes me a rimjob.' Adam vindictively thought as he
moved suggestively to the rhythm of the music.

"I LOVE YOU, ADAAAAM~!" Merrick hollered as his boyfriend danced nonstop.


The cruise ship sailed on through the ocean, in the middle of the night,
unaware of having moved right past a sunken vessel.