The Fine Thread

1

" A legend spins, like a fine spool of thread. 'Never go to the water at night, the Sirens will take you.' The old folks say. Sirens, a rare sight, rumor has it that 3 live in the Mooned Lagoon that center's the village. Nobody has ever seen these Sirens, the water always cloudy and seeming to be covered with a thick sheet of mist. But once in a full moon, the mist would disappear, the water as clear as the finest glass, just to reveal beautiful shines of treasures and the scales of the infamous Sirens, but nobody has ever seen them while the water was clear. Soft songs can be heard in the dead of night, 'If you leave your house when they sing, you will never be seen again.' Of course, these are simply stories, nothing to be scared of." Daichi says with a chuckle, closing the old looking book.

"Yea that sounds like bullshit." Tsukishima says, staring at the fishhook slinged around his finger.

"Still, it's an interesting story." Noya chirps up, grabbing the anchor from the dock. Tsukishima, Daichi and Nishinoya were the sons of Siren hunters, being the first of many generations to not believe in the legends told by their elders. The 3 of them wanted to prove a point to the old, superstitious men that persistently scolded them for running off to the lagoon. In the village, it wasn't so much of a lagoon, but more of a sea that stretched for miles. However, the locals call it a lagoon, because of the relative size of the only calm waters in it, making it seem like a part of the sea was calm, like the most pleasant lagoon.

"Still, this seems like stupid legend. It's just mist over the lagoon. Not some curse." Tsukishima says, getting up from the crate he was sitting on to help Daichi load the proper safety equipment.

"Yea but this is the first time our dads let us out on our own past sunset. This trip should be real fun." Daichi says, loading the last bit of their packed food into the boat.

"It's just a shame the others couldn't tag along." Noya says, hopping onto the boat.

"Would've made this trip more tolerable." Tsukishima scoffs, climbing into the boat.

"Hey I'm not that bad!" Noya protests.

"You're not that bad, just way too loud Noya." Daichi says, grabbing the dock rope off and hopping in before Tsukishima hoists the sails, starting to sail off into the lagoon.

"Sugawara-senpai!" Hinata calls, swimming quickly over towards the grey haired merman. Suga looks up from combing out Asahi's long hair, to see what the excitable ginger found.

"Yes Hinata?" Asahi asks, turning around. Hinata starts scrounging around his waist belt, trying to find the pocket he put whatever he wanted to show the 2 older mermen.

"What did you find, Shoyo?" Suga asks, finishing combing out Asahi's hair and starting to braid it behind him. Hinata finally finds the satchel that was attached to one of his many strings and belts. Hinata opens the small bag, pulling out 3 human coins that he found on the lagoon's shore.

"I found human coins!" Hinata says, smiling and holding them in his hands. All 3 of the mermen look curiously at the 3 bronze coins, studying them carefully.

"Well since I found 3.. We can all have one!" Hinata exclaims, putting one in Suga and Asahi's hands.

"Oh thank you Hinata, that's very sweet." Asahi says.

"Of course! Why not share what we have down here?" Hinata says with his trademark smile. Sugawara and Asahi had been living at the bottom of the Mooned Lagoon for 10 years, fleeing when their old homes were raided by Siren hunters, who thought the peaceful mermaids were dangerous Sirens. At the time that happened, both boys we're only 8, and years later, when the boys we're 13, another, smaller merman escaped to the lagoon, having been chased there by Siren hunters and seeking refuge. The 2 boys, not wanting to leave the scared merman by himself, took him as a brother, sharing their food and knowledge of the area in the lagoon. The 3 lived together, harvesting seaweed and catching small fish to eat and living together for the past 5 years. Suga and Asahi are now 18, while Hinata is just 15.

Sugawara has a beautiful silver tail that glimmers like the moon at the bottom of the crystal clear waters. His tail curves and spins easier than either Hinata's or Asahi's, making Suga love to swim around and fan out his tail. Asahi's tail is much smoother than Suga's or Hinata's being a vibrant blue and by far the largest of all of them. While Asahi didn't have any of the pretty feathering fins that Suga and Hinata had, his was powerful, and he was able to get the quickest head start to any race the other 2 started. Hinata has a bright orange tail that beamed like the sun when hit with any light. Hinata's tail was speckled with dots of white and red, making his tail resemble that of a koi fish, Hinata had far more feathered bits than Suga, having just a big feathered section between where his tail split, as well as having feathered strips that flowed behind him. Between the 3 of them, Hinata was the fastest, just purely on stamina and not based on fin power.

"Hinata! Why don't we add these onto our necklaces?" Suga suggests examining the coins.

"I think that is a great idea Suga." Asahi says, finally getting the last of his hair braided behind him. Hinata nods in agreement, swimming off to find a sharp, small object to pierce the coins. All 3 boys wore fine thread and jewelry around their neck and waists, serving as storage when they can't carry anything else in their hands. The 3 put many trinkets, charms and other nicknacks on the belts and necklaces, just for fun and as a sign of the brotherhood they hold together. Hinata finally finds a thin sharp object that can pierce the coins with enough effort, a needle like object that they could use later as well. He swims back over quickly, just to see Asahi and Suga taking off their necklaces to add the new trinket. Hinata takes off his own necklace, handing Asahi the needle first.

"1..2..3!" Suga counts down, at 3, Asahi brings the needle-like object down onto the coin, making a hole straight through it.

"Oh wow that was easier than I expected." Asahi says, picking up the coin and inspecting it. Suga takes the needle, and after counting down for himself, stabs straight through the coin as well before Hinata does the same. Asahi strings the coin onto his necklace before putting it back on, Suga and Hinata following soon after. Hinata looks around confused, seeing the water around him get darker.

"Is there a boat?" Hinata asks, looking up at the clouded top layer of water.

"I think so... It's much darker than it should be." Suga responds, also looking up.

"Why don't we go check it out?" Asahi proposes, looking up at the newly formed shadow above them. The other boys nod, as they race to the surface of the water.