Hearts Still Bleed Underwater (G/T)

1

Author's Note x2: I can't seem to get rid of these random spaces between the paragraphs, no matter how many times i re-edit and save the story *slams head against table* so this is the best i can give. i really dont know why it does this it bugs me so much

____________________

Cory narrowed his eyes, glaring out into the vast open waters from the small cave he called home. The water felt undisturbed, suspiciously so, but a quick glance upwards told him all that he needed to know. 

Spotting the top of the water was an array of human vessels, roaming about the surface with their noisy metal contraptions. The vibrations drove any nearby schools of fish far away, with fewer and fewer coming back to their spawnpoint every year. Needless to say, hunting was getting difficult, and was damn near impossible on days like this.

Most merfolk would just follow the schools’ migration to farther waters, and continue hunting there.

But any rational merfolk could see that this part of the ocean was dying and so were its inhabitants. 

The surface wasn’t the only part of the ocean that humans polluted. More than once before Cory had to reluctantly change homes due to the water condition in the surrounding area; It seemed they deemed his kin’s territory their dumping grounds, draining toxins into the water and throwing whatever wasn’t wanted over the sides of their boats. For a while the shiny things that drifted to the ocean floor had interested him, but even that just became more of their clutter. They were disruptive, loud, dirty, and in no way deserved anything more than a grimace from the mer.

If he saw one drowning, he would not save it.

He had a heart, of course, but over time it had blackened like the oil that they spilled beneath the waves.

Pushing the thoughts from his head he carefully pressed on through the corals, towards the deeper, open waters. He was by no means the smallest mer to roam the reefs, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have to watch his back. He’s seen shadows of those much bigger than him passing by overhead, seen hands as big as ships reach out of the deep blue to snatch those who got too close.

He knows that he’s not the scariest thing down here by far, but that doesn’t stop a small burst of pride from creeping in under his skin and spreading a menacing smile across his face at the sights of the smaller marine life ducking away from him at any given chance. But unfortunately, a sense of power could not fill one’s stomach. The mer’s grin faded as his stomach growled something fierce, an extra warning sign to anything close enough to hear it. He flicked his light green tail in agitation, gaining speed as he reached the edge of the reef.

With bated breath he prayed that he would find something easy, some small fish lazy or stupid enough to just wander into his idle jaws. But as the coral and vegetation began to thin, revealing to him the sandy ocean floor, his hope for a low-effort meal steadily faded.

Much like his stomach, it was empty. Truly, utterly, empty.

Not a school of fish in sight, not a single crab scuttling around without a care in it’s world. Even the most active currents remained unridden by fin - his grimace turned into a deep scowl. His home was dying once more, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Nervously Cory looked around, hoping that maybe the absence of life was just thanks to a much larger predator in the area. If it was, then he could sit out their passage and wait for the seabed to return to life as normal.