The Ocean's Song (pt. 1) (Going through edits)

~2~

Shark was the one who resembled a whale shark and Lionfish was the one who resembled the lionfish. That much was obvious. It was probably the animal their tail looked like that gave them their name, though she wasn't sure there was any animal under the ocean that had Mako in the name and a tail like his.

They were so strange, Naida had no idea how to react. If the ocean had given her a second life, how come she had to depend on them to survive? "I sorta... what?" She said irritably and Mako sighed. She always vaguely believed in the supernatural. Rebirth, magic, fantasy, but to have it all suddenly happen to her, it was unbelievable.

Lionfish smirked and muttered something to Shark. Shark shook his head in agreement, then muttered back to Lionfish, who then punched Shark with a mock hurt expression, and swam up to Naida, but still gave her her space.

"Naida... we each sent you a gift. We have for years to show you how much we cared about you. We knew you were special, and we hoped one day the ocean would allow you to see us, we never thought it would take you dying for our wish to come true. My gift to you was the reef. I always kept it clean, helped it grow, made sure the wildlife weren't struggling, and kept the magic alive for when you visited." To prove his point, he brushed his hand across the sand, and a sprig of coral budded out of the very spot, growing bigger and bigger before Naida's wide eyes.

"Naida... we each sent you a gift. We have for years to show you how much we cared about you. We knew you were special, and we hoped one day the ocean would allow you to see us, we never thought it would take you dying for our wish to come true. My gift to you was the reef. I always kept it clean, helped it grow, made sure the wildlife weren't struggling, and kept the magic alive for when you visited." To prove his point, he brushed his hand across the sand, and a sprig of coral budded out of the very spot, growing bigger and bigger before Naida's wide eyes.

This whole merman thing was becoming a little harder to brush off as fake.

"Shark's gift was the waves. Just like the reef and all the other gifts, the waves were still mostly natural. But when you were around, Shark used his power and size to always send beautiful, calm waves." Lionfish continued, gesturing to Shark, who waved at her with a kind smile.

"Krait persuaded the animals to visit you frequently, that was his gift. He has a special connection to animals, and he knew you liked them no matter the shape or size. Eventually, a few of the animals even began visiting you on their own." Lionfish turned Naida's attention to Krait, who blushed and looked away.

Lionfish chuckled and then continued with his explanation. "Ray left you shells as his gift, and when he found your favorites, the calico scallop, he made sure you found them too. He loves shells, and whenever he'd find a particularly cool one, he'd send them into the currents to be washed up onshore just for you." Lionfish paused when Ray buried his hand in the sand, only to pull out a beautiful oyster that reflected colors like an oil spill. It was kinda cheezy how some of them were trying to show off, but it was nonetheless amazing.

"And Mako, well..." Lionfish rubbed the back of his head, thinking with a pained expression. He turned his back to Naida, facing Mako. Mako glanced at Naida, then to Lionfish, then he swam up to him, took his arm, and moved him a bit further away so they could talk.

Ray took Lionfish's place. "Mako would sing to you, though only through the ocean's song." When he noticed Naida's puzzled look, he added, "The ocean's song is what our traditional language is called. We're able to speak through that, and the language of the one we were made for, but, uh, we'll tell you about that later." Ray clasped his hands and tapped his thumbs together, watching Mako and Lionfish talk, which seemed to be getting heated.

It was silent for a moment or two, where all you could hear were the faint sounds of swaying seagrass and the splashing of waves far above. Mako Finally returned with Lionfish. "The truth is, Naida, we care for you, though you never even knew we existed. All the gifts we sent you were us trying to return to you the same love you gaze to the ocean, and indirectly, to us. When you-"

Shark looked sharply to his left, turned around, then snapped his eyes back to Naida. "Mako we're out of time. Sorry, Naida, we don't have a choice anymore, and neither do you." He swam right up to Naida, disregarding her personal space, and picked her up like a baby. Despite her squirming, protests, and beating on his muscular chest, he didn't let her go as he flew through the water with great speed, the other four brothers close behind.

Nadia didn't know exactly what it was, but she was fairly sure the brothers were swimming away from something, but that didn't make this any less of a kidnapping.