Off The Coasts Of Ireland (Septiplier)

~ Chapter 2 ~

A surge of bubbles formed and rose around me as I dived deeper down to the sea floor. The water coursed around me and flashes of cod and trout swam by me as I swam furiously down. The blue abyss below slowly revealed sand covered in seaweed, I reared up just before I touched the tangle of seaweed and swiftly swam over the forest. Groups of fish spurted out of the long reeds as I quickly flew past them. A giant patch of kelp laid in front of me with rocks piercing the water and looming above the bed. I picked up speed and flapped my tail harder. I rose over a miniature rock wall and dipped back into the gorge. I drifted over the kelp and cleanly dodged the algae-covered rocks, the water roared in my ears as flurries of mottled coloured fish quickly avoided me. A lobster on a hidden rock rose its claw and tired to snap at me but I turned quickly and flanked a cliff siding of coral. Bits of kelp and water particles brushed against me and patches of sea urchins poked me slightly as I kept myself determined to find the shiny object. I dove under a small rock arch and wove myself between pillars of rock coated in coral and engulfed in long trendles of green and orange kelp.

The light flickered in my eyes once more and the determination in me blossomed even more. I'm getting closer! I dived out of the torrent and gently swam along the flat rocks. The sudden absence of rushing water against my gills startled me for a mere second but I quickly regained. I propelled myself closer to the ocean bed and gazed across the sea. I stared puzzled at the many rock outcrops in the distance and inspected each one mentally, where is the arched one? Suddenly in the far right distance, I see the silhouette of the familiar rock. There is it! I pushed myself over a sandy rock and swam directly over toward the rock. Fields of kelp surrounded the rock, I hovered over the patches of kelp and parted each one with my hands. I stirred the sand beds to see if they revealed the mystery object but none seemed to have it.

My temper grew as I batted myself in the head and shook my head angerly. "Where is it?!" I crossed my arms and pouted in annoyance. A glimmer of light caught my eye and I looked down towards a small humped rock covered in urchins surrounded by rows of kelp. I swam over to it and realized the kelp was knotted together, it must have gotten twisted together by the rough currents... I ripped strands of kelp away and suddenly the kelp parted from each other and displayed the object. "Ahh!"

The shine coming off it was unbearable as I instantly threw my head back and covered my eyes, I reluctantly reached down with one hand and felt for the object. I touched sand multiple times till my hand rested on something hard and bumpy. I pulled it out of the sun and finally, I opened both of my eyes to have them rest upon the object. It was long and narrow and had a long pole coming off it and a small brown base with a silver crank. A long, thin string ran across the pole and at the end had a shiny hook. I suddenly jumped and threw the object to the ground in terror as I realized it was a fishing rod!

Fishermen must have been near! I have only seen these from papers from bottles that showed these rods hooking fish through their mouths. I gagged just thinking about the feeling of a metal hook jabbed through the roof of my mouth. I shook my head, trying to clear my head from the awful picture.

Suddenly a giant rush of silver fish flew past me and knocked me off my balance. I was tossed side to side as I was able to see the shimmering scales of salmon and herring. The large group of them threw me around as I tumbled inside the school. I wasn't able to stop the twisting and turning as the stream of fish kept surging around me. I struggled blindly as I felt my tail tossed and slapped against me countless times. The continuous spinning started to make me dizzy and I started to panic, the fish started to group closer and closer to me until they where actually rubbing fully along my body. The spinning stopped abruptly and fish flapped uncontrollably around me and I felt suddenly claustrophobic. Through the tangle of fish I saw brown netting, the sea lowering and a huge splash erupted around us and I realized we were out of the water!

The fish started to heave harshly as I was trapped under pounds of fish. I shimmied my way up through the slippery, spazzing bodies of salmon and herring and reached the top of the pile. I heaved myself on top of the pile of fish, I looked around me and a brown net surrounded the top. I looked down and saw that I was hovered meters above the sea and a boat with a couple of humans in long coats rocked on the waves. I was captured in a fishermen's net!

From below, the fishermen howled in laughter and shanty. "Aww, by Jaysus! Look at all the salmon and herring we got today, laddies!" The fishermen pranced along the boat's deck as one stood close to a crank and reeled it, suddenly the net shook and started to move closer to the deck. As the net got closer and closer, some of the fishermen scratched their long breads and pointed toward me.

"Hey that's that right there, Aengus?" A fishermen slapped his companion on the shoulder and brought his attention up to me. He stared at me is disbelief and waved his hands in shock. "Oh Lochlan! That can't really be a merman?" Lochlan shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, "I haven't got a clue!"

Another fisherman who over heard them, walked up and squinted as he got a good at me, I suddenly felt exposed. "Lads! That's a merman all right! Bring the catch down and we'll get a good look at the ol' lad! Oh this is grand! I can't believe we found one!" They cheered and threw their fishing hats in the air as their caterwauling rang through the open sea.

The lack of water and the sun starting to parch me caused me to flop on the newly dead fish as I started to loose conceiousness.