Mermen in Melbourne

The Consequence

Austin arrived back at his own Teach in no hurry. He was a little stunned at how kind the Seth was, compared to everyone he'd met so far. Even Tanner didn't seem as selfless as the other boy, and that's saying something.

"Ausy! You're home!" Tanner called, racing down the hallway and flinging Austin into a hug. Austin took a deep breath, narrowly avoiding having the wind knocked out of him.

"Nice to see you too, Tan."

"Austin. I see you've come home empty handed," Russell said, and Tanner pulled away.

"Yeah. I couldn't see a thing- it was kinda hard to hunt, nevertheless swim," Austin said.

"Austin. Use echolocation," Russell said, his voice heightened as if he was talking to a toddler.

"Echolocation? What, like bats? I can't do that," Austin said.

"Have you even tried?" Russell said, his tone still heightened. Austin shook his head. "Well, that answers that question. What did you do all night, sit around and stare into the darkness? Come on, the Teach is waiting for a FR. Follow me."

Austin followed, nodding. Tanner swam behind Austin. "Any chance you know what FR stands for?" Austin said.

"First Report. Your first hunt with a Teach is documented. Usually recruiters, in our case Wyatt, record the happenings in a notebook." Tanner said.

"You have notebooks underwater?" Austin asked. That seemed weird and sort of impossible.

"Sure we do. You have them above water?" Tanner asked.

"Yeah, but we don't have problems with dissolving paper either."

The whole Teach was gathered in what seemed to be the den, (well, the whole Teach except for Trent, but, you know,) sitting along the floor. Wyatt held what looked like a yellowing paper notebook, which was oddly not disintegrating. Austin just shook his head. He wasn't going to question it any further. He also had a red ballpoint pen in his left hand, and he was twiddling it with what seemed like lack of motivation.

"So, Aus. How did your hunt go?" Wyatt said, the usual smile gone from his face. Austin thought he knew why.

"Um, it was okay. Rather uneventful," Austin said.

"Most FRs are," Isaac claimed. He rolled back from his sitting position and layed down on the floor with a yawn.

"Anyway, I could use a play by play, if you will," Wyatt said. Austin nodded, sitting down next to Mason on the floor.

"Okay. So. I basically stood watching the sunset until it was dark, then I sat in the dark contemplating how I'm surviving without balls," Austin said. That last part was supposed to be a joke, but no one laughed. "Right. Anyways. This guy, Seth, comes up to me in the dark."

"Seth?" Mason asked suddenly.

"Seth who? Was it Seth Garcia? It is incredibly vital you tell me who this 'Seth' is," Tanner said, sitting next to Austin with a thud. Austin cocked an eyebrow. Tanner was usually so graceful- a movement this sharp must mean something.

"Uh, he didn't say," Austin said. "Anyways, I was totally scared he was gonna kill me, at first, but he pulled out a flashlight and we sat down and swapped stories. It was a little domestic, but you know, I haven't really had a chance at domestic in a while now," Austin said.

"You swapped stories? Stories of what, exactly?" Wyatt asked.

"Oh, uh, he was a Taurus, and he was telling me about his journeys above land and stuff. That and his Teach."

"Austin. Do you remember who was in his Teach?" Tanner said. The urgency in his voice confused Austin a little bit.

"Yeah. There was only three guys, I think, a Gemini and two Sagittariuses. Gavin, Blake, and Mac I think. Or was it Matt? Yeah, it was Matt." Austin said, shrugging. "There small number makes them a target for bigger groups. Actually, I think he said you guys were after them."

Austin glanced over at Tanner, and was surprised to see the other boy with clenched teeth, his face gone red. "Tan? You alright?"

"Us? After them? How dare he say that. How dare he," Tanner said.

"Uh," Austin stuttered.

"Tanner, it is okay. Calm down. We will find them, before it is too late," Mason said, smiling small.

"But it is not okay, Mason. They pillaged my family. They killed... they killed him," Tanner said.

"I know. We know, Tan. But please, do not worry. This time, we are prepared. We know they are coming," Mason said, resting a hand on Tanner's shoulder. Austin eyed the two of them, before glancing around the room. Ian sat in the corner, eyes drifting around lazily. Isaac was laid down, staring at Mason and Tanner. Russell looked somber, eyes not parting from the ground. It was becoming obvious that Austin was the only one without a clue what was going on.

"Okay guys, I am seriously lost," Austin said, looking again to Russell. Russell usually knew what was up.

"Long story short, you just set one of the most dangerous Teaches in the Pacific Ocean after us. Short story long, Gavin Robinson and his collection of mermen have been hunting weak Teaches for decades now. Tanner's old Teach is a relic of that. After Seth Garcia saw you, alone and helpless, you became a target. They are going to come tonight. They always do. We just need to be ready," Russell said. Wyatt nodded stoically.

"Hell yeah we need to be ready," Tanner spit, standing up. "These barbarians took all I had. They ransacked my family, terrorised us, and killed Oliver. They..." Tanner trailed off with a sigh. "We need to fight. We need to fucking fight. We can't let this happen again. Never again."