Of Land and Sea

Stranger Tides

Searing pain coursed through Elliott's tail as he continued his long swim to land, the waves helping only so much. He could still feel the pulsing where the bite was, the warmth of the blood oozing out. A weakness was trying to force its way through his body, drain him of any strength he had left. Breathless, tired, willing to just give up and let the waters carry him off to where it desired.

The adrenaline from earlier now left a fatigue that touched even his soul, left his eyes clouded over and his mind only barely aware. But even in his hazy state, he still held the awareness of a weight to his side, in just as disoriented of a state as he was. The human that he had saved from a doom no doubt his fellows scavengers had met; at least, that's all Elliott could assume. He lost track, the chaos too sudden, and the blood too thick to tell. One may have survived, but there was no doubt in his mind one had perished. As was the dangers of life in the sea.

And Elliott, he feared, felt like he would be joining his fellow scavenger. His body felt more and more like lead, the weight of the human becoming almost too much for him to bare. As his body calmed from the intense moment, the more he came to realize his state. His tail had been bit, not just a light graze, but deep to the bone. The bleeding was heavy, the cold waters not helping to slow it down at all. He could feel the once pounding pulse feel like a sputter in comparison, the excitement and determination just moments before take leave to a dark acceptance.

Finally, Elliott couldn't take it any longer, having to pause as his eyes lidded. He could feel it, his grip slipping away from the human, his body growing so heavy he was sure to sink. As the world around him felt so cold, a darkness began to swallow him up, blinding him in a matter of seconds.

"May the waters cleanse my body, return me as one to itself..." Elliott prayed to the sea, ready to accept his fate as he could feel his grip completely release from the weight to his side.

Yet as he waited to feel his body sink down into the deep, to drift until he was no longer corporeal, he swore, he could feel as if the waters were rising him once more. His body was so stiff, but he could feel movement on his gills. The waves no longer felt against him, pushing him forward as something held onto him. As something guided him, lead him away even as the darkness loomed over his thoughts...

"Don't worry son, I've got you," was all he heard before silence overtook his mind.

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Elliott wasn't expecting much else to happen now. He had assumed the worst, that he had succumbed to his injuries and now his consciousness laid within a corpse, waiting to be one with the water. He expected darkness from now on, a quiet so deafening not even a click could make a sound. He expected an emptiness, a lack of any feeling, other than the awareness that he had perished, no more was he to wander the sea.

Instead, light began to fill his vision once more, practically blinding him as it shined so intensely. Instead he could feel a dull ache pulse through his body, especially down in his tail region. Instead, he felt shock, amazement pour through him. He was alive, somehow he was alive, and never had he been more thankful for the pain he felt in his life.

But as his eyes groggily blinked open, a striking thought hit him as if it were the barracudas again. The realization that he had blacked out with the human in tow, that he more than likely was lost to the sea as the merman lost his own senses. With this, a deep sorrow coursed through him now, replacing the euphoric feelings with those of mourning. Not only for his people, who passed in their line of duty, but for the human who seemed like a rare occurrence to the world.

As Elliott's eyes finally opened up, at least part ways to allow him some sight, the light that so brightly shone revealed itself as an orb coming from a mysterious black object, unlike anything Elliott had ever seen before. He could tell that someone, or something, was holding the object, hovering over him in a manner that would've concerned him, had he been in a more clearer state. But instead he simply hissed, turning his head away from the painful light.