Mirrored Waters

Chapter 3: Of Storms at Sea

Phantom took in the sight of the scars with a somber look. His own eyes flickering with a similar looking pain as he turned to look out across the water. His own mother had lashed out at him in a similar manner when she'd chased him from the shoal. His wounds didn't leave as much of a scar on his body as it did his mind... He could still see her face, fangs barred at him like he was a vicious stranger.... he'd only been a child at that time...
He brought himself down to doze for a few minutes, feeling exhaustion trickling through him as the magic's pain ebbed away, leaving him worn and weary. All he wanted to do at that point was sleep, and too acceptance towards the boy's gesture to do so. This place wasn't frequented by many as it was, leaving him feeling a bit more secure in the fact that they would both be safe here for a little while.

He'd not noticed the boy's leave to set up a perimeter. Not until he sensed the warning the spell echo out like a threatening call. But quickly let his form relax, knowing the boy was simply trying to put up a safeguard around them. Lowering his head onto his hands, he let out a long, drawn out yawn, fangs showing before curling up and letting exhaustion take him.
He wasn't sure how long he'd been out, other than that by then the sun was high in the afternoon sky. A grimace settled on his features as he shifted, still not wanting to move. His form was stiff and sore, but at the least he wasn't exhausted anymore. In fact the main thing that hung as an afterthought was that he was hungry, the stress from the day before, including using a power he'd had little experience with had drained him of most of his energy, sleep had recovered what was lost, but his system was now complaining for a complete replenishment.
Sighing, he picked his weary form up before turning his gaze over towards the teen, prodding him a bit with his tail and giving a clack of his teeth together. It was a nonverbal gesture, but a familiar one none the less. In some sense it was an invite to go off an hunt. If the boy didn't know how to, he would be willing to teach the boy a thing or two about shallow water hunting. That and it would guarantee them a means of actually having something to eat.

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Danny shook his head to break himself out of his stupor as he raised himself and nodded. He would have to look for some nearby seaweed for food. He smirked as a sudden idea popped into his head. Letting out a silent chuckle, he swam around the older, smacking him playfully in the face with his tail before darting out of vantage point. He continued to let the water bubble up a bit around him with his silent giggles before darting off further up and around the rock they had been resting on.

Phantom blinked, seeming completely disoriented by the action. Shaking his head once or twice to right himself, he stared off in the direction the teen had swum, almost confused.
He'd spent so much of his life alone, the acts of play didn't quite make sense to him. He'd never truly gotten around to experiencing what it was like to get involved in a game, swat at one another in a manner meant to annoy rather than harm. He'd seen others interact in similar manners, but he himself had never actually gotten involved, thus it left him rather bewildered. It took him a minute to figure out what exactly was going on, before he mused, giving his tail a playful flick, green eyes watching the boy dart about. He still felt a bit stiff, and a meal was really what was on his mind, but he'd oblige the teen for now. After all, he was supposed to be in his prime, and wasn't about to go down playing old man just yet.
He shifted, giving his tail a powerful flick that sent him spiraling upwards around the rock face. He knew he could out swim the boy if he absolutely wanted to, but that was never the intention of the game. It was, if he was correct, a playful tumble amidst the sea grass, not a fight, and he'd have to constantly remind himself of that. It didn't mean he wasn't about to pull a few tricks out of his sleeve.
He let his fins lay flat, having swiveled around the rock face to lay against its dark surface, his scales all but causing him to vanish, the even deeper ebony scales, broke up the light along his form, the only part of him that would be visibly was his hair, which in the right light simply looked like some sort of plant in shallower waters. He mused, watching the teen before leaping down at him, bopping him in the back of his head with one of his fins before twisting his form round to spiral off through a patch of sea grass; a short laugh his playful retort towards the boy's earlier whack.
He kept up the playful game of cat and mouse, swimming circles and weaving in and out of the coral beds and gardens of seaweed before it settled into a peaceful calm as he drifted about on the thermal currents. He kept this up for a while, performing a number of simple feats, loops and twirls as he rode along the gentle tide. Upon one such motion, something had caught his eye before letting his form settle along the sand within a patch of weed. A single flick of his ear the only sign he made for the younger mer to join him there.
His gaze remained fixated ahead of him, as he pointed out what he'd spotted. Shifting through the weed, not far from them was a small shoal of red snapper. The fish were currently preoccupied with themselves and the food source abundant in the coral around them. They were small fish, generally hunted by humans for their meat, and it would take more than a few to satisfy the older mer, but this was more of an ideal opportunity to teach with easy prey than it was for the meal. Either way, the fish were unaware of their presence, and he was too opportunistic to miss a chance like this.
Fin's lying flat against his form; he motioned for the teen to flank towards the left, his own form stalking towards the right. He let his form half glide along the water, careful not to let his form disturb it any more than necessary. Excess vibrations were the quickest way to spook such skittish prey. He remained poised, muscles tense before, in a lightning flash of black, he's struck out from the 'brush' right through the center of the shoal. His jaws clamped onto his intended target, the rest scattering around the clearing in a panic.
Phantom was content with that, watching as some of the shoal spooked towards the teen's direction. Letting himself rest there, as he clamped down heavily upon his prey's spine, ensuring his catch.