Hook, Line & Sinking (Completed)

17: Struggle

Mariana and Clara announced they were ready to head home and anyone who wanted could join them on the boat. There was a look on their faces that told me they highly advised that I do so and I was about to say yes when Gavin called out. "Come on no merfolk worth his salt will sit in a boat if you can swim!"

I wanted to interject then to tell that I didn't care, I was a new mermaid anyway but the oldest Corenth talked right over me. "I'm swimming back, in fact why don't you join me right now Thomas?" The oldest McLaren man exchanged a look with his wife, who nodded, and then Thomas and Clayton quietly slipped out of the cave and swam off.

Deciding I'd just go I was about to hoist myself out of the water to make it clear I wasn't swimming when Dave grabbed my arm underwater and held on. In a panic I sought out Matt and saw that Gavin and Clay were physically pushing him to the exit, telling him they wanted to race. Orly and Josh were already swimming out together too so no help there. Did they think if they paired off with them I'd be safe? Or where they all expecting me to ride with Mariana?

"Let go!" I yanked on my arm to get free and raised my voice further to call out for help. Just then Matt and the two Corenth brothers who'd been herding him out submerged and disappeared. Dev then popped up on my other side and asked me if I wanted to swim or ride on the boat and Dave spoke over me immediately that I'd already agreed to swim with him.

I was worried about Matt now though, I knew he'd never willingly leave me, he'd never let those two guys herd him away from me. Dev looked unsure but when I impulsively nodded he waved at Mariana and Clara and Dave finally let go of my wrist. I dove immediately, heading out of the Moonfell and in pursuit of Matt.

Behind me, Dev and George followed with Dave who seemed the ringleader in all of this. I didn't like having two strangers on my tail but when I got out of the cave I saw that Matt had doubled back and was heading straight for me, the other two chasing him. It was hard to tell if they thought it was a game or if they had given up pretense and were really pushing Matt. Josh and Orly were still waiting outside the cave too so suddenly it was the whole group of us again

Matt swooped in and nearly collided with me but I let him circle around me, kind of like a sniffing dog and then at his gesture started swimming in the direction of home. Instead of me shadowing him closely like we'd done on the way to the Moonfell, now he was shadowing me, it made swimming a little harder but I could understand how he wanted to keep me in his sights.

Not even two minutes after we'd set out I caught Dev and George shooting past, the two darting around each other and half wrestling. I lost sight of them pretty quick since we were still in the reef but I figured Dev would be fine on his own, he knew this place really well. I was setting the pace for everyone so I had to look over my shoulder to see who was still with us and when I did I was surprised to notice that somehow Josh, Orly and Dave had disappeared.

Matt's hand was on the small of my back then, pushing me forward and a look at his face told me he was incredibly worried. He wanted me to push for speed but the currents were pretty strong today and I'd slept badly so I was really tired. Matt's fault since I'd lain awake tossing and turning while I tried to analyze his behavior since his return.

I pushed alright but we hadn't even hit my first breathing moment yet and I usually needed three of those before we reached the McLaren home beach. One moment Matt's hand was still on me, helping to propel me through the water, the next he was gone. I caught him rolling through the water with Clay who was easily the biggest of the three brothers. Then the next moment Gavin, the oldest had me around the waist and was towing me away.

I fought him, clawing at his chest and arm and trashing my tail as hard as I could to get away but I was nowhere near as experienced in the water as he was. Besides that, they'd timed the attack well, I was nearly out of air and as long as he held me I couldn't go up for it. My fighting was only making me lose oxygen quicker. In fact, I was starting to feel rather faint.