A Misadventure's Fortune [REED900]

2: Friendly Sharks, Mean Birds

Like all my other stories, I include a "song of the chapter" at the beginning, that you can choose whether or not to listen to! ♡

Song Of The Chapter:
I Won't Hurt You - The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band

Nines was successful in catching a rather fat tuna. He carried that and gathered some of the plants needed for the poultice, before heading back.
He didn't expect his day to go like this AT ALL.
He just hoped the pod wouldn't get too worried. He knew how protective everyone was, and he just prayed they figured he just needed some alone time or something of similar nature.
Nines yet again found himself hauling himself up onto land, before pulling himself over to the avian.
Huh, it had moved, it seemed.
Was it awake? Its eyes were closed... Nines experimentally leaned forward and poked the bird's cheek gently.

Gavin had been resting in the setting sliver of sunlight, trying to dry his wings so he could fly away whenever he got better, but his body froze and tensed as he sensed movement near him. Gavin held back a low hiss, waiting for the thing to get closer, keeping his eyes shut.
As soon as the thing touched his cheek that's when Gavin shot up, wrapping a hand around the other creature's neck and pinning it down to the sand with a loud hiss. His eyes were slitted like a cat's, and his wings spread out to make himself look bigger and more intimidating. His foot was planted on the siren's chest to keep him down, keeping his hand tightly wrapped around the creature's neck, tilting his head as he observed the features of the creature, growling lowly.

Nines' gills fluttered in slight panic under the avian's grasp, and he let out a shrill shriek of alarm. His tail beat down against the rock as he struggled, letting out continuous spits and hisses. He tried not to let his claws dig too deep into the avian's skin, but he was being choked, for fuck's sake.
He let out another shrill whistling sound, before coughing out, "..I.m not.. goi-no to h-urt y—ou."
The avians gaze was merciless, hissing louder at the creature he held down before he flinched as he felt the twitching of the gills underneath his hand. Wincing and growling at the creature's grip and sharp claws, he pressed down more on the merman.
That's when his gaze turned, glancing back at the tail moving around.
Wait. Tail? Gills? Scales?
"Wait-" the avian growled, then looking down at the merman again, his eyes widening.
"AUGH! FUCK!" He yelled out, and jumped away from the merman, flapping his wings until he fell back into the sand, panting harshly, trying to get up but he couldn't move his wings, a low whine of pain leaving the avians mouth.
He was in pain, a lot of fucking pain, and he was trapped with a fucking merman. His breathing picked up rapidly, just as much in panic as it was the pain. He found himself slowly sitting up again, leaning against a rock a good distance away from the merman. His chest visibly rose up and down from the harsh pained pants.
Nines let out a shuttering gasp when he finally was released, letting out a whining cough.
"Shit," he breathed, then turned to the avian. "What the hell!" He coughed again, his gills sore from being squeezed so ruthlessly. God, this avian was about to kill him after he saved him. Nines scowled.
"A 'thank you' would've been polite!"
Of course, Gavin didn't know this merman saved him... so you couldn't blame him for being aggressive. The pained bird creature glared up at the merman a few yards from him, letting out a low aggressive hiss. He would've gotten up and went to attack the fucking beast again but refrained, considering he was in severe pain.
A then heartbreakingly agonizing whine left the avian's mouth, slowly slumping even more into the sand, closing his eyes painfully. His back was destroyed from the lightning bolt; it was charred, a series of burnt vein-like marks spreading across his back, skin cracked open, the blood dry. It was extremely painful to look at but even worse to be bearing through. Gavin would never admit: he was scared, confused, and just wanted to get out of this mess.
"Stay-" he cut himself off with a painful groan,"-away," he warned, breathing very heavily and painfully. Breathing was still hard after basically drowning.
Nines swished his tail like an irritated cat, getting over his initial shock of the incident.
"What," he asked, "Am I really that intimidating?" Nines examined his nails. "God, I should've left your sorry ass to drown if I knew you were going to be such a prick."
The avian growled softly as he listened to the merman, glaring at him weakly. His hand harshly gripped the rock he was leaning against, his body shaking in pain. The salt in his soaked clothes was really burning his nasty wound.
"Yeah.... m-maybe... you should have..." he hissed through clenched teeth, but his confidence drained immediately as he gasped from the violent sting of his wounds.Irrational, but fair, given what he was going through at the moment. His wound was infected, obviously, and it really hurt him.
The siren blinked, observing the avian's actions. "You've got to be in pain, though. I brought some herbs to help with that and went out of my way to catch you some tuna... but I guess you don't want it."
Another low whine left the bird's lips, a painful one.
"Why did.... you save me...?" Why would a merman, a siren, help an avian? He could have eaten him instead, the protein was beneficial. He hadn't really heard of sirens or seen any. This was the first mer he's ever seen.
But he's heard stories, of course, about the merfolk who guard the sea. He heard stories and news about people's ships being sunk or the classic tale of the sirens who killed wayward sailors. But, at this point Gavin was laying in the sand, his guard now completely lowered. He couldn't defend himself, the pain distracted him too much.
Nines rolled his eyes.
"I don't prefer chicken," he deadpanned, then tacked on more seriously, "I just didn't want to see you die."
It was true, and honestly, now that he was thinking about it, he did wonder why the heck he cared.
"I guess that's it. I don't know. But honestly, we don't eat avians or humans, for the matter. At least... not usually. Not normal sirens. It's the nasty female outcasts who do. Normally fish suits us just fine." Nines pushed the tuna forward. "I don't know what you guys eat... but I caught this. I'm not hungry... and you should probably get some strength back. I can also make a poultice out of herbs for you. It'll help get the salt out of your wound and help fight the infection at least."