"Again with the talk about humans?" Yoongi rolled his eyes as he swam next to you, his orange tail blending with the vibrant coral you were currently swimming through. As one of your closest friends you knew you could rave about the surface and your desire to go back, even with the knowledge that he didn't agree with it.
Jeongguk who had been swimming on the other side of you, laughingly added, "you were forbidden from going up after breaking the rules and yet that's all I hear you talk about." He swam through the water, racing ahead of you so that he could chase after a school of fish, their silver scales glinting in the sunlight that filtered down from the surface.
It was a familiar sight; Jeongguk terrorising the creatures with his speed and catching them in his hands to tease the turtles for the algae on their shells or a shark for its missing tooth. He was fearless and had quickly risen through the ranks to become a leading military general, unlike Yoongi who stuck to academics.
As much as you loved your friends, your home, the sea with its gentle currents carrying you across the ocean and revealing all types of creatures and plants, you always felt like something was missing. It wasn't a hard life and yet, some days you stayed in your bed all day thinking about the feeling of the wind against your skin and the warmth of the sun as you floated atop the water.
"You're thinking about seeing him again," Yoongi mused, giving you a warning glance over his shoulder before diving into the trench that you had been heading towards. It was to visit the base of "Scavengers United", a club you had formed with your friends, Jeongguk and Yoongi, when you were a fry and had managed to keep running into your adulthood.
It had been created by you, following your first discovery of a shipwreck and quickly, you had set the aim to visit shipwrecks and search for any human items to create a collection. In a way, it was the only thing stopping you from breaking all of the rules and hurling yourself onto the sand just to feel it underneath your fingers.
Without thinking, you began to swim towards the surface, your tail moving slowly before a hand wrapped around the base and yanked you down to face Jeongguk, "you go up there yearly," he grabbed your wrist and began to tug you into the trench, further away from the sun, and the sand, and the surface.
When Jeongguk caught you gazing longingly at the beams of white light that shone uncertainly through the water, he sighed and squeezed your hand, "you don't need to feel the wind in your hair to be happy."
You snapped out of your momentary trance, nodding with a smile and beginning to swim down with him, knowing that it had been almost fifteen years since you'd broken the rule.
It was true that you did get to visit the surface yearly for the kingdom meetings, but you weren't meant to communicate with anyone. Even so, it meant you got to see Jimin every year, listen to his plans to reform his kingdom and smile inwardly every time he glanced over at you.
That was the last time you were going to let yourself be distracted, finally reaching the bottom of the trench and smiling at your collection that filled up every space in the trench before tipping out your bag of finds onto a large flat rock that acted as your table. "I found a huge mirror and some more enchanted books," you watched as the boys tipped their findings onto the rock; golden coins, sparkling necklaces, more books and items you had never seen before.
The books were the main way you knew about the fae and humans, you weren't sure why they were dropped into the ocean but it was always in the same bay you had visited as a child. Now, you continued to swim in the shallow water, body hidden in the green kelp as you scooped up the abandoned books to try and learn more about how the humans lived.
"Do you ever wonder why we're banned from communicating with them?" you asked slowly, fingers skimming the cold metal of the figurines on a music box that Yoongi had placed on the table, "I just think we should be allowed to go up there."
The boys laughed before Yoongi pointed out, "you're the only one not allowed to visit the surface," he huffed and began to tidy the findings into the nooks and crannies of the trench that acted like shelves. You pouted and picked at a barnacle on the rock, but Yoongi rolled his eyes, "I'll remind you, Princess, that we trade with our allies on the surface and are not as blocked off as we were when you were younger."
"I get it," you sighed, swimming away from the table to catch a ray of sunlight that had managed to make its way to the bottom of the ocean in your hand, watching the light dance on your fingertips. "I just want to see him again and dance! Don't you want to dance like they do, smell the flowers and be able to wiggle your toes?"
Jeongguk shook his head and rolled his eyes, "we can dance, we just do it without those long, wobbly legs. Tails are so much better," he flicked his to send a force of water in your direction, "the water's better," he spun in the water before swimming upwards, "and I'm on guard duty when the sun goes down, which is soon!"
With that Jeongguk sped away and left you with Yoongi, who grabbed your hands in his, "I'm busy tonight but if you're going to stargaze, please stay safe and whatever you do, don't get caught." He smiled at you before swimming slowly away with one last glance over his shoulder, as if Yoongi knew what was going to happen.
