The Tail Of Taekook

7 - Siren's Song

Our first experience of siren duty starts the day after we first meet Jimin.

It's not something I'm looking forward to, even though it's supposed to be some 'grand honour'.

Tae and I are woken up by Jin and Namjoon a few hours before dawn, my mother's worried figure appearing from her room as she realises where we're going, what we're about to do. She doesn't speak, doesn't comment on it, as she knows that we don't have a choice.

But she swims over and kisses us both on the forehead, and then returns to her room, an action she used to do when I was younger to comfort me and tell me that I wasn't going to die, that everything would be okay. She then sees us to the door, raising a single arm in farewell. I copy the gesture without thinking, unable to stop myself from replying to her, no matter how somber I feel about today. It's not her fault that we're either about to die or cause death. This is something she will also have to do someday, when she finds her mate.

The journey to the surface is silent, as we make our way several hundred metres upward, past different creatures I've never even seen before, at least not this close. They're fascinating, though. I'd much rather watch them than go to the surface, even though I want to know what fresh air feels like. Even though I want to remember what being a full human was like. What being a child was like.

Our tails move in a synchronicity that fits our similar mood, the muscles contracting and expanding at the same time, a powerful singular limb allowing us to move much faster than would otherwise be possible. We're definitely stronger than we would be if we were human, but that doesn't mean that we're showing off. It just means that we've changed.

It takes a few minutes, maybe three at most, to travel about six hundred metres through water that's pressing down on us the whole time.

And then my head breaks the surface of the waves.

Fresh air feels different to how I remember, more alien, more foreign. The dampness of my face makes it cold, clammy, strange. The smell of salt is so much stronger here, it's almost overpowering. This is not something I belong to anymore. And I haven't found my way to belonging in the sea yet. I know that much.

So where do I fit into this strange universe? I don't know.

I'm not sure if I want to know, honestly.

Taehyung breaches the surface of the sea next to me, his hair slicking back against his forehead as his head curves, almost model like in its movement. How he can be that beautiful in a moment like this baffles me, not that I'm complaining. If anything, it makes me grateful to the sea for giving me such an attractive mate.

Yoongi and Hoseok surface next, right beside us, followed by Jin and Namjoon, who beckon us over to a piece of driftwood. We lean over it, allowing ourselves to have a short break, allowing our bodies to slowly adapt to the air around us.

After all, we do still technically have lungs. So they still get used.

"On the horizon," Jin hisses, indicating a large ship with his hand, "stay with the driftwood until I start singing. Then follow our lead. If anything goes wrong, and we get caught, allow the mate to deal with it. Do not get hurt yourself. Understood?"

We all nod, accepting that logic instantly. Yoongi and Hoseok have heard this before, I know, but they know it's being repeated for Tae and I. They're not stupid. They know that we need to hear it.

We sit there in silence for a few minutes, and then a female voice begins to swirl through the air, twisting into the wind and sounding like its miles away. Tae and I both shift, intertwining our hands wordlessly in an attempt to comfort each other. It's painful to listen to, as we can hear the agony that they feel at having to sing, the salt scratching at their throats like it's busy creating a new wound and making them suffer.