Tanked

1: The Net

(Rinus)

Slowly swimming up to the surface of the water and peeking out, I looked over the waves at the dry land my mother had always warned me about. I often wondered what was so wrong about it. I knew merfolk would dry up if stuck on dry land for too long, but I was clueless to any other details. Sighing heavily, I ducked back down below the waves. My stomach growled, and I hugged it as I swam down to the bottom of the ocean. The water grew colder and the presser weighed down hard on me the lower I swam, but it didn't bother me. My body was built for this.

I started to shift through the cold sand with my hands, thinking about my Mother. It has been about a week since she left, and life was lonely without her. She had to leave, though. I was of age, so she didn't have to take care of me anymore. I sighed as I remembered that morning...

"You'll be fine, my little Rinus." My mother said, running her hand over my cheek gently. "It's time for me to leave you now."

"Do you really have to go?" I whimpered, pressing her hand to my cheek, begging her to stay. "Nothing is stopping you from staying with me for a little longer."

Sighing heavily, she gathered me in a tight hug. "I know it's hard. In fact, you don't understand how hard it is for me. You'd think it would become easier each time I had to let one of my children go, but it has only gotten harder. I'm sorry my little Rinus, but I must leave you. Every mer must make their own way some day. Maybe we will run into each other again, but until then, we must separate."

"Why Mother?" I looked up at her sadly.

"It's just the way mer-folk live." She mumbled sadly as she let me go and turned away, whispering, "I really must be going. Just remember my little Rinus, stay away from dry land and always be on guard. Goodbye." With those final words, she swam off, leaving me with only a few survival necessities. I wanted to go after her, but I knew it was useless. She wasn't going to stay. Instead, I turned and swam in the opposite direction.

Sighing once more, I picked up the object I uncovered from the sand. It was just a rock. I tossed it to the side and continued to search, having been unable to find food since mother had left. I had already eaten the clams she'd given me. I crossed my arms and pouted, my stomach begging me for food. It was then that I decided to go up to the reef. I wasn't finding any food down here, and the reef was still a good distance from dry land. I assumed it should be safe enough during low tide, despite my Mother's warning of the danger it could hide. I double checked that I had my short spear and seaweed pack before I started to swim toward the surface.

After a while of waiting, low tide finally came around. I cautiously swam toward the reef, being weary of sharks, though I knew it was now too shallow for them to swim in. Once I confirmed my safety, I began to look around for food, glancing around every so often. The fish swam around me in a thick school, despite my attempts to shoo them away. They would only scatter for a moment or so. Fed up, I swam away from the school and picked a different spot to look, next to a patch of fire coral. That's where I found the jackpot: a group of ten or so clams just sitting in the sand under the fire coral. I carefully reached under it and grabbed as many as my small hand could. It was only three, but it would satisfy me for now.

Resting on my belly in the sand, I used my spear to pop the clams open, braking them in half before eating the meat inside. Having finished the three clams, I rested for a moment to let the food settle. As I did, I peered around, enjoying the view. Though only on the outskirts of the reef, it was still nice to see all the fish and coral that I never saw deeper in the ocean. A clown fish swam past my head and I reached out to poke it. My finger brushed against its side and the clown fish swam quickly away, making me chuckle. I proceeded to reach under the fire coral for more clams. Once I had eaten a few more, I gathered the rest and put them in my seaweed pack, moving onto a new spot.

As I swam around slowly, I enjoyed the warmer, less heavy water. It was a nice change from the cold heaviness I was used to. Maybe I could make a home out of this reef, I thought as I picked up a snail. Snails were a good treat, and I didn't get them often. After I slipped the snail into my pack, I picked up a star fish, holding it up to the sun as I lay in the sand. I then tossed it through the water, watching it spin before it floated away as a current caught it. Movements to my right suddenly caught my attention and I sat up. Looking around, I saw it: a shark, swimming straight toward me.

A scream left my lips. I quickly started to swim away, looking back at the shark as I did. Before I knew it, I found myself tangled inside something rough. I studied the rough stuff to discover it was a net of sorts, like the kind Mother would use to catch fish; only, this net was not made out of seaweed. Instead, it was made from a brown material I had never seen before.

Tugging at my arms and swimming as hard as I could, I tried to escape but the net only tightened around me. Remembering the shark, I looked behind me to see it had turned away and gone after a school of fish. I sighed with relief, but now I had another problem to deal with. Continuing to struggle, I tried to claw my way out with my sharp nails, but my attempts failed. It seemed like this net was made for capturing and holding onto things at no costs.

Suddenly, the net jerked upwards. It was then that I noticed the large, dark shape that bobbed in the water above me. I've seen one of them before and my eyes went wide. A...boat? That's what mother had called it when a similar shape had sailed over us a few moons ago. I was being lifted toward it inside the net. Struggling again, I tried with all my might to get loose; yanking, clawing, and even biting. I was trapped.

My head broke the surface, my hair falling into my eyes and obscuring my vision. I gasped as I found myself struggling to breath, but I could clearly hear voices shouting and speaking a strange language. I was just barely able to catch a smiling, hairy face before something slammed into the back of my head, making the world go black.