SBI Oneshots

Mermaid AU Again But Different (1)

      Tubbo's eyes glistened in the newly discovered sunlight, warmth radiating through his body as he wandered closer to the surface. His tail moved back and forth, sending him forward with every motion, closer to the new world that awaited him.

      With a gasp for air, Tubbo reached the surface, his first time breathing in oxygen and oxygen only making him take a deep breath of the new atmosphere. His throat felt dry at the feeling, not used to breathing anything other than water.

      "Hello?" He called out. There were no humans around, but that was expected since there was no land in sight. It was only water, the ocean floor being hundreds of meters down in the darkness.

      His skin felt on fire, the usual pale color quickly turning to light pink. The big bright ball above him hurt his eyes to look at, and apparently, it hurt to feel as well. With one final breath, Tubbo dove back into the salty water, cooling his body and moisturizing his throat.

      He furrowed his eyebrows. Having no idea where he was and the fact that nobody was around to help made him frustrated. Not only that, but the new environment felt strange. Tubbo couldn't even bear to be in it for more than 10 seconds before his shoulders and arms started to blister.

      With a sigh, he kept swimming, sticking as close as possible to the surface so he could spot anything floating in the water. Which, eventually, he did.

      It was an odd thing, something made out of a material unknown to him. It looked like one of the huge things that sat at the bottom of the sea, except newer. Inside it sat four humans, all laughing and talking with each other without a care in the world. A couple of them had those sharp bottles that Tubbo found a couple of years ago, except they were not broken and sharp. Weird.

      "Hello?" He called again, breaking the surface of the water to give a friendly smile and wave.

      The humans in the boat turned to look at him, their features showing a look of pure disbelief and curiosity. One of them glanced to the bottle in their hand, then back and Tubbo, then back at the bottle again. They mumbled something, but Tubbo didn't quite catch it.

      "Um... Do you know where the city of Metsi is? My dad said that it's in an ocean you call the... specific ocean? No wait, not specific... Pacific? Is that it? I don't know, I think that's it. Do you know how to get there?"

      All four only stared, as if they were thinking deeply about something rather than responding.

      "Are you a mermaid?" The tall blonde one eventually said, being the one to break the silence.

      Tubbo raised an eyebrow. "Is that what you call us? My mum said that you guys call us 'fish', but maybe she was wrong." He rubbed his chin, starting to rethink some of the stuff his mother had told him. His skin burned like a rash when did that though, causing him to yelp and dive back down into the safety of the water.

      The four went to the edge of the boat, leaning over it to watch as Tubbo swam around, trying to rub off the pain. It worked a little, though his shoulders were still sensitive to the touch.

       With one more calming breath, he went to the surface again, only poking his head out enough so he could talk. "Why does it hurt to be out here for too long? My skin feels just like it does when I swim too close to a volcano."

      Two of the humans glanced up to the shiny ball that hurt Tubbo's eyes, squinting. "Well, that up there is called the 'sun.' It gives off heat and keeps us warm. I guess if you don't live your whole life feeling it, it burns you much quicker."