Stitches had decided to swim to an area that bordered her territory, a coral reef. She had caught a glimpse of a pink and purple tailed mer around here. As she swam further in, she heard cries. Swimming toward the sound, she saw the mer tangled in a net. "Wh-what? Leave me alone!" They cried. "Calm down," she said and swam closer. She used her sharp claws to cut the net off them. "Th-thanks." They said. "You're welcome. My name's Stitches." She told them. "I'm Hearts." He said. "Nice territory," she said. He tensed slightly at her comment and said, "Thanks, it belongs to me and my brother." Noticing Hearts's tension, she said, "Don't worry, I have no interest in taking over your territory. My own is large enough and borders yours." Hearts eye widen and he says, "You're the one who has the territory around the islands?" "Yep." She says, popping the p.
(Picture below shows their territories, Red is Stitches territory, Pink is Hearts and his brother's territory. )
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"Do you share your territory with a pod or a family or a mate?" Hearts asked, as it wasn't a common practice for lone mers to claim large territories unless leviathans or powerful sirens. "No, I used to share with my brother, but he joined a migrating pod. They visit sometimes." Stitches said. "Really? Isn't it hard to have a territory that big?" Asked Hearts. "Nah, you know that not a lot of mers live in this area and not a lot of mers are willing to challenge a siren anyway." She said. "You're a siren?!" Hearts choked. "Yeah. My mom was a siren and my dad was a mer. I got the siren genetics and my brother got the mer genetics." She said. Now, looking closer at her, Hearts could see the siren characteristics, like the subtle differences in the tail and fangs, her claws webbing, and the fins all over her body. "You... won't attack, right?" He asked. "No, if I wanted to hurt you, I would have done it while you were in the net." She said.
Hearts began showing her around his territory. Then, they saw another mer swimming around. "Not this guy again." Hearts groaned. "What do you mean?" She asked. "He's a young adult mer who separated from his pod to claim a territory and has been bothering me and my bro." Said Hearts. Looking at the mer, Stitches noted their top half was that of a dog monster and the bottom a dog fish. Hearts began moving towards the mer to drive him off, but Stitches stopped him. "Allow me," she said.
Stitches swam so she was behind the mer. "Hey wimps, I challenge you for control of this territory!" He yelled. "Excuse me, but I heard you've been giving my friend trouble." She said, her tone menacing. The mer turned and was met with Stitches, fully displaying her siren side as a sign of warning. "I-I-I'm sorry!" He squeaked and swam off.
"Wow," said Hearts, swimming over. "Like I said, most mers aren't willing to tangle with a siren. He probably didn't even realize there was a siren in the area." She said. "Heh, I imagine not. I've lived here years and didn't realize you were a siren." Said Hearts. Hearts continued to show her around.
"By the way, where's your brother?" She asked. "Oh, he went out to explore some. He'll be back tomorrow." Hearts said. Stitches noticed how late it was getting and said, "I should start heading back." "Wait, before you go, take this as a thank you." Said Hearts. He handed her a bright pink piece of coral. "Heh, it's not the best gift, but I didn't know what else to get." Said Hearts. "It's great. It's nice to have a new friend." She said. "Yeah," Hearts agreed.
A/N: Hearts is actually a unlust sans. The other mer that was intruding wasn't really based on anything
