Mirrored Waters

Chapter 1: Dark Water Mer

The tide churned as the tug and pull of waves could be felt in the shallows below the surface. The water lulling in great tumbling circles along the rocky reefs, shellfish sprawled open, eager to catch their meal as it swashed by. It left a colorful array of corals and other sea life running about in the midday squall, enjoying the bounty the equator's summer sun provided.
The hustle and bustle of the reef was mostly ignored by one of its inhabitants; having grown used to the rough tides and overall oceanic noise, attempting to nap within a sand bed between the rocks. Despite the activity, it was a relatively mellow day out, the tide was high, and the seas were overall calm; perfect napping weather as far as the jet black mer was concerned. He'd only rolled over once, swatting at a few pestilent crabs before attempting to doze off again.
He was still full from raiding the nearby lobster traps. Most of his kind just stared at him awkwardly the first time he'd made off with his catch, finding the whole concept of eating the sea's equivalent of a cockroach a bit too much for their stomachs. He'd simply ignored them as a result; they seemed fine doing the same most of the time, and in some sense he was happy with it that way. That and most of them didn't go as far into the shallows as he dared to go. He'd impressed them once, when he'd dragged off an unfortunate monkey towards the mangrove swamps, something most considered suicidal.. if the tide went out, one would be stranded there. It had still been a decent meal...
Phantom found himself pulled out of his sleepy thoughts by the shift in the water. The vibrations running along the lateral line caused him to stir with great irritation. From the way the water displaced, it was a decent sized animal, Shark? No... it didn't move like one.... A frown reached his lips as he picked himself up, ears laid flat against the sides of his head, luminescent orbs glowering out across the waters.

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Danny wouldn't lie to himself. He was terrified about swimming above the sea's middle line. The others had warned him about how it was incredibly dangerous for a deep sea mer to swim above what was considered to be "their" territory if it wasn't during a storm. He fluttered about nervously, his pearl black tail twitching just as anxious as he was. He let out a deep breath and wished again that his vocal cords could produce some type of sound.
He continued swimming forward, occasionally having to use his arms to propel him forward. Danny was still annoyed at how he still found it a bit difficult to navigate. The races and practice he got with the others of the group was helpful but he couldn't swim as fast as them yet. Why the Sea Witch had given this task to him was beyond his comprehension.
Danny blinked his eyes a few times as the water seemed to grow brighter the farther up he went. He adjusted the satchel on his shoulder, which looked like it had been made from fishing nets, as he picked up the pace.

He gasped in disbelief as he caught sight of the brilliant coral reef that he had traveled for some time to reach. He looked down at himself and blushed in shame. He obviously didn't belong here... The waters were also much... warmer somehow, and shifting constantly. Nothing like the deep seas which there was no actual current until someone actually moved.
He shook it off. He was here for a reason. He carefully made his way to the edge of the reef and let his eyes dart side to side. He was too new of a sea creature to detect the change in tides, especially in waters as mobile as these.
Danny dug into the net and pulled out a small piece of what he was supposed to be looking for. It was a piece of coral, hardened and chipping, no doubt from the fact that it was extremely old. The boy shook his head in frustration as his earrings nearly got caught on one of the twig like branches of a nearby coral. He huffed silently at the reminder of the fact that his ears were so much larger than before.
Well, at least he didn't have a type of dorsal fin attached to his back like the others did; they looked more like wings to him but it wasn't like he could say anything.... That would have been such a pain.
Hmmm... so the coral was supposed to be white... probably near transparent...